The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

In the aftermath of WWII, when many soldiers were returning home to England from wherever they’d been serving during the war, there were also many women being brought to England as well – namely, the brides these soldiers had acquired while in service to their country. This story hones in on four women from Australia from quite disparate backgrounds: Jean, a poor but very outgoing and lively bride; Avice, a privileged society girl breaking away from her family for the first time; Margaret, a farmer’s daughter who’s been caring for her brothers and father since the painful loss of her mother; and Frances, a very reserved and quiet nurse with a mysterious past. As these four women share very cramped quarters on a ship to London, they also share their past, their anxieties about their futures, and many unsettling experiences on their adventure across the oceans to their new destinations.

This is a fascinating piece of historical fiction that is beautifully narrated by Moyes. From the very first paragraph we are transported back in time, into the lives of each of these very different but equally engaging characters. While we might connect with some over others, they each display their own quirks and vulnerabilities, each having their darker side, their frustrations – their humanity. Each of these women is also subject to the norms of her time: the assumptions, the judgements, and the limitations thrust upon her in that era. This is depicted in many ways, both subtle and overt.

I loved this book and am reluctant to say more about it because I don’t want to give any of it away. I highly recommend it and, yes, I believe it is a MUST READ! Read and enjoy!

City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Natasha (formally Natalia) has just arrived in her home city in Russia after years in Paris, and it is overwhelming. She is not certain she will be able to face any of it – her scheduled return to the ballet stage after her injury, her old teachers, her old friends, the city itself. She is finding there to be just too many painful memories, too many scars from her past, far deeper than her physical ones. Can she overcome her heartbreak to return to the stage? Will it be worth it?

This is the dramatic saga of a ballet dancer who starts with nothing and works literally to the bone to rise to the very top. She ignores the competition and the backstabbing from her fellow students as well as the ruthlessness of the teachers and is laser-focused only on achieving perfection. Even friends and family must be kept secondary to her goal, or so she perceives. What she finds once she rises to the top, however, is that it becomes quite lonely there. When you’re on top, there is not much company there. It’s hard to fit others in there with you…

Has dancing filled in a void for her that she could not fill otherwise? Or did she create a void with her dancing, as a defense against having to cope with others? Natasha has loved, but it’s been complicated and tangled into her insular world. She is now facing that question as she forces herself to heal, both inside and out.

The most beautiful character here, in my opinion, is Natasha’s friend, Nina. While Natasha often takes her for granted, Nina is the most steadfast, the most grounded of all the characters in the story. While she also is incredibly talented, driven and successful, she also manages to have a relationship with another dancer, to marry and to have a family even while continuing to dance. When she is treated poorly by Natasha, she calls her out for it. In fact, there are years during which they do not speak. But Nina is forgiving, and ultimately, she is there for her friend, showing up when she knows she is needed the most.

This narrative is a fascinating peek into an artist’s mind as well as into the world of dance. It is also a story about love, friendship and forgiveness.

Long Island by Colm Toibin

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Twenty or so years have passed (since Brooklyn), and we find Eilis still married to Tony, with two lovely teenaged children, sharing a tiny cul-de-sac on Long Island with Tony’s parents and his brothers and their families. This excessive closeness might not be so terrible if it weren’t for the sudden, unexpected visitor that appears at Eilis’s door one day, bringing with him a threat that upends her entire life. With this startling news and its implications, Eilis gradually learns two things: one, that there are no secrets in Tony’s family ever, and two, that she has no true allies among them. As she realizes that she must take matters into her own hands, she slowly tries to plot how she will cope. How she manages and her next steps will change her life and the lives of her whole family.

In this installment of the series, we see Eilis finally taking a stand, finding her red line. She has matured and grown stronger, even as she is treated so poorly by the family around her, including her husband. They lie to her, disrespect her, and treat her as an outsider. She learns the hard way that she cannot trust any of them. But she perseveres, trying to maintain some degree of sanity in order to hold on to her status as the mother of her children, knowing that if she deserts them, she will lose them (that she has few rights in the eyes of the law, especially at that time). And that the family will double-cross her, even though she is the one who has been wronged. So she is stealthy, strategic, smart.

The plot is also more intriguing, taking us back to Ireland, winding us back in time, as her old flame is reignited. But it’s much more complicated now. Lives have moved on, relationships have formed and Eilis is walking into a web of complex emotional ties. How she balances her own desires with her children’s welfare and her family’s internal drama keeps the story moving and the reader engaged.

I definitely found this one to be more engaging and less frustrating. Worth the work!

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Eilis is frustrated. She is smart, ambitious, and hard-working, just like her older sister, but she cannot find a suitable job here in her small, Irish town. Although she can ignore the remarks from even her closest friends about her part-time job bagging groceries for an ornery, miserly, even patronizing local shopkeeper, her sister cannot. And before she knows it, Eilis is being sent overseas to America to start a new life for herself in New York. What she encounters there – the challenges, the excitement, the novelties, and the growth – will change the course of her life forever. And it will also forever change the way she sees the small Irish town she has called home.

