The Sureme Macaroni Company Blog Tour

The Supreme Macaroni Company by Adriana Trigiani
Publication date: November 26, 2013 by Harper Collins
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours for an honest review
Synopsis:
For over a hundred years, the Angelini Shoe Company in Greenwich Village has relied on the leather produced by Vechiarelli & Son in Tuscany. This historic business partnership provides the twist of fate for Valentine Roncalli, the school teacher turned shoemaker, to fall in love with Gianluca Vechiarelli, a tanner with a complex past . . . and a secret.
A piece of surprising news is revealed at The Feast of the Seven Fishes when Valentine and Gianluca join her extended family on a fateful Christmas Eve. Now faced with life altering choices, Valentine remembers the wise words that inspired her in the early days of her beloved Angelini Shoe Company: “A person who can build a pair of shoes can do just about anything.” The proud, passionate Valentine is going to fight for everything she wants and savor all she deserves—the bitter and the sweetness of life itself.

The Supreme Macaroni Company is Trigiani at her comedic and dramatic best, the inside story of a family business, and the shoemaker who carries on the tradition while juggling a new marriage and family. The pull between old world Italian ways and American ambition tear at Valentine, as a secret is revealed that changes the course of her life. The story takes the reader from the cobblestone streets of Greenwich Village, to lush New Orleans, and home to Italy, in Tuscany and on the Amalfi coast, with a surprise twist that takes the action to America’s rust belt, Youngstown, Ohio.


My Take:

The Supreme Macaroni Company is the first book that I have read by Adriana Trigiani, so I really didn't know what to expect. I also wasn't aware that there were other books before this one about Valentine. I went into this expecting nothing and not knowing what I'd find.

I absolutely loved Valentine's family. I actually laughed out loud at some of the descriptions and their conversations/arguments. There are lots of laughter and arguments in this family. I really enjoyed reading about their interactions and the way they stick together through all the various chaotic happenings.

I kind of wish I had read the previous book because I didn't feel that I truly understood the dynamics of the relationship between Valentine and Gianluca as well as I would have liked. Fortunately, there is enough back story filled in as the reader progresses through the book. I did find Valentine's expectations about marriage to be a bit naive. But, I also was right there with her in not wanting to give up her career or independence.

I enjoyed the progression the company took and all the work and sacrifice that was necessary. I liked that everything didn't just fall into place - well, it did, but with much work and some secret effort. This was a moving and interesting part of the story. A bit of irony, a bit of heartbreak, a lot of love.

I definitely think that readers of Adriana Trigiani will enjoy The Supreme Macaroni Company, but I would suggest that readers new to her read at least one of the previous books just to get a good background. But, once again, I really enjoyed this book even though I hadn't read any of the other books. I think the thing I loved the most was the family relationship. It was just so fun and entertaining. I love a good family story. I am adding the previous books to my TBR list so I can read more about Valentine and her hilarious family.

About Adriana Trigiani

Adriana Trigiani is an award-winning playwright, television writer, and documentary filmmaker. Her books include the New York Times best seller The Shoemaker’s Wife; the Big Stone Gap series; Very Valentine; Brava, Valentine; Lucia, Lucia; and the best-selling memoir Don’t Sing at the Table, as well as the young adult novels Viola in Reel Life and Viola in the Spotlight. She has written the screenplay for Big Stone Gap. which she will also direct. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Find out more about Adriana at her website, connect with her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

Adriana’s Tour Stops

Monday, November 11th: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books
Tuesday, November 12th: Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile
Wednesday, November 13th: Becca’s Byline
Thursday, November 14th: Kritters Ramblings
Friday, November 15th: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers
Monday, November 18th: Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Tuesday, November 19th: Peeking Between the Pages
Thursday, November 21st: Always With a Book
Monday, November 25th: Broken Teepee
Tuesday, November 26th: bookchickdi
Wednesday, November 27th: Bibliophilia, Please
Friday, November 29th: Lesa’s Book Critiques
Monday, December 2nd: Book Addict Katie
Tuesday, December 3rd: Alison’s Book Marks
Wednesday, December 4th: Ageless Pages Reviews
Thursday, December 5th: Seaside Book Corner
Friday, December 6th: Lavish Bookshelf
Monday, December 9th: Joyfully Retired
Tuesday, December 10th: A Book Geek
Wednesday, December 11th: Love at First Book
Thursday, December 12th: A Chick Who Reads
Friday, December 13th: Books and Movies
Tuesday, December 17th: Lisa’s Yarns
Wednesday, December 18th: Col Reads
Thursday, December 19th: Good Girl Gone Redneck
Friday, December 20th: Drey’s Library
Monday, December 30th: red headed book child
Wednesday, January 1st: The Lost Entwife
Wednesday, January 1st: Tiffany’s Bookshelf
Tuesday, January 2nd: Book-alicious Mama
Monday, January 6th: Reflections of a Bookaholic
Tuesday, January 7th: A Bookish Way of Life
Wednesday, January 8th: Time 2 Read
Wednesday, January 8th: Stephany Writes
Thursday, January 9th: Walking With Nora

TBD: Booktalk & More

Gone Girl

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
purchased from The Little Read Book
Description from Goodreads:
Marriage can be a real killer.

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.

My Take:

Gone Girl was one of those book that I couldn't put down until I finished reading it. It is also almost impossible to describe or talk about without giving away major spoilers.

So, how can I discuss the book and not give away too much? I didn't particularly like either of the main characters, yet I couldn't stop reading because I had to find out what happened. The book is narrated by two different characters and  this gives a big shift in the way the reader reacts to the story. I liked how the voice changes and I appreciated the big reaction I had as a reader about half way through the book. Nicely done.

There is so much to talk about once you have read this book; so, go out and read it and then find a friend who has read it too and talk, debate, argue about your reactions to it and about the characters. This is a fun one to discuss.

The Blood Gospel

The Blood Gospel by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell
review copy provided by William Morrow
Description from Goodreads:
An earthquake in Masada, Israel, kills hundreds and reveals a tomb buried in the heart of the mountain. A trio of investigators—Sergeant Jordan Stone, a military forensic expert; Father Rhun Korza, a Vatican priest; and Dr. Erin Granger, a brilliant but disillusioned archaeologist—are sent to explore the macabre discovery, a subterranean temple holding the crucified body of a mummified girl.

