The Queens Of Crime by Marie Benedict

 The year is 1930 and mystery writers have come together to form a club at which they can socialize and talk about their work with others who will understand.  But there's one problem; only two women, Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, are invited to join, and Dorothy was the one who came up with the idea.  She is determined that more women authors should be in the club and hatches a plan to make it happen.

Christie and Sayers ask three more of the best British mystery writers to a meeting.  They are Baroness Emma Orczy, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh.  The women make a plan to solve a real life murder and then present the males in the mystery club with their result.  

The papers are full of the case of May Daniels.  Daniels, a nurse, had gone with a friend on a day trip to France and never returned.  She had gone into the restroom and then disappeared.  Her friend had been standing outside the room and never saw her leave and there were no other doors or windows.  How had she disappeared?  What happened to her?  Daniels's body had just been discovered in France weeks later and the case was headline news in all the papers.  It would be the perfect case to solve.

The group, called The Queens Of Crime, went to France.  They retraced May's route and solved the mystery of how she disappeared.  They came back to England where they interviewed May's family, friends and employers.  They discovered that she had a secret boyfriend who they suspected.  Can they solve the murders?

Marie Benedict is an author and lawyer.  She writes in the genre of historical fiction, focusing on various women whose story has yet to be told completely.  In this one, she covers the marriages of the five women, their secrets, and their work.  The interplay between the five women is delightful and I closed the book with a decision to go back and reread some of their work.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Death Message by Mark Billingham

 

DI Tom Thorne has been getting messages on his cell phone.  No explanation, just an image of a dead person.  Why is he getting these?  Who is sending them?  Who are the victims and why have they been chosen?

He learns that the victims are all related to one person, a man who took the rap for a murder and served his time without complaint for the gang he worked for.  Then just as he was about to get out, a horrific event in his personal life made him decide to wreck vengeance on those who he had worked for.  

That part is easy.  But why Thorne?  He learns that it is the killer is manipulated by a man that Thorne put away; the man he thought was the most evil and cunning of all those he had put away.  When Thorne's best friend is targeted, he must race the clock before his friend joins the list of the dead.

This is the seventh Tom Thorne novel.  Thorne is back on form after the death of his father which had taken him for a loop.  His relationship with a woman on the police force is going well although she is giving indications that it might be more serious than Thorne had planned on.  The manhunt for the killer is full of twists and turns although this is one of the few killers that Thorne can understand and relate to.  Yet he knows that that understanding doesn't matter; he must find him before he kills again.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Booksie's Shelves, October 18, 2025

 

Above is one of my messy bookshelves, this one in my den where I do a lot of my reading.  October is more than halfway over and I'm still getting used to calling it 2025.  This month has been a blur.  We went to visit our son and then our daughter.  There were book groups, investment group, doctors and dentists.  Like many retirees, I'm not sure how I ever found time to work.  I've got a ton of books purchased and sent lately, many of them Booker Prize nominees and the work of Best New British Authors, a list I follow every year.  I've been busy reading the Booker nominees for 2025 and I'm about half through with that.  Here's what's come through the door lately:

1.  Nothing But Blue Sky, Kathleen MacMahon, literary fiction, purchased
2. The Red Winter, Cameron Sullivan, fantasy, sent by publisher
3. Christine Fall, John Banville, mystery, sent by publisher
4. Your Utopia, Bora Chung, anthology, sent by publisher
5. Midnight Timetable, Bora Chung, horror, sent by publisher
6. Cursed Bunny, Bora Chung, anthology, sent by publisher
7. The Definitions, Matt Greene, dystopian fiction, sent by publisher
8. A Little Trickerie, Rosanna Pike, literary fiction, purchased
9. Amma, Saraid de Silva, literary fiction, purchased
10. The Truants, Kate Weinberg, literary fiction, sent by publisher
11. Somewhere Else, Jenni Daiches, literary fiction, purchased
12. Becoming Strangers, Louise Dead, literary fiction, purchased
13. Rules Of The Heart, Janice Hadlow, historical fiction, sent by publisher
14. Genealogy Of A Murder, Lisa Belkin, true crime, purchased
15. The Birthday Party, Laurent Mauvignier, literary fiction, purchased
16. Still Waters, Nigel McCreary, mystery, purchased
17. The Light Of Amsterdam, David Park, literary fiction, purchased
18. Travelling In A Strange Land, David Park, literary fiction, purchased
19. School For Love, Olivia Manning, literary fiction, purchased
20. Fortunes Of War, Olivia Manning, literary fiction, purchased
21. Fool's Crow, James Welsh, literary fiction, purchased
22. On A Woman's Madness, Astrid Roemer, literary fiction, purchased
23. The Wildes, Louis Bayard, historical fiction, sent by publisher
24. Wolf Bells, Leni Zumas, literary fiction, purchased
25. A Cure For Suicide, Jesse Ball, literary fiction, purchased
26. The Maniac, Benjamin Labatut, historical fiction, purchased
27. The Maiden, Kate Foster, literary fiction, purchased
28. Dear Mrs. Bird, AJ Pearce, literary fiction, purchased
29. The Imposter, Javier Cercas, nonfiction, purchased
30. The Well, Catherine Chanter, literary fiction, purchased
31. The Years, Annie Ernaux, literary fiction, purchased
32. Don't Let Him Know, Sandip Roy, literary fiction, purchased
33. White Chrysanthemum, Mary Lynn Bracht, historical fiction, purchased
34. Akram's War, Nadim Safdar, literary fiction, purchased
35. Love, Sex & Other Foreign Policy Goals, Jesse Armstrong, literary fiction, purchased
36. In The Light Of What We Know, Zia Haider Rahman, literary fiction, purchased
37. Mornings With Rosemary, Libby Page, literary fiction, purchased
38. The Things We Thought We Knew, Mahsuda Snaith, mystery, purchased
39. The Girl In The Red Coat, Kate Hamer, thriller, purchased
40. Montpelier Parade, Karl Geary, literary fiction, purchased
41. The Witchfinder's Sister, Beth Underdown, mystery, purchased
42. Sal, Mick Kitson, literary fiction, purchased
43. Part Of The Family, Charlotte Philby, mystery, purchased
44. The Butcher's Hook, Janet Ellis, mystery, purchased
45. Weathering, Lucy Wood, literary fiction, purchased
46. Not Working, Lisa Owens, literary fiction, purchased

Here's what I'm reading at the moment:

1.  The Meaning Of Night, Michael Cox, hardback
2. In Other Worlds, Margaret Atwood, hardback
3. Five Star Billionaire, Tash Aw, hardback
4. Acts Of Desperation, Megan Nolan, Kindle
5. Lucky Day, Chuck Tingle, hardback
6. Lessons In Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, Kindle
7. Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, Kindle
8. Joe Country, Mick Herron, audible
9. Autumn, Ali Smith, audible
10. The Great Man Theory, Teddy Wayne, audible

Happy Reading!

