I was really enjoying Lost and Found by Jacqueline Sheehan until its totally unnecessary and creepy climax. It is the story of Rocky, a young woman whose life falls apart after failing to save her husband with CPR after he has a heart attack. She moves to a small island off the coast of Maine, takes a job as an Animal Control Warden, and tries to heal. A black Labrador comes into her life, and as the story of his…
Life of Pi by Yann Martel is being made into a movie directed by Ang Lee. I thought I better read the book before seeing the movie. Life of Pi is the remarkable story of Pi Patel who became a castaway after the ship he was sailing on from India to Canada with his family sank. He, along with a Bengal tiger from his father’s zoo, are the only survivors. Martel writes this as an incredible true story, one that…
I love Susan Vreeland’s novels. She brings to light wonderful works of art, often by women who were unacknowledged in their time, and creates wonderful works of historical fiction. Her latest offering is Clara and Mr. Tiffany. It is the story of Clara Driscoll and her women’s department, who were responsible for designing and creating many of the most famous Tiffany lamps. We are taken into the art world of New York City at the turn of the century, and…
Caleb’s Crossing is the new book by Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize winning author of March and People of the Book. Caleb’s Crossing tells the little known story of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the first Native American to graduate from Harvard in 1665. There is little known about this extraordinary man and his life growing up on what is today Martha’s Vinyard, and then finally travelling to Cambridge. Brooks has created a wonderful piece of historical fiction imagining his life and times, as two cultures…
The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings is a wonderful novel that was turned into a great movie starring George Clooney. The novel is set in Hawaii, but not the tourist Hawaii, the real Hawaii, with all the pain and loss, heartbreak and struggle one finds anywhere in the world. Matt King, our protagonist, is coming to terms with the fact that his wife is in a coma and might never recover. He has two daughters, 10 and 17, that have…
The Sea is My Brother is the lost novel by Jack Kerouac. It has just been published 70 years after it was written. Kerouac wrote this novel when he was only 21, seven years before his first novel The Town and the City was published. In true Kerouac style we have been given a glimpse into the writer that he would be become. Themes that he wrote about his whole life are present here in this early work. Kerouac’s struggle…
Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand is set on Nantucket Island, and tells the story of the peole who live there year round, not just the summer vacationers. The story focuses on a group of high school teenagers from three different families, and a devastating car crash that happens on graduation night. This is the very real story about how these kids and their parents deal with such great loss. Hilderbrand writes from many different viewpoints and it works. Her characters are…
Every once in a while I read a book that is so beautifully written it actually brings me to tears. Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins is such a book. This is the story of Fos and Opal, who fall in love after WWI, under the stars of the Perseid meteor shower. Fos is a true believer in science, studying anything that lights up. Opal has her own kind of down home brilliance, and they couldn’t be more in…
Letter to My Daughter is a little book of essays by Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou is one of my favorite writers, and if you don’t know who she is, you should. Start with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and go from there. This recent offering is written to all her daughters everywhere. It contains little nuggets of wisdom attained throughout her amazing life. The essays are direct, witty, sassy, strong and full of love. Nothing life changing here,…
The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey is an impressive retelling of Jane Eyre, set in 1960’s Scotland. Young Gemma Hardy is taken from her native Iceland when her parents die, and taken in by her kind Uncle in Scotland. When he dies, she finds herself living with her Aunt and cousins who don’t want her there anymore. She is sent off to boarding school as a working girl even though she is only 10 years old, and from…