But a brutal attack at the site sets the three on the run, thrusting them into a race to recover what was once preserved in the tomb’s sarcophagus: a book rumored to have been written by Christ’s own hand, a tome that is said to hold the secrets to His divinity. But the enemy who hounds them is like no other, a force of ancient evil directed by a leader of impossible ambitions and incalculable cunning.

From crumbling tombs to splendorous churches, Erin and her two companions must confront a past that traces back thousands of years, to a time when ungodly beasts hunted the dark spaces of the world, to a moment in history when Christ made a miraculous offer, a pact of salvation for those who were damned for eternity.

Here is a novel that is explosive in its revelation of a secret history. Why do Catholic priests wear pectoral crosses? Why are they sworn to celibacy? Why do the monks hide their countenances under hoods? And why does Catholicism insist that the consecration of wine during Mass results in its transformation to Christ’s own blood? The answers to all go back to a secret sect within the Vatican, one whispered as rumor but whose very existence was painted for all to see by Rembrandt himself, a shadowy order known simply as the Sanguines.

In the end, be warned: some books should never be found, never opened—until now.

My Take:
When I saw there was a new book by James Rollins, I was anxious to read it because the last book I read by Rollins was just such a page turner and I really wanted another fast, exciting read. When I first read the prologue, for some reason, it struck me as something completely different from what I was expecting and I put it down for a few weeks. When I picked it up again, it was just what I was looking for and I read the book from cover to cover in a day.  I'm not sure why the prologue hit me wrong the first time, but I am so glad I picked it up again.

Rollins has taken an age-old idea of the vampire and taken it to new and daring places - or actually, it feels like he has put it back where it belongs. I really liked the new terminology that Rollins applies to the concept of vampire and how he treats them in a historical context.

I have to hand it to Rollins and Cantrell - I don't know of very many authors who would tackle vampires and ancient history and Biblical history all in one book. I absolutely loved how it was handled. I thought the concepts worked well and I liked the way so many of the explanations for why priests wore a hooded cassock and silver crosses to taking a vow of celibacy (or chastity), for example, were brought into the story.

The prophecy of the Knight of Christ, Woman of Learning and Warrior of Man is interesting and brings in three great characters: Rhun Korza the Sanguinist, Dr. Erin Granger, archaeologist, and Sargent Jordan Stone.  There is tension between the three main protagonists, but they compliment each other and work well as a team - most of the time. I like this trio and very much look forward to reading more about them in the next book in the series.

This was such a action-packed book -- and it should be, considering the topic. There is a lot of history as well, which makes the story even more interesting. I loved the way it goes from Biblical times all the way to World War II and current time and then several places in between while revealing the various aspects of the Blood Gospel itself and Rhun's life history. So exciting and fascinating.

I don't want to give anything away, but oh! I loved how things get um. . . twisty and tangly at the end. Well played. I am anxiously waiting for the next installment in The Sanguines Series.

Things Remembered

Things Remembered by Georgia Bockoven
review copy provided by William Morrow
Description from Goodreads:
 To face the future, Returning to her childhood home in the golden hills of Northern California means regret and pain for Karla Esterbrook. Yet she can't refuse when her ailing grandmother, Anna, asks her to help settle her affairs. After all, Anna raised Karla and her younger sisters after their parents' death twenty years before. But from the beginning a powerful clash of wills separated Karla and her grandmother, leaving them both bitter and angry.

A woman must let go of the past

Little does Karla know that a very determined Anna will do everything in her power to bridge the chasm between them--including helping a charismatic veterinarian out to win her granddaughter for himself. But can the past he healed? For Karla, opening her heart could lead to more hurt...or to love and reconciliation--and a passion of which she'd only dreamed.

In the tradition of Barbara Delinksy comes this poignant, moving story of the bonds of family, the strength pf love, and the power of forgiveness.

My Take:

I enjoyed reading Things Remembered by Georgia Bockoven. It is a nice story about family and pain and forgiveness.  Karla is still working through many of her painful memories from childhood. She only half remembers some things and some of the things she remembers are memories of a child who had only a tiny part of the pertinent information. Many of her impressions of her family are from those vague memories of childhood understood with a child's capacity and often missing vital bits of information.  Instead of asking about certain events, Karla goes with her childhood memories and hurts and steels herself against further pain by closing herself off from her grandmother. 

This story is about family and all the ways we can perpetuate discord without even realizing it. I found it interesting how the characters seem to work against each other without seeming to notice what they are doing. I found many of the dynamics within the family - between the sisters especially -to be pretty true to life.  It seems like the family dynamic of your growing up years carries over into adulthood, despite best efforts to get past it. Once the sisters seem to all get on the same page about moving beyond certain mindsets and behaviors, things begin to work out better. I'm not sure I quite buy how quickly the youngest sister turned around, but I thought the book was a nice, heart-warming story that would be a great read around the holidays.

The Romanov Cross

The Romanov Cross by Robert Masello
digital arc provided by Random House via NetGalley
Description from NetGalley:

Nearly one hundred years ago, a desperate young woman crawled ashore on a desolate arctic island, carrying a terrible secret and a mysterious, emerald-encrusted cross. A century later, acts of man, nature, and history converge on that same forbidding shore with a power sufficient to shatter civilization as we know it.

Army epidemiologist Frank Slater is facing a court-martial, but after his punishment is mysteriously lifted, Slater is offered a job no one else wants—to travel to a small island off the coast of Alaska and investigate a potentially lethal phenomenon: The permafrost has begun to melt, exposing bodies from a colony that was wiped out by the dreaded Spanish flu of 1918. Frank must determine if the thawed remains still carry the deadly virus in their frozen flesh and, if so, ensure that it doesn’t come back to life.

Frank and his handpicked team arrive by helicopter, loaded down with high-tech tools, prepared to exhume history. The colony, it transpires, was once settled by a sect devoted to the mad Russian monk Rasputin, but there is even more hiding in the past than Frank’s team is aware of. Any hope of success hinges on their willingness to accept the fact that even their cutting-edge science has its limits—and that the ancient wisdom of the Inuit people who once inhabited this eerie land is as essential as any serum. By the time Frank discovers that his mission has been compromised—crashed by a gang of reckless treasure hunters—he will be in a brutal race against time. With a young, strong-willed Inuit woman by his side, Frank must put a deadly genie back in the bottle before all of humanity pays the price.

