This was the second book taken from the hotel library (exchanged, actually; I left books in return of course!). It’s easily as ridiculous as the Betty Neels book, coincidentally also has a heroine named Henrietta, whose age of four and twenty is more appropriate for the time, but that’s where all comparisons end. This one has enjoyable characters to take you through the story. Also, this story is not chaste at all so if that’s not your thing, steer clear.
The story goes as follows. Henrietta is the only child of the Duke of Granville, which in the mid-ish 1800s (no specific year is given) is a problem, because as a woman she’s not allowed to inherit the dukedom. Henrietta is smart, sharp and an entrepreneur, so she sets out to marry her widower father off so he can sire an heir. Her father though, isn’t into this one bit. Henrietta won’t listen to his objections and plows ahead, organizing a ball with any young woman of peerage in attendance. She’s all too aware that without an heir the dukedom will fall to the Crown after her father’s death and that means she will lose the family vineyard business. At this ball she meets Ash Ellis, who of course is tall, broad-shouldered and handsome as sin. She doesn’t know who he is, but can’t refuse a waltz with this rogue without causing a scene. So they dance and it’s lust at first sight for both of them. Henrietta, happily settled into spinsterhood because who needs a man to distract them from running a business, doesn’t know what to do with these sudden feelings. She decides a woman deserves at least one kiss in her life and Ash all too happily agrees. They are spotted by her father though, so a marriage is happening, no matter how much she objects. Her father won’t hear no, especially not when it is revealed that Ash is actually a long lost relative, and the only one eligible to inherit the dukedom and save it from going to the Crown. The duke is so happy that he doesn’t have to marry any of the women at the ball, and can now elope with his mistress instead, that Henrietta’s objections are overruled on all fronts. The tables have turned on Henrietta which isn’t easy for her to admit. Because she fears that marriage will be the death of her vineyards as much as losing them to the Crown, she goes to the Boadicea Club for Ladies that she is a member of, and seeks the wisdom and input of her friends. (Who all sound pretty awesome, by the way.) After the necessary complaining about men holding all the power, they create a list of pros and cons for marriage to Ash. It ends up being even, and defeated Henrietta decides to get the most out of it and makes Ash sign a document of guidelines and rules for their marriage. It’s not a spoiler to reveal that Ash of course, is running a con on the family, eager to work himself up from the lowest of the low, to the highest possible. He’s not just a bare-knuckle boxing game den owner though, he has his sights set on making a change in child labour laws and he can only do that as a member of the peerage. He was a child labourer himself, before falling into a life of pickpocketing and conning. Henrietta and Ash don’t trust each other and play their cards close to the chest. They are forced into a marriage neither wants. The only things they have in common is that they both want to be in charge, and that they have a lot of pants feelings for each other.
As said: this story is as ridiculous as the others. The ridiculousness comes from the story being so over the top though, not from a lack of story or character. It was published way more recently in 2021, so that makes it more current, even though it takes place in the 1800s, as it clearly is written with a modern view. But what makes this the clear winner, is that the characters have character and as a reader you get to know them and what drives them. Henrietta is not just smart, but feisty and stubborn as well. When she finds out Ash is secretly smitten with his cat, gentle with children, and protective of the people he cares about, she has to admit that he is not the dangerous devil that he makes the world believe he is. Ash learns that even though Henrietta grew up in the safe bubble of nobility, she’s not blind to the problems of the real world and willing to adjust, and fighting for change in her own way. They both have to admit they were wrong and make changes in their approaches. They are both passionate for what they believe in, and because those standpoints are opposing they bicker a lot. Their bickering is a lot of fun because neither is used to losing arguments, and it means that sparks are flying. And because this is a romance novel, we all know it ends with a happily ever after.
All in all this book is an easy escape read for anyone who likes the Bridgerton books (or series).
Only By Chance & A Happy Meeting (The Ultimate Collection, volume 3) / Betty Neels
Oh boy. Put your seat in an upright position and brace yourself, because this book is a lot and I have a lot to say about it. I picked this book from the hotel library during a recent holiday. The reason I picked it, was because it was one of few in English, it was clearly well-read, and it seemed ridiculous. I was in the mood for ridiculous, and did this book deliver! The book contains two stories, which were originally published in 1996 and 1992 respectively, but collectively re-published in 2002 as part of the Ultimate Collection, after the author’s passing. From the introduction I learned that the author was writing until in her nineties and apparently, she had a large following of fans. I’m glad for this lady, and the success she had and I don’t mean to offend her or any of the many fans, but, oof, is this some painfully old-skool stuff! These two particular stories are Cinderella themed romance novels that manage to not be romantic at all. I feel like the author got stuck in an earlier period of time, as the stories felt so old and dated. At one point I even went back to the title page to check the year of publication because I thought I must have misread. Not only did I pick a book for myself, but gifted one (review available here sometime soon) to travel companion friend P. We spent two evenings reading out lines of ridiculousness to each other, and even attempted to create a mix-and-match story by knitting the two stories together. Although that didn’t work, it was funny enough to have us in – wait for it – stitches.
