Review: Run For the Hills (by Kevin Wilson)

My Rating: 4 stars

Whenever I pick up a Kevin Wilson book, I already know that I will be in for a zany and wild ride through a weird yet heartfelt story alongside a cast of characters who are quirky and eccentric, but in a loveably delightful way.  In this instance, the “ride” is a literal one, as the central premise revolves around a road trip that four half-siblings embark upon to locate their long-lost father. 

Madeline “Mad” Hill’s solitary yet “okay” life living on a farm with her mother in Coalfield, Tennessee is suddenly upended when a young man named Reuben (nickname “Rube”) shows up on her doorstep claiming to be her half-brother.  As it turns out, their father, Charles Hill, is a serial abandoner – he walked out on Rube and his mother 30 years ago, changing his name and starting a new life on a farm with Mad’s mother, only to walk out on her and Mad 10 years later.  But Rube and Mad weren’t the only ones abandoned – their father actually did the same thing two more times after them, leaving behind a college-age daughter named Pepper (“Pep” for short) in Oklahoma and an eleven-year-old son named Theron (who goes by “Tom”) in Utah.  Rube invites Mad to accompany him on a cross-country trek to not only find their other siblings, but also try to locate their father so they can confront him and get answers.  Though Mad thinks this is a crazy idea, she ultimately agrees to go with Rube and together, they set off on a road trip unlike any other.  When Rube and Mad locate their other siblings and trade stories about their father, they are shocked to discover that he took on an entirely different persona with each “new life” he started.  These facts about their father, along with other secrets they uncover, deepen the siblings’ determination to find their father and figure out what exactly is going on (and perhaps more importantly – why??).

I will admit that, at first, when I read this outlandish premise, I honestly wasn’t sure if it was going to work, as it sounded a bit too off-the-wall to me.  But then I remembered that this is Kevin Wilson – an author who has the unique talent of taking the zaniest of premises and turning them into fun, delightful, emotionally nuanced stories that may not always be believable, but are always full of humor and heart.  I loved the four siblings at the center of the story and was truly moved by their earnest efforts in trying to navigate their newfound sibling relationship while at the same time reconciling the impact of their father’s actions on their lives.  With that said, I’m not really sure how I feel about the ending – I don’t want to give anything away, so I won’t say too much here, but I think this is an area that would make a good (and interesting) topic of discussion.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and highly entertaining read. Sure, there were some moments where I felt like I had to suspend disbelief somewhat, but those were few and far between – plus there was the emotional payoff that made things worthwhile in the end. I definitely recommend picking this one up, as it makes for a fantastic summer read!

Received ARC from Ecco via NetGalley.

Review: The Postcard (by Anne Berest)

My Rating: 4 stars

This was a unique read for me — not in terms of subject matter of course, as I've read plenty of books over the years about World War II from various perspectives as well as about the Holocaust. Rather, the "uniqueness" of this particular reading experience had to do with the format of the story, which was a combination of historical fiction and autobiography that I honestly had never encountered before. The formatting of the story wasn't exactly seamless, as the switching between first, second, and third person narrative, plus some of the dialogue and wording used made it relatively easy to tell which parts were historical and which parts were biographical. Also, there were quite a few references to exact addresses, dates, titles, and direct quotes/references from research material inserted throughout the story (especially in the first two-thirds of the book) that sometimes made it feel like I was reading a history textbook instead of a novel. Though these things were distracting and did take me out of the story at times, fortunately the storytelling overall was compelling enough that, after awhile, I became absorbed in the story and stopped thinking about the format as much.

The story is actually based on the author Anne Berest's own family history and the mysterious postcard that her mother Lelia received in January 2003 with four names on it: Ephraim, Emma, Noemie, Jacques. Ephraim and Emma Rabinovitch were Lelia's grandparents (her mother Myriam was their eldest daughter), while Noemie and Jacques were her aunt and uncle (Myriam's siblings) — all four of them had died in Auschwitz in 1942. Lelia's mother Myriam had survived the war, but had died 8 years prior (in 1995). The postcard is put away in a drawer and forgotten about until years later, when something happens in Anne's life that moves her to investigate the origins of the postcard (who sent it and why). With the help of her mother Lelia as well as several others, Anne sets out on a journey to piece together her family history in the hopes that it will lead her to the truth.

