Daniel, a young man in his early thirties, manages a tea plantation in Ceylon in the early 1920s. He moved there from England with his wife, Rosie, and daughter Esther, after his friend, another RAF pilot in the Great War, got him the job. It is a new start for them, not just because of the war, but because their marriage is deeply troubled. Daniel hopes that a complete change ... Read More...
Quiet Summer Reading: The Verdun Affair
Last week I started this little feature for books that don't quite fit in the normal summer reading mold. This week's pick is still a quiet character study, but about a devastating time in history. I have read many, many novels about World War II, but very few about World War I. That, plus a level of ignorance that feels embarrassing means I didn’t know that in ... Read More...
Another Side of Paradise
In case you’ve forgotten the details of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life, here’s a quick recap: after his early, stunning literary successes he dumped his wife Zelda in an institution and headed to Hollywood to try and earn a living as a screenwriter, because he was deep in debt and his literary gifts have disappeared in an ocean of booze. Unfortunately, that job entails being sober ... Read More...
Love and Ruin by Paula McLain
It wasn’t bravery when you did what you had to do. Paula McLain’s novel, Circling the Sun, was one of my favorites of 2015, largely because she portrayed Beryl Markham so well as a woman who wasn’t content to follow the norms of her times—get married, have children—but who understood that the only way to follow her own path meant the norms would never be an option. ... Read More...
April Reading Recap
Don't faint, but I'm not going to complain about my reading this month! Nope. Suffice it to say, April was a month of more highs than lows. It was also one for the record books. I read more non-fiction this month than I have all year. Thanks to super recommendations from bloggers I trust and the Seattle Public Library’s Peak Picks program (every branch has limited copies of ... Read More...
Where’s an Editor When You Need One?: Mini-Reviews
We’ve all read novels by authors who have a way with words, know how to shape a sentence, generate tension…all the good stuff, right? But what about when that good stuff keeps going and going until what felt like a perfect balance turns into words and plot piling on unchecked? I’m left either annoyed or crushed under the weight of too much verbiage. It’s at that point ... Read More...
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