wcbind421
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The Good Wife of BathThe Good Wife of Bath, PaperbackA (mostly) True Story
by Brooks, Karen (Australian author)Paperback - 2022Paperback, 2022
Added Mar 14, 2024
Added Mar 07, 2024
Comment:
London, during the Trump presidency. 47-Y.O. middle ranking MI-6 spy Nat is the narrator. It's about his badminton opponent Ed Shannon and Nat's last hurrah as he ends his career in London with one final op against Moscow Centre that goes awry. It turns out Ed works for the "sister Service" and gets a glimpse of a top secret document code-named Jericho that so disgusts him he decides to reveal it to Germany's intelligence service. But the Russians, posing as the Germans, get it instead. Nat figures this out and, instead of turning Ed into a double agent against the Russians, withNat's wife Prue's help, exfiltrates Ed and Ed's new bride Florence, to safely on the Continent.London, during the Trump presidency. 47-Y.O. middle ranking MI-6 spy Nat is the narrator. It's about his badminton opponent Ed Shannon and Nat's last hurrah as he ends his career in London with one final op against Moscow Centre that goes awry. …
Added Jan 04, 2024
Comment:
An epistolary novel taking place in London and the Isle of Guernsey in 1946. Author Juliet Ashton gets a letter out of the blue from Dawsey Adams, a Guernsey man unknown to her. He's read a book of Charles Lamb essays that once belonged to her and asks her to please send him another. He explains that he's a member of this Literary Society which got him reading by accident. This begins a correspondence between Juliet, him and other Society members giving her material for a "Times" article she's writing about the effect of reading on the reader. We also meet thru letters, Juliet's publisher, his assistant, his sister (her best friend) and a brash American suitor, Mark. While initially light-spirited, the description of the hardships under Occupation and fates of various Guernsey residents and the Todt slave workers imported there, turns the tale rather dark. Juliet's casting about for a book subject; she decides to write about Guernsey under Nazi occupation after learning about it from numerous letters, and goes there, to Mark's great chagrin, just after he's proposed to her. She finds an anchor for her book topic in Elizabeth McKenna (died at Ravensbruck concentration camp), a community of friends, Elizabeth's orphaned daughter Kit to love and a husband in Dawsey.An epistolary novel taking place in London and the Isle of Guernsey in 1946. Author Juliet Ashton gets a letter out of the blue from Dawsey Adams, a Guernsey man unknown to her. He's read a book of Charles Lamb essays that once belonged to her…
The Greengage SummerThe Greengage Summer, Large Print
by Godden, RumerLarge Print - 1999Large Print, 1999
wcbind421's rating:
Added Dec 14, 2023
Comment:
Post WWI France, summertime. The 5 Grey children, swept off by their mother to view the battlefields, are unsupervised and left to their own devices at a small hotel as mother is hospitalized. Narrated by 13-Y.O.Cecil. the Grey children observe the doings of the hotel staff and other guests, especially the owner, Mlle Zizi, and her lover Eliot, a middle-aged Englishman. Eliot takes the children in hand during mother's hospitalization and becomes infatuated by blossoming 16-y.o. Joss, to Zizi's fury. Their animosity leads to Joss behaving outrageously at a banquet with disastrous consequences for kitchen helper Paul and, eventually, Eliot who is wanted by the police. Stolid Uncle William comes from England in the nick of time to save the family.Post WWI France, summertime. The 5 Grey children, swept off by their mother to view the battlefields, are unsupervised and left to their own devices at a small hotel as mother is hospitalized. Narrated by 13-Y.O.Cecil. the Grey children observe…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Dec 09, 2023
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Southern Sweden, winter, present day. DI Embla Nystrom is enjoying a rural weekend with her uncle Nisse and young protégée Elliott, when she gets a call about a DB at a guesthouse run by Nisse's sister. She goes, meets up w/ a young local detective-dog handler, Olle Tillman, and her former boss, Goran Krandt. The DB is a Gothenburg gang kingpin from Croatia, Milo Stavic, about whom Embla has nightmares. He was involved in the disappearance of Lollo, her best friend, 14 years ago and threatened to kill Embla if she said anything about it. Also, Milo's brother Luca was killed the same day; their brother Kador is missing. Separately, there was a stabbing at a nearby party that Olle is investigating. Are the 2 crimes related? They investigate together.
