The Dead Sea Cipher by Elizabeth Peters, for the #1970Club

In this romantic suspense novel, a young woman on a trip to the Holy Land finds herself in danger and does not know who she can trust or even who her pursuers really are. Dinah Van der Lyn is an aspiring opera singer who is about to get her big break – filling in for a pregnant soprano at a small opera company in Germany. Well, she knows it is more of a little break, so maybe that’s why she is in no hurry to get there. 

A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey: A Maeve Kerrigan Mystery

Helena and Bruce Marshall have not been the same since their nine-year-old daughter Rosalie disappeared 16 years ago, so when they are murdered Detective Sergeant Maeve Kerrigan and Inspector Josh Derwent have to investigate both incidents to determine if there is a connection. Maeve and Josh have not worked a case together recently, following their undercover work together in The Close, and his live-in girlfriend is jealous of Maeve, who tries to concentrate on the case at hand.

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane – 12/20 Books of Summer

Mary Pat Fennessy lives in public housing in South Boston, working as a health aide at a nursing home, trying to pay her bills and worrying about her children. Her son died of a drug overdose after coming back from Vietnam. Her daughter Jules is going into her senior year of high school, hanging out all night with teens her mother distrusts.

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

Title: The Phoenix Crown
Authors: Kate Quinn and Janie Chang
Narrators: Saskia Maarleveld and Katherine Chin
Publication: HarperCollins, Audiobook, 2024
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: San Francisco, 1906; Paris, 1911

Description: Four unusual women meet in San Francisco, just days before the infamous earthquake of 1906 and resulting fire that lasted three days, destroying nearly thirty thousand buildings and killing at least 600.

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid, a gothic fantasy

Title: A Study in Drowning
Author: Ava Reid
Publication: HarperCollins, hardcover, 2023
Genre: YA Fantasy

Description: All her life, Effy Sayre has been obsessed with her country’s epic work, Angharad, written by the recently deceased Emrys Myrrden about an intrepid heroine who falls in love with the Fairy King and then destroys him.

Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister

Title: Just Another Missing Person
Author: Gillian McAllister
Narrators: Joanne Froggatt, Justin Avoth, Kerry Wotton
Publication: Harper, audiobook, 2023
Genre: Suspense
Setting: Portishead, near Bristol, UK

Description: Julia Day is a Detective Chief Inspector who loves her job and is good at it, although her dedication has caused stress with her husband and daughter, Genevieve. When she is called into work from a family dinner because Olivia Johnson has been reported missing, Julia is especially concerned because this is the second young woman who has disappeared in a year – and the first case was never solved.

The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames: A Memoir by Justine Cowan

Title: The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames: A Memoir
Author: Justine Cowan
Publication: HarperCollins, hardcover, 2021
Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir/Social History
Setting: 20th century Great Britain

Description: Justine Cowan, an environmental attorney, grew up in a privileged home in Northern California, with a quiet, respected lawyer father and a British-born mother who was hypercritical of her daughters. Embittered by their troubled relationship, Justine distanced herself from her parents after leaving for college and it was not until after her mother’s death that she learned her mother had been raised in the famous Foundling Hospital in London, founded by Thomas Coram in the 18th century.

The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss, historical fiction set in WWII Holland

Title: The Upstairs Room
Author: Johanna Reiss
Publication: HarperCollins, paperback, originally published in 1972
Genre: Juvenile Historical Fiction
Setting: Holland, WWII

Description: Annie de Leeuw is the youngest of three sisters, living in Holland, not far from the German border. Her father is a cattle dealer, her mother an invalid, her sister Rachel teaches at a nursery school, and sister Sini is studying farming. But Annie’s family is Jewish and everyone is worried about the news from Poland where Hitler has invaded.

