OLD LOVEGOOD GIRLS (2020)

Old Lovegood Girls by Gail Godwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The amazing Old Lovegood Girls is a story of friendship between two women who become talented writers. It recalled personal memories going back many years. An extraordinary read, it was filled with thoughts I wanted to ponder, remember, and cherish.

THE STORY: Finalizing room assignments for Lovegood Junior College in 1958, the dean decides to make some adjustments and places Feron Hood with Merry Jellicoe. Feron has had an unpleasant childhood and Merry might be a good influence. These oddly compatible young women become friends, but a tragic event causes Merry to leave school after one year.

Ten years later they inhabit different worlds and have not been in touch, but their friendship remains. Feron says that once someone is in your 'reference aura' they stay there forever. Over all the years, each is a touchstone for the other.

FIRST LINE: "The dean and the dorm mistress stood brooding over the student housing plans laid out on the rosewood conference table."

WHAT I THOUGHT: Such beautiful writing evokes memories about our own lives. I read Old Lovegood Girls on my Kindle, but I need to buy a hardcover copy so I can underline and write in it (blasphemy, I know). So many memories began to surface with this book that I felt the need to reel them in to continue reading. A more careful reading would let me explore each personal memory, what it meant then and what it means now.
 
The story constantly circles back revealing more and reminding the reader. At first I found that repetitious and a bit annoying, until I settled into the ebb and flow of the story. The ending seemed abrupt, but it drew together the themes of continuity and change. The technique woke me to a bad habit I have developed in this overstimulated world. Snap decisions. Superficial judging. Both save time but miss meaning.

BOTTOM LINE: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I read lots of books I end up loving but this one stole my heart. I felt it was written for me alone. I hope other readers will feel the same way.

Disclaimer: A copy of Old Lovegood Girls was provided to me by  Atlantic Monthly Press/Net Galley for an honest review.

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing (May 5, 2020)
ISBN-10: 1632868229
ISBN-13: 978-1632868220

Gail Godwin is a three-time National Book Award finalist and the bestselling author of twelve critically acclaimed novels, including Unfinished Desires, A Mother and Two Daughters, Violet Clay, Father Melancholy's Daughter, Evensong, The Good Husband, and Evenings at Five. She is also the author of The Making of a Writer: Journals, 1961--1963, the first of two volumes, edited by Rob Neufeld. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants for both fiction and libretto writing, and the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She has written libretti for ten musical works with the composer Robert Starer. She lives in Woodstock, New York.

WEEK AT THE SHORE (2020)

A Week at the Shore by Barbara Delinsky
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Can you really go home again? And what will you find there?

Mallory left home some 20 years ago after a tragic accident. Unmarried but with a thirteen year old daughter, she has built a successful life for herself as a photographer of real estate in New York City. Between a phone call warning about her father's worsening dementia and Joy's begging to meet her grandfather, Mallory agrees to "A Week at the Shore."

Besides a story filled with complications, there is much that readers can relate to their own lives. And, of course, there is a renewed love story.

The perfect Chic-Lit book to take along to the beach this summer.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this early release in exchange for my honest review. Due to be published May 19, 2020.

THE STOLEN MARRIAGE: A NOVEL 2017

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first book I have been able to finish in quite a while. Definitely a beach read but it was hard to put down. Something happens in every chapter that makes you want to turn just one more page.

THE FIRST LINE: "It's a terrible feeling, being despised."

THE STORY: Tess and Vincent have loved each other all their lives and plan to marry, but one fateful weekend changes everything. Tess ends up marrying another man and moving to Hickory, North Carolina where she endures a loveless marriage. How she finds herself during the polio epidemic of 1944 is historically fascinating.

WHAT I THOUGHT: This is my second Diane Chamberlain and it appears that her formula is similar. Her chic-lit stories feature young women allowing secrets to complicate their lives. This plot has everything but the kitchen sink, but you'll keep reading until all the secrets are revealed. My lack of enthusiasm is a minority. Other readers adore everything Dian Chamberlain has written.

