LES PARISIENNES by Anne Sebba

LES PARISIENNES  by Anne Sebba

This is a very, very dense scholarly book concerning the women of Paris during WWII.  I ended up reading it as a collection of brief episodes as it was difficult to follow any one person’s activities because of the chronological order of events and the various names used by the women during the course of the war. The “Cast list” was almost useless as women were listed under their family name, or their husband’s name, or their resistance name, etc, but not all of them.

There are many French language phrases and words used throughout the book without translation.

You really need a very good working history of France and WWII to understand the enormity of places and events mentioned in passing, ie, the Hiv d’Vel roundup, Ravensbruck medical experiments, the Comet Line and others.

I would not recommend this book to my book group although I did appreciate the work that went into the writing of the book.

3 of 5 stars

Note to publisher: I read an advance readers copy. There are many typos and other items needing editing in this edition. It would be very helpful to translate all the French words and phrases within the body of the text (or even in a glossary).

THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR by Helen Simonson

THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR   by Helen Simonson

What begins as a lovely and genteel story of discrimination against a “professional” woman in an English village just before World War I, quickly becomes a fascinating tale of honor, class, love, discrimination and village life with all its charm and meanness.  The characters are delightfully and realistically portrayed.  The situations show the class and gender lines in pre-war England.  There is humor and pathos, greed and generosity, refinement and pretentiousness, honor and scandal.  But above all, it is a well written, engrossing story.

5 of 5 stars

GIRL WAITS WITH GUN by Amy Stewart

GIRL WAITS WITH GUN  by Amy Stewart

Constance Kopp, the first woman Deputy Sheriff of New Jersey, is the heroine of this novel.  Constance was a real person as are her sisters and the other law enforcement persons. The personalities of each is clearly defined. The story moves slowly, but is interesting with the detailed descriptions of life in 1914 in small towns, large cities and the family farm.  The narrative is enhanced by the newspaper articles (real ones) that are interspersed throughout. 

Altogether an engaging novel about an intriguing woman and her refreshingly novel family even with a fairly slow start.

4 of 5 stars

WHAT THE LADY WANTS by Renee Rosen

WHAT THE LADY WANTS  by Renee Rosen

Marshall Field is not the main character , but he,  his iconic store and his love affair with socialite Delia Spencer are the reason and impetus for the book.   Opening with the Chicago Fire of 1871 that sets in motion the rebuilding of the city and meeting of Delia and Marshall, the novel continues through both of their marriages, the building and rebuilding of Marshall Field and Company and concludes with Delia’s death in 1937.

Lovers of the social leaders, business leaders, fashions and homes of the rich and famous during the Gilded Age will love this richly detailed book.  Rosen has done her research well and turned it into a fascinating portrayal of the Potters, Palmers, Fields, Pullmans and others of influence in Chicago society, the great department stores and the World’s Fair of 1893. The scandalous romance of Delia (married to Arthur Caton) and Field (married to Nannie Douglas Scott) serves as the basis for the “plot” of the book.

4 of 5 stars 

THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF IVAN ISAENKO by Scott Stambach

THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF IVAN ISAENKO  by Scott Stambach

Did I enjoy this book? Hmmm, not so much. Was it compelling reading? Oh yes, absolutely!

Ivan is a teenage boy in a grotesquely deformed body, the result of radiation from a malfunctioning Russian nuclear plant.  His mind, however, functions perfectly. Trapped in a deformed body in a rundown hospital, Ivan entertains himself by being as obnoxious as possible until he meets Polina, a recently orphaned teenage  girl suffering from a rapidly advancing cancer.

We watch as Ivan and Polina react to each other, their suffocating community and their medical conditions in an unforgiving tale of self-worth, alienation, wonder, love, frustration, ineptness, caring, hope and resignation.

This is a tale that will stay with you, disturb you and,, perhaps, challenge you to change things.

5 of 5 stars

ARROWOOD by Laura McHugh

ARROWOOD  by Laura McHugh

Arrowood is a gothic thriller that starts slowly with mounting eeriness as the main character, Arden Arrowood, is slowly revealed along with the tragedies in her life. Her twin sisters disappeared while she, only 8 years old, was supposed to be watching them. Arden has scars, both physical and mental, from this and other traumas in her past life.

Arrowood, the house, has been in her family for generations, but has stood empty since shortly after the twins disappeared. Arden returns to Arrowood twenty years later when her grandfather bequeaths her the long empty house. The tension mounts as her back story is revealed and various characters from her past, along with an amateur detective who is fascinated by the unsolved mystery of the twin’s disappearance, are introduced.

McHugh is a gifted writer who maintains a firm grip on a story that could easily become maudlin. Instead the eeriness and growing unease builds to a crescendo. The characters are slowly developed into rich, fully portrayed persons embodied in a horrifying story.

5 of 5 stars

MANITOU CANYON by William Kent Krueger

MANITOU CANYON  by William Kent Krueger

When John Harris disappears on a fishing trip with his grandchildren, the two siblings do not give him up for lost.  The granddaughter convinces Cork O’Connor to help her find him in the Boundary Waters. A man is killed and Cork and the granddaughter are kidnapped.  The rest of the book details their experience in the wilderness as winter sets in and Cork’s daughter’s wedding comes ever closer.  

A good writer tells an intriguing story of betrayal, greed, love, family and friendship in this tale of the First Nations and looming ecological disaster.

4 of 5 stars