The Bone Cay by Eliza Nellums

 

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This novel wasn't on my TBR list until I came across it at work. A quick glance at the cover had me quickly checking it out and taking it home.

Magda Trudell is the caretaker of the Whimbrel Estate in Key West, the home of poet Isobel Reyes. Isobel famously walked off the dock near her home in 1918, drowning in the ocean. Her body was never found. Now, that reputation has people visiting the area to also end their lives. Magda makes it part of her duties to walk the beach and check the mangroves to see if any bodies appear. Not exactly what a caretaker should be doing on a daily basis. 

Madga has fought and fought to get extra funding for the Whimbrel Estate. She's poured all her love and admiration for Isobel's poetry into her life and is an expert on Isobel's poetry. She's been caretaker of the estate for ten years, and has fought tooth and nail to preserve the gorgeous estate and bring a historic landmark designation to it. Unfortunately, she's been unsuccessful. She has one more chance to try for the designation; funding is guaranteed if she's successful.

Unfortunately, there's a major hurricane forming and heading right towards Key West. Magda decides she's going to stay at Whimbrel and take on the storm. It goes against everything--everyone is being evacuated. But Madga won't leave the estate, and is confident it will survive the hurricane. 

As the storm approaches and hits, it quickly becomes apparent it is a monster hurricane, with relentless rain and winds. It's just not stopping or lessening in intensity. Magda makes a fascinating discovery after the gift shop is damaged--one that could turn the story of Isobel completely around, and change the future of the Whimbrel Estate--and Magda, too. But will she survive the hurricane?

There's more to the story, but I don't want to give it all away--more characters, too. Part thriller, part ghost story, it's also a nail biter as the hurricane just keeps clawing its way onshore, creeping closer and closer to the house. It brings a lot of darkness with it, and it soon becomes a battle of survival for Magda. 

I enjoyed this novel, but it did take me a bit to finish it. I kept putting it down and picking it up. I thought the plot was very interesting, but Madga, darn it--she annoyed me sometimes. Her stubbornness was not admirable in the face of such a terrible storm. The action does build with the introduction of a few other characters, with a twisty turn towards the end. 

Rating: 3/6 for an interesting plot thick with the history of Key West, ghostly happenings, and a hurricane determined to destroy everything in its path. It's definitely human vs. nature. 

Available in hardcover, audio and Kindle ebook. 

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The Bone Cay by Eliza Nellums

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

If the beautiful cover art of this novel doesn't grab you, the story inside will certainly do the trick. I've had my ins and outs with this novel, but I've finally finished it, and it was worth the struggle. 

I know, and yet I do it probably every month: spend weeks reading a book that I really should read in a matter of days. Taking too long to read a novel ensures my interest will wane, even if it's a wonderful story. That's what happened with Ten Thousand Doors. Yet somehow, a Thanksgiving miracle happened at the last moment and turned it all around. 

I've been pecking at this novel since early November. I'd read glowing reviews, blurbs, and of course saw the cover, so I was prepared to be wowed from the get go and not be able to put it down. 

I was wrong-partly. I got about 100 pages in, and was stuck. Knowing it was my last book to read and review this month was weighing on me, and I knew I had to dive in and finish it. I dove back in the other night, and got a little farther. Okay, it was growing on me. Then last night, I had the chance to just lay on my couch and read for a few hours. So I did, but those few hours had me reading until after 11 PM, when I reluctantly put it down because my eyes were bugging out! I had a chance to read again today, on a gloomy Tuesday when I wasn't feeling so hot and was needing some distraction from a nagging headache. 

I'm happy to say I finished it today, and it was superbly written. Wow, Alix Harrow is a master storyteller, and this is one imaginative story. January Scaller is a young teenager, living with her guardian, Mr. Locke, in a mansion in Vermont filled with museum quality pieces from around the world. The man responsible for collecting those pieces is January's father, Julian. He travels the world, and January doesn't see him very much. She's awful alone, and her skin-tone--a dusky red/brown, ensures she's only treated kindly because she's under the care of Mr. Locke. She's pretty secluded, and all she wants to do is be with her father on her travels. 

One day, January finds a strange little book tucked away in a special spot. That book is the gateway to January's grandest adventures, full of dangers, death, far away worlds, and men who will stop at nothing to grab January and keep her under lock and key. January, you see, is unlike most other teenage girls. She's got some serious gifts, and as she reads the journal, she slowly begins to understand her yearning for other places and adventures. She begins to find her way home. 

I'm woefully inadequate telling you the plot of this book, but I don't want to give anything away. I did have a bit of trouble understanding what was going on and why this journal was plopped down in the middle of the story, but oh, after spending some time diving into the story, it all became clear. It's a story within a story for sure, just like there are doors within doors, and worlds within worlds. 

I thought of my sad attempt at NaNoWriMo this month (I happily stopped writing after 10 days and no inspiration), and was blown away by the talent Alix Harrow has for crafting such an imaginative and outstanding novel. Pure magic. I was reading in bed last night, and I actually stopped and said out loud "A ha! This is where it kicks into high gear!"

I'd gift this book to any YA readers; folks who like fantasy, or adventure novels; people who enjoy a well crafted story. It would make, in the best hands, an amazing movie. I don't want a sequel--this novel finishes as it should, and I'm content. 

Rating: 6/6 for an inventive, magical, outstanding novel about stories, worlds, families, love, and healing. Finding your place. Embracing your gifts. I highly recommend this novel!

