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.