A Circle of Wives

Finished September 7
A Circle of Wives by Alice LaPlante

This suspense novel keeps you guessing for a long time. Plastic surgeon John Taylor is found dead in a hotel room, and while at first glance it looks like it may have been a natural death, the police officer in charge is careful to wait for the autopsy before giving an official statement regarding the nature of death. For the officer, Samantha Adams, this is her first homicide investigation and she is determined to solve it and do it well.
Things get a little more dicey when it comes to light that Taylor had more than one wife. It appears that there were three wives, and they weren't all aware of each other. What drew these women to John and how did he manage to juggle them along with his demanding career. As Samantha digs deeper into his life, she discovers the women in his life weren't the only ones that may have had issues with John. His work partnership had started to become more divisive as well.
We also get a glimpse into Samantha's home life, her past career issues, and her love life. Samantha came across as very human, and with a lot to figure out for herself besides her career aspirations.
The lives and motivations of the wives gradually unfolds, and I liked Samantha with her dedication to solving this unusual case.

Marrow and Bone

Finished September 6
Marrow and Bone by Walter Kempowski, translated by Charlotte Collins

This novel was released in 1992 in German and only recently translated into English. The main character here, Jonathan Fabrizius, is a freelance writer who mostly lives on an allowance sent to him by his uncle who runs a furniture company. Jonathan lives in Hamburg in a room in an apartment. His girlfriend of six years, Ulla Bakkre de Vaera has a part-time job at a museum, a fascination with cruelties enacted and represented in art, and lives in another room in the same apartment. Their landlord is a older widow of a general that they have little interaction with.
Jonathan was born in 1945 as his mother and uncle fled East Prussia ahead of the Russian advance. His mother died as a result of the birth and her body was left in the small town that he was born in, with his uncle taking a young peasant woman who had lost her own child along on their flight to nurse the young baby. Jonathan's father, a Wehrmacht lieutenant had also died in East Prussia, on the Vistula Spit, when a bomb hit him.
As the book opens, it is 1988 and Jonathan receives a letter from a motorcar company offering him a trip to scout out a planned journalist event to launch a new vehicle. Jonathan would be writing the publicity article to draw the journalists to participate. The trip would be in East Prussia. Jonathan has never returned to the land of his birth, but this opportunity intrigues him with the possibility to see it. He would travel with a driver and a PR person from the motorcar company, and work with them to identify places to see and make note of.
As Jonathan decides to do this, he also holds back a bit from Ulla, not sharing with her this information until after he has committed, but there are also things that Ulla is hiding from him, and this is a turning point in their relationship.
Jonathan's experiences in East Prussia, his interactions with local people, the visiting of historic sites from churches to bunkers also lead him to make peace with his personal history of this place and the losses he suffered from the death of his parents.
Jonathan has an active mind, and we see his thoughts throughout as his mind wanders from the matters at hand and into reflection and supposition. I really enjoyed these thoughts and how varied they were and how he looked at his life and the world around him. Visiting a country that had been settled by Germans in the past, changed hands several times, and is now part of Poland is touched with the relatively recent history of the Second World War and the Nazi presence there. This too is a part of how the characters interact with the people as they visit this area.

