Tender Mercies by Dennis Lehane

I have not read a Dennis Lehane novel before and have always wanted to. When this came out and was reviewed, it had a great deal of appeal for me because of its historical significance; it's a crime novel set in "Southie" in Boston and takes place during the very difficult time when the schools were desegregated. I heard the author interviewed and heard about the character development and it sounded interesting.  And it was!

From the NYTimes review:

That tumultuous summer provides the backdrop to Dennis Lehane’s excellent and unflinching new novel, “Small Mercies.” The book has all the hallmarks of Lehane at his best: a propulsive plot, a perfectly drawn cast of working-class Boston Irish characters, razor-sharp wit and a pervasive darkness through which occasional glimmers of hope peek out like snowdrops in early spring.

This book was very satisfying, but in the end, very sad. 

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

 

This is a long book and it took me a long time to read it.  I started out fast, really involved and engaged but I must say that my interest waned as it went on.

From WSJ:  The Barneses are the native Irish clan beset by catastrophe in Mr. Murray’s family saga. By outward appearances, they’re the envy of their small, unnamed city. Dickie, the paterfamilias, runs the local car dealership inherited from his father and has stayed on in his childhood house, with its huge woodland property in the back yard. His wife, Imelda, is a famous beauty who wields a credit card like a martial-arts black belt. Their children, Cass and PJ, have grown up with every material advantage. It’s the perfect domestic Icarus flight to bring crashing down to earth.

The problem for me was that I just did not care enough about any of these characters as I witnessed their missteps and outright outrageousness.  This is my first Paul Murray book and I had heard it reviewed very favorably.  I will not say that I did not like it, but I have not put in on my list of "Oh, you have to read this book!"

 

The Wind Knows My Name by Isabelle Allende

This was a good and interesting read, but I've liked other books by Allende better.  I have been reading and watching too many Holocaust related things lately.  Not that we should ever forget.....

From Amazon:

Vienna, 1938. Samuel Adler is five years old when his father disappears during Kristallnacht—the night his family loses everything. As her child’s safety becomes ever harder to guarantee, Samuel’s mother secures a spot for him on a Kindertransport train out of Nazi-occupied Austria to England. He boards alone, carrying nothing but a change of clothes and his violin.

Arizona, 2019. Eight decades later, Anita Díaz and her mother board another train, fleeing looming danger in El Salvador and seeking refuge in the United States. But their arrival coincides with the new family separation policy, and seven-year-old Anita finds herself alone at a camp in Nogales. She escapes her tenuous reality through her trips to Azabahar, a magical world of the imagination. Meanwhile, Selena Durán, a young social worker, enlists the help of a successful lawyer in hopes of tracking down Anita’s mother.

Intertwining past and present, The Wind Knows My Name tells the tale of these two unforgettable characters, both in search of family and home. It is both a testament to the sacrifices that parents make and a love letter to the children who survive the most unfathomable dangers—and never stop dreaming.

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

It took me a little while to get into this book, but once I did, I was hooked.  There is not a strong plot line, but the characterization holds your attention.  The book is graphic, with descriptions that may turn your stomach, but it's worth it.

Groff explores the flight of a young girl (she's just referred to as "the girl") as she leaves the Jamestown settlement, which is rife with disease (and not just pestilence).  There is a lot to flee in this settlement.  Groff slowly draws you into her character and her story, revealing bits and pieces as you progress through the book. 

This book is not for everyone, and at first I thought it was not for me. But just like "the girl," I persisted and am glad I did.

A Quitter's Paradise by Elysha Chang

 

I am not sure how I learned about this book....probably one of the "Recommended Books" articles I read. In any event, I am glad I read it.  It's definitely a perplexing book; the story rambles around and shifts back and forth in time. It introduces characters so haphazardly that I kept having to go back to see who they were, but they hadn't been mentioned before.  The writing is lovely, but was sometimes challenging for me.  Here's what Kirkus says about the book:

Funny, original, and overflowing with wisdom—this is an absolute delight of a debut.

And I do agree. It will be interesting to see what comes next from this author. 

The Postcard by Anne Berest

 

Lots of Holocaust reading and watching this month!  Winemaker's wife, Transatlantic on Netflix (based on Julie Oringer's book, "The Flight Portfolio." and now this book.  This was the best of the three, by far!

I have to do some research to find out how much of this story belongs to the author. It is classified as fiction, but the characters in the book have the last name of the author!

The NY Times in its review calls it an autobiographical novel, so I guess that answers my question!  Interesting that Julie Oringer wrote the review for the Times, too!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as much as you can enjoy a book about such a dire time in our history.  From her review:

“The Postcard” (translated into a lucid and precise English by Tina Kover) takes its readers on a deep dive into one Jewish family’s history, and, inextricably, into the devastating history of the Holocaust in France. Most memorable of the many stories Berest tells in its pages is the one that lends the novel its title: In January 2003, a mysterious postcard arrives at Anne’s mother’s house. The card, bearing a touristy photograph of the Opéra Garnier, is inscribed with the names of Anne’s great-grandparents and her great-aunt and -uncle, Ephraïm, Emma, Noémie and Jacques, all of whom died in Auschwitz. The names are written in ballpoint pen in wobbly letters, on a card that contains no other words, no signature and no return address.

In the end, the story of how the postcard was sent is insignificant, but it weaves through the story to help the author tell it in a compelling way.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the subject or who is interested in Nazi-occupied France.  (My sister-in-law's family lived through this - and lived!

 

The Winemaker's Wife by Kristin Harmel

 

Read this for one of my book clubs and while I was able to finish it (I did care about what would happen), this is a formulaic book. The characters are predictable and wooden for the most part, the plot is predictable, too, and the writing is not anything to talk about.  It's interesting - there are two female authors who are easy to mix up: Kristin Hannah and Kristin Harmel; they both write the same kind of books.  I did like the Nightengale by Hannah, but I am not going out of my way to read any more Harmel books.