Friday, December 31, 2010

Marrying Daisy Bellamy-Susan Wiggs

Marrying Daisy Bellamy
Susan Wiggs
Mira, Jan 25 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780778329251

In Avalon, New York, wedding photographer Daisy Bellamy continues, as she has for years, strugglling to choose between two wonderful men who love her. She adores both hunks. Julian Gastineau could never live by Willow Lake while Logan O’Donnell could.

However, everything changes between the trio when Daisy gives birth to Logan’s offspring Charlie. Yet nothing changes as in spite of having a child with a man who wants to raise a family with her, Daisy still has wet dreams involving Julian. She knows one day she will have to select between two lovers; one safe and nurturing while the other is wild and carefree.

The latest Lakeshore Chronicles (see Snowfall at Willow Lake and Summer at Willow Lake) is a profound character study that looks deeply into the souls of three protagonists. Daisy understands responsibility but desires running around the world as a crisis photojournalist. Julian offers her the freedom to soar anywhere; Logan offers her a safe haven to raise their child. Readers will enjoy this complicated relationship drama summed up by the Roy Orbison and Joe Melson song Running Scared.

Harriet Klausner

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Every Little Thing-Pamela Klaffke

Every Little Thing
Pamela Klaffke
Mira, Jan 18 2011, $13.95
ISBN: 9780778329237

In San Francisco, although she loved her mom Britt dearly, Mason McDonald knows her notorious late mother’s scandalous newspaper column was a constant source of embarrassment. Still in spite of feeling abashed, she knows she will miss her beloved mom who left everything to her cherished daughter.

Mason goes home to attend her mom’s funeral and grieve her loss. However, her two stepbrothers Aaron and Edgar, who were part of her early childhood in Sonoma when their dad married her mom, want to renew their acquaintance with her. Instead of mourning her mom’s death, Mason inadvertently steps into her shoes as the step-siblings’ actions lead her into a scandalous fiasco that probably has Britt the “scandal whore” smiling at her daughter. However, they also have a more significant second order effect when she vows to take charge of her life just like her mom did.

Every Little Thing is a big thing entertaining chick lit tale starring a somewhat caustic pathetic woman finding herself when she steps into her late larger than life mom’s high heels. In many ways the deceased Britt brings the freshness with her loved ones looking back at her crude, rude and lewd lifestyle; a sort of outrageous Auntie Mame. Readers will enjoy Mason seeking her groove as she begins to believe scandal is just another gene in her DNA makeup.

Harriet Klausner

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

To Serve a King-Donna Russo Morin

To Serve a King
Donna Russo Morin
Kensington, Feb 25 2011, $15.00
ISBN 9780758246813

In the sixteenth century, King Francis I of France killed the parents of Genevieve Gravois. Her acrimonious aunt raised the orphan with one thought: how to hate the monarch across the Channel. She loathes the French ruler, which fuels her thirst for vengeance by training in male activities like using a bow.

King Henry VIII of England believes the girl is a perfect tool to assassinate a rival across the Channel. He encourages her to be the best agent and she swears her loyalty to her liege. Believing the time is right, he sends his top trained spy to France to preferably kill his royal rival or if that is not possible to provide valuable information to the English ruler. However, instead of an amoral despot, Genevieve, who obtains a position as maid of honor to the royal mistress Anne de Pisseleau, finds the French king honest, fair and pushing the renaissance across a court filled with art and artists. The king feels the Renaissance movement will be good for all of Ftamce. The English spy feels a dilemma as the king she pledged loyalty to turns out to be an immoral beast while the king she vowed to murder is a benign ruler.

This is a fascinating look at a rarely seen Tudor rival, King Francis (Francois) of France who pushes the Renaissance to enlighten France. The glimpse at his court is refreshing as sixteenth century focus is normally on the Tudor monarchs (see Robin Maxwell’s Mademoiselle Boleyn). However, Genevieve’s conflict between royals is not on a par with the French court background; as the King of France comes across as a heroic enlightened ruler while the King of England comes across as a villainous avarice despot.

Harriet Klausner

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Heartwood-Belva Plain

Heartwood
Belva Plain
Delacorte, Feb 8 2011, $26.00
ISBN: 9780385344128

Family matriarch Iris Stern feels she has had a happy marriage and a great late career as a college professor. When her husband Theo suffers a massive heart attack, Iris knows she loves her spouse and her adult children, but the needs of her kids are not hers and their decisions are definitely not hers.

