3 silly men, J., Harris, and George, decide to take a little vacation in a boat floating down the Thames. Oh and there is a dog named Montmorency. I’ve known about this book since I was a teenager, and I’ve always been curious about reading it since it is supposed to be one of the funniest books of all time. Well, that finally happened. I listened to it on Audible, and though it was mildly amusing in parts, sometimes very amusing, I didn’t think it was very funny. By that, I mean I didn’t laugh, and I only chuckled a couple of times. It reminded me a lot of the one book I read by P. G. Wodehouse (so far). I got the humor, and appreciated and even admired it and was amused. But…I guess I like more of a plot and more character development.
The book is narrated by the author “J.” (Jerome K. Jerome) describing the decision to go on the trip, prepare for the trip, and their adventures on the water. In between real time activities, “J.” recalls various anecdotes that come to mind, such as Harris’s getting lost in the Hampton Court Maze, and an Uncle trying to hang a picture on a wall which results in catastrophe, and a stinky cheese. During the trip, the guys deal with opening a can of pineapple without a tin opener (resulting in the near death of one of them), making a pot of Irish stew, a fight with swans, incompetent rowing and losing track of each other, getting lost, and trying to find shelter. In the end, they go home early.
One of the funnier bits was J.’s description of how he loves work.
It is not that I object to the work, mind you; I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me: the idea of getting rid of it nearly breaks my heart. You cannot give me too much work; to accumulate work has almost become a passion with me: my study is so full of it now, that there is hardly an inch of room for any more. And I am careful of my work, too. Why, some of the work that I have by me now has been in my possession for years and years, and there isn’t a finger-mark on it. I take a great pride in my work; I take it down now and then and dust it. No man keeps his work in a better state of preservation than I do.
All of the humor is like that: one thing leading to another with absurdities piling up and up until you think it can’t get any more crazy, until it does. Actually, looking back on it, this book is funnier than it was while I was reading it. The narration by Martin Jarvis was great, but because of the book’s episodic nature, my attention kept going in and out while I was listening to it. I guess I need cohesiveness to keep me fully engaged.
When I saw the previews for this, I thought this one had a good chance of being one I really might like. But unfortunately for me it was a case of the previews being the best part of the movie. It was a Halloween version of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, the basis of several recent Hallmark Countdown to Christmas movies. Which makes perfect sense, right? After all, the spooky ghosts of the Dickens classic fit right in with a Halloween theme. I really liked what I saw of one of the ghosts, and a scene they showed of Meghan Ory, the lead who played the Scrooge character, was funny and she was cute in it.
Meghan plays Everly, a fashion designer who specializes in wedding dresses. We first see her stalking to work being all Scrooge-y about Halloween and all of its paraphernalia. We soon find out that she was publicly humiliated at the annual Fire Station Halloween Bash many years ago, and that has permanently cast a blight on her Halloweens. Along with that, as is usual with Hallmark heroines, it has caused her to erect walls around herself and close herself off both to love and in her professional life and her other relationships. And also, as usual with these characters, the big traumatic event has something to do with a man. Hallmark heroines are traditionally very fragile flowers when it comes to romantic disappointment. One setback and the whole trajectory of their lives is down the tubes. In addition to keeping Beau (Kevin McGarry), a great guy who loves her, and a fireman to boot, firmly in the friend zone, she has also quashed the ambitions of Tracy, her talented and loyal assistant. Her refusal to avoid risk and otherwise open herself up to change is symbolized by turning down opportunities to make custom Halloween costumes during the season. Specifically, a couples costume, Avocado on Toast, designed by Tracy.
The night before Halloween, Everly is visited by the ghosts of, you know, past, present and future, to show her the error of her ways and help her turn her life around. The ghosts were the best part of the movie, particularly her dead former mentor, Anna Watkins, filling the role of Jacob Marley, and Grant, The Ghost of Christmas, I mean Halloween, Future, played by and Lochlan Quarmby. He had a lot of charisma.
When he takes her 10 years in the future she gets her final wakeup call when he shows her Beau, her childhood “friend”, playing with two little munchkins that she knows are not theirs, because she would be around 50 at this time. So would he, but he apparently found himself a much younger woman. Also her business has been taken over by her continually thwarted assistant and she is relegated to slaving away at her sewing machine all alone in her house. Lessons learned, she emerges on Halloween morning a changed woman, bent on making amends to Tracy and Beau. The Tracy situation goes well, but Beau is not as cooperative as she had hoped. She forgets the lessons learned and proceeds to hide herself under the covers instead of attending the fateful Fire Station Bash. This serves as the 15 minutes-to-go romantic setback and tension builder.