Dimestore by Lee Smith

 

This is author Lee Smith's account of growing up in Southwest Virginia in the small town of Gundy.  It was mountain country and everyone knew everyone.  Her father owned the town's general store which everyone called the dimestore.  Her grandparents lived there also and she and her friends moved happily between each others' houses and those of relatives.  

But all is not perfect.  Like many small Southwestern Virginia towns, the economy was built around one employer and when it closed, the town started dying.  More and more people moved away and few came to settle.  The town was built on a river that periodically flooded and damaged property.  

She also talked about other parts of her life.  About her first marriage which ended in divorce and her second one.  About her son who developed mental illness and who she tragically lost young, joining that horrific mother's club, the one where one has suffered the ultimate loss, that of a beloved child.  About the writing influences she had along the way and about the wonderful city of Chapel Hill, beloved by many as a perfect college town.

I could relate to so much of this book.  I also grew up in Southwest Virginia although more in the foothills than the mountains.  My town was a small mill town, built around textiles and furniture like the other small towns around us.  It was a town where parents could drop their kids off at the pool and let them roam the small downtown without worry and I spent many days moving from pool to the Y to one of the two restaurants.  As textiles and furniture moved overseas, we also saw our little towns struggling to survive.  Finally, like Lee Smith I moved in my adult years to North Carolina where I live about an hour from Chapel Hill.  Lee Smith is an American treasure and her books help us recall the best of Southern life and culture.  This book is recommended for biography readers.  

The Scandalous Hamiltons by Bill Shaffer

 This nonfiction book tells of the rise of tabloid journalism in the Gilded Age and what a story occurred!  Robert Ray Hamilton was the descendant of Alexander Hamilton.  He met Eva Steele in a brothel and fell in love with her although he only expected it to be a dalliance.  Instead, Eva duped him into marriage by, after a trip to Europe he paid for her to take, she presented him with an infant daughter and insisted it was his.  In reality, she had bought the baby for $10 in the black market and it was the third baby she bought, the first two having died due to starvation.  Ray married her but filed for divorce when Eva was arrested for stabbing the baby's nurse.  

The tabloid newspapers couldn't get enough of the story and when it emerged that Eva had been in a common law marriage at the time she married Ray, it just fueled the fires.  Eva was sent to jail and Ray went out west to Montana where a friend was opening a hunting resort.  Unfortunately, he fell into a river while out hunting alone and died but that didn't stop Eva.  

Although she was left out of Ray's will expressly, she filed court cases for many years, alleging that the divorce was faulty, that she was entitled to a dowager's portion of the estate and many other cases.  She was even interviewed by Nellie Bly the darling of tabloid journalism.  Ray and Eva were only acquainted for four years but their story hit the headlines for many, many more.

Bill Shaffer worked in design for over thirty years when he decided to change his career.  He became interested in history and while researching the design of various buildings in New York, he became award of the Hamilton scandal and decided that the story of this couple and the rise of tabloid journalism would be his first project.  His coverage of the story is clear and exhaustive and accomplished his aim.  Readers will also learn about various other subjects occurring at the same time, such as the exploration and settlement of the West, trials, the veneration of the wealthy, etc.  I listened to this book and the narrator was excellent.  This book is recommended for those interested in history and the Gilded Age.   

Dark Crimes 2 edited by Ed Gorman

 

This is an older anthology of Noir short stories.  Readers will recognize author names such as David Morrell, Lawrence Block, John D. MacDonald, Marcia Muller, Ed Gorman, Nancy Pickard, Bill Pronzini, Brian Garfield, John Lutz, Joe Lansdale, Max Allen Collins and Loren Estleman.  These are the authors from a generation ago, authors I grew up loving and who introduced me to crime fiction.  Most are still with us although we are losing authors from this generation sometimes it seems almost daily.  

One of my favorite stories was by Wade Miller, called 'The Memorial Hour'.  In it, a psychiatrist gets a new patient.  As they work together, the doctor uncovers the fact that his patient has been stealing.  The patient brings in what he is stealing and it is bras, some from clotheslines, some from breaking into houses.  The patient gives that up but moves on to house plans and stalking the doctor's receptionist.  The patient moves on to attack the receptionist in the doctor's office only for revelations to be made.  

Ed Gorman was known for his mystery writing in the noir genre and for his anthologies.  In this book, he has collected some of the best writing from the 1970's onward.  This book is recommended for mystery readers, especially those interested in the noir and detectives of that period.

Flesh by David Szalay

 

Istvan grows up in Hungary.  As a teenager, he is isolated, living with his mother in government housing, arriving too late to break into the usual teenage groups at school where everyone has known everyone else for years.  At loose ends after high school graduation and unable to find a career job, he joins the army.  He sees battle and loses his best friend.

After his military time,  he emigrates to England.  He starts as a bouncer in a club but soon starts driving rich people.  One man likes him enough that he asks him to become his employee and drive only for his family, giving Istvan an apartment in his large house.  The family consists of the man, his much younger wife and their son.  The man becomes ill and Istvan becomes embroiled in an affair with the wife.  When the man dies, he leaves his vast resources to his son with his wife as guardian until the son reaches adulthood.

Istvan marries the wife and now lives a life of luxury.  He becomes a property developer, with loans from the son's trust.  He and his wife also have a son who is the pride of Istvan's life.  Tension starts to build between Istvan and the older son who believes he is being cheated, both of his mother and his trust.  When a tragedy occurs, Istvan is thrown back on his early life once again.

This is David Szalay's second shortlisted Booker nominee.  He grew up in London and now lives in Vienna.  In Istvan, he has created a character who lives an internal life, unable to fully engage with others except for his son and who drifts through life, taking what opportunities come but rarely having much of a plan or goals.  Readers seem to either really like this novel or dislike it and question its inclusion in the shortlist.  I would come down on the side of liking it.  I finished it about a week ago and find myself thinking about it and Istvan often.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

The Housekeeper And The Professor by Yoko Ogawa

 

The Housekeeper has been hired to clean for a difficult client.  She must support herself and her ten year old son and cannot turn down any work but she has heard that nine housekeepers before her tried to do the job and failed.  She is determined to do her best.

The Professor had been a brilliant mathematician but he was in a horrific accident that left him with significant brain impact.  He can still do his beloved math but he only has eighty minutes of short-term memory.  That means he will forget who she is and she will have to tell him every day.  He rarely talks preferring to work all day in his study on mathematical puzzles and competitions.

