Book Review: THE SHIVERS

Title: The Shivers

Author: Joe Hill, Stephen Graham Jones, Grady Hendrix, Catriona Ward and Owen King

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories

Pages: 174

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

All five authors featured in this collection were new to me. Nor did I have any idea that two of the writers featured in this collection, Joe Hill and Owen King, are the sons of Stephen King. How interesting to have so much talent in one family!

 

JACKKNIFE by Joe Hill

Dennis Lange, a professor at the University of Maine and the author of a bestselling book on celebrity scandals, is in the throes of a scandal of his own. His marriage has gone bust, after his wife discovered his sexting history with a female student, Parker Townsend, whose father raises a stink and gets him fired. Asked to leave by his wife, Dennis moves into an AirBnB.

Nursing the beginnings of an alcohol addiction, Dennis begins to take walks around the neighbourhood to control his drinking habit. On one such walk, he sees a tree with a knife embedded in it. He pulls out the knife, ignoring the words, Don’t Touch, carved into the bark, and inadvertently sets the tree free.

The tree starts moving about, unleashing a nightmare. By the time, Dennis googles the dates and names carved into the bark, and discovers its grisly history, it is already too late.

 

The story delivered the promised shivers. Joe Hill has written a story about a tree and filled it with menace. Names like University of Maine, Joe Rogan etc root the story in reality, reminding us that otherworldly menace can coexist with ordinary things.

Speaking of sexual abuse of children, the author writes, a lot of it was he-said, she-said, in an era when he-said carried a lot more weight.

The near parallels between Dennis Lange and Orville Shue adds an interesting touch.

+++++++++

THE INDIGO ROOM by Stephen Graham Jones

This is a story set in the real world with nothing supernatural about it.

Jennifer, a divorced single mother of eight-year-old Cole, has parent pick-up on the very day some decidedly odd things take place in the office. When junior associate Gracie turns off the light and lowers the blackout shades in the meeting room, known as the Indigo Room (Sharon, the boss, has named all the meeting rooms after colours), Jennifer has an unreal, disturbing vision which turns out to be a premonition.

It was a strange premise, and I liked the story, but it wasn’t really scary. The style of writing, though nice, took some getting used to and pulled me out of the story. The ending was confusing, ending on an inconclusive note.

In the end, we don’t know why Sharon, the boss, called them all to the Blue Room.

+++++++++++++++

THE BLANKS by Grady Hendrix

This was a horror short story that touched me deeply as a parent.

Rachel and Stephen, and their children, Zoe ‘Zee’ and Callum, aged 14 and 11, residents of Brooklyn, escape every summer to Jeckle Island where they own a summer home. They have been doing so for 16 years. It’s always been fun until it isn’t.

The Island is home to the Blanks, otherworldly creatures you must never acknowledge or lock eyes with. If you look at a Blank, your life is over. They will come to get you. There is no escape from them. Once you lose a loved one to the Blanks, it’s as if they become tainted. No one wants to have anything to do with them.

But then one of their own stares at the Blanks. What would be the consequences of that action?

 

The horror, for me, lay in the fact that people continue to court disaster, despite knowing the danger they are exposing their loved ones to.

A reference to men’s ‘caveman compulsion’ tells us about the burden that Stephen will carry all his life, his inability to do anything. Particularly when fathering comes naturally to him.

The author does a marvel with an ironic foreshadowing when one of the kids insists that children should be allowed to vote because they are the ones who are going to live in the future.

+++++

 

NIGHT AND DAY IN MISERY by Catriona Ward

On the eighth anniversary of the deaths of her husband Frank and two-year-old son Sam, depressed and lonely Stella decides to kill herself at the very place where their deaths occurred. It’s a place in Missouri, a place that an unhappy local refers to as Misery.

Checking into the very room at the hotel where they last stayed, Stella prepares to jump into the river at the bottom of which the bodies of her husband and son were found. She blames herself for their deaths, for the liquor found in Frank’s blood.

For eight years, she has suffered, and now she hopes to join them, and find peace. But as she sleeps, on her last night, she has strange dreams that feel real, blurring the line between truth and the supernatural.

 

This story was beautiful, with a paranormal element. The writing was beautiful. Once again, I found myself hooked on the story, as a mother.

+++

LETTER SLOT by Owen King

Blake, the son of physically challenged and ailing single mother Wendy Price, is used to living a difficult life. But when he sees his mother in pain, yet forced to work two jobs, he is torn. Following up on a school assignment, he writes an anonymous letter, talking about his troubles, and drops it through the mail slot of an abandoned show house. He expects nothing to come of it, and is surprised when he finds a response to his letter, asking him to volunteer the name of one person he hates, in exchange for good fortune.

