That Summer by Jennifer Weiner

 

Last year's Big Summer was the first Jennifer Weiner book I'd read and I enjoyed it very much. That Summer has completely different characters, but Cape Cod plays a big role in this novel, too. 

Diana Scalzi is fifteen years old and has the world ahead of her the summer she spends on Cape Cod, nannying for her mom's friend Dr. Levy. She even meets a boy named Poe who just graduated from Emlen, a private boy's school that is the place to send the sons of the wealthy and powerful. They spend time on the beaches, getting to know one another. Diana is smitten, and believes Poe is, too. 

Until one night, at the end of the summer, when Poe gets her drunk, and rapes her. It changes Diana forever. Revenge comes back years later, just when she thinks she's able to let go and move on. However, Diana finds out revenge isn't that easy.

Diana "Daisy" Shoemaker is married to Hal, an older, handsome lawyer. Their daughter Beatrice is a teenager who recently was kicked out of Hal's alma mater, Emlen. Daisy is the woman who keeps the family running--always putting Hal's needs before her own. She keeps getting the wrong emails-emails for another Diana. Soon they form a friendship and begin meeting each other for lunch and dinner. Who is this new friend, and what does she want from Daisy?

Yes, you guessed it--Daisy's friend is none other than Diana Scalzi. Whatever Diana has planned, she never planned on actually liking Daisy and Beatrice. Does she continue on her path of revenge, or walk away before confronting Hal?

So I've got to admit I was not expecting a story about a teenage rape and the drive to avenge. I didn't really read any blurbs about the novel, so that was surprising. I much preferred Big Summer--it was a much more solid plot This plot seemed a bit thin and there wasn't much driving it forward. I was hoping Daisy would stand up to Hal in a really big way, but had to wait a long time for any kind of tough Daisy. 

It wasn't a bad story; I was just underwhelmed and had hoped for more. Warning there is a rape scene in this novel (it is not graphic) so if this is a sensitive subject for you this may be a tough read. 

I'll keep reading Jennifer Weiner and hope her next novel is a bit different than That Summer. 

Rating: 3/6 for a novel about a woman who is haunted by her tragic past and cannot move forward until she confronts her rapist. In doing so, she finds innocent casualties in her drive for revenge. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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That Summer by Jennifer Weiner

The Dress in the Window by Sofia Grant

Hi all. Hope everyone is staying safe, taking care of themselves, and watching out for loved ones. Books seem to be even more important than ever as this pandemic unfolds and grows. 

I am at home for the next week, so my world is pretty darn small. I'm used to being alone, so that is good. But I do miss going out, seeing my work friends, and especially being with my partner. But I'm in touch with a lot of folks via facebook, texting, snapchat, and facebook messenger. My gym is amazing, and has started virtual workouts every day so I've taken advantage of that. I can officially say they are tough workouts--lots of squats, lunges, and core movements. I am sore! 

As I've on the Bookalicious Babe facebook page, I've struggled to finish any books in the past week. Really struggled. But I've been given a good kick in the butt, thanks to my job. I'm working on doing short videos reviewing books for my library. So, I've set a goal to read a book a day, and do a quick review on each one. It keeps me from watching TV (and cleaning my house) and it's a chance to read from my stacks. And that's where this book came from!

The Dress in the Window has been on my shelves since 2017. I thought it was a novel about two sisters who work together to create a design house. I was wrong. Wow. It kept unfolding and sending me in another direction I wasn't expecting. 

A short recap:  Jeanne and Peggy are two sisters in their late 20's in 1948. Peggy's husband Thomas was killed in WW2, along with Jeanne's soon to be fiancé, Charles. They both live with Peggy's mother in law, Thelma, and Peggy's young daughter Tommie. It's a struggle to make ends meet, with Jeanne working two jobs and doing sewing on the side. Peggy takes care of Tommie, but longs to put her artistic talent to work. Thelma has a few pretty big secrets she's been keeping from the sisters; one especially that could make their lives a lot easier. The dynamic between the sisters is interesting; both envy the other, yet love each other very much. Thelma is resentful of the way her life turned out--her husband died young, and wasn't exactly the best thing around, either. Her son Thomas died in WW 2, and she's got a young granddaughter who she loves, but frustrates her with her wild behavior. 

As the story moves along, you get to know each of the three women better, and understand what drives each of them. It's a tale of the changing choices in women's lives after WW 2; the frustrations of having to choose between family and a potential brilliant career, and the secrets we keep that can come out at the wrong time and destroy fragile relationships. 

