HOME REPAIR (Liz Rosenberg)

This is Rosenberg's first novel for adults.  The author reveals at the end of the book that she didn't write it in consecutive scenes, but rather bit by bit, eventually combining all of those bits into a whe novel.  I wasn't sure how I felt about this book as I was reading it as it was in some ways depressing.  Eve was a young widow when she met and married Chuck, a very handsome "younger' man.  Now, years later, Chuck walks out on the family during a garage sale, leaving Eve to pick up the pieces of her life and to raise Marcus (her 17-year-old from her first marriage) and Noni, their 9-year-old daughter, on her own.  Eve's emotional journey is depicted through references to the "Heartbreak Diet" as she sheds pounds while dealing with her grief.  Chuck is not out of the picture.  He pops back into their lives occasionally, but he remains an annoying and superficial character (why on earth did she ever marry him?).  In contrast, Eve's mother, Charlotte, Jonah Cement, who oversees the local park, Mia, Clemente, Lev, Tracey, and other quirky characters fill out the story, all of them blossoming into better, more realistic versions of themselves as Eve comes to terms with her future.  There is a lot of humor in this novel, even in the descriptions of Eve's clothing choices as she loses weight.  In the end, I was glad I read "Home Repair", and I think you will be, too.  It looks and sounds like it should be chick-lit, but for some reason it is most definitely not!

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON (Eileen Goudge)

Lindsey and Kerri Anne are ages twelve and three, respectively, when they are taken from their drug-addicted mother, Crystal McAllister, and placed in separate foster homes.  Lindsey is eventually adopted by her foster parents, an older couple who raise her in an atmosphere of love and security, willing her the somewhat dilapitated family home on Blue Moon Bay in northern California.  Kerri Anne was not so fortunate, being bounced from one foster family to another, eventually falling in love with Jeremiah, a musician who introduces her to drugs and desserts her and their daughter, Bella. When the state steps in and removes 5-year-old Bella from Kerri Anne's care it appears that the past is destined to repeat itself, but Kerri Anne decides to clean up her act in an effort to prove that she is a fit mother.  She enters rehab, attends regular AA meetings, and finally, in a desperate attempt to prove that she can provide a stable home environment for her daughter, she finds Lindsey and asks to share her home.  Lindsey has been searching for Kerri Anne for 25 years and is both thrilled and appalled to finally meet her lost sibling after all of these years.  The two sisters appear to be as opposite as any two could be in terms of life circumstances and choices, but as they get to know each other they begin to discover a shaky common ground and to develop a strong bond.

In terms of plot, this novel is somewhat predictable.  Do we expect the sisters to bond or to reject each other?  How do you suppose the story will end?  Despite some predictability, Goudge's novel is delightful.  She has crafted interesting characters who are sometimes outlandish, yet still believable.  You'll love Miss Honi Love, the former exotic dancer with a heart of gold, and dislike Grant, the boring boyfriend who loves Lindsey but takes her for granted.  Ollie is too good to be true, but you still want him to be real, and the sisters themselves, though somewhat stereotypical, have the reader rooting for their relationship.  There are a couple of very interesting sub-plots involving corporate villains and a charming best-selling author that keep the story moving beautifully.  If I were going to rate this book, I'd give it 2 thumbs up!

COMMENCEMENT (J. Courtney Sullivan)

Commencement is a complex novel about four Smith College students embarking on lives very different from what they imagined on their first day on campus.  This book has, of course, been compared to Mary McCarthy's classic, The Group, a novel that I loved when I read it years ago.  Sullivan is a Smith graduate of great talent with an exceptional eye for details.  As the novel begins, the four main characters, Sally, Bree, April, and Celia, have been assigned to live on the same corrider in King House, a residence hall at Smith.  Sally, who recently lost her mother and is coping with and emotionally absent father, is from the Boston area, as is Celia.  Sally has her sights set on medical school, while Celia is an aspiring writer who longs to live in New York and write novels.  Bree is a Southern Belle, engaged to her high school sweetheart and longing for home, while Chicago-born April is a budding feminist who eschews shaving and fashion.

At this point one would expect a reasonably typical homage to female friendship and sisterhood, but Sullivan explores the darker and often sexual side of life at Smith.  I have to admit that if I were a high school student considering attending Smith, reading this novel might make me think twice because it goes so far beyond the typical "college" experiences.  It focuses very strongly, at times, on SLUGs (Smith Lesbians Until Graduation), gender issues, and sexual experimentation, but the main focus is really the strong bond of friendship and love among the four woman during college and after graduation.  One of the most interesting threads, and one that especially makes this novel stand out from other "girlfriends" stories, is April's involvement/employment with a self-aggrandizing, radical feminist film maker who documents abuse and exploitation of women, using April callously to further her own relentless pursuit of her cause.

This is one of those books that might leave you alternately horrified, laughing, or nodding your head in agreement.  It will definitely leave you thinking, though, as you process all of the layers and levels of Sullivan's first novel.

