The Lifeboat (Charlotte Rogan)

I’ve had the pleasure of reading some darn good debut novels lately.  Eowyn Ivey’s The Snow Child is a beautifully written tale set in Alaska that’s based on a Russian fairy tale.  Now comes a novel where, again, the setting plays a central role in the story. 

Set in the early 1900s, The Lifeboat is about a disaster on a large shipliner, the Empress Alexandra.  Grace’s new husband, Henry, takes her to one of the lifeboats, and then she never sees him again.  She is in the boat with strangers, and they quickly split up into two factions.  Following Mr. Hardie, the seaman with a wealth of experience, will require making the necessary difficult decisions for survival.  Mrs. Grant, on the other hand, tries to keep some semblance of morality when all seems lost.  Both sides must do what society would deem terrible things.  We discover very early on that Grace survives, but she’s been arrested for her part in the lifeboat saga.  What did she do?  Where does she go from here?

The Lifeboat is a quick read and very easy to devour in one or two sittings.  It keeps you on the edge of your seat, knowing that Grace made it out, but not knowing why she’s on trial.  Part psychological drama, part thriller, and part survival story, Rogan has delivered a tour de force first novel…and makes it look easy.

MY RATING - 5

Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro)

I truly can’t, for the life of me, figure out the mass appeal and popularity of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go.  Blurbs on the book by renowned authors use words like anguish and heartbreaking.  I didn’t feel either of these things, perhaps because the characters were not appealing to me at all.  Oh well, to each his own.

Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are three friends who are part of a group raised for a special purpose.  From a very early age, they are enrolled in a school led by the “guardians” and told that their art projects are sacred.  After graduating from their school, they go to live in the Cottages, a middle ground to prepare them for what is to come. 

Never Let Me Go is narrated by Kathy.  Ishiguro has a peculiar way of having Kathy state what she is about to tell you instead of allowing the story to unfold naturally.  While it has an important message…how science has the danger of going too far…it was just too predictable for me. 

So I was not one of the many people who will call Never Let Me Go one of the best books in recent times.  Predictability and unlikeable characters do not make quality literature for me.  To me, the mark of a great book is whether I can’t wait to pick it up again once I set it down.  Not the case for Never Let Me Go.

MY RATING - 2

The Snow Child (Eowyn Ivey)

The Snow Child is Eowyn Ivey’s debut novel, and what a novel it is.  It’s one of those books that stay with you for a long time after you’re finished.  I made myself put it down after a few chapters to really let the beauty of Ivey’s prose sink in.  But whether you devour it in one sitting or continuously put it down like I did, the effect is the same.

Set in the 1920s, Mabel and Jack are a couple who move to the Alaskan wilderness.  A few years before, they lost their only baby at birth and have remained childless and grieving.  They’re hoping that Alaska provides the solace and hard work they need to move on from their loss.  However, things don’t quite work out that way, as all they feel is alone.

One day, on a whim, they build a snow child.  They’re shocked to see that the next day the child has disappeared, with tracks leading away from it.  The story, based on a Russian fairy tale, gains strength from here.  I had a vague idea of how The Snow Child might end but was surprised at the route Ivey chose to get there.  I disagreed that one character would do something that proved vital to the outcome of the story.  For that reason alone, I need to give The Snow Child a 4.

This is a novel where the review needs to stay mysterious.  I have to watch my words carefully as giving too much away would take away from the beauty of the story.  But trust me, The Snow Child is not to be missed.

MY RATING - 4

Defending Jacob (William Landay)

Defending Jacob has had outstanding word-of-mouth reviews, so I wanted to see what all the buzz was about. You may have heard that there is a shocking twist at the end. Well, thinking that I was all high and mighty, I haughtily had the twist figured out…until I didn’t. Believe me, you won’t see this one coming.

Andy Barber is an assistant district attorney in an idyllic wealthy suburb of Boston. He lives there with his wife, Laurie, and their 14-year-old son, Jacob. Everything is perfect until one day, a classmate of Jacob’s is brutally murdered in a park. Andy quickly gets on the case but is taken off when the evidence points to his son as the prime suspect.

Legal thrillers are a dime a dozen, with John Grisham and Scott Turow being the most famous authors. However, Landay is a master at them, moving all the pieces around like one giant puzzle until everything seems to solve itself. Or so the reader thinks.

Lucky (or not so lucky) for us, Defending Jacob will be a movie soon. Do yourself a favor and read the book before you see it. Sometimes Hollywood messes up a book so badly that it’s a mere token of itself at the end.

