You & Me-Padgett Powell

You & Me


Padgett Powell

Ecco, Jul 31 2012, $23.99

ISBN: 9780062126139



Somewhere spiritually near Bakersfield and geographically near Jacksonville, the dudes sit on a porch in a Mayberry of the mind near a liquor bunker in a rundown area debating anything and everything. They argue over who had the worst childhood, the impact of suicide, and visiting the creek to challenge Despair in a staring contest to see who first looks away. However, moseying to the creek or the liquor bunker requires action, but that word is a noun not a verb. No one intercedes as the puissant porch philosophers ponder the nano gnats like the extinction of barber poles and critical giants of the universe like Mansfield’s smothering cup size.



Filled with word play and no action, You & Me is an intriguing metaphysical tale that raises difficult questions (with open answers) to key life issues that range from the true meaning of "Be neat, be brave, be Buster-Brown Bustamante" to “are we free? and “are we perfect?” Not for everyone, readers who appreciate something radically different and passive will enjoy Padgett Powell’s dialogue of the absurd as the two dudes apply The Interrogative Mood to be or not to be.



Harriet Klausner

Living In Harmony-Mary Ellis

Living In Harmony


Mary Ellis

Harvest House, Aug 1 2012, $13.99

ISBN: 9780736938662



In Mount Joy, Pennsylvania John Detweiler takes his fiancée Amy King home to her family farm when they see the inferno. Her Maem and Daed die in the blaze while her three schwestern (Nora, Rachel and Beth) were not home at the time of the fire. John persuades Amy to marry him soon and for them to take Nora with them to Harmony, Maine near where his brothers live and land is cheaper.



John's minister brother Thomas and Sally welcome the two sisters warmly. Thomas also suggests the couple delay their marriage vows as Amy still grieves. While adjusting to Living in Harmony, Amy and Nora learn they have a shunned aunt Prudence nearby who they want to meet. However, the local Amish community is much more rigid on rule enforcement than back in Pennsylvania, which means they must never contact their banished relative. John agrees with the elders.



The first New Beginnings Amish family drama is a strong character driven tale in which the siblings’ faith in God has been challenged by a bad thing happening to good people. They are further tested when they insist on meeting Aunt Prudence. Readers will appreciate this engaging Amish romance as Harmony proves a misnomer for John and Amy while looking forward to the stories of her sisters especially Nora whose path has been set in this engaging storyline.



Harriet Klausner

The Face of Heaven-Murray Pura

The Face of Heaven


Murray Pura

Harvest House, Aug 1 2012, $13.99

ISBN 9780736949491



In 1861 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Lyndel Keim finds two slaves in her barn. One of them Moses Gunnison says he is a man not a slave while his friend Charlie Preston is injured. If caught they will be returned to the Virginia plantation where Charlie will be hanged for his third escape attempt. Moses is valuable as he can read. Sheriff Jackson arrives to take the property back to its rightful owner to the chagrin of Lyndel and others. She, her brother Levi, her beau Nathaniel King, his brother Corinth and Joshua Yoder argue against the Amish “Thou shalt not kill,” pacifism.



The community including three respective families shuns the five rebels. Though non-violence is imprinted in each of their make-ups, they feel a need to serve God by fighting against slavery. Lyndel Keim trains under Clara Barton as a field nurse following her Nathaniel and the Iron Brigade into combat. The three other males also join Union combat units.



The second Snapshots in History (see the WWI thriller The Wings of Morning) is a terrific Civil War epic that follows the emotional trials of mostly Lyndel and Nathaniel at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Antietam and Gettysburg. Both sees the horror of war; amplified by their pacifist nurturing. Character driven, fans will enjoy this Amish war tale as the lead couple knows they can never go home, but until he is severely injured at Gettysburg, they felt the cost was worth doing what they believe the Lord would want of them: to free the enslaved peoples.



Harriet Klausner

Homesick-Roshi Fernando

Homesick


Roshi Fernando

Knopf, Jul 17 2012, $24.95

ISBN: 9780307958105



In London on December 31 1982, Victor and Nandini host a New Year’s Eve party attended by fellow Sri Lankan immigrants and their offspring as all share in common a feeling of no belonging and a desire to belong in “Homecoming.” Their daughter Preethi starts nursery school while waiting for Archee her Soup Dragon grandma in the “Clangers.” Her brothers especially Gehan blames Preethi for them not going back to Sri Lanka on a visit as they save money to send her to a private school in “Love Me Tender.” Years later seventeen year old Preethi is in love with Ollie like all the girls her age in "Sophocles' Chorus. As her marriage teeters Preethi's husband is downsized in "Meta General." Finally Preethi worries about her Mum “At the Funeral” of her aunt. The stories are entertaining and enlightening as the audience meets Preethi the prime star and others in her circle like her nasty cousin Kumar in “The Fluorescent Jacket.” Fans will appreciate this strong series of interrelated vignettes that provide a deep look at the Sri Lankan culture especially in England though at times in the Homeland too; yet also serves universally for any displaced (volunteer or forced) person who becomes a Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert A. Heinlein) after leaving a Homeland.



Harriet Klausner

A Sweethaven Homecoming-Courtney Walsh

A Sweethaven Homecoming


Courtney Walsh

Guideposts, Aug 1 2012, $13.99

www.Guideposts.org

ISBN: 9780824931711



The Sweethaven Circle (Suzanne, Jane, Lila and Meghan) were best friends as children who shared a scrapbook/journal starting in eighth grade for several years back in the late 1980s. Recently Suzanne died while her daughter Campbell learned from the 1987 book what her mom hid from her BFFs when she broke the circle. Campbell contacted the three living members (see A Sweethaven Summer) with the news of Suzanne’s death.



Mourning for the loss of their childhood friend Jane, Lila and Meghan return to Sweethaven, Michigan to complete their personal scrapbooks and move on with their grief. Each has issues to deal with too. Meghan the singer has cleaned up her act and wants her children back with her. Jane tries to forgive Meghan for causing her son’s death. Lila has left her husband. As each struggles with their problems, Meghan’s twins are kidnapped.



This is a warm sweet sequel that focuses on friendship lost and friendship regained if each moves passed their hurts and fears. As with the first tale, scrapbooking remains a key element while redemption is the prime theme even for a buried Suzanne. Although it behooves fans to have read A Sweethaven Summer as this drama builds directly from it, fans will enjoy this engaging contemporary tale.



Harriet Klausner

Little Night-Luanne Rice

Little Night

Luanne Rice

Pamela Dorman, Jun 5, 2012, $26.95

ISBN: 9780670023561



Sisters Clare and Anne Burke were close growing up in Chelsea. When Anne married Danish glass blower Frederik Rasmussen, he isolated her from her family and friends. In 1993 needing to see her beloved sibling, Clare visited Anne at her remote country home where her sibling, her niece Grit and her nephew Gilly welcome her. Seeing bruises on her sister, Clare convinced the trio to leave with her, but Frederik interceded. When he chokes Anne, Clare hammers him with a burnt log. The police arrested Clare who served two years in prison for assault due to Anne’s testimony defending her spouse.



Almost two decades later in Manhattan, Clare, who has become an urban ornithologist, remains hurt by her sister’s betrayal though she prays somehow they reconcile but has no hope as Frederik forbids Anne contact with her family. Twentyish Grit arrives at Clare’s residence seeking to belong, feelings she has not received from her parents who live in Copenhagen. She tells her aunt her father physically and emotionally abuses her mom and her, and her brother died in a bog. As they bond, both hope Anne will one day join them.



This is an exciting family drama that focuses on the extended impact on other loved ones by a codependent relationship between an abuser and his victim. The key cast is solid including the manipulative violent Frederik though Grit’s resiliency and Paul’s dedication feel wrong. The depiction of New York as an urban rainforest with a vast variety of aviary is brilliantly captured as two female relatives bond while hoping to reconcile with the woman who is the one degree that connects them.



Harriet Klausner

One Mountain Away-Emilie Richards

One Mountain Away


Emilie Richards

Mira, Jul 31 2012, $14.95

ISBN: 9780778313557



In Asheville, successful realtor Charlotte Hale assesses her life and finds it wanting. She has made a fortune, but at the cost of her daughter who she never sees or hears from. Her friends do not care one iota about her except for what she can do for them. Even her lovely home seems cold without loving family to mess it up.



Unhappy, Charlotte feels remorse over the death of animal protector Minnie as she knows she was part of the cause of the woman’s death. At the coffee shop, waitress Harmony Stoddard serves Charlotte who watches a nasty customer treat the young woman with contempt. Recalling her time severing tables years ago, Charlotte intercedes when an unfortunate accident occurs. On an impulse, she takes Harmony home with her. As she begins to reach out to help people without fanfare or from a monetary distance, Charlotte dreams of reconciling with her daughter Taylor who she drove away when her then sixteen years old child told her she was pregnant and keeping the baby. Charlotte needs to hold her granddaughter Maddie whom she never met though she has seen her from a distance when the child is with her grandfather Ethan.



This Goddesses Anonymous family drama is an engaging contemporary due to the strong cast especially Charlotte who uses a journal to help her cope with her depression. Character driven by Charlotte who knows time is running out. However she fears rejection so she doesn’t act on her feelings. With little action but with strong characters and Good Advice (re the movie scene of a mom and her estranged dying son) she finally learns that it is never too late to reach out to loved ones. Fans will appreciate this warm second chance at family.



Harriet Klausner