HOT ON THE TRAIL (Jane Isenberg)

Bel Barrett, Isenberg's post-menopausal amateur detective, is trying to find the time to marry Sol, the love of her life.  When one of her elderly night school students dies in a fall from his roof, Bel is invited by the man's daughter to investigate the tragedy, delaying the wedding yet again.  At first no one except Dom's daughter Flora, another of Bel's students, supects foul play, and Bel herself is skeptical at first.  Like any amateur detective worth her salt, though, Bel changes her mind several times about who might be responsible for Dom's death and she also manages to take several foolish chances in her quest for information.  Women in their 50's and beyond will identify with the physical, mental, and emotional changes that plague Bel and her two post menopausal friends and will especially enjoy the humorous way in which Isenberg portrays women of a "certain age" as lively, competent, imaginative, and adventurous.  readers of all ages will savor the evolution of clues that eventually lead Bel to the killer and to a lifetime of happiness with her soul-mate, Sol.

KNIT THE SEASON (Kate Jacobs)

Dakota Walker is living her dream of attending culinary school.  if you haven't read "The Friday Night Knitting Club" or "Knit Two" I would recommend checking them out before reading this one.  It's not that this seasonal novel is not enjoyable as a stand-alone, but that the expereinec will be so much richer if you have already gotten to know Dakota, James, Anita, Peri, and the rest of the Friday Night Knitting Club.  This book is like getting together with old friends to enjoy some holiday cheer.

THE CASTAWAYS (Elin Hilderbrand)

First of all, I didn't finish this book.  I usually like Hilderbrand's style and characters and I love that she sets her books on Nantucket, despite that fact that I have never been there (I did spend a lot of time in Manomet, MA and on Cape Cod as a child, though).  The Castaways, however, is depressing and I just had to stop reading.

The Castaways are a group of 4 couples who live year-round on the island and vacation together: Police Chief Ed and his wife Andrea; farmer Jeffrey and his wife Delilah, who helps to manage a restaurant/club, the Blue Begonia; real estate mogul Addison and his wife Phoebe, a beautiful, fragile woman who is dependent on prescription drugs; and Greg, who sings at the Blue Begonia and Tess, who is Andrea's younger cousin.  At the beginning of the novel we hear that Tess and Greg have drowned in a boating accident on thier 12th wedding anniversary, leaving 7 year-old-twins, Chloe and Finn, behind.  This drowning sets off a series of reactions in each of the characters.  Andrea, who used to live with Jeffrey and almost married him before she met Ed, slips into depression, feeling that she is responsible for Tess's death since she failed to join the convent as she promised in a pact with God years ago when she saved Tess from drowning.  Delilah, who was on the verge of an affair with Greg, is disturbed about his supposed daliance with a provocative high school girl who claims to have been with him the night before he drowned.  Addison was having a love affair with Tess and is the executor of Tess and Greg's estate.  He uses this role as a means of combing their home for clues about Tess's real feelings for him.  Phoebe, Addison's wife, has been in a depression since her twin brother, Reed, died in 9/11, but somehow Tess and Greg's deaths cause her to finally break free of her grief just as Addison is descending into his own private Hell.

Hilderbrand's writing style is enjoyable and the characters here are reasonably well-developed, but there is just too much depression, grief, and angst.  There are nuances that there may be something suspicious about Tess and Greg's deaths, but no real hint of any sort of foul play.  I admit that I do kind of wonder what really happened, and for this reason I wouldn't discount the novel or suggest that you not read it.  If you choose to try this one, though, be prepared to feel agitated and sad.

FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE (Patricia MacDonald)

What a good thriller!   I really had no clue whatsoever about who might be guilty in this novel until almost the end. 

Graduate student Morgan Adair travels to West Briar, LI to be godmother to Drew, the infant son of her childhood friend, Claire, and her husband, Guy.  When Morgan arrives she finds Claire suffering from severe postpartum depression and Guy at his wit's end trying to help his wife hold up under the strain of caring for their new son.  A week later, as Morgan is preparing to board a plane for England, where she is planning to share research (and, hopefully, a bed) with her colleague, Simon, she receives a call from Claire telling her that she is in police custody, charged with murdering her husband and her son, and that she is guilty of the crime.  Morgan postpones her trip to come to the aid of her friend.  On arrival back in West Briar she is confronted with family, friends, and even Claire's lawyer, who seem to be unanimous in believing that Claire is guilty as charged and will spend the rest of her life in jail or, at best, confined to a mental intitution.  With the occasional help of guy's best friend, Fitz, Morgan sets out to prove that someone other than Claire is responsible for these unspeakable crimes.

MacDonald has a wonderful talent for throwing in red herrings so subtle that you see the possibilities but are never really sure if they are clues or just coincidences.  If you enjoy psychological suspense and superb old-fashioned amateur detective work, try reading this one.  There are no hacked up bodies or machine guns here.  I guess they call it "domestic suspense" because it really COULD happen in your house or your neighborhood, and that makes it even scarier than serial killers or things that go bump in the night!