Grace has long hidden the details of her unhappy childhood from those closest to her. Raised by an largely unmedicated manic depressive mother in England, Grace couldn't wait to get away and start a new life in America with Ted Chapman, a moody, demanding, and very successful author who is the love of her life. With the help of a wonderful personal assistant, Grace manages Ted's moods and sometimes abusive behavior for years while playing the part of the perfect society wife and mother. Grace also works as a chef at a local home for abused women. Her secret fear is that she might have inherited her mother's condition.
When their longtime assistant leaves to care for her elderly mother, Grace is faced with juggling household responsibilities, organizing Ted's schedule amid his unpredictable mood swings, and her own career. Just as things reach chaos, Beth appears out of nowhere, apparently the perfect person to organize their home and their lives. Energetic, proactive, and upbeat, Beth seems a Godsend, or is she too good to be true? Little by little Beth seems to be stealing Grace's life and, perhaps, her sanity along with it.
If you enjoy a well-done Lifetime movie, this novel is for you. It has everything you could ask for: the scheming assistant, the too-trusting wife, the clueless husband, and some interesting medical shenanigans. I really enjoyed it from start ti finish and I would recommend it. At the end of a long, cold winter, Saving Grace might be just the thing to get rid of those lingering blahs!
BIBLIOPHILY
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
A PERFECT PROPOSAL (Katie Fforde)
Katie Fforde is the perfect remedy for blues brought on by the never-end grayness of winter. Will spring ever really come?....
Sophie is the much put-upon adult daughter of an academic family whose finances are perpetually shaky. Sophie longs to go to school for tailoring or design. She is a talented seamstress, organized, efficient, good-natured, and viewed by her intellectual family as rather stupid and not worth educating. In truth, Sophie is endowed with both common sense and generosity, seeing people for who they are rather than what they can do for her. She has had a couple of really bad boyfriends, mostly guys who ask her to pay for their dates and only have time for her when they are not busy watching TV or out with the guys. In an effort to scape her family's derision and constant criticism, Sophie arranges to work as a nanny in New York for a month, hoping to track down some family contacts and settle some drilling rights for her adorable uncle Eric (referred to as "Evil Uncle Eric" by her avaricious family). When the job falls through she decides to look for temporary work and stay on for w few weeks. One day, while at an art show, Sophie spots and elderly woman looking rather wobbly on her feet and runs to help her. Of course Sophie's humanitarian gesture results in a wonderful new friendship with Matilda, a very rich American woman, originally from Cornwall whose very handsome lawyer grandson immediately gets off on the wrong foot with Sophie. Hmm! I wonder what will happen with these two?
A Perfect Proposal is enjoyable from page 1 through to the end. Fforde books are always refreshing and uplifting to read. She offers a particular type of substance that is missing from a lot of "chick lit" or romance and I always walk away liking her characters and wishing that I could find out what happens to them later. I loved this book!
Sophie is the much put-upon adult daughter of an academic family whose finances are perpetually shaky. Sophie longs to go to school for tailoring or design. She is a talented seamstress, organized, efficient, good-natured, and viewed by her intellectual family as rather stupid and not worth educating. In truth, Sophie is endowed with both common sense and generosity, seeing people for who they are rather than what they can do for her. She has had a couple of really bad boyfriends, mostly guys who ask her to pay for their dates and only have time for her when they are not busy watching TV or out with the guys. In an effort to scape her family's derision and constant criticism, Sophie arranges to work as a nanny in New York for a month, hoping to track down some family contacts and settle some drilling rights for her adorable uncle Eric (referred to as "Evil Uncle Eric" by her avaricious family). When the job falls through she decides to look for temporary work and stay on for w few weeks. One day, while at an art show, Sophie spots and elderly woman looking rather wobbly on her feet and runs to help her. Of course Sophie's humanitarian gesture results in a wonderful new friendship with Matilda, a very rich American woman, originally from Cornwall whose very handsome lawyer grandson immediately gets off on the wrong foot with Sophie. Hmm! I wonder what will happen with these two?
A Perfect Proposal is enjoyable from page 1 through to the end. Fforde books are always refreshing and uplifting to read. She offers a particular type of substance that is missing from a lot of "chick lit" or romance and I always walk away liking her characters and wishing that I could find out what happens to them later. I loved this book!