Given the subject matter, this was undoubtedly a difficult read at times. The scenes describing the atrocities of war and the aftermath were especially hard to stomach, to the point that I had to put the book down for a bit to regain my bearings in order to continue on with the rest of the story. Majority of the story took place in France and there was a lot of detail about the French government's role in helping to perpetuate the Holocaust through their actions of arresting and deporting Jews (oftentimes in collaboration with the Nazi regime in Germany) — which was an interesting angle that I haven't seen explored often.

The novel itself was actually written in French originally, but the English translation was so well done that it was honestly hard to tell (if I hadn't already known going into this one that it was a translation, I would've never guessed). Like I mentioned earlier, this one actually crossed several genres (historical, contemporary, literary, biography, etc.) but the "mystery" at its core, with Anne trying to find out who sent the postcard, was one of the elements that kept me turning the pages. Also, despite the page count (my hard cover version was exactly 475 pages), plus I had figured out early on who sent the postcard and why (I was actually surprised how spot on my theory was), at no point did that diminish my appreciation of the story.

Again, with the heaviness of the subject matter, this was not an easy read by any means and not surprisingly, it did take a bit of an emotional toll on me. Nevertheless, I still recommend this one, as it's both a necessary and timely read given some of the things happening in society currently. I'm glad I ghost the chance to read this and I hope more people will as well.

Review: The Secret Book of Flora Lea (by Patti Callahan Henry)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

This was a captivating story about two sisters who are sent to the English countryside during World War II as part of Operation Pied Piper, a government mission to evacuate children from the cities to keep them safe from bombings.  In 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel Linden and her five-year-old sister Flora Lea are taken in by the Aberdeen family (Bridie and her teenage son Harry) at their cottage in Binsey, a charming little hamlet along the River Thames. To keep her little sister entertained and also to distract her from the devastating realities of war, Hazel makes up various stories for Flora — one in particular is a fairytale about a secret, magical world called Whisperwood that the sisters could escape to in their imaginations. One day though, while the kids are having a picnic near the river, Flora Lea disappears and when her stuffed bear is found half-buried at the mouth of the river, she is presumed to have drowned.  Devastated and consumed with both grief and guilt for not keeping an eye on her sister, Hazel leaves Binsey, burying her memories of the town and the happy life she had with Flora and the Aberdeens forever. Twenty years later, in 1960, Hazel has rebuilt her life in London, working at a rare book shop and largely putting the past behind her — that is, until the day she unwraps a first edition copy of a book entitled Whisperwood and the River of Stars, written by an American author named Peggy Andrews. Hazel is bewildered, as she never told anyone about the secret world she made up, which only she and her sister knew about.  With a glimmer of hope that her sister might have survived after all, Hazel embarks on a quest to find out the origins of the book, which involves dredging up past hurts as well as revisiting past relationships that she had long left behind.  But as Hazel digs deeper into the past in the hopes of finding the truth about her sister's disappearance, it threatens to unravel the current life that she painstakingly built — a cost that Hazel must decide if she is willing pay, especially as it could ultimately lead to a dead end.

I really enjoyed this charming yet poignant story written by an author whose many works I've heard of but didn't have the chance to read until now.  The beauty of this book is in the way the author, Patti Callahan Henry, takes a made-up, mystical world and combines it so seamlessly with real-life historical events to create a story that felt original and inventive, yet at the same time, also felt informative and authentic to the time period.  I definitely felt transported and immersed in both the world of Whisperwood as well as the countryside setting juxtaposed against the backdrop of the realities of war in the city.  The combination of these elements worked well and also made the story stand out from other works of historical fiction.

This was a book that I couldn't put down as soon as I started reading it.  I was completely invested in the "mystery" of Flora's disappearance and how that related to the Whisperwood book, to the point that I found myself reading late into the night so that I could find out what happens.  While there were moments where I thought I had guessed the "truth" and how the ending would turn out, I was actually surprised time and time again by the turn of events, which made this a compelling read that kept me turning the pages.  I also appreciated how there was a good balance to the story in that it didn't lean overly on being too heavy or too lighthearted, but rather a steady combination of both — a balance that is usually not easy to achieve with stories set against WWII.  To be honest, a story like this one could easily go sideways, but in the hands of this particular author, it was perfect.

It's hard to say too much about this book outside of the basic premise without giving something away, so I will keep this review short and sweet.  I definitely encourage reading this one and letting the delightful story (as well as the endearing characters) sweep you up. Highly recommended! 

