Boy From The North Country

We read books for entertainment, for education and for escape. Sometimes a book will surprise you and draw you into the pages, not letting you leave even after you close the back cover.  It stays with you for a while.  

Boy From the North Country is that kind of novel.  Some people have actually described this book as an autobiographical novel. It is based on the author, Sam Sussman's, real life experience with his mother, Fran Sussman.  Writing it as novel gives the author room to explores feelings and emphasize where he would like to and not worry about quotes and exact details.

Sam, or Evan in the book, comes home from studying in England when his mother, June, calls to tell him she has been diagnosed with cancer and is scheduled for surgery.  Evan comes home to the farm in upstate New York where he grew up.  He and his mother will go through the ordeal of chemo treatments and trying to fight the cancer taking over his mother's body.  

June has lived a holistic lifestyle on this north country farm.  She eats all the foods that she has read will help with the reactions to chemo, including extremely rare burgers.  Evan will overcome his aversion to red meat, as a vegetarian, to cook his mother this possible life saving food.  

Evan as a youngster could not wait to get away from this life. As soon as he was eighteen he ran off to college and to England to study.  He has been working on a novel that is never finished.  But now he promises to stay with his mother through her whole sojourn.

June has never really spoken about her life or the past with Evan.  She had divorced Evan's father when he was very young.  Over the years there have been a few men who have played the role of stepfather until the relationships became too toxic and June told them to leave.  But June is still a strong believer in the power of love.  She is still looking for and telling Evan the importance of finding true love.

Now as they sit through long hours of chemo treatments, June shares her story with Evan. Talking about her childhood, her time at college and her adventures in New York City.  She was an actress and took painting classes with Bob Dylan.  Many people over the years as Evan grew up told him he resembles Dylan.  Evan has always wondered if Dylan is really his father.  

With this little mystery running pushing the plot along, June and Evan really come together supporting each other.  Sussman writes beautiful prose as he describes the house, farm and nature.  He explores his feelings about losing a parent, themes of love, loss, grief and healing.  He learns to put into perspective the seduction of money, power, and fame.  As an observer you will have a wonderful journey reading this novel.

The Art of the Lie

 The Art of the Lie is an incredible novel written by the Laura Shepard-Robinson.

Though every mystery novel has some kind of twist the reader should have seen coming which leads to the uncovering of the murderer this novel is even more deceptive than most.

The book opens with Hannah Cole trying to keep her small confectionary, the Punchbowl and Pineapple in business.  Her husband has ben found murdered and there is question that he was involved in something illicit.  When the magistrate freezes her husband, Jonas' estate Hannah is having trouble keeping the business open.  Along comes William Devereux, who seems like a gentleman and offers Hannah the recipe for a new frozen invention, ice cream.  Her business is exploding with customers and success.  

But Hannah and Devereux it turns out are not what they seem.  Each has a secret they are hiding.  As they are working it seems to together, there are dark forces working against them.  They are also working individually, pulling off their own illusions and deceptions. 

This is a story of truth and honesty and how being deceptive can destroy lives. The plot is so well written that the reader is surprised at each stage and the ending is a surprise.

Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime

 Leonie Swann has written book two of the series, Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime,  This time Agnes and her friends are off on an adventure.  They travel to a resort hotel when Edwina wins a trip to the Cornwall seaside resort. 

Charlie agrees to treat everyone else to the vacation so that they can escape the cold winter weather and the fact that the boiler is not working.

Of course there will be trouble wherever this group goes and there seems to be a few murders that Agnes and others may have witnessed.  But with the elderly sometimes they are not to be believed, it could just be their faulty memories.

This is a clever followup to the previous novel.  The plot builds as the friends try to find the murder victims and their killer.  Hettie, the tortoise was left home but Edwina finds a boa constrictor this time that helps with the murder case.  We also learn a little more background on each of the characters which helps the reader relate to the characters.  There are still a few experiences that happen in this novel that are quite not believe even with a good dose of imagination.

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp is the first in the new mystery series authored by Leonie Swann.  In the author picture on the back cover of the book , Leonie looks way too young to be writing about senior citizens solving mysteries.

This is another book in the new genre of senior citizens who are amateur detectives.  In this first book week meet Agnes who is living in her childhood home along with some friends.  They have come to live together to avoid the typical end of life experience of living in assisted living and leaving their end of life to chance.

Now the five member so of the house have signed a pact to help each one end their life when the time comes and they do not feel productive anymore.,  in the meantime they are sharing house hold duties.

