A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

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We meet Count Alexander Rustov in June of 1922, as he is pronounced guilty of having written a poem that was felt to incite potential action against the Kremlin.  He is sentenced to house arrest, but as it happens, his “house” is the Metropol Hotel, one of Moscow’s finest international hotels.  As he is resettled into a much smaller room than the one to which he’s grown accustomed, he adjusts his life and his expectations to the confines of his restricted quarters.  When he very soon meets a young girl of 9 years named Nina, his life changes dramatically and he learns that life can lead you in very unexpected directions even when you cannot leave the very confines of your home.

The writing in this book is absolutely gorgeous.  While the story is related with the lofty verbiage to which a count of Rustov’s caliber and sophistication is accustomed, Amor Towles blends wit and warmth  with such mastery that the result has the reader smiling throughout the many pages of this book.  Here is an example of the imagery that is used so brilliantly:

“Like the wheeling of the stars…  That is how time passes when one is left waiting unaccountably.  The minutes relentless.  And the seconds?  Why, not only does every last one of them demand its moment in the stage, it insists upon making a soliloquy full of weighty pauses and artful hesitations and then leaps into an encore at the slightest hint of applause.” (P 353)

In addition, each of the characters adds much color to the palate of this book.  As Alexander insinuates himself into the inner workings of the hotel, he befriends staff and guests alike, and the reader has the pleasure of their company as well.  The setting inside the hotel also gives the reader an appreciation of the interplay between Russian international relations and the insular attitude of communism.

I don’t often categorize books as “Must Reads” because I feel this should be kept exclusive, but I’m doing it here.  A Gentleman in Moscow is absolutely a “MUST READ!”

The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

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Leo, Jack, Bea, and Melody are siblings awaiting the 40th birthday of the youngest of them, Melody — because on this day, they are slated to inherit what they’ve been calling for years, the “Nest.”  Unfortunately, when Leo gets into a terrible accident, their mother hijacks an ungodly percentage of it to rescue him (and the family name).  As the siblings come together, wondering if Leo will really pay them back what he owes, they find they get something more valuable than money in return.

The fun of this book is in the many, colorful characters.  Each of the siblings has his or her own personal drama and the telling of it is well-crafted.  The perspective switches frequently, keeping the pace brisk and the tension taut.  And when resolution comes, it does not get wrapped into a rainbow-perfect package, but stays very real and true.

I love that these characters define family in many different ways.  Love and allegiance are more important than traditional roles and family constructs.  I think we can all learn from this, as we all have our own biases and expectations – and this is not what should be imposed on anyone else.

Enjoy The Nest!  I did!

A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams

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OK, I’ll admit I’m a little obsessed with the writing of Beatriz Williams at the moment.  But it’s justified!  In this novel, she has managed, once again, to create characters that I’d love to go out and have a drink with.

This story, which takes place in New York just as the world is reeling from the effects of the first World War, weaves together the lives of Sophie, a reclusive innocent who secretly tinkers with “machines”, Octavian, a WWI air force veteran/hero, and Theresa, a middle aged NYC socialite.  As their lives become entangled, we gradually learn why Sophie’s life has been so sheltered by her father and how complications of love can bring out both evil and good.

Williams’ use of different voices enables her to truly uncover the personalities of her colorful and complex characters.  We hear from Theresa in first person – and her aggressive but coy and sardonic humor shines through.  On the other hand, we learn about Sophie in third person, but this is fitting as she actually knows little about herself, having been sheltered by her father and trying to break out.  And with each change of perspective comes a different tint in language and feeling.

What is also amusing is that all of Williams’ books either centrally or peripherally involve the Schuyler family of Manhattan, her fabricated, very large and very intriguing  family of characters.  In this book we get to know Julie Schuyler, who is rich and confident and worldly, but also admittedly dependent on her family for her fun – a woman typical of her wealthy 1920’s era.  She is a side character here, but serves as the vehicle that brings Sophie into the limelight of the story.

I can’t wait to read my next Beatriz Williams book!

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

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One evening in the summer of 1989, Lindy Simpson, was raped on her own street in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Her story is told from the voice of her neighbor, friend, and devoted admirer, our narrator who lives across the street from her.  As he tells her story and the story of each of the suspects (himself included), he also reveals his own fascination with her and how their history unfolds.