The Romanov Cross is at once an alternate take on one of history’s most profound mysteries, a love story as unlikely as it is inevitable, and a thriller of heart-stopping, supernatural suspense. With his signature blend of fascinating history and fantastic imagination, critically acclaimed author Robert Masello has once again crafted a terrifying story of past events coming back to haunt the present day . . . and of dark deeds aching to be unearthed.

Robert Masello is an award-winning journalist, a television writer, and the author of many other books, most recently the supernatural thrillers Vigil (which appeared on the USA Today bestseller list) and Bestiary. His articles and essays have appeared often in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, People, and Parade,and his nonfiction book, Robert’s Rules of Writing, has become a staple in many college classrooms. His produced television credits include such popular shows as Charmed, Sliders, and Early Edition. A longstanding member of the Writers Guild of America, he lives in Santa Monica, California.

My Take:

Epidemiologist Frank Slater gets himself in trouble with his military superiors because he makes an ethical decision that goes against orders. Amazingly, the court-martial awaiting him disappears and he has a chance to redeem himself when a different kind of crisis arises that needs his expertise.  There is an isolated island in Alaska where the permafrost is melting and exposing the graveyard of a small colony of Russians that had died there in the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. Slater must secure the site and test to see if the virus is still viable before anyone is exposed. 

Unfortunately for Slater, Port Orlov is a very small town and news travels fast. Before he has even had a chance to set up his camp on the island and start work, there is already a rogue element there ready to cause trouble. The three locals who are intent on finding treasure in the graveyard have no idea what they are getting into. Their actions would almost be a comedy of errors if it weren't so dangerous and in the end so tragic and ridiculously bungled. Everything goes wrong from the start, but that doesn't stop Harley Vane, the would-be leader of the gang, from trying to attain his goal.

The two separate groups, the scientists and the treasure hunters, are mostly unaware of each other for a good deal of the time, which makes for entertaining reading as they maneuver around each other pursuing their individual goals.

The saying "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" pretty much applies to Slater's mission in Alaska. The one positive thing about his adventure, is that he meets Nika, the mayor of Port Orlov. Nika is a great character. She is smart, independent, and brings out the story of the Alaskan natives. I really enjoyed reading her story and would be interested in reading more about this character.

There is a parallel storyline that details the last days of the Romanovs and the fate of young Anastasia. This alternate history is quite entertaining though tragic and it is a very inventive way to explain how the Spanish flu could have reached such an isolated place as Alaska. I loved that the author found a way to combine two very fascinating historical topics into one novel. Both are fun to read about on their own, but combine them, and you have twice the adventure, tragedy and trouble.

I think anyone who enjoys history or historical fiction, or in interested in the House of Romanov, epidemics and Alaska would enjoy this fast-paced, exciting novel.

The Hollow Man

The Hollow Man by Oliver Harris
review copy provided by Harper
Description from Goodreads:
"A twisting spiral of lies and corruption, a pitch-perfect portrait of contemporary London and a beguiling bastard of a hero-what a recipe for a great read." -Val McDermid

Waking up on Hampstead Heath in a crashed squad car, still drunk, with no wallet, no phone, and only a Masonic candlestick to remind him of the events of the night before, London police detective Nick Belsey has hit rock bottom. At dawn he checks in at the station to collect his things on what should be the last day of his career, but something in the overnight files catches his interest-a missing person report from Bishops Avenue, London's richest street. Alex Devereux-worth a fortune, never seen, lived alone-has vanished, leaving his Porsche in the garage and a suicide note on his desk. In Devereux's disappearance, Belsey sees a way out for himself: the opportunity for a new start by stealing the man's identity. It's a pity, however, that so many other people are looking for Devereux as well. Belsey quickly realizes that his would-be scam is about to be outclassed by a far more ambitious fraud, as the race to get to the elusive oligarch's fortune becomes a game with life and death stakes.

The Hollow Man is a tour de force of pace and plotting, and a vividly evocative love-letter to London. Oliver Harris is a sharp and stylish writer who has created a seductive, worldly, and cunning anti-hero. Nick Belsey is amoral and cynical but nonetheless deeply serious about his investigation, about a police officer's vision of the world, and about the quest for truth that haunts any good detective

My Take:

How to describe The Hollow Man? This is a tough question. In a word: Fun! This was such a great, fast-paced, crazy, whirlwind book. Make no mistake - Nick Belsey is no hero - but he is a great anti-hero. The quote above "a beguiling bastard of a hero" is pretty much a perfect description.

I didn't really know what I'd be getting into when I started reading this one. I just picked it up because it sounded so different from what I had been reading recently. It took only a page or two and I was so intrigued by figuring out what exactly was going on with Belsey and then with the suicide of Devereux - well, I was quickly hooked. 

The basic story is pretty easily figured out: Belsey, a dirty(ish)*cop is broke, bankruptcy just around the corner, looking for a quick-fix to his problems -- and the fix doesn't even have to be legal. The seemingly perfect opportunity presents itself and then while trying to make it all work, hell breaks out all over the place. There are criminals, assassins, crooked politicians, dirty cops, youth in trouble, you name it, it's probably here. The plot twists are many and pretty clever. I enjoyed every minute I spent reading this one.


* [ the -ish because everything is relative in this book]

The Malice of Fortune

The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis
purchased at bookstore
Description from Goodreads:
Against a teeming canvas of Borgia politics, Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci come together to unmask an enigmatic serial killer, as we learn the secret history behind one of the most controversial works in the western canon, The Prince...
When Pope Alexander dispatches a Vatican courtesan, Damiata, to the remote fortress city of Imola to learn the truth behind the murder of Juan, his most beloved illegitimate son, she cannot fail, for the scheming Borgia pope holds her own young son hostage. Once there, Damiata becomes a pawn in the political intrigues of the pope’s surviving son, the charismatic Duke Valentino, whose own life is threatened by the condottieri, a powerful cabal of mercenary warlords. Damiata suspects that the killer she seeks is one of the brutal condottierri, and as the murders multiply, her quest grows more urgent. She enlists the help of an obscure Florentine diplomat, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Valentino’s eccentric military engineer, Leonardo da Vinci, who together must struggle to decipher the killer’s taunting riddles: Leonardo with his groundbreaking “science of observation” and Machiavelli with his new “science of men.” Traveling across an Italy torn apart by war, they will enter a labyrinth of ancient superstition and erotic obsession to discover at its center a new face of evil—and a truth that will shake the foundations of western civilization.