The first book in this bundle is called Only By Chance (1996). The heroine in this is Henrietta, an orphan goodie-two-shoes who is “definitely not pretty”, poor, and basically living in squalor in London’s East End. She has to work three jobs to make a living: part-time at the hospital, as an office cleaner on weekdays in the early mornings, and on Saturdays at a market stall. She has two rescue cats, because of course. It’s so Dickensian. Then she gets sick and is brought to the clinic for poor people by her landlady and the greengrocer. Adam Ross-Pitt is the doctor on call and recognizes her from the hospital where he also works. He’s a neurosurgeon but also works at the clinic (that he helped co-found), to help the less fortunate, donating large sums of money anonymously, and devoting his time. Obviously, he’s the Hero. He diagnoses Henrietta with the flu, and because he knows her and learns she has no family to take care of her, he brings her home. As he climbs the stairs while carrying her all the way up to the attic, his “magnificent nose” picks up the scent of boiled cabbage. (This had me laughing out loud, and the term “magnificent nose” became a running gag during the remainder of the holiday because how could it not?) Later on, the doctor puts his “great brain” to work, and it’s mentioned that he’s got “big feet”. All descriptions of the man are positive, or in a way to describe him as a wonderful specimen. Descriptions of Henrietta though, are solely negative. She’s “plain” and “not pretty” (this is mentioned several times), she has “mousy hair” and wears “drab outfits”. Her innocence is considered “naïve”. In any case, the doctor pays the landlady to take care of Henrietta, and buys her groceries when he finds out that the kitchen cabinets are near-empty. I feel let down by every doctor I’ve ever had to see. Fearful that she’ll lose her jobs, Henrietta goes out to clean two days later even though she’d not recovered yet, and when the doctor witnesses her nearly collapsing on the road, he picks her up and takes her to the hospital. As a result of her hospital stay, she actually does lose all her jobs, and gets evicted. I thought this was a bit much given that she only stayed at the hospital for a few days, not a few months, and this wasn’t set in the 1890s but 1990s. Still, the doctor feels guilty about all of this and when he’s attending a party in his hometown in the countryside, the lord and lady of the local manor mention that they are looking for new help. So, he tells them he knows someone, drives to London to pick up Henrietta and her few belongings, and drops her and her cats at the house where she becomes one of the many members of staff. The staff at the manor, the people of the village, everybody knows that Mister Ross-Pitt is a catch: after all, he’s a doctor with a magnificent nose and large feet. (I kept reading these descriptions as euphemisms but have a feeling they weren’t meant as such because it was all a tad too serious for that.) Of course, such a catch is being chased: there’s a woman who is set on marrying him and she’s described as wearing glamorous outfits and being mean to people “below her standing”. This Deirdre is the evil stepsister to Henrietta’s Cinderella: she’s the opposite of plain and patient, saintly, Henrietta. Until it turns out that Henrietta isn’t such a saint after all: she expresses to hate Deirdre after their first meeting, which I thought was a bit of a strong emotion, only because she’s in love with Mister Ross-Pitt herself. It’s called jealousy, Henrietta, and it’s not a good look on you. Also, she keeps referring to him as Mister Ross-Pitt. In fact, the story and everybody in it, refers to him as Mister Ross-Pitt up to the point where I actually forgot his first name. This again struck me as such an old-fashioned thing, although, I was willing to accept that the story takes place in British upper class and it involved different social standings. What else to say about Henrietta. She’s supposed to be in her twenties yet wears a scarf to cover her hair like older women do/did. When she goes shopping, she buys pleated skirts and cardigans, and a beige coat that is “nothing special”. She’s twenty-something going on sixty. Everybody loves Henrietta, because she’s such a hardworking, sad, and modest girl. They all think the doctor should choose Henrietta over Deirdre but the doctor is blissfully unawares and only considers Henrietta a friend at most. Then all of a sudden realization hits (I can’t remember why) and he knows he loves her but can’t properly communicate that and instead treats her awkwardly bad, is rude and curt with her. Eyeroll. Then he does start referring to Henrietta in thought as “his Henrietta” and there is a weird moment where he walks up to her and out of nowhere kisses her. Because Henrietta thinks he’s about to marry Deirdre, and Adam thinks Henrietta is in love with another man, it only makes things more uncomfortable between them. His great brain definitely wasn’t working, or he would have known to have, you know, a conversation with her. Instead he goes to America to operate on someone important (of course), returns, and asks her to marry him. And yes, it ended as abruptly and oddly as that. I guess distance made the heart grow fonder? I earmarked pages where truly stupid stuff happens/is said, but there were so many that some pages had to be double-folded because stupid stuff happened on both sides of the page.
It took some time and a lot of liquid courage to get myself started on the second book. A Happy Meeting. This book has an average of 4.15 star rating on Goodreads. And yes, I was sober when I looked that up. 4.15. So many raving 5-star reviews, from reviewers as recent as last year. I’m dumbfounded. This book is a carbon copy of Only By Chance. Or rather the other way around, as A Happy Meeting was published first, in 1992. Sad, mousy, and poor heroine. Doctor hero who saves her. Bunch of fancy big homes with lots of staff. Hero is rumored to marry a society girl nobody likes. Hero and heroine have almost no interaction. There are two kisses before the story ends with an abrupt declaration of love and marriage proposal. This was more like finding the ten differences between the two pictures. The only differences I could find, were in names and locations.