A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD (Anne Tyler)
I'm not really sure if I loved Tyler's latest, but I feel somehow that this might indicate a lack in me rather than a fault with the novel. I've read a lot of Anne Tyler over the years and I greatly enjoy her quirky view of ordinary life. This one has all of the personalities that you might expect from this wonderful novelist. As in other Tyler novels, everyone walks the fine line between good and bad, likable and repulsive, enigmatic or just plain boring. The focus here is on the Whitshank home and the family that has occupied it for years. Abby and Red Whitshank raised their family in this home, originally built by Red's father, Junior Whitshank, for the Brills, a local family who soon decided that the house was not right for them. Junior purchased the home and moved his reluctant wife, Linny, and two children, Red and Merrick, into his dream home, where Red will eventually raise his family.
Red and Abby have 4 children, efficient, businesslike lawyer Amanda, sweet, maternal Jeannie, Denny, the black sheep, and Stem (Douglas), who has the talent and drive to take over his father's building business someday. Denny is the on who comes and goes. We are first introduced to his character when he calls to tell his parents that he is gay, but then he is getting married, then a father, then divorced, working here and there at all sorts of jobs, usually out of range of his family, disappearing for years at a time, seemingly resentful and dysfunctional and unable to sustain any sort of log-term commitment. There are several surprises regarding the Whitshank family. I won't reveal them here for fear of ruining them for you, but one involves Junior and Linny's relationship and the other, youngest son Stem. All in all, there is a lot going on, all of it thought-provoking, some of it confusing. I still have questions about the title. The "spool of blue thread" makes a brief appearance in the novel after a death. I have obvious theories about its significance: the thread of love linking Red and Abby, or perhaps family history, or maybe even the unraveling of the Whitshank family. All I know is that, although it wasn't my favorite book of all time, any novel that makes you think and wonder is worth reading!
Red and Abby have 4 children, efficient, businesslike lawyer Amanda, sweet, maternal Jeannie, Denny, the black sheep, and Stem (Douglas), who has the talent and drive to take over his father's building business someday. Denny is the on who comes and goes. We are first introduced to his character when he calls to tell his parents that he is gay, but then he is getting married, then a father, then divorced, working here and there at all sorts of jobs, usually out of range of his family, disappearing for years at a time, seemingly resentful and dysfunctional and unable to sustain any sort of log-term commitment. There are several surprises regarding the Whitshank family. I won't reveal them here for fear of ruining them for you, but one involves Junior and Linny's relationship and the other, youngest son Stem. All in all, there is a lot going on, all of it thought-provoking, some of it confusing. I still have questions about the title. The "spool of blue thread" makes a brief appearance in the novel after a death. I have obvious theories about its significance: the thread of love linking Red and Abby, or perhaps family history, or maybe even the unraveling of the Whitshank family. All I know is that, although it wasn't my favorite book of all time, any novel that makes you think and wonder is worth reading!
Friday, March 20, 2015
STILL ALICE (Lisa Genova)
I would call this beautiful novel life-changing in some ways. I am fortunate that no one close to me has ever had Alzheimer's, but I feel like I now have a much better understanding of the horror, fear, and frustration that must inevitably come with being diagnosed with this incurable disease.
Genova has written an unusual book in that it has a first-person point of view. Alice, a prominent Harvard psychology professor, is at the height of her career when she starts to notice little mental lapses that she attributes to menopause. When she finally consults a doctor, who orders numerous tests, she is given the devastating diagnoses of early-onset Alzheimer's. The reader follows the progress of her symptoms from the inside looking out, which is a scary experience. When I say that this book was life-changing I mean that it has provided me with truly new insight into something that I never imagined I might be able to understand. I'm sure you know that Still Alice is now an award winning film. I haven't seen it yet, but I intend to. Read the novel first if you can (the book is always better). You will be in awe of Genova. She is certainly on my list of authors to read more of!
Genova has written an unusual book in that it has a first-person point of view. Alice, a prominent Harvard psychology professor, is at the height of her career when she starts to notice little mental lapses that she attributes to menopause. When she finally consults a doctor, who orders numerous tests, she is given the devastating diagnoses of early-onset Alzheimer's. The reader follows the progress of her symptoms from the inside looking out, which is a scary experience. When I say that this book was life-changing I mean that it has provided me with truly new insight into something that I never imagined I might be able to understand. I'm sure you know that Still Alice is now an award winning film. I haven't seen it yet, but I intend to. Read the novel first if you can (the book is always better). You will be in awe of Genova. She is certainly on my list of authors to read more of!
