A Long Petal of the Sea

Finished April 12

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende, translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor

This novel is a fantastic read, with the main events part of real history. Beginning in 1936 in Spain, we are placed amidst the Spanish Civil War., The war is drawing to a close and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians are fleeing to France. One of them is Roser, a young pregnant woman who lover, a soldier, is missing. His brother, Victor Dalmau, a medical school student who is serving as a medic, has arranged for a friend to bring Roser and his mother out of Spain, choosing a Red Cross nurse as a contact point for them to connect through in France. With so many people fleeing it is chaotic and Victor's mother is worried about slowing them down, and Roser and the friend find their way over the mountains into France before becoming separated. 

France is overwhelmed with the sheer quantity of people fleeing Spain, and there are limited opportunities for the many refugees. Roser finds a place to work and live, but it is not a permanent situation. In order to take advantage of getting away from Europe, Victor and Roser marry. By doing so, they gain a spot on the Winnipeg, a ship chartered by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. In Chile the small family starts over. Roser begins her career as a pianist supplemented by giving lessons, and Victor re-enrols in medical school while running a Catalan-style pub with a fellow Spanish exile. They always hope to return to Spain one day when Franco is no longer the leader, but the hope grows fainter over time. 

They make good lives there, with Victor working as a respected cardiologist while still showing his penchant for helping those in need, and Roser working with a Venezuelan man to create an international orchestra respected for their use of traditional South American instruments. Roser's child is raised within their strong household love, and their growing love for each other. 

Then they end up living through another upheaval as Chile is taken over by the fascist Pinochet. They realize that Chile is now their home, a land they truly love and feel tied to, and that the love they have built is strong and their son has grown up with their shared values and feeling a true Chilean. 

The real history of the characters' difficult episodes is told well, even to the presence of the author's father in the story. But it is their strong character and how they live their values that is at the centre of the novel and so well told.

I loved the inclusion of Neruda's work at the beginning of every chapter as it really spoke to the time and place. 

A shining example of Allende's writing. 

Down with the Shipmans

Finished April 12

Down with the Shipmans by Meg Mitchell Moore

This contemporary novels is set around a family. It is early June, and the three Shipman sisters are returning to the family beach house in New Hampshire, which was first owned by their mother's parents. Calvin, their father, has asked them to come for a family reunion. But there are also other plans to sell the house that they learn of once they get there. The atmosphere is sometimes tense and there are resentments around certain things. Calvin's second wife, of less than a year, was also the women's mother's palliative nurse before she died and is older than them, but much younger than their father. She will be arriving shortly after the women, and some of them haven't come to terms with the marriage yet. 

Mae is the youngest daughter and she is driving from Denver, where she is near the edge of what she can handle, couch surfing at friends' places, with a job training dogs. She is currently training a recovering abused dog for its owner who is traveling for work. Natalie, the middle sister, is married to a dairy farmer. Her husband grew up on a dairy farm in Montana, but the couple own and run a farm in Vermont. They have three children, and have been talking about a fourth. 

Natalie began supplementing their income with a social media channel some years ago, and has been building that presence, with a featured article in a national paper just-released. A comment that her husband made during the interview for the article has been taken somewhat out of context and has begun creating backlash for her. 

Jordan, the oldest, is a well-regarded crisis communication expert in New York City. She has been put into a situation where she must choose between her employer and the truth. 

As they handle their individual problems, reluctant to share them with each other, they must also face their father's situation and come to terms with how he is moving forward with his life. 

With everyone at a point of decision in their lives, this book gives the reader a lot to think about. I really enjoyed the depth of the characters and watching them grow through their situations. They grow closer through this few weeks of summer, as they find themselves truly reflecting on their own wants and needs not others' expectations. Moore is great with family stories and this book is great around the many emotions these three central characters have. We get glimpses of the personality of the new wife, but she is definitely a minor character. I'd love to see a follow-up around her. 

A Collection of Lies

Finished April 8

A Collection of Lies by Connie Berry

I read the first book in this series, A Dream of Death, recently and now seem to be reading them out of order, which is fine. Here, Kate Hamilton and Tom Mallory are newly married and on their honeymoon, but their future hasn't been entirely decided yet. They know where they will live in England, and one of their tasks on this trip is to do a piece of investigative work for a friend of Tom's who runs an investigative agency out of Canada. Tom is undecided whether to quit his job in the police and work for his friend or not. Kate had worked as an antique dealer in Ohio before she met Tom, and was a widow with grown children. 

