“What do you do if you find yourself as a new mom and you realize you’re just not capable?”
Told in two timelines, Grace struggles with postpartum depression in 1957 while Beth, in 1996, reluctantly helps her father move into a nursing home since he is suffering from dementia. Beth then helps her siblings clean out her fathers house where she finds letters from her mother, Grace, revealing untold family truths.
Synopsis below provided by the publisher.
“I want a career and I want to see other women have the option to make choices, too, instead of operating as a breeding machines for entitled men.”
The plot was very slow to build. The first half felt repetitive and the characters were hard to connect with. It was surprising to feel such a disconnect from the characters since the subjects at hand were so solemn and emotional. The second half presented some unexpected twists after a different narrator surprisingly enters… which helped move the plot along. The ending was okay.
Gender roles and the feminist movement in the 1950’s is explored and sufficiently represented. The issues brought up in the book regarding this are engaging topics. Overall, the topics presented were interesting but the characters were flat and the plot was tedious.
Kelly Rimmer is a best selling author. Visit her website.
“Where will they hear the story if not from you- the story of being stolen away from family?”
Told in dual timelines, Hannie is an 18 year old slave living during the Reconstruction Era in Louisiana in 1875. Having been taken from her family before slavery ended, Hannie joins the plantation owner’s daughters on an odyssey of sorts to find the two girls father while Hannie herself quests to find her own mother and siblings. Benny is a first year teacher in 1987 who wants to make a difference in the lives of her Louisiana students. Benny is working on a school project about local family lineagewhen her timeline crosses Hannie’s.
“You been in slavery days, you know there’s things a heap less peaceable than being dead.”
It was very slow moving and I really struggled with the pacing. The beginning really dragged, but around chapter 9 something happens and it picks up….momentarily. After that moment of excitement, I found myself twiddling my thumbs for quite a few chapters waiting for the story to progress. It had a few more moments of ups, but most of the time I felt disinterested because it was so wordy. I thought Hannie’s story was powerful, and I wanted more from her. I didn’t look forward to Benny’s chapters as much as Hannie’s.
Graphic violence and gory details are completely left out. There is a scene that hints that something derogatory happened, but it must be inferred by the reader.
I would describe this as a lighter historical fiction about family, courage, loss, and friendship.
Lisa Wingate is a bestselling author. Visit her website.
Most of the story moves to a steady beat. Not fast-paced, just moderately balanced. But then the end just hits you, and the emotions pour.
The use of eminent domain has been enforced on their property, and Jo, a twenty-two year old paraplegic, narrates life in small town Eden, Montana after her older brother detonates a bomb in a nearby town that injures many in response to the land acquisition. Her brother, Samuel, was known for anti-government extremism, but now Jo is left to pick up the pieces since Samuel has gone into hiding.
“Samuel told me that after our mother’s death, the women of Prospect supplied him with food for weeks. No one has brought me anything now; apparently there is no casserole that says “Sorry your brother’s a terrorist.””
The description provided for this book might make it seem like it’s centered around terrorism, extreme politics, and eminent domain; but, it’s actually about how these actions affect the main character, Jo. It is character driven. Her narration brings these effects to light because of her brother. Throughout the story, the reader sees how Jo reacts to and questions her brothers poor choices. Her growth as a character is illuminated through her decisions the days following the bombing.
“…while I might not be my brother, and might not be responsible for what he has done, he is still my brother.”
I enjoyed Pastor Asa’s character. His struggle to find meaning in the bombing where his daughter was injured was tragic. Acumen involving religion and faith were tested through Asa’s character.
“I wonder what part of him that is a pastor is at war with the part of him that is a father.”
Some other things you might want to know: There are no chapters and no “Parts”. There are only page breaks. While Jo is the narrator, occasionally Samuel will briefly interlude as if speaking to Jo; Samuel’s thoughts are in italics. There are vivid descriptions of Montana, meaning at different parts in the story there are several paragraphs devoted to describing this setting. There is a considerable amount of dialogue centered around God and theology.
A tight-nit family along with a few friends go on their annual trip to a secluded cabin that has been passed down for generations. Along the way, they swerve to miss hitting a deer. This instant changes their lives forever and their camper falls below the guardrails on the side of a mountain into the snow. Finn, a sixteen year old, is immediately dead, but does not pass through to her next world. She continues to watch her family through survival, rescue, guilt, and grief.
The chapters are short and there are a total of 94 chapters. The first 14% (ch.1-5) of the story were the days leading up to their trip before the accident occurs. When the accident hit, it really picked up. I couldn’t read fast enough. There is a huge “omg” moment that happens while they are fighting for survival. I was astounded, angry, and my jaw dropped when this happened.
At 38 % the rescue takes place but not all survive. (Meaning only 14-38% or ch. 6-35 of the novel was their survival story, the rest is what happens after they get back home.) From this point on the family is drowning in blame, grief, and hate. Guilt radiates the life and relationships of those who survived and a secret is kept about that fateful night. This is the bulk and focus of the story; so for most of the story it is not very happy.
