Finding Mrs. Ford

Finding Mrs. Ford by Deborah Goodrich Royce 404 pages

I have to admit, I thought Finding Mrs. Ford was going to be about Henry Ford’s wife. Don’t know where I got that; there is nothing on the cover that even remotely suggests that. It doesn’t matter---once I started this wonderful novel, I couldn’t put it down.

Mrs. Susan Ford, no relation to Henry that is mentioned in the book, lives a privileged life. She is wealthy, has a stepson whom she adores (and who adores her), a beautiful home, money and staff to take care of her and her home.  Living the good life takes little doing on her part.

Thirty-five years have passed since the events of 1979, and now that past has come to call. She must pay for the life she led then. And for what she did. The FBI knocks on her door and asks about a man named Sammy Fakhouri. An Iraqi with ties to ISIS, he is arrested on his way to see Susan, although Susan was not expecting him.

Jump back to the summer of ‘79. Susan was a college co-ed, a rather studious and quiet young woman. She meets the out-going and sassy Annie. The two become best friends, although they could not be more different. They had a summer job, but when an opportunity arises to work as a waitress in a disco, both jump at the opportunity—Annie more so than Susan.

The disco is a gross, shady place where there is more going on than music, dancing, getting high and drinking. It’s a place were extremely powerful men hangout. Susan gets romantically involved with Sammy. But in 2014, Susan is wondering why he’s coming to see her.

The novel is broken into two parts: Part One focuses on Susan while Part Two focuses on Annie. There is a major twist right at the point where Part One transitions to Part Two---a stunner for sure. Not one that I saw coming.

“Finding Mrs. Ford” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

We Hope for Better Things

We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels    400 pages

As a reader and a writer, I’m always looking for compelling reads that linger long after I’ve turned the last page. Erin Bartels’s debut novel, “We Hope for Better Things,” is such a novel. Bartels startles with her ability to take three separate timelines and weave them into one excellent story.

The story lines cover contemporary times, 1960s Detroit and Civil War-era Detroit outskirts. At the heart of each plot is forbidden love, one of the most that forbidden loves of all times, between whites and blacks. There are also the stories of race relations of each time period that could easily overpower the story, but Bartels uses her skill to not let that happen.

The main protagonist is journalist Elizabeth Balsam, who works for the scandalous rag, the “Free Press.” She is about to break a story that will have major repercussions in Detroit’s political powerhouse. Before that happens, Elizabeth has been contacted by a man who claims to have a box of photos and a camera that belongs to her family. Someone she has never heard of.

Elizabeth, who loves a good story, rather reluctantly agrees to take the camera, and if she can contact the woman named Nora, and if she wants the, she’ll arrange to have the photos returned.

Nora is Elizabeth’s great-aunt on her father’s side. Her sister knows of her as does a cousin, Barb, that is also a stranger. In contacting Barb, now unemployed, Elizabeth has somehow managed to agree to see if old Aunt Nora is still fit to live alone. Elizabeth goes to visit Nora, and there she begins to learn her family history, a history that is foreign to her, and one that she participates in.

Sometimes the timelines between the contemporary story and the 1960s story was a little confusing. Nora is such a major character in those periods that it threw me off a tad when the story switched, although Bartels clearly delineates each section.

 “We Hope for Better Things” is a wonderful read, and it receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Turner House

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
341 Pages


"The Turners have lived on Yarrow Street for over fifty years. Their house has seen thirteen children grown and gone--and some returned; it has seen the arrival of grandchildren, the fall of Detroit's East Side, and the loss of a father. The house still stands despite abandoned lots, an embattled city, and the inevitable shift outward to the suburbs. But now, as ailing matriarch Viola finds herself forced to leave her home and move in with her eldest son, the family discovers that the house is worth just a tenth of its mortgage. The Turner children are called home to decide its fate and to reckon with how each of their pasts haunts--and shapes--their family's future."

An engrossing novel with a strong narrative voice.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Broken Monsters

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
442 Pages

The book opens with the discovery of a bizaare crime.  A young boy has been killed and cut in half.  From the waist down he has the body of a fawn.  Dectective Gabriella Versado is the lead investigator of the murder in a story that revolves around the dying city of Detroit.  A wide cast of characters populates the book from T.K. a homeless guy to Jonno, a journalist trying to get ahead with an online blog.

A fairly good procedural interspersed with a fantastical streak that in my opinion takes away from the story.  I understand that the author was trying to show the killer's worldview but when it started affecting others it brought the story down.