The two reach a satisfactory way of existing together.  When the Professor finds out the Housekeeper has a son, he insists that the son come to his house after school every day instead of being on his own.  He gives the boy a nickname, Root, for the equation of Pi and soon he starts to build a relationship with the boy and then the Housekeeper.  She gains from him as well as she starts to expand her own mind and learn more about the math he loves so that she can relate to him.  They all share a love of baseball as well which brings them even closer.  

Yoko Ogawa is a Japanese author who has won every Japanese literary award and written more than twenty books.  Her work has gained praise and awards elsewhere as well.  It has been listed for the International Booker Prize and won the American Book Award and the Shirley Jackson prize.  In this gentle book, the reader sees how the relationship grows between the three individuals and how each enriches the lives of the others.  Although the Professor's injury and resulting damage will never improve, he can still live a life that is meaningful and that gives to others.  The Housekeeper learns that although she had to leave her education early, she is capable of learning and can do that anywhere.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers and those interested in other cultures.

 

From the moment Michael Lobb met Kayla on a cruise, he was desperate to have her for himself.  She was the dance instructor and Michael was there with his wife on an anniversary cruise.  But once he met Kayla, that was it.  He throws aside his marriage even though he causes a rupture with his children that can't be repaired and wins Kayla and brings her to his home in Cornwall.

No one knows what Kayla expected but it probably wasn't a small cottage in Cornwall with little money to spare.  During his courtship, Michael spent money like water but in reality he was barely getting by.  He worked on the land in a business handed down through generations, mining and streaming tin which he made into jewelry and other objects he sold.   Now he lies dead, stabbed with some implement that can't be found.

Who could it be?  The representative from Eco-Mining which is buying up Cornwall land to extract lithium from underground water reserves and who found the body?  Michael's brother who owns forty percent of the business and wants to sell?  Michael's children who have plans for the money to buy houses of their own?  Kayla who wants to return to her original home in South Africa or her brother who has come to visit and to talk her into coming home?  The father and son who work for him?

When the local police can't solve the crime in a short time, they ask for help from Scotland Yard.  Inspector Lynley needs to visit his estate to make a plan for extensive repairs and his partner Barbara is on compassionate leave.  It turns out the men who work for Michael are the birth family of the woman Lynley loves and she is in town as well to help her brother who is suspected by the police.  All these individuals do what they can to solve Michael's murder.

This is the twenty-second novel in the Inspector Lynley series.  Mystery readers are familiar with the characters of Lynley and his partner.  The mystery is intriguing and the personalities of Michael and Kayla are slowly revealed as well as how their marriage has led to tragedy.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

The Marylebone Drop by Mick Heron

 

John Batchlor is a semi-retired spy for MI5, not that he wanted to be semi-retired.  His only job these days is to check on the old assets who need a place to live and someone to check on them periodically and be there if they need a hospital or when they pass on.  MI5 has also cut his pay and John finds himself homeless.  He has worn out his friends offers to stay a day or two and is faced with perhaps sleeping in his car in a terrible winter.

But one of his charges asks to speak with him.  Solomon Dortmund was having a coffee in a restaurant when he saw an old-fashioned drop; the passing of information from one spy to another.  The giver was a young beautiful girl while the recipient was a middle-aged man.  Solly reports this to John who decides that he needs to check it out.  

In the meantime, political maneuverings are ever present.  Some individuals are moving up in the ranks while others are being sidelined.  There are spies and counterspies and who can tell the difference?  

This is a novella and the Slough House crew are not present.  It is about the main group of MI-5.  I listened to this one as no one is better than Gerald Doyle who narrates all the Slough House series.  He has the perfect voice for this kind of book and it is best suited to the dry humor found in Herron's books.  This book is recommended for mystery readers and Mick Herron fans.  

The Punishing Journey Of Arthur Delaney

 

Arthur Delaney worked on the ships in the harbor in Halifax, Canada.  He lived there with his wife and three children.  When his wife died, there were two events that occurred with long lasting repercussions.  The first was that Arthur wasn't sure if he had the ability to raise his children alone.  The second was a preacher who was recruiting Canadians to fight in the Civil War in America to free the slaves.  Between these two events occurring when Arthur was in the midst of grieving, he made a terrible decision.  He signed custody of his children to an orphanage which promised to educate and look after them.

Although the Canadian recruits had been told that their service would only last a few months, that was not the case.  Arthur was captured and sent to one of the Confederates' prison camps.  Men were starving there as the Confederate Army had fewer and fewer resources.  Finally, the war ended and Arthur's three years of time in the prison camp was over.

But when he returned home, it was to a nightmare.  The orphanage turned out to be a scam and the children there were indentured out to service or sold outright.  Instead of an education, the three Delaney children were forced to work for a series of farmers and the girls were subjected to the attentions of male owners.  The son, who was the oldest, ran away from his indenture.  The two girls fared worse but were taken from the man who had bought them as servants and more.  The family was scattered and no one knew where when Arthur arrived back in Canada.  This started a long journey as he traveled from place to place searching for his family.

This novel was based on a true case although changed quite a bit for the novel.  There were orphanages that sold the children trusted to them to the highest bidder and once sold or indentured, those children were left to the mercy of their owners.  There was a true Arthur Delaney and a court case based on his attempt to get his children back from an orphanage.  When you consider that this was a poor man, who spent years walking from one settlement in Canada to another, working odd jobs, often hungry and sick one can see his determination to reunite his family.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did a great job.  This book is recommended for historical fiction readers.  

Victory City by Salman Rushdie

 

In this epic story, we learn of the life of Pampa Kampana.  As a nine year old girl, she watches her mother burn to death and in her wild grieving, she is visited by a goddess and becomes the goddess's voice on Earth.  The goddess tells her of a city that will grow there, Bisnaga, which translates as 'victory city.'  The girl plants a seed and overnight, the city grows and is populated.

Pampa will live to be over two hundred and fifty years old.  Along the way, she marries three kings and has lovers, almost always red haired travelers.  She has three daughters by one of these lovers.  There are wars, palace machinations and politics and magic.  At one point, Pampa and her daughters move away from the city and into the forest where they live for several generations.  Always, Pampa loves her city and does whatever she can to make it the best and most forward looking with equality for women and everyone involved in arts such as poetry, dance and painting.

I loved this novel.  It was the Rushdie we have come to know and love, reminiscent of some of his earlier books.  There is love, hatred, magic and a story that one is entranced by.  Readers will fall in love with Pampa and follow her enchanted life from start to finish with interest and involvement.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.   

