Bearskin Diary – Carol Daniels
Summary: Raw and honest, Bearskin Diary gives voice to a generation of First Nations women who have always been silenced, at a time when movements like Idle No More call for a national inquiry into the missing and murdered Aboriginal women. Carol Daniels adds an important perspective to the Canadian literary landscape. Taken from the arms of her mother as soon as she was born, Sandy was only one of over twenty thousand Aboriginal children scooped up by the federal government between the 1960s and 1980s. Sandy was adopted by a Ukrainian family and grew up as the only First Nations child in a town of white people. Ostracized by everyone around her and tired of being different, at the early age of five she tried to scrub the brown off her skin. But she was never sent back into the foster system, and for that she considers herself lucky. From this tragic period in her personal life and in Canadian history, Sandy does not emerge unscathed, but she emerges strong–finding her way by embracing the First Nations culture that the Sixties Scoop had tried to deny.
Review: I enjoyed this story, though the subject matter was at times difficult. The first person narrative was powerful, but I did find the writing to be uneven. I thought it would be more of a love story, but it’s actually a story about self-discovery, acceptance, and perseverance.
The Last Knight – Norman F. Cantor
Summary: There may not be a more fascinating a historical period than the late fourteenth century in Europe. The Hundred Years’ War ravaged the continent, yet gallantry, chivalry, and literary brilliance flourished in the courts of England and elsewhere. It was a world in transition, soon to be replaced by the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration – and John of Gaunt was its central figure. In today’s terms, John of Gaunt was a multibillionaire with a brand name equal to Rockefeller. He fought in the Hundred Years’ War, sponsored Chaucer and proto-Protestant religious thinkers, and survived the dramatic Peasants’ Revolt, during which his sumptuous London residence was burned to the ground. As head of the Lancastrian branch of the Plantagenet family, Gaunt was the unknowing father of the War of the Roses; after his death, his son usurped the crown from his nephew, Richard II. Gaunt’s adventures represent the culture and mores of the Middle Ages as those of few others do, and his death is portrayed in The Last Knight as the end of that enthralling period.
Review: This was an unexpected delight. The parallels drawn between aristocrats like John of Gaunt and modern day billionaires were thought-provoking. Also, the author doesn’t mince words when it comes to some of the less delightful aspects of the Middle Ages. I enjoyed his dry sense of humour, but it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Also, this isn’t a proper biography of John of Gaunt; it jumps around a lot, and it’s mostly focused on the broader themes represented by his life.
Sex and Vanity – Kevin Kwan
Summary: On her very first morning on the jewel-like island of Capri, Lucie Churchill sets eyes on George Zao and she instantly can’t stand him. She can’t stand it when he gallantly offers to trade hotel rooms with her so that she can have the view of the Tyrrhenian Sea, she can’t stand that he knows more about Curzio Malaparte than she does, and she really can’t stand it when he kisses her in the darkness of the ancient ruins of a Roman villa and they are caught by her snobbish, disapproving cousin, Charlotte. “Your mother is Chinese so it’s no surprise you’d be attracted to someone like him,” Charlotte teases. Daughter of an American-born-Chinese mother and blue-blooded New York father, Lucie has always sublimated the Asian side of herself in favor of the white side, and she adamantly denies having feelings for George. But several years later, when George unexpectedly appears in East Hampton where Lucie is weekending with her new fiancé, Lucie finds herself drawn to George again. Soon, Lucy is spinning a web of deceit that involves her family, her fiancé, the co-op board of her Fifth Avenue apartment, and ultimately herself as she tries mightily to deny George entry into her world–and her heart. Moving between summer playgrounds of privilege, peppered with decadent food and extravagant fashion, Sex and Vanity is a truly modern love story, a daring homage to A Room with a View, and a brilliantly funny comedy of manners set between two cultures.
Comments: I haven’t read A Room With a View, so maybe I am not fully appreciating this book, but I found it a pale imitation of the Crazy Rich Asians series. I always enjoy Kwan’s descriptions of the foibles of rich people, but the central story here was paper thin and ultimately uninteresting to me. The protagonists were even less compelling than Nick and Rachel, and let’s face it – those two were the least interesting part of Crazy Rich Asians. Anyway, this would still be a fun “beach read” if you’re in the market for something of that nature.