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
FIERCOMBE MANOR (Kate Riordan)
This novel brought me back to my days of reading Victoria Holt, Daphne DuMaurier, and Mary Stewart. Riordan has written a wonderful Gothic novel set in rural England in the early 1930's, when strict social conventions warred with personal needs and desires. Imagine Downton Abbey's Edith Crawley as a younger middle-class girl, struggling with her love for her child and the tremendous pressure applied by society to hide her shame by giving up that child. This is Alice Eveleigh, a naive office worker whose promising future is all but destroyed by one night with the married man whom she mistakenly believes loves her.
When Alice realizes that she is pregnant, her mother arranges for her to spend the summer with an old school friend, Mrs. Jelphs, the housekeeper at Fiercombe Manor, the remote Gloucestershire estate of the Stanton family. Mrs. Jelphs, by the way, is very nice, but remote and mysterious in a Mrs. Danvers kind of way. We are never sure how much she knows or if she is completely trustworthy. Mrs. Jelphs was a housemaid and, eventually, lady's maid at Fiercombe Manor back in the 1890's, when Lady Elizabeth Stanton was married to the erratic Lord Charles. Riordan alternates between the stories of Alice and Elizabeth, and if you have ever read this blog before you know that I love this technique! Elizabeth is pregnant and desperately hoping for a male heir, fearful of what will happen if she loses another child or produces a second daughter. Her journal, discovered and read avidly by Alice in the summer house on the property, reveals the musings of an increasingly desperate woman whose abrupt disappearance leads Alice to fear that she may also be cursed and that her unborn child may be in danger.
This novel is full of everything that true a gothic-lover could want - cobwebs, dark, deserted rooms, mysterious servants, ghostly presences, and more. I enjoyed it immensely.
When Alice realizes that she is pregnant, her mother arranges for her to spend the summer with an old school friend, Mrs. Jelphs, the housekeeper at Fiercombe Manor, the remote Gloucestershire estate of the Stanton family. Mrs. Jelphs, by the way, is very nice, but remote and mysterious in a Mrs. Danvers kind of way. We are never sure how much she knows or if she is completely trustworthy. Mrs. Jelphs was a housemaid and, eventually, lady's maid at Fiercombe Manor back in the 1890's, when Lady Elizabeth Stanton was married to the erratic Lord Charles. Riordan alternates between the stories of Alice and Elizabeth, and if you have ever read this blog before you know that I love this technique! Elizabeth is pregnant and desperately hoping for a male heir, fearful of what will happen if she loses another child or produces a second daughter. Her journal, discovered and read avidly by Alice in the summer house on the property, reveals the musings of an increasingly desperate woman whose abrupt disappearance leads Alice to fear that she may also be cursed and that her unborn child may be in danger.
This novel is full of everything that true a gothic-lover could want - cobwebs, dark, deserted rooms, mysterious servants, ghostly presences, and more. I enjoyed it immensely.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
THE DAY THE RABBI RESIGNED (Harry Kemelman)
I'm not really sure how Rabbi David Small is the main sleuth in this mystery, which was my impression of his role before reading this entry in Kemelman's popular series. The rabbi's role seems to be that of advisor and friend rather than of taking an active part in solving the crimes. Despite the fact that it was not what I expected, I did enjoy this novel. I did find it difficult keeping track of the many characters, but perhaps someone who has read others in the series would not have that problem.
This story centers around Cyrus Merton, a wealthy, self-made man and devout Catholic who has been guardian to his plain, socially inept niece, Margaret, for a few years, since the deaths of her parents, Cyrus's half-brother James and his Puerto Rican wife, Theresa. Margaret has spent her formative years in a Catholic boarding school, but when she professes to have a vocation and decides to join the convent, Cyrus and his widowed sister Agnes quickly ship her home and proceed to look for a suitable husband. Handsome, success-oriented Victor Joyce fits the bill quite well aside from his extracurricular activities with the opposite sex. Victor is a literature professor at Windermere Christian College, where Cyrus is a powerful member of the Board. Victor is thirty-two years old and anxious to be granted tenure. He starts courting Margaret with the encouragement of Cyrus, who would, of course, would want Margaret's husband to enjoy a successful and lucrative career. One night, several months after the unhappy union of Victor and Margaret commenced, Victor, who had been drinking heavily, was found dead after crashing his car into a tree on a remote road. The question is, did the accident actually kill Victor, or did foul play come into the picture? A missing watch is the clue that leads Chief Lanigan and his friend, Rabbi Small, to question the idea of accidental death. If it is murder, who did it and what was their motive?