My Take:
 The subject matter and the various rave review I read contributed to my desire to read The Malice of Fortune. The cover is just beautiful as well. The book starts with Damiata's narrative and I was completely drawn into her story. When the switch to Machiavelli's narrative was made, I was a bit concerned, but gamely went ahead. There was a brief moment when I became worried that I would be greatly disappointed, but then it passed and I was caught up in the story again and had to keep reading until I had finished.

I enjoyed the way everything unfolds gradually and I was kept guessing for much of the book. I did figure out who the serial killer was before the big reveal, but considering the historical period and the events that were ongoing during the story, it could have been any number of people. The book is filled with violence and brutality, much like the time period. The Borgias are a fascinating, if horrifying and frightening family to read about. Ennis does a nice job presenting all the historical and political figures that play an important role in the Italy of the time. I have to admit that I often consulted Wikipedia to brush up on my history of the period. The condottieri were not very familiar to me, and I had to revisit the city-states of Italy, but I now feel like I have some understanding. 

I have to confess that I have avoided reading The Prince by Machiavelli because I didn't care for the so-called ideal Prince he describes. Now I will have a stronger revulsion of this ideal but an interest in reading more about the life of Niccolo Machiavelli. I also want to read his Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livy. 

I found The Malice of Fortune to be quite a frightening story of a serial killer with too much power and money and the people trying to discover his identity and stop his killing. There are so many smaller stories within the big overarching story of the killer, though, that it seems silly to try to say that it is only about that. It is also about the nature of men in general and the individual person.  I had not realized that the idea of Fortuna was still so prevalent in Renaissance Italy, but that is another thing I'd like to read more about.  I really enjoyed reading this book and will be recommending it. 

The Headmaster's Wager - Blog Tour and Review

The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam
review copy provided by Hogarth via TLC Book Tours
Description from Goodreads:

A superbly crafted, highly suspenseful, and deeply affecting debut novel about one man’s loyalty to his country, his family and his heritage

Percival Chen is the headmaster of the most respected English academy in 1960s Saigon, and he is well accustomed to bribing a forever-changing list of government officials in order to maintain the elite status of his school. Fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage, he is quick to spot the business opportunities rife in a divided country, though he also harbors a weakness for gambling haunts and the women who frequent them. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting that swirls around him, but when his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival faces the limits of his connections and wealth and is forced to send him away.

In the loneliness that follows, Percival finds solace in Jacqueline, a beautiful woman of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage whom he is able to confide in. But Percival's new-found happiness is precarious, and as the complexities of war encroach further into his world, he must confront the tragedy of all he has refused to see.

Graced with intriguingly flawed but wonderfully human characters moving through a richly drawn historical landscape, The Headmaster's Wager is an unforgettable story of love, betrayal and sacrifice.

My Take:
The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam is just an amazing book. The characters and particular events in the story stayed with me long after I had finished reading the book. This is one of those books that is difficult to describe because there are so many intriguing and haunting aspects to the story.  

I was enthralled by the history of Vietnam as told throughout the narrative of the novel. The perspective is quite different from what we in the west are usually exposed to. I was especially interested in the way that the Chinese community in Vietnam reacted to the various colonizers and occupiers of the country. This book is worth reading for the history alone, but the story of Percival and his family is just so compelling. I was drawn into this exotic, violent, political, beautiful, tense world and I had a hard time pulling myself out again even after finishing the book.

Percival, the headmaster of Percival Chen English Academy, is an intriguing, frustrating, extremely flawed, but loving man who tries to live according to what he feels is the "right" way to live. Few others around him agree with what he sees as being "right". But Percival is a stubborn man who is very conscious of his Chinese heritage, is very proud of that heritage and he makes his decisions based on this heritage - for better or worse. Some of these decisions come back to haunt him in terrible ways.

I see so much of this book to be about conflict. I, as a reader, was conflicted in my opinions about Percival and other characters in the book. Percival is conflicted about a number of things in his life including how to raise his son. When his son makes a youthful, foolish, patriotic statement in hopes of pleasing his father, he gets himself in extremely deep trouble and his father must decide how best to handle it. This incident leads to a great many conflicts and important decisions. Everywhere the reader looks, there are conflicting views, conflicting goals, conflicting politics, and all this isn't even including the obvious armed conflict that plays a major part of the novel. 

There are numerous themes that run throughout the novel including greed and the constant desire to make more profits at the expense of others; choosing not to see certain things or to at least ignore what is unpleasant to deal with; gambling and luck are also a constant in the novel. Familial love and duty are probably the most important theme and the one that really makes the story so affecting.

There are many things I disliked about Percival, but eventually, what played the biggest part in my acceptance of this character was his complete and undying love for his family. Despite of all his many faults and shortcomings, he loved his family and would quite literally do anything to keep them safe. This powerful love and survival instinct was what kept me so involved in the story. There is no way to describe all the memorable characters in this book. It would require giving too much of the plot away. Suffice it to say that I will not forget this book or the characters in the book for a very long time.

About Dr. Vincent Lam

DR. VINCENT LAM is from the expatriate Chinese community of Vietnam. Born in Canada, Lam is an emergency physician and a lecturer with the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.  He has also worked in international air evacuation and expedition medicine on Arctic and Antarctic ships.  Dr. Lam’s first book, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, won the 2006 Giller Prize and has been adapted for television and broadcast on HBO Canada..


You can find the rest of the tour stops here. 

A Cupboard Full of Coats

A Cupboard Full of Coats by Yvvette Edwards
review copy provided by Amistad for TLC Book Tours
Description from Goodreads:

Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize

A "Kirkus" Best Book of the Year

Plagued by guilt, paralyzed by shame, Jinx has spent the years since her mother's death alone, estranged from her husband, withdrawn from her son, and entrenched in a childhood home filled with fierce and violent memories. When Lemon, an old family friend, appears unbidden at the door, he seduces Jinx with a heady mix of powerful storytelling and tender care. What follows is a tense and passionate weekend, as the two join forces to unravel the tragedy that binds them. Jinx has long carried the burden of the past; now, she must relive her mother's last days, confront her grief head-on, and speak the truth as only she knows it.

