Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

March 7, 2020

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

For 18 years, Rose Gold Watts believed that she was seriously ill, until an internet search made her suspicious that her that her mother was poisoning and starving her to gain attention.  She testified against her mother in court, and “Poisonous Patty” Watts went to prison for five years.  Patty is about to be released and with nowhere to go, asks Rose Gold if she can stay with her.  Rose Gold reluctantly agrees, since she now has a child of her own and fears what Patty might do to him.  Patty always gets revenge on those who wronged her, but Rose Gold is no longer a helpless child and has her own brand of revenge in mind.  As the saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold.

What a great piece of psychological fiction!  The story alternates between Patty and Rose Gold in the present, and Rose Gold in the past.  Both Patty and Rose Gold have had years to think about revenge, and the pacing of the story really ratchets up the tension as the reader watches Patty and Rose Gold circle around each other like a pair of jungle cats.  They have a lot more in common than they think:  neither one is likable; both are highly manipulative; both women are unreliable narrators telling their own version of the truth.  Fascinating yet disturbing and twisted, this is definitely like a train wreck:  you just can’t look away.  Once you start this book, it’s really hard to put it down.

Loved the cover art!  The plot for Darling Rose Gold sounds a lot like the story of Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter Gypsy Rose.  Hulu recently did an original series called The Act which was based on Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose.

I have a compressed vertebrae in my back so I have been having a lot of doctors’ appointments and tests over the last ten days.  Somewhere along the way, I lost my print ARC of Darling Rose Gold.  This irritated me almost as much as all the poking and prodding.  Fortunately, NetGalley was gracious enough to provide me with an e-ARC so that I could finish the book and write a review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.

The Big Finish by Brooke Fossey

March 7, 2020

The Big Finish by Brooke Fossey

Duffy Sinclair lives at Centennial, a small assisted living facility.  Although he has a natural rebellious streak, he tries to keep it in check, since he lives in fear of being sent to live at “Simmons,” the local nursing home.  This could happen because he has run out of money, or because his health has deteriorated to the point that the staff at Centennial can no longer care for him, or because he's too much trouble.  But Duffy’s plans to stay under the radar run aground when his roommate’s granddaughter Josie climbs through their bedroom window one night, barefoot, bruised, and drunk.  Duffy decides that providence has given him one last shot at redemption, so he sets out to save Josie from herself.

Ah, curmudgeons.  They seem to be everywhere ever since Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove, especially in the old-person-meets-young-person-and-they-change-each-other’s-lives format.  I really wanted to like this book more than I did, since the cover art made it look like it was going to be a warm, funny read.  And a lot of early readers HAVE found it funny and endearing, and talked about how it made them laugh and cry.  I got to the end and thought, “that’s it?”

Part of my problem was that I didn’t care that much for the characters, especially Josie.  I would have liked fewer descriptions of walkers and shaky hands, and more backstory for Duffy.  And I was really irritated with how simple it was to get Josie off the booze:  just give her some Valium and Antabuse, and all of a sudden, she’s cured.

It. Does. Not. Work. That. Way.

I was married to an alcoholic, and if an alcoholic had trouble dealing with their problems during their drinking days, just because they are no longer abusing alcohol doesn’t mean that they are suddenly going to turn into fully functioning human beings capable of making good decisions.  If getting sober was as simple as giving the addict a few drugs to get them over the worst of withdrawal, addiction would no longer be a problem.

Disappointing overall.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.

Rest Not in Peace by Mel Starr

March 2, 2020

Rest Not in Peace by Mel Starr

When a visiting knight complains of not being able to sleep, surgeon and bailiff Hugh de Singleton prescribes a sleeping draught of crushed lettuce seeds.  When the knight is found dead the next morning, his widow quickly accuses Hugh of murder.  To clear his reputation, Hugh must solve the crime and identify the true killer.  As Hugh begins his investigation, the suspect pool grows rather than shrinks as he learns more about the dead knight's family and personal life.

This is the 6th book in the Hugh de Singleton series set near Oxford in the 14th century.  The books are entertaining, well-researched historical mysteries, with a recurring cast of characters.  Hugh is an accomplished surgeon who gets to do a lot of surgery and doctoring in this one.  The younger son of a knight, he is a thinking man who acts slowly when performing his duties as a bailiff, since it was easy to get the wrong man hanged in the 14th century.  The author does a great job of portraying life in medieval England, from what's for supper to what people are wearing to how a doctor went about his job to the difference among the classes and family life.  I appreciate the glossary of terms no longer in use.  Readers who enjoy a gentler read (no sex, murder takes place off stage) and a well-written, well-thought out mystery will enjoy Hugh's adventures.

Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

February 27, 2020

Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

Judy Vogel wrote a highly successful children’s book that became a children’s television series, but she hasn’t been able to write another book.  Her current job is writing 300-400 word articles for a wellness site, producing three or four articles a day.  Not only does Judy have writer’s block, but she also feels totally disconnected from everyone she knows.  She is separated from her husband Gary, but they can’t afford to live in separate residences because Gary works as a part-time snackologist and spends large amounts of time smoking pot.  So Gary lives in their basement and Judy and their teen-aged son Teddy live upstairs.  While working on de-cluttering their storage area, Judy comes across a baby sling left from when her son was born.  On impulse, she slips the sling over her head and puts Charlotte, the family’s Sheltie in the sling.  For the first time in years, Judy feels a connection to another living being.  Meanwhile, their son attends a Montessori school that is also in crisis.

I initially picked up this title because of the cover art, a woman wearing a baby sling with a small dog’s head sticking out.  While depression is a main theme, there is also commentary on marriage, parenting, and progressive education.  There is just enough humor to keep the story from wallowing in sadness.  We have one of those wellness sites where I work so I know the kind of peppy little useless articles that Judy writes.

At age 50, Judy feels invisible:  not only is her marriage falling apart and her son doesn’t need her anymore, her best friend and editor is dying of cancer and she is crushingly lonely.  Wearing the dog in a sling at least attracts some (mostly) harmless attention.  Maybe that’s why middle-aged men buy a Corvette, divorce their wives of 25 years, and get a trophy wife – anything so that they can feel someone SEES them (never mind how people see them).

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

February 23, 2020

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

Located on a remote bay on Vancouver Island, the luxury Hotel Caiette caters to a wealthy clientele in search of a reprieve from their daily lives in the corporate world.  Super-rich financier Jonathan Alkaitis owns the hotel but his wealth is built on a house of cards:  his investment firm is actually a giant Ponzi scheme that he has been running for decades.

I wasn’t initially interested in reading a book about a Ponzi scheme, but I like the author’s previous book Station Eleven so much that I decided to give her new book a try.  The Glass Hotel is similar in structure to the previous book in that there is a definite “before” and “after” related to a specific event, and the story line wraps around itself, moving from character to character and backward and forward in time.  It is also set in the same world and time as Station Eleven since events from that book are referenced here and at least two of the characters recur.  As in Station Eleven, the beginning is also the ending.

While the basic plot is about the Ponzi scheme and all of the people affected by it, there are a number of sub-plots and the characters are fascinating.  The overall story is hard to summarize since part of the appeal is finding out how the characters connect to each other and what happens to them (it reminded me of the television show Lost in that regard).  Several characters are chameleon-like, reinventing themselves and their lives as needed, if not in reality, then in an alternate universe.

Fraud and facades play a role, not only with the money fund but with relationships and creativity – at one point, Vincent’s brother steals a number of videos that she made and passes them off as his own work (Vincent is female).  Characters often express regret and wonder “what if” and “if I had only,” and imagine a counterlife where they acted differently than they actually did, although their versions of themselves in that parallel universe are not necessarily better people.

I found this to be very enjoyable and recommend it to anyone who reads literary fiction.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

February 20, 2020

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Vanessa is a bright student who is seduced by her English teacher at a prestigious Maine boarding school.  Even while she was attending the school, rumors flew around about her and the teacher.  Many years later, a current student who has accused the teacher of misconduct contacts Vanessa, asking for her support.  The story line moves back and forth from the time Vanessa is a high school student to Vanessa at age 32, working a dead-end job as a concierge at a high-end hotel, still dealing with the fallout her experiences with the teacher as she comes to realize that it wasn’t a love story, it was exploitation.

This book made me furious.  Yet it is an important topic that needs to come out of hiding.

The teacher (Strane) made my skin crawl, he was such a slimy jerk who manipulated children, referring to it as "grooming."  He is so creepy that I had to skim over a number of the sections where he featured prominently.  Strane gives Vanessa a copy of Lolita to read – by this point, Vanessa is so under his spell that she sees it as a tragic love story, not as the story of a morally bereft pedophile who is sexually obsessed with a child.  Strane has so much control over her that she lies and takes the blame so that he can keep his job.  It takes Vanessa over 15 years to accept that the experiences traumatized her.

This is definitely not going to be for everyone, since there are repeated graphic scenes of statutory rape of an underage child.  While it is well-written and there are many cultural and literary allusions, it is also quite disturbing, and I sort of wish I could un-read it.  Vanessa and Strane debate about whether all girls mature at the same rate, and can a 15 year old be mature enough to have a sexual relationship with a 42 year old man – the answer is no, when you're a teenager, it’s the hormones talking – 15 year olds are NOT mentally mature enough to make that kind of a decision.  I'm pretty sure most 15 year olds (girls and boys) are infatuated with at least one teacher at some point.  I know I was, and it would have been devastating to have been abused that way by a teacher that I adored.

It’s been all over the news this week that the Boy Scouts of America organization has declared bankruptcy in order to protect its assets from the growing number of sexual abuse charges that have been filed against the organization (the cases number in the thousands).  What is wrong with so many men????  They can’t keep their hands off boys, they can’t keep their hands off teen-aged girls, they don’t understand the word “no” when it comes to adult women.

Despite accusations of plagiarism from another author (Wendy C. Ortiz wrote a memoir called Excavation was published several years ago and covers the same story), My Dark Vanessa is already hitting a lot of lists as a best book of 2020.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.

When All Is Said by Anne Griffin

February 19, 2020

When All Is Said by Anne Griffin

Maurice Hannigan, an 84 years old widower, has sold his huge property holdings, packed up all his worldly goods, and found a new home for his dog Gearshift.  He hasn’t told anyone about his plans except his solicitor, telling the solicitor he is going to a senior citizen home.  He sits in a hotel bar, reminiscing about the five people who have meant the most to him and drinks a toast to each one, addressing his memories to his absent son. 

I usually love books set in Ireland, but this wasn’t as enjoyable as I expected it to be.  Maurice is a curmudgeon, but he’s not as appealing a protagonist as Ove in Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove (which I’m kind of glad about since I loved Backman’s book).  Much of Maurice’s story centers around a gold coin that he stole as a boy.  He is angry, stubborn, and depressed his whole life, seeking revenge on the local family he believes to be responsible for all of his misery.  Although he claims to adore his wife, he was a domineering husband who never took her to a restaurant that she really wanted to eat at, or let her order a cup of tea in a restaurant (in Maurice’s opinion, they had perfectly good tea at home).  He was a wealthy man but never gave her any gifts except her wedding ring – instead, he would just hand her cash on her birthday or Christmas.  Ultimately, Maurice never tells those five people how important they were to him.

Great writing, depressing story. 

If you want a really good story about a curmudgeon, read Backman’s A Man Called Ove.  If you want a really good story set in Ireland, read John Boyne’s The Heart’s Invisible Furies instead.