The Light of Luna Park

The Light of Luna  Park is  written  by Addison Armstrong. She has written  this novel at the age of 24 and that gives her a long career of writing more interesting and entertaining historical novels.   I  enjoyed this book, though I did not think it was the most sophisticated writing style I have faith she will improve with experience.  

The subject matter of this plot carries the book. Looking at the idea of high infant mortality rates in this  country during the early 20th century.  We look  back to the beginning of neonatal care in hospitals.   To  think that it was pushed forward by a man who set up incubators at Luna Park, Coney Island, NY and on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ.  He was really  using the babies who were premature and could survive if started out in an incubator as a tourist attraction, but amazingly he was really onto a serious scientific sound idea.  He was able to save hundreds of babies.

In this novel, Armstrong takes the idea and creates a nurse who has seen the incubators and has delivered babies prematurely, who are going to die in the hospital.  She decides that even though the babies are on display, the chance of survival might be worth it.  Challenging the doctor she works with in the hospital is risking her career as a nurse, but finally it is one child too many that is left to die.  The doctor and the parents don't believe int he possibility of the incubator.

Althea Anderson is a young woman on her own going to nursing school at Bellevue Hospital.  Life for a woman alone in 1926  is difficult, but one night Althea decides to risk it all for a baby born two months too early.  She decides to save a baby's life against the order of the doctor and the wishes of the father.

It will drastically change the trajectory of her life.  This story line is told along side that of 25 year old Stella Wright,  a young, newly married school teacher.  Her mother has just died and she is having a crisis of faith in her teaching ability.   Working with special needs students that she is not properly trained for, she doubts herself.  She misses her mother and when she goes to close up the apartment she grew up in she begins to uncover a confusing past. 

Althea tells her story as Stella slowly discovers hers.  Stella's husband Jack is there dealing with his own demons following his return from war.   The year is 1950.  Stella and Jack are working to keep their marriage together as they both deal with their secrets.

The writing is a bit stilted but the story  is entertaining and the history is interesting so you will want to keep reading until the end of this novel.

The Faberge Secret

I fell in love with Charles Belfoure after reading The Paris Architect,

a fascinating story about an architect who designed secret spaces during World War II,

risking his life to help others.  I also really  enjoyed reading Belfoure's, House of Thieves,

again a novel based on an architect who makes an ethical decision when designing homes in

1880's Manhattan.  His next novel, The Fallen Architect, takes the reader to London. 

When a theatre balcony collapses and people are killed the architect knows the flaw is not

in his design but this time in a twisty historical thriller, Belfoure brings us the story of a man

who must clear his name by digging through the debris of his past and correcting his personal mistakes.

Now we come to Charles Belfoure's newest novel, The Faberge Secret.  This one is not as

memorable as his past works.  In this novel we meet architect Prince Dimitri Markoff, a close

friend of Nicholas II and Alexandra, the Tsar and Tsarina, the Imperial Court of Russia. 

This novel takes place as the pogroms and persecution of Jews is happening outside St Petersburg

in 1903.  

Prince Markoff is living a life of luxury and good fortune, as an architect to the Tsar because

he loves the work not because he needs the money.  His wife the Princess Lara has tired of him

and prefers a life of gossip and parties.  When Markoff meets  the educated and passionate

Doctor Katya Golitsyn, he falls in love with her and begins to see a world outside the palace walls.

During this time period in Russia there is an undercurrent of unrest and violence brewing. 

We are leading up to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904.  The Tzar is becoming unpopular.

Markoff witnesses the Easter Sunday pogrom, where the police force fires on agitators demonstrating

for constitutional monarchy or the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.  Markoff tries to warn

Nicholas about his increasing unpopularity.  But Nicholas tells him the Jews themselves were to blame.

Markoff cannot forget what he has seen.  He and Katya, who has discovered she has Jewish

ancestry are determined to take a stand and try to make a difference.  The results could be costly.

This is another fascinating historical novel, but though Markoff is an architect, Belfoure does not

use the  profession to assist in the solving of a problem in  this novel. The career role is not as

important to the plot line in this novel.  I think that is the downfall of this book.  Though a story

that holds your attention, the ultimate unique factor that makes Belfour's other novels so special

is missing this time.

 

Flight of Dreams

 Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon is based on the real people who were on the last flight of the HIndenburg.  Lawhon has studied the ships register and logs and learned about the private lives of some of the passengers who flew on that fateful flight form Germany to the United States, landing in a ball of flames in New Jersey.

We meet the first and only female crew member to fly on the airship., Emilie.  She is a widow who has some unusual duties on the flight.  Max, who is in  charge of the mail being flown to America and he also works on the flight crew.  He is trying to woo Emilie throughout the flight.  Werner is a young teen hired as crew member, away from home for the first time.  He is trying hard to be as helpful as he can.

Then there is the American, who is nefarious and the reader is trying to figure out his plan along the way.

There are the captains of the airship, who are responsible for bringing the craft safely to NJ.  The aircraft is full of hydrogen and there are numerous rules and safety precautions taken so there will be no sparks.

It is not a surprise how the trip will end, and there has never been a clear answer to what really  caused the fire.  Lawhon takes the facts she does know and builds her novel around those facts adding in some fiction to bring her to the conclusion she will reach as a possible ending to the story of the Hindenburg.

the amazing part of this novel is how attached you feel to the characters.  You  are hoping that things will turn out well for them in the end.