Their task is to visit a museum in Coombe Mallet, Devon to look at a blood-stained dress recently received as a donation and to trace the provenance of the dress to verify, if they can, whether it actually belonged to Nancy Thorne, a Victorian lacemaker who returned home one day covered in blood with no explanation. Some suspected that she had killed someone, but no body was found, nor was anyone reported missing. Nancy lived with her sister, Sally Tucker, a dressmaker. 

The dress was donated by a man named Gideon Littlejohn, who although he makes his living in IT security, dresses and lives in his home as if he were a Victorian gentleman. So he's a bit eccentric, but seems like an intelligent man. The museum director Hugo Hawkes is eager to get the dress authenticated as it will be the star of a new exhibit at the museum, and he has recently hired a new textile conservator, Julia Kelly, to work on the piece and others that will be part of the collection. 

Kate and Tom attend a gala at the museum on their first evening there and a shot is fired, grazing Gideon. Most believe that the bullet was meant for the local MP, a reformed criminal named Teddy Pearce, who is determined to root out corruption locally. The local police, DCI Okoje and officer Varma O'Brien gladly ask for Tom to help them in the investigation. When Gideon is found dead in his home soon after, they find themselves helping in a murder investigation. There are plenty of suspects, and the couple find themselves digging into the past as they try to find motive and opportunity for the crime.

I liked the way Kate and Tom work together and value each others' knowledge and opinion. Kate's expertise in antiques and Tom's knowledge gained through his police work make them a great team. 

This case was interesting and really digs into history and makes me think of another series also based in Devon, the Wesley Peterson series by Kate Ellis, where there is an archaeological aspect to the cases.  

Red: A Haida Manga

Finished April 6

Red: A Haida Manga told and illustrated by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

This creative book founded a new art form, combining traditional manga with Haida imagery. The story is a traditional Haida Gwaii folktale from the oral tradition. Red is an orphaned leader, a man blinded by revenge, leading to a tragic situation. 

When he was young, raiders attacked his village. Red escaped, but his sister Jaada did not. Red is angry and wants to exact revenge on the men who kidnapped his sister. He wants to find her and save her. But his anger doesn't allow for the feelings of anyone else affected by the situation, not his sister, not his people, no one. 

The art here is in full colour and hand-painted. Taken as a whole the panels create a Haida formline image thirteen feet long. A miniaturized version of this image is shown on the inside cover of the book. Really understanding this work and the art that depicts the story takes time to reflect, to think, to learn about the culture. The form is a key part of the story and neither can stand alone. 

Moving and thought-provoking. 

The Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

Finished April 6

The Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

This novel was a 2025 nominee on Goodreads in the Romantasy category. But it is a book with many themes. The main character Sera Swan is one of the most powerful witches in Britain, and she was being supervised by another powerful witch Albert Grey when she broke a rule. She was a teenager living with her great aunt Jasmine who not only looked after her, but also loved and cared for her. Her parents were too much set on their own lives to do so. When Jasmine suddenly died, Sera couldn't bear it, and she used her power impulsively to resurrect her great aunt. The spell was powerful enough it also resurrected the much loved pet rooster that was buried nearby, creating an interesting and absurd member of the household. It also took away much of Sera's powers. Those in charge decided that Sera should be punished beyond this, by getting kicked out of the witch's school. She even lost her best friend. 

Sera and her aunt determined to set up their home as an inn to make ends meet, and Sera's remaining power was put to use making the inn one that only those who needed it found. 

Years have passed and the inn has a couple of long-term tenants: Matilda, a middle-aged woman with her own secrets; and Nicholas, a young man who works as a knight at a local medieval fair, and lives as much as a knight as he can as well, despite his father's expectations. Also living there is Sera's young cousin Theo, who is also a witch, and who, though born in Iceland, has received permission to live in England and whose parents are happy to have Sera and Jasmine look after him. Theo attends the local school and hasn't yet realized that he's a witch, or that Sera is. 

As the story opens Sera is still missing her magic, which represented a star-filled sky for her, and considering ways in which she might be able to get it back to what it had been. 

