Edithsbookpicks: ClaireFuller: The swimming lessons, Fig Tree (Peng...

Edithsbookpicks: ClaireFuller: The swimming lessons, Fig Tree (Peng...: Claire Fuller: The swimming lessons, Fig Tree (Penguin Random House UK), 9780241252178, Trade Paperback Not many books stay with you a...

Claire Fuller: The swimming lessons, Fig Tree (Penguin Random House UK), 9780241252178, Trade Paperback

Not many books stay with you after you have finished reading.  “The Swimming Lessons” by Claire Fuller falls into that category.  This emotional, gentle book retelling the story of a family set somewhere along the English coast touched me deeply.  Claire Fuller is a first rate storyteller and her language is exquisite. I really fell in love with the characters, the story and the writing – if you are looking for a non-soapy family story, this is my choice.

The book opens with this sentence: “Gil Coleman looked down from the first floor window of the bookshop and saw his dead wife standing on the pavement.” 

And from there I was hooked, taking in the story the Coleman family, Gil, the professor and famous writer, Ingrid, former student of Gil’s  and mother to  Flora and Nan who gave up a promising career after falling in love with her professor and becoming pregnant.  A phone call from her sister Nan calls Flora back to their family house by the sea as their father had an accident.   It becomes clear that their aging father collapsed injuring himself after having run after what he thought was his dead wife Ingrid. 

Having two story lines running parallel is not a novel concept but Claire Fuller does it brilliantly. From the present situation it becomes clear that Ingrid disappeared one day never to be found, presumed drowned as she was very fond of swimming in the sea in all kinds of weathers and seasons.  Gil never recovered from this tragedy and her death pretty much destroyed the family. What makes this book so unusual is the second story line, Ingrid’s letters to her husband over the years of her marriage, never to be mailed but hidden in books of her husband’s extensive library.

Through these letters the story of their marriage and love eventually unfolds, adding one piece of the puzzle after another, shedding light on the reason why Ingrid might have disappeared.

Edithsbookpicks: MelanieBenjamin: The Swans of Fifth Avenue, 978034...

Edithsbookpicks: MelanieBenjamin: The Swans of Fifth Avenue, 978034...: Melanie Benjamin: The Swans of Fifth Avenue, 9780345528704, Bantam Books, (Penguin Random House USA)   “The Swans of Fifth Avenue”...

Melanie Benjamin: The Swans of Fifth Avenue, 9780345528704, Bantam Books, (Penguin Random House USA)

 

“The Swans of Fifth Avenue” is a delicious, gossipy read around the famous entourage of Truman Capote, the society women who helped him to his fame and his fall from grace when he published an article called “La Cote Basque” in Esquire Magazine spilling the secrets they had entrusted in him.  I breathed through the 350 pages, dying to get back to the story when I had to set the book aside.  

The most famous of the five women was Babe Paley, wife of the CBS tycoon Bill Paley who was an absolute fashion icon and the It-girl of her days. I had to google her after reading the book;   I needed to visualize what she truly looked like in her famous gowns, a stunning beauty. She became Truman’s closest friend and through her he gained access to all of New York’s richest and most famous members of society.

The five swans were made up of Slim Hawks Hayward Keith, Marella Agnelli, Gloria Guiness and Pamela Churchill Hayward Harriman, all married to rich men or royalty with Babe Paley being the most beautiful whose poise and grace surpassed everyone else’s.  Truman Capote became their confidant and intimate friend, called their “True Heart”, everything their husbands were not.  

Melanie Benjamin does a captivating, fabulous job in fictionalizing their lives, based on factual material, be it Truman’s rise to fame and their relationship with each other, their unimaginable wealth and style of living, often marrying the discarded lover or husband of the other, Truman’s famous black and white ball and his final betrayal in spilling the beans of their secrets in his thinly vailed article in Esquire.  Truman was expelled from their lives after this; he had greatly underestimated their reaction which eventually leads to his downward spiral into drugs and alcoholism.

If you are looking for an entertaining, gossipy read taking you back to the golden age of New York in the Fifties with all the glamour and scandal around Truman Capote up to the Seventies, this is your book!  I dove into this world of glitz, glamour, betrayal and scandal, a delicious tale from start to finish. I also highly recommend the film "Capote" , by chance I had just watched the movie again before picking up the book , starring the incredible Philip Seymour Hoffman.  

Edithsbookpicks: Kathleen Rooney: Lillian Boxfish takes a walk, St....

Edithsbookpicks: Kathleen Rooney: Lillian Boxfish takes a walk, St....: Kathleen Rooney: Lillian Boxfish takes a walk, St. Martin’s Press, 9781250137609, paperback, January 2017 Kathleen Ronney’s novel “Lill...

Kathleen Rooney: Lillian Boxfish takes a walk, St. Martin’s Press, 9781250137609, paperback, January 2017

Kathleen Ronney’s novel “Lillian Boxfish takes a walk” was inspired by the real life of Margaret Fishback, a female advertising pioneer in the 30ties working for Macy’s in New York, a highly unusual woman drawing one of the highest salaries in her days as Kathleen Ronney writes in her afterword.

