The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Cat's Eye
Cat's Eye
Margaret Atwood
Elaine Risley is a middle-aged Canadian painter who returns to her hometown of Toronto for a retrospective show of her paintings. As she prepares for the opening, the city she left years ago in order to forget painful memories provides triggers for the return those memories. From traveling across Canada with her entomologist father as a child to the abuse she suffered by her friends as an adolescent, and her love affairs with her first art teacher and first husband, she reflects on the relationships that have made her who she is as an adult.
I have only recently become a fan of Margaret Atwood. This is third novel of hers that I have read and I have not been disappointed.
Margaret Atwood
Elaine Risley is a middle-aged Canadian painter who returns to her hometown of Toronto for a retrospective show of her paintings. As she prepares for the opening, the city she left years ago in order to forget painful memories provides triggers for the return those memories. From traveling across Canada with her entomologist father as a child to the abuse she suffered by her friends as an adolescent, and her love affairs with her first art teacher and first husband, she reflects on the relationships that have made her who she is as an adult.
I have only recently become a fan of Margaret Atwood. This is third novel of hers that I have read and I have not been disappointed.
Alias Grace: A Novel
Alias Grace: A Novel
Margaret Atwood
Alias Grace is the story of the real life Grace Marks, a maid, who at 16 was convicted of murder in the death of her employer and his housekeeper. She was tried along side James McDermott, another empolyee, who was sentenced to death and hanged for the crime. Her death sentence was later commuted to life in prison. Her conviction was contriversial and opinion was divided as to whether Grace was a murderess or an unwilling victim herself. She was committed to an asylum and then later moved to Kingston Penetentiary. After 30 years, Grace was pardoned and moved to northern New York. In the book, Margaret Atwood reconstructs Grace Mark's story in fictional form and introduces Dr. Simon Jordan who, over a period of time, interviews Grace in an effort to uncover the truth. Using the tools of the then elementary science of psychology, Jordan hopes to stimulate Grace's suppressed memories of the day of the murder, but Grace is cleaver and only divulges what what she wants known. The author's writing is true to the times and a literary gem.
Margaret Atwood
Alias Grace is the story of the real life Grace Marks, a maid, who at 16 was convicted of murder in the death of her employer and his housekeeper. She was tried along side James McDermott, another empolyee, who was sentenced to death and hanged for the crime. Her death sentence was later commuted to life in prison. Her conviction was contriversial and opinion was divided as to whether Grace was a murderess or an unwilling victim herself. She was committed to an asylum and then later moved to Kingston Penetentiary. After 30 years, Grace was pardoned and moved to northern New York. In the book, Margaret Atwood reconstructs Grace Mark's story in fictional form and introduces Dr. Simon Jordan who, over a period of time, interviews Grace in an effort to uncover the truth. Using the tools of the then elementary science of psychology, Jordan hopes to stimulate Grace's suppressed memories of the day of the murder, but Grace is cleaver and only divulges what what she wants known. The author's writing is true to the times and a literary gem.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Sister Mine
Sister Mine by Tawni O'Dell
This is the story of Shae-Lynn Penrose, a forty something former police officer turned cab driver
who returns to the coal mining town in Pennsylvania where she grew up. Then her younger sister, presumed dead for 18 years, shows up along with a New York attorney, a Connecticut housewife, and a Russian thug. It is a story of complicated relationships dealing with such issues as abuse, betrayal, abandonment, perseverance, and reconciliation.
This is the story of Shae-Lynn Penrose, a forty something former police officer turned cab driver
who returns to the coal mining town in Pennsylvania where she grew up. Then her younger sister, presumed dead for 18 years, shows up along with a New York attorney, a Connecticut housewife, and a Russian thug. It is a story of complicated relationships dealing with such issues as abuse, betrayal, abandonment, perseverance, and reconciliation.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
A Painted House
A Painted House by John Grisham
"A Painted House" is the first John Grisham novel that I have read. If I have read another, I don't remember. Although the back cover says this is "the kind of book you read slowly because you don't want it to end", it is another that I read in two days, all 465 pages. The story takes place during the summer of 1952 in the Arkansas Delta and is told through the eyes of 7 year old Luke Chandler whose family rents and works a cotton farm. Two different groups of migrant workers take up residence on the farm, each with a dangerous man in their midst. As events of the summer unfold, Luke finds himself keeping more and more secrets. This is a story of murder, suspicion, gossip, passion, mystery, danger, and hardship and written in style that kept me turning the pages.
"A Painted House" is the first John Grisham novel that I have read. If I have read another, I don't remember. Although the back cover says this is "the kind of book you read slowly because you don't want it to end", it is another that I read in two days, all 465 pages. The story takes place during the summer of 1952 in the Arkansas Delta and is told through the eyes of 7 year old Luke Chandler whose family rents and works a cotton farm. Two different groups of migrant workers take up residence on the farm, each with a dangerous man in their midst. As events of the summer unfold, Luke finds himself keeping more and more secrets. This is a story of murder, suspicion, gossip, passion, mystery, danger, and hardship and written in style that kept me turning the pages.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Big Cherry Holler
Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani
This novel follows Big Stone Gap. The characters have grown over the last eight years.
Ave Maria married Jack MacChesney and moved into the homestead instead going off to find her place in the world. But did they live happily ever after? This book combines, love, romance, and forgiveness, in the mountain of Virginia and Italy.
This novel follows Big Stone Gap. The characters have grown over the last eight years.
Ave Maria married Jack MacChesney and moved into the homestead instead going off to find her place in the world. But did they live happily ever after? This book combines, love, romance, and forgiveness, in the mountain of Virginia and Italy.
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