White King by Juan Gomez-Jurado

 

Antonia Scott's partner, Jon Guttierrez, has been kidnapped.  They both work for the secret Red Queen project which solves crimes no one else can and which has a queen in every country.  Antonia is the Queen for Spain.  When the queens start to be killed, someone very good at counterterrorism is at play.  Is it the same person who kidnapped Jon?  Antonia has been pursued for several years by a man known as the White King.  He is the man who came to her house and shot her and her husband.  Her husband has been in a coma for the three years afterwards.  Does he now have Jon?

When Jon is released, it's with an added piece of equipment.  A bomb has been attached to his spine at the top.  It has a timer and can be set to go off either at a specified time or when those who attached it desire.  Antonia and Jon are told they have twenty-four hours to solve three cold cases.  They are given anywhere from two to six hours to solve each one, varying at the whim of the White King.  Can they solve the crimes and defeat the King?

This is the third installment in Antonia and Jon's story.  The series has been a huge hit in Spain where the author was raised and still lives.  Antonia is smarter than almost anyone but she underwent cruel training to sharpen her senses.  Jon was one of the best in the police force before he was recruited to partner with Antonia and keep her safe.  Now he is the one in danger.  The interplay between the two, the mystery of the White King and the fast paced action make this a book sure to please.  The ending was left ambivalent so there could be more stories later and I hope that happens.  This book is recommended for mystery and thriller readers.  

The Ministry Of Time by Kaliane Bradley

 A civil servant is caught in the lower levels of her government agency.  She is biracial, a mix of a Cambodian mother and an American father and she is seen as only of use in the translation department.  But things are changing.  She, along with others, are given a chance to try for a new position in the Ministry of Time, one called a bridge.  A bridge to what?

The agency has come in possession of a time traveling door.  They have collected individuals from across the centuries and brought them to the present.  Each one will have a 'bridge', someone who lives with them as a roommate and eases their transition to what is the future to them.

The servant, whose name we never learn, is assigned to a time traveler named Graham Gore.  As far as the world knows, he died in a polar exploration where no one survived.  But he is definitely alive and he tries to use the skills he has gained in his former life to exploring the time period he is caught in now.  It is a fascinating yet mind-blowing experience and he needs the companionship not only of his bridge but of the other time travelers.  As time goes on, Gore becomes more acclimated and he and his bridge form a relationship that is forbidden.  Yet, as things start to fall apart at the agency, it is his relationships that could save his life.

This is a debut novel and it is amazing.  Kaliane Bradley is an editor and author but has written short stories before this novel.  She shares the same ethnic background as the civil servant.  The novel is a Hugo finalist for best novel and chosen as a Best Book of 2024 by many publications such as NPR, Kirkus Reviews and others.  The exploration of how these time travelers try to acclimate to a totally new world with very different customs and social mores is fascinating.  The love story is enthralling and the machinations of the Agency as it tries to weaponize the discovery is another whole topic.  This book is recommended for readers of science fiction and historical fiction.    

The Rest Of Our Lives by Ben Markovits

 

Tom Layward is a middle aged man, married, a lawyer with two children.  His son is grown and living in Los Angeles; his daughter about to start university.  Twelve years ago, his wife had an affair and Tom eventually decided to stay for the children.  Now, after he helps his daughter move into her dorm, he gets in his car and keeps moving.  

Tom isn't sure what he is doing.  Is he leaving his wife and marriage?  Not ready to say that, he decides that he is just driving and visiting people from his past.  He visits his college roommate who has just been fired and has a legal case he wants Tom to investigate.  He visits his brother whom he hasn't seen in several years and who is recently separated.  He visits his college girlfriend who is also single these days.  Eventually he makes it to Los Angeles and visits his son who seems to be working towards a new relationship with a woman Tom likes for him.  But what is Tom's life to be going forward?

Ben Markovits was born in the United States but now lives in England.  He has had a varied career with stints as a professional basketball player, a teacher, a job at a magazine and as an author.  He was chosen as one of the Best Young British Novelists in 2013 and this novel has been shortlisted this year for the Booker Prize.  Markovits explores the questions one has in middle age when the jobs of our youth such as raising children have been finished, marriages are not fresh and exciting necessarily and the rest of one's life looms.  Will the same path continue to be traveled or is it time to strike out on a new life, a new path?  As the reader watches Tom make this decision, they will think about their own paths and what lies ahead.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers  

Husbands And Other Sharp Objects by Marilyn Simon Rothstein

 

This is finally Marcy Hammer's time.  After years of marriage and three children, she has finally separated from her husband who can't see anything but his own wishes and desires.  She hasn't filed for divorce because she wants her ex to do that so that he will internalize that the marriage is over.  But she is living her life, going out with her friends and she has a new love, an artist who wants nothing more than to be with her forever.

But life always has more surprises to come.  Her younger daughter has gotten engaged and wants a huge wedding.  At first she wants a destination wedding but finally agrees to have it at a Florida resort the family went to every year.  Unfortunately, she like many others, turns into a Bridezilla and refuses to invite Marcy's new partner.  She wants her family there and nothing that threatens her memory of that family.  The artist is insulted and suggests that they might break up until Marcy is ready to stand up for their relationship.

Marcy's ex has never believed that a divorce was really going to happen and he comes to Florida, sure that this will be the site of their reconciliation.  Marcy balances him, her gay son and his partner, her older daughter who is caught up in a relationship with a married man and her mother while trying to find some fun in this family time.  

Marilyn Simon Rothstein is known for her family novels which are lighthearted takes on various issues that women face in their lives.  I've attended a talk by her at a book convention and she is the same warm, engaging personality that comes through in the books.  Marcy has spent her life living for others and is finally brave enough to get some of what she wants now that her children are grown.  Readers will laugh out loud at some of the situations Marcy has to handle and nod in recognition at touchstones in a woman's life.  This book is recommended for readers of women's literature.

Acts Of Violet by Margarita Montimore

 

Ten years ago, Violet Volk was the top magic act around.  Her elaborate presentations are like nothing anyone has seen and the talk about her and her personal life is the top topic of the tabloids.  Then one night, she disappeared from the stage during an act and disappeared from her life at the same time.  Now, people think she might reappear at the ten year anniversary.

We learn about Violet's life in a variety of ways.  There is a podcast that interviews Violet's ex-husband, those who gave her a start, and her friends.  There are letters that her sister, Sasha, who is still angry at Violet for ignoring her family and from her husband, who is the man Violet couldn't get.  While many women idolized her, Violet left a trail of broken hearts and undelivered promises behind her.  Where did Violet go and what happened to her ten years ago?