Olle solves the stabbing ; it's unrelated. Lollo turns up, the wife of one of the murdered Croatians. Embla and Goran figure out who the killer is: another Croatian gangster. It's not a very satisfying ending.Southern Sweden, winter, present day. DI Embla Nystrom is enjoying a rural weekend with her uncle Nisse and young protégée Elliott, when she gets a call about a DB at a guesthouse run by Nisse's sister. She goes, meets up w/ a young local…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Nov 27, 2023
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Contemporary life in a moneyed New York City family, the Stocktons. Mom & Dad in their 70's; 3 adult children, son Cord recently married to Sasha (nee Rossi) from a lower middle class Rhode Island family; elder daughter Darley a stay-at-home mom w/ 2 young kids married to Matt, a Korean-American finance guy who travels constantly; and Georgiana, the baby of the family, a hard-partying girl-about-town who works at a nonprofit and has a workplace romance w/ Brady, even after she learns he's married. There are family tensions: Sasha and Cord live in the family limestone mansion but she's unable to make it her own and is not really accepted by her SILs. She's unhappy. Darley is trying to keep it all together w/ little help; Matt loses his job. Georgiana is just coasting along aimlessly but after Brady dies in a plane crash and she hits bottom, she gains a purpose in life. It's partly a coming-of-age novel, partly a novel of life in a distinct social class. Light, a bit shallow but enjoyable .Contemporary life in a moneyed New York City family, the Stocktons. Mom & Dad in their 70's; 3 adult children, son Cord recently married to Sasha (nee Rossi) from a lower middle class Rhode Island family; elder daughter Darley a stay-at-home mom…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Nov 22, 2023
Comment:
An epistolary novel! It's 2009; the writer is Jason Fitger, professor of English and Creative Writing at Payne University, in the Midwest. He's so busy being imposed upon to write letters of recommendation that he has no time to work on his novel. Often his pen is dipped in acid. Unlike other epistolary novels, all these letters are written by Fitger: to support applications by students to potential employers, university administrators, writing program admission committees, colleagues, his agent. We get a picture of a beleaguered, down-on-his-luck, aging academic who's clinging to old mores and is not giving them up w/o a fight, which he's losing. He has regrets. He unsuccessfully champions his final writing program grad student, Darren Browles, who, discouraged, dies, an apparent suicide. Fitger soldiers on and ends up, reluctantly, appointed English department chair. Ultimately a discouraging book.An epistolary novel! It's 2009; the writer is Jason Fitger, professor of English and Creative Writing at Payne University, in the Midwest. He's so busy being imposed upon to write letters of recommendation that he has no time to work on his…
The Heaven & Earth Grocery StoreThe Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, Book
by McBride, JamesBook - 2023Book, 2023
wcbind421's rating:
Added Nov 04, 2023
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The community of Chicken Hill in Pottstown, PA starting in the 1930's, tho the story moves back and forth in time, tracing the histories of various characters. We meet the few remaining Jews (Moshe, the theater owner, and his kind, generous wife Chona, who owns Heaven and Earth Grocery Store; Malachi, the "greatest dancer in the world" but a poor baker. Nate and his wife Addie work for Moshe and care for Chona; Dodo, Nate's deaf nephew, are Black residents (then referred to as "Negroes" or "coloreds") . We also meet a few White Pottstown residents, chiefly Doc Robertson who's the bad guy of the tale, lusting after Chona, molesting her and getting Dodo, who observed it, sent to Pennhurst, a "nuthouse" where Dodo meets a crippled kid he names "Monkey Pants". Nate and Addie plot to break Dodo out. The tale also involves the wells and water pipes of Chicken Hill. At the end, the characters get their just desserts and the significance of the opening pages of the novel are clear.
I loved the parts about the Jews of Chicken Hill; Dodo's story of being abused and rescued was a little sickening and I lost interest in the novel. I had to force myself to finish it.The community of Chicken Hill in Pottstown, PA starting in the 1930's, tho the story moves back and forth in time, tracing the histories of various characters. We meet the few remaining Jews (Moshe, the theater owner, and his kind, generous wife…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Oct 14, 2023
Comment:
South Australia wine country, present day. At a wine festival, an infant is found abandoned in her stroller; the mother, Kim Gillespie, has vanished without a trace. Despite an intensive search, she's not found, leaving her teenage daughter Zara, Zara's father Charlie, Kim's current husband Rohan, family and the entire community baffled and grieving. Police investigator Aaron Falk happens to be there for a christening and helps in the initial search. It's now the first anniversary of Kim's disappearance and everyone has reconvened for the postponed christening. The festival is happening again; it's an opportunity to get added information about Kim and act on any new leads.
