Dear Child

I kept waiting for this English-language debut by German author Romy Hausmann to engage me and it never did. There was a reasonably satisfying ending after a significant plot twist that I never saw coming. The story is primarily told from the perspective of Jasmin, a young woman who was kidnapped by a man and held captive in a remote cabin, where she must follow strict rules, never sees daylight, serve as the mother to his two children, and--most disturbing of all--take on the identity of Lena, who, we learn, is the biological mother of the two children. The story all revolves around the original disappearance of college student Lena 13 years ago. So alternating chapters are narrated by her father, Matthias, who has never given up looking for her. A third narrator is Hannah, the daughter held captive in the cabin with Jasmin/Lena. Jasmin has managed to escape the cabin by hitting her captor on the head with a snow globe. But in her mad flight through the woods, she runs onto a highway and is hit by a car. She wakes up briefly in an ambulance to find Hannah is with her. Hannah tells the investigating police that Jasmin's name is Lena. And because Jasmin has been forced to look like Lena by her captor, Lena's parents are brought to the hospital to identify their missing daughter. Except that it's not really Lena. When Lena's parents catch sight of Hannah, however, they are shocked at her resemblance to the younger version of their daughter. It's a very tricky plot, well executed. Characters are fully developed. So I struggled to figure out why I disliked this book so much. I simply did not like any of the characters or feel any empathy with or sympathy for them. None of the characters are honest with themselves or others so you can't trust anyone's narrative, or if you do, you'll be disappointed. Admittedly, they have all been subjected to terrible emotional and physical trauma as well as psychological manipulation, yet none exhibit any admirable qualities to latch onto.

The New York Times calls it "disturbing" and "thought provoking" in their overall favorable review. While Publishers Weekly says, "the book’s real power lies in the author’s insightful and sensitive portrayal of the characters involved in the tragedy."

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

I  read one previous book by Victoria Schwab, A Darker Shade of Magic, the first of the "Shades of Magic" series. This book has a totally different premise. Adeline LaRue grows up in a small rural village in early 18th century France. Against her will, she has been promised as a bride to a village widower with 3 children. Adeline doesn't want to live a small life determined by others and, on the eve of her wedding, she falls to the ground pleading with whatever gods can hear to set her free. The Darkness responds but in a particular way designed to make young Addie want to give up her life--and therefore her soul--sooner rather than later. Her freedom comes at the cost of no one ever remembering her. She can carry on a conversation, eat a meal, or sleep in the same bed with someone and, the moment she is out of sight, they have forgotten her existence. She is now immortal in body but no one will remember her. However, over the centuries she does, in fact, serve as a muse for artists who capture essential bits of Addie in their music, writing, paintings--even though the artists can't identify the source of their inspiration. Her benefactor, Luc--the devil we are to believe--wants Addie for himself and shows up periodically over the next 300 years trying to convince her to join him. Although life is often a struggle, even terrifying at times, Addie refuses. Then, one day in 2014 New York City, the rules change. Addie tries to return a book she has stolen--a tactic that has worked countless times in the past--but this time the bookstore clerk remembers her. Addie eventually discovers that Henry has also made a desperate pact with devil. They fall in love, but of course there is a catch.  

Glowing reviews from NPR,  The Washington Post (which calls this novel "propulsive, compulsive and captivating"), Kirkus ("rich and satisfying and strange and impeccably crafted"), and Slate among others. Apparently the film rights for a big screen adaptation have already been sold.

The Guest List

This thriller by Lucy Foley is my mystery book group's selection for December. The main story line takes place over the course of just a few days around a celebrity wedding on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. Different chapters offer perspectives from the owner of the small renovated castle where the wedding is taking place, Aoife; the bride, Jules, who publishes a wildly popular fashion magazine; Olivia, the bride's half-sister and only bridesmaid; Hannah, wife of a longtime friend (maybe once-upon-a- time lover) of the bride; and Johnno, the best man. The time frame also moves back and forth mainly between the day before the wedding and the day of the wedding. There are also a lot of flashbacks to fill in background information of these narrators as well as that of the groom, Will Slater, currently the star of a "Survivor" type TV series. Although it sounds a bit confusing, it's not that hard to follow. What gets really tricky, especially at the end, are all the relationships and underlying motivations of these characters. Someone gets murdered, but you'll probably be surprised by who did it. 