Midnight in Everwood by M. A. Kuzniar

Title: Midnight in Everwood
Author: M.A. Kuzniar
Publication: HarperCollins, 2022, hardcover
Genre: Historical fiction/fantasy
Setting: Nottingham, England 1906

Description: Marietta Stelle longs to be a ballerina but as Christmas draws nearer, her dancing days are numbered because her father has decreed that she must give up ballet when she turns 21.

On a Night Like This, a modern Cinderella story by Lindsey Kelk

Title: On a Night Like This
Author: Lindsey Kelk
Publication: Harper Collins, paperback, 2022 (published in 2021 in UK)
Genre: Fiction/Chick Lit
Setting: England and Italy

Description: Francesca Cooper is a temp without a current gig and has a fiancé who has lost interest in her. They have an arrangement that she won’t take out-of-town gigs lest he be tempted to cheat on her – ugh! Let's help her find someone better!

Her Secret War by Pam Lecky, historical fiction set in the Spitfire factory

Title: Her Secret War
Author: Pam Lecky
Publication: Avon, paperback, January 2022 (2021 in UK)
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: WWII Ireland and England

Description: After a painful scene breaking up with her boyfriend over his decision to go fly bombers for the RAF, Sarah returns home and that night her Dublin home is bombed by the Germans.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (dysfunction is us)

Title: The Dutch House
Author:  Ann Patchett

Publication:  HarperCollins Hardcover, 2019

Genre: Fiction

Plot: After World War II, when he was trying to establish his career Cyril Conway became obsessed with the Dutch House, an unusual residential house in the Philadelphia suburbs.  He purchased it to live in with his wife and daughter, Maeve, and soon they had added a son, Danny.  However, his wife was never happy in the house and abandons it (as well as her husband and children).  This results in a close bond between Danny and Maeve, which intensifies when their father marries someone unsuitable who resents his children.  When Cyril dies without a will, the stepmother inherits everything except an educational trust, which fortunately pays for Danny to go to Choate, Columbia, and medical school.  Over several decades, the story is told by Danny, who is only really comfortable when he is with his beloved sister.  All her ambitions are wrapped up in him but the fact that, when together, they seem constantly to be looking backward prevents them from completely moving forward.

Love, Jacaranda by Alex Flinn, a retelling of Daddy Long Legs

Title: Love, Jacaranda
Author:  Alex Flinn

Publication: HarperTeen, Hardcover, July 2020

Genre: YA

Plot: Jacaranda Abbott is a foster kid with a voice.  While working as a cashier at the Publix grocery store in Florida, she makes up and belts out a song for an elderly customer and it goes viral. When she is offered a scholarship to attend a performing arts boarding school by a mysterious benefactor, she knows what an incredible opportunity this is but is worried people will find out her mother is in prison.  School is hard work but fulfilling and Jacaranda, now calling herself Jackie, is determined to take advantage of every opportunity.   She is happy but once she starts dating a millionaire’s son who seems sensitive and caring she wonders what will happen if he finds out her secret.

The Second Midnight, historical fiction about an English boy's survival in Nazi Europe

Title: The Second Midnight

Author:  Andrew Taylor

Publication: Harper Collins, trade paperback, February 2020

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: From a bestselling author comes a World War Two tale of one boy’s fight for survival in Nazi Europe

A secret mission . . .

1939. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, businessman Alfred Kendall is asked to carry out a minor mission for the British Intelligence Service. Traveling to Prague, he takes his troubled young son, Hugh, as cover.

A terrible choice . . .

When Hitler invades Czechoslovakia, Alfred is given an ultimatum by the Czech Resistance. They will arrange for him to return to England, but only if he leaves his son Hugh behind as collateral.

A young boy stranded in Nazi terrain . . .

Hugh is soon taken under the wing of a Nazi colonel – Helmuth Scholl. But even though Scholl treats Hugh well, his son, Heinz, is suspicious of this foreigner. And as the war across the continent intensifies, they are set on a path that will ultimately lead towards destruction. . .

