This 5-episode miniseries, featuring two memorable female leads, expertly tackled Wilkie Collins's 656-page suspense novel (published in 1860) and kept me on the edge of my seat even more than many a modern thriller.
The Terror is a fictionalized account of the real historical event known as Franklin's Lost Expedition. The expedition, a crew of 129 men split between two British Royal Navy ships, set out in 1845 to discover a new route through the Arctic for trade between England and China - a route deemed the "Northwest Passage." Over a year after the expedition initially set sail, both ships (HMS Erebus and HMS Terror) became trapped in thick ice off the northern coast of Canada. The crew, utterly isolated and unprepared, were left to fend off the unrelenting cold of the Arctic with few provisions and
This story is the legend of Sleepy Hollow from the point of view of the main female character, Katrina Van Tassel. Having grown up the only daughter to a wealthy farmer and doting mother, Katrina is strong in her opinions, desires and actions. While this strength of character gets Katrina into some mischief, it also allows her to follow her heart and find a deep love with the new school teacher, Ichabod Crane.
When Ichabod first arrives at Sleepy Hollow he stays with the Van Tassel family until he finds the first host family among his pupils. Katrina's father hires him quickly to be her music
An Extraordinary Union is a historical romance set during the turbulent American Civil War. The heroine is spunky Elle Burns, a former slave with an eidetic memory who becomes a detective for the Union through the Loyal League, a society of freed and enslaved blacks with networks across the country to funnel intelligence to the North. Her latest assignment is to pose as a mute slave in Richmond, Virginia in the household of Confederate Senator Caffrey. The hero is Malcolm McCall, a Scottish born detective for Pinkerton, also assigned to gather intelligence from the Caffrey household, posing
The Help, the debut novel by Kathryn Stockett, published nearly ten years ago, has the remarkable ability to remain relevant in today’s polarized climate of questions and the search for truth and justice. Here we meet three different women: Skeeter Phelan, Aibileen Clark, and Minny Jackson, all wanting to change the status quo without knowing how or when to start. Set in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi, there is a strong divide between the races that results in violence and fear among the residents as the Civil Rights Movement continues throughout the nation. The power struggle exists in the
The Little Stranger follows Faraday, a respectable country doctor in post-World War II England who is called to assist the Ayres family—an aristocratic family whose once elegant home, Hundreds Hall, has fallen into disrepair as their power and wealth dwindle with the collapsing noble class. His patient, Roderick, lives there with his mother and sister as they all wage daily battles to prevent the inevitable loss of their formerly prosperous country estate. Roderick was wounded in the second World War and has never recovered—but his injuries are not all that plague him. The entire family is
Strange, fascinating, moving, disturbing, challenging, poignant, and human. Oh, so very human.
Lincoln in the Bardo is a book that delves deep into the human condition and the particular human penchant for storytelling. It presents a myriad cast of characters, each obsessed with telling his or her own story to others. And to living it out, over and over. They are stuck in their stories. Limited by them. Blinded by them. Stories of regret, sorrow, and unfinished lives. Unhappy stories.
For the characters are ghosts. Or spirits or phantoms or souls or what you will. Trapped in a limbo of their
I am, in general, a huge fan of Kate Atkinson’s novels. I loved Life After Life, its sequel A God in Ruins, and all of the books in her Jackson Brodie series. That’s why it pains me to say I was a bit disappointed in Transcription.
Transcription tells the story of Juliet Armstrong, a young woman who is recruited by the British intelligence agency MI5 at the beginning of World War II. The main task she is charged with is transcribing the meetings among a group of British fascist sympathizers and supporters. As she is drawn further into the web of British spies and their targets, she’s left
Nefertiti follows the titular character through the eyes of her sister, Mutnodjmet, from their early life through Nefertiti's swift ascent to the throne as one of history’s most powerful women. Headstrong, cunning, and limitlessly ambitious – Nefertiti defies tradition to become Egypt's first female co-regents during one of its most tumultuous and unique periods, with Mutnodjmet as her near-constant, often reluctant companion and advisor. All the while, Mutnodjmet—a thoughtful, intelligent young woman with a passion for healing and nature—yearns to find her own destiny, away from the courts
I absolutely love this book and consider it one of my "top 10" favorites! I did not expect to like it when a friend lent me her copy to read, but it blew me away.
