Book Review: THIS TENDER LAND by William Kent Krueger

Title: THIS TENDER LAND

Author:  William Kent Krueger
Read: July 2020

Expected publication: 1 August 2020

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

Book Description:

1932, Minnesota—the Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O’Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.

Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphans will journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an en­thralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole.

What attracted me to this book:

THIS TENDER LAND is the type of story I would have loved to listen to as a child. Set in the 1930’s, the era of the Great Depression, the book focuses on the adventures of four orphans who are on the run from an evil headmistress, using a canoe on a tributary of the mighty Mississippi river to evade the authorities. It evoked memories of my Dad reading us stories of the adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer as we listened, wide-eyed and spellbound, with a foreign wonderland of wild river country and colourful characters taking shape in our minds.

My musings:

Sometimes you know within a few pages that you are going to love a book. As soon as I met Odie O’Banion, the narrator of the story, as he recalls memories of his 12-year old self growing up in Lincoln School for Native American children with his brother Albert and best friend Mose, I knew I was in for a real treat. My heart broke for Odie and his schoolmates as the full horror of life at this institution was revealed, and I cheered for them as they made their getaway. From here on, a wonderful adventure unfolded, brimming with a rich cast of interesting and well-rounded characters that made the story roll out like a movie in my mind. My inner child was full of awe for the four adventurers, whilst my maternal side just wanted to grab them, hug them and give them a good hot meal and a warm bed to sleep in.

The author brings the era of the Great Depression to life, with all its hardships but also the generosity and camaraderie that helped people survive. With the wonderfully atmospheric setting of the (fictional) Gilead River and the mighty Mississippi, the stage was set and I was transported into another world I would only emerge from reluctantly, hours later, still dazed from the different world I had just experienced.

Summary:

THIS TENDER LAND really was the best type of book, one that took me out of my own reality and made me live another life, during another time, as seen through Odie’s eyes. I just loved those four “vagabonds”! I laughed, I cried, I raged and cheered – all the emotions! It’s a book that will appeal to a wide audience, from teenagers to the old – all you need is a sense of adventure and a bit of compassion for the wonderful people you will encounter on the journey. I didn’t want the story to end, and the characters are still very much alive in my mind. This is perhaps why I would have preferred a more open ending than the older Odie looking back at his childhood and the years that followed, but it’s still one that will go onto my favourites list this year. I really loved the author’s writing style and can’t wait to read my way through his other books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: THEY NEVER LEARN by Layne Fargo

Title: THEY NEVER LEARN

Author:  Layne Fargo
Read: July 2020

Expected publication: 13 October 2020

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

Book Description:

Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.

Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself—but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything’s going according to her master plan…until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure.

Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident—everything Carly wishes she could be—and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay...and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality.

What attracted me to this book:

I am immensely grateful to the bookish community (Jayme, I’m looking at you in particular) for sending this book recommendation my way, because this was exactly the type of book I love: a story about a kick-ass, unscrupulous woman character seeking her own kind of justice – or revenge? Borderline sociopathic, fearless, intelligent and driven, this type of character will steer you through the rough seas of a wonderfully twisted tale, and it delivered all that and more.

My musings:

If you love twisted, kick-ass women characters like Lily out of THE KIND WORTH KILLING, Jane from JANE DOE or Zoey out of THE RED HUNTER, then you will feel immediately drawn to Scarlett Clark, an English professor with a deep dark secret she isn’t afraid to share with her readers. Just make sure you buckle up for the ride she is about to take you on!

I am hoping that it says more about Fargo’s skill as a writer than my own suppressed psychopathic tendencies that I was on Scarlett’s side the whole time and was hoping she would get away with the special brand of justice she is doling out. Does it take a certain lack of moral fibre to root for such an obviously disturbed character? Or is it the exact opposite, that the kind of tale Scarlett tells awakens our inner craving for justice? Justice, or revenge? This would make for a great debate with a reading group! But let’s not get too deep here. THEY NEVER LEARN was a compulsive dark tale from beginning to end and had me totally in its grip. It’s cleverly constructed, rolling out in two seemingly unrelated narratives that seamlessly come together somewhere near the middle of the book, at which point you may sigh, as I did: “Ah, yes, I can see it now!”

I appreciated the way the author fearlessly presents her twisted main character, unapologetic for the rising body count, and quickly gets her readers on her side. Scarlett is the type of successful, intelligent woman many of us may aspire to be, except for – oops – she is also a serial killer. And not ashamed to admit it. But does that make her any less likeable – no, Sir! And, Sir, you may do well to stay on her good side! Was I scared of her? Hell, yes! But if you have ever witnessed the slow grindings of the justice system, especially for vulnerable women, then you may also feel a small satisfactory glow at her own brand of justice.