It wasn't at all what I expected, but it was better than what I expected. A lot of surprises for sure!  A solid historical novel about a time that I haven't read much about. Definitely would make a good book group discussion. 

Rating: 4/6 for a novel about sisters, mothers and daughters, ambition, natural talent, and the desire to want better for yourself. A fascinating look at the changing women's fashion industry after WW 2. 

Available in paperback, ebook, and audio. 

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The Dress in the Window by Sofia Grant

Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

I finally finished Time's Convert yesterday afternoon, after two weeks of reading a little bit, setting it down, then coming back to it. I wanted to take my time, and enjoy it, since I've been waiting some time to get back to the world of Diana and Matthew de Clermont.  

So I'll just blurt it all out: I enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away by it. 

There. I said it. 

Settling into this novel felt a bit like revisiting old friends, and I was pretty happy to be back with Diana and Matthew, and Ysabeau, and the whole world of the de Clermont vampire family. It was pretty great to see how Diana and Matthew are fairing as parents to Becca and Philip, their adorable twins--who are a mix of witch and vampire. Where their talents will lie, no one knows. And the rarity of these two little people (witches and vampires have never been able to have offspring, and normally avoid each other) means that there will come a day of reckoning for their parents and for both of them. That is an underlying tension in the novel, but I kept saying to myself "They're just babies, so there's plenty of time."  I suspect, and I hope, Deborah Harkness crafts a compelling tale of adult Becca and Philip.  

But, the big part of this story concerns Phoebe Taylor, a warmblood, and Marcus MacNeil, a vampire. They're in love, and were featured in the first three novels that make up the All Souls Trilogy. Now Phoebe has decided to become a vampire, so she can wed Marcus and live with him for, well, a very long time. It's not just a matter of biting someone, draining their blood, and bingo! vampire presto. There's a protocol to follow, and Phoebe and Marcus aren't allowed to see each other for 90 days after Phoebe has turned. After the 90 days, they reunite, and she officially claims Marcus as her mate. But within those 90 days, she has to learn how to move through the world as a vampire. There's a lot to learn, and it's not easy. 

Marcus stays with Diana and Matthew, who is his maker, and in vampire families, that makes Matthew Marcus' father, and Diana his step-mother. Another big chunk of the novel is about Marcus; who he was as a human, how he was turned by Matthew, and what he's done until present day. It's an interesting tale that centers on the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the horrible childhood Marcus had at the hands of an abusive and alcoholic father. You get to know Marcus very well, and follow him on his journey as a young vampire. He makes plenty of mistakes, and gets in trouble with his family over and over again. Much of what he does haunts him, and he is concerned when Phoebe does drink from him, she will be disgusted at his deep secrets. Cause when you're a vampire, when you drink blood, you see everything about that person--no secret is hidden. 

There really wasn't much tension in this novel, and that was good and bad. The trilogy was so damn good, in part because Diana and Matthew as a couple were so forbidden, and Diana was struggling to accept her family history as witches, and come into her own immense power. There was none of that in this story, which I kind of missed. But seeing Diana and Matthew as parents, and happily living their lives (as well as they can as de Clermont) was sweet. It was all enough to keep me turning pages, and enjoying what I read. But it wasn't OMG THIS IS SO GOOD I CAN'T STAND IT!

Thank you, Deborah Harkness for another peek into the wonderful world you created. I am ready for more!

Rating:  4/6 for the continuing tale of the de Clermont family, and their fascinating experiences living through some of history's most dramatic and legendary moments. 

Available in hardcover, audio, and ebook. 

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Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

I've been missing my historical fiction, so I was glad to pull this off my bookshelf and dive into it.  Of course I read Water for Elephants years ago; if I remember correctly, I even read the hardcover on the way to Chicago to visit a museum exhibit with my sister Pam.  I did attempt to read this book when it first came out, but I admit I tried and just didn't get into it.  

Now, a year later, it's in paperback, and I forgot I'd tried to read it before and bought the paperback last month.  I think the cover is so striking you can't help but pick it up.  So glad the publisher kept the same cover from the hardcover version to the paperback.  What drew me to this book, besides the cover?  Well, the Loch Ness Monster, of course.  If it's a book that involves anything "mysterious", I'm ready to read.  

