The Believers
Zoe Heller
Harper, Mar 3 2009, $25.99
ISBN: 9780061430206
Over four decades since the 1960s leftist activism of their youths, Audrey and Joel Litvinoff had hoped their children would have some of their enthusiasm. However, instead they live radically different lives than their parents as each of the trio attempts to escape from what they perceive has become perpetual hypocritical activism. Rosa works with troubled teens which leave her questioning right from wrong as defined by her parents. Following a Castro period, Karla has turned to marriage to escape her parents and their unending drone beat of get involved. Lenny has turned to drug addiction as his escapism.
Even Joel and Audrey have changed. Joel relishes his role as star attorney to the “Un-American’ while Audrey has become shrewish re her mantra you are either part of the solution or part of the problem while sipping expensive champagne. She especially turns ugly when Joel falls into a coma after a stroke and his hypocrisy surfaces.
This is an interesting family drama as the activist parents head into late middle age, their offspring rebel against their refrain in differing ways. The five Liviniff brood are fascinating antagonists with differing personalities. However, none takes charge of holding the story line together. Instead the premise feels in many ways as an ensemble cast running from each other even when all gather at the hospital. Thus the parts are intriguing and well written but are greater than their sum.
Harriet Klausner
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Tricking of Freya-Christina Sunley
The Tricking of Freya
Christina Sunley
St. Martin's, Mar 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780312378776
Having overheard her mom and aunt argue even if their voices were kept low, Freya Morris knows her Aunt Birdie once gave birth to a child. However, no one says anything further as to what happened to the child. She hopes one day to meet her nameless cousin, but in the meantime writes a memoir she prays she can present to her unknown and unnamed relative.
Freya has lived in Connecticut, but her maternal Icelandic relatives live in Gimli, Canada. She learns she is a descendent of a long line of great Icelandic poets, which means her cousin is too. Whereas her aunt pushes their Icelandic heritage on Freya; her mom is Americanized. Over the decades Frey is pulled in opposite directions.
This is an odd but fascinating novel that gracefully moves between time (over two decades) and place United States, Canada and Iceland). The key to tale is the fully developed three strong females as the two sisters yank the next generation in totally opposite ways. Fans who appreciate a somewhat dark dysfunctional family saga will enjoy Freya’s fable as one side of her embraces the convenience of American materialism while the other cherishes Icelandic adaptation to Norse mythology.
Harriet Klausner
Christina Sunley
St. Martin's, Mar 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780312378776
Having overheard her mom and aunt argue even if their voices were kept low, Freya Morris knows her Aunt Birdie once gave birth to a child. However, no one says anything further as to what happened to the child. She hopes one day to meet her nameless cousin, but in the meantime writes a memoir she prays she can present to her unknown and unnamed relative.
Freya has lived in Connecticut, but her maternal Icelandic relatives live in Gimli, Canada. She learns she is a descendent of a long line of great Icelandic poets, which means her cousin is too. Whereas her aunt pushes their Icelandic heritage on Freya; her mom is Americanized. Over the decades Frey is pulled in opposite directions.
This is an odd but fascinating novel that gracefully moves between time (over two decades) and place United States, Canada and Iceland). The key to tale is the fully developed three strong females as the two sisters yank the next generation in totally opposite ways. Fans who appreciate a somewhat dark dysfunctional family saga will enjoy Freya’s fable as one side of her embraces the convenience of American materialism while the other cherishes Icelandic adaptation to Norse mythology.
Harriet Klausner
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Mistress of the Revolution-Catherine Delors
Mistress of the Revolution
Catherine Delors
NAL, Mar 2009, $16.00
ISBN: 9780451225955
In the mid 1780s fifteen year old aristocrat Gabrielle de Montserrat and commoner Pierre-André Coffinhal meet and fall in love. However, her older brother rejects such a union as Pierre is beneath their lofty social status. Instead he forces his younger sister to marry the much older, wealthy, and abusive Baron de Peyre. He is cruel to his young wife; so when he dies after Gabrielle gives birth to a daughter she rejoices.
The teen widow and single mom Gabrielle arrives at the court of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette. There she becomes the mistress of Count de Villers. However, soon after her arrival, the Revolution explodes in Paris. Gabrielle is arrested and faces the wrath of the Revolutionary Tribunal where lawyer Pierre-Andre, still outraged by the Montserrat scorn several years ago sits in judgment and Lady Guillotine awaits in the open for her.
Though the underlying theme is a bittersweet love story, MISTRESS OF THE REVOLUTION is much more as the plot contains a deep look at the political intrigue and machinations with the Guillotine hovering for rumored missteps stealing the show. Catherine Delors has written a strong French Revolution Era historical as Gabrielle is a great protagonist who holds the plot together while the key men in her life provide a profound look at what society allows them to do to a woman before, during, and after the Revolution; nothing changes for the second class female. Her encounters with the major historical figures circa 1789 seems unnecessary and distractingly forced yet fans of historical tales will relish Gabrielle’s adventures to avoid a date with Lady Guillotine.