The production values of this movie were up to snuff and of course the Ghosts helping our doomed heroine change the trajectory of her life were a reliable if predictable plot device. The script was OK, though for me, the jokes didn’t land. I enjoyed Meghan Ory’s performance in the short snippets we saw in the preview. I liked her cheerfulness and energy. And she brought that animated performance to the whole role. But that became a problem for me. She maintained that high energy regardless of where she was in her journey with little nuance or modulation. Her crying scenes were unconvincing. Frankly, and I suspect this is an unpopular opinion, her exuberant performance got on my last nerve. I don’t know if it was the actress’s interpretation, or the Director’s, but it didn’t work for me. Unfortunately.
This was a very cute epistolary novel set in a large London department store of the 1930s. It strongly reminded me of another novel, Dear Enemy, by Jean Webster. Not only are both books written in letters, mostly by our heroines, but they share the same humorous breezy tone, satirical takes, and many elements of their plots. Both of our young heroines write to loved ones describing their adventures in new and unfamiliar environments. They both illustrate their letters with their own humorous drawings. Both girls are wealthy debutantes leading frivolous lives, who find themselves employed in jobs in which they are, at first, way over their heads. But both manage not only to survive, but prevail, and greatly change their new environments for the better. That is a lot of similarities, but there are even more. They are both engaged to eligible “suitable” men who don’t understand them, but find true love with men who are heavily involved with and supportive of their new endeavors. In Business as Usual , most of Hilary’s letters are written to her fiancé who is a doctor. In Dear Enemy, Sallie’s are written to her best friend Judy Abbott, of Daddy Long Legs fame, and the local doctor, the “Enemy”, with whom she continually butts heads and whom she completely misunderstands at first.
Webster’s novel, written in 1915, 18 years prior to Business as Usual, is one of my most fondly regarded books. In fact, I fear I am in danger of letting Dear Enemy completely take over this review which is supposed to be about the other book! In spite of their similarities, it really is not fair to compare the two. In Dear Enemy, Sallie is tasked, by Judy, of reforming and overhauling the repressive antiquated orphanage in which she grew up and of which she is now the titular head. Hilary’s adventures take place in a London Department store and has more of a comedy of errors feel to it. Young lives and futures are at stake at the John Grier Home, so in Dear Enemy there is much more scope for humor, drama, and pathos. The orphans are mostly funny, but there is potential tragedy looming as well. Important social issues of the day are tackled albeit in a light and humorous way. Social conditions are explored to a lesser extent in Business as Usual including one game-changing incident involving an unplanned pregnancy. Sallie is much more of a force of nature than Hilary, although both are extremely admirable and likable. The romance is much more developed and emotional than in Business as Usual, in which we barely get to know the man whom Hilary begins to realize is more her soulmate than her fiancé.
Business as Usual is set in early 1930s London and I quickly became charmed and immersed in that other world. Hilary has just become engaged but since they can’t get married for another year she decides to spend that year in London, working at a real job and seeing if she can support herself and be independent away from her somewhat shallow life. She ends up in Everyman’s, a huge department store, and starts out as a lowly clerk. Precisely because she is so intelligent and over-qualified (Oxford educated!), she is not very good at it. Her unconventional thinking and sense of humor make her a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. But due to a chance encounter, she comes to the attention of Mr. Grant, the powerful and revered “head of publicity,” or “minor prophet” as Hilary calls him. He immediately recognizes her great qualities, and she is soon rising through the ranks in the book department, much to the consternation of some of her co-workers and her stick-in-the-mud fiancé. Her adventures are chronicled in letters to her parents and to bad boyfriend Basil, as well as internal store memos and such. She has her work cut out for her trying to survive in London on her meager salary. It is a light fun book, and I loved the authenticity of the setting. My copy had helpful footnotes explaining terms and words used, the meanings and significance of which have been long forgotten.
The book also strongly reminded me of another book I read and loved a long time ago, Here Come the Brides, by Bernard Glemser. That one was set in the bridal department of a huge New York Department store where our heroine has to deal with difficult customers and fellow employees, just like Hilary in the book department of Everyman’s. I really liked Business as Usual and I recommend it to those in the mood for a frothy humorous novel with a very likable heroine who finds real love in the London of a very different time and a very interesting setting. But I loved it more for the sake of the two books I read and loved long before. **3 1/2 stars**
When you’re very young you take people as you find them. It’s only when you’ve had experience that you begin to measure and weigh.
After reluctantly quitting Crooked Adam after about 3 hours of listening to it, I turned to this book. I immediately settled into the feelings of joy and peace and comfort that I look for in D.E. Stevenson and that Crooked Adam was not giving me. It felt like I was coming home again. I chose this one of all the ones that I have waiting for me on Audible because it is often cited as a favorite despite the unusual, for DES, choice as a male main character, and in first person, to boot. The narration by David Monteath was perfection.
David tells his story starting from when he was a little boy living with his wonderful parents at the vicarage. He starts out each phase of his life with the views he sees through one of the windows he looks out from at each residence he moves to as he grows up. After the rural manse in Haines, he moves in with his Uncle William in Edinburgh to complete his schooling. He starts his working life as a lowly clerk in a law office where he lives in a dingy and depressing boarding house filled with foolish and unhappy people. He escapes from there to a much more copacetic environment in a room above a book shop that he is able to afford due to his growing success as a writer. The fifth window we will remain silent on, but his life through the last window we are introduced to follows a bell shaped curve, with his childhood in Haines and his home at the end being the epitome of happiness, and the time in the boarding house being rock bottom.
Along the way, we become acquainted with the many people who enter David’s life and have an influence on him. David is gentle, kind, and trusting of others, and, at first, more than a little naive, due to his upbringing in Haines. The fellow boarders in the seedy London boarding house provide him with quite the education in the ways of the world as in one way or another they take advantage of his good nature. At one point, I thought he was going to get into an Of Human Bondage situation with one of the residents. But David is no dummy, and he shows himself very capable of putting his foot down, which made very satisfying reading on more than one occasion. Everyone we meet has something to teach him for good or ill. Some situations David encounters are rather dire, but his gentle sense of humor and inner strength of character always see him through. Many of the people we meet are happy allies. Particularly worth mentioning are Barbie and Nell who have their own story in The Tall Stranger. It is through them that he becomes reacquainted with a childhood friend who becomes his romantic interest. She is enmeshed in a trap that she is too softhearted and easily manipulated to escape from, but for the the help of David, Barbie, Nell, and his shining star of a mother, a sad future is avoided.
Well into the book, David becomes quite a success as an author of both fiction and non-fiction. In coming to the end of Five Windows, I felt like I had just finished one of his books. No wonder he was such a successful author.
“When I Wished for My Heart to be Turned to Stone, I Meant It Metaphorically!”
Hallmark’s time travel romances are amongst some of the best movies that Hallmark has made.* There’s something about the fish out of water trope that practically guarantees humor. I usually can summon up a certain degree of sympathy and empathy for the time travelers while they are being taught a much needed lesson. Which of course translates into a character arc for them or for people around them whom they influence. And then there’s the overarching curiosity and concern over how such an impossible situation is going to be resolved for the happy ending. Unfortunately, with “Knight” the filmmakers’ reach exceeded its grasp. Having a movie about an 15th century English knight being plopped down into 2026 Chicago, USA was just a little too ambitious. There were just too many difficult hurdles to overcome to make a movie believable enough for me to suspend disbelief and engage my full interest and investment. It could have been done, but time and money are too often an obstacle with Hallmark. Although pretty good, with an often cute script, they glossed over way too many improbabilities and plot holes to list. It was cute and at least it was different. So Hallmark does get props for that. I appreciate it when they rock the boat a bit and try something new.
The story opens in 1428 with Sir Griffin of Beauford, a knight with a 21st century haircut, on the eve of his arranged marriage to Lady Beatrice. He is on a hill gazing at the stars and consulting with his dead mother who is also up there somewhere. All of a sudden the stars and planets start moving together and as they are aligning, he wishes that his heart would turn to stone until “he finds what makes it whole.” By which he means finding true love, obviously, which is apparently not Lady Beatrice. He promptly and literally turns into a stone statue. Thanks, Mom. Flash forward to a museum in Chicago where our heroine is receiving a newly discovered medieval stone statue that she is to clean and restore for an exhibition. She uncovers a message on the statue that says “I Shall Not Wake But By the Kiss.” Being a normal girl, of course she kisses the statue, and low and behold the statue comes to life. Guess who? It is our handsome and noble knight in the flesh! The usual antics ensue. She takes him back to her “chambers” where he marvels over cars (foul beasts) indoor plumbing (“indoor rain as hot or cold as one likes!”), and modern appliances, (How can there be warmth with no fire?!) The fashion choices of 21st century women and men are strangely unremarked upon. Naturally he goes walkabout when she goes back to work the next morning, and rescues a kite from a tree and catches a robber while on a borrowed stallion, to the admiring gazes of the female audience. Emily finds him while panicking on the phone with her best friend (Methinks I have found my quarry!) and in a nod to the “Fall into Love” Hallmark theme, she introduces him to Pumpkin Spice Lattes. (It’s a kind of gourd.) All of this is complicated by Emily (of Porter) and “Griffin”, who were caught leaving the museum by the surveillance cameras, being accused of stealing the stone statue by the FBI. And the investigating agent just happens to be her very unlikable ex-husband who has caused her to be love-averse. Hello?! Conflict of Interest! Hello?! How could they possibly carry out an 800 lb. marble statue out of the building in full view of cameras? Hello?! He broke into her apartment without a warrant looking for evidence! The eyebrows of even a casual fan of police procedurals would spike at any one of these faux pas. And I am not a casual fan. Anyway, with the help of her best friend Ivy, who an astrology fan and in on the whole thing, they discover (long story that didn’t bear thinking about too hard) that the same alignment of planets that turned him into a statue is going to repeat in 3 days. If he doesn’t want to be turned back into stone forever, his true love must admit her love before the fateful hour.
