A WINDOW OPENS

 "whenever a door closes.. a window opens". a famous quote, but quite accurate.  The real original quote is from Alexander Graham Bell,    “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

This is exactly what this book is about.  Knowing where to look to make sure you are seeing the door that has opened.  It is a little like the situation many of us find ourselves in these days.  CoVid has sidelined us from our usual lives.  But complaining or looking for what we cannot do anymore is not helpful.  Looking purposefully for the open door is a better use of our time.  Finding ways to appreciate the new world we are living in.  

There are so many cliches , glass half full..etc..

A Window Opens, is a beautiful look at the kind of life many of have been living.  Elizabeth Egan has captured the 40 something woman's battle with independence, motherhood, and marriage in this entertaining and poignant novel.  

Alice Pearse is married, has the requisite three children and a part time job in publishing.  The house is blocks from the local schools where her children walk.  Her parents live blocks away.  She has a babysitter who comes and helps the kids after school with homework, dinner and driving to after school activities.

Her husband, a lawyer decides to change his work situation which sends Alice back to full time employment.  Between the actual hours needed on the job, the commuting from NJ into NYC and the after hours emails that come in all night, life has taken a major turn off course.  Combine that with the idea of being the oldest worker in the office with new technology and terminology, which kind of funny.  Then add in a dying father from cancer and your heartstrings are pulled.  

Wonderfully written and so real to life that it is hard to put down and you cannot give Alice a hard time even though it does take a little longer than I would like to for her to realize she needs to stand up for herself. A satisfying ending. Don't forget your tissues.

CODE NAME HELENE

 What is in a name?  Does your name reflect who you are and what if you change your name or use an alias? Does that help you achieve anonymity, does it help you create a new persona?  

During World War II, as the Germans invaded France, many Frenchmen became part of the resistance.  Partisans who hid in the woods and learned to fight with guns air dropped for their use against the Germans.

Code Name Helene written by is really historical fiction but it can almost feel at times like a thriller.

Written by Ariel Lawhon, this is an intriguing novel based on the real life heroine, Nancy Wake, who during the war took on four different names and identities.  It is 1936 and young Nancy Wake has traveled from Australia to the glamorous city, Paris after talking her way into a journalist position reporting for the Hearst newspaper.  As she captures the hearts of the young men around her, the war is picking up and her first hand experiences are disturbing.  Romantically she swept off her feet by the handsome businessman, Henri Fiocca and just as she becomes his wife with her first name change she gets caught up in the war and takes on a code name,  Lucienne Carlier, her cover, an oblivious mistress, as she carries papers, documents and smuggles people across the border.  She becomes known as the White Mouse and there is a bounty on her head, so she joins special forces and becomes Helene learning from the Special Operations Executives, then she is airdropped into the woods of France to lead the Resistance army of bedraggled men as she directs missions and orders air dropped weapons and other needs to help them win the war.

All this is done with the alias, Madame Andre.  Wearing her signature red lipstick creates for her the powerful image she wants to portray.  This is a complicated story but so powerful and amazing that it makes you wonder if you would have the stamina and courage to be anything like her in a time of crisis.

With some red lipstick and the proper name can a woman change the world?

A Dangerous Language

 Sulari Gentill is continuing to make Australian history fascinating and intriguing to audience sof the Rowland Sinclair Mystery series.  In the eighth book in this series, Rowland and his friends, Edna, the sculptress, Milton, the wayward poet, and Clyde the auto mechanic are again caught up in a plot against the rule of government and their lives are in danger.

As we move through this series we are moving through the years leading up to World War II.  Hitler is a threat to Germany and Rowland's friends, who are Communist leaning individuals, are trying to stop  Fascism from becoming imbedded in Australia.  Rowland stays independent but get caught up int he mayhem that takes place as Milton agrees this time to go to the seat of government and watch from the balcony to oversee the legislature and how they are responding to the Nazi threat.

Of course there are fascists who want to stop them and people will get hurt and there may even be a murder along the way.  Rowland's brother is always there to bail Rowly and his friends out of trouble and keep it all out of the press, so as to preserve the family name.

All of that is quite fun to read.  Though I think I am getting quite anxious for Rowland and Edna to find a way to share their feelings for each other out loud to each other, instead of continuing to just miss out on the beautiful relationship they could have together.

Along the way you are learning a piece of history that you would only be aware of if you grew up in Australia.  This time we learn about a journalist, Egon Kirsch, though a citizen of Czechoslovakia, lived primarily in Berlin, who was trying to speak out in Australia and was being prevented from landing on Australian soil.  Gentill places Rowland and his friends in the place to help Kirsch land, mixing the true story of his trip on board the ship, Strathaird, with fiction.    The right-wing Australian government refused Kisch entry from the ship Strathaird at Fremantle and Melbourne because of his previous exclusion from the UK.  In real life, when Kirsch was not allowed to leave the boat and come ashore, he jumped off the railing landing in the water, breaking his leg, in Melbourne, but was put back on the ship.  This brought him some support from the left and he was finally allowed to land when his boat docked in Sydney, though he was taken to jail there and had to appear in court.  It is a fascinating story and Gentill places Rowland and Clyde Watson-Jones on the ship with Kirsch and embellishes the story using to leap from the boat deck in an all out fight with the enemy.  

Entertaining reading on so many levels.  Wonderfully written and I am enjoying following the adventures of Rowland, Edna, Milton and Clyde and the supporting characters who show us how life the of the wealthy was lived in 1930s Australia.

The Stranger Diaries

 Elly Griffiths' new series with Detective Harbinder Kaur as the lead with her assistant Neil working for a small police force looks like the beginning of a very interesting mystery series.  

Harbinder is already shaping up to be a complex character, she is from India, a woman in her thirties living with her parents and gay.  Starting off with all those personal traits leaves plenty of room for Griffiths to build a wonderful character storyline as the series progresses.  Her partner Neil Winston, seems to be typical white male, playing off Kaur's personality with a more average alter ego, married always asking questions and playing the empathetic role to Kaur's caustic rougher personality. 

This is plot follows a combination cozy murder and a psychological thriller.  We meet the characters living in a small town outside London, Clare, a teacher working at a private school, divorced, living with her teenage daughter, Georgia.  Framing the whole novel around a short story written by an author, who once lived at the school, and the diaries that a few of the characters keep is a unique way to move the plot forward.  We are given parts of the short story along the way as the main story unravels.

When murders start happening at the school, Clare  is at the center of the controversy.  You are always wondering as you hear the same story from varying points of view who to believe.  Reading carefully looking for the slip up from one of the characters that will give away their hand, but this very cleverly written and you will be surprised at the end.  There are many references to famous authors and quotes from literature.  Interestingly, this is the second book this year using the quote, "Hell is empty, all the devils are here."  

Griffiths keeps you guessing all the way to the end who the murder could be and you are constantly second guessing yourself as you are reading holding back from getting attached to any characters because you cannot trust that they are not going to turnout to be the killer.  Well written and fun to read.