Dysfunctional Family or MC

Checkmate (#6 in the Lymond Chronicles)

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By Dorothy Dunnett

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At the moment, I am tired of journeys. It is time I arrived somewhere.

He wondered why his lordship had claimed to be unable to identify the boy on the bridge. Then he recalled something he had heard rumoured. Once, Lymond had questioned a child and lived to regret it.

“You may give me a brooch. A sapphire one.”
“Ah,” he said. “But will you take care of it?”

It’s been about 3 weeks since I finished this last book in The Lymond Chronicles. And this review has been hanging over my head. Between finishing the book and seriously tackling this review I have had a ball reading other peoples thoughts and insights into the series which I was unable to do while I was reading it because of fear of running into spoilers. More on that later. In short, I have been, off and on, just immersing myself even further in the series.. I have a lot more exploring yet to do down the Lymond/Dorothy Dunnett rabbit hole.

As I look back on this book, Checkmate, I am amazed at how much happened action-wise, the character arcs, and the seamless involvement of our fictional characters with the military actions, politics, and religion of the time. In the course of the series, Dorothy Dunnett has shown herself to be ready, willing, and able to kill off important characters as well as animals. So while I was happy at the return of those whom we kind of left by the wayside during Pawn in Frankincense and/or The Ringed Castle, I feared for them. These included Kate, Philippa’s mother, Jerrott “I don’t understand” Blythe, Marthe, his difficult and troubled wife, and Archie Abernathy, the rock. Of course Lymond’s mother, Sybilla, so beloved and admired by me in previous books was certainly under threat of ye old chopping block given her advanced age (at least for those times) alone. And what of his estranged brother Richard? It would be just like DD to kill him off before he and Lymond could be reconciled. Though frankly, Richard was such a dumbass throughout most of this one, I can’t say I cared much about his ultimate fate.

What we went through in this book, along with Lymond and Philippa, our daring duo! We begin the book, right where The Ringed Castle left off, picking up with Lymond shortly after he has landed back in France after being kidnapped by Philippa and his friends, for his own good. They successfully conspired to prevent him from returning to what he saw as his mission in Russia where he would face certain death. Which was OK with him, but not with anyone else. I know I sure didn’t want him to go back there. Although at the end of TRC, he loves Philippa “in every way known to man” he is determined to divorce her for her own protection and because of his own self-loathing. Philippa is as yet unaware of the nature of her attachment to “Mr. Crawford.” He enters into an agreement to serve embattled France in his capacity as a military leader without peer. In return, the powers that be will see that the divorce is granted. Along with placing Lymond in the middle of real historical military battles and political machinations, we experience all manner of…stuff. High spirited swashbuckling adventure, a love story for the ages (which for me, had its earliest beginnings in The Disorderly Knights), deep dark mystery, family drama, mental and physical anguish of all sorts, sacrifice, evil, goodness, triumph and…well, just name it. And that’s just Philippa. Kidding. But Philippa and Lymond are equal or almost equal partners in all that transpires in this book.

Before I bought the books many moons ago, I vetted the series enough to know it ended in a rewarding and satisfying way. But as the books went on, I didn’t see how the ending could possibly be completely happy due to Lymond’s physical and mental health challenges. But Dorothy accomplished it. At least I chose to buy it. As much as I loved the book, it wasn’t perfect. I struggled with getting my head around the motivations, mindsets, and decisions of Philippa, Lymond, and Sybilla. So much harm and suffering for, what I felt, were weak and not very well supported reasons. I asked the DD in my head, at too many points, “Because why now?” “Huh? But.…” Also, I feel like the title of the book is a little misleading and I felt a bit cheated by part of the conclusion. Because the book is called “Checkmate” I expected a battle of the titans between Lymond and his nemesis throughout most of the series, Margaret Lennox. With, of course, Lymond outmaneuvering, tricking, and finally conquering the wily Margaret in an exciting showdown for the ages. Of course it would exceed in guile and excitement the climaxes we were treated to in 4 of the 5 preceding volumes. The word “Checkmate” comes with certain expectations. The confrontation between the two had its rewards, but in the end that part was anticlimactic. But, thanks to the gorgeous and fulfilling conclusion to Francis’ and Philippa’s love story, It is a fairly minor quibble. In the end there is peace and joy at long last, and that is enough. But still so many questions! I learned from reading this series that sometimes that’s not a bad thing.

So many lovers of this series have read it many times. They comment how much they missed the first time. I had a different experience, thanks to helpful websites and Youtube chapter by chapter discussions posted years ago which leant valuable insights, and conscientiously avoided spoilers. They added historical political and religious context, explained obscure literary allusions, translated foreign language passages, and a whole lot more. Many personal opinions and speculations over countless plot and character points were offered and explored. Not to mention, “What did Dorothy Dunnett really mean by that?” Some hearty souls read this massive work while it was still being written and had to wait years between books. I can’t pretend to imagine what that experience was like. Many forged ahead while up in the air as to whether all would end tragically with Lymond’s death (or worse!). Given his death wish, it seemed more than likely. I had the advantage of knowing the end would be a happy one, though I took great care to avoid any other spoilers. But a funny thing happened. I went through Checkmate and part of The Ringed Castle, under a misapprehension. In looking up an innocuous factoid, I ran across what I thought was a huge spoiler. I caught a glimpse of the answer to one of the big running mysteries we had been teased with throughout the series: Lymond’s true parentage. But since I shut down what I was reading immediately, I got it wrong. It would have been quite juicy, had it been true, so I was a little disappointed when I finally realized that all of the clues that pointed in another direction were not, as I thought, red herrings. Also I read that one very important character died, and he/she didn’t. Where that came from I’ll probably never know. But I was sure happy about it.