Expertly woven and perfectly paced, "A Cupboard Full of Coats" is both a heartbreaking family drama and a riveting mystery, with a cast of characters who linger in the mind and the heart long after the last page has been turned.

My Take:
I am so torn over this book. The writing is absolutely beautiful and the entire book is so wonderfully well written. I knew from the very first sentence - which makes up the entire first paragraph of the book - that I was going to love the writing:

It was early spring when Lemon arrived, while the crocuses in the front garden were flowering and before the daffodil buds had opened, the Friday evening of a long, slow February, and I had expected when I opened the front door to find an energy salesperson standing there, or a charity worker selling badges, or any one of a thousand random insignificant people whose existence meant nothing to me or to my world.

 The story unfolds so very gradually and the reader is able to put the pieces together as the characters of Jinx and Lemon are slowly revealed through this weekend they spend together. Both Jinx and Lemon feel that they are to blame for the death of - the murder of - Jinx's mother. Both have their story - the events as they each saw them. Both have wounds that have been buried but never forgotten, wounds that  have festered and prevented them from moving on. All of this is so slowly and painstakingly revealed through their discussions and storytelling. 

The events that are described are painful, sad, upsetting even, but so beautifully told. It was impossible to stop reading even though so much that happened made me angry and sad. Jinx feels betrayed and hurt and as a consequence of this short period of time in her past, she is unable to feel close to or relate to her own son. The tragedy of her mother's murder has haunted her throughout her life and threatens to derail her life completely. Although she doesn't know it yet, this weekend will be a turning point for the rest of her life.

One of the interesting aspects of the book is how much emphasis and importance was placed on food - the preparing, cooking, serving and eating of a meal. I don't know if it is a passion of the author's or if it is important within the culture Jinx grew up in, but the descriptions were amazing. One example:

I thought I had been creative about food in the past, ensuring a balance of texture and colour and nutrients, attractive to the eye, contrasting on the palate, on inspection, perfect in every respect. But everything he had cooked since his arrival had been divine. I could not recall any dish I had ever prepared that had in impact like this, that was such a dizzying, seductive, overwhelming experience that the more I ate, the more I wanted.

Even though the story is heart-breaking and disturbing on some levels, it does end with a surprising level of hope for Jinx's future. I'm not crazy about the nature of Lemon and Jinx's relationship from her youth, but this weekend they spend together as adults obviously enables her to work through the major emotional issues she has been harboring over the years. 

I really loved this book despite some of the disturbing and harmful things that happen within the story. This book really stayed with me.  I would find myself thinking about certain aspects of it at the oddest times. A Cupboard Full of Coats may be Yvvette Edwards' first novel, but I fully expect to read more of her writing in the future. She has such a way with the written word! You must read it for yourself.

 

 

 

 About Yvette Edwards

Yvvette Edwards has lived in London all her life. She currently resides in the East End and is married with three children. A Cupboard Full of Coats, her first novel, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

The Midwife of Hope River

The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman
review copy provided by William Morrow/Harper Collins
Description from Goodreads:
 A remarkable new voice in American fiction, creates an uplifting novel that celebrates the miracle of life.

A William Morrow Paperback Original
A debut novel featuring Patience Murphy, an Appalachian midwife in the 1930s struggling against disease, poverty, and prejudices-and her own haunting past-to bring new light, and life, into an otherwise cruel world

As a midwife working in the hardscrabble conditions of Appalachia during the Depression, Patience Murphy's only solace is her gift: the chance to escort mothers through the challenges of childbirth. Just beginning, she takes on the jobs no one else wants: those most in need-and least likely to pay. Patience is willing to do what it takes to fulfill her mentor's wishes, but starting a midwife practice means gaining trust, and Patience's secrets are too fragile to let anyone in.

A stirring piece of Americana, The Midwife of Hope River beats with authenticity as Patience faces seemingly insurmountable conditions: disease, poverty, and prejudices threaten at every turn. From the dangerous mines of West Virginia to the terrifying attentions of the Klu Klux Klan, Patience must strive to bring new light, and life, into an otherwise cruel world.

My Take:

The Midwife of Hope River begins on Black Tuesday, the day the stock market crashed, but Patience, the midwife for the area, has more pressing concerns on her mind. She is delivering a baby on her own. She has recently lost her mentor and friend, Mrs. Kelly, who she worked with as assistant midwife. The book begins with this difficult birth and sets the pattern for the rest of the book: Patience is called to help with a birth and afterwards she records the details in her journal. 

The reader gradually learns about Patience and her life before moving to her little house at the base of Hope Mountain. The story switches between the current storyline in Depression Era West Virginia and the events in the past that lead Patience to this small community. Patience has lived an exciting and sometimes surprising life.

There is so much about this book that I just loved. I loved the history and political climate of the era  the most. The story includes so many of the societal issues of the time: union organizing, mining dangers, race issues, women's health, socialists and anarchists, the KKK, even the origination of the eight hour work day. I loved the breadth of experiences that Patience had and how she learns and grows and changes her opinions about people and communities.

I loved how Patience seems to be a unifying element between the segregated communities of the community and still manages to cause and get into so much trouble as a result.

I also loved that even though Patience was always anxious to learn more about midwifery from the more experienced women, she wasn't afraid to follow her own instincts and do whatever made the new mother comfortable. She is pretty sassy and very smart and not afraid to speak her mind even in such a tumultuous time. 

The Midwife of Hope River is an entertaining, suspenseful, and educational book that I would highly recommend.You don't need to be a midwife or a home birth advocate to enjoy the book. The history alone would make it worthwhile, but the story is wonderful and I really like Patience and wouldn't mind reading more about her life.

The Roots of the Olive Tree

The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo
Review copy provided by Harper Collins via TLC Book Tours
Description from Goodreads:

Five generations of firstborn Keller women live in the same house on an olive grove in secluded northern California. Matriarch Anna is 112 and trying to be the oldest woman in the world-and succeeding heartily. Her daughter Bets, granddaughter Callie, great-granddaughter Deb, and great-great granddaughter Erin are also defying longevity norms. When a geneticist comes to study the women at the same time Erin announces she is pregnant with a firstborn boy, the Kellers′ roots are shaken wide open. Told in the third-person perspective of each of the women, the story and mystery of their existence is revealed in compulsive prose and compassionate drive.