Harriet Klausner
Catherine Delors
NAL, Mar 2009, $16.00
ISBN: 9780451225955
In the mid 1780s fifteen year old aristocrat Gabrielle de Montserrat and commoner Pierre-André Coffinhal meet and fall in love. However, her older brother rejects such a union as Pierre is beneath their lofty social status. Instead he forces his younger sister to marry the much older, wealthy, and abusive Baron de Peyre. He is cruel to his young wife; so when he dies after Gabrielle gives birth to a daughter she rejoices.
The teen widow and single mom Gabrielle arrives at the court of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette. There she becomes the mistress of Count de Villers. However, soon after her arrival, the Revolution explodes in Paris. Gabrielle is arrested and faces the wrath of the Revolutionary Tribunal where lawyer Pierre-Andre, still outraged by the Montserrat scorn several years ago sits in judgment and Lady Guillotine awaits in the open for her.
Though the underlying theme is a bittersweet love story, MISTRESS OF THE REVOLUTION is much more as the plot contains a deep look at the political intrigue and machinations with the Guillotine hovering for rumored missteps stealing the show. Catherine Delors has written a strong French Revolution Era historical as Gabrielle is a great protagonist who holds the plot together while the key men in her life provide a profound look at what society allows them to do to a woman before, during, and after the Revolution; nothing changes for the second class female. Her encounters with the major historical figures circa 1789 seems unnecessary and distractingly forced yet fans of historical tales will relish Gabrielle’s adventures to avoid a date with Lady Guillotine.
Harriet Klausner
Monday, February 9, 2009
Secrets Of The Tudor Court: The Pleasure Palace- Kate Emerson
Secrets Of The Tudor Court: The Pleasure Palace
Kate Emerson
Pocket, Mar 2009, $16.00
ISBN: 1416583203
In 1498, six months after the death of papa when his ship sunk at sea, eight years old Jane Poyancourt and her widowed mother Jeanne flee France following the passing away of King Charles. King Henry VII makes the grieving Jane his ward and employs the child who is the age of his daughters as their French tutor by simply speaking to them. Soon after reaching England, Jane’s Uncle Sir Rowland Velville informs his young niece that her mamam died from a sudden fever.
A few years later, Jane is beautiful and remains at the court though a new handsome Henry sits on the throne now. Several members of the court want to court the displaced Frenchwoman, but she shows no interest in any of them. That changes when prisoner of war Duc de Longueville Louis D'Orleans is sent to the Tower awaiting ransom payment. She is attracted to him and is considering becoming his mistress. Meanwhile her childhood friend Guy Dunois comes to the English court and wants to become Jane’s lover. Jane also investigates her mother’s sudden untimely death, which leads to her spying for her royal guardian.
This interesting early sixteenth century tale lives up to its title as the audience sees another side to the Tudor courts of Henry VII and more so his son Henry VIII. The story line provides the reader with a sense of time and place especially the intrigue that engulfs the reign of Henry VIII, but does so through the amorous adventures of Jane. Fans of the era will relish Kate Emerson’s fine historical biographical fiction of an actual member of the Tudor court supported by real people.
Harriet Klausner
Kate Emerson
Pocket, Mar 2009, $16.00
ISBN: 1416583203
In 1498, six months after the death of papa when his ship sunk at sea, eight years old Jane Poyancourt and her widowed mother Jeanne flee France following the passing away of King Charles. King Henry VII makes the grieving Jane his ward and employs the child who is the age of his daughters as their French tutor by simply speaking to them. Soon after reaching England, Jane’s Uncle Sir Rowland Velville informs his young niece that her mamam died from a sudden fever.
A few years later, Jane is beautiful and remains at the court though a new handsome Henry sits on the throne now. Several members of the court want to court the displaced Frenchwoman, but she shows no interest in any of them. That changes when prisoner of war Duc de Longueville Louis D'Orleans is sent to the Tower awaiting ransom payment. She is attracted to him and is considering becoming his mistress. Meanwhile her childhood friend Guy Dunois comes to the English court and wants to become Jane’s lover. Jane also investigates her mother’s sudden untimely death, which leads to her spying for her royal guardian.
This interesting early sixteenth century tale lives up to its title as the audience sees another side to the Tudor courts of Henry VII and more so his son Henry VIII. The story line provides the reader with a sense of time and place especially the intrigue that engulfs the reign of Henry VIII, but does so through the amorous adventures of Jane. Fans of the era will relish Kate Emerson’s fine historical biographical fiction of an actual member of the Tudor court supported by real people.
Harriet Klausner
Saturday, February 7, 2009
A Mad Desire to Dance-Elie Wiesel
A Mad Desire to Dance
Elie Wiesel
Knopf, Feb 17 2998, $26.95
ISBN: 9780307266507
In the late 1990s in New York, sixty year old Polish Jew Doriel Waldman knows his nightmarish childhood has left him depressed, lonely, and believing he is going insane. He reluctantly turns to psychoanalyst Dr. Therese Goldschmidt for help though he believes the shrink will do nothing to relieve him of his demons. His attitude towards the doctor is belligerent as he rants at her in anger about his youth and his solitary future.
Doriel was born in 1936. He and his father hid from the Nazis during the occupation; his two sisters were less fortunate having been killed by the bastards and he assumes suffered much worse atrocities from these beasts. His mother was part of the Polish underground resistance; ironically, God played quite a trick on the Waldman male survivors when after the war ended she died in an accident. He further explains he feels guilty as a Jew in WW II Europe who cannot even claim being a Holocaust survivor even if he was a preadolescent at the time. Therese begins to connect with her angry recalcitrant patient as he begins to understand the traumas that have left him melancholy for five decades and a slight flicker of hope as he returns to his religion for solace but even there he finds the demon inside him.
This intense look at survivors of traumas years after the events have occurred is an intense superb but extremely difficult tale to read. The audience learns what haunts Doriel (through Therese’s notes) as his memories deleted the good times leaving behind an expanded bad. Fans of Elie Wiesel will appreciate this powerful character driven tale of the long term effects of a trauma on the soul of a survivor.
Harriet Klausner
Elie Wiesel
Knopf, Feb 17 2998, $26.95
ISBN: 9780307266507
In the late 1990s in New York, sixty year old Polish Jew Doriel Waldman knows his nightmarish childhood has left him depressed, lonely, and believing he is going insane. He reluctantly turns to psychoanalyst Dr. Therese Goldschmidt for help though he believes the shrink will do nothing to relieve him of his demons. His attitude towards the doctor is belligerent as he rants at her in anger about his youth and his solitary future.
Doriel was born in 1936. He and his father hid from the Nazis during the occupation; his two sisters were less fortunate having been killed by the bastards and he assumes suffered much worse atrocities from these beasts. His mother was part of the Polish underground resistance; ironically, God played quite a trick on the Waldman male survivors when after the war ended she died in an accident. He further explains he feels guilty as a Jew in WW II Europe who cannot even claim being a Holocaust survivor even if he was a preadolescent at the time. Therese begins to connect with her angry recalcitrant patient as he begins to understand the traumas that have left him melancholy for five decades and a slight flicker of hope as he returns to his religion for solace but even there he finds the demon inside him.
This intense look at survivors of traumas years after the events have occurred is an intense superb but extremely difficult tale to read. The audience learns what haunts Doriel (through Therese’s notes) as his memories deleted the good times leaving behind an expanded bad. Fans of Elie Wiesel will appreciate this powerful character driven tale of the long term effects of a trauma on the soul of a survivor.
Harriet Klausner
Heart and Soul-Maeve Binchy
Heart and Soul
Maeve Binchy
Knopf, Feb 17 2998, $26.95
ISBN: 9780307265791
Cardiologist Dr. Clara Casey knows how far she has fallen from grace with her new position as the head of t St. Brigid’s Hospital. She agreed to a one year stint at the always in financial need clinic while trying to resuscitate her medical career. She does no care about revising her dead marriage as she knows it collapsed due to her cheating spouse’s wandering penis. She also has two adult daughters who are demanding and spoiled and her ex keeps sniffing around her.
Clara plans to do the best she can at St. Brigid’s and ignore her family as much as possible. She finds her staff hardworking and cheerful in spite of lousy hours, crappy pay, and fractious patients. Her Polish assistant Ania is bright and hardworking although Clara knows if she had been in Ireland she could have been one of her former husband’s trophies. Instead she is an indispensable addition to the staff. Nurse Fiona Ryan brings professional care taking to the patients having moved past her personal disaster of NIGHTS OF RAIN AND STARS. Outside the clinic Clara meets friendly people especially at a local restaurant. Clara is having the time of her life and considers extending her stay though her daughters and her ex object; like they have a vote on her life.
The fascination with this fine entry by Maeve Binchy is that the star of the story line Clara is off page more often than not as the spotlight is frequently on the support cast in and out of the hospital; the amazement is how well the plot stays focused even meandering to other countries. The cast is strong as always and their lives interweave in a much more complex convoluted intricacies that make the DNA matrix look like a preschool puzzle. With the return of characters like the nurse from previous novels, fans of Ms. Binchy will have a wonderful time reading her latest multifaceted look at relationships.