When someone ends up dead in the neighborhood Agnes leads the group to help sove the crime. Also living with the group is a tortoise named Hettie who in a way helps solve the crime. An entertaining plot with many twists and turns and quite a number of red herrings along the way.

 There are a few experiences that happen in this novel that are quite not believe even with a good dose of imagination.

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year written by Ally Carter kept me entertained while watching te snow come down outside.

This turned out to be a cute entertaining book to read in the snowstorm.  This must be a new genre of mysteries that include a romance while solving the crime.  Mystery Romance.... two mystery authors are invited to a country house for Christmas.  They do not know who invited them, and when they find out the aother has been invited the tension begins.  They start out by always arguing and then of course join forces when the hostess goes missing and murders are being attempted.  Can they solve the crime together and also fall in love under the mistletoe before the ending?  

This book is all about misunderstanding and finding self confidence.   Maggie had a difficult, lonely childhood and she filled the hole in her life with mystery novels written by Eleanor Ashley.  She grows to become a mystery author herself. 

Ethan seems to be the perfect man, handsome, self assured and all the women love him. He is also a writer of mystery novels. When there is a contest for the best author they are in the running against each other and Ethan wins. Maggie hates him. She creates an image of him without really knowing the man. 

Now they are thrown together in this country house during a snowstorm, the roads are closed and then the power goes out.  Someone is trying to kill the host .

Maggie and Ethan join forces and oof course what starts as competition and arguments turns to agreement and working together ... is love in the air?

Julia : A Novel Inspired by the Life of Julia Child

 Julia : A Novel Inspired by the Life of Julia Child written Heather B Moore was a fascinating book.

Having watched Julia Child cooking on Public television during my childhood she was already an icon in my mind.  Reading about her life and road that led her to the television studio was amazing.

This book was well written, taking you into Julia's world and describing her feelings and thoughts as she leaves home starting a new life working for the war effort during turbulent times in our history.  Her path took many twists and turns before she ever even found her way to our living rooms .  Meeting Paul Child is described in such a sweet innocent way.  She was not the forceful woman that came across on the screen.  Her fondness for French food which led her to cooking school.  The friends she made in France who wrote a cookbook and taught cooking classes with her.  These and other experiences are described in the book in great detail.  

The reader really gets to know Julia in an intimate way.

The Carpool Detectives

What an amazing book, The Carpool Detectives written by Chuck Hogan follows four women as they break wide open a cold case in California. 

Four young mothers who are finding their lives a little stale come together to investigate a cold case they saw in a newsreel.  Marissa, Jeannie, Samira, and Nicole meet at a school function and decide to use their varied special strengths to start looking into a car that has turned up at the bottom of steep ravine with two dead bodies. 

The women whose children are becoming more independent, are feeling useless and decide this will be a way to feel productive again.  They start going through old news stories and making phone calls finding out that 10 years ago a couple went missing along with a million dollars and closed up the family business. Then their bodies were found in the crashed car. The two people are now victims instead of thieves.  Then the case went cold and police stopped investigating.

The women with no law enforcement background, interested in journalism, start looking at old newspaper clippings, looking through old police files and meeting with a policeman willing to give them a little information that keeps them moving the investigation further ahead.  At times it gets dangerous but they are determined too find the answers that have alluded the law for so long.

This is a true story that reads like a crime novel.  A fascinating story of some very impressive ladies.  

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp

 This year there are so many mystery novels using the elderly as amateur detectives. Today's book is The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp.  This book was written by author Leonie Swann.  This novel. is entertaining but our book discussion group had some interesting points to make about this book.

This is the story of a group of elderly people living in a house together in their sunset years.  They have made a pact between themselves that each person has signed stating that when the time comes that they are not living the life they want to be leading the others can end their life.  They have each stated what that moment is for them.

As the novel opens a dead body has been discovered in the garden shed.  The members of the house are discussing the death of their roommate Lillith.  As they are making plans about how to handle this situation the police arrive and tell them about another death in the neighborhood.  The characters back stories are developed as they search for the murderer trying to stay ahead of the police.

Our group felt the characters were not well enough developed to understand how they all ended up in house together. We also were concerned with the idea of elderly people being invisible and scatterbrained.

There quite a few red herrings that tried to make it difficult to follow the plot.  Some of the distractions did not feel realistic.  But all in all it was a little funny and kept our attention right to the end.

Violet Thistlewaite is not a Villain Anymore

Violet Thistlewaite is not a Villain Anymore, is Emily Krempholtz's first attempt at a cozy fantasy. romance novel. But she is not new to writing.  She has been a ghost writer, editor and book coach helping other writers with their work.

