Fiction Reviews, May 15, 2011
May 15, 2011Bache, Ellyn. The Art of Saying Goodbye. Morrow. Jun. 2011. c.352p. ISBN 9780062033680. pap. $13.99. F
Neighbors reluctantly rally around when one of them is diagnosed with a virulent form of cancer. It was Paisley who helped Andrea years earlier through her toddler daughter Courtney’s own cancer. Ginger and Eddie basically swapped careers at Paisley’s suggestion. Nurse-practitioner Julianne “felt” Paisley’s illness, a sensitivity that terrifies her and becomes her deepest secret. At 60 and a widow for many years, Iona is older than the other gals, and her sharp-tongued comments score a direct hit on the funny bone, despite her own tragic loss. Suddenly, the whole neighborhood—kids included—is behind a tree-ribbon campaign to support Paisley. Is a grudging acceptance of death the way to anchor oneself in life? VERDICT The women created by Bache (Riggs Park) have found a place to call their own outside of husbands and children. The dire situation of their friend brings them up short and makes them pull together. What appears to be standard women’s fare deepens into something more engaging. For fans of women’s fiction and novels of friendship, such as Patricia Gaffney’s Saving Graces. [Online reading group guide; library marketing.]—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal
Cohen, Tamar. The Mistress’s Revenge. Free Pr: S. & S. Jun. 2011. c.224p. ISBN 9781451632828. pap. $15. F
Sally Islip is stricken when Clive Gooding ends their five-year affair, which included her suspected pregnancy (it turned out to be the onset of menopause) and his proposal (despite his already being married). Feeling as if her heart has been torn from her body, Sally starts a journal addressing Clive, detailing the relationship that started as a friendship when she, a freelance journalist in a long-term partnership, did work for him, an older married semifamous maker of television documentaries. Unwilling to let go of Clive—even with his “long, illustrious, blindingly successful career of infidelity”—Sally in a spiral of depression insinuates herself into his family’s life as readers experience a growing sense of foreboding. VERDICT In brisk, compulsively readable prose, Cohen details an obsession that is sure to end badly, its most painful aspect being the effect on Sally’s children. As obsession turns to lust for revenge, the question is who will be hurt and how, and the answer comes as a surprise. British journalist Cohen displays considerable skill as a storyteller in this engrossing first novel. [See Prepub Alert, 12/20/10.]—Michele Leber, Arlington, VA
Cooke, Carolyn. Daughters of the Revolution. Knopf. Jun. 2011. c.192p. ISBN 9780307594730. $23.95. F
For lack of a life jacket, the trajectory of several lives is altered in this smart, sexy, sarcastic, sophisticated novel from Cooke (The Bostons, a New York Times Notable Book). The Goode School, a prestigious New England bastion of male-only education, designed to prepare its wealthy students to become masters of the universe, represents a microcosm of the social and political upheaval of the past four decades, all overseen by self-important, entitled headmaster Goddard Byrd. In 1968, a typing error results in a scholarship offer to the first Negro female in the school’s history, negating Byrd’s promise to admit “girls” over his dead body. Encouraged by the put-upon female faculty and protected by the moneyed Rebozos family, gloriously rebellious Carole Faust upends life at the school. Meanwhile, the drowning of Goode alumnus and doctoral candidate Heck Hellman means that his wife and daughter must struggle through menial jobs and public school education, working their way up to middle-class status until, years later, they cross paths with Carole at a Goode school function. VERDICT Cooke’s unique novel defies genre comparisons but has particular relevance as our country’s financial woes exacerbate the gap between the power brokers and the rest of us. This cautionary tale deserves wide readership. [See Prepub Alert, 11/29/10.]—Sally Bissell, Lee Cty. Lib. Syst., Ft. Myers, FL
Dahl, Arne. Misterioso. Pantheon. Jul. 2011. c.352p. tr. from Swedish by Tiina Nunnally. ISBN 9780375425356. $24.95. F
This exciting debut in a three-book series follows Paul Hjelm, a Swedish detective considered a hero by the media and a loose cannon by Internal Affairs. After his mostly successful resolution of a hostage situation, Hjelm is told to clean out his office—but instead of losing his job, he is asked to join the A-Unit, a new, elite law enforcement group. Their first investigation is to solve the killings of Sweden’s top business leaders. The clues are few but have the A-Unit questioning the Russian Mafia, booze smugglers, and their own xenophobic tendencies. VERDICT Nunnally has smoothly translated the novel from Swedish to English, although it is easy for a reader unfamiliar with Sweden and its capital, Stockholm, to get confused by city and business names. The intriguing plot can be complicated at times, but Dahl neatly ties up all of the loose ends in a symmetrical exposition. Fans of hard-boiled detective and Swedish crime novels will enjoy this. [See Prepub Alert, 1/21/11.]—Jennifer Funk, McKendree Univ. Lib., Lebanon, IL
Donohue, Keith. Centuries of June. Crown. May 2011. c.342p. ISBN 9780307450289. $24. F
A man’s late-night visit to the bathroom results in a fall, opening a hole in his head through which a parade of women from his past lives enter one by one. Each woman bears a grievous anger toward the narrator, who, in the course of their relationship, deserted or destroyed her. Centuries of American history are viewed through these relationships, and each chapter of his previous lives is beautifully reported in the prose of the day. The reader meets a member of the Tlingit tribe in the time before Europeans arrived. There are the Colonists on their way to Jamestown. The Salem witch trials are re-created, as is life for a slave in New Orleans, as well as the California gold rush, before the novel moves into the 20th century with early baseball then the flappers. VERDICT Donohue’s (Angels of Destruction; The Stolen Child) tour de force blends aspects of the time travel and reincarnation genres into a witty whole. With a touch of David Mitchell and Audrey Niffenegger, but a witty style uniquely the author’s own, this novel about a clueless man, who may in some future life get it right, is a pleasure to read. [See Prepub Alert, 11/15/10.]—Andrea Kempf, formerly with Johnson Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Overland Park, KS