A lot of prominent Hallmark actors took part in this movie. Julie Gonzalo plays Emily and as usual, she was just fine. Her real life husband, Chris McNally, had a small cameo, and the harried museum director was played by Matty Finochio (Welcome back!). Britt Irvin was great as Emily’s best friend, Ivy, who has a bit of a secondary romance with a Renfaire guy. Sir Griffin was played by James Trevena in his first foray into Hallmarkland as the lead, but I hope not his last. He was very handsome and perfectly cast as the romantic Knight. But he was also good in the role and quite endearing. He made a nice statue as well. Ivy’s brother who was also a much needed lawyer, is played by David James Lewis who is a very familiar face. He plays a good guy in this one. Even the tiny role of the apartment janitor was played by Liza Huget whose been in like over 12 other Hallmarks.
**Mild Spoilers**
After Emily and Sir Griffin are cleared of all charges thanks to Ivy’s brother, and Sir Griffin is saved from being permanently turned into stone, he is sent on a world tour. The museum made an exhibit featuring him playing Sir Griffin of Beauford and Emily will be coming along as the permanent curator. Imagine that. The whole resolution and ending had a “Well…Bye!” feel about it, leaving many unanswered questions. Like how was Griffin going to get a passport for his world tour?
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 7 out of 10.
*My 10 Favorite Time Travel Hallmarks (in very rough order)
“Audrey,” Jasmine says, now that things have settled down a little, “you still have to tell us about your life. You moved back here, obviously, but what else?” Ah, yes. Here comes the moment. “Right,” I say. “Well. I married Clay, who never got over his first wife. I’ve got a stepdaughter who’s hated me every minute of every day since we met. And . . . grand finale . . . I have early-onset dementia and plan on killing myself before it gets too bad.” The three of them freeze, their eyes wide. “Sorry,” I say. “Was that a buzzkill?”
Hoo Boy! This was a tear jerker. But thanks to the last 2 chapters and an epilogue, it ended on ahappy and hopeful if occasionally poignant note, I have learned to trust my favorite authors, which includes KH. They may make you cry buckets or make you want to spit fire at the behavior of their villains (or heroes!) but they never abandon you holding all of those negative emotions at the end.
The book is about 4 women and how their lives diverged for the worse following a horrible car crash on the day after they graduated from highschool. Or was it for the worse? It was certainly not the futures they fondly dreamed of and had every chance of realizing. Each was damaged and their futures encumbered by the effect of the accident: Two from shame and guilt, one physically, and one from the loss of a beloved mainstay and home.
We start out with Audrey welcoming her 3 best friends from high school to her home. She has invited them to stay upon the occasion of their 25th high school reunion. They were once the “core four” but we learn very quickly that they have been estranged ever since the day after they graduated. They blame themselves and each other, one way or another, for a horrific auto accident they caused which changed the trajectory of all their lives. It also killed one of the town’s most beloved citizens, Doctor Kate, who also happened to be Audrey’s mother, and friend and maternal figure to the 3 other girls as well. The inciting incident for Audrey to gather the core four together, hopefully for a reconciliation, is her diagnosis of early onset dementia. Before she loses her faculties completely and turns into a “potato person”, she wants to mend the breach and restore the deep and life-defining bonds they once shared. The book takes us through what each of the women are dealing with in their present lives and explores their past to show how they got to where they are. None of them are in a good place.
After the accident, Audrey leaves her Vermont home to attend the Savannah School of Art and Design as had been long planned. But without her home and her mother she feels isolated and alone. Her happy perfect family and home, which was the basis of her whole identity, is no more. She is lost. Her father remarries and her beloved brother is wrapped up in medical school and the obligations that followed on the way to a successful medical career. So after graduation, she stays in Georgia and 10 years later meets Clay, a widower with a 5 year old child. Clay is kind and a good guy, but kind of “vacant” as her brother Stephen says at one point. The marriage becomes vaguely unsatisfactory. She fiercely loves her difficult stepdaughter, but Mathilda (or Kylo, as “they” like to be called) hates and resents her, egged on by her late mother’s parents. When Audrey inherits her childhood home, Bitter Creek Farm, she finally returns home to Vermont with her husband and stepdaughter, in tow.
