The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley

 

I love going to author events and meeting the people behind the stories.

A few weeks ago, I met Colleen Oakley at my local bookstore.  She was in conversation with my fav local author, Kimmery Martin, whom I now call friend.  Lucky me!!  Colleen practically met us at the door and I felt like I'd bumped into a friend.  She had her mom and her sister with her, and told us how the Louise of this novel was inspired by her own grandmother.

And there, the sweetness ends.

What a ride!  This was just a delightful read, with twists and turns and assumptions and banter - and another story of a found family.  I love that kind of story!!  Tanner is an angry and uncertain and unlucky 21 year old college dropout (not her fault, she had straight A's and a scholarship!!) who is forced to move home and get a job.  Louise is a highly independent octogenarian who slips on a rug - once - and her daughter insists she find a "nanny."

So Tanner goes to live with Louise.  While their relationship is quite frosty at first, something happens that forces them to trust and depend on each other as they embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

Oakley's descriptions of the anger and confusion of a young adult are spot on, as well as that youngster's own realization that she is angry for no reason and cannot help it. Great insight.  But even better was the mother daughter scene at the end - totally slayed me!!!! I loved the chapter titles, very helpful and quirky, when she used them.

This story did not go in the direction I thought it would.  But it does ask a very pointed question about women's lives these days.  Some great quotes throughout this novel, and winks to women.  This is super fun reading, with depth and some great commentary on the Lives of Women, Then and Now, and how maybe they aren't so different after all.  I loved how it ended (again, not what I thought) and now I want to go back and read more Colleen Oakley (The Invisible Husband of Frick Island was another good one of hers that I have read).  This is a great book for summer vacation reading, or when you need a fast paced semi-light read.  Plus, what a fun cover!!!

Still Life by Sarah Winman

 

I am WAY behind on my book reviews, and it is stressing me out a tiny bit.

However, I had to jump ahead of the queue straight to this book.  My mom and I are planning a trip to Italy later this year and our "homework" was to read a book set in Tuscany/Florence.  This one was my pick!  First of all, what a gorgeous cover, right?  Makes me want to buy lots of Italian ceramics (on my list).  Set in the years after The War, this tells the story of one man's life (Ulysses), adventures, friends, and loves.  And also, in a smaller way, the way his life intersects with that of a remarkable woman named Evelyn.  And it is not what you think.

If you prefer books that are heavy in the plot department, this book might not be for you.  I found this to be very much just a recounting of daily life, in all its simple extraordinariness.  There are lots of characters to keep up with that all have connections and all love each other like family even though they are not related.  And boy are they ever quirky!  Peggy and Massimo and the Kid and Cressy - ah, Cressy!  These characters will stay with me a long time.  As will the location.  The descriptions of life in Florence and in London as well will make you want to jump on a plane.  There is a nostalgic feeling to the time in which this story is set which is wonderful.  And the reason Ulysses returns to Florence, how he gets there, and with whom (that Cressy is a piece of work, haha!  I love his tree!) makes for as magical a story of the life he builds once he gets there.

Another quirk I should mention in this novel is that it does not use quotation marks for dialogue.  This usually drives me crazy, I don't like it.  But you do get used to it and it makes for a sort of "quiet" read, if that makes sense.  I really loved the pacing here, like someone is telling me this story.  The author also has a knack for turning expression of need and love into feelings of fulfillment and purpose.  Another reason this story might be set in Florence and have Florence as a sort of character on her own, but this story is really about family.  Not relatives, but a story about the people who love you and make your life whole.  All forms of love are covered - there is a lot about Mothering, about platonic love and romantic love and also about unconditional love.  And poetry and art and parrots.  ;-)

And this quote:

"Even those whose usual avocations are of the most prosaic nature unconsciously become admirers of poetry and art in Italy."

Amen.