Tag Archives: william morrow

REVIEW: THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN by Hallie Ephron

by mwgerard Posted on April 11, 2013

Therewasanoldwoman-HC-hi-res-final

 

Perhaps what makes this novel so frightening is that it could happen to anyone.  The devious plan is so deceptively simple that it barely registers as out of place.

The narrative alternates between two feisty heroines — Mina, an elderly resident of the quiet Higgs Point neighborhood in the Bronx and Evie, a young, talented, workaholic curator for a New York historical society.  Evie has managed to escape her paltry childhood surroundings and all its unfortunate memories.  She has crafted a life, albeit with blinders on, in Manhattan.  It’s not so far as the crow flies, but it’s worlds away from her beginnings.  When Evie’s mom suffers another alcohol-induced health crash, her sister Ginger insists it’s “Evie’s turn” to deal with crisis.  In truth, both sisters are mentally and emotionally exhausted by their mother’s continued failings.  Evie guiltily accepts her role and shuffles off to Higgs Point.

Meanwhile, Mina Yetner is the quintessential cranky old lady.  But she is sharp as a tack and uses her busybody skills to help others in the neighborhood.  When her neighbor, Evie’s mother, is taken away in an ambulance she is the one who calls the daughters.  Mina and Evie strike up an unlikely partnership while Evie begins to clean up her mother’s house and sort estate matters.

I was reminded of Gaslight while reading this.  Because of the dueling points-of-view, the reader is left to wonder where the reality is.  Is there senility at work?  Or perhaps the protagonist just isn’t seeing what they want to ignore?  The suspense continually builds even as the characters begin to discover pieces of the puzzle.

July 1945
July 1945

Ephron works in crucial historical details that bring this book out of the realm of cheap thrills.  For example, Evie’s current exhibit at the museum includes a display related to the B52 bomber that flew into the Empire State Building.  And there is a minor thread surrounding Betty Lou Oliver who survived the 75-story drop when elevator cables broke.  These things really happened and Ephron uses them to great effect.  They make the story much, much richer.

The setting, Higgs Point, is not exactly that, but it is based on a real area.  Harding Park did once have an amusement park (another subplot) at the turn-of-the-century.  Here is a great post from Forgotten NY on the area.  By tying the story so closely to reality, it is all the more frightening.

The novel is an approachable one and is easily read in a quiet afternoon.  I look forward to more by Hallie Ephron.

Many thanks to the kind folks at William Morrow for the advanced review copy.
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ISBN: 9780062117601
ISBN10: 0062117602
Imprint: William Morrow
On Sale: 4/2/2013
Format: Hardcover
Trimsize: 6 x 9
Pages: 304; $25.99
Ages: 18 and Up

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REVIEW: CHARLOTTE MARKHAM AND THE HOUSE OF DARKLING by Michael Boccacino

by mwgerard Posted on August 7, 2012

Charlotte Markham has been a victim of Fate.  She lost her husband to a fire and was forced to take a job as governess in the Darrow house.  When Nanny Prum is brutally murdered in the middle of the night, Charlote is required to take on those duties as well.

She shares one thing with her charges — they’ve both lost someone dear all too soon.  Their mother died recently and the children, understandably are still not themselves.  In an attempt to help them decompress, she invites them to draw something from their dreams.  Paul, the elder brother, creates a detailed map of the grounds, with one important difference — a house where his mother waits for them.

The book is somewhat reminiscent of The Turn of the Screw.  The narrator is a very conscientious, if sometimes naive, guardian of the children.  With her, their health and happiness is paramount.  At the same time, she is also precocious and is determined to satisfy her curiosity.

A squat, muted chandelier hung low from the ceiling, casting the room in dim amber light.  I sat on the edge of a thick leather armchair, determined not to sink back so far as to be rendered incapacitated should the strange situation spiral any further out of my control, even as I promised myself that it would not.  To my bewilderment the cushions expanded as if the chair were fighting against me so that I might be more comfortable.  Was it possible for furniture to become offended?  I firmly kicked the leg behind my right foot, and the chair regained its former shape.  ~ Pg. 62

Despite her in-the-moment mentality, there is much she still has to learn.  The “rules” of the House of Darkling are unknown, as are the opponents.  Her own memories haunt her just as she tries to relieve the strain on the children.  But something she cannot resist lies just beyond the misty orchard.

Charlotte Markham poses philosophical questions about life and death, and how we would the choices given to her.  It’s also a dark tale of literary adventure where a spunky young woman tries to outsmart Death.  I didn’t find it to be life-altering, but it is a very enjoyable read.  It is well-crafted storytelling.  The “rules” are a bit convoluted and it feels somewhat rushed near the end, but it hardly matters.  The imagery and atmosphere are dark and rich.

Many thanks to the kind folks at William Morrow for the review copy.

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ISBN: 9780062122612
ISBN10: 0062122614
Imprint: William Morrow Paperbacks
On Sale: 7/24/2012
Format: Trade PB
Trimsize: 5 5/16 x 8
Pages: 320; $14.99
Ages: 18 and Up

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REVIEW: THE UNSEEN by Katherine Webb

by mwgerard Posted on July 5, 2012

This is the first novel I have read by Ms. Webb but when she started with an epigraph page with quotes from William Wordsworth, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudolph Steiner, I knew I was in for a well-wrought story.  She certainly knows her literary stuff.

The novel straddles the span of a century — 1911 & 2011.  A young journalist is asked to find information about a WWI soldier whose body has just been found.  With just a couple of letters found with the soldier, she begins her search.  In the alternate world, Cat Morley is just starting her new job as a maid at Cold Ash Rectory.  The Reverend Albert Canning and his wife Hester hire the unfortunate girl as a sort of mission or kindness.  Their relationship is awkward, at best, and made even more strained when a Mr. Robin Durrant enters the picture.  A theosophist of great repute, the Reverend seeks to impress him with his own stories of fairies and elementals.  The two feed off one another’s arrogance and delusion.

A home in present day Cold Ash, Berkshire, England

The book is written in present tense, a style I usually don’t find readable.  However, Webb manages it well.  Descriptions are still rich and not the usual clipped, terse style of present tense writing.  Additionally, because it is contemporaneous, we the reader do not know that the narrator will “be alright”.  It adds dramatic tension and brings the reader closer to the action.

It is nowhere near lunch time when a smart knock at the door jolts Cat from her reverie.  She has been distracted all morning, her gaze wandering far and away through the hall window that she’s supposed to be polishing with ball of old newspaper.  Thoughts of George Hobson tease her mind away from work.  She saw him again last night, drank enough beer with him to make her head spin and her insides glow.  Now her head is spinning still, and her stomach feels weak, and a slow throb of pain has taken to beating behind her eyes.  Fatigue makes hr limbs heavy and her thoughts slow.  Even this early in the day the air is warm, and a mist of sweat salts her top lip. When the door knocker forces her to move she turns, catching sight of herself in a heavy-framed mirror on the wall.       ~Pg. 113

Cat is a complicated heroine.  She is both mature for her age and forced to deal with things far too young.  She is a free spirit trapped in a less than forgiving world.  She is likable but far from perfect.  Still, the reader is happy to root for her as she attempts to navigate the complicated household.

Webb also gives due to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and her madwoman in the attic.  Jane’s terror when she is locked in the Red Room at Mrs Reed’s is as palpable. One of Cat’s worst fears is realized when she is locked in her room.

She hurls herself at the door, scrabbling at the wood, heedless of the splinters that drive themselves beneath her fingernails.  She points her fists against it, feels the shock of each blow rattle her bones.  But the door does not yield.

Hester, on the floor below, lies sleepless and alone in her bed. … Hester shuts her eyes and puts the pillow over her head, but she can’t block out the girl’s distress completely.  She has no choice but to hear it, and finds in it, as the night progresses, an echo of feelings deep inside her own heart.                   ~ Pg. 326

The reader can’t help but recall Jane’s own sleepless nights as Bertha Rochester haunted Thornfield.

One final, though rather picky, note.  The cover of this book does not match the book itself.  I know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but one does.  This cover looks like a YA romance, rather than an Edwardian-set mystery.  I just found it confusing.

All in all, The Unseen is a well-written, enjoyable book.  It would be a perfect summer read, especially on a thunderstorming afternoon.

Many thanks to William Morrow for the review copy.
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ISBN: 9780062077882
ISBN10: 0062077880
Imprint: William Morrow Paperbacks
On Sale: 5/22/2012
Format: Trade PB
Trimsize: 5 5/16 x 8
Pages: 464; $14.99; Ages: 18 and Up

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REVIEWS: Meh…

by mwgerard Posted on May 30, 2012

These are the reviews that I dread.  I try to find something positive about each book I read, but sometimes a book just doesn’t fly for me.  Still, my plan is to give a fair description here so you, the reader, can decide.  Perhaps you will find a book here that becomes one of your favorites.

I, IAGO

Iago has always been one of my favorite Shakespeare characters.  Truly.  He fascinates me.  So I was excited to hear someone had tackled the idea of telling the story of Othello from Iago’s point of view.  The strength of this book is Galland’s ability to turn a sentence.  Her descriptions are full and deep.

Venice is a place of pomp and circumstances, where every possible opportunity for ceremony is studiously observed and acted on, but there was little fanfare when we graduated from our training.  Soaked by sheets of cooling rain, skirting the flooded Piazza of San marco, I returned home, lugging my leather satchel — the weight of which was much less burdensome to me than it had been three months earlier.  ~Pg 45.

But while her writing is enjoyable on the small scale, I found it difficult to become invested in the plot.  I quickly lost interest in the overall story.  It just fell flat for me.

WHAT YOU SEE IN THE DARK

This novel uses the filming of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho as a backdrop for the intertwining tales of the citizens of Bakersfield, California.  A diner waitress, an actress’s cab ride, a truck and a shower become rich settings for disparate characters.  The book unfolds as more of a psychological study than a novel.  And unfortunately (to me, anyway), it stays that way.  Not much ever happens, and no character is fascinating enough to sustain it on interior dialogue alone.  If you’re a fan of modern-style novels such as this, perhaps you will enjoy it more than I did.

My thanks to William Morrow and Algonquin Books for the review copies.

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REVIEW: THE FACE THIEF by Eli Gottlieb

by mwgerard Posted on March 5, 2012

This was one of those books that just appeared, unsolicited, in my mailbox.  While I always give those surprise titles a glance, I usually don’t have time to read and review them in addition to the ones I’ve already committed to.  Add to that my suspicion of modern novels and it’s strange that I even ended up reading it.

I suppose I mention this only because I’m still reeling from how I was sucked into it.

An interchangeable hotel conference room, rather like the one Lawrence presents in.

The story revolves around a brilliant con-woman and her marks, but it is more than cat-and-mouse game.  Multiple narratives twist together to form a story of identity and suspense.  Various points-of-view overlap and slowly a clear picture comes into focus.  Each narrator has its own voice, yet the author’s style remains clear.  And although each narrator is unreliable in its own way, the reader can begin to piece together the truth.  Of course, there are still come unanswered philosophical questions for the reader to answer for themselves.

The writing is fresh without being forced.  Here are a couple of excerpts:

With a peculiar copper taste in his mouth, he took the elevator back down and walked back through the lobby.  He felt like a figure in an illustration manual.  Slumping nearly in tears on a bench in front of the building, he again dialed Cas, who picked up on the first ring.
pg. 56

In the dark, the house with its tall peaked roof resembles a witch’s hat.  The windows were covered with frilly sheers and the driveway was a humped pour of macadam that glistened in the streetlight like a pair of new shoes.  To the letter, it was the kind of tidy working-class home that she had staked her entire life avoiding.
pg. 195

 This book is solidly literary and yet delightfully sensational.  Gottlieb takes a simple idea and explores it from multiple angles, bringing life to various points of view and taking the reader on a psychological adventure.

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Many thanks to the folks at HarperCollins for the review copy.  Visit the author’s site.

ISBN: 9780061735059
Imprint: William Morrow
On Sale: 1/17/2012
Format: Hardcover
Trimsize: 5 1/2 x 8 1/4
Pages: 256
$24.99; Ages: 18 and Up

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REVIEW: THE DOLL by Daphne du Maurier

by mwgerard Posted on January 19, 2012
The Lost Short Stories

These tales written very early in her career (1926-1932), long before Rebecca.  Some were published much later, some not at all.  It’s fascinating to see the writer she would become taking shape in these early stories.  Sometimes they style is slightly more simplistic as though they were first drafts or rough sketches.  What always comes through, however, is her exploration of the human psyche — both of her characters and the reader.  She reveals only just so much, leaving the reader to fill in the blanks.  But rest assured, we land just where du Maurier leads us.  Somehow we now the darkened path, the frightening staircase will lead us down but we can’t stop reading.
du Maurier on the stairs of her beloved home, Menabilly
Another theme that du Maurier employs in her stories that transfers to the reader is a sense of emptiness. The Doll tracks the slow descent to madness through “found” pages of a diary.  A man chases an elusive woman, named Rebecca (naturally).  She is described as cold, heartless vacant.  To the narrator she is a doll.  Perfection is in construction but absent of feeling or soul.  But Rebecca’s fickle nature drives the narrator mad.  And Now To God The Father displays her distinct distrust of organized religion.  Frustration reads like a novice’s attempt at an O. Henry ironic fable.  Tame Cat is entirely unsettling just like we expect du Maurier should be.  By writing from the point-of-view of an incredibly naive narrator, the reader is able to withhold judgement until the awful truth cannot be denied.  Nothing Hurts For Long are the interior thoughts of a two-faced, fair weather “friend.”  Weekend is bitingly realistic and darkly funny.  Within a few short pages, she has traced the evolution of a relationship, albeit cynically.
All of the stories poke at our idea of normal, challenging what is comfortable.  This is unsurprising, knowing the little we do about her unconventional upbringing.  Her grandfather was George du Maurier, author of the wildly popular Trilby.  Daphne was also cousin to the Llewelyn Davies boys, who ultimately inspired J. M. Barrie to write Peter Pan.  Psychologically unnerving and yet somehow of a parallel universe, The Doll will resonate with fans of Jamaica Inn, Don’t Look Now (aka Not After Midnight), Rebecca, and The Scapegoat.  
Also read a great article in The Telegraph.
Many thanks to the folks at William Morrow / HarperCollins for the review copy.
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ISBN: 9780062080349
Imprint: William Morrow Paperbacks
On Sale: 11/22/2011
Format: Trade PB
Trimsize: 5 5/16 x 8
Pages: 224; $14.99
Ages: 18 and Up
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REVIEW: THE STARLITE DRIVE-IN by Marjorie Reynolds

by mwgerard Posted on January 6, 2012

Set in 1950s rural Indiana, this debut novel is told from the first-person by Callie Anne, primarily in flash back.  Now an adult, she is drawn back to the summer she turned 11.  Her memories are recalled in the mindset of a child who now has an adult perspective.  
Her father is the manager and projectionist at the drive-in theatre — king of his small, dusty domain.  Her mother is a agoraphobic, but determined homemaker.  Their predictable if dreary lives are turned upside down when Memphis is hired to help at the theatre.  Officially, he is there to do odd jobs like repair the concessions stand and repaint outbuildings.  Unofficially, he befriends Callie and her mother.  It quickly becomes clear to him that their living situation is an abusive and repressive one and he vows to help them escape.  
One thing Reynolds is very adept at conveying is a complicated relationship.  Callie Anne, still a young girl, looks up to her father, despite his temper.  The two spend hours in the projection booth, watching reels and reciting lines from their favorite movies.  Yet she finds his tyranny stifling.  Callie Anne is as much of a parent to her mother as her mother is to her.  She keeps a lid on things, for the most part, and does all the things in the outside world that her mother can’t.  Memphis complicates this balance, but there is no going back once he and her mother fall in love. And despite his horrid actions, the reader can’t help but feel sympathetic towards Callie Anne’s father.  He is losing his family.
At the outset, the story reminded me a bit of To Kill A Mockingbird.  A youthful narrator making observations on her own past from a more mature perspective.  A rural setting.  Complicated families.   But about halfway in, it devolved into a soap opera.  Situations become repetitive, until all that’s left is “will they or won’t they?”.  Those who like coming-of-age stories with a gossipy edge should read The Starlite Drive-In.

Many thanks to the folks at HarperCollins for the review copy.
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ISBN: 9780062092649; ISBN10: 0062092642; Imprint: William Morrow Paperbacks ; On Sale: 11/22/2011; Format: Trade PB; Trimsize: 5 5/16 x 8; Pages: 336; $14.99; Ages: 18 and Up; BISAC1:FIC000000; BISAC2:FIC022000
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