The Reading List

Another terrific novel written with multiple voices.  I  am  really enjoying the plots that are revealed as you  read the story from various viewpoints.  Sarah Nisha Adams has created a wonderful experience for readers.  If you a re a reader and love libraries this is the perfect novel for you.

We meet Aleisha who  at age 17 would much rather be out with her friends partying in the park and going to bars.  But her mother is suffering from depression, her father has left and started a new family nad she and her older brother, Aiden are trying to keep things together at home.  Aleisha takes a summer job at the local library, even though she really does not enjoy reading.

Mukesh is recovering from the blow that his wife,  Nania, has died and he is on his own.  He has three daughters and three grandchildren.  But his wife was always the social person in the couple.  He relied on her for the small talk.  His daughters are trying to  take care of him, but not really communicating and his granddaughter, Priya really misses her connection through books with her grandmother.  Mukesh finds a way to connect with his granddaughter and learn about himself through books.

Mukesh comes into the library looking for book recommendations.  Aeisha finds a list of books and starts reading them in order.  then she recommends then to Mukesh. There are many copies of the book list and other people are reading them also.  They are all books that many of us have read.  It is interesting to see how each of the characters interprets the novels to fit into their own experiences.  They find answers and solace in the story lines they  are reading about.  

The book had me mesmerized until the  end.  I will add it to the list of great books that the author uses in the novel and then another list of her favorite books at the end.  

Toward the Light

 Toward the Light by Bonnar Spring is a book I reviewed for a NH book award. I am glad it was brought to my attention.  It was a very entertaining book with a satisfying ending.

This is a wonderfully developed plot that really brings the characters to life. You become quite attached to Luz as she tries to figure out her feelings and who to trust in this cat and mouse game she is caught up in.  

Luz Concepcion travels back to Guatemala as an adult after being whisked away years ago from a guerrilla raid that left her father dead on the forest floor.  Her childhood memories of the experience have built up an anger and desire for revenge.  She is on a mission to retaliate against the man who she saw kill her father.

Her main contact when she gets to Guatemala is Evan, an expat painter, who finds himself wanting to paint Luz.  She tries to spurn his advances, but it gets harder to do as she becomes confused about who she can really trust.  Her mentor, Richard Clement, who has sent her on this mission, has set her up as the nanny to Cesar, a lonely child, grandson of Luz's enemy and son of an absent playboy father.

Reading all the different plots overlapping keeps you on your toes, watching behind your back and peeking around corner.  You are hoping that the romantic interest works out.  Though the romance and involvement of Evan is not quite as clearly spelled out.  Who is his girlfriend and how is he connected to Richard's business?  

You can picture the colorful market with the fresh fruits and vegetables Luz goes each morning,  The different factions of guerrilla fighters are clearly explained. Luz also has multiple agendas and she is getting herself into trouble and confused by who she can trust and who is trying to kill her.

Horse Shoes and Hand Grenades

 This is a very interesting novel.  Not one that I would normally  pick up to read, but I was reading and reviewing it for the NH book awards.   It captured my attention and I could not put it down.

The story of two young women who are each going through a trauma.  This book deals with the #metoo movement and the topic of abuse of women.  Three friends help each other through tough times that lead to great friendships and some fun social activities.

Being a twenty something in Boston can be a great experience.  You are in your first apartment, your first job and meeting new friends and boyfriends.  There are lots of parties and bar hopping.  That is the setting for this novel.  To this add in all the baggage each of us carry from our family and childhood.  Now meet Shelby Stewart, who has suffered abuse at the hands of her step father as a child and has been trying to bury the memories.  Astrid Ericcson, who comes across as a confident, ambitious well dressed woman, who is also trying to negotiate office romance and politics.  

Even though these women become fast friends along with Tina who also is having dating troubles, it becomes clear that they cannot ignore their past.  You cannot party away your problems and things get out of control as we follow their stories.  Each of the women struggle through highs and lows to work on coming out whole and into a positive romance in the end.

Dream Girl

 Laura Lippman has a long list  of mystery novels to her credit.  I love her Tess Monaghan series and her stand alone mystery, Lady in the Lake was terrific.  This time Lippman is exploring the psychological thriller genre with her newest book, Dream Girl.

This book is interesting in that is not so much a scary, heart stopping thriller but a slower moving, look  inside the main character's  head as he waits along with us to see what is going to happen. This book builds the suspense slowly and precisely, each small development at a time.

We meet Gerry Anderson, an author, who at 70 years old has lived a very full life.  He has written a best selling book, has three ex-wives and can remember the number of one night relationships he has entertained. Living in a glamorous penthouse apartment, he falls down the stairs and ends up immobilized in a hospital bed in the living room.  In this dependent state, he now relies on two young women to take care of him.  One, Victoria, is his assistant, keeping his business in order, picking up his mail and his lunch. The other, an agency nurse, Aileen, spends the nights, dosing him with painkillers and sleeping aids.

As he lays there, incapacitated, he starts to relive in in his mind the history of his life that led him to this point.  Receiving mysterious letters and phone calls from the lead character in his bestselling novel, Dream Girl, who Gerry insists is a creation of his imagination, he becomes more and more confused and terrified.  She cannot be real, and he cannot figure out which woman from his past could be thinking she is the real Dream Girl.   The novel moves back and forth between the current situation of Gerry in his bed waiting for another call and the past as he remembers his marriages and his childhood with a faithless father and his loyal mother.  

This novel of psychological suspense touches on issues that we all are concerned about; power and the  control over our own lives, appropriation and influence.   You will be chilled to the bone and sitting on the edge of the bed as you read this mind bending novel.