My take:
Have you ever read a book where you thought, "I wish I knew these people. I want to talk to these people?" Well, I have and I want to know Anna from The Roots of the Olive Tree.  Anna is the matriarch of the Keller family and at 112 years old, she is still active both physically and mentally. I loved the way her life unfolded story by story. The reader is given the final product -- Anna at 112 years old - and she is such a great character. Feisty, wise, curious, Anna thinks she is set in her ways, but she is still interested in the world and in living. We are treated to small glimpses into her life - small pieces of the puzzle that come together to make the mature woman - which are interspersed within the current story. 

One of my favorite passages about Anna occurs pretty early in the book and, for me, set the tone for Anna for the remainder of the book:

All that the generations beneath her did not know worried Anna. She wanted to find someone who would listen to her. Really listen. The world hated old people. Even her own family thought they'd learned all they needed to know from Anna. She was no longer consulted, and she couldn't start a story without her daughter, or granddaughter, interrupting to finish it for her. They had no perspective, no understanding of how much still needed to be preserved. It would take a lifetime to tell them her secrets, and Anna had already lived two lifetimes. p.7

 Each generation of the Keller women is given her chance to tell her own life stories. Each woman is very different from the next, but they all have a strong family connection. A mother-daughter relationship may be strained, but the grandmother-granddaughter relationship fills any gaps. I loved the way this connection between generations is slowly developed so that the reader discovers the layers of relationship and understanding there is between these women.

This is a wonderful book about family, living life well, accepting people for who they are, loving, forgiving, adapting, continuing on. The common idea running through the story of living a long life and how that might be attained is fun, educational and inspirational. I don't know if there are any definite answers, but the story is wonderful and maybe just loving the life you live is an answer, but maybe not the answer.

The Roots of the Olive Tree is a book that I will be recommending to everyone who will listen to me. I loved the characters - especially Anna. I  also enjoyed reading about the olive trees, olive oil and all the lore surrounding them.

The thing I think I loved the most was the family story -  the family secrets that were kept, discovered, or revealed and the ordinary stories that became part of the family lore and ritual of bedtime stories.

 

About Courtney Miller Santo

Courtney Miller Santo grasped the importance of stories from listening to her great-grandmother, who lives in Northern California. She learned to write stories in the journalism program at Washington and Lee University and then discovered the limits of true stories working as a reporter in Virginia. She teaches creative writing at the University of Memphis, where she earned her MFA. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Los Angeles Review, Irreantum, Sunstone, and Segullah. She lives in Tennessee with her husband, two children, and dog. Her most prized possession is a photo of five generations of the women in her own family.

You can find Courtney Miller Santo's website here.

The White Devil

The White Devil by Justin Evans
review copy provided by Harper
Description from Goodreads:
 Sex, Death, and Boarding School

When seventeen-year-old Andrew Taylor is transplanted from his American high school to a British boarding school--the English, hypertraditional, all-boys Harrow School--he finds his past mistakes following him, with an added element of horror: visions of a pale, white-haired boy from Harrow's past. Either Andrew is losing his mind, or the house legend about his dormitory being haunted is true.

When one of his schoolmates dies mysteriously of a severe pulmonary illness, Andrew is blamed and spurned by nearly all his peers. In his loneliness and isolation, Andrew becomes obsessed with Lord Byron's story and the poet's status not only as a literary genius and infamous seducer but also as a student at the very different Harrow of two centuries ago--a place rife with violence, squalor, incurable diseases, and tormented love affairs.

When frightening and tragic events from that long-ago past start to recur in Harrow's present, and Andrew's haunting begins to seem all too real, he is forced to solve a two-hundred-year-old mystery that threatens the lives of his friends and his teachers--and, most terrifyingly, his own.

My Take:
I must state first thing that any book that deals extensively with Lord Byron will definitely be on my To Read List. A ghost story that involves Lord Byron in any way will be at the top of my To Read List. So, naturally, The White Devil was a book I just had to read.

There were so many things about this book that worked for me and only a few that kind of bugged me. I really think that what bothered me the most was the fact that the so-called experts on Lord Byron in the book kept saying that he was a spoiled rich kid. He was never really what we would consider rich -- he had a title and was able to trade on that and his fame and amazing looks to borrow money, but he was not rich.  Right after reading the book, I would also have said that I didn't like the ending very much. But after some reflection, I have to admit that the ending does work especially within the context of a Gothic novel. I had to think back on some of Mary Shelley's more obscure novellas and remember how dark and unhappy the endings were. 

The White Devil is an amazing, dark, haunting story that stayed with me long after I had finished reading it. It has everything a story about an extremely old, haunted, exclusive British boarding school needs. The atmosphere of the school as described in the book is almost palpable. The emotions run high and the story is very fast paced. I read it in just a day or two.  

There are many quotes of Byron's poetry -- which I love -- and I think it really worked in the story. Andrew is supposed to be a Lord Byron look alike and he is to play Byron in the school play, so we get to watch him discover Byron's poetry and learn a lot more about Byron's life than he had ever anticipated. The research into Byron's life is due to trying to figure out what exactly is going on at the school. I thought the ghost story plot line worked pretty well in the novel. It wasn't really what I was expecting, but it did surprise me at first and I guess that is a good thing. I enjoyed the descriptions of the extensive research involved in solving the mystery and I especially loved the development and growth of poet/housemaster Piers Fawkes' character throughout the book. 

I was very happy to see that the author quotes from "Darkness", one of my favorite Byron poems in the novel.

I had a dream, which was not all a dream

The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars

Did wander darkling in the external space,

Rayless, and pathless, and the icy Earth

Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;

(Now that Byron has you in his grasp, you'll have to do a quick search to read the rest of the poem.Go read some Bryon.)

The Thing About Thugs

The Thing About Thugs by Tabish Khair
ARC provided by the publisher through TLC Book Tours
Description from back cover of the book:
In a small Bihari village, Captain William T. Meadows finds just the man to further his phrenological research back home: Amir Ali, confessed member of the infamous Thugee cult. With tales of a murderous youth redeemed, Ali gains passage to England, his villainously shaped skull there to be studied. Only Ali knows just how embroidered his story is, so when a killer begins depriving London’s underclass of their heads, suspicion naturally falls on the “thug.” With help from fellow immigrants led by a shrewd Punjabi woman, Ali journeys deep into a hostile city in an attempt to save himself and end the gruesome murders.
Ranging from skull-lined mansions to underground tunnels concealing a ghostly people, The Thing about Thugs is a feat of imagination to rival Wilkie Collins or Michael Chabon. Short-listed for the 2010 Man Asian Literary Prize, this Victorian role reversal is a sly take on the post-colonial novel and marks the arrival of a compelling Indian novelist to North America.

