Review: After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell

 










Goodreads description:
Alice is a young woman who is returning to Scotland to reunite with her family. She meets her family at Waverley Station, but a strange incident happens. After seeing something horrible in a mirror at the station, she gets on the next train to London. Later that day, her family goes to a London hospital where Alice lies in a coma. The family argues about whether or not it was a suicide attempt. In Maggie O’Farrell’s gripping novel After You’d Gone, Alice, while in a coma, begins taking stock of her life and a recent love affair. 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed Maggie O'Farrell's newest release so I was interested in going back and reading some of her earlier novels. This was her first novel and, honestly, it read like a first novel. I thought that there were moments of brilliance in the newer novel but I never really connected with this one. I tried to love it. I wanted to love it. But, ultimately, it was just good. Certainly not great. The writing wasn't nearly as wonderful in this book. It was fine writing but not great writing. Maybe my being underwhelmed about this book was a direct result of having read something more current before reading this. I just didn't feel that the story was rave worthy. THe characters seemed to be fairly one dimensional and I never really found myself going beyond indifference with any of them. I do think that O'Farrell did a fairly good job of describing grief via the main character but it wasn't enough for me to love the book. I will give her second novel a chance, in hopes that some of the issues that I found in this book were corrected in her second novel. Not a bad book by any means, just not the book I'd hoped it would be! On the positive, it was a quick read and I was never bored. I just can't say it will leave a lasting impression on me.

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Review: The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Goodreads overview:
Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life--solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. In response, Marlowe finds himself going beyond his own legal and ethical boundaries to understand the secret that torments this genius, a journey that will lead him into the lives of the women closest to Robert Oliver and toward a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism. Ranging from American museums to the coast of Normandy, from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love, THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession, the losses of history, and the power of art to preserve human hope. 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have to admit that I was not a huge fan of The Historian so I was a bit hesitant to read Elizabeth Kostova's new novel. However, I'm so glad that I gave it a chance because I enjoyed it MUCH MORE than her first novel! Although this novel had its flaws, I thought it was much better executed than The Historian and I enjoyed reading it. After the Historian, I felt ehhhh, even asking myself why the heck did I stick with that book so long. I felt unsatisfied. But, this book was very satisfying to me. I felt like it was certainly worth the effort and that I left it happy to have spent time in the world she creates in The Swan Thieves.

I thought that the writing in this novel was luscious, some of the passages were truly beautiful. I even wrote a few down to come back to later. That doesn't happen often for me. Some of the writing was repetitious but most of it was just beautiful, in my opinion.

I enjoyed the story itself quite a bit. It was complicated and meandering and yet I loved the journey. I don't know very much about art or painting but I found the description of the craft to be fascinating as presented in this novel. It made me want to head to our local art museum and take an art class. This coming from a girl who cannot draw a stick figure without a ruler!

I though that Kostova's rich language really added to the narrative, giving the characters and places from the novel life to the point that they seemed to float effortlessly off of the page! I loved the interplay of the two stories and trying to figure out as the novel went along how all of the pieces came together. I love how all of the layers came together so effortlessly in the end.

all in all, I found this novel to be rich, deep, and full of life. I enjoyed the mystery, intrigue and suspense. This novel was much quieter than The Historian, more insular and deliberate.

The few flaws for me were not that big of a deal. They did not take away from the experience of the book. I felt that the novel was much longer than it needed to be. Some of the writing was repetitive and unnecessary. The feel of formality that I think is fairly recognizable in The Historian is also here in this novel. It made it feel very cold at times when I think it could have used a tiny bit more warmth.

Overall, however, I was pleasantly surprised with this book and recommend it!