There were many comments I've read about this story in which people were disappointed and unimpressed.  I, however, am happy to say I found it a compelling read and had a hard time being patient when work and other tasks (sleep) kept me away from it.  No, there isn't a lot of action in this novel, but instead it is the growth of Maddie's spirit that moves the storyline.  

Maddie is a young woman married to Ellis Hyde, the son of a prosperous Philadelphia man and his socially conscious wife.  They can't stand Maddie, who's mother, while rich, was known as a beautiful flirt, and a crazy one at that.  Unhappily married to Maddie's father, she made Maddie's life hell, and poor Maddie grew up completely unloved by either parent.  She thought she'd found love with Ellis, but was vaguely dissatisfied with her young marriage, and terrified of her mother-in-law and her obvious disdain for Maddie.  Ellis and his best pal Hank are two men who have been kept out of World War 2 by color-blindness (Ellis) and flat feet (Hank).  They spend their days in Philadelphia sleeping away nights of drinking and partying, with no cares in the world.  Soon enough, Ellis makes a giant drunken mistake at a party, and his parents kick him and Maddie out of their home, leaving them with lots of luggage and little else.  In a desperate bid to redeem himself, Ellis decides they will travel to Scotland--in the middle of World War 2--and find the Loch Ness monster.  Ellis' father had years previously done the same thing, and had been humiliated after claiming proof of the monster's existence.

With nowhere to go, Maddie travels to Scotland with Ellis and Hank.  Their reception in a remote village on the banks of the loch is chilly and they aren't made very welcome.  Maddie, stuck at the inn while Ellis and Hank go off in attempts to spot the monster, slowly begins to form friendships with the women who help at the inn:  Anna and Meg.  And there is the mysterious Angus, who runs the inn.  How is he connected to the headstone in the local cemetery, which bears the sad dates of a baby and mother who died just a few months apart?  

The main point of this novel is the evolution of Maddie, who comes to Scotland a cowed and unsure young woman with no control over her life and at the mercy of other people.  Her relationship with her husband undergoes a dramatic turn, and as Maddie finds out, sometimes monsters are all around us.  World War 2 is a big part of this novel, but mostly in the food rations and night time air raids Maddie experiences.  And of course, there is the suspicion by all that Ellis and Hank are perfectly health for combat, and are actually cowards.  You'll have to read At the Water's Edge to get the whole story!

Rating: 7/10 for a solid story about one woman's search for herself set against the wilds of Scotland and World War 2.  The Loch Ness monster is a background character, but adds a few surprising twists to the story.  I would recommend this as a good book club read. 

Available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audio book. 

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At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino

Madeline is nine.  She wants to be a jazz singer.  And she's amazing.  

Madeline is the center of this wonderful little jewel, 2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas.  It's the Eve of Christmas Eve in Philadelphia, and Madeline is heading to school.  She attends a catholic school, and before class, they have to go to church.  Claire, the prissy perfect girl in Madeline's class, is going to be singing a solo  hymn in church.  

Until she gets hits by a bicyclist on her way to school.  Oops.  Cue Madeline.  Her teacher, the wonderfully smart and sassy Sarina Greene, suggests Madeline sing in Claire's place.  It's a dream come true.  Madeline stands up front, opens her mouth, and just as her glorious singing is about to begin, Claire bursts through the church doors:  "I can sing!  I am here!"  

Dammit.  

And so begins Madeline's lousy Eve of Christmas Eve.  Her birthday is on Christmas Day, but her mother is dead, and her father sits in his bedroom, paralyzed by grief and listening to old jazz records.  Madeline is on her own.  The Cat's Pajamas is a jazz club in the neighborhood, and it is in trouble.  Citations mean if they're not paid, the club closes.  It's the last chance for Lorca to have a great time and maybe, just maybe pay the citations and keep his legendary club open.  But he's got problems of his own...

There are so many wonderful, quirky characters in this novel it's hard not to talk about them all.  You'll just have to discover them as you read.  I can assure you there are lines where you will laugh out loud.  Did I mention that Madeline has a mouth like a sailor?  Yes she does.  

This novel is about people all standing at a crossroads and deciding where and what to do.  Which path to take.  Do they put the past behind, and move forward?  

Anyone who read Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple will find themselves enjoying this tale of jazz, Christmas, and a little girl's dream.

Rating:  8/10 for a fantastic main character and a story that left me reluctant to turn the last page.  

Available in hardcover, e-book, and audio.

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2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino