The Doorman

Finished October 25

The Doorman by Chris Pavone

This novel is a slow build, giving background on the three main characters: the doorman of the Bohemia, a historical luxury apartment building in Manhattan, Chicky Diaz, a widower with two adult daughters, who is still trying to pay off his late wife's medical bills; Emily Longworth, who lives in the penthouse suite at the Bohemia with her husband and two young children and who is facing recent revelations about the sources of her despised husband's income and questioning what she is willing to live with; and Julian Sonnenberg, an art dealer who lives on a lower floor with his wife and teenage daughter, and who is facing both a career and a personal crisis. 

On a larger level, a Black man has recently been killed by the police, resulting in demonstrations and outbursts of violence. Most of the staff of the building are black and are unsettled by the news. 

With Chicky's personal situation facing increasing pressure, along with the wider unease in the city, he opts to bring a gun he has just purchased along to his night shift at the building. 

Emily and her husband Whit, and Julien and his wife Jen are both at an art awards dinner. Emily is active in the arts world, both as a buyer and as a philanthropist. Julien and his business partner Ellington, a black man, have sold pieces to the Longworths. 

There has been information leaked recently about Whit Longworth's business activities and there have been protestors at the building he works at. He is considering his options. 

All three of the main characters, as well as some others, have secrets they'd rather not have widely known. They also have people who would relish in their bad luck. 

Both Emily and Julien have lived at the Bohemia for a while, Julien longer than Emily. Chicky has worked there for several decades. They have people they trust and people they don't. 

I really enjoyed this novel, as I have other of Pavone's books, both the plot and the characters. A great suspense novel with some unexpected situations. 

Lies and Weddings

Finished June 7

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan

There and many lies and several weddings in this novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There is definitely tongue in cheek at times, and the whole vibe of the novel was just great. 

It begins with a tragic scene in Hong Kong in 1985, and then jumps to the present day. As a reader, I gradually became aware of the way this early event related to the characters and actions in the present day. 

We get a list of seven characters who are the 'main players' in the story. They are an English earl, Francis Gresham; his Hong Kong model wife, Arabella; their three children, Rufus, Augusta, and Beatrice; Thomas Tong, a doctor, friend of Francis, and longterm tenant in a cottage on the property; and Thomas' daughter Eden, a newly minted doctor. 

Arabella is about to get married to a prince of Liechtenburg, on a new resort property of the Greshams in Hawaii. Then things begin to go wrong in a variety of ways from environmental to financial. 

I love a lot of the details of Kwan's writing. Things like the list of schools a character went to listed when they first appear in the novel; the inclusion of text conversations, announcements, invitations, and newspaper articles; and the way he uses language to hint at upcoming plot elements. But the best is the use of footnotes. These footnotes are done properly and seem serious, but are often hilarious in the way they make fun of the characters, situations, and general class system that is at play in the novel. 

Wealth and status in this novel are front and center, but despite the outer trappings of money or the character's title, one can never be sure whether the wealth is a facade or the real thing. I loved the role of Eden as a grounded middle class doctor who lives on the edges of the earl's family. Childhood playmate and friend of all three Gresham children, she doesn't have the designer clothes, the international travel, or the connections that they have. Accepted in some ways, and not in others, she finds herself seeing her situation in a new light here. 

The novel takes us from the English home of the characters to Hawaii for Arabella's wedding, to London, Paris, Marrakech, Beverly Hills, and Venice. We see the high life close hand, designer names dropped continuously, and ostentatious displays of wealth throughout. But they are always so ostentatious that they become objects of ironic humour. 

I will definitely be seeking out more books by this author. 

Dead with the Wind

Finished May 3

Dead with the Wind by Miranda James

This cozy mystery is set in small town Louisiana, where Mississippi sisters An'gel and Dickce Ducote have come to visit their cousin Mireille for her granddaughter Sondra's wedding. They've also brought their ward, Benjy Stevens, and his Abyssinian cat Endora and Labradoodle dog Peanut. They are staying in a cottage rooms, part of a bed-and-breakfast that Mireille runs along with her longtime housekeeper/cook Estelle. 

Mireille's daughter Jacqueline and her second husband Horace live with Mireille at her large home, as does Sondra. As the scene is set, we see all the main characters, including Mireille's long-term butler Jackson, Sondra's fiancé Lance, Mireille's lawyer Richard and Horace's son Trey. 

Estelle is outspoken and often rude, very critical of Sondra and her actions. Sondra is also outspoken and rude, particularly to her grandmother. She's very beautiful and very entitled and her parents spoiled her when she was younger. There is some question as her motives for getting married. Lance is as beautiful as Sondra is and they've known each other since they were in kindergarten. Lance is also extremely clueless and not very bright. Trey has a crush on Sondra and is jealous of Lance. Horace and Jacqueline's relationship seems tense and we gradually learn why. 

