Anyway, I realized I had several hours of free time each morning of the trip since all the activities were in the evening, and I settled down to read at least enough to be able to write some kind of review. Let me tell you.....once I got started, I did not want to put this down. If it hadn't been my own son's wedding, I'd have probably skipped all the activity and snuggled down into the comfortable hotel room bed to read. I finished it in one day!Beloved New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank once again takes us deep in the heart of the magical Lowcountry—a sultry land of ancient magic, glorious sunsets, and soothing coastal breezes, where three generations of strong women wrestle with the expectations of family while struggling to understand their complicated relationships with each other.It took me a while to connect the title to the story, but Benton Frank does a good job of tying up that loose end for the reader. She also gives us a totally obnoxious politician to provide lots of angst for several of the woman. He's a villain we love to hate. Trust me, this dude's BAD. Hurricane Sisters is not only a great summer read, but the subject matter, which develops slowly as it marches to an inexorable ending makes it a must read for women hoping to find relavance in today's world, not just the South.
Best friends since the first day of classes at The College of Charleston, Ashley Anne Waters and Mary Beth Smythe, now 23 years old, live in Ashley’s parents’ beach house rent-free. Ashley is a gallery assistant who aspires to become an artist. Mary Beth, a gifted cook from Tennessee, works for a caterer while searching for a good teaching job. Though they both know what they want out of life, their parents barely support their dreams and worry for their precarious finances.
While they don’t make much money, the girls do have a million-dollar view that comes with living in that fabulous house on Sullivans Island. Sipping wine on the porch and watching a blood-red sunset, Ashley and Mary Beth hit on a brilliant and lucrative idea. With a new coat of paint, the first floor would be a perfect place for soireés for paying guests. Knowing her parents would be horrified at the idea of common strangers trampling through their home, Ashley won’t tell them. Besides, Clayton and Liz Waters have enough problems of their own.
A successful investment banker, Clayton is too often found in his pied-à-terre in Manhattan—which Liz is sure he uses to have an affair. And when will Ashley and her brother, Ivy, a gay man with a very wealthy and very Asian life partner—ever grow up? Then there is Maisie, Liz’s mother, the family matriarch who has just turned eighty, who never lets Liz forget that she’s not her perfect dead sister, Juliet.
For these Lowcountry women, an emotional hurricane is about to blow through their lives, wreaking havoc that will test them in unexpected ways, ultimately transforming the bonds they share.
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| Dorothea tells us about the book here |
Pearl Tull is nearing the end of her life but not her memory. It was a Sunday night in 1944 when her husband left the little row house on Baltimore's Calvert Street, abandoning Pearl to raise their three children alone: Jenny, high-spirited and determined, nurturing to strangers but distant to those she loves; the oldest son, Cody, a wild and incorrigible youth possessed by the lure of power and money; and sweet and clumsy Ezra, Pearl's favorite, who never stops yearning for the "perfect" family that could never be his own. Now grown, they have gathered together again-with anger, with hope, and with a beautiful, harsh, and dazzling story to tell.I only mention this here because when I started this blog, I intended it to be as much a reading journal as a review mechanism. So in this case, Reader beware. If you're into family tragedy, this one's for you. If you're looking for lighter summer reading this time of year, I'd look elsewhere.
...follows the efforts of Chicky who, with the help of Rigger (a bad boy turned good who is handy around the place) and her niece Orla (a whiz at business), turns a coastal Ireland mansion into a holiday resort and receives an assortment of first guests who throughout the course of a week share laughter and the heartache of respective challenges. John, the American movie star thinks he has arrived incognito; Winnie and Lillian, forced into taking a holiday together; Nuala and Henry, husband and wife , both doctors who have been shaken by seeing too much death; Anders, the Swedish boy, hates his father's business, but has a real talent for music; Miss Nell Howe, a retired school teacher, who criticizes everything and leaves a day early, much to everyone's relief; the Walls who have entered in 200 contests (and won everything from a microwave oven to velvet curtains, including the week at Stone House); and Freda , the psychic who is afraid of her own visions.It's vintage Binchy, and a story I'll be able to return to again when I'm looking for a feel good read that doesn't sugar coat problems, but that provides a hopeful and positive slant. It's one I bought for my permanent personal library.
Tutu is starting a new feature here on the blog. Because I tend to read in series, it sometimes gets boring for me - and I'm sure for you too - to write reviews for ongoing story lines and the same set of characters. So starting today, unless the book is just off the presses and I've been given a review copy by the publisher or author, I'm giving myself permission to do a "MINI MENTION" vice a review.This majestic new biography of James Madison explores the astonishing story of a man of vaunted modesty who audaciously changed the world. Among the Founding Fathers, Madison was a true genius of the early republic.WHO: Lynne Cheney, wife of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. She is the author or co-author of twelve books, includes six bestsellers about American history for children and their families. Cheney’s most recent book is We the People: The Story of Our Constitution (2008).
Outwardly reserved, Madison was the intellectual driving force behind the Constitution and crucial to its ratification. His visionary political philosophy and rationale for the union of states—so eloquently presented in The Federalist papers—helped shape the country Americans live in today.
