This is the first Ellie Haskell mystery novel I have read. It is a fun entertaining mystery novel. A good summer or beach read. You do need to be able to concentrate a bit though because there seem to be so many characters. it was a bit hard to keep them all straight, who was friends with who and who had had a run in with who. this mystery takes place on a school campus. It is the boarding school that Ellie went to as a young girl. She has her own demons to release while she is again on campus after all these years. As other women from her past come to join her at the school many old quarrels come to light. The women now more mature and settled in their lives can work through the old arguments and let go of the past. Well most of them can, but not all of them do.
Dorothy Cannell has written many more Ellie Haskel mystery novels before this one. I cannot speak from experience about the main characters in her books, but Ellie Haskell seems to be an interesting amateur detective who is in real life an interior designer. She is married to a restaurant chef, who must be a really great husband because he was very supportive in this book about letting Ellie go off and he stayed home with the two children.
What seems to start out as just a case of a missing trophy, turns to murder when a school girl prank goes desperately wrong. As at most boarding schools there is a long held ghost story that travels through time from one class of girls to the next. There are girls who are bullies and use the story to their advantage to scare the girls who are easily intimidated, homesick or not in the popular groups at school.
I will probably be looking into reading some of the other Ellie Haskell mysteries in the series in the near future.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Monday, June 20, 2016
Anna and the Swallow Man
Carried away on the wings of a bird, Gavriel Shavit takes his readers on a beautifully poetic journey
through a horrific time in world history. The Swallow Man could be real or an allegory for someone or something that helps a young girl to escape the atrocities of the Holocaust.
This novel, Anna and the Swallow Man explains the horrors in a very shrouded way. Anna is a young child at the start of the German takeover of Poland. Her father, a professor, is rounded up during the purge of Polish intellectuals. A family friend takes her in for a day until it becomes clear that Professor Lania is not going to return. Turned out into the street, Anna Lania must learn to take care of herself at the young age of seven.
She meets a man who reminds her of her father. The Swallow Man has many talents, the gift of speaking many languages, how to survive in the wilderness, dodge bombs, tame soldiers and to make friends. He can speak Polish, Russian, German and Yiddish. He can even speak Bird, when he entices a swallow to swoop down into his hand. There are many mysteries surrounding the man who leads Anna into the Forest. Who he is, his background and what he escaping are all questions that follow us through the book. But these seem to be unimportant to Anna as she follows him adnd learns how to live the life of secrecy needed to survive.
He takes Anna under his wing and they survive for years in the forest creating their own language, "Wood". She becomes Sweetie and he is Swallow Man. They do not talk about the reality they came from. He explains that there is a different sounding word in every language for birds and other objects. So he continues the logic, "The thing is, I'm trying to teach you a whole new language. My language: Road. And in Road there's more than one to say everything. It's very tricky."
Wonderfully written this story touches on the terrible behaviors of human kind during World War ll, but in such a subtle way that it is readable by teens and those who do not want too much detail about the Holocaust.
through a horrific time in world history. The Swallow Man could be real or an allegory for someone or something that helps a young girl to escape the atrocities of the Holocaust.
This novel, Anna and the Swallow Man explains the horrors in a very shrouded way. Anna is a young child at the start of the German takeover of Poland. Her father, a professor, is rounded up during the purge of Polish intellectuals. A family friend takes her in for a day until it becomes clear that Professor Lania is not going to return. Turned out into the street, Anna Lania must learn to take care of herself at the young age of seven.
She meets a man who reminds her of her father. The Swallow Man has many talents, the gift of speaking many languages, how to survive in the wilderness, dodge bombs, tame soldiers and to make friends. He can speak Polish, Russian, German and Yiddish. He can even speak Bird, when he entices a swallow to swoop down into his hand. There are many mysteries surrounding the man who leads Anna into the Forest. Who he is, his background and what he escaping are all questions that follow us through the book. But these seem to be unimportant to Anna as she follows him adnd learns how to live the life of secrecy needed to survive.
