Kitty St. Clair's Last Dance

Finished August 1

Kitty St. Clair's Last Dance by Kate Robb

I enjoyed Robb's first novel and was excited to see this one at my local library. I'm glad I picked it up as this is a definite winner. Set mostly in the small Ontario town of West Lake on Lake Huron, the main character here is a local girl, Julia (Jules) DeMarco. Jules works at the local retirement home, Sunnydale, as does her best friend Zoe. Jules had wanted to go to med school, and had taken her MCAT, but financial and family issues made that not an option for her. She loves West Lake, and has seen the influx of tourists and the introduction of more vacation homes in the nearby towns drive out local residents and small businesses, such as her favourite butter tart bakery. 

When one of the residents, Kitty St. Clair, dies, Jules is surprised to learn that Kitty left her a building in town. It used to be a dance hall, but has been sitting empty for years. When Jules comes across Kitty's diary from the months before she married a Toronto man, she begins reading it for clues to why Kitty left her the building. Instead, each time she reads a diary entry, she finds herself back in the past as she sleeps, existing there as Dotty O'Brien, one of Kitty's friends. Her first dream visit takes her to May 1949, where Kitty and Dotty go to the dance hall one night where Kitty hopes to meet Beau St. Clair, a young man from Toronto she's been corresponding with since the previous summer. She also sees a local boy, Knots, who works at the dance hall, and who is very interested in Kitty himself. 

As the dreams give Jules more knowledge of Kitty's circumstances, she also considers that the building, once probate goes through, may offer her a chance to pursue her dream of med school after all. When she finds out that a man from Toronto is in town looking to acquire the property for a condo development she is torn in two ways. The first is whether to sell for her own future, but draw the town into the real estate issues she's seen in nearby towns. The second is when she realizes that the man is one she has a past with. Two years earlier, she spent a night with Reeve Baldwin and never heard from him again. Can she trust him? Why is she drawn to him still? 

I enjoyed the characters here, seeing both Kitty and Jules deal with their dilemmas, and the other small town residents, both those in the retirement home, and the locals like Zoe, and Donny at the Legion, the centre of the town's social life. I got a real feel for the community and the way people look out for each other and are involved with their community. 

The romances between Kitty and her suitors, and between Jules and Reeve were well written and I could feel the attractions. Jules' and Zoe's friendship is also drawn well, and Zoe is a real character. A book that I found hard to put down. 

The Tudor Prophecy

Finished April 25

The Tudor Prophecy by Julie Strong

This historical novel takes place in 1541 in the latter part of the reign of King Henry VIII. Hester Vaughan and her younger brother Dickie have lived in England with her maternal uncle Sir Hugh Grantmire and his family, consisting of his wife and daughter. The daughter, Lady Alice, is close in age to Hester and they are close friends. Hester's father is Welsh and still lives at his property there. His grief at the death of Hester's mother precipitated this move. 

Hester has teenage dreams of healing King Henry from his leg tumours and being chosen as his next wife, but her attempt to make this happen results in disaster. At the same time, Sir Hugh has finally come to the point where his refusal to make an oath to King Henry's new church means that his life and lands are in jeopardy. 

When Hester is summoned to join her father in Wales, she goes, but unwillingly. She has strange dreams that she struggles to understand. In Wales, she finds her father in his dying days, and struggles to hold off the strange and disturbing fates that her uncle there plans for her. A young bard and her Welsh maid are the only ones she can trust. 

Meanwhile Lady Alice, her mother, Dickie, and his minder John struggle to make ends meet in their reduced circumstances. Dickie, who is developmentally delayed and has seizures, is unpredictable and loyal to his family, which sometimes puts them in dangerous situations. 

When Hester's path crosses that of the young Elizabeth, Kind Henry's daughter, she realizes that she has been led to show her that her father's way is a cruel one and she can make different choices. 

I was really engaged with this novel and while I was sometimes frustrated with Hester's choices, I see how they all led in a certain direction. Hester grew through the course of the novel, as did Lady Alice as she adjusted to her new reality. As the book neared its end, the final scene leads me to believe there will be a sequel to this book, which I look forward to. 

