Three Stages of Amazement by Carol Edgarian

I really enjoyed this contemporary American novel, dealing with one woman's challenging life in San Francisco in the beginning of the Obama presidency. Lena's husband, Charlie Pepper, is a successful doctor who seeks to abandon his practice to sell his invention, a device that will allow him to perform surgery remotely.
He sacrifices home and the responsibilities there for this dream and risks losing his wife and family life.
A complication arises when Lena's uncle Cal Rusch offers venture capital to support Charlie's project; without this money, the project could die.  Lena despises her uncle with good reason. But I won't give that away, nor will I give away how the issue is resolved.
The Peppers have two interesting children who are demanding; Charlie has little to do with them, but Lena works to keep the home front stable despite Charlie's absence. The theme of the struggle of love vs money is ever present in this novel.
The characters are interesting and real and the challenges they face equally so.
The book is so rooted in the present tense; references to Bernie Madoff, the troubled economy, the Obama presidency, all make for a very relevant read!

Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens

I found this at the library one day and since I liked her other book so much, I checked it out. Chevy Stevens does manage to write compelling, fast-moving novels. But I don't know that I can say this is a great book. The novel tells the story of a woman who was adopted early in life and who struggles when she finds out that her father is a serial killer and she is the product of a rape. She tries to help the local police find and apprehend her father, when he starts to seek her out to establish a relationship with her.
There is one "twist" in the novel that I will not reveal but it seemed a bit contorted to me.

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

This is an interesting coming-of-age story, but there are two young women at the heart; they are half-sisters, having the same father. James Witherspoon is a secret bigamist. The two daughters are just four months apart in age and each lives with a mother who is married to James.  Only one of them live with him full time and in public.  The first part of the book is told from the point of view of Dana Yarboro, a pretty and smart young woman who, with her mother Gwen, "surveil" to check up on James and his other family. The second part of the book is told from the point of view of Bunny Chaurisse Witherspoo, who is not as pretty as Dana, but has the advantage of having her father in her life full time. 


Dana always feels second best and she does get a secondary role in James' life. James tries his best not to have the girls' paths cross. But they do meet and of course, their friendship sets their worlds toward an inevitable collision.  


The fact that the story is told from both perspectives makes for an interesting read. At first, the reader feels that Chaurisse has all of the advantages; when you read from her point of view, a different picture emerges. She doesn't know that she has this "advantage" of a father who lives in the home. She speaks of a "silver girl" as someone who is better than she is - prettier, smarter, more popular. And when she meets Dana, that is what she finds. Dana knows that Chaurisse is her sister, but Chaurisse is in the dark.