Book Haul~Week!

This was a week that was...I was in a slow readers mode but had a very eclectic delivery of books that kept me going.  It's rainy and dreary here in Naples, FL, today, so I thought I would share with you my Weekly Haul to cheer us both up a little.

First, a sweet book on CD sent from my favorite place:  Macmillan Audio!!

Summary:

New York Times bestseller Jane Green delivers a riveting novel about two women whose lives intersect when a shocking secret is revealed From the author of Another Piece of My Heart comes Family Pictures, the gripping story of two women who live on opposite coasts but whose lives are connected in ways they never could have imagined. Both women are wives and mothers to children who are about to leave the nest for school. They're both in their forties and have husbands who travel more than either of them would like. They are both feeling an emptiness neither had expected. But when a shocking secret is exposed, their lives are blown apart. As dark truths from the past reveal themselves, will these two women be able to learn to forgive, for the sake of their children, if not for themselves?

This is a CD Audio in 8 CDs.  I'm very much looking forward to listening to it!!

Summary:

 THE TITANIC HAS OFTEN BEEN CALLED "AN EXQUISITE MICROCOSM OF THE Edwardian era,” but until now, her story has not been presented as such. In Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage, historian Hugh Brewster seamlessly interweaves personal narratives of the lost liner’s most fascinating people with a haunting account of the fateful maiden crossing. Employing scrupulous research and featuring 100 rarely seen photographs, he accurately depicts the ship’s brief life and tragic denouement and presents compelling, memorable portraits of her most notable passengers: millionaires John Jacob Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim; President Taft's closest aide, Major Archibald Butt; writer Helen Churchill Candee; the artist Frank Millet; movie actress Dorothy Gibson; the celebrated couturiere Lady Duff Gordon; aristocrat Noelle, the Countess of Rothes; and a host of other travelers. Through them, we gain insight into the arts, politics, culture, and sexual mores of a world both distant and near to our own. And with them, we gather on the Titanic’s sloping deck on that cold, starlit night and observe their all-too-human reactions as the disaster unfolds. More than ever, we ask ourselves, “What would we have done?”

This one was sent by Broadway Paperbacks of New York.  It's about the Titanic's First-Class passengers and their worlds.  Should be very interesting...

Summary:

An award-winning writer re-imagines the life of Jesus, from the points of view of four people closest to him before his death.

This is the story of Yehoshuah, who wandered Roman-occupied Judea giving sermons and healing the sick. Now, a year after his death, four people tell their stories. His mother grieves, his friend Iehuda loses his faith, the High Priest of the Temple tries to keep the peace, and a rebel named Bar-Avo strives to bring that peace tumbling down.

It was a time of political power-play and brutal tyranny. Men and women took to the streets to protest. Dictators put them down with iron force. In the midst of it all, one inconsequential preacher died. And either something miraculous happened, or someone lied.

Viscerally powerful in its depictions of the period - massacres and riots, animal sacrifice and human betrayal - The Liars' Gospel makes the oldest story entirely new.

This is like no other book I've ever read, and I'm not sure about it... Sent by Little, Brown & Co., a publisher I really trust, I have to take a chance on it for that reason.  We'll see what I think once I get into it.

Summary:

CSI meets The Sixth Sense in this compelling horror/thriller that has already been optioned by the producers of The Dark Knight Returns!

Jonah Miller is a Reviver, able to temporarily revive the dead so they can say goodbye to their loved ones—or tell the police who killed them.

Jonah works in a department of forensics created specifically for Revivers, and he’s the best in the business. For every high-profile corpse pushing daisies, it’s Jonah’s job to find justice for them. But while reviving the victim of a brutal murder, he encounters a terrifying presence. Something is on the other side watching. Waiting. His superiors tell him it's only in his mind, a product of stress. Jonah isn't so certain.

Then Daniel Harker, the first journalist to bring revival to public attention, is murdered. Jonah finds himself getting dragged into the hunt for answers. Working with Harker's daughter Annabel, he becomes determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Soon they uncover long-hidden truths that call into doubt everything Jonah stands for, and reveal a sinister force that threatens us all.