Blake succumbs to the temptation and is rewarded by good fortune. But the granting of his wishes only leaves him wanting more. And soon there will be a reckoning, particularly when Blake notices a horrible side effect to the granting of his wishes.

 

This story had an interesting premise, but it could have been a little tighter. Also, the ending felt a little tame. A reworking of the conclusion could have hit harder.

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.) 

Book Review: THE SUBLET

Title: The Sublet: A Short Story

Author: Greer Hendricks

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories

Pages: 61

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐

 

Aspiring novelist Anne, overworked and harried mother of 9-year-old twins Ben and Beatrice and devoted wife of Paul, has a gig ghostwriting The Well, the book of celebrity self-help guru Melody Wells. For all her ease manifesting abundance, Melody can’t seem to manifest her book.

When Melody points Anne and her husband in the direction of an apartment that would be perfect for their growing family, Anne is thrilled. But very soon, she learns that Melody’s intentions may not be as honest as she thought.

 

The tone of the story was mostly calm and unhurried. When Anne drives herself off to a particular location, we get a hint that the pace might be about to pick up, but that doesn't happen.

The author doesn’t mention a surname for Anne and Paul. The lack of a surname may be irrelevant to other readers, but it is a pet peeve of mine.

None of the characters were well developed. There was nothing nuanced about Anne or Melody.

Melody never exuded any kind of menace. Nor did the house for that matter, though it seemed that the author was trying to project it as some kind of haunted house. There was nothing creepy about it.

The new house projected no aura of danger. The kids didn’t feel a thing. They could all have lived there without sensing any danger.

I couldn’t see the point of the story. The blurb says weird things start to happen but that is not really true. All in all, their life seemed rather pleasant.

It was odd that the couple went looking for a new home, leaving their kids behind alone. No babysitter. Just two nine-year-olds by themselves for an extended period of time.

The only thing the book managed to do was to present the fakeness of the celebrity wellness culture.

What was the point of the mysterious locked closet? It was a Chekhov’s gun that wasn’t fired.

Anne bemoans that she is a chauffeur, nurse, teacher, cook and a plethora of roles rolled into one. Her tone indicated that she was one-of-a-kind, but ask any mother, those are the roles we all do.

There are far too many pop culture references. Modern Family, Matthew Perry, Anne Hathaway, Nicole Kidman, Mont Blanc, Squid Games, to name a few. Beyond a point, it seemed like a lot of name-dropping.

There is nothing scary about the big reveal.

 

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.) 

Book Review: THE BABY EXCHANGE

Title: The Baby Exchange

Author: Hannah Parry

Publisher: Hannah Parry

Pages: 284

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

 

Mae Miller is not in a good space. One of her two best clients, child actor Raphael Cooper, is undergoing dialysis and is out of work. Her other best client, best friend Billy Mac, is being poached by big talent agent Matthias Bloom, her mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and she has no money for her care. When Mae discovers that she is pregnant as a result of a one-night stand (it’s a cryptic pregnancy and she is 37 weeks along), it seems like nothing could possibly get worse.

Hoping to earn some money and get her child adopted, Mae contacts reality TV show, The Baby Exchange. At first, all she cares about is the money. But over the next few days, the baby becomes increasingly real to her. Will Mae exchange her baby for money?

 

As an idea, the premise was novel. But the execution left me feeling dissatisfied.

 

The book was plagued with excessive description. The book even began with unnecessary description before introducing the Main Character and then giving us irrelevant details about her day so far. Thereafter, it persisted with giving us long descriptions of nearly every character and location, even going to the extent of describing TV sets and the outfits of minor characters.

 

I did warm up to Mae in time, once I realized that she was only 24, still young and not quite capable of handling the problems she was faced with. But the extended and unnecessary introduction to her life didn’t work for me. Also, her refusal to answer the calls of Raphael’s mother Adele, despite knowing that Rafa was seriously ill, made her appear inhuman.

On the other hand, characters like Elsa, Mae’s mother, Israel, her caregiver, and the women at the reality show, Aphrodite, Tamara, Scarlett etc. are flat, each a replica of the other.

I liked the bond between Mae and Billy Mac. Billy had some potential but the plot didn’t give him much of an opportunity to shine. As an antagonist, Bloom was weak. The presence of Padma Rao, Indian-American, helped to check the diversity box.

 

The author makes the setting, Hollywood, come alive, not so much physically but as a presence throughout the story. She refers to Hollywood as a “tawdry city with its tinsel surface and anorexic underbelly.”

I also appreciated her similes:

She hurled the words at him like they were dinner plates.

His voice was as empty as the desert at dawn before the wind rose.