In California Robby McAllister loses his college teaching job due to cutbacks. He and his wife Laura, Iris’ daughter returns to New York to be near her family. As he fails to land a position, she thrives with a fixer upper Victorian and a catering business. An upset Robby flees to his family home and store in Ohio, but Laura remains in New York with their daughter and meets Nick. Iris has her own issues with an ethical question of what is right in accordance with her deep Jewish faith vs. what Theo desires as well as how to handle a secret he concealed from her.

The late Belva Plain takes her readers back to where it all began with Evergreen as she provides a profound look at the Stern family. The cast is strong, but remains true to their personalities yet the character driven story line can stand alone. Ms. Plain, who died in October, pays homage to herself with a depth few authors ever achieve.

Harriet Klausner

Saturday, December 25, 2010

The Amish Midwife-Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould

The Amish Midwife
Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould
Harvest House, Feb 2011, $13.99
ISBN: 9780736937986

Just outside of Aurora, Oregon, three weeks after baby number 244 is born, her dying widower adopted father informs twenty-six years old midwife Lexie Jaeger with the rest of the truth that he and his late wife concealed from her. He tells her to never forget how he and her adopted mom loved her and finally admits his Montgomery County, Pennsylvania biological maternal grandma sent her a carved box. When her beloved dad dies, Lexie looks inside the box.

After helping 245 enter the world, Lexie decides to travel to Pennsylvania to meet her birth family and learn why she was given away. She leaves behind James who she has been seeing for several years as she obsesses with a need to know her kin. In Pennsylvania, she meets the family and assists Aunt Melia the lay-midwife accused of manslaughter when her Amish patient and baby died during delivery. However, as Lexie begins to learn about her roots, she finds secrets that her biological family feels are An Inconvenient Truth. She considers leaving for home, although she knows God would expect her to forgive those who let her down as a baby.

The first Amish Clark and Gould collaboration is a strong family drama that focuses on a person’s bone-marrow deep need for a specific indent in which he or she believes they belong. With action provided especially by midwife responsibilities in light of the manslaughter charge and a supporting romantic subplot, The Amish Midwife is a terrific character driven tale as Lexie learns you can and cannot go home.

Harriet Klausner

Friday, December 24, 2010

Juno's Daughters-Lise Saffran

Juno's Daughters
Lise Saffran
Plume, Jan 25 2011, $15.00
ISBN: 9780452296732

On the San Juan Island in Puget Sound, single mom Jenny Alexander raises her two daughters, seventeen years old Lilly and thirteen years old Frankie. Jenny left her physically abusive husband Monroe while still nursing her youngest. She does need a man permanently in her life; though local carpenter David would like her to reconsider, as Monroe’s beatings still linger in her mind.

Every year the Islanders host a summer theater festival. This year The Tempest is the main event with a cast of professional actors from New York, Los Angeles and Ashland, Oregon. Jenny and Lilly are attracted to Andre the New York actor. Frankie has her own issues, but is tired of the family version of the Tempest. She runs off to Seattle, which turns the Alexander raging storm into a monster.

With super interwoven nods to the Bard, Juno’s Daughters is an excellent family drama that explores some of the themes of the classic play in a modern context. For instance, the relationships between mom and daughters are brilliantly scrutinized with each holding certain power over the other, but Jenny as the adult rules. The cast makes the tale as the Alexander family star in a terrific contemporary as a “tempest in a teapot” is brewing.

Harriet Klausner

We Are Not Eaten by Yaks-C. Alexander London

We Are Not Eaten by Yaks
C. Alexander London
Philomel (Penguin), Feb 22 2011, $12.99
ISBN: 9780399254871

The eleven-year-old Navel Twins (Oliver and Celia) prefer armchair traveling rather than physically explore the world. However the tweeners are the offspring of the Lower east Side Explorers Club’s top guns; who drag them around the globe for smelly adventures in Mongolia and Africa, and islands not found in an atlas. In fact, the pair is the only children who attend the annual club gala.

Recently their mom disappeared and their dad wagered with evil rival Sir Edmund S. Tithletorpe-Schmidt III that he will not only find her but they discover one of the greatest finds ever. He anteed with his fifth graders, who if their dad fails, will be Sir Edmund’s servants until they graduate high school. However, when dear old dad becomes ill in Tibet after meeting poison witches; sneering Sir Edmund demands remittance. Thus the kids now know a fate worst than adventure awaits them; so giving up TV and other electrons, they fly to Tibet to rescue their dad and then their mom and by the way discover that great historical find. If they save the world and not get chewed by a humongous yak that would be wonderful but only if the cable is working in the Himalayas.