Harper examines the characters, their feelings and motivations in minute detail but there is very little action. I found the novel incredibly tedious and the characters "shrugged" so frequently that I wanted to scream. Finally, the solution: that Kim was murdered before she ever got to the festival, came out of nowhere, with little foundation, so it didn't seem to fit.
The novel ends w/ Falk living in the town, working in Charlie's vineyard and shacked up w/ Gemma, the festival director and widow of Dean Tozer, whose death in a hit-and-run accident 6 years previously Aaron also runs to ground. There's suddenly a vacancy in the local cop shop. Will Falk step in and take that job in the next installment? I don't care enough to find out.South Australia wine country, present day. At a wine festival, an infant is found abandoned in her stroller; the mother, Kim Gillespie, has vanished without a trace. Despite an intensive search, she's not found, leaving her teenage daughter Zara,…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Sep 28, 2023
Comment:
Ah, the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist provides fodder for yet another novel. This time, at the behest of Gen. Ferrari of the Carabinieri art squad, Gabriel is on the track of the Museum's stolen Vermeer "The Concert" which has unexpectedly resurfaced in the vault of a shady S. African businessman found murdered in his Amalfi villa. The Vermeer was stolen earlier that night by Ingrid Johansen, a young Danish cat burglar. Gabriel locates her and persuades her to help him. A near-assassination of them both brings in The Office. Now they are all on the hunt for the "Collector", a Danish oil executive and Russian asset who commissioned the painting's theft. With a typical Silva plot twist, the focus quickly shifts to current geopolitics: the painting is used as currency to buy S. African fissionable material that Russia plans to use in a nuclear bomb against Ukraine, bringing the world to the brink of WWIII. Gabriel and his Office team, the 2 Danes, the CIA and MI5 team up to stop it. The 2 Danes must enter Russia to steal the Russian plans, then make good their escape undetected. This part of the tale is highly suspenseful but as a whole, the tale is improbable.Ah, the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist provides fodder for yet another novel. This time, at the behest of Gen. Ferrari of the Carabinieri art squad, Gabriel is on the track of the Museum's stolen Vermeer "The Concert" which has…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Sep 19, 2023
Comment:
Written in 2009, this novel involves the Russian arms dealer Ivan Kharkov who captured and nearly killed Gabriel in the preceding book. Gabriel was saved by Grigori Bulganov, a former KGB operative. Now Grigori, the Defector of the title, is living in London and keeping a too-high profile. He's abducted at the behest of Kharkov and return to Russia. Allon must redeem a promise he made to not allow Grigori to die and be buried in an unmarked grave. He sets the wheels in motion but before long, Chiara is also abducted and her two Israeli bodyguards are killed. The Office mounts a major operation to rescue both Chiara and Bulganov with the help of the CIA and MI6. Chiara is rescued, traumatized but unhurt. Grigori, badly injured, dies shielding Chiara from a bullet. Allon gets revenge for both by assassinating all 11 Russians involved in the kidnapping, then Kharkov exiting a restaurant in St. Tropez. It's now safe for Allon and Chiara to return to Italy and his work as an art restorer. Uzi Navot becomes Director-elect of the Office.
Not one of Silva's best.Written in 2009, this novel involves the Russian arms dealer Ivan Kharkov who captured and nearly killed Gabriel in the preceding book. Gabriel was saved by Grigori Bulganov, a former KGB operative. Now Grigori, the Defector of the title, is…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Sep 04, 2023
Comment:
#3 in the series. The Club (Ron, Joyce, Elizabeth and Ibrahim) take up the cold case of murdered television presenter/investigative reporter Bethany Waites who died when her car was driven over a cliff; her body was never recovered. She had been investigating a massive VAT tax fraud. The Club enlists the help of Waites' TV partner Michael Waghorn; his make-up artist Pauline is always tagging along and seems to have assumed some of Bethany's role supporting Waghorn ( a big red flag or a red herring!?). Suspects include the convicted fraudster and a TV competitor. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's past resurfaces; she's recruited to kill Viktor, a spy who loved her, or else Joyce will be killed instead. She doesn't kill him, he goes to stay with Joyce and help the Murder Club solve the case. The Viking, who ordered Viktor killed, comes after them but is neutralized and, as he's the worlds best money-launderer, joins the team to follow the still-missing $$$ in the VAT fraud, since they hope to find the murderer that way. They do; it's (wait for it...) the Chief Constable of Kent! He confesses to the Viking but it may be a false confession to gain his goodwill; he needs the Viking's help get his hands on the missing VAT millions. Turns out Bethany is still alive, hiding in Dubai and having absconded with the missing millions; the tale ends with the Viktor and Elizabeth zeroing in on Dubai.
