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The Family Game by Catherine Steadman
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Family Game opens with a prologue in which Harriet Reed reveals, in a first-person narrative, that she is lying on the parquet floor of the grand entrance hall of the Holbeck family’s upstate New York Mansion. Harriet is bleeding and struggles to stand up, the diamond in her engagement ring twinkling in the light. She also notes that she faced death twenty years earlier, but survived and is determined to do so again. “A girl with a past tries to marry into money and all hell breaks loose. “We all know how that story ends,” she wryly observes, before the action moves back to November 21.
Harriet arrived in New York City four months earlier. She is a successful author – her first published novel is a bestseller that has so far sold over a million copies. She eschewed relationships until she met Edward Holbeck at a gala thrown by her publisher, and she feels as though she has finally paid for her past mistakes and can now allow herself to experience real happiness. She has started a new life, complete with new friends, and soon she’ll have a new family to get to know. Harriet was just eleven years old when she lost her own parents in a tragic accident. She is adamant in her belief that her future with Edward looks bright. She loves him deeply, in no small measure because “he saved me.”
Edward does not rely on his family’s fortune. Rather, he is an entrepreneur in his own right in the midst of negotiating to sell his company for a staggering sum. Edward is plainly as smitten with Harriet as she is with him. He stages an elaborate proposal at the Rockefeller Plaza ice skating rink where he presents her with the ring that belonged to his great-grandmother. The Holbeck family is not just wealthy. John Livingston Holbeck, Edward’s great-great-great-grandfather, was one of America’s Gilded Age tycoons. The family’s history is as storied – and notorious -- as those of the Morgans, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Andrew Carnegies, and they wield unparalleled and far-reaching power, with a stately family home in Manhattan. But Edward has kept Harriet away from his family, explaining that they are controlling and domineering, and have caused problems in his personal life and relationships in the past. His relationship with his father, Robert, has been particularly strained. Robert has long been rumored to be involved in payoffs, blackmail, and questionable foreign business deals, although he has never been criminally charged. “Which makes the sudden appearance of this family ring now on my finger all the more interesting,” Harriet muses.
But meet them she does when she is finally summoned to afternoon tea at an exclusive members-only club on the Upper East Side. It soon becomes clear that the family is capable of meddling in Harriet’s affairs and the meeting has been arranged specifically to convince her to assist them. Edward’s sister, Mathilda, bluntly asks Harriet to help bring Edward back into the fold. “Will you help the family out? We want him back; we want to keep him where we can see him. We think this engagement is just wonderful.” And promptly tricks her into bringing Edward to Thanksgiving dinner.
Harriet soon discovers that when the Holbeck family gathers in their gothic castle -- which boasts all the expected accoutrements in addition to a massive and frightening maze, trails through the adjacent mountain, a treehouse, and an abandoned well – their family traditions include playing bizarre and dangerous games. Harriet is concerned not just for her own well-being, but that of the children who, in her estimation, are far too young and impressionable to be included in such activities. Nonetheless, she knows that she has to participate in the competition, and it would be in her best interests to win. So she puts on her game face>, determined to show the family – especially Robert – that she intends to become a member of the family and will be a formidable addition.
That’s because Robert sends her a mysterious cassette tape. It has been created with a Dictaphone and before she can listen to it, she has to secure the proper equipment. Once she does, she is shocked at the contents of the recording. It has been created by Robert. As she listens to his voice, she realizes how naïve she has been. She should have realized that with all of their power, the Holbecks would never allow her to marry into the family without vetting her. Robert has, of course, had a complete background investigation conducted and learned her secret. It’s a secret Harriet has never told anyone . . . and never intended to reveal it. Twenty years ago, she committed an act that could have profound consequences if discovered because no statute of limitations would bar her from being held to account for her actions. But she has always been confident that no one witnessed her behavior. Robert, however, is highly intelligent and savvy, and from the evidence gathered during the investigation has been able to draw inferences and reach conclusions. He makes it clear that if Harriet does not follow his directions, she will regret it. He also confesses that he has engaged in criminal behavior, along with his rationale. And emphasizes that he will not hesitate to take further draconian action if Harriet does not accede.
Steadman keeps the story’s action moving at a steady pace, gradually revealing details about Harriet’s past, the heinous act she committed, and her reasoning. She wisely makes Harriet not just a believable character, but a likable one and she is, in a number of ways, sympathetic. Steadman challenges readers to ponder the moral and ethical implications of Harriet’s decision and question what they would have done in Harriet’s place all those years ago. Harriet is bright, has sustained horrible losses in her life and, in many ways, deserves the happiness she believes she has found with Edward. Robert is the obvious villain in the tale, a confessed murderer who is wielding his power to ensure that Harriet complies with his demands. Edward is also bright and likable. He’s a caring, attentive partner to Harriet who is happy to be on the brink of formalizing his commitment to her and seemingly willing to interact with his family to the extent necessary in order to ensure his legacy as a member of the Holbeck clan.
However, in Steadman’s capable hands, readers discover clues along with Harriet that not all is as it seems. When the family gathers to celebrate Christmas, the rules of the latest game are outlined. Harriet is given the option by Edward and others not to participate since she did so well in the previous competition and has shared with the family news about how much is now at stake for the happy couple. However, not being a competitor is not a viable option, in accordance with the terms outlined by Robert. The game, however, quickly becomes completely beyond the realm of all reason . . . and Harriet begins discovering bodies in various areas of the vast estate. She knows that she could become one of them if she fails to discover precisely what Robert’s real motivation and intentions are, and is shocked when she discovers, along with readers, that her presumptions have been erroneous, and the stakes are even higher than she originally believed. Steadman deftly ramps up both the dramatic tension and the tale’s pace as it hurtles toward the shocking revelation of the truth.
The Family Game is an inventive and clever thriller in which the setting – that eerie, multi-story castle set in a remote area of upstate New York – effectively serves as an additional character. Even though many readers will correctly guess the largest plot twist well before it is revealed, that does not detract from the sheer fun of going on the perilous journey with Harriet to see if their hunch is accurate. Steadman’s narrative establishes a cinematic quality that makes both the characters and their plights vivid visceral, illustrating again that she is an accomplished storyteller.
Thanks to Random House for a paperback copy of A Smile in a Whisper in conjunction with the Tandem Collective Readalong.
Harriet arrived in New York City four months earlier. She is a successful author – her first published novel is a bestseller that has so far sold over a million copies. She eschewed relationships until she met Edward Holbeck at a gala thrown by her publisher, and she feels as though she has finally paid for her past mistakes and can now allow herself to experience real happiness. She has started a new life, complete with new friends, and soon she’ll have a new family to get to know. Harriet was just eleven years old when she lost her own parents in a tragic accident. She is adamant in her belief that her future with Edward looks bright. She loves him deeply, in no small measure because “he saved me.”
Edward does not rely on his family’s fortune. Rather, he is an entrepreneur in his own right in the midst of negotiating to sell his company for a staggering sum. Edward is plainly as smitten with Harriet as she is with him. He stages an elaborate proposal at the Rockefeller Plaza ice skating rink where he presents her with the ring that belonged to his great-grandmother. The Holbeck family is not just wealthy. John Livingston Holbeck, Edward’s great-great-great-grandfather, was one of America’s Gilded Age tycoons. The family’s history is as storied – and notorious -- as those of the Morgans, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Andrew Carnegies, and they wield unparalleled and far-reaching power, with a stately family home in Manhattan. But Edward has kept Harriet away from his family, explaining that they are controlling and domineering, and have caused problems in his personal life and relationships in the past. His relationship with his father, Robert, has been particularly strained. Robert has long been rumored to be involved in payoffs, blackmail, and questionable foreign business deals, although he has never been criminally charged. “Which makes the sudden appearance of this family ring now on my finger all the more interesting,” Harriet muses.
But meet them she does when she is finally summoned to afternoon tea at an exclusive members-only club on the Upper East Side. It soon becomes clear that the family is capable of meddling in Harriet’s affairs and the meeting has been arranged specifically to convince her to assist them. Edward’s sister, Mathilda, bluntly asks Harriet to help bring Edward back into the fold. “Will you help the family out? We want him back; we want to keep him where we can see him. We think this engagement is just wonderful.” And promptly tricks her into bringing Edward to Thanksgiving dinner.
Harriet soon discovers that when the Holbeck family gathers in their gothic castle -- which boasts all the expected accoutrements in addition to a massive and frightening maze, trails through the adjacent mountain, a treehouse, and an abandoned well – their family traditions include playing bizarre and dangerous games. Harriet is concerned not just for her own well-being, but that of the children who, in her estimation, are far too young and impressionable to be included in such activities. Nonetheless, she knows that she has to participate in the competition, and it would be in her best interests to win. So she puts on her game face>, determined to show the family – especially Robert – that she intends to become a member of the family and will be a formidable addition.
That’s because Robert sends her a mysterious cassette tape. It has been created with a Dictaphone and before she can listen to it, she has to secure the proper equipment. Once she does, she is shocked at the contents of the recording. It has been created by Robert. As she listens to his voice, she realizes how naïve she has been. She should have realized that with all of their power, the Holbecks would never allow her to marry into the family without vetting her. Robert has, of course, had a complete background investigation conducted and learned her secret. It’s a secret Harriet has never told anyone . . . and never intended to reveal it. Twenty years ago, she committed an act that could have profound consequences if discovered because no statute of limitations would bar her from being held to account for her actions. But she has always been confident that no one witnessed her behavior. Robert, however, is highly intelligent and savvy, and from the evidence gathered during the investigation has been able to draw inferences and reach conclusions. He makes it clear that if Harriet does not follow his directions, she will regret it. He also confesses that he has engaged in criminal behavior, along with his rationale. And emphasizes that he will not hesitate to take further draconian action if Harriet does not accede.
Steadman keeps the story’s action moving at a steady pace, gradually revealing details about Harriet’s past, the heinous act she committed, and her reasoning. She wisely makes Harriet not just a believable character, but a likable one and she is, in a number of ways, sympathetic. Steadman challenges readers to ponder the moral and ethical implications of Harriet’s decision and question what they would have done in Harriet’s place all those years ago. Harriet is bright, has sustained horrible losses in her life and, in many ways, deserves the happiness she believes she has found with Edward. Robert is the obvious villain in the tale, a confessed murderer who is wielding his power to ensure that Harriet complies with his demands. Edward is also bright and likable. He’s a caring, attentive partner to Harriet who is happy to be on the brink of formalizing his commitment to her and seemingly willing to interact with his family to the extent necessary in order to ensure his legacy as a member of the Holbeck clan.
However, in Steadman’s capable hands, readers discover clues along with Harriet that not all is as it seems. When the family gathers to celebrate Christmas, the rules of the latest game are outlined. Harriet is given the option by Edward and others not to participate since she did so well in the previous competition and has shared with the family news about how much is now at stake for the happy couple. However, not being a competitor is not a viable option, in accordance with the terms outlined by Robert. The game, however, quickly becomes completely beyond the realm of all reason . . . and Harriet begins discovering bodies in various areas of the vast estate. She knows that she could become one of them if she fails to discover precisely what Robert’s real motivation and intentions are, and is shocked when she discovers, along with readers, that her presumptions have been erroneous, and the stakes are even higher than she originally believed. Steadman deftly ramps up both the dramatic tension and the tale’s pace as it hurtles toward the shocking revelation of the truth.
The Family Game is an inventive and clever thriller in which the setting – that eerie, multi-story castle set in a remote area of upstate New York – effectively serves as an additional character. Even though many readers will correctly guess the largest plot twist well before it is revealed, that does not detract from the sheer fun of going on the perilous journey with Harriet to see if their hunch is accurate. Steadman’s narrative establishes a cinematic quality that makes both the characters and their plights vivid visceral, illustrating again that she is an accomplished storyteller.
Thanks to Random House for a paperback copy of A Smile in a Whisper in conjunction with the Tandem Collective Readalong.
A Smile in a Whisper by Jacquelyn Middleton
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Author Jacquelyn Middleton describes her books as “character and relationship-driven stories about people dealing with the triumphs and disasters we all experience,” as well as “love stories for hopeful romantics.” But she emphasizes that they are not “rom-coms,” because in her writing she does not shy away from the fact that “life is messy, relationships are messy” and she is not “afraid to go there. . .” She is particularly proud of being an own voices author. She is transparent about her lifelong struggle with anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. She strives to “realistically and empathetically” depict mental health issues. “I’m pleased to have this platform to inform people about this misunderstood affliction,” with the goal of entertaining readers while obliterating the stigma and misperceptions about the issues.
In A Smile in a Whisper, Middleton whisks readers off to the beautiful Orkney Islands of Scotland where Evie Sutherland lives on the Mainland in the little village of Kirkwall. The story begins eighteen years ago when Evie is just thirteen years old, swooning with her best girlfriends, Sunita and Fiona, over Nikolai “Nick” Balfour, the sixteen-year-old star of the television drama Dalston Grove. Evie, who loves to write, has been fantasizing about a romance with Nick and penning short stories about their possible adventures. Evie is ecstatic when she learns that Nick’s paternal grandmother lives in Orkney at Balfour Castle, her family home. Is there a possibility she could actually meet the boy to whom she is so hopelessly attracted? Indeed, Evie and Nick are thrust together when his mother, a successful actress in her own right, insists that Nick attend the same music camp Evie has participated in since she was eight years old. Nick confesses that he can neither sing nor play the guitar, and his mother is punishing him for having ditched the private voice lessons she arranged for him. Evie is shocked to learn that Nick and her older brother, Sam, have been acquainted for two years, a detail Sam never disclosed to both shield Nick’s privacy and evade having to respond to Evie’s inevitable probing for details about what Nick is really like.
Middleton details the teenagers’ burgeoning relationship with tenderness and obvious affection for her characters. Evie quickly learns that Nick is not the character he plays on television and about the behind-the-camera machinations that made him a star. For instance, Nick confesses that the questionnaires published in the fan magazines recounting all the things he likes and dislikes are completed not by him, but by his public relations staff. And his much-publicized romance with a young actress is nothing more than a publicity stunt. The two become friends, but Nick has commitments that take him back to London while Evie remains in Orkney. Still, he returns to the village with his family, especially for holidays, and they gradually grow closer.
Nick discloses painful details about his tumultuous family life and the pressure his mother, in particular, puts on him to succeed in the entertainment industry. He has harbored a secret that could derail his career since he was ten years old: he suffers from debilitating panic attacks. In fact, he suffers one in Evie’s presence, and she helps him through it. He explains that “nobody wants to book a kid with mental issues” for a job in film or television, and his mother cares more about his career than his mental health, insisting the diagnosis of panic disorder is erroneous and refusing to permit Nick to seek necessary therapy. Nick finds himself drawn to Evie because he senses that she sees and appreciates him, as opposed to the role he plays on television. “Sometimes all you needed was someone who would listen, who wouldn’t judge when you were hurting. Someone who knew the pain and loneliness of carrying a heavy secret.” Nick senses that “a newfound trust has been forged, a special intimacy . . . ” But even with Nick’s vulnerability on display, however, Evie cannot bring herself to share with Nick that she has Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease. The severity and symptoms vary widely among patients, but include abdominal pain, fatigue, weight loss, and embarrassing, “panicked sprints to the loo, not to mention the occasional accident.”
Gradually, their relationship blossoms into a full-blown romance. After seven years playing the same role in a successful television series, the show is canceled, and Nick finds it difficult to transition into adult roles. At the age of twenty, he searches for a “comeback,” intent on not being a “has-been.” Evie’s time in London proves to be an attempt to be someone and something she is not comfortable being, and she returns to Orkney for good. Her condition worsens, but Nick is unaware because their relationship abruptly ends, leaving her devastated.
In an alternating present-day narrative, Evie helps her mother run Marwick’s, the cafe and shop her mother’s family has owned for generations that Evie will someday inherit and continue operating. Evie handles catering, as well as her own genealogy clients, and continues to pursue her writing. She is still single, and her dating history has been problematic, in large part due to Crohn’s disease. Evie has experienced a series of romantic disappointments because when she has grown close enough to men to share the details of her condition with them, they have been repulsed. “No one wants to date the sick girl,” she complains to Sunita, who now enjoys a successful career in London as an entertainment reporter for The National Mail. Evie is contemplating accepting a dinner invitation from the new head teacher at Kirkwell Grammar School, even though she does not feel a spark with him. Evie confesses that she is lonely and living in a small village means that she meets few eligible men. And even though her Crohn’s disease is well-controlled, she still perceives it to be a barrier to a fulfilling relationship.
When Evie’s parents go away on a long-needed vacation, Marwick’s is fully entrusted to her. And she negotiates a lucrative catering contract that will generate enough income to make desperately needed repairs to the store and keep it afloat. She will spend the summer providing catering services to a production company filming a television series. What she does not realize when she enters into the agreement is that Nick is the executive producer, and he will be on set daily. She only learns this when a calamity befalls Marwick’s during the annual St. Magnus Festival parade. Suddenly, Nick is right in front of her “and thirteen years of bitter hurt surge forward, pushing play on her long-held vow to stay strong if they ever spoke again.” But Evie is determined to maintain her professionalism and forge ahead. Sunita decides to take a leave and remain for the summer, serving as Evie’s assistant. The catering venture is not without a few catastrophes, but mostly successful. Her interactions with Nick? Not as pleasant. But Evie cannot deny that she still has “conflicted, messy, unrequited feelings” for Nick. Does he feel the same way? Evie has no idea that Nick actually agreed to serve as executive producer specifically because he hoped being near her would provide a way for them to be friends again. He is wracked with guilt about the way their relationship ended, recognizing that his actions were “stupid and unforgivable.” Does Evie have the capacity to absolve him?
Middleton employs the alternating narratives to great effect, examining her characters’ lives and relationships, and heightening suspense. As the timelines shift, Evie and Nick’s youthful connection deepens and they appear to be on their way to a bright future, while in the present day, they must carry out their professional obligations despite their discomfort around each other. As the executive producer, Nick is Evie’s boss, and she has to succeed because Marwick’s is not just her birthright. It is also her future. But she knows that she must sort out her complicated feelings for Nick once and for all -- her pain about the demise of their relationship, and her lingering and undeniable attraction to him. She credibly questions how she can still have feelings for a man who treated her so abominably but acknowledges that she does. By the time Nick and Evie come together again, Nick has also matured and learned a great deal about himself and what kind of life he wants. He has endured his parents’ divorce, learning to manage his panic disorder, a failed marriage, a sex scandal, and career ups and downs. At the ages of thirty-one and thirty-four, respectively, Evie and Nick have cemented their self-concepts and grown comfortable in their own skins. Can their lives mesh back together in a way that will be fulfilling and happy for both of them, devoid of secrets and mistrust?
Middleton believably and realistically explores her characters’ struggles, endearing them to readers. She does, as promised, credibly explore the “messy” aspects of their relationship, first as it grows beyond the unrealistic fantasies of an adolescent girl and a successful, but troubled boy, deepening and eventually fracturing. In the present day, she illustrates the impact their relationship had on both of them through the years and the difficulties both experienced as they tried to fully move past it and forge new relationships with other partners. There are no villains in Middleton’s story. Rather, it is an emotionally rich, relatable tale of two people who do their best to manage obstacles and find happiness. And it is a clever story, as well, with surprising plot twists that provide meaning, context, and resolution.
A Smile in a Whisper is a charmingly delightful story about love found, love lost, and overcoming challenges. It is also a meditation on forgiveness, self-esteem, and the degree to which we seek acceptance and validation from others.
Thanks to Kirkwall Books for a paperback copy of A Smile in a Whisper in conjunction with the Tandem Collective Readalong.
In A Smile in a Whisper, Middleton whisks readers off to the beautiful Orkney Islands of Scotland where Evie Sutherland lives on the Mainland in the little village of Kirkwall. The story begins eighteen years ago when Evie is just thirteen years old, swooning with her best girlfriends, Sunita and Fiona, over Nikolai “Nick” Balfour, the sixteen-year-old star of the television drama Dalston Grove. Evie, who loves to write, has been fantasizing about a romance with Nick and penning short stories about their possible adventures. Evie is ecstatic when she learns that Nick’s paternal grandmother lives in Orkney at Balfour Castle, her family home. Is there a possibility she could actually meet the boy to whom she is so hopelessly attracted? Indeed, Evie and Nick are thrust together when his mother, a successful actress in her own right, insists that Nick attend the same music camp Evie has participated in since she was eight years old. Nick confesses that he can neither sing nor play the guitar, and his mother is punishing him for having ditched the private voice lessons she arranged for him. Evie is shocked to learn that Nick and her older brother, Sam, have been acquainted for two years, a detail Sam never disclosed to both shield Nick’s privacy and evade having to respond to Evie’s inevitable probing for details about what Nick is really like.
Middleton details the teenagers’ burgeoning relationship with tenderness and obvious affection for her characters. Evie quickly learns that Nick is not the character he plays on television and about the behind-the-camera machinations that made him a star. For instance, Nick confesses that the questionnaires published in the fan magazines recounting all the things he likes and dislikes are completed not by him, but by his public relations staff. And his much-publicized romance with a young actress is nothing more than a publicity stunt. The two become friends, but Nick has commitments that take him back to London while Evie remains in Orkney. Still, he returns to the village with his family, especially for holidays, and they gradually grow closer.
Nick discloses painful details about his tumultuous family life and the pressure his mother, in particular, puts on him to succeed in the entertainment industry. He has harbored a secret that could derail his career since he was ten years old: he suffers from debilitating panic attacks. In fact, he suffers one in Evie’s presence, and she helps him through it. He explains that “nobody wants to book a kid with mental issues” for a job in film or television, and his mother cares more about his career than his mental health, insisting the diagnosis of panic disorder is erroneous and refusing to permit Nick to seek necessary therapy. Nick finds himself drawn to Evie because he senses that she sees and appreciates him, as opposed to the role he plays on television. “Sometimes all you needed was someone who would listen, who wouldn’t judge when you were hurting. Someone who knew the pain and loneliness of carrying a heavy secret.” Nick senses that “a newfound trust has been forged, a special intimacy . . . ” But even with Nick’s vulnerability on display, however, Evie cannot bring herself to share with Nick that she has Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease. The severity and symptoms vary widely among patients, but include abdominal pain, fatigue, weight loss, and embarrassing, “panicked sprints to the loo, not to mention the occasional accident.”
Gradually, their relationship blossoms into a full-blown romance. After seven years playing the same role in a successful television series, the show is canceled, and Nick finds it difficult to transition into adult roles. At the age of twenty, he searches for a “comeback,” intent on not being a “has-been.” Evie’s time in London proves to be an attempt to be someone and something she is not comfortable being, and she returns to Orkney for good. Her condition worsens, but Nick is unaware because their relationship abruptly ends, leaving her devastated.
In an alternating present-day narrative, Evie helps her mother run Marwick’s, the cafe and shop her mother’s family has owned for generations that Evie will someday inherit and continue operating. Evie handles catering, as well as her own genealogy clients, and continues to pursue her writing. She is still single, and her dating history has been problematic, in large part due to Crohn’s disease. Evie has experienced a series of romantic disappointments because when she has grown close enough to men to share the details of her condition with them, they have been repulsed. “No one wants to date the sick girl,” she complains to Sunita, who now enjoys a successful career in London as an entertainment reporter for The National Mail. Evie is contemplating accepting a dinner invitation from the new head teacher at Kirkwell Grammar School, even though she does not feel a spark with him. Evie confesses that she is lonely and living in a small village means that she meets few eligible men. And even though her Crohn’s disease is well-controlled, she still perceives it to be a barrier to a fulfilling relationship.
When Evie’s parents go away on a long-needed vacation, Marwick’s is fully entrusted to her. And she negotiates a lucrative catering contract that will generate enough income to make desperately needed repairs to the store and keep it afloat. She will spend the summer providing catering services to a production company filming a television series. What she does not realize when she enters into the agreement is that Nick is the executive producer, and he will be on set daily. She only learns this when a calamity befalls Marwick’s during the annual St. Magnus Festival parade. Suddenly, Nick is right in front of her “and thirteen years of bitter hurt surge forward, pushing play on her long-held vow to stay strong if they ever spoke again.” But Evie is determined to maintain her professionalism and forge ahead. Sunita decides to take a leave and remain for the summer, serving as Evie’s assistant. The catering venture is not without a few catastrophes, but mostly successful. Her interactions with Nick? Not as pleasant. But Evie cannot deny that she still has “conflicted, messy, unrequited feelings” for Nick. Does he feel the same way? Evie has no idea that Nick actually agreed to serve as executive producer specifically because he hoped being near her would provide a way for them to be friends again. He is wracked with guilt about the way their relationship ended, recognizing that his actions were “stupid and unforgivable.” Does Evie have the capacity to absolve him?
Middleton employs the alternating narratives to great effect, examining her characters’ lives and relationships, and heightening suspense. As the timelines shift, Evie and Nick’s youthful connection deepens and they appear to be on their way to a bright future, while in the present day, they must carry out their professional obligations despite their discomfort around each other. As the executive producer, Nick is Evie’s boss, and she has to succeed because Marwick’s is not just her birthright. It is also her future. But she knows that she must sort out her complicated feelings for Nick once and for all -- her pain about the demise of their relationship, and her lingering and undeniable attraction to him. She credibly questions how she can still have feelings for a man who treated her so abominably but acknowledges that she does. By the time Nick and Evie come together again, Nick has also matured and learned a great deal about himself and what kind of life he wants. He has endured his parents’ divorce, learning to manage his panic disorder, a failed marriage, a sex scandal, and career ups and downs. At the ages of thirty-one and thirty-four, respectively, Evie and Nick have cemented their self-concepts and grown comfortable in their own skins. Can their lives mesh back together in a way that will be fulfilling and happy for both of them, devoid of secrets and mistrust?
Middleton believably and realistically explores her characters’ struggles, endearing them to readers. She does, as promised, credibly explore the “messy” aspects of their relationship, first as it grows beyond the unrealistic fantasies of an adolescent girl and a successful, but troubled boy, deepening and eventually fracturing. In the present day, she illustrates the impact their relationship had on both of them through the years and the difficulties both experienced as they tried to fully move past it and forge new relationships with other partners. There are no villains in Middleton’s story. Rather, it is an emotionally rich, relatable tale of two people who do their best to manage obstacles and find happiness. And it is a clever story, as well, with surprising plot twists that provide meaning, context, and resolution.
A Smile in a Whisper is a charmingly delightful story about love found, love lost, and overcoming challenges. It is also a meditation on forgiveness, self-esteem, and the degree to which we seek acceptance and validation from others.
Thanks to Kirkwall Books for a paperback copy of A Smile in a Whisper in conjunction with the Tandem Collective Readalong.
Devil Within: A Nathan Parker Detective Novel by James L'Etoile
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
In Dead Drop, author James L’Etoile introduced readers to Nathan Parker, a detective with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona. He and his partner, Josh McMillan, were assigned to patrol a road near the United States-Mexico border to interrupt the flow of undocumented immigrants accessing it to bypass Immigration and Customs Enforcement checkpoints. McMillan was brutally murdered by Esteban Castaneda, a vicious leader in the Los Muertos gang, and Nathan blames himself, convinced that had he responded faster to McMillan’s radio call, he might have saved his partner. And apprehended Castaneda who, five years later, remains at large.
Following the harrowing events described in Dead Drop, Nathan officially became Miguel’s foster father. Now approaching his eighteenth birthday and planning his future, Miguel was journeying across the border from San Salvador all by himself when Nathan encountered him while on a dangerous undercover mission. Miguel’s older brother was killed by a gang and Miguel fled because he knew he would also be killed for his refusal to join. Miguel’s parents were also deceased, and no one was waiting for him in America. He had no particular destination in mind, intent only on escaping the unrelenting dangers in his homeland and going to school. After Nathan and Miguel survived their ordeal together, Nathan was moved to give Miguel a stable home, unconditional support, and a bright future. As Devil Within opens, Miguel and Nathan have settled into a father-son relationship, and Miguel has graduated from high school and commenced classes at the community college, proving himself to be an excellent student with myriad opportunities awaiting him after he completes his education. Nathan is still single, focused only on his career and caring for Miguel.
L’Etoile pulls readers into the fast-paced thriller from the very first sentence: “Nia Saldana didn’t think today would be the day she died.” But unfortunately, she is involved in a fatal, high-speed accident on the freeway as she is traveling home from her job as a housekeeper. Her employer, Roger Jessup, a prominent and wealthy local attorney, appeared to have been in his own vehicle and chasing Nia’s car when he was killed in the same collision. But why was he in pursuit of Nia? It is quickly determined that the crash was no accident. Rather, it was again the work of the Sun Valley Sniper, who has been claiming victims at a frightening rate.
Nathan is assigned to head up the investigation and immediately begins the search for a connection between the victims. It appears that the crimes are motivated by hate and the sniper is a dishonorably discharged veteran and registered sex offender with a criminal record in which he is identified as a White Pride sympathizer (a small extremist offshoot of the Aryan Nation). When the suspect is apprehended, the Sheriff is politically motivated to announce that the case has been wrapped up and assure the public they are again safe from the sniper’s unpredictable attacks. Parker is not convinced.
Nathan is alarmed and appalled when he is notified by Deputy Linda Marsh that Miguel has been detained after participating in a protest against the current administration’s immigration policies sponsored by the Immigrant Coalition. The demonstration got out of hand when some of the protestors blocked an onramp to Interstate 10. Marsh has convinced the arresting deputy to release Miguel with only a warning, but Nathan cannot hide his shock when he learns that Miguel has been affiliated with the organization without his knowledge. Given his own experiences, Miguel is fiercely dedicated to the group’s cause. “People need to know what’s happening. The families, the conditions, and this government are forcing innocent people into the hands of the cartels. You’re the one who told me there are over two thousand people who died making the crossing, and they never identify most of them,” he tells Nathan.
Not surprisingly, Billie Carson is also a member of the group. Billie lives in a dilapidated travel trailer, surviving by scouring the desert for lost and abandoned items she sells to recycling yards. She and Nathan met several years ago when she was facing a trespassing charge and began regularly reporting minor disturbances in the desert to him. She became embroiled in an investigation when she happened upon four fifty-gallon drums, pried the lid off one of the barrels, and discovered the decomposing body of a man inside. It was the beginning of the unforgettable journey depicted in Dead Drop that forever changed both Nathan and Billie, and brought Miguel into their lives. A former coyote, Billie was familiar with the routes across the border that kept Miguel alive, and they formed an extremely close bond.
No sooner does Nathan get Miguel safely home, but Billie arrives at their home. She is as nervous as the day she discovered those drums in the desert and afraid she might be followed. With good reason. Nathan’s blood runs cold when Billie declares, “He’s back. Esteban Castaneda. He’s back, and I saw him.” Nathan has wanted to bring Castaneda to justice since the day McMillan died and is determined not to let him slip away again.
The story’s pace never slows as Nathan continues the investigation into the sniper killings and soon finds that all of the victims were associated with the Immigrant Coalition in various capacities. In fact, an attempt is made on the life of Tim Brunell, the Coalition’s Vice Chair, who is launching his campaign for the state Senate. Nia Saldana’s sister turns a thumb drive over to Nathan. That Nia was in possession of it struck her sister as highly unusual, given that Nia did not own or use a computer. Did she steal it from Jessup? If so, why? Nathan is unable to decipher the spreadsheets he finds on the drum, and enlists assistance from forensics specialists while he attempts to unravel the workings of the Coalition and its leaders, extracting some helpful information from the organization’s legal counsel, Isa Sanchez. She reveals the extent of the threats regularly made against the Coalition and its members by various anti-immigrant factions. When two young men with leadership roles within the Coalition — Miguel’s friends and associates — are abducted, it becomes clear that Miguel is also in danger and Nathan must protect him. Is Castaneda the source of the threat to Miguel? Are his interests somehow entangled with those of the Coalition and its leaders?
As with Dead Drop, L’Etoile has crafted an intricately woven tale featuring many familiar faces, including Nathan’s colleagues and former love intrest, FBI Agent Lynnette Finch. They did not part on good terms, but she is willing to help. L’Etoile introduces numerous intriguing new characters, some of whom have nefarious intentions and scandalous backgrounds. At least one has gone to great lengths to prevent their true identity from being revealed in order to evade detection and execute a plan to become both powerful and wealthy. At whose expense and by what means? Surprising alliances, interconnected pasts, and hidden motives come to light as Nathan’s investigation proceeds, often resulting in more questions than pat answers. Other characters, particularly those who are vulnerable, marginalized, and subject to abuse and manipulation, are quite sympathetic and heartbreaking, their experiences a mirror reflection of the real-life struggles related by too many of America’s undocumented population.
The crisp dialogue and procedural aspects of the story are credible and believable, and L’Etoile deftly unveils clues at well-timed junctures. Readers are kept guessing as L’Etoile proves numerous theories wrong with additional revelations. He expertly ramps up the dramatic tension as the tale proceeds, and Nathan, aided by Billie, risks his own well-being in order to save the precious boy he loves unconditionally and considers his son. But the body count grows and time is running out. For Miguel, along with many others.
Devil Within is highly entertaining, but also richly moving and deeply thought-provoking. Nathan and Miguel have become a family, and Nathan shoulders his responsibility to protect Miguel at all costs. He carries the guilt he feels about not being able to save his partner and knows that letting Miguel down will finally and irrevocably break him. Eccentric, quirky, but endearing Billie, who has a mysterious past, is also a beloved member of their little family, a trusted and loyal confidante who blames herself for the predicament in which they find themselves. Once again, she and Nathan make a formidable team who refuse to be deterred from achieving their goal, no matter what personal sacrifices they might have to make.
Once again, L’Etoile uses his story to pose timely questions about the humanitarian considerations at the heart of the ongoing debate about events unfolding daily that are the topic of many news reports. Would-be immigrants flock to the border seeking refuge and opportunities. What immigration policies should be enacted and enforced, considering the dangers those individuals journeying north confront both along the way and when they finally reach the border? How can they be protected from further victimization once they arrive on American soil? Who profits from maintaining the status quo and what will it take to enact real reforms? L’Etoile does not provide ready or preachy answers. Rather, through his characters he invites readers to consider those difficult questions and formulate their own opinions, invoking a deep emotional response to his characters’ experiences in the process. And leaving significant plot points unresolved and ripe for exploration in the third installment in the series.
Thanks to the author for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book via Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.