My take:
The Thing About Thugs is such an interesting book on many different levels.The premise of the book is intriguing and has enough potential scandal to draw the reader in. But there is so much more to this book.  Tabish Khair, the author, uses more than one type of storytelling in the novel. There is first-person narration, third-person narration, personal letters, and newspaper articles - all used to tell the story from different perspectives and in some cases, different versions of the same story. Once I got the various voices straight in my own mind, I thoroughly enjoyed the transitions from voice to voice and really loved the different views of the characters, events, motivations, and the world presented in each different type of storytelling. I especially enjoyed the disparity between the excerpts from the writings of Captain Meadows and Amir Ali's version written in his personal letters.

The mystery of exactly who is killing the members of London's underclass is never a mystery to the reader, but the general public and the authorities jump to all the wrong conclusions in the matter. The way the elites reason and the complete wrongness of their beliefs is quite fun to read. The limited views held by many about class, race, gender, etc. are all dealt with in the novel. While I did enjoy Amir Ali and his quest to find the real murderer, I found that the character I was the most interested in was Qui Hy - an intriguing, mystery of a woman who is more capable than most of the well-educated, wealthy men of the city. I so want to read more about her and her Irish husband. Such great characters!

The Thing About Thugs is a beautifully written book. Khair is a wonderful writer with great skill in descriptive writing. I absolutely loved his many, beautiful descriptions of Victorian London throughout the book. To compare this book to Wilkie Collins is quite apt. The atmosphere is similar and I feel the book should be savored in much the same way as one would savor a Wilkie Collins novel. The book is only 244 pages long, but I read it as slowly as I could to savor the words -- until a certain point in the story and then I just couldn't stop reading until I had reached the end. I would highly recommend this book.


About Tabish Khair

Tabish Khair is an award-winning poet, journalist, critic, educator and novelist. A citizen of India, he lives in Denmark and teaches literature at Aarhus University.Here is his website.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book You can find the rest of the blog tour stops here.

Beach Colors

Beach Colors by Shelley Noble
review copy provided by William Morrow/Harper Collins
Book Description from publisher website:
While renowned designer Margaux Sullivan was presenting her highly praised collection during New York City's Fashion Week, her husband was cleaning out their bank account. A week after he disappeared, the bank foreclosed on Margaux's apartment and business.

Suddenly broke, betrayed, and humiliated, Margaux has nowhere else to turn to but home: the small coastal town of Crescent Cove, Connecticut, where she once knew love, joy, and family before she put them behind her on the climb to fame. When she's stopped for speeding by local interim police chief Nick Prescott, Margaux barely remembers the "townie" boy who worshipped her from afar every summer. But Nick is all grown up now, a college professor who gave up his career to care for his orphaned nephew, Connor. Though still vulnerable, Margaux is soon rediscovering the beauty of the shore through young Connor's eyes . . . and, thanks to Nick, finding a forgotten place in her heart that wants to love again.

But as she continues to work on a bold new line that will get her back into the game, Margaux realizes that soon she will have to make the most important, most difficult decision of her life. . . .

My Take:
Beach Colors by Shelley Noble is a great summer book. In fact, I'd say it is just about the perfect beach read. It takes place mostly at Crescent Cove, Connecticut and follows Margaux as she deals with the betrayal by her husband and finds her true creative side, finds out who her true friends are and just who she really wants to be. I enjoyed this book so much. I loved the descriptions of the beaches, the cottages, the people and all the amazing colors visible in nature if one just takes the time to see them.  I found the story to be an uplifting one of self-discovery, recovery from trauma  with a bit of romance. The story deals with long-time friendship, loyalty, being true to yourself, importance of family, and the whole townie vs. summer people thing all while giving wonderful descriptions of a lovely little coastal town - great combinations for a summertime book. This isn't an earth shattering book, but it is just so much fun. Perfect for summer. This is the book I'll be suggesting to friends for a summertime read.

The Unseen

The Unseen by Katherine Webb
review copy provided by William Morrow
Description from Goodreads:
England, 1911. The Reverend Albert Canning, a vicar with a passion for spiritualism, leads a happy existence with his naive wife Hester in a sleepy Berkshire village. As summer dawns, their quiet lives are changed for ever by two new arrivals. First comes Cat, the new maid: a free-spirited and disaffected young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law. Cat quickly finds a place for herself in the secret underbelly of local society as she plots her escape. Then comes Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby. A young man of magnetic charm and beauty, Robin soon becomes an object of fascination and desire. During a long spell of oppressive summer heat, the rectory at Cold Ash Holt becomes charged with ambition, love and jealousy; a mixture of emotions so powerful that it leads, ultimately, to murder.

My take:
Once again Katherine Webb drew me into her story from the very first chapter. This story really captured my imagination. The dual story line works for me here just like it did in Webb's The Legacy. There is a modern story line which tels of the search for the identity of a soldier to who died during WWI.  The 1911 thread gives the story of the Reverend Albert Canning and his wife Hester during the summer that the new maid Cat joins the household as well as the visit of  occult  expert, Robin Durrant.  The 1911 story line is just chock full of interesting, conflicted, confused, manipulative, and naive characters.

The Reverend Albert Canning and his wife Hester are an interesting, troubled, naive couple. Even for the time, 1911, they seem incredibly sheltered. Albert is clearly confused and conflicted about his marriage and his role therein. Hester is confused as well, but is at least trying to figure things out. Hester has hired a new maid, Cat, and views this as an act of charity due to Cat's troubled past. Just what this past was is revealed gradually through the book. Cat is an intelligent, independent, strong-willed young woman who refuses to let anyone limit her. I really liked her and wanted to see her make a new life for herself.

Albert Canning is a troubled soul. His innocence, naivete,  and religious convictions all contribute to his being susceptible to the particular charms of one Robin Durrant, a self-proclaimed expert of the occult. Durrant is obviously a manipulative person and trouble from the start - to an observant, intelligent, perceptive person, anyway. While the Cannings are unaware of his past or his manipulative way, Cat sees through Durrant and tries to warn Hester.