The New York Times says that if you are sad because you have had to miss a wedding during the pandemic, this might cheer you up, since it's definitely one you'd want to miss. The Guardian suggests the book's wild success is because "Everyone appears to have a motive and a dark tragic secret in their past, and the mounting sense of doom is piled on pretty thick." Publishers Weekly promises "Readers seeking thrills will find plenty."

Squeeze Me

Carl Hiaasen is the author of numerous humorous/ satirical adult novels, some non-fiction works and collections of newspaper columns--mostly about political corruption, as well as a handful of teen books that are focused on various ecological issues. His adult books, he claims, are inspired by actual newspaper headlines; he still is a reporter for the Miami Herald. I actually had the privilege of hearing him speak at a library conference and he had the audience laughing out loud throughout the talk with his wild and witty observations about Florida, politics, and anything else that came to mind. In this book, he goes after the current president with a joyful vengeance; Melania comes in for more sympathetic treatment. And his protagonist, Angie, is a pest removal expert who you will cheer for from beginning to end. She started as a veterinarian but lost her desire for the job after watching one too many animals be put to sleep. Then she was a wildlife officer but ended that job by going to jail because of her vigilante punishment for a poacher who ran over a baby deer with his airboat. There seems to be a plague of giant pythons threatening social events in ritzy Palm Beach, and Angie is pretty sure that at least one diminutive wealthy matriarch was swallowed by one, although the Trump propaganda machine asserts that an illegal alien is the murderer. Angie tries working with the local police chief and one of the secret service agents based in West Palm Beach to get the innocent man released. But eventually she once again has to take matters into her own hands. We see the reprise of a character that appeared in an earlier book, but there is no requirement that you have read any previous Hiaasen books to thoroughly enjoy this tale. Typical over-the-top biting satire--a great antidote to these dismal days. 

Reviews are abundant in their praise:

The New York Times: warns, "If you are wearing a MAGA anything, you won’t like this book." However, they go on to say, "But if you could use some wild escapism right now, Hiaasen is your guy."

The Washington Post: says of the main character, "Hiaasen can always be relied on to give readers a likable, decent-hearted, beset young female protagonist to fight for justice, and Angie Armstrong is great fun to follow around."

Kirkus: praises Hiaasen's "deftly drawn characters and zingy dialogue"  and concludes, "This exuberant elegy for Florida's paved-over paradise performs the near miracle of making us laugh even as we despair."

The Last Place You Look

This is the first "Roxane Weary" book from author Kristen Lepionka. Apparently there is a 4th one due out soon. I would rate the writing as competent, with good plot development and an interesting main character; although, I do get a bit tired of psychologically damaged and unreliable narrators at times. P.I. Roxane Weary has pretty much been on a non-stop bender since her detective father, Frank Weary, was killed in the line of duty. She gets a call from Danielle Stockton, whose brother Brad was convicted of murder 15 years ago and is scheduled for execution in 2 months. The victims were the parents of Brad's white high school girlfriend and they were brutally stabbed in their home. Brad's girlfriend, Sarah Cooper, disappeared without a trace. Danielle is sure she saw Sarah at a shop a few days ago and she wants Roxane to find her to learn what really happened and hopefully clear her brother. Roxane starts investigating and is immediately targeted for harassment by the local small town police force. In spite of that, she finds a body in the same woods where another stabbing victim had been recently discovered. Both were wrapped in blue tarps. But the 2nd body is not Sarah Cooper, rather a girl from the same high school who had been declared a runaway. Roxane continues to chase down leads through drug connections and old friends of Brad. At first it appears that Brad is more implicated in the murders than Roxane first believed. Then it's a friend of Brad's that seems to have a connection to all the victims. But the trail finally leads to a totally unexpected place. The last few chapters will grab you and not let go. There are several red herrings in the storyline and lots of complicated connections and mixed motives, but it all comes together in the end. 