The tone of the book, the preposterous and convoluted plot became tedious.#3 in the series. The Club (Ron, Joyce, Elizabeth and Ibrahim) take up the cold case of murdered television presenter/investigative reporter Bethany Waites who died when her car was driven over a cliff; her body was never recovered. She had been…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Aug 30, 2023
Comment:
Harlem, 3 episodes in a period of NYC decline and in the life of Ray Carney, furniture store owner, striver and sometime-fence.
Part 1, 1971: Ray, after 4 years on the straight and narrow, needs Jackson 5 concert tickets to please his 15 y.o. daughter May. They are unobtainable through normal channels, so he turns to crooked "fixer" Det Munson. Ray is to pay by fencing some very hot jewels Munson gives him. Ray finds they are from a Black Liberation Army armed robbery, with help from Harlem gangster Notch Walker. Munson has stolen the loot from the BLA, which means the BLA and Walker's gang are after him. Ray returns the jewels but then is forced to be Munson's wheelman for a night-long series of heists which can only end in Munson killing Ray. Ray manages to drop the dime on Munson. The BLA and Walker invade Munson's pad, killing him and freeing Ray. The episode ends with Ray and May singing along at the Jackson 5 concert.
Part 2: 1973: told from the perspective of Pepper, a crook running buddy of Ray's father who provides muscle. Zippo Flood, one of Ray's contemporaries, is directing a blaxploitation movie. Scenes are set in Ray's store; Pepper provides security. Lucinda Cole, the female lead, goes missing; Pepper is tasked with finding her. His search takes him from Greenwich Village to Harlem, meeting Black show biz people in the process. He finds Lucinda safe and sound in her suburban N.J. mother's home.
Part 3: 1976, the Bicentennial. Harlem is being hollowed out by daily arson fires; the son of Ray's tenant is a victim. Ray wants to settle the score. He thinks his wife's former suitor, Alexander Oakes, a state prosecutor now running for borough president, is involved. Ray pays Pepper to investigate. Pepper's nosing around gets him almost beaten to death and arouses Notch Walker's ire. Ray's store gets torched. He arranges to get Oakes' ledgers stolen from Oakes' campaign office safe. There's a meet-up with Oakes and Walker at the Dumas Club after hours. The Club gets firebombed; Oakes and the arsonist are shot to death but Ray and Pepper escape unscathed. Ray summons the energy to begin the task of rebuilding his store. NYC is likewise in the process of remaking itself.
I didn't find this novel as engaging as "Harlem Shuffle"; the tripartite story didn't hang together as well.Harlem, 3 episodes in a period of NYC decline and in the life of Ray Carney, furniture store owner, striver and sometime-fence.
Part 1, 1971: Ray, after 4 years on the straight and narrow, needs Jackson 5 concert tickets to please his 15 y.o.…
Independence SquareIndependence Square, Audiobook CD
by Smith, Martin CruzAudiobook CD - 2023Audiobook CD, 2023
Added Aug 14, 2023
Comment:
2018 Moscow, as Putin is readying an invasion of Ukraine. Investigator Arkady Renko, aging, cynical and experiencing Parkinsons' symptoms, but with a wealth of hard-earned experience, is on desk duty. An acquaintance, Bronson, a gangster, asks Renko to find his missing daughter, Karina Abakova, a classical violinist. Having nothing else to do, Renko takes on the task. She's been active in a protest group, Forum. This leads Renko into dangerous political waters when Forum's leader, Lebedev, is killed and Renko is assigned the case. Elena, Karina's roommate, is the daughter of the Crimean Tatar leader Uzeir Osmanov, an ally of Lebedev and may have relevant documents. Renko and Elena go see him in Kyiv. Osmanov is assassinated, too, in a manner similar to Lebedev. They find Karina in Sebastopol, an aide to the governor Novak. Then he gets assassinated (by Karina!); Renko is an eyewitness: Turns out Karina's an FSB plant and the assassin. She's protected, of course, by the Kremlin, untouchable. The authorities pin the murder on Elena; both Renko and Elena must get out of Crimea or be killed. They flee, first to Ukraine, then Renko returns to Moscow and his old life.
The plot is rather contrived but Smith writes a colorful tale with a wealth of convincing detail.2018 Moscow, as Putin is readying an invasion of Ukraine. Investigator Arkady Renko, aging, cynical and experiencing Parkinsons' symptoms, but with a wealth of hard-earned experience, is on desk duty. An acquaintance, Bronson, a gangster, asks…
The Lion HouseThe Lion House, BookThe Coming of A King
by De Bellaigue, ChristopherBook - 2022Book, 2022
wcbind421's rating:
Added Aug 09, 2023
Comment:
A somewhat cheeky, episodic and patchwork look at the first 15 years of Suleyman the Magnificent's reign from his accession in 1520. Much of it involves his struggles against Charles V and Charles' younger brother, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, over Hungary and other territories. This is revealed through his henchmen, Ibrahim Pasha, the Grand Vizier; Alvise Gritti, the Beyoglu, who was the go-between with Venice where his father was Doge; Hurrem, his favorite; and Hayreddin (Barbarossa), the pirate and admiral of the fleet who tangles with Andrea Doria.A somewhat cheeky, episodic and patchwork look at the first 15 years of Suleyman the Magnificent's reign from his accession in 1520. Much of it involves his struggles against Charles V and Charles' younger brother, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria,…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Aug 01, 2023
Comment:
A mini-epic: 1883, spring in dry, rural South Australia. The story unfolds over 7 days and nights. On the day of Minna Baumann's wedding to Constable Robert Manning, 6 y.o. Denny Wallace goes out to gather kindling, gets caught in a dust storm and loses his way. When he doesn't return by the following morning, the community mounts an intensive search. We meet them: Denny's parent and his 5 sisters, white colonials, police officers and Aboriginals employed as servants and trackers, and learn their stories. Racism is rampant. In other passages, we follow Denny and learn his fears and imaginings. Karl Rapp, a Swedish painter, and his English wife Bess are also out in the bush on a painting expedition. Denny stumbles upon them after several days. They feed and succor him but also, crucially, tarry in returning him to his family. In his addled state, he walks off while they're sleeping; they go to Denny's hometown to report his last known whereabouts, refocusing the search. A native tracker finds and carries him home just after Mam has set a tree on the hill afire as a beacon and nearly burns the homestead down.A mini-epic: 1883, spring in dry, rural South Australia. The story unfolds over 7 days and nights. On the day of Minna Baumann's wedding to Constable Robert Manning, 6 y.o. Denny Wallace goes out to gather kindling, gets caught in a dust storm and…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Jul 30, 2023
Comment:
Boston Southside, summer of 1974, just after a Federal judge has ordered busing to end school segregation. Mary Pat Fennessy, 42, lives in the Projects. She's a white Southside Irish mother working 2 jobs but not making ends meet. Her second husband has left her; her son Noel died of an overdose. She has a 17 YO daughter Jules who will be bused, come September. Jules fails to return home from a date with her low-life boyfriend. Mary Pat is frantic. She will stop at nothing to find her, including roiling the neighborhood, to the displeasure of Marty Butler and his gangster crew (closely modeled on Whitey Bulger) who need to operate beneath the radar. She discovers that Jules is the mistress of Marty's hit man, "Tombstone" Toomey. Detectives Bobby Coyne and Vince Pritchard are looking into the suspicious death of a black teen, Auggie Williamson, in a subway station near where Jules was last seen; she may have been involved. Mary Pat learns Jules was pregnant with Toomey's child and threatening to tell Toomey's wife which is why Jules was killed. Mary Pat decides to help the cops, against all Southie custom and protocols, in hopes of getting to the bottom of what happened to Jules and be revenged.
This book is about racism, violence and parental vengeance. Mary Pat is a one-woman wrecking crew. The characters are alive on the page. The writing is straightforward and splendid, not showy or distracting from the narrative. It's the best book I've read so far in 2023.Boston Southside, summer of 1974, just after a Federal judge has ordered busing to end school segregation. Mary Pat Fennessy, 42, lives in the Projects. She's a white Southside Irish mother working 2 jobs but not making ends meet. Her second…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Jul 15, 2023
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Autumn in the Perigord, 2010's. There's a vintage car exhibit and a car rally in St. Denis. Two of the competitors are on a treasure hunt for a rare lost Bugatti, last seen at a nearby chateau during WWII. One , Sylvestre, whose family roots are in the area, is being investigated, along with his business parter, Fariq "Freddy" Iqbal, for using their car auction business to launder money used to finance terrorism. Sylvestre is feuding with his cousins over the ancestral property; he ends up murdered, along with a retired researcher M. Hugon, whom Sylvestre hired to the Bugatti. The cousin's daughter, Martine, is in town and Bruno is smitten by her. Bruno helps a troubled teen, Felix to straighten out with a job and riding lessons.
As usual, the mystery and the plot are secondary to portraying the Perigord, its people, food and folkways. This novel lacked the charm of some earlier ones. Perhaps Walker's interest in his characters is flagging.Autumn in the Perigord, 2010's. There's a vintage car exhibit and a car rally in St. Denis. Two of the competitors are on a treasure hunt for a rare lost Bugatti, last seen at a nearby chateau during WWII. One , Sylvestre, whose family roots are…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Jul 09, 2023
Comment:
The IQ books are becoming formulaic, so less original and enjoyable. In this one, Grace is kidnapped by Isaiah's nemesis, Skip Hanson, the psycho killer of previous books. Skip wants revenge for killing his pit bulls and sending him to prison. Isaiah is determined to rescue her from Skip, who taunts Isaiah and is always one jump ahead. Skip involves his mother, Jessica, a nasty piece of work. Isaiah anonymously drops off some evidence with the cops.
Det. Winnie Hando and her partner Duvall catch the case. She resents Isaiah. Skip needs money. First he contracts to kill a lawyer. When that fails, he needs to flee, so decides to ransom Grace instead of kill her. It's a trap to kill Isaiah but Isaiah turns the tables. Meanwhile, Grace is snatched by Manzo, another of Isaiah's enemies. Grace eventually is freed but traumatized and breaks up with Isaiah, who was responsible for putting her in peril. Isaiah, in despair, plans revenge on both Skip and Manzo. Dodson becomes a "fixer", with mixed results. By the mayhem at the end, Jessica kills Skip; Manzo dies in a crash; Grace has left Isaiah for good; Isaiah, despairing, tries to quit being IQ, but, of course gets roped into helping yet again.The IQ books are becoming formulaic, so less original and enjoyable. In this one, Grace is kidnapped by Isaiah's nemesis, Skip Hanson, the psycho killer of previous books. Skip wants revenge for killing his pit bulls and sending him to prison. …
wcbind421's rating:
Added Jul 03, 2023
Comment:
86-Y.O. author Dorothy West's meditation on race/color and class. Time: summer in mid-20th Century; place: the Oval, an enclave of upper middle class "colored" people's summer cottages on Martha's Vineyard. West examines the live of an extended family on the eve of a wedding of Shelby, the light-skinned bride of the 4th generation of mixed marriages, and a white jazz musician. The tale ranges back in time as far as the Civil War through the Jim Crow era, to various Southern locales describing the lives, hopes and ambitions of various ancestors of Shelby. In the novel's climax, she confronts Lute, a dark-skinned divorced, sexy interloper. West cooly describes the indignities and slights her characters faced and were shaped by.86-Y.O. author Dorothy West's meditation on race/color and class. Time: summer in mid-20th Century; place: the Oval, an enclave of upper middle class "colored" people's summer cottages on Martha's Vineyard. West examines the live of an extended…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Jun 27, 2023
Comment:
2 intertwined tales: one involves a Klondike gold rush "good time girl" murdered in Niniltna in 1915; in the main one, Kate hires on to do security for Anne Gordaoff, a Native running for the State legislature who has gotten threatening letters. Two people end up dead: Anne's daughter's fiancé and Paula Pawlowski, a writer for hire who's been doing oppo research for Anne's campaign. Paula has been researching and writing a historical novel set in the Alaska gold rush and uncovered some damaging material. Anne's campaign manager Darlene is a descendant of the murderer and she kills to prevent the info from coming out (thin, very thin motive). A sub-plot involves Johnny Morgan who's run away from his mother and wants to stay with Kate on her homestead. He's rebellious, sullen and reminds her of herself at that age. Johnny hides out at the home of Ethan, the late Abel's son; Kate and Ethan rekindle a college romance.
