The Girl from the Train provides something a bit different than many of the WWII novels I've read in the recent past. In terms of geography, the settings are primarily Poland and South Africa. While both lands are richly described, I felt I learned a lot about the terrain and culture of South Africa during the period. I appreciated the details that made it very obvious that the author had ...
Historical Fiction
Review of “I’ll See You in Paris” by Michelle Gable
Thanks to St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Beginning at a their horse farm in Virginia, then alternating between 1970's and 1990's Paris and England, I'll See You in Paris is the story of a mother and daughter reconciling the past with their present. Though it is narrated in alternating time periods, and there are ...
Review of “The Swans of Fifth Avenue” by Melanie Benjamin
Thanks to Random House Publishing Group Ballantine via NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. In The Swans of Fifth Avenue, Melanie Benjamin gives us a delicious glimpse into the lives of the "original " Housewives of NYC. In the 1950's, these ladies - Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Gloria Guinness, CZ Guest, Pamela Churchill - and the company they ...
Review of “The Secret Chord” by Geraldine Brooks
Having never read Geraldine Brooks, and being rusty at best when it came to the story of David, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to really appreciate this book. Fortunately, the author did such a fantastic job of weaving in all of the relevant back stories and personal histories of the characters that I didn't feel I had to use so much of my brain that the book became less than pleasurable. (I ...
Review of “Life After Life” by Kate Atkinson
What can I say? This book was amazing. I really wanted to read this when it was first released but somehow didn't get around to it. I even wondered if it could live up to the hype. It did! I read the first several chapters wondering if things were going to come together and I would finally be able to understand what was going on. These numerous deaths did take a bit of getting used to. After that, ...
“Coal River” by Ellen Marie Wiseman
I would like to thank Kensington Books via NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. Our heroine, Emma Malloy, finds herself orphaned after her parents die in a NYC fire. Her misanthropic Aunt Ida and Uncle Otis send her a train ticket so that she can move to their Coal River, PA home. She is haunted by the past as she arrives to the place where her younger brother drowned in the ...
“Whistling Women” by Kelly Romo
Thanks to Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Summary: Whistling Women is the story of sisters Wavey and Addie, and how their lives are torn apart and finally reconciled after too many years estranged. The majority of the story takes places during the 1935 World's Fair in San Diego, CA. Wavey has, with limited ...