Margarita Montimore was born in the Soviet Ukraine but grew up in the United States.  She worked in publishing and social media before starting her writing career.  She has focused on writing about women's lives and has several other novels that have been bestsellers.  In this novel, she slowly reveals more and more about Violet and about all those whose lives she affected.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did an excellent job, especially with all the men's voices, the men that alternatively used and loved Violet.  I was enthralled and most readers will feel the same.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

Our Little World by Karen Winn

 

It's a hot sweltering summer in New Jersey.  School is out so Bee Kocsis has all time in the world to play with the other kids on her cul-de-sac.  A new family has just moved in and Max will be going to school with Bee in the fall.  Bee has a younger sister, Audrina and everyone is charmed by her.  She seems to swim effortlessly through the teenage angst that envelops Bee and makes friends with no problem.

Then it happens.  Bee and Audrina are invited to go to the lake with Max, his mother and little sister.  They all go swimming except Sally who is a bit afraid of the water and stays on the shore digging in the sand.  One minute she is there, the next she's gone.  Despite a massive search, no sign is found of her.

The days and then weeks go by.  Bee starts high school and all of a sudden she is popular since everyone assumes she knows the inside story of what happened to Sally.  Max's mother spends her days drinking and Max only comes to school sporadically.  Bee and Audrina seem to be growing apart, going to different schools and having different friends.  Then another tragedy occurs.

This is Karen Winn's debut novel and she does a good job getting inside the thoughts and feelings of a teenage girl.  The reactions she reports are the ones I've observed in families that have lost a child and the secrets that grow between the two sisters are part of most sibling relationships.  This was my first novel by the author but I'll be interested in seeing what she does next.  This book is recommended for women's fiction and mystery readers.  

The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Heidi Durrow

 

Rachel has been left alone, the only survivor of a family tragedy.  Her mother was Danish, her father black.  The two met when her father was sent overseas by the Army and the family, Rachel and a brother and sister, lived in Denmark.  When her parents broke up, her mother came to the US with the man she loved next.  

After the tragedy, Rachel is sent to live with her father's mother, a grandmother she has never met.  Rachel looks more like her mother and this is the first time she has lived in an African-American neighborhood.  She knows nothing about the culture and her grandmother is much stricter than she is used to.

At school, she is ostracized.  Her looks make the others think she feels superior and one girl in particular wants to fight her from the first day.  When she finally makes a friend, it is one of the few white girls in the school.  She gets a lot of attention from the boys as the beauty she inherited from her mother is compelling.   She hides the secret of what happened to her family as she feels it is shameful.

This book won the Bellwether Prize which is an award given to books concerning social issues.  It is the story of what it means to be biracial and how it often means not being accepted by either side that makes up the genetic makeup.  It was published in 2010 and I hope things have improved as the biracial population becomes larger.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

The Lighthouse At The Edge Of The World by J.R. Dawson

 

At the edge of Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan is the way station for the dead.  Each night they come, guided by dogs and the lighthouse that sends out a beacon to the station.  Most board a ferry that takes them to the Veil where they pass into the Afterlife.  Some are not ready for that final trip and stay at the station until they are.  They are escorted by Nera and her father.  Her father created the station at the time of the Great Fire of Chicago.  Nera has grown up there, found in the lake by her father when she was a baby and she will be the next Master of the Lighthouse when he leaves.

Charlie is searching.  Her sister was killed while Charlie was nearby but she didn't get to say goodbye.  She has been searching for months looking for some clue that some part of her sister still survives.  Like Nera, Charlie can see the ghosts and she finds her way to the Lighthouse where she asks Nera to help her find her sister so she can see that she is safe and okay in the next world.  Nera and Charlie form a friendship that could become something more as they look for Charlie's sister and decide what comes next in their lives.  

This is a lovely book.  The writing is lyrical and the whole world building is magical yet feels real.  Both Nera and Charlie are searching for what comes next and perhaps that will be them as a couple going forward while in love.  Nera, in particular, grows from a shadow of her father's decisions for her, into a strong, loving individual who finds the strength to do what she believes is best.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

The Book Woman Of Troublesome Creek

 

Life is hard in the Kentucky mountains.  There are few jobs except the coal mine where men are overworked and unprotected from the constant danger of cave-ins.  Most get by with farming where they can and hunting and gathering.  It is not unusual for death to come by starvation, especially for children.  

Cussy Mary Carter knows about this.  She lives with her father outside the only town.  He works in the mines and is slowly dying of lung disease from his job.  She has a job as well; delivering books to the school and farms of the area.  She and her father are treated as outsiders because they have a strange condition that makes their skin blue.  They are treated as non-whites and discriminated against as are the few black residents.  

Cussy Mary loves to read and knows that books are as important as anything else to the people of the area.  She especially wants the children to hear books to know that there is something else out there and to entertain them.  But she is condemned by the local preacher as being God cursed and that those who deal with her are the same.  Regardless of that and how she is treated in town, Mary gets on her mule every day and takes books to those who want to learn.  She also takes food when she has it and newspapers and magazines full of suggestions on how to run a household.  

This novel is based on the true Blue People of Kentucky and on the true book express in the Kentucky mountains.  The book has garnered much praise in various media outlets.  More of the book is devoted to the discussion of the Blue People than the book delivery service.  I didn't know about these people who can trace the condition, which is a blood enzyme issue, back to one ancestor who migrated to the hills from France.  Cussy Mary and her father believe that she is the last of the Blue People.  Readers will be awed by the realization of how hard life was for people in this time and place and fascinated by Cussy Mary and her family.  This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.  

Billy Summer by Stephen King

 

Billy Summers is the best, a real pro at assassination.  But he's tired of the game and is ready to retire.  When he hears about the biggest job he's been asked to do and what the payout would be, he decides this will be his last job.  This one isn't an in and out.  It will require him to spend several months in one location, under an alias and making those he meets think that he is a writer so that he can have the office in a skyscraper that has a window that oversees the courthouse.  An underground figure is going to go on trial and expose the organization and the organization doesn't like that.

After the job, Billy is hiding out in an apartment no one knows he has, waiting for the heat to die down.  He is about to leave when one night he hears something going on outside.  He looks out and sees three guys dumping a girl out of a van and driving off.  The girl isn't moving and he goes to see what's going on.  She is half-conscious and it's clear she is drunk or high and probably been assaulted as her clothes are just barely there.  Not wanting police attention to the area, he takes her into his apartment.

Thus starts a partnership.  Alice is a freshman at a local college and picked the wrong guy to date.  Billy helps her get revenge and then the two are on the road.  Alice discovers what Billy does and is willing to help him.  They visit Billy's arranger who has gone to his Colorado cabin after the hit and he and Alice form a father/daughter relationship.  But she goes with Billy when he goes after the man who sold him out on the last job.