Devil’s Cub – Georgette Heyer
Summary: The son of the Duke and Duchess of Avon, the Marquis of Vidal is known as Devil’s Cub not only for the excesses of his father but for his own wild habits. As he is paying court to a girl of the bourgeoisie, Sophia Challoner, he also participates in a rather impromptu duel, the outcome of which forces him to leave the country. He intends to bring Sophia with him as his mistress: but her strait-laced sister Mary has no intention of allowing her sister to be ruined, and takes her place, assuming that the Marquis will let her go once the mistake is discovered, leaving him with no chance to take Sophia afterwards. But she has not yet obtained the measure of the Marquis’s personality, for in the grip of fury he takes Mary off with him instead, and only when they are in France and it is too late for either to turn back does he realise that by abducting a respectable girl he has compromised her and is obliged to offer her marriage.
Comments: I borrowed that summary from Wikipedia, and it should give you a good flavour of the plot. I am not a huge romance novel reader, but I really enjoy Heyer’s Regency romances. This one is actually set in 18th century, but it has all of the Heyer touches: a spunky heroine, an arrogant and louche aristocratic hero (who is ultimately redeemed), lots of misunderstandings, crackling dialogue. Vidal (the hero) is a bit more assholish than most, but Mary makes up for it by being extra practical and commanding.
A Wild Sheep Chase – Haruki Murakami
Summary: A marvelous hybrid of mythology and mystery, A Wild Sheep Chase is the extraordinary literary thriller that launched Haruki Murakami’s international reputation. It begins simply enough: A twenty-something advertising executive receives a postcard from a friend, and casually appropriates the image for an insurance company’s advertisement. What he doesn’t realize is that included in the pastoral scene is a mutant sheep with a star on its back, and in using this photo he has unwittingly captured the attention of a man in black who offers a menacing ultimatum: find the sheep or face dire consequences. Thus begins a surreal and elaborate quest that takes our hero from the urban haunts of Tokyo to the remote and snowy mountains of northern Japan, where he confronts not only the mythological sheep, but the confines of tradition and the demons deep within himself. Quirky and utterly captivating, A Wild Sheep Chase is Murakami at his astounding best.
Comments: Honestly, I’m not sure what this book is about. I have some ideas, but I found the ending pretty confounding. In my defense, I was reading this while in the grip of chronic insomnia, so my wits were not at their sharpest. That being said, I enjoyed the writing and the kooky plot, once I stopped trying to make sense of what was happening. I just let it wash over me, so to speak, and got carried away with the verve of the writing and surreal events in the book.
The Heron’s Cry – Ann Cleeves
Summary: North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coastline. Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists. What he finds is an elaborately staged murder – Dr Nigel Yeo has been fatally stabbed with a shard of one of his glassblower daughter’s broken vases. Dr Yeo seems an unlikely murder victim. He’s a good man, a public servant, beloved by his daughter. Matthew is unnerved though to find that she is a close friend of Jonathan, his husband. Then another body is found, killed in a similar way. Matthew finds himself treading carefully through the lies that fester at the heart of his community and a case that is dangerously close to home.
Comments: This is the second book in Cleeves’ new Two Rivers series. I don’t find the main characters (police officers) as compelling in this series as Cleeves’ better known Shetland and Vera series, but her writing and plotting is always top notch. This was a solid whodunnit, though I did find myself guessing at the culprit a little earlier in the story than usual. But a new Ann Cleeves novel is always a treat.
A Game for All the Family – Sophie Hannah
Summary: Pulled into a deadly game of deception, secrets, and lies, a woman must find the truth in order to defeat a mysterious opponent, protect her daughter, and save her own life in this dazzling standalone psychological thriller with an unforgettable ending from the New York Times bestselling author of Woman with a Secret and The Monogram Murders. You thought you knew who you were. A stranger knows better. You’ve left the city—and the career that nearly destroyed you—for a fresh start on the coast. But trouble begins when your daughter withdraws, after her new best friend, George, is unfairly expelled from school. You beg the principal to reconsider, only to be told that George hasn’t been expelled. Because there is, and was, no George. Who is lying? Who is real? Who is in danger? Who is in control? As you search for answers, the anonymous calls begin—a stranger, who insists that you and she share a traumatic past and a guilty secret. And then the caller threatens your life. . . . This is Justine’s story. This is Justine’s family. This is Justine’s game. But it could be yours.