Duffy, Bruce. Disaster Was My God: A Novel of the Outlaw Life of Arthur Rimbaud. Doubleday. Jul. 2011. c.384p. ISBN 9780385534369. $27.95. F
This fictional biography of Arthur Rimbaud, the brilliant French poet and tortured soul, is a dynamic portrait of a fascinating life. Duffy’s vivid language and marvelous descriptions reveal a genius full of wanderlust and inner conflict. Rimbaud wrote his first poem at age 13, was the toast of Paris by 17, and had inexplicably abandoned writing by age 21. Duffy follows the enigmatic poet from his childhood, spent with his siblings and their loving yet authoritarian mother, to his travels across several continents. Included here are many of Rimbaud’s poems, which give readers a glimpse into the work that influenced a major movement in 20th-century art and literature and inspired Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, and Jim Morrison, who adopted Rimbaud as their idol. VERDICT Intriguing, at times disturbing, and always compelling, Duffy’s latest nonfiction novel is hard to put down. Highly recommended for fans of Duffy’s other work, including his fictional biography of Wittgenstein, The World as I Found It; those interested in French poetry, history, and historical novels are sure to like this, too. [See Prepub Alert, 1/9/11.]—Lisa Block, Emory Univ., Atlanta
Earle, Steve. I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive. Houghton Harcourt. May 2011. c.256p. ISBN 9780618820962. $26. F
Fans of Texas singer/songwriter Earle know that he can tell a story in a three-minute song, but with his debut novel (after the story collection Doghouse Roses), he proves that he can successfully sustain plot and character through a full-length work. Doc has lost his license to practice medicine but still tends to the whores, victims and/or perpetrators of street crime, and occasional unwanted pregnancy in San Antonio’s South Presa corridor. Doc is haunted by the ghost of Hank Williams (he might have had a hand in Hank’s journey to the grave), and most of the proceeds from his illicit medical practice go to support his own heroin habit. Then a Mexican girl seeking to terminate a pregnancy is brought to his room. Because Graciela bleeds profusely after the procedure, Doc moves her into his room. Soon she insinuates herself into his life and his medical practice, and Doc is feeling the call of the needle much less frequently. While Graciela herself is slow to heal, the patients she touches seem to mend as if by miracle, eventually bringing Doc and the other residents at the boardinghouse unwanted attention from both the church and the law. VERDICT At once gritty and tender, this is an arresting story of pulling oneself back from the precipice and finding the beauty in the darkest of corners. Fans will seek it out, but readers don’t have to be familiar with Earle’s musical career to fall under its spell. [See Prepub Alert, 1/15/11.]—Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati State Technical & Community Coll. Lib.
Edgerton, Clyde. The Night Train. Little, Brown. Jul. 2011. c.224p. ISBN 9780316117593. $23.99. F
This upbeat novel celebrates the arrival of soul music to a sleepy North Carolina town in 1963. It comes by way of a James Brown album, Live at the Apollo, released that year. Blacks and whites are segregated, of course, and the novel focuses on an important moment in American history when soul music and rock ’n’ roll begin to break down racial barriers among the young. At the center of the novel are two young men—one black and one white—who both work at a local furniture refinishing shop. Both are budding musicians, and music brings them together in ways that cause them to confront the racial mores of their hometown. Edgerton (Walking Across Egypt) tells this story skillfully and entertainingly, bringing the characters in this novel richly and vibrantly to life. He has an ear for the vernacular, and the dialog here is particularly noteworthy, bristling and alive with gritty Southern flavor. VERDICT Recommended for all fans of literary fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 1/17/11.]—Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT
Harrigan, Stephen. Remember Ben Clayton. Knopf. May 2011. c.352p. ISBN 9780307265814. $26.95. F
Lamar Clayton, a hard-nosed rancher in west Texas with a violent past, hires a sculptor from San Antonio to create a bronze monument to Clayton’s son Ben, who died fighting in World War I. Sculptor Gilheany, sensing the opportunity to create a final masterpiece, uncovers a tragic family history of Comanche kidnappings, secrets, and guilt. Harrigan (The Gates of the Alamo) is adept at describing his territory, from a ruined mission in 1920s San Antonio to the plains of west Texas. He’s also clearly at home with the process of bronze sculpture, and we closely follow the journey of Gilheany’s piece from his Texas studio to a casting foundry in New York City. While ably exploring themes of artistic struggle, aging, and family conflict, the book is most riveting in the sometimes horrific chapters on war, from the Indian Wars of the late 1800s to World War I. VERDICT An engaging novel on family conflict and the artistic process; also a book that would do well with readers of Southwest history and fiction.—John R. Cecil, Austin, TX
Headley, Maria Dahvana. Queen of Kings. Dutton. May 2011. c.416p. ISBN 9780525952176. $25.95. F