Following the harrowing events described in Dead Drop, Nathan officially became Miguel’s foster father. Now approaching his eighteenth birthday and planning his future, Miguel was journeying across the border from San Salvador all by himself when Nathan encountered him while on a dangerous undercover mission. Miguel’s older brother was killed by a gang and Miguel fled because he knew he would also be killed for his refusal to join. Miguel’s parents were also deceased, and no one was waiting for him in America. He had no particular destination in mind, intent only on escaping the unrelenting dangers in his homeland and going to school. After Nathan and Miguel survived their ordeal together, Nathan was moved to give Miguel a stable home, unconditional support, and a bright future. As Devil Within opens, Miguel and Nathan have settled into a father-son relationship, and Miguel has graduated from high school and commenced classes at the community college, proving himself to be an excellent student with myriad opportunities awaiting him after he completes his education. Nathan is still single, focused only on his career and caring for Miguel.
L’Etoile pulls readers into the fast-paced thriller from the very first sentence: “Nia Saldana didn’t think today would be the day she died.” But unfortunately, she is involved in a fatal, high-speed accident on the freeway as she is traveling home from her job as a housekeeper. Her employer, Roger Jessup, a prominent and wealthy local attorney, appeared to have been in his own vehicle and chasing Nia’s car when he was killed in the same collision. But why was he in pursuit of Nia? It is quickly determined that the crash was no accident. Rather, it was again the work of the Sun Valley Sniper, who has been claiming victims at a frightening rate.
Nathan is assigned to head up the investigation and immediately begins the search for a connection between the victims. It appears that the crimes are motivated by hate and the sniper is a dishonorably discharged veteran and registered sex offender with a criminal record in which he is identified as a White Pride sympathizer (a small extremist offshoot of the Aryan Nation). When the suspect is apprehended, the Sheriff is politically motivated to announce that the case has been wrapped up and assure the public they are again safe from the sniper’s unpredictable attacks. Parker is not convinced.
Nathan is alarmed and appalled when he is notified by Deputy Linda Marsh that Miguel has been detained after participating in a protest against the current administration’s immigration policies sponsored by the Immigrant Coalition. The demonstration got out of hand when some of the protestors blocked an onramp to Interstate 10. Marsh has convinced the arresting deputy to release Miguel with only a warning, but Nathan cannot hide his shock when he learns that Miguel has been affiliated with the organization without his knowledge. Given his own experiences, Miguel is fiercely dedicated to the group’s cause. “People need to know what’s happening. The families, the conditions, and this government are forcing innocent people into the hands of the cartels. You’re the one who told me there are over two thousand people who died making the crossing, and they never identify most of them,” he tells Nathan.
Not surprisingly, Billie Carson is also a member of the group. Billie lives in a dilapidated travel trailer, surviving by scouring the desert for lost and abandoned items she sells to recycling yards. She and Nathan met several years ago when she was facing a trespassing charge and began regularly reporting minor disturbances in the desert to him. She became embroiled in an investigation when she happened upon four fifty-gallon drums, pried the lid off one of the barrels, and discovered the decomposing body of a man inside. It was the beginning of the unforgettable journey depicted in Dead Drop that forever changed both Nathan and Billie, and brought Miguel into their lives. A former coyote, Billie was familiar with the routes across the border that kept Miguel alive, and they formed an extremely close bond.
No sooner does Nathan get Miguel safely home, but Billie arrives at their home. She is as nervous as the day she discovered those drums in the desert and afraid she might be followed. With good reason. Nathan’s blood runs cold when Billie declares, “He’s back. Esteban Castaneda. He’s back, and I saw him.” Nathan has wanted to bring Castaneda to justice since the day McMillan died and is determined not to let him slip away again.
The story’s pace never slows as Nathan continues the investigation into the sniper killings and soon finds that all of the victims were associated with the Immigrant Coalition in various capacities. In fact, an attempt is made on the life of Tim Brunell, the Coalition’s Vice Chair, who is launching his campaign for the state Senate. Nia Saldana’s sister turns a thumb drive over to Nathan. That Nia was in possession of it struck her sister as highly unusual, given that Nia did not own or use a computer. Did she steal it from Jessup? If so, why? Nathan is unable to decipher the spreadsheets he finds on the drum, and enlists assistance from forensics specialists while he attempts to unravel the workings of the Coalition and its leaders, extracting some helpful information from the organization’s legal counsel, Isa Sanchez. She reveals the extent of the threats regularly made against the Coalition and its members by various anti-immigrant factions. When two young men with leadership roles within the Coalition — Miguel’s friends and associates — are abducted, it becomes clear that Miguel is also in danger and Nathan must protect him. Is Castaneda the source of the threat to Miguel? Are his interests somehow entangled with those of the Coalition and its leaders?
As with Dead Drop, L’Etoile has crafted an intricately woven tale featuring many familiar faces, including Nathan’s colleagues and former love intrest, FBI Agent Lynnette Finch. They did not part on good terms, but she is willing to help. L’Etoile introduces numerous intriguing new characters, some of whom have nefarious intentions and scandalous backgrounds. At least one has gone to great lengths to prevent their true identity from being revealed in order to evade detection and execute a plan to become both powerful and wealthy. At whose expense and by what means? Surprising alliances, interconnected pasts, and hidden motives come to light as Nathan’s investigation proceeds, often resulting in more questions than pat answers. Other characters, particularly those who are vulnerable, marginalized, and subject to abuse and manipulation, are quite sympathetic and heartbreaking, their experiences a mirror reflection of the real-life struggles related by too many of America’s undocumented population.
The crisp dialogue and procedural aspects of the story are credible and believable, and L’Etoile deftly unveils clues at well-timed junctures. Readers are kept guessing as L’Etoile proves numerous theories wrong with additional revelations. He expertly ramps up the dramatic tension as the tale proceeds, and Nathan, aided by Billie, risks his own well-being in order to save the precious boy he loves unconditionally and considers his son. But the body count grows and time is running out. For Miguel, along with many others.
Devil Within is highly entertaining, but also richly moving and deeply thought-provoking. Nathan and Miguel have become a family, and Nathan shoulders his responsibility to protect Miguel at all costs. He carries the guilt he feels about not being able to save his partner and knows that letting Miguel down will finally and irrevocably break him. Eccentric, quirky, but endearing Billie, who has a mysterious past, is also a beloved member of their little family, a trusted and loyal confidante who blames herself for the predicament in which they find themselves. Once again, she and Nathan make a formidable team who refuse to be deterred from achieving their goal, no matter what personal sacrifices they might have to make.
Once again, L’Etoile uses his story to pose timely questions about the humanitarian considerations at the heart of the ongoing debate about events unfolding daily that are the topic of many news reports. Would-be immigrants flock to the border seeking refuge and opportunities. What immigration policies should be enacted and enforced, considering the dangers those individuals journeying north confront both along the way and when they finally reach the border? How can they be protected from further victimization once they arrive on American soil? Who profits from maintaining the status quo and what will it take to enact real reforms? L’Etoile does not provide ready or preachy answers. Rather, through his characters he invites readers to consider those difficult questions and formulate their own opinions, invoking a deep emotional response to his characters’ experiences in the process. And leaving significant plot points unresolved and ripe for exploration in the third installment in the series.
Thanks to the author for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book via Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.
The Summer of Songbirds by Kristy Woodson Harvey
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey says that in 2020, she was already “toying with the idea of writing a book about three best friends from summer camp who reconvene to save the place they once loved,” when her son’s trip to Camp Seagull in North Carolina was canceled due to the pandemic. However, when its sister camp, Camp Seafarer, organized a family camp, Harvey and her family leapt at the chance to escape lockdown. One afternoon, with two of her friends, she found herself stranded in a sailboat when the wind died. With no radio or cell phones, they “told camp stories, reminisced about dances and favorite activities, afternoons at the canteen and infirmary stays, talent show mishaps, and, of course, camp crushes.” When Harvey returned home, she brought <em>The Summer of Songbirds</em> to life, including a scene in which her protagonists find themselves adrift for several hours when the wind dies. She aptly calls it “a testament to female friendship, especially the lifelong kind that loves unconditionally, that fights and forgives and knows the nitty gritty, real, dirty truth about the people we are and chooses to show up alongside us anyway.”
The story is presented in three alternating, first-person narratives. Daphne is an attorney who operates her own law firm with the support and assistance of her trusted paralegal, Finn. She is the single mother of adorable four-year-old Henry. She and Steven, Henry’s devoted father, never married and are no longer a couple, but seamlessly co-parent. Daphne lost her mother, Melanie, to addiction when she was just thirteen and had her own struggle with the disease, but she has maintained her sobriety for seven years and considers her unplanned pregnancy “a huge – albeit slightly scary – gift.” She credits Henry with “truly healing me.”
As the story opens, Daphne learns from one of her best clients, the owner of a lighting and flooring company, that Bryce Jenkins, a building contractor, has collected payments from his clients, but failed to compensate his sub-contractors and vendors. Bryce is not just the son of another of Daphne’s clients. Daphne introduced him to Lanier, her best friend, and they are engaged to be married. Soon, Bryce also seeks Daphne’s legal advice, confessing that he became “overextended” and has been “using money from one project to pay for a previous one,” an illegal practice. He is close to a million dollars in debt. Due to conflicts of interest, Daphne cannot represent Bryce. She is also ethically prohibited from revealing what she has learned about his actions to anyone, including Lanier. Daphne is furious when Bryce insists he is not going to tell Lanie about the trouble he is in and threatens to report Daphne to the bar association if she does. Daphne is placed in an agonizingly awkward position that could derail her relationship with Lanier -- who will, of course, eventually find out the truth about the man she is planning to marry in eight weeks -- especially because of their history. "The only thing that has ever come between us is the secrets we have kept.
June is Daphne’s maternal aunt. Losing her parents and sister, Melanie, Daphne’s mother, was traumatic. But June used funds she inherited from their parents to purchase Camp Holly Springs more than twenty-five years ago, and operated it successfully until the pandemic-forced shutdown. June’s applications for loans were denied and now the camp is no longer a viable business entity. June can no longer absorb the operating losses and is seriously considering accepting a generous offer from a developer for her three hundred fifty acres of pristine land with an unobstructed water view. The prospect of losing Camp Holly Springs is unbearably painful for June, not only because she sunk every penny she had into saving the camp all those years ago when it was also in dangerous of extinction, but because it has been her only home for so many years. During the off-season, June has remained in her cabin on-grounds, rather than moving into town. The camp has always been her refuge, but at the age of fifty, she is beginning to recognize that she has led a solitary life out of fear, sadness, and regret, hiding herself away instead of confronting her problems. Among those issues are Daphne’s simmering resentment and disappointment, and June’s guilt about not raising Daphne after Melanie’s death.
Lanier operates Bookmasters, the local bookstore, and is caught up in wedding planning. In fact, as the story opens, her stylish mother arrives at the store to show Lanier the mockup for the wedding invitations. But first, the third Songbird, Mary Stuart, a public relations expert, is getting married. If Lanier’s brother, Huff, a surgeon, is at the wedding, Daphne and Huff will be reunited. They went through a painful breakup seven years ago.
The three Songbirds are devastated to learn that June may be forced to sell Camp Holly Springs and brainstorm about ways they can help her save it. One is a family camp, and as they work to plan and publicize the event, they find themselves confronting memories of summer days there. It is not only the place where they spent two weeks every summer, eventually becoming teenaged counselors. It is also the place where their lifelong friendship was formed and cemented, secrets were shared, and futures were planned. For Lanier, it is the place where she first found love and participating in the effort to save the camp brings her face-to-face with her first love, Rich. She hurt him deeply and ghosted him all those years ago, but now she has an opportunity to ask forgiveness and bring closure to that chapter of her life. Unless . . . she doesn’t want closure. Even though she does not know the extent of Bryce’s problems, she intuits that something is amiss and cracks in their relationship are appearing, but she tries to ignore and justify them as the wedding date approaches.
When Daphne and Huff are reunited, it is clear that they never stopped loving each other but is it too late to repair their relationship? Daphne now has Henry’s needs to consider, as well as her own. Through Daphne’s recollections, Harvey reveals details about how her mother’s drug addiction impacted her, her relationship with her absentee father, why she was not taken in by June after her mother’s death, and her romance with Finn and the way that secrets contributed to its demise. Daphne vehemently wants Lanier to learn the truth about Bryce so that she will call off the engagement and laments that her professional obligations require her to keep his secrets. But Daphne worked hard for her sobriety, and to complete her education and establish her legal practice. She swore she would never do anything to endanger Henry or his future. How can she risk the shame and financial ruin that disbarment as a result of violating the attorney-client privilege would surely engender? But she also swore she would never let secrets come between her and her very best friend again.
Harvey’s affection for her characters is evident on every page. They are fully developed, empathetic, and likable, despite their flaws. Each of them has arrived at a crossroads, and because their lives are so intertwined, their decisions and actions will have repercussions not just for themselves, but for those they love most. This is especially true, of course, for Daphne, who stands to lose her livelihood and reputation if she decides that her friendship with Lanier must be saved at any personal cost to her. The story moves at a brisk pace as, with each successive chapter, readers learn about the characters’ histories and the choices that have led them to their present conundrums. And yes, the women’s friendships have been tested in the past and survived. But can their bond withstand the stressors currently threatening to tear them apart? And can they really secure the funding needed to save their beloved Camp Holly Springs so that future generations of girls can enjoy spending time in that magical place as much as they did? Harvey’s storytelling prowess makes getting to know her characters and cheering them on an entertaining experience.
Harvey considers The Summer of Songbirds “a love letter to the places who make us who we are, the ones that burrow down deep in our hearts and souls and show us what we’re made of.” And correctly points out that even readers who never went to a camp as a child will be able to relate to the story because it evokes an emotional response to memories of whatever place or places “made you feel happy and loved.” The Summer of Songbirds is a perfect story to get lost in by a pool, on a beach, in a backyard hammock . . . or even with a flashlight in a cabin at summer camp after lights out.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book and to Gallery Books for a hardcover copy.
The story is presented in three alternating, first-person narratives. Daphne is an attorney who operates her own law firm with the support and assistance of her trusted paralegal, Finn. She is the single mother of adorable four-year-old Henry. She and Steven, Henry’s devoted father, never married and are no longer a couple, but seamlessly co-parent. Daphne lost her mother, Melanie, to addiction when she was just thirteen and had her own struggle with the disease, but she has maintained her sobriety for seven years and considers her unplanned pregnancy “a huge – albeit slightly scary – gift.” She credits Henry with “truly healing me.”
As the story opens, Daphne learns from one of her best clients, the owner of a lighting and flooring company, that Bryce Jenkins, a building contractor, has collected payments from his clients, but failed to compensate his sub-contractors and vendors. Bryce is not just the son of another of Daphne’s clients. Daphne introduced him to Lanier, her best friend, and they are engaged to be married. Soon, Bryce also seeks Daphne’s legal advice, confessing that he became “overextended” and has been “using money from one project to pay for a previous one,” an illegal practice. He is close to a million dollars in debt. Due to conflicts of interest, Daphne cannot represent Bryce. She is also ethically prohibited from revealing what she has learned about his actions to anyone, including Lanier. Daphne is furious when Bryce insists he is not going to tell Lanie about the trouble he is in and threatens to report Daphne to the bar association if she does. Daphne is placed in an agonizingly awkward position that could derail her relationship with Lanier -- who will, of course, eventually find out the truth about the man she is planning to marry in eight weeks -- especially because of their history. "The only thing that has ever come between us is the secrets we have kept.
June is Daphne’s maternal aunt. Losing her parents and sister, Melanie, Daphne’s mother, was traumatic. But June used funds she inherited from their parents to purchase Camp Holly Springs more than twenty-five years ago, and operated it successfully until the pandemic-forced shutdown. June’s applications for loans were denied and now the camp is no longer a viable business entity. June can no longer absorb the operating losses and is seriously considering accepting a generous offer from a developer for her three hundred fifty acres of pristine land with an unobstructed water view. The prospect of losing Camp Holly Springs is unbearably painful for June, not only because she sunk every penny she had into saving the camp all those years ago when it was also in dangerous of extinction, but because it has been her only home for so many years. During the off-season, June has remained in her cabin on-grounds, rather than moving into town. The camp has always been her refuge, but at the age of fifty, she is beginning to recognize that she has led a solitary life out of fear, sadness, and regret, hiding herself away instead of confronting her problems. Among those issues are Daphne’s simmering resentment and disappointment, and June’s guilt about not raising Daphne after Melanie’s death.
Lanier operates Bookmasters, the local bookstore, and is caught up in wedding planning. In fact, as the story opens, her stylish mother arrives at the store to show Lanier the mockup for the wedding invitations. But first, the third Songbird, Mary Stuart, a public relations expert, is getting married. If Lanier’s brother, Huff, a surgeon, is at the wedding, Daphne and Huff will be reunited. They went through a painful breakup seven years ago.
The three Songbirds are devastated to learn that June may be forced to sell Camp Holly Springs and brainstorm about ways they can help her save it. One is a family camp, and as they work to plan and publicize the event, they find themselves confronting memories of summer days there. It is not only the place where they spent two weeks every summer, eventually becoming teenaged counselors. It is also the place where their lifelong friendship was formed and cemented, secrets were shared, and futures were planned. For Lanier, it is the place where she first found love and participating in the effort to save the camp brings her face-to-face with her first love, Rich. She hurt him deeply and ghosted him all those years ago, but now she has an opportunity to ask forgiveness and bring closure to that chapter of her life. Unless . . . she doesn’t want closure. Even though she does not know the extent of Bryce’s problems, she intuits that something is amiss and cracks in their relationship are appearing, but she tries to ignore and justify them as the wedding date approaches.
When Daphne and Huff are reunited, it is clear that they never stopped loving each other but is it too late to repair their relationship? Daphne now has Henry’s needs to consider, as well as her own. Through Daphne’s recollections, Harvey reveals details about how her mother’s drug addiction impacted her, her relationship with her absentee father, why she was not taken in by June after her mother’s death, and her romance with Finn and the way that secrets contributed to its demise. Daphne vehemently wants Lanier to learn the truth about Bryce so that she will call off the engagement and laments that her professional obligations require her to keep his secrets. But Daphne worked hard for her sobriety, and to complete her education and establish her legal practice. She swore she would never do anything to endanger Henry or his future. How can she risk the shame and financial ruin that disbarment as a result of violating the attorney-client privilege would surely engender? But she also swore she would never let secrets come between her and her very best friend again.
Harvey’s affection for her characters is evident on every page. They are fully developed, empathetic, and likable, despite their flaws. Each of them has arrived at a crossroads, and because their lives are so intertwined, their decisions and actions will have repercussions not just for themselves, but for those they love most. This is especially true, of course, for Daphne, who stands to lose her livelihood and reputation if she decides that her friendship with Lanier must be saved at any personal cost to her. The story moves at a brisk pace as, with each successive chapter, readers learn about the characters’ histories and the choices that have led them to their present conundrums. And yes, the women’s friendships have been tested in the past and survived. But can their bond withstand the stressors currently threatening to tear them apart? And can they really secure the funding needed to save their beloved Camp Holly Springs so that future generations of girls can enjoy spending time in that magical place as much as they did? Harvey’s storytelling prowess makes getting to know her characters and cheering them on an entertaining experience.
Harvey considers The Summer of Songbirds “a love letter to the places who make us who we are, the ones that burrow down deep in our hearts and souls and show us what we’re made of.” And correctly points out that even readers who never went to a camp as a child will be able to relate to the story because it evokes an emotional response to memories of whatever place or places “made you feel happy and loved.” The Summer of Songbirds is a perfect story to get lost in by a pool, on a beach, in a backyard hammock . . . or even with a flashlight in a cabin at summer camp after lights out.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book and to Gallery Books for a hardcover copy.
Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Dead of Winter deals, according to author Darcy Coates, with "a lot of themes about how well we can move past trauma and learning to survive with life-altering circumstances." As the story opens, Christa Bailey has just embarked on a two-week vacation at Blackstone Alpine Lodge in the Rocky Mountains with her boyfriend, Kiernan. He invited her because the lodge is situated in the area where he grew up and he wants to share his love of the region with her. Their relationship has moved quickly. Although they have only been dating for four months, Christa is fairly certain that Kiernan has planned the getaway so that he can propose in the picturesque setting.
They are enroute to the lodge with a small group led by Brian Hernandez, their bus driver and guide. Steve Peltz, a trucker, is making the trip with his wife, Miri. They were notified that the trip was a raffle prize. Hutch Huang is a disc jockey planning to assess the lodge's suitability as a wedding venue for one of his friends. Blake Shorey has recently retired from her job as a 911 dispatcher. Simone Wall is a mysterious former member of the military and Alexis Barras is a quiet, withdrawn young woman in her twenties. Denny Olstead is a mechanic accompanied by his teenage son, Grayson. As the story progresses, readers learn that each of the travelers came to be on the trip in different ways.
Christa is a customer service representative with a troubled past. Something horrible occurred on August 8, a little more than two years earlier, that so traumatized her, she quit her job and barely left her home, draining her savings in order to cover her living expenses. She met Kiernan during an "awkward encounter" in the library. Kiernan was studying English literature at the local university and asked Christa for assistance with one of his courses. A month later they began dating. Christa feared that her emotional struggles would derail the relationship, as she explains in her first-person narrative through which Coates relays the story. "When I looked at our future all I could see was a toxic end. So I began pulling back." But Kiernan would have none of it, taking Christa to meet his mother in the care facility where she resided. The woman barely communicated, and Christa learned that Kiernan's younger brother died tragically. Soon after, their father took his own life and their mother "crumbled into a person who barely resembled the vivid, laughing figure from his childhood." Despite the tragedies that befell his family, Kiernan remained an upbeat, happy person and Christa realized they were more alike than different. "He gave me hope. More than that, he became someone I could trust. Someone I could let myself love."
As the bus proceeds to the lodge, they discover the mountainous road is blocked by a fallen tree. Brian assures the group he carries a chainsaw and fuel for just such a situation. As the rest of the group is busy working on clearing the road, Kiernan asks Christa to take a walk up the hill with him, certain there is a good lookout nearby. Reluctantly, Christa agrees, even though a storm is brewing. Predictably, they become disoriented and unable to find their way back to the bus. Alone, Christa, injured and with a nasty case of frostbite setting in, finds her way to a cabin. The rest of the group is gathered there, having discovered the unlocked cabin after the bus became stuck in the snow.
A blizzard rages as the group huddles in the small cabin with few supplies, no map, no electricity, no cell phone reception, and no means with which to call for help. Since they were scheduled to spend two weeks at the lodge, they know that no one will realize they never reached their destination for many days. As Christa looks around at her fellow travelers, she strongly senses danger and that, aside from their being stranded, something is terribly wrong. She has a "premonition that something bad is coming. Like a storm threatening to break. I've learned not to ignore that feeling. The last time I tried was on August 8. And the cost it exacted was extreme."
They manage to start a fire, but it is still cold in the small, cramped cabin. With no idea how far from their destination the cabin is, a few of them strike out in search of a trail or road that might lead them to the lodge or some other place where they might be able to summon help. The snowstorm has nearly obliterated visibility, however, and they have no choice but to hunker down for the night, sharing what food they can gather from their own suitcases and what the cabin's owners left behind. However, Brian goes missing and when they make a grisly discovery -- Brian's severed head is hanging on a branch in a nearby pine tree -- Christa recognizes that her intuition was accurate. She and the other members of the group are in danger. But who poses a threat to them? Is there someone else lurking in the vicinity of the cabin, ready to ambush the next member of the group who dares to venture outside on their own? Or is the killer one of them? And if so, why was Brian the first victim? Will there be more victims? Is there some connection between them and the killer? If so, what could make someone want to take their lives?
The tense story proceeds at an even pace as more members of the group are felled, their heads displayed on "the tree of the damned." Simone emerges as the leader of the group and attempts to set up safeguards, insisting that they take turns staying awake at night to monitor each other's movement, organizing a search of every member's luggage and personal belongings, and gathering up and stowing away any weapons, such as pocket knives, that they may have brought on the trip with them. But none of those measures prevent the body count from climbing as the food supply dwindles, the storm continues pounding the cabin, and their hope of surviving the ordeal grows dimmer with each successive murder.
Coates deftly takes readers on Christa's journey to learn the identity of "the butcher," as she calls the killer. She has no idea who, if any of her fellow stranded travelers, she can trust, and her suspicions shift repeatedly as time elapses. Readers are kept guessing along with Christa as Coates makes them privy to her thought processes and gradually reveals details about what occurred on that fateful night of August 8. As the number of survivors dwindles, she frantically searches for a route through the snow-covered mountains that will lead her and her companions to safety.
Christa is a likable, bright, and sympathetic young woman who recognizes and acknowledges her flaws, takes responsibility for her actions, and hoped Kiernan offered her a chance to find happiness again. Accordingly, readers will find themselves cheering her on. Likewise, the supporting characters are intriguing, with varied backgrounds and histories, although not all are as amiable or appealing as Christa. Alliances appear to be formed, although all of them suspect each other. And they make foolish, confounding choices, including leaving the confines of the cabin by themselves when they know there is a vicious killer either in their midst or nearby.
Dead of Winter is an absorbing, graphically violent tale that will especially delight fans of closed-room mysteries, and keep readers perplexed until Coates delivers the final, shocking plot twist, divulging the identity and motivations of "the butcher."
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
They are enroute to the lodge with a small group led by Brian Hernandez, their bus driver and guide. Steve Peltz, a trucker, is making the trip with his wife, Miri. They were notified that the trip was a raffle prize. Hutch Huang is a disc jockey planning to assess the lodge's suitability as a wedding venue for one of his friends. Blake Shorey has recently retired from her job as a 911 dispatcher. Simone Wall is a mysterious former member of the military and Alexis Barras is a quiet, withdrawn young woman in her twenties. Denny Olstead is a mechanic accompanied by his teenage son, Grayson. As the story progresses, readers learn that each of the travelers came to be on the trip in different ways.
Christa is a customer service representative with a troubled past. Something horrible occurred on August 8, a little more than two years earlier, that so traumatized her, she quit her job and barely left her home, draining her savings in order to cover her living expenses. She met Kiernan during an "awkward encounter" in the library. Kiernan was studying English literature at the local university and asked Christa for assistance with one of his courses. A month later they began dating. Christa feared that her emotional struggles would derail the relationship, as she explains in her first-person narrative through which Coates relays the story. "When I looked at our future all I could see was a toxic end. So I began pulling back." But Kiernan would have none of it, taking Christa to meet his mother in the care facility where she resided. The woman barely communicated, and Christa learned that Kiernan's younger brother died tragically. Soon after, their father took his own life and their mother "crumbled into a person who barely resembled the vivid, laughing figure from his childhood." Despite the tragedies that befell his family, Kiernan remained an upbeat, happy person and Christa realized they were more alike than different. "He gave me hope. More than that, he became someone I could trust. Someone I could let myself love."
As the bus proceeds to the lodge, they discover the mountainous road is blocked by a fallen tree. Brian assures the group he carries a chainsaw and fuel for just such a situation. As the rest of the group is busy working on clearing the road, Kiernan asks Christa to take a walk up the hill with him, certain there is a good lookout nearby. Reluctantly, Christa agrees, even though a storm is brewing. Predictably, they become disoriented and unable to find their way back to the bus. Alone, Christa, injured and with a nasty case of frostbite setting in, finds her way to a cabin. The rest of the group is gathered there, having discovered the unlocked cabin after the bus became stuck in the snow.
A blizzard rages as the group huddles in the small cabin with few supplies, no map, no electricity, no cell phone reception, and no means with which to call for help. Since they were scheduled to spend two weeks at the lodge, they know that no one will realize they never reached their destination for many days. As Christa looks around at her fellow travelers, she strongly senses danger and that, aside from their being stranded, something is terribly wrong. She has a "premonition that something bad is coming. Like a storm threatening to break. I've learned not to ignore that feeling. The last time I tried was on August 8. And the cost it exacted was extreme."
They manage to start a fire, but it is still cold in the small, cramped cabin. With no idea how far from their destination the cabin is, a few of them strike out in search of a trail or road that might lead them to the lodge or some other place where they might be able to summon help. The snowstorm has nearly obliterated visibility, however, and they have no choice but to hunker down for the night, sharing what food they can gather from their own suitcases and what the cabin's owners left behind. However, Brian goes missing and when they make a grisly discovery -- Brian's severed head is hanging on a branch in a nearby pine tree -- Christa recognizes that her intuition was accurate. She and the other members of the group are in danger. But who poses a threat to them? Is there someone else lurking in the vicinity of the cabin, ready to ambush the next member of the group who dares to venture outside on their own? Or is the killer one of them? And if so, why was Brian the first victim? Will there be more victims? Is there some connection between them and the killer? If so, what could make someone want to take their lives?
The tense story proceeds at an even pace as more members of the group are felled, their heads displayed on "the tree of the damned." Simone emerges as the leader of the group and attempts to set up safeguards, insisting that they take turns staying awake at night to monitor each other's movement, organizing a search of every member's luggage and personal belongings, and gathering up and stowing away any weapons, such as pocket knives, that they may have brought on the trip with them. But none of those measures prevent the body count from climbing as the food supply dwindles, the storm continues pounding the cabin, and their hope of surviving the ordeal grows dimmer with each successive murder.
Coates deftly takes readers on Christa's journey to learn the identity of "the butcher," as she calls the killer. She has no idea who, if any of her fellow stranded travelers, she can trust, and her suspicions shift repeatedly as time elapses. Readers are kept guessing along with Christa as Coates makes them privy to her thought processes and gradually reveals details about what occurred on that fateful night of August 8. As the number of survivors dwindles, she frantically searches for a route through the snow-covered mountains that will lead her and her companions to safety.
Christa is a likable, bright, and sympathetic young woman who recognizes and acknowledges her flaws, takes responsibility for her actions, and hoped Kiernan offered her a chance to find happiness again. Accordingly, readers will find themselves cheering her on. Likewise, the supporting characters are intriguing, with varied backgrounds and histories, although not all are as amiable or appealing as Christa. Alliances appear to be formed, although all of them suspect each other. And they make foolish, confounding choices, including leaving the confines of the cabin by themselves when they know there is a vicious killer either in their midst or nearby.
Dead of Winter is an absorbing, graphically violent tale that will especially delight fans of closed-room mysteries, and keep readers perplexed until Coates delivers the final, shocking plot twist, divulging the identity and motivations of "the butcher."
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
The September House by Carissa Orlando
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Debut author Carissa Orlando holds a doctorate in clinical-community psychology and specializes in working with children and adolescents. She is committed to improving the quality of and access to mental health care for children and their families. Orlando says she has written creatively in some form since she was a child and studied creative writing in college. She has long been an avid horror fan so the merger of her knowledge of the workings of the human psyche and love for storytelling was probably inevitable and, with The September House, is demonstrably seamless.
Margaret Hartman and her husband, Hal, longed to own an older home, preferably Victorian. Both of them grew up in fairly transient families, and throughout their marriage they moved from one rental to another, all the while wishing for a permanent, stable residence. Hal taught at the community college and worked as a freelance writer while striving to get his books published. Margaret worked various jobs (retail, administrative assistant, substitute teacher) while focusing on raising their daughter, Katherine, and painted as time and funds allowed. Eventually, Hal sold and began receiving royalties from his books and Margaret showed a few paintings at a local gallery. Katherine graduated from college and launched her own career, and the dream of home ownership was abandoned.
Until Margaret saw the listing for the beautiful cobalt blue house with white trim, a wrap-around porch, and a turret. She immediately recognized it as their dream house. It even boasted rooms that would make a perfect office for Hal and a studio with plenty of sunlight for Margaret. The shockingly low sales price should have served as a warning. When they toured the house – in which no one had resided since sometime in the 1990’s – and were informed by the real estate agent that two deaths took place in the house more than one hundred years ago, they “were barely listening, busy picturing ourselves sipping morning tea in bed, looking out” the master bedroom’s impressive picture window, Margaret recalls. Margaret was so overjoyed at the sight of a claw-foot bathtub in the master bathroom that she didn’t even hear the agent mention the “other deaths in the house” that “seemed to be natural in nature.” Even the dank smell, coupled with the goosebumps Margaret developed in the unfinished, windowless basement with dirt floors that had a “bit of a wrong sense” about it wasn’t enough to dampen Margaret’s enthusiasm. Neither she nor Hal noticed that the agent did not descend the stairs to the basement with them. They went ahead with the purchase and moved into the house in May. At first, Margaret insists, everything was “blissful.”
But in September, the situation began deteriorating. Blood started running out of and down the walls, seeming to originate right over their bed in the master bedroom. The sound of moaning escalated to all-out screaming that continued all night, making it extremely difficult to sleep. Margaret adapted to the mysterious goings-on. “Eventually, one has to give up asking questions, just accept that things are the way they are, and act accordingly,” she explains in her first-person narrative that Orlando employs to tell the story. Fredricka, a maid, appeared with a large gash on her head — where the blow from an axe landed and killed her. Fredricka still performs household tasks, but has trouble operating the toaster (she prefers to roast the bread over a fire the way she did when she was alive a century ago) and in September she moves things around, placing them in nonsensical places and positions. Margaret discovers that if she touches Fredricka, she is whisked back in time to the fateful moment the axe was swung by Fredricka’s attacker, experiencing it from Fredricka’s perspective. A boy about nine or ten years old, Elias, also manifested. He refuses to speak, but howls and uses his long, sharp fangs to bite Margaret if she forgets that he doesn’t “like his personal space invaded.” His stares were “initially unsettling, but one grows used to unsettling things,” Margaret observes. There’s also Angelica, a little girl with sallow skin and one eyelid drooping from its socket, who stands in front of the basement door, pointing and telling Margaret, “He’s down there.” That’s where Master Vale, the former owner, resides.
After living in the house for several years, Hal could no longer tolerate the supernatural goings-on. Margaret explains that he begged her to leave the house with him, but she refused to surrender her home to their other-worldly co-inhabitants. So Hal left without her. Weeks have gone by, and she has heard nothing from him. Worse, she never told Katherine that Hal left and now their daughter is frantic because Hal does not answer his phone, or respond to voice or text messages. When Katherine announces that she is coming to stay with her mother so that she can look for her father, Margaret becomes frantic. Katherine was largely estranged from her father (for reasons that become clear as the story progresses) so Margaret is somewhat baffled by her intense concern for Hal. Worse, Katherine will be arriving in September, the month in which paranormal activity in the house grows more intense every year. More children join Angelica, the relentless screams become louder, the volume of blood pouring from the walls increases, and Fredricka’s illogical re-arranging of furniture, and household and personal items, occurs more often. There are also the numerous birds that fly suicidal missions directly into the home’s windows, requiring Margaret to gather and dispose of the carcasses.
Margaret has no friends except her neighbor, Edie, who is a bit of a busybody and loves to visit with Margaret on the front porch. Edie is pleasant — squat and motherly – and has never questioned the truth of Margaret’s reports about the eerie events that take place in the house. Hal disliked Edie from the moment they met and she launched her nosy inquiries. As Margaret ponders how to keep the truth from Katherine, Edie commiserates, “Oh, Margaret, you’re in a real pickle.” That’s an understatement.
Katherine arrives and, with Margaret, begins visiting every bar in the area to see if Hall has been seen there. Margaret gradually reveals Hal’s struggle with alcoholism that ultimately led to four arrests for driving while under the influence and the rescission of his driver’s license. Which is why he left in a taxi. They also look for him in the local motels and hotels.
Margaret is a sympathetic character, but highly unreliable narrator, and Orlando’s choice to tell the tale in her voice from her unique perspective is highly effective, heightening the suspense. Whether Orlando has crafted a straight-forward horror story, a psychological thriller, or melded the two genres is not immediately apparent. Margaret is earnest and convincing as she relates the details of her interactions with the spirits who inhabit her house. She insists that, aside from the month of September, it continues to be the home she always wanted, and she is stubbornly adamant about remaining there, even though Hal has departed. She feels compassion for the ghosts who are seemingly trapped there and researches the history of the home to gain an understanding of how their lives came to such tragic ends. In an effort to quell the annual disruptions, she repeatedly enlists the help of an elderly local priest who blesses each room. During his final visit, he ventures into the basement, even though the entrance has remained boarded up since an earlier terrifying incident with Master Vale. The priest’s visit makes matters worse.
Katherine’s relationship with her parents has been fraught due to her father’s addiction, the behavior in which he engaged as a result of it, and her mother’s response and choices. Katherine is a very angry young woman who admits that her relationship with her girlfriend has ended, in part, because of her own inability to manage her emotions. Her frustrations have always mushroomed into inappropriate outbursts and full-blown tantrums, but Margaret observes that Katherine is better able to control herself, likely because, as she confesses, she has recently sought therapy. Katherine’s efforts to improve herself and commitment to her parents, despite their shared past, endears her to readers.
What emerges is a depiction of a woman with a family history of mental illness who remained in a deeply troubled marriage. Margaret insists that “everything is survivable” if one simply follows the applicable rules. It becomes clear that she did everything in her power to adhere to the rules governing her marriage to Hal, but did not always succeed. And she has co-existed in her beloved house by adapting rules designed to make her ghostly roommates’ conduct bearable. Devoted to Katherine, Margaret recognized that it was her duty to protect her child and committed herself to that task. But, of course, she was unable to hide the truth from Katherine, and Katherine’s palpable resentment caused her to distance herself from her parents for years. Until now. Aghast that, even though Hal disappeared weeks ago, Margaret never filed a report with the local police, Katherine involves law enforcement in the search as the September days elapse, the spirits’ activities become more pronounced, and Margaret grows increasingly sleep-deprived and nearly incoherent.
The September House proceeds at a rapid pace as details about Hal’s whereabouts emerge and “the pranksters” – as Margaret calls them – respond. A gory, dramatic confrontation tests both Margaret and Katherine, and reveals that Orlando’s story is a clever, multi-layered, allegorical examination of destructive power imbalances in relationships, abuse, family secrets, and the psychological and emotional effects of trauma. It is also an illustration of resilience, resolve, and the freeing and healing power of the truth. Orlando wisely gives readers respites from the deep and relentless emotional intensity of the story with slyly comedic moments. Some of Margaret’s conversations with the pranksters are hilarious, and her visits with Edie are charmingly humorous. But as utterly ridiculous and outrageous as many of the characters’ actions are, Orlando never allows the story to lose focus, delivering clues at well-timed junctures about how Margaret’s decisions and choices landed her in the middle of a horror story. Perhaps. Or is she suffering from some type of psychotic break that has caused her to imagine that paranormal activity is occurring in the house? Does Katherine see and hear the ghosts, as Hal did (accordingly to Margaret, at least)? Do the police who come to investigate Hal’s disappearance see and hear them? Why does Edie, who never enters the house, instead remaining on the porch during her visits, unwaveringly accept as true Margaret’s representations of the goings-on in the old Vale house? Learning the answers to those and other mysteries is a surprisingly entertaining and moving experience. Orlando so skillfully reveals the Hartman family history and how it has shaped the psyches of Margaret and Katherine that they become empathetic characters for whom readers will cheer, counting on Orlando to bring their stories to a satisfying conclusion. She does not disappoint. The September House is an impressive and promising debut.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Margaret Hartman and her husband, Hal, longed to own an older home, preferably Victorian. Both of them grew up in fairly transient families, and throughout their marriage they moved from one rental to another, all the while wishing for a permanent, stable residence. Hal taught at the community college and worked as a freelance writer while striving to get his books published. Margaret worked various jobs (retail, administrative assistant, substitute teacher) while focusing on raising their daughter, Katherine, and painted as time and funds allowed. Eventually, Hal sold and began receiving royalties from his books and Margaret showed a few paintings at a local gallery. Katherine graduated from college and launched her own career, and the dream of home ownership was abandoned.
Until Margaret saw the listing for the beautiful cobalt blue house with white trim, a wrap-around porch, and a turret. She immediately recognized it as their dream house. It even boasted rooms that would make a perfect office for Hal and a studio with plenty of sunlight for Margaret. The shockingly low sales price should have served as a warning. When they toured the house – in which no one had resided since sometime in the 1990’s – and were informed by the real estate agent that two deaths took place in the house more than one hundred years ago, they “were barely listening, busy picturing ourselves sipping morning tea in bed, looking out” the master bedroom’s impressive picture window, Margaret recalls. Margaret was so overjoyed at the sight of a claw-foot bathtub in the master bathroom that she didn’t even hear the agent mention the “other deaths in the house” that “seemed to be natural in nature.” Even the dank smell, coupled with the goosebumps Margaret developed in the unfinished, windowless basement with dirt floors that had a “bit of a wrong sense” about it wasn’t enough to dampen Margaret’s enthusiasm. Neither she nor Hal noticed that the agent did not descend the stairs to the basement with them. They went ahead with the purchase and moved into the house in May. At first, Margaret insists, everything was “blissful.”
But in September, the situation began deteriorating. Blood started running out of and down the walls, seeming to originate right over their bed in the master bedroom. The sound of moaning escalated to all-out screaming that continued all night, making it extremely difficult to sleep. Margaret adapted to the mysterious goings-on. “Eventually, one has to give up asking questions, just accept that things are the way they are, and act accordingly,” she explains in her first-person narrative that Orlando employs to tell the story. Fredricka, a maid, appeared with a large gash on her head — where the blow from an axe landed and killed her. Fredricka still performs household tasks, but has trouble operating the toaster (she prefers to roast the bread over a fire the way she did when she was alive a century ago) and in September she moves things around, placing them in nonsensical places and positions. Margaret discovers that if she touches Fredricka, she is whisked back in time to the fateful moment the axe was swung by Fredricka’s attacker, experiencing it from Fredricka’s perspective. A boy about nine or ten years old, Elias, also manifested. He refuses to speak, but howls and uses his long, sharp fangs to bite Margaret if she forgets that he doesn’t “like his personal space invaded.” His stares were “initially unsettling, but one grows used to unsettling things,” Margaret observes. There’s also Angelica, a little girl with sallow skin and one eyelid drooping from its socket, who stands in front of the basement door, pointing and telling Margaret, “He’s down there.” That’s where Master Vale, the former owner, resides.
After living in the house for several years, Hal could no longer tolerate the supernatural goings-on. Margaret explains that he begged her to leave the house with him, but she refused to surrender her home to their other-worldly co-inhabitants. So Hal left without her. Weeks have gone by, and she has heard nothing from him. Worse, she never told Katherine that Hal left and now their daughter is frantic because Hal does not answer his phone, or respond to voice or text messages. When Katherine announces that she is coming to stay with her mother so that she can look for her father, Margaret becomes frantic. Katherine was largely estranged from her father (for reasons that become clear as the story progresses) so Margaret is somewhat baffled by her intense concern for Hal. Worse, Katherine will be arriving in September, the month in which paranormal activity in the house grows more intense every year. More children join Angelica, the relentless screams become louder, the volume of blood pouring from the walls increases, and Fredricka’s illogical re-arranging of furniture, and household and personal items, occurs more often. There are also the numerous birds that fly suicidal missions directly into the home’s windows, requiring Margaret to gather and dispose of the carcasses.
Margaret has no friends except her neighbor, Edie, who is a bit of a busybody and loves to visit with Margaret on the front porch. Edie is pleasant — squat and motherly – and has never questioned the truth of Margaret’s reports about the eerie events that take place in the house. Hal disliked Edie from the moment they met and she launched her nosy inquiries. As Margaret ponders how to keep the truth from Katherine, Edie commiserates, “Oh, Margaret, you’re in a real pickle.” That’s an understatement.
Katherine arrives and, with Margaret, begins visiting every bar in the area to see if Hall has been seen there. Margaret gradually reveals Hal’s struggle with alcoholism that ultimately led to four arrests for driving while under the influence and the rescission of his driver’s license. Which is why he left in a taxi. They also look for him in the local motels and hotels.
Margaret is a sympathetic character, but highly unreliable narrator, and Orlando’s choice to tell the tale in her voice from her unique perspective is highly effective, heightening the suspense. Whether Orlando has crafted a straight-forward horror story, a psychological thriller, or melded the two genres is not immediately apparent. Margaret is earnest and convincing as she relates the details of her interactions with the spirits who inhabit her house. She insists that, aside from the month of September, it continues to be the home she always wanted, and she is stubbornly adamant about remaining there, even though Hal has departed. She feels compassion for the ghosts who are seemingly trapped there and researches the history of the home to gain an understanding of how their lives came to such tragic ends. In an effort to quell the annual disruptions, she repeatedly enlists the help of an elderly local priest who blesses each room. During his final visit, he ventures into the basement, even though the entrance has remained boarded up since an earlier terrifying incident with Master Vale. The priest’s visit makes matters worse.
Katherine’s relationship with her parents has been fraught due to her father’s addiction, the behavior in which he engaged as a result of it, and her mother’s response and choices. Katherine is a very angry young woman who admits that her relationship with her girlfriend has ended, in part, because of her own inability to manage her emotions. Her frustrations have always mushroomed into inappropriate outbursts and full-blown tantrums, but Margaret observes that Katherine is better able to control herself, likely because, as she confesses, she has recently sought therapy. Katherine’s efforts to improve herself and commitment to her parents, despite their shared past, endears her to readers.
What emerges is a depiction of a woman with a family history of mental illness who remained in a deeply troubled marriage. Margaret insists that “everything is survivable” if one simply follows the applicable rules. It becomes clear that she did everything in her power to adhere to the rules governing her marriage to Hal, but did not always succeed. And she has co-existed in her beloved house by adapting rules designed to make her ghostly roommates’ conduct bearable. Devoted to Katherine, Margaret recognized that it was her duty to protect her child and committed herself to that task. But, of course, she was unable to hide the truth from Katherine, and Katherine’s palpable resentment caused her to distance herself from her parents for years. Until now. Aghast that, even though Hal disappeared weeks ago, Margaret never filed a report with the local police, Katherine involves law enforcement in the search as the September days elapse, the spirits’ activities become more pronounced, and Margaret grows increasingly sleep-deprived and nearly incoherent.
The September House proceeds at a rapid pace as details about Hal’s whereabouts emerge and “the pranksters” – as Margaret calls them – respond. A gory, dramatic confrontation tests both Margaret and Katherine, and reveals that Orlando’s story is a clever, multi-layered, allegorical examination of destructive power imbalances in relationships, abuse, family secrets, and the psychological and emotional effects of trauma. It is also an illustration of resilience, resolve, and the freeing and healing power of the truth. Orlando wisely gives readers respites from the deep and relentless emotional intensity of the story with slyly comedic moments. Some of Margaret’s conversations with the pranksters are hilarious, and her visits with Edie are charmingly humorous. But as utterly ridiculous and outrageous as many of the characters’ actions are, Orlando never allows the story to lose focus, delivering clues at well-timed junctures about how Margaret’s decisions and choices landed her in the middle of a horror story. Perhaps. Or is she suffering from some type of psychotic break that has caused her to imagine that paranormal activity is occurring in the house? Does Katherine see and hear the ghosts, as Hal did (accordingly to Margaret, at least)? Do the police who come to investigate Hal’s disappearance see and hear them? Why does Edie, who never enters the house, instead remaining on the porch during her visits, unwaveringly accept as true Margaret’s representations of the goings-on in the old Vale house? Learning the answers to those and other mysteries is a surprisingly entertaining and moving experience. Orlando so skillfully reveals the Hartman family history and how it has shaped the psyches of Margaret and Katherine that they become empathetic characters for whom readers will cheer, counting on Orlando to bring their stories to a satisfying conclusion. She does not disappoint. The September House is an impressive and promising debut.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The Girls of Summer is a powerful story of awakening, reconciliation, forgiveness, and healing in order to move forward, told through alternating first-person narratives from Rachel. In one, she details the events of the summer when she was seventeen years old and permitted by her parents to go on a seven-week, island hopping vacation with her best friend, Caroline, before returning home to continue her education. They end up on an idyllic Greek island where they join a group of girls living and working together in a local backpacker bar. Rachel has never been among the most popular girls at school and has no dating experience. Innocent and gullible, like most teenage girls she is insecure about her appearance and desirability. So when the handsome bar manager, Alistair, turns his attention to her, she instantly knows that the moment he asks her name is one she will never forget. She is flattered, enchanted, and secretly satisfied that the attention Alistair showers on her appears to make Caroline jealous, as she “nurses the special secret glow that had taken root when Alistair had touched my arm, his fingers hot against my skin.” In subsequent chapters, Rachel describes her interactions with the twenty years older Alistair, who insists that they keep their relationship a secret to avoid the bar’s owner finding out about Alistair’s fraternization. Alistair’s employer is a mysterious, wealthy businessman for whom Alistair performs a variety of duties, including serving as the caretaker of his large villa to which he invites Rachel for clandestine sexual rendezvous. Rachel quickly falls desperately in love with Alistair and, eventually, decides that she will remain on the island with him rather than return home to resume her studies, believing everything he tells her. And willing to do anything he asks of her.
Rachel’s present-day narrative is brutally emotional and heartbreakingly honest. Now nearing her thirty-fifth birthday, her life appears to all outside observers to be settled. She had no other boyfriends after Alistair until she met Tom, and Rachel just fell into their relationship and marriage, which has proven comfortable and provided her with stability. She enjoys her career. But in actuality, she is deeply unhappy. She has never been able to move on from what she fondly recalls as a magical summer and is, according to debut author Katie Bishop, caught up in her memories of it. There are two painful aspects of it, however, that haunt Rachel, remaining unresolved in her mind and preventing her from moving forward in her life with Tom.
On vacation, Rachel returns to the island with Tom. She seeks out Helena, who was one of the girls with whom she lived and worked during that fateful summer, and now owns and operates the bar. She implores Helena to tell her how to reach Alistair, with whom she has had no contact since the traumatic morning when Rachel woke to find he had fled the island without her. Helena provides the information, along with a stern warning. “You should be careful. I’m just not sure you know quite what you’re getting yourself into.” But Rachel’s “need for him feels primal and urgent.” When Rachel hears that Alistair is, like she and Tom, living in London, she works up the courage to contact him, but is disappointed by his initial reaction: “How did you find me?” Soon, though, she is again ensnared by Alistair’s charisma and their passionate sexual relationship.
Tom is a richly relatable and empathetic character. He loves Rachel deeply and is earnestly committed to the marriage, believing that they are united in their desire to start a family. But Rachel inexplicably rebuffs his suggestion that they seek medical advice when the months tick by and Rachel does not become pregnant. Tom does not know the truth or any of the details about Rachel’s past because she has never shared her experiences with him. He does not know that there is literally nothing he can ever do to make Rachel happy and their marriage a thriving union. He has no idea he is fighting a losing battle because, in Rachel’s mind, no man can or will ever measure up to Alistair . . . as she remembers him and persists in perceiving him once they reconnect. As the story proceeds, it becomes evident that Tom’s heartbreak is inevitable and will be emotionally wrenching.
Bishop’s choice to relate the story through Rachel is highly effective, and her use of the present tense in both narratives heightens understanding of Rachel’s thought processes and journey. Bishop says she wanted to illustrate that “even though Rachel is seventeen years older, and her life is in a very different place, in many ways she is still trapped in that summer, and she’s never really been able to move on. It still feels so present, so visceral to her, even though she is so much older and is in many ways in a different place now.” Indeed, Rachel’s reunion with Alistair opens a proverbial Pandora’s box of memories, emotions, and complications that ultimately lead to Rachel’s reckoning with the truth about that life-changing summer.
When Helena contacts Rachel to say that she is coming to London and would like to meet, Rachel is reluctant. Eventually, she relents but when she arrives at their appointed meeting place, she is met not just by Helena, but also three of the other girls who spent that summer on the island, Priya, Eloise, and Agnes. Rachel wants no part of the conversation Helena has secretly orchestrated. But is curious and persuaded to hear the women out by Helena’s shocking declaration that Alistair “lies. He always did. He still does. To both of us.” That meeting proves to be a milestone moment in Rachel’s life. Priya is now a successful attorney who has been retained to find answers about that summer by the parents of another girl who was there: “Kiera, who never came home.” The women confront Rachel with the truth about the events of that summer and the men who preyed upon them, including Alistair.
Initially disbelieving, Rachel gradually begins to recognize the truth. It is an excruciatingly painful ordeal, realistically portrayed by Bishop. She can no longer delude herself, instead struggling to reconcile her memories and beliefs about what happened with the facts and evidence supplied by Priya and the others. Back then, Rachel lied about a significant incident, but is forced to acknowledge that “perhaps I was protecting the wrong person.” Bishop explains that, in many ways, Rachel is still the seventeen-year-old girl she was all those years ago. She stopped maturing and, in critical ways, has been sleepwalking, mentally checked out of her own present-day life. Now, she starts to recall that summer differently, the filter of innocence, infatuation, and obsession finally torn away. Alistair asked her to keep his secrets, no matter what it cost her. “They feel like parts of the same puzzle, lines from the same song, chapters of the same story. Fragmented things that I had never thought to put together before, feeling suddenly sharp and solidified.” At last, she understands and is forced to accept that Alistair, his boss, and their business associates were predators, and must reconcile the ways in which she and the other girls were lied to, manipulated, and used . . . as well as her own blind culpability. She is forced to choose whether she will help Priya at long last secure justice for Kiera. And must discern how to heal and move forward with the knowledge she has acquired.
Bishop says that through Rachel, she “was trying to capture the experience that many people have with trauma.” A common theme is that they feel “almost stuck in that moment of trauma,” so Rachel is “still feeling those experiences that she had back then.” Victims of trauma also rewrite history, remembering people and events in ways that defy reality. It is a defense mechanism employed by the psyche as a shield from pain. Rachel exhibits both long-term effects of sexual abuse. Bishop credibly depicts the ways in which her vociferous denials eventually give way to realization. Her story is deeply disturbing and infuriating. It is at times tempting to lose patience with Rachel, viewing her as quite stubborn and unlikable, but Bishop conclusively demonstrates that she is merely reacting in a manner consistent with symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Ultimately, Rachel’s story is one of survival, redemption, and carving a path toward a happy, healthy future. Bishop’s goal in writing it was to help readers who have experienced trauma feel “less alone in the experience” through the experiences of a character to whom they can and perhaps have not seen represented in literature until now.
The Girls of Summer is a stunning debut. Bishop’s characters are fully developed and multi-dimensional. Her prose is evocative, often chillingly straightforward and lacking surplusage. She keeps the story interesting not just by alternating the two narratives, advancing the action incrementally in each and building the dramatic tension at a steady pace, but also by injecting a compelling mystery involving Kiera’s fate. The story is a contemporary, yet also timeless cautionary tale about innocence, sexuality, awareness, and female empowerment and autonomy. The Girls of Summer is a provocative and absorbing. story that continues to resonate long after reading the last page.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Rachel’s present-day narrative is brutally emotional and heartbreakingly honest. Now nearing her thirty-fifth birthday, her life appears to all outside observers to be settled. She had no other boyfriends after Alistair until she met Tom, and Rachel just fell into their relationship and marriage, which has proven comfortable and provided her with stability. She enjoys her career. But in actuality, she is deeply unhappy. She has never been able to move on from what she fondly recalls as a magical summer and is, according to debut author Katie Bishop, caught up in her memories of it. There are two painful aspects of it, however, that haunt Rachel, remaining unresolved in her mind and preventing her from moving forward in her life with Tom.
On vacation, Rachel returns to the island with Tom. She seeks out Helena, who was one of the girls with whom she lived and worked during that fateful summer, and now owns and operates the bar. She implores Helena to tell her how to reach Alistair, with whom she has had no contact since the traumatic morning when Rachel woke to find he had fled the island without her. Helena provides the information, along with a stern warning. “You should be careful. I’m just not sure you know quite what you’re getting yourself into.” But Rachel’s “need for him feels primal and urgent.” When Rachel hears that Alistair is, like she and Tom, living in London, she works up the courage to contact him, but is disappointed by his initial reaction: “How did you find me?” Soon, though, she is again ensnared by Alistair’s charisma and their passionate sexual relationship.
Tom is a richly relatable and empathetic character. He loves Rachel deeply and is earnestly committed to the marriage, believing that they are united in their desire to start a family. But Rachel inexplicably rebuffs his suggestion that they seek medical advice when the months tick by and Rachel does not become pregnant. Tom does not know the truth or any of the details about Rachel’s past because she has never shared her experiences with him. He does not know that there is literally nothing he can ever do to make Rachel happy and their marriage a thriving union. He has no idea he is fighting a losing battle because, in Rachel’s mind, no man can or will ever measure up to Alistair . . . as she remembers him and persists in perceiving him once they reconnect. As the story proceeds, it becomes evident that Tom’s heartbreak is inevitable and will be emotionally wrenching.
Bishop’s choice to relate the story through Rachel is highly effective, and her use of the present tense in both narratives heightens understanding of Rachel’s thought processes and journey. Bishop says she wanted to illustrate that “even though Rachel is seventeen years older, and her life is in a very different place, in many ways she is still trapped in that summer, and she’s never really been able to move on. It still feels so present, so visceral to her, even though she is so much older and is in many ways in a different place now.” Indeed, Rachel’s reunion with Alistair opens a proverbial Pandora’s box of memories, emotions, and complications that ultimately lead to Rachel’s reckoning with the truth about that life-changing summer.
When Helena contacts Rachel to say that she is coming to London and would like to meet, Rachel is reluctant. Eventually, she relents but when she arrives at their appointed meeting place, she is met not just by Helena, but also three of the other girls who spent that summer on the island, Priya, Eloise, and Agnes. Rachel wants no part of the conversation Helena has secretly orchestrated. But is curious and persuaded to hear the women out by Helena’s shocking declaration that Alistair “lies. He always did. He still does. To both of us.” That meeting proves to be a milestone moment in Rachel’s life. Priya is now a successful attorney who has been retained to find answers about that summer by the parents of another girl who was there: “Kiera, who never came home.” The women confront Rachel with the truth about the events of that summer and the men who preyed upon them, including Alistair.
Initially disbelieving, Rachel gradually begins to recognize the truth. It is an excruciatingly painful ordeal, realistically portrayed by Bishop. She can no longer delude herself, instead struggling to reconcile her memories and beliefs about what happened with the facts and evidence supplied by Priya and the others. Back then, Rachel lied about a significant incident, but is forced to acknowledge that “perhaps I was protecting the wrong person.” Bishop explains that, in many ways, Rachel is still the seventeen-year-old girl she was all those years ago. She stopped maturing and, in critical ways, has been sleepwalking, mentally checked out of her own present-day life. Now, she starts to recall that summer differently, the filter of innocence, infatuation, and obsession finally torn away. Alistair asked her to keep his secrets, no matter what it cost her. “They feel like parts of the same puzzle, lines from the same song, chapters of the same story. Fragmented things that I had never thought to put together before, feeling suddenly sharp and solidified.” At last, she understands and is forced to accept that Alistair, his boss, and their business associates were predators, and must reconcile the ways in which she and the other girls were lied to, manipulated, and used . . . as well as her own blind culpability. She is forced to choose whether she will help Priya at long last secure justice for Kiera. And must discern how to heal and move forward with the knowledge she has acquired.
Bishop says that through Rachel, she “was trying to capture the experience that many people have with trauma.” A common theme is that they feel “almost stuck in that moment of trauma,” so Rachel is “still feeling those experiences that she had back then.” Victims of trauma also rewrite history, remembering people and events in ways that defy reality. It is a defense mechanism employed by the psyche as a shield from pain. Rachel exhibits both long-term effects of sexual abuse. Bishop credibly depicts the ways in which her vociferous denials eventually give way to realization. Her story is deeply disturbing and infuriating. It is at times tempting to lose patience with Rachel, viewing her as quite stubborn and unlikable, but Bishop conclusively demonstrates that she is merely reacting in a manner consistent with symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Ultimately, Rachel’s story is one of survival, redemption, and carving a path toward a happy, healthy future. Bishop’s goal in writing it was to help readers who have experienced trauma feel “less alone in the experience” through the experiences of a character to whom they can and perhaps have not seen represented in literature until now.
The Girls of Summer is a stunning debut. Bishop’s characters are fully developed and multi-dimensional. Her prose is evocative, often chillingly straightforward and lacking surplusage. She keeps the story interesting not just by alternating the two narratives, advancing the action incrementally in each and building the dramatic tension at a steady pace, but also by injecting a compelling mystery involving Kiera’s fate. The story is a contemporary, yet also timeless cautionary tale about innocence, sexuality, awareness, and female empowerment and autonomy. The Girls of Summer is a provocative and absorbing. story that continues to resonate long after reading the last page.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Hazel Fine Sings Along by Katie Wicks
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Katie Wicks is the pseudonym adopted by bestselling novelist Catherine McKenzie for her new venture as the author of romantic comedies. McKenzie considers herself an “amateur” guitar and tennis player, and says she has “always loved reality singing shows,” although, “unfortunately, my voice isn't good enough” to audition. Having always wanted to have a competition show serve as the setting for a novel because “there's something so fun about the thrill of the competition mixed in with all the emotions,” she employs the premise with Hazel Fine Sings Along.
Hazel Fine is determined to secure a spot on The Sing Along, an American Idol-esque televised singing competition. “Sing along if you know the words,” the audience shouts with the long-time host, Keshawn Jackson. As the story opens, Hazel has been waitressing and is leaving her room in the sleazy Motel California and her best friend, Amber, a sex worker, to audition. When that goes well, she checks into the much nicer hotel in Universal City that will be her temporary home, along with the other contestants, as their performances are judged by Georgia Hayes, an iconic country music star with a drinking problem and Martin Taylor, who is one of the industry's most successful music producers. He also produces and owns the show.
Hazel is harboring secrets that, if discovered by the network and producers, could get her ejected from the competition before it even gets started. She is twenty-eight years old, but has produced identification indicating she is only twenty-two. Hazel Fine is not her real name, although she has truthfully stated that she is from Austin, Texas. She has withheld pertinent details about her background and will surely be evicted from the hotel if it is discovered that she is harboring her pet rabbit, Checkers, in her room.
Hazel isn't just talented. She's determined to forge a career in the music business . . . and do so on her own She loves singing her own compositions, accompanying herself on the guitar she purchased in a pawn shop six months ago by working double shifts to scrape together the purchase price. At the audition, she “sang as if her life depended on it. Because it did.” She's tired of living in a dumpy motel room she can barely afford, working long shifts in a diner. “She shouldn't feel this old at her age, whatever it was. Her life was supposed to be more than this. She deserved more than this.” She had to “reach out and seize” the chance that felt like her last one. And she did.
But surviving the initial audition was just the beginning of a fraught journey to being crowned the winner of the competition. First, she has to get through more grueling individual and group competitions and, hopefully, be among the select groups of competitors who will perform on the televised shows. And when she accomplishes that, she must navigate around numerous roadblocks that stand between her and victory.
Hazel encounters sexual harassment from the show's powerful head judge. Martin Taylor holds the power to thwart Hazel's trajectory to musical stardom, but he makes inappropriate advances, demanding that Hazel capitulate or face expulsion from the competition. Hazel contemplates lodging a complaint. But how? To whom? Taylor literally controls nearly every aspect of the show and there are no witnesses to his quid pro quo propositions. Who will believe her? It is a compelling component of the story that is both contemporary and timeless, and accurately demonstrates the real conundrum that victims too-often confront.
There is also the delicate matter of forming collegial relationships with the other contestants, with whom Hazel is required to perform on the show. Hazel immediately bonds with her roommate, Zoey, a Black country musician who agrees to keep Checkers' presence a secret and talks incessantly about missing her girlfriend. But there are man girls competing, including beautiful Bella Moore, whose mother was a cast member on one of the housewives reality shows. Her father is wealthy, and Bella has over two million Instagram followers. And the show's producers insist that Hazel play along as they invent and publicize a fake romance between her and Benji Suzuki, a talented singer who has already curated a large online following by posting videos on TikTok.
As if that weren't enough, the contestants must collaborate with other musical artists, and Hazel is paired with Georgia Hayes. Keeping her sober long enough to prepare proves challenging, and in the process, Hazel gets an up-close glimpse into the stressors that plague artists as they establish and strive to maintain a successful career in music. George proves to be as vulnerable and damaged as she is famous and revered by her fans.
And of course, there is Hazel's burgeoning attraction to Nick Barnes, the show's musical director. He is handsome, charismatic, and off-limits except in a solely professional capacity. Inappropriate fraternization could also result in Hazel being dismissed from the competition and cost Nick his job. But Hazel and Nick turn out to be inspired collaborators – musically and personally. McKenzie, aka Wicks, says her favorite part of writing is crafting dialogue, noting that the romantic comedy genre is “very dialogue driven. You need the conversations between the romantic interests to sparkle and getting to see that form on the page is very satisfying. If I pulled it off, that is.” She did. The relationship between Hazel and Nick is punctuated not only with witty bantering, but believable and emotionally resonant conversations as they get to know each other and recognize their deepening feelings, as well as the myriad reasons why they must proceed cautiously.
As the story proceeds, Wicks convincingly illustrates the pressures the contestants endure in order to remain in the competition, including the believable politics, machinations, and backstabbing in which some competitors engage, and the crushing disappointment that befalls some of them. But for Hazel, failure simply isn't an option. She has burned bridges and nearly emptied her bank account. The prospect of having to pawn her beloved guitar in order to buy a bus ticket and return to Austin with her proverbial tale between her legs is unthinkable. Wicks gradually reveals exactly why Hazel is so driven to succeed and determined to keep her secrets from coming to light. Hazel is endearing from the outset, feisty and principled. And as readers learn about her childhood, her past experiences as a performer, and the betrayal that caused her to become estranged from her parents, she grows increasingly sympathetic and likable.
Hazel Fine Sings Along is an entertaining, enjoyable, and charming first foray into the crowded romantic comedy genre. It's a nearly perfect beach read that will have readers rooting for Hazel to win both prizes: the talent competition championship and the guy. And looking forward to the next book from the multi-talented McKenzie/Wicks.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy and to Wattpad Webtoon Book Group for a paperback copy of the book in conjunction with the Tandem Collective Readalong.
Hazel Fine is determined to secure a spot on The Sing Along, an American Idol-esque televised singing competition. “Sing along if you know the words,” the audience shouts with the long-time host, Keshawn Jackson. As the story opens, Hazel has been waitressing and is leaving her room in the sleazy Motel California and her best friend, Amber, a sex worker, to audition. When that goes well, she checks into the much nicer hotel in Universal City that will be her temporary home, along with the other contestants, as their performances are judged by Georgia Hayes, an iconic country music star with a drinking problem and Martin Taylor, who is one of the industry's most successful music producers. He also produces and owns the show.
Hazel is harboring secrets that, if discovered by the network and producers, could get her ejected from the competition before it even gets started. She is twenty-eight years old, but has produced identification indicating she is only twenty-two. Hazel Fine is not her real name, although she has truthfully stated that she is from Austin, Texas. She has withheld pertinent details about her background and will surely be evicted from the hotel if it is discovered that she is harboring her pet rabbit, Checkers, in her room.
Hazel isn't just talented. She's determined to forge a career in the music business . . . and do so on her own She loves singing her own compositions, accompanying herself on the guitar she purchased in a pawn shop six months ago by working double shifts to scrape together the purchase price. At the audition, she “sang as if her life depended on it. Because it did.” She's tired of living in a dumpy motel room she can barely afford, working long shifts in a diner. “She shouldn't feel this old at her age, whatever it was. Her life was supposed to be more than this. She deserved more than this.” She had to “reach out and seize” the chance that felt like her last one. And she did.
But surviving the initial audition was just the beginning of a fraught journey to being crowned the winner of the competition. First, she has to get through more grueling individual and group competitions and, hopefully, be among the select groups of competitors who will perform on the televised shows. And when she accomplishes that, she must navigate around numerous roadblocks that stand between her and victory.
Hazel encounters sexual harassment from the show's powerful head judge. Martin Taylor holds the power to thwart Hazel's trajectory to musical stardom, but he makes inappropriate advances, demanding that Hazel capitulate or face expulsion from the competition. Hazel contemplates lodging a complaint. But how? To whom? Taylor literally controls nearly every aspect of the show and there are no witnesses to his quid pro quo propositions. Who will believe her? It is a compelling component of the story that is both contemporary and timeless, and accurately demonstrates the real conundrum that victims too-often confront.
There is also the delicate matter of forming collegial relationships with the other contestants, with whom Hazel is required to perform on the show. Hazel immediately bonds with her roommate, Zoey, a Black country musician who agrees to keep Checkers' presence a secret and talks incessantly about missing her girlfriend. But there are man girls competing, including beautiful Bella Moore, whose mother was a cast member on one of the housewives reality shows. Her father is wealthy, and Bella has over two million Instagram followers. And the show's producers insist that Hazel play along as they invent and publicize a fake romance between her and Benji Suzuki, a talented singer who has already curated a large online following by posting videos on TikTok.
As if that weren't enough, the contestants must collaborate with other musical artists, and Hazel is paired with Georgia Hayes. Keeping her sober long enough to prepare proves challenging, and in the process, Hazel gets an up-close glimpse into the stressors that plague artists as they establish and strive to maintain a successful career in music. George proves to be as vulnerable and damaged as she is famous and revered by her fans.
And of course, there is Hazel's burgeoning attraction to Nick Barnes, the show's musical director. He is handsome, charismatic, and off-limits except in a solely professional capacity. Inappropriate fraternization could also result in Hazel being dismissed from the competition and cost Nick his job. But Hazel and Nick turn out to be inspired collaborators – musically and personally. McKenzie, aka Wicks, says her favorite part of writing is crafting dialogue, noting that the romantic comedy genre is “very dialogue driven. You need the conversations between the romantic interests to sparkle and getting to see that form on the page is very satisfying. If I pulled it off, that is.” She did. The relationship between Hazel and Nick is punctuated not only with witty bantering, but believable and emotionally resonant conversations as they get to know each other and recognize their deepening feelings, as well as the myriad reasons why they must proceed cautiously.
As the story proceeds, Wicks convincingly illustrates the pressures the contestants endure in order to remain in the competition, including the believable politics, machinations, and backstabbing in which some competitors engage, and the crushing disappointment that befalls some of them. But for Hazel, failure simply isn't an option. She has burned bridges and nearly emptied her bank account. The prospect of having to pawn her beloved guitar in order to buy a bus ticket and return to Austin with her proverbial tale between her legs is unthinkable. Wicks gradually reveals exactly why Hazel is so driven to succeed and determined to keep her secrets from coming to light. Hazel is endearing from the outset, feisty and principled. And as readers learn about her childhood, her past experiences as a performer, and the betrayal that caused her to become estranged from her parents, she grows increasingly sympathetic and likable.
Hazel Fine Sings Along is an entertaining, enjoyable, and charming first foray into the crowded romantic comedy genre. It's a nearly perfect beach read that will have readers rooting for Hazel to win both prizes: the talent competition championship and the guy. And looking forward to the next book from the multi-talented McKenzie/Wicks.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy and to Wattpad Webtoon Book Group for a paperback copy of the book in conjunction with the Tandem Collective Readalong.
Drowning by T.J. Newman
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Drowning proves conclusively that the success of author T.J. Newman's riveting debut, Falling, was not a fluke. Her sophomore effort, Drowning, is equally terrifying, absorbing, and emotionally satisfying. In fact, her characters and their plights are even more sympathetic, and the story more heartbreaking but, ultimately, life-affirming.
Newman considers her post-college stint at Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, her first step toward becoming a bestselling novelist. No one knew that she was laboring as a bookseller by day and writing in her bedroom at night, contemplating how to accomplish her goal of becoming a published writer. At her mother's suggestion, she segued into and loved flying, and her ten-year career as a flight attendant supplied the inspiration for falling.
Newman says she knew that the follow-up to her staggeringly successful first novel had to be “bigger. In every aspect, it had to be bigger. Bigger heart, bigger action, bigger stakes.” It is. Searching through her trove of story ideas amassed during her flying days, she recalled yet another red-eye flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles. The flight path from Hawaii to the mainland is the longest in the world with no suitable alternate route. During that flight, she looked out the porthole window in the door of the forward galley “at nothing. There's nothing out there for hours and miles in every direction. It is nothing but a pitch black void. Nothing but water.” She pondered, “What if something happened? What if we went down? How would they find us out here? How would they come get us? How would they save us? How would we save ourselves?” And she is captivated by how ordinary people react when they find themselves in a heightened situation. “I think we all discover parts of ourselves that we didn't now were there when we're in hot water and I'm fascinated by that.”
“In aviation, the emergency landing of an aircraft on water is called a ditching,” according to Drowning's brief prologue. Thinking back to that vast nothingness except water, Newman contemplated the worst case scenario: the pilot announces “prepare to ditch” and the plane crashes into the ocean before sinking with passengers and crew members trapped inside. And it comes to rest teetering on the edge of an underwater cliff. From there, Newman “reverse engineered” the story by understanding how that circumstance might actually occur. But found it “really tricky” to figure out how to make the fictional plane crash because, theoretically, the events in the book should not play out due to safety mechanisms and protocols. But her research revealed that they could.
So, for instance, a pilot should never have a “dead stick,” meaning no hydraulic fluid and no hydraulic power. Planes have “three hydraulic lines. Two layers of redundancy in case of a system failure.” Those backup systems should ensure that the loss of an engine does not eliminate the pilot's ability to navigate the aircraft and, if necessary, either return to the airport where the flight originated (in this case, Honolulu) or land at an alternate location (which, in Drowning would be either Kahului Airport on Maui or Kona Airport on Hawaii). But because the plane will not continue gaining altitude and the pilot literally cannot turn the plane around, there is only one place for it to land: southwest of Moloka'i in the narrow channel between that small, largely uninhabited island and the nearby island of Lana'i where trade winds blow every day. The shelf is known as Penguin Bank.
Newman establishes Flight 1421's predicament in a straight-forward, unembellished style that makes the sheer terror the passengers and crew are experiencing palpable and believable. She demonstrates various characters' response to crisis. For some, their worst traits come to light while others unexpectedly become heroes. Newman wisely recognized that the spectacle of the disaster could not sustain the story unless her readers became invested in the well-being of the twelve people trapped in the plane. So, with the plane sinking to the bottom of the sea and readers fully engrossed in the action, she winds the story back three hours and examines the history of her main characters, engineer Will Kent, his estranged wife Chris, and their eleven-year-old daughter, Shannon. Their oldest daughter, Annie, died tragically six years ago in a maddeningly preventable accident. Losing her has caused her parents, especially Will, to become overprotective of Shannon. For that reason, Will is going to fly with Shannon to San Francisco where she will attend summer camp, and immediately return to Hawaii. Shannon is appropriately mortified. Annie's bedroom has remained as she left it, symbolic of the stasis in her parents' relationship that has led to their pending divorce. They have spent the years since Annie's death wracked with guilt and pain, believing that if “they dealt with their marriage or changed the house or cleaned out Annie's room, they'd be moving forward. Which would mean they'd be leaving Annie behind.”
Will and Shannon survive the crash, as does another young girl traveling alone, eight-year-old Maia Taylor. ALong with Will, female pilot Kit shoulders responsibility for ensuring that everyone trapped in the fuselage gets out alive. Through flight attendants Molly and Kaholo Newman again emphasizes that “flight attendants are first and foremost safety and security professionals. Full stop.” An elderly couple traveling together, Ruth and Ira Belkin, and Ryan Wang, whose new bride is killed on impact, are particularly memorable. As the oxygen supply dwindles, Will and Kit take the lead in communicating with military personnel charged with organizing a mass rescue operation (MRO) from the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a 101,000-ton Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Under normal circumstances, Chris's blatant conflict of interest and lack of objectivity would preclude her from becoming part of the rescue operation. However, Chris and her colleagues are civilian contractors hired to perform routine hull maintenance on the ship. When she learns that Will and Shannon's flight has crashed, she refuses to be sidelined while possible rescue strategies are debated. None of the military personnel have ever undertaken such a rescue operation and Chris possesses invaluable special expertise. No one is more motivated than she to see the MRO succeed. After all, it is her family that is trapped some two hundred feet below the water's surface.
Newman notes that one thing the rigorous training provided to flight attendants does not address is how to respond if a plane sinks to the bottom of the ocean with survivors of the crash inside, so she was required to conduct extensive research to make that aspect of the story credible, as well. For one thing, she had to change her mindset because normal aviation protocols are no longer applicable. She says the plane is no longer an aircraft — it has, as a practical matter, been transformed into a “submarine.” Her depiction of the trial-and-error attempts to rescue the trapped survivors is heart-stoppingly tense, fraught with uncertainty, and completely engrossing. Those scenes are indeed emotionally wrenching because Newman has, by that point in the story, deftly convinced readers to care deeply about the survivors' fate.
Drowning is a propulsive, unpredictable thriller. Newman's narrative is tautly crafted with no surplusage and moves at a steady pace, with shocking developments delivered at expertly timed junctures that compel the story forward. Newman never loses control of the speed at which the tale unfolds, restraining it from becoming frantic. Rather, critical story developments occur at realistic intervals, giving readers a chance to brace themselves for the next complication, reason to hope, or heartbreaking loss. And, of course, losses are an expected and credible part of the story.
Newman made a conscious effort to incorporate more details about the passengers in her second novel than she did in Falling, largely because she realized that most of her readers are actual or potential passengers themselves and, accordingly, put themselves in the characters' places and are most interested in the trajectories of their stories. The approach is highly effective. At its core, though, Drowning is the story of a family. With Will and Shannon in peril, Chris will stop at nothing to save them, including risking her own life. Like Will, she is convinced that she will not survive if Shannon does not. Her feelings for Will are complicated, as are his for her. Like the aircraft's cabin, when the story opens, their marriage is teetering on a cliff and rapidly running out of oxygen. Both characters are fully formed, flawed, and empathetic, and Shannon, who continues to mourn her big sister, is particularly endearing. Newman never allows her story to lapse into melodrama or her characters to become cloying, demonstrating that she is equally adept at creating compelling characters and inventing terrifying situations in which to place those characters.
Drowning cements Newman's stance as a first-rate writer. She says she is working on her third novel and her goal is to amp the dramatic tension up even further, which is hard to imagine. Drowning is the best of two genres – a horrifyingly realistic thriller to which anyone who has ever been a passenger in an airplane can readily relate and an emotionally rich exploration of the impact of grief, isolation, guilt, and an inability to effectively communicate on a marriage, a family, and, most importantly, a surviving sibling. It is sure to be on not only every bestseller list, but every list of the best books of 2023.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Newman considers her post-college stint at Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, her first step toward becoming a bestselling novelist. No one knew that she was laboring as a bookseller by day and writing in her bedroom at night, contemplating how to accomplish her goal of becoming a published writer. At her mother's suggestion, she segued into and loved flying, and her ten-year career as a flight attendant supplied the inspiration for falling.
Newman says she knew that the follow-up to her staggeringly successful first novel had to be “bigger. In every aspect, it had to be bigger. Bigger heart, bigger action, bigger stakes.” It is. Searching through her trove of story ideas amassed during her flying days, she recalled yet another red-eye flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles. The flight path from Hawaii to the mainland is the longest in the world with no suitable alternate route. During that flight, she looked out the porthole window in the door of the forward galley “at nothing. There's nothing out there for hours and miles in every direction. It is nothing but a pitch black void. Nothing but water.” She pondered, “What if something happened? What if we went down? How would they find us out here? How would they come get us? How would they save us? How would we save ourselves?” And she is captivated by how ordinary people react when they find themselves in a heightened situation. “I think we all discover parts of ourselves that we didn't now were there when we're in hot water and I'm fascinated by that.”
“In aviation, the emergency landing of an aircraft on water is called a ditching,” according to Drowning's brief prologue. Thinking back to that vast nothingness except water, Newman contemplated the worst case scenario: the pilot announces “prepare to ditch” and the plane crashes into the ocean before sinking with passengers and crew members trapped inside. And it comes to rest teetering on the edge of an underwater cliff. From there, Newman “reverse engineered” the story by understanding how that circumstance might actually occur. But found it “really tricky” to figure out how to make the fictional plane crash because, theoretically, the events in the book should not play out due to safety mechanisms and protocols. But her research revealed that they could.
So, for instance, a pilot should never have a “dead stick,” meaning no hydraulic fluid and no hydraulic power. Planes have “three hydraulic lines. Two layers of redundancy in case of a system failure.” Those backup systems should ensure that the loss of an engine does not eliminate the pilot's ability to navigate the aircraft and, if necessary, either return to the airport where the flight originated (in this case, Honolulu) or land at an alternate location (which, in Drowning would be either Kahului Airport on Maui or Kona Airport on Hawaii). But because the plane will not continue gaining altitude and the pilot literally cannot turn the plane around, there is only one place for it to land: southwest of Moloka'i in the narrow channel between that small, largely uninhabited island and the nearby island of Lana'i where trade winds blow every day. The shelf is known as Penguin Bank.
Newman establishes Flight 1421's predicament in a straight-forward, unembellished style that makes the sheer terror the passengers and crew are experiencing palpable and believable. She demonstrates various characters' response to crisis. For some, their worst traits come to light while others unexpectedly become heroes. Newman wisely recognized that the spectacle of the disaster could not sustain the story unless her readers became invested in the well-being of the twelve people trapped in the plane. So, with the plane sinking to the bottom of the sea and readers fully engrossed in the action, she winds the story back three hours and examines the history of her main characters, engineer Will Kent, his estranged wife Chris, and their eleven-year-old daughter, Shannon. Their oldest daughter, Annie, died tragically six years ago in a maddeningly preventable accident. Losing her has caused her parents, especially Will, to become overprotective of Shannon. For that reason, Will is going to fly with Shannon to San Francisco where she will attend summer camp, and immediately return to Hawaii. Shannon is appropriately mortified. Annie's bedroom has remained as she left it, symbolic of the stasis in her parents' relationship that has led to their pending divorce. They have spent the years since Annie's death wracked with guilt and pain, believing that if “they dealt with their marriage or changed the house or cleaned out Annie's room, they'd be moving forward. Which would mean they'd be leaving Annie behind.”
Will and Shannon survive the crash, as does another young girl traveling alone, eight-year-old Maia Taylor. ALong with Will, female pilot Kit shoulders responsibility for ensuring that everyone trapped in the fuselage gets out alive. Through flight attendants Molly and Kaholo Newman again emphasizes that “flight attendants are first and foremost safety and security professionals. Full stop.” An elderly couple traveling together, Ruth and Ira Belkin, and Ryan Wang, whose new bride is killed on impact, are particularly memorable. As the oxygen supply dwindles, Will and Kit take the lead in communicating with military personnel charged with organizing a mass rescue operation (MRO) from the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a 101,000-ton Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Under normal circumstances, Chris's blatant conflict of interest and lack of objectivity would preclude her from becoming part of the rescue operation. However, Chris and her colleagues are civilian contractors hired to perform routine hull maintenance on the ship. When she learns that Will and Shannon's flight has crashed, she refuses to be sidelined while possible rescue strategies are debated. None of the military personnel have ever undertaken such a rescue operation and Chris possesses invaluable special expertise. No one is more motivated than she to see the MRO succeed. After all, it is her family that is trapped some two hundred feet below the water's surface.
Newman notes that one thing the rigorous training provided to flight attendants does not address is how to respond if a plane sinks to the bottom of the ocean with survivors of the crash inside, so she was required to conduct extensive research to make that aspect of the story credible, as well. For one thing, she had to change her mindset because normal aviation protocols are no longer applicable. She says the plane is no longer an aircraft — it has, as a practical matter, been transformed into a “submarine.” Her depiction of the trial-and-error attempts to rescue the trapped survivors is heart-stoppingly tense, fraught with uncertainty, and completely engrossing. Those scenes are indeed emotionally wrenching because Newman has, by that point in the story, deftly convinced readers to care deeply about the survivors' fate.
Drowning is a propulsive, unpredictable thriller. Newman's narrative is tautly crafted with no surplusage and moves at a steady pace, with shocking developments delivered at expertly timed junctures that compel the story forward. Newman never loses control of the speed at which the tale unfolds, restraining it from becoming frantic. Rather, critical story developments occur at realistic intervals, giving readers a chance to brace themselves for the next complication, reason to hope, or heartbreaking loss. And, of course, losses are an expected and credible part of the story.
Newman made a conscious effort to incorporate more details about the passengers in her second novel than she did in Falling, largely because she realized that most of her readers are actual or potential passengers themselves and, accordingly, put themselves in the characters' places and are most interested in the trajectories of their stories. The approach is highly effective. At its core, though, Drowning is the story of a family. With Will and Shannon in peril, Chris will stop at nothing to save them, including risking her own life. Like Will, she is convinced that she will not survive if Shannon does not. Her feelings for Will are complicated, as are his for her. Like the aircraft's cabin, when the story opens, their marriage is teetering on a cliff and rapidly running out of oxygen. Both characters are fully formed, flawed, and empathetic, and Shannon, who continues to mourn her big sister, is particularly endearing. Newman never allows her story to lapse into melodrama or her characters to become cloying, demonstrating that she is equally adept at creating compelling characters and inventing terrifying situations in which to place those characters.
Drowning cements Newman's stance as a first-rate writer. She says she is working on her third novel and her goal is to amp the dramatic tension up even further, which is hard to imagine. Drowning is the best of two genres – a horrifyingly realistic thriller to which anyone who has ever been a passenger in an airplane can readily relate and an emotionally rich exploration of the impact of grief, isolation, guilt, and an inability to effectively communicate on a marriage, a family, and, most importantly, a surviving sibling. It is sure to be on not only every bestseller list, but every list of the best books of 2023.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Author Susan Meissner says Only the Beautiful focuses on "a movement in history that has been all but forgotten." The eugenics movement led to state laws authorizing the sterilization of institutionalized citizens who had conditions deemed to result from genetic flaws for the purpose of "race betterment." Not only were persons with disabilities discouraged from having children in the name of "making better, healthier babies." Those adjudicated unable to make their own medical decisions were forcibly sterilized. Many of them were labeled "feeble minded" or "imbeciles," but even persons with epilepsy and alcoholism were subjected to the irreversible medical procedure against their will.
When Meissner began her research for the book, she had only passing knowledge of the eugenics movement. While conducting research to pen The Nature of Fragile Things, she happened upon photographs from the 1915 World’s Fair in San Francisco, one of which depicted an exhibit touting eugenics. She continued researching and when she learned about the tragic case of Carrie Buck, she "toyed with" the idea of fictionalizing her story but abandoned the notion because she realized Buck's story "was just too sad." Although Buck earned average grades in school, she lived in poverty and was targeted as an "imbecile," largely because her mother was institutionalized. While a foster child, she was assaulted and impregnated by the foster family's nephew. At just eighteen years of age, she was the first person involuntarily sterilized in Virginia pursuant to a statute which was, unbelievably, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1927 decision in Buck v. Bell. The Court found that sterilization of institutionalized persons who were deemed to suffer from a hereditary form of insanity or imbecility was within the power accorded states under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Sadly, Virginia was not the only state seeking “race betterment.” The Buck case permitted laws to be enacted in all fifty states that remained in effect for decades and resulted in the forced sterilization of more than sixty thousand men and women. California, which has for many years provided the broadest civil rights protections of any state, was actually the worst offender. Between 1909 and 1964, the highest number – more than twenty thousand -- of involuntary sterilizations were performed in the state and the law permitting the procedure was not repealed until 1979. It wasn’t until 2003 that the State issued a formal apology and $7.5 million was earmarked for reparation payments to victims in 2021.
Meissner determined to tell a story built around fictional characters, but based on actual historical events that would encompass "powerful, hopeful moments." She succeeded.
Only the Beautiful opens in 1938. Meissner tells the tragic story of Rosie, who grew up in a loving family on a beautiful vineyard in Sonoma County. But school was always difficult for her because she was born with a hereditary condition – synesthesia. For synesthetes, stimulation of one of the senses produces an involuntary reaction in another sense. In her first-person narrative, Rosie explains that sounds cause her to see colors and shapes, and numbers, names, and places all correlate with specific colors. At that time, synesthesia was not yet understood by the scientific and medical communities. Her parents warned her that she perceived the world differently than other people and must keep her experiences secret. She convinced her parents to let her quit school when she turned sixteen because the “colors in my mind were always fighting for my attention, and there were so many sounds at school. Too many. It had been so hard to concentrate.” Math was particularly difficult. Indeed, Meissner notes that, in those days, synesthesia was considered a "flaw to be removed and definitely not to be passed on,” even though her research revealed that many synesthetes find their condition is "beautiful. It adds depth and dimension to their lives. They see colors in the periphery of their mind,” despite the fact that, like fictional Rosie, many of them struggle in school.
As the story opens, Rosie loses her entire family – her parents and younger brother – in a tragic motor vehicle accident and, with no other relatives to care for her, the owners of the vineyard on which she has spent her entire life, Truman and Celine Calvert, take her in. Truman, a World War I veteran, is quiet, reserved, and deferential to his domineering wife who requires Rosie to serve as the family’s maid to prepare her for life beyond the vineyard when she becomes an adult. The arrangement works well for a time, until the Calverts’ son, Wilson, returns for a visit. He brings up a long-ago conversation with Rosie during which he thought she said she could see ghosts. She, of course, denies that, but later confesses the truth to Truman.
At age seventeen, Rosie becomes pregnant, and when she can no longer hide her condition, Celine is incensed. She demands not only that Rosie leave their home immediately but uses her knowledge of Rosie’s synesthesia to see to it that Rosie suffers a fate she never knew was imaginable. She believes that she will be sent to a home for unwed mothers until her baby is born and has no intention of relinquishing her child for adoption. Instead, the county social worker transports her to the Sonoma State Home for the Infirm (modeled after the real Sonoma State Home). Naturally, Rosie protests but quickly learns that objections result in punishment.
Rosie’s story is harrowing, particularly when read with an understanding that it is based upon the experiences of actual victims of prejudice against and misunderstanding of not just synesthesia, but myriad other conditions, as well. Meissner heightens the power of the tale by relating it in Rosie’s own words and from her perspective. She credibly describes her shock about her circumstances, regret about having failed to keep her condition a secret, the horrific living conditions and abuse to which she is subjected in the institution, and her determination to be released and build a meaningful life for herself.
Part Two of Only the Beautiful is told in the first-person by Helen Calvert, Truman’s sister. It opens in 1947 in Lucerne, Switzerland as Helen, at sixty-two, is returning to California after decades spent working for various families as a nanny in Europe. Helen became acquainted with Rosie when she was a young girl growing up at the vineyard, and the Calverts made it a point to share her letters with Rosie over the years. For Rosie’s first Christmas without her family, Helen sent her an amaryllis plant to cheer her, and Rosie treasured it and all it represented.
Helen is understandably weary. She opted to remain in Europe when war broke out, rather than return to the United States. She relates her experiences with the Maier family in Austria, the last family for whom she served as a nanny. She was particularly fond of their youngest child, seven-year-old Brigitta, who was born prematurely and struggled to reach developmental milestones. The Germans invaded and annexed Austria in 1938, and Johannes Maier was forced to serve as an officer in a panzer division while his wife, Martine, remained at home with the children and Helen. But even the family of a Nazi officer was not immune from the atrocities of the Adolf Hitler regime.
When Hitler came to power in Germany, he did not immediately begin constructing concentration camps in which to imprison and murder Jews. His quest to create a “master race” began with measures designed to alter the genetic makeup of the German population through "racial hygiene" or eugenics, relying on ideas that had already been adopted by the mainstream medical community. The Nazis started by involuntarily sterilizing persons they believed should not procreate. The sought to eradicate persons with disabilities, referring to them as “useless eaters.” They did not just target adults. Children were forcibly removed from their parents’ care and transported to special “hospitals” like Am Steinhof and Hartheim Castle where they were subjected to experimentation and murdered.
Helen describes her wartime experiences, and the heartbreakingly unthinkable events Meissner includes are difficult to read about, based upon actual events. Helen never had children of her own, but in her role as a nanny, cared for her charges as though they were her own. But she was, like most people, naïve and could never have envisioned the evils the Nazis were capable of. Wracked with guilt, regret, and remorse, she resolves to save as many children as she can.
And when she returns to California and has a visit with Celine, she is appalled and outraged to learn what transpired in her absence and the fate that befell Rosie. She is determined to find Rosie’s child and enlists her good friends, one of whom is a lawyer, to assist her. Of course, in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, the internet did not exist, and it was much more difficult to find people . . . and adoption records were sealed.
The actions of the Nazi regime “shown a light on eugenic legislation,” illustrating how such laws led to catastrophic abuse. "It was kind of a defining moment in our history, and it's being forgotten," Meissner laments. Only the Beautiful is a compelling and credible story, set against the backdrop of the monstrous agenda of the Nazis and the abhorrent eugenic movement that gained traction in the United States in the early part of the twentieth century. Through the tragedies that befall her characters and the challenges they face, Meissner illustrates the intersection and similarities of the two, emphasizing their far-reaching and tragic consequences.
Meissner’s characters are fully developed, multi-layered, and empathetic. Rosie, in particular, easily slips into readers’ hearts. A minor, powerless to make decisions about her own life and health, she is ensnared in the custody of the county, victimized by a vengeful, angry, and bitter woman and her weak, despicable husband who claim to care about Rosie, and confined to an institution by medical personnel who fail to listen to her or understand that she is not “inform” or afflicted in any way that makes her incapable of competently parenting. Rosie discovers in the most painful ways that her “parents were right to fear the colors. They are dangerous. People will always distrust what they don’t understand. And what they distrust, they cannot love.”
Helen is also intriguing and sympathetic. She refuses to acquiesce when evil forces come to power, intent on doing whatever she can to help as many children as possible and, perhaps, atone for one innocent, but horrible mistake.
The pace of Only the Beautiful never slows as Meissner’s poignant narratives alternate between past and present before melding seamlessly. Although some plot details are gut wrenching and deeply upsetting, their inclusion is critical to the characters’ motivations and development, as well as the message Meissner seeks to convey. There are times “in our history that we ought not to forget. If we forget our history, we are more apt to repeat it, aren’t we?” Meissner provides an emotionally satisfying conclusion to her riveting story, demonstrating that despite all the cruelty and misguided quests for power and dominance that people are capable of, there are also “people who will stand up for those who can't stand and speak for those who cannot speak and it's their bravery that encourages the rest of us to do the same.” In other words, there is always cause for hope.
Moreover, given that reproductive rights are again at issue in the United States, with increasingly restrictive laws being passed in many states and critical political races poised to hinge on candidates’ positions on the subject, Only the Beautiful is a decidedly timely and contemporary work of historical fiction. The book lends itself to discussion and debate about who has the right and should be empowered to make decisions about bearing and raising children, government overreach into decision-making, and how best to ensure that the dark and shameful historical events Meissner depicts are never permitted to recur.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
When Meissner began her research for the book, she had only passing knowledge of the eugenics movement. While conducting research to pen The Nature of Fragile Things, she happened upon photographs from the 1915 World’s Fair in San Francisco, one of which depicted an exhibit touting eugenics. She continued researching and when she learned about the tragic case of Carrie Buck, she "toyed with" the idea of fictionalizing her story but abandoned the notion because she realized Buck's story "was just too sad." Although Buck earned average grades in school, she lived in poverty and was targeted as an "imbecile," largely because her mother was institutionalized. While a foster child, she was assaulted and impregnated by the foster family's nephew. At just eighteen years of age, she was the first person involuntarily sterilized in Virginia pursuant to a statute which was, unbelievably, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1927 decision in Buck v. Bell. The Court found that sterilization of institutionalized persons who were deemed to suffer from a hereditary form of insanity or imbecility was within the power accorded states under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Sadly, Virginia was not the only state seeking “race betterment.” The Buck case permitted laws to be enacted in all fifty states that remained in effect for decades and resulted in the forced sterilization of more than sixty thousand men and women. California, which has for many years provided the broadest civil rights protections of any state, was actually the worst offender. Between 1909 and 1964, the highest number – more than twenty thousand -- of involuntary sterilizations were performed in the state and the law permitting the procedure was not repealed until 1979. It wasn’t until 2003 that the State issued a formal apology and $7.5 million was earmarked for reparation payments to victims in 2021.
Meissner determined to tell a story built around fictional characters, but based on actual historical events that would encompass "powerful, hopeful moments." She succeeded.
Only the Beautiful opens in 1938. Meissner tells the tragic story of Rosie, who grew up in a loving family on a beautiful vineyard in Sonoma County. But school was always difficult for her because she was born with a hereditary condition – synesthesia. For synesthetes, stimulation of one of the senses produces an involuntary reaction in another sense. In her first-person narrative, Rosie explains that sounds cause her to see colors and shapes, and numbers, names, and places all correlate with specific colors. At that time, synesthesia was not yet understood by the scientific and medical communities. Her parents warned her that she perceived the world differently than other people and must keep her experiences secret. She convinced her parents to let her quit school when she turned sixteen because the “colors in my mind were always fighting for my attention, and there were so many sounds at school. Too many. It had been so hard to concentrate.” Math was particularly difficult. Indeed, Meissner notes that, in those days, synesthesia was considered a "flaw to be removed and definitely not to be passed on,” even though her research revealed that many synesthetes find their condition is "beautiful. It adds depth and dimension to their lives. They see colors in the periphery of their mind,” despite the fact that, like fictional Rosie, many of them struggle in school.
As the story opens, Rosie loses her entire family – her parents and younger brother – in a tragic motor vehicle accident and, with no other relatives to care for her, the owners of the vineyard on which she has spent her entire life, Truman and Celine Calvert, take her in. Truman, a World War I veteran, is quiet, reserved, and deferential to his domineering wife who requires Rosie to serve as the family’s maid to prepare her for life beyond the vineyard when she becomes an adult. The arrangement works well for a time, until the Calverts’ son, Wilson, returns for a visit. He brings up a long-ago conversation with Rosie during which he thought she said she could see ghosts. She, of course, denies that, but later confesses the truth to Truman.
At age seventeen, Rosie becomes pregnant, and when she can no longer hide her condition, Celine is incensed. She demands not only that Rosie leave their home immediately but uses her knowledge of Rosie’s synesthesia to see to it that Rosie suffers a fate she never knew was imaginable. She believes that she will be sent to a home for unwed mothers until her baby is born and has no intention of relinquishing her child for adoption. Instead, the county social worker transports her to the Sonoma State Home for the Infirm (modeled after the real Sonoma State Home). Naturally, Rosie protests but quickly learns that objections result in punishment.
Rosie’s story is harrowing, particularly when read with an understanding that it is based upon the experiences of actual victims of prejudice against and misunderstanding of not just synesthesia, but myriad other conditions, as well. Meissner heightens the power of the tale by relating it in Rosie’s own words and from her perspective. She credibly describes her shock about her circumstances, regret about having failed to keep her condition a secret, the horrific living conditions and abuse to which she is subjected in the institution, and her determination to be released and build a meaningful life for herself.
Part Two of Only the Beautiful is told in the first-person by Helen Calvert, Truman’s sister. It opens in 1947 in Lucerne, Switzerland as Helen, at sixty-two, is returning to California after decades spent working for various families as a nanny in Europe. Helen became acquainted with Rosie when she was a young girl growing up at the vineyard, and the Calverts made it a point to share her letters with Rosie over the years. For Rosie’s first Christmas without her family, Helen sent her an amaryllis plant to cheer her, and Rosie treasured it and all it represented.
Helen is understandably weary. She opted to remain in Europe when war broke out, rather than return to the United States. She relates her experiences with the Maier family in Austria, the last family for whom she served as a nanny. She was particularly fond of their youngest child, seven-year-old Brigitta, who was born prematurely and struggled to reach developmental milestones. The Germans invaded and annexed Austria in 1938, and Johannes Maier was forced to serve as an officer in a panzer division while his wife, Martine, remained at home with the children and Helen. But even the family of a Nazi officer was not immune from the atrocities of the Adolf Hitler regime.
When Hitler came to power in Germany, he did not immediately begin constructing concentration camps in which to imprison and murder Jews. His quest to create a “master race” began with measures designed to alter the genetic makeup of the German population through "racial hygiene" or eugenics, relying on ideas that had already been adopted by the mainstream medical community. The Nazis started by involuntarily sterilizing persons they believed should not procreate. The sought to eradicate persons with disabilities, referring to them as “useless eaters.” They did not just target adults. Children were forcibly removed from their parents’ care and transported to special “hospitals” like Am Steinhof and Hartheim Castle where they were subjected to experimentation and murdered.
Helen describes her wartime experiences, and the heartbreakingly unthinkable events Meissner includes are difficult to read about, based upon actual events. Helen never had children of her own, but in her role as a nanny, cared for her charges as though they were her own. But she was, like most people, naïve and could never have envisioned the evils the Nazis were capable of. Wracked with guilt, regret, and remorse, she resolves to save as many children as she can.
And when she returns to California and has a visit with Celine, she is appalled and outraged to learn what transpired in her absence and the fate that befell Rosie. She is determined to find Rosie’s child and enlists her good friends, one of whom is a lawyer, to assist her. Of course, in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, the internet did not exist, and it was much more difficult to find people . . . and adoption records were sealed.
The actions of the Nazi regime “shown a light on eugenic legislation,” illustrating how such laws led to catastrophic abuse. "It was kind of a defining moment in our history, and it's being forgotten," Meissner laments. Only the Beautiful is a compelling and credible story, set against the backdrop of the monstrous agenda of the Nazis and the abhorrent eugenic movement that gained traction in the United States in the early part of the twentieth century. Through the tragedies that befall her characters and the challenges they face, Meissner illustrates the intersection and similarities of the two, emphasizing their far-reaching and tragic consequences.
Meissner’s characters are fully developed, multi-layered, and empathetic. Rosie, in particular, easily slips into readers’ hearts. A minor, powerless to make decisions about her own life and health, she is ensnared in the custody of the county, victimized by a vengeful, angry, and bitter woman and her weak, despicable husband who claim to care about Rosie, and confined to an institution by medical personnel who fail to listen to her or understand that she is not “inform” or afflicted in any way that makes her incapable of competently parenting. Rosie discovers in the most painful ways that her “parents were right to fear the colors. They are dangerous. People will always distrust what they don’t understand. And what they distrust, they cannot love.”
Helen is also intriguing and sympathetic. She refuses to acquiesce when evil forces come to power, intent on doing whatever she can to help as many children as possible and, perhaps, atone for one innocent, but horrible mistake.
The pace of Only the Beautiful never slows as Meissner’s poignant narratives alternate between past and present before melding seamlessly. Although some plot details are gut wrenching and deeply upsetting, their inclusion is critical to the characters’ motivations and development, as well as the message Meissner seeks to convey. There are times “in our history that we ought not to forget. If we forget our history, we are more apt to repeat it, aren’t we?” Meissner provides an emotionally satisfying conclusion to her riveting story, demonstrating that despite all the cruelty and misguided quests for power and dominance that people are capable of, there are also “people who will stand up for those who can't stand and speak for those who cannot speak and it's their bravery that encourages the rest of us to do the same.” In other words, there is always cause for hope.
Moreover, given that reproductive rights are again at issue in the United States, with increasingly restrictive laws being passed in many states and critical political races poised to hinge on candidates’ positions on the subject, Only the Beautiful is a decidedly timely and contemporary work of historical fiction. The book lends itself to discussion and debate about who has the right and should be empowered to make decisions about bearing and raising children, government overreach into decision-making, and how best to ensure that the dark and shameful historical events Meissner depicts are never permitted to recur.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.