Historical fiction is not my first choice but this book incorporates an event that actually happened.

"In June 1944, the citizens of Hickory built a hospital in 54 hours to save their children from the worst polio outbreak that had ever hit the United States. Looking back now, even knowing the results – 13 wards erected, doctors and nurses flocking in by the dozens, hundreds of patients treated and released, with only 12 deaths, one of the country’s lowest-ever rates for polio – the enormity of the undertaking still bewilders." (Charles D. Dixon, Hickory NC)

As a matter of fact, I found myself talking about this to my book group mostly because of the historical aspects. I have called Diane Chamberlain's work 'Nancy Drew stories for adults' but that isn't fair. I was drawn into the story because so many of the outrageous things mirrored parts of my own life and many other women. Besides when I was growing up, I read every Nancy Drew I could find. It's good to know that there are tons of other titles waiting for me to pick up!

Title: The Stolen Marriage

Author: Diane Chamberlain

Genre: Women's Fiction

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

No. of Pages: 384

Copyright: October 3, 2017

ISBN-10: 1250087279

ISBN-13: 978-1250087270

Disclaimer: An advanced reading copy (ARC) of this book was provided to me by St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for an honest review.

DIANE CHAMBERLAIN is the international bestselling author of more than 25 novels published in more than twenty languages, including The Broken String and The Silent Sister. She lives in North Carolina with her partner, photographer John Pagliuca, and her shelties, Keeper and Cole.

ON TURPENTINE LANE (2017)

On Turpentine Lane by Elinor Lipman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In 1999 I stumbled upon The Inn at Lake Devine and chose it to be featured at a Reader's Advisory Workshop where I was speaking. Elinor Lipman turned out to be a 'life author' for me. Her stories are what I call literate chic-lit but they are more than that.

Here's what I wrote in an earlier review on my blog:

She is the Jane Austen of her time. Language, dialogue and sentences are precise and exactly right. And you will want to be friends with all her characters. She deals with what could be uncomfortable topics that are part of our lives in a way that makes them palatable.

THE FIRST LINE: "If I hadn't been naive and recklessly trusting, would I ever have purchased number 10 Turpentine Lane, a chronic headache masquerading as a charming bungalow?"

THE STORY: Faith Frankel has returned to her hometown at the age of thirty-two to work for her private school writing thank you notes to wealthy donors. In the meantime, her fiance has abandoned her and is finding himself on a cross country walk. He's too busy to get in touch with her but posts pictures of himself with the women he is meeting on his trek. Luckily Faith has support from her office mate Nick Franconi. (Can you see where this is going?)

WHAT I THOUGHT: This screwball romantic comedy is funny, poignant, and a little outrageous. If you want a lovely, well-written escape from today's politics, you can't go wrong with Elinor Lipman. Highly recommended.

Title: On Turpentine Lane

Author: Elinor Lipman

Genre: Chic-Lit

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

No. of Pages: 320

Copyright: February 14, 2017

ISBN-10: 054480824X

ISBN-13: 978-0544808249

Disclaimer: An advanced reading copy (ARC) of this book was provided to me by Houghton Mifflin and Net Galley for an honest review.

ELINOR LIPMAN is the author of ten novels, including The View from Penthouse B and The Inn at Lake Devine; one essay collection, I Can’t Complain; and Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus. She lives in Massachusetts and New York City. (from Amazon.com)

THE COLOR OF WATER IN JULY (2012)

The Color of Water in July by Nora Carroll
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What attracted me to this book was the Northern Michigan setting, but the story was what kept me reading. There are only so many stories. It's how they are told that makes the difference.

THE STORY:  Jess is 33 and has just inherited a big Victorian cottage she hopes to sell so she will finally have some money to comfortably cushion her ordinary life in New York City. Reluctantly returning to Journey's End after so many years, however, awakens yearnings for lost opportunities, family secrets, and old loves.

WHAT I THOUGHT: Carefully plotted, the reader finds clues from the memories of two women separated in time by many years. The story belongs to Jess, but the revelations come from Mamie, her grandmother. The story is not as predictable as one might assume and there is some lovely writing.

"I call that summer blue, the color of water in July - all of promise wrapped up in it, and every disappointment too."

 "It had turned August now, you could feel it right away, the lack of sincerity of summer, the hint that it was already planning to leave."

The Northern Michigan setting is a character as well and capable of inducing all sorts of nostalgic memories of summers by the water. It is obvious that the author knows and loves this part of Michigan.

The message of the book is an important one. Hold on to what matters. The trick is to find out what truly matters.

FIRST SENTENCE: "There must be a precise moment when wet cement turns dry, when it no longer accepts footprints or scratched-in declarations of love; an ordinary moment, unnoticed, just like any."

BOTTOM LINE: After reading this book, I immediately requested permission to download the author's second book Academy Girls and loved that as well! Highly recommended.

DISCLAIMER: Invited by Net Galley to request and receive this title for an honest review.

Title: The Color of Water in July

Author: Nora Carroll

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Chic-Lit

Publisher:  Lake Union Publishing

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

No. of Pages:235 pages

Copyright: August 18, 2015

ISBN-10: 1503945634

ISBN-13: 978-1503945630

"Nora Carroll is a pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Letts. As Nora Carroll, she writes multi-layered novels filled with the things she loves most-- rambling houses, old letters and manuscripts, and most importantly, the mysteries of love, women, and family." (from Amazon)

THE SOUND OF GLASS (2015)

The Sound of Glass by Karen White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Sound of Glass was my introduction to author Karen White, who writes what has been called 'grit-lit' (as opposed to 'chic-lit') because of her southern settings. The location of the story is Beaufort, South Carolina. I have a very close friend who lives there with her daughter part of the year and that caught my attention.

THE STORY: Merritt Heyward learns that she has inherited a big old Victorian house from her late husband's reclusive grandmother. Feeling guilty about his death and at loose ends, she leaves Maine determined to take up residence in Beaufort.

Before she can catch her breath, her too-young widowed step mother appears with Merritt's ten year old half-brother wanting to move in with her. Loralee claims to be cash strapped with nowhere else to turn. Reluctantly Merritt agrees they can stay for a short time even though she longs for time alone to heal.

WHAT I THOUGHT: Luckily I approached the end of the book just around bedtime. Unfortunately I didn't fall asleep because I kept thinking about what I had read. Even though there were secrets and conflicts, the characters were people you came to care about. Although the story basically revolves around Merritt, it is impossible not to love Loralee, who at first glance appears a stereotypical Southern lady, but is actually a wise and wonderful woman.

I did find it took a while to get the family genealogy straight in my mind as I was reading. I also found Merritt annoying sometimes in her ability to be standoffish. But Karen White writes well and tells a compelling story. I will certainly look for some of her other titles. And if you are like me, the descriptions of Beaufort will make you want to visit and drink sweet tea on a big old veranda overlooking the river.

FIRST SENTENCE: "An unholy tremor rippling through the sticky night air alerted Edith Heyward that something wasn't right." (Prologue, Beaufort, South Carolina July 1955)

BOTTOM LINE: Three women with unhappy secrets weave a tangled web as they tell their stories holding the reader spellbound. Highly recommended.

DISCLAIMER: An advanced reading copy (ARC) of this book was provided to me by NetGalley for an honest review.

Title: The Sound of Glass

Author: Karen White

Genre: Grit-Lit (Southern Women's Fiction)

Publisher: NAL

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

No. of Pages: 426

Copyright: May 12, 2015

ISBN-10:  0451470893

ISBN-13: 978-0451470898

Karen White, a New York Times bestselling author of 19 novels, writes 'grit-lit' or southern women's fiction, as well as "a contemporary paranormal mystery series set in Charleston, South Carolina." She lives near Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and two children.

THEN AND ALWAYS: A NOVEL (2014)

Then and Always: A Novel by Dani Atkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Can I just say that I loved this book? At first Kate Atkinson's "Life After Life" popped into my head followed by several others that have dealt with similar material, but Dani Atkins debut, "Then and Always: A Novel", is unique in its own way. Initially the fact that this book was recommended to people who loved "One Day" and the movie "Sliding Doors" was what attracted me.

After a devastating accident at the age of eighteen, Rachel Wiltshire's life alters forever or so she thinks. Five years later Rachel is apprehensively returning to her home town for the wedding of her good friend Sara and suddenly finds herself living a very different life surrounded by people, some of whom she had thought gone forever.

One might assume that because the story is about a very young woman, its appeal might be limited. Absolutely not. 'Literate chic lit' that tells a good story with implied life lessons should attract many readers.

The book will be available after May 20, 2014. Get a copy and take it to the beach with you this summer!

Bottom Line: A story that grabs you from the beginning and delivers the only ending that makes sense.

Title: Then and Always: A Novel
Author: Dani Atkins
Genre: Romance, fiction
Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition edition
ISBN: 0804178526
No. of Pages: 320 pages
Copyright: May 20, 2014
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: NetGalley

DISCLOSURE: Invited by NetGalley to request and receive this title for an honest review.

Dani Atkins lives in rural Hertfordshire, England, with her husband and two children. This is her first novel. (Source: Amazon)


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Emma Straub's New Book Out May 29, 2014

Emma Straub made her debut with Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures in 2012. Apparently I liked the book but not too much since I only gave it 2/5 stars. That doesn't sound right to me now.

On May 29th her new novel The Vacationers is available and I'm adding it to my list of summer reads especially since the following sites have mentioned it on their lists of May Reads:

Harpers Bazaar Hot List

FlavorWire

PopSugar

Bustle

Bookish

Book Riot

HIDDEN (2014)

Hidden by Catherine McKenzie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although HIDDEN is Canadian author Catherine McKenzie's fourth novel, it is the first time I have read her work and I was most impressed.

First sentence: The last thing I had to do that day was fire Art Davies.

Within a carefully constructed structure, her writing is clear and moving. I love all the allusions to things in modern everyday lives. It strengthens how we relate to the story told by three people: Jeff, Claire, and Tish. And lest you think that might be confusing, it is not. The author places subtle markers at the beginning of each new section that immediately identify where the story is picking up. It is almost seamless.

The other thing I loved about HIDDEN is that it twists and turns and doesn't necessarily go where the reader expects while dealing with issues of relationships, family, secrets, and regrets.

Bottom Line: This is definitely a worthy addition to what I call 'literate chic-lit'. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Title: Hidden
Author: Catherine McKenzie
Genre: Literate chic-lit
Publisher: New Harvest
ISBN: 0544264975
No. of Pages: 304 pages
Copyright: April 1, 2014
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Kindle Edition Offer

DISCLOSURE: Got a free copy through Kindle Prime.

Catherine MacKenzie, A graduate of McGill University in History and Law, practices law in Montreal, where she was born and raised. An avid skier and runner, Catherine's novels, SPIN, ARRANGED, FORGOTTEN and HIDDEN, are international bestsellers. HIDDEN will be released in the US on April 1, 2014. She is currently seeking a new one-word title so she can write her fifth novel. And if you want to know how she has time to do all that, the answer is: robots.

Someday, Someday, Maybe (2013)

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After a week that began with the bombings at the Boston Marathon Race and included the fertilizer company explosion in Texas, I wasn’t sure I would be able to concentrate long enough to read anything.