Harriet Klausner
Maeve Binchy
Knopf, Feb 17 2998, $26.95
ISBN: 9780307265791
Cardiologist Dr. Clara Casey knows how far she has fallen from grace with her new position as the head of t St. Brigid’s Hospital. She agreed to a one year stint at the always in financial need clinic while trying to resuscitate her medical career. She does no care about revising her dead marriage as she knows it collapsed due to her cheating spouse’s wandering penis. She also has two adult daughters who are demanding and spoiled and her ex keeps sniffing around her.
Clara plans to do the best she can at St. Brigid’s and ignore her family as much as possible. She finds her staff hardworking and cheerful in spite of lousy hours, crappy pay, and fractious patients. Her Polish assistant Ania is bright and hardworking although Clara knows if she had been in Ireland she could have been one of her former husband’s trophies. Instead she is an indispensable addition to the staff. Nurse Fiona Ryan brings professional care taking to the patients having moved past her personal disaster of NIGHTS OF RAIN AND STARS. Outside the clinic Clara meets friendly people especially at a local restaurant. Clara is having the time of her life and considers extending her stay though her daughters and her ex object; like they have a vote on her life.
The fascination with this fine entry by Maeve Binchy is that the star of the story line Clara is off page more often than not as the spotlight is frequently on the support cast in and out of the hospital; the amazement is how well the plot stays focused even meandering to other countries. The cast is strong as always and their lives interweave in a much more complex convoluted intricacies that make the DNA matrix look like a preschool puzzle. With the return of characters like the nurse from previous novels, fans of Ms. Binchy will have a wonderful time reading her latest multifaceted look at relationships.
Harriet Klausner
Saturday, January 31, 2009
The Scent of Sake-Joyce Lebra
The Scent of Sake
Joyce Lebra
Avon, Feb 17 2009, $13.99
ISBN: 9780061662379
In Kobe when her two year old brother Toichi died because she failed to watch him closely, Rie is filled with guilt. A few weeks later, her father Kinzaemon IX informs the grieving Rie that she is the “future of the Omura House”. Her interpretation of his simple statement defies societal beliefs. Instead of marrying the next sake brew master, as a woman entering a brewery sours the products, she decides she must save the House of Ohura. She detests her mother’s adage that a female must always live for the male by “killing the self”.
Her parents arrange her marriage to Johei in order for them to produce the next heir. However, she realizes her husband is an incompetent womanizer who will destroy the House of Ohura if left in charge. Rie vows their product White Tiger will be number one sake in Japan, which means defying the demands of her womanizing spouse to raise his children (with a geisha) and by tradition he take charge of the House of Ohura. Over the years she proves a superior business person and her diverse ideas make the House of Ohura strong; her father gives the official brewery seal to her not Johei.
This late nineteenth century Japanese tale focuses on the venerable sake brewing industry through four generations of a family. Rie is the link between her parents, her children and grandchildren as she holds the interesting story line together. What is fascinatingly is how she changes from warm and caring to cold and dominating towards family members. Only the sake eventually receives her warmth. Genre fans will appreciate this deep historical tale that provides insight into late nineteenth century Japanese culture and tradition through the eyes of someone who defies the norm.
Harriet Klausner
Joyce Lebra
Avon, Feb 17 2009, $13.99
ISBN: 9780061662379
In Kobe when her two year old brother Toichi died because she failed to watch him closely, Rie is filled with guilt. A few weeks later, her father Kinzaemon IX informs the grieving Rie that she is the “future of the Omura House”. Her interpretation of his simple statement defies societal beliefs. Instead of marrying the next sake brew master, as a woman entering a brewery sours the products, she decides she must save the House of Ohura. She detests her mother’s adage that a female must always live for the male by “killing the self”.
Her parents arrange her marriage to Johei in order for them to produce the next heir. However, she realizes her husband is an incompetent womanizer who will destroy the House of Ohura if left in charge. Rie vows their product White Tiger will be number one sake in Japan, which means defying the demands of her womanizing spouse to raise his children (with a geisha) and by tradition he take charge of the House of Ohura. Over the years she proves a superior business person and her diverse ideas make the House of Ohura strong; her father gives the official brewery seal to her not Johei.
This late nineteenth century Japanese tale focuses on the venerable sake brewing industry through four generations of a family. Rie is the link between her parents, her children and grandchildren as she holds the interesting story line together. What is fascinatingly is how she changes from warm and caring to cold and dominating towards family members. Only the sake eventually receives her warmth. Genre fans will appreciate this deep historical tale that provides insight into late nineteenth century Japanese culture and tradition through the eyes of someone who defies the norm.
Harriet Klausner
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