Little Bee, by Chris Cleave

My friend was flabbergasted when she learned I hadn’t read Little Bee and she sternly ordered me to go home and read it NOW.

Susan you were so right. Why did I wait so long to read this?

This novel takes place in the summer of 2007, when Little Bee, a sixteen-year-old Nigerian immigrant escapes a UK detention center with little more than her wits, the clothes on her back, and a few fellow refugees. Her plan is to locate and live with Andrew and Sarah O’Rourke, former acquaintances from Ibeno Beach, where they shared a horrifying encounter two years prior.  Simultaneously, Bee makes plans for numerous suicide options for “when the men come”.  Bee and Sarah narrate, sharing their stories and their lies.  The horrific beach incident is eventually revealed but not without some major surprises.

The storyline gallops forward, but try not to read this book too quickly as the writing is exquisite.  The biggest surprise in the novel is the humor – an endearing humor that warms up the stark realities facing Bee, who is an old soul, wise beyond her years.  “Imagine a young woman cut out from a smiling ‘Save the Children’ magazine advertisement, who dresses herself in threadbare pink clothes from the recycling bin in your local supermarket car park and speaks English like the leader column of The Times.” 

This is a story of survival, interspersed with cruel reality, surprising plot twists, unforeseen revelations, humor and tragedy.  I loved it.

A great quote from Sarah about her husband (spoiler warning here):   “There was no quick grief for Andrew because he had been so slowly lost.  First from my heart, then from my mind and only and finally from my life.”

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity was a totally unknown book for me –a gift from a friend.  I hadn’t heard of it and didn’t know anything about this novel.   So, one evening as I curled up with my new book, I  realized I seldom read books anymore without preconceived opinions — having read reviews or based on recommendations of my respected reader friends and family.   I remembered the magic of opening an totally unknown novel and I found myself anticipating this read with a tingle of excitement.

Note to self:  do this more often.

Book Description:   Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it’s barely begun.

When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

The novel is targeted to the YA audience, but has a maturity that makes it suitable  for any age.    The structure is unique and fresh.  Verity is forced to write out her confession, give up military codes to get her clothes back one by one.  And does she write!  Verity writes and writes her confession in a sometimes meandering miss-mash of present, past, her friendship with fellow pilot  Maddie, details about the planes,  and most heartbreaking the suffering she and her fellow captives experience.

The confession is for Captain Von Linden (her captor) and it soon becomes clear that he is as interested in her story as gaining spy knowledge.  Verity knows this and she plays games with him during the writing.   It’s a narrative to be read slowly and without distraction as historical details abound, there are humorous passages  and many clues are given.

The characters cross over mid-novel, the narrative changes and the story takes a major twist.  No spoilers here, just trust that things get really exciting and scarey.

I was drawn into these strong women (called girls throughout the book) and their equally strong friendship.  I was also fascinated by the historical details especially about England’s WWII  women transport pilots.

I think readers of any age will be drawn into this war time novel of endurance, secrets, friendship, and most importantly strong women role models.

The Good House by Ann Leary

I heard Ann Leary interviewed on NPR and immediately walked over to my local bookstore to purchase The Good House. 

Book description:  Hildy Good is a townie. A lifelong resident of an historic community on the rocky coast of Boston’s North Shore, she knows pretty much everything about everyone. Hildy is a descendant of one of the witches hung in nearby Salem, and is believed, by some, to have inherited psychic gifts. Not true, of course; she’s just good at reading people. Hildy is good at lots of things.  A successful real-estate broker, mother and grandmother, her days are full. But her nights have become lonely ever since her daughters, convinced their mother was drinking too much, staged an intervention and sent her off to rehab.  Now she’s in recovery—more or less.

Hildy Good is a beautifully flawed character – outspoken, rude, selfish, manipulative and generally unlovable – yet she faces each day with a fragile bbravado that touched my heart.

The storyline is a revolving tale of idiosyncratic characters,  small town gossip, and an intriguing subplots – even including the Salem witch trials.  Yet Ann Leary never allows the novel to get bogged down, she keeps every character clearly drawn, the dialogue crisp and each storyline adding to the momentum  of the book.  There’s a mix of pathos, humor, charm, and human insight.