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Review: Hidden Wives by Claire Avery

 










Goodreads description:
Fifteen-year-old Sara and her beautiful sister, Rachel, are too young to legally drive a car—but are approaching spinsterhood in Utah’s secret Blood of the Lamb polygamist community. Having long since reached the “age of preparedness,” they will soon be married off to much older men selected by the hidden sect’s revered Prophet. As Sara, chosen to become her uncle’s fifth wife, grows more distraught over her impending incestuous marriage, she begins to scrutinize the faith she has followed blindly her entire life. But for Rachel, who will be married to one of the many powerful community leaders vying for her hand, disobeying the Prophet means eternal damnation. Her friendship with the newest member of the community, the young and handsome Luke, starts as an attempt to save his agnostic soul, but ends with the pair falling helplessly in love. When Rachel is forbidden to see him, her absolute faith in the Prophet is severely tested. When Rachel’s future husband is finally announced, violence erupts, and the girls must find the strength to escape the only life they have ever known…before it’s too late.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a gem this book is! I enjoyed every moment of reading it. It grabbed me from page one and didn't let go of me for a moment. This is one of those books that you don't want to put down because you can't wait to see what will happen next. And, then, you're sad when it is over because it was so fantastic!

The world created in this novel is so fascinating ... the characters are so well drawn and well written. The two sisters that are the central characters of the novel are amazingly relate-able. I was drawn into their world and into their journey immediately.

I've read several novels and non-fiction accounts of polygamist sects and this is one of the best I've read. It presents all of the issues facing the characters so flawlessly. Claire Avery brought a lot of the issues to the forefront without ever coming across as preachy or judgmental. In many cases, the descriptions of the abuse experienced in the book were brutal but well written. I was impressed with how well Claire Avery handled those brutal aspects of the story. I see that other reviewers have suggested that it would be a great book for book clubs because of how much there would be to discuss. I have to agree wholeheartedly!

The writing is excellent, the attention to detail in the story was well done and the characterizations were excellent. The pacing of the novel was wonderful - it kept me on the edge of my seat! I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this is a debut novel. It's fantastic! This is a novel that I definitely recommend ... and I eagerly await future books by Claire Avery!

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Review: Daughters of the Witching Hill

Daughters of the Witching Hill 
by Mary Sharratt








Goodreads Overview: 
Set in Lancashire, England, during the infamous witch trials of 1612, Daughters of the Witching Hill reveals the true story of Bess Southerns, aka Old Demdike, cunning woman, healer and the most notorious of the Pendle Witches, and of Alizon Device, her granddaughter, struggling to come to terms with her family’s troubling legacy. Though the name of the Pendle Witches lives on, few know the hard-hitting details of the witch-hunt which tore apart a community. Set in an era of religious intolerance, political strife, suspicion and social inequality, this haunting story of strong women and family love and betrayal is more relevant than ever.


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although I rather enjoy historical fiction, I haven't read a great deal about this time period. For some reason, I tend to gravitate towards later years in history. So, I was interested in giving this novel a read since it sounded like a really interesting story.

It took me awhile to get into the book but once I began to get into it, it was fantastic. I think that it took me some time to warm up to the period of history and getting the 'lay of the land' with the novel. But, once I was able to get there, it grabbed me and didn't let go. The characters were fantastic and that is what really made the book for me. The characters took awhile to warm up to but once I did I was amazed at just how much I came to care for them.

That time in history is just fascinating and this novel made it come alive for me. I felt as if the novel gave me a view into a world that was previously unknown to me. I felt as if I was walking in that forest with these characters. I also love that this story was based on historical fact. It came right from history and Mary Sharratt really made those events come alive in the novel. (I also love that she made a note at the end about the real events and how she did/did not change things. I love this kind of insider information and it really helped me to appreciate what Ms. Sharratt did with this novel.

Mary Sharratt has ultimately created a vivid story that is rich with period detail and social context. The writing in the novel is polished and refined. The social and political context of the story is what makes it so interesting. For me, that is what I most enjoyed about this particular story. It made a very dark time in history come alive for me and made me think about how the issues that affected the characters in this novel are still affecting people today but in a different context.

It is not a happy novel. It deals with accusations of witchcraft, religious persecution, social standing and the role of women in that time of history. But, in the end, I learned a great deal and it made me think. All while entertaining me immensely. This is an excellent piece of historical fiction that I definitely recommend.

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Recent Books & Reading Adventures

I feel incredibly fortunate to live in St. Louis right now ... there are SO many incredible authors coming into town. The St. Louis County Library really is amazing and they bring in a variety of authors throughout the year!  I wish I could go see them all but I have to choose carefully given the craziness of my life. Recently, I had the opportunity to see two authors who were in St. Louis - Brunonia Barry and Richard Russo. I was extremely excited to meet both of them so I thought that I'd give you a little update to tell you all about it!

