Fire. The novel by Alex George titled, The Paris Hours, reveals the lives of four characters over the course of one day in Paris in 1927. George moves from one character to another as the day progresses, using each narrative turn to fill in the backstory for these people, primarily through the use of memory. We learn of love, loss, secrets, longing and connection. George pulls reluctant readers along as he adds colorful and well-known people living in that time and place, including Ernest Hemingway, Marcel Proust, Gertrude Stein, and Josephine Baker. A motif involving fire connects the four individuals. Fans of fine writing and intricate plotting are those readers most likely to enjoy this novel, as will those who love both Paris and this time period.
Rating: Five-star (I love it)
Click here to purchase The Paris Hours from amazon.com.
Exchange. While some readers may be skeptical of the premise of Beth O’Leary’s novel titled, The Switch, it won’t take long to overcome that and luxuriate in the lives of two women named Eileen Cotton. Younger Eileen Cotton (Leena) works nonstop in London as she grieves the death of her sister, Carla, who died of cancer recently. Leena’s grandmother, Eileen Cotton, the grandmother, faces life changes at age 80, sharing grief at Carla’s death, and adrift following her husband’s departure for another woman. After Leena’s boss demands that she take a two month holiday from work, grandmother and granddaughter decide to switch places, with Leena leaving her flat in London to live in her grandmother’s rural home, and Eileen looking for a chance to love again in the big city. This is a heartwarming story that will satisfy many readers and enliven any book club’s discussion about life’s possibilities at any age.
Rating: Four-star (I like it)
Click here to purchase The Switch from amazon.com.
Roommates. Naoise Dolan’s debut novel, Exciting Times, explores contemporary love and relationships. Protagonist Ava has arrived in Hong Kong from Dublin to teach English to privileged children. Before long, a banker named Julian begins a romantic relationship with Ava that is fraught with challenges. While Julian works abroad, Ava meets Edith, a lawyer, and they explore a relationship. Before long, the three characters are roommates trying to sort out what’s next. Dolan finds ways to lead readers to care about what happens to these characters, and to think about modern love and the kinds of personal and financial transactions that can transform our lives.
Rating: Four-star (I like it)
Click here to purchase Exciting Times from amazon.com.
Versions. Jeff VanderMeer, in his novel titled, Dead Astronauts, continues a riff that he began in his science fiction novel titled, Borne, describing ways in which ruthlessness leads to trying and trying again as multiple versions of life forms attempt progress, whatever that means. There are villains and rebels on these pages, and a creepy world that no matter how parts are remade remains a horror. Fans of literary science fiction are those readers most likely to enjoy this strange and imaginative novel.
Rating: Three-star (It’s ok)
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Siblings. Love and competition are often intertwined in sibling relationships. In her novel titled, Sisters, Daisy Johnson haunts readers with the lives of July and September as they face trauma and abuse. Johnson’s prose keeps readers unsettled as she spills out her story in dribs and drabs, building to a surprising twist at the end. On the journey from beginning to end, Johnson’s prose is beguiling and will be appreciated by those readers who enjoy finely written literary fiction and can tolerate meandering.
Rating: Four-star (I like it)
Click here to purchase Sisters from amazon.com.
Atmospheric. The ingredients in Lucy Foley’s crime thriller titled, The Guest List, seem familiar: a remote island, multiple characters with reasons to kill, a storm and opportunity. The cast of unlikeable characters allows for an abundance of suspects after the murder takes place. Foley leaves a trail of clues for observant readers as different characters relate their version of events, building to a climax that for some readers will be obvious, and for others a total twist and surprise. Since we can’t travel to a remote location off the coast of Ireland, we can visit in novels like this one, and while social distancing can give us some delight in that we are not in the company of the guests at the wedding that drew them together.
Rating: Four-star (I like it)
Click here to purchase The Guest List from amazon.com.
Crowe. The two words in the titled of Tom Cooper’s novel titled, Florida Man, tell you what this book is all about. First is the place, Florida, more specifically Emerald Island, in the central swampy part of the state. Second, a man, protagonist Reed Crowe, who we see from the 1960s to the present, but mostly in the 1980s. Supporting the setting are the businesses Crowe has on Emerald Island: a motel and an attraction featuring amusement and animals. A broader cast of characters are all well described, bringing humor, love and terror in various doses. All of the characters orbit around Crowe, and he is the Florida man in all its eccentric magnificence for those readers who enjoy imaginative character-based fiction.
Rating: Four-star (I like it)
Click here to purchase Florida Man from amazon.com.
