Rawles Reads.  Rawles Roams.

So, guess where my next trip is taking me??

Yep, Portugal!!!

This book was on a couple of travel lists to read before going to Lisbon.  I had no idea what I was in store for and that is probably a good thing.  WOW.  

Newly married Ariel wakes up in Lisbon on a trip with her husband.  He's not in the hotel room.  He's not down at breakfast.  He has vanished.

She goes to hotel security - no one saw him.  She goes to the police ("come back tomorrow").  She goes to the US Embassy (can't help).  No one believes her.  She is an unbelieved woman.

Then, the phone call:  "We have your husband."  And she has to reach into her traumatic past to get him back.

What a fast paced read!  I had to slow down a few times to try and remember who was who in this police procedural/kidnapping/secret pasts story.  Just when you think you have it figured out, you don't.  Great writing, several twists, lots of secrets and a slow unraveling of what is actually going on.  Chapters are short, maybe a bit choppy, but whiplash is part of the experience. And questions, so many questions.  

Trigger warnings abound here!

Madame Tussaud - A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran

 

I had not read much about this period of history (the French Revolution), and picked this one up mainly because I was getting ready to travel to London.  Most of this novel is set in France, and while yes, we are talking about THAT Tussaud, we learn more about the origins of her work in wax figures and why she emigrated to England.  Set prior to Madame Tussaud's now famous museum being opened in London, we meet Marie Antoinette and her family, other names prominent during the Revolution, and learn more from the people's standpoint what really was happening.  Horrific in the violence that occurred but fascinating from this perspective, I really enjoyed this one!!

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

 

Just a quick note  - could I ask you to please click through TWICE when receiving my blogposts in email?  Follow It, the service I use, has now put two levels in front of my actual website, but provides you with all the content before getting to my site.  This means none of you who are reading it are actually reading it on my blog, and I cannot capture any numbers for traffic to the site.  It's like you never read it.

So, if you would be so kind as to click the green button in your email, then before reading the content on the plain white page, scroll down to the bottom and click "Continue Reading."  This should take you to my blog, with its pretty pink background, and then your "click" will count towards my analytics!! Thank you!! 

If you like controversy and "torn from the headlines" types of stories, and don't mind a little, um, crazy, this book is for you.

It is NOT for everyone.

Let me back up a little.  We read this in my book club, and the discussion was awesome.  Everyone had an opinion, a story, a reaction.  That is what this book does - elicits reactions. 

It is a somewhat confusing story, and it is meant to be.  Main character Natalie becomes famous on social media for being a "trad wife" or a traditional wife - having lots of kids and staying in her farm's kitchen, providing a natural way of life for her large family and handsome husband.  We get the whole Perfect Life picture online, and no one is allowed to see behind the scenes.  Until they are. 

Things get real messy real quick.  Natalie's life suddenly begins to unravel: she does not recognize her own children, and her husband is 15 years older overnight.  What happened?  Has she gone back in time on this familiar but different farm with no modern conveniences?  Is she captive?  Is she crazy? Where is her PHONE???

This book has gotten a lot of DNF and "didn't like it."  While I would agree it is not a comforting read, I also, once finished, found it pretty smart.  It is meant to be somewhat of a satire, even though it is far from funny.  I don't think it is a spoiler to let you know no children die in this story, but the resulting conversation of a mother's mental health, or a woman's mental health for that matter, is definitely disturbing.