He takes Anna under his wing and they survive for years in the forest creating their own language, "Wood". She becomes Sweetie and he is Swallow Man. They do not talk about the reality they came from. He explains that there is a different sounding word in every language for birds and other objects. So he continues the logic, "The thing is, I'm trying to teach you a whole new language. My language: Road. And in Road there's more than one to say everything. It's very tricky."
Wonderfully written this story touches on the terrible behaviors of human kind during World War ll, but in such a subtle way that it is readable by teens and those who do not want too much detail about the Holocaust.
Monday, June 13, 2016
The Story of My Tits
Jennifer Hayden has taken a very personal and painful story about her relationship both with her parents, especially her mother and her own body and made it into a snarky graphic novel.
This is the story of Jennifer growing up and learning how to appreciate your own body as it develops. This is a plot line that every girl and woman can relate to. Who has not lived through the pain and trauma of not feeling like you are becoming a woman at the same rate as the other girls in your school class? Who has not worried that you will never grow in height or develop in breast size to be attractive to the one you want to win over. This is the story of first stuffing your shirt hoping for bigger breasts, and then when cancer strikes in later life, learning to live a full, happy life without those breasts.
Though Hayden tries to use the graphic novel with cartoon drawings comic book speech balloons, this is in the end a serious story about her family and how they deal with the trauma of breast cancer.
How her father sees her mother and their relationship. How her mother sees her own self image and their mother/daughter relationship. And finally how Jennifer Hayden deals with her own body image and her relationship with her husband and children.
I bought this book intending to pass it onto a friend with breast cancer, hoping it would be an uplifting, lighthearted story that would lift her spirits as she goes through breast cancer surgery and recovery, but I don't think I will pass this book along to her. Maybe there will be someone else who will benefit from this book but I am not sure who will really find it uplifting or funny.
This is the story of Jennifer growing up and learning how to appreciate your own body as it develops. This is a plot line that every girl and woman can relate to. Who has not lived through the pain and trauma of not feeling like you are becoming a woman at the same rate as the other girls in your school class? Who has not worried that you will never grow in height or develop in breast size to be attractive to the one you want to win over. This is the story of first stuffing your shirt hoping for bigger breasts, and then when cancer strikes in later life, learning to live a full, happy life without those breasts.
Though Hayden tries to use the graphic novel with cartoon drawings comic book speech balloons, this is in the end a serious story about her family and how they deal with the trauma of breast cancer.
How her father sees her mother and their relationship. How her mother sees her own self image and their mother/daughter relationship. And finally how Jennifer Hayden deals with her own body image and her relationship with her husband and children.
I bought this book intending to pass it onto a friend with breast cancer, hoping it would be an uplifting, lighthearted story that would lift her spirits as she goes through breast cancer surgery and recovery, but I don't think I will pass this book along to her. Maybe there will be someone else who will benefit from this book but I am not sure who will really find it uplifting or funny.
Everyone Brave is Forgiven
Everyone Brave is Forgiven is a novel written as another wonderful character study by Chris Cleave. In his previous book, Little Bee, the reader was taken into the world of the poverty of Nigeria and the upscale life in London, England. It is about the relationship between Little Bee, an illegal Nigerian refugee and a London widow. You are captured by their lives and Cleave can make you see the story from each person's perspective at the same time.
Cleave has accomplished this task again in Everyone Brave is Forgiven. Once again taking the Second World War and placing the reader directly in the line of attack, he skillfully describes the war for both a soldier at the front and those left in London during the Blitz. He puts the reader inside the minds and thoughts of the characters as they live through a day fighting the enemy and those trying to live their normal lives through the attacks. Cleave so wonderfully captures the feelings of each character, Tom who has stayed behind while his best friend, Alistair enlists. Mary, who feels guilty about her position of wealth and wants to escape her life as a gentry and help the war effort. Her friend Hilda who is looking to marry a man in uniform. Their lives all intersect as the fighting in both London and on the island of Malta intensifies.