In retelling the story of one of the most fascinating women of history, Headley (The Year of Yes: A Memoir) has penned a dark mix of paranormal romance and historical thriller. Cleopatra, seeing her country conquered by Rome and hearing that her beloved husband, Marc Antony, had committed suicide, turns to dark magic to defend herself against the forces gathered against her. But she unleashes a power she’s unable to control and is transformed into a vampiric creature. What follows is a blending of history and mythology of epic proportions. According to the author’s website, this title is intended as the first of a trilogy. It will be interesting to see where Headley takes her Cleopatra next. VERDICT Readers who enjoy grand stories steeped in history yet rewritten with a dark, magical twist may be intrigued by this depiction of Cleopatra.—Crystal Renfro, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta
Hillier, Jennifer. Creep. Gallery: S. & S. Jul. 2011. c.352p. ISBN 9781451625844. $23. F
When psychology professor Sheila Tao decides to break off an affair with one of her graduate students because of a growing relationship with another man, she discovers that her student is unbalanced. As his threatening behavior escalates, Sheila finds herself, along with her friends and family, in real danger. Although there are some rough spots in this debut thriller—the subplot about a murdered student is clunky, Sheila’s sex addiction seems mostly unnecessary, and the killer attacks the private investigator with a knife but conveniently misses any major arteries—first novelist Hillier succeeds in building suspense and piling up nail-biting twists and turns for the reader. The ending indicates a possible sequel, but even if Sheila Tao doesn’t return, Hillier will likely have best sellers in the future thanks to her suspenseful plotting and solid character development. VERDICT This fast-paced page-turner will keep fans of Lisa Gardner and Chelsea Cain guessing.—Beth Blakesley, Washington State Univ. Libs., Pullman
Hustvedt, Siri. The Summer Without Men. Picador. May 2011. c.192p. ISBN 9780312570606. pap. $14. F
A poet regains her balance following her husband’s affair in Hustvedt’s fifth novel (following The Sorrows of an American, 2008). After 30 years of marriage, Mia and Boris can easily finish each other’s sentences, so closely are they enmeshed. But when Boris becomes enchanted by a younger colleague and tells Mia that he wants to take a “pause” from their marriage, shell-shocked Mia lands in a psychiatric hospital. Once released, she flees to rural Minnesota to spend the summer in the land of her childhood, where she hopes to heal while retracing the steps of her life. There, she comes to know a variety of females of all ages, each coping with the challenges of her particular stage of life. These interactions prove to be highly cathartic for Mia, and by summer’s end she emerges stronger than ever before. VERDICT While this tragicomic depiction of “women on the verge” sometimes veers off tangentially, in the end it proves to be insightful and thought-provoking. Readers may be reminded of the intelligent, evocative writing of Anita Shreve or Elizabeth Berg.—Susanne Wells, MLS, Indianapolis
Kurumatani, Choukitsu. The Paradise Bird Tattoo. Counterpoint. 2011. c.208p. tr. from Japanese by Kenneth J. Bryson. ISBN 9781582437033. $25; pap. ISBN 9781582437040. $14.95. F
A major Japanese prize-winning book (Naoki, 1998) and film (Akame shiju¯ya-taki shinju¯ misui, 2003; in English, Akame 48 Waterfalls), Paradise is an unflinching meditation on late-20th-century disconnection. Middle-aged Ikushima, once again a self-described “corpse” in shoes and suit, recalls his drifting life 12 years ago: after abandoning his meaningless advertising job, he eventually settled in a squalid apartment in an industrial town, “eking out a living sticking bits of animal organs and chicken meat onto skewers.” He initially observes his fellow inhabitants—prostitutes and johns, a volatile tattoo artist and his young son, the artist’s enigmatic lover, various gang members—with a detachment that gradually fades. A surprise liaison proves dangerous and sends him on the run again. That Kurumatani’s reputation is defined by his shisho¯setsu (a Japanese literary genre of realistic, autobiographic novels, translated as the “I-novel”) adds poignancy to his protagonist Ikushima’s desperation. VERDICT Gen-Xers with nihilistic literary preferences (“There’s no fundamental meaning or value in human existence,” Ikushima repeatedly insists) looking for a fast, gritty read need look no further.—Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC
Martin, Lee. Break the Skin. Crown. Jun. 2011. c.288p. ISBN 9780307716750. $24. F
Alternating sections between three women in southern Illinois and a tattoo artist in Texas, this is the story of a lonely “clan of women who’d do almost anything for love.” Laney Volk is a shy teenager in a small southern Illinois town who falls out with her mother and goes to live with an older woman, Delilah Dade, in the trailer she shares with another woman named Rose MacAdow. Both Delilah and Rose become captivated by Tweet, the lead singer of a band passing through town, while Laney becomes friends with Lester Stipp, a hanger-on with the band. Months later, Lester mysteriously turns up in Texas, where he’s taken in by equally lonely tattoo artist Miss Baby. The rivalry between Delilah and Rose for Tweet’s affection turns bitter after he chooses Rose, with the novel’s shocking final confrontation changing all of their lives permanently. VERDICT Carrying an almost archetypal resonance, this well-crafted tale of romantic desperation feels as sad and inevitable as an old murder ballad and should have an appeal beyond readers of serious fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 12/6/10.] —Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, North Andover, MA
Meidav, Edie. Lola, California. Farrar. Jul. 2011. c.448p. ISBN 9780374109264. $27. F