Along with Thomas Jefferson, Madison would found the first political party in the country’s history—the Democratic Republicans. As Jefferson’s secretary of state, he managed the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the United States. As president, Madison led the country in its first war under the Constitution, the War of 1812. Without precedent to guide him, he would demonstrate that a republic could defend its honor and independence—and remain a republic still.
Leslie Anne Greene Carter is The Last Original Wife among her husband Wesley's wildly successful,Atlanta social set. His cronies have all traded in the mothers of their children they promised to love and cherish—'til death did them part—for tanned and toned young Barbie brides.I'm of the same generation, background and education as Leslie Anne Carter, but I would never ever have put up with the demeaning life she endured married to Wes, skimping on spending, ignored in favor of the golf game, and treated like hired help. I was alternately cheering for her to tell him to pound sand and plant his golf clubs where the sun doesn't shine and hoping that perhaps the two of them would get counseling, that he would somehow be able to give up his obsession with golf, and they might be able to salvage their relationship. The resolution the author allows at the end is one I found satisfying emotionally and should be one that most readers can accept. I won't spoil your enjoyment by telling anymore.
If losing the social life and close friends she adored wasn't painful enough, a series of setbacks shake Les's world and push her to the edge. She's had enough of playing the good wife to a husband who thinks he's doing her a favor keeping her around. Now, she's going to take some time for herself—in the familiar comforts and stunning beauty of Charleston, her beloved hometown. In her brother's stately historic home, she's going to reclaim the carefree girl who spent lazy summers sharing steamy kisses with her first love on Sullivan's Island. Daring to listen to her inner voice, she will realize what she wants . . . and find the life of which she's always dreamed.
Told in the alternating voices of Les and Wes, The Last Original Wife is classic Dorothea Benton Frank: an intoxicating tale of family, friendship, self-discovery, and love, that is as salty as a Lowcountry breeze and as invigorating as a dip in Carolina waters on a sizzling summer day.
Set on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a suspenseful page-turning saga of love, murder, and the true meaning of faith from the author of the acclaimed The Liar’s Diary.Now I do think on the back cover the publisher has misled us a tad bit on how the story progresses, but I won't spoil the outcome by pointing out the descriptive oopsie. It will make a great book club discussion point.
Set in the close-knit Portuguese community of Provincetown, Massachusetts, The Orphans of Race Point traces the relationship between Hallie Costa and Gus Silva, who meet as children in the wake of a terrible crime that leaves Gus parentless. Their friendship evolves into an enduring and passionate love that will ask more of them than they ever imagined.
On the night of their high school prom, a terrible tragedy devastates their relationship and profoundly alters the course of their lives. And when, a decade later, Gus—now a priest—becomes entangled with a distraught woman named Ava and her daughter Mila, troubled souls who bring back vivid memories of his own damaged past, the unthinkable happens: he is charged with murder. Can Hallie save the man she’s never stopped loving, by not only freeing him from prison but also—finally—the curse of his past?
Told in alternating voices, The Orphans of Race Point illuminates the transformative power of love and the myriad ways we find meaning in our lives.
When Liz wakes up one morning in her hotel room to discover her two children Ally and Reid aren't in their beds, her mind races, imagining a million worst-case scenarios, playing out her every nightmare. When she discovers that the kids were taken, not by some anonymous monster in a ski mask but by her own husband, Paul, her frantic worries turn into desperate questions. Unable to comprehend why the man who had been her trusted partner would willingly take from her all she loves most, Liz throws herself into the search for her kids. Her investigation uncovers a disturbing incident from her husband's past and she begins receiving ominous threats, warning her to stay away. No more able to abandon her search than stop breathing, Liz digs deeper into her husband's secrets-only to discover that Paul's plans are far more extreme than she ever could have imagined.Drawing on all the publicity today about the back to the earth movement, environmental protection, conservation of resources, sustainable agriculture, and retreat from worldly contamination, this one combines these issues with twisted personalities in a scenario that is so well written it's more than believable--it can scare the living bejeebies out of any one who is a parent. Just published this week, this one should be headed for your must read list.
Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to “aging out” out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse...Baker Kline does a masterful job of weaving the stories of Mollie and Vivian, although the book is much more about the older woman than the younger, perhaps because Vivian has already lived her life and her experiences can be seen as lessons for Mollie. While the younger woman has certainly been shuffled from house to house, the more enlightened views of today's social services afford her more opportunities for success.
As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.
Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life – answers that will ultimately free them both.
Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are.