While reading I fell for Lillian Boxfish, I loved her sharp wit and pioneering spirit so unusual for most women in her days, never aspiring to marry but to remain independent working for her own living.  She took me on a walk through her life and I often felt we shared similarities, having a little bit of Lillian Boxfish in me. We probably all do, at least I found myself in some of her actions more than once, the passion for walking being one of them. Reading this witty, sometimes sentimental but yet funny book felt also a little bit like being in a Woody Allen movie, all set in New York.

When Lillian Boxfish decides to set off on a New Year’s Eve walk in her mink coat in 1984 she is 84, walking having been one of her passions, often rescuing her in troubled times. As she heads off on her 10  mile walk taking her from her Murray Hill apartment down to the tip of Manhattan and back, she encounters new people through chance meetings, always with the aim to walk to a bodega and Delmonico’s, a restaurant where she has dined on New Year’s Eve for many years of her life. 

With each episode, she reminisces and puts pieces of the puzzle called life together, remembering  what shaped her life and the people and emotions that mattered: Max, the love of her life, her beloved son, her best friend Helen and her success as an author and advertising great at Macy’s, her love for New York. And ultimately her great sorrow of losing friends, love and acquaintances as she ages but never feeling sorry for herself retaining her spunk and spirit, remaining  curious about the next encounter.

The quality of writing, the witty sentences were a great delight and as I read on,
I fell in love with the young and old Lilian Boxfish, what a fabulous entertaining read. 

Amor Towles: A Gentleman in Moscow, 9780735221673, Penguin Random House, US

Do you know the feeling when you put down a book feeling really sad that you are about to say goodbye to some beloved characters?  Amor Towles “A Gentleman in Moscow” is that type of book, going up on my shelf of all-time favorite books. I fell in love with his debut novel “Rules of Civility” a few years ago; I have purchased it as a present for friends countless times since then.  “A Gentleman in Moscow” reminds me of the Russian Classics such as Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Towles style of writing is a pure joy to read and the story as such simply wonderful. I read it in the turmoil days of the US election, what a solace it was to return to this fine novel when all I wanted to do is puke in the real world.  As if God sent, A Gentleman in Moscow is like a parable teaching you that in times of political upheaval true happiness can be found in the most unexpected ways.

Amor Towles takes you on a trip to Moscow starting in 1922 when Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov stands in front of a revolutionary Red Army tribunal of Internal Affairs, being accused of having written a poem which is considered a threat to the revolution whereby he is sentenced to life long house arrest in the Hotel Metropol, right across from the Kremlin. This doesn’t faze Count Rostov much when hearing his sentence as his family had kept a suite in this first class hotel for many years. But to his great surprise he is not led to his room filled with family heirlooms but instead to an attic room. 

What unfolds from this very room is the cosmos of the Hotel Metropol with all its employees and guests, Count Rostov as the central character, gentleman and connoisseur of human nature. The 462 pages of this novel provide a glittering cast of characters, with a background of one of the most tumultuous 40 years of Russian history, every chapter unfolding another episode in the life of Count Rostov who never leaves this hotel in all these years, well almost....  This gentle, captivating story is a perfect antidote to these unsettling times. I urge you to go out and buy a copy of “A Gentleman in Moscow” immediately.  You will not regret it, I promise. 

Lucie Whitehouse: Keep you close, Bloomsbury, 9781408867327, paperback

I previously read “Before we met” by Lucie Whitehouse  which was a Richard & Judy summer pick for those familiar with the British book world.  I enjoyed the suspense, a book for one of these more lighthearted reading moods and although I hate comparisons as they never do justice, Lucie Whitehouse’s psychological  thrillers are for those readers who enjoy “Gone girl”, “Girl on the train” as they always hold a twist. But she does not quite reach the level of mastery of these aforementioned novels.  I picked up “Keep you close” from my book pile the other day looking forward to a suspenseful read.  Lucie Whitehouse did not disappoint me; she knows how to keep you guessing, always on the verge of discovery.

When Rowan Winter’s best friend, the brilliant young painter Marianne Glass falls to her death from the roof of her childhood home where she lives and has her studio, Rowan knows something is terribly wrong as her friend suffered badly from vertigo.  She must have not set foot outside her studio onto the roof without a very good reason, as in the dead of winter the roof was slippery and she was literally scared to death of heights.  Marianne’s warm hearted artistic family had always been a surrogate family to Rowan who lost her mother early and had a very absent cool father. During her studies in Oxford she and Marianne became as close as sisters and her family adopted her readily. But something happened; they had not spoken a word to another for years and then days before falling to her death Marianne sends Rowan a written message only saying “I need to talk to you”.  After the funeral, Rowan offers to stay in Marianne’s house, particularly when Jacqueline, Marianne’s mother  starts worrying that her daughters valuable art work stashed in the house might get stolen.  For Rowan it is a chance to dig into the past and the lost years, trying to unravel what might have led to Marianne climbing onto the roof leading to her tragic end.  What importance did James Greenwood, Marianne’s boyfriend and gallerist, his daughter, Rowan’s and Marianne’s old friend Turk, Marianne’s brother Adam and especially the famous painter Michael Cory have in Marianne’s life?  While Rowan meets them all,  Whitehouse masterfully drags out the reason for Marianne’s and Rowan’s fall out for about 2/3^rd of the book , the real cliffhanger,  and this is when the book starts to turn into a very different direction which I will keep to myself.  “Keep you close” is an excellent psychological thriller for autumn weekends. 