My only small quibble was that Carly’s story could have been trimmed a little bit in parts to make the otherwise fast paced story flow a bit better. I admit that at times I was much more invested in Scarlett’s story than Carly’s, especially after the cliffhangers in Scarlett’s later chapters that had me reading the whole book in one massive sitting. Will Scarlett get away with her latest murder? Did I want her to – yes, yes, yes I did! Don’t judge me too harshly though, because once in Scarlett’s world, you may feel exactly the same.

Summary:

All in all, THEY NEVER LEARN was the type of compulsive, twisted, entertaining tale that doesn’t come around very often. Fast paced and led by a strong female lead, it gripped me after the first page and didn’t let up until I had finished it. With its atmospheric boarding college setting and characters that all elicited a strong emotional response, I was totally swept away on one heck of a journey.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Gallery / Scout Press for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 by Lisa Unger

Title: CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45

Author:  LisaUnger
Read: July 2020

Expected publication: 6 October 2020

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2

Book Description:

Selena Murphy is commuting home from her job in the city when the train stalls out on the tracks. She strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat, and their connection is fast and easy. The woman introduces herself as Martha and confesses that she’s been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena’s station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again.

But days later, Selena’s nanny disappears.

Soon Selena finds her once-perfect life upended. As she is pulled into the mystery of the missing nanny, and as the fractures in her marriage grow deeper, Selena begins to wonder, who was Martha really? But she is hardly prepared for what she’ll discover.

What attracted me to this book:

What is it about public transport that makes for such a great setting? Perhaps the weird and wonderful bunch of people you encounter? Lisa Unger has gone with the theme and used it as a great premise for her latest mystery, and I couldn’t resist it.

My musings:

Striking up a conversation with a random stranger seems like a harmless thing to do, especially when the stranger initiates the conversation by telling you one of her own problems. In fact, it can be very cathartic to unburden yourself to someone you will most likely never meet again. This is what Selena Murphy is thinking when she meets a mysterious beautiful stranger on a train, and both women unburden themselves of their current life stresses. For Selena, it’s the knowledge that her husband has been sleeping with their nanny. She caught them in flagrante on the nanny cam, but is now unsure of what to do about it. Should she confront him? Sack the nanny? Ask for a divorce? Maybe the girl will just disappear, the stranger tells her, and with her all of Selena’s problems will simply go away. Which is a pleasant fantasy, until the nanny doesn’t turn up for work the next morning, and the police come knocking on Selena’s door ....

Lisa Unger is an author who knows how to create suspense from everyday situations, and she did a great job here. If you think that oversharing to a complete stranger is a strange premise, then you have never sat on a 20-hour international flight next to a slightly intoxicated weepy stranger who has decided to use you as an agony aunt (I now wear headphones when travelling alone, though I might be missing out on some great stories). Initially rolling out in four separate POVs, the story gained momentum with the disappearance of the nanny and Selena’s ever growing panic at her disintegrating once-comfortable life. The one thing I loved most about this book was that each and every character ended up surprising me, just when I thought I had them all worked out and put in their little stereotypical box. I read a lot of thrillers, and it takes a bit to blindside me, so this was a very pleasant turn of events.

Summary:

CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 (great title, BTW) will appeal to readers who enjoy making up wild and wonderful theories as to which one of the bunch of flawed characters in the story is lying – or do they all have something to hide? You will need to read it to find out. Refreshingly free of predictable stereotypes, this mystery was as compulsive as it was entertaining, even though I am glad that none of those people are in my life. With an innocent conversation between strangers on a train starting off an avalanche of terrible events, this could happen to any of us – or could it? Hasn’t your mother ever warned you about talking to strangers? Maybe Selena should have heeded that bit of advice.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Park Row for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: I GIVE IT TO YOU by Valerie Martin

Title: I GIVE IT TO YOU

Author:  Valerie Martin
Read: July 2020

Expected publication: 6 August 2020

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Book Description:

When Jan, an American academic, rents an apartment in a Tuscan villa for the summer, she plans to spend her break writing a biography of Mussolini. Instead, she finds herself captivated by her hostess, the elegant, acerbic Beatrice. Beatrice's family ties to Villa Chiara and the land on which it stands extend back generations, although the family has fallen on hard times since WWII and the fate of the property is uncertain. But it is rich in stories, and Jan becomes intrigued by an account of Beatrice's uncle, who was mysteriously killed on the grounds at the conclusion of the war. Did he die at the hands of the invading Americans, or was he murdered by his countrymen for his political opinions?

Beatrice, a student of American literature, proves to be a beguiling storyteller and a sharp critic; she and Jan keep in touch after that summer, and a fierce friendship forms. As the years go on, Jan finds she can't help but write Beatrice's story, a decision that opens up questions of ownership and loyalty and leads to a major betrayal.

What attracted me to this book:

Have you ever dreamed about going to Italy and living in a majestic Tuscan villa? Perhaps real life travel is impossible right now, but if you’re looking for a great armchair escape then this book may just be the one for you – I was immediately smitten by its magnificent setting, and the dark family secrets it promised to uncover.

My musings:

So, did it keep its promise? Partly, yes, partly, no. Let me elaborate. I GIVE IT TO YOU is the story of an American academic and writer, Jan Vidor, who spends a summer at her friend Beatrice’s family residence in Tuscany, the magnificent Villa Chiara. Over the centuries, the house has borne witness to many of the aristocratic Salviati family’s dramas, including the death of Beatrice’s gentle uncle Sandro in the driveway of his home. Over the course of Jan’s stay, Beatrice reveals much of her family’s troubled history, which is grounded in the privilege of the Italian upper classes. As Jan listens with fascination, Beatrice casually dismisses her family’s story with: “I give it to you.” But what does this really mean? Is Jan now the owner of the tale to do with as she wishes?

Over the course of the book, we meet many of Beatrice’s family members and find out about their often tragic fates. Beatrice herself has an interesting tale to tell. After a love-hate relationship with her mother, she emigrated to America and found herself in a doomed marriage to an alcoholic, which produced her (now adult) son David, the last of the family line. To be honest, whilst I felt for the young Beatrice who had set off to start a new life in a far away land, every adult in the story apart from the doomed Sandro was not exactly likeable. Jan seems to take it all in her stride, the family’s aristocratic arrogance, their internal family struggles, the coldness that exists between surviving family members. This lack of emotion on Jan’s part was probably the novel’s biggest downfall for me. I ever really got a good sense of who Jan really was, as we are not privy to her emotions and thoughts, merely the emotionless recounting of the family’s various stories. If Jan had any thoughts about them, she does not share them with the reader. I had the sense that the holiday in Tuscany was her getaway, her bubble in time and space. It existed so separate from her own life that it almost took part in another universe in which her own emotions and opinions never come to play – even though she reflects often about her regrets about her poor grasp of the Italian language that makes her feel self conscious and uncomfortable among the locals. Another puzzle for me was her friendship with Beatrice, which was somewhat remote and cool. If Beatrice really shared her family’s most intimate details, we don’t ever see the emotional connection there that would draw the two women together.

However, the beautiful setting of the rural Italian countryside and the charming Villa Chiara made up for the characters’ lack of emotional connection. I could vividly picture the grand house throughout the last 100 years of history, which saw the tragic demise of a few of Beatrice’s family members. Sandro, who was probably the only “nice” member of the family, touched my heart, and I found his story the saddest of all.

Summary:

All in all, as a query into the ethics of who owns a story – the person who has lived it or the novelist who was gifted it – the book did not fully deliver for me, partly due to my emotional disconnection to Jan, the writer. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the armchair travel to Tuscany and found some aspects of the Salviati family’s history fascinating, including a young Beatrice’s quest to start a new life in America. Too bad that the only legacy that was left was the haughty and pompous David, who I could not root for, which left me somewhat cold as to the last part of the novel. If you are a reader who appreciates a good family saga spanning various major events in history, combined with delicious armchair travel, then this book may be just right for you. I really enjoyed the author’s gift for storytelling and will make sure to look up her other works.

Thank you to Netgalley and Serpent’s Tail for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: THE RINGMASTER'S DAUGHTER by Carly Schabowski

Title: THE RINGMASTER'S DAUGHTER

Author:  Carly Schabowski
Read: June 2020

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Book Description:

Paris, 1940. Twenty-year-old Michel Bonnet lives on the edge of the law, finding work where he can breaking in horses on the outskirts of the city. But when the Nazis invade, Michel takes refuge as a stowaway on a rickety train bound for the rural south. It’s a journey that will change his life forever.

The train is property of Le Cirque Neumann – a travelling circus owned by the troubled and irritable showman Werner Neumann. Neumann offers Michel a job caring for the company’s horses – a lucky break, but with an unusual condition attached. Michel must keep to himself and never speak of what he sees behind the glittering curtain of the big top.