Rose and Lana meet as young teens in the early 1980s, developing the kind of intense, all-encompassing friendship unique to adolescent girls, “their love less sexual than total.” Rose, an orphan, idealizes Lana’s colorful, intellectual family, whose patriarch, Victor Mahler, is a self-made New Age guru in Berkeley. Meidav (Crawl Space) tells the story in a nonlinear fashion, jumping back and forth between the 1980s and 2008, when, as we learn in the first chapter, Victor Mahler languishes on death row for an unnamed crime. Meidav gradually fills in the blanks, as the friends find each other after decades apart, years largely filled with personal tragedy and disappointment. Like Lorrie Moore’s Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?, this is a novel recounted (sometimes confusingly) in flashbacks, in which a disillusioned, middle-aged woman looks back with longing at her younger self and the protective bubble of an adolescent friendship. VERDICT For patient fans of literary fiction only, as the disjointed storytelling can be difficult to follow, and the lyricism of the writing overwhelms the narrative at times. [See Prepub Alert, 1/9/11.]—Lauren Gilbert, Sachem P.L., Holbrook, NY
Mojtabai, A.G. Parts of a World. Triquarterly. Jun. 2011. c.208p. ISBN 9780810127661. $24.95. F
Social worker Tom Limbeck becomes obsessed with the well-being of a homeless, mentally ill client named Michael. Michael likes to find food in dumpsters and hoards the many objects he discovers, which obviously can lead to trouble; once, he mistakenly ingests rat poison. The story takes us through Tom’s increasingly unprofessional preoccupation with Michael’s case. Michael keeps disappearing and reappearing throughout the narrative, adding an oddly unsatisfying air of suspense. In the meantime, Tom’s life starts to suffer: he splits with his girlfriend and reunites with his smoking habit. Tom’s own emotional baggage, including unresolved issues about a brother who mysteriously died during childhood, is a tantalizing explanation for his fixation with Michael. Tom even goes so far as to locate Michael’s mother who had abandoned her newborn baby in a dumpster but has never seen him since. The reunion derails at the last moments when Michael disappears for the final time, leaving Tom and the reader adrift. VERDICT This plausible tale based on true case histories gives some insight into the issues of the homeless and mentally ill: for concerned fans of all things literary.—Henry Bankhead, Los Gatos P.L., CA
Moyes, Jojo. The Last Letter from Your Lover. Pamela Dorman: Viking. Jul. 2011. c.400p. ISBN 9780670022809. $26.95. F
Jennifer Stirling, recovering from a car crash that almost killed her, suffers from amnesia. Nothing feels familiar, her friends seem like strangers, and as she begins to suspect that her marriage is a sham, she discovers a mysterious letter from a lover whose identity she can’t remember. She knows him only as “B.” What follows is an engrossing saga of love found then lost, crossed paths, and missed opportunities. This romantic tale bounces between the present and the past, examining the depths of love and the decisions made while in its throes. Although portions of the plot are somewhat predictable (the loyal secretary secretly in love with her boss) and the premise a tad unlikely, none of this matters because the reader will be drawn in by the characters, the time period (the early 1960s), and the multilayered story. VERDICT British journalist/novelist Moyes’s (Horsedancer) latest book is the perfect read for those who enjoy a more serious romance as well as a British turn of phrase (“darling, be a dear and fetch me another drink”). Reminiscent of Janice Y.K. Lee’s The Piano Teacher (but with more likable characters) or Jamie Ford’s The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, it will appeal to fans of those titles. [See Prepub Alert, 1/17/11.]—Julie K. Pierce, Ft. Myers–Lee Cty. P.L., FL
Narea, H.T. The Fund. Forge: Tor. May 2011. c.464p. ISBN 9780765328908. $24.99. F
Nebibi Hasehm, mastermind of a Sharia-compliant hedge fund, is determined to change the course of Western history. With over $30 billion at his disposal, he intends to fund Islamic political activity around the world in a quest to destabilize financial markets. His immediate goal, however, is a Muslim reconquest of Spain. Standing in his way is his former lover, Kate Molares, a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst. After a Basque terrorist attack in Madrid, she follows a money trail from Caracas and Havana, where the Cubans have developed a serum to increase aggression, to Switzerland and on to Gibraltar. There a Sovereignty Summit will attract two royal cousins, Prince Charles of England and Prince Felipe of Spain. A global catastrophe awaits all. VERDICT Flawed by excessive and often pedestrian exposition and the relentless translation of foreign words (even for a simple phrase like “Si, señor”), this debut financial thriller by the son-in-law of the late Paul Erdman (The Crash of ’79, The Last Days of America) has a doomsday conclusion meant to be cautionary. Perhaps investment bankers are the world’s true terrorists!—Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson
Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Quirk. Jun. 2011. c.352p. photogs. ISBN 9781594744761. $17.99. F
Sixteen-year-old Jacob Portman no longer believes the stories his grandfather told him when he was a little boy. These are obviously fairy tales about children with mysterious abilities, such as a girl who could levitate and a boy with bees inside him, and not real memories from his grandfather’s childhood. Grandpa’s sepia-toned photographs of his strange friends also seem fake to Jacob. However, when he gets a chance to visit the island where the stories took place, he can’t resist delving into his grandfather’s past. Could these odd children really have existed? VERDICT An original work that defies categorization, this first novel should appeal to readers who like quirky fantasies. Suitable for both adults and a YA audience. Riggs includes many vintage photographs that add a critical touch of the peculiar to his unusual tale.—Laurel Bliss, San Diego State Univ. Lib.