This is where Luke Larson, historian and assistant to one of the professors at the witches' school comes into the story. Luke has a younger sister Posy, nine years old, who is both autistic and a witch and whose parents found her powers too difficult to explain to their non-magical neighbours. Luke had her at the school with him, but that had its own problems. So the solution has been to have him and Posy stay with Sera and Jasmine and see if they can manage things better there. 

This is a story of power and jealousy, of those who believe they should control the lives of others through their own wishes, and those who really care about the people and other creatures around them, and want them to live their best lives. It is a story of love and how it has its own power, and how love can be strong enough to compel people to make difficult choices. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, from the strong characters, the growth of those characters in the storyline, to the empathy at the heart of it all. 

Survive the Night

Finished April 5

Survive the Night by Riley Sager

This psychological suspense story was a great read, with twists and turns along the way. The specific time setting isn't stated, but it is set before cell phones are around. The main character is Charlie Jordan, who is named after a character in a movie. She goes to college in New Jersey, but is from Ohio. Her eccentric, charismatic roommate Maddie was the third victim of the campus killer, a serial killer as yes uncaught. The killer kidnapped and killed the young female victims, and took a tooth for a souvenir. The last piece of information hasn't been made public. 

The night Maddie was killed she pressured Charlie into going out to a bar, and Charlie was not enjoying the night at all. She finally told Maddie that she'd had enough and wanted to go home, but Maddie wasn't ready to go. Charlie actually saw the back of a man talking to Maddie when she looked back, not realizing that he was the killer. Charlie feels extremely guilty for leaving Maddie, and Maddie's family blames her as well. She's been struggling with life since the murder. 

She's finally decided to go home, and goes to put up a post on the Rideshare board at the college, but meets Josh Baxter who is just posting that he is looking for someone to share the trip to Akron with. He's a graduate student. Charlie is a little nervous about the whole thing, given the recent murders and not knowing Josh, but she so wants to get away that she brushes any concerns aside.

On the drive, she begins to notice discrepancies in Josh's story, and becomes suspicious.

Add to this Charlie's love of thriller movies. She's watched them all her life, first with her parents, and later, after their deaths in a car accident, with her grandmother who is a huge fan. Charlie has, at time, had episodes where she kind of zones out and lives a scene in her head. She always has realized that this happens to her as soon as her episode is over, but now she wonders whether things she has seen are real, or one of these "movies" that plays in her head. She doesn't trust her own observations anymore, and isn't sure what is real and what isn't. But she keeps telling herself all she has to do is survive the night.

Before she left campus she had jokingly set up a code phrase with her boyfriend in case something happens, and as a result of her actually using this phrase, he gets drawn into the action as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, the character Charlie is, the character Maddie was, and the well developed plot. 

Picture Perfect Autumn

Finished March 31

Picture Perfect Autumn by Shelley Noble

This contemporary romance was an enjoyable read. The main character, Dani Campbell, is one of the hottest new photographers on the New York scene, but she is insecure and feels that something is missing from her work. On a visit to a thrift store for inspiration, she comes across an envelope of photographs and is determined to track down the photographer. He is Lawrence Sinclair, an 80-year-old reclusive man who lives alone in a run down Rhode Island beach house. 

Dani is insistent on getting him to mentor her and she makes assumptions based on what she sees of his life. She agrees to pay him rent to stay at the house and also agrees to do chores for him in exchange for his mentorship. She really puts her heart into it, bringing the house back to life. She also gets drawn into the local community, particularly getting involved in a local art school run by three aging nuns. Her life in Rhode Island is juxtaposed by her New York persona, where she dresses for attention and mingles with the wealthy. Her agent is supportive but also demanding and there are things happening in New York that she can't opt out of, including a show and a potential sponsorship opportunity. 

Lawrence is still grieving the losses of his life: his wife, his son, and his relationship with his grandson Peter who he was close to before his son's death. Lawrence isn't poor, although the way he lives gives this impression. Peter has recently joined the family business, something he was pressured into by his mother. This is not the type of law he wants to practice and he resents the situation he is in. He also misses his grandfather and their previous relationship.

When Peter's mom pressures him to visit his grandfather, Dani misrepresents herself as Lawrence's housekeeper, while Peter's mother is looking for signs of his loss of capability to function on his own. 

This is an interesting study of the three main characters. Dani, successful but insecure; Peter, successful, but unhappy; and Lawrence, caught in the past until the present insists on his presence. 

I liked the characters and the plot, and found the themes covered here meaningful to me.