As An'gel and Dickce observe the people around them, and the reactions when Sondra is swept off her balcony to her death in a storm, they also look for who might have wanted to kill her and why. 

There is a lot of southern tradition in the main characters and their relations, as might be expected from wealthy white women who come from plantation backgrounds, but the sisters are more open to new ideas than they seem at first, and Benjy also explains some things to them when they don't understand something. This book grew on me as the plot developed, and while many of the characters are stereotypical, the plot is interesting. 

The Paradise Problem

Finished July 5

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

This romance novel is a lot of fun to read, as one would expect from this author duo. Anna Green married Liam "West" Weston so that both of them could access subsidized family housing at UCLA. Both had needed an affordable place to live to finish their degrees, and Anna's friend Jake had suggested his brother as a solution. Anna had started in pre-med, but ended up in fine arts, and Liam was working on his graduate degree in economics. Anna signed some papers when they moved out and went on with her life, working low level jobs and painting as much as she can. She has a manager for her art, but hasn't hit it big. Liam is now a professor at Stanford, specializing in corporate culture. He is also one of the four children of the CEO of Weston Foods, one of the country's biggest grocery chains. His father has always expected Liam to take the reins as the next CEO, but Liam wants none of it. Both of his brothers, Alex and Jake, as well as his little sister Charlie work there in executive positions, but Liam has managed to make his own way after his father cut him off when he was in university. 

Now Charlie is getting married, and Liam is expected to make his appearance at the destination wedding at a resort in Indonesia. He is also expected to bring his wife. 

Anna hadn't realized that they were still married, and she also had no idea that Jake and Liam were part of this wealthy family. When Liam shows up on her doorstep to ask her to play at being in a committed marriage with him, she has to admit his timing is good. She's been trying to pay all her dad's hospital bills, but has recently lost one of her jobs, and is taking a day to distract herself. With Liam's offer to give her money in exchange for her appearance, she knows it will help her situation immensely.

Liam's lies to his family also included Anna being in med school as he didn't realize she'd changed her career track, so there is another lie that she has to play along with. 

The setting is beautiful, a luxury private resort, with ocean cabins, exquisite food, and lots of fun activities. The family not so much. The tension between Liam and his father is huge, and hanging over Liam is a clause from his grandfather's will that means Liam won't get his inheritance until he's been married five years, which is coming up in a few months. Liam's mother, Janet is passive aggressive. His older brother Alex is just plain aggressive, and Alex's wife Blaire seems to drink an awful lot. Jake is, of course, the only one that knows the real story of their marriage, but he's only too happy to assist. I really enjoyed the parts that included Alex and Blaire's children, particularly their oldest, Reagan. She's at the age that things get hard, puberty, and Anna is only too happy to give some life advice and support. 

There are a lot of things going on under the surface here, but Anna and Liam find themselves getting along in ways that they hadn't expected, not to mention feeling some chemistry between them. There is fun banter, real attraction, and some great romance going on. I didn't put it down until I finished it. A definite winner. 

Polly Fulton

Finished April 17

Polly Fulton by John P. Marquand

I heard of this book when I was reading The Trouble with You by Ellen Feldman. The main character in that book mentioned some of her favourite reads and I decide to track a few down. This is one of them. The book is really interesting. It is a character study of a woman in her thirties, set during World War II. Polly Brett, nee Fulton is a woman who was born wealthy to parents who were born middle class. Her father had good instincts, and an eye for machines and created a small empire. He was friendly and talkative and took people at face value. He also was a good judge of character in some ways, and wanted his daughter and son to be happy. 

Polly was sent to a private girls' boarding school where she blossomed after a short time going to a school nearer to home where she struggled to fit in. She went on to Bryn Mawr College, and after some time at home married. 

Her marriage is a big part in the novel as is her relationship with her father, B.F. She is close to both of her parents in different ways. She is comfortable in the world that her father operates in, and intelligent and informed enough to hold her own in conversation. 

As the book opens, Polly has made a sudden decision to go to her country home in the Berkshires. It is winter and snowing, yet she is both testing her staff at the house to see if they are keeping the house ready at all times, and able to pay the high rates she must pay to get there when she wants to. The house evokes both memories of different times earlier in her marriage, as well as times before then as she looks through old scrapbooks. 

A crisis with her father's health helps these thoughts along as he speaks to her of her husband, the life he wanted her to have, and the man he thought she should marry, Bob Tasmin. 

While the major part of the novel is written from Polly's viewpoint, there is some written from Bob's as well, and this is critical to what unfolds later. 

Polly has come to understand that her husband is cheating on her, and rather than turn her head the other way as many women of her time and station do, she decides to face it head on, with a real effort to understand the situation. This also forces her to understand herself better and that is the revelation of the novel and its core. 

I really enjoyed the dry humour here, as well as the character of Polly herself. I'm so glad I was led to this novel.