I really love the later Stephen King books.  He has moved away from gore for gore's sake and is writing instead about ordinary people caught in unusual situations.  The reader will emphasize with Billy even if he is a criminal and revel in the relationship that he and Alice form.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

London Rules by Mick Herron

 

Someone is trying to kill Roddy Ho of Slough House, the agency for failed spies.  One of his coworkers sees a car aiming at him and tackles him, saving his life and getting complaints for hurting his phone.  Everyone at Slough House has no trouble believing that someone is trying to take Roddy out but what none of them can believe is that Roddy has a girlfriend and not only a girlfriend but a gorgeous one.

In other news, things are dicey in London.  A massacre has occurred at a shopping mall and J.K Coe, the newest Slow Horse, sent over from Psychological Evaluation, has remembered something.  There is a list of how to create an unstable government and it seems whoever is out there killing is following it.  How did they get it?  Will they follow it exactly?  What comes next?

This is the fifth book in the Slough House series.  There is lots of political infighting and jockeying as Britain prepares for elections.  Jackson Lamb remains the same, gruff, never met a rule he didn't like breaking and full of secrets about those in power.  He alternately berates and protects those in his Slough House and does whatever it takes.  This book is recommended for spy thriller readers. 

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

 

One of the best ways to drive traffic to a pub is to hold a weekly quiz.  Sue and Mal Eastwood have just reopened a vacant pub and they decide to do just that.  Soon they have a group of regulars.  There's the group of locals who usually win.  Their noses are put out of joint when a new group that no one knows starts to come and begins winning every week.  There's a group of cyclists, a group of married couples and a couple that is staying in a house boat at the dock.  

The Eastwoods are former police officers so when the local groups charges that the new group is cheating somehow, they believe they can solve the case.  Checking with other pub owners in the area, they find the new group has done the same at other pubs.  In the meantime, Sue decides to hire a lost, homeless college girl to work at the pub and live with them until she gets her feet under her.  Then one night a bunch a rowdies come to the pub and Mal must throw them out.  Later that week, the body of the worst of the rowdy group is found in the water at the end of the lane.  Who killed him and why?

Janice Hallett is an English author who worked first as a journalist, editor and government communicator.  She has a trademark style which is to tell the story through communications and this one uses that same format.  The story is advanced through the reading of texts, pub quiz categories along with the team compositions and scores, a group chat among pub owners in the locale and a text conversation between a young girl and a social worker.  There are also texts between Sus and Mal.  The story is slowly revealed and teased and there are so many twists and turns that the average person can get whiplash.  The book is recommended for mystery readers. 

The Cutting Edge By Jeffrey Deaver

 

One of New York's most fascinating districts is the Diamond District.  Here diamonds are cut, polished and sold, often to newly engaged couples.  When Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs hear of a murder there, they are more than glad to serve as the police department's consultants.  One of the merchants and an engaged couple have been shot down and left dead.  Another employee managed to escape as he was just arriving to work as the crime was occurring.

This is the work of the Promisor, a serial killer who delights in killing couples during their happiest time.  It becomes clear that he plans to track down and kill the witness, who is trying to leave the diamond business and become a sculptor.  But more is going on.  Someone is also planting bombs on gas lines throughout the city and it becomes clear that this is also tied to the diamond thefts.  Can Lincoln and Amelia find him before scores are killed in a gas explosion?

This is the fourteenth Lincoln Rhyme novel.  Lincoln and Rhyme are now married after years of being in love.  Lincoln is still a quadriplegic although over the years he has gained a bit of movement in his hands.  The same intricate collection of trace evidence is found in this book and allows the team to get valuable clues to the criminal and where he is hiding.  Readers will learn not only crime solving techniques but about the diamond trade from mining to selling.  There are lots of twists and turns and suspense mounts throughout the book which is recommended for mystery readers.  

Love Forms by Claire Adam

When Dawn was sixteen, she had a baby girl that is her biggest secret.  Raised in Trinidad by a wealthy family, she is spirited away to a home in Venezuela run by nuns and has her baby there.  After the birth, Dawn returns to her family and goes on with her life.  She ends up marrying and moving to London with her husband.  The couple has two sons and time moves on.

Now fifty-eight, Dawn is alone.  Her sons are grown and gone while her husband and she have divorced.  She finds herself wondering more and more about the daughter she never got to know and starts looking for her online.  When the entire family returns to Trinidad for a holiday, she finally discovers some answers such as where she was all those years ago and what the home was called.  Now she has concrete clues she can use in her quest.

Claire Adam was born in Trinidad.  Her work has garnered significant acclaim with her first novel, Golden Child, being listed for the Women's Prize In Fiction and this second novel being longlisted for the Booker Prize.  We learn about the yearning a mother feels for her children, whether she has raised them or not and the birth connection that cannot be broken.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction. 
 

Hotel California by Don Bruns

 

This anthology starts with a story by Andrew Child featuring his character, Reacher, and ends with the title story Hotel California by Jennifer Dornbush.  Other authors include Reed Farrell Coleman, Amanda Flowers, the editor Don Bruns, Heather Graham, Rick Bleiweiss, and John Gilstrap, a nice mixture of well known mystery writers and those less well known.  I listened to this anthology and each story had a different narrator which added to the enjoyment.

My favorite story was 'Try And Love Again' by Heather Graham.  It featured a private investigator who solves a cold case.  The beginning story which was the Reacher one was also enjoyable as he doles out justice to wife abusers and pedophiles.  All the stories have titles that are names of songs on the Eagles' famous album, Hotel California.  There are probably not many who lived through the 70's and 80's who couldn't sing that title song without thinking as it was one of the hits that exemplified a rock music era.  

The editor and author says that he got the idea after twenty years himself on the road, seeing the various hotels he stayed in, some great, some the best (and not very good) hotel a town had to offer.  Bruns is a musician and he would write songs about the people he observed and met on the road.  Now he is also an author and writes short stories about the same people and places.  Hotel California is the first of four anthologies he has written in this same genre.   This book is recommended for short story readers.  

One Boat by Jonathan Buckley

 

The action in this novel takes place in a small Greek town on the coast.  Teresa is a tourist who came here nine years ago when her mother died.  Now her father has passed away and she has come again to take stock of her life.   The first time she came she got to know several of the town's inhabitants.  Xanthe was a waitress in Teresa's favorite cafe.  Petros was an expatriate who had lived in the town for decades and was a mechanic whom Teresa had long talks with as they sat by the coast accompanied by his dog.  Nico was a dive instructor with whom Teresa had a week long affair.  John was another tourist who had come to grieve his nephew and decide if he would take revenge on the man who killed him.