The book is slow to get rolling and not gripping. One of Stabenow's lesser efforts.2 intertwined tales: one involves a Klondike gold rush "good time girl" murdered in Niniltna in 1915; in the main one, Kate hires on to do security for Anne Gordaoff, a Native running for the State legislature who has gotten threatening letters. …
The Books of Jacob, Or, A Fantastic Journey Across Seven Borders, Five Languages, and Three Major Religions, Not Counting the Minor SectsThe Books of Jacob, Or, A Fantastic Journey Across Seven Borders, Five Languages, and Three Major Religions, Not Counting the Minor Sects, Book
by Tokarczuk, OlgaBook - 2022Book, 2022
wcbind421's rating:
Added Jun 22, 2023
Comment:
Tokarczuk's magnum opus. 965 pages with many illustrations, starting w/ page 965, describes the Jewish world of Poland beginning in 1752. Poland was a powerful country then, the bulwark of Christian Europe against the Turks just over the border in what's now Romania. Legally, Jews have freedom of worship and civil rights but they are forced to live in shtetls, at the mercy of sometimes capricious landlords, and are limited in the livelihoods they can pursue. They study Torah, Zohar and some study Kabbalah. Poland's Catholics view them with suspicion (the blood libel is widely believed) or bemusement. The book charts the rise of Jacob Frank. He claims to be prophesied the third and final Messiah after the Baal Shem Tov, who founded Hasidism, and Sabbatai Zvi. Frank causes a schism between "Talmudists" who believe the Messiah has yet to come, and "ant-Talmudists" who believe in him, that the End of Days has come, and that all previous laws and customs are obsolete. The author describes the evolution of Jacobs' mysticism and beliefs which are torturous to follow. The Frankists are cursed and shunned by the rest of Jewry. They turn for relief to the Catholic prelates for a decision whether they may still be considered Jews. Jacob makes them be baptized which allows them more freedom but the plan comes unglued as the sincerity of their conversion is called in doubt. Jacob is imprisoned as an apostate in a monastery where he holds court. Russia invades Poland in 1768; Jacob bribes his way to freedom and makes his way to Habsburg lands where he leads a tiny kingdom within the empire supported by donations from his followers. Thence to a German principality where, in 1791, he dies. In the final Book, we read about the eventual fates of most of the books' characters (I pretty much skipped this, as it was boring). The sect peters out and so does the book.
In the book's pages we meet numerous other characters: old Yente, Jacob's grandmother, who's undead and sees all from above; a priest who writes an encyclopedia and a gentlewoman with whom he carries on a correspondence; a Polish noblewoman who is politically active and supports the Frankists; her cousin Moliwda with language skills who gets involved with Frankists for some years but ends up a scrivener in the Polish chancellery; Jacob's daughter Eva, and followers.
I feel good about having the stamina to finish this tome; I admire the author's scholarship and ability to describe scenes. I could not keep the many characters straight in my head, in part because they kept changing their names. Did I enjoy it? No. Will I read another of her books? Unlikely.Tokarczuk's magnum opus. 965 pages with many illustrations, starting w/ page 965, describes the Jewish world of Poland beginning in 1752. Poland was a powerful country then, the bulwark of Christian Europe against the Turks just over the border in…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Jun 18, 2023
Comment:
A pleasure to read.
Time: late 1950's, location: Dublin but with flashbacks to WWII Bavaria. A young woman, identified as University researcher Rosa Jacobs, a Jew from Cork, is found dead in a garage of carbon monoxide poisoning. What first appeared as suicide is determined by Dr. Quirke to be murder. D.I. St. John Strafford is assigned the case. There are no suspects or known motive. The two men dislike each other. Quirke, still mourning his late wife Evelyn, nevertheless becomes enamored of Rosa Jacobs' sister Molly, a London-based journalist. Strafford begins an affair with Quirke's daughter Phoebe which outrages Quirke. Banville, who is probably also still mourning his own late wife, spends more time describing the development of these relationships (and Quirke's intense grief and guilt over his budding romance) than having his characters solve the case. Still, Strafford learns that Phoebe knew Rosa who tried to poach Phoebe's lover David Sinclair, now returned to Ireland from living in Israel. Strafford also looks into Rosa's acquaintance/romance with Frank Kessler, the son of a rich German immigrant with an estate in Wicklow. The Kesslers have business ties in Israel where Shulamith Lieberman, a journalist colleague of Molly's, has died in a hit and run incident at the time Frank was in Israel on business.
