Lily King: Writers & Lovers, Picador/UK, 9781529033137, paperback, 

(German edition: Writers &Lovers, C.H. Beck, hardback)

Excellent reviews for Lily King’s “Writers& Lovers” caught my eye after it was also recommended by several people whose judgement I trust... Although I am hardly the target reader for this novel age wise, I  enjoyed this uplifting, funny, warm story immensely, the right novel at the right time.  

Thirtyish Casey Peabody always wanted to be a writer and is happy supporting herself working as a waitress while trying to finish her first novel which is taking far longer than expected. When her mother dies unexpectedly, she is overcome by grief and starts to question the validity of her life decisions: her drifting around, being incapable of finishing her book, the breakup of a love affair, living in something close to a garden shack or the mountain of debt piled up from her master’s degree.  Life is yet to become less complicated when she is drawn to fellow writer Silas and almost at the same time meets Oscar, a widower and professor in his forties with two small boys that capture her heart.  

"Writers and Lovers"  has a lighthearted seriousness to it, if that makes sense,  which really struck a chord with me. A perfect summer read.

 

Mary Gabriel: Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art, 9780316226189, Little Brown, Hardback
 

If one book held me captured and sustained me intellectually from December 2020 until yesterday, it has been Mary Gabriel’s incredible, masterful and painstakingly researched biography about five of the most instrumental women painters in Modern American art who were key figures of the New York School and Abstract Expressionism:  Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Helen Frankenthaler and Joan Mitchell.  Admittedly this is not a book for everyone but for interested readers Gabriel’s chronicle of the life paths of these five pioneering, trailblazing women was an absolutely inspiring, fascinating read. 

The vast amount of information Gabriel brought together goes far beyond the art scene and looks at the political and socially turbulent happenings in New York, the US and Europe from the 1920ties until the Sixties.  Mary Gabriel spent 7 years researching and writing “Ninth Street Women”; I am completely blown away by her meticulous research, how her writing makes this book so easy to read despite the mountains of detail and complex web of people to follow.  I literally lived with the artists during my reading hours; she makes this book come to life so much, no highbrow art language here.

An epilogue follows their lives beyond the sixties until death:  five women who changed modern American art, suffering rejection, being ridiculed, often going hungry, who were ignored by galleries and museums for being daring and female, who all had very turbulent personal lives but continued to dedicate their lives to their art until the end.  Three were married to famous male painters which did not make their lives less complicated:  Lee Krasner to Jackson Pollock, Elaine to William deKooning and Helen, after her she was already well established in the art world, to Bob Motherwell.

This is a book not only for those interest in modern art but it is especially a brilliant biography of five unusual women who led very exceptional lives as painters.  5 stars from me, fascinating 730 pages to enjoy!

 

Paula McLain: When the Stars Go Dark, 9780861540808, Oneworld Publication UK, hardback ,
Pub date May 13, 2021

(US edition 9780593357231, Ballantine, large format paperback)

 

All the novels I previously read by Paula McLain had historical backgrounds featuring strong female characters like Beryl Markham, Martha Gelhorn or Hadley Hemingway; all three terrific reads, she is a great storyteller in my opinion.  With “When the Stars go Dark” she enters a new terrain, that of a literary thriller/mystery and having just finished the last page, she has my all thumbs up!   

Set in Mendocino, Northern California, the main character is Anna Hart, a missing person detective who retreats to her home town to recovery from a personal tragedy only to walk into another missing person case of a local teenage girl, Cameron.  Will, her former high school friend and now the chief of police, gladly accepts Anna’s seasoned expertise and offer to help with the investigation. This case has a familiar ring to both of them from an unresolved disappearance of Jenny, one of their friends from teenage days.  In Anna,  McLain created a very likable, intelligent, strong protagonist who after a very troubled childhood was able to turn her life around with the help of loving forster parents.  In her author’s note McLain reveals how her own autobiography helped with the plot and the female lead and that she poured a lot of her past experiences into the book which makes it so believable. 

I had a reluctant “well let’s see about his” approach when I started the novel as I was biased being a fan of her historical novels but she won me over fast and I raced through the book towards the finale.  Paula McLain can very clearly write excellent mysteries too!   

 

Matt Haig: The Midnight Library, Canongate, paperback, 9781786892737

(German edition: Matt Haig: Die Mitternachtsbibliothek, Droemer, hardback)

 

I had to buy a copy of Matt Haig’s “The Midnight Library” to cast my own verdict since it has been such a huge bestseller internationally.  The storyline appealed to me and having just finished,  I can definitely see where the attraction of this book lies for so many in these rocky times. It is a life affirming book, a bit of a fairy tale/fable which makes you feel better about own mistakes or regrets. I liked it but it did not blow me away. 

We have all been faced with the question what would have happened if one had taken a different direction in one’s life. For Nora the list of failures and regrets becomes so enormous that depression and suicidal thoughts start to overtake her life. When she is transported to the Midnight Library on the brink of suicide which houses all the books of different outcomes of her previous life decisions and is run by the formidably librarian Mrs. Elm, she is given the chance to try on these other lives.  It is a warm, uplifting type of book offering food for thought and comforting affirmations. 

I was reminded of a book I read many years ago, “Hector and the Search for Happiness” by Francois Lelord,   which I  loved and can highly recommend if you liked “Midnight Library”.

 

Lara Prior-Palmer: Rough Magic, Ebury Press (Penguin Random House UK), 9781785038860, paperback
 

Through this pandemic I have been magically drawn to travel non- fiction and by chance Lara Prior-Palmer extraordinary memoir found me which I tore through in record speed. Literally could not put it down. 

In 2013 Lara entered the Mongol Derby as a restless, bored 19 year old, supposedly the toughest horse race in the world which she never expected to win.  This race takes place over 10 days where competitors ride 25 semi wild horses totally unfamiliar to the riders, racing from ger to ger (Mongolian nomadic tents),  suffering through all the elements, hunger, dehydration and disease, often accidents occur, even death.  As Lara recounts her 10 days, I was pulled in by her observant, exquisite writing voice which gives this book such a literary quality and sets it apart from many memoirs.  She is a truly gifted writer and storyteller as she switches between childhood memories of an eccentric, privileged  family, her lifelong love for horses with a famous horse champion aunt, her scatterbrain self and the daily ordeal of the race itself.  Her portrait of the Mongolian landscapes and horses she rides every day, the people in whose tents she sleeps and the riders competing with her, while battling with her inner self  held me transfixed. 

I adored this book and hope Lara Prior-Palmer continues to write.

 

Donna Leon: Transient Desires, 9781785152627, W. Heinemann/Penguin Random House UK, C format paperback
 

Whenever I get the latest copy of a new Donna Leon novel I know I am in for a treat of some very pleasurable reading hours escaping to Commissario Brunetti’s Venice.  At the moment my concentration level is often poor for various reasons and “Transient Desires” broke that spell.  Every writer who turns out a book a year is bound to have better and not such brilliant ones.

“Transient Desires” falls into the first category: two young American women are found badly injured at the back entrance of a hospital, the victims of a boating accident as it turns out, with two young men abandoning the unconscious women after dropping them with their boat in the very location.

The investigation falls to Brunetti and his colleague Claudia Griffoni and as is often the case in Leon’s novels, the original crime leads to a far more sinister one but I will not reveal more as it would spoil the reading pleasure.  These novels are always a fine study of Venetian and Italian life, the human psyche, politics
and social interaction which are the reason I enjoy them so very much. 

The German edition has not been announced yet.

 

Stephen Fabes: Signs of Life. To the Ends of the Earth with a Doctor. Serpents Tail / Profile Books, 9781788161213, hardback

 

I have found myself strangely (or perhaps understandably) drawn to travel books during these two lockdowns and this is my second book about long distance cycling. I draw my personal line at 8 days of cycling, biked the Route Napoleon over the  Swiss & French Alps to Nice in younger days but cannot fathom doing an around the world trip on a bike as Stephen Fables, a young British doctor did. 

I needed time settling into Stephen Fabes “Signs of Life” but then I was hooked and had to have my daily dose of his writing, an adventure, often an ordeal but always a stark raving nuts undertaking. His profession as a medical doctor must have given him the tough mental attitude one needs to persevere through all types of weather, loneliness, sleeping mostly in tents, some hair raising events,dangerous countries like Afghanistan and former Soviet states or nearly getting his head blown off in the Americas not to talk about suffering through different illnesses.

But there is also the kindness of strangers he encountered so often that makes you hopeful about the nature of mankind. I felt his writing became more engaging and open during the second half of the book but his critical look at the comforts of the richer states, his curiosity about ordinary people and the political situation of the countries he visited and his medical viewpoints were thoroughly captivating to read.

Very much enjoyed his adventurous spirit, him sharing the lessons he learned, including the difficulties on how to adapt once the trip was finished and his view about the situation of refugees.  It is a great adventure read, particularly for cyclist but also for all who love to travel suffering from being grounded these days.