Roffey, Monique. The White Woman on the Green Bicycle. Penguin. May 2011. c.439p. ISBN 9780143119517. pap. $15. F
An act of savage brutality opens this novel, which tells the story of one family living in Trinidad between 1956 and 2006. Among the last colonials from Britain to arrive, George and Sabine Harwood have been living in Trinidad for 50 years. George immediately fell in love with the island, while his wife constantly suffered from the heat, humidity, and political/racial situation there. The brutal living conditions of the great majority of the population are poignantly described; at one point, the son of Sabine Harwood’s maid is brutally beaten by the police for complaining about their theft of his cell phone, an act that powerfully symbolizes the violence done to the native population over many decades. Told in a well-balanced manner, the rise to prime minister and eventual downfall of Eric Williams affects Sabine; she has a love/hate relationship with this Oxford-educated black man and writes him letters that are never mailed. VERDICT Roffey (Sun Dog) succeeds wonderfully in writing an informative and deeply moving novel about her homeland. (The “white woman on the green bicycle” is in fact her mother.) She writes realistically enough to make readers feel that they have visited the island. Deservedly a finalist for the Orange Prize; Roffey is a fantastic talent who, one hopes, will keep writing for years to come.—Lisa Rohrbaugh, National Coll. Lib., Youngstown, OH
Sapp, Gregg. Dollarapalooza; or, The Day Peace Broke Out in Columbus. Switchgrass Bks: Northern Illinois Univ. May 2011. c.515p. ISBN 9780875806464. pap. $16.95. F
The dysfunctional Carp family seems to be at its best during times of trouble, and if trouble doesn’t find them, they make their own. When milkman Milt Carp retires from his daily route and fulfills his lifelong dream of opening a dollar store, he infuriates his wife, who has wanted for years to retire to Florida. Most of the family supports her, except for Vonn, their ne’er-do-well son, who joins Milt in his venture. But beset with family discontent, declining revenues, and the looming threat of a new Wow-Mart SuperbCenter being built across the street, Milt scraps his dream, leaving Vonn to run the store. Despite a lifelong loser mentality, Vonn rises to the occasion, adopts a down-home business model designed to make a difference in people’s lives “one dollar at a time,” fights Wow-Mart with innovative programming and pricing, and gradually wins the family (except for Mamma) to his way of thinking. VERDICT This debut by librarian and longtime LJ reviewer Sapp is a fun-filled fantasy in which the little guy wins through chutzpah, luck, and great good humor. Mix in large helpings of homey philosophy, common sense, and truth, lavishly documented with footnotes, and you have an outside-the-box tale too good to miss. [Switchgrass Books is dedicated to Midwestern literary fiction.—Ed.]— Thomas L. Kilpatrick, formerly with Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Scribner, Keith. Oregon Experiment. Knopf. Jun. 2011. c.352p. ISBN 9780307594785. $26.95. F
Scanlon Pratt takes one last shot at tenure and accepts a faculty position in radical studies near Douglas, OR. By studying a grassroots movement far from the rarified tweedy radicals back east, he is convinced he can write the required scholarly articles to make a name for himself. His wife, Naomi, who gives birth to a son soon after they arrive, misses the New York social life. With her special gift for scents, she had been influential in creating perfumes but tragically lost her ability to smell in an auto accident. Their move to Oregon coincides with her useless nose, a marooned career, and a longing for her first baby given up for adoption. To gain inside information, Scanlon joins the local Pacific Northwest Secessionist Movement, only to discover just how ineffective it is. Scanlon is tempted by an earth mother type in the movement. His father comes to visit in a big RV. An energetic TV reporter dogs him for a story. Without fanfare, one of the more dedicated anarchists has plans of his own that bring the story to a tension-filled conclusion. VERDICT The award-winning Scribner (The Good Life) can’t resist a friendly dig at Douglas’s radical movement folks through disgruntled Scanlon and Naomi, but these lighter moments never overshadow the genuine regard Scribner has for their commitment to life outside the mainstream. Excellent literary fiction with an occasionally humorous touch.—Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Grand Junction, CO
See, Lisa. Dreams of Joy. Random. May 2011. c.368p. ISBN 9781400067121. $26. F