So there you have it: A small part of my experience with this scholarly, flamboyant, and, yes, sometimes preposterous series which is influencing writers to this day. But I am certainly not done with Dunnett. I now have the audio books in my library and another series to look forward to: Niccolo Rising. Which from what I gather should be almost as profound a reading experience as was The Lymond Chronicles. We’ll see.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The Game of Kings (#1 of The Lymond Chronicles)

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By Dorothy Dunnett

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To the men exposed to his rule Lymond never appeared ill: he was never tired; he was never worried, or pained, or disappointed, or passionately angry. If he rested, he did so alone; if he slept, he took good care to sleep apart. “—I sometimes doubt if he’s human,” said Will, speaking his thought aloud. “It’s probably all done with wheels.

This series first came to my attention probably over 30 years ago. I bought the beautiful Vintage Paperback editions around 25 years ago when a local book seller was having a sale. And there they sat. Looking very pretty and impressive, giving my library a certain intellectual credibility. The series would tap me on the shoulder every so often, but I never seriously considered starting them until recently. I read a recent review from one of my Goodreads friends https://www.goodreads.com/review/show… and I thought “people are still reading these?” Then I read some more reviews, and then I read a few scholarly type blog posts and essays. I started to get excited, but very very intimidated at the prospect of reading the first one, The Game of Kings. But then I thought, “Becky if you’re going to read these before you lose your faculties, you better get a move on. You can do hard things!” So I did.

And it was daunting. It is a deep dive into 16th century history, arts, culture, warfare, and politics that our formidable author assumes you are already familiar with. She also assumes you are fluent in multiple languages. There are no translations or footnotes-those are in a whole separate 400 page book. And a lot of the actual English isn’t that comprehensible either. Here’s an example:

“Johnnie Bullo! Man, I wish you’d take to wearing clappers on your breeches; you’re desperate sore on the arteries. And that last damned powder you gave me would have done Jimmie of Fynnart a twelve- month and pointed up the whole of Linlithgow if you laid it on with a trowel. Will ye bring to mind it’s my inner workings you’re repairing, not the Toll Brig o’ Dumfries.”

The book is peopled with real historical figures both obscure and famous. And Lymond of Crawford, our main character, mostly talks in poetry, double entendres, quotations from sources no modern reader has any business even hearing of, let alone being passing familiar with.
“ I wish to God,” said Gideon with mild exasperation, “that you’d talk–just once– in prose like other people.”
If Gideon Somerville was not a favorite character before, he certainly was one after that comment to our hero. I almost gave up several times. But I did some more research, trying to take good care to avoid spoilers (though didn’t always succeed), and found out that virtually everyone felt the same way I did at the beginning. But to a man and woman, I was assured that it would get easier and I would be rewarded.
I quote from a blog entry called “The Game of Kings in 15 minutes”. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/… Highly recommend if you’ve already read the novel

RANDOM SCOTTISH PEOPLE: Lymond is back.
READERS: And we’ll have to wait hundreds of pages to find out why.
LYMOND: *is incomprehensible*
PIG: *is drunk*
READERS WHO ARE NEW TO THE SERIES: wtf?
READERS WHO HAVE READ THE WHOLE SERIES: You’ll learn.

Two things in particular helped me. One, someone wrote that The Game of Kings could be read as a stand alone (I have commitment issues with series books and tv shows) and I discovered a wonderful website improbably named “Now You Have Dunnett” https://nowyouhavedunnett.blogspot.co… for which I am eternally grateful. It took me through each chapter and scene almost paragraph by paragraph, translating the more important foreign language quotes, explaining the context when it was important, giving historical background, and pointing out little things that I might have missed that would become important later on. I would read a chapter, sometimes two and then go back to the website on those chapters to check for understanding. Eventually, I could go for longer and longer periods with confidence before having to check back to make sure I understood what was going on. At about the 25% mark, I not only started to comprehend without help (forgetting the foreign language quotes and esoterica which I just skipped over) but started to see the appeal and actually enjoy what I was reading. I started to get The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Count of Monte Cristo, and unabridged Les Miserables vibes. The first two being youthful favorites re-read many times, and the last reminding me of the feeling of pride and accomplishment as I waded through it without skipping.

So what about the actual book, you may ask? Enough already about your personal relationship with it! Well, as I said, the first sentence of the book is “Lymond is Back”. Back Where? From Where? The setting is Scotland in 1547, a time of war with England and great unrest politically, religiously, and every other way. King Henry the VIII has just died and the English powers that be want his young son Edward, (A.K.A. The Prince of The Prince and The Pauper) to be betrothed to Mary, the 5-year-old Scottish Queen. Loyal Scots do not want that.

We first meet our hero robbing and pillaging a friend of the family’s castle, to insure ultimate chaos, introducing the victim’s pet pig to the joys of adult beverages. Then he moves to his own family’s castle where, drunk, he breaks in with his gang of mercenaries, flirts with his new sister-in-law, robs his mother’s guests, threatens their lives, exchanges barbs with the mother he hasn’t seen for over 5 years, and stabs her best friend. He finishes off his busy day by locking them inside the castle and setting it on fire. Lymond is indeed living down to his reputation as obnoxious, amoral, ruthless, and other synonyms too numerous to list including brilliant and funny. He is a notorious proven traitor to Scotland and an outlaw also wanted for a crime so horrible and shocking that I won’t say what it is. And if possible, the English hate him almost as much as the Scots. But all is not what it seems. No, indeed. Because Lymond is back to *spoiler alert* prove his innocence, restore his reputation as a loyal Scotsman, serve his country, and protect his family. Not an auspicious start, Lymond.

And that is the most detailed I am going to get about the plot. Because if I went on, it would take me a long long time and I wouldn’t know where to stop. There are whole books written about this novel alone, only the first book in the series, as well as on the whole series. But we have many adventures and meet many people both very very good, very very bad, and very in between. Also very clever, wise, and cunning, and very and very obnoxiously thick-headed (I’m looking at you, Richard.) There is espionage, betrayal, revenge, romance, secrets, alchemy, reconciliation, tragedy, comedy, a duel considered one of the best ever written for the page, and a courtroom trial/very welcome info dump to rule them all.

This was Dorothy Dunnett’s first novel. As she says in the forward, she grew in wisdom as she wrote. And I think she meant that she saw the need to make the subsequent books a little more accessible to the other  99% of the population of potential readers. Either that, or a wise editor firmly took her in hand. From all accounts the best are yet to come, so now that I have conquered, that is, managed to survive, this first in the series…Onward

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Old Country

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By Matt Query & Harrison Query

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Despite many frustrations with the male half of the couple who are the two narrators of their story, I really enjoyed this folk horror/thriller. A young couple leave their urban lives behind and fulfill their dream of buying a large property in the country at the foot of the Teton mountains. With them, is their dog, Dash, who I have to count as the third main character in the novel. Their nearest neighbors are an older couple, Dan and Lucy, and Joe, the rather mysterious Native American patriarch of the family who has owned the largest ranch in the area for generations. Soon after moving in, Harry and Sasha are visited by the older couple who shock them by telling them that their valley is haunted by a malevolent spirit that manifests itself 3 different ways depending on the season. Winter is a reprieve when the spirit is at rest. They talk to them about the rules they must follow to keep themselves safe and the spirit at bay. And though the whole process is disturbing, it is not that hard. At first, though they like and value Dan and Lucy, how can they believe such craziness? Harry especially is resistant to anything dealing with the supernatural, while Sasha, as things begin to transpire exactly as Dan and Lucy foretold, understands that she must believe the evidence of her own senses.

Harry and Sasha’s love and support for each other throughout the ordeals which are to come is never in doubt. It is established early on that Sasha is wise and strong, while Harry, though a former marine and tough and strong on the surface, is ruled by his emotions. This leads to bouts of rage and actions that not only fly in the face of logic and sense, but put the safety of himself and his beloved Sasha (and Dash) at risk. This happens over and over despite his recognition of his own foolhardiness and the remorse which follows. Harry’s frustrating behavior is caused to some degree by his injuries and experiences in Afghanistan. Until near the end of the book when Joe, often talked about but never seen, finally makes his entrance, I counted Harry’s weaknesses as a flaw in the book. I was driven to distraction by him and his mess when I felt the rest of the story was so strong that it was an unnecessary distraction. After a disastrous encounter with the Autumn manifestations of the spirit, Joe finally comes to the rescue and his encounter with Harry is so satisfying that it almost made all of my distress and disgust with the essentially good man and co-hero of the book worth it. I saw what the authors did there.

I was engaged and engrossed throughout. The concept and source of the horror and terror were fascinating and unusual. Secrets are revealed that increase the threat and danger to Harry and Sasha. Sasha’s focus changes to living with the spirit by following the rules to vanquishing it permanently. When winter comes, the season in which the spirit is supposed to hibernate, we learn that it only hibernates for those who have not killed another human. And of course, Harry, a war veteran, has killed as many as 5 people in Afghanistan. It is with the Winter manifestations that the story breaks down. The main problem is voiced by Harry himself:

I dunno…a divine omnipotence that’s damn near indiscernible from how most monotheists describe God. All that power over the souls of the dead just to play ventriloquist for a few weeks a year? All that power just to put on some spooky theater for a nobody asshole like me in this little mountain valley? Nah. Even applying the bizarre, fucked-up metrics that exist in this strange place, that’s just too much of a stretch.