Brunonia Barry was in town on June 1st to promote her new novel, The Map of True Places. I had already read both The Lace Reader and The Map of True Places. I enjoyed both novels so I was looking forward to hearing her speak and meeting her in person.  My boss, Lisa, ended up heading over there with me. She'd never read any of her novels or gone to a author event so she was interested in checking it out. It was nice to have some company for my first St. Louis author event! We had a really nice time. Anyway, Brunonia Barry did a fantastic reading as well as a great talk! I learned a lot about Salem, MA as well as what inspired her to write this new novel. It was all VERY interesting. I found her responses to the audience very compelling and felt as if I left wanting to read The Map of True Places a second time! I didn't end up taking any photos which I'm bummed about but I really did enjoy getting to meet her and hear her talk about her novels.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here but I am a really big fan of Richard Russo. As soon as I devoured Empire Falls (one of my all-time favorite novels), I became a fan of his work and have read quite a few of his novels. Those that I haven't read have been on the TBR pile for some time. So .... when I read that he would be in St. Louis on June 4th, I was SO excited! I'd heard that he was an excellent speaker and I couldn't wait to hear him give his perspective on writing as well as on his own work. What a cool opportunity! So, my friend Stephanie (yes, my non-reader friend joined me lol) and I headed over to the library for the event. It was a fairly huge crowd and we ended up having to sit in the back. I was just spell-bound from themoment that he came onto the stage. He is an amazing speaker - he did a tiny reading from That Old Cape Magic (which I liked but didn't LOVE) but then did Q&A for the rest of the time. He's just fascinating and I really enjoyed hearing about his perspective on MFA programs, the publishing industry, the life of a writer, and his own novels. He also talked a great deal about having your novels made into movies and about writing for the big screen versus a novel. Very interesting stuff! I really got so much more out of it than I'd even hoped. I didn't have my camera with me but I did have my blackberry so I took this very bad photograph to document that I was there ... Again, it's a terrible photo but it gives you a sense of the scene!

One last thing before I close out, one of the things that I loved about the reading was hearing him tell us what some of his favorite recommendations are for contemporary writing. He gave a great list out (most of which are already on my TBR list) but I thought I'd share in case you're interested ...

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
The Monsters of Templeton or Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff
Alive in Necropolis by Doug Dorst
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

Review: The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell







Goodreads synopsis:
Lexie Sinclair cannot stay. Enclosed within her parents’ genteel country lawn, she yearns for more. She makes her way to the big city, hungry for life and love, where she meets a magazine editor, Innes, a man unlike any she has ever imagined. He introduces her to the thrilling underground world of bohemian postwar London, and she learns to be a reporter, to know art and artists, to live her life fully and with a deep love at the center of it. When that love is threatened, she nearly loses the self she worked so hard to find. But then, she will create many lives, all of them unconventional. And when she finds herself pregnant by a man wholly unsuitable for marriage or fatherhood, she doesn’t hesitate for a minute to have the baby on her own, to be shaped by her love for her child. Later, in present-day London, a young painter named Elina dizzily navigates the first weeks of motherhood. Her boyfriend, Ted, traumatized by nearly losing her in labor, begins to recover lost memories. He cannot place them. But as they become more disconcerting and return more frequently, we discover that something connects these two stories—these two women—something that becomes all the more heartbreaking and beautiful as they all hurtle toward its revelation. A stunning portrait of motherhood and the artist’s life in all their terror and glory, Maggie O’Farrell’s newest novel is a gorgeous inquiry into the ways we make and unmake our lives, who we know ourselves to be, and how even our most accidental legacies connect us.


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of the most interesting novels I've read in some time. I will admit that I initially struggled with the book ... I was loving what I was reading (the writing is just incredible) but I had NO idea where it was going or how it was going to all come together. Yet, the stories were so compelling and the writing was so fantastic that I was unable to stop reading it, despite my initial confusion.

