"Lila" is beautifully written with the character of Lila hauntingly real
924046
I haven't read Robinson's previous works and I don't know if that would have helped or hindered my reading of this book.  "Lila" is beautifully written with the character of Lila hauntingly real.  I felt I was experiencing the pain and longing Lila felt as she grew up in such a hard way.  Doll did the best she could in looking out for Lila, but she had her own demons with which to contend.  It was Lila's good fate to end up with the Reverend who loved and accepted her as she was.  Isn't that what everyone hopes for?  The book does a good job of depicting the hard lives some people have - and that leads to understanding.
322709
This is an altogether beautifully written and well crafted story that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. I was captivated by this novel from the first page, and the feeling that I was looking in a window at a world that is slightly magical and only for my eyes lingers, although I have finished turning the pages.

While this book is sorrowful and very real at times, it is also a story about faith, redemption and the enduring imagination and easy belief of a child. Written from the point of view of Pea, a five year old little girl in a french village (beautiful setting by the way) who has lost her father in an accident and is day by day losing her mother to grief and sorrow, this book evokes the kind of emotion that most can't accomplish.

On a mission to cheer up her mother and try to return their family to somewhat normal, Pea and her sister Margot escape daily life by going to play in the fields and the peach orchards. They are able to make a new friend there, which in turn becomes another complex plot point.

When things don't cheer their mother as they had hoped the girls must face the reality of their situation, but they are resilient, as children are. The author takes the opportunity to create an amazing happening from this point in the book forward. She is able to truly show the limitless bounds of a child's imagination, the optimism, the spirit and capture the innocence of her main characters.

This book made me long to be a child again in many ways. I recall having some of the same thoughts and emotions as Pea and her sister. My favorite part of this book was the friendship amongst the two sisters. If you have ever read a book and later wondered where the characters are right now and then stopped to chastise yourself for your own silliness and to remind yourself that it was fiction, you will understand what happened to me after finishing this. Claire King has done such a supreme job of making you want to hug these children and tell them everything is going to be okay, that it is sometimes hard to believe they are not real.

The only thing I can see that might make this a challenge for some, is adjusting to the way the child speaks. She sometimes leaves sentences hanging and it can be a little complex to grasp her meaning. I personally, thought it added to the story and made the age of the character more believable.

I would recommend this elegantly written novel to anyone. Really a beautiful book.
1808063
Top Rec | 6 Stars

In what might be (read: is) her most gripping novel yet, Alessandra Torre departs from her normal genre with soulful ease and sinks her teeth into a fleshy, heartbreaking tale of a dying novelist whose last wish is to write her confession in The Ghostwriter. What follows is a harrowing tale of regret, grief, and closure, both ironic and bittersweet. Sweepingly poetic and haunting, itll keep you on the edge of your seat as it builds and builds with its stark vividness.

Employing the use of a hardened protagonist, one who is both easy to understand and love (most especially because she admits to things most women/mothers wouldnt dare to utter but have thought), Torre gives us a complex, unique heroine to root for; one that has an unwavering strength and a staunch eye forward. Her flaws are glaring, widely open to criticism, but theres an ease with which it is to love this unlovable woman. This character is unabashed in her past and the decisions shes made up to this point. And yet, as the story evolves and shapes, both in her confessional book and in the story, slowly she finds herself within the wordsshe finds her humanity, the humanity of others, and the heart shes long walled off.

The Ghostwriter is a beautiful, soul-moving story that any woman can find pieces of themselves in. The writing was eloquent, its story bold and consuming. Not many books move me to sob-like tears, but this one snuck up on me and ripped me apart. It will leave you bereft of words, floating within its carefully constructed world, and not knowing if youll ever come down from its high. This is Torre at her best, her words their most beguiling and enchanting, all so very remarkable in their job to tell you an unstoppable force of a story.
3011173
In this transcendent prose, the brutal life that Polly lives before the fire stands in striking contrast to the life of the Shaker community in which she finds refuge.  She bears a deep secret of the times that drove her brother and herself to be brought the community for refuge.  Her mother, driven by her secrets, and burdened by her failure to protect her children in the past, flees into the world once again.

Polly inadvertently  finds herself heralded as a Visionist, one who sees the love of the Founder during the ecstasy of her first service.  The descriptions of the rapture of the faithful and the pleasure of a simple life enmesh the reader even as Polly is woven into the settlement.  Yet the fissures in the village appear, and the venom of the world remains in hearts.  In the hearts of her one true friend and in the strengthening of the fire investigator's determination to help her, I see the traces of true spirit.

This book bravely approaches the "Narrow Path" to goodness.  The answer is not as it is held by many, but I believe the author has achieved a lovely dance of her own.  Certainly it is not simple.  I found the book subtle and beautiful in its approach to the seekers within it.  The Shaker dream is lovely in its simple quest and heartbreaking when it fails in some souls.  The questions rebound in the reader's mind making this a gifted piece of writing.
739517
Cloud Cuckoo Land begins life as an engaging coming of age story, told in a fresh and authentic adolescent voice.  It's impossible not to be drawn into young Miri's world as she describes her chaotic childhood, nonexistent father, irresponsible mother, and frequent moves.  We're there with Miri as she finds a sane refuge with her grandmother in Texas, and there with her as that refuge is taken away.  Unlike some coming of age novels, however, Cloud Cuckoo Land doesn't run out of steam as its heroine grows up.  As Miri moves from child to homeless teenager to young woman finding her way as a musician, her voice stays strong and her journeys and struggles are painted just as vividly.