My Impressions: Not long ago my mother told me she had read and enjoyed a book called The Fire Court by Andrew Taylor.   I don’t think she realized it was a sequel until after she had finished it but, once she realized, she told me to begin with the first book, The Ashes of London, which I did in December.  Set during the Great Fire of London in 17th century London, it is well-written and an atmospheric page-turner.  Thus, I was very pleased when TLC invited me to review The Second Midnight.

Most of the books I read about World War II feature a heroine so it was a change of pace for the main character of this book to be an adolescent boy.  Hugh is an interesting character: when we meet him he is 12 and has just been (unfairly?) expelled from boarding school. Traveling to Prague with his verbally and physically abusive father, Hugh is fascinated by his exposure to a different culture and soon is studying Czech and modern history.   This stands him in good stead when his father abandons him and this child has to scramble for survival.  How he manages to stay alive and end up working for a Nazi colonel, who is kinder than his own father, is a compelling story.  Hugh comes to love the colonel’s daughter Magda but war tears them apart.  I have just a couple more chapters to go to see how this will end.

This book was originally published in Britain in 1988 and has now been reissued to take advantage of Taylor’s strong UK sales on his Marwood-Lovett series and (doubtless) the crazy for WWII settings.  It is full of interesting characters, although some are very disagreeable indeed, particularly Hugh's siblings and father, while his mother was weak.

Purchase Links: Amazon * Barnes&Noble * IndieBound * HarperCollins

Off the Blog: Watching for Iowa Caucus results – glad my state has a primary!

Source: I received a copy of this book from the publisher and TLC Book Tours for review purposes.  Please visit other stops on the tour by clicking below:

Tuesday, January 28th: 100 Pages a Day…Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Wednesday, January 29th: Booked J

Thursday, January 30th: Helen’s Book Blog

Friday, January 31st: Really Into This

Monday, February 3rd: Instagram: @hooked.by.books

Wednesday, February 5th: Welcome to Nurse Bookie

Thursday, February 6th: Book by Book

Friday, February 7th: Instagram: @rendezvous_with_reading

Wednesday, February 12th: Jathan & Heather

Thursday, February 13th: Laura’s Reviews

Friday, February 14th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

A Sister's Courage, historical fiction set in Britain during World War II

Title: A Sister’s Courage, Victory Sisters #1
Author: Molly Green
Publication: Avon, Paperback, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: This is the beginning of a trilogy about three English sisters determined to do their bit in World War II.  Raine Linfoot, the eldest sister, living in Kent just before WWII, is captivated by aviation and is determined to learn how to fly. Her father supports her dream but tries to appease Raine’s French-born mother who is more traditional and would prefer her daughters focus on pretty clothes and young men (and clearly has a Hidden Sorrow from her Past). Raine’s sisters have goals of their own: Suzanne is musical and Ronnie loves animals and being outside. Although gifted academically, Raine leaves school when she secures a clerical job at a nearby airbase and manages to score flying lessons from good-natured pilot Doug White.

The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen

Title: The Rest of the Story
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publication: HarperCollins, hardcover, 2019
Genre: Young Adult

Plot: When Emma Payne’s father remarries, she unexpectedly needs a place to go while he is on his honeymoon. The surprising suggestion is that Emma visit her mother’s mother in working class North Lake, two hours away. Emma’s mother was an addict who overdosed years ago, and Emma has had no contact with her mother’s family since she was 4, although she remembers stories her mother told her as a child. When she arrives, she meets cousins she didn’t know existed and learns her grandmother runs a motel. She also learns that her Calvander family know her as Saylor, which is her middle name. Determined to pull her weight, Emma Saylor is soon changing bedding and scrubbing toilets with her cousins and Roo, the cute son of her mother’s best friend. Cleaning allows time for contemplation about her mother’s sad end; why doesn’t Emma remember more about her childhood visit; the contrast between North Lake and the affluent resort side of town, known as Lake North, which is where Emma’s mother first met her father. Although it takes strategy, Emma finds she fits in on both sides of the lake and, ultimately, has to make a choice regarding where she actually belongs.

My Impressions: A new Sarah Dessen is always a treat, and after a few that were only so-so, I felt this one returned to her usual high standard. Emma is introspective and allows the reader to share her reactions and feelings and, as always, the author makes you care about her. Like many heroines of this genre, Emma is trying to figure out who she is – with the added complication of learning she has two names – Emma, her comfortable suburban self, and Saylor, her can-do summer lake self. Knowing your mother was an addict and died from her addiction would be stressful for anyone and one can’t blame her father for shielding her from that part of her heritage, but it is hard to believe that her paternal relatives living just two hours away gave up on all contact with Emma. Her father didn’t even know Emma’s grandfather had died!

Coming to North Lake brings Emma Saylor close to her rediscovered family, helps her realize all the things she can do – drive, clean (you can tell Sarah Dessen has deep cleaned some rooms in her time – I wish I had those skills!), hold her own against anyone who challenges her, and reclaim memories of her mother. Dessen excels in depicting relationships, and the best part of the book is the way Emma Saylor and her three cousins establish friendships. If there was a flaw, it was that the story is light on romance.   Roo is appealing (except for his name) but very understated.

Off the Blog: It is day lily season and I am pleased that the crimson and peach bulbs I planted have finally emerged! Gardening is an uphill battle for me.

Source: Library copy but I hope to attend a book signing later this month in Falmouth and purchase my own. Not long ago I learned that my father and Sarah Dessen’s father were college classmates, although I doubt they knew each other.  Funny to think she might have turned up at Harvard instead of becoming a Tar Heel!   My elder nieces and I did meet Sarah in 2013 - see photo (proof!).

The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven - and Giveaway

Title: The Exact Opposite of Okay (Izzy O’Neill #1) 
Author:  Laura Steven

Publication: Harper Collins, hardcover, June 2019

Genre: Young Adult

Plot: Eighteen year old Izzy O’Neill knows exactly who she is — a loyal friend, an

aspiring comedian, and a person who believes that milk shakes and Reese’s peanut butter cups are major food groups. But after she’s caught in a compromising position with the son of a politician, it seems like everyone around her is eager to give her a new label: slut.

Devices and Desires: Bess of Hardwick and the Building of Elizabethan England by Kate Hubbard

Title: Devices and Desires: Bess of Hardwick and the Building of Elizabethan England
Author: Kate Hubbard
Publication: Harper Collins, hardcover, 2019
Genre: Biography, English History

The review below is a cameo appearance (her second) by my mother, Stephanie Martin, as I knew she would enjoy the book.

When books are written about 16th-century women, the subject is usually royalty. Besides their glamor, they are the ones for whom we have the most information. Elizabeth Hardwick is a remarkable exception. Not only did she have a long, eventful and well-documented life, she also was responsible for several splendid buildings.

Bess was born about 1521, lived to be 87, and outlived four husbands, the last marriage making her the Countess of Shrewsbury. She inherited property, married money, but increased and managed her holdings with great skill and became a very wealthy woman in her own right. She was friendly with all the major players of her time, including Queen Elizabeth I, who chose the Shrewsburys to be the jailors of Mary Queen of Scots when she sought refuge in England.

Hardwick Hall (Derbyshire)

Devices and Desires is not the first biography of Bess, but it has particular appeal because it highlights Bess’s achievements as a builder. An amazing number of records have survived from Chatsworth, Hardwick Hall, and other great houses for which she was responsible -- letters and contracts (called “bargains”) and account books. We learn from them how deeply involved Bess was with every decision and how closely she monitored each step. She bought land for its income, but also for its resources, so that if she needed, say, marble or timber, she already owned a source. She also micromanaged her large family, marrying two of her children to two of her stepchildren. Then there was her granddaughter Arbella Stuart, the focus of various political plots, whom Bess kept very close at home into her twenties.