The Western Wind

Finished September 5
The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey

This historical novel is not your typical mystery. It takes place over four days in February 1491, in a small English village. The narrator is the local priest, and the main subject of the book is the supposed death by drowning of the village's wealthiest man. I say supposed because there is no body, only the tale of a witness, or maybe more than one witness.
The story is told in a backwards fashion with the most recent day appearing first, and the earlier days coming in reverse order. As the story begins, the dean is present, living in the dead man's house and looking into his death, looking for a reason, for a murderer even. He has told the priest to announce a system of long pardons given for all who make their confession in these four days before lent, a pardon of forty days. Another thing that is important to know is that just before the events of this book, the village had a wedding celebration for one of the women who married a man from a nearby village. She was the priest's younger sister, and his only family, and he genuinely misses her.
As we work backwards over these four days, we see the background of some of the village people: The victim, Thomas Newman; the priest and how he came to be where he is in life; Oliver Townshend and his wife, the couple that had sold off most of their land to Newman over the last few years; the dean's reasons for being in the village so soon after the death. Each of the things we learn adds to the information about Newman's death, the people in the village that he interacted with and who depended on him for their livelihoods, his relationship with the priest, and the priest's relationship with the various village people and the dean. All of these things help the reader to understand what happened, and why it happened and what has happened to bring us to the final day included here.
The information about the confessions is quite interesting, the priest implementing a degree of privacy for this purpose that was unusual for England at the time, based on information that Newman provided from his wider experience. I also found it highly unusual how much of this the priest shared with the dean, and what he withheld.
The writing is excellent and one gets a real sense of the village and the life lived there by the inhabitants, and the precariousness of it all. I found it engrossing.

A Quiet Girl

Finished September 4
A Quiet Girl by Peter Carnavas

I love the illustrations in Carnavas' books, both the way he draws nature and the quirky individualism of his human characters. But the other fantastic things about his books is the subtle, yet meaningful way in which he tackles larger issues and makes them real for kids.
Here we have Mary, a young girl who is thoughtful and quiet. We see her noticing the world around here (especially the individual noises different things make), engaging in thoughtful activities, and sharing them, quietly, with her family. But her family is loud, her using tools, devices, toys, and loud talk regularly. They don't hear here and tell her to talk louder. But Mary stays true to her self, and is a quiet girl. She becomes quieter and notices more and more things in the world around her, not just the sounds of it, but the sight of things, the smell of nature, and the feel of a breeze. She is present in her world in a meaningful way. At first her family just continued on with their normal noisy behaviours, making her feel like she wasn't even there. But then the did notice that she wasn't interacting with them, and they looked and called loudly for her. They didn't see or hear her. So they stopped and got quiet too, and listened, really listened. And they heard the noises of things around them, things that included Mary's voice singing a quiet small song as she fed the birds. And they realized what they had been missing in their normal activities.
The book includes a two page introduction to mindfulness at the end, giving some suggestions in how to be present in your world like Mary is in hers. I really like the last suggestion when they ask you to close your eyes and listen and identify the quietest sound that you can hear. Beautiful and simple to do and so, so satisfying.
Under the sound of my grandfather clock, the soft whish of my dehydrator in the kitchen, the hum of appliances, I can hear noises through the open window from outside, my cats' quiet breathing as they sleep near me, and feel the breeze coming through the window.

Benjamin's Blue Feet

Finished September 3
Benjamin's Blue Feet by Sue Macartney

This lovely picture book features Benjamin a young blue-footed booby, a bird native to the Galapagos Islands. Benjamin is a bird that like to gather items he's found and this aspect of the book is a great introduction into the vast amount of garbage littering our oceans. He calls his finds treasures and gives them names that describe them. It is when he finds a shiny object that reflects his image that he then compares himself to other birds that he sees around him, finding himself not measuring up to what he sees and likes in other creatures. His beak is too straight and long, unlike that of the Warbler. His wings are also long and wide with bristles, and he likes the penguin's sleek wings better. But his feet bring him more bad feelings, being large and blue and floppy, unlike the sticky clawed toes of the iguana.
When Benjamin uses his treasures to alter these parts of his appearance, he thinks he has improved himself, despite the laughter he now seems to generate from those who see him, but when he goes about his normal activities, he finds that his body the way it was designed is all as it should be, and what he saw as flaws are features that help him to survive and thrive in his environment. A great view on self-image, individualization, and body consciousness.
The book ends with a one-page statement about the issues raised in the book, particularly that of ocean trash. The front end papers also have wonderful drawing of other Galapagos creatures with their names. On the dedication page, the publisher also has a link to a downloadable glossary of information about the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands.
The illustrations here are lovely and eye-catching, and the expressions are perfect for each scenario. A lovely picture book for every child's collection.

Paris Never Leaves You

Finished September 2
Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman

This novel takes place in 1954, with flashbacks to World War Two in Paris. The main character, Charlotte lived in Paris and was working in a bookstore during the war. Her husband Laurent was killed while fighting and she was raising her young daughter Vivienne on her own. The owner of the bookstore was in a German camp, and Charlotte and her friend Simone ran the store. Charlotte tried to be careful in the actions she took, aware of the need to protect her young daughter, but Simone sometimes took risks, such as setting the clock in the store to Paris time rather than the German time they were supposed to be using. When a German officer begins coming to the bookstore, Charlotte is even more careful, but a couple of situations have her developing a complicated relationship with the young man, Julian Bauer.
In the present, Charlotte has been sponsored by a colleague of her father's, Horace Field, to come to New York and is working as an editor for his publishing company. She is good at her job, and Vivi is growing up to be a loving and thoughtful young woman. Horace and his wife Hannah have not only sponsored them, but given them an apartment in their own home. Hannah is a therapist and has tried to talk to Charlotte about her experiences, but Charlotte keeps her past to herself, not wanting it to follow her into her new life. Horace was injured in the war and is now confined to a wheelchair, but he is still an extremely capable and observant man, and he feels that he and Charlotte have more between them due to their war experiences.
They both have their secrets, but Charlotte is now getting letters from someone in her past, and Hannah seems to be encouraging Vivi to dig into this part of her life as well, causing disputes between Charlotte and her now-teen daughter.
I liked how this book dealt with a character who lived through the Occupation of Paris but wasn't involved in the Resistance, who was just trying to stay alive. The focus on the stresses on ordinary people was one not often seen in fiction of this time period. There is also some guilt that Charlotte carries from this time that has some complexity to it, and that she needs to deal with to be able to truly move forward with her life.
Definitely recommend this one.

Roanoke Ridge

Finished August 31
Roanoke Ridge: A Creature X Mystery by J.J. Dupuis

This book takes place in the mountainous temperate rainforest area of Oregon. The main character, Laura Reagan, is a science nerd who runs a website dedicated to promoting science, gathering information on new discoveries and providing information in a friendly accessible way. But she grew up in this part of Oregon and her father shot some of the little existing video that appears to be showing a creature whose existence is debated: bigfoot. Laura spent a lot of time with her father, camping and exploring the wilderness and is comfortable in the outdoors.
Now one of her professors, Berton Sorel, one of only three people that knew where that footage was shot, has gone missing while doing preparatory work for a documentary on the subject. His wife has asked Laura to come as support and to help search for her husband, and Laura is willing. She arrives with a close friend, Saad, a man that one senses that she wishes was more than just a friend. Also going on in the area is an annual Bigfoot Convention. After meeting with the professor's wife, and attending some of the convention talks, Laura and Saad meet with the forest ranger group organizing the search for the missing man. They are assigned a ranger, and an EMT to search with, but as they approach the area, they find more then they bargained for.
With skeptics, fanatics, tourism promoters, and academics the convention goers are prolific and it seems like they are everywhere. But there are other elements in play here as well, including groups of militants armed to the teeth and ready to shoot at anything that moves.
Laura isn't sure who she can trust or rely on besides Saad, and with more bigfoot sightings things only get murkier.
This was a quick and fast-paced read, that I enjoyed. I liked the media quotes regarding bigfoot sightings of the past that headed the chapters, and the scientific discussions that became part of the plot.