But as Michel finds himself pulled into the strange and wondrous world of the great spectacular it becomes more difficult to keep his promise. Why does the man with the performing monkey never speak, and the sword swallower turn his face away? Who are the silent, shadowy figures who flit like moths between the wagons when the sun is down? It’s clear that Neumann is keeping his performers hidden away… but why? And how can Michel win the love of the beautiful and exotic trapeze artist Frieda – the graceful, green-eyed star of Neuman’s spectacular – when he’s been forbidden to even meet her gaze?

What attracted me to this book:

Show me a child who has never dreamed of running away to the circus! Maybe this is why I always feel drawn to books with circus settings, and the combination of a WWII story and a travelling circus immediately got my attention.

My musings:

Michel is a young man living in Paris in 1940 working as a horsetrainer when the imminent invasion of the city by Nazi troops tilts his world upside down. After losing his job, and persuaded by his best friend and mentor to leave the city, he finds himself a stowaway on a train transporting a travelling circus.

From here on, Michel’s life becomes very much enmeshed with that of the various circus performers as the war slowly closes in on them. Based on a true story, the premise quickly drew me in and I enjoyed the cast of colourful circus characters who soon become Michel’s companions and friends. However, to be totally honest, as the story progressed I found myself wanting more: more circus atmosphere, more tension, more emotion. There is a little hint of all of this, but it never fully came to fruition for me. I wanted the sights, the sounds and the smells of the circus but only got little glimpses of these. It also didn’t help that the title gives away one of the major mysteries the book revolves around, and once you start reading you will see what I mean. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to rating this book any higher was my lack of emotional involvement, even though I found the story pleasant enough reading. Pleasant, but just lacking that special something that would make it stay in my mind for any longer than after the last page had been turned.

Summary:

All in all, THE RINGMASTER’S DAUGHTER will appeal to readers who are looking for a lighter WWII read that contains a little bit of everything: a bit of romance, a bit of tragedy, a tiny bit of mystery all wrapped in a circus setting. Those readers looking for a deeper, more hard hitting story delving into the psyche of a diverse group of refugees and societal misfits banded together in the troupe of a travelling circus during wartime may find the story lacking in depth, and being fairly predictable. However, it made for good escapist reading, so may be just the right choice for you in these troubled times.

 Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: THE CUTTING PLACE (Maeve Kerrigan #9) by Jane Casey

Title: THE CUTTING PLACE (Maeve Kerrigan #9)

Author:  Jane Casey
Read: June 2020

Expected publication: 3 November 2020

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Book Description:

Everyone's heard the rumours about elite gentlemen's clubs, where the champagne flows freely, the parties are the height of decadence . . . and the secrets are darker than you could possibly imagine.

DS Maeve Kerrigan finds herself in an unfamiliar world of wealth, luxury and ruthless behaviour when she investigates the murder of a young journalist, Paige Hargreaves. Paige was working on a story about the Chiron Club, a private society for the richest and most privileged men in London. Then she disappeared. 

It's clear to Maeve that the members have many secrets. But Maeve is hiding secrets of her own – even from her partner DI Josh Derwent. Will she uncover the truth about Paige’s death? Or will time run out for Maeve first?

What attracted me to this book:

Jane Casey’s latest instalment in the DI Maeve Kerrigan series once again affirms that this is one of my favourite crime series. Having read every book in the series from when Maeve made her first appearance in THE BURNING, I have been eagerly been looking forward to every book. Now at Book 9, I am still enjoying the series as much as ever!

My musings:

Whilst I recommend reading the series from Book 1 to get the most out of the homicide team’s dynamics, Casey offers individual stories that could easily be read as stand alones. In THE CUTTING PLACE, Maeve gets embroiled in the investigation into a sinister secret society that has been linked to the dismembered body of a young journalist washed up on the banks of the Thames. All of Casey’s novels are original and well plotted, and her latest book was no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed the creepy vibes as Maeve tries to look into the murky depths of the Chiron Club, though I must confess that the dynamics between Maeve and her nemesis Josh Derwent remained my favourite part. Their constant bickering and sniping whilst they are secretly great mates was good fun to read – Derwent’s quick wit and his political incorrectness as these two clash always raises eyebrows as well as a chuckle.

Summary:

It’s difficult to name favourites in an overall great series, but this book is definitely among them, as we get to see a more vulnerable side to both Maeve and Josh. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and look forward to continuing following Maeve and Josh on their adventures.

Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.