Exactly.
At the end of the book we are left with the hope that this infinity-year-old omnipotent spirit has perhaps been permanently put to rest by Harry and Sasha. But how they did that when generations of Native Americans could not crack the code is very unclear. And smacks of white saviorism. The secret was too simplistic bordering on inane. So much so that I thought I missed something. There were plot holes and questionable aspects throughout the book which I could and did overlook, the story was so compelling. I loved all of the characters except for Harry. But since Sasha and Dash the dog (and Dan and Lucy) loved him despite his flaws, I didn’t want any permanent harm to come to him. It was a good read but the epilogue was facile with an attempt to bolster it by a tangle of meaningless gobbledygook. Also, unanswered questions! A bête noire of mine. No pun intended.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I Hope This Finds You Well

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by Natalie Sue

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Jolene recalls the time she brought juice and milk instead of coffee and soda to an office potluck and they think it’s funny:

After that, I decided that limiting my interactions was the best way to keep people from hating me. But over time, embarrassment became resentment. I was annoyed that Rhonda had me buy drinks if coffee and the watercooler would’ve done it. That was the first step down a road. The thing about annoyance is that once there’s a spark, you can find more things to stoke it. It grew and amplified between me and them. And eventually the abyss stared back.

This was an entertaining and funny read with serious overtones. The darkness mostly stems from having to do with a heroine who has social anxiety and other damage due to a childhood tragedy that she was wrongly blamed for. She suffers from guilt that her family had to move to another city to escape the gossip and blame. Her mental state is not helped by an overbearing mother whose ill-judged parenting skills create stress and expectations she can not hope to meet. Therefore she lies about her career success and her romantic life, creating more stress. She is a bitter and very unhappy person.

She works in an office and to say that Jolene does not fit in is an understatement. Her office mates try to ignore her weird ways but are also hostile and hateful. They speculate on the chances of her going postal with a deadly weapon at some point, and they are half serious. And I’m not sure that I wouldn’t feel the same way about her (though I hope I wouldn’t be hostile and mean).

Her personal life is not any better. Her apartment is filthy and she is a borderline alcoholic. But since we are privy to her interior life and funnily sarcastic and incisive if black takes on the world and the people around her, I couldn’t help but like her while shaking my head at her self-sabotage. And I knew from the get-go that the book would be about Jolene’s journey out of the depths to happiness and health. So I was willing to put up with quite a bit from her.

The crux of the novel is how Jolene, due to some kind of computer foul up, is suddenly able to secretly read all of the private emails of her work mates and bosses. She finds out that massive layoffs are coming, and she will probably be first on the chopping block due to her, well, everything about her. She starts to play the social and political game to save her job. In the process, she finally gets to know the people she works with and everything that is going on beneath the surface. Needless to say, some people confirm her low opinion of them, and some do not. She gets to know Cliff, the new HR guy with whom she has to meet regularly for Sensitivity Training. He is a wonderful guy, and she starts to fall for him, and for some reason, he for her. With him, she is quick witted, funny, and nice with a refreshingly rebellious yet well-founded cynicism that he relates to.

There are many aspects of this book that are 5 star worthy. By itself, the premise of Jolene’s access to the secret thoughts and professional and personal lives of everyone in her office was a rich trove of humor and horror. There are revelations galore which made for quite the page turner. Eventually we know there will be hell to pay on many fronts when the truth comes out. We fear for Jolene while recognizing that justice is not on her side. But to me, Jolene’s growth came too late and then, too quickly in the book. I didn’t feel her journey was well managed. I was impatient with her constant negative attitude towards the good people in her life, especially Cliff. She always assumes the worst. I hoped that her relationship with Miley, a neglected little girl who lives in her apartment building would be the making of both her and Miley but the connection never really delivers on its promise.

The ending was satisfying and happy, just the way I like it. But I can’t give it 5 stars. Jolene disappointed me too often, until she didn’t.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Ain’t She Sweet?

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Susan Elizabeth Phillips

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“Hold it right there. The only agreement we ever had was that you intended to make me as miserable as possible, and I intended to courageously make the best of an intolerable situation like valiant Southern women have always done.”-Sugar Beth Carey

“They’re all mad, everyone of ’em” Said Rupert with conviction.
Georgette Heyer-The Devil’s Cub.

I have read this 2004 book by the great Susan Elizabeth Phillips a few times, and listened to it once before. The book is great. One of her best. It’s a stand alone, but mention of the Daphne the Bunny books from her Chicago Stars series tie it to that universe. Ultimate Chick Lit, it has all the ingredients I look for in that lightly regarded genre and with a delicious southern twang: Funny dialog, plenty of drama, suspense and anticipation, quintessential enemies to lovers, slow burn, true love, redemption, and justice for all. You name it. In Sugar Beth Carey, SEP has created one of her strongest and funniest heroines. And Colin Byrne, apparently inspired by Georgette Heyer’s The Duke of Avon is more than a match for her. But Sugar Beth is no worshipful Leonie sitting at the feet of Heyer’s Justin Alistair.