The Green Velvet Bedroom at Hardwick Hall

Not all of Bess’s mansions have survived, but her masterpiece, Hardwick Hall, is still there, with its unusual floor plan, four great turrets and elegant mantels. By the time you finish this book, you will want to head for England on the next flight to visit it.

Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury (1521-1608)

Source: A copy of this book was provided by Harper Collins for review purposes.

The Hate U Give (Book Review)

Title: The Hate U Give
Author: Angie Thomas
Publication: Balzer & Bray/Harper Collins
Genre: YA

Life is Not an Accident (Book Review)

Title: Life is Not an Accident
Author: Jay Williams
Publication: Harper Collins, 2016 Hardcover
Genre: Memoir

Description: Jason Williams, the outgoing Duke guard, who helped lead my beloved Blue Devils to a national championship, left Duke after his junior year (earning a Sociology degree in three years by amassing credits in summer school). He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls and had a frustrating rookie season where his mistakes were magnified and his successes were mostly ignored. Just as frustrating, the team was in a rebuilding phase and in the first few weeks of the season the Bulls lost more games than he’d lost at Duke in three years. However, he continued to work hard and was convinced his second year as a pro would be a breakthrough season. Sadly, in June 2003, he was in a terrible motorcycle accident that nearly killed him. In this heartbreaking and all too candid memoir, Jay reflects on the arrogance of a healthy college basketball star, the desperation and self-reproach he experienced after the accident, and the 10+ years he has spent recovering physically and emotionally from the fateful day he picked up the keys to a motorcycle for which he never bothered to obtain a license.

Audience: Duke alumni, college basketball enthusiasts, sports fans.  I am a Duke alumna but college hoop fans who are not Dukies or did not follow his accident will be interested in his story and be glad that he has made a successful post-NBA career as an ESPN commentator.

What I liked: This is a painful read but fascinating portrayal of a smart young man and how he recovered from tragedy. By being so candid about his inner self – his behavior in college, his excesses during his one year as an NBA player, and his various addictions and poor decisions during prolonged rehab - Jason risks alienating the reader whose approval he seeks. However, his story is so beautifully written that it would take a much harder heart than mine not to be moved by what he has gone through. I wondered if he used a ghost writer but, if so, it was not mentioned. 

Admittedly, I liked the parts about Jason’s adolescence and recruitment and time at Duke better than the painful aftermath of an accident that all but destroyed him but I found the book very readable and recommend it. I was at one of the first college games he played – a tournament at Madison Square Garden – and have always had a special feeling for him, and admired not only how he played but also what seemed to be a very happy personality. I enjoy his thoughtful commentary now that he is a basketball analyst; I would prefer to see him working with Dick Vitale but that is ESPN's fault.

What I disliked: My ARC does not include an author’s note so I am curious about what made Jason (renamed Jay after he left Duke due to two other Jason Williams but, as he reveals in this book, without much input by him) decide to write this book. He (or HarperCollins) calls it a memoir of reinvention. Does he finally feel he’s at peace with what happened to him? I think he is smart enough to realize he will always have regrets (which will hit him when he least expects it) about the poor decision making that damaged his basketball career and nearly cost him his life. What is sadder is his depiction of the venom and personal attacks people use to try to make him worse about the fateful motorcycle ride. Human beings can be vile.

I can tell Jason believes he is still on a quest of self identity and it is unfortunate that his “warts and all” approach reveals some regrettable things about the parents who love him so much. I wish he had left them their privacy and dignity. He also goes on at some length about how leaving college to attempt to play in the NBA is a good move, ignoring the fact that most young players would not have had his good options if their NBA careers did not work out so should obtain a degree while they are fortunate enough to be able to do so for free.

Source: I received an advance reading copy of this book from HarperCollins in return for an honest review. Recommended.