Review: Talking at Night (by Claire Daverly)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

One thing I wanted to establish right off the bat:  this is one of those books that is hard to place into any one genre, since it's technically a mix of several, however I would strongly caution against classifying it as a typical "romance" novel.  Sure, there's a "love story" at the core of this one, with a main "couple" that it's pretty much impossible NOT to root for (more on this later), but there is actually so much more to the story than that.  This is a story with a tremendous amount of emotional depth and nuance, told in a way that is raw, honest, heartfelt, and realistic.  

When the story first starts out, it might seem, on the surface, like "romance trope" territory:  a shy and soft-spoken good girl (who is also an ardent rule-follower) falls in love with a handsome bad boy whom we find out actually has a heart of gold despite his tortured past — but then tragedy tears them apart and they end up going down very different paths, seemingly forever…yet somehow the deep connection they share keeps pulling them back into each other's orbit. That's the general premise, but as the story progresses, we come to realize that there is so much more beneath the surface that, in the end, elevates things to a level beyond a simple love story.  There is love, yes, but also family, friendship, parental expectations, unrequited longing, missed opportunities, regret, tragedy, death, etc…and a roller coaster ride of feelings and emotions both heavy-hitting as well as lighthearted. Throughout it all — despite how many times I felt incredibly frustrated with Rosie's indecisiveness, or how many times I felt incredibly sad seeing Will's pain and anguish dredged up over and over again, or how many times this "couple" broke my heart, put it back together, then broke it all over again — I could not help rooting for them, steadfastly, unequivocally, from beginning to end.  I didn't always agree with their decisions, of course (in fact, I found myself yelling at them more than once), and truth be told that I was a bit more partial toward Will than Rosie (because, um, how could anyone not be after what he does in the later part of the story), but I still ended up loving both of them regardless.

A few comments on the writing, which I personally thought was beautifully done. I felt that there was a lyrical, rhythmic nature to the writing that seemed to ebb and flow alongside Will and Rosie's tumultuous relationship.  Now there will be aspects of the writing that may not sit well with some readers — for example, the lack of quotation marks for the dialogue, some random words and phrases that don't seem to express a complete thought, some sentences that run on for entire paragraphs — but if you become as immersed in the story as I was, you probably won't notice any of these things after awhile (as I didn't).  

This was Claire Daverly's debut novel, though it definitely didn't read like one, at least to me.  There's no doubt that I will be on the lookout for more from Daverly in the future.  In the meantime, if you're looking for a story that's poignant, powerful, and heartfelt, with believable characters that you won't be able to stop yourself from caring about, I definitely recommend picking this one up!

Received ARC from Pamela Dorman Books via NetGalley.

Review: Romantic Comedy (by Curtis Sittenfeld)

My Rating:  3 stars



I'm not a huge fan of contemporary romance novels, and rom-coms especially can be a bit of a "hit or miss" for me.  With that said though, I don't mind picking one up now and then as a palate-cleanser in between heavier reads —  which is why, when one of my book clubs put Curtis Sittenfeld's newest rom-com, Romantic Comedy, on my radar, I decided to go for it, even though the premise didn't really appeal to me.  

Structure-wise, the entire book is divided into 3 long chapters. Chapter 1  revolves around "The Night Owls" (a late night live comedy show similar to SNL) storyline, where one of the sketch writers, Sally Milz, meets handsome pop star Noah Brewster when he guests hosts for one week and they collaborate on a series of sketches for the show.  Chapter 2 takes place almost 2 years later and is told in an epistolary format, consisting of email correspondence between Noah and Sally. Chapter 3, of course, is where Noah and Sally finally hook up and become a couple.

For me, even though chapter 1 was the most interesting arc in the entire story (and hewed closest to the premise), it took me quite a while to get into it.  I think this was mostly because, nowadays, I don't watch a whole lot of English-language TV shows anymore (I used to watch TONS when I was growing up), plus I've never really been a fan of SNL (I can't even remember the last time I watched an episode of the show…maybe decades ago?), so much of what went on during this chapter felt a bit tedious to me (not to mention I most likely didn't catch any of the pop culture references to the real SNL show, so the entire arc was less meaningful to me).  I actually enjoyed chapter 2 a lot more, probably because I have an affinity for the epistolary storytelling format (it's one of my favorite formats), for one, and two, I like reading fun, witty banter and there was plenty of that in this section.  Chapter 3 was run-of-the-mill romance stuff, which was fine, but not really my jam (oh and just a heads up that this section does get a bit "spicy" in places, in case that matters to those who decide to pick this up).  When it comes down to it, I think what I ended up enjoying the most from the entire story was the "girl power" friendship between Sally, Vivian, and Henrietta, and how they were always there for each other through everything, which I found to be very moving (though yes, their hilarious banter back-and-forth cracked me up as well).

Overall, this was a quick, entertaining read, and both fun as well as funny in places, but I think this was written more for a niche audience (fans of SNL, for example), who will likely enjoy and appreciate this story way more than I did.

Review: Banyan Moon (by Thao Thai)

My Rating:  5 stars

I've been reading quite a few new releases the last couple of months and while many of those I enjoyed immensely (majority have been 4 and 4.5 star reads thankfully), I had yet to come across one that I could truly categorize as a 5 star level "this book blew me away" type read (so far this year, I've rated 2 books 5 stars, but both were backlist reads).  Well, heading into summer reading season, I'm happy to report that I've finally come across my first 5 star read among the plentiful 2023 new releases — Thao Thai's spectacular debut novel Banyan Moon (scheduled for publication in June).  

There was so much to unpack with this book, I'm honestly not sure where to begin.  Perhaps the best place to start would be what attracted me to this book in the first place — as soon as I read the premise, especially the following last paragraph, I knew that this was a book I abs had to read:   Spanning decades and continents, from 1960s Vietnam to the wild swamplands of the Florida coast, Banyan Moon is a stunning and deeply moving story of mothers and daughters, the things we inherit, and the lives we choose to make out of that inheritance."  

First of all, I love sweeping family sagas, but in particular, I'm drawn to stories about mother/daughter relationships.  Part of the reason I gravitate toward these types of stories is because I have a complicated relationship with my own mother, so I'm constantly on the lookout for books that explore this — particularly between Asian mothers and daughters, as there are usually familiar cultural dynamics involved that inform these relationships, which can hopefully help me make sense of my own.  

To be honest, reading this book was like a gut punch for me because I resonated so deeply with each of the 3 main characters — Minh (grandmother and family matriarch), Huong (Minh's daughter and Ann's mother), and Ann (Minh's granddaughter, Huong's daughter, and herself about to become a mother) — and the various misunderstandings and disagreements that defined their relationship with each other. I understood Ann's feeling of being adrift and floating and not really knowing what she wanted to do with her life, only that she wanted to escape from the perpetual tension that always existed when she was in her mother's presence.  I also understood Huong's feelings of inadequacy — both as a mother and as a daughter — and feeling like she had no choice but to resign herself to a life that reflected what others wanted rather than what she actually wanted.  And yes, I also understood Minh's struggle, why she became the overbearing force to be reckoned with in the family, and what necessitated her urge to protect her granddaughter at all costs.  So many of the dynamics that were at play between these three women felt so familiar to me, as they reflected some of my experiences and struggles with my own family over the years:  for instance: the inability to communicate our true feelings no matter how hard we try, and then being bogged down by endless guilt and regret that never truly goes away; the resentment and hurt built up from a lifetime of letting fear and desperation dictate our words and actions, resulting in us saying things to each other that we may not really mean, but that end up dealing irreparable damage to our relationships; and for me, this one was the most poignant and heartbreaking — the constant struggle with understanding the different ways to love someone and the impossibility of choosing a "right" or "wrong" way to love (especially where family is concerned).  As an indication of how deeply this story resonated with me — during various points as I was reading, I actually had to set the book down in order to wipe away tears that seemed to appear of their own accord. 

Another thing that blew me away with this book was the writing. I love beautiful prose and this one definitely had plenty of it!  When I read fiction, I tend to read straight through without marking up any passages because I don't want to break up the flow of the story, but in this instance, I couldn't help myself — some of the passages, in articulating the complexities of the relationship between the 3 generations of Tran women, also described my own feelings so precisely that I just had to mark them for rereading and reflection later.  

One other thing I wanted to mention is the format of the narrative, which, except for the first chapter, alternated between the perspectives of Minh, Huong, and Ann, both in the present day as well as going back to the past.  This format was powerful, I felt, as juxtaposing the three women's stories in this way not only helped us see how each navigated her role as daughters (which is important because of how much these experiences shaped their future roles as mothers), but it also helped us to see how similar some of their motivations were, yet how differently their lives turned out based on the choices they made. 

As I mentioned earlier, there is a lot to unpack with this one and the above only touches upon a few of my initial thoughts about certain aspects of the story that resonated with me, which of course only scratches the surface of what this book is about.  This is why I'm so glad that one of my book clubs chose this as a monthly read, as I now have an excuse to go back and reread this in preparation for the discussion.  Definitely looking forward to it!

Received ARC from Mariner Books via BookBrowse First Impressions program.

Review: No Two Persons (by Erica Bauermeister)

My Rating: 4 stars

I read Erica Bauermeister's previous novel The Scent Keeper a couple years ago and absolutely adored that book.  Two of the things I had loved about that book were the story itself (with its unique structure, interesting subject matter, and fascinating characters) as well as the gorgeously lyrical and immersive writing.  Given this experience, it's probably no surprise that when I was approved for an ARC of Bauermeister's newest work No Two Persons, I was ecstatic knowing that I would be in for another mesmerizing read.  While in the end, the experience was a little different from what I expected, I still really enjoyed this one overall.

In this book, Bauermeister once again employs a unique structure — this time, through a series of linked short stories — to explore the impact that one book has on 10 different people, starting with the young author who writes the book, Alice Wein.  Each story presents characters from different walks of life who are struggling in some way (whether it's with love, relationships, grief, illness, financial insecurity, etc.) but then they encounter Alice's book, simply titled Theo, which opens the door to a different perspective — and in some cases, a much-needed path forward — for each person.  I found it fascinating how Bauermeister was able to weave Theo so seamlessly into each character's story and adapt it to meet the situation they were in.  As I was reading each story, I knew Theo was going to make an appearance somehow, but I didn't know when or how, which made me want to keep reading to find out (and then marveling to myself afterwards how brilliant each instance was).  Each story also gave us insight into Theo's plot and while we never got the full story arc of course, enough details were revealed that it made me wish it were a real book, as it was one that I'd definitely be interested in reading. 

As an avid reader, I definitely resonated with the messages in this book — that no two persons will read the same book in the same way; that certain books have a way of meeting the reader where they're at in their lives; that some books have the power to change lives, but sometimes, we need to be willing to let them in and give them a chance.  In that sense, this was also an ode to books and reading, which I absolutely appreciated.  

The other thing I really liked about this book was the writing, which was beautiful and lyrical, similar to what I saw in The Scent Keeper.  I also found it refreshing that this book was written from the third person perspective — which normally wouldn't matter to me, but because most of the books I've read lately were written from the first person point of view, it was nice to finally read something where I got to see things from all the different characters' perspectives instead of having to remain in one character's head through the entire story. 

My one complaint — which I always have with short story collections (though more accurately speaking, this was actually a "novel in stories" where various characters cross over into each other's story) — is that each story is incomplete, so we only get glimpses into each character's background.  This made it hard to form a connection with the characters, which is important for me seeing how much I love character- driven stories — though having some of the stories be linked to each other (i.e. the writer, the agent, the publishing assistant for the same book all have their own stories) as well as having some of the characters "pass through" each other's stories did help.

Overall, I enjoyed this one immensely, though I didn't love it the way I did The Scent Keeper. Having said that, I still highly recommend this one, especially with its interesting structure and the way it explores various life situations that will likely resonate with many readers. I also think that people who love books and recognize the importance of reading will really appreciate this one.

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.

Review: Fault Lines (by Emily Itami)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

 

It's not often that I make the decision to buy a book based on it's cover, but in the case of Emily Itami's debut novel Fault Lines, the cover art – a dark blue image of Tokyo's skyscape at night, overlaid by beautiful pink cherry blossoms -- was so gorgeous that I couldn't resist having it on my bookshelf so I could pull it out and look at it whenever I wanted.  I did end up checking out the plot summary after I bought the book and while it's one I was definitely interested in reading, I couldn't didn't jump in right away due to the LONG list of books I already had lined up that I needed to get to.   So of course, when one of my book clubs chose this book for their April selection, I was more than delighted to be given the excuse to finally get around to reading it (though not without some reservations about whether I would feel the same about the story as I did about the cover).  Now after having finished, I am happy to report that I really enjoyed the story, which I found to be by turns both delightful and thought- provoking.