Now she has created the entertaining novel about a small town finding its again in the aftermath of a horrible dark sorcerer .   Guy Shadowfade has died and freed the town of Dragon's Rest from his grip.

Even the names of the characters in this novel are wonderful. Violet comes to the town to start a new life after leaving the castle and Guy Shadowfade. She wants to start over and be a good person this time. Setting up a flower shop alongside the sop of the struggling alchemist Nathaniel Marsh they each have secrets they are keeping.

They are each a bit suspicious of the other, but Nathaniel's sister is open, cheerful and welcoming. As Violet makes friends and starts to feel comfortable in the town trouble seems to following her .  

Violet and Nathanial must learn to trust themselves and each other so they can hep save Dragon's Rest.  The characters will learn what it really means to be a good person.  Maybe a villain can change and find a happy ever after ending.

The Wildes; A Novel in Five Acts

 Louis Bayard has created an interesting novel about the life of Oscar Wilde and of course written it in five acts in The Wildes; A Novel in Five Acts.

Each act is written from a different person's point of view about the life of Oscar Wilde and his family. Starting with his wife, Constance we see how the life they lived together with their two small sons is blown open when Oscar is accused of the outrageous act of homosexuality.  It is in the fall of 1892 when Constance, Oscar and their son, Cyril are staying in a country house in the Norfolk countryside for a holiday.  Oscar invites young poets to come visit and finally when aristocratic young wannabe poet named Lord Alfred Douglas, arrives Constance begins to see what has been hiding in plain site.  Her husband's affections are revealed and their world begins to crumble.When Oscar is brought up on trial and sent to prison for homosexual relations, Constance moves her family away and changes their last name. B ut the damage is done and the two boys, Cyril and Vyvyan lives are turned upside down.  

In the next acts we learn the extent of how the adults choices have affected these tow boys lives hearing their stories and how their lives turned out.  

It is a well written account of life and the scandal of the time.  In act five the reader will see that maybe if there things were handled a little differently there could have been a different outcome. It is a fabulous story and the reader may wish that people then were as open minded as we wish to be now.

The Lost Baker of Vienna

 Today I went to a book talk by Sharon Kurtzman, author of The Lost Baker of Vienna.  It was a wonderful addition to my enjoyment in reading the novel.

Kurtzman talked about how she was able to sit down with her mother years ago in college and hear about her mother's childhood as a Holocaust survivor. It took her many years to finally reach the moment when she could create a novel out of her mother's lived experience.  The Lost Baker of Vienna is that book.

The book is based on her mother's story but the baker and some other facts are changed to create the novel. This is a well researched plot though and the facts are real even the delicious pastries mentioned were researched in Vienna by the author.

This novel is the story of a mother and her two young adult children who have managed to live through the atrocities of the war and finally escape a DP camp to be smuggled into Vienna.  They are trying to get to family in America but the quotas are making it difficult. 

Now in Vienna with nothing they get work in a hotel kitchen and a room in a boarding house.  But life here is also still dangerous for Jews. 

Alongside this plot is the current day story of a young woman, Zoe Rosenzweig, who is working to make a career as a journalist.  When her grandfather dies and leaves her some information about her past she is determined to find out the family history.  She follows a lead to Vienna and members of the family who were connected to her grandfather and the great aunt she never knew. \

A story of love, hardship and perseverance both through the Holocaust and to learn about family history.  A willingness to take chances and work for what you believe in. 

Under the Stars

 Beatriz Williams one of the authors who work never disappoints has another historical novel out titled, Under the Stars.

Tying the plot to the historical event of the sinking of the SS Atlantic of the coast of Nova Scotia in 1873 Williams has created a delightful novel of relationships.  Husbands and wives and parents and children and the truths that are both hidden and revealed.

Meredith is a famous Hollywood actress who needs to dry out before her next picture contract.  Her daughter, Audrey is getting over the desertion of her husband and the loss of her restaurant. Audrey steps up and takes on the responsibility of bringing her mother home to Winthrop Island for a quiet somber summer before reporting to the set of her new movie. Meredith grew up on the Island and left her boyfriend Mike when she went off across the country wit their baby daughter, Audrey to California many years ago.

A third narrative of the story of Prudence Dare. How she came to be aboard the ill fated ship but escaped when it went down off the coast and came ashore on Winthrop Island.

Now back on the Winthrop Island secrets will be revealed and memories will be remembered.  Audrey will have to make some hard choices with her life.

An entertaining mystery with a little suspense but also a wonderful story of love between a mother and daughter, and maybe even some lessons learned about the importance of family and trust.