Michael Harvey: The Governor’s Wife, Bloomsbury paperback, 9781408863978,

As most of you might have guessed by now, I love mysteries, suspense and thriller novels, always on the lookout for new authors. When studying Bloomsbury’s list of new publications, I discovered they had picked up Michael Harvey from Vintage in the US.  Never having read one of the Michael Kelly Investigation series, I chose “The Governor’s Wife” as my next entertainment. 

Michael Harvey’s clipped, short, descriptive sentences remind me a little of Raymond Chandler.  The other comparison coming to mind, particularly since it is set in Chicago, is that this is the male version of VI Warshawski, Sara Paretsky’s female investigator at large. Michael Kelly has a similar attitude; he gets his nose smashed up and his hands dirty because he cannot walk out of an open investigation even if it would be much better for his physical and psychological well- being.

When Michael Kelly receives an anonymous email offering him a 100.000 $ retainer into a set up account to find Raymond Perry, the former Chicago governor, with a follow up payment of  100.000 $ once he discovers his whereabouts, he only hesitates for a moment before he hits the reply button accepting the contract. Two years before Raymond Perry disappeared into thin air from a high security federal courthouse, leaving no trace after having been sentenced to thirty-eight years in prison of wire fraud and racketeering.

The last person to see him was his wife Marie, everyone is sure she knows how her husband disappeared and where he currently is. It makes perfect sense for Michael to pay the former governor’s wife a visit.  He is ill prepared for the charismatic person he encounters.  Secrets and surprises surface once he starts digging and his friend Vince Rodriguez from the Chicago PD and Andrew Wallace, an architecture student at the courthouse, ends up bailing him out of some very unpleasant developments.  

The plot is excellent, the characters are well crafted and I kept happily turning the pages of this very satisfying new discovery for me.  I look forward to reading the next Michael Kelly mystery. 

Edithsbookpicks: Daniel Silva: The Black Widow, Harper Collins,9780...

Edithsbookpicks: Daniel Silva: The Black Widow, Harper Collins,9780...: Daniel Silva: The Black Widow, Harper Collins, 9780007552368, 12, 99, C format Trade Paperback, German edition not yet published (probably ...

Daniel Silva: The Black Widow, Harper Collins, 9780007552368, 12, 99, C format Trade Paperback, German edition not yet published (probably 2017, they normally run one year behind)

Daniel Silva’s mastery of writing extremely well researched spy novels has been well documented with his former novels such as his latest, “The English Spy”, “The English Girl” or “Fallen Angel”. But what really gave me the chills is the precision with which he predicted the ISIS attacks in Europe in his newest book “The Black Widow”.  His story differs only slightly as his settings are in Paris, Amsterdam and Washington DC. He completed the work on this novel before ISIS struck with their atrocious attacks on Paris and Brussels.  Daniel Silva writes in his “Foreword” that he almost set aside the typescript for the novel when the attacks actually happened but then decided against it. His author’s notes and acknowledgements always provide terrific insight into facts gathered for his novels. Do read them!

"The Black Widow" must be backed by some incredible research; a 528 page strong book which I feel could have been edited to make it more compact, there are some lenghty parts that repeat  but all in all, a chilling page turner one is unable to put down. I cannot help wishing that secret service agents of the likes of Gabriel Allon hopefully exist fighting and infiltrating ISIS evil network far from our public knowledge.  Silva is one of the very best spy novel writers in the market without a doubt. 

As to the story, I will not reveal too much as it would spill the beans. Gabriel Allon is about to become the chief of Israel’s secret intelligence service when ISIS detonate massive bombs in the Marais district of Paris.  The terrorist mastermind behind this attack is soon identified by the French and Israel intelligence services as an Iraqi intelligence officer from one of Saddam Hussein’s infamous nightmare prisons, his prophetic nom de guerre is Saladin, the man who conquered Jerusalem back from the Christians in the 12th Century.  The French request Israel’s help as one of the places struck was the Weinberg Centre.  Hannah Weinberg, a close friend of Gabriel’s  and founder of the Center for  Anti-Semitism,  was one of many killed during the terrorist attack, Gabriel feels obliged to eliminate the man responsible for their death and to stop ISIS before

more atrocious attacks are executed.  

If this operation is to be successful, Israel’s, French, British and American intelligence have to forgo what is usually not their strongest suit, sharing secret service information and working hand in hand.  Gabriel has no doubt that key to the success of avoiding future attacks can only be achieved by infiltrating ISIS’s network. As Saladin seems to have employed the help of so-called “Black Widows”, the wives of ISIS martyrs, Gabriel recruits a young female multi-linguistic Jerusalem doctor called Natalie Mizrahi. Her task is to gain Saladin’s trust and to become part of a future mission. The next 350 pages keep you very uncomfortably on edge.  I really do not even want to think about the realistic possibility behind this fictive plot, particularly when it comes to ISIS attacks on American soil. 

Alan Serota: The Wonderful Adventures of Hearthorse and Heartman, children’s book, self-published, to be ordered via Alan Serota:   Alan@spicewoodpottery.com, www.spicewoodpotteryfineart.com

It is rare for me to review a book without even an ISBN but I have to make an exception with his delightful picture book combining abstract art, a fairytale and a spiritual, moral lesson for children.   Alan Serota who wrote and illustrated the book,  is the husband of a dear friend back in Texas,  his wife Barbara is one of the best yoga teachers I have ever met  and they both are very gifted potters and artists,  living and working  in one of the most spiritual, beautiful spots in the Hill Country near Austin/Texas.  This little gem was given to me as a present, it is not only for children but also for adults who enjoy a mystical story.

“The wonderful adventures of Hearthorse and Heartman” tells the story of Kentucky farmer Elwood Collins who raises crickets for a living, much to the dismay of his neighbor Mr. Snelds, a tobacco farmer. He wants the crickets to disappear as they love to eat his crop. Little does he care that his tobacco is making people sick. In great need of advice Elwood prays to all the divine beings and consults his friend HeartMan.  HeartMan promises to ride out into the universe with his friend HeartHorse trying to find an answer to this dilemma.  The divine being interrupts his busy work creating universes and tells HeartMan to visit the sea creatures for their wisdom. And it is the blue whales that come up with the answer for a crop everyone loves – Sea Kelp. And this is how Kentucky went from farming tobacco to cultivating sea kelp.

The book is spiral bound, on firm paper, illustrated with Alan’s bright, vivid and expressive abstract art. Go check it out and visit their website: 

www.spicewoodpotteryfineart.com

Sue Roe: The private lives of the impressionists, 

Harper Perennial, now out of print, only the hardback edition is available,  

German Edition:  Sue Roe: Das private Leben der Impressionisten,  Parthas Berlin

“The private lives of the Impressionists” has been sitting on my book pile for quite some time.  I bought it at the Chicago Art Institute’s bookshop during one my  visits a few years ago; the paperback was issued in 2007. My work then demanded reading many other manuscripts and books and therefore this copy sat unread until this summer. Meanwhile this paperback edition I purchased can only be found in second hand bookstores but the bound edition seems to be still available.  A German edition is also available.

Everyone who knows me is aware of my passion for Art; the Impressionists without a doubt have produced some of the most breathtaking paintings and sketches the world has ever seen.  Their biographies vividly described reads like fiction.  Sue Roe’s incredibly detailed research into the lives of Manet, Monet, Pisaaro, Cezanne, Caillebotte, Renoir, Degas, Sisley, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt makes this book an entertaining,  fascinating read, digging deeply into  their personal history and that as a group.

The artistic struggles and poverty most of them had to endure in order to pursue their vision of painting sits in stark contrast to the prices their work fetches in auctions today. Their mistresses and wives hardly knew how to feed their families most of the time,  making moving outside of Paris a necessity because rent could no longer be paid for Parisian apartments and studios, a bizarre situation considering the riches people accumulate today with their paintings. 

Some came from more wealthy backgrounds like Mary Cassatt (the only US artist in the group) , Manet or Caillebotte who often supported their more poverty stricken fellow painters such as Cezanne or Monet in buying their work or lending money unconditionally. The artistic ridicule they had to face when presenting their paintings before the French public is inconceivable today. Cezanne in particular was considered talentless!  Had it not been for the art dealer Durand-Ruel who was later responsible for arranging the first impressionist show in the US and succeeding in securing higher prices in Europe for their work, many would have had to abandon painting or starved to death. Durand-Ruel narrowly escaped his own financial ruin several times but continued to believe in the artists and extend loans for work that had yet to be sold guaranteeing painters like Monet that they could feed their families and carry on painting.

I knew already quite a bit about the Impressionists but I feel so much more informed now about the private backgrounds of these fascinating individuals and also about French history of the 19^th century that I had simply forgotten. 

Ray Celestin: Dead Man Blues, 9781447258919, 12, 99, Mantle / Pan Macmillan

Last year I stumble across this new crime writer and reviewed “The Axeman’ Jazz” which ended up winning the CWA New Blood Dagger Award, much deservedly to my delight.  I was overjoyed to discover that Ray Celestine’s   second book which he is planning to turn into a four part series was out already. 

When one likes the first books so very much, you always wonder whether the author can pull it off again but I can tell you:  “Dead Man Blues” is just as good as “Axeman’s Jazz”.  Instead of New Orleans, the second book  is set in Chicago,  charting the history of Jazz and the Mob in the Twenties making it not only a great mystery but providing plenty of information about the days of Bronzeville, the speak easies, Al Capone and his gang and the music scene in this vibrant time of the city.  I just gobbled it all up.

The same protagonists from “Axeman’s Jazz”,   Ida Davis and Michael Tabot, now Pinkerton detectives are the main characters in “Dead Man Blues” but the book has three storylines running parallel which all come together in the end.  The plot turns so many corners that it is a good idea to stay with the book in order not to lose the strings and names running parallel. I would be a great spoil sport if I started to review exact details but fear not, I will not spoil your reading fun.

It is the summer of 1926 in Chicago and a group of corrupt politicians are poisoned with toxic champagne at a party in a famous Chicago hotel in the Black Belt.   At the same time as this event shakes up the city, Michael and Ida are hired by the mother of a missing heiress, Gwendolyn Van Haren ,  the young women seems to have vanished from the face of the earth as has her finance. Starting to dig around, they soon come across evidence suggesting  her fiancé was homosexual,  had a dark streak and was involved in some revolting activities which  Gwendolyn must have uncovered as she was about to break off the engagement.  His father , trying to marry his son off into one of Chicago’s  old society families now lacking the funds to live the lifestyle they are used to,  did not  acquire  his new riches  through ethical activities either ……

Gangster Dante Sanfelippo, a rum runner and heroin addict having fled to New York a few years ago, is called back by Al Capone with the order to unearth who might be behind the poisoning of the politicians, seriously threatening Capone’s bootlegging operations. Dante himself has a very personal interest to find the killers.

 A young crime scene photographer, Jacob Russo, is called in by the Chicago police to take shots of a gruesome murder. Jacob has taken many photographs of victims but he is unable to shake the image of the black man’s smashed in face and decides to embark on an investigation of his own.

As a back drop in the mystery, Ida’s friend Louis Armstrong is supplying her with crucial information snapped up during his gigs, playing in speak easies for gangsters and a growing chic, wealthy Chicago crowd discovering the thrill of Jazz, as Louis fame is beginning to rise.

Ray Celestin is a fantastic storyteller, he comes up with the greatest plots, all set around the Jazz scenes in the various cities.  I cannot wait to read the third book which he is thinking of setting in New York during the Forties.

The book of mirrors by E.O.Chirovici, currently scheduld for Jan 2017, royal hard back 9781780895673, 12,99 GBP (all subject to change) 

I am fortunate my wonderful colleagues at Penguin Random House continue to send me book proofs before the title is actually published. Probably one of the best books I read all year „The book of mirrors" by E.O. Chirovici is not published yet,  take note and race out to buy the book once  published in January 2017, I guarantee a fantastic page turner with breathtaking twists and turns.

I was sucked into the story right from the moment I started reading, a psychological thriller recounted from three people’s perspectives. The books is as much a who's dunnit as it is trying to uncover the motive behind the murder of Prof. Joseph Wieder, a renowned psychologist and university professor. The memories and assumptions of all the characters in the book play a central role in this fascinating web of events. I could not guess the ending until the final chapter and even then the book took turns. 

The first part of the story has Peter Katz’s voice, a literary agent who receives the first pages of a manuscript in the mail, a submission by Richard Flynn, a failed writer as we later learn, describing his acquaintance and involvement with Joseph Wieder. His submitted 20 pages are the next part in the book, stating events leading up to Wieder’s death. 

Richard Flynn was once in love with Laura Baines who is also one of Wieder’s protégées, a promising student but also an inscrutable young woman with high ambitions. When Katz realizes he is reading a great mystery and a bestseller, he tries to contact Richard Flynn only to learn from his girlfriend of Flynn’s unexpected death. He instructs the girlfriend to search for the rest of the manuscript but this proves unsuccessful. Katz makes the decision to hire an investigative journalist, John Keller, hoping to get to the bottom of Joe Wielder’s murder which was never resolved and to fill in the blank pages left by Richard Flynn’s death.

John Keller's investigation make up the next part of the book providing some startling discoveries, such as finding Frank Spoel sitting on death row and his connection with the events. Keller also comes across the name of a now retired cop, Roy Freeman, who was one of the investigating officers in the Joe Wieder case. Having a lot of spare time on his hands and still feeling unhappy about this unresolved case in his career, Freeman decides to embark on an investigation of his own. 

It would be crimial if I revealed anything more as it would rob you of the suspense when reading this terrific book.

The manuscript  was sold into more than 30 countries which doesn't surprise me, I would have snapped it up on the spot. I am absolutely certain we will see this novel on many bestseller lists in the months to come as it deserves to be. I envy you the page turning time ahead, sadly behind me now.

Yaa Gyasi: Homegoing, Knopf/Penguin Random House US, 978045149385, paperback, Viking/ Penguin Random House UK, Jan. 2017, 9780241242735, both available now

Every once in a while a debut comes along which knocks you of your feet. “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi is such a book, you finish it, sit there, sad the last page has been read and cannot pick up another book for a day or so. This is what just happened to me, “Homegoing” is definitely going up on my shelf of all-time favorite books.  An epic story, a literary page-turner, a historical novel set in America and Ghana, all blended together.

Yaa Gyasi was born in Ghana and grew up in Alabama; she comes with a brilliant background graduating from the Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop. I am not surprised the rights to this book were snatched up by 21 countries around the world very quickly.

Effia and Esi are two sisters born in Africa along the Gold Coast but separated immediately after birth, never to learn of each other’s existence.  Following their very different destinies and those of their bloodlines, one to remain in Africa throughout many generations and another to be sold into America slavery, you become a firsthand witness of the atrocities, fears, struggles and dreams in their lives.  I sometimes had to put the book down, could not bear to read on, the misery and injustice these people suffered were so vivid.

In alternating chapters, from the 18^th century onwards to the present, starting with Effia and Esi’s lives, Yaa Gyasi picks one character of the following generation and with their portrait captures a part of history on both sides of the Atlantic.  In the following chapter you often learn of the final fate of the family member described in the previous chapter which often remains unresolved. 

It is an incredible story with unforgettable characters going back and forth between the Gold Coast, later Ghana, the slave trade amongst the African tribes and the British, the American South, the Anti-Slavery movement, the misery black convicts suffered in American coal mines, New York and Harlem.  Each chapter is so very rich; I often consulted the family tree at the beginning of the book reminding myself of the red string connected to everyone’s lives. 

I encourage you to go out and buy this fabulous book; I promise you will not regret it.  The German edition is not listed yet. 

Absolutely love the cover of the American paperback edition !

Edithsbookpicks: A.L Gaylin: What remains of me, Arrow (Penguin Ran...

Edithsbookpicks: A.L Gaylin: What remains of me, Arrow (Penguin Ran...: A.L Gaylin: What remains of me, Arrow (Penguin Random House), paperback, 9781784756192, September 22, 2016 (hardback 9780062369857, Willi...

A.L Gaylin: What remains of me, Arrow (Penguin Random House), paperback, 9781784756192, September 22, 2016 (hardback 9780062369857, William Morrow, available)

The author A.L. Gaylin worked as a journalist for a celebrity tabloid and was nominated for the Edgar for her first novel, “Hide your Eyes”.  One  can attribute her talent of spinning a twisted story set amongst Hollywood celebrity teenagers and the quality of her writing to both of these facts with her latest book ”What remains of me”. It is also a perfect summer read, too bad the paperback will only be published in September; the hardback is out already, also available as a download for EBook readers.

When seventeen year old Kelly Michelle Lund shoots and kills Oscar nominated director John McFadden at a party in his home, she becomes an immediate media star.  She refuses to reveal her motive why she shot this famous celebrity and with an incompetent defense by her lawyer at her trial she ends up spending the next 25 years in prison.

What makes this book so thrilling is that the writing is done with two story lines running parallel in alternating chapters. One set in 1980, leading up to the very day when Kelly shoots McFadden and the other 30 years later, in 2010, when she is a free person again, living quietly with her husband Shane Marshall in their house in Joshua tree desert outside of Hollywood. Shane is no other than the younger brother of her former best friend Bellamy Marshall, both Hollywood royalty and part of the gang she hung out with before the tragic event. Their father and now Kelly’s father-in-law is movie legend Sterling Marshall who one day is found dead in his home, shot very much in the same fashion as John McFadden. It doesn’t take very long before the police are suspecting Kelly of having committed this second murder particularly since Marshall and McFadden were best friends. This time however a few people from her past believe she is innocent, one a tabloid journalist, all trying to help her to prove her innocence?  Or is she guilty after all one asks oneself the more pages one turns?

It was absolutely fascinating to uncover secrets from Kelly’s youthful past with each alternating chapter: her troubled and controlling mother, a sweet and weak father, the death of her sister Catherine, the lives of some seriously disturbed Hollywood kids she hung out with and how these deeds from the past still reverberate into her present life.  The book holds many surprises, discovering some sad and heart wrenching truth until the very end. 

Edithsbookpicks: MilenaBusquets: This too shall pass, Harvill Se...

Edithsbookpicks:


MilenaBusquets: This too shall pass, Harvill Se...: Milena Busquets: This too shall pass, Harvill Secker, 9781910701072, L 9.99, Trade Paperback, (German edition:  “Auch das wird vergeh...

Milena Busquets: This too shall pass, Harvill Secker, 9781910701072, L 9.99, Trade Paperback, (German edition:  “Auch das wird vergehen “, Suhrkamp, 19.95, gebunden)

The author Milena Busquets is Spanish; the Original was published in Spanish last year (Tambien esto pasara) and made it straight into all Spanish bestseller lists.

I read the book in English (This too shall pass), Suhrkamp published the book in German in spring(Auch das wird vergehen). 

Meet Busquets’s heroine: Blanca, forty and motherless, her mother just died and she is completely on a limb.

I am obviously not the target age group to read this novel but I found her immensely likeable and enjoyed the 152 pages.

Blanca has two boys by two ex-husbands. Sex, husbands and lovers play a big part in her life, she never lets go of them completely.  Raised by her very warm hearted, yet independent mother to be a free spirited woman, the bond between mother and daughter was exceptionally strong making her dizzy with grief. The monologues she holds with her deceased mother are hilarious and touching at the same time and apply to anyone who has experienced the loss of a beloved parent, no matter how old you are.

Blanca deals with her loss by having life affirming sex, with Oscar, her ex-husband and Santi, her married lover.  There is something utterly refreshing, uninhibited and loveable about her relationship with her lovers and the importance of sex and flirting in her life. The idea to escape from Barcelona to Cadaques on the coast, where she spent many happy summers with her mother and where they have a house,  seems the perfect antidote to her feeling miserable. Inviting her closest girlfriends, their children and lovers, her two ex-husbands and their sons to the sea side, living with this tribe turns out to be a bit more complicated than she naively anticipated leading to some funny, raw and sobering moments. 