MY RATING - 5

Skinnydipping (Bethenny Frankel)

Bethenny Frankel has, in the past few years, become a one-woman enterprise machine. She started off in the media eye as one of the Real Housewives of New York. Then she left to get her own show, Bethenny Getting Married, which quickly evolved into Bethenny Ever After. Along the way, she has written bestselling self-help books and began the Skinnygirl brand. She has certainly not had the easiest of lives, with lots of family troubles well-documented in her therapy sessions on her TV show. However, she always seems to pick herself up by the bootstraps and dust herself off. Her latest venture, the “fictional” Skinnydipping, hits very close to home and dives right into what we’ve come to expect from Bethenny…too much information.

This is the story of Faith Brightstone (AKA Bethenny Frankel), who leaves college on the day of her graduation to become an actress in Los Angeles. She moves in with her estranged father, a famous horse trainer, and gets a job as a production assistant on a famous TV show. She, of course, then does what every main character does in generic chick lit…goes out drinking every night, sleeps with a multitude of men, finds out that the guy she really likes is married, blah, blah, blah.

Five years later, she is back home, trying desperately to get her muffin business off the ground. She is soon spotted by producers of an upcoming reality show, Domestic Goddess, and is deemed worthy to compete. If she wins, she’ll get a TV show in the Martha Stewart style. The second half of Skinnydipping is all about the drama of filming the show. Will Faith win? Will she find true love? Will she finally get her life together?

Skinnydipping is entertaining and is the perfect book for that beach getaway. The characters, however, are forgettable, and I had to remind myself of the cast of characters practically daily. But Bethenny doesn’t really need to worry, as her fans will follow her no matter what she does.

MY RATING - 3

This review can also be found on www.bookloons.com.

The Night Strangers (Chris Bohjalian)

I was hesitant to pick up The Night Strangers simply because it did not get the greatest reviews. Bohjalian's Midwives was an Oprah Book Club selection, which of course, instantly became a bestseller. He's an interesting author in the sense that he rarely writes the same style of book twice. In The Night Strangers, he takes practically every iconic, classic horror movie and mashes them up..."The Shining", "Rosemary's Baby", "The Wicker Man"...with great success until the ending.

Chip Linton is an airline pilot who is thrown into a horrible situation one day at work. His plane hits a flock of geese, and he is forced to make an emergency landing in water...you know, like the miracle on the Hudson...which Bohjalian compares Chip's landing to ad nauseum. Unlike Sully Sullenberger, however, Chip loses 39 passengers and of course, his life becomes unbearable.

Hoping to get a fresh start, Chip, his wife Emily, and their twin daughters move to New Hampshire into a big, old house. There is a door in the basement, with 39 nails in it, which quickly becomes the center of attention. What's behind that door? What's the history of the house? Why do all of the women in their new town love to be in their greenhouses so much? Most importantly, who can they trust?

The characters in The Night Strangers, not all of whom are living by the way, are well intertwined. While I can understand some of the reviews, which thought the book moved rather slowly, I thought this quality added to the sometimes unbearable suspense. It was quite simply one of the scariest books I've ever read. Read it with all of the lights on. The ending though was too strange for me. However, I truly hope Bohjalian writes a few more books in the horror realm, because he can certainly give King and Koontz a run for their money.

MY RATING - 4

The House I Loved (Tatiana de Rosnay)

Paris was very different before the mid-1800s than it is today. Villages existed where everyone knew each other, and houses were in the same family for decades. It wasn’t illogical that someone would be born and die of old age in the same house. Flower shops, bakeries, and restaurants existed where everyone knew your name. Then Emperor Napoleon came to power, and he wanted a very different Paris. He hired Baron Haussmann to make it into a city that would be modernized and renovated. Some Parisians agreed with the plan, but others did not, especially those who would be forced to move when streets would run right through their houses.

The House I Loved, by Tatiana de Rosnay (she of Sarah’s Key fame, my all-time-favorite book), tells the story of Rose Bazelet, a woman still grieving the death of the love of her life and her young son many years before. She has the support of her community, including her flower-shop owner friend, Alexandrine, through her grief. All of her memories are in that house, but it is one of the houses Baron Haussmann will tear down. Even though her estranged daughter is expecting her to come live with her, Rose does not leave her house. She hunkers down in the basement, with food and visits delivered from another friend, waiting for the demolition crew to come.

The House I Loved is both heartbreaking and suspenseful. de Rosnay writes beautifully with flowing language, and her books always translate well into English. While Sarah’s Key will always be my favorite, The House I Loved is a worthwhile read based on some historical fact. How far are we willing to go for modernization?

MY RATING - 4