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Market Street by Anita Hughes

September 18, 2013 by

Source: St. Martin’s Press
Paperback, 304 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Market Street by Anita Hughes allows readers to take a peek behind the golden curtain of San Francisco’s social elite.  It’s a highly capitalistic society in which shopping among the women is a sport and those who fail to get the best clothes before everyone else are usually the losers.  Behind this facade, Cassie Blake, heiress to a shopping guru’s dream — the Fenton’s fortune — lives in Berkeley with her ethics professor husband, Aidan Blake, and shuns high society for her vegetable garden and wifely duties.  Her husband is by turns loving and controlling, and repeatedly tells her that even though Fenton’s is the family business, she doesn’t have to take it over.  His behavior toward her and her work (even just volunteer work) outside the home should send up red flags, but Cassie is blissfully unaware until she steps into a customer service role one day at her mother’s store.

Cassie has been taking care of others since she met Aidan, and as his wife, she falls easily into that role until she finds out about his infidelity.  Pushed to reassess her marriage, and by extension her life, she moves out and moves into her best friend’s mansion, while Alexis’s husband is off jet-setting as a hedge fund man.  While Cassie is endearing because of her down-to-earth nature and the duty she has to fulfill her mother’s dreams and take over Fenton’s, some of the other characters are harshly materialistic, very obsessed with image, and focused too much on sex.  If public displays of affection make you uneasy, there are some moments where Aidan makes advances toward Cassie at the most inappropriate times.  These moments may be for effect to demonstrate his hound-dog nature, but readers may wonder what Cassie was thinking staying married to the man so long.

“‘Alexis, you don’t need a discount.’ Cassie giggled.  ‘You’re married to a gazillionaire.’

‘But if I get a discount, I have to buy them.  It would be fiscally imprudent not to.'” (page 127)

“‘She’s going to give Derek a new title and make you store manager.’ Cassie buttered a baguette. ‘If you want the job.’

‘Of course I want the job!’ Alexis opened the freezer and took out a carton of ice cream.  ‘I haven’t had this much fun since Barbie summer camp.'”  (page 155)

Where Hughes really shines in characterization is her juxtaposition of Cassie and her best friend, Alexis.  One is materialistic and loves the high life, while the other would rather have dirt under her fingernails.  But when a crisis — even just insecurities — arises, both women support one another and know just how frank to be.  Even though their outlooks are different, they’re ready with the support and ice cream when necessary.  Market Street by Anita Hughes is a mixed bag of great friendship camaraderie, sex scenes, and some cardboard cutout characters, but the pages fly by, making it a fun trip to San Francisco.

About the Author:  (photo by Sheri Geoffreys)

Anita Hughes was born in Sydney, Australia and had a charmed childhood that included petting koala bears, riding the waves on Bondi Beach, and putting an occasional shrimp on the barbie. Her writing career began at the age of eight, when she won a national writing contest in THE AUSTRALIAN newspaper, and was named “One of Australia’s Next Best Writers.” (She still has the newspaper clipping.)

She received a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Creative Writing from Bard College, and attended UC Berkeley’s Masters in Creative Writing program.

Check out my reviews of Monarch Beach and Lake Como!

Filed Under: fiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2013, review copy, reviews, St. Martin's Press Tagged With: ,

Journey to Portugal: In Pursuit of Portugal’s History and Culture by José Saramago, translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor

September 17, 2013 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 464 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Journey to Portugal: In Pursuit of Portugal’s History and Culture by José Saramago, translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor from Portuguese, is a travelogue, but not in a traditional sense of naming specific destinations, their locations, and offering impressions in a straightforward manner.  Readers looking for a travel guide would be best served looking for another book about Portugal.  Saramago refers to himself as the traveler, which can be wearisome throughout 400 pages of text, and many of the visits he makes throughout the country are to either museums or religious locations/buildings, which is odd given his atheism and tenuous relationship with the Catholic church after writing The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.  Moreover, this travelogue is as close to being a memoir as it can be given Saramago’s reflections, daydreams, and observances about the more modern Portugal around him.  (He exiled himself, a Communist, to the Spanish island of Lanzarote following The Carnation Revolution in 1974 where he remained until his death in 2010.)  However, he does say that he wishes these religious relics and pieces to be preserved as works made by human hands.

