May 2.0

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
Admittedly, I am a big fan of Ruth Ware; she writes very quintessential British mysteries, full of interesting characters, always uses a female lead, and is darn good with the ending 'twist.' I loved In a Dark, Dark Wood, really liked Woman in Cabin 10, and thought The Lying Game was okay. In Mrs. Westaway, Ware has her mojo back. Hal, a lonely young woman, deals tarot cards on the Brighton pier, has some serious money issues and a nasty loan shark, and has recently received a letter telling her that as Mrs. Westaway's granddaughter, she has an inheritance coming. All good, right? Yeah, nope. All of Hal's paperwork shows her grandparents' names and none of them are Westaway, she's never heard of this family, and it would literally take her last dime to get a train out to Penzance. Yet...how can she not go? Who better to pull off a con than a fortune teller? As Ware spools out the threads (three uncles she's never met, a forbidding and creepy housekeeper, a diary from a teenage girl, a creaky cold Cornwall mansion, and some prophetic magpies), I followed quite a few hints down wrong roads. This book kept me turning pages long past when I should have - great vacation read, or for a rainy day, or just for anyone that loves a solid mystery.

Furyborn (The Empirium Trilogy #1) by Claire Legrand
Take all the most incredibly creative ingredients from other fantasy novels: shades of HP (tournament, dementors, trio of friends, prophecies), Hunger Games trilogy (tournament costumes), Game of Thrones series (army of the dead, flying creatures), Shadow and Bone trilogy (different magical skills for cliques of people), Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy (angels for antagonists). And now mix it all together with Claire Legrand's natural affinity for gorgeous writing, a creative and beautifully drawn fantasy world, a gripping plot, and complex and deeply developed characters, and here is a new hit fantasy series. This book is wicked good; its characters invaded my nighttime dreams, made me stay up waaaay too late at night, and made me voraciously hungry for the second book.

A Shout in the Ruins by Kevin  Powers
In 2012, Kevin Powers wrote his award winning debut novel called Yellow Birds, an evocative and unforgettable story of the Iraq war. Six years later he is back with another powerful and confronting story, this time set in the South. The story spins throughout time periods: the Beauvais plantation as its inhabitants face the cruelty of enslavement and the brutality of Civil War; Virginia in the 1950's as an old man searches for his identity; and the 1980's as a woman reflects back on her life. Through these brief snapshots of life, Powers forces us to see what our American history of racism, enslavement, and lack of opportunity has done to all of us, whatever race we may be. The power of hate and how it entraps all humanity is shown to be insidious and powerful. This is not a book to be read when falling asleep; one needs all their emotions right on the surface, all their wits about them as the setting changes, and all their own cultural biases at the forefront to see the beauty in this book. This would be a phenomenal book club choice, and also a powerful read for a high school or college classroom, particularly in today's world as we continue to see the consequences of terrible decisions made hundreds of years ago.

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
This is a delightful, witty, very British romp through time as we meet Tom Hazard, a man who happens to be over 400 years old, living in today's world. You see, he has a physical anomaly - for every decade of life, he only ages one year. Sounds great, right? Yet it has caused Tom a plethora of stress and tragedy throughout the ages as it requires him to move constantly (it gets a little noticeable when you don't get any older than your neighbors!) and lessens the ability for long term relationships when you outlive a spouse by a few hundred years. We meet Tom as he has taken a new job teaching history in a London school, creating many opportunities to go on past reminisces on the people he has met (Shakespeare, Captain Cook, F. Scott Fitzgerald), the adventures he has experienced (wild west America, Tahiti during the height of colonialism, the roaring twenties), and the family for which he yearns. I was thoroughly entertained by Matt Haig's dry humor and thoughtful explorations of love, friendship, and the passage of time.

Legendary (Caraval, #2) by Stephanie Garber
In the first visit to Caraval, we met the two fearless sisters, Tessa and Donatello, as they escaped their nasty father and won the golden ticket to play the game of Caraval, a magical romp put on by the mysterious magician called Legend. This second trip is mind-blowing, wickedly delicious, and contains an unstoppable train of events. Tella is the player now, and a dark, foreboding pall hangs over this game as the elderly empress has demanded a special playing for her birthday celebration. Unbeknownst to Tella, the Fates (a super creepy batch of creatures) have been trapped in a deck of cards for quite some time and want out. Her 'pretend' fiance for the game happens to be the Prince of Hearts who is looking to free his buddies from their flattening confinement, as well as dangling the possibility of saving Tella's long-lost mother as part of a deadly bargain. The sisters have some impossible choices in front of them, which forced me to stay up waaay too late to voraciously read to the very end, where of course I got a bit of a cliffhanger as I wait impatiently for Book Three. She does, however, wrap up this storyline which is much appreciated:) Stephanie Garber is a magician herself as she is able to create a gorgeous yet forbidding fantasy world, write complex characters that act in oh so human ways, and design a twisty turning plot that demands to be read. While I loved Caraval, I do believe Legendary is even better.

May

Trouble the Water by Jacqueline Friedland
An antebellum story, set in Charleston, with whiffs of The Kitchen House in its character development, this is a solid first outing by a debut author. When young Abby Milton comes to live in Charleston, all we know is the life of poverty she left behind. Yet Friedland slowly spools out the details of Abby's past, and we see how this past impacts her introduction into Charleston society and her life with her benefactor,  The author does a solid job of creating a strong female character that still fits into the time period, not always an easy thing to do. Abby is no wilting violet. Douglas Elling, an Englishman and shipping magnate, has a troubled past of his own, as his abolitionist work has brought him great sorrow. Slavery is white-washed a bit, but there are some incidences that show the degradation, the violence, the humiliation of the institution that are powerful parts of the book. The minor characters in this story are well developed, particularly Miss Larissa, the governess and Grace, the newly found best friend. As passions collide, the story builds to a somewhat predictable ending, and yet an explosive epilogue. If you are a fan of love stories and historical fiction, this book will suit you well.

Love and Ruin by Paula McLain
The author of The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun is back, delving once again into a strong woman engulfed in a relationship with America's iconic writer, Ernest Hemingway. This time she focuses on Martha Gelhorn, a young woman from St. Louis, a travel addict and aspiring writer. Her elite circle pulls her into contact with a variety of famous people, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Lillian Hellman, and yes, the great Hemingway. This book focuses solely on the years of their relationship: their meeting in Key West, the affair begun in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, a life in Cuba, their struggles with his literary success and her literary frustrations, and the time apart as Martha pursues her own career as a war correspondent. This book is aptly named, as their love for one another shines through, but it is apparent that neither are great candidates for marital bliss. As always, the book is well-written, well-researched, and has well-developed characters. However, my huuuuge complaint is that McLain has done to Martha Gelhorn exactly what the press did to her decades ago; she minimizes Gelhorn's own career (read the Author's Note at the end - Gelhorn is an icon in the journalistic world, one of the all-time great war reporters this country has ever known, and she did it by breaking every gender stereotype) and puts Gelhorn's life into context only as a wife to Ernest. Aargh...I can hear Marty Gelhorn turning over in her grave. Gelhorn is a fabulous choice for a novel, but I wish McLain had used her as she did Beryl Markham in Circling the Sun, as an incredible portrait of what a woman must do to survive in a man's world, the resilience and grit it takes to never give up, and the incredible courage it requires to turn one's back on marriage and motherhood and pursue one's career. Ah, that's where the story of Martha Gelhorn belongs and McLain misses it, at least she did for me.

Silent Companions: A Ghost Story by Laura Purcell
Do not - I repeat do not - read this book late at night. This is a throwback to the old Victorian Gothic books I was addicted to year's ago, full of mystery, ghostly companions, mysterious family members, and creepy servants. In other words, I could not put this book down. Set at the end of the 19th century,  the story begins with Elsie talking to a doctor in the asylum, a hint of the hot mess found in the past. As Elsie relates her story as part of her 'therapy,' she tells of the dark, overgrown estate of her late husband and the village who won't work for her (you know, the ghost and witch rumors will kill a good employment opportunity). Her only companion is her husband's cousin, Sarah. Oh, and the creepy wooden 'silent companions' carved a few hundred years ago for the previous family members to keep them company and show off to King Charles the First. Those pesky wooden cut outs just will not go away and survive being locked away and even burned. The hair on the back of your neck will be permanently raised, and the ending will make your jaw fall on the floor. If you like a little bit of fright (no blood or serial killers, just gothic creep), you may love this book as much as I did. And the cover is just stunning - well worth the paper copy.

Tin Man by Sarah Winman
This is a gorgeous little book that is so hard to describe. The characters drive all the action, yet not a lot of action exists. Feelings exist, as does history, disease, paintings, words. Two young boys, Michael and Ellis, become friends, fall in love, then fall in friendship. Annie comes along, loves Ellis and forms a triumvirate with the two young men. Ellis is left alone in the world, with only his memories and Michael's diaries to keep him company. It all sounds so simple, yet Sarah Winman takes these intense feelings of youth, of hope, of confusion, of death, of tragedy, of grief, and of renewal, and she melds them into a stunning book that I just could not put down. A bit reminiscent of A Little Life, this is a gorgeous story.

The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar
A topical and powerful setting for a debut novel, this book moves between two unique times: medieval Syria where a famous Muslim mapmaker and his legendary female apprentice fight mythical creatures, Crusaders, and the elements to map the world as it is known; and Syria in 2011, where a widowed mapmaker returns with her three teenage girls, after years in NYC, to find family and cultural connections, but runs straight into the Arab spring and a civil war. I struggled with the first half of this book, finding it hard to connect to either story. The 12th century story is rife with Arabic names of ancient places no longer heard of, as I found myself skipping the long descriptions. Once the story settled more on the characters and their quest to map the world, it was far more interesting. The modern tale is told through the eyes of 12 year old Nour, a daughter who grieves her father and suffers through unimaginable horror as her world is literally blown up around her. Yet it took until the second half to care deeply about this family. I wanted the author to dive deeper in their hearts, to flesh out more of the story through the characters rather than the plot.  I do hope this author writes another book on Syria as I believe she has great potential for educating many of us on the need for more compassion, not a law banning refugees getting a hand up from America.

Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall
This book reminds me of a combo of Gone Girl + Girl on the Train + Fifty Shades of Grey. Take an unreliable, batsh*t crazy narrator, toss him into a sexually charged relationship with some twisted beliefs, mix it in with a death and plenty of bias against women, and Our Kind of Cruelty is what comes out of the oven. Don't get me wrong; the story is unique and quite compelling. I just feel like I want to take a shower after spending a couple days in the world of Mike and Verity. If you like dark, nasty twisted tales, where the courtroom scenes put on full display the hypocrisy of what the world thinks of sex and women, then this book is for you. It would definitely be a provocative choice for a book club. Thanks to Net Galley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.