While Hildy tries and convince herself, her neighbors, her daughters and even the reader that she doesn’t have a drinking problem, the author allows the reader to know better – the mark of a good writer is the ability to pull of an unreliable narrator without talking (writing) down to the reader.

A read this book in two days, and while the ending felt contrived, I delighted in the setting, every character interaction and plot twist.

I rarely save a  novel for re-reading (I have my library of classics for that) but this went back on my shelf to savor again.

Alys Always by Harriet Lane

I usually dislike blurbs that compare books to other books, as if they can ride the tail wind of another bestseller, but this book’s blurb is spot on – “Howard’s End meets All About Eve”.

On a bitter winter’s night,  Frances Thorpe comes upon the aftermath of a car crash and, while comforting the dying driver, Alys Kyte, hears her final words. The wife of a celebrated novelist, Alys moved in rarefied circles, and when Frances agrees to meet the bereaved family, she glimpses a world entirely foreign to her: cultured, wealthy, and privileged. While slowly forging a friendship with Alys’s carelessly charismatic daughter, Frances finds her own life takes a dramatic turn, propelling her from an anonymous existence as an assistant editor for the books section of a newspaper to the dizzying heights of literary society.

That’s the storyline, and one would think oh yes, another run-of -the-mill psychological, stalker thriller – but no, this book is much more.  Frances starts to infiltrate Alys’ life, romancing her husband, charming the children, even wearing the same clothes…the book gets more and more compelling as you plunge with Frances into her new and manipulative world.  At first she appears harmless, but it soon becomes clear that Frances is a schemer and a creepy one at that.  Now that she’s discovered a wholly more attractive life, she will do anything to keep it hers.

The humor is wry, the characters are flawed, the atmosphere unsettling and I spent two late nights with the “just one more chapter” syndrome.   A debut novel, Alys Always is beautifully, yet sparsely written and what the author leaves out tells as much as her writing.    This is a tautly-written, mesmerizing read.  And best of all, there is nothing pat about the ending — it requires some thought from the reader.

Some of my favorite writing from this very talented author.

“A wall of coats, slumped there like so many turned backs”

“Her extraordinary talent for happiness was not always best served by the world around her”

“My mother has never been an engaged listener.  Other peoples speech is useful mainly as a prompt”

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Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter

I admit, I bought this book because of its beautiful cover, which is brilliant — designed to look like a 1930’s novel complete with water stains and rubbed edges on the cover.

I was delighted to fall into this novel and not come up for air until I turned the last page.  Spans from 1962 Italy to present-day Hollywood and the characters and their stories intertwine and evolve so that I was transfixed.  The novel explores the impact of greed, lust, love and unfulfilled dreams on people and their lives.   Mr. Walter is a master at storytelling, which he tells through complex and enchanting characters.

A young, beautiful actress named Dee Moray arrives to stay at The Hotel Adequate View and everything changes for the inhabitants of the small coastal Italian village.   The novel moves back and forth in time via alternating chapters introducing a cast of quirky and amusing characters – including Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton all connected and impacted by the beautiful actress. 

The stories span continents and cultures – the simple lives in the Italian village and the intricacies of Hollywood business

One of the most bittersweet, yet joyful books I have ever read   This book is a must-read!!

Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn

There’s been a great deal of buzz regarding this novel, so I approached  it with a little chip on my shoulder.  I read Gone Girl with every intention of not falling for the “best seller” hype. But, all I can say is WOW.   Ms. Flynn is indeed masterful.  I finished the book saying “how did she do that?”.

Within a few pages, I was engrossed in the twists and turns of the plot – even gasping aloud at some points and eagerly turning the pages to find out what is happening here?  Nick and Amy are totally unlikeable – their marriage is disturbing and dysfunctional.  The author surrounds them with money issues, in-law problems and mutual nastiness —   and yet I found myself holding my breath in terror for them – thinking, “how did things get this bad?”

The second half of the book turned me on my ear –  no spoilers here, just be warned huge surprises await.  And, if you’re like me, you’ll binge-read this novel to its sick and evil conclusion.

Warning, the novel contains foul language and some sordid sex  – accenting the twisted and  creepy atmosphere.  Now I want to read her other books;  Sharp Objects and Dark Places.  And I want to re-read Gone Girl – just to relish in Ms. Flynn’s  crafting and structure of this novel.

Review copy provided by Crown Publishing.