This is one of those books that was built up for me ahead of time, so my expectations were high and unfortunately not entirely met. This book was compelling and fairly well-written, but I found myself not overwhelmingly fond of the main character, Eilis. While I felt compassion for her, her disorientation and frustration with being thrust into this new world, I also felt she was frequently passive, dishonest, and condescending toward those around her. She was not someone I’d actually want to hang out with… So it was with a bit of detachment that I read her otherwise interesting journey through the streets of Brooklyn.

I am not giving up on her, though! My next read is Long Island, as you might have noticed, which is the next in this series by Colm Toibin. I am hoping it gets better and that I come to like her more. Let’s see what happens…

The Autumn of Ruth Winters by Marshall Fine

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Ruth is very much a creature of habit, borne of frustration with the world which she has felt has dealt her a tough hand. She’s been disappointed by her sister, her late husband, and her general life circumstances, and she’s just now managing to make the best of it by caring for a few young children in the neighborhood whom she enjoys quite a lot. Children, she finds, are honest, kind, and respond well to her “old-fashioned,” rules-driven manner. But suddenly, when she receives a shocking call from her sister asking for a favor, her world is turned upside-down. Ruth is forced to come to terms with her difficult past and perhaps make some changes that will affect both her present and her future.

This is a completely endearing novel that will engage you right from the start, pull at your heartstrings, and bring you joy. It is written with such tenderness, even when Ruth is stewing in resentment, or immobilized by inertia. We see that she is stuck but we also feel empathy for her. Life has thrown her curve balls, one after the other. But now, it appears, she is suddenly coming into her own.

I believe the lesson here is that while it may seem as if the other (here, Ruth’s sister) may have the “perfect” life, the grass truly isn’t always greener, so to speak. One never knows what goes on behind closed doors, we can never know what is going on in another person’s life or mind. The nicest house, the most glamorous career, the most beautiful, “picture-perfect” family – might inspire jealousy, but may not be what they appear to be. On the other hand, others who may appear on the outside to have difficulties or challenges, may actually be the most content.

This is a lovely novel, enriching, beautifully written and with a lovely message. I highly recommend it!

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

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Alice, frustrated by her journalism career, has just landed the interview of a lifetime: she will be meeting the glamorous but reclusive Margaret Ives in the hopes of possibly writing her biography. Unfortunately, to her dismay, she has just discovered that she must prove herself more worthy of the task over the OTHER journalist who has also arrived to be interviewed for this opportunity, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Hayden. As she learns more and more about the origin story of Margaret Ives, her truths (and her semi-truths), she also finds she is learning more about herself – and about her competition – in the process.

This is a complex, incredibly imaginative story that will delight and surprise you in more ways than you can imagine. There is intrigue, heartbreak, and disappointment, but also love and romance and joy. Margaret’s story is complicated but fascinating, and we are kept in suspense by the breaks in her story, facilitated by the rivalry between Alice and Hayden. We feel for Margaret, as she clenches onto her privacy with a tight grip, as she’s lived in the media spotlight most of her life and been burned from the heat of it. But we also want to know. We want to know what happened to her, what has created her sadness, why she has shied away from the world for so long and why she wants to tell her story now.

This is not a typical romance novel, in that it was twisty, surprising (particularly toward the end), and complex. There are many layers to this story, as it is a story within a story, and it is as well-constructed as it is written.

Definitely treat yourself to this one!

Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Shiloh is not sure why she is even going to Mikey’s wedding – she hasn’t spoken to him, or anyone from high school, if she’s honest with herself – for so many years. In spite of the fact that she’s back home, living with her mother and her two children since her ugly divorce. But the thought of possibly, maybe running into her old, best friend, Cary, is, well, an exciting, if intimidating prospect. While it may bring back many sweet memories, it also brings back some awkward ones as well. When she does see Cary, it sparks something between them. But what does it mean?

This is a sweet romance story that will not necessarily knock your socks off, but will certainly keep you curious and engaged. Shiloh is a no-nonsense, smart, and slightly disillusioned woman who has suffered more than her share of disappointments. She loves fiercely and has not always been given that love in return, and so has built a shell around her in self-preservation. When she meets Cary, again, this shell has become so hardened that she is unaware of how burdensome it can be to carry it around with her always. Fortunately, Cary is persistent…

Again, if you’re looking for a light romance novel that is witty and entertaining, this is for you.

We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

The Mulvaney family – Michael Sr, Corinne, and their four children, not to mention all their animals – are a boisterous, close-knit, and fairly prosperous family living on a working farm in upstate NY. Michael has worked his way up from humble beginnings, to say the least, and Corinne, who left college to marry Michael, prides herself on knowing exactly what is going on with their 3 boys and 1 girl at all times. And while she adores her sons, she takes particular pride in her beautiful, popular, and smart daughter, who mystifies her by the attention, the phone calls, and the friends she garners (that Corinne herself was never able to). So how is it that Corinne missed the change in Marianne, the alteration in her mood, her habits, even her appearance since the prom a week ago? And how would this affect the Mulvaneys going forward?