Putting the paranormal in the police department, first-time author Seth Patrick blends genre lines with this edgy crime thriller. The first novel in the Reviver trilogy, Reviver is sure to appeal to fans of Dean Koontz and Justin Cronin.

All I can saw is "wow" to this one which I can't wait to start reading!!!  It's sent by St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books.  Doesn't it sound fabulous!?  I think this one will be a scorcher.


And finally,

Confessions of Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey:

Summary:

A novel for fans of Philippa Gregory and Michelle Moran, Confessions of Marie Antoinette blends rich historical detail with searing drama, bringing to life the first years of the French Revolution and the final days of the legendary French queen.

Versailles, 1789. As the burgeoning rebellion reaches the palace gates, Marie Antoinette finds her privileged and peaceful life swiftly upended by violence. Once her loyal subjects, the people of France now seek to overthrow the crown, placing the heirs of the Bourbon dynasty in mortal peril.

Displaced to the Tuileries Palace in Paris, the royal family is propelled into the heart of the Revolution. There, despite a few staunch allies, they are surrounded by cunning spies and vicious enemies. Yet despite the political and personal threats against her, Marie Antoinette remains, above all, a devoted wife and mother, standing steadfastly by her husband, Louis XVI, and protecting their young son and daughter. And though the queen secretly attempts to arrange her family’s rescue from the clutches of the rebels, she finds that they can neither outrun the dangers encircling them nor escape their shocking fate.

I'm not one to resist a novel about Marie Antoinette.  Published by Ballantine Books, this one will be reviewed in the summer...



So, what was in your mailbox in the last couple of weeks?  Did you go shopping for books?  Let us know in the comments below if you've read any new books you loved!!

I'm still hoping someone (my daughter...:] ) will send me a copy of Jodi Picoult's newest book.  Where is it, Jessica!!???

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Good House" by Ann Leary~ Fabulous Audiobook!

SUMMARY:

Now a New York Times Bestseller!

How can you prove you're not an alcoholic?

You can’t.

It's like trying to prove you're not a witch.  

Hildy Good is a townie. A lifelong resident of an historic community on the rocky coast of Boston’s North Shore, she knows pretty much everything about everyone. Hildy is a descendant of one of the witches hung in nearby Salem, and is believed, by some, to have inherited psychic gifts. Not true, of course; she’s just good at reading people. Hildy is good at lots of things.  A successful real-estate broker, mother and grandmother, her days are full. But her nights have become lonely ever since her daughters, convinced their mother was drinking too much, staged an intervention and sent her off to rehab.  Now she’s in recovery—more or less.

Alone and feeling unjustly persecuted, Hildy needs a friend. She finds one in Rebecca McCallister, a beautiful young mother and one of the town’s wealthy newcomers. Rebecca feels out-of-step in her new surroundings and is grateful for the friendship. And Hildy feels like a person of the world again, as she and Rebecca escape their worries with some harmless gossip, and a bottle of wine by the fire—just one of their secrets. 

But not everyone takes to Rebecca, who is herself the subject of town gossip. When Frank Getchell, an eccentric local who shares a complicated history with Hildy, tries to warn her away from Rebecca, Hildy attempts to protect her friend from a potential scandal. Soon, however, Hildy is busy trying to cover her own tracks and protect her reputation.  When a cluster of secrets become dangerously entwined, the reckless behavior of one threatens to expose the other, and this darkly comic novel takes a chilling turn.

THE GOOD HOUSE, by Ann Leary is funny, poignant, and terrifying. A classic New England tale that lays bare the secrets of one little town, this spirited novel will stay with you long after the story has ended.

 

PARTICULARS OF THIS AUDIOBOOK:

Published by:  Macmillian Audio from St. Martin's
Unabridged
8 CDs
Narrated by Mary Beth Hurt
Author:  Ann Leary
Cost:  $39.99 on Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/The-Good-House-A-Novel/dp/1427228884/ref=tmm_abk_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1363614705&sr=1-1

