When the Stars Go Dark

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain 384 pages

I’m a huge fan of author Paula McLain. She writes some of the most compelling historical fiction today focusing on forgotten women like pioneer aviator Beryl Markham and Hadley Richardson and Martha Gellhorn (Hemingway’s first and third wives). Well, there’s been a renewed interest in the Hemingway wives sine Ken Burns’ documentary on Papa aired on PBS last April (2021). This time out, McLain threw me. The protagonist of this contemporary historical fiction is a fictional character but still possess the strength of those real-life women.

The year is 1993. Missing child expert Detective Anna Hart of the San Francisco Police Department has come to the small town of Mendocino (also in northern California) to grieve a personal tragedy. I like the way McClain wasn’t upfront with the Anna’s heartbreak---it was one of the plot lines that made this a page turner. Mendocino holds special meaning for Anna, as she lived there with her foster parents.

Anna came to be alone, to clear her head, to work things out. It didn’t help that her marriage is also crumbling.  She came to find the peace of wilderness.

On her first tip into town, she reads the bulletin board at the local coffee shop and learns that a local teenage girl, Cameron Curtis, is missing. This could turn out to be a high-profile case as Cameron is the daughter of a television mega-star who is hiding out, hoping the case will be quickly solved. Anna doesn't want to get involved, even though the case seems similar to one that occurred when she lived there. Anna knows the local sheriff and many of the other villagers, but she came here to heal, not solve another case.

The year 1993 is significant. Readers may remember that as the year real-life Polly Klaas was abducted from her home in front of her friends. So that case is floating around in the novel’s background. And with yet when another teenage girl goes missing in the next town, Anna is drawn in to the cases. There must be some connection between that cold case from so many years ago and the two local ones. And so, she offers to help.

This novel falls into several genres: mystery, suspense, literary, historical fiction and thriller, but the one that stood out the most to me was the literary aspect…several times I had to slow down and re-read some of the sentences because they were so beautifully written. I wish I had marked a few that really stood out, but alas, the copy I read is a library book, and I was too lazy to copy them. DANG! I think y’all would have liked to read a few.

 “When the Stars Go Dark” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

milk and honey

milk and honey by rupi kaur     204 pages

milk and honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. It is about the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. It is split into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose, deals with a different pain, heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.

Though I'm sure this would be categorized under confessional poetry, to me a lot of it read like motivational poster captions or something inspirational someone would probably tattoo on their forearm.  Though I have read enough poetry to know that almost anything can be considered poetry, it doesn't mean I have to agree. I would consider Kaur's writing as more of a diary/memoir of her reflections on her life, particularly the most traumatic moments and how she was able to get past them. I can see how this work is inspirational to some, and Kaur definitely deserves to be called brave because she does not hide the fact that this is a work of deeply personal emotions and experiences. I just can't get past how simplistic most of it seems. But then, a lot of people might really need someone to tell them, "You matter," or "Love yourself first," and I don't mean that in a sarcastic way. This is definitely something I would give to someone I knew was going through a rough patch and really needs some advice on self-care. That being said, I did not enjoy the majority of this book. A handful of "poems" stuck out to me, but most of it seemed derivative of works or quotes I'd seen or heard before. I'm very picky when it comes to poetry and none of these poems really spoke to me or made my skin prickle or caused me to feel a rise of emotion. Perhaps I'm not the intended audience, I'm not sure. Either way, for me, this was mostly just an "eh" book and I probably won't read it again. If you got something out of it, great. I think Kaur is justified in sharing this piece of herself because there are lots of people out there who need to hear the things she's stated in this book.

Louisiana Catch

Louisiana Catch by Sweta Srivastava Vikram    261 pages

When I was offered a chance to review this book by the author, I jumped at it. I like the to-the-point summary she gave: “The book is about a grieving daughter and abuse survivor who must summon the courage to run a feminist conference, trust a man she meets over the internet, and escape a catfishing stalker to find her power.” What I wasn’t prepared for was how terrifying it would be.

Thanks to her mumma, Ahanna has recently filed from divorce from her abusive husband. Her life with sex-addict Dev has been a living hell. Terrified that people, especially her family would harshly judge her, she does everything she can to hide what her life is really like. Living in New Delhi with her parents, readers get to see what life there is like for an average woman. The scary part was how unsafe it is for a woman to venture outside her alone. But Ahanna receives courage and support from her Mumma and the rest of her family. 

Tragedy strikes while Ahanna is the in process of organizing a world-wide, feminist conference called “No Excuse.” The conference will be held in New Orleans in one year. She works long days, trying to digest what has happened in her life. Two men come into her life.

First is Rohan Brady, who lives in New Orleans. His PR firm is helping with the conference and Rohan becomes her right-hand person. He likes to tease her, is smart, funny and caring, something that Ahanna is not used to from a man.

Then there is Jay Dubois. She meets him in her online therapy group. As the pages unfold, readers get to watch Jay slowly turn from a seemingly-also depressed individual to a terrifying manipulator.  Jay represents Ahanna’s love life over the years. Jay gave me the creeps from the minute he is introduced, and it turns out, rightly so.

Viram does an excellent job in the slow build-up of the plot. It’s so subtle in the first two-thirds of the novel, that I thought there really wasn’t a plot. That slowly rising tension is enhanced by the voice. It sounds more like a memoir than a novel, which only adds to Vikran’s creditability. The last third of the book read more like a novel with high suspense

I enjoyed reading “Louisiana Catch” and give 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. I wish there had been an appendix that would define all the Indian words that Vikran uses. She defines the majority of them without getting in the way of the story, but I hated not being exactly sure that I understood correctly.

Lighter Than My Shadow

Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green, 508 pages

“A graphic memoir of eating disorders, abuse and recovery. Like most kids, Katie was a picky eater. She'd sit at the table in silent protest, hide uneaten toast in her bedroom, listen to parental threats that she'd have to eat it for breakfast. But in any life a set of circumstance can collide, and normal behavior might soon shade into something sinister, something deadly. One day you can find yourself being told you have two weeks to live. Lighter Than My Shadow is a hand-drawn story of struggle and recovery, a trip into the black heart of a taboo illness, an exposure of those who are so weak as to prey on the weak, and an inspiration to anybody who believes in the human power to endure towards happiness.” I guess I need to stop saying I don’t really like graphic novels.  I do like certain graphic novels, although I don’t think they will ever be my first choice format.  I like them when the story is good, just like any other book.  This is a great pick for teens, especially those who like realistic stories.