 

The humour is subtle. We see one example of it when the nurse tells Mae to breathe and the 3^rd person narrator tells us that Mae “wasn’t aware that she had stopped”.

 

As a light-hearted read about a young girl who finds that being an adult is financially quite draining, it was fun. But there were many issues that needed to be resolved.

As late as the 10 percent mark, we were still getting background information about Mae’s childhood in a foster home, her mother’s institutionalization, her work as a casting agent and her mother's Alzheimer's Disease. The plot of the book doesn’t start till the 11 percent mark when Mae learns that she is pregnant.

 

The names Mae and Billy Mac were just too similar. There is a child actor called Raphael, affectionately called Rafa, and a nurse called Raya. They don’t have any scenes together but why in a world of a billion names, must their names sound so alike?

 

Joe, Mae’s neighbour, brings her a crumpled piece of paper that, he says, fell out of her handbag. The narrator tells us that the paper came from a fortune-teller machine at the beach. But Mae never went to any such machine. Where did the paper come from then?

 

It was odd that the doctor didn’t call her in for regular checkups, didn’t give her a list of things she could or couldn’t do, didn’t schedule any blood or diagnostic tests or sonograms.

 

I was disappointed with the resolution.

 

 

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.) 

Book Review: THE ABANDONMENT OF HANNAH ARMSTRONG (BOOK ONE: SARATOGA WOODS)

Title: The Abandonment of Hannah Armstrong (Book One: Saratoga Woods)

Author: Elizabeth George

Publisher: Elizabeth George

Pages: 407

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

I signed up to read Saratoga Woods because I’m a big fan of Elizabeth George and enjoy reading her Inspector Lynley series. But I couldn’t quite get into this one at the beginning. It was a slow start.

 

When 14-year-old Hannah Armstrong’s stepfather, Jeff Corrie, turns out to be a criminal, a fact she learns about because she has the power to hear people’s thoughts, her mother, Laurel Armstrong, uproots them from California to Whidbey Island, near Seattle. With a new name, the young girl, now Becca King, is sent to live with her mom’s old friend, Carol Quinn, who has promised to shelter her.

When Becca reaches Whidbey Island, she learns that Carol has died of a heart attack. With Laurel unavailable on the burner phone, Becca has nowhere to go in a strange town.

When Derric, a new friend, has a nasty fall on a bike trail, he goes into a coma. The town sheriff, Dave Mathieson, who is also Derric’s adoptive father, is sure that the young girl who called 911, the owner of the burner phone, has something to do with the accident. Will Becca be able to stay out of trouble, or will it come looking for her?

It is up to Becca to sort through the confusion in her own mind, and stay afloat and out of trouble until her mom returns for her, while solving the mystery of who might have wanted to hurt Derric.

 

This is a coming-of-age story with fantasy elements. Besides Becca, there is another character who might have a supernatural power. But where the other person has the gift under control, Becca is still figuring out her way around it.

The story is written in the 3^rd person omniscient PoV. The writing is more tell than show, which is the author’s style, but I still enjoyed it.

Here’s a sample of her metaphors:

The idea of missing someone was like the swooping of a bird too close to her face.

She came into the room like a tractor rolling over a field.

Debbie gave him the kind of look a teacher gives to a kid when she suspects there are lice crawling in his hair.

 

Elizabeth does a great job recreating Whidbey Island in our minds, a place where everyone knows everyone else.

 

In her most vulnerable state, Becca encounters a slew of characters. There’s Debbie Grieder, who offers her shelter in her motel, Diana Kinsale who is sympathetic towards her, Seth Darrow, a school dropout and musician who helps her, and Derric Mathieson, a boy from Uganda who she finds fascinating. Then there’s Jenn McDaniels who can’t stand Becca, Hayley Cartwright, Seth’s former girlfriend who he suspects broke up with him on account of Derric, Debbie’s grandchildren, Josh and Chloe, Seth’s grandfather, Ralph, and his dog, Gus, and Derric’s parents.

 

As befitting a series, Becca has individual subplots with Seth, Debbie, Diana, Derrick, Josh, Chloe and Jenn. Seth has subplots with Hayley, her parents, grandfather Ralph, dog Gus and Derric.

 

The stories of these characters converge in multiple ways. For the greater part, it all seems like delicate wisps of unconnected threads. It’s only at the end that they come together.

The first description we get for Becca comes from the most minor of minor characters and it’s not flattering, but by then, we’ve bonded so well with her, we don’t care. We feel sorry for Becca, stranded in a strange place with no safety net.

 

While I loved the book, there were some things that rankled. There are multiple characters whose names begin with the letter D. There’s Debbie Grieder, Diana Kinsale, Seth Darrow and Derric Mathieson. Why did the author flout the fundamental rule of not naming characters after the same letter?

I couldn’t understand the significance of the Paul Revere poem that Laurel keeps repeating, when she doesn’t want her daughter to listen to her thoughts. Perhaps its meaning will be clearer in the subsequent books.

The mystery of who pushed Derric hinges on a footprint but it’s odd that the police don’t ever latch on to that clue. The mystery itself is a slow burn; who hurt Derric takes a backseat to who was the girl who made the call to the police station.

 

While the main plot of this book ends on a successful note, the overarching story in the series shows up on the very last page, making the way for Book 2. I look forward to the next one in the series.

 

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.) 

Book Review: THE UNDOING OF VIOLET CLAYBOURNE

Title: The Undoing of Violet Claybourne

Author: Emily Critchley

Publisher: Zaffre

Pages: 349

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

 

I love stories about houses, and so when this story came up, I was excited to read and review it.

 

When the story begins, Gillian McCune, an old woman in 1999, looks back on her childhood, particularly on the fateful days she spent as a guest at Thornleigh Hall, and the part she played in the events that took place there.

 

Gillian ‘Gilly’ Larking is in her sixth year at Heathcomb school when the privileged Violet Claybourne is admitted there, and they find themselves roommates. Gilly, with no real family and no good friends, is swept off her feet into Violet’s world. The friendship grows quickly with both girls believing in tandem with their Classics lessons, Nos Contra Mundam (Us against the world).

Invited to the Claybourne home, Thornleigh Hall, for Christmas, Gilly becomes enamoured with their world. There she meets Violet’s older sisters, Emmeline and Laura, and her parents, Giles and Olivia Claybourne. Gilly longs to have Emmeline and Laura see her as one of their own, as an equal. At every step, she tries to set herself apart from Violet, and closer to Emmeline and Laura, who are classist and believe themselves superior even to their sister, Violet.

Before the Christmas break is over, Thornleigh Hall will be beset by tragedy, with one life lost and another destroyed. What part will Gilly play in this travesty of justice?

 

The book is set in 1938, so the shadow of World War I still looms large over the characters. Lord Claybourne and many of the members of the police force have served in the war, but Frank Marks, a gameskeeper who lives on the grounds of Thornleigh Hall, has been a conscientious objector. As the book progresses, the characters find themselves in the middle of World War II.

 

This is a time when a woman is called upon to make a good marriage, then be a good wife and mother. It is against this background that the Claybourne family hopes that 22-year-old Emmeline will be wooed by the nearly forty-year-old Viscount Cadwallander, who might help save Thornleigh Hall from almost certain ruin.

 

The bulk of the story takes place between Christmas and New Year. The construction of the period was done well.

 

The book also makes a mention of post-partum depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), both conditions for which the medical science of the time might not have had satisfactory answers. Undoing is how Violet refers to the odd rituals she does “to undo what might happen.” The Undoing is Violet’s OCD. It is also a reference to how her life is undone, and how she seeks to undo that wrong.

 

The chapters end on a note of finality and expectation, inviting us to turn the page. I kept thinking about the events of this book even when I wasn’t reading it, especially about how far the characters deserved the fates that had befallen them.

 

 

The author has done a fine job with the descriptions of Thornleigh Hall, the Randolph Hotel, and Heathcomb school.

 

I can’t remember when I last detested a bunch of fictional people. I despised nearly all the main characters here. In the case of the narrator, Gilly, I must add that this was the first time that I began by liking a protagonist and then went on to change my mind about her. The author does make an effort to redeem her in our eyes, in a later part of the book, but it didn’t work for me.

 

Only the smaller characters like Frank Marks, a groundskeeper who lives on the property, and Robin, the fatherless son of Mary, the maid, and, to an extent, Violet, left a positive impression on me.

 

There are scenes featuring elaborate and intense gaslighting that are well written.

I also loved the resonance in the book, the parallels between Gilly and Robin. The fact that they have each lost a parent.

 

Gilly’s first meal with the Claybournes reveals their habits and characters, the sense of superiority they nurture in themselves. In true upper-class fashion, Laura and Emmeline insist that the foxes enjoy the fox hunt. “You can see it on their faces,” they say, in justification of their own pleasure and lifestyle. I couldn’t help reflecting on the hypocrisy of one of the sisters who hates any show of emotion but thinks nothing of the flutter of disgust that crosses her own face.

 

The colonial mindset is evident when Violet says about school, “We only learn sums, and which bits on the map still belong to us.”

 

Gilly, with her tendency to steal and lie, has her own flaws, making her believable.

 

I felt a sense of sorrow for Violet, for the ‘undoing’ of her at the hands of those she trusted. I hoped the book would not end on a note of wrongdoing and injustice. 

 

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.) 

Book Review: PORCELAIN (SHADOWS OF HYSTERIA)

Title: Porcelain (Shadows of Hysteria)

Author: Jesse Sprague

Publisher: Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing

Pages: 344

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

 

 

Gabrielle Cross is under therapy and medication to help her cope with the aftermath of a tragedy in the past. She has also previously been institutionalized. Ten years ago, when she was only nine, her parents were found brutally murdered, and she was found covered in their blood. She believed then that it was her porcelain doll, a family antique, that had killed them in order to protect her.

Now Gabrielle is trying to live a normal life, go to college, date. How long will it be before her past catches up with her?

When her date, Joe, takes her home on the very first date and pressures her for sex, she blacks out. When she wakes up, he is dead with stab wounds and noticeable strangulation marks, causing Gabrielle’s past to be brought to the fore again. She is filled with doubts and fears and the only two people who trust her are her half-brother, Michael, and her friend, Peter.

Meanwhile, Michael has begun a relationship with Cole Montez, a bisexual, divorced cop who is going through a bitter legal battle with ex-wife Joan for the custody of their 4-year-old daughter, Isa, while the banks threaten to foreclose on his house.

Then Cole is assigned the case. Will he be able to ensure justice for everyone?

 

As a child, Gabrielle believed that her doll had committed the murders. Now she is anxious to find answers. Is she really a murderer or could the doll be possessed by an evil spirit?

 

The book shines a spotlight on mental illness and schizophrenia. Peter is schizophrenic but has sought help and is doing well. Issues of mental health are written about in this book from a place of sensitivity and understanding.

 

The story is written in the 3^rd person past tense PoV of Gabrielle and Cole. For the greater part of the novel, the story shifted between the two PoVs in regularly alternating chapters. At the 38^th chapter, we get six consecutive chapters in Gabrielle’s PoV, causing the pace to flag a little bit.

 

The 3^rd person PoV of Gabrielle, with which the story began, drew me into the story. Unfortunately, the second chapter, where we get to know Gabrielle’s half-brother, Michael, through the eyes of his boyfriend, Cole, was completely unnecessary. This chapter appeared to have been put in just to bring us up to speed on the past. Michael tells his new boyfriend (and us) the story of their lives. This chapter nearly put me off reading the rest of the book.

 

Also Cole’s utter infatuation with Michael was something I found annoying. I almost gave up reading because of this thread in the story. Cole kept thinking that Michael was gorgeous which took away from the main story. Thankfully, the pace improved after the second chapter, and Cole kept his infatuation under wraps.

 

I found the two men, Michael and Cole, very boring and annoying. Lucinda ‘Cinder’, Gabrielle’s roommate and friend, was a minor character I liked straightaway for her loyalty and sense of friendship.

 

The author has a good style. The characterization, description, conflict and action are handled well. The description of Peter and Gabrielle standing atop the unfinished building had me feeling queasy. But the horror and supernatural elements were weak.

 

The book needed to be proofed better. Modicum is a noun, not an adverb as is used here.

 

After a few chapters, Gabrielle didn’t stay in ‘character’. She stopped mentioning her meds or repeating her affirmations.

 

Cole’s bisexuality was token, having no bearing on the main plot. Why didn’t the author just make him gay? The romance between Cole and Michael took up too much space.

 

Also, the doll could have been a lot more menacing. Once the investigation started, we didn’t see any evidence of the horror of the doll for ourselves. It was all in Gabrielle’s flashbacks. The doll on the cover of the book was quite creepy but we don’t get to see her inherently evil nature.

 

The doll’s relationship with Gabrielle is downplayed. Instead we get to see more of Cole and Michael, Cole and Joan, Gabrielle and Cinder, and Cole and Isa. Even Yolanda, Cole’s nanny, the most minor of the characters, gets more space here.

 

The dialogue and Gabrielle’s internal monologue get repetitive, with Gabrielle repeatedly wishing herself dead, and wondering if the doll is a part of her or external to her.

 

Despite the accusation of murder that hangs over her, Gabrielle isn’t put under surveillance. Additionally, Gabrielle’s extended conversation with Peter wasn’t as revelatory as she seemed to think it would be.

 

Isa is supposed to be 4, but I couldn’t sense her innocence. She appeared too grown up.

 

The resolution was weak. By the 82 percent mark, I had stopped caring about any of the characters. There were a number of questions that remained unanswered. Why was Joe killed a day after the horrible date? How did his death come about?

 

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.) 