This time life has moved on.  Xanthe has married and had a daughter; she now owns the restaurant she had waitressed at.  Nico has also married and has a child.  Petros has become almost a hermit; he rarely talks to anyone.  His dog has died and he has another.  Teresa seems to be trying very hard to recapture the feelings she had nine years ago but her life has moved on as well.

Jonathan Buckley is an English author and this is his twelfth novel.  It is longlisted for the Booker Prize.  In it, Buckley explores questions such as how do we form relationships with others and do our connections mean the same things to the other person.  Why do we let life push us along without time for reflection?  What is our purpose if any?  I liked the first half of the novel more than the second as the book seemed to get away a bit from the author towards the end.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

Devils by Joe Abercrombie

 

Alex is a street thief.  She doesn't know anything about a family if she ever had one.  All she can remember is having to steal to eat, to do whatever it takes to survive.  She is about to be beaten by someone she owes money to when she is saved by a nobleman.  He tells her that he is her uncle and that she is the long lost empress of an empire far away.  Alex cannot believe him but she needs some help so she goes along.

The uncle isn't the only person who believes that Alex is the princess/empress.  She is brought to the home of the ten year old pope and soon she is sent on a trip to her new kingdom with a surrounding of nefarious individuals to protect her.  There is Brother Diaz, a young monk who is put in charge of the journey.  Jacob is a soldier who cannot die and who has taken part in every crusade and military operation for centuries.  Vigga is a female werewolf.  When she lets the wolf out, she will kill any and everybody around.  Baron Rikard is a vampire, incredibly old.  He prefers to remain remote from the battles the group encounters.  Sunny is an elf, the beings that everyone fears and loathes.  She has the ability to be invisible and uses it much of the time.  Baptiste is another woman, one who has been with the group for years and is a pirate and many other things in her past life.  Baltazar is a necromancer who is indigent to be forced into the group.  

The group sets out on their journey.  Not only will they face the rigors of the road but Alex has four cousins each of whom believe they have a better claim to the throne than she does and who want nothing more than to get rid of her once and for all.  As the group moves and faces dangers, they start to form alliances and friendships.  Can they get Alex to her throne?

Joe Abercrombie is known for his fantasy writing although he hasn't published anything in a couple of years.  I loved this book from beginning to end.  Each of the characters is fascinating in themselves and the entire group works like a well-oiled machine to face the dangers encountered.  There is danger and love and betrayals, everything that a reader could want.  The adventures and creatures the group encounters along the way are imaginative and the reader will find themselves holding their breath as each challenge is met. I really hope this book is the first in a series as I'd love to read more about these characters.   This book is recommended for fantasy readers  

The Best American Short Stories 2003

 

This anthology of stories was edited by Walter Moseley who wrote the introduction.  The lineup is full of well known authors.  Contributors include Nicole Krauss, Adam Haslett, Louise Erdrich, Anthony Doerr, E. L. Doctorow, Edwidge Danticat, Dan Chaon, Kevin Brockemeier and Dorothy Allison.  Lesser known authors include Rand Richards Cooper, Ryan Harty, Mary Yukari Waters, Susan Straight, Mona Simpson, Jess Row, Emily Ishem Roboteau, Sharon Pomerantz, Marilene Phipps, Dean Paschal and ZZ Packer.

The story that struck me the most was 'Compassion' by Dorothy Allison.  It is the story of a woman dying and her two daughters who are with her in the hospital.  Also there is the woman's husband, who spent the girl's childhood abusing them and the mother while drinking.  Now he is sober but the girls can't forgive him.  They also need to get him to sign the Do Not Resuscitate order but can barely bring themselves to speak to him.  It is a real slice of life story and one that many families face daily.

I love these anthologies.  The stories are chosen from those printed in American and Canadian magazines.  It's interesting to see what those who are authors consider the best stories and each is different enough that the readers' interest never flags.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

Guilty Women by Melanie Blake

 

Falcon Bay is the biggest hit serial on television.  It's been a ratings leader for over forty years and it's still going strong.  Helen Gold has been the star for all those years and they are still writing romantic plotlines for her.  Farrah Adams plays her daughter.  Amanda King runs the show while Sheena McQueen is an agent and the casting director.

But all is not fine.   Amanda loses her job to her ex-husband, who has also impregnated Farrah.  Helen is vulnerable and being involved in two real-life deaths makes her even more unstable.  The show has a new owner and it's unclear how he feels about the show as his wife lost her life onscreen live a few months ago.  The new showrunner has brought back Helen's old lover, both onscreen and in real life.  Can the women continue to make the show a hit while fighting off all the distractions?

Melanie Blake was an agent before she started writing so she knows the world she is writing about.  She specializes in scandalous books with lots of romance and love affairs, along with secrets that can ruin everything if they emerge.  I listened to this book and listening added to the suspense as the plots and counterplots continue to pile up.  This book is recommended for mystery and women's fiction readers.  

South by Tash Aw

 

Jay spends a summer with his family visiting the property they have recently inherited when his grandfather dies.  The land used to be productive but droughts and poor management have made it nothing more than land that has no purpose.  Jay's father, Jack, is a professor and they have always used a manager on the land.  The manager is still full of hopes, sure that with only a bit more work and money, the land can be a productive farm once more.  

Jay is drawn to the manager's son, Chuan.  Older and more sophisticated, Chuan is fascinating to Jay and introduces him to smoking and drinking.  The boys grow closer as they realize a growing attraction between them and soon there is a seduction.  But the two young men come from different worlds and it is unlikely that a relationship between them will thrive.

Tash Aw is a Malaysian author and this book is longlisted for this year's Booker Prize.  This is Aw's third time on the Booker nominee list.  The characters in this book are hard to relate to; there seems to be a distance between the reader and the characters.  Each character is facing the reality that their lives will never be what they had hoped and that creates a miasma of loneliness and despair.  While Jay has his first love, he soon recognizes that it is not to be a lasting affair but a short summer fling.  The theme of loneliness and despair makes this a difficult book to be drawn into but it is recommended for readers of literary fiction and multicultural literature.

The Dentist by Tim Sullivan

 

DS George Cross has the highest clearance rate on the Bristol police force.  He is also one of the most irritating men to work with.  Cross is on the spectrum and that means he is like a terrier with a bone when he is working a case.  He doesn't really care about making friends at work or even doing what his bosses tell him to.  Once he latches onto a case, he will work it until it is solved.

The latest case seems like it will be an easy one.  A homeless man has been found dead, signs of a fight and the victim being intoxicated established.  It seems like a case of two homeless men fighting and one dying.  Until Cross discovers that this homeless man was a dentist before he went on the streets.  And that the man's wife had also been murdered shortly before he fell apart.  Cross's boss wants the easy solution but Cross is sure that the two murders are connected and the wife's case was never solved.  He is determined to solve both.