I'm not sure that I would read more Rabbi Small mysteries, but I wouldn't discourage anyone else from doing it! Rabbi Small is an appealing man, one that I wouldn't mind sitting down and chatting with for a while. This series is a bit dated, more than 20 years old, but that adds to the atmosphere. Take a look and see if this would appeal to you!
This story centers around Cyrus Merton, a wealthy, self-made man and devout Catholic who has been guardian to his plain, socially inept niece, Margaret, for a few years, since the deaths of her parents, Cyrus's half-brother James and his Puerto Rican wife, Theresa. Margaret has spent her formative years in a Catholic boarding school, but when she professes to have a vocation and decides to join the convent, Cyrus and his widowed sister Agnes quickly ship her home and proceed to look for a suitable husband. Handsome, success-oriented Victor Joyce fits the bill quite well aside from his extracurricular activities with the opposite sex. Victor is a literature professor at Windermere Christian College, where Cyrus is a powerful member of the Board. Victor is thirty-two years old and anxious to be granted tenure. He starts courting Margaret with the encouragement of Cyrus, who would, of course, would want Margaret's husband to enjoy a successful and lucrative career. One night, several months after the unhappy union of Victor and Margaret commenced, Victor, who had been drinking heavily, was found dead after crashing his car into a tree on a remote road. The question is, did the accident actually kill Victor, or did foul play come into the picture? A missing watch is the clue that leads Chief Lanigan and his friend, Rabbi Small, to question the idea of accidental death. If it is murder, who did it and what was their motive?
I'm not sure that I would read more Rabbi Small mysteries, but I wouldn't discourage anyone else from doing it! Rabbi Small is an appealing man, one that I wouldn't mind sitting down and chatting with for a while. This series is a bit dated, more than 20 years old, but that adds to the atmosphere. Take a look and see if this would appeal to you!
Thursday, March 5, 2015
SOMETHING MISSING (Matthew Dicks)
When Matthew Dicks spoke at our library a few weeks ago he emphasized that, contrary to what one might think after reading this novel, he is not and never has been a burglar. That is, I admit, a little hard to believe after finishing Something Missing! If Matt has never actually burgled, he certainly could take it up as a 16th career if the other 15 don't pan out!
Martin is a thief. He is a fascinating character, meticulous about preparation, suffering from OCD, and highly intelligent. He also has a well-developed sense of right and wrong and never steals anything that someone would really miss or that would have a negative impact on their lives. Martin's "clients" all fall solidly into the upper middle class, well-to-do but not wealthy. They are usually childless, married, dual career couples who are completely unaware that someone has been visiting their homes repeatedly, sometimes for years, and taking odd pieces of jewelry, extra groceries and household products, and other things that will not be noticed. Martin leads a comfortable life, living in the home he inherited from his mother and working part-time at Starbucks for the benefits. After reading a poorly written set of directions he has invented a fake "career" for himself as a writer of instruction manuals. Martin has never hurt anyone and he has never been caught.
After a close call at the home of a client, Martin begins a new and not entirely welcome phase of his career, breaking his own rules and taking chances to "save" several his clients from near disaster, while in the process risking his own life and livelyhood and coming to the realization that perhaps it is time for change, maybe even love.
Something Missing explores a "criminal" mind from an entirely new perspective, illustrating both the big gray area between black and white and the fine line between good and bad. Martin is a character unlike any other I have encountered in my reading. I look forward to reading more by Matthew Dicks!
Martin is a thief. He is a fascinating character, meticulous about preparation, suffering from OCD, and highly intelligent. He also has a well-developed sense of right and wrong and never steals anything that someone would really miss or that would have a negative impact on their lives. Martin's "clients" all fall solidly into the upper middle class, well-to-do but not wealthy. They are usually childless, married, dual career couples who are completely unaware that someone has been visiting their homes repeatedly, sometimes for years, and taking odd pieces of jewelry, extra groceries and household products, and other things that will not be noticed. Martin leads a comfortable life, living in the home he inherited from his mother and working part-time at Starbucks for the benefits. After reading a poorly written set of directions he has invented a fake "career" for himself as a writer of instruction manuals. Martin has never hurt anyone and he has never been caught.
After a close call at the home of a client, Martin begins a new and not entirely welcome phase of his career, breaking his own rules and taking chances to "save" several his clients from near disaster, while in the process risking his own life and livelyhood and coming to the realization that perhaps it is time for change, maybe even love.
Something Missing explores a "criminal" mind from an entirely new perspective, illustrating both the big gray area between black and white and the fine line between good and bad. Martin is a character unlike any other I have encountered in my reading. I look forward to reading more by Matthew Dicks!
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