This is the eagerly anticipated sequel to See’s Shanghai Girls, and what a sequel it is! Continuing the story of Pearl and May Chin, who escaped the Japanese invasion of China during the 1930s, the novel centers on Joy, the daughter that both women have raised, one as aunt, one as mother. When 19-year-old Joy discovers the identity of her “real” mother, she returns to China in 1957. Readers will be drawn in as they experience Joy’s life in Mao’s Communist China: her life on a commune, starvation, love, oppression, and her fight to stay alive. It’s this struggle for life that May and Pearl understand all too well, and it’s what sends Pearl back to China. Pearl has the fierce mother love that allows her to disregard her own life to save her daughter. And that’s the essential question: What makes a true mother? VERDICT Readers of historical fiction will appreciate the authentic details that See weaves into her novel. You don’t have to read Shanghai Girls to love this book, but if you have, this sequel will make you want to reread its predecessor. [See Prepub Alert, 11/22/10; 14-city tour; library marketing; see the Q&A with See on p. 76.]—Marika Zemke, Commerce Twp. Community Lib., MI
Skibsrud, Johanna. The Sentimentalists. Norton. 2011. c.224p. ISBN 9780393082517. $23.95. F
First novelist Skibsrud takes a poignant look at family, focusing mainly on Napoleon Haskell, his adult daughter, and Henry, father to a young man Napoleon served with in Vietnam. These three live in Henry’s house in Canada as a sort of makeshift family. When Napoleon’s daughter first comes to live with him and Henry after a relationship ends badly, she finds out much more about the father she hardly knew while growing up. And she begins to understand who Henry is and why he has a connection to her own family. She also learns that her father’s alcoholism is much more progressed than she’d originally thought. And she begins to figure out the identity of the mysterious Owen, Henry’s son, and why Henry feels indebted to her father because of him. With flashbacks to Vietnam and heartfelt recollections of the daughter’s own childhood, the narrative shows Napoleon slowly letting his daughter in on deep secrets of his life. VERDICT A quick and satisfying read; recommended for most public libraries and reading groups that have an interest in books about familial relationships.—Leann Restaino, Girard, OH
Spiotta, Dana. Stone Arabia. Scribner. Jul. 2011. c.256p. ISBN 9781451617962. $24. F
Nik Worth is an eccentric artist who, when he’s not working at an L.A. dive bar, records his own music and updates his third-person autobiography, The Chronicles. It’s hard to say whether or not Nik is a genius or a solipsistic whacko, but his middle-aged younger sister, Denise, and her daughter, Ada, a fledgling filmmaker who wants to make a documentary about her uncle, think it’s the former. The narrative is told from Denise’s perspective as she writes down what happens to Nik. Besides childhood reminiscences, she includes extracts from The Chronicles’ fictional reviews of Nik’s music, extensive liner notes from his CDs, and even his own obituary. In this world of make-believe, Denise struggles to discern fact from fiction while doing her best to help Nik survive his destructive lifestyle. VERDICT Award-winning writer Spiotta’s (Eat the Document) quirky, highly imaginative novel generates questions that echo Nik’s pseudonymous last name: What constitutes artistic worth, and what makes life worth living? This is cutting-edge literary fiction with plenty of rock references for music buffs. [See Prepub Alert, 1/24/11.]—Joy Humphrey, Pepperdine Univ. Law Lib., Malibu, CA
Stolls, Amy. The Ninth Wife. Harper: HarperCollins. May 2011. c.448p. ISBN 9780061851896. pap. $14.99. F
When Bess Gray, a folklorist in Washington, DC, is about to turn 35, she falls for a charming Irishman she meets at a party. There’s just one problem: it turns out that Rory McMillan has been married eight times before. How can Bess ever trust this guy? The plot of the novel involves a meandering car trip from Washington to Tucson, as Bess drives her elderly, frail grandparents to their new Arizona retirement community. Along the way, Bess plans to meet with as many of Rory’s ex-wives as she can find to hear their stories. Also on a mission of his own is gay friend Cricket. The premise of this road trip/chick-lit novel is not very believable, but the grandparents’ bittersweet love-hate relationship adds some depth to the story. VERDICT While the conclusion is predictable, the author is clearly having a great time with her quirky characters, as she explores what makes or breaks a marriage. Best suited to fans of the genre.—Leslie Patterson, Rehoboth, MA
Sutton, Henry. Get Me Out of Here. Penguin. Jun. 2011. c.304p. ISBN 9781609450076. pap. $15. F
Like many a paranoid psychopath, Matt Freeman has succeeded until now in ingratiating himself with a few close friends and has maintained a relatively upscale lifestyle. But things are not going Matt’s way of late, and the more things fall apart, the more Matt’s behavior turns from mad to murderous. As the quintessential unreliable narrator, Matt has a skewed view of events that makes it difficult to discern fact from fiction. His plan to leave England for some unspecified business deal in North Korea keeps getting roadblocked by his lack of finances and the refusal of support from his long-suffering friends and family. VERDICT A lying, cheating, obsessive, delusional schemer, Matt is also compulsively entertaining, and his story is as riveting as it is creepy. All that remains is for the reader to puzzle out exactly what bad things Matt has done and how he is getting away with it. Recommended for all but the faintest of heart.—Barbara Love, Kingston Frontenac P.L., Kingston, Ont.