Book Review: AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED

Title: And The Mountains Echoed

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Pages: 466

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐½

When extreme poverty causes him to lose his child, Saboor, a hard-working Aghan from Shadbagh village, makes the difficult decision of giving up his daughter, Pari, to Suleiman and Nila Wahdati, the wealthy employers of his brother-in-law, Nabi, the brother of his second wife, Parwana. Four-year-old Pari and 10-year-old Abdullah were the children of his first wife, who died giving birth to Pari.

The decision buys the family respite against the terrible winter, but it leaves Abdullah heartbroken. Abdullah, despite his young age, has been almost a father to Pari, answering her every need and sacrificing everything for her.

It’s hard to describe the plot of this book, as it is more about Afghanistan, than about any specific characters. The book makes a character out of Afghanistan, its weather, the customs and traditions that dictate life in its villages and cities. The author evokes the difficulties emerging from the hard life and the toll it exacts.

The language is earthy and relatable. The story begins in Afghanistan, but it might as well have begun in an Indian village; it felt that familiar. The writing, especially in scenes featuring Abdullah and Pari, evoked innocence and childlike wonder.

Some lines that stood out for me:

Beauty is an enormous unmerited gift given randomly, stupidly.

If culture was a house, then language was the key to the front door.

The decline of one’s own body is incremental, as nearly imperceptible as it is insidious.

 

I had been looking forward to this book, especially because I loved The Kite Runner. But while the sensibility is the same, this book didn’t touch me like that one had.

So many questions were left unanswered. Abdullah’s chapter had ended with his resolve to go to Kabul and look for Pari. His days in Shadbagh, he decides at the end of the chapter that explores his story, are numbered. The next we hear of him, he is a hotelier in the US. The author never brings us up to speed on him. Did he end up going to Kabul? If not, why not? What were his growing up years like? How did he reach the US? We are told almost nothing about a little boy we, as readers, have loved and latched on to.

 

After we get attached to Abdullah and Pari, the PoV turns to that of Nabi. We read a long letter, spanning whole chapters, written by him to a plastic surgeon, Markose, telling him about all that transpired in the past and more recently. Markose lives rent-free in his home, the home he inherited from Suleiman.  

From there we read of Parwana’s childhood with her twin sister, Masooma, and the tragedy that she allowed, and the guilt she carries all her life. Then we meet cousins, Idris and Timur, now Americans, whose families were once neighbours of the Wahdatis in Kabul.

Then the story takes us to Paris, where Nila has moved with Pari. We read about Pari’s childhood, adulthood, her subsequent marriage, her kids and her life. This story is followed by that of Markose, from his childhood, his friendship with Thalia, the daughter of his mother’s best friend, his own fraught relationship with his mother.

Then we have the story of Adel, the son of a war criminal, and Gholam, the grandson of Saboor. And finally, we have the story of Abdullah’s daughter, Pari, named for the sister he lost. The story of the younger Pari was the one I related to the least. Not because of any flaw in it, but because by then I was yearning for the siblings to be united.  

It felt exhausting getting into the skin of so many characters and never staying with any of them. From Abdullah and Pari, to Nabi, Suleiman and Nila, then Idris and Timur Bashiri, the stories have a tenuous connection. They are all parts of a whole.

The end of each section, Abdullah’s, Nabi’s, Idris’s and Nila’s, left me with a vague sense of loss and disappointment. Through each story, we went further away from Abdullah and Pari.

The book was beautiful but I longed for Abdullah and Pari to be united. I was disappointed it took so long, and with the manner in which it happened.

 

 

Book Review: THE LAST MRS SINCLAIR

Title: The Last Mrs Sinclair

Author: TJ Emerson

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Pages: 378

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐½

 

Twenty-four-year-old Leah Rose Williams is beautiful and she knows it. Stuck in a boring job, while living in a cramped apartment, she focuses on attracting rich, older men, hoping that a relationship will be her ticket to a better life. She has just dumped Nick, a married man she had been seeing, after he suggested going serious with the relationship.

Leah’s mother has taught her to believe that “All relationships are based on power, not love.” That she must “Step up and claim your power and, once you’ve got it, never ever give it away.” That “You are the prize, Leah. Always remember that.”

In just six weeks, Leah gets into a relationship with Miles Sinclair, 30 years her senior, who whisks her off to his family home in Chateau Clairvallon in France for a short vacation, and then proposes to her there. Soon he fixes up the wedding day in August.

Leah believes that finally she will have the life she was born to. The life she lost after her dad squandered her mom’s inheritance and deserted them.

Leah is thrilled beyond measure.

Though she does not love Miles, she is looking forward to the wealth that will soon be hers. For the sake of the wealth, she puts up with Miles’ age and the fact that he is still grieving the loss of his wife, Riley, who fell down to her death from the roof of Chateau Clairvallon.

At the chateau, Leah meets Miles’ cousin, Vivienne, who is mourning the death of her husband, Dom. Vivienne is now acting as Miles’ housekeeper at the chateau.

Excited about her turn of fortune, Leah prepares for her new life. But she cannot shake away the shadow of what happened to Riley? Was her death an accident or was it murder? And if it was murder, as the rumours in the village say, is she in danger too?

 

The book reminded me of Rebecca with Chateau Clairvallon being Manderley. At first I thought it was a retelling of Rebecca, but while the basic premise is similar, this one is different. The book is written in four parts, in the present tense PoV of Leah and Vivienne. It starts in May of an unnamed year, then continues up to July in two parts. The third and fourth parts pick up the story from August until the end.

 

The ‘last’ Mrs Sinclair has dual connotations, and the narrative does a good job of keeping us hooked on the stories of both Mrs Sinclairs.

The Prologue and the Epilogue were both done very well; the former grabbed my attention and pulled me into the story. While the book began on an exciting note, the middle, an extended section, lost steam, dragging the pace.

The chapters are dated only by month. It would have been better to date them too, so we would have some kind of countdown to the wedding, which is a critical point in the story.

The plot perked up at the 81% mark and then things began to happen in rapid succession. The final third was a huge improvement on the middle. 

I didn’t like Leah, nor any of the characters. But they were real and relatable.  In the end, though, I did feel a sense of pity for one of the characters.

There are themes like love, sex, incest, greed, wealth and power addressed in the book. There are some overly explicit sex scenes in the story, making this book unsuitable for younger readers.

We don’t know the year in which the book is set, only the month. But it seems to be a contemporary time, given that people have mobile phones and Internet, so Leah’s references (twice) to “freshening up between my legs”, instead of showering, sound weird, gross and unnecessary.

There are lots of proofing errors. Vivienne is referred to as Miles’ mother in one sentence.

A good thriller in spite of the issues.

 

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.) 

Book Review: THE DINNER PARTY

Title: The Dinner Party

Author: Nina Manning

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Pages: 268

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐

 

Just five years into their marriage, Lily and Stig Leonard find themselves having drifted apart. To mark their fifth anniversary, Lily books them a dinner reservation at a restaurant owned and run by celebrity chef, Hector Bolson-Woods. But the differences between them are too deep to be fixed by a dinner. Stig wants to be a father, but Lily doesn’t want to start a family until he tells her about his family and his past. Plus they are both deeply in debt, living on credit.

The evening ends with Hector cooking a meal especially for the couple. While Lily is pleased, Stig is not. But then Hector donates 20,000 pounds to the charity that Lily works for and invites them to dinner at his home.

Before long, Lily is second guessing herself, completely struck by Hector’s charm and feeling increasingly distanced from Stig. Will Lily ever learn about Stig’s past?

 

The story is written in the first person present tense PoV of Lily and the 3^rd person PoV of Stig.

In the early part of the book, the author kept up a high sense of intrigue. Even though nothing untoward happened, I got a sense of something about to go terribly wrong. The plot held my interest until the 46 percent mark, when it began to veer off course. Thereafter it began to pall.

Suddenly Lily, who wasn’t that likeable a character to begin with, appeared to be small-minded and petty. None of the characters were likeable or memorable.

There is mild swearing, which puts me off.

The back-of-the-book text was misleading. It says, “And then another dinner invitation from Hector arrives. This time with a proposal neither Lily or Stig can refuse.” Aside from the grammatical issue in that sentence, it is also incorrect as Stig declines immediately after hearing of the proposal.

There were a number of proofing and factual errors. Stig swallows a banana “without barely chewing”. Ruby is described as a woman “who just want to party and be liked.” In one chapter we are told “ten minutes passes”.

Thing One and Thing Two are from Dr Seuss’ books, not Dr Zeus, as is mentioned in the book.

Lily’s incessant complaints against Stig’s secrecy were a pain, considering her own secrets which she justified to herself. Her internal monologue droned on and on.

The antagonist turned out to be a damp squib. It never seemed as if Lily faced any real danger.

The resolution was forced and unsatisfactory. There were many unanswered questions. The repeated forewarnings and ominous remarks issued by some characters to Lily don’t get explained. I was left equally confused about why Lily felt an odd sense of comfort in the presence of Jack, Hector’s head of security, when the guy never justifies his presence in the book. 

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.) 

Book Review: SEEMS PERFECT

Title: Seems Perfect

Author: Rebecca Hanover

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 267

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

When a debilitating injury and subsequent surgery leave 32-year-old yoga teacher Emily Hawthorne unable to work or pay her utility bills or her mortgage, she decides to advertise for a paying roommate to share her one-bedroom apartment. Penelope ‘Pip’ Stone answers the ad, and Emily can see that she seems perfect. Pip is affable, friendly and hard-working.

But then Pip moves in too much stuff and a preteen daughter, Sophie, that Emily knows nothing about. With her only living relative, Aunt Viv, living with dementia in an assisted living facility, and having broken up with her fiancé, Seth, out of fear that she might die of cancer as her parents did, Emily is all alone. She is fair game for Pip who quickly begins a devious game of manipulation and gaslighting, taking worse liberties.

Will Emily ever be rid of Pip? Will she get her house back?

The story is written in the first person PoV of Emily, besides occasional 3^rd person PoVs of Pip and Sophie. The 3^rd person PoVs were the author’s way of humanizing Pip and explaining why she is the way she is, but I hated her all the same.

Right away we know that Pip spells bad news, but Emily ignores all the red flags. She comes across as naïve. She has the most basic password on her wi-fi. I dislike stupid Main Characters, and Emily was just that. She kept making allowances for Pip’s wrongdoing, and that made me want to tear out my hair.

But of course, if she wasn’t stupid, we’d have no story. But it would have been better if there had been some other way in which Emily had found herself sharing her home with Pip.

Breaking up with her fiancé because she fears dying of cancer is another weak angle. Today there are tests that can reveal one’s risk profile for cancer.

I strongly wanted to DNF this book. Emily was just so annoying in her naivete. Even when she takes action to reclaim her home and her life, the solutions she comes up with are rather daft. The only reason why I kept reading was because I felt invested in the situation. Emily only pulled up her socks at the 27% mark. Even then, there was no explanation for why she didn’t confide in best friend, Ally, or her ex-fiancé, Seth.

At one point, she tells us that Pip has isolated her from her best friend and fiance, but that is not true. Emily herself takes the decision to resolve the problem by herself. 

The author has a tendency to overwrite a point long after it’s been made. Towards this end, she provides too many details over and over again.

Emily describes herself as a yogi. The right word is yogini. A yogi refers to a male practitioner of yoga. Also, yogic breath is not a thing. Yogic technique of breathing, or even yogic breathing, would be more accurate.

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.) 

Book Review: THE WRITER'S JOURNEY: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE LITERARY GREATS

Title: The Writer's Journey: In the Footsteps of the Literary Greats

Author: Travis Elborough

Publisher: White Lion Publishing

Pages: 343

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

I loved the premise of this book. The role of the journey and its potential for amassing research about character, description and settings alike as well as its potential for offering a fresh perspective.

Many of the writers included in these pages have uncovered a new story or book, or even a new career as a writer, from their journeys.

Of course, it’s written from a Western lens, so the author tells us about the dangers of dying of dysentery, cholera etc. Also, most of the writers are either American or European.

Incidentally, JK Rowling, the only living author, among deceased writers, most of whom lived in earlier centuries, was out of place. The criteria for choosing authors to feature in the book remains unclear.

The layout of the book is designed like a tabloid, with a long headline, mostly alliterative, and a sketch of the writer’s face in monochrome. Below this masthead are small icons of the mode of transportation employed by the writer, followed by the text in double column. The text is interspersed with maps, aerial photos of the location etc.

The writers are included in alphabetical order, which led to a sense of disconnect between the chapters.

The purpose behind each writer’s journey is varied:

Holiday/Outing: Hans Christian Andersen, Bram Stoker, Virginia Woolf

Son’s education: Maya Angelou

Sent by a publication: WH Auden and Christopher Isherwood, Zora Neale Hurston

Research: Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens

Write a travel book: Graham Greene

Work: Joseph Conrad, Herman Melville, JK Rowling

Recuperation: Jane Austen, Elizabeth Bishop, Gustave Flaubert, Federico Garcia Lorca

Escaping from danger: James Baldwin

To improve his character: Charles Baudelaire

Travel and adventure: Basho aka Matsuo Kinsaku, Jack Kerouac, Katherine Mansfield

 

The reasons I found most interesting were those of:

Lewis Carroll: went to Russia to build bridges with the Eastern Orthodox Church

Arthur Conan Doyle: went to Switzerland to get an idea for killing the character of Sherlock Holmes.

F Scott Fitzgerald: went to Paris because the cost of living was cheaper there than in the US.

Jack London: went to the Yukon to take advantage of the Gold rush.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery: took on the Transcontinental Flying Race.

Sam Selvon: went to London to fulfil his literary ambitions. 

The book doesn’t really spell out how the location led to the writing, just that here’s place A which was written about in book B. I would have liked something more detailed.

 

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)