Rose Royal: A Love Story

“Rose Royal: A Love Story” by Nicolas Mathieu (translated from the French by Sam Taylor) 96 pages  

This dark gem of a novella packed a powerful punch. Rose is almost fifty years old, divorced and has had it with men. Her favorite thing to do after work is to head to her favorite bar, the Royal, where she loves to drink beer, gin and vodka (but not together). One of the fascinating things about Rose is that she carries a .38 caliber handgun with her at all times. Like I said, she’s had it with men and their tendencies toward violence. 

Her friend, Marie-Jeanne, joins her every night and two nights a week, she sets up a small hair salon in the bar’s corner. Personally, I wouldn’t want anyone cutting my hair after they have had a few. 

On this night, the bar is basically empty. Near closing time, a group of teenagers, “seniors at a local private school,” come in to celebrate that they are only one hundred days from final exams. After Fred, the bartender, clears them out, the place is quiet until a man stumbles in carrying a dog that has been hit by a car. Rose helps him with the animal.  

His name is Luc and he drives a very expensive car. Luc and Rose are attracted to each other and soon begin dating. Despite the problem that they incur, neither one walks away. Instead Rose moves into his country house. But things don’t get any better. 

The story roars to a shocking conclusion. I was so shocked, I went back and re-read the entire novella.  I’m not sure that I truly understand why what happened, happened. And I don’t fully understand the title. Rose is the protagonist and Royal is the name of her favorite bar. Other than that, “Rose Royal” is a thrilling read and receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

A Sunday in Ville-d'Avray

A Sunday in Ville-d'Avray by Dominique Barberis  (Translated from the French by John Cullen) 144 pages

This novella packs a lot into it. It’s brief, moody, spare, completely French and has a other-worldly atmosphere to it.

 Two sisters, Jane and Claire Marie don’t see each other often, even though they live relatively close to each other. Jane lives in the heart of Paris, while Claire Marie lives in the suburban community of Ville-d”Avray. Jane lives with her partner and Claire Marie has a husband and a teenage daughter.

It’s early autumn, and the sisters are enjoying a few glasses of wine in the garden. After the initial and normal conversation exchanges, Claire Marie begins to talk about a man she had known fifteen years prior. It’s a whimsical, whispery, misty description of a man named Marc Hermann. I’m was never sure if the two had an actual affair or danced around one.

Claire Marie would sneak out of the house to meet him, but the meetings took place more around train stations and parks than in hotel rooms or quaint B&Bs. I got the feeling that Marc was more of a stalker, and that Claire Marie was having wispy fantasies about him. The scenes in which Claire Marie tried to see him at his place of business is disturbing, making the reader feel as if there was something else going on altogether.

The pace of the novella ebb and flowed, as a good story does. However, it didn’t reel me in completely. I found myself more mystified than satisfied at the conclusion. Therefore,  A Sunday in Ville-d'Avray received 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. I wanted to give it 2 stars, but the beautiful writing and scenery had me bump it up a star.

 

Lady Susan

Lady Susan by Jane Austen     128 pages

From Goodreads:

Of what a mistake were you guilty in marrying a Man of his age! - just old enough to be formal, ungovernable and to have the Gout - too old to be agreable, and too young to die.'

The scheming and unscrupulous Lady Susan is unlike any Austen heroine you've met in this fascinating early novella.

Review:

I highly enjoyed this book and it has so many things to recommend itself to readers: it’s short and sweet, it’s witty and humorous, and most of all the story and characters are strong. Austen is a masterful writer and this book, though not one of her most well-known works, definitely deserves attention. I definitely recommend this book. If you’re looking for a short, sweet summer read, this one definitely hits the spot.

Mile 81: A Novella

Mile 81: A Novella by Stephen King                Audio Book: 2 hours, 32 minutes    Paperback Book: 52 pages  (Couldn’t find a true count)        

Monsters exist and so do other scary things in Stephen King novels and in this novella.   Always unexpected, sometimes outrageous – the man likes cars its apparent.  (Smiling.)   This one, too, is from the Christine line.   He mixes kids, cops, and kooky characters always with poignant qualities that bring them all together and he adds a horse into this mix.    Good story – the man compels you to read his stuff you cannot put it down.   Good read.    Stephen King fans, horror fans and any one who enjoys well written plots, faceted characters and whimsy stop here it is well worth it just keep going if you come up on the closed reststop at Mile 81.  YIKES!!!!!!!     Little brothers rock!     I definetly recommend this one to those not faint of heart.    The images in your mind Stephen King creates are truly horrifying.   I could see this one made into a film. 

Elevation

Elevation by Stephen King    146 pages

Scott Carey doesn't appear to look any different, although he's steadily been losing weight. And, oddly enough, he weighs the same in his clothes, shoes and all, as he does with no clothes on at all. He knows this is strange, although he also knows if he goes to a regular doctor, he'll be put through all kinds of tests. Mostly to share this odd experience, he tells his friend, Dr. Bob Ellis, who keeps Scott's situation a secret.

At the same time Scott is experiencing this odd weight loss, he's trying to get along with his neighbors, married lesbians who own a local restaurant. It's not a big deal that their dogs poop on Scott's lawn, but he'd like the ladies to at least pick up after the dogs. One of the women is pretty friendly, but the other is downright hostile --- and, as it turns out, isn't making any friends in town. When Scott discovers how much prejudice these women face on a daily basis, he tries to help.

This is a pretty slim book, but it's so well-crafted that you keep turning the pages, not sure of what's going to happen next, and getting pulled in to the story.  At least, that's what happened to me. I liked how Scott is an everyday kind of guy, who just wants to try to get along with people but who is secretly battling this weird weight loss (which does play in to the story).  Without giving much away, I can say that this is a story about finding common ground, even when people seem as different as night and day. Scott works at this, and I respected his character for that; he doesn't give up even when one of his neighbors continues to be hostile. Is Scott a super well-developed character? No. None of the other characters are either, and if this were a longer book, I could see the problem with that. However, I felt the characters were developed enough for me to imagine them and along with the setting and steady pace, it allowed me to focus on the overall story, which I enjoyed.

Landscape with Invisible Hand

Landscape with Invisible Hand by M. T. Anderson     149 pages

When the vuvv first landed, it came as a surprise to aspiring artist Adam and the rest of planet Earth - but not necessarily an unwelcome one. Can it really be called an invasion when the vuvv generously offered free advanced technology and cures for every illness imaginable? As it turns out, yes. With his parents' jobs replaced by alien tech and no money for food, clean water, or the vuvv's miraculous medicine, Adam and his girlfriend, Chloe, have to get creative to survive. Soon enough, Adam must decide how far he's willing to go - and what he's willing to sacrifice - to give the vuvv what they want.

This is such a strange story - but it's quirky and that's why I liked it. One would think it would be hard to imagine such a short story capable of encompassing a futuristic Earth where alien creatures basically run things and everything from society to technology is different, but Anderson is able to deftly create this new, strange world without long passages of description or "telling," he just shows it to you through little windows throughout the story.

Adam Costello is a hilarious narrator and I think this would make a really good recommendation book to any teen who doesn't like to read - One, it's short. Two, it's funny. And three, it stands out because it's different - there's a little bit for everybody and the main character is just so relatable, you can't help but get behind him.

Honestly, I'd recommend it to everybody - even if you don't like sci-fi. It's very light on the sci-fi. It's mostly a story about a boy trying to help his family get through a crisis (with aliens and their new economy as the backdrop). It's worth the read, and hey - it's short. You can finish it in a day.

The Awakening

The Awakening by Kate Chopin       157 pages

The Awakening, originally titled A Solitary Soul, is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana coast at the end of the nineteenth century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century South. It is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women's issues without condescension.

If anyone has written a story that captures the stifling, objectified life of society women better, I don't know them. Chopin deftly captures the sense of suffocation at having so little choice in one's life in this novel. Her words capture Edna's mood so smoothly and perfectly, you feel stifled yourself as you read it. The hopelessness that Edna feels, even after her "awakening" just go to show that being "woke," even the tiniest bit, does not solve the problem. Her soul's repression is so strong, even doing little things for herself are not enough to tamp down on the pressure she feels from the eyes of society. She truly believes her life will never be hers unless she does the one thing that can release her from everything.

The Hanging Tree: A Novella

The Hanging Tree: A Novella by Michael Phillip Cash   90 pages

Arielle Harmond doesn’t know it, but her family has been living under a curse since it was put on them back in 1649. Way back then Reverend Harmond knocked up Goodwife Bennett’s granddaughter, and there is reason to suspect he may have killed the underage girl.

Arielle, seventeen years old in contemporary times, is fighting off her boyfriend, Chad, the hottest and handsomest guy in school. Chad is going everything he can to get in her pants. Arielle is doing everything she can to thwart him. The setting is Long Island, New York, beneath its infamous hanging tree.

But the two are not alone. Sitting on the branches, watching the action below, are the spirits of Goody Bennett and other members of the Harmond family. Goody Bennett can’t decide if she should interfere with the couple, while others urge her in both directions (she should/she shouldn’t).

The plot shift between the present and the past, giving readers a sense of how those that haven’t yet left this earth got there.

It’s an interesting story/ I give it 4 out of 5 stars…mainly because I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted more, especially those souls in the trees. The novella should have been a novel, and maybe someday author Cash will pursue that thread.

The Old Man and The Sea

The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway  128 pages

I haven’t read this novella since I was in junior high school (I think it’s called middle school now). I didn’t care for it then. I have never been a Hemingway fan. But I had three reasons for picking it up again.

First, it was my turn to pick the book for my writing group. I knew I wanted something short, as one of our members isn’t a big reader. Second, March’s topic for the On the Same Page with Central Library Goodreads challenged its readers to re-read a hated book from high school. Third, is I’m a big fan of Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife.

The copy I checked out at the Library has an introduction by Charles Scribner, Jr. Interesting I thought as his father was one of the two men to whom Hemingway dedicated this book. If you pick up this copy, DON’T read the introduction; it gives the whole story away. I remembered how it ended, but I didn’t need to be reminded of the details.

The Old Man has been without a catch for 84 days. Everyone in his Cuban village claims he is unlucky and begins to shun him. NOTE: Hemingway went to Cuba and fished as part of his research. Still he goes out, sure that today would be his lucky day.  He hooks the fish of a lifetime and spends the next four days, barely eating, drinking, or sleeping, reeling it in.

I so enjoyed this story; it was unputdownable. It did take me two evenings to read, but I tried to read slow and enjoy the adventure. I have to admit that I wanted to read fast, but Scribner’s spoiler spoiled some of the fun.

After finishing this story of the old man who has hooked the fish of a lifetime, I may go back and try to read some more Hemingway.

I give The Old Man and The Sea 6 out of 5 stars.

The History Major by Michael Phillip Cash

The History Major by Michael Phillip Cash   152 pages

It’s the beginning of a new school year. Amanda Green is rooming with friends. However, the night before classes are to start, Amanda has a heated argument with her boyfriend; his demands seem completely out-of-line. She crosses to the other side of the local watering hole and commences to tie one on.

The next morning she has a monster of a headache, and there is a strange female in her room who is insisting that she is late for class and that they are roommates. In addition, something menacing is hanging around, just outside her peripheral vision.

By the time Amanda gets it together enough to head for class, she’s not only late, but there seems to be a mix-up in her schedule. She would never, ever take a history course. Receiving no help from the college, she goes to class.

Things there are just a little weird. It seems the entire student body is taking the class. The professor is a wacko, that weird vision is beating on the closed doors, and the only person who seems to notice her is the guy in the next seat, Nick Fortune.

This is an odd little story that is compulsively readable. I had had to know what the heck was going on, yet in my wildest dreams, I hadn’t thought of the answer that Cash provides. I wish I could talk more about the ending, but no spoilers allowed.

I give The History Major 4 out of 5 stars. It gets knocked down a star for the format; that line space between each paragraph is not necessary and drove me nuts.

The Uncommon Reader

The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett,  120 pages

The Queen of England is out for a walk, runs across a bookmobile, and realizes she has never really read.  So begins her discovery of books and literature, but can the world handle a Queen who is learning to think for herself?  I don't know about this book- novella, really; maybe it's witty, in a British way?  But it just felt like an endless string of name-dropping authors that sound good on paper to have read.  The ratio of corgis to pages was also dismally low.

Tiger's Promise

Tiger's Promise by Colleen Houck, 125 pages

"Before the curse, there was a promise. A prequel to the bestselling Tiger’s Curse series, this much anticipated novella recalls the beginning of Ren and Kishan’s story. Before Kelsey there was a girl, raised by a villain, whose love for a hero changed the course of history. Trapped under the thumb of her abusive and powerful father Lokesh, Yesubai struggles to keep her own magical abilities secret while evading his dark powers. When Lokesh promises Yesubai to the prince of a neighboring kingdom, she becomes the central pawn in his plot to destroy the ruling family and take power for himself. Yesubai is trapped by her father's threats and desperate to protect the man she comes to love, but she knows that any decision she makes will have dire consequences. As dark forces gather around her, Yesubai must decide if she's willing to reveal that somewhere deep within her she has the power to change everything."  I really like this series and thought that this short prequel was also good.  Teens, especially girls, who like fantasy, will enjoy this series.