Kristin Harmel: The Book of Lost Names, Welbeck publishing, 9781982151553, paperback, read the ebook

(German edition: Das Buch der verschollenen Namen, Droemere Knaur)

Holiday reading ,  escapism book no. 1, recommended by a friend.

I love books with historical background and "The book of lost names" was no exception.  Inspired and based on true life events of forgers working in the underground French resistance in the 1940ties  risking their lives by producing false passports for hundreds of  Jewish children or anyone who needed a new identity to flee being sent to Nazi concentration camps, Harmel tells the story of Eva Traube who is able to escape from Paris with her mother, a Polish Jew, to the mountain village of Aurignon after her father was rounded up by Nazis. 

 In Aurignon Pere Clement uses his church to provide a set up for forger Remy who is soon joined by Eva who has been recruited  to the cause and becomes one of their best forgers. The story is mostly set in the 1940ties but also has a current timeline where the book of Epitres et Evangiles plays an important role. It is a great story about never giving up even if the odds are terrible, a bit smaltzy towards the end but I  found it moving and engrossing. The author  provides interesting historical data towards the end. 

 Lisa Jewell: The Family remains, pubdate: July 21, 22, large format paperback 9781529125801, Century Penguin House UK

This is my first Lisa Jewell title, I took the Netgalley ( thank you Century)  e-copy with me on holiday which made for a perfect summer read. I now understand why Jewell has so many fans, she really knows how to spin a yarn and although "The Family Remains"is a prequel to The Family, it is a perfect stand alone. 

When a bag containing bones is washed up along a river, the case lands on DCI Owusu's desk.  It soon becomes clear that the bones are female, date back  25 years and are tied to a mansion which has a  mysterious history with possible abuse within the family who lived there and has just been sold to a new owner. Enter siblings Henry, Lucy and Libby ...  I will not go into details as it would spoil the plot.  Jewell does a great job in building up suspense and has several story lines running which she ties together perfectly in the end.  She did a great job in keeping me interested and hooked to the last page... 

 Charlotte Wood: The weekend, 9780593191989, paperback, Riverhead Books, Penguin Random House USA

"The Weekend" by Charlotte Wood has been sitting on my book pile for some time but boy,  am i glad i finally read it ! It is one of these books that will stay with me for some time.

Wood's story is set in Australia centering around three women in their 70ties, who have come  together to clear out the beach house of their deceased friend Sylvie where they have  spent many christmas days together. What unfolds during the course of this christmas weekend  is a story so brutally honestly, poignant and touching, it really affected me. Wood' novel leaves no doubt that female friendships over 40 years comes with some collateral damage, as do all relationships,  and how that fragile equilibrium can be destroyed any time. I loved Wood's writing and her clear cut, unsentimental look at long term female friendship and relationships.  But it is also a book full of love, tenderness and compassion. 

 Garry Disher: Consolation, Viper/Serpents Tail, 9781788168175, paperback

I am a big fan of Garry Disher's "rural noir" writing as one critic called it, perfected in the character of Constable Hirschhausen. 

Hirsch was reposted to the Australian outback town Tiverton when he would not be part of a dirty cop operation in Adelaide. In this third Hirsch novel the creepiness behind ordinary peoples lives is again so brilliantly observed whether it is a farmer going on a rampage, someone  stealing womens underwear from a clothline, Hirsch being stalked, child neglect or missing money from elderly citizens bank accounts. 

Disher's plots are always a slow built up which somehow makes the characters and more often than not their weirdness too  stand out that much more. And there is always a murder as a result  in this gloomy God forsaken place  which he so fabulously portraits.

 Five stars from me and damn, now have to wait a while for  Hirsch 4! 

 Tara M. Stringfellow: Memphis, 9780593446775, large Format paperback ,The Dial Press, PRH USA

I had such a great reading time with "Memphis", a debut by Tara Stringfellow which reminded me in many ways of Gloria Naylor's " The Women of Brewster Place" which i absolutely loved as this too is the story of strong women, how three generations of the women in a black family hold everything together. 

Stringfellow's fine prose  gives  the novel a destinct poetic voice as she switches between time lines and the individual women's voices revealing the love, tragedy and feistiness which seems to be synonym to each of the North women's lives:   Hazel, the grandmother, her daughters Miriam and August by different fathers and Miriams daughters Joan and Mya;  they all grew on me as I was transported into their life story but spirited August was my absolute favorite, really loved being in the company of these fabulous Southern women which was really uplifting. 

Taylor Jenkins Reid: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, 9781398515697, paperback, Simon & Schuster UK

Downloaded Taylor Henkins Reid's " The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" on holiday, i wanted a light entertaining beach read and the story line promised that, its a unique one,  with two strong female main characters,  touching the same sex angle which is important to the plot.

It kept me well entertained the first half of the book but then, at least for me,  it became repetitive,  predictable and pushed too many cliche buttons towards the last quarter for my taste.. I know it did well in the bestseller charts and i am sure it has its fans who loved it  but it just didn't do it for me in the end. Tastes vary, it is cleverly done and the Hollywood angle is certainly fun.

Chanel Cleeton: Our last days in Barcelona, Berkeley 9780593197820, paperback

( she is published by Heyne in German)

Sometimes it has to be pure entertainment after a more serious novel, particularly when the sun is out and it feels like summer. 

Throw in a family dynasty of the Perez women,  who fled Cuba for Palm Beach during Castro's revolution  and narrate switching between two timelines, 1936 Barcelona when Franco's nationalists started  a devastating war  and were still in power in 1964 and you have a story which ticks all boxes for a great womens summer read: love story, strong female characters, historical novel, exotic settings and a bit of mystery. 

In 1964 Barcelona Isabel goes in search of her missing sister Beatrix and ends up discovering a family secret her mother Alicia harbors, hence the 1936 timeline. It ended a little too smaltzy for my taste but otherwise had me thoroughy entertained ... 

Chanel Cleeton has written 3 other novels around the women of the Perez family but they can all be read indepently.