“The traveller thanks him, and sets off in the direction indicated.  There the palheiros survive, huge barracks made of wooden slats blackened by the wind and the sea, a few already stripped beams exposed to the gaze.  A few are still inhabited, others have lost their roofs to the wind.  It won’t be long before nothing will remain beyond a photographic record.” (page 146)

In many ways, Saramago is reflecting on the life he’s led, the perceptions he’s had and still has, and how as time moves on the ornaments of those memories and perceptions are stripped bare, leaving only the barest outline of the past — until the emotions and personal connections are lost and all that is left is a photo out of context.  “During the lengthy voyage that took nearly six months, the conviction was born in me that in every place I passed through there was a piece of old Portugal bidding farewell to the traveller I was, an ancient Portugal which was beginning, finally, while still doubting whether it wanted to or not, to move towards the twentieth century,” he says. (page xii)  He reconciles the past with the present, as seen through a melancholy perspective, and like the villages and people the traveller approaches slowly, he passes through one town to another, gets lost, and meditates on what he encounters.

Saramago reflects on stonework quite a bit and its ability to stand the test of time, and through his ruminations, readers are likely to see his struggle with the endurance or inability of workers and tributes to stand the test of time — there are some shrines and other edifices he finds hold stories that are no longer accessible.  Journey to Portugal: In Pursuit of Portugal’s History and Culture by José Saramago, translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor, may suffer from poor translation, but there are moments of great reflection and insight that shouldn’t be missed, even if they are mired in melancholia and dark moods, by patient readers.

About the Author:

José de Sousa Saramago is a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, playwright and journalist. He was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party.  His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor rather than the officially sanctioned story. Saramago was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998. He founded the National Front for the Defense of Culture (Lisbon, 1992) with among others Freitas-Magalhaes. He lived on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Spain, where he died in June 2010.

This is my 57th book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, New Authors Challenge, nonfiction, Read in 2013, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Mailbox Monday #236

September 16, 2013 by

Mailbox Monday (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  September’s host is Notorious Spinks Talks.

The meme allows bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received:

1. The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook from Knopf for review.

1946, post-World War II, Hamburg. While thousands wander the rubble, lost and homeless, Colonel Lewis Morgan, charged with overseeing the rebuilding of this devastated city and the denazification of its defeated people, is stationed in a grand house on the River Elbe. He is awaiting the arrival of his wife, Rachael—still grieving for their eldest son—and their only surviving son, Edmund. But rather than force the owners of the house, a German widower and his rebellious daughter, out onto the streets, Lewis insists that the two families live together. In this charged atmosphere, both parents and children will be forced to confront their true selves as enmity and grief give way to passion and betrayal, to their deepest desires, their fiercest loyalties, and the transforming power of forgiveness.

2.  Egg to Chicken by Camilla De la Bédoyère for 50 cents for Wiggles from library sale.  It has cute little peek-a-boo places behind the eggs.

Learn what happens from an egg to a chicken in this book that is packed with fantastic facts about their life cycle. Amazing photographs show children the processes that chickens go through on their way to being fully grown.

3. An Adventure With Charlie Chick by Maurice Pledger for 50 cents for Wiggles from library sale.  Another cute peek-a-boo book.

Children and parents adore these cleverly crafted interactive adventures. Kids get to turn flaps to reveal pop-up surprises on every page; each book also ends with an entire pop-up scene. Maurice Pledger’s artwork is painstakingly detailed and resonates with a warmth and joy. Kids will want to explore the natural world with these lovable characters again and again. Series includes: An Adventure with Billy Bunny, An Adventure with Bobby Bear, An Adventure with Charlie Chick, An Adventure with Morris Mouse, An Adventure with Olivia Owl, An Adventure with Oscar Otter, An Adventure with Polly Polar Bear, and An Adventure with Winnie Wolf. Look for Maurice Pledger’s Sticker Books and Nature Trail Books.