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

I've joined the thousands of other readers who have jumped on the crawdad wagon (or boat). I've been reading recently that Delia Owens has the distinct honor of having the one fiction book that in the past few years  has sold over 1 million copies in hardcover. The novel in second place comes in at around 750,000 copies sold in hardcover. That's a heck of a lot of books sent out in the world, and that doesn't even count the ebooks and audio books purchased!  Pretty impressive for a first novel, wouldn't you say?

So what is it about Where the Crawdads Sing that resonates so deeply with so many people? I think it's a few things, at least that was the case for me. Kya, oh Lord, she broke my heart. It took me quite a while to be able to come to terms with the fact that her entire family abandoned a little girl and left her alone to fend for herself. And the townsfolk of Barkley Cove did nothing to help this little girl. How she survived and thrived are the magic of the story. Nature-the marsh and all the wonders it held nurtured and protected her. The marsh was her mother, her provider, her teacher, her friend. Kya loved it as she would her family, and the relationship between Kya and the marsh are the foundation of this amazing story. 

Delia Owens' writing makes you wish for a secluded cabin, a boat, and time alone. Kya's life is rough--nearly penniless, she survives on grits and what she can gather from the marsh. Uneducated, until Tate comes along, and teaches her to read. Jumping' and Mabel were the closest folks she had to family, and their relationship sustained her through some rough times. Tate, the boy who loved the Marsh Girl with all he had, but still hurt her. And there is the mystery of Chase Andrew's death on that October night in 1969. The story bounces back and forth between the early 1950's and 1970, as Kya's story unfolds.  

Kya is one of those unforgettable characters that you don't often meet in fiction. How this little girl grew to be a brilliant naturalist, purely because she so loved the marsh and everything in it, is an unforgettable story. The writing is effortless, and simply stunning. It makes you itch to grab a sketch pad and sit somewhere and observe nature. It reminded me of my fascination with the children's book Pagoo by Holling C. Holling when I was a child. I actually spent time attempting to recreate the illustrations about Pagoo, the hermit crab and his life in the tide pool. I still have that book, and love to look at it. 

But this novel isn't just about a young girl surviving in the marsh. It's about family, abandonment, stereotypes, shunning others who we see as different, prejudice, conforming to society's expectations, and most of all, love and trust. And oh, by golly, strength to get through the worst life can hand you and come out the other side and into a new day. 

So yes, if you haven't read this, please do. It will give you a new appreciation for nature, and the beauty around us that we seem to cavalierly destroy just for the sake of progress. And read it because it's a damn good story. 

Rating: 6/6 for a multi-layered novel about a young girl raising herself in the marshes of North Carolina during the 1950's and 1960's. You will smell the water, squish the mud between your toes, and feel the breeze on your face. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister

I was pretty excited to read the latest novel from Erica Bauermeister. Her first novel: The School of Essential Ingredients was a top read for me, so I was all ready to dive into her latest project. While her first few novels concentrated on food, this novel explores the world of scent. And I'm happy to say, it's just as magical as I expected. 

At first I was a little lost, trying to figure out the story, and especially the when of the story. I think it's deliberate in this case-not being very specific on a year, a decade. But, I quickly figured out it is contemporary-first tip was a cell phone. But it starts out on a small island; a very small, isolated island somewhere off the coast of...somewhere? I'm guessing British Columbia, but I could be wrong. While this may irritate some readers, I like that it leaves me to decide. All I really need to know is Emmeline and her father are living on a small island, in a cabin, and they are quite content. 

Emmeline and her father have a magic machine in their cabin: it produces bits of paper that have fragrances on them--the scents of moments; memories captured on paper. It's like a photograph of a place, but instead of seeing a picture, you smell that specific moment in time. There are hundreds of tiny glass bottles with bits of paper sealed inside and arranged on a wall in the cabin. Each is a scent memory her father has captured. But as Emmeline grows from a small child into a pre-teen, she begins to figure out that her father hasn't been truthful with her, and her fairy-tale life on the island takes a turn that ends in tragedy and complete disillusion for Emmeline. 

Emmeline's life after the island, living with two dear souls who love her, and take care of her, is fairly peaceful-except for the constant bullying at school. Her gift for scent-being able to parse them out, bit by bit, teasing all the high, low, and middle notes, is highly unusual-but of course it's a cause for bullying. 

I don't want to tell you more, because I want you to read this and enjoy the unfolding of this story. It's so elegantly written; the fragrances of Emmeline's surroundings are so vividly written you can almost smell them. Just how much does scent play into our memories? I know when I smell a freshly lit cigarette, I immediately think of my Dad. It's a childhood memory that will never fade. The smell of freshly brewed coffee always brings me back to my Aunt Judy's house, and our Christmas visits-it always smelled like coffee, and reminds me of love, home, and happiness. 

After a bit of a long start (I couldn't concentrate long enough to dive in!), I settled into this story and then had a heck of a time putting it down. It really is a feast for your senses; I hope you also experience the magic of Emmeline's gift, and her journey to finding peace. The biggest mystery is the unexplained puzzle of her father and her mother. Who is she? Where did she come from? What does it all mean?

A perfect vacation book. It made me long for my childhood stays at a cabin resort in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. We had a cabin and we fished, swam, took boat rides, and had a wonderful time. I can still smell the exhaust from the boats, the scent of the water, and the taste of cold strawberry pop from a bottle. 

Rating: 4/6 for a novel that explores how we build our memories and sense of comfort from scents we hold dear to our hearts. Emmeline is a compelling character who grows from a small child to a young woman over the course of the novel. I hope you enjoy this read as much as I did!

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister