November Read: The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson

 

It's been a bit since I last posted, but I swear I've been very busy reading! I'm in the throes of reading a lot of YA novels for a special project. I snuck this one in tonight for a quick read. 

Yes, I usually don't read any holiday books until after Thanksgiving, but I'll confess this is my second holiday book already. This was a great little novella that I read in one sitting this evening. 

The Christmas Guest is a mere 93 pages and because of that, it was a refreshing read. Okay, it's a murdery kind of book, but it was a switch from my usual cozy and romantic holiday books. The perfect palate cleanser before I dive into all the happy holiday reads. 

Peter Swanson packs a lot into this novella about a young American college student spending Christmas week with a new friend. Ashley Smith is all alone in London; a Californian who has no family and has traveled to London to attend college. Befriended by Emma at school, she's pleased to accept Emma's invite to her family home in the countryside. After all, she was prepared to spend Christmas alone in London, and heck, why not have an authentic English Christmas in the countryside?

Ashley travels to Starvewood Hall, and is instantly smitten with Emma's twin brother, Adam. He's gorgeous and brooding--and also a suspect in the recent murder of a local woman, found dead near the family home. Clearly she was murdered. Adam has an alibi, but it's pretty weak. That doesn't stop Ashley from falling hard and crushing on Adam. 

Ashley spends the week leading up to Christmas hanging out at the family home, witnessing the horrible relationship Emma has with her toxic parents, and walking to and from the village pub, drinking and having fun. She writes it all down in her trusty diary. Until Christmas Eve, and whoa the story takes a sharp turn. 

This novella spans thirty years, from 1989 to present day (give or take a few years). It seems pretty straightforward, until it's not. I loved it--even if it's not the usual sweet tale of holiday celebrations and family love that I enjoy so much.

Rating: 5/6 for a novella that sucked me in pretty quickly! A setting that has all the hallmarks of an idyllic Christmas celebration turns dark and what happens echoes down through the years. If you like short stories and thrillers, this is for you. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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November Read: The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson

October Read: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

 

Another book I started a few months ago, put down, and didn't pick up again until last night. It wasn't because I didn't enjoy it, but because I  was in my reading slump. I zipped through it and throughly enjoyed it. It does require a bit of suspended disbelief but heck I had no problem doing that!

Daisy Darker is a young woman who has had a really lousy life. Born with a heart defect, she's  been told her life would be short. Her mother Nancy feels like a failure having a third daughter who is "broken", and treats Daisy pretty lousy. Her older sisters Rose and Lily were in turn smart and beautiful. Her father Frank is equally messed up, traveling constantly to conduct orchestras around the world. The only constant Daisy has is her Nana, a famous author who lives in a rambling old house on a tiny island off the coast of England. A house you can only reach on foot when the tide is out. 

The family has gathered at Seaglass, Nana's home, for her eightieth birthday--on Halloween. It's family tradition and this time, Nana has required everyone to be there because she's going to read her will. She's convinced this is her last birthday, and wants the family to know exactly what she's leaving them when she dies. 

I've never read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, but this novel takes a page from it and every hour, someone at Seaglass dies. As a storm rages outside, and all communication with the outside world is cut off, the terror builds as the family watches VCR tapes of years gone by, revealing pivotal moments in Daisy's history. And at the ding dongs of the many clocks strike the hour, someone dies. 

Who could be killing of the family? Who is next? Will anyone survive and escape when the tide finally comes in?

This is the kind of thriller I enjoy. I'm easily able to read it and not stop to question or poke holes. I'm on the roller coaster and staying buckled in until the ride comes to a complete stop. There are a couple of WHATTT moments, but I stuck with it and thought it was a heck of a good read. Dang. Families are complicated. 

This is a perfect read for October nights. 

Rating: 4/6 for a simply enjoyable thriller with all sorts of interesting revelations and moments of WHAT JUST HAPPENED. You may figure it all out, but I didn't even try and just enjoyed the unraveling story. I may read some Agatha Christie after this. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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October Read: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

A House Full of Daughters: A Memoir of Seven Generations by Juliet Nicolson

It has been a race to the end of March to try and get all of my March reads in, and I'm just one shy.  I can't find the energy to finish that book, so I'll talk about that DNF in my next post. 

I was picking up a book at the library earlier this month, when I happened to see this in the new releases.  Curiosity had me flipping it open, and just a few minutes later I was adding it to my check out pile.  I'm so glad I saw this, because it was such a tremendously satisfying memoir.  And I finally learned something about Vita Sackville-West.  

Juliet Nicolson is the granddaughter of Vita Sackville-West, and the daughter of Nigel Nicolson, who was a well respected British politician, lecturer, author, and guardian of Sissinghurst, his mother's beautiful country home famous for its gardens.  You can visit and tour the buildings, extensive gardens, and spend the day wandering in a stunning bit of English countryside.  I've heard of Sissinghurst, and saw books on the gardens, but never really knew what it was, who owned it, and especially, who Vita Sackville-West was and why she was so scandalous.  Juliet explains it all, and explains the women in her family, starting with her great-great grandmother Pepita,  a famous Spanish flamenco dancer during the mid-19th century.  Pepita was beautiful, mysterious, and doing quite well financially touring Europe when she met and fell madly in love with Lionel Sackville-West, a British politician.  Only problem was, Pepita was married, and in 19th century Spain, divorce was pretty much impossible for women.  That didn't stop Pepita and Lionel; they ended up having five children together, with Pepita living in France with her children, and Lionel visiting.  She suffered the scorn of her neighbors, and when she died in childbirth, she left her children orphans in France; left to be raised away from their father. Years later,  Lionel and Pepita's eldest daughter Victoria eventually became his shining star in Washington, D.C.; organizing dinners and social events for her political father, and becoming so famous for her charm and beauty that proposals for marriage came fast and furious.  But Victoria was afraid of marriage; after all, she'd seen how loving a man not only made a pariah out of her mother, but ended up killing her in childbirth.  No thanks. 

But, Victoria eventually became smitten with Lionel Sackville-West, her first cousin.  He pursued her relentlessly.  She finally agreed to marriage because Lionel was the heir to her father's country estate Knoles, and Victoria loved that home with all her being.  Her marriage crumbled, though, after Victoria gave birth to Vita.  The whole ordeal of childbirth terrified her so that she forbade her husband to ever have sex with her again, and that began the slow decline of their marriage, and another bit of dysfunction to add to the Sackville-West family.

Oh, there is so much more to tell you!  I found this all fascinating.  So many strong women, but each was also so fragile in their own ways; there is a definite pattern of neglect/smothering love/frustration in each generation.  It was sad to see how damaging it was to everyone, especially the children.  Juliet also suffered from an unhappy mother; her mother married into the Sackville-West family through Juliet's father Nigel, the son of Vita Sackville-West and Henry Nicolson.  Both were famous in their time; mostly because Vita was a gifted author, and notorious for her affairs with women.  Henry also fooled around with men, but somehow their marriage lasted until Vita's death; quietly devoted to each other.  

What this memoir struck in me was the realization that I don't have the luxury of talking to my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.  They're all gone, and I have no way of knowing what they were like, what they went through as young women.  They didn't keep diaries; there are only pictures to help piece together what life was like for them all those years ago.  Juliet is incredibly lucky; lucky that she is a gifted writer; lucky that she has the family papers,  Sissinghurst and Knoles to visit and discover little bits of history tucked into attics and drawers.  But Juliet understands all of that, and has crafted a memoir that is a love letter to all the women who came before her, and to her daughters and granddaughter who follow.  

Rating: 5/6 for a memoir that reads like a novel, about the generations of women in one family and how they shaped each generation to follow. This was so good! 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

 

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A House Full of Daughters: A Memoir of Seven Generations by Juliet Nicolson

My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry

I always start out a new year with a whole bunch of reading rules in my head.  I look at what I read the year before, see the patterns, and decide I have to pay attention to the genres that didn't get much reading from me.  Chick lit is still one of my favorite genres, but it certainly has gone through a bit of a change since I read Jemima J by Jane Green years ago. I still love my Jenny Colgan, my Jane Green, my Katie Fforde; my fun and frothy novels.

 But  I have to say, there's a new chick lit in town, and it's the woman/dysfunctional marriage/drama/maybe someone will die/oh there's a twist  sub-genre.  I think it's still chick lit, but a much darker side.  These novels are definitely written with a female audience in mind: Gone Girl, Girl on the Train, The Woman in Cabin Ten...you get the picture. 

My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry fits into that category, but it is different from the other novels I've mentioned above.  It sounded intriguing, so when I received a review copy, I dove right in without thinking too much about what to expect.  This was the perfect way to approach this story, because there's no way I would have been even close to guessing what would happen--and a lot happens.

The novel starts with someone's murder.  Just a short blip, but enough to tell you to hang on for an interesting ride.  Move back fifteen years, and we meet Lily and Ed, two newlyweds living in London.  They've just come back from an Italian honeymoon after a whirlwind courtship, and Lily has to go back to work as a lawyer.  Ed works in advertising, and desperately wants to be an artist.  Their relationship is very new, and very awkward.  It's pretty clear Lily and Ed have some work to do if they want this marriage to last.  Lily's boss has moved Lily to a different kind of law work:  she's been assigned the case of a prisoner in jail who's been convicted of murdering his girlfriend, but wants to appeal. Lily is in no way ready for this, but has no choice--she needs her job (Ed isn't a very good breadwinner).  She visits the jail, and meets the enigmatic Joe Thomas.  Mild mannered looking, he reminds Lily of her adopted brother Daniel, and that's where the fatal attraction begins.  Joe is not all he seems; Lily quickly becomes deeply entangled in his appeal and upcoming court case.  Meanwhile, Ed struggles to find his muse, and the tension between the two is painful!  

Enter little Carla and her mother Francesca.  They live in the same apartment building as Lily and Ed; Francesca is a sales clerk and Carla is a deeply unhappy little girl who's bullied at school for her dark Italian looks and her lapses into speaking Italian during the day.  Francesca's got a sugar daddy, and Carla figures out how to use his desire to keep certain things secret in order to transfer to another school, get a bike, and get her way in a lot of things.  

Ed and Lily's life intersects with Carla and you just know things are going to get bad.  And they do...but not for 15 years.  Move forward 15 years; Lily is a successful lawyer, Ed tries to be a successful artist.  He's actually just an alcoholic.  Marriage is still intact, but so dysfunctional it's no wonder Lily works all the time.  They have a son, Tom, who is such a challenge that he's another added stress.  Joe Thomas is still in the picture, lurking....why won't he leave Lily alone?  I know....but you're going to have to read the book.

Carla arrives back in their lives.  She's now 23, gorgeous, and has a giant grudge.  She wants what Lily has, and does her best to get it.  You know what they say about the grass is always greener?  Well, Carla gets to find out if that's true.  

There are so many twists in this story that you're never quite sure what's going to happen next.  Everyone has a secret; Lily has more than a few.  She's a good person trapped by a few little lies that turned into potentially life-destroying secrets.  No one here (besides Joe) is really a bad person. Circumstances and poor choices made them what they are; those choices keep propelling them all towards an inevitable nightmarish crash.  Yes, you are  on the roller coaster until the very last page.  What a ride. 

I was totally surprised by this book in a very good way.  All of the characters are flawed and every one of them have issues from their pasts that drive them to do destructive things.  It's a tale of revenge, opportunity, lust, frustration, and that sense of being trapped and feeling helpless to get out.  But there are ways to get out...

Thank you to Penguin/Viking for a review copy.  Wow!  This was a really good read, and refreshingly different in the female thriller/dark chick lit genre. You'll find yourself thinking about it long after you've turned the last page. It would make a really good book club choice!

Rating:  8/10 for a tangled weave of past and present, deadly secrets, destruction, and a marriage that struggles under the weight of two flawed people.  

Available in hardcover, e-book, and audio. 

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My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry