Book Review - Very Cold People; Sarah Manguso

Very Cold People; Sarah Manguso

Hogarth - 2022

Set mostly in the 1980s in the small town of Waitsfield, MA (not a real MA town).  Waitsfield is a town where not much happens these days but, its history and former townspeople date back to the Mayflower. It is a town where the cold of winter feels like it lasts year round.  Ruthie is the only child of an Italian father who works as an accountant and a Jewish stay at home mother. The family struggles financially:  the bill collectors call on a regular basis, the food they eat is mostly unhealthy and whatever is cheap, their home is always freezing cold and the exterior of the house needs a paint job. The mother seems to suffer with severe depression.  Ruthie isn't physically abused but, the scars from her emotionally neglectful parents still do a number on her over the years.

Fortunately for Ruthie, she does have a few friends. Most of her friends come from families with more money but, they do not have better lives. These girls are also to be pitied for very different reasons.

Told from the POV of Ruthie from grade school to adulthood, Ruthie is a character I cared about from the start.  I loved the 1980's coming of age vibe, I only wished I had the power to have made her childhood better.  The writing style was crisp and grabbed me from the start. It was almost like a memoir or a series of journal entries.  We eventually learn the root of Ruthie's mother's depression.  This was not an upbeat story but, it was a well-written one that packs a punch. There are a lot of darker subjects which surfaced in this 192 page book - dysfunctional families, suicide, eating disorders, self-harm and even sexual assault.  Despite the dark tone, I liked this book a lot - for me, dysfunctional families makes for some thought provoking reading.

This is my second book in a row that featured people and families who have difficulty expressing emotions even to the people closest to them.  Fortunately, my (2) current reads: One Italian Summer and Taste: My Life Through Food, Stanley Tucci are more upbeat.

Rating - 4/5 stars

Thanks go to Hogarth and Edelweiss for allowing me access to this download in exchange for my unbiased review.)

Book Review - French Braid; Anne Tyler

 

French Braid; Anne Tyler

Knopf 3/22/2022 and Random House Audio

(9+ hours - narrated by Kimberly Farr (very good)

"Nobody outside a marriage has any real notion of what goes on inside."

It's 1959 and time to meet the all American family - The Garretts  - Mercy and Robin (mother and father) and their (3) children: Alice and Lily are teens and David is the youngest child.   Father, Robin is running the family hardware store in the Baltimore, Maryland area. Robin is sort of removed from the daily life of his children.  The mother, Mercy, tends to the needs of her children but, she is far from a warm and comforting sort of mother. She is unfulfilled with her life, her marriage and, her real passion seems to be her art.  The children: Alice is responsible and the one who likes to follow the rules, Lily is perhaps too boy crazy for her own good and young David seems confused; he longs to be grown up yet still very much a child who needs reassurance. 

As the story begins in 1959, Robin decides that the family should take a vacation. It will be their first and last vacation as a family. We follow the Garrett family from 1959 through the present day.  This is an expansive yet quiet, poignant, reflective kind of story about family.  There are special moments to be shared but, also there is that secret desire to break free from the family. 

I thought the Garrett family felt cold, there was not a lot of emotion but, in reality that is just how some families are.  There was one particular scene on a train involving the grandmother and her granddaughter which will forever be etched in my mind when I think about this book.  In some ways the mother, Mercy reminded me of Delia in Ladder of the Years, a book I finally read a few months ago and loved - she too was an unfulfilled mother needing something more than what her marriage and children provided.

If you are wondering about the significance of the title French Braid it is this - when a hair braid is undone crimps and crinkles remain -- "that's how families work too. You think you're free of them but, you're never really free! The ripples are crimped forever."  Not my favorite Anne Tyler novel but, I'm certainly happy I experienced it. No one writes about family like Anne Tyler, an author who is not afraid to show us human frailties in her flawed characters.

Thanks go to Knopf Publishing and Random House Audio for allowing me access to the eGalley as well as the audio download in exchange for my unbiased review.

Rating - 4.5/5 stars

Book Review - The Paris Apartment; Lucy Foley

 

The Paris Apartment; Lucy Foley

William Morrow - 2022

I haven't had a lot of luck with this author in the past but, I was really looking forward to this one as the setting appealed to me.

The Paris Apartment opens with Jess leaving London hoping to regroup. She has no job and no money and hopes to spend some time with her half-brother Ben in his Paris apartment. Ben doesn't seem overly excited for Jess to visit but, the two have remained somewhat close despite growing up apart after their mother died when they were young.  Jess definitely drew the short end of the stick shuffled between different foster home settings while Ben's adoptive family was wealthy and able to provide him with advantages in life that Jess was not afforded.

When Jess arrives at The Bienvenue, a stately building with tall iron gates, she is unable to connect with Ben as his phone goes unanswered. When she finally does gain access to the building and inside his apartment, something seems amiss.  Ben is no where to be found, his wallet and keys are in his apartment and, most residents of the building are closed-mouthed when she seeks answers.  She has very few clues to go on and, her leads seem to go nowhere.  

What happened to Ben and why aren't those who know him willing to help her?  

Told through multiple POVs, Ben, Jess, the building Concierge, Sophie, Mimi and Nick. All of the residents of the building were odd and rather creepy.  Jess was a great character who had a hard life and wasn't afraid to take chances in getting to the bottom of what happened to her half-brother Ben. The concierge seemed to be hyper vigilant. The building itself had that secret locked room kind of feel with danger lurking close by.  My biggest complaint about this book was how slow moving the story was. There was an awful lot of filler which did little to propel the story. I eventually switched from the audio book to the eBook as I wasn't a fan of the multiple POVs on audio. I felt more satisfied when the story did begin to get more interesting even though certain parts seemed a bit too convenient.  This isn't a bad book but,  it's just one I won't be raving about.

Rating - 3.5/5 stars

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Very Cold People; Sarah Manguso

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.

Very Cold People; Sarah Manguso

Hogarth - 2022

1.

My parents didn't belong in Waitsfield, but they moved there anyway.  My mother answered the first knock at the door of the new house, expecting a casserole.  We'd painted the house Evening Fog, she told me, but the woman from across the street wanted to know why we'd painted it purple like Italians.  Some people wore their difference honestly, but my parents were liars, illegitimate Waitsfielders, their off-whiteness discovered only after the paint had dried.  By the time I was born, the house had faded to the color of dirty snow.

This is a relatively short debut novel which seems like it takes place in the 1980's. I already like the young narrator.

What do you think - read more or pass?

Book Review - Ocean State; Stewart O'Nan

 

Ocean State; Stewart O'Nan

Dreamscape Media 3/15/2022 and Grove Press

Narrated by Sara Young 

"When I was in the eighth grade my sister helped kill another girl.  She was in love, my mother said, like it was an excuse.  She didn't know what she was doing.  I had never been in love then, not really, so I didn't know what my mother meant, but I do now. "

From the first lines of this short novel we know that a girl has been murdered and that the younger sister did not understand why this happened.

Ocean State takes place in 2009 in the blue collar town of Ashaway, Rhode Island (actual RI town).  What follows these jolting first sentences are the events that led up to this event and the fallout that resulted.  

The story is told from the POV of (4) female characters though a series of flashbacks and internal thoughts. Carol is a divorced single mother who works as a nurses aide while trying to raise her (2) teenage daughters. She is a woman who doesn't always make the best decisions. She drinks a bit too much and seems to jump from one man to another. Her daughters: Angel 16, is in high school - she is popular and hot-tempered.  Marie 13, adores her older sister but, she is lonely and has no real friends. She is bookish and feeds her emotions with food.  Birdy is a petite, brunette and is the high school girl who was murdered.

Myles is the good looking, popular, jock that Angel has been dating for three years.  Myles comes from a wealthier Rhode Island family and will soon be off to college. Angel by contrast works at CVS part time and has no college plans.  Deep down Angel knows that their relationship is not a forever one.  Myles has been seeing Birdy on the side and Angel eventually becomes aware of it. The sad thing is that both Angel and Birdy are in many ways quite alike, both crazy about a boy who isn't really worth fighting over.

Ocean State is a well-written and deep character study that gets to the heart of teenage jealousy and love triangles.  It's a story that focuses more on what led up to this tragedy and the aftermath of those left to sort it all out.  I found it hard to care about most of the character except for 13 year old Marie who I felt quite sorry for.  This novel is quite different from any of the author's previous books but, it was extremely well written.

I began listening to the audio book, narrated by Sara Young, who sounded like a teen which was appropriate for most of the characters. However,  I quickly became annoyed with the narration after she repeatedly mispronounced "Chariho", the school district and regional school the teens attended.  I felt like the audiobook narrator should have taken the time to research the correct pronunciation of places, since the author felt it important enough to use all actual Rhode Island places in this book.  I ended up switching to the eGalley making this short novel a combo read/listen. This book isn't really a mystery but, it is a very good story. I love the way this author has a real talent when it comes to describing the details of small town life and regular everyday people and their situations.

Rating - 4/5 stars

February Reading Wrap Up and Reading Plans for March

 

Another month is just about over and although and I'm happy to say goodbye to it.  Books were something I  found to be a pleasant diversion from life.    I read (12) books in February and enjoyed most of them an awful lot. 

February Reads

1. The Heights; Louise Candlish - 4/5 stars (February)
2. These Silent Woods; Kimi Cunningham Grant - 4.5/5 stars
3. Wintering: The Power of Rest & Retreat in Difficult Times; K May - 5/5 stars
4. The End of Getting Lost; Robin Kirman - 3.5/5 stars
5. To Paradise; Hanya Yanagihara - 3.5/5 stars
6. The Elephant of Belfast; S. Kirk Walsh - 4/5 stars
7. Love, Robert Sabuda - 5/5 stars
8. The Golden Couple; Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen - 4/5 stars
9. The Swimmers; Julie Otsuka - 4.5/5
10. The Authenticity Project; Clare Pooley - 4/5  stars (book group read)
11. A Town Called Solace; Mary Lawson - 5/5 stars
12. Ocean State; Stewart O'Nan - 4/5 stars (no review yet)

I had (2) DNF books in February - both were on audio:

1. Vladimir; Julia May Jonas (quit at the 51% mark--pathetic, negative unnamed narrator) - (Feb)
2. Will; Will Smith (memoir) (Feb) (was not enjoying the audio AT ALL)

                                                                        February Favorites

                                                                             2022 - YTD - 26

March Reading Plans

1. Greenwich Park; Katherine Faulkner (January List) - 3.5/5 stars
2. The Paris Apartment; Lucy Foley - 3.5/5 stars
3. Very Cold People; Sarah Manguso - 4/5 stars
4. Talking to the Dead; Helen Dunmore (my shelves) - 4/5 stars
5. The Overnight Guest; Heather Gudenkauf
6. French Braid; Ann Tyler - 4.5/5 stars
7. Black Cake; Charmaine Wilkerson
8. Xsabeth; David Keenan
9. Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals; Laurie Zaleski - 5/5 stars
10. Nine Lives; Peter Swanson - 4/5 stars
11. The Forests; Sandrine Collette
12. In His Own Image; Jerome Ferrari
13. In Love: A Memoir of Loss & Love; Amy Bloom - 4/5 stars
14. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue; V. E. Schwab (book group pick) 4/5 stars

Join Deb @ Readerbuzz

Hope everyone had a good month!

Book Review - A Town Called Solace, Mary Lawson

 

A Town Called Solace, Mary Lawson

Alfred A Knopf Canada - 2021 

Set in 1972 in the small town of Solace in northern Ontario, Canada, A Town Called Solace, was one of those rare books that hit all the right notes with me.

Clara is a young girl (almost 8) who has a lot on her mind. She sits vigil by the front window ever since her 16 year old sister Rose, a somewhat rebellious teen, went missing 12 days earlier after  arguing with her mother.  As she sees her parents sick with worry Clara is lucky to have a bit of a distraction caring for her hospitalized elderly neighbor, Elizabeth Orchard's cat Moses.  One day while looking out of her window Clara notices a young man carrying heavy boxes into Mrs. Orchard's house. We learn that the man is Liam Kane, no relation to Mrs. Orchard, but, he has inherited her house.  

Why has a woman Liam barely remembers gifted him her house? What is the connection here and, can a young man like Liam separated from his wife find a future in small town Solace? What happened to Rose?

        

The story is a character driven novel that is told in (3) distinct voices by Clara, Liam and Elizabeth. The writing is beautiful and easy to follow even if you are feeling a bit distracted. It made me feel like I was there in the town of Solace. The characters felt genuine, they were everyday people that I really grew to care about. I was quickly engaged in the story which had a bit of mystery to it as well.  We learn about the connection between Elizabeth and Liam as she speaks about the past to her late husband from her hospital bed. There were a few somewhat sadder moments but they were very brief and, overall, I found the ending was ultimately hopeful.   A story about love, death, family and community. I loved the small town feel and, for me, this was mostly a real comfort type read and exactly what I needed.  Highly recommended.

Mary Lawson has become one of my favorite authors. This is her fourth book and, IMO, all were a pleasure to read. (I almost missed this one, so grateful I caught JoAnn's review on Gulfside Musing.)

Rating - 5/5 stars