Targeting the middle school crowd, We Are Not Eaten by Yaks because they are herbivores while yetis are not is an exciting adventure thriller filled with satirical lighthearted humor. The stars are couch potatoes who are forced into the wild without a remote as they now know is a fate worse than an Accidental Adventure.

Harriet Klausner

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Gryphon-Charles Baxter

Gryphon
Charles Baxter
Pantheon, Jan 11 2011, $27.95
ISBN: 9780307379214

This engaging twenty story collection from one of the best authors of the short format includes seven new tales and sixteen entries from his previous anthologies. The tales all look closely at ordinary people living mundane lives yet each character possesses a jocular quirkiness that sets him or her just outside the norm. The entire compilation contains all solid tales with a few of the reruns being super and new tales for the most part excellent. “Gryphon” (see Through the Safety Net) stars a fourth grader musing about a substitute teacher providing special reading and times table lessons. The art dealer knows 9/11 changed him forever in enigmatic “Royal Blue” (see The American Scholar). The stranger enters her house and announces to the frightened woman they are soulmates, but she will soon learn what soulmate means to him in “Ghosts” (see Ploughshares). “Fenstad’s Mother” lectures him when he visits her adamantly insisting that he just tries to be good, but his daughter Sharon is the real thing. The "Poor Devil" is actually a couple beyond the edge of divorce. As always Charles Baxter provides a strong insightful look at everyman; often through a surreal Dali like eye.

Harriet Klausner

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Someone Else's Garden-Dipika Rai

Someone Else's Garden
Dipika Rai
Harper, Feb 1 2011, $13.99
ISBN 9780062000354

In the rural part of India where family tradition is strictly observed, Mamta is sold by her family in marriage. Soon afterward, her depraved husband sells her kidney to pay for his hookers. When that money runs out he plans to sell her other kidney. Mamta learns of his deadly plan so she flees. With no place else to go she returns home where her father and brother help her escape to another part of India.

Mamta finds employment and sends money home, but her mother considers her dead for leaving her husband as that is an unacceptable breach of custom and religion. Her brother-in-law Lokend arrives trying to win a public office election, but a worker of his rival severely batters him. Mamta nurses Lokend back to health. They fall in love before returning together to their village.

This is not an easy read as Dipika Rai displays a dark gruesomeness in rural India. Not only are female rights ignored as Mamta is sold into marriage and her kidneys and other organs owned by her spouse, but her mother and son-on-law accept that as a husband’s right. A late spin to bring some hope into the gloomy plot feels like an unneeded Americanized addition to an otherwise strong grim look at the ugly side of humanity. Timely with today’s headlines as the House of Representatives Republicans and nine Democrats who voted against the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010 would change their vote if they read Someone Else's Garden.

Harriet Klausner

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Brooklyn Story-Suzann Corso

Brooklyn Story
Suzann Corso
Gallery (Pocket), Dec 28 2010, $23.99
ISBN: 9781439190227

In the summer of 1978, fifteen year old Samantha Bonti of Bensonhurst dreams of becoming a writer living on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. Being half-Jewish and with no father in the household since her Italian dad abandoned her and her mom, Sam is treated as a pariah by the Italian Catholic neighbors. Her Jewish mother Joan is filled with rage at humanity including her daughter and alcohol fuels her bitterness; while Grandma Ruth is her cheerleader encouraging Sam to go for it. Sam’s BFF is fellow outcast Janice Caputo who loathes her heritage that she sees as stifling crap in which males thrive to be the next great gangster.

Sam’s world spins out of control when she meets half-Sicilian, half-Dutch Tony Kroon, a mobster in training. She falls in love with him as she believes he understands her dual heritage. However, Tony warns her to never question his work. Her mom normally ignores her but tells her to dump him as he is no good; Grandma Ruth tells her bubelah to drop him before she loses her dream and becomes her mother’s clone.

This is an entertaining character study of a teen seeking to belong while also dreaming of escaping to that other island across the water. Sam makes the tale work as readers will dream a little dream with her (paraphrasing Mama Cass) while also wondering whether she will cross the East River to truly go after her desires or remain in Brooklyn with Tony who climbs the ladder of his chosen vocation.

Harriet Klausner

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Tudor Secret-C.W. Gortner

The Tudor Secret
C.W. Gortner
St. Martin's Griffin, Feb 1 2011, $14.99
ISBN 9780312658502

In 1553 the affluent influential Dudley brood dispatches servant Brendan Prescott to serve their cruel son Lord Robert at young King Edward's court. The young orphan knows that the Dudley family own King Edward who has been gravely ill and unable to rule.

The Dudley patriarch fears intelligent survivor Princess Elizabeth more than the heir to Edward’s throne Princess Mary. William Cecil, protector of Princess Elizabeth, enlists Prescott to spy on his employer. However, the more the lad learns about those surrounding the royal siblings, the more he believes competing and overarching conspiracies abound, but is unsure what she should do with what he learns because she trusts no one.

The key to this Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles tale is ethical Brendan who believes in loyalty, but unsophisticated in the ways of court intrigue as he is caught between his duty to the Dudley clan and to the princess. He and vicious Lord Robert bring freshness to the entertaining Tudor historical as the rest of the latter’s family and much of the court is stereotyped. Still C.W. Gortner (see The Last Queen) reveals the secrets behind those playing for power on a life and death royal stage through the only transparent participant who participates in a parallel play way.

Harriet Klausner

Dreaming in English-Laura Fitzgerald

Dreaming in English
Laura Fitzgerald
NAL, Feb 1 2011, $15.00
ISBN 9780451232144

Twenty-seven years old Iranian expatriate Tamila Soroush knows how fortunate she is when American Ike Hanson married her in Vegas as she was able to remain in the states (see Veil of Roses) with the Prince Charming she loves. Instead of Teheran, Tamila joyfully goes to Tucson, Arizona where her hostile mother-in-law wants the marriage annulled and Tamila deported.

Law enforcement watches her marriage to Ike closely to determine if it is real or a Green Card sham. Tami realizes she must shed her Tamila upbringing in which women accepted their fate and defend her self from the deportation-arrest first and ask questions later government (that reminds her of home) and her enemy mother-in-law.

This is a direct sequel to Veil of Roses so to understand how far from Iran to Nevada seemingly naïve Tamila has traveled, readers need to read her first fairy tale of going after what she believes is America. Her new American family led by her angry mother-in-law push for her deportation based on a phony marriage. Ike is caught in the middle between the combatants, his relationship combat experienced mom and his naïve immigrant wife. However, this proves no contest as the entertaining story line follows the anticipated path even with detours.

Harriet Klausner
/

The Darling Strumpet-Gillian Bagwell

The Darling Strumpet
Gillian Bagwell
Berkley, Jan 4 2011, $15.00
ISBN: 97804252388592

In 1660 following a decade of bleak Cromwell gray, thirty year old Charles II is crowned king. In London as the monarchy returns, young Nell Gwynn was beaten by her partially intoxicated mother Eleanor for losing her oyster barrow when the girl was caught up in the royal festivities. She vowed no more beatings and she will find a way to escape from the smell and oil of oysters that Nell believes has penetrated her brain. She flees to her sister Rose the whore who advises her to leave their termagant mother and the Golden Fleece tavern but must get the money first.

Nell turns to whoring working for Rose’s employer Madam Ross though she only recently started her courses. The patrons love her deprecating cheeky humor. She goes to watch the return of The King’s Company performing Shakespeare’s Henry the Fourth after years of being shut down. There she meets Robbie Duncan who takes her away from the brothel. Soon her bawdy commentary leads to her performing on the stage. When King Charles II sees her act, he makes her his favorite courtesan. Nell understands that she is the Protestant whore of the king, but also is fond of her kind lover while maneuvering the deadly royal courtesan court. She “captures the heart of England and Charles II” as even when he is dying, the monarch wants his beloved taken care of after he is gone.

This historical biography of Nell Gwynn is a terrific tale from the invigorating bur different perspective of a courtesan who rose from abject poverty and family abuse to become the nation’s Darling Strumpet. Decades before Fielding’s “lewd” classic Tom Jones, Nell’s real life witty ribald comments about herself and the life in the men (paraphrasing Mae West) wanting her make for a fun look at the Restoration.

Harriet Klausner

Somebody Pick Up My Pieces -J.D. Mason

Somebody Pick Up My Pieces
J.D. Mason
St. Martin's, Feb 1 2011, $24.99
ISBN 9780312368876

Almost three decades ago the worst day in her life occurred. Her Uncle Lamont Williams killed Charlotte Rodgers’s lover and beat her to a pulp. She survived the brutal hammering while he went to prison.

Now twenty-seven years since that horrific day, Lamont has been released from jail and wants to rejoin his family. His niece, now the family matriarch, wants nothing to do with the relative who also paid off a debt with Charlotte as the remittance.

Her three adult children have left Charlotte isolated in Murphy, Kansas as they are frustrated with their acrimonious mother who abandoned them as children years ago and now struggle with their own problems. Her daughter Cammy lost her child in a car accident. She cannot move passed her grief so she leaves her husband. She moves to Denver where her two older sisters, Connie and Clarice “Reesy”, reside. Connie loves her newborn. She and the baby’s father John seem ideal for one another until he learns his father is dying. The third sister Clarice remains angry at her spouse Justin for cheating on her.

The latest Rodgers women saga once again makes the same case that the child is the adult. The four females have new tsuris to compound their psychological defense mechanisms caused by more traumas than Job faced. The impetus this time that exponentially spirals the unhappiness of the foursome is the return of odious Lamont who demands retribution from his niece who he blames for his imprisonment. Although somewhat feeling repetitive to the previous tales (see One Day I Saw a Black King and You Gotta Sin to Get Saved) in spite of the latest tragedies, ironically there is a sense that finally somebody is picking up the pieces of her soul.

Harriet Klausner

Monday, December 13, 2010

The Collectibles -James J. Kaufman

The Collectibles
James J. Kaufman
Downstream Publishing, Jan 4 2011, $14.95
1908 Eastwood Rd; Suite 324; Wilmington, NC 28403
ISBN: 9780982587300

The son of Manhattan high societye Preston Wilson grew up with a platinum spoon. On the other hand orphaned as a child Joe Hart was raised by his working class Uncle Howard and Aunt Lettie with a sterling silver spoon. Whereas Preston has an extremely easy path to success; Joe works his way through the US Navy, college and law school.

They met as teens when Joe saved Preston's life in the Adirondacks. Years later, a distraught Preston is in deep financial trouble and needing a lawyer. He asks Joe to represent him; Joe agrees on the stipulation that Preston owes him a debt that one day he will collect. Preston accepts the strange terms. Not long after reluctantly agreeing to help, Joe saves his client from financial ruin. The attorney demands remittance. He directs Preston to obtain the trust of Joe’s friends “The Collectibles”; as he expects Preston to care for these troubled people when he soon cannot. He explains he helps them as homage to his uncle helping him. Johnny is a mentally challenged dishwasher; Missy is a domestic abuse victim waiting tables; Tommy is a gambling addict; Harry is a bipolar photographer and Corey is a carpenter suffering from early Alzheimer's.

This is a character driven inspirational tale that makes a case for people to select and help “Collectibles”. The key to this strong message is that each of the Collectibles contains different personalities and woes. Joe shows first hand by example to Preston that life has no meaning if you fail to, as his uncle said,” … help the other fella”. This work is si thought provoking, readers will reflect on who their “collector” is and who their “collectibles” are.

Harriet Klausner

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Winter Ghosts -Kate Mosse

The Winter Ghosts
Kate Mosse
Putnam, Feb 3 2011, $24.95
ISBN 9780399157158

Over a decade ago in WWI George Watson vanished while serving on the Western Front. His younger brother Freddie has not been able to move on having found no closure. His grief so great, Freddie spent time in an asylum.

Ten years have passed since the Armistice ended the combat. Freddie works for the War Grave Commission which enables him to seek clues to his sibling. He drives a motorcar in the French Pyrenees still seeking solace. During a snowstorm, he crashes his vehicle near the remote village of Nulle. At the small mountainous hamlet Freddie meets Fabrissa. That evening, Fabrissa tells him her tale of harassment and death. The next day, Freddie cannot find Fabrissa, but his inquiries for her lead him to a six century old mystery.

The Winter Ghosts is a fascinating 1928 tale of two individuals who come together for one night; each seeking solace over what was lost of their respective souls due to war. The story line starts extremely slow as Kate Mosse takes her time to set time, place and Freddie’s angst. Still readers will enjoy the cost of war still being paid by survivors years, even centuries, after the hostilities end.