The main parts of history were adhered to, with the real historical figures being where they were at the time. But the introduction of Wales and the Welsh people was interesting as it showed how religion disrupted the lives of the people in ways that I hadn't thought about. 

The Garden of Eden

Finished August 31

The Garden of Eden by Sharon Butala

This book takes place mostly in 1993, with the character Lannie having experiences as early as 1984. This is when Lannie arrived as a volunteer in Ethiopia. She was deeply affected by the news of Ethiopian famine and was determined to find a way to help there. Without medical or other specialized training, she found a church willing to send her for her reporting on what was happening. Lannie makes herself useful in whatever way she can, picking up knowledge as she goes. 

When she was a young child, she was dumped on her uncle Barney and aunt Iris by her father, Howard, Barney's older half-brother following the death of her mother. Her younger siblings, Dillon and Misty, were left with another relative in Calgary.

Lannie had lived in Chinook, Saskatchewan, and her aunt and uncle had a farm just outside town. Despite the love they had for her, Lannie always felt out of place. 

In 1993 in Chinook, Iris is spurred to leave the town to search for Lannie who has been gone for a decade, with letters petering out soon after she left. The impetus to search for Lannie is a sudden, unexpected loss of her own. Iris thinks about her own ties to the land, living on the farm that her mother and grandmother lived on before her. She has often thought about the indigenous people who lived there before them, protecting the signs they left behind, and spending time in the remaining wild coulee that is part of her property.

The book is separated into three sections: Seeding, Growing, and Harvesting, and there are overarching themes of drought, and land use and conservation.

Both women are also searching for love and belonging, and both have dreams that take them into the past and the future. They also feel a sense of a woman guiding them in these dreams. 

I really enjoyed seeing their experiences, even the difficult ones, and seeing them grow as they realized that their strength was within them, and they needed to love themselves first. A moving story that shows the commonalities across cultures. 

The Book of Dreams

Finished July 12

The Book of Dreams by Nina George

This novel was a definite page-turner for me. It in hard to pin down exactly what type of novel it is in terms of genre. It definitely has elements of magic realism in it, but also some coming of age elements, a touch of mystery, and romance. It is a novel that had me feeling a lot of different emotions as well. 

The story follows four people and we are allowed into the thoughts of three of them. The book begins with Henri Skinner, a journalist who grew famous as a war reporter and then moved into more biographical work, telling the stories of people from all corners of the world. 

In one particularly dangerous situation in Sudan, he used his body to protect the female photographer who was in the same vehicle as he was. In the aftermath, she took a photo the reverberates over time, and the two came together to create a child, Sam. 

Sam is now almost fourteen, but his mother has discouraged contact with Henri, but Sam invites him to a Father-Son day at his school. Henri is on his way there, when he stops on a bridge to look at the river and witnesses, with three other people, a young girl falling off a boat. Henri jumps in to save her, and brings her to shore, but is then in an accident, and ends up unconscious in the hospital. 

Sam begins to visit him there, hoping he will survive and they will get to know each other. Along with Sam, in visiting Henri is Eddie Tomlin, a former lover of Henri that he has named as the person to determine medical issues if he isn't able to. She is forced to revisit their relationship and the deep love she has for Henri. 

Sam also discovers a twelve-year-old girl, Madelyn Zeidler, a dancer who is a patient in the same neurological care area as Henri, and once he knows how she came to be there, he tries his best to help her find her way back to life. 

Sam is a synesthete, and his abilities allow him to connect to people's emotions and presence in unique ways, making him a considerate and thoughtful observer and participant in people's lives. 

We get to see Eddie's memories of her time with Henri, and we also get to see Henri's memories of his life, from his work, to his childhood traumas, to his longing for a connection with his son. While in a coma, Henri experiences different versions of his life, struggling to choose which one is real, and showing us feelings that he never expressed to those he cared for. 

We also see how Sam is managing his life to make room for his father and Madelyn, and how he feels an outsider in his own family. 

Along the way are doctors and nurses, each with their individual characteristics, round out the story in interesting ways. 

I really loved this book, and I found it released some of the feelings I had been carrying with me recently. 

In the afterward, the author talks about how this book is the third book in her writing that has been shaped by her experiences of death and dying, mourning and surviving. I found this quite interesting. 

Reset

Finished August 31

Reset by Sarina Dahlan

This dystopian novel imagines a world after a major war that has killed off most of the human population. A man who was in space when it happened and had already dabbled in planned communities decided to find the survivors and bring them together in a utopian community of four linked cities in the Mojave Desert. To prevent future building of alliances and resentments, he devised a system to reset everybody's memories every four years. Children are created in medical labs and raised to adulthood, gaining education and having their skills assessed. This technical learning, whether it is scientific, literature, or arts-related stays with them through any resets, but long-term relationships don't exist and neither do any prejudices developed during that four years. 

At each reset, people are assigned names, jobs and housing, provided with food, entertainment credits and an AI to assist them. Everyone is vegetarian. Life is generally good, with no one homeless or hungry. Some resources are limited, such as water, but these are distributed equitably. They all revere the man who created this community, known as the Planner but have been told very little about the Last War to prevent such feelings arising again. 

But some people have dreams of their past, remembering things that brought them strong emotions, mostly around love, and they desire to remember more, to connect with the people that they loved so strongly, and resist the "Tabula Rasa" reset. Thus there grows a resistance of sorts, secretly brewing a potion that brings these dreams to the surface, reviving such memories. 

The inspiration for this utopia is the John Lennon song Imagine, and it is an anthem of sorts for people. 

This story follows a few characters. Aris is a scientist, a woman who only engages in short term relationships, and embraces the ideas of the community. One of her short term lovers, Benja, has dreams of a man he loved before, and wants to remember more and regain that love. He is an artist and seeks out the group known as Dreamers that try to bring their dreams back into memories. This obsession will take him into dangerous territory and draw in the leader of the Dreamer group Metis, who is also searching for his past lover. 

This is an interesting story about the issues with an ideal world, the problem of control versus individuality, and the nature of love. 

Miss Benson's Beetle

Finished January 10

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce

I've loved all Rachel Joyce's books that I've read, and this is no exception. The story is set in 1950, with two main characters. The titular Miss Benson, Margery, is in her late 40s, single, and teaching domestic science at a girl's school. This is not how she envisioned her life. She hasn't been happy for years, and for her the last straw happens when she finds her students passing around a caricature of her and laughing. She breaks, first leaving the classroom and then taking random items as she leaves the school, never to return. As she thinks back on her life, she reflects on a book her father showed her when she was a child with a picture of a rumoured beetle in a far away land. That picture led to a lifelong fascination with beetles, and she is now drawn back to that moment of captivation and happiness and decides to go look for that beetle. 

There is much preparation to be done before going on such an expedition, and Miss Benson orders supplies, sells some of her belongings and advertises for a paid assistant. The first applicant she interviews is a war vet who had been a Japanese POW. He is twitchy and a mansplaining type, and Miss Benson knows that he is not what she wants. One woman looks promising, but her rigid organization gets her ferreting out Miss Benson's secret and bailing out with little time to substitute, so she ends up reaching out to her final applicant, Enid Pretty. Enid is a force to be reckoned with, able to make almost any situation turn in her favour, and yet completely unsuitable for what Miss Benson was looking for. 

Given their times, the journey to their destination, the northern reaches of New Caledonia, is long and sometimes with delays. As they travel by ship, flying boat, motor vehicle, and their own feet, they get to know one another extremely well, and gradually open up to each other about their pasts and what led them to their present. 

Miss Benson is a lonely woman, with an unhappy childhood, a disappointing coming-of -age experience, and a a lost dream. She is a rule follower, a person who does what is expected of her, until she realizes that she must stand up for herself and her dreams.

Enid Pretty is a charmer, a woman who has compromised for a comfortable life, and who has seen that fall apart. She, too, has a dream that she hasn't been able to bring to fruition, although she has faced most obstacles with a determination that overcomes them. 

I liked seeing this friendship develop and each woman come into her own and the encouragement and support they had for each other. I read this book quickly, almost unable to put it down as I needed to know what happened to theses two extraordinary women. 

The book ends with an interesting interview, an explanation of the inspiration for the book, and some discussion questions. Great choice for a book club.

Nightmares Can Be Murder

Finished December 2 

Nightmares Can Be Murder by Mary Kennedy

This novel begins a series set in Savannah, Georgia around a group of women who meet regularly to discuss and analyze their dreams. Taylor Blake is a business consultant based in Chicago who has come to Savannah to see her sister Allison (Ali) and offer some assistance with her candy store. The store is relatively new, but hasn't yet turned a profit and Taylor is worried about Ali's tendency to lose focus. Alison also runs a Dream Club, a group of women who meet regularly to share their dreams, discuss the meaning of them and try to help each other with the life issues that are connected to these nighttime messages. 

When the owner of another business in the area, Chico Hernandez, a charming but smarmy dance instructor, is found dead in his dance studio, Ali is one of the people that saw him just before his death, and thus gets drawn into the investigation. One of the dream club members, Sam, is a police officer involved in the case, and another, Gina, works for Chico and is the one who finds the body. Taylor is determined to dig deeper to solve the case so the neighbourhood can move forward, and she involves her ex-boyfriend, Noah, an ex-FBI investigator who now works as a private detective. 

Many of the women here have their own secrets and agendas, and there are lots of red herrings to take you off the track of the real murderer. This is a cozy and light mystery with a lot of sweet food discussion, but unfortunately no recipes. 

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly

Finished March 13
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-Mi Hwang, translated by Chi-Young Kim

This short novel tells the story of Sprout, a hen who was kept caged as a layer, unable to even sit on her own eggs as she laid them. She watched the farmyard as she saw other animals moving about, wishing she could as well, wishing that she could hatch an egg, wishing she could be closer to the acacia tree she could see from her cage. She constantly stuck her neck through the wire, causing it to be always scraped free of feathers. She stopped eating.
As the farmers noticed, they determined she was ill and gathered her and others similarly diagnosed and disposing of them. Buried in a pile of other chickens, Sprout was awakened by an encouraging voice, a voice that drew her up and caused her to make her escape from a determined weasel. Her life as a free chicken had finally begun. It wasn't an easy life, struggling for food, living a lonely existence on the edge of the yard. But then something unexpected happened that made her believe her dreams really could come true. As a reader, seeing her determination and her will to survive, I was cheering for her to live her dreams despite the odds.
This is a tale of hope, although I didn't think much of the farmers, and the way they treated their chickens.

We Are Not Ourselves

Finished March 27
We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas

This novel begins in 1951, with ten-year-old Eileen Tumulty living in a small apartment in Queens with her parents, and a lodger. Eileen's father was a laborer who had a certain role in the community of giving advice to other men, setting himself up in a local pub every afternoon. Eileen longs to escape this life and studies hard, going on to get her nursing degree, and eventually her masters in nursing. When she meets Ed Leary, a research scientist, she thinks he will go on to great things and give her the upscale life she longs for. But Ed has different values, and his way leads to a limited academic career.
The couple and their son Connell live in a three family house in Jackson Heights, with the owner and his family members occupying the other two units. Even as things improve financially, Eileen feels limited by her surroundings and dreams of a house in a more upscale neighbourhood. Connell is also studious, doing well in school and gaining a scholarship into a better school in the city. He has a couple of friends in the neighbourhood, but feels out of place, constantly searching for an identity of his own.
As Eileen realizes a move to a new home, Ed's difficult behaviour is uncovered to be a health issue, and everything changes for the family. As Ed's health diminishes, Eileen becomes more and more isolated, living her life in a rotation of work, duty, and sleep that leaves her unhappy and unfulfilled. Connell also struggles, unable to support his father in the way Eileen wants, and unable to see what his own future holds for him.
As this tale takes us through these characters lives, up to 2011, we see the struggles, the dreams, and the hearts of them. It is really about these people, looking into what drives them, what frustrates them and what they feel about their world.
I particularly liked Eileen's venture back to her old neighbourhood near the end of the novel, and her enlightenment as a result.