Amazon Exclusive: Lee Woodruff Interviews Ann Leary

A note from Lee Woodruff on Ann Leary: I became an Ann Leary fan with her memoir An Innocent, A Broad. And like any fan, by the time I finally met her, I was mewling like a bucktoothed school girl at her first spin the bottle sleepover. She didn't disappoint. I loved Ann's first two books. I mean, the woman can write. She can really write, dammit. And in her second novel, The Good House, she weaves a tale that is engrossing, fresh and very, very real. These could be the people in your town, warts and all. I was eager to interview Ann and hear how this book had come together. And I'm happy to share some of these insights with you here.
Lee Woodruff: What was your biggest challenge in writing this book?
Ann Leary: My narrator was a bit of a handful. The Good House is told from the point of view of Hildy Good, who may or may not be an alcoholic. Her daughters think she is, but she is quite confident that she is not. So my biggest challenge was to make Hildy reliable enough to have the reader on her side and actually rooting for her, yet at the same time, question whether she's being completely honest.
LW: Is it fun or arduous to choose character names? And how do you?
AL: I love choosing names for my characters. This novel is set in the fictitious town of Wendover, Massachusetts, which is on Boston's North Shore, near Salem, Essex, and Ipswich. There are still people in that area who have ancestors who were involved in the famous Salem witch trials, so I chose to make my main character a descendent of a real witch, whose name was Sarah Good. I liked the name Hildy because it sounds like a witch's name. Frank Getchell, a fellow townie with whom Hildy shares a complicated past, was just always Frank, in my mind. I've never met a Frank I didn't like. Rebecca McAllister is the beautiful newcomer. I thought her name sounded lyrical with all the syllables, and there is a sort of flowing grace about Rebecca, at least Hildy believes there is when she first meets her. Then it was fun coming up with some of the nicknames "Sleepy Haskell" etc. Names people got when they were kids and that have stuck with them all their lives.
LW: OK--let's get past it–-the dreaded fiction author question--how much of you is in Hildy?
AL: I've written another novel and a memoir and have learned that when you write non-fiction, people always want to know what you made up. And when you write fiction, people always want to know how much of it is true. But the great thing about writing fiction is you can write about things that you wish were true and that's what I did when I wrote Hildy's character.
There is quite a bit of Hildy in me, as I have had my own personal struggles with alcoholism. But we are also very different. Hildy is in her sixties, and a real New England Yankee--wry, opinionated somewhat strident and I've always admired her type. I'd like to be a tough old bird. I'd like to not always be trying to please everybody.
LW: Whether or not we want to admit it, we all have our individual and sometimes weird writing rituals. Will you divulge yours?
AL: I try to write every day and I always write in the morning. We have a lot of animals–-dogs, cats, horses–-and I get up between 5 and 6 everyday to tend to them and then I return to my bed-desk and write. I write on my bed with my four dogs and there are papers and snacks and cold cups of coffee all around me. Really, it's disgusting. Think Grey Gardens. But that's how I write best, in a semi-prone position surrounded by snoring dogs.

--This text refers to hardcover only


About the Narrator:

Mary Beth Hurt began her Broadway career with "Crimes of the Heart."  She then went on to make her film debut in Woody Allen's "Interiors."  Other movie credits include "The World According to Garp," "The Age of Innocence," "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," and "Young Adult."  Hurt was also a recurring character in the television series "Law & Order" for thirteen years.


To hear an excerpt of this book see http://www.macmillianaudio.com  



The Bookish Dame Reviews :

This is the "must listen to" audio book of the season!  What a fantastic narrator Mary Beth Hurt is for a fabulous book.  A modern day "Goodie Good" of Salem, MA, fame couldn't be cast any better than Ann Leary has done, and if ever a book was made for the movies this would be the one.  Just a wonderful book to listen to, and I'm sure a great hardcover book, as well.

Ann Leary has taken her character, Hildy Good, and made her into one of the most endearing lushes I've ever known.  I'm not a fan of alcoholism, but Hildy makes her trips through the tulips with wine nearly a sacred passage of fun.  She's irrepressible!  And, although the town seems to know her business about having been off to a famous rehab.; and, of course she knows all their secrets, too...they make exceptions for each other.  Hildy pretends not to drink, and everyone including her daughters choose to think she doesn't.  It's a perfect conspiracy until things eventually get out of hand.

Hildy is also suspected of being a witch herself since her ancestor is the Goody Good of Salem witch trial fame.  She reads people once in a while as a dinner "trick" though she disavows any real validity to her powers.  That doesn't stop locals from believing her...  She's the epitome of the town's old family maven.  So lovable to the reader, and such a New England fixture to the town and its real estate market.  I found her irresistible.

This is a book on CD you will absolutely savor.  It has atmosphere, humor, a mystery and humanity.  What more could you ask for?  The North Shore of MA never looked more real or more enticing than when told through the eyes and life of Hildy Good.

Run to the nearest bookstore for this audiobook.  You'll love it!

5 stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame


 

Weekly Book Haul~Decidedly Eclectic Group!

 

This is a very strangely placed picture of my haul this week, which was a bit weak, I think.  Didn't get the ordinary heavy stack of books, but I'm not complaining since there's plenty of good stuff here for me to plough through.

 

 

 

 

And here's another view which was less satisfying to me, but which will give you a peek inside of the mess of some of the books I have stacked on my library table behind the sofa, and a corner of one of my bookcases.  Sigh....  My son and daughter-in-law (who are both sticklers for the no clutter policy are going to die!) are coming to visit with my grandchildren in a couple of weeks.  I'll never get this gaggle of books (clutter) cut down in size. 

 

When I was younger, I had this wish that someday I would have a  house with a living room that looked like a Dickens library or an absent-minded professor's office.  I wanted clutters of gorgeous books stacked upon books, beautiful and different papers and journals, lots of pens and pencils of exotic types to choose from.  An assortment of oddities and collectibles...

 

Now that I'm older, I've achieved it.  I'm shocked that I have, actually.  And, suddenly, I'm a little embarrassed because all of my neighbors and friends have these nicely decorated and stream-lined living spaces with very few of the things I have.  They aren't bookish, and they aren't artists and writers.  So, I feel odd.  I am odd, I suppose.  But, I really feel it. 

 

I often feel I need to make excuses about my house because of it, yet when I'm home, I love it.  When I'm away from home, I miss it and am happy to come back and sink into my chair that's surrounded by bookish things with a view of bookish things. 

 

I live with the guilt of this clutter because I'm so happy most of the time!!  Can you help me here????

 

Do you know much about me as a person?  I knit, quilt, paint and make jewelry as well...  And, I'm a grandmother of 7.  :]   I'm just learning to play a card game so I can get out with friends once a week, and I do Tai Chi every other day with friends.

 

 

So...on to the books in the box!!

  

 

 

 

A petite snippet:

 

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

 

 

Oh, yes, a view of Dr. Moreau from his poor daughter's perspective?  I was all over this book.  Had to have it and ordered it myself.  Can't wait to start this one...   If you haven't read it "The Island of Dr. Moreau" is a good, classical read to preview this one.

  

 

 

 

Small synopsis

 

The setting is Tonkin (northern Vietnam) at the turn of the 20th century. A boy, Tai, witnesses the beheading of his father, a notorious bandit, and sets out to recover his head and then to find the man who betrayed his father to the authorities. On this quest, Tai's entire world will shift. FLESH takes the reader into dark and delightful places in the human condition, places where allies are not always your friends, true love hurts, and your worst enemy may bring you the most comfort.

 

When I was approached to read this one, I had to stand back a minute.  It's nothing like I'm used to reading, but it drew me in because of the Vietnam element.  Having been a child of the '60's and the Vietnam situation, I've always wanted to read more about it from a cultural but personalized perspective.  A fictitious account seemed a perfect opportunity. 

 I'm curious about this one for many reasons.  We'll have to see... 

 I've started it, and the author is quite good!

  

 

 

 

A Summary of Sorts:

 

A NOVEL OF MYSTERY, VIDEOGAMES, AND THE PEOPLE WHO CREATE THEM, BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE.

When Russell joins Black Arts games, brainchild of two visionary designers who were once his closest friends, he reunites with an eccentric crew of nerds hacking the frontiers of both technology and entertainment.

This has got to be my wackiest Weekly Haul in a long time!  I love this strange little book!  Not my usual fare, but I read a bit of it and it's so well written and just snagged me into wanting to continue reading.  It's a sort of mystery, as well.  Love it!  I'll be reviewing it soon.  From my great friends at Mulholland Books.  Thanks, Mulholland!

 

 

Snapshot summary:

 

Raised in Chicago's Latino working class community during the Sixties, Alicia Barron uncovers her mother's Caucasian roots when she inherits a time-worn mansion, the remnant of the estate of a Chicago industrialist who, she discovers, is her grandfather. Her search of the house takes her into the lives of past generations of women whose love carried them across forbidden boundaries, and into the conflict of class, nationality, and race that is the history of the city itself.

 

Interesting to read about this segment of Chicago's history.  I'm very unfamiliar.  It sounds like a good story, and it's about women and their history which hits two of my favorite subjects.  Looking forward to finding out more about this one.  Thanks to Judith for the book!

 

 

 

 

Summary:

 

In 1972, professional dancer Joan Wulfsohn underwent a double mastectomy. And her soon-to-be-ex-husband abducted their three children and spirited them away to a foreign country. “I should have died,” Joan writes. But she didn’t. Stalking Carlos Castaneda chronicles her journey back to life by way of lessons learned from stunning transvestites and music hall dancers, teen porn stars, a brain damaged boy, Eastern holy men, Western supermodels and a certain aging sorcerer. It is the story of how one woman learned to live a magical life—bound not by spells and hexes but rather filled with wonder and transcendence.

 

Seriously, can you resist this book!??  I couldn't.  Sorry for the Amazon cover image, I couldn't find a better close up of it.  It's gotten 5 stars on Amazon.  Robert Duvall gave a foreword on the book that was stellar.  This one is a real reach for me, but I'm trying to work outside my comfort zone...  :]

We'll see what  happens!

Many thanks to Water Street Press Books for this opportunity!

 

 

now on to my fabulous Macmillian Audio Books!!  Yay!!

 

 

 

 

Such a small bit of a summary!

 

How can you prove you're not an alcoholic?

You can’t.

It's like trying to prove you're not a witch.

Hildy Good is a townie. A lifelong resident of an historic community on the rocky coast of Boston’s North Shore, she knows pretty much everything about everyone. Hildy is a descendant of one of the witches hung in nearby Salem, and is believed, by some, to have inherited psychic gifts. Not true, of course; she’s just good at reading people. Hildy is good at lots of things...

Love love love!!!  I've already started this one and it's so hilarious I can't wait to write a review for you on it.  Hildy is the perfect snooty, smart New England character.  I love her!

 

 

Summary:

 

From the award-winning novelist and writer of Upstairs Downstairs, the launch of a brilliant new trilogy about what life was really like for masters and servants before the world of Downton Abbey

As the Season of 1899 comes to an end, the world is poised on the brink of profound, irrevocable change. The Earl of Dilberne is facing serious financial concerns. The ripple effects spread to everyone in the household: Lord Robert, who has gambled unwisely on the stock market and seeks a place in the Cabinet; his unmarried children, Arthur, who keeps a courtesan, and Rosina, who keeps a parrot in her bedroom; Lord Robert’s wife Isobel, who orders the affairs of the household in Belgrave Square; and Grace, the lady’s maid who orders the life of her mistress.

Can't wait to listen to this one.  I'm getting lots of knitting done while I listen to these new audio books, which I must say are exceptional from Macmillian.  They choose exemplary narrators.  I think that makes all the difference.  More on this later...


                                             And, that's all from me today
with what came in the mail or that I purchased for my library this week.  What did you get?  

Are you particularly interested in anything new in audio???

Send me a note via comments, I'd love to hear what you're thinking.

Deb/TheBookishDame

"Bring Up The Bodies" by Hilary Mantel~Heavy History

SUMMARY :   The sequel to Hilary Mantel's 2009 Man Booker Prize winner and New York Times bestseller, Wolf Hall delves into the heart of Tudor history with the downfall of Anne Boleyn.

 

Though he battled for seven years to marry her, Henry is disenchanted with Anne Boleyn. She has failed to give him a son and her sharp intelligence and audacious will alienate his old friends and the noble families of England. When the discarded Katherine dies in exile from the court, Anne stands starkly exposed, the focus of gossip and malice.

At a word from Henry, Thomas Cromwell is ready to bring her down. Over three terrifying weeks, Anne is ensnared in a web of conspiracy, while the demure Jane Seymour stands waiting her turn for the poisoned wedding ring. But Anne and her powerful family will not yield without a ferocious struggle. Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies follows the dramatic trial of the queen and her suitors for adultery and treason. To defeat the Boleyns, Cromwell must ally with his natural enemies, the papist aristocracy. What price will he pay for Anne's head?

Shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Published by:  Holt, Henry and Co.
Pages:  435
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Author:  Hilary Mantel
Available thorugh Amazon and Barnes and Noble
Ebook, hard cover, and Macmillan/Audio Book

Find more on:  http://www.hilarymantel.com


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Hilary Mantel was born in Derbyshire. She was educated at a convent and later studied law. After ten years abroad in Africa and the Middle East, she returned to Britain in 1985 to make a career as a writer. Her novel Beyond Black was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2005, and she was awarded the CBE in June 2006. Her novel, Wolf Hall, set during the reign of Henry VIII, told mainly through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, was published by Fourth Estate in May 2009 and won the 2009 Man Booker Prize.

THE BOOKISH DAME'S REVIEW :

It seems apparent that Hilary Mantel was educated at a convent.  Those nuns know how to teach, and Ms Mantel was obviously an A+ student!  "Bring Up The Bodies" is an example of writing in its finest form.  Not for the faint of heart, this one, but a study in history with a storyline that is at once captivating and complex.

I have to admit that I was an unbeliever when I picked this book up.  Because Ms Mantel has been crowned with so many Man Booker Prizes, I thought it must be redundant and someone was just offering up a nod without really examining other books in the running.  But after having read the book myself, I could see all the merits.  Her prizes and recognition seems well-deserved.

"Bring Up The Bodies" is a better perspective of the last months of Anne Boleyn's life than I've ever read before wrapped in fiction.  While it's encompassed with details of Henry VIII's court and travels/personal habits throughout England during this period of his reign, it isn't bogged down with unnecessary details. Mantel shows the intrigue and political mechanisms with aplomb.  Her power in writing works to make the story flow while it becomes more absorbing from a human perspective--as she tightens the political noose around poor Anne's neck.

Characterization is in top form.  Cromwell is a Machiavellian figure while engendering a sort of begrudging sympathy from the reader for his "middle man" entrapment.  He's set to solving the Sovereign's discontent while trying to remain true to himself.  He's a character I loved to hate.   The displaced Queen Katherine is stronger in spirit before she dies than in most novels and I applauded this concept.  And, of course, Henry and Anne are dealt with in genius and brilliance.  Mantel's characters while living personages of rank and reign, are also human and "normal" in their desires.

Hilary Mantel is a writer who stands head and shoulders above most writers of the day.  She particularly does that in her genre of historical fiction.  While the book may be weighty, it is well worth the read.  Beautiful and brilliant.

I highly recommend this one.

5+ stars               Deborah/TheBookishDame


Please Enjoy!  SAMPLE THE AUDIO BOOK COMPLEMENTS OF MACMILLAN AUDIO :

Find it for sale on:  Amazon          

This is an unabridged audio edition of Disc 1

http://media.us.macmillan.com/video/olmk/macmillanaudio/BringUpTheBodies.mp3

"The Map of True Places" by Brunonia Barry ~ Mesmerizing

Summary : 

Brunonia Barry, the New York Times bestselling author of The Lace Reader, offers an emotionally compelling novel about finding your true place in the world.

Zee Finch has come a long way from a motherless childhood spent stealing boats—a talent that earned her the nickname Trouble. She's now a respected psychotherapist working with the world-famous Dr. Liz Mattei. She's also about to marry one of Boston's most eligible bachelors. But the suicide of Zee's patient Lilly Braedon throws Zee into emotional chaos and takes her back to places she though she'd left behind.

What starts as a brief visit home to Salem after Lilly's funeral becomes the beginning of a larger journey for Zee. Her father, Finch, long ago diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, has been hiding how sick he really is. His longtime companion, Melville, has moved out, and it now falls to Zee to help her father through this difficult time. Their relationship, marked by half-truths and the untimely death of her mother, is strained and awkward.

Overwhelmed by her new role, and uncertain about her future, Zee destroys the existing map of her life and begins a new journey, one that will take her not only into her future but into her past as well. Like the sailors of old Salem who navigated by looking at the stars, Zee has to learn to find her way through uncharted waters to the place she will ultimately call home.

Particulars of the Book :
Published by:  HarperCollins
AudioBook, ebook and regular books
Author:  Brunonia Barry
Find her:  Brunonia


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Brunonia Barry studied literature and creative writing at Green Mountain college in Vermont and at the University of New Hampshire and was one of the founding members of the Portland Stage Company. While still an undergraduate at UNH, Barry spent a year living in Dublin and auditing Trinity College classes on James Joyce’s Ulysses.
Barry’s love of theater led to a first job in Chicago where she ran promotional campaigns for Second City, Ivanhoe, and Studebaker theaters. After a brief stint in Manhattan, where she studied screenwriting at NYU, Barry relocated to California because she had landed an agent and had an original script optioned. Working on a variety of projects for several studios, she continued to study screenwriting and story structure with Hollywood icon Robert McKee, becoming one of the nine writers in his Development Group.
Brunonia’s love for writing and storytelling has taken her all across the country but after nearly a decade in Hollywood, Barry returned to Massachusetts where, along with her husband, she co-founded an innovative company that creates award-winning word, visual and logic puzzles. In recent years, she has written books for the Beacon Street Girls, a fictional series for ‘tweens. Happily married, Barry lives with her husband and her only child that just happens to be a 12-year-old Golden Retriever named Byzantium. The Lace Reader was her first original novel.
Barry is the first American Writer to win the Woman’s International Fiction Festival’s 2009 Baccante Award (for The Lace Reader.) Her second novel, The Map of True Places will be published 0n May 4, 2010.


Trailer:

THE DAME'S REVIEW :

I listened to this book on AudioBook first on my trip to Louisiana and then at home afterwards because I couldn't bear not to finish it having completed my driving before it was over.  This was a mesmerizing book and the miles just melted away as the story progressed.  The narrator was wonderful on this one, but the story was most perfect.  It ranks as one of the best stories I've listened to on tape of all time.  I loved it.  Made me wish I'd just read the book!

You can see the summary above, and here is a review below by Kirkus.

Kirkus Reviews

A novice psychotherapist finds unsettling parallels between a patient's suicide and her mother's history, in Barry's second (The Lace Reader, 2008). Hepzibah (ZeeZee grew up in the historic Salem home that was once Purveyance's domestic prison.) Now a doctoral candidate in Boston, Zee sees aspects of Maureen in her bipolar patient Lilly, a suburban homemaker. Lilly tells her of Adam, a carpenter, whom she loves desperately, but who now appears to be stalking them both-Zee's seen him lurking outside her office. With adjusted meds, Lilly improves, but then leaps to her death from a bridge during rush hour. At Lilly's funeral, Zee spots a man she recognizes from TV news as a distraught eyewitness to Lilly's death. More personal woes intrude. Finch's Parkinson's disease is worsening, he's now alienated from Melville (his partner since Maureen's death) and requires full-time care. Zee returns to Salem, and this town of Wicca practitioners, pirate re-enactors and tall ships, like Friendship, a replica of the vessel on which Purveyance fled, reclaims her. Hawk, the stricken eyewitness, is now crewing on the Friendship and, when Zee enrolls in his celestial navigation class, she's ineffably drawn to him. Soon the pair are making love in Maureen's room, beneath the same widow's walk on which the storied lovers once trysted. Although marred by unnecessary "come-to-realize" moments, this woman-in-jeopardy thriller retooled with gothic elements-shifting identities, secrets and portents, a deserted cottage and a missing suicide note-manages to transcend its component cliches. A highly readable sophomore effort. Reading group guide available online.



I loved the depth of character study Ms Barry goes into with Zee and her parents.  Maureen is especially compelling to me for some reason...perhaps because she's such a tragic figure and because her love of fairytales and the ghostly appeals to the gothic in me.  Zee keeps the story alive as she searches for herself and the meaning of her roots.  And I love the relationship between her father and his gay lover,  "Hawthore" and "Melville" are just brilliant.  Melville's story is especially poignant.  Zee's dad (Hawthorne's) gift of Yeats book of poems is a section of the story that will tear your heart out.