When Cross first started on the force, he was bullied unmercifully by his superior officer.  Now he finds that the same officer was in charge of the wife's murder and the case had a terrible investigation.  While Cross has no fond memories of the man, he was a competent police officer.  Why didn't he solve the wife's murder?

This is the first book in the DS George Cross series.  George lives with his father whom he gets along with.  He loves organ music but refuses to play for others.  He drives his partner, a single mom nuts and intimidates the new female hire but he does include them in the investigation and works with them.  His partner helps him recognize social clues that would normally go past him.  Readers will be fascinated with the way George's mind works and how he never gives up on a case.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov

 As World War I winds down, Kyiv is being fought over by six different factions.  Regardless of who wins, hunger is everywhere and the streets aren't safe.  Samson Kolechko is walking with his father when a group of Cossacks thunder through on their horses.  Seemingly for fun, they pull their sabers and attack.  Samson's father is killed and he loses an ear.

Now he is rattling around alone in their big apartment.  But the current group who rules Kyiv is starting to requisition furniture and when two soldiers see how big the apartment is, they decide to move in.  Samson doesn't argue as he knows it is useless as they have guns and he doesn't.  He was hoping to let the woman he is interested in move in but he won't ask while they are there.  Samson discovers that his severed ear which he saved can still hear and he soon finds that the soldiers are robbing houses to fund their upcoming desertion.  He goes to the police to report them but is drafted into becoming a policeman himself as he can write and is logical, having studied to be an engineer.

Once the soldiers are arrested, he finds that they are connected to his first murder case.  The clues in the case are a bone encased in silver and a suit that was never made.  While the police are ready to move on, Samson is tenacious and refuses to end the case until he has solved it.  Was a policeman what he should have been all along?

Andrey Kurkov is a well known Ukrainian author, very popular in his homeland.  This book is the start of a mystery series he is writing and was nominated for the International Booker.  Readers will learn about conditions in Kyiv from a hundred years ago and marvel at how similar the situation is today.  Samson is an interesting character and readers will be ready for his next adventure.  This book is recommended for mystery readers and those interested in foreign authors.  

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

 

This novel is a mixture of prose and poetry.  It starts with a forward by the character Charles Kinbote, explaining his relationship with the English poet John Slade who died shortly after writing the cantos that compose the next part of the book.  The majority of the book is after the poetry where Kinbote gives his commentary on the Slade work.

In his commentary, we discover that the poetry, at least in Kinbote's mind, is the story of a king forced from his kingdom and who ends up in England.  It becomes increasingly apparent that Kinbote is this king and that he believes this is his story, as he told it to Slade in the after dinner walks they took.  He believes that he had a great friendship with the poet and his wife but it emerges that the friendship is mostly in Kinbote's mind as is the subject of the poetry.  He writes about the assassin who is sent to kill the escaped king and about Slade's wife who he dislikes and blames for the fact that the friendship has never become what he wanted.

Vladimir Nabokov was born in Russia, spent significant time in France and England and ended up in the United States from the time of World War II.  This work is a sly comedy, a mystery and a history all rolled into one.  The character John Slade is secondary, used only to serve as an impetus to tell the story of Charles Kinbote who is the king written about.  I loved this work and highly recommend it to those searching for an approachable Nabokov novel to start with.  This work is recommended to literary fiction readers.  

Such A Pretty Girl by T. Greenwood

 

Ryan Flannigan and her ambitious mother had moved to New York from Vermont in the 1970's when Ryan was a young teenager.  They shared an apartment with a family that they had met in the summers at the community theatre where Ryan had been born and grew up and the family of Ryan's best friend.  Although Fiona, Ryan's mother, had only been a bit player, she was sure if she could only get to New York that she would be discovered and have the acting career she had spent her life chasing.

But it is Ryan who is discovered.  She is noticed in a restaurant by a woman who runs a modeling agency and after an interview, signed up.  A movie producer sees her ads and thinks she is perfect for the part of a young girl in his upcoming movie.  That movie catapults her into the limelight and she soon has the career her mother had always wanted.  Ryan isn't sure how much she likes it and after some scary things happen, she had given up acting as an adult and moved back to Vermont.  She and Fiona have been estranged for years, Fiona never forgiving Ryan for her fame and Ryan never forgiving Fiona for her poor mothering, leaving with men and not returning, taking drugs, etc.

But now a scandal has erupted.  A nude picture of Ryan as a young girl which was taken for her to give her mother as a gift, has been found in the home of a wealthy man who has been outed as a pedophile.  He has connections to the woman who discovered Ryan and to Ryan's mother, who has inscribed the picture as a gift to the man.  What was their connection?  The press is chasing the story and Ryan has to return to New York to settle things with her mother once and for all.

T. Greenwood is an American author whose work often focuses on events in American history.  In this recent historical fiction, the reader discovers the excitement of New York's West Side and the artists and actors who lived there.  It also touches on the 'me-too' revelations of recent years when men who dealt in corrupting young girls for favors have been outed; their crimes now on full display.  The relationship between Ryan and Fiona asks the question what will ambition do and where does one draw a line?  This book is recommended for historical and literary fiction readers.  

Flashlight by Susan Choi

 

Anne and Serk married in love and had a child, Louisa, but the love didn't last.  Anne is American, Serk is Korean although he was born and grew up in Japan.  He came to the United States on a student visa and after his education was finished, he taught.  By then the two were barely talking, their initial interest long gone.  

Serk agrees to do an exchange to Korea for a year to please his administration.  While there, Anne becomes ill, the tingles and aches she had been feeling a case of MS.  She was pretty much confined to the house so Serk and Louisa explored the land.  While walking along the beach one night, a tragedy occurs.  Serk and Louisa are swept out to sea.  Louisa is found later, half dead, Serk's body never found.

Back in the United States, Anne and Louisa soldier on.  Although no one knows it, Serk had not died but ended up in North Korea where he is imprisoned for the next decades, suffering starvation and beatings.  Louisa grows up and moves out, rarely if ever even calling Anne.  The family is irretrievably broken and separate.

Susan Choi is an American author whose prior work won the National Book award.  This novel has been longlisted for the Booker Prize of 2025.  In it, Choi explores the idea of identity, family, alienation and trauma.  The characters don't necessarily lead a happy life but they come to learn about what is important to them as they live and grow older.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did a great job, switching between chapters and lives seamlessly.  The novel is written in alternating chapters from the three main characters' point of view and it also goes back and forth in time.  A master work, this book is recommended for readers of literary and historical fiction.