Much teenage angst and struggle pours out in the telling of this story in a very authentic delivery.  There are apt descriptions of very awkward scenes that kids inevitably encounter and the mention of certain moments in history, such as the explosion of the Challenger and the national horror of Jeffrey Dahmer’s crimes, that enable the reader to directly relate to the feelings the characters feel.  What appears to the outside world as a typical, suburban, upper middle class neighborhood is shown to have a diversity of characters, with shaded pursuits and emotional scars – which is likely what is true of most neighborhoods.

An interesting look at love and family and teenage obsession.

 

Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

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Another absolute winner by this gifted writer!

Pepper Schuyler certainly has her reasons for selling the 1936 Special Roadster Mercedes Benz she’s been working on restoring, but she can’t imagine why the mysterious Annabelle Dommerich was so intent on buying it, and for such a small fortune.  To learn why, the author takes us back and forth between the relative “present” (1966) and the past (1935-) in the telling of the story.  We learn that Annabelle has had to navigate a passionate love for a Jewish German man at the start of the Nazi uprising.  Her complicated history has lead her inextricably back to this car and to Pepper, with whom she will share more in common than Pepper would have ever predicted.

 

Beatriz Williams has a way of creating characters whom you just want to invite over for a drink and conversation.  Her female characters are smart and sharp-witted and yet hopeful and strong.  In addition, she crafts her plots with twists and turns and actually keeps the suspense maintained throughout the pages.  This is a book that you can’t stop but yet don’t want to finish reading, because you just want to stay in the world of these real-life, endearing characters.

Highly recommend this and can’t wait to read other books by her!  (This is my 3rd by her,  I believe.)

Lasting Impact by Kostya Kennedy

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

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So the bottom line, here, is that my friend, Kostya Kennedy must be a good writer to get me to read – and actually enjoy! – a book about football.  While I love some sports, football is not one of them and being a pediatrician experienced in treating concussions, I am really not a fan.  But in this non-fiction account of Kostya’s shadowing the New Rochelle High School football team for their 2014 season, Kostya manages to impress upon even me (a true cynic) why many tolerate the risk for the game.

In the course of the season, Lou DiRienzo, the NRHS football coach takes on the role of coach, teacher, mentor, father-figure, even therapist to many of the boys and he leads them with a kindness and honesty and integrity that earns their trust and respect.  Right from their intensive camp experience at the start of the season, the boys bond and their lives are knitted together as a family.  The team becomes an anchor for those with family issues and a sort of home base for all.  Even at the advent of the Ray Rice scandal, Coach D reiterates that no matter what kind of trouble the boys ever get themselves into, the NRHS football family will always have their back.  And even though the players are injured one after another, there is still an undying devotion to the game.  So even though I am one of those mean mothers who won’t let my son play football, I do see, through the reading of this evenly researched account, its allure.

On the other hand, the negative side is presented quite clearly, too.  The statistics about sudden death from the game, about the potential long- lasting cognitive and emotional deficits, not to mention the broken bones and orthopedic surgeries, are exposed.    This feels to me like a high price to pay for something that another team experience might lend itself to.Still, what is conveyed here is that football, maybe because of its physicality, achieves gains for its players that transcend the immediate physical injuries.

So for all of you football fans, this one’s for you; however, even if you’re just human, you will feel the warmth and compassion of the writer toward the sport and the young people playing it.

 

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

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Love seems to actually trump hate in this frighteningly timely novel by Jodi Picoult.   It begins when a Black labor and delivery nurse, Ruth, begins to care for the baby of a White supremacist couple and the couple insist that she be removed from their case because of her race. As it would happen, Ruth is alone with the baby when the baby stops breathing.  Should she touch the baby and save him, as she is trained to do?  Should she abide by the racist rules the hospital has imposed at the request of this repugnant couple?  What happens next sets Ruth and the couple and ultimately, Ruth’s lawyer, Kennedy, on a road to grappling with race as it is seen from all perspectives.

Little did I know that I’d be reading this amidst the worst campaign and most devastating election outcome in the history of the United States.  The spillage of racism, misogyny, and bigotry that has poured out of the mouth of the Republican party nominee and his bedfellows has unleashed the underbelly of this country and its darkest side.  The election result has spawned a crippling shadow over my whole universe and I know this has been true for over half of this country.  We are embarrassed to call ourselves American, as it associates us with this new, evil and mean rhetoric in the eyes and ears of the rest of the world.  This is not the country I have known to be the home of the free.

And so it was, amidst my deepest disappointment that has sent me into a physical nausea that I cannot shake, that I read how Kennedy, seeking to defend Ruth in her ultimate trial, really tries to understand the day to day psychological beating that Ruth endures as a Black woman in a white man’s world.   The small slips, the subtle differences in perception, and the more overt signs of difference from which Kennedy is protected because of the color of her skin.  And while the 2 butt heads, they also come together because of the genuine efforts to try to understand each other, which is the foundation of the beginning of actually understanding each other.

Unfortunately for this story, love trumps hate in sort of a too perfect way by the end, so that it becomes a little fairytale-like as an ending.  I pray for this country, though, that we can reach an understanding that even remotely approximates this ending – for the good of our present and the good of our future.

The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows

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As the country is still reeling from the Great Depression, Layla finds herself ousted from her privileged life because she refused to marry the man chosen for her by her father.  As punishment, she’s banished to an assignment through the Writers’ Project to research and write the history of the tiny town of Macedonia,Virginia.  Not believing she will survive in such a backward town, she quickly finds herself living among and becoming entrenched with the family that is at the center of probably the most significant and tragic  segment of Macedonia’s history.

This book is written by the author of one of my all time favorite books, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  In that former book, the characters jump off the pages and into your heart.  The characters here are not quite as striking, but they are certainly vivid and endearing.  The author also utilizes a change in voices to tell the story, sometimes from the perspective of Jottie, Layla’s landlord and head of the household and sometimes from the perspective of Willa, Jottie’s niece whom she’s raised.  The varying perspectives round out the story to give it a great, 3-dimensional feel.

There is a bit of suspense, there is a bit of romance, but there is mostly just the telling of an emotional story about colorful characters about whom you can’t help caring.

An absorbing read, worth every word!

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

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It is the late 1960’s and Frankie has just moved to Palo Alto with her husband and two children.  While her husband has found his dream job, her own dream of going to college and becoming a writer has gone unfulfilled.  That is, until she meets the “Wednesday Sisters.” While watching her children play in a park near her new home, she meets a group of women who become her closest friends, her confidantes, and her literary critics!  And as the 60’s roll into the 70’s, they see each other through their writing struggles as well as their personal struggles, and they evolve with women all over the country, supporting each other as they each begin to pursue their own interests and passions just as their husbands have done.

This is a sweet story, with the 1960’s as a subtle backdrop.  The women have a wonderful relationship and bring out the best in each other.  The respect that they show for each other, in spite of their individual quirks and conflicts, is what most would aspire to in a friendship and their solidarity, expressed most fully at the end (I won’t spoil it for you!) is truly beautiful.  It is a little far-reaching as “realistic” goes, but it works anyway.

A fun, mostly light read…  definitely a chick book!

 

 

All I Love and Know by Judith Frank

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

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Matt and Daniel were a happy couple, comfortable with their life in the liberal town of Northhampton, MA – that is, until they learn that Daniel’s twin brother and wife were killed in a terrorist bombing in Jerusalem.  Dazed by the knowledge that his brother wanted Daniel to raise his two young children should anything happen to him, Daniel and Matt immediately flew over to Jerusalem to confront the situation.  The emotional turmoil and upheaval of their lives that ensues take Daniel and Matt through challenges they never imagined they’d have to face.

There are many layers to this story – the relationship between Daniel and Matt, their relationship with the children they suddenly are responsible for, the political issues surrounding the death of Daniel’s brother, the conflicts between the religious family and their sexual orientation – just to name a few.  And the characters are also very complex – between Matt, who isn’t Jewish and who never imagined being a parent and is thrust into both worlds, Daniel who is grieving in his own complicated way, and Gal, the older of the children who is in kindergarten when her parents are killed.  Their story is told in a simple manner with tactile details that give the story a warm authenticity.  And while there is a lot of love among the characters, there is grief, loss, and fear that each is digesting and this strains the relationship among all of them.  When the end of the book comes, I felt that I’d really experienced this saga with actual people, they all felt so real.

While this is not necessarily a “must read,” it is a powerful story with very real characters that will become your family as you read them.