First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Burntcoat; Sarah Hall

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read soon.

Burntcoat; Sarah Hall

Custom House - 11/2/2021

Begin Reading

Those who tell stories survive.

My mother said this to me when I was a child. after she'd gone missing for several hours.  I was convinced she was dead and that I'd been left alone in the cottage on the moors.  When she arrived home, soaked and coatless in the dark, she didn't understand why I was crying.  She'd been out walking and had lost track of time.

What would I do alone, I shouted at her.  I can't look after myself.

It wasn't true, of course--I could make a fire and use the oven; by the age of ten I could drive her car.  I was ready for her to disappear.

What do you think - read more of pass?  This intro is based on my eGalley copy which I received via Edelweiss and Custom House.

Book Review - Mary Jane, Jessica Anya Blau

 

TITLE/AUTHOR:  Mary Jane, Jessica Anya Blau

PUBLISHER:  Custom House

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2021

GENRE: Fiction / Coming-of-Age

FORMAT:  eGalley/ LENGTH: 320 pp

SOURCE:  Edelweiss

SETTING(s):  Baltimore, MD suburb

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  A wonderful coming-of-age story that exposes a teenage girl to a lifestyle so very different from her own.

BRIEF REVIEW:   It's the summer of 1975 when fourteen year old Mary Jane Dillard is hired as a nanny to care for Isabelle "Izzy" Cone, the five year old daughter of Dr. Richard Cone, a psychiatrist, and his stay at home wife Bonnie.  The Cone's and Dillard's are neighbors but little do the ultra conservative Dillard parents know, other than the fact that Cones have a lovely house, at least on the outside, and Mr. Cone has a "respectable" job as a doctor, the two families have absolutely nothing in common.  

The Dillard's are strict Presbyterians and, he and his wife are all about appearances and concerned what others think about them.  Mr. Dillard belongs to a country club that bans Jews and Blacks, unless of course they work at the country club waiting on the members.  Mr. Dillard also makes it a point to pray for President Ford at dinner each evening.  

The Cones, as May Jane learns from her first day inside their home,  are an unorganized disaster. The inside of their lovely home is pure disorder.  Mr. Cone can never find his keys because of all the stuff in places everywhere except where they belong. His wife Bonnie doesn't work but, she doesn't cook or clean either. Despite this, the family is relaxed, fun, in love and Izzy is a delightful, happy child.  The couple is free-spirited and demonstrative with affection which is so foreign to Mary Jane.  After her first few days on the job, Mary Jane knows that her parents would freak out if they knew the real Cones, especially the fact that their summer houseguests are rockstar Jimmy Bendinger, a recovering heroin addict who Mr. Cone is treating for addiction issues and his actress wife Sheba.  Mary Jane is enthralled by the uniqueness of this family and their guests and loves feeling a part of it all.  Mary Jane is also bright and knows her parents well, she quickly  realizes that in order to keep the nanny job she loves, she must tell her parents some half-truths and some down right lies.  Of course, the story couldn't end without the Dillards learning the truth and when they do - oh boy!

I loved this story and I was sad to have it end.  The 70s vibe was so much fun. The story never felt too heavy given the fact that drugs, sex, prejudice and racism are written into the storyline.  I loved Mary Jane, she seemed so wise, mature and self-aware.  I especially loved the unconventional characters, they felt so real, loving and genuine despite their flaws. This is one of those stories that is sure to stick with me a long while. I'm so happy I read it.

Thanks go to Custom House and Edelweiss for allowing me access to this delightful book in exchange for my unbiased review.

RATING:  5/5

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Mary Jane; Jessica Anya Blau

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. 

Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read. 

Mary Jane; Jessica Anya Blau

Custom House - 2021

1

"Mrs. Cone showed me around the house.  I wanted to stop at every turn and examine the things that were stacked and heaped in places they didn't belong:  books teetering on a burner on the stove, a coffee cup on a shoebox in the entrance hall, a copper Buddha on the radiator, a pink blow up pool raft in the center of the living room.  I had just turned fourteen, it was 1975, and my ideas about homes, furniture, and cleanliness ran straight into me like an umbilical cord from my mother.  As Mrs. Cone used her bare foot (toenails painted a glittering red) to kick aside a stack of sweaters on the steps, I felt a jolt of wonder.  Did people really live like this?  I suppose I knew that they did somewhere in the world.  But I never expected to find a home like this in our neighborhood, Roland Park, which my mother claimed was the finest neighborhood in Baltimore."

What do you think - read more or pass?  I do like a good coming of age story and this seems to have potential.

Book Review - The Talented Miss Farwell; Emily Gray Tedrowe

 

The Talented Miss Farwell; Emily Gray Tedrowe

Custom House Publishing - 2020

Becky Farwell is a bright young woman who learned to take charge when at an early age.  Her mother died when she was young and she took care of the house and quickly learned how to turn around her father's failing business, which she basically ran up until his death. Her father had no business sense but, Becky had it all.  By most standards Becky's life is rather boring, a loner who worked too much and played too little. She does develop a fine appreciation for art after picking up a piece at an estate sale that she absolutely adores and, then as if a lightbulb goes off in her head, a new focus.

After her father's death she continues to live in the family home in Pierson, Illinois. She gets a job in accounting at Town Hall at the age of 19 and is quickly promoted to Assistant Comptroller and then Comptroller by the age of 23 - her superiors have so much confidence in her take charge attitude and abilities that she has almost no oversight.  Her outside interest continues to be art and she learns all she can about the art scene, galleries and art shows. On weekends she heads to Chicago to immerse herself in the art scene. There she meets a man named Mac who shows her the rope and even suggests she go by the name of Reba. Becky (Reba) begins to dress the part, even renting a pricey condo for her weekend art escapes.  Unfortunately, this dual lifestyle all costs money, lots of money but the bright, resourceful Becky figures a way to get what she wants even though the scheme she comes up with. Embezzlement, however, is a crime. 

Becky (Reba) is an unlikeable character yet, I was pulled in by just how cunning this young woman was and how her criminal mind worked. It was fascinating to see how her art obsession took over rational thinking. I did find it hard to imagine her pulling off this double life: CFO by day and the high states domestic and even sometimes international art fancier on weekends. 

The Talented Miss Farwell is a clever work of crime fiction loosely based on a true story. Although this one starts off a bit slow, I enjoyed the story quite a bit. Becky was a brilliant con artist, master of deceit who found a way to skim money off the government to support her obsession.

Rating - 4/5 stars

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Talented Miss Farwell; Emily Gray Tedrowe

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, now hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book they are reading or that they plan to read soon. 

The Talented Miss Farwell; Emily Gray Tedrowe

Custom House - 2020 

 

 1

Pierson, Illinois

1979

Fourteen-year-old Becky Farwell lay on the horn with her forearm.

Daddy, let's go!

Engine running, she tilted the rearview mirror to study her eye makeup, a wash of greens running dark to light from her eyelashes to eyebrows. Greens, of course, because the magazines all said redheads had to, even indistinct blond-red mixes like her own.  What she really wanted was the set that gave you three kinds of purple, pale violet to dusky eggplant. Becky ran a quick calculation on how much she was owed by the four girls she did homework for--geometry and algebra, although she could stretch up to pre-calc too, even as a ninth-grader.  Though for pre-calc all she could guarantee was a B, not that any of the girls complained.  Sometimes she took payment in shoes, like the almost-new Tretorns she had on now, without socks because no one did.  Becky flipped the mirror back with a snap.  They needed cash too bad to daydream about makeup.

This is one book I've been eyeing and it's getting very good reviews as a crime novel.  What do you think - read more or pass?