Harriet Klausner

A Royal Likeness -Christine Trent

A Royal Likeness
Christine Trent
Kensington, Dec 28 2010, $15.00
ISBN 9780758238580

In 1803 Marguerite Ashby, heiress to the renowned Laurent Fashion Dolls and a former student of the late great wax artist Monsieur Curtius who died years ago, escapes Paris for London. She becomes a renowned London doll maker. However, rabble attacks her shop because of her Franch lineage. Her husband Nicholas dies during the anti-French assault. Marguerite escapes the city for Edinburgh.

Her friend and fellow French expatriate Madame Tussaud hires Marguerite to work with her waxworks exhibit. Tussaud proves an artistic genius but a financial failure at the mercy of her amoral business partner Paul de Philipsthal. When Paul dies, Marguerite opens her own waxworks. Meanwhile the Crown asks for her help with creating decoys just prior to the engagement at Trafalgar.

This is an engaging Napoleonic Era historical though there is some romance as two men (not counting Police of Chief Joseph Fouche) chase after the widow. The story line starts very slow as Christine Trent sets the stage in France , England and Scotland. Once established, the plot accelerates into a fun early nineteenth century tale culminating with an intriguing look at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Harriet Klausner

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Crazy-Peter Blatty

Crazy
Peter Blatty
Forge, Nov 9 2010, $22.99
ISBN: 9780765326492

In 1941 in Manhattan, Joey El Bueno is a seventh grader at St. Stephen’s School. He cherishes comic books and movie while somehow safely eludes the nuns and bullies who run the school with iron fists. Joey meets new student nutty Jane Bent as both relish the movie Gunga Din. He realizes he appreciates people with a touch of lunacy as a super attractive trait; Joey especially enjoys her mangling metaphors of what apparently is history and what confusingly seems to have not yet happened.

One day after a movie, Jane vanishes. Joey is confused by her vanishing, but more bewildered by everyone at school looking at him like he is Crazy because no one else will confess they met or even saw Jane. He begins to wonder if they are right; as time passes with no clues to prove she lived or what happened to Jane; if he is not insane than Joey turns to his comic books for solutions as there the supernatural and paranormal are the normal.

This is an intriguing look at 1941 New York City though the eyes of a tweener who may be crazy. Ironically, the elongated sentences imply that Joey is crazy or that Jane is a strange essence; however those same significant seemingly endless sentences are difficult to follow requiring at times re-reading. With a nod to Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire though the novel occurs two decades earlier than the song, fans will enjoy this offbeat character study of a person who may be crazy, but then again who is not at least just a little bit insane.

Harriet Klausner

Saturday, December 4, 2010

These Things Hidden-Heather Gudenkauf

These Things Hidden
Heather Gudenkauf
Mira, Feb 1 2011, $15.99
ISBN: 9780778328797

After spending five years in prison for the murder of her newborn daughter, twenty one year old Allison Glenn is released to the Gertrude Halfway House for the next six months. Her parents have disowned her and her younger sister Brynn has ignored her efforts to contact her. Allison has fallen mightily from being perfect in high school. Her lawyer meets her at the prison and takes her to Gertrude House where she meets owner Olene who encourages her.

Bookends owner Claire Kelby and her husband Jonathan adopted their now six years old son Joshua who was found abandoned at a fire station when he was two days old. They heard the unknown teenage mother tried to kill him. Nursing student Charm Tulia likes coming to the bookstore where she buys all sorts of self- help books because she is the one who left Joshua in a safe house in accordance with Iowa law.

Brynn ignores her sister’s plea to talk to her. She stays with her granny taking medicine for depression. She attends school enjoying the animal classes. Brynn was with Allison when she gave birth. There were no doctors or hospitals based on Allison’s insistence. Olene arranges for Allison to interview for a job at Bookends Bookstore. Charm remembers entering the bookstore for the first time and recognizing Joshua. She comes regularly to see that he is okay. Claire hires Allison. Soon the full truth that connects these women will surface.

The key ensemble cast especially the four prime females is all developed while the connection between the ladies is developed over the course of the wonderful story line. Although there are two key coincidences that feel out of place re the woman involved, readers will enjoy that the truth does not always set one free.

Harriet Klausner

These Things Hidden-Heather Gudenkauf

These Things Hidden
Heather Gudenkauf
Mira, Feb 1 2011, $15.99
ISBN: 9780778328797

After spending five years in prison for the murder of her newborn daughter, twenty one year old Allison Glenn is released to the Gertrude Halfway House for the next six months. Her parents have disowned her and her younger sister Brynn has ignored her efforts to contact her. Allison has fallen mightily from being perfect in high school. Her lawyer meets her at the prison and takes her to Gertrude House where she meets owner Olene who encourages her.

