THE END OF TEMPERANCE DARE (Wendy Webb)

I have been waiting for a new Wendy Webb novel for a few years now, so I was thrilled to see this one.  In a word, it's scary!  A young woman, Norrie Harper, after being let go from her job as a reporter due to PTSD, is hired as the director of Cliffside Manor, a former TB sanatorium that is now an acclaimed artist's retreat.  She had visited the manor as a reporter twenty years before, investigating the death of 2 of the dare family members.  On the day of her arrival, her predecessor, the former director and last living member of the Dare family, is discovered dead, an apparent suicide, and things just get scarier and more mysterious from there.

This novel has a wonderful haunting atmosphere that will keep you feeling slightly uneasy.  One of my friends, another Webb fan, stopped me and told me that she was SCARED reading this book.  I would advise against picking it up on a dark night when you are home alone, but definitely read it!

DARK ROAD TO DARJEELING (Deanna Raybourn)

This is my first Lady Julia Grey mystery, and I have to say that it would make a great movie!  Lady Jane's husband, detective Nicholas Brisbane, are still honeymooning in the Mediterranean when they are summoned, along with  Julia's sister Portia, to the Cavendish tea plantation by Portia's former lover, Jane, whose husband Freddy has recently been murdered.  Jane fears for her life and that of her unborn child and hopes that Julia and Brisbane will discover the killer before she herself becomes a victim.

This novel has a strong sense of place and is filled with local color and descriptions of the Himalayas and India that make the reader feel as if they are traveling along with this eccentric group. As for the mystery?  Intriguing!  If you are looking for mostly likable and varied characters, a great plot, and a lot of authentic-seeming atmosphere, try this series.

THE SUNSHINE SISTERS (Jane Green)

As the story opens, we are introduced to Ronni Sunshine, an aging actress on a mission to end her own life.  She is obviously ill, done with all of the drama and angst, ready for peace, but concerned about her 3 daughters, the Sunshine sisters, Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy.  Nell, a single mother, lives on a farm near Ronni but seldom sees her.  Nell is confused by her inability to fall in love with a man who seems perfect but is lacking something unidentified but important.  Meredith, bearing the brunt of her mother's criticism growing up, fled to the UK, became an accountant, and is engaged to a man who is "good enough" because she doesn't believe that she is thin or pretty enough to deserve someone who thinks she is wonderful.  Lizzy, the youngest, is most like Ronni in looks and temperament.  She is a celebrity chef with a young son and a husband who feels marginalized by her career.  Lizzie has also been unfaithful to her husband.

Ronni's summons gives each of her daughters the opportunity to reconnect with her and each other and to explore sides of themselves that they have been denying for years.  Does the novel end happily?  I suppose it depends on how you look at it.  Ronni is unable to convince her daughters to do her bidding, but achieves her own goal in the end.  Each of the girls finds a better perspective on life and happiness.  Best of all, though, they form a loving family again.  This is a wonderful summer read, light enough for the beach but involved enough to keep a discriminating reader interested.

THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS ( Booth Tarkington)

Years ago I enjoyed Tarkington's Penrod books and this is my second reading of The Magnificent Ambersons.  Tarkington gives the reader stunning insight into the mindset of a young man who refuses to let go of his privileged roots as the industrial revolution begins to break down the rigid class structure of the American midwest in the early 20th century.  This novel has everything you could ask for: a fawning mother blind to her son's faults, a quiet father whose death barely makes a ripple in the family dynamics, the dashing, successful man that was the mother's second choice and is now back in town, the beautiful love interest who realizes that she will always be second choice to pride, and, most importantly, the misguided young man who believes that family and entitlement are the most important things in life, even if it means that he contributes nothing of import to his world.

There's a reason that Orson Welles chose to film this important novel.  It's a great social commentary and demonstrates how people need to embrace change in order to survive and thrive.  Well worth reading!