4.  Telling the Time by Heather Amery, illustrated by Stephen Cartwright for 50 cents for Wiggles from library sale.  

This is a new, board-paged edition of the timeless favourite which will help children begin to understand about how to tell the time. It follows a day in the life of the Boot family down on Apple Tree Farm, as Poppy and Sam learn to tell the time along with the reader. Each page shows a different activity, as well as the time it is being done, which the reader can then turn the hands on the toy clock to face. It features the charming illustrations of Stephen Cartwright. With a little yellow duck to find on each page, there is plenty to keep young children entertained.

5.  What I Like About Me! by Allia Zobel Nolan, illustrated by Miki Sakamoto for Wiggles for 50 cents from the library sale.

This fun-loving book proves to kids that, in a world where fitting in is the norm, being different is what makes us special.The kids in What I Like About Me! are as different as night and day. And, guess what? They love it. Some adore the fact that their braces dazzle and gleam, others feel distinguished when they wear their glasses. Still others wouldn’t trade their big feet for a lifetime of free video games. A mylar mirror embedded in the last page let kids take a look at themselves and decide what they like best about themselves.

Stay tuned for more books I got from the library sale next week!

What did you receive?

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme Tagged With:

219th Virtual Poetry Circle

September 14, 2013 by

Welcome to the 219th Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Also, sign up for the 2013 Dive Into Poetry Challenge because its simple; you only need to read 1 book of poetry. Check out the stops on the 2013 National Poetry Month Blog Tour and the 2012 National Poetry Month Blog Tour.

Today’s poem is from Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

Sonnets from the Portuguese 22: When our Two Souls

When our two souls stand up erect and strong,
Face to face, silent, drawing nigh and nigher,
Until the lengthening wings break into fire
At either curvéd point, — what bitter wrong
Can the earth do to us, that we should not long
Be here contented ? Think. In mounting higher,
The angels would press on us, and aspire
To drop some golden orb of perfect song
Into our deep, dear silence. Let us stay
Rather on earth, Belovèd, — where the unfit
Contrarious moods of men recoil away
And isolate pure spirits, and permit
A place to stand and love in for a day,
With darkness and the death-hour rounding it.

What do you think?

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle

The Turncoat: Renegades of the Revolution by Donna Thorland

September 12, 2013 by

Source: Borrowed from Diary of an Eccentric
Paperback, 432 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

The Turncoat: Renegades of the Revolution by Donna Thorland is a steamy novel of espionage, spies, and cover-ups. Quaker daughter Kate Grey is swept up in a plot against the British by Mrs. Ferrars, who is tasked with watching over her while her father rides off with supplies for The Continental Army.  Riding away from the only home she’s known, she’s forced to hear and see the darker side of war as it comes to her neighbor’s farm.  From that moment of helplessness on, she’s made up her mind to fight against the British who have plundered her home and its women.  She establishes herself in Philadelphia as an heiress, with the help of Ferrars, and embarks on a journey she never expects would lead her back to the British officer, Peter Tremayne, whom Ferrars duped at the Grey farm.

“Only the barest sliver of light entered beneath the batten door, which was reinforced on both sides with iron plates.  He took care not to look directly at it; in this blackness it would blind him like the sun.  He stood soaking up the darkness, breathing in the chemical smells of old powder and fresh mold, and reining in the panic that threatened to overwhelm him.  It was like being underground, being buried.  The unseen vault must be at least three stories above him, and the emptiness held all the childhood terrors of the night, and the decidedly adult terror that came with the knowledge of all the ways a man might die in such a place.”  (page 207)

Secrets twist in on themselves as Kate becomes engaged to one of the most terrifying British soldiers campaigning with General Howe from Philadelphia.  Although Kate flourishes in her new role as beautiful spy, turning heads, she is ill prepared for the emotional attachment she feels for her mark and still has for the man she never expected to see again, Peter Tremayne.  The emotions that she keeps hidden driver her actions more than she realizes, and at times, they are what breaks down her facade, makes her stumble, and leaves her lying in traps set by more emotionally detached foes.