This portrait of the gradual demise of a family after a major trauma is tragic, heart-wrenching, and devastatingly realistic. We watch as their communication breaks down, as they increasingly close off to one another, drawing inside themselves, festering in their own grief, unable to reach out to the one who actually is the one who truly needs the nurturing: Marianne. Even Corinne, the mom, who is supposedly the heart of the family, desperately tries to be the glue tying them all to their beloved home. She is coming apart at the seams, fraying and caving to the weaknesses of the men around her, particularly her husband’s. Marianne’s vulnerability, her trauma, becomes her fault. As happens way too often, Marianne punishes herself and is punished by everyone around her, as if she has asked for this trauma. As if something she has done has provoked the trauma she’s experienced. (Which, of course, it has not.)

It is hard to read this novel without becoming angry – at the family, at the community, at society in general. Because this is the story of women. It is set in the 1970’s but it can be anytime, anywhere and it will be true all over again. A man assaults a woman and it becomes her fault, she gets blamed and it becomes all about the men around her. How it reflects on the family. How it must be avenged. How she must have brought it on, somehow. How she must be punished for it, ultimately. Because somehow it is her shame, not the shame of the perpetrator. (Why is this still a thing? It is impossible to comprehend.)

I believe the writing is a bit meandering, with quite a lot of extraneous detail. But within is a story for all time, an important statement about the past and current way in which the needs of women become undermined by those of the men around them. How a single traumatic event can impact an entire family for their whole lives. And how if we don’t communicate, face what is needed with kindness, compassion, and humility, we will never get beyond this hypocritical treatment of women in our society.

The Other Woman by Sandie Jones

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Emily is flying high. She has just met Adam, the man of her dreams – gorgeous, sweet, successful – and it feels too good to be true. Especially after having been burned by her previous boyfriend. She just knows it is right this time, they fit together so perfectly. So why is she so uncomfortable around his mother, Pammie? Why is it that every time they are with Pammie, she feels left out, intentionally snubbed, or worse? Emily is trying so hard to please her – why is Adam not seeing this? Why won’t he defend her? As it becomes more and more Emily’s mission to “out” Pammie and her obvious lying, she becomes more and more entangled in Adam’s family dysfunction. Will she ever be able to get Adam to see the truth?

There are many stories in which I feel that I cannot turn away; yet this one is one in which I felt frustrated not to be able to turn the main character away! More than once, I heard myself almost yelling out of frustration with Emily, admonishing her to just walk away from her untenable situation. I can’t imagine how she’d persist – how anyone would persist – and stay determined to salvage her relationship, in spite of what is clearly a destructive, even demented state of affairs. But then, so many do, right? Even when we see how unhealthy, how not normal, how even abusive a relationship might be. We believe we will fix things, we will convince the other to change. What I did not expect was the VERY surprising ending, which caught me totally off-guard and which made the whole book worth reading, after all.

So while this was something of a torturous experience – of course, all in the spirit of the fun of reading – it built into a worthwhile, albeit a bit insane, venture.

I would LOVE to know what others think of this one! Comments please???

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Izzy was initially delighted at the prospect of having landed a job in publishing. For someone to pay her to read, to be surrounded by books, to put her literary skills to the test at a New York-based publishing house was a dream come true. That is, until reality sunk in, with all its concomitant pressures and workload, essentially being ignored by her senior editor/supposed mentor, and the occasional cloying comment by her associates. Not to mention the entitled, spoiled, famous Beau Towers, whom she had to email every two weeks to try to urge to write his memoir – which had been ignored repeatedly for the past year. At least she has the upcoming conference in LA to look forward to, which, to her excitement, she’d be attending with her best friend, Priya. Little did Izzy suspect that this break in her routine would be the break she needed from her very life.

This fairy-tale-based story is very much like a fairy tale: sweet, romantic, and entirely predictable. Izzy is a beautiful character, an idealistic, talented, clever protagonist wrapped up in a slightly insecure package, daunted by her surroundings, intimidated by the dog-eat-dog world she’s working in. True, she’s also one of a very few people of color in a very White-dominated field, and this intimidates her further. And we like her, with her humor, her charm and her dedication to her art, family and friends. When she comes up with a creative idea, thinking outside the box to try to get this obnoxious client, Beau, to finally answer her and her boss, we cheer her on, excited for her potential win.

But sadly, while the dialogue between Izzy and Beau are initially full of intriguing outbursts and only a gradual thaw, they melt into such banal banter that it becomes a disappointment. The “big reveal” of Beau’s history, his source of his anxiety and tragedy might have been interesting, but it is almost as if the author tired of the story herself and just wanted it to be completed. There are no major plot twists of note, just a host of romance tropes that were, to be honest, saccharine and trite.

I believe, once again, this is a very cute idea that is only fairly well executed. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a way to be distracted from what is happening in the world at the moment with a guaranteed happy ending, this is your story!