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In the Name of the Family

March 15, 2017

name

  Apparently, all roads do lead to Rome—at least in my March historical fiction reading so far! On Monday, I reviewed The Confessions of Young Nero and today I’m jumping forward 1,400 years with Sarah Dunant’s new novel about the Borgia family. In the Name of the Family opens with the scandal soaked Borgias firmly ensconced in power. After much maneuvering and exorbitant ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: family saga, historical fiction, Italy, political intrigue

The Shore: A Novel by Sara Taylor

February 15, 2017

shore

  The Shore by Sara Taylor may qualify as one of the most unusually formatted books I’ve read in a long time. Take a family tree composed of over fifty members, stretching from the 1850s to 2143. Close your eyes, throw a dart at the tree and wherever it land--that’s a chapter.  So, even though Medora Slater is the matriarch who gets this clan started, she doesn’t make an ... Read More...

12 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: family saga, historical fiction, Hogarth, literary, social issues, Southern life

Wealthy Women: Mini-Reviews

May 6, 2016

wealthy women

  It’s no secret I like sorbet reading—the kind of fiction that is light on the brain and cleanses my mental palate for the heavier novels that linger in my heart and mind after I’ve finished them. This could also be called chick-lit, but while I think that’s a fun term I know there are plenty of women that think it's offensive. Political correctness aside, what I’m ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1920s, 1950s, chick lit, family saga, fashion, London, Manhattan, mini-reviews

As Close to Us as Breathing

March 23, 2016

as close to us

  Sisters Ada, Vivie, and Bec inherited their family’s cabin on the Connecticut shore and now they convene every summer, staying with their children during the week while their husbands drive up on Friday in time for Shabbos. In As Close to Us as Breathing author Elizabeth Poliner freezes, with the clarity of amber, a very specific time and place and within that the lives ... Read More...

11 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1940s, book clubs, family saga, historical fiction, Lee Boudreaux Books, literary, New England

The Marriage of Opposites

September 16, 2015

marriage of opposites

Beginning in 1795 on the island of St. Thomas The Marriage of Opposites is Alice Hoffman’s newest novel. It is the story of Rachel, a strong willed and intelligent woman, bound by the confines of the times but with dreams of traveling far away to Paris and living a life on her own terms. As the daughter of a wealthy Jewish businessman she is brought up as young ladies were but ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 19th century, book clubs, family saga, historical fiction, Paris

A Reunion of Ghosts

April 1, 2015

  The Alter sisters, Lady, Vee, and Delph, have decided that, given their family history and their current life situations, it’s time to step off the planet. They’ve picked a date six months away (New Year’s Eve 1999) leaving them time to write a memoir detailing their family tree and the accomplishments of their forebearers. The result is A Reunion of Ghosts, a ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary fiction, family saga, Harper, historical fiction, Manhattan, World War I

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