A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner

A scarf, two broken hearts, and friends that help you through the mire of grief and back to the hope of love and life - that is what A Fall of Marigolds is all about.  What an interesting story!  This one does follow two parallel stories, one in 1911 and one in 2011, bound together by one bright floral scarf that touches two lives briefly but deeply.

1911 - Clara has witnessed the horrible Shirtwaist Factory Fire, and watched as her new crush Edward jumps from the ninth floor to his death.  She retreats to Ellis Island to continue nursing at the hospitals there and to get away from Manhattan and her memories.  She meets one immigrant who has contracted scarlet fever and must stay - and notices he is wearing a woman's marigold scarf.....

2011 - Taryn works in a fabric store and is a single mother to her 10 year old daughter Kendal.  You guessed it, her husband died on 9-11.  She, too, has had contact with the scarf, and as the 10 year anniversary of the towers falling and killing her husband just as she was going to tell him they were finally pregnant approaches, the scarf shows up in a startling way.....

I liked the way the author weaves these two stories together.  We spend much more time with Clara and learn fascinating details about life in those times and at Ellis Island.  I like that we aren't ripped from Clara's time every other chapter - we stay with her and feel her pain, her confusion, her panic and trauma at what she witnessed.  Maybe a bit too much - my only complaint here is that Clara, while independent enough to leave her small town and go to nursing school and make her way in New York City - is so traumatized that she becomes secluded and "faint" at the thought of setting foot back in Manhattan.  But - the story goes in many directions as she tried to help the immigrant who owns the scarf to come to terms with his wife's death on the boat, and who she really was.  Meanwhile, Taryn is in her own sort of "in-between place" (loved that whole idea about a life), never having told her daughter exactly what her experience was on September 11.

Both women hold back, both women feel guilt and loss, yet both women find a way to finally move on in their own ways.  A bit wrapped up at the end, but as someone who remembers 9-11 with sorrow and pain, I had never read anything that described what the people on the streets experienced that day.  That passage was tough to read but also good to learn.  The author interviewed many people about their personal experiences that day, and I felt that the whole event was handled well.  It was shocking and incomprehensible. But it happened.  And it changed a lot of lives in ways others will never understand. 

My book club read this and for once we all agreed that this was a good book and we liked it.  Definitely leans to chick lit, but the historical aspects were a great addition.

Not a Sound by Heather Gudenkauf

As a thriller, this is a good quick read.  I listened to this one on Audible and it was less than 9 hours (pretty short compared to my Outlanders, just saying).  Threw a few curveballs and was very interesting in that the main character is deaf and has a service dog (Stitch to the...SQUIRREL.... rescue!!) that almost steals the show.  But when Amelia comes across a dead body, and knows who it is, she can't help but get involved in the investigation, even when her high school friend and possible crush Detective Jake tells her to stay safe and butt out.  Her estranged husband and stepdaughter play a large role in the story too, as Amelia comes to terms with her alcoholism and separation from her family after the accident that left her deaf.  A few bad, nosy decisions later, and of course Amelia is in danger.  A slightly predictable who-done-it with a twist, this makes for a great beach read!  Hello Summer 2019!!!

The Mercy Seller by Brenda Rickman Vantrease

This is a sequel to The Illuminator - helps to read that one first but I think this one could stand alone as well.

If you like Ken Follett and the whole Pillars of the Earth series, or just historical fiction in general, you will LOVE these books.  Beautifully written, very descriptive of the times (1400's England and Prague), a love story for the ages - several in fact, and the illegal selling of English translations of The Bible.  GASP!  The powers that be in the church do not like the idea of the common man being able to interpret The Word, so harsh punishment and agonizing death are the penalty for such actions.  Still, Anna, whose bookseller grandfather whisks her from England in order to safely continue to copy the English books, carries on this dangerous family tradition.  When she is forced to return to England as a young adult, she meets Brother Gabriel, who is having a crisis of faith but has been sent to weed out these criminals.

Ok, so pretty predictable, but oh so fascinating.  And it is definitely not a traditional man meets girl story - there is so much detail here and plotting and disguising and FAITH.  How ironic would it be if the girl is more faithful than the priest?  What IS faith?  How far would you go for it?    Helpers and distractors abound, and a helpful hand from Anna's past becomes key to her future and her definition of self. 

Great historical fiction and very well done!!!!  There is a third book set during Henry VIII's reign - putting that one on my list!!! (The Heretic's Wife)

The Last Anniversary by Lianne Moriarty

I listened to this one on Audible.  I always then wonder how I would have reacted to this story had I read it on paper.  I don't use Audible much, but had purchased this book a while back and really like this author.

At first, I was not sure I would get through it.  The pace was SO SLOW.  The main character was SO ANNOYING.  And there was a lot of flashbacking that seemed to go on and on and on.  AND, it wasn't until about 2/3 of the way through that I understood the title.  Annoying.

Other than that, this was FANTASTIC!!!  So many fabulous characters, and the narrator gave great voices to each, usually very distinctively.  Like all of Moriarty's books, this is set in Australia, so this American loved the accents.  Also like Moriarty's other stories, this one has a central mystery, a family (or two) with varied characters, and a WHOLLOP of an ending I did not see coming.  I solved the mystery pretty quickly - both of them actually - but a third lesser mystery came back and smacked me up right at the end, which of course I loved.  Loved loved loved this ending.  Not so much because it was all tied up in a big bow - but just because it was REAL.  It was creative where all the people end up.  Not what I expected.  C'est la vie, much??

While I think we all know Sophie is our main character here, I really liked the portrayal of Grace in this story.  I also loved how frustrating Veronica was - she had some really great and acerbic lines.  I rolled my eyes several times at her!  I also laughed out loud a few times too.  Aunt Connie seemed quite the matriarch - everyone on Scribbly Gum Island was afraid of her I think - and her sister Aunt Rose was the quiet little mouse.  Margie's struggle was real and her story a bit vague, until it wasn't.  HAHA!  And Laura was just absent until the climatic and necessary place that might well have redeemed her as a mother.  Maybe.

So are you getting that this is like an Amazon Island?  All women?  It is not, but they are the focus, they are the drive, they are the heart.  The husbands and sons and former boyfriends and potential boyfriends are sidelines at best.  Necessary, but not central.  Huh.

There are many storylines going on at once here that all come to a head around the same time.  Sophie inherits a house on the island from her ex-boyfriend's great aunt and moves out to this small island dominated by this one family.  She is still single and almost 40 and is desperate to marry and have a baby.  She is pretty and cheerful cultured and the light of the party.  While most of the family welcomes her, Veronica is upset that she got Aunt Connie's house and she is not even family - she dumped poor Thomas!  She is always angry about something, and mostly about the family mystery - whatever happened to Veronica's great-grandparents, who disappeared leaving a baby (her grandmother) behind?  Her grandmother Enigma - so named by Connie and Rose, who found the poor babe in the house they rented to her parents Alice and Jack Munro, due to the mystery of her parents - loves being known as the Munro baby (I might be spelling all these names wrong - another thing that I don't like about audio books, but oh well, I got 30+ hours of an Australian accent so......).  Enigma's other granddaughter Grace has just had a baby and is not sure what to do with it.   Add in those pesky husbands and ex-boyfriends and the sexy gardener and you've got yourself a soap opera stew!!!

Fun read, great to listen to.  It definitely picks up maybe about halfway through and then I was walking around my house in circles with my headphones on all Sunday afternoon because I couldn't take them out. 

Just doesn't sound the same as I couldn't put it down, but that is what I mean.  I could not WAIT to see (hear?) what was going to happen and what DID happen to Jack and Alice and WILL Sophie ever for the love of God land a man and have a baby and will Veronica just shut UP!  Safe to say I will read anything by Moriarty - she is GOOD.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

"To be allowed, no, invited, into the private lives of strangers, and to share their joys and fears, was a chance to exchange the Southern bitter wormwood for a cup of mead with Beowulf or a hot cup of tea and milk with Oliver Twist."

"To be left alone on the tightrope of youthful unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision."

Need I say more??

What a beautiful, heartbreaking story of growing up.  Of growing up hard, poor, black, female.  I can't believe I have never read Maya Angelou.  Thank you to my niece for giving me the entire set of Angelou's memoir.  This was just book one and takes us through the first 16 years of Angelou's life.  And what experiences she has - joyous, traumatizing, shocking and eye-opening. I did love learning why she is called Maya, and what her given name is.   I can't wait to see what happens next.  And what sentences I will mark and quote in the remaining volumes!!!!

A Column of Fire by Ken Follett

I have always listed Pillars of the Earth as one of my all time favorite novels. (The STARZ TV adaptation is pretty good too!!)  I remember not being quite so bowled over by the second book, World Without End.  Still, I was excited to read this third installment about Kingsbridge and the descendants of Tom the Builder.

It did not disappoint.

A long, sweeping novel that covers several decades at the end of the 1500's, this story follows Ned Willard into the first ever secret service for Queen Elizabeth I.  He spies, he collects information, he thwarts, he travels, he loves, he loses.  The scope is naturally much wider here as the world becomes larger and more accessible than in previous centuries, so the focus is less on the politics and people of Kingsbridge and more about the times - intrigue, family betrayal, the continued treatment of women as property (not by our forward thinking Ned, of course!!).

Told from varying points of view, we learn what both sides of this religiously divided time are scheming - and there is a lot of scheming!  By Ned, by his enemies, by the several strong female characters who bravely fight for their beliefs in the face of execution if caught.  The Protestants versus the Catholics; tolerance versus power; family versus family; Queen versus Queen.  Everyone is convinced that their side is the side of God, in the right, this is the ONLY way, the other people are evil.....

Sounds familiar right?  Some things never change.

Follett writes simply and does have some questionable phrasing for the times here.  But it cannot detract from the way he weaves real historical figures into his stories and brings this long ago age to light and to life.  Historical fiction is my favorite genre to read, and Follett is a master.  I especially loved the Epilogue here - true fans will appreciate the nod to Pillars here - and there is the scent of yet a fourth opportunity to follow the lives and loves of the people of Kingsbridge into the next century and a new world.....stay tuned!!

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Literarily yours,
Rawles