Profoundly Different and Profoundly the Same.

Book Review for “The Barracks” by John McGahern. Summary: "Elizabeth Reegan, after years of freedom and loneliness, marries into the enclosed Irish village of her upbringing. The children are not her own; her husband is straining to break free from the servile security of the police force; and her own life, threatened by illness, seems … Continue reading Profoundly Different and Profoundly the Same. →

Heard of Female Thieves?

Book Review for “The Forty Elephants” by Erin Bledsoe. Summary: "Inspired by the true story of Alice Diamond and the Forty Elephants, the first all-female gang of London. London in the 1920s is no place for a woman with a mind of her own. Gang wars, violence, and an unforgiving world have left pickpocket Alice … Continue reading Heard of Female Thieves? →

Prophetic or Pathetic?

Book Review for “Delphi” by Clare Pollard. Summary: "Covid-19 has arrived in London, and the entire world quickly succumbs to the surreal, chaotic mundanity of screens, isolation, and the disasters small and large that have plagued recent history. As our unnamed narrator—a classics academic immersed in her studies of ancient prophecies—navigates the tightening grip of … Continue reading Prophetic or Pathetic? →

Dust in the Wind.

Book Review for “Now in November” by Josephine W. Johnson. Summary: "This unforgettable novel tells in shimmering language the story of a middle-class family driven into poverty by the Depression. Three daughters struggle to survive with their parents as farmers, battling against the elements and trying to come to terms with their harsh, unresponsive father. … Continue reading Dust in the Wind. →

A Vine Intrigue.

Book Review for “A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons” by Kate Khavari. Summary: "London, 1923. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh attends a dinner party for the University College of London. While she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon, she doesn’t expect Mrs. Henry, one of the … Continue reading A Vine Intrigue. →

Waves of Goodbyes.

Book Review for “Tides” by Sara Freeman. Summary: "After a sudden, devastating loss, Mara flees her family and ends up adrift in a wealthy coastal town. Mired in her grief, Mara's first few days are spent alone, surviving on what scraps of food she can find, and swimming at night in the ocean. When her … Continue reading Waves of Goodbyes. →

Emmy’s Winning Wisdom.

Book Review for “Dear Mrs. Bird” by AJ Pearce. Summary: "London 1940, bombs are falling. Emmy Lake is Doing Her Bit for the war effort, volunteering as a telephone operator with the Auxiliary Fire Services. When Emmy sees an advertisement for a job at the London Evening Chronicle, her dreams of becoming a Lady War … Continue reading Emmy’s Winning Wisdom. →

Gotten to a Nunnery…

Book Review for “Learwife” by J.R. Thorp. Summary: "Word has come. Care-bent King Lear is dead, driven mad and betrayed. His three daughters too, broken in battle. But someone has survived: Lear's queen. Exiled to a nunnery years ago, written out of history, her name forgotten. Now she can tell her story. Though her grief … Continue reading Gotten to a Nunnery… →

The Woman Behind…

Book Review for “The Other Einstein” by Marie Benedict. Summary: "Mitza Maric has always been a little different from other girls. Most twenty-year-olds are wives by now, not studying physics at an elite Zurich university with only male students trying to outdo her clever calculations. But Mitza is smart enough to know that, for her, … Continue reading The Woman Behind… →

Opening and Closing Wounds.

Book Review for “Swimming Back to Trout River” by Linda Rui Feng. Summary: “In the summer of 1986 in a small Chinese village, ten-year-old Junie receives a momentous letter from her parents, who had left for America years ago: her father promises to return home and collect her by her twelfth birthday. But Junie’s growing … Continue reading Opening and Closing Wounds. →