Jasmine was the first of the three to be befriended by Audrey in elementary school. She was from the wrong side of the tracks with a drunk for a mother, but was academically brilliant. Upon graduation she was accepted at Princeton with nothing but success on her horizon. But it never quite happened. The whole town blamed Jasmine for the crash as she blamed herself, because she was driving the car that killed Doctor Kate. What did one expect from poor white trash, after all? She ended up working on Wall Street, but was not a super star. One day, she meets Oscar, who was a super star. They marry, have 3 daughters, and as the story opens, Jasmine is a stay at home mother and a lady who lunches. She has left the rat race on Wall Street only to get sucked into keeping up with the social climbing wealthy wives of Greenwich, CT. Her once happy family is now disintegrating, her husband is cheating on her, his business is in trouble (the kiss of death in her world), and her 3 girls are out of control.
In highschool, Micah was the beautiful one. Some, not as PC and kind as I am, might also have called her a slut and a drunk. But now in her early 40s, she owns and runs the town’s favorite bakery, is happily married to a wonderful guy who is still crazy about her, and the proud mother of 24-year-old Logan. But, other than still being a little too fond of the vino, Micah has a long held secret that is about to be exposed and probably ruin her marriage. Micah was supposed to be the designated driver the night of the crash, but, in despair after learning she was pregnant, got drunk anyway.
Beck was the last to become part of the “core four.” She came from a military family, and, used to moving from one place to another, developed an outgoing and fearless personality. She was also very tall and a star basketball player, winning a full ride to UCONN. A stellar college career was practically guaranteed, probably followed by a career in the WNBA. But her leg was crushed in the accident and that was the end of that. She was the one who was supposed to keep an eye on their designated driver and keep her from drinking. She didn’t. This left inexperienced and nervous driver Jasmine to drive the group home. (It is strongly hinted that Audrey was under the influence of a date-rape drug.) Beck is now a very successful and respected Casting Agent, with Oscar winners among her many clients. But her powerful position in the entertainment field is on shaky ground when she joins the group for their reunion. She has been accused of sexual harassment (totally false), the tabloids are having a field day, and her calls to clients and colleagues are not being returned.
As each of the women navigate these turning points in their present lives, we trace their pasts leading up to the reunion weekend. As they repair their friendship, there are many revelations, and some surprising twists. And in the middle of it all, we have Audrey. We live with her thoughts and journey, even as she fades in and out of losing her faculties. Just as she did with Lauren’s idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in Pack Up the Moon, Kristan Higgins makes you feel like you are front and center with everything the victim is feeling and experiencing. As much as I love her lighter happier romances, Kristan is brilliant when it comes to her more serious novels.
When I saw that Kristan Higgins had changed publishers and this new book was being offered at a heavily discounted price, I admit I was worried. I still do not understand what is going on there, but I need not have worried about the quality of her work falling off. Not that I really was. This is her most powerful book yet. Not as funny or romantic of course, but though not front and center with those aspects, she can still bring the laughter as well as the tears. And yes, there is a romance.
To say I was dubious about this one is an understatement. I mean, A regatta race using giant hollowed out pumpkins as boats? Come on, now. All I could think of was the slime. I thought this was one of those spurious Hallmark disconnects from reality that many of their movies are based on. But to my surprise, Pumpkin Regattas are a real thing! (in the far north like Oregon, Maine and Canada, far far from where I live.) They actually work as boats and are not as unstable and precarious as they look. The portrayal of the role of the giant pumpkins in the plot of this movie was actually fairly authentic. Unlike the actual squashy props. But thanks to the acting and the fall vibes, I enjoyed this movie.
Nadine is determined to bring back the Pumpkin Regatta after her recently widowed father and Andrew, his former best friend and co-founder of the regatta, cancelled it. They got into a fight when Andrew accidentally bumped George’s giant floating gourd during the race and George accused him of doing it on purpose to cheat him and win the race. Nadine is disgusted that the childish feud between her dad George and Andrew is depriving the whole community of an event that everyone looked forward to every year. And Andrew’s son, Ethan, her youthful crush, agrees with her. I was pretty disgusted as well. Grumpy old men who try to control their grown children are a pet peeve of mine in Hallmark movies. Also, George hates change and refuses to let Nadine make modern improvements to their marina boat shop. Another pet peeve. Along with their friends, Nadine and Ethan start to organize the event behind George and Andrew’s backs. And the stakes are a little higher this year because they decided to make it a fund-raising event to help the son of a public-spirited but poor single mother send her son to University. I was all for this sneaky behavior, because why should two silly old coots have all that say over whether a community event goes forward or not? Well, unfortunately, as Nadine and Andrew find out, they can’t get the permit without George’s signature, as he owns the land and marina where the festivities must take place. Ethan’s Dad is retired from the farm that grows the pumpkins. Ethan now runs it, but he and his supportive mother still try to keep him out of the loop to avoid unpleasantness. So that’s the set up. Ethan and Nadine re-ignite their romance while running around organizing everything and baking Cake Pops while keeping their leafy, crafty, pumpkin-y, apple-cidery, and fire-pit activities a secret from their fathers. Not to mention their budding relationship. Nadine hopes against hope that once her Dad is presented with a fait accompli, the community enthusiasm, and all the work she put into it, that he will sign the permit allowing the regatta to take place.
It was all pretty standard stuff for a Hallmark, but what made this movie special and enjoyable were the actors and the writing. Nadine is played by Emmy-winning Mishael Morgan who was one of the stars of last year’s little 4 parter, Hearts Around the Table. She was very likable and very good in this. Her chemistry with Corey Sevier who played Nathan was natural and believable. Corey Sevier is one of my favorite Hallmark stars and he was great as usual. Loved the flannel and the puffy vests. The young actor who played Sam, the hopeful recipient of the college money raised by the regatta, was a cutie pie and very sweet. Ethan’s Mom was played by Paula Boudreau. She took a nothing part and made it charming and interesting. And to top it all off, a top favorite of mine, Jake Epstein, had a small part as The Mayor, who had a yen for Nadine. At the end it appears that there might be a romance on the horizon between him and Ethan’s “good friend,” Lola who fit into the plot as the owner of an apple farm. Nadine was jealous of her but also tried to push Ethan off on her. Long story. Of course I hated the antics of the two Dads, but finally moved by some plain truth telling by their loved ones, their contrition and their apologies to each other were so sincere that I couldn’t help but like them in the end. Their reconciliation scene was well written and satisfying. As were the fathers’ make-up scenes with Nadine and Ethan. George also added to the general happy atmosphere at the end by putting Nadine in charge of his business and embracing change. And the Giant Pumpkins were so-o-o-o-o fake, but also funny, and kind of awesome. Rounding up to **8 stars**. They took a gimmicky nothing idea and made it good.
“I have learned one thing already,” Emma said, “and will forever heed it.” “To what do you refer?” “That house parties are more trouble than they are worth, and we shall never, ever have another one.” Knightley smiled. “On that subject, we are in complete agreement.”
Despite flagging somewhat in the middle, I ended up quite liking this one. The Darcys, along with their 17 or 18- year-old son, Jonathan, the Brandons, the Wentworths, and the Bertrams have all congregated at the Knightley’s home for a House Party. Also joining them is Juliet Tilney, daughter of Catherine and Henry Tilney. She is a happy mix of her parents best qualities, thankfully inheriting her father’s intelligence. Emma had gotten to know Juliet’s mother (our novel-loving heroine is now a novelist herself) and had a notion that she would do what she could to expand Catherine’s sheltered daughter’s limited horizons, much as what was done for Catherine so many years ago (not to mention Harriet Smith.) The connections between Austen’s characters that see them all invitees to the same party are complicated. Unfortunately, all is not well with any of the couples except possibly the Knightleys themselves (although they will have their own troubles before the book is over). Although the love is still there for all of them, everything is far from idyllic. With all of these couples, it is the husbands that have the most to learn in order to get their lives and marriages in order.
Elizabeth and Darcy, now married 21 years, are a little estranged due to the death of Lydia’s 5-year-old daughter, Susannah, 8 months ago. They took her in and raised her practically as their own upon the death of her mother. Elizabeth is still heartbroken, but Darcy seems strangely unaffected by her death, which hurts and confuses Elizabeth. They also part ways on how to deal with the peculiar ways of their son Jonathan. Today, he would be diagnosed as high functioning autistic. He is socially inept, does not understand the subtle rules of societal behavior, is very uncomfortable with crowds, and all of the other usual symptoms, positive and negative. He was bullied in school and works very hard not to be an embarrassment to his parents, particularly his father. Upon first meeting him, Juliet Tilney is struck by his unusual demeanor and lack of social graces.
Did Jonathan’s parents keep him locked in the attic of the famous Pemberley? That sounded like something out of a Gothic novel, but how else could he be so unfamiliar with the basic niceties of small talk? Or he could be a simpleton, in need of Christian kindliness and forbearance. His deportment seemed to indicate otherwise, but Juliet decided not to make any assumptions. Perhaps it would be best to speak slowly and patiently. “I hope you enjoy your breakfast,” she said, enunciating clearly.
She soon realizes her misapprehensions as to his intelligence and character.
The Brandons are still newlyweds, and predictably are still trying to navigate married life, their contrasting personalities, and age difference. Marianne actually loves her husband greatly but Brandon does not understand her feelings towards him, assuming she looks upon him as a secure haven she quite likes and respects, but somewhat of a consolation prize after the loss of her true love.
The Wentworths have suffered a serious financial reversal thanks to the pride and foolishness of Captain Frederick Wentworth. In seeking to ensure their daughter’s future prospects and stay on par with Anne’s noble family, he fell victim to a swindle. In his shame, Frederick has turned into an angry and bitter man, despite his supportive wife, who always cared little for luxury, status, and finery. Afterall, her happiest days were spent at sea with her once even-tempered and in command husband.
The Bertrams have been married for 4 years. There is nothing wrong with their marriage per se except that Edmund, although still a good man at heart, has become a know-it-all pompous prig and Fanny is timid, watery, and idolizes him. I am thinking that her deference to him in all things probably contributed to what his character has become. She is very pious and shy. “She was always declaring herself wicked for such vile offenses as failing to get the tea ready on time or riding her horse in hot weather. Often it made Edmund smile.” Although Edmund is very appreciative and protective of her, Fanny senses that his love for her is not on par with hers for him which adds to her diffidence and reserve. I think it is fair to say that they have not been good for each other. And now Fanny harbors a terrible and disturbing secret that she fears to tell Edmund about. I actually found Fanny and Edmund’s journey to enlightenment, wisdom, and a healthier happier marriage the most compelling of the four couples.
As they are somewhat awkwardly getting to know each other on the first evening of the house party, a most unwelcome visitor forces his way into their midst. It is no surprise when he is murdered (see title of the book) and every one of the 8 guests have strong motives. This was well-contrived on the part of the author. It is safe to say that whoever murdered Mr. Wickham did the whole company a service. Being intelligent and liberal minded, Juliet and Jonathan are drawn together by their desire for justice when they see that the magistrate in charge of the investigation (Frank Churchill) is determined to blame the crime on an innocent wandering gypsy or one of the staff. They proceed to investigate while concealing their unconventional and, in the light of the times, improper, partnership.
While the author is establishing the couples’ troubles, their motives for murder, and the early days of the investigation, the book got a little slow and lackluster. However, both Jonathan and Juliet are likable intelligent protagonists. I enjoyed the appearances of some familiar Highbury personages: Miss Bates, The Eltons, and Frank Churchill and his daughter. Jane sadly died in childbirth. The callbacks to the original books were amusing and well done.
Darcy sat at the small desk near their bed, writing a letter. Elizabeth might have teased him about contriving to keep such even lines, were she not equally occupied with letters of her own.
Maybe I am too easily pleased, but I thought the author stayed true to what Austen’s characters might have become and the circumstances of their lives and histories. I was afraid the author would be too afraid to have the killer be a beloved main character, but she didn’t chicken out. I picked this book up because I needed something “low stakes” after finishing two emotionally demanding novels. But by the end, the likability of the two detectives and their developing relationship, as well as the mystery itself, had me hooked. I do believe I will continue with this series.
Now she was crying all the tears she hadn’t yet let herself shed, and there were a lot of them, and Bonnie was trying to hug her, and Jane was trying to do the same, and everyone in the car except Celeste was weeping with voluptuous abandon, and Celeste was pulling tissues from the packet and tossing them about like confetti. “Find something to cry about, Celeste,” said Jane as she noisily blew her nose. Celeste pretended to dab under her eyes with a tissue. “I never got to speak to the nice man in the blue T-shirt at the library!” “Oh, and he was so cute!” said Renata. “Now he’s gone forever,” Celeste fake-cried. Then she stopped and said, “You know what? I’m actually genuinely sad about that.” Their tears tipped right over into teen-girl hysterical laughter.
4 ½ stars I can’t quite give it 5 stars, but mostly because that’s what I gave Big Little Lies. It was a worthy sequel. Set 10 years after the events of the first book, it was good to become re-acquainted with the three good friends, plus Bonnie, plus Renata, plus Celeste’s mother in law, Mary Louise. Mary Louise was not in the first book at all, but Liane writes in her introduction that she had such an intriguing role in the mini-series (thanks to Meryl Streep’s portrayal,) that she pushed her way into this book. She does have a great character arc. Renata’s role (played in the series by Laura Dern) was thus expanded as well. But this sequel to BLL has nothing else to do with the TV series. Although there are marriages and even lives on the line in this one, the stakes didn’t seem as high as in the first book. The happiness and security of vulnerable innocent children were not in peril in this one. Jane is not a struggling young single mother and fragile outsider. She is happily married (to Tom of the first book), although there is one big problem to resolve, and Ziggy, her bullied child, has grown to be a great kid. In fact, all of the kids are pretty great (Renata’s Amabella, Madeline’s Chloe, Celeste’s twin boys, and Bonnie’s Skye.) There was one there that I was really worried about for quite awhile, but I think he will be OK. Although there are repercussions for the parents and their children stemming from the killing of Celeste’s abusive husband 10 years ago, the group is now dealing with another unrelated shocking event.
The format is Liane’s signature one where the book begins with something deeply upsetting and mysterious occurring. We look back on that event through the perspective of the teens, who clearly know more than they are telling through their school counseling session with “Brenda.” Meanwhile, we also alternate between their parents and other main adult characters and the happenings in their lives leading up to what the kids call “D-day.” At last, all roads lead to the big explosion culminating in shock, awe, and huge reveals. In this one, even more than in her others, we have a fully fleshed out aftermath following the climax that was incredibly satisfying and hopeful. At every stage, we have twists, turns, and reveals that both dismay and gratify. Adding to the picture is that along with the parents, we have the stories of their teenagers with agency and personalities of their own. There were a lot of tales to tell: both funny and worrisome alike.