Paranormal aspect- The narrator is dead and narrates all of the story for the family/characters. She watches them while lingering in limbo. (They cannot see her, but she talks to them in their dreams.) Towards the end this narration style got repetitive.
There is some minor mundane stuff that happens like watching baseball games, rescuing kittens…to help them with their grief. There is cussing and sex, but not the sexy details. Overall, I enjoyed it though I would definitely classify this as a young adult novel.
The ending Author’s Note is a must read which explains the real story that inspired this fictional novel.
Author Suzanne RedFearn’s has written two other novels called Hush Little Baby and No Ordinary Life.
“Other people, she thought. They were everywhere. And you never knew which ones where dangerous.” -C.J. Tudor, The Other People
In 2016, Gabe is driving home when he sees the face of his daughter from the back window of an unknown car in front of him. Thinking he must be mistaken, he pulls over to phone home. Answering his phone call though is not his wife nor his daughter, but the police who tell him it’s about his wife and daughter who are missing. After this first introduction chapter, the novel then fast forwards to 2019 where Gabe is still searching for his daughter who he believes to still be alive, though the police have dismissed his statement of seeing his daughter in the car in front of him. Gabe relentlessly pursues and uncovers piecing to his daughters mystery that were left untold. But, it seems even those closest with him have not been honest. Who can Gabe trust? And, what is Gabe hiding about his own past?
The chapters are short and writing style is absorbing. It’s a quick and easy read (under 300 pages). The chapters alternate between 3 characters, and are woven together towards the end as the mystery unravels.
I found myself suspending belief shortly into the story. But towards the middle and afterwards, I found so much unrealistic. I don’t mind suspending belief to help carry a story here or there, but the main story itself seemed too over the top. The reality was not there. There is a small paranormal aspect that did not fit in well with the rest, and I did not understand what it had to do with the movement of the story or the finality of the plot.
Overall thoughts: I liked it okay. It was a good-ish read. It’s nothing that had me thinking long about it after I was done, no big jaw-dropping moments, and probably nothing I will recommend as an omg you will not believe this thriller. It was fast paced, but not thrilling for me. It’s a good read for vacation or by the pool.
Thank you to Random House-Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.
“She was a mother of two, who wished at that moment to forget her children and live a life with this man, in his dreams, dreams she didn’t know black men even considered.” -Jasmon Drain, Stateway’s Garden
Tracey and his older brother, Jacob, know nothing other than growing up in Chicago’s housing project known as the Stateway Gardens. Surrounded by crime and poverty, Tracy holds on tight to his dreams of a bright future. While some see the building as a symbol of failure, Tracy remembers it as home.
The book is told in separate stories rather than chapters. All of the stories revolve around or are somehow related to Tracy and Jacob.
Overall: Initially, the stories were hard to get into it. I had a hard time reading the first part of this book; it felt choppy and I felt removed from the characters because of the narration style. The only story in the beginning that I liked was “Solane”. I didn’t like any stories again until after halfway. Admittedly, the last few stories were hard to put down. At that point, both Tracy and Jacob were older and no longer children. Things then began to come to life. In the end, I was all in my emotions and completely invested in the characters. I wish the entire book had been that way so I could have gotten to know them better during their childhood.
Stateway’s Garden is Jasmon Drain’s first book. Read more about it here.
More about the Stateway Gardens:
Click here to read short accounts as told by the residents who lived there.
“Everything is real on Coney Island – and nothing is real.”
Peggy Battenberg is requested to stay with her family on Coney Island. She reluctantly accepts. Peggy feels trapped within her family, their name, their riches, and she wants to shape her own identity. Shortly after arriving to the Oriental Hotel on Coney Island, prejudices are unearthed and a prevalent divide of social classes greet her while making her way to Dreamland. But, women begin to show up dead. Who can she trust and why is she being followed?
“On Coney Island, you can always find someone to do anything.”
Restrictions on women and the treatment of foreigners are spotlighted throughout the story. It focuses on the social structure and the formation of society on Coney Island during 1911 more so than the police procedural. The lush atmosphere was a character in itself and played a dominant role in the movement of the story.
Technical Stuff: It starts with a woman being murdered in the Epilogue, but the murder is not revisited until the main character, Peggy, begins her extended stay at Coney Island which is sometime during chapter 5. (There are a total of 37 chapters.) However, the story deviates from the murder mystery for quite sometime after this chapter and instead focuses on the main character’s struggle for independence within her rich family, and her new found romantic interest. Because of this, the murder mystery fell to a quiet whisper until chapter 28 (or 78% into the story on a Kindle) when Peggy decides to look for the killer who has been murdering women on the island. That only leaves an eventful 22% left for the reader. I was wanting more suspense throughout the entirety.
The novel was very well researched. Click around below to learn more about Dreamland.
The Oriental Hotel, a Coney Island luxury hotel in the 1890’s. Peggy’s family stays at the Oriental Hotel in the novel.
Hellgate, a boat ride at Dreamland before it burned down. The are several scenes that include Hellgate in the novel.
Danny, sixteen about to be seventeen, lives with her mom. Her dad is famous but she has little to no relationship with him because he is too busy as a survivalist TV star; her relationship with him consists of watching all of his shows on TV. When her dad calls to invite her to be on his next survivalist show, she hastily accepts. But, the plane crashes, lives are lost, and they are faced with the true wilderness. Danny begins to see her dad for who he truly is, but can she forgive him? Sacrifices are made in order to survive, but does that mean sacrificing human decency? While the group struggles to survive in the Amazon wild, they also struggle to cope with each other.
Family resentment and forgiveness is celebrated through Danny’s tale of survival. She battles the ghosts of her parents decisions: Did her mom keep her from having a relationship with her dad? Why didn’t her dad try harder to see her and form a meaningful relationship with her?
Overall thoughts: The beginning is mostly about the background relationship between Danny, her mom, and her dad until 24%. Because of this, the beginning was slow. Danny’s dad had little to no redeeming qualities throughout the entire story. Danny wants to be part of his life so bad, and wants to be accepted by him for who she is. Manipulative and egotistical, I did not like him and he is a major character. Without him though, Danny could not experience the growth she had in the end. I did enjoy the constant reminder of how manipulated the world we live in is; the insurmountable negation of our natural world even to the state of death itself is echoed in this novel.
Image above taken from the author’s website. Visit here to learn more.
The Lion’s Den is an expression of irony and intentions, and an austere reflection of familial forgiveness that tests the boundaries of protection and love. A fragrant display of a complicated father-son relationship is epitomized in this 28 page short story. Do two wrongs make a right?
Michael returns home to live with his parents after losing his job and becoming evicted, though to those around it seems an act of familial love since his dad is in his last stages of cancer. Michael is asked to speak at his former school, and after he accepts he reflects on his school days and the stages of his development into an adult. He recalls his fathers arrest during this time and the strain it had on their family for many years after. As a desperate and angry twenty-two year old, Michael had written and published a memoir about his father that exposed his fathers poor choices. Now, in the last stage of his life, Michael’s dad has one last unexpected arrangement waiting for Michael.
Has time and experience healed their relationship? Will Michael always see his dad as a felon? Is Michael any different than his father, Michael having exposed his dad through a memoir while his dad illegally exposed private NSA documents? How do we measure immorality and crime?
The Lion’s Den is part of the Amazon Original Series, Inheritance. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.
Taken from the Lyceum Agency website.
Visit the Lyceum Agency page to view more about author Anthony Marra.
Two sisters, Irene and Cordelia, find themselves on different political sides of WWII. Irene, married to a high ranking Nazi official, resides in Berlin while Cordelia moves to Paris to work for a journalist reporting on the Nazi’s. Throughout the book, the two sisters periodically communicate through letters.
Underwood Portable typewriter like Cordelia would have used.
It starts out with a modern day character, Juno, in a typewriter shop during 2016. She finds Cordelia’s typewriter from when she was a journalist and purchases it because she also finds a copy of an unpublished novel Cordelia wrote in the typewriter case. Juno goes home and reads Cordelia’s manuscript. Juno’s POV does not pick up again until 59% (on a Kindle).
The first half of the book revolves around the evolving politics of the Nazi party as seen through the eyes of Irene who attends many parties and political events with her Nazi husband. She struggles to accept her role as a wife according to the National Socialist Guide and feels like she must yield in order to survive.
“If you’re going to fit in, you’ll need to accept the way Germans do things.”
Meanwhile, her sister, Cordelia, reports on fashion in Paris while working for a journalist and questions her sisters political allegiance and ethical behavior. Will the two sisters be able to reconcile after the war, or will their political views keep them divided?
“How could a person be dragged screaming into a police care on the streets of a civilized city and not even turn heads?”
Historically : There are lot of prominent historical figures involved in the story such as Martha Dodd, Janet Flanner, Joseph Goebells, Reinhard Heydrich, Sylvia Beach, Arthur Koestler, and Kim Philby. There is dialogue regarding gender inequality; Cordelia has to first work as a secretary because women weren’t seen to be fit as journalist working alongside men, while Irene had to follow the Nazi protocol for being a proper wife and running a household. Degenerate artists are also a considerable subject that are detailed through a character seen in the second half, Oskar Blum, a young artist who is a protege of Liebermann.
“Jew lackeys like Liebermann have a polluting effect. Our culture is cleaner without their entartete Kunst.”
Overall thoughts: The scenes and descriptions are over-extensive and drawn out which made it feel longer than it had to be. It was slow in some places and a little under halfway through I started to feel eager for the story to climb. (It doesn’t truly reach climax until around 80% on a Kindle.) I enjoyed that the focus was before the war and what led up to it (1936/1937) and then the end of the war (1945/46) rather than what happened during the war. The ending was great and I really enjoyed it. I also loved the political climate that the author creates, and consider the topic of political influence dividing family as relevant today.
(Trigger- rape scene) Thank you to Random House Ballantine for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.
Kim Philby’s speech on becoming a double agent. (In The Words I Never Wrote, Kim Philby plays a big role in Cordelia’s life.)Read about Martha Dodd and her relationship with Nazi’s.