Comments; Sophie Hannah books are ALWAYS bonker balls, but this one takes the cake. It was so preposterous that I was almost angry at the end. I did finish it, mostly because I simply had to see how Hannah would tie up all of the (preposterous, did I mention?) loose ends. The characters were all pretty unlikable and, moreover, acted in the most improbable ways. The protagonist’s 13 year old daughter spoke and acted like a 30 year old. The less said about the George sub-plot, the better. It’s just … a deeply bizarre book all around.
The Mitford Murders – Jessica Fellowes –
Summary: The first in a series of thrilling Golden Age-style mysteries, set among the Mitford sisters, and based on a real unsolved murder, by Jessica Fellowes, author of the New York Times bestselling Downton Abbey books. It’s 1920, and Louisa Cannon dreams of escaping her life of poverty in London. Louisa’s salvation is a position within the Mitford household at Asthall Manor, in the Oxfordshire countryside. There she will become nursemaid, chaperone and confidante to the Mitford sisters, especially sixteen-year-old Nancy, an acerbic, bright young woman in love with stories. But then a nurse―Florence Nightingale Shore, goddaughter of her famous namesake―is killed on a train in broad daylight, and Louisa and Nancy find themselves entangled in the crimes of a murderer who will do anything to hide their secret…
Comments: I feel like this book is trying to capitalize on the popularity of the Mitford sisters as biographical subjects. And look, I am not complaining: I love reading about the Mitford clan. But this book fails to capture the things that made them such interesting and polarizing historical figures (one sister became a writer, two were Nazis, one a Communist, and one a Duchess – you can’t make this stuff up). The protagonist is boring, as is her police detective beau. The writing was meh. The story did pick up more speed towards the end, but not enough to make me want to read more in this series.
The Gargoyle – Andrew Davidson
Summary: An extraordinary debut novel of love that survives the fires of hell and transcends the boundaries of time. On a burn ward, a man lies between living and dying, so disfigured that no one from his past life would even recognize him. His only comfort comes from imagining various inventive ways to end his misery. Then a woman named Marianne Engel walks into his hospital room, a wild-haired, schizophrenic sculptress on the lam from the psych ward upstairs, who insists that she knows him – that she has known him, in fact, for seven hundred years. She remembers vividly when they met, in another hospital ward at a convent in medieval Germany, when she was a nun and he was a wounded mercenary left to die. If he has forgotten this, he is not to worry: she will prove it to him. And so Marianne Engel begins to tell him their story, carving away his disbelief and slowly drawing him into the orbit and power of a word he’d never uttered: love.
Comments: I picked this up because I saw it described somewhere as a memorable love story, and was very intrigued by the premise. I ended up really liking it, mostly because of said premise, and because of some passages of truly beautiful writing. But I found the writing (and book as a whole) uneven. Some parts were not as strong. I felt the author stumbled a bit towards the end. But it is a beautiful, unconventional story that spoke to me on many levels.
The Real History Behind the Templars – Sharan Newman
Summary: The medieval historian who revealed The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code uncloaks the Templars. In the year 1119, these noblemen found their calling as protectors of the faithful on a dangerous pilgrimage to newly conquered Jerusalem. Now, historian Sharan Newman elucidates the mysteries and misconceptions of the Templars, from their true first founding and role in the Crusades to more modern intrigues, including:
- Were they devout knights or secret heretics?
- Did they leave behind a fantastic treasure-hidden to this day?
- How did they come to be associated with the Holy Grail?
- Did they come to America before the time of Columbus?
- Does the order still exist?
Comments: Exhaustively researched and enjoyable and easy to read, this is a comprehensive book about the Templars – the facts, not the fiction. I am partial to a good conspiracy theory about the Templars (mostly because I love Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum), but I appreciate the work that Newman put into debunking all the myths.
*All summaries from Amazon unless otherwise noted.