Vásquez, Juan Gabriel. The Secret History of Costaguana. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Jun. 2011. c.304p. tr. from Spanish by Anne McLean. ISBN 9781594488030. $26.95. F
For readers familiar with Joseph Conrad, Costaguana will ring a bell: it’s the fictitious setting of his novel Nostromo. Following the historical pattern of Vásquez’s earlier The Informers, this novel covers about 100 years of Colombian history (a veiled homage to Gabriel García Márquez?), from the birth of the revolutionary Miguel Altamirano in 1820 to Conrad’s death in 1924. Miguel’s illegitimate son José, the narrator of this story, reunites with his father in Panama, marries and has a daughter named Eloísa, and travels to London, where he meets Conrad and tells him the story of his life and of Colombia. When Nostromo is published, Altamirano recognizes what he had related to Conrad, but his physical presence is missing. When Conrad dies, Altamirano, with delightful literary irony, decides to set the record straight, addressing Eloísa and an unknown jury and interrupting himself frequently to clarify points. The text plays with intertextual literary references; Gauguin and Sarah Bernhardt are but two historical personages who show up in cameo appearances. VERDICT Not all readers have the background to grasp Vásquez’s premise, but the descriptions here, particularly of the two attempts to build the Panama Canal, are very entertaining. [See Prepub Alert, 11/29/10.]—Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC Lib., OH
Short stories
Aiken, Joan. The Monkey’s Wedding: And Other Stories. Small Beer. 2011. c.200p. ISBN 9781931520744. $24. F
Best known for The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Aiken (1924–2004) was a prolific writer for 50 years, working as a copyeditor before turning her hand to fiction. The short stories in this collection include six never before published and two published under a pseudonym. These tales are vignettes of ordinary people trying to cope with extraordinary situations. A sailor brings a mermaid home in a bottle and has to figure out how to get rid of it when his wife refuses to keep it indoors. A man meets the devil and almost marries his daughter. A beloved village vicar is reincarnated as a wicked tomcat. Each story has a surprise or twist. Many are ironic, go-figure pieces. They are just like real life, only more so. VERDICT This book will appeal to readers of short stories and literary fiction. Highly recommended.—Joanna M. Burkhardt , Univ. of Rhode Island Libs., Kingston-Providence-Narragansett
Black, Alethea. I Knew You’d Be Lovely: Stories. Broadway. Jun. 2011. c.224p. ISBN 9780307886033. pap. $14. F
In her debut story collection, Black shows a commitment to character and situation, the basic elements of fiction crystallized in short form that make this genre so appealing to so many. In the opening story, “That of Which We Cannot Speak,” a socially awkward, recently divorced Brit on his own in Manhattan meets a woman at a party who wears a clipboard announcing that she has laryngitis and enumerating her responses in block print to the usual range of party questions: “SAMANTHA/YES/NO/NOT SINCE 1979/KIKI AND I WENT TO GRADE SCHOOL TOGETHER/THAT’S WONDERFUL!/THAT’S HORRIBLE!/I KNOW JUST WHAT YOU MEAN.” Of course, the two—one deeply distrustful of the spoken word and the other literally without a voice—manage to communicate quite well and with a surprising depth, in much the same way that the constraints of a sonnet can lead to clear utterance of a long-hidden emotional truth. VERDICT The movement toward truth and connection among lovers lost and found may be common ground in the contemporary short story, but Black’s stories are in no way common. Readers who once waited impatiently for each new volume, say, by Alice Adams, will be grateful for a writer who offers similar satisfaction.—Sue Russell, Bryn Mawr, PA
Horrocks, Caitlin. This Is Not Your City. Sarabande, dist. by Consortium. Jul. 2011. c.168p. ISBN 9781932511918. pap. $15.95. F
This debut collection moves from the Midwest to Russia, Greece, Estonia, and a cruise ship off the coast of Africa. Most of the main characters are women, mostly young and naive, who find themselves in situations they can’t comprehend. Many, like the woman in the title story and another on vacation at a Greek seaside resort (“The Lion Gate”), have entered into a foreign culture or an unfamiliar situation, leading to misunderstanding, alienation, and a deepening sense of psychological confusion. The woman in the story “Embodied” has an absolute belief in her sense of reincarnation and in identifying past lives of others, which leads to a tragic occurrence. In “Zolaria,” a woman recalls her childhood and a close friendship with a neighbor who contracted cancer and died. VERDICT The author has a fine eye for detail in description and scene setting and moves the story lines along jaggedly so the reader is caught off guard and disoriented like the characters. Many of the stories are bleak, painfully and realistically detailing lives gone awry, to sometimes disturbing effect. Recommended for savvy fiction readers. [See Prepub Alert, 2/21/11.]—Jim Coan, SUNY Coll. at Oneonta
Penkov, Miroslav. East of the West: A Country in Stories. Farrar. Jul. 2011. c.240p. ISBN 9780374117337. $24. F
Bulgarians experienced an array of political systems in the 20th century. As a result, considerable effort has been expended in capturing Bulgarian oral histories during those turbulent times, Georgi Gospodinov’s edited work, I’ve Lived Socialism. 171 Personal Stories being the most famous. In this debut collection of short stories, Penkov (creative writing, Univ. of North Texas) illustrates the way in which memories shade, as opposed to illuminate, understanding. This theme emerges in a character who has a photographic memory but is detached from the world around him. In another story, a grandfather uses an obsession with the failed revolution to conceal the truth of his young adult life. Though fraught with tragedy, loss, and stunted desire, these stories are written with lightness and humor. Penkov’s characters explore their memories of Bulgaria in order to find liberation from the past. VERDICT An entertaining debut from a very promising young writer; readers who enjoy the work of Daniyal Mueenuddin and Jonathan Safran Foer will find a new favorite in Penkov.—Joshua Finnell, Denison Univ. Lib., Granville, OH