Maggie O'Farrell's stellar writing style will capture your imagination in an entirely new and unique way. One moment you're here, then you're there and then you find yourself somewhere else. And you only slowly begin to see how it all comes together as the novel moves along. It's like opening a wonderfully wrapped package to find something amazing. I don't know how else to express how much I enjoyed this aspect of the book. The characters, the plot ... all fantastic! But, what I think struck me the most is that O'Farrell was able to so effectively capture so much of the more trivial aspects of our lives. The very things that we experience every day as we journey through our experiences are so effectively expressed in this novel. There were moments that I would stop and read something over and over because I was amazed at how closely the description matched how I felt when experiencing something similar. The descriptions just come alive on the page, O'Farrell breathes life into what we often think of as being less than interesting, making them utterly fascinating.

I felt compelled several times to pull out my notebook to make note of certain passages that just resonated with me. This was the case, in particular, when O'Farrell describes new motherhood. The sense of being consumed with this new role of Mother. The physical and mental impact to a woman and her relationship with the father of the child. The overwhelming love, fear and confusion that I experienced in those early days came alive while I read this novel. I found myself really resonating with that aspect of this book.

A passage that comes to mind as a great example of what I'm trying to describe is one where one of the characters wonders the following in the days after having her first child - "How did she become this -- a woman in stained pajamas, standing weeping at a window, a woman frequently possessed by an urge to run through the streets, shouting, will somebody please help me, please?"

What amazed me about this novel was how O'Farrell took the stories of two fairly ordinary women and made them extraordinary with her beautiful writing and her ability to bring the story together. I truly felt as if I'd been on a wonderful journey after finishing the book and putting it down. As if I came to know the characters in a way that made me feel a part of the story itself.

Lastly, the cover art of this novel is simply AMAZING. I cannot stop looking at it ... it's just stunning!

This is a book that I definitely recommend, particularly if you love great writing, interesting plotting and characters that just jump off the page ...


NOTE: I received the galley proofs of this title from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for review.


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Review: The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry

The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry






Synopsis from Goodreads:

Brunonia Barry, the New York Times bestselling author of The Lace Reader, offers an emotionally compelling novel about finding your true place in the world.

Zee Finch has come a long way from a motherless childhood spent stealing boats—a talent that earned her the nickname Trouble. She's now a respected psychotherapist working with the world-famous Dr. Liz Mattei. She's also about to marry one of Boston's most eligible bachelors. But the suicide of Zee's patient Lilly Braedon throws Zee into emotional chaos and takes her back to places she though she'd left behind.  

What starts as a brief visit home to Salem after Lilly's funeral becomes the beginning of a larger journey for Zee. Her father, Finch, long ago diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, has been hiding how sick he really is. His longtime companion, Melville, has moved out, and it now falls to Zee to help her father through this difficult time. Their relationship, marked by half-truths and the untimely death of her mother, is strained and awkward.
Overwhelmed by her new role, and uncertain about her future, Zee destroys the existing map of her life and begins a new journey, one that will take her not only into her future but into her past as well. Like the sailors of old Salem who navigated by looking at the stars, Zee has to learn to find her way through uncharted waters to the place she will ultimately call home.



My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although I'd liked her first novel, The Lace Reader, I thought it had a number of flaws that made it difficult for me to love it. I was concerned those same flaws would be found in this second novel but I thought the premise sounded really interesting. I am so glad that I read it. I really enjoyed it.

It is a very different novel from The Lace Reader. I felt that The Map of True Place was much more thoughtful and introspective. It wasn't as focused on action but rather on the emotion and growth of the characters. That aspect of this novel really appealed to me. I definitely felt much more connected with the characters in this novel. They drove the story rather than being driven by the events of the book.

One of my favorite things about this novel is how well Barry handled the physical and mental illness aspects that were pivotal to the storyline. I thought that those aspects were so well done. The characters were well written and their experiences portrayed in a very real, raw and honest way. In the end, that sense of truth is what made me feel so strongly for the characters and their journey.

I thought that the writing was very good. Brunonia Barry is a really good writer - there are moments of such elegance in this novel. There is a touch of the mystical in her story but the practical is at the forefront. Her ability to bring a place to life, Salem in particular, is really wonderful. I loved the literary and historical references that are peppered throughout the novel. They really gave the book a nice, warm feel.

The theme of finding yourself at a crossroads and needing to revisit your life really resonated with me and I felt that I got a lot more out of this book than just a good story. It made me think. It made me ponder my own life.

All in all, I truly enjoyed this novel and would recommend it.

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