Thorland weaves fact with fiction seamlessly in this historical novel about the American Revolution, and readers will see the strategy and battle scenes play out with gruesome consequences.  She captivates her readers through the building of strong and flawed characters whose lives are not only torn apart by war, but also the loyalty they feel to their families and countries even as they see hope in the enemy.  Trust and loyalty are tested over and over again, but Kate is committed to her duty and risks everything she wants, especially with Peter, to save General Washington and the Rebel cause.  The Turncoat: Renegades of the Revolution by Donna Thorland is gripping and offers a more exciting look at the American Revolution from both the Rebel and Crown’s point of views.

 

About the Author:

Graduating from Yale with a degree in Classics and Art History, Donna Thorland managed architecture and interpretation at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem for several years. She then earned an MFA in film production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She has been a Disney/ABC Television Writing Fellow and a WGA Writer’s Access Project Honoree, and has written for the TV shows Cupid and Tron: Uprising. The director of several award-winning short films, her most recent project aired on WNET Channel 13. Her fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Donna is married with one cat and splits her time between Salem and Los Angeles.

This is my 56th book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

 

 

 

This is my 3rd book for the American Revolution Reading Challenge 2013

Filed Under: American Revolution Reading Challenge 2013, borrowed copy, challenges, historical fiction, New Authors Challenge, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2013, reviews Tagged With:

Origins (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan’s Diaries Vol. 1) by L.J. Smith, Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec

September 11, 2013 by

Source: Purchased from Borders ages ago
Paperback, 237 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Origins (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan’s Diaries Vol. 1) by L.J. Smith, Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec is the first in the diaries series stemming from L.J. Smith’s original novels.  Stefan Salvatore is the younger of two brothers, and he’s the one that does as his father asks and rarely speaks out against him.  Damon, who is away during the Civil War, is the outspoken rebel.  Told from Stefan’s point of view, readers will get a sense of the tug between duty and desire, but as the second son and most responsible, his sense of duty often sways his choices.  When his father pushes him to pay his attentions to a local beauty from a powerful family, he does so, but it is clear that the match is one of convenience, not love.

“There was no mystery or intrigue in Mystic Falls.  Everyone knew everyone else.  If Rosalyn and I were to get married, our children would be dancing with Daisy’s children.  They would have the same conversations, the same jokes, the same fights.  And the cycle would continue for eternity.”  (Page 39)

In fact, a stranger in town, Katherine Pierce, has turned his head, and he cannot get her out of his mind.  A tug of war between his desires and his duty ensues, but other than Katherine’s beauty and mystery, you know little of her and why Stefan wants to be with her.  Is it mere animal lust, has she taken over his mind to make him feel that way?  These are questions that are left unanswered, but the infatuation he has with her leads to jealousy when his brother Damon returns from General Groom’s camp and spends a great deal of time with her.  She continues to be a mysterious figure even at the end of the novel, but as there are others in the series, she must be that way for a reason.

Although some of the chapters are written in diary form, the story is in prose, with Stefan’s inner thoughts sprinkled throughout as diary entries.  Despite wishing Stefan were more like Damon, unfettered, he sticks to his duties until the dam breaks for him emotionally.  He has little choice but to follow his desires when his duty has failed him.  The juxtaposition between the human and vampire Stefan is hinted at here, especially as he continues to compare himself to his brother and to find the life under his father’s thumb stifling.  Origins (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan’s Diaries Vol. 1) by L.J. Smith, Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec is a solid first book that introduces the town of Mystic Falls, the threat that faces the townsfolk as the Civil War brews outside their doors, and the unseen dangers that lie amongst them in wait.

