RIP Anita Shreve, whose book Fortune's Rocks was one of those rare novels worth all the hype surrounding it. I sincerely believe that her books will indeed be read for generations to come.
Obituary Note:
Anita Shreve
Bestselling author
Anita Shreve
"who was
beloved by fans around the world for her novels and for
encouraging other
writers," died March 29, the Boston Globe reported.
She was 71.
"Setting book after book in New England, Ms. Shreve used
prose that was
both thoughtful and unsparing to offer intimate glimpses
of the emotional
landscape of her characters and, not incidentally, the
region's
topography," the Globe noted.
"I used to
marvel at her research that was seamlessly integrated into
each book,"
said Elinor Lipman, a friend and fellow novelist. "The
research that she
did showed, but not in such a way that you felt the
index cards being
shuffled and flapping. It was all about the right time
and the right
fact."
Shreve's career
received a significant boost in 1999 when Oprah Winfrey
chose The Pilot's
Wife for Oprah's Book Club. The novel was adapted for
film, as were
Resistance and The Weight of Water. Shreve wrote some 20
books, including
Eden Close, Fortune's Rocks, Stella Bain, Strange Fits
of Passion,
Testimony and Sea Glass.
Jordan Pavlin, her
editor at Knopf, which published her final work, The
Stars Are Fire,
said: "Anita's writing has touched the lives of millions
of readers around
the world, and she did some of her most elegant, rich,
and unforgettable
work in the last years of her life. Her body of work
is extraordinary,
and her books will continue to be read for
generations."
My fellow Sagittarian Kenneth Branagh is going to be on another adapted novel turned TV show, which should be good.
TV: A Gentleman in
Moscow
Kenneth Branagh
will re-team with Mark Gordon of Entertainment One on a
TV adaptation of
Amor Towles's bestselling novel A Gentleman in Moscow
Deadline reported.
They recently worked together on the film version of
Agatha Christie's
Murder on the Orient Express. For the new project,
Branagh is attached
to play Count Alexander Rostov and produce Tom
Harper's
adaptation.
"A Gentleman
in Moscow is a life-affirming book full of humour and charm
that brings
together the profound, the political and the personal,"
Harper added.
"I am thrilled to be working with Ken, whose masterful
talent will allow
us to bring this extraordinary story to life."
Towles tweeted:
"I'm thrilled to announce that Kenneth Branagh has
signed on to star
in the TV adaptation of A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW to be
directed by Tom
Harper @tomharps. Up the stairs of the Metropol he'll go
a time, as has
been his habit since the academy!"
Lake Silence, by Anne Bishop is not a direct sequel to her Others novels, its a story set in the same world as the Others, but with a different set of characters in another town. I've read all of Bishops Others novels, which are very well written and plotted, otherwise I would eschew them for their divergence into horror fiction territory (all the humans in the novels are considered prey/meat by the terra indigene, or Others who basically own the entire world). Here's the blurb: In this thrilling and suspenseful fantasy set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, an inn owner and her shape-shifting lodger find themselves enmeshed in danger and dark secrets.
Human laws do not apply in the territory controlled by the Others—vampires, shape-shifters, and even deadlier paranormal beings. And this is a fact that humans should never, ever forget....
After her divorce, Vicki DeVine took over a rustic resort near Lake Silence, in a human town that is not human controlled. Towns such as Vicki's don't have any distance from the Others, the dominant predators who rule most of the land and all of the water throughout the world. And when a place has no boundaries, you never really know what is out there watching you.
Vicki was hoping to find a new career and a new life. But when her lodger, Aggie Crowe—one of the shape-shifting Others—discovers a murdered man, Vicki finds trouble instead. The detectives want to pin the death on her, despite the evidence that nothing human could have killed the victim. As Vicki and her friends search for answers, ancient forces are roused by the disturbance in their domain. They have rules that must not be broken—and all the destructive powers of nature at their command.
As with the later books in the regular Others series, it's bad, greedy humans who are trying to seize and despoil the land for their own gain vs the Intuits and the good humans who just want to get along with the Others and Elementals and Elders who populate their world, and live in peace, side by side. One of the bad humans is Vicki's abusive ex-husband and a group of grifters who go by the Tie Clip Club, collectively, who want to take the Jumble, which Vicki gained during her divorce, and turn it into a huge resort with a private beach on Lake Silence, which is populated by several watery elementals and an elder. Because she was abused Vicki is something of a wimpy woman who blames herself for her abuse and has panic/anxiety attacks around domineering men. Of course, all the good males, even Other males, rally around Miss Vicki and do their utmost to protect and defend her when the going gets rough and the TCC and her husband try to force her to get the Others in line so they can build their resort. The result of this is many dead bullies, though unfortunately, Vicki's ex Yorick, isn't one of them. (The character names are fairly weird in this novel, but believe it makes the atmosphere seem even more alien and exotic to use names that are not common). Though I do not like "childish" female characters reduced to constantly being the damsel in distress, rescued by the males of any species, here I believe that Bishop was trying to make a point, in a ham-handed way, that women who are abused suffer mental illness long after the abuse is over. Noted. I'd give this chunky novel a B+, and recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed her Other novels.
To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear is the 15th Maisie Dobbs mystery, all of which I've read and enjoyed. The one takes place in 1940, during the early part of WW2, in England, and Maisie is set to solve the mystery of what happened to a teenage boy who died under suspicious circumstances. Here's the blurb:
Maisie Dobbs—one of the most complex and admirable characters in contemporary fiction (Richmond Times Dispatch)—faces danger and intrigue on the home front during World War II.
During the months following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany, Maisie Dobbs investigates the disappearance of a young apprentice working on a hush-hush government contract. As news of the plight of thousands of soldiers stranded on the beaches of France is gradually revealed to the general public, and the threat of invasion rises, another young man beloved by Maisie makes a terrible decision that will change his life forever.
Maisie’s investigation leads her from the countryside of rural Hampshire to the web of wartime opportunism exploited by one of the London underworld’s most powerful men, in a case that serves as a reminder of the inextricable link between money and war. Yet when a final confrontation approaches, she must acknowledge the potential cost to her future—and the risk of destroying a dream she wants very much to become reality.
I was glad to see Maisie get back to solving cases with her intuition and grit, and I was also glad to read about Billy Beale and his family and their son who only had a shoulder wound after the battle at Dunkirk. Priscilla was particularly annoying in this novel, however, sticking her nose in where she shouldn't, being hysterical and being a bother about her son, which helps no one in the end. I felt like smacking her at least twice, and was amazed that Maisie was able to keep her cool throughout Priscilla's flapping around. Her middle son seemed just as stupid, haring off on a rescue mission that cost him his friend and his arm. Still, Maisie's attempts to adopt a little war orphan and to keep her business going without putting her workers in danger was brilliantly rendered by Winspear's magnificent prose. A solid A, with the recommendation to anyone who likes wartime mysteries set in England.
You Might As Well Die by JJ Murphy is billed as an Algonquin Round Table Mystery that features the inimitable Dorothy Parker, writer and witty New York journalist, as the main detective, along with her fellow round table wits Benchley and Woollcott. Here's the blurb: When second-rate illustrator Ernie MacGuffin's artistic works triple in value following his apparent suicide off the Brooklyn Bridge, Dorothy Parker smells something fishy. Enlisting the help of magician and skeptic Harry Houdini, she goes to a séance held by MacGuffin's mistress, where Ernie's ghostly voice seems hauntingly real...
The prose was lackluster and the wit seemed forced and cliched, along with the easy-to-figure-out plot, which became boring and plodding. I found myself counting pages until the end, which is never a good sign when I am trying to be engrossed in a novel. I think Dorothy's estimation of Kate Hepburn's acting (which was something to the effect of "she had the entire range of emotions, from A to B") applies here as well, with the lack of range in this bizarre, ridiculous and stunted little mystery. I would give it a D, and only recommend it to those who are huge fans of Dorothy Parker or the Gonk.
Sea Of Memories by Fiona Valpy is, I believe, a self published novel that takes place in the years leading to, and during WWII. Though the prose is at times amateurish, the plot sails along on calm waters, and the characters are fairly sturdy. Here's the blurb:
When Kendra first visits her ailing grandmother, Ella has only one request: that Kendra write her story down, before she forgets…
In 1937, seventeen-year-old Ella’s life changes forever when she is sent to spend the summer on the beautiful Île de Ré and meets the charismatic, creative Christophe. They spend the summer together, exploring the island’s sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters, and, for the first time in her life, Ella feels truly free.
But the outbreak of war casts everything in a new light. Ella is forced to return to Scotland, where she volunteers for the war effort alongside the dashing Angus. In this new world, Ella feels herself drifting further and further from who she was on the Île de Ré. Can she ever find her way back? And does she want to?
From the windswept Île de Ré to the rugged hills of Scotland, Sea of Memories is a spellbinding journey about the power of memory, love and second chances.
A real page-turner that is more historical romance than any other genre, I enjoyed Valpy's use of the conceit of the grand daughter writing down her grandmas memories so that her mother, who is estranged from granny, will understand what really happened all those years ago with Christophe on the coast. I did feel that Angus using her innocent love as a teenager of Christophe as an excuse to have an affair was completely unjustified, and the fact that he seemed to feel no remorse made me even angrier at him, and I felt he should not have been given a pass for this shoddy treatment of his wife and children at all. I also felt that Ella should have told her children about their fathers affair straight out, instead of trying to protect their image of him, while damaging her own. Still, there was something of an HEA ending, and I enjoyed the journey of the book tremendously. I'd give it an A, and recommend the novel to anyone who likes historical romances set in exotic locales.
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