Sugar Beth is a one of a kind heroine who was truly a pampered mean girl and bully in her youth. In truth, she deserved every bad thing that came (and will come) to her in this book, and she knows it. The reader, however, soon learns she has reaped the consequences of her past foolish and bad acts and come through the flames a changed and better person. But her former friends and the townspeople, when she returns to her small home town of Parrish Mississippi, only know her as the spoiled rich girl who cruelly bullied and humiliated her shy illegitimate step sister. She’s the girl who dumped the popular hometown high school hero for a big time college athlete and left her provincial small town in the dust. She is still the beautiful and flirtatious teen who falsely accused a young teacher of sexual harassment and got him fired and sent home in disgrace. And who didn’t even have the decency to come back for her father’s funeral. I told you she was bad. But while life has not been kind to Sugar Beth, the nerdy step-sister from the wrong side of the tracks is now the heir of all their late father’s wealth and married to Sugar Beth’s former boyfriend. They are the power-couple of the small town and its social leaders. And the young teacher Sugar Beth ruined? He is now a wealthy and famous author who has returned from England to live in Parrish and who has brought it a certain fame and prosperity. And now Sugar Beth is back in town to find a valuable legacy that will hopefully turn her life around and save the future of a vulnerable dependant. And then get back out of the town which holds so many painful memories as soon as possible. Not gonna happen. Let the games begin.

As backstories unfold, and and secrets are revealed, we love and cheer for the very entertaining Sugar Beth while cringing at the person she used to be. But we also sympathize with and admire her sister and nemesis, Winnie Davis. This is a book with no “bad guys.” A really good romance has great side characters and every character in this one is a finely honed gem, and it is funny as heck.

With this listen on Audible, however, I regret to say that the narration by Kate Fleming got on my last nerve. It tainted large chunks of the book for me, including, unforgivably, the romance part. On paper, Colin Byrne is eccentric and affected but ultimately romantic and intriguing. An original in the 21st century, he is apparently based on an archetypal Regency or Georgian aristocratic romantic hero. In the hands of Ms. Fleming, he becomes a pompous and ridiculous ass. She does OK with Sugar Beth and the rest of characters most of the time, but she rarely lets up on the acid sardonic tone, even when it is not called for by the words or the story. Her southern accent is way over the top. I’m a southerner and when a southerner hears a southern accent that is way too southern, it is. Susan Elizabeth Phillips had the good taste and discernment to preface each of her chapters with an appropriate quote from a Georgette Heyer novel. What Kate Fleming did to those quotes was a train wreck of clown cars. She obviously has no knowledge of the characters that spoke the words of the iconic Georgette. Her reading added insult to the injury she inflicted to one of SEP’s best books. I have listened to other books by this author narrated by Kate Fleming aka Anna Fields and her interpretations have been spot on and wonderful. What the Heck happened, and why did no one stop her? The Book is 5 stars. The narration is unforgivable. But I’m not going to punish the book for that.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The Wedding People

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By Alison Espach

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Having not read a novel I really really liked in forever unless by one of my core favorite authors, which are few and far between, I thought I’d branch out a little. This had won several awards, received a lot of hype, and going by the reviews and the description of the plot, it seemed like it would fit the bill. It’s described as heartwarming literary fiction with dark humor, wisdom, wit, hope, and maybe a bit of romance. And it was all of those things.

We meet our main character, Phoebe Stone, as she arrives alone at the grand Cornwall Inn in Newport RI. Curiously, after reading the reviews and the first pages of this book, I had the idea that Phoebe was in her 50s or 60s. But she is only maybe 42. We also learn she is an adjunct English professor at a small college in St. Louis, Missouri. She is still haunted by her divorce and we learn that she has also wrestled with fertility problems. She has been isolated and lonely, her only companion being her cat, Harry, who has just died of cancer. Fed up with herself and her life, and armed with a bottle of Harry’s pain pills, her plan is to commit suicide. But the hotel, which she has longed dream of visiting, has been taken over by a lively wedding party which has the whole place exclusively booked for 6 days. Phoebe, as usual, is an outsider. But what does she care? After a nice dinner in the best room in the place, she plans to do the deed that night anyway. She meets the Lila bride in the elevator, and, since Phoebe really has nothing left to lose, frankly tells her, when questioned, why she is there. Lila is upset about that, not out of compassion or empathy, but because she does not want a dead body to ruin her perfect wedding. She follows Phoebe to her room to try to get her to change her mind. Or at least wait until after her wedding is over. Phoebe has always led a controlled, careful, and small life, never wanting to rock any boats. But now that she just doesn’t care anymore, for the first time ever, she is honest and fearless in her interaction with the spoiled bride. And she likes it. We find out that Lila, brash and not afraid to show her true self to Phoebe, is an entirely different person with her friends and family. Lila’s confidences spark Phoebe’s curiosity. After Lila finally leaves Phoebe to join her party beneath Phoebe’s balcony, she finds she doesn’t want to die just yet.