Bookends owner Claire Kelby and her husband Jonathan adopted their now six years old son Joshua who was found abandoned at a fire station when he was two days old. They heard the unknown teenage mother tried to kill him. Nursing student Charm Tulia likes coming to the bookstore where she buys all sorts of self- help books because she is the one who left Joshua in a safe house in accordance with Iowa law.

Brynn ignores her sister’s plea to talk to her. She stays with her granny taking medicine for depression. She attends school enjoying the animal classes. Brynn was with Allison when she gave birth. There were no doctors or hospitals based on Allison’s insistence. Olene arranges for Allison to interview for a job at Bookends Bookstore. Charm remembers entering the bookstore for the first time and recognizing Joshua. She comes regularly to see that he is okay. Claire hires Allison. Soon the full truth that connects these women will surface.

The key ensemble cast especially the four prime females is all developed while the connection between the ladies is developed over the course of the wonderful story line. Although there are two key coincidences that feel out of place re the woman involved, readers will enjoy that the truth does not always set one free.

Harriet Klausner

Friday, December 3, 2010

Lily of the Nile-Stephanie Dray

Lily of the Nile
Stephanie Dray
Berkley, Jan 4 2011, $15.00
ISBN: 9780425238554

In 31 BC, Roman legions loyal to Octavian defeats married couple Cleopatra and Mark Antony at the battle of Actium. They follow that victory with a successful invasion of Egypt leading to the suicide of the royal opposition leaders. Afterward to insure no more Egyptian uprising behind a martyr and to extinguish the prophesized Golden Age for Isis worshippers, the young Roman emperor takes the vanquished Egyptian queen's preadolescent children in chains to Rome. He incorporates the older twins Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios and the youngest offspring Ptolemy Philadelphus into his household.

Helios is irate as he loathes bowing down to the barbaric Roman Emperor who has taken away his divined destiny. His wiser sister Selene works the court though she conceals her Isis worship from those who scorn her beliefs as primitive. Selene soon learns she possesses inner strengths, outer enticing beauty to rival her mom, and a need to defend her religious beliefs and her people. She refuses to back away from the emperor as she challenges the man who defeated her mother in ways her mom tried to do but ultimately failed.

Mindful of Michelle Moran’s delightful young adult targeted Cleopatra’s Daughter, Stephanie Dray provides a wonderful adult entry that enhances the first century BC thriller with a touch of magic. Selene is strong as she tries to protect her siblings and her people from the wrath of Rome. Historical armchair readers will enjoy a trip to the Mediterranean escorted by the charming Lily of the Nile.

Harriet Klausner

The View From Here-Deborah McKinlay

The View From Here
Deborah McKinlay
Soho, Feb 1 2011, $24.00
ISBN: 9781569478714

In England, Frances and Phillip have been married for two decades. They have no children of their own, but they raised his daughter Chloe, whose mother abandoned her. In her forties, Frances learns she suffers from a malignant tumor. Stunned Phillip leaves London where he worked on his latest marketing book to return to their rural home to help his beloved wife.

However Frances feels betrayed as she has found a romantic letter that ties her husband to his book editor Josee, the London-based editor of his books. Instead of confronting Phillip, Frances follows him to London where she sees him say goodbye to Josee. As she knows she is dying, she looks back to herself in 1976 as a twentyish woman in Mexico eking out a living by teaching English. There she met three wealthy selfish American couples (Patsy and Richard, Bee Bee and Ned, and Sally and Mason) who she initially cannot distinguish between the extender Severance family members. However, she and Mason have an affair; which she rationalized by blaming Sally until she realizes her lover was having sex with Patsy too. As her death looms, Frances relooks at her relationship with Phillip who she knows loved her though he betrayed her.

The View from Here is that this is an engaging insightful character study. The story line contrasts Frances as twenty-two years old who believed she could do anything and selfishly went after whatever or whoever she desires without a care for others; vs. the forty something dying Frances who is no long shallow as she has cared for others like Chloe and forgives her beloved Phillip for his indiscretions. The protagonist will have readers ponder whether the sums of a person’s good deeds and bad deeds can be accrued like debits and credits on an accounting journal.

Harriet Klausner