There are so many things I want to discuss about the book, but they would give even more of the plot away. I loved this book so much! It was a fast-paced page-turner that I couldn't put down until I finished it. At the last minute before it happened, I could see the tragedy that was about to unfold, but I couldn't stop reading. I was saddened by the story, but I was so happy to have the opportunity to read such a great book.

Socialpunk

Socialpunk by Monica Leonelle
e-galley provided  by author
Description from Goodreads:
Ima would give anything to escape The Dome and learn what’s beyond its barriers, but the Chicago government has kept all its citizens on lockdown ever since the Scorched Years left most of the world a desert wasteland. When a mysterious group of hooded figures enters the city unexpectedly, Ima uncovers a plot to destroy The Dome and is given the choice between escaping to a new, dangerous city or staying behind and fighting a battle she can never win.

My take:
I am not sure exactly where to start with this one.  The premise for this novel just grabbed me and I had to agree to read and review it. I love - I mean absolutely love - cyberpunk. (Thank you William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and Neal Stephenson for giving me so many hours of reading joy.) The premise of this story felt like it was a continuation of what has been built into the genre already. That is basically what made me want to read it.

The idea that the main character of the story is part of a virtual reality and her world may or may not be real plays a major part of the story.  I found the world created in Socialpunk to be unusually new and creative. I haven't read anything quite like it. I am still intrigued and really want to read more about the whole world - both the real and virtual world in the novel.  I thought that Ima was an interesting character and the previous knowledge that she was created to live in the virtual world with all her strengths and weaknesses was just really cool to think about while reading. (Or is she real? Ah! So much fun!)

The story is fast paced with lots of action, dubious allies, shady villains, huge, probably evil corporations, rival gangs, conspiracies -- everything you could want for an exciting read.

The only thing I wasn't crazy about was how the book ended. There is a big reveal and cliff-hanger at  the end that bugs me because now I have to wait to see what happens next and how it will be handled. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Hide Me Among the Graves

Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers
ARC provided by William Morrow
Description from Goodreads:
Winter, 1862. A malevolent spirit roams the cold and gloomy streets of Victorian London, the vampiric ghost of John Polidori, the onetime physician of the mad, bad and dangerous Romantic poet Lord Byron. Polidori is also the supernatural muse to his niece and nephew, poet Christina Rossetti and her artist brother Dante Gabriel.

But Polidori's taste for debauchery has grown excessive. He is determined to possess the life and soul of an innocent young girl, the daughter of a veterinarian and a reformed prostitute he once haunted. And he has resurrected Dante's dead wife, transforming her into a horrifying vampire. The Rossettis know the time has come – Polidori must be stopped. Joining forces with the girl's unlikely parents, they are plunged into a supernatural London underworld whose existence they never suspected.

These Wildly mismatched allies – a strait-laced animal doctor, and ex-prostitute, a poet, a painter, and even the Artful Dodger-like young daughter – must ultimately choose between the banality and constraints of human life and the unholy immortality that Polidori offers. Sweeping from high society to grimy slums, elegant West End salons to pre-Roman catacombs beneath St. Paul's cathedral, Hide Me Among The Graves blends the historical and the supernatural in a dazzling, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride.

My take:
First of all, I cannot believe that I missed the book that came before this one! How did I miss a vampire book with Shelley and Byron?? I will be fixing this situation immediately. Hide Me Among the Graves takes place after The Stress of Her Regard which introduces Polidori and the original storyline involving the Romantic poets.

Hide Me Among the Graves takes up with Polidori's story once his ghost/vampire shows up in the Rossetti household. For a literature geek like me, this book made me giddy with excitement. Any book that makes me want to do research is going to get a rave review.  I am pretty familiar with the Romantic poets, less so with the Rossettis. But when Edward John Trelawny's name popped up and he became an important character, I had to stop and go back to my Shelley (both Percy and Mary) texts and make sure I was thinking of the right person.  I thought the way Powers blends actual history with his fiction plot works amazingly well.

I thought the storyline involving the Rossettis was very well done and interesting on its own, but the real excitement involved Crawford, the veterinarian, and Adelaide McKee, the former prostitute and of course, Trelawny.

The story is dark and convoluted and absolutely wonderful. I loved every minute of it. I didn't mind the time lapses at all. I absolutely loved the idea of Polidori being the vampire even though the vampire story he wrote over that infamous summer with Byron and Shelley seemed to use Byron as the model for his vampire. I also loved the link between the vampire as muse and the resulting improvement in writing or art. There is so much in this book that I would love to analyze, but that isn't really appropriate for this blog.

This is a dark, haunting story and went in directions I would never have thought of in a million years. It has ghosts that are unlike any I've encountered anywhere else and vampires that are strangely familiar yet still very different. There are some other creatures that I can't really explain and have to be discovered by the reader. While I wouldn't say this book is for everyone, I loved it and would recommend it for readers who love literature and vampires and especially love Shelley, Byron and the Rossettis.

Cutting for Stone

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

borrowed from a friend

Description from Goodreads:

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.

Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles—and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined.

My take:

Cutting for Stone was a book choice for my book club. At first I was very impressed with this book. It really is beautifully written. I loved the descriptions of Africa and the depiction of life there. This book was very ambitious. It takes on many issues including love/lust, betrayal, forgiveness, family, sibling relationships, and tragedy. The first two thirds of the book were pretty amazing if you can excuse some pretty big coincidences --which I was completely willing to do because I loved how beautifully written it was. The relationship between the twins, Marion and Shiva was compelling if a little confusing. The two brothers have a complicated relationship and it was rather fascinating to read about the evolution of this relationship. Unfortunately, the final third of the book was so disappointing for me. Actually, the last fourth of the novel just seemed to unravel for me. I felt the coincidence of Marion running into Genet in the US was just too much. And once he ran into her I felt like I had been completely deceived about the character of Marion through the first three fourths of the book. He seemed to devolve into a brutal Neanderthal. At this point, I finished the book just to see how far the story would plunge. I felt let down because the story had started so beautifully and ended in a grungy mess. Maybe I'm missing the point and I should see how fragile life is and all people have their weaknesses, we should forgive and blah, blah, blah. I know many people really loved this book, but I felt disappointed by the ending - especially because of how it started off. So, to recap, loved the first three fourths, should have stopped before the final fourth.