 

At the center of the story is Mizuki, a Japanese housewife and mother of two young children (a 10-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son) who, after more than a decade of marriage, has fallen into a resigned complacency of sorts where her days are spent washing the dishes, folding the laundry, taking care of the kids, and being invisible to her extremely hardworking husband who oftentimes can't even be bothered to look at her when he's at home because he is too busy taking care of work matters on his phone.  One day, standing on the balcony of the glamorous high-rise apartment in Tokyo where she lives with her family, Mizuki has the sudden urge to throw herself over the railing.  She doesn't succeed in killing herself of course (not a spoiler), but the incident makes her realize just how mundane and depressing her life has become.  She loves her children deeply, but also yearns for the emotional connection that she used to have with her husband, Tatsuya, back early in their courtship and marriage, when she used to feel seen and appreciated as a partner.  So it is that when she meets Kiyoshi, a charismatic and hugely successful restauranteur, she is drawn to his easy-going nature and they become good friends.  When she's with Kiyoshi, Mizuki is reminded of the person she used to be – funny, charming, and perfectly happy roaming around the city she loves, admiring the sights and sounds, eating good food, and having meaningful conversation with someone who understands her and genuinely cares about her.  But as their relationship deepens, Mizuki finds it more and more difficult to reconcile her devotion to her family and the obligations of motherhood with the happy, carefree existence she has with Kiyoshi. 

 

The entire story is told from Mizuki's first person of view, which I felt worked really well in this instance, as it made her struggles more real and heartfelt.  But I think what helped the most was the author Emily Itami's thoughtful and sensitive, yet entirely realistic portrayal of Mizuki as an ordinary woman struggling with universally relatable issues such as marriage, motherhood, family expectations, societal norms, etc. Itami presents Mizuki in a way that is sincere and honest, helping us understand the character completely through the good moments as well as the bad ones so we can make sense of why Mizuki makes the decisions she does – the effect of this, for me, was that even though I didn't agree with some of those decisions, I couldn't help empathizing with Mizuki and rooting for her along the way. 

Another aspect I really appreciated about the story was how emotionally resonant it ended up being.  I'm not married and I don't have children, yet I was still able to relate to Mizuki's struggle with understanding and reconciling her life choices with the reality of how her life turned out. I resonated especially with Mizuki's conflicting feelings toward her identity and culture — more specifically, feeling bound by the constraints of cultural and societal expectations in her various roles as wife, mother, daughter, friend, etc., yet when the opportunity to be free of these bounds arises, feeling hesitant to take the first step out of fear of what the change might bring.  The beauty of this story is in its nuanced commentary on life and what it means to be a woman in contemporary Asian society.

One thing to note with this story is that, plot-wise, nothing much actually happens — instead, through Mizuki's experiences, we are treated to atmospheric and mesmerizing observations of a city that we get to know intimately by the end of the book. I've always wanted to visit Tokyo (it's one of my bucket list destinations) and after reading this book, that desire has grown even stronger.  Perhaps someday that will become a reality— in the meantime, I don't mind revisiting through the various descriptions in this book.

Review: Unlikely Animals (by Annie Hartnett)

My Rating:  4.5 stars



Annie Hartnett's Unlikely Animals is a quirky, unique, interesting story – the likes of which I can honestly say that I've never read before.  I'm actually not sure if I'll be able to describe the "uniqueness" of this story accurately – I will certainly try, but I recommend reading this one yourself to get the full experience of it.

 

On the surface, this sounds like a perfectly ordinary "small-town homecoming" story where the main protagonist Emma Starling decides to return home to her family in Everton, New Hampshire after having dropped out of med school in California.   Having lost her way, Emma was hoping to escape back to her hometown to "figure things out" and put her life back on track, which turns out to be easier said than done given what she has to face upon arrival:  her judgmental mother Ingrid who doesn't seem to approve of anything she does; her younger brother Auggie, whom Emma has always been at odds with growing up, with their relationship deteriorating even further after Auggie's recent stint in rehab; and her father Clive, who is dying from a degenerative brain disease that causes him to hallucinate not just small animals, but also the ghost of a long-dead naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes.  But that's not all….Emma is also shocked to find out that her best friend from high school, Crystal Nash, has been missing for months, but with the local police writing the case off due to Crystal's drug use prior to her disappearance, no one is making an effort to find her – that is, except for Emma's dad Clive, who remains steadfast in his belief that Crystal must still be alive and so spends most of his days putting up missing persons posters all around town.  What ensues is a series of events that come together and form a story that is both poignant and wistful, yet also funny and heartwarming, all at the same time. 

 

One of the things that made this story so unique was Harnett's ability to combine the realistic and the fanciful to such great effect.  On the one hand, there were characters who felt so real, with their universally relatable struggles, having to deal with real-life issues such as drug addiction, infidelity, terminal illness, parental expectations and judgment, strained friendships, sibling rivalry, the ups and downs of relationships in general, etc. – basically ordinary people dealing with familiar situations that so many of us could resonate with.  Yet on the other hand, there were also fantastical elements that were more than a little "magical" – such as a character hallucinating small animals and having conversations with a ghost, a cute pet fox that is friendly with humans and acts more like a dog than a fox, a giant white dog that thinks and acts more like a human than a dog, and most amusing of all, an entire story narrated by the spirits of a bunch of dead folks from their "forever resting place" at the Maple Street Cemetery (this was my absolute favorite element of the story).

Genre-wise, this felt like a mashup that didn't really fit neatly in any one category.  In addition to the fantasy / magical realism and contemporary fiction elements mentioned earlier, there were also elements of mystery / suspense (what happened to Crystal and the ongoing search for her), historical fiction (the story of nineteen-century robber-baron Austin Corbin, the real-life Ernest Harold Baynes, who was a naturalist once employed at the park bearing Corbin's name, and the real animals that Harold and his wife lived with during their lifetime), and some romance (a very minor element in the story).  In her Author's Note (which is a must-read) as well as in interviews, Hartnett talked about how some of the scenes in the book were based on "scraps" from her real life (such as the deer scene for example or her own experience as a sixth grade teacher when she was twenty two) — so there were some biographical elements mixed in as well!

This was a story with both humor and heart that I'm absolutely glad I got the chance to read (thank goodness for book club, as I probably wouldn't have picked this one up otherwise).  Having enjoyed this book as much as I did, I've also put Hartnett's debut novel, Rabbit Cake, on my TBR — definitely something to look forward to in the future. 

 

Review: Becoming Duchess Goldblatt (by Anonymous)

My Rating:  3.5 stars

Let me say up front that I don't care much for social media.  Yes, I do have accounts on all the major platforms, but I created those more out of necessity than anything else.  I guess you can say that I "tolerate" social media in that I use when it when I have to (for example — to connect with a friend or distant relative or to research or get information on something), but outside of that I rarely post anything and rarely interact with anyone.  For the record, I have nothing against social media itself — it's more that the experience is not for me, as I find the pressure of constantly having to "keep up" with the trends and conversations on there extremely exhausting and stressful, and I basically have neither time nor patience for any of it.

Given the above, it should probably come as no surprise that I had never heard of the fictional Internet personality Duchess Goldblatt prior to reading this book.  In fact, this book probably would never have come onto my radar if one of my book clubs hadn't chosen it as a monthly read.   This is actually a memoir by an anonymous author who writes about how she came to create an alter ego on social media that is so beloved across legions of her devoted fans.  The author encountered a lot of loss and tragedy in her life and in efforts to parse her grief (not to mention the incredible loneliness she felt at the time), she created Duchess Goldblatt on a whim, not expecting the character to attract as much attention as it did.  Indeed, the Duchess can count among her followers many famous names in the literary community, such as Elizabeth McCracken, Alexander Chee, Benjamin Dreyer, Celeste Ng, Laura Lippman, etc.  But for the author, one of the most meaningful experiences that Duchess Goldblatt gave her was the opportunity to develop a close friendship with her real-life long-time idol, singing legend Lyle Lovett.   The author's candid conversations with Lyle (both as herself and as Duchess Goldblatt) were a lot of fun to read and I felt that's one of the things that made this book so special.  

Overall, I found this to be an interesting read.  I appreciated the candor with which the author recounted key moments of her life and the various struggles she went through.  There were parts that I resonated with deeply and wholeheartedly— such as this paragraph where the author's boss calls her into the office to praise her for doing a great job at work:  "Outperforming other people is of no interest to me.  It certainly doesn't motivate me.  If anything, it makes me feel a little guilty. I was raised not to show off, not to be proud, not to draw attention to myself.  I don't like people looking at me or standing too close. Compliments make me uncomfortable.  My greatest childhood dream was to be an author whom everyone would read but no one would look at directly, but I couldn't figure out a way to write books without people knowing my name."  I love this quote because it describes my exact sentiments as well.  I also related to the insecurities and vulnerabilities that the author felt about herself, as I struggled with these at various points in my life as well.  With all that said, the parts I didn't enjoy as much were the quotes and excerpts from the Duchess Goldblatt social media accounts — don't get me wrong, I liked the concept of it and I definitely appreciated the author for creating something that gave so much joy and comfort to so many people, but for me personally, the excerpts were distracting. Basically, I preferred to read about the author herself (this is a memoir after all) more than about her fictional Internet persona.  

Even though this one turned out different than I expected, I'm still glad I read it, as it was a pretty unique experience overall.   Given the author's desire to remain anonymous, I admire her willingness to share her personal story with so many people (I know I wouldn't be able to do it for sure).  I wish her the best of luck! 

Review: The Violin Conspiracy (by Brendan Slocumb)

 My Rating:  4 stars

 

I’ve read my fair share of thrillers / mystery novels over the years and while occasionally, I’ll come across one that completely blows me away (a recent example that comes to mind is Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot), there comes a point where most of the thrillers I read start to sound so similar that I feel like it’s a waste of time to pick them up.  Given this context, when one of my book clubs decided to choose a thriller for our monthly read, I couldn’t help but feel just a tad bit weary – I even debated at one point whether I should pick this one up or not.  In the end, I decided to go for it, and I’m so glad I did because this one turned out to be more than just a “run-of-the-mill” thriller.  In fact, I would even say that the thriller / mystery aspect was more of a sub-arc than the main story (more on this later).

 

Ray McMillian has a passion for playing the violin and also the natural talent to match, but as a Black kid growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina, he has neither the resources nor the opportunities to realize his dream of becoming a professional musician.  Aside from the fact that his family doesn’t support him – his mom wants him to get a “real” job in order to pay the bills, while the rest of his aunts and uncles are to absorbed with their own lives to care about his impractical dreams – there’s also the reality of the inherent racism in the classical music world, which Ray has already gotten a glimpse of being the only Black kid in his high school music class (his teacher essentially refuses to teach him and the white kids go out of their way to make him feel that he doesn’t belong there).  Only his Grandma Nora, whom he goes and visits every couple of months, loves and supports him unconditionally.  On one of his visits, his grandma gives him a fiddle that once belonged to his great-grandfather.  Later on, Ray meets Dr. Janice Stevens, a music teacher at Markham University who becomes his mentor — her support, along with his great grandfather’s precious fiddle, help Ray tap into his potential and puts him on the path to realizing his dream.  But then he discovers that the fiddle he now owns is actually a rare Stradivarius worth millions of dollars, and almost immediately, two families try to lay claim to it — Ray’s own family, including his mother, as well as the descendants of the family that had once enslaved his great-grandfather.  However, the worst is yet to come when, o few weeks before the Tchaikovsky Competition, Ray’s violin is stolen, throwing his life into upheaval and threatening everything he had worked for.  As Ray embarks on a desperate mission to find his violin, he begins to lose hope that he will ever see his precious Strad again.

 

On the surface, the narrative seems to revolve around the mystery of the stolen violin, but the story actually goes much deeper than that.  To me, the main story arc actually revolves around Ray’s journey to realizing his dream of becoming a professional violinist and the many obstacles he faced because of the color of his skin.  In Brendan Slocumb’s author’s note at the back of the book (which is an absolute must-read!), he talks about how some of the most racially charged events in the book were actually based on his own life experiences as a Black man and violinist trying to forge his path in the mostly White arena of classical music.  He also writes how, when he shares his encounters with racism with friends who don’t look like him, he usually gets a variation of the “it can’t be true / things aren’t really like that” reaction — wanting to recount his experiences as well as paint a realistic picture of the kinds of struggles that people of color face everyday, are partly what inspired him to write this book.  [Case in point:  as I’m writing this review, a story just popped up in the news about a cop in Phoenix who put a Black journalist in handcuffs when all he did was interview customers in front of a bank.]  As a person of color who also grew up in an environment where few people looked like me, I definitely  resonated with that aspect of the story and appreciate Slocumb sharing his experiences through the character of Ray.  

 

I’m terms of the “whodunnit” portion of the story — to be honest, it really wasn’t too hard to figure out (which I already did way early in the story).  With that said, I liked the inventiveness of the story in terms of how the violin “kidnapping” played out.  After a slew of similar-feeling thrillers, I find it refreshing to read a thriller that felt so different from the usual fare, even if the “mystery” portion of the story was not as strong.

 

This was an absolutely worthwhile read, though not an easy one by any means, as there were some gut-wrenching, visceral scenes that honestly made my blood boil (especially knowing some of those scenes were based on real life events).  Nevertheless, I appreciate the sincerity and honesty that comes through in Slocumb’s writing – specifically in the way he brings his characters to life.  This was a fine debut effort and I’m definitely looking forward to his second book (which is scheduled to come out in a couple months).