This story starts with heroine Cressida at the side of the road, desperate to flag down a car because she’s twisted her ankle while saving a dog that had been left tied to a tree. (Typical.) Doctor Aldrik van der Linus saves both her and the dog, takes her home (check the box for carrying her up to her room) and leaves her with instructions to stay off her feet for a few days. Of course, Cressida can’t do that because her mean stepmother is treating her horribly and expects her to prep the house for a dinner party. The pain is too much for Cressida, who faints. (Box checked for martyr heroine.) When the doctor finds out about this, he asks his colleague to have a look at her. That doctor sends her straight to the hospital for x-rays but even though nothing is broken, she is made to stay for a few days, which seemed very over the top to me. (What was happening in English hospitals in the 90s that people got to stay a few days for minor injuries?) Cressida is “four and twenty” (honestly) and from the way the doctor is described I thought he was well into his forties, but near the end it’s expressed that he’s only thirty-five. Note, it’s not five and thirty for him. Also, Cressida checks herself out in a looking glass instead of a mirror. I think she considers herself a maiden from ye olden times? Also, again, the descriptions of these two are awful: he’s good-looking, has a great mind, and a “vast back”. (His nose wasn’t magnificent enough to warrant a description though.) She’s “a dab of a girl”, who wishes that she has “even a modicum of good looks”, and has mousy hair. The doctor describes her as unremarkable, with only nice eyes and a pleasant voice. Would it be too much to label this self-plagiarism? It’s basically copy-paste. This also is again a doctor who feels incredibly responsible for someone he’s not responsible for, and goes out of his way to secure Cressida a job. Well, he asks his grandmother to fib about needing a companion. Cressida doesn’t question any of this, is happy to accept and only sad because the doctor is traveling back to The Netherlands where he lives if he’s not visiting his grandmother, saving lives or lecturing wherever else in the world. This book also has so much confusing travel in it. The doctor wants Cressida to be close enough so he can keep an eye on her (creepy), and he sets up another job for her in the NL. He divides his time between a house in Leiden and in a mansion in the middle-of-nowhere Friesland. He goes back and forth all the time, throwing in visits to other places, friends and family as well. He does this in England too. How he has time left to see patients and teach (all over the world!), and have articles published in The Lancet, I don’t know. The first job in the NL is actually arranged by the doctor’s evil girlfriend who sets Cressida up for failure. After that, the doctor arranges another job in Friesland with friends of friends of friends. I think. It got very confusing with all the names and places and all the back-and-forthing. The story is set in autumn and winter, and there’s a big to do about the doctor getting married in the new year. This is only gossip sent into the world by the girlfriend, and nobody bothers to ask the doctor about it. The doctor by then has realized that he cannot continue seeing this woman, but doesn’t do anything to silence the rumors, which causes unnecessary drama. Also, the doctor has spent Christmas with his grandmother in England, and Cressida is super peeved that he hadn’t bothered to send her a Christmas card. He got her medical care and jobs, and now she also wants a card? There’s a lot of weird action in the last twenty pages or so, with a strange accident in Friesland that sees both Cressida and the doctor come to the rescue of two friends. After that, Cressida has to suddenly leave for England to save her old housekeeper from possible eviction. She finds out that the house was already sold, and finds out that the doctor is the buyer. Because of course, he’ll help them out and just randomly buys this woman’s house because she’s important to Cressida and what’s important to her is important to him. He professes his love in the solicitor’s office, which makes her smile, and her smile turns her “ordinary face suddenly beautiful”. And that’s the end.
I don’t understand how any of this story is conceived as wonderfully romantic. It being super chaste is one thing, but the characters again are very much leading their own lives and don’t overlap enough for their so-called connection to be understandable. There’s no equality, no sparkling dialogue, no tension or love at first sight to make this believable. Aldrik is rescuing Cressida from a difficult home situation and claims he wants her to be independent, with a job, income, and home of her own. How rustling up made-up jobs for her is doing any of that, is beyond me. She’s still dependent, but just on different people (the doctor and his friends instead of her evil stepmother). They might be meaning well, but it’s not doing anything to improve her situation at all. Cressida is also not exactly questioning any of these weird twists and turns, and lets herself be picked up and dumped anywhere. She’s not showing any growth, input, or character. She’s as bland as her appearance. Again, I couldn’t believe this was published in the nineties. It was so old-fashioned and just doesn’t hold up for me. Although I wonder if it held up even back then. Of course, it being Cinderella themed doesn’t help either because that story itself suffers from a very passive heroine and cardboard hero (can’t even remember his name?). I need to dive into the Mills and Boons genre more for some much-needed comparison and perspective because this publication managed to get me intrigued. For all the wrong reasons, but intrigued nonetheless. Suggestions for titles are welcome. To be continued for sure. For now though, I’m just so, so, done.
No. 6: A book with a green cover Camino / Graeme Simsion & Anne Buist Original title: Two Steps Forward
Once again, I was roaming the library, checking book by book for any that fit my challenge. I quickly learned that a green spine doesn’t necessarily indicate a green cover, and if the cover wasn’t green, the book went back without further checking. As it turns out: green is not exactly the current “it” colour for covers. Teal or blueish-green is used a lot more, but of course I wanted to be as green as possible to avoid any discussion, so when I couldn’t find anything in the English language section of the library I resorted to the Dutch language section, where I finally pulled this one off the shelf. Originally published as Two Steps Forward, it is written by the author of the Rosie Project books, and his wife. I’ve got to admit I’ve ignored this author on purpose after my great disappointment in the second book of the Rosie series. But with limited options I gave him (them) another chance. I was left with mixed feelings.
The book is about American Zoe and English Martin, who meet-cute in Cluny, France. Martin fled there to teach technical design after his marriage collapsed, and Zoe is there to visit her old exchange student friend Camille. Zoe discovers that the town is a stop for the camino and in a spur of the moment decides to go walk the path even though she’s only been in town for half a day. Within an afternoon she arranges the special pass, gets a backpack and fills it with some items from her suitcase. With a return ticket already booked she has limited time (and funding) available to finish, and instead of ending in Santiago de Compostela, makes the French-Spanish border her finish line. If you think she’s a spontaneous kind of person who does things on a whim all the time, you’re wrong: she’s just not in a normal mindset because only three weeks earlier her husband had suddenly died. And that’s not all because after his death she found out that he had accumulated a debt so big, that she would be forced to sell the house. She’s trying to come to terms with it all, even if she doesn’t recognize that yet. Martin has lived in Cluny for almost a year and despite that, suddenly is hit by the same urgency to start walking. He’s come up with a design for a cart that can be dragged along by a hiker so they won’t have to carry the weight of a backpack. There is a big travel convention planned in two months and he needs to have tested the cart before then so he can sell the design. This is how they both end up receiving instructions and their path passes at the same time. Even if you don’t know anything about the pilgrim route, the story is easy to follow: there’s a map provided at the first page (two books in a row with maps!) and because Zoe and Martin don’t know anything (or much) about it, you get to discover along with them. All I knew about the camino before reading this book, was that it ends in Santiago, and the French route is marked with scallops, which in French and Dutch are named after Saint Jacob, the patron saint of the route. The chapters are switching perspective on and off, but because Zoe and Martin’s voices aren’t distinctly different enough, at times I had to leaf back to check whose chapter I was reading. I consider that a fail for the concept. The first half of their walk is very descriptive and very much a story of people discovering what it means to walk the old pilgrim path alone: the French countryside, the small towns, and finding places to sleep and eat, are well-described. (You can tell that the authors walked the path, which gives some much-needed extra weight to the story.) But then there’s a turning point and the story becomes more of a dramedy with a will-they-won’t-they arc. Despite the heavy personal reasons for the main characters to go walking, they remain lightweights. Also, they spent the majority of their walk apart, doing their own thing, occasionally bumping into each other. I didn’t understand their so-called connection, and their lack of communication was annoying. When they are about to get together, Zoe receives news from her daughters and leaves right away. She writes a note that says “I’m sorry” and is gone. No wonder Martin is peeved. Could she really not have waited two minutes for him to finish his shower and talked to him? Or written a bit more to explain? It felt unnecessary and childish, especially because earlier, she’d told Martin that repairing his relationship with his daughter wouldn’t require much more than simply communicating. Practice what you preach, lady. As a third act there is also the theme of self-discovery that pops up after all. It seemed strange to me that Zoe was communicating more with an editor than with her own daughters or Martin.
It felt like everything was thrown at this story and some things stuck better than others. Sometimes less truly is more, and for me it would have worked better if the authors had stuck to one thing: make it either a good travel story, a good romance, or a good story of personal development. Right now, for me, it was a miss for all three. I also thought the people that Zoe and Martin meet along the way were simply more interesting than them. When a friend asked me to describe it in max ten words I said: a tame rom-com set on the camino. Maybe I didn’t feel this book because I know there are other, better, books on the same topics out there. (The Salt Path by Raynor Winn is an absolute standout for me.) Or maybe I should give up and admit that this author’s writing just isn’t for me and/or I’m not the right reader for his(their) books.
Camino [Two Steps Forward] / Graeme Simsion & Anne Buist
What a pleasure of a book this is! The book starts with an image of the Hampton Court-Waterloo Station line in London that handily mentions which character boards where. I appreciate any drawings, maps, charts, and family trees, in the front of a book as it makes the reading experience a lot easier. I do not like having to leaf back pages to remind myself of what or who.
Anybody who has ever had to commute for study or work, recognizes the premise: after a while you start to recognize the people that board the same train/bus/metro/tram/ferry as you. And because you don’t know anything about them, you give them nicknames. I often find myself on the same metro as “Gel head” (overdoes the slicked back hair), “MC Hammer” (once randomly carried a hammer with him), and “Justin Bieber” (due to the overuse of the word ‘baby’ when on the phone with his girlfriend). I don’t know these people but recognize them. They surely recognize me as well and probably have a nickname for me too. The weirdest thing is bumping into these people in places other than the metro because that’s when I realize they have lives outside of the commute as well. And that’s exactly what this story is about: commuters getting to know each other, taking their friendships off the train and into real life. This book was also published under the title Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting. This makes sense because Iona clearly is the main character. She also is the first to board the train. Iona doesn’t travel alone, she always carries dog Lulu with her, and a bag that contains not just a thermos filled with tea, but a cup and saucer as well. (One of her rules for commuting relates to being equipped for any possible happening, and enjoying a cup of tea is a happening.) Martha refers to Iona as The Lady with the Magic Bag. Piers calls her Crazy Dog Woman. And Sanjay has nicknamed her Rainbow Lady due to the colorful outfits she wears. Then something happens which sees them breaking the don’t-talk-to-strangers protocol. And when that happens they quickly learn that there is more to their fellow commuters than meets the eye: everybody has a story. Iona is a magazine therapist (don’t call her an agony aunt), and although the people at work think of her as outdated and aged, Emmie, Sanjay, Martha, Piers, and David, start to share their problems with her on the train, and she gets to help them in real life, providing them with advice and suggestions. She dives into her role of match-maker and problem-solver, and the talks with the youngsters are give-and-take they make her better at work as well, and suddenly her columns are making headlines. Ever since hitting the fifty mark, Iona felt herself become increasingly invisible to the world, so revitalising her career and having people around her eager to listen, appreciating her opinion and experience, is doing wonders for her self-esteem. The story is difficult to describe further without giving any spoilers, so I’ll just leave it at this and only will tell you to get your hands on this book if you’re looking for something enjoyable and fun to read, that will restore your faith in people on public transport.
No. 15: A book I own but never read The Four Winds / Kristin Hannah
Let’s be honest here: the number 15 slot is the wildcard category of this year’s reading challenge. With a tbr that is no longer a pile, but a cabinet full of books, I was spoiled for choice, but The Four Winds was the one that jumped out at me. Well, not so much that, as that I remembered I had it, because the author just published a new book (The Women) that I’m eager to read and I figured it’s only fair that I should read the oldest one first, so, I picked up The Four Winds and dove in.
This book takes place between 1921-1936, in rural Texas. History teaches us, that the time and place combination is not exactly the best one, and immediately, Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath came to mind, a book I loved so, so, much. I think this is why I was hesitant to get started on The Four Winds: what story could compete with that? It turns out, this one comes very, very, close. Born into a well-to-do family, Elsa grows up in town. As a child she caught a serious fever, and after that, she’s been held back by her family under the claim of a weak health. Elsa realizes though, that her family mostly think she’s not pretty enough: she’s tall and skinny, and at twenty-five considered a spinster. With that label, her life has been mapped out for her, but it’s not a map that Elsa likes. She wants to live. So, one Saturday night she leaves the house and goes out to do just that. It lands her in more trouble than she could have thought of, and she’s kicked out by her family. With no other options or means of survival, she agrees to marry Rafe Martinelli, and settles into life on his parents’ farm. The transition from town girl to farm girl is easier than expected. Becoming part of an Italian-American immigrant family just as well. Converting to Catholicism also is no problem for Elsa. Getting her husband to love her though, is a lot more complicated. Life on the farm is a tough but good life which Elsa enjoys. While Rafe dreams of the glitter of Hollywood, Elsa dreams of sending their daughter Loreda to college, and her in-laws dream of passing on the farm to their grandson once he’s old enough. The farm prospers and they manage to buy extra plots of land and expand. Until the drought sets in, and life becomes a struggle. There is a big decision to make: stay, or leave for greener pastures. Elsa, along with her in-laws, is team stay. Rafe, and their teenage daughter, team leave. Rafe has never liked farm life, and wants to leave so badly that he eventually does so without telling anyone, hopping onto a train west. The rest of the family is stunned by his action, but buckle down and try their best, battling dust storms that are getting more and more severe, foreclosure on pieces of land, and the loss of ever more animals. Every day, people in their area are forced to give up, pack whatever they can, and make their way west. Elsa and her in-laws are too realistic to believe the talk of jobs that are supposedly available in California, nor do they believe in the tales of the “land of milk-and-honey”. But there comes a point, where they realize that there no longer is a decision to make and there only is one option left: for the children’s sake they cannot stay. Elsa and the children have to leave. Her in-laws remain on the land, hoping that their stubborn refusal to succumb will pay off in the end so that the family will have something to return to. Elsa hates leaving the place she came to call home, the people who treated her with love more than her own parents ever did, but forces herself to be brave for her children’s sake. She knows they are lucky enough to have a truck and money to provide it with gas. Years of drought taught them to be as careful as possible with money and means, but they soon learn that life as an immigrant in the west requires a whole new level of survival skills. Although she was realistic about the opportunities in California, Elsa is still shocked at the disdain and unfairness with which they are treated, and the hardship they are facing. But standing up for yourself is difficult when you feel like you have no voice or your voice is systematically ignored.
This was a page-turner of a book that I couldn’t stop reading. The struggle of survival, and facing the massive decision of leaving what you know, the place you call home, for the unknown, is well-written: the ever-present doubt about the decision made, and what to do next. People have been driven to be on the move throughout the ages, and it is happening today, and will happen tomorrow. That makes the story relevant, and easy to relate to, even though it takes place some ninety-odd years ago in a far-away location. The Grapes of Wrath made such a big impression on me, that, for me, it remains the number one story on the subject. But, The Four Winds is a solid very close second. The female perspective gave it a different view; a mother’s love for her children providing the strength needed to survive and make decisions. When the going gets tough, is when we get to know ourselves, and others, best. Elsa grew up believing she wasn’t strong or loveable, but she turns out to be stronger than most, and deeply loved by those who know her. She dares to defend her ground and stand up for the people she loves, providing an example for her children. I encouraged Elsa, cheered her on, and cried for her.
I’ve recommended this book to several people in the short time since finishing it, and now have a waiting list for my copy. I can’t say it enough so I’ll say it here as well: if you want to read a great book that’s about family, love, sacrifice and destiny, you should read this book.
No. 3: A book that is set in the 70s 1979 / Val McDermid
Another challenge category for which I resolved to my earlier method of browsing shelves and randomly pulling out books to check their time setting. Then this title jumped out at me and I thought it’d be a solid bet that this would fit. And does it ever. Starting right at the beginning of the year 1979, we meet main character Allie Burns on the way home to Glasgow after spending New Year’s with her parents. On the train she meets Danny, who is a fellow reporter with the Clarion newspaper. Along the way they stumble into a story, and the collaboration propels them from co-workers to friends, confiding in each other and assisting each other on other stories. They are both outsiders at work, and connect over that. They both hustle to find stories and get them printed. When Danny starts a proper investigation in a money laundering scam, he gets Allie involved for fresh perspective and help with the writing. When Allie starts an investigation into radical politics, she in turn asks for Danny’s help because as a man he can get closer to one of her sources.
What this book does really well is characters and setting of scenes. The big difference with the book that was set in the 80s, is that that one felt very focused on describing the time period, especially in the first few chapters, almost as if it was describing for describing’s sake. Every item was described, from the orange foam of the headset of a Walkman, to the wood paneling of a car, and at times it felt like it was done with a lens of nostalgia, rather than befitting the characters. 1979 sets the scene from a story perspective and you still get the same sense of time anyway simply through Allie’s point of view: people smoking everywhere, including in the office, the dings of typewriters being used, and the use of carbon paper for instant copies. She needs a roll of film for her camera, has Italian food for the first time at the one Italian restaurant in Glasgow, calls are made from phonebooths, and Allie and Danny know their way to the library where they frequently use the reference section. That the book is set during the 70s is also noticeable in the cultural references (the music playing in the background, the shock of an ABBA divorce), and the sexism and homophobia that are rife everywhere, not least in the workplace. (Being gay was still punishable by law in Scotland, so no wonder people were deep in the closet.) The workplace set-up was really well done, and Allie’s struggle of being a newbie and a woman in this journalism world, was believable. The ending came on so sudden though, that it left me staring at the book for a hot second, realization slowly hitting that I was actually done, even though I was only three stops on my metro ride in, and now had nothing left for the rest of the way. The reveal was through an epilogue in form of newspaper clippings, which was a nice touch, but didn’t feel like a proper, smooth, ending. Maybe that’s because this was the first book of a series, as it felt so open-ended. The author provided a playlist as an extra which I really liked as it contributed even more to the vibe of the time setting.
Based on the art and text of the cover page, I figured this would be a nail biter of a book. It wasn’t, and things only picked up pace at page 300 or so, and then it still lacked tension so it wasn’t scary or thrilling. I also just don’t think it is a correct way to sum up the story because spoiler alert: at no time is Allie “being hunted” or in danger. Because I’m a scaredy cat I rarely read scary or gore, so on the one hand it was a relief this book wasn’t too scary but equally a disappointment. Those first 300 pages were more (cozy) mystery at best than anything else, and I had braced myself for something…more. This reading experience for me was like taking a sip of what you think is going to be vodka but turns out to be water. Still okay, but not what I expected.
In conclusion: a solid fit for the category, but not the thriller it promised to be.
Sasha has hit a brick wall. Literally. While running away from the Empowerment and Wellbeing Officer at her work, who has accused her of not being joyful enough. Not only is Sasha not joyful at work, she’s slowly been drowning. Management hasn’t been listening to employees, and the boss’ solution for improving employee satisfaction, is making them post on online affirmation mood boards. Sasha has reached her limit, tries to join a convent (she might not be religious, but she does have less of a sex-drive than the average nun), and after hitting her head against that wall, has the doctor sign her off on three weeks of sick leave. She ends up spending those weeks at a beach resort in Devon. Her family used to have their summer holidays there, and despite everything, Sasha is excited to go back, eager to relive some of the amazing memories she has of the place. Her mom arranges the trip for her, calling the hotel while pretending to be her PA and making reservations for a sea-front room, and special-ordering organic kale smoothies for her breakfast. Except the hotel that they once knew to be classy and busy, is now falling apart and is covered in scaffolding, which means the windows are all boarded up and there are zero views to be enjoyed. There are only three other guests staying at the hotel and the skeleton crew of staff is spending more time sleeping in the lobby and sewing thongs to sell on Etsy, than they are at work. One of the other guests is Finn, there on special leave from work as well, after some anger management issues saw him threatening to cut down a ficus in the office with a chainsaw. While Sasha is trying her best to focus on her wellness with a special app that is all about meditation, squats, and feeling grounded, Finn is drinking whiskey and ordering pizza from his beach towel. They dislike each other so strongly, that the hotel staff refers to them as the not-couple, and goes to great lengths to keep them as separate as possible. Opposites attract though, and with this being a romantic comedy, it’s not a spoiler to inform you that of course, Sasha and Finn end up as a couple after all. They first become friends and connect over the experience of burning out, complicated work situations, and mysterious messages they find on the beach. They also discover that as kids their summer holidays overlapped, and they were both witnesses to an event that left its mark on the local community even all these years later. Of course, a burnout cannot be solved just by taking a trip to the beach; it requires hard work, and although a lot of that happens off page, it becomes clear that both Sasha and Finn are putting in that work, eager to better themselves.
The descriptions of the town and slightly dysfunctional hotel were great, true to the author’s style, and had me chuckling. The almost epilogue-style ending was nicely done and confirmed what I had known the previous 350-something pages: Sasha and Finn are wonderful characters deserving of a happily ever after. I couldn’t put this book down and inhaled it one go. After a couple of meh-okay-books, this was a joy and exactly the pick-me-up I needed.
No. 19: Title starts with M Murder on the Moorland (A Kitt Hartley Yorkshire mystery) / Helen Cox
First things first: I love the term “cozy murder mystery”. A problem wrapped in an oxymoron: what’s not to like? True to categorical form, the act of murder in this book takes place off-page and it’s more about the people involved solving the puzzle, than the murder itself. It’s fun to read these people solve the mystery, and you almost forget that there are dead bodies. I bought the first book of the series (Murder by the Minster) as a souvenir in York last year, and was so happy to find out there were other books out, that I’ve since purchased books two and three as well. The first book set up the series well, introducing main character Kitt Hartley, and the people in her life. Kitt is a librarian at York University, and is stoic, straight-laced, and stubborn. Kitt has a cat, drinks Earl Grey tea, and doesn’t get on with her boss. Evie is her best friend, and lover of all things vintage. There’s library assistant Grace, and Ruby, local slightly-psychic, eccentric. And of course, there’s Malcolm, the detective who arrested Kitt and Evie in the first book (not a spoiler, it’s literally where that book starts). The second book centred on Evie, and this third book has a spotlight on Malcolm. He had moved to York after his ex-wife was murdered by a serial killer, and now he is called back to his hometown in rural Yorkshire because a woman was murdered and it looks like the work of the same serial killer. Problem is, that the man (who also happened to be his partner on the police force) is behind bars, so either they arrested the wrong guy back when, or there is a copycat active. Kitt isn’t letting Malcolm facing his fears and his past on his own and travels along, which comes in handy when it turns out the victim worked at the local archives, and Kitt knows her way around libraries and archives. When the hunt for the murderer turns into a treasure hunt, Evie is called in and even Ruby travels up from York. Like the other books before, the best things about it are the characters and the settings: it took me back to gorgeous Yorkshire! The story itself was less interesting to me and I kept wanting it to be wrapped up. That was a slightly alarming sentiment for a mystery, but I read this on holiday, on a balcony with a view of the Atlantic Ocean, and was in a holidaying state of mind, so I accepted a lot more than I normally would have. The cocktails that were always within reach thanks to friend P’s mixing skills, also helped. I left the book at the hotel library because it’s a perfect beach read, and I’m sure someone else will enjoy it just fine.
No 14: A book set in the decade I was born This is gonna end in tears / Liza Klaussmann
Ah, the ‘80s. The last analogue decade. The decade during which the Cold War ended, and the AIDS epidemic spread. It was also the decade of shoulder pads, big hair, MTV, and The A-Team. It’s also marked as the birth decade of a certain bookworm. Not sure how I would find a book fit for this category, I was just randomly browsing the shelves at the library when a blurb caught my eye (I guess we hereby established another functionality of blurbs) which mentioned “pitch-perfect 80s detail” (Anna Hope). Challenge item sorted! This book is not something I would have gravitated towards under normal circumstances, but, that’s what the reading challenge is all about: broadening your horizons. So, I checked out the book and dove in. And wow, does this book deliver on its period setting. From the descriptions of colours, appliances, cars, music, and fashion: it’s very ‘80s. The story is set in a small Quaker town called Wonderland, situated on the American east coast, and mainly takes place over the summer of ’84. (There are some flashbacks to earlier in the ‘80s, and a few are set in the sixties.) Aside from a glorious ‘80s vibe there is the intensity of a hot and sticky summer as well. Miller, Ash and Olly are forty-somethings. Back when they were kids they were best friends, but they’ve since lost that bond and are struggling to keep their lives on track. Miller (it took me a couple of sentences to realize this is used as a girl’s name) and Ash are unhappily married, with Ash practically moved out of their marital home, and into a pied-a-terre in New York, where he has a girlfriend. They’ve lost touch with Olly, who lives in Hollywood. Olly works at a production company and lost his golden touch, so after careful consideration he decides to kill himself. Except he doesn’t get that far because there’s an earthquake and he instead is crushed by falling debris in his home. When he comes to in the hospital there is a new-found clarity and he remembers a family emergency back home. So, he checks himself out of the hospital and flies east, back to the place he once upon a time couldn’t wait to leave behind. Ash has come home as well, to play happy families with Miller for the sake of their son Nate, who is celebrating his last summer at home before going off to college in California. With everybody back together in the small town, tensions are rising with every sentence. It quickly becomes clear that Miller and Olly first were together. The three of them left Wonderland to make it in Hollywood, where they set up a successful record label. Because Miller felt lost, she left Olly and settled for Ash. Love triangles are a recipe for disaster, and there are a lot of unresolved issues between the three. The title tells you all you need to know about the result.
