Month: July 2023

To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs #14 — Historical Mystery)

Somehow I missed this one episode of Maisie Dobbs even though I’ve read all of the previous and the three following. Argh! Thanks to my friend for mentioning it in passing…

This England based historical mystery series starts during WWI and by this episode is up to 1940. Maisie Dobbs — a psychologist and investigator trained by the best — is such a compelling protagonist. She is intelligent, articulate, discerning, careful in speech, and empathetic. I love that she always earns the respect of the various men in power (police detectives, senior military types, etc.) without ever resorting to “feminine wiles” or anything other than dogged determination and sheer, unquestionable, competence. Each book in the series includes a good mystery, but also a great deal of what it is like to live in such “exciting” times.

Maisie is asked to investigate the odd behavior and eventual murder of a young boy working with a paint crew to cover all of the RAF stations with a new (poorly tested) fire retardant paint in advance of the expected German invasion. In the afterward (Winspear’s afterwards are always worth reading as they include more information on all the historical fact that is embedded in the pages), we learn that this boy working with (and being damaged by) the new paint is based on her own father’s experiences. The Dunkirk miracle also plays a big role in this book. This is a WWII episode that I never tire of reading about. If ever there was an event that showed true community commitment to achieve the impossible, this is it.

This is probably my favorite historical mystery series, and this book one of the best!

A Woman of no Importance by Sonia Purnell (Non fiction — History)

This is the story, compiled and abstracted from scores of historical documents, of Virginia Hall, the only woman to have earned her own section in the CIA Museum catalog (the other four being men who became directors of the CIA). Her role in supporting and mobilizing the French resistance over the years of Nazi occupation resulting in the successful liberation of France was eventually hailed with accolades from high and low … many, many years later. However, during her lifetime she spent most of her time wanting to be useful and consistently relegated to low level desk jobs despite her incredible success as an agent on the ground.

I’m not much of a history buff, but I found this story deeply compelling, both in terms of the actual work she did (described at a whole new level of detail than anything I had read before about this particular time and place) and the mechanics and psychology of war work and the place of women in it at the time. The narrative covers the truly incompetent beginnings of the British SOE and American OSS; the turmoil brought to experienced military types having to succumb to “modern” warfare, including the “immoral” use of spies; the creative ways the resistance engaged in harassment and sabotage and rescue operations; the various factions working against each other, rather than against the nazis when liberation drew near, to the brave and somewhat crazy Maquis; and the innate nastiness of more of the French people than I would expected — I guess severe deprivation and fear can bring out the worst in people.

Virginia was really like the James Bond of the WWII French Theater (minus the womanizing, obviously, although the number of male agents who caused great damage through casual pillow talk was horrifying). I had trouble at times keeping track of who was who but it kind of didn’t matter as long as you could easily keep track of her role. An impressive piece of work that neither undersold, nor oversold, her story. Highly recommended.

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by Susan Wiggs (Rom-Com)

A somewhat silly premise, but kind, well-meaning, and full-on heart warming. Brenda Malloy — with two devastating Christmases in her past — wants nothing more to do with the holiday but somehow gets roped in to driving twelve rescue dogs from Houston to a tiny, Christmas-mad, town in upstate New York. A snow storm, a potentially bad accident, and a hunky paramedic who doubles as a dog lover really do a number on Brenda’s insistence on intense grinchiness.

Some good comedy, lovable characters, and generally a happy read — even if (like myself) you are not much of a dog lover.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on October 17th, 2023.

Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons (Historical Fiction)

Writing: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5 Characters: 4/5

A retelling of Romeo and Juliet that cleverly keeps every element of the plot of Shakespeare’s opus while completely shifting the meaning of each scene. This is achieved by making one, rather gigantic change — Romeo is a bad guy. A really bad guy.

The story is told from the perspective of Rosaline — the character with whom Romeo is besotted at the start of the play. In the play neither the audience nor Romeo ever gets to meet her, but she serves as a reference point for Romeo’s unrequited affections and is the reason he shows up at the party where he first sees Juliet. In Solomons’ book, that is all changed because as I said — Romeo is a really bad guy.

The book is very well written. The characters are well drawn, the setting is evoked vibrantly, the plot is gripping, and we get exposed to the hard truths of being a woman in the time period — exposed to all the usual plagues and pestilence while simultaneously having literally no say in any aspect of her life (lots of discussion about nunneries with some interesting surprises). However, I really can’t forgive Solomons for making Romeo into the character she does, and her claims (in the appendix) that her Romeo is more realistic than Shakespeare’s are frankly bizarre. By attributing rapacious intent and a complete disinterest in resulting traumas and hurt to a character who was written to be noble, honorable, idealistic, and passionate — it feels like libel. I don’t honestly understand why she felt the need to do this. The story would have been much more enjoyable (to me) if it weren’t obsessed with rewriting a classic into something that wanted to point the finger to the inherent evil of men. Not to mention the fact that I still had to read through all the tragic events that I knew were coming! So overall, a well-written book, but one that left me unhappy, rather than cheered by the clever way Rosaline “makes everything OK.” Really struggling to not provide spoilers here!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on September 12th, 2023.

At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier (Historical Fiction — Audio Book)

Writing: 5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4.5/5

This is historical fiction at its best. Not a recounting of precipitous events, but the every day details and inner drives of a family — in this case a family trying to eke a living from an orchard / farm in the Black Swamp of Ohio. The narrative spans the late 1830s to 1856 bouncing around between times and four perspectives: James — with a love of apples and his orchard that borders on obsession; his wife Sadie — overwhelmed by the swamp, stubborn as a mule, and a mean drunk; their youngest son (of 10 children) Robert who is somewhat different from the rest; and their daughter Martha, timid, obedient, and fragile.