Bigfoot Dreams

Finished January 23
Bigfoot Dreams by Francine Prose

This unusual novel follows Vera, a single mother living in New York City and working at a tabloid called This Week. Vera writes stories about outlandish creatures, weird occurrences and the unbelievable. She makes all the stories up. Her brain is constantly thinking up lurid headlines for everything she observes and lately she has been dreaming about Bigfoot befriending her and letting her see where he lives. One day the paper's photographer gives her a picture he took and Vera makes up a story about the picture, choosing names and ages for the kids portayed, names for the parents, and a profession for the father. And against all odds, the match the family's true identity. so the family is suing the paper, and Vera's job is in jeopardy.
Her daughter Rosie is at the age where she is starting to be interested in boys, as well as starting to not share everything with her mother.Vera's husband Lowell is a wanderer and dreamer and although they are still married and care about each other and Rosie, he lives out in California, so it is a surprise when he turns up one day. He seems to slide effortlessly back into their lives, but it is only temporary.
The issue with the story makes Vera look harder at her life, her losses and her gains, her skills, and she takes advantage of a connection to the American Cryptobiological Society to explore her Bigfoot Dreams more closely, and come to terms with her reality.

Sunnyside

Finished September 2
Sunnyside by Glen David Gold
This has been my bedside book for quite a few months now, and I'm glad to say I've finished it. I enjoyed most of it, but it is a very complex novel with several storylines.
It begins on November 12, 1916 with a day where there were sightings of Charlie Chaplin in many places (a real historical happening). The book follows not only Chaplin himself, but also Leland Wheeler (aka Lee Duncan) a young man who witnesses one of the sightings and risks his life in trying to reach Chaplin. Leland has a dream of being on the big screen, and despite several setbacks, never lets that dream go. We also follow another young man, Hugo Black, who goes on to be an American soldier fighting in Russia, an extension of the first World War that is little acknowledged. There are several other figures we move on at different times: generals, actors, young women with their own agenda, but the three young men, Chaplin, Leland, and Hugo are the primary focus.
With scenes from Hollywood to Germany, France to Russia, the environment varies widely. We see the rise of actors' rights in Hollywood, the terror and tragedy of World War One, the bleakness of the Russian campaign. We see the loss of dreams and the achievement of dreams. We see families and the dynamics that take place within them. There is sadness and joy here, and much to take in.
The author has included historical figures and events along with fictional ones, and it is interesting to see the linkages. We see the beginning of the career of Rin Tin Tin here as well.
I enjoyed this book, as it got me thinking differently about many things and awakened me to events I didn't know of.

Canadian Fantasy

Finished October 25
Yarrow by Charles de Lint
This was a used book I grabbed as I like de Lint's fiction and hadn't read this one. Once of his earlier books (1986) it is definitely a simpler book than his more recent The Mystery of Grace. I enjoyed the read and got caught up in its good versus evil storyline, but definitely found it a lighter read.
Cat is an author of fantasy novels who is inspired by her dreams. The stories that she writes are told to her by her dream people, who she has spent time with for years. There is some uncertainty as to whether these people are real or created in Cat's head.
An evil man has come to live in Ottawa, and he feeds off of dreams, sometimes going so far as to drain people's souls and take their lives. He is hooked on Cat's dreams, because of their depth and strength, but also feeds off many others in the community. Ever since he has been feeding on Cat's dreams, she has lost her connection with her inspiration and she faces writers' block for the first time. As Cat reaches out to the real people in her life, she also finds that she has a richer life and stronger personality than she realized. This is a book of self-awareness and self-knowledge as well as being a good versus evil tale.