The crowd laughs, and Phoebe wonders if Lila is laughing…. But Phoebe will never know what happens—by the time Lila’s mother is finished talking, Phoebe will be dead. Phoebe will not get to know how the speech ends—or how anything ends. And Phoebe does not like this. Phoebe always finishes a book or a movie, even a bad one.

Energized by the freedom of being herself with Lila, she decides to hang around a while. (The feline pain pills proving to be ineffective.) She is drawn into Lila’s world and gets to know many of the wedding party, eventually agreeing to be Lila’s maid of honor. She is liked and respected by all for her common sense and wit. Lila is not the only one who seems to want to seek her out and confide in her.

Phoebe has nothing to lose here. She is not part of this family. She is not part of anything anymore. She is free in a way none of them are, so she kneels down and looks directly at the girl, as if it’s her from many years ago.
“We do ask that you keep all your belongings inside the boat,” the captain says softly. Juice looks at Phoebe as if she is making a choice about who to be, and Phoebe makes a choice, too. “Go ahead,” Phoebe says, because fuck it. If she is going to live, she’s going to live differently this time. “Let’s have our funeral.”

I really (really) liked this. Phoebe and Lila’s backstories added to their portrayal, and there were some twists and surprises which are always welcome. I loved the gossip and the peaks behind the curtain of the rich and privileged. Although not a very admirable character, I learned to care for the outrageous and unpredictable Lila as well as Phoebe. We are introduced to the important characters and fraught relationships in Lila’s life through her eyes, and, no surprise, learn there is a lot more to them than we may have thought. Phoebe’s inner observations are smart and funny, and there is plenty of situational comedy as well. As the actual wedding day approached, I found myself fervently hoping for certain outcomes and I was not disappointed.

Unfortunately, the book did lag in the middle, largely due to Phoebe’s unending learning curve. Her constant introspection and little insights into her life and why she acted the way she did were repetitious. It seems like nothing would do, when the author made a point, but for her to make it another dozen times in another dozen ways. Some entertainingly, yes, but some just overkill.

But her excellent writing carried the way past these patches and even though a little tiresome, I was always entertained.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The Mysterious Half Cat (Judy Bolton #9)

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By Margaret Sutton

“Holy Christmas!” Horace exclaimed way down in his throat. “What do you call that?” “The Half Cat!” gasped Scottie, one had to her heart. Even Judy found herself clutching Arthur’s coat sleeve in that moment of frozen terror… Let’s get out of here,” Horace whispered hoarsely and began helping Scottie through the window…..“Wait a minute!” Judy detained him “I have an idea.”

I had decidedly mixed feelings about this one. At the beginning of the book, Judy is awakened from a horrible nightmare in which Blackberry, her beloved cat, is hit by a car and cut in half! Peter and Arthur appear and Blackberry, still cut in two, gets up and follows them. The top half follows Arthur and the bottom half follows Peter as they head in opposite directions. Although obviously symbolic of Judy’s feelings being torn between the two young men, this image was very disturbing to me and it is one of the recurring themes in the book. An old beggar approaches the front porch where Judy is telling Honey about her dream and Honey buys the old man’s dream book to interpret it. The old man warns her against dreaming of cats, a coincidence which startles Judy. Peter comes by and shows the girls a mysterious coded note which he found in front of Wing Lee’s Chinese laundry. Judy is intrigued.

When the mail comes, Judy is surprised and pleased to receive a letter from an old playmate, Dora ”Scottie” Scott, who had moved to Alaska before the Roulsville flood. Scottie is coming back home with her little sister Carol. She is all alone in the world now and hopes to stay with the Boltons while she searches for lost relatives. Judy is very excited and of course the Bolton family starts making preparations to welcome Scottie and Carol into their home. Remembering that Scottie was always one for adventure and excitement, Judy thinks that maybe the mysterious note might be a good mystery for them to solve together. Judy goes to talk with Wing Lee about the note and he tells her that “spooks” come to his laundry every Wednesday. This is right up Judy’s alley and she hides out in his basement overnight (on a school night no less!) to investigate. She gets locked in and hears strange sounds and someone talking about splitting a cat in half! What?! How can Judy’s dream be connected to an old beggar, and nefarious doings in Wing Lee’s cellar? I, for one, was baffled. Surely Judy does not have psychic dreams?!

In addition to the mystery of the coded note and the “Half Cat”, Scottie and Carol’s troubles take center stage. When Scottie arrives, she is nothing like the girl Judy remembers. She is unpleasant, ungrateful and unappreciative of Judy’s efforts to make her welcome and involve her in adventure. She is also exhausted because she can not let Carol out of her sight. There is something wrong with Carol’s brain which causes her to go into trances or fly into destructive rages. She also seems to be hearing impaired. Poor Scottie has a lot on her plate, but sometimes the interested, curious, and fun-loving Scottie peeks through. Judy powers through Scottie’s sometimes nasty behaviour and sets to work to help her and Carol and solve the mystery of the “half-cat” into the bargain.

One has to appreciate the unusual step of incorporating a child who, these days, would be considered “on the spectrum” or having serious brain damage into a children’s mystery series. But it was disturbing and painful. Margaret never shied away, even in her early books, from addressing controversial topics to her young readers. In fact, Carol’s problems reflect a tragic circumstance in Margaret Sutton’s own life. How Carol’s behavior affects Scottie emotionally is very layered and authentic. The portrayal of the old beggar is also complex with paranoia, guilt, hoarding, the corruption of wealth, and repentance coming into the mix.

How Judy’s dream seemed to be repeated in real life is neatly explained at the end, to my satisfaction and relief. And Judy’s efforts, with the help of the whole gang, result in tying a kind of “half-cat”, the old beggar, and Scottie and Carol together into a hopeful happy ending. The end of the book sees Judy graduating from high school and and anxiously looking towards an uncertain future.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The Paradise Problem

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By Christina Lauren

“Houston, we have a problem(atic man).”

I hate to give this book less than 5 stars. The writing was excellent, it was very funny, the story kept me turning the pages, the heroine and hero were both lovable and admirable, the main bad guy was the evilest of evil and the ones in the middle were layered and somewhat complex. There was more than one cheer-worthy moment and also lots of drama and suspense. But I counted off for TMI in the spice department. I’m not a prude (debatable) and don’t mind some open-door explicitness, but it started to suck up too much air out of the actual story and character development. It started a little past the halfway point and I was liking the story and characters so much that I got impatient with the amount of real estate it took up.

“West” Weston (aka Liam) and Anna Green got married in college just to qualify for affordable married housing. They barely saw each other and after Liam graduated they completely lost touch and haven’t seen each other for almost 5 years. Anna changed her major from Pre-Med to Art but her dream of supporting herself and paying her beloved father’s medical bills with her painting is not even a distant possibility. And she just got unjustly fired from her crap job at the Pico Pick-It-Up. She is at a very low point. So when Liam, whom she almost didn’t even recognize, comes a-knocking at her apartment door with a proposal that will allow her to breathe a little financially, she is all in. This is a girl who thinks $10,000 is “life-changing,” and Liam’s deal will net her over 10 times that amount. He needs her wifely presence by his side at his sister’s extravagant wedding on a private island in Indonesia. A condition of Liam and his siblings’ each inheriting around $100,000,000 each from their late grandfather is that they must be legitimately married for at least 5 years. And according to his mother, his ruthless father is starting to get suspicious that Liam’s marriage to Anna is a sham.

The plot is certainly not original and there were plot holes one could drive a bus through. The most glaring, to me, was how Anna and Liam could possibly think that their marriage-in-name only could not and would not have been easily uncovered years ago. But I was so involved in the story that I didn’t let that bother me (too much). The character of Anna was the key. Boisterous, proudly blue-collar, inappropriate, and hilarious, she must try to bury her authentic self to pretend to be Liam’s perfectly classy blue-blood and loving wife who is at ease with wealth and power. All the while pretending she is a doctor. Liam knows he is in for trouble when she shows up at the airport expensively attired, accessorized, and gorgeous (he gave her a dress allowance) but still sporting her strikingly pink hair. But Anna is smart and motivated to carry the whole deception off. She likes and respects Liam, who is a perfect foil for her. He left the family business for academia to become independent from his dysfunctional family for mysterious reasons. We only know that Liam is a good man with high principles and his father is a fiendish “sludge goblin.” He is constantly having to navigate his father’s manipulations and pressure to rejoin the family firm while still trying to keep in touch with the less offensive members of his troubled family.

Although The Westons certainly look askance at Anna’s unconventional ways she is pretty much accepted by them. Given Anna’s spirit and gumption, they don’t have much choice. The children of the family love her, Liam’s sister is nice and thrilled to finally meet her, and her sister-in-law is almost becoming a friend. And anyone can see the young couple are devoted to each other. Still, there are many dangerous waters to navigate and many traps to avoid. Suspense and tension build, but Liam and Anna have each others’ backs and even though there are some close calls, they are in a fair way to carrying the whole charade off. Except it’s not a charade anymore. Liam and Anna are in love. Then all hell breaks loose. Liam’s father gains the upper hand in his obsession to get Liam back under his thumb and back in the family business. Threats are made, secrets are revealed, and high drama is on every page. As truths come out, we learn there is much more at stake than we thought.

The opposites attract romance was engaging (other than…you know) and the crass and conspicuous consumption of the Weston family was an endless source of entertainment. Liam’s rage-filled narcissistic father kept the tension and drama factor high. I loved that when the inevitable crisis in Anna and Liam’s relationship came it was for good and understandable reasons, not silly foolishness. The side characters, including Anna’s friends and family, were very enjoyable and layered. Justice was served and the comeuppances were beautifully done and very satisfying. I closed the book with a smile on my face and hope for the families in my heart!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The Love of My Afterlife

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By Kirsty Greenwood

Oh god. I think…I think this is actually it? My grand finale. My expiration date. The End. Here lies Delphie Denise Bookham. She died just as she lived: alone, perplexed, wearing something a bit shit.

I really really liked this one. It was charming and very light, with an intriguing premise. And really funny. There were no flies in the ointment to detract from my enjoyment except that the heroine started out unlikable and flawed. She dislikes being around other people and is prickly, passive, and rude. She has chosen to isolate herself from the world as a response to a lot of childhood trauma, and her mother’s continuing neglect and disinterest in her. Once a talented artist, her art supplies are covered in dust. But since the overriding theme of this book is how and why Delphie learns and grows into a better, happier person, and starts connecting to other people, how can I complain? That wouldn’t be fair. And we know she is a good person at heart because of her only human contact (I hesitate to call him a friend), Mr. Yoon, her downstairs neighbor. He is an elderly mute Asian man, whom Delphie has taken upon herself to look after and keep safe.

At the beginning of the book, Delphie chokes on a hamburger and dies. She ends up in the “Evermore” waiting room with her afterlife counselor named Merritt. She is just getting acclimated to the situation when another recently dead man shows up. His name is Jonah and they have an instant connection. In fact, he is one of her 5 earthly soulmates. Delphie is thinking being dead might not be so bad after all when, Oopsie!, he is sent back to Earth. A mistake has been made. But Merritt, a lover and expert in romantic comedies has a deal for Delphie. She will bend the rules and let Delphie return to Earth for 10 days. If she can get Jonah to kiss her within that time, she can stay alive and kicking. Of course, it is easier said than done. Jonah will have no memory of Delphie and she does not even know his last name, only that he lives in London.

To her disgust, Delphie quickly finds out that she can not do this on her own. She needs the help of her workmates and neighbors whom she has been successfully and unapologetically alienating for years. Number one on the list is her downstairs nemesis, the attractive but surly Cooper, who has the necessary computer skills to track down Jonah. Readers familiar with romantic comedy know right away that it is Cooper who is “the one” for Delphie, not Jonah. Confident ladies man Cooper, it turns out, is as ornery and unhappy as Delphie. He’s not enthusiastic about helping her, but he needs a favor. As they search London for Jonah, Delphie slowly sheds her antisocial ways and finds friends. Cooper and Delphie fall in love.

Just yesterday my life involved interacting with as few people as I could get away with….How am I supposed to leave this? This…life. Because what I was living ten days ago wasn’t a life at all. But this? This noise and laughter and mess and fear and…people. Friends. Possible love. I can’t lose this. There are people in this room who wouldn’t want to lose me either. I make a difference to them. I can’t leave. Evermore is too far away. I don’t want to die. Fuck. I want to live.

But to live, she must still get Jonah to kiss her. And that blasted Merritt sometimes seems to be working against her. She must also ensure that Mr. Yoon is not left on his own in case her quest ends in failure. Cooper and Delphie’s journey to their happy ending is both hilarious and touching. As the already quick pace of the book picks up as Delphie’s 10 days comes to an end, it really kept me guessing. And then there is a surprise development that throws a whole new light on many things.

I’ve had another of Kirsty Greenwood’s novels on my TBR list for years. Now that I’ve read this one, I finally have a new author to be excited about. It’s a great feeling.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The Housemaid

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by Freida McFadden

“What did she mean by that? Is Nina more than just an eccentric and demanding boss? Is there something else going on with her?”

This was a fun and fast-paced domestic thriller that seemed shorter than it actually was. It just sped along which was very welcome after the last few books I’ve read. I read it on Audible, narrated by Lauren Allman.

Millie is an ex-con who was imprisoned for reasons unknown. She is also young and beautiful. After being fired for reasons unknown from her last job, she is hired as a live-in housekeeper and nanny for the fabulously wealthy and socially prominent Winchesters. It is well-paid and if her room is a little small, with no working windows, locks on the outside rather than the inside  and deep scratch marks on the door, well, after living in her car, who is she to complain? At first, it seems like a dream job but it’s not long before her sweet and friendly employer, Mrs. “call me Nina” Winchester starts to show a very very dark side. Nina seems to delight in gaslighting Millie, lying to her, setting her up for failure, blaming her for things that were her own fault, and otherwise mentally torturing her. And then there is her 9-year-old daughter, Cecelia, who is a spoiled mean brat and more than a little strange. Think Rhoda in The Bad Seed. But Millie puts up with it because anything is better than destitution and living in her car. Not to mention that Mrs. Winchester has the power to send her back to prison. Millie seems to be utterly in her power. And, you know, sometimes with her unpredictable mood swings, she is quite nice. Thank Goodness for Mr. Winchester, who is kind, handsome, and seems like a port in the storm.

This one has lots of twists and turns, and although I guessed the big twist because it was the only thing that made sense based on some of the behaviors, I enjoyed the ride anyway. It wasn’t deep, complex, or flawlessly planned or plotted. There were ways that Millie could have handled things that would have made her life easier. And some of the ways things were handled at the end to ensure a happy satisfying resolution would make no sense in real life. But I was in it for the thrills, chills, and schadenfreude, not the intellectual exercise. Also, “things” went a little too far for my liking.

But, Yeah. There are two sequels and I am definitely up for the next book in the series.

Rating: 4 out of 5.