A heartbreaking story set against the backdrop of the devastating Hurricane that hit Galveston Island in 1900. The publisher's blurb tells us:1900. Young pianist Catherine Wainwright flees the fashionable town of Dayton, Ohio in the wake of a terrible scandal. Heartbroken and facing destitution, she finds herself striking up correspondence with a childhood admirer, the recently widowed Oscar Williams. In desperation she agrees to marry him, but when Catherine travels to Oscar's farm on Galveston Island, Texas-a thousand miles from home-she finds she is little prepared for the life that awaits her. The island is remote, the weather sweltering, and Oscar's little boy Andre is grieving hard for his lost mother. And though Oscar tries to please his new wife, the secrets of the past sit uncomfortably between them. Meanwhile for Nan Ogden, Oscar's housekeeper, Catherine's sudden arrival has come as a great shock. For not only did she promise Oscar's first wife that she would be the one to take care of little Andre, but she has feelings for Oscar which she is struggling to suppress. And when the worst storm in a generation descends, the women will find themselves tested as never before.My Impressions:
I’m so pleased to part of your blog and this comes to you with my thanks for reading The Promise. While writing this note, my atlas is on my desk and it’s open to Maine. This makes me feel connected to you. It also reminds me of the time my husband and I visited Ogunquit for our fifth wedding anniversary. Rob was a student in Boston, I was a social worker in an East Boston nursing home, and we counted every penny. The bus trip to Ogunquit was a wild splurge but it was early June and the Bed & Breakfast rate was low. Many restaurants were closed and there were few tourists. This didn’t matter to us. We were in Maine, a place we’d never been before.
On Saturday afternoon, Rob and I took a walk along the cliff that overlooked the water. The wind was brisk with a distinct chill and the beach was deserted. Yet, strawberry plants grew along the path and the berries were beginning to ripen. It was a moment I’ll never forget: the cold wind paired with delicate red-tinged berries determined to thrive.
Like that long ago trip to Maine, reading a good book takes me to new places. I open it and find the wind, the plot. But beneath the plot, I sometimes find small discoveries that enrich my life and linger in my thoughts for years to come.
I hope you and other readers find these kinds of unexpected moments in The Promise.
I've recently become a devotèe of re-reading books. As many of you know, one of my favorite genres is the mystery series, and there is no one better at writing in this format than Louise Penny. Her Chief Inspector Gamache series is probably my all-time favorite. Currently, to promote the tenth book of the series, her publisher, St. Martin's Minotaur is sponsoring an on-line "re-read" discussion of books 1-9. I needed no further excuse to plunge in to refresh my memory to get ready for this new one coming out in August.
The discussion started yesterday with a welcome by one of my favorite bloggers, Lesa Holstine of Lesa's Book Critiques. 
It’s summertime in a blue-collar dockside neighborhood. (Red Hook Brooklyn New York). June and Val, two fifteen-year-olds, take a raft out onto the bay at night to see what they can see.My impression: Reminiscent of West Side Story, the class struggle portrayed by The characters in this book is drawn with such precision that the reader is able to understand and empathize with each one of them in spite of their often less than savory backgrounds and behavior. We might not want to live their lives or move into their hood, but they are portrayed with a realism that sings. The mystery is so well entwined in the lives of these characters that it takes a while to determine exactly what the mystery is. Is June missing? Did she drown? Was she murdered? What really happened, and who knows? Who cares? And why? It's a true underdog story, set in a vibrant, currant setting that will appeal to lovers of mysteries, young adults and adults alike, and readers who want a beautifully crafted work of fiction. It works especially well in audio. It's one I'll listen to and read again, and fully expect to see this one on the movie screen someday.
And then they disappear. Only Val will survive, washed ashore; semi-conscious in the weeds.
This shocking event will echo through the lives of a diverse cast of Red Hook residents. Fadi, the Lebanese bodega owner, hopes that his shop will be the place to share neighborhood news and troll for information about June’s disappearance. Cree, just beginning to pull it together after his father’s murder, unwittingly makes himself the chief suspect, but an enigmatic and elusive guardian is determined to keep him safe.
Val contends with the shadow of her missing friend and a truth she buries deep inside. Her teacher Jonathan, a Julliard School dropout and barfly, wrestles with dashed dreams and a past riddled with tragic sins.
This week I'm going to take a breath, excavate my library/office ( it's so bad I couldn't even take a photo that would make any sense - if it were not enclosed it would like this outdoor market in Spain!), make a few phone calls to friends and family members, and try to gather the paperwork I need to do my taxes. UGH. So my reading is going to be of the total fun, "not anybody making me do" it variety.
Birk Lake Moon is the story of two boys and the summer they spent next door to each other at Bird Lake. Mitch Sinclair is living with his rather rigid, not much fun, grandparents while his mother recovers from the trauma of her husband (Mitch's father) having just walked out on them to take up life with a younger girl-friend. No one seems to catch on that Mitch is grieving also. Spencer Stone arrives at his family's lake house several days after Mitch. The Stones have owned the house for years, but have not returned for about 10 years since Mitch's little brother drowned there. Spencer's parents aren't sure they can handle the memory, but want to try. Spencer's little sister provides some delightful and typical little sister humor to the story.
An absolute delight of a debut novel by William Kuhn...Mrs Queen Takes the Train wittily imagines the kerfuffle that transpires when a bored Queen Elizabeth strolls out of the palace in search of a little fun, leaving behind a desperate team of courtiers who must find the missing Windsor before a national scandal erupts. Reminiscent of Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader, this lively, wonderfully inventive romp takes readers into the mind of the grand matriarch of Britain’s Royal Family, bringing us an endearing runaway Queen Elizabeth on the town—and leading us behind the Buckingham Palace walls and into the upstairs/downstairs spaces of England’s monarchy.
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