My love for Big Little Lies stemmed largely from the suspense. There is a violent death that begins the story. As we meet the players and get to know them, we fear for the characters we have grown to love and be invested in. Not only that they may be guilty of murder but also that one of them may be the dead victim, the identity of whom is part of the mystery. In this, the sequel, I always felt like the big reveal was going to be shocking in a juicy way, not a devastating one. So again, the stakes were not as high as they were when the vulnerable and powerless are involved. I was not tempted to skip ahead to save my sanity but enjoyed the ride as we made our way to the climax. Now that I think about it, that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Although this book ended with hope and enough closure to satisfy me, there were some loose ends that I could definitely see might be tied up in a third book. But one centered on the teens navigating their lives as adults. We saw the beginnings of what their characters might prove to be. I would like to see more of them.
This was the same, yet different. It included all of the usual Hallmark clichés and plot points that loyal watchers have come to expect and even rely on for their weekly dose of cozy happy romance. Yet this one took it to a whole other level of comfort and tranquility. We have the successful city girl, Kaia (Alvina August) going back to her small hometown. But she is not on any kind of mission. She is not there to stage a takeover of a beloved institution or recover from a failed romance. Nope. She is just taking a weeks vacation to attend her High School reunion and to visit her Gigi: BJ Harrison, Hallmark’s go-to when a wise elderly black woman is required. Don’t get me wrong, I love her. She’s great. There were a lot of comforting familiar faces in this one. Kaia’s boss is demanding and always calling her on her phone, but she is not a bully, she’s nice. Kaia’s career is at a turning point, but there is no deadline she has to meet to secure the promotion she has worked for all her life, or to not be fired. In fact, she gets the promotion halfway through the movie. Her boss keeps calling her because Kaia is hesitant to accept, as this is taking her even further away from what she originally loved about the job: helping the little people rather than big corporations.
She meets old high school best friend, James (Nathan Witte), who has a back-to-nature type career, in contrast to her own. They fall in love while reconnecting trying to complete their High School bucket list. Is a bucket list for 18-year-olds a thing? I don’t think so. But it is Hallmark, after all. Their mission is to check off such aspirational endeavors such as “Win the Maplecrest Scarecrow Contest,” “Obtain the Super-Secret Recipe for the Apple Cider Doughnuts at the Mill,” “Make Mr. Winters Smile,” and “Win King and Queen of the Harvest.” The easy stuff, like “Jump into a Pile of Leaves,” had already been checked off 20 years ago. Like Kaia, James has no tragic romantic history to explain why he is still single at 38 when he is so eligible as far as looks, character, and professional success. There are not even any interested townswomen waiting to swoop down upon him like birds of prey. They just have a nice rekindling of their relationship with a few almost kisses. No lies, conflicts of interest, or secrets to complicate things. The only roadblock is that James lives in Maplecrest and Kaia life so far is in the city.
Kaia has a pregnant best friend of contrasting ethnicity who owns some kind of old-timey store with so many autumn flavored tchotchkes and decorations that I couldn’t really figure out what she sold there. Gigi is selling her house and set to move into an assisted living facility, but it is not against her will. In fact, she can’t wait to get to there with all its fancy amenities. The real estate agent is not greedy and looking to rip her off, but is the husband of Kaia’s best friend. So no stress there either.
There is a flirty baking scene. And there is a Fall Festival! But it doesn’t need to be saved, nor to raise money to save something else. There was that reliable little last minute drama in Kaia and James’ relationship but it was very little and not a stupid misunderstanding. James declares himself and wants to take their friendship to the next level but Kaia is still set on returning to the big city and her promotion (kinda), and is afraid of losing her friendship with James if something goes wrong in their romance. That was pretty weak, because no history of romantic disappointments had been established that might justify her fear of commitment.
Thanks to her best friend and her wise grandmother, Kaia does see the light and takes another position in her company that allows her to work remotely so she can stay in Maplecrest. And, Bonus! She can get back to helping needy small businesses instead of unappreciative Big Businesses. So Handy!
Anyway, this was an 84 minute masterpiece of calm, stress-free, and predictable viewing, amply decorated (but not too tackily) with Fall embellishments. James even wears at least one flannel shirt. Unfortunately it was so calm that I kept falling asleep. It took me hours to get through the whole thing, and even so, in my re-winding and fast forwarding I may have missed some important points. If this is the case, I apologize. I prefer the Hallmarks that are more out of the box and with a little suspense and drama. But I can certainly appreciate the appeal of ones like these. It didn’t make me mad or trigger contempt or disdain, so I’m giving it 7 stars.