I listened to this as an audio book and the four voices were astonishingly good. I took a look at a physical book and think I would have loved reading the book just as much, but the audio definitely added a lot to the experience.

I loved the depictions of real people and events. There is just enough description of apple growing (told from James’ perspective) to be engrossing, but never tedious. Real historical characters pop up with intriguing detail: John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed) visits the farm regularly to supply apple seedlings and God Talk; William Lobb (a collector for Veitch Nurseries of Exeter who was rapidly importing all of the “new” plant life found in North America) introduces Robert to the art of plant collecting. Settings from Sacramento gold mining to Ohio camp meetings to new tourist attractions in the newly discovered Sequoia grove populate the story. I was most impressed by the array of survival tactics needed in this hugely different world. No modern sensibilities poked their noses into the narrative, and it occurred to me multiple times how hard a real hard life for some people was. It was survival in a time with little stability and absolutely no backup. Instead there was just mud, swamp fever, real hunger, and ever present danger. Not sure how many of us today would make it past our 20s.

I loved the interior worlds of the four “voices.” They made sense, even when they did things that I thought were wrong, or stupid. Their worldview was coherent and their actions made absolute sense within those worldviews. This is an extremely hard trick to pull off. Stellar writing all around — just the right amount of description — distilling thoughts / actions / scenery into their essence without a lot of extraneous verbiage — great dialog, and fully cohesive characters that are a product of the place and time.
One of my top reads of the year.

Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel (Romantic Comedy)

Writing: 4/5 Plot: 4/5 Characters: 4/5
I liked this fun and uplifting story about two of the members of a piano trio continually struggling to find a third to keep the gigs coming. The larger story brings in all the extended family (and almost family) with their issues, desires, and intricacies of life. Bridget, the cello player and daughter of the wealthy Edward Stratton — the pushing 90, well-known conductor; her best friend Will, piano player and arranger; her daughter Isabelle, who just quit her 80-hour/week job in Hong Kong; and her son Oscar, who arrives home having left his husband over a suspected infidelity. Plenty of other quirky characters and situations appear in this romantic comedy taking place in Bridget’s Connecticut country home making the whole thing a fun, upbeat read.

I like Poeppel’s writing a lot and I was very happy with this quick read where an upbeat ending was ensured by the implied “romantic comedy” contract. In truth I liked her later novel — The Sweet Spot — a little better as I felt like it offered some serious lessons in addition to the comedy that I didn’t really find in Musical Chairs. An added thought — I did enjoy the musical references and the details about their musical lives — I would have been happier with more depth along those lines as that is an area of interest for me, but the book probably included just enough for a seeker of comedy rather than a serious musically oriented reader like myself.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (Literary Fiction)

Writing: 4.5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4.5/5

This is a portrait of a dynamically happy, multigenerational family with some serious dysfunctional fractures. As the four incredibly close Padavano sisters grow from childhood to late middle age, we are privy to the interactions, traumas, and healing experienced by everyone in the extended family. Napolitano allows her characters to learn and take risks in relationships and not be stuck doing the wrong thing out of fear or miscommunication. Themes of mental health as well as finding and being true to one’s self permeate the story which explores the impact of death, divorce, and disappointment along with success, love, and belonging on family structures and health. There is a fair amount of drama — it wouldn’t be an Oprah book selection without that — but I was happy to find this was a book about people with problems who actively try to address their own responsibilities in terms of their problems; they are not life long victims or people who continually keep making the same mistakes.

The writing is rich and full of reflection, interaction, and experience. It contains a well structured narrative arc that allows readers to enjoy their intimate time with the family while progressing steadily towards a denouement that works perfectly (although it was both upsetting and surprising to me). I loved the fact that the men in the story had such close friendships and such concern for kindness — nice to see that in male as well as female characters. I really enjoyed the small point made by one character who forgave someone immediately for doing something that was somewhat cruel because she wanted to be able to love that person and couldn’t do so if she felt angry and vindictive. The story includes a nice positive view of therapy and mental health and some great articulation of each individual’s personal discoveries and progress. I found myself thinking that some “solutions” were overly simplistic, but then I really couldn’t defend my own premise. Perhaps they really were core truths rather than sound bites. It was a good feeling.

The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves (Mystery)

This is the third installment of Cleeves’ (relatively) new DI Matthew Venn series — the first two of which have been dramatized in the miniseries called The Long Call. This story takes place in Greystone — a sea town and home to the Brethren — the religious community where Mathew Venn was raised and then parted from. A famous sailor and adventurer comes to town but disappears after a few weeks with his body turning up shortly afterwards. In typical Cleeves style, nothing is what it seems, and it is difficult to unravel the motivations and connections between people in the small community. Moral priorities figure into the narrative which always interests me.

The other two Cleeves series which have made their way to television are the popular Vera and Shetland. As is the case with the Venn series, her stories make excellent underpinnings for the television shows. In truth, I do prefer to watch them on the screen because a lot of time in the books is spent on descriptions of physical surroundings which are less interesting to me than plot, characterization, and dialog — while watching them I can take in the surroundings with one glance and not waste time trying to visualize the (arresting) landscape from words.

Easy to read. Full of atmosphere, personality, and dramatic scenery.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on September 5th, 2023.