This is of course a novel based on fact and true events that happened during World War II. It is also a story of romance and coping with the feelings war brings out between people and its affect on their relationships. As these characters are struggling with the war and their place in society, they are trying to maintain friendships and create love affairs. The war seems so unfair that it is interfering in their lives. What is love each of them wonders, how do you know when it is real? At one point when Alistair returns from a leave where he has met Mary and Hilda he is not sure. He has strong feelings for Mary but Hilda was his date and he is not sure if he should pursue her. "He would reply to Hilda's letter, and he supposed it would be the start of things between them. Perhaps this was what love was like after all - not the lurch of going over a humpback bridge, and not the incandescence of fireworks, just the quiet understanding that one should take a kind hand when it was offered, before all light was gone from the sky." Such a beautiful sentiment about love before finding the one true real love of your life, when you do have fireworks and passion.
But this book is also about learning that real love is not about uniforms and glory but about real caring, even in the face of ugliness and injury. It is about caring about others without prejudice and hate. Mary fights for the underdog, and rejects the life of privilege she was born into. She feels everyone is equal and should be treated fairly even during war time.
Cleave has again given us a story of the human dilemma. The difference between classes in England and the idea that underneath we are all human beings that should be treated equally. We follow our five main characters as they each experience the war. We are given the view of the war and what it is like to live during this time by seeing the war from each of these characters viewpoint. Two young women, who live a wealthy society life, little affected by the war around them, but they choose to get involved and experience the war close up. Two young men, one of whom enlists and sees the war first hand fighting in France and the island of Malta. His friend who stays behind and how he feels not being in uniform and on the front lines of war. Lastly, a young boy of color whose life experience is extremely different than the adults he comes in contact with. We see life and war from the child's perspective.
Cleave has accomplished this task again in Everyone Brave is Forgiven. Once again taking the Second World War and placing the reader directly in the line of attack, he skillfully describes the war for both a soldier at the front and those left in London during the Blitz. He puts the reader inside the minds and thoughts of the characters as they live through a day fighting the enemy and those trying to live their normal lives through the attacks. Cleave so wonderfully captures the feelings of each character, Tom who has stayed behind while his best friend, Alistair enlists. Mary, who feels guilty about her position of wealth and wants to escape her life as a gentry and help the war effort. Her friend Hilda who is looking to marry a man in uniform. Their lives all intersect as the fighting in both London and on the island of Malta intensifies.
This is of course a novel based on fact and true events that happened during World War II. It is also a story of romance and coping with the feelings war brings out between people and its affect on their relationships. As these characters are struggling with the war and their place in society, they are trying to maintain friendships and create love affairs. The war seems so unfair that it is interfering in their lives. What is love each of them wonders, how do you know when it is real? At one point when Alistair returns from a leave where he has met Mary and Hilda he is not sure. He has strong feelings for Mary but Hilda was his date and he is not sure if he should pursue her. "He would reply to Hilda's letter, and he supposed it would be the start of things between them. Perhaps this was what love was like after all - not the lurch of going over a humpback bridge, and not the incandescence of fireworks, just the quiet understanding that one should take a kind hand when it was offered, before all light was gone from the sky." Such a beautiful sentiment about love before finding the one true real love of your life, when you do have fireworks and passion.
Cleave has again given us a story of the human dilemma. The difference between classes in England and the idea that underneath we are all human beings that should be treated equally. We follow our five main characters as they each experience the war. We are given the view of the war and what it is like to live during this time by seeing the war from each of these characters viewpoint. Two young women, who live a wealthy society life, little affected by the war around them, but they choose to get involved and experience the war close up. Two young men, one of whom enlists and sees the war first hand fighting in France and the island of Malta. His friend who stays behind and how he feels not being in uniform and on the front lines of war. Lastly, a young boy of color whose life experience is extremely different than the adults he comes in contact with. We see life and war from the child's perspective.
Saturday, June 4, 2016
The Improbability of Love
The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothchild is such a wonderful and creative way to tell a story.