The Afterlife of George Cartwright

Finished August 30
The Afterlife of George Cartwright by John Steffer

George Cartwright was a real historical figure from the 18th century. He was born in England, and spent time in India and Labrador. He ran a trading post in Labrador and developed a relationship with some of the Inuit there.
This book takes the information from Cartwright's real life and adds to it, more fully developing the character. This book was on several award shortlists when it came out and won a first novel award. The premise for the book is George Cartwright caught in a kind of limbo after his death, where he wakes up in a room in the inn he died in, and has his hunting bird there, with his horse in the stables below, and goes about activities.
These activities are mostly roaming the countryside and using his bird to hunt, but he gets occasional glimpses into the real world as it develops over the many years he is stuck in this situation, and has entered that world invisibly on occasion. But for the book, his story is in the past. He makes diary entries reflecting on his life and what he did, all of which start the same:

1819. May. Wednesday 19. Wind S.W. light. 

We also get entries from his real life diaries and the book makes connections and enlarges upon what is there so we get a better picture of the world he lived in, the people he interacted with, and how he treated them. Despite his reliance on the Inuit, and the things that he learned from them, he still regards them as lesser than himself, and that is obvious in a few different situations in the book. His companion, Mrs. Selby seems more enlightened in that regard, but still takes the advantages that the situation offers. In some cases he treats the natives with regard, but when it comes right down to it, he doesn't respect them in the same way he does his contacts in England. His relationship with Mrs. Selby is a different one, part business and part personal, and she definitely wants more than he is willing to give. He is a lonely man, but that loneliness is due to his choices as much as anything. This is a man looking at his life and regretting certain things and seeing things in a new light, but still a man of his times.
An enlightening read.

The Remedy for Love

Finished August 27
The Remedy for Love by Bill Roorbach

This story starts off very low key and intensifies quickly. Eric is a lawyer in a small town in western Maine, with his own small practice. His interest is in environmental law, but there isn't a lot of work in that area available to him, so he does what work more common. As the book opens he is in a grocery store picking up some things for a dinner he has planned for his wife from whom he is separated. When they separated, they agreed to meet monthly to reexamine things and see if their situation changed. He wants to make it special and has bought things that he knows she likes. Ahead of him in line is a young woman who seems to be struggling. She doesn't have enough money to pay for what she has chosen, and she seems unkempt and needing a wash.
After some time, he pays for what she can't afford, and after purchasing his own items and returning to his car, sees her walking down the road with her heavy bags. A storm is predicted, and it is already starting to snow, so he slows beside her and offers her a lift. She accepts readily. He tries to start conversations with her, but she isn't very forthcoming, and wants to be dropped off along the highway in a remote area. She says she is living in a cabin by the river, but that is quite the walk. He drops her, but then finds himself coming back and following her, helping to carry her purchases to her destination, more than a mile through the woods. Once there, he sees that she isn't set up for the coming storm and insists on getting more wood for her small stove, the only source of heat she has. He gets a few things for her, and then leaves. Once back at his car, his concern and guilt, and other emotions return and he impulsively returns to the cabin with all of his purchases as well, offering them to her for no discernible reason, and surprising her in a vulnerable position.
He truly is a well meaning man with no ulterior motives, but he knows that she has legitimate concerns about his interest. So when he gets back to the road and his car is gone and he too is not dressed for the storm, he ends up back at her cabin.
As we watch the two people in the cabin grow more comfortable with each other and reveal more about themselves, we also see the loss that each has gone through and how it has affected them, making them put up false fronts for the sake of privacy and ego. The storm is a real force here, almost a character itself as it comes in and continues to affect them for more than a day. These two people are both vulnerable and sad, and they respond to each other in meaningful ways.
A very good read.

September Reviews for 14th Annual Canadian Book Challenge

Wow! Can't believe it is September already, although in many areas school return is delayed this fall. There was a lot of reading done in August, and I'm looking forward to seeing what people get read in September.

Remember to comment if you can, but posting is the most important to log your books. I've seen some of the fall release lists and there are a lot of ones I'm interested in. How about you?

Don't forget to fill in the contact form at the bottom of the blog page if you want to join in on this month's book club. Our read for September is Starlight by Richard Wagamese.