Some books seem to evoke their own soundtrack, and this is one of them, from an old Patsy Cline song heard from a passing Cadillac on a flat Texas highway to early REM drifting out of a diner at 5 a.m. on a grey, haunted Philadelphia morning.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is realistic fiction that isn't mundane.  Like the mythical place recalled by its title, this beautifully written novel has a strange magic that can't really be defined; it's hard to categorize and just as hard to forget.
1488911
This is a truly beautiful and very sensitively written novel.  The author has captured the thoughts, the feelings and the constant worries and scares of people caught up in the frightening maelstrom of their land being occupied by a malevolent foe.  We sense the concern as well as the creativity of a father whose wise efforts to help his blind daughter Laurie grow and survive take precedence over all else.  And how the housekeeper and uncle also step up, not only to the challenge of the daughter's disability, but also to their desire to do what they can to thwart the occupiers.  It is too easy to forget how war brings out both the good and bad in people, and also how easy it is for those in power to bend many people to their will.  But in the end, I was not surprised at the young German Pfennig's humanity revealed in a beautiful though sad conclusion.
2725729
Beautifully developed characters that stick with you (especially the main character) long after you have finished the book. Fine and insightful writing bring Wayne, and those closest to him, vividly to life. So much so, that I have to remind myself that the book, and it's people, are fictional. The story is both heart warming and heart breaking, sometimes simultaneously. A wonderful literary work, that I highly recommend.
4414031
This is an interesting look at one women's unease, both with herself and with her life. Trapped into an unequal and disinterested marriage, Laura has stopped doing all the things she once dreamed of, and although she doesn't know how unhappy she is, all it takes is the chance meeting in a hotel lobby with a stranger, and the five days that follow show Laura just how magical life can still be if only you are prepared to follow your heart.

Beautifully written from the beginning Five Days is one of my favourite Douglas Kennedy books to date. He gets into Laura's character so perfectly that the book could so easily have been written by a female author. The interpretation throughout is flawless and the ability to dissect the minutiae of everyday life is exemplary. With its combination of regret, fidelity, family values and second chances, this story really tugs at your heart strings, and the conclusion, when it comes, is skilfully completed.
3918849
This book is stunning, magical realism at its BEST. Some stories envelop you so completely that pieces of dialogue and elements of setting linger in your mind long after the last page. HOUR OF THE BEES is such a story. Utterly captivating atmosphere (the ranch feels ALIVE), characters so multi-dimensional they lift off the page, immersive themes that hit you on a gut-level, all woven with moments of love and loss that grip your heart and twist your insides. Eagar forces readers to take a hard look at love in all its flawed wonder. She weaves tales within tales, her lyrical writing casting a spell until you can't differentiate between what is real, and what is even MORE REAL. This book has all the feels, and is grounded with important themes of self-identity, aging and loss, devotion, sacrifice, and the power of love.
1119298
Marie Mockett's beautifully written tale may be set in a fairy-tale-like landscape but deals with the truth of the ferocity of mother-daughter love.  We root for her impetuous heroine, Satomi, as she navigates the world with and without her mother as she comes into her own womanhood.  Mockett's masterfully combined the coming-of-age story of the talented Satomi with that of a mystery/ghost story.  Also, the book is a moving story that reflects the real experience of people who are biracial or bicultural--a sensitive and perceptive portrait of the Hapa experience.
4319607
Be prepared to leave the night light on, because this is one of those rare books that will haunt your dreams.

Gerard Freeman is a timid, antisocial librarian who lives with his mother Phyllis--a seemingly cold, strange and secretive woman who appears tormented by something "terrible" that happened in her past. In Gerard's mind only two things are alive: his mysterious pen pal Alice, with whom he has been exchanging letters for many years, and a story he found hidden in his mother's drawer years ago written by his great-grandmother Viola. He's always been curious by his mother's childhood, but Phyllis never talks about it. In fact, the mere mention of it fills her with an inward terror, not so much for herself as for her son. In spite of Phyllis' protests, Gerard decides to travel to England to investigate her past and meet his beautiful Alice, who is confined to a wheelchair. As he discovers more of Viola's stories, a sinister pattern begins to form. But what connects the stories together? Where does his beautiful pen pal Alice fit into all this, and why does she always come up with an excuse to delay their meeting? What, if any, was his mother's crime? All these questions and more are answered in a hair-raising conclusion that will keep readers glued to the book until the last page.

The author has an exquisite, traditional style that is highly reminiscent of 19th century ghost stories. Harwood has done a brilliant job in creating a complex, intricate plot of "stories within stories," and achieving a chilling, macabre atmosphere all throughout the novel. There's no gore; the horror is suggested, making it all the more powerful and ghoulish to the human mind. There's also an eerie quality of unreality to the story, making the reader wonder what is real and what is dream. Because of this quality, it is important to read the story carefully, especially towards the ending, in order not to be confused. That said, this is one of those books that many people, including this reviewer, will want to read a second time just for the pure pleasure of it.

The Ghost Writer is an addictive, totally absorbing read. Fans of ghost stories will relish this one. So will anyone who enjoys a beautifully written, mesmerizing novel with lots of suspense and heavy atmosphere.
1798051
I found Butterfly House to be a powerful story that captured me in the first few pages and didn't let me go until I closed the book. The characters are hauntingly real, warts and all. Preston's transition from the past--Bobbi Lee's childhood and the people and events that shaped her--to the present and Roberta's adult world, is seamless. Each switch spun me to a place in the story that either deepened the mystery or added to the drama. And, the change in voice from story-telling third person to first person present tense, was masterfully done.  Preston brilliantly weaves together strands of love, loyalty, family, secrets, and self-discovery into an intriguing story written in prose I found rich enough to savor. If you are looking for a book that's hard to put down, one that when you finish the last page you say, "wow!" then I recommend  Butterfly House. You are in for a literary treat.
3210980
The Grave Tender is a haunting and beautifully woven southern gothic about a broken family and the love that binds them together. The story starts slow as the story introduces Hadley, her friends, family, and their small town which on the surface seems idyllic. Its the sort of town where everyone knows each other over generations, but the smiling town hides many secrets.

What I loved most about this book was how it dealt with matters of appearance. Its easy to point fingers and blame those that look the most guilty, who are the most eccentric. Its the folly of letting appearances dictate our perception of the people around us. Evil is committed every day by seemingly normal people, and true monsters masquerade under the guise of banality. The book deals with some of the most horrifying situations a person can go through with extreme delicacy. Not everyone has a happy ending, sometimes there are crimes that go unpunished, victims never receive justice, some wounds heal but many more never do. I cried so much while reading this book because of how close to home it hit for me, I was honestly touched.

I cant say much more about the book because its really the sort of story that needs to be experienced without spoilers. I will however note that the content in this book is difficult to stomach. For a survivor of domestic abuse it can be either cathartic or utterly horrifying. I cautiously recommend this book for those ready for a poignant and unflinchingly honest exploration of domestic abuse.
4821431
The first thing Maddie knows is that she's dead--other than that, she just is. She doesn't know where she is, who she is, or what's going on. But then she encounters lost objects from her life, and each one takes her back to the events in her life during which she lost them. Slowly her memory is restored, and Maddie learns that she can even alter the outcome of each event. Each object brings her closer to the person she was before--and the truth behind her death.

The Everafter is a one of a kind, luminous debut. Amy Huntley's imagined abstract after world--what it's like and how it works--is wonderfully wrought and keenly described. With great feeling and honesty, Huntley carefully peels back each layer of Maddie's life, exploring her character, and how each person she knew had an effect on her life. Huntley's eye for detail is remarkable, and the questions and ideas she presents in a simple, probing manner will get readers thinking about life and the meaning of our own existence. Moving, unique, and imaginatively told, The Everafter is a novel about life, loss, acceptance, and powerful love that will resonate with many readers, especially fans of Gayle Forman's If I Stay.
2616839
This sorta-autobiography (heavily fictionalized, according to the author) is an amazing trip to yesteryear that is hauntingly, beautifully written.  My own teen years were two decades earlier yet every bit of this story felt familiar, like these were people I had also grown up with.  Opening on her 16th birthday, this story touches on her relationship with Knight but focuses on her relationship with Harley.  And what an explosive relationship that was!  The author's first-person narrative is raw and visceral, examining her stark reality with brutal honesty and a wicked sense of humor.  This is part of a larger story, but it reads well as a standalone.  It's definitely a read-all-at-once book - there's no putting this aside until you've reached the very end.  The glossary was absolutely brilliant: It was put in the front so it not only makes sure the readers are informed but reading through it sets the tone for the rest of the book as well.
3584056
Levy masterfully twines the stories of a dozen different - very different - lives into a beautiful, overarching narrative following the events of one hot August day in 1968. Her grasp of human nature, and of how we are shaped by and rebel against our environment creates irresistible, compelling characters who we can't help but love and loathe at the same time, even as we recognize ourselves in them. "Chicago" is hard to read slowly - the story makes you want to race through it to find out what happens next. But it deserves to be read slowly, and then over again, to savor the nuance and deeply human interplay from which Levy has woven this haunting and memorable novel.
1590379
I received a copy of Stony Kill as a gift and right from the first page I was drawn into the author's remarkable prose, and her gripping story that kept me turning page after page long into the night. The protagonist, Joss both as an adult and as a child, narrates this story of her life as a young woman trying to make sense of her family and her choices. The characters seem like real people with their all too human passions and foibles. The descriptions of her family's farm in upstate New York is breathtaking, the author somehow paints in words. The story is haunting in its sorrow and but hopeful and redemptive in the end. Highly recommend this book not only for the timely story, but also for Ms. Small's facility with language. I lapped up her words like a cat at a bowl of cream . . . This one is not to be missed.