"This too shall pass" is a charming, light-hearted read,  dealing with what shapes us in our lives:  friendship, love, death, letting go, parenthood, family, sex and the struggles of trying to live by your own terms. 

Edithsbookpicks: CraigJohnson: The Highway Man, Viking, Penguin Ran...

Edithsbookpicks: CraigJohnson: The Highway Man, Viking, Penguin Ran...: Craig Johnson: The Highway Man, Viking, Penguin Random House US, 9780735220898, small hardback, Every once in a while I need an armchai...

Craig Johnson: The Highway Man, Viking, Penguin Random House US, 9780735220898, small hardback,

Every once in a while I need an armchair trip to Wyoming , doing so with  sheriff Walt Longmire and his best friend Henry Standing bear, mysteries created by Craig Johnson – his writing reminds me more and more of my beloved Tony Hillerman Navajo novels.   The books provide the basis for a highly successful TV series, streaming on Netflix but I prefer using my own imagination instead.

The latest novella, “The Highway Man”, has just been published, a modern ghost story set in the Wind River Canyon, slightly outside of Walt Longmire’s normal jurisdiction. The book has all the mystical Native American elements so familiar in Hillerman’s novels.

Patrolwoman Rosey Wayman starts to receive mysterious “officer needs assistance” calls, despite the area being known for its lack of radio communication. What is even more startling, they seem to come from Bobby Womack who died a gruesome death in a fire when patrolling the canyon area.  Her supervisor suspects psychological problems doubting Rosey’s sanity and asks outsiders Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear to look into the matter. The mystical, enigmatic canyon does not fail to pull them both in, contemplating the existence of ghost legend “The Highway Man”. 

Johnson does a great job resolving the mystery with an ending I will not reveal in case you want to check out this atmospheric mystery. 

I enjoyed every page, can't wait to read the next book coming in the autumn already, “An obvious Fact”. 

Edithsbookpicks: Robert Galbraith: Career of Evil, 9780751563597, S...

Edithsbookpicks: Robert Galbraith: Career of Evil, 9780751563597, S...: Robert Galbraith: Career of Evil, 9780751563597, Sphere, paperback Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym JK Rowling uses to write her detec...

Robert Galbraith: Career of Evil, 9780751563597, Sphere, paperback

Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym JK Rowling uses to write her detective

novels, featuring Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott, his detective assistant.  I had not read any of the previous two novels preceding this one and decided to check out the third book in the series, taking the thriller on holiday with me. It did not provide the entertainment I hoped for, the book is unnecessarily long winded in my view, an overstuffed sofa according to a reviewer in the Guardian which sums it up perfectly.

The book begins by a severed leg of a women being delivered by  courier to Robin at the agency. Cormoran can remember three men in his life who could be crazy enough to commit such an unspeakable act wishing him harm. Two he met during his days as a police officer in the army, one he had the misfortune to spend his coming of age years with, Whittaker, the creepy partner of his mother, once a famous rock groupie to many rock stars but a drug addict in the end thanks to Whittaker’s influence.  Cormoran and Robin start their investigative hunt delving into the lives of these three men. Throughout the novel, the voice of an anonymous person who is clearly the perpetrator, adds bile to the book. I found the subject of severed limbs, pedophiles, deranged people who are afflicted with an illness wishing to be amputated or having a body part removed ,  their discussions on websites disturbing reading. Several times I thought of quitting, also because I felt the book dragged on too much and could have been edited down, but decided to persevere as I wanted to find out who of the three suspects was the one committing the crime. 

Another string running through the novel are  Robin's doubts about her upcoming marriage, whether to marry her long time fiancé Matthew and her and Cormoran’s changing feelings towards another, the boss-employee relationship is evaporating and developing into much more but none of them seem to have the nerve at this stage to confront their feelings.

"Career of Evil" did nothing for me, I did not become a fan of JR Rowling’s detective novels; this will be my one and only one. 

Nicholas Searle: The Good Liar, 9780241206935, Viking Penguin, Penguin Random House UK

Viking Penguin advertises Nicholas Searle’s “The good liar” as their psychological thriller of 2016. I would not go as far as that but is  a pretty good read if you get over the dislike for the main character, Roy Courtnay which I could not in the beginning.

I hated this son of a bitch from the start; he is a real piece of work, a slime bag, out on the make for wealthy, lonely widows, planning to not only steal their hearts but naturally also their fortune.   The book opens up with Roy dating Betty, the widow of an academic who is looking for a new partner, still quite attractive, a woman accustomed to provide a comfortable life for the right man. Or so it seems.  Before you know it, Roy has moved in with Betty scheming when to make his next move with the help of his side kick Vincent. Her family watches him suspiciously. I found the beginning a bit boring but please stay with it – it all comes together in the end.

Flashbacks to Roy’s life in 1973, 1963, 1957 and 1946. Told in retrospect, fascinating chapters of Roy’s life are opened and leave no doubt; here is a man who has lied his entire life, making a living from being a conman. My dislike of him grew with the number of pages I read, stories unfolding of the lives he destroyed, his lack of conscience and clever scheming, occasionally meeting his own master, like in Lord Stanbroke for example.  The book becomes more intriguing as you go along but really begins to gather speed from page 176 onwards. It is the year 1938 in Berlin, the Nazi’s are on the rise and a boy called Hans and his socialist father Konrad Taub visit the wealthy Schröder family, landowners with 3 daughters, Charlotte, Hannelore, Lili being the youngest.

Anything I would reveal about the story from now on  would give up clues about the direction this novel might be taking.  I sensed the ending but it did not spoil the rest of the book, confirming some shocking developments I had guessed but surprising me with other turns the novel took. The last few pages I personally found a little weak, the thriller becomes more interesting as details of Roy’s and Betty’s past are uncovered. 

Erica Jong:  Fear of dying, 9781782117483, Canongate, paperback

Erica Jong is better known for her “Fear of Flying” which sold millions of copies all over the world in 40 languages, she is the creator of the coin word “zipless fuck” – a synonym during the sexual revolution and feminism in the seventies. This tells you my age of course, I read her as a young woman, a must read in those days.

“Fear of dying”, dealing with much more serious subjects, is written with the same sense of humor and light-hearted tone as in “Fear of Flying”. Those of us baby boomers who have either lost parents already or are dealing with very old parents seeing them in the last stages of their lives, can truly identify with this novel. Many times I found I had had similar thought (although this is fiction) but written very obviously based on some autobiographical experiences. Very ancient parents are not the only problem our New York Jewish heroine Vanessa Wonderman encounters.  The whole book is set in a very wealthy New York East Side enclave and has some fabulous Jewish humor. Vanessa’s husband Asher, the love of her life and soulmate she met and married in her forties after some sexually active years as a single, becomes seriously ill just as her parents are declining and dying, he naturally loses all interest in sex recovering from a life threatening illness. Not wanting to give up entirely that part of her life just yet and needing it very much as a life affirmation, Vanessa signs up to a casual encounter online site leading to some very peculiar meetings with men.  At her side with some sobering adivse is her trusted friend Isadora who happens to be the heroine in “Fear of Flying” – very clever Erica Jong!

Glinda, Vanessa’s wild child daughter, is about to present her with the next life change – Vanessa will become a grandmother soon.

Erica Jong’s novel is light-hearted, funny and yet serious, dealing with very heavy

thoughts and changes in life most of us encounter at one point especially after hitting our sixties.  I loved the book, it really struck a chord with me, and 266 pages read quickly. This is Erica Jong in great form, she tackles the big stuff fearlessly and with much humor, and you really feel more positive and alive having read the book. More of it please! 

The German edition is called "Angst vorm Sterben" by S. Fischer Verlag.  

Edithsbookpicks: Donna Leon:The Waters of Eternal Youth, 978178...

Edithsbookpicks: Donna Leon:The Waters of Eternal Youth,  978178...: Donna Leon: The Waters of Eternal Youth,  9781785150753 , Penguin Random House, William Heinemann, 13.99 L Donna Leon has been my ...

Donna Leon: The Waters of Eternal Youth,  9781785150753 , Penguin Random House, William Heinemann, 13.99 L

Donna Leon has been my indulgence for a long time; I adore her best-selling Brunetti mysteries taking a mental trip to Venice every time I read them knowing I am in for a few hours of reading pleasure. I had the great fortune of meeting her personally one time during my years at Penguin; she is such a pleasant person with a twinkle in her eyes and many booksellers I spoke to who had her over for readings reported the same. I tried her non-Brunetti novels but found them not even close in quality to my beloved Brunetti novels.

As with every writer who has been pushing out novels for so many years, there have been better and weaker Brunetti books. “The Water of Eternal Youth”, her latest, is one of the better ones I am happy to report. It was a great joy to return to the book and spend another few entertaining hours reading about Brunetti’s 25^th case!  

When Brunetti is invited to one of his mother- in-laws famous dinners at their grand palazzo, he discovers the dinner has been arranged with a purpose in mind. Contessa Lando-Continui, an old friend of the family, wants Brunetti to re-open an old case, involving her grand-daughter Manuela who nearly drowned as a teenager after falling into one of the canals. She survived after being resuscitated but suffered severe brain damage remaining mentally retarded as a consequence of her injuries, staying trapped in the eternal youth of a 7 year old despite being in her Thirties now.  The Contessa still has serious doubts that everything was done to discover the truth and wants to find out what really happened to her only grandchild.  The police declared the case an accident years ago  believing she fell accidentally into the water. Feeling sympathy for the Contessa and being intrigued at the same time, Brunetti tricks his superior into allowing him to reopen the case and soon finds that not everything rhymes. When Brunetti meets the Contessa to find out about Manuela’s character before the accident, he learns she was an accomplished equestrian and also deathly afraid of water only able to walk in the middle of bridges making sure she never got even close to water’s edge – a nightmare for any Venetian, thus making a suicide or fall a very unlikely scenario. He also learns that the local drunk who rescued Manuela was never interviewed, being considered too demented and drunk to make a stable witness. I do not want to give away too much of the story but smooth and elegantly as ever,  Brunetti sets up his final trap for the one person who can really tell him the truth.