City of Girls

 

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert 496 pages

 

Before author Elzabeth Gilbert took the literary world by storm with her mega-hit, “Eat Pray Love,” she penned a most charming and fictional tale of a group of eccentric theater people who lived and worked at the Lily Playhouse. The story takes place in the 1940s.

 

When the narrator of the story, Vivian Morris, was nineteen, she flunked out of Vassar. Her parents didn’t know what to do with her. So, they sent her to live with her Aunt Peg in Manhattan. Aunt Peg owned the Lily, which put on shows twice a day. They weren’t particularly good, but the local audience loved them and bought tickets. I would call it off-off-off-off Broadway.

 

Gilbert uses the epistolary structure to tell this story. Vivian, now eighty-nine years old, is answering a letter to the daughter of a friend after her mother passes, wanting to know what Vivian was to her father. That’s a little complicated, but Gilbert pulls it off.

 

The Lily was as much a character as any of the humans. It was rambling. It was rundown. It was magical. And the people who lived there were much the same. Olive was the general manager and Peg’s best friend. They served together during World War I. Also inhabiting the theater are the actors, the showgirls, the playwright and the composer. Vivian finds her place in this cast as a costume designer; her grandmother had taught her to sew, and she was excellent at it.

 

Vivian becomes BFFs with Celia, one of the showgirls. Together, they nightly paint the town. Every night. Stumbling through the doors in the wee hours of the morning, smelling of booze and sex. Those two slept with a LOT of men. Warning: there are a couple of scenes that are X-rated.

 

During one of those nights on the town, Vivian makes a horrible mistake and is banished back to her hometown and life with her parents in upstate New York. But it is just foreshadowing for what it so come---the soldier who served on the same battleship as her late brother becoming her best friend after she returns to Manhattan.

 

Gilberts writes about Manhattan as if she too had lived in the 1940s---one of my favorite time periods. It was a helluva time and a helluva town. I wish I could visit, but then again, I have through Gilbert’s words.

 

I loved these characters and this time. And to be honest, I miss them. City of Girls received 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Find Me in Havana

Find Me in Havana by Serena Burdick 336 pages

I have to admit that I was not familiar with the name Estelita Rodriguez, “one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actresses.” However when I Googled her, I did, somewhat, recognize her, mostly from the John Wayne film, “Rio Bravo.” Estelita died in 1966, but author Bursick interviewed her daughter, Nina, to help gain insight into this interesting woman.

The story is told in letters or journal entries from Estelia and Nina, but I found them awkward; I it was hard for me to know what year each entry was in.

It starts out as a mystery. Nina discusses her mother’s death. It seems that she doesn’t know if Estelita died of natural causes or was murdered. I think that is supposed to central to the novel, but I found it mostly to be an afterthought.

One of the biggest problems I had with reading this novel is that I was never sure who was really talking because the voices sounded exactly alike. Each chapter had a title and either “Mother” or “Daughter” to delineate the difference, but after I turned the page, I would forget who was talking.  

The hardships they endured, however, could never cut the ties between the two women. In fact, the mother-child relationship takes center stage and that part fascinated me. But, for me, the plot never went anywhere. There was little tension, even in the most desperate of times. And I’,m still not sure exactly how Estelita’s life ended. Therefore, Find Me in Havana receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

Shadowplay

 

Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor    400 pages

Seems I’m zero-for-two in the last several weeks. Books that I thought were going to be page turners turned out to be total duds. First, Kate Morton’s “The Clockmaker’s Daughter,” then this one.

 Have you ever not given up on a book because you are positive it’s going to get better?  I’ve done this on several occasions, but I must admit that I was too pig-headed to give up on this one.  Turns out, after I turned the last page, I could not tell anyone what this book was about. Oh, there were glimpses of that “it’s gonna turn around here,” but they never came to fruition. Basically the best I can do it a say it is an epistolary novel involving real-life theater folk and literary figures. 

Now if I was in y’all’s shoes, I’d be headed to Amazon to read the synopsis, so I’ll save y’all the trouble:

“…set during the golden age of West End theater in a London shaken by the crimes of Jack the Ripper.

Henry Irving is Victorian London’s most celebrated actor and theater impresario. He has introduced groundbreaking ideas to the theater, bringing to the stage performances that are spectacular, shocking, and always entertaining. When Irving decides to open his own London theater with the goal of making it the greatest playhouse on earth, he hires a young Dublin clerk harboring literary ambitions by the name of Bram Stoker to manage it. As Irving’s theater grows in reputation and financial solvency, he lures to his company of mummers the century’s most beloved actress, the dazzlingly talented leading lady Ellen Terry, who nightly casts a spell not only on her audiences but also on Stoker and Irving both.

Bram Stoker’s extraordinary experiences at the Lyceum Theatre, his early morning walks on the streets of a London terrorized by a serial killer, his long, tempestuous relationship with Irving, and the closeness he finds with Ellen Terry, inspire him to write DRACULA, the most iconic and best-selling supernatural tale ever published.

A magnificent portrait both of lamp-lit London and of lives and loves enacted on the stage, Shadowplay’s rich prose, incomparable storytelling, and vivid characters will linger in readers’ hearts and minds for many years.”

 “Shadowplay” receives 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

Truths I Never Told You

Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer 352 pages

Be sure to have a hanky near when you sent off on this emotional journey through two women’s fight with postpartum depression. Book clubs will want to add this novel to their reading list, especially anyone who is a fan of Jodi Picoult, Kristen Hannah and Sarah Jio.

Beth Walsh has a six-month-old son. She and her husband have tried for years to have this child.  She expected the exhaustion and sleep deprivation, but the one thing she cannot reconcile is her lack of maternal instincts and feelings. It’s not that Beth doesn’t love Noah, she’s just not all that into him. Her heart doesn’t melt she looks at him, and sometimes she forgets all about him. She keeps delaying returning to work in the hopes that those motherly instincts kick in.

Part of Beth’s problem is that she has nowhere to turn. Her mother, who died when she was two, isn’t there to help her. Her sister makes mothering seems like the most natural thing on earth; she can’t reveal what’s really happening to Ruthie. She’s struggling alone, and her husband doesn’t see it.

That is part of Beth’s emotional baggage. At the same time, her father must be admitted to a nursing home due to dementia. Since Beth isn’t working and her three siblings are, she takes on the task of clearing out their childhood home.

She finds the attic door locked and must call a locksmith to let her in. What she finds inside turns her world completely upside down: it’s full to the rafters with her father’s paintings and trash. As she begins to clean, she discovers a note attached to a canvas.  A note written in her mother’s handwriting. This sets her off on new journey to find each note that goes with the canvases.

Interspersed with Beth’s narrative is what appears to be the notes, that were indeed written by her mother, Grace, in 1957. This was a little unclear if its was notes or a journal entry, but they were hard to read.  Grace was also suffering from deep postpartum depression.

As the novel progresses, Beth becomes obsessed with her mother, the notes, and trying to figure out exactly what happened to her.  It’s not helpful that Beth’s father cannot remember.

Author Rimmer takes reads on a dark journey to one family’s secrets and dark pasts. I can’t wait for someone I know to read this so we can chat about it.   “Truths I Never Told You” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

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.

The Mistletoe Promise

The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans     273 pages

From Goodreads:

Elise Dutton dreads the arrival of another holiday season. Three years earlier, her husband cheated on her with her best friend, resulting in a bitter divorce that left her alone, broken, and distrustful.

Then, one November day, a stranger approaches Elise in the mall food court. Though she recognizes the man from her building, Elise has never formally met him. Tired of spending the holidays alone, the man offers her a proposition. For the next eight weeks—until the evening of December 24—he suggests that they pretend to be a couple. He draws up a contract with four rules:

1. No deep, probing personal questions
2. No drama
3. No telling anyone the truth about the relationship 
4. The contract is void on Christmas Day

The lonely Elise surprises herself by agreeing to the idea. As the charade progresses, the safety of her fake relationship begins to mend her badly broken heart. But just as she begins to find joy again, her long-held secret threatens to unravel the emerging relationship. But she might not be the only one with secrets.

Review:

This is such a cozy book, even though it contains some darker elements. The love story is sweet and romantic and it's a great read in the Christmas season.

The Screwtape Letters

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis      Paperback: 211 pgs.       

     This inventive and witty satire consists of letters purportedly written by a demon named Screwtape, offering advice on how best to ensure the damnation of a human soul.  Though it is an old book— Lewis wrote it (and it is set) during World War II— it is just as relevant to a 21st century audience as to those who read it over 75 years ago.  What shines through the most to me is Lewis’ amazing wisdom and insight into human nature and the nature of good and evil.  Lewis sees through temptations into the core issues involved and then explains it all to us through the pen of the fictional Screwtape.  It is therefore an excellent source for Christians to go to for knowledge of the real devil’s strategy and tactics.  The only major temptation missing here, as Christian writer Steve Farrar points out, is the attempt to keep people from studying the Bible.  We never see Screwtape urge his nephew to keep his “patient” (the man he’s tempting) from God’s Word— yet this is surely a major part of the devil’s strategy in real life.

     The edition I read also includes a speech by Screwtape, called “Screwtape Proposes a Toast,” written in 1959.  Lewis imagines here what Screwtape would say at a graduation ceremony of demons about to go out on their first assignments.  Lewis, through the mouth of Screwtape, explains the dangers of excess in democracy (resulting in evil and injustice), especially in our educational system.  Lewis even posits an interesting theory of why the United States fell behind the Russians at the beginning of the Space Race in the late 1950’s.

     One thing to keep in mind when reading this book is the “demonic” authorship.  What Screwtape loves, Lewis means us to hate; what the demon hates, we should love; what he thinks is good, we should abhor and vice-versa.  Also, demons aren’t exactly known for telling the truth, so in a few cases, Screwtape’s descriptions and judgements may not be entirely accurate.  Nevertheless, Lewis has made Screwtape’s observations mostly very accurate, so as to explain truth through the demon’s pen.  Not that Christians (let alone non-believers) are likely to agree with everything Lewis says.  I certainly don’t, but my disagreements with him are very few and far between.  To me, this is still one of the greatest books I’ve ever read; a great guide to truth, temptation, human nature, good and evil, and even reason.  I highly recommend it!

 (posted for John W.)

Catherine, Called Birdy

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman     169 pages

The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.


I highly enjoyed this book. I love historical fiction and Cushman does an excellent job of capturing Medieval life. Catherine, Birdy, is now one of my favorite literary characters, and certainly in my top five of favorite female literary characters. Her insights into her life and the lives of others, her social commentary, and her overall desire to do good by others makes her such a fascinating and inspiring character. For example, when she learns that a merchant who owns a bear, who performs poorly at a fair that Birdy attends, decides to subject it to bear baiting, she observes:

"The performance I saw was so clumsy and sad and brought the bear's owner so little profit that he announced a bearbaiting, planning to set a pack of dogs against a poor bear and see who cries and bleeds and dies first, all for the amusement of those wagering money on the outcome. How can we think ourselves made in the likeness of God when we act worse than beasts?" (p. 148)

This is such a profound statement and it made me love Birdy all the more. Though she often acts rashly and selfishly, she generally reflects upon her actions and either feels ashamed or desires to make amends and, at the very least, does what she can to correct her ways.

This book is an excellent choice for anyone who loves historical fiction, especially about Medieval England. It also serves well as a book for those who love a feisty female narrator. Birdy's narrative voice injects a lot of humor and lightheartedness to the story. It's also a quick read, so for those who are looking for something short and sweet, this is the perfect bite. This is truly an enjoyable read.

The Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro     245 pages

This is Kazuo Ishiguro's profoundly compelling portrait of Stevens, the perfect butler, and of his fading, insular world in post-World War II England. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the "great gentleman," Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's "greatness," and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life.

This is a masterpiece of prose. Ishiguro is so skilled at writing narrative fiction, his characters always so thoughtful and philosophical. And yet, somehow as you read it, it doesn't get boring or too meandering. This book has almost no plot, and yet I found I didn't mind that. This book is essentially the musings of an English butler, looking back on moments in his life that could be considered "turning points," all brought about by the news that an old acquaintance might be free to return to her post. 

Each moment in the past brings to light more and more of Mr. Stevens' character, and you slowly get a sense of who he is as a person and it also brings into focus aspects about himself that he appears not to see, or is trying to persuade the reader he is not/does not feel, and yet you know he is/does. I love how all of this can be conveyed just through Mr. Stevens' own inner thoughts and recollection, but put in tandem with his remembrances of conversations he held in the past. Is he a reliable narrator? Perhaps, but it is obvious he does not know his own heart, or is trying to reject possible feelings or ideas because it would make his life unbearable. 

The ending itself is so perfect and things come together in such a bittersweet way. I'll just share one quote that really is one of the most beautiful things I've read:

"Perhaps, then, there is something to his advice that I should cease looking back so much, that I should adopt a more positive outlook and try to make the best of what remains of my day. After all, what can we ever gain in forever looking back and blaming ourselves if our lives have not turned out quite as we might have wished?" p. 244

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves realistic fiction, especially fiction that touches on historical - certain events of WWII are mentioned. This is classic English literature at its best.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple    330 pages

A whip-smart, hysterical dramedy about a family in crisis after the disappearance of its brilliant, misanthropic matriarch. 

To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence--creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world.

Hilarious and wild, this book takes you on a journey and I enjoyed every bit of it. There's something about books that are built on the "letters and emails and articles" of its characters. It's a frame tale, told by Balakrishna or "Bee" as she's called, who's trying to find her mother, who has disappeared. She's written a "book," in this case the book you're holding in your hands, which is a compilation of her narrative and the narrative told by others through letters, faxes, emails, and articles. 

I'd recommend it as a vacation read or if someone's looking for humorous literary fiction (I can get so bored by literary fiction because it seems inundated with "serious" stories and it's almost as if life can't be fun while being "literary" - thankfully this book is a clear example that that's not true). It reminds me a bit of Jane Austen - not in its subject matter, but more in its satire of life in Seattle and socialites and rich people. It has the good humor of Jane Austen and the larger than life adventure of Mark Twain novels. Honestly, I'd highly recommend it. 

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir  by Jennifer Ryan   384 pages

Before she decided to write a novel, debut author Jennifer Ryan was a nonfiction book editor. Her novel, The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, shows remarkable talent for a beginner. I believe she is going to be a writer with many national bestsellers if her first outing is any indication. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not perfect, but I believe that this work shows incredible talent.

The story takes place in England beginning in March 24 and ends on September 6, 1940, as England is inching closer and closer to joining the world at war. The local vicar of Chilbury has decided that since no men are available to add their voices, that the choir should be suspended. The village women completely disagree with the vicar.  

It’s not easy, what with the shortages and all. But they form their own little Band of Sisters and vow to keep going. This is their story: the struggles, the heartaches, deceptions, romances, sacrifices.

The story is narrated in an epistolary manner, through journal/diary entries and letters. An ensemble, five different women, narrate the events of the five-and-a-half month time period. And boy is there a lot going on!  At first it was difficult to tell the speakers apart, but after about 50 pages, it was very easy to discern each individual voice.

According to her bio, Ryan based her novel “on the stories of my grandmother who was twenty when the Second World War began, mostly hilarious tales about bumping into people in the blackout, singing in the air raid shelters, and the freedoms women had during the war years--the excitement and romance. She also belonged to a choir, and her choir stories dramatized the camaraderie and support they all took away; the knowledge that they weren't in this alone. The The Chilbury Ladies' Choir uses my dear grandmother's stories as its backdrop.”

I enjoyed the highs and lows the ladies endured. Their last performance at the book’s ending satisfying, but the story seemed to wrap up a bit too quickly after that. For this reason and the earlier difficulty, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. I would lie to add that I would like to see these characters again, perhaps in future novel. I want to know how, and if, Mrs. Tillings; Venetia Winthrop and her younger sister, Kitty; Sylvie, the Jewish refugee, and the local midwife, Edwina Paltry, they make it through WWII.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review. 

The Color Purple

The Color Purple by Alice Walker  300 Pages

Alice Walker’s classic contemporary novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 and the National Book Award. It has also appeared on the American Library Association’s list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000-2009 at number seventeen because of the sometimes explicit sexual and violent content.

At the heart of this novel is the protagonist Celie’s motto: "I maybe black, I may be poor, I maybe a woman, and I may even be ugly! But thank God I'm here." 

The story begins in 1930s Georgia when a 14-year-old Celie is beaten and raped by the man she believes to be her father. The reader gets the impression that the beating and the rape are nothing new for Celie, but now that she is maturing, a pregnancy is. She has no idea what is happening to her and when a baby appears, she is shocked. Her father takes the baby away. Celie believes that he kills her little boy Soon, Celie is pregnant again, and once again, her father takes her daughter, again to be slaughtered.

Told in letters to God and her sister, Nettie, Celie’s story brings home in terrifying detail the description of a young black woman’s life in the early- to mid-20^th century. Black women during this time were on the bottom rung of society. Heck, sometimes even animals were higher on the scale than African-American women.

Celie is forced to marry a man who wanted to marry Nettie. As her father did, the man readers only know as “Mister,” treats her the same as her father did.  She is good for nothing but cooking, cleaning, and sex.

When Mister forces himself on Nettie, she has no choice but to leave. Soon she is living as a governess in South Africa. Nettie has promised to write, but decades pass before Celie discovers the letters Mister hid from her.

Walker’s epistolary style and use of Southern English make the novel seem more like a journal. At first, I was pulled in and couldn’t read fast enough. However about two-thirds through, I started to get bored. Once the story’s focus shifted Celie’s plight to Nettie, I lost interest. I’ve never seen the movie, but I felt the same way when I saw the musical. That’s why I give The Color Purple 3 out of 5 stars.

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer,

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, written by Kelly Jones, illustrated by Katie Kath, 216 pages

Sophie and her parents have recently inherited her great-uncle's farm in rural California.  The timing couldn't have been better, what with her father having just lost his job -- so the family picks up and moves from Los Angeles to Blackbird Farm.  Neither Sophie nor her father know much about farming, and her mom's too busy with her freelance writing gig to teach them.  Just as her great-uncle's chickens begin wandering home, Sophie stumbles across a mysterious mail correspondence course in poultry farming.  She's going to need all the help she can get, because these chickens are HIGHLY unusual (semi-spoiler: they have superpowers!) and it appears that there's a poultry thief out to get them.

This story is told entirely through letters that Sophie writes to local (and mysterious) poultry-expert Agnes as well as her deceased abuelita and great-uncle, and is sure to appeal to fans of Roald Dahl (though Jones' writing lacks Dahl's typical disdain for adults).  The black and white illustrations go a long way to helping readers picture Sophie and the myriad breeds of chickens she encounters while the epistolary format should appeal to kids who love reading diary-style novels like Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries.

The Divorce Papers

The Divorce Papers: A Novel by Susan Rieger   496 pages

Sophie Deal is a criminal attorney at an old New England firm in Massachusetts.  At twenty-nine, she is content in her surroundings and her cliental. One day, the daughter of one of their richest and most powerful clients walks in and needs a divorce attorney. She had just been handed papers at one of the most chic restaurants in town and is out for blood.

All the divorce attorneys are out-of-town, but the head to of the firm pulls Sophie to do the in-take interview.  The client, Mia Meiklejohn Durkheim, like Sophie’s forthrightness and pulls strings to get her assigned to the case, which is sometimes funny.

Other than negotiating divorce law, there’s not much plot here. I did like the epistolary style Reiger used: memos and e-mails. It made what could have been a dry story much better and faster to read.  I didn’t like the pages that concentrated on the legal briefs. I think those could have been deleted. However, there are those readers who have wanted to see the info once it’s mentioned.  The format also led to a quick read, which kept me reading, and when the legalese was excluded, it was a fun story.

 I give The Divorce Papers 4 out of 5 stars.

 I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

The Pull of the Moon

The Pull of the Moon by Elizabeth Berg  193 pages

Elizabeth Berg has written a total of 24 books. The Pull of the Moon was her fourth. With a couple of nonfiction titles here and there, she mostly writes contemporary fiction for women.

Nan and her husband, Martin, are well-off, some would say rich, and their daughter has gone off to college. But as Nan turns 50-years old, something is missing. It’s more than that her periods have stopped. She feels as if life as passed her by.

Leaving a note off Martin, she takes off on a road trip. Following wherever the road takes her, she drifts along, trying to sort out what she truly feels. Every day, as promised, she send a letter to Martin to let him know that she is safe.

I like the way this book is written. It opens with her first letter to Martin, then is followed by her diary entries (it’s not stream of consciousness). The reader never hears from Martin. This is only Nan’s story.

Personally I thought the plot was a silly. There’s not much of a story arc and, for me, no reason, to turn the page. Yet I read every one of them, hoping to some real insight. Nan might have fit the stereotypical 1950s woman, but in 2014, it misses the mark.

I give The Pull of the Moon 3 out of 5 stars.