Told, for the most part, in the third person by the invisible narrator this is a story about the relationships. But then, magically, there are chapters of the story that reveal parts of the story yet unknown to the characters. The reader is now privy to more information than the characters, and this is achieved by hearing the story from the point of view of the famous painting itself, "The Improbability of Love".
Maybe as is suggested by one character with a slight slip up in repeating the name of the painting it could be called the "Impossibility of Love". There are so many characters in the beginning it was hard to keep them all straight, but as the story develops the relationships all start to intertwine and the reader can see how they all will start to interact. So as a story of intrigue and European history are uncovered, at the time a story of love blossoms.
Annie McDee is a young woman who has struck out at love and is trying to create a new life for herself in London. She has a new job as chef and has come into possession of a small but compelling painting. She discovers the idea of using the feelings of art and food to create elaborate parties for very wealthy clients. Just as she feels her career is taking off, she is thrown into the middle of a battle for the painting, having been discovered to be a long lost masterpiece, that will send her on an unexpectedly dangerous journey uncovering an unscrupulous history and possibly love.
The painting plays an integral role in this novel filling the reader in on art history and on the thinking and passion of the artist himself. This book while a wonderful story of suspense also dabbles in the world of auction houses and how famous masterpieces were painted, how their value was increased over time and how they were authenticated and put up for auction. Listening to the painting itself tell his side of the story is very creatively done. In the beginning we are introduced to the painting with his quick wit and sassy tongue, "My future depends on people believing I am worth something and need protecting. Art only survives by striking a chord in someone's heart and offering solace and reassurance. .... Right now, I am worth less than 100 lire, my absolute nadir. The some of total admirers is two. And one of them, the old drunk, smeared my foliage in butter and animal fats. ....
I need prosperity; my best chance of seeing out another century is wealth."
The character development in this novel was wonderfully colorful. The reader can see the vivid colors and personalities of the different kinds of people who are caught up in the search for happiness, love and success as they try to get their hands on this illusive work of art.
Told, for the most part, in the third person by the invisible narrator this is a story about the relationships. But then, magically, there are chapters of the story that reveal parts of the story yet unknown to the characters. The reader is now privy to more information than the characters, and this is achieved by hearing the story from the point of view of the famous painting itself, "The Improbability of Love".
Maybe as is suggested by one character with a slight slip up in repeating the name of the painting it could be called the "Impossibility of Love". There are so many characters in the beginning it was hard to keep them all straight, but as the story develops the relationships all start to intertwine and the reader can see how they all will start to interact. So as a story of intrigue and European history are uncovered, at the time a story of love blossoms.
Annie McDee is a young woman who has struck out at love and is trying to create a new life for herself in London. She has a new job as chef and has come into possession of a small but compelling painting. She discovers the idea of using the feelings of art and food to create elaborate parties for very wealthy clients. Just as she feels her career is taking off, she is thrown into the middle of a battle for the painting, having been discovered to be a long lost masterpiece, that will send her on an unexpectedly dangerous journey uncovering an unscrupulous history and possibly love.
The painting plays an integral role in this novel filling the reader in on art history and on the thinking and passion of the artist himself. This book while a wonderful story of suspense also dabbles in the world of auction houses and how famous masterpieces were painted, how their value was increased over time and how they were authenticated and put up for auction. Listening to the painting itself tell his side of the story is very creatively done. In the beginning we are introduced to the painting with his quick wit and sassy tongue, "My future depends on people believing I am worth something and need protecting. Art only survives by striking a chord in someone's heart and offering solace and reassurance. .... Right now, I am worth less than 100 lire, my absolute nadir. The some of total admirers is two. And one of them, the old drunk, smeared my foliage in butter and animal fats. ....
I need prosperity; my best chance of seeing out another century is wealth."
The character development in this novel was wonderfully colorful. The reader can see the vivid colors and personalities of the different kinds of people who are caught up in the search for happiness, love and success as they try to get their hands on this illusive work of art.
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