This is a book on tape that will keep you happily engaged for several days, and I'm sure the same could be said for the book.  I love Brunonia Barry's style and her setting of Salem, MA.  Made me very homesick for Massachusetts.

5 stars             Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Winter Palace" by Eva Stachniak~Beautiful Story

SUMMARY :  From award-winning author Eva Stachniak comes this passionate novel that illuminates, as only fiction can, the early life of one of history’s boldest women. The Winter Palace tells the epic story of Catherine the Great’s improbable rise to power—as seen through the ever-watchful eyes of an all-but-invisible servant close to the throne.

Her name is Barbara—in Russian, Varvara. Nimble-witted and attentive, she’s allowed into the employ of the Empress Elizabeth, amid the glitter and cruelty of the world’s most eminent court. Under the tutelage of Count Bestuzhev, Chancellor and spymaster, Varvara will be educated in skills from lock picking to lovemaking, learning above all else to listen—and to wait for opportunity. That opportunity arrives in a slender young princess from Zerbst named Sophie, a playful teenager destined to become the indomitable Catherine the Great. Sophie’s destiny at court is to marry the Empress’s nephew, but she has other, loftier, more dangerous ambitions, and she proves to be more guileful than she first appears.

What Sophie needs is an insider at court, a loyal pair of eyes and ears who knows the traps, the conspiracies, and the treacheries that surround her. Varvara will become Sophie’s confidante—and together the two young women will rise to the pinnacle of absolute power.

With dazzling details and intense drama, Eva Stachniak depicts Varvara’s secret alliance with Catherine as the princess grows into a legend—through an enforced marriage, illicit seductions, and, at last, the shocking coup to assume the throne of all of Russia.

Impeccably researched and magnificently written, The Winter Palace is an irresistible peek through the keyhole of one of history’s grandest tales.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Audio CD:  Books on Tape
Discs:  15
Price:  $65
Purchase:  Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Palace-Lib-Eva-Stachniak/dp/030796681X/ref=tmm_abk_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1347123246&sr=1-1

 

Author's Biography:

Eva Stachniak was born in Poland, studied at Magill University in Montreal, Canada, and now lives in Toronto.  She is the author of several books.  You may find more about her here:  http://evastachniak.com


This is a 6 minute video interview with Eva:

THE DAME'S REVIEW :
Something I rarely do is listen to books on tape, but on my long drive to Louisiana this past month, I took along "The White Palace" as a companion "read."  I'm so happy I did.  This was the consummate audio tape for a long trip.  Rich in detail and intrigue, this book was just the thing I needed to keep my mind occupied as the miles melted away.

I thoroughly enjoyed the dialog of Barbara the young girl who began as a seamstress's apprentice in the royal Russian court, and was lifted to the position of spy and companion to the young heir of the throne, Peter III, and then his poor young wife, Catherine.  The story of how she was trained and operated as a spy was fascinating.  And the story of her relationships to Peter and then his abused and "pushed aside" wife, was compelling and exciting. 

I loved the characterizations.  Barbara became the main link between Elizabeth the Empress of Russia and the soon to become Catherine the Great as she developed from a weak and beaten down young girl to the eventual Empress herself.  It was Barbara who walked the thin wire between the two women, and became a loyal friend to both as best she could.  This was a part of the book I found most evocative. 

The sexual exploits of both women were significant to their reigns, and were kept thinly veiled from each other by Barbara. A long and dangerous connection between the two women was kept in the balance by the clever spying and relaying of messages by Barbara. Peter was kept in check by an overbearing Empress Elizabeth, and then by an eventual powerful Catherine who had gained strength partly through Barbara's help and connections over the years.  This was a smart author's ploy making the story easy for a listener and reader to understand as the court intrigue progressed.

I felt what could have been a heavy book of Russian history was conveyed in a lively and absorbing story of spy-craft and sexual intrigue.  Eva Stachniak certainly appealed to my sense of adventure and love of historical fiction.  The descriptive quality of this audio tape was wonderful, as well.  Clothing and architecture came as alive as the characters.

Highly recommended audio experience for those who enjoy listening to a book, although this was quite a long one at 15 tapes!  I must take off a star for the length...

4 stars           Deborah/TheBookishDame