History is also repeating itself because Ash and Miller’s son, Nate, has a crush on his friend Suki, but he doesn’t know that his best friend Cam is having feelings for her as well. Then there’s a storyline about a movie company setting up a shoot in Wonderland, Olly’s Hollywood ex, Blue, a world-famous singer who travels to Wonderland as well, and one about Olly’s aunt Tassie. Then there’s stuff happening with Cam and his family, and Suki and her family. That sounds like a lot, but actually it felt that not much happened in this book. It’s just all the threads slowly coming undone. It wasn’t until the last two chapters that I got really into it, because that’s when decisions and plans were made. The big event in the end came out of left field, which was appropriate for what happened, but it was weird to have the big bang ending be about a side-character and not one of the main characters. There also isn’t time to evaluate the impact of the event in the main characters because the book ends three pages later.
I’m giving this book an okay overall score because of its great setting and descriptions. The story itself is “meh” for me, as this was not up my alley at all.
No. 11: A book with a number in the title Explosive eighteen / Janet Evanovich
I Love the Stephanie Plum series, so this challenge entry was an easy choice. We’re allowed to have those! I once stumbled onto this series when I was stuck on a train station: the trains were so majorly delayed that I finished the book I’d brought with me. What was I to do, but step into the bookstore and buy a new one? I picked up Hard Eight because it was the only book within budget that seemed a fun read. Turned out I hit the jackpot with it, and I’ve since dedicated a shelf of my bookcase to this series, collecting them one by one. The individual titles can all be read as a stand-alone, because every book has a proper introduction of characters. And although the overall development is slow, there is development and change, so it’s even better to read it in order. Which I regularly do, as these books are part of my comfort reads: I’m on my way through the series again, and number eighteen was up next. The books in the series are all numbered, starting with One for the Money. With the exceptions of parts 27, 28, and 29, which have the number in the subtitle, all others have the number in their title. I recently discovered I’m one behind, with no. 30 (Dirty Thirty) just released, so I’m off to the bookstore as soon as I wrap up this entry. There are also between-the-numbers books, and two spin-off series: the Lizzie and Diesel books are equally solid fun, but I haven’t read the Recovery Agent yet.
Stephanie Plum is a New Jersey bounty hunter, forced into the job by lack of any other decent skills and appealing options. She works for her cousin Vinnie at Plum Bail Bonds, and the rest of the staff include Connie, who is a very Jersey Italian and related to half of the local mob, and Lula, who was a victim in Stephanie’s first ever case, and has since given up being an “erectile engineer” and is Stephanie’s sidekick, and whenever she feels like it, the office clerk. Stephanie has two men in her life: Joe, a Jersey detective she’s in an off-and-on again relationship with, and Ranger, a delicious-smelling badass security agent, she’s had a few up-close-and-very-personal encounters with. All these characters appear in all the books of the series. This also applies to Stephanie’s parents and her grandma Mazur. The books all contain a mystery, and weird criminals that need to be dragged back to jail. There are doors that require getting kicked in, cars that get stolen, flattened, or burnt. Joe’s dog, Bob, makes an appearance. As does Stephanie’s hamster, Rex. This particular book picks up where no. seventeen left off: Stephanie returns from a trip to Hawaii. As she unpacks her bag, she finds a blank envelope containing a picture in it, and thinking she mistakenly picked it up when she bought magazines at the airport, she throws it in the trash. When there’s a news item about a murder at LA airport, she recognizes the victim as the man that had been sitting next to her. When she’s promptly being chased down by several people who are all after that picture, she realizes that the victim must have slipped that picture into her purse. Two fake FBI agents, two real FBI agents, a woman claiming to be the victim’s fiancée, and a murderer-for-hire, all want the picture. On top of that, she has her archenemy Joyce Bernhardt squatting in her apartment, she has her car serial-stolen by a wanted criminal, and the search for a grave robber is not going well. Then there is office drama, with the temporary office (a Winnebago parked in front of the remains of the already burnt-down office) going up in flames, and Lula accidentally drinking a love potion. A tan line on Stephanie’s ring finger causes drama with friends and family alike, everybody assuming there was a wedding, or at least a proposal, in Hawaii, and Stephanie refusing to talk about it. That might sound like a lot, but it’s easy to keep up with, and a fast read.
Stephanie isn’t a skilled bounty hunter, but she’s tenacious and lucky which gets her far. Often not in the most efficient or flattering way, but it’s the end result that counts. Meanwhile, her relationship with Joe is solid at its core but neither is ready to commit which causes them to have the occasional break-up. Ranger is always available to help her out with replacement cars of mysterious origin. Grandma Mazur will always try to pry open a casket at the funeral home. Vinnie will always be involved in shady business. Eighteen books in, Stephanie still forgets to charge her stun gun, and hides her actual gun at home, safely tucked away in the cookie jar. Stephanie and Lula are still not able to kick in doors. None of that matters, because this is a screwball detective and mishaps should happen. These books are a breeze and a total treat, and even though I’ve re-read most of them several times, they still make me laugh out loud.
Bookworm in the City 