About the Author:

L.J. SMITH has written over two dozen books for young adults, including The Vampire Diaries, now a hit TV show. She has also written the bestselling Night World series and The Forbidden Game, as well as the #1 New York Times bestselling Dark Visions. She loves to walk the trails and beaches in Point Reyes, California, daydreaming about her latest book. She also loves to hear from readers ([email protected]) and hopes they will visit her continually updated website, where information, new stories, and contests can be found.

This is my 55th book for the 2013 New Authors Challenge.

Filed Under: challenges, fiction, Harper Collins, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, purchased, Read in 2013, reviews Tagged With: ,

Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys

September 10, 2013 by

Source: Borrowed ARC from Diary of an Eccentric
Paperback, 320 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys is a swashbuckling 007 tricked into rejoining the King’s military and the cause against the rebels (a.k.a. Colonials/Americans), to which he drags his Mohawk brother Ate.  Humphreys, who played Jack Absolute on stage before writing this novel, clearly has a love of cheeky dialogue and plot twists because the prose is filled with it.  Absolute wants to restore his family fortune and good name, but he’s soon embroiled in a spy’s game and turned around by pretty faces and dark blackguards.  Aboard the ship to America, he’s tasked with decoding messages by General Burgoyne and to observe his fellow shipmates to sniff out the traitor in their midst.

“He glanced around the circle of excited faces that turned to him.  No women, at least.  Not even the cause of this whole affair, that little minx, Elizabeth Farren.  The hour was too close to the lighting of the footlights at Drury Lane and her show must go on.  Yet how she would have loved playing this scene.” (page 3 ARC)

“And the strange new flag that floated over the ramparts–unseen til that day, concocted of stars and stripes obviously ripped from spare cloaks and petticoats–would soon be replaced by the Union Standard of Great Britain.” (page 67 ARC)

The novel gives readers a detailed glimpse into American Revolution battles — Saratoga and Stanwix –with Americans pulled between loyalty to the Crown and the desire for freedom.  At the same time, Absolute is torn between his duty to the Crown and his desire to protect his adopted brethren the Iroquois.  Humphreys mixes it up with Native Americans loyal to both England and Rebels, as well as those Native Americans that were schooled in Christianity and took on English names.  Like the U.S. Civil War, there is brother and cousin fighting against other family members, and friends and neighbors fighting each other.

The plot folds in on itself several times before it lengthens out to uncover some hidden mysteries, and while the big reveal is a bit predictable, the decision Absolute must make is emotional and heartbreaking.  It forces him to choose between duty and freedom and love and culpability.  In some ways, the novel reads more like a script for a movie or play, but the fast-paced nature of the plot makes for a fast and entertaining read.  Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys will entertain readers, while giving them an inside look into the tensions of battle, loyalty, and revolution.

About the Author:

Chris (C.C.) Humphreys was born in Toronto and grew up in the UK. All four grandparents were actors and since his father was an actor as well, it was inevitable he would follow the bloodline. He has acted all over the world and appeared on stages ranging from London’s West End to Hollywood’s Twentieth Century Fox. Favorite roles have included Hamlet, Caleb the Gladiator in NBC’s Biblical-Roman epic mini-series, ‘AD – Anno Domini’, Clive Parnell in ‘Coronation Street’, and Jack Absolute in Sheridan’s ‘The Rivals’.  Chris has written eight historical novels. The first, The French Executioner told the tale of the man who killed Anne Boleyn, was runner up for the CWA Steel Dagger for Thrillers 2002, and has been optioned for the screen.

This is my 2nd book for the American Revolution Reading Challenge 2013

Filed Under: American Revolution Reading Challenge 2013, ARC, borrowed copy, challenges, historical fiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2013, reviews, sourcebooks Tagged With:

Mailbox Monday #235

September 9, 2013 by

Mailbox Monday (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  September’s host is Notorious Spinks Talks Beauty in Ruins.

The meme allows bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received:

1. Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope for TLC Book Tours.

John Dashwood promised his dying father that he would take care of his half sisters. But his wife, Fanny, has no desire to share their newly inherited estate. When she descends upon Norland Park, the three Dashwood girls—Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret—are faced with the realities of a cold world and the cruelties of life without their father, their home, or their money.

What did you receive?

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme Tagged With: ,

218th Virtual Poetry Circle

September 7, 2013 by

Welcome to the 218th Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Also, sign up for the 2013 Dive Into Poetry Challenge because its simple; you only need to read 1 book of poetry. Check out the stops on the 2013 National Poetry Month Blog Tour and the 2012 National Poetry Month Blog Tour.

Today’s poem is from Joseph Millar’s Blue Rust:

Labor Day

Even the bosses are sleeping late
in the dusty light of September.

The parking lot’s empty and no one cares.
No one unloads a ladder, steps on the gas

or starts up the big machines in the shop,
sanding and grinding, cutting and binding.

No one lays a flat bead of flux over a metal seam
or lowers the steel forks from a tailgate.

Shadows gather inside the sleeve
of the empty thermos beside the sink,

the bells go still by the channel buoy,
the wind lies down in the west,

the tuna boats rest on their tie-up lines
turning a little, this way and that.

What do you think?

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle

American Revolution Read-a-Long Begins

September 5, 2013 by

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight…for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom. (GoodReads Summary)

Tomorrow is the first day of the Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson read-a-long at War Through the Generations.  Anna and I will post discussion questions, along with our answers, on Sept. 6, for Chapters 1-10.

We hope that you will join us and either offer your comments or answers to the questions on the War Through the Generations blog or on your own blogs and provide us with a link.

Here’s the rest of the read-a-long discussion schedule, with discussions scheduled for every Friday September:

Sept. 1-6: Chapters 1-10

Sept. 7-13: Chapters 11-24 (end Part 1)

Sept. 14-20: Chapters 25-36

Sept. 21-27: Chapters 37-45 (the end)

We hope that you’ll be joining us tomorrow and for the rest of the month.

Filed Under: American Revolution Reading Challenge 2013, challenges Tagged With: , ,

The Time Between by Karen White

September 4, 2013 by

Source: Borrowed from Diary of an Eccentric
Hardcover, 352 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

The Time Between by Karen White is undulating between the past and present of Eleanor Murray and Helena Szarka’s lives as they find they have more in common than how they feel the piano music they play.  Eleanor and her sister Eve’s relationship was severed by a childhood prank that festered and paralyzed them both, while Helena is an aging woman who has been close to death more than once.  As Helena delves into the deep secrets Eleanor is keeping, Eleanor does the same behind closed doors.  White balances the WWII past with the present beautifully, crafting a novel that juxtaposes the past and the present in a way that uncovers how second chances can be easily missed or taken by the horns.

“She taught us that building baskets was like building a life, finding materials from different places–bits and pieces with their own purpose–and creating a vessel that could pour out or keep in.  I thought about this now, driving to Edisto, wondering what sort of basket my life would be and what it would be named.”  (page 67 ARC)

Caring for the aging Helena for her boss, Finn, Eleanor begins to reconnect with the past she has forgotten and the dreams she once had, but at the same time she’s struggling to reconcile the spark of dreams rekindled with the harrowing guilt of her past.  Like Helena, the guilt has weighed Eleanor down so heavily to the point at which she cannot move without the approval of her conscience.  She has set aside her life in favor of other’s needs and they have let her because of their own guilt and shame, as Helena has done for more than 50 years.  White brings Charleston and Edisto to life, immersing the reader into the marshes, the salt spray, and the wildness of town life.

She brings about the juxtaposition of Charleston’s upper crust life and the busy go-go-go of business with the quieter, lulling music of nature and sea life on Edisto.  Eleanor is not awakened by the busy life of Charleston in Finn’s firm, but by the sedate musicality of the rivers and ocean and the not-so-gentled prodding of Helena.  White has created multi-faceted characters who have real fears and guilt, and these women will burrow into readers hearts, twist them up and wring out so many emotions.

The Time Between by Karen White is stunning in its historical scope and its emotional scale.  As Eleanor and Eve learn about forgiveness and rekindling their connection, Helena learns to loosen her grip on her terrifying past and let go.  Both must forgive and be forgiven, and as they learn to move beyond their pasts, it becomes easier for them to see doors that open to new opportunities.  White is one of the best writers today, and each of her stories transports readers beyond themselves and into the lives of her characters, ensuring they become indelible.

About the Author:

Known for award-winning novels such as Learning to Breathe, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance 2009 Book of the Year Award finalist The House on Tradd Street, the highly praised The Memory of Water, the four-week SIBA bestseller The Lost Hours, Pieces of the Heart, and her IndieBound national bestseller The Color of Light, Karen has shared her appreciation of the coastal Low country with readers in four of her last six novels.

Italian and French by ancestry, a southerner and a storyteller by birth, Karen has made her home in many different places.  Visit the author at her website, and become a fan on Facebook.

Also check out my reviews of The House on Tradd Street, The Girl on Legare Street, The Beach Trees, After the Rain, Sea Change, and On Folly Beach.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, fiction, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2013, reviews Tagged With: ,

Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje

September 3, 2013 by

Source: Public Library
Paperback, 207 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje is a travel and family memoir (highly recommended by Beth Kephart), and he says that it is a composite of two return trips to Sri Lanka, formally known as Ceylon, in the 1970s, as well as endless stories and questions-and-answers from family members and those that knew his father Mervyn best.  Michael is among the youngest of the family, having left Ceylon when he was 11 after his mother and father divorced.  Much of this memoir borders between fiction and truth, but like all memories and perceptions, the story of someone’s life can be as fluid as the relationships that begin and end with and around them.  The crux of this memoir, in which Ondaatje embarks on his own journey of remembering about his family and the country he came from, is about the fluidity of memory and the inability to truly know even our closest family members.

“What began it all was the bright bone of a dream I could hardly hold onto.  I was sleeping at a friend’s house.  I saw my father, chaotic, surrounded by dogs, and all of them were screaming and barking into the tropical landscape.  The noises woke me.  I sat up on the uncomfortable sofa and I was in a jungle, hot, sweating.”  (page 21)

Ondaajte’s magical realism shines through in the narrative, particularly as he takes trips to the former family home and into the jungle.  There are humorous anecdotes about his grandmother, Lalla, who clearly had a love for life and freedom.  There is one incident in which she doesn’t realize her breast is being fondled by a stranger on the bus, but the reasoning is something very unexpected.  His father and grandmother did not get along well, and whether that is because Mervyn is a victim of dipsomania, also known as alcoholism, or Lalla’s inhibition after her husband’s death that enables her to do as she pleases without one thought to the consequences.  

More than anything, Ondaatje’s memoir is about learning about his family’s outrageous past in a time of excess (1920s), but also realizing that there are mysteries about the interconnectedness of their lives that may never be resolved.  He must come to terms with what he knows about his family through his own memories and that of others and what will always remain a mystery — how can he reconcile the two.  But this is not just all prose, he also illuminates some of the family stories with poetry.  Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje is sparkling in the jungle, a bead of sweat that slithers down your arm and seeps beneath the skin and causes a startling chill.

About the Author:

Michael Ondaatje is one of the world’s foremost writers – his artistry and aesthetic have influenced an entire generation of writers and readers. Although he is best known as a novelist, Ondaatje’s work also encompasses poetry, memoir, and film, and reveals a passion for defying conventional form. His transcendent novel The English Patient, explores the stories of people history fails to reveal by intersecting four diverse lives at the end of World War II. This bestselling novel was later made into an Academy Award-winning film.

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