Thon, Melanie Rae. In This Light: New and Selected Stories. Graywolf. May 2011. c.256p. ISBN 9781555975852. pap. $15. F
Thon’s (English, Univ. of Utah) short stories have been widely published, including three in The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, two of which are included in this collection. All have been previously published; six appeared in Thon’s Girls in the Grass and First, Body, and three were recently anthologized. Moody and atmospheric, the stories are mostly set in stark environments: cold, barren winters in the Pacific Northwest or empty plains with little to break the monotony. Many of the stories feature lost girls and women. They are runaways and drug addicts, petty criminals and alcoholics, dear or dying. “In Nobody’s Daughters,” two sisters, one dead and one alive, are looking for a mother to take care of them. In “Necessary Angels,” Dora lives at home with her mother and grandfather, but her real life is a secret. VERDICT The writing is graceful, at times poetic. Despite the harshness of the character’s circumstances, the language will keep readers engaged. A great introduction to Thon’s work.—Pamela Mann, St. Mary’s Coll. of Maryland, St. Mary’s City
Tillman, Lynne. Someday This Will Be Funny. Red Lemonade: Cursor Pub. May 2011. c.176p. ISBN 9781935869009. pap. $14.95. F
The 22 pieces by Tillman (American Genius) collected here vary wildly in length, complexity, and focus, pondering such topics as the color chartreuse, the moon, the behavior of mourning doves, and the difficulties of writing about love. Some of the stories take on the perspective of famous people: “Give Us Some Dirt” manages to serve up sympathy for Clarence Thomas during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings; “Later”—an elegiac piece about two music icons who died too soon—features a conversation between John Lennon and Marvin Gaye in which they sing each other’s songs. The most traditional stories are about male-female relationships: in “The Substitute,” a woman overanalyzes her budding romance, while in “Playing Hurt,” a smart woman makes a bad marriage choice. The funniest stories are “A Simple Idea,” which involves paranoia stemming from unpaid parking tickets, and “More Sex,” in which a woman ruminates on how men can possibly think of sex every seven minutes, as one statistic suggests. VERDICT Tillman’s stories, though not always engrossing, are consistently illuminating; best suited for serious, patient readers who are dedicated to wrangling with ideas. Fans of Donald Barthelme and William Gass will also appreciate. [This is part of Red Lemonade’s debut list. More information at rnash.com.—Ed.]—Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC
Stories of War & More
Feldman, Ellen. Next to Love. Spiegel & Grau. Jul. 2011. c.291p. ISBN 9780812992717. $25. F
No one knows how hard war can hit a small town better than Bernadette (Babe) Huggins, operator of the Western Union office in South Downs, MA. As the book opens, on a particular day in July 1944, wires from the War Office leave a trail of destruction across her hometown. Babe and her girlfriends Grace and Millie give us the female perspective on this war. In 1942, Babe and Millie had followed their men down to camp in North Carolina, where their nuptials took place, and now all three women are in the thick of marriage and the concomitant worry as their husbands are off to fight in Europe. Their stories move through the final days of the war, with only one of the men returning, and onward, encompassing children (and the lack thereof), breakdowns, sexuality, second marriages, racism, anti-Semitism, and self-identity. VERDICT War is hell, as are the depictions presented mostly through the letters these soldiers write home. Feldman’s (Scottsboro) scathing prose intensifies the daily routines of these families and makes readers fearful and worried along with them. Yet life does go on, for better or worse. A lustrous evocation of a stormy period in our past; highly recommended for lovers of World War II fiction. [Library marketing; online reading group guide.]—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal
Leroy, Margaret. The Soldier’s Wife. Voice: Hyperion. Jul. 2011. c.392p. ISBN 9781401341701. pap. $14.99. F
Vivienne de la Mare lives with her daughters Blanche, 14, and Millie, four, and her mother-in-law on the British island of Guernsey. It’s 1940, and they had the chance to go to London, where her husband, Eugene, is already with the army. But Vivienne hesitated, and now the Germans have come marching into their peaceful existence. Four German soldiers have taken over the house next door, and Vivienne enters into a stilted conversation with one of them when she happens upon him in her orchard. Capt. Gunther Lehmann makes her nervous, but it has been too long since a man, since anyone, has taken an interest in her. From one shared cigarette begins a three-year love affair. Initially, Vivienne fears discovery and reprisals from her neighbors. Her friend’s son suggests she could do more to thwart the enemy, but, she thinks, what can one person do? When Millie talks about a ghost she encounters at play, Vivienne dismisses these imaginings until she herself sees the man, a prisoner working for the Germans. Maybe one person can do something. VERDICT Leroy’s (Yes, My Darling Daughter) beautifully rendered tale demonstrates how the longing for normalcy during wartime can vanquish, even briefly, distrust and uncover common ground. Highly recommended, especially for readers who appreciated Michael Wallner’s April in Paris. [Library marketing; online reading group guide.]—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal
