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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

January Reading Wrap-Up

January 30, 2017

january

  Well, all righty, the first month of 2017 is wrapping up. I’ve already noted that my reading is still in an odd place, but I’m working very hard to get my head and heart back into the game—what’s happening now is going to keep on happening. One very positive thing I did in January was participate in the Women’s March in Seattle. The city had planned for 40,000 people ... Read More...

18 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature, Reading Tagged: book clubs, historical fiction, literary, mini-reviews, Russia, social issues, WWII

The Chosen Maiden

January 27, 2017

chosen maiden

  If you’ve ever loved dance, specifically ballet, then you know the name Nijinsky. What you are less likely to know is that the world-famous Vaslav Nijinsky had a sister who was also a dancer. Thankfully, author Eva Stachniak rectifies that in her new novel, The Chosen Maiden, which is the story of Bronia Nijinsky. The novel begins when she is three and follows her life ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: ballet, Doubleday, historical fiction, Russia

The Second Mrs Hockaday

January 9, 2017

second mrs hockaday

  Placidia is seventeen when she meets Major Hockaday and when he proposes that very same day she says yes. That he is a widower and has a small son makes little difference to her. It’s 1865 and given the war there’s no point in waiting for a proper courtship and wedding. In fact, the very next day they set off for the Hockaday’s home. From there, Susan Rivers’s novel The ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Algonquin Books, Civil War, debut, historical fiction, marriage, mystery, Southern life

Miss Jane: A Novel

December 12, 2016

miss jane

Jane Chisolm is a surprise baby, born to her parents long after her two older brothers have gone off to college and her sister is ten-years-old. But that’s not the only thing about Jane that’s unexpected. Her body didn’t fully develop in the womb and she is born with genital defects that rule out a normal woman’s life in rural Mississippi. It’s 1915, a time when no medical ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: family, historical fiction, literary, Southern life, W.W. Norton

The Ornatrix: A Novel

December 5, 2016

ornatrix

  Those of us in the contemporary world often believe that our problems are new to civilization and have never been experienced before, but Kate Howard shatters that belief in her debut novel The Ornatrix. She takes three women and seals their fate to their faces in this gothic tale of beauty set in Italy in the 16th century.  Flavia is a country girl whose face is half ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: debut, historical fiction, Italy, The Overlook Press, W.W. Norton

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