Kirkus concludes, "Lepionka’s debut confidently portrays complex characters with multiple, sometimes contradictory, motivations and offers an unusually naturalistic perspective on sexual identity." Publishers Weekly calls this debut novel "action packed but uneven." Worth a read.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I really loved both the book by Mary Ann Shaffer (published posthumously by her niece Annie Barrows) and the movie based upon the book, and only realized when writing a previous post (The Jane Austen Society) that I had somehow failed to write a blog post for this treasure. It is 1946, the aftermath of WWII in London when so much is still rubble, including the flat of writer and newspaper columnist Juliet Ashton. It is while she is sorting through both the physical and psychological rubble of her life that two significant events happen. She becomes engaged to a wealthy American publisher and she receives a letter from a man on the island of Guernsey, pig farmer Dawsey Adams, who found her name on the flyleaf of a book of essays by Charles Lamb. He is inquiring if she knows of other books by that author. Guernsey was occupied by the Nazis during the war and through her correspondence with Dawsey, Juliet learns of a group of friends who regularly gathered in secret to read literature to one another. She is compelled by their story and is sure this would make a wonderful next novel to write. Only the residents of Guernsey are not so sure they want the world to be privy to their private lives. This is an homage to letter writing and those who love books. There is an elegant description of the book's storyline and a glowing review in The Guardian. Strong reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, The Christian Science Monitor, among others.

The Jane Austen Society

This novel by Natalie Jenner is strongly reminiscent of the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in its gentle, bittersweet tenor describing a terrible time in the lives of those living through WWI and WWII in England.  Here our attention is focused on the small village of Chawton, outside Alton, the final home of Jane Austen and the locale for her last three novels. Every member of the village has suffered loss of some kind, the unending privations of war, the death of loved ones. And they all cope in their unique ways. The bulk of the story takes place in 1945 after the war has ended. 

Austen's brother, Edward Austen Knight, lived in the "Great House" on the Knight estate in the village. The last remaining Knight family male is on his deathbed and the vindictive old man long ago denied his daughter, Frances, a marriage to the person she loved, and now punishes her for failure to produce an heir by totally disinheriting her. The manor is due to go to any remaining male relative of the family and along with it, hundreds of years of memorabilia associated with Jane Austen and thousands of books in the manor's libraries that she had access to. An unlikely cluster of Austen fans come together to try and preserve especially the library, but also the steward's cottage on the estate, which is where Jane Austen herself lived.  The group is actually the brain child of the village handyman, Adam; no one even knew he read much, but it turns out that Austen has been a source of solace after the death of his two brothers in the war. He is joined by the widowed village physician Dr. Gray, former school teacher Adeline who lost both her husband and her baby, Frances Knight, her house maid Evie, the Knight family solicitor Andrew Forrester, Hollywood actress Mimi Harrison, and Sinclair, an expert on antiquities who works at Sotheby's and has been trying to get Frances to sell him Austen related items. 

Along the way, we discover long-suppressed loves, secret identities, and scoundrels who get their come-uppance. Somewhat of a slow start, but overall a satisfying read, even if you are not a hard core Austen fan. The book has received numerous notable mentions and laudatory reviews: The Washington Post; Kirkus; Publishers Weekly.

The Thursday Murder Club

This debut novel by Richard Osman was one of my most enjoyable reads in a long time. It was just a wonderful combination of unique characters (all oldsters like me), witty dialog, charm, an English setting, and sufficiently complicated plot...a perfect English cozy! Four residents of a retirement community like to get together on Thursdays in the meeting room “between Art History and Conversational French” to go over unsolved murders. One of the former members, Penny, was a detective inspector, although she is  now in a coma. But her replacement is a former nurse, Joyce, who offers useful medical knowledge and keeps a log of their work in her diary; and there is Red Ron, former union firebrand and still a reliable rabble rouser; Ibrahim, a psychologist who still meets with some of his patients; and Elizabeth, whose past is a mystery but who has contacts who can get information for her that no ordinary person should have access to. When they are confronted with the actual murder of  the retirement community's shady developer, they gleefully go into high gear, co-opting a local woman constable, Donna DeFreital, who had come to give a safety talk. They are endlessly inventive in finagling information from her boss, and are often a step ahead of the police. But we also witness love and loss and friendship among a truly diverse group. Just pure fun and a terrific antidote for our troubling times;  I would love to read more adventures of this group and the publisher promises one this time next year.

Favorable review from The Guardian, Kirkus, Christian Science Monitor, and Publishers Weekly.