The Irish Church in the person of DCI Hackett's old school buddy Bishop Tom McEvoy warns Hackett off the case but Molly is nearly killed by a hit-and-run, just like the Israeli journalist. This sets Quirke off. Frank Kessler confesses to Strafford that he's killed his father who orchestrated the Israeli murder but not Rosa's. It's unclear if they ever discover who killed Rosa. Molly breaks up with Quirke and returns to London. The epilogue is a "Dear Diary" confession to Rosa's murder by her thesis prof/lover, to forestall detection when she threatens to tell his wife she's pregnant with his child.A pleasure to read.
Time: late 1950's, location: Dublin but with flashbacks to WWII Bavaria. A young woman, identified as University researcher Rosa Jacobs, a Jew from Cork, is found dead in a garage of carbon monoxide poisoning. What first…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Jun 06, 2023
Comment:
A complex, convoluted and confusing book, though only 300 pages. Time is the near future, location bounces between somewhere in the British Isles and Arcady University, somewhere on the U.S. West Coast. It revolves around Adam Godley, père, renowned mathematician/scientist á la Einstein, now dead, who developed the "Brahma theory" which is slowly causing the world to destabilize and regress (or something). Part I introduces us to disparate characters whose relationship is not clear. More than one character is speaking in the first person, including an ex-convict who renames himself Felix Mordaunt upon release and makes his way to a country house he grew up in, now call Arden House, Godley's home. There's a minor god, Mercury maybe, viewing the proceedings from above and commenting; he's hard to separate from another character, Jaybey, an Arcady professor, hired by Adam Godley, fils, to write the definitive biography of his father using Godley's papers stored at Arden House. Part 2 consists of a few chapters of the Godley biography in which we discover who some of the Part 1 characters are. In Part 3 the biographer unravels some mysteries surrounding Godley, père. Other characters include Godley père's half-mad widow Ursula up in the attic; Helen, Godley fils's wife, a former actress who has a fling with Mordaunt; Ivy Blount, the sad-sack housekeeper whose family once owned Arden House; and Anna Behrens, a rich old lady who, in her younger days, had affairs with both Mordaunt (who it turns out was also a mathematician acquainted with Godley père at Arcady) and Godley père; she wants Mordaunt (who killed a housemaid in Anna's father's house in the course of a robbery) to kill her. The book winds down rather than concludes with any satisfying wrap-up. Helen throws a birthday party, al lot of the characters attend; Felix Mordaunt skulks away, having filched some important Godley papers and mementos, together with the keys to the borrowed sports car he arrived in.
A hard book to follow and though the writing is rich with description, unsatisfying.A complex, convoluted and confusing book, though only 300 pages. Time is the near future, location bounces between somewhere in the British Isles and Arcady University, somewhere on the U.S. West Coast. It revolves around Adam Godley, père,…
wcbind421's rating:
Added Jun 05, 2023
Comment:
Amsterdam, 1686. 18 Y.O Nella Oortman arrives alone in Amsterdam, the bride of rich merchant Johannes Brandt, who's decades older. She's not exactly welcomed into the household which consists of Johannes, his stern unmarried sister Marin, and two servants, Cornelia and Otto, a black man Johannes bought from a slave market in Africa. There are secrets in the household that Nella struggles to unravel. As a wedding gift, Johannes gives her a miniature house, identical to their own, to furnish as she pleases. She never meets the mysterious craftsman who supplies her but this person has a preternatural gift for sending items that prove to be prophetic.
The story involves Nella's loneliness, her sorrow that her husband doesn't bed her; Johannes' efforts to sell a shipment of sugar cones on commission for another Amsterdam couple who have a past history with both siblings; Johannes' homosexuality which gets him in grave trouble with the Calvinist burgomasters; and Marin's out-of-wedlock baby with Frans, Johannes's rival whose wife's sugar Johannes has agreed to sell.
The book starts well but is too long at nearly 400 pages. It doesn't end happily. Otto runs off; Johannes dithers over selling the sugar and it spoils; he's entrapped in a sexual encounter with a young Englishman and charged with sodomy, a capital offense. Marin has the baby. Only Nella and Cornelia are left at the end of the book.
What started promisingly became a slog; I abandoned the book for months and couldn't force myself to finish the last 100 pages. I just didn't care about any of the characters.Amsterdam, 1686. 18 Y.O Nella Oortman arrives alone in Amsterdam, the bride of rich merchant Johannes Brandt, who's decades older. She's not exactly welcomed into the household which consists of Johannes, his stern unmarried sister Marin, and two…
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