With multiple titles on my Kindle, I chose Lauren Graham’s debut novel Someday, Someday, Maybe partly because it had a theatrical theme and my expectations weren't high. Silly me. I fell in love almost immediately: with the book, with ditzy Franny, and all her friends.

Bottom Line: Delightful, charming, quirky, and funny. Highly recommended for anyone who already loves Lauren Graham, dreams of becoming an actress, or just needs a respite from the everyday world.

Not being familiar with Lauren Graham's work as an actress, I can only say that she has written about trying to make it in NYC with wit, understanding, and compassion. Aspiring young (and no so young) women will love this story.

Franny Banks pledged to give herself three years to achieve her career goal of becoming an employed actress in New York City. With just six months left, it looks like all she’s achieved is a pretty good job as a waitress like lots of other hopefuls.

A showcase could be her ticket to establish herself in NYC but every path and opportunity presents its own complications and there are difficult decisions to be made.

Interspersed with pages of Franny’s calendar full of notes, doodles, and promises, the reader learns what it is like to maneuver the competitive world of being a performer. With lots of talent but little self-confidence, Franny rattles on in her head about what she thinks is going on in the world around her and then goes off in the absolutely wrong direction.

Disclaimer: I got my copy of Someday, Someday, Maybe pre-pub in electronic format from NetGalley after seeing a number of mentions and reviews.

Title: Someday, Someday, Maybe

Author: Lauren Graham

Genre: Chic Lit

Publisher: Ballantine Books (April 30, 2013)

No. of Pages: 352 pages

Copyright: 2013

ISBN: 0345532740

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Source: Pre-publication Ebook from NetGalley

Best known for her roles on the critically acclaimed television series Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, Lauren Graham has performed on Broadway and appeared in films including Bad Santa and Evan Almighty.
 

She earned a BA in English from Barnard College and an MFA in acting from Southern Methodist University. Lauren Graham lives in New York and Los Angeles.

Graham earned her actor's equity card in 1988 after two years in summer stock at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan.

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2008)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From Ann to her blog readers,

Dear Friends,

I just finished reading Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows wonderful book and feel like I have new friends. The funny thing is that I have resisted this book for years because of what I considered a cutesy title. Nothing in the reviews I scanned encouraged me to pick it up.

But this fall some friends joined me in a book club and each member chooses what we will read in a particular month. A friend, who in the past has introduced me to some wonderful reads, chose this one. Well, I sighed and ordered the book from the library.

Can you imagine how astounded I was when I found out what a wonderful story was told through a series of letters about life on the island of Guernsey during and immediately after the German Occupation in World War II. I didn't even know where Guernsey was located before!

And then to find out that Mary Ann Shaffer died in February 2008, a few months before her first novel was published, made me sad. She worked as an editor, a librarian, and in bookshops. I am sure we would have been great friends just like her fictional character Julia felt that she and Elizabeth would have been friends . 

I loved the comfort this wonderful book allowed me to share during a difficult time. It's not great literature but I don't think it is trying to be something it isn't. It is perfect as it is.

I wish people still wrote letters. And I wish I knew people who could write ones like these.

Yours ever,
Ann

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BABYLON SISTERS (2006)

Babylon Sisters: A Novel by Pearl Cleage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What will make me forever remember this book is the fact that the life of a friend was paralleling the plot of BABYLON SISTERS at the same time I was reading it. Oh, not in every small detail but in a fantastical enough way that I found it amazing.

Having given birth to her daughter Phoebe as an unmarried mother, Catherine Sanderson has nevertheless created a wonderful life for herself and her child. Phoebe is getting ready to go away to college and is pushing her mother to tell her about the father she never knew.

The results are funny, moving, and ultimately wonderful, as are those of my friend who discovered he had fathered a daughter 24 years ago.

This is literate chic lit. I wouldn't be surprised to find that Catherine Sanderson is patterned on the author. Either way you will want to make a new friend in reading the writings of Pearl Cleage.

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