Alice Hoffman's writing is so rich in detail that it's mesmerizing. The Marriage of Opposites is historical fiction set during the 19th century, based on the real life of Rachel Pomie', the mother of Camille Pissarro who became a famous artist and one of the fathers of impressionism. Most of the story is set on the island of St. Thomas, and then ultimately in Paris. Rachel Pomie' is a girl that does not like rules and is constantly
The Handmaiden, a Korean film adaptation of the novel Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, is the newest film from one of the most daring directors in cinema.
The plot follows a Korean woman hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress as part of a plot to defraud her of her wealth. It is a classic con, but is subject to a bevy of twists and turns, as the handmaiden develops feelings for her mark and everyone has their own designs on the situation.
Misdirection is accentuated as the movie replays many of the major plot points from alternating perspectives: the heiress, the handmaiden, and the con-man
The film Dunkirk tells a very important story. During the Second World War the British, French and other allied forces get surrounded at Dunkirk, a beach town in France. The limited Navy and Red-cross ships can't seem to make it back across the channel without being hit by German forces, and British fighter planes don't have the fuel capacity to be of much help. Overall, the situation is very grim. The British Navy commissions the use of any serviceable ship or boat to rescue the 300,000 some odd soldiers trapped at Dunkirk.
Now you are prepared to watch a movie that has virtually no
The main character, d'Artagnan travels to Paris in hopes of joining the King's Musketeers, a task that takes a bit of time to accomplish. Upon his arrival, he befriends musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and thus begins a series of adventures. A great, satirical novel that expertly entwines plots and characters. It starts off a little slow, but once the plot groundwork is established, The Three Musketeers becomes an enjoyable, lively read.
This is an interesting book about prophecy, antiquity, and crime, with just a tiny bit of romance. The story is about how Semele, an appraiser for a prestigious auction house in NY, finds a 2,000 year old manuscript that was written for her. Semele discovers this manuscript while cataloging items from a recently deceased private collector in Switzerland. The collector left her a handwritten note warning her not to tell anyone about the manuscript. She realizes there must be some connection between herself and the deceased collector even though they had never met. As Semele flies back to NY she
Gone With the Wind is 1037 pages of delightfulness.
Margaret Mitchell's classic is the perfect book to tackle when one has the time. Scarlett O'Hara is accustomed to a privileged life on a Georgia plantation. When the Civil War strips her of her family's wealth and security, she will do anything and use anyone to regain what she has lost. In addition to using people, she pines for a married man, despises motherhood, marries men for money and is only concerned about herself. Yet, I find myself rooting for her. Excellent, excellent book. Love it!
Kate Morton is one of my favorite authors, and she does not disappoint with The Lake House. The story moves through several time periods beginning in the present when Detective Sadie Sparrow (who is on enforced leave from the department due to leaking a hunch to the media) goes to Cornwall to stay with her granddad. There she discovers the remains of a grand estate buried in the woods, and her curiosity is piqued. She learns that the estate was abandoned in the wake of the disappearance of the one-year-old son of the house, who was never found. The detective in Sadie rises to the fore, and she
Originally released in 1945, Ross Poldark is the first of a twelve-part series that explores the Cornwall of a couple hundred years earlier. The story follows Ross Poldark, a man recently returned home from America after the Revolutionary War to find the life he was expecting unrecognizable. Ross does what he can with his current options and begins laboring to bring his land and home back to their previous conditions. Ross encounters Demelza, a girl with a troubled background, and offers her a place in his home as a kitchen maid. Demelza agrees, but only if she can bring her dog (my kind of
A majority of Moonglow's plot focuses on a Jewish grandfather reminiscing on his deathbed to his grandson Mike, an author.
There are stories about the Holocaust, rockets, the Challenger explosion, hunting a dog-eating snake, and the 18 months the grandfather spent in prison after a fit of rage at his job. As a reader, we aren’t given all the details of every story. We know Mike’s dad is out of the picture, but we can tell what kind of father he was by what he packed in a suitcase for his son when dropping him off at the grandparents’ house: pajama tops, swim trunks, a fake leather vest from
Let’s get this out of the way first: while Circling the Sun is about Beryl Markham, famed aviator of the 1920’s, there are barely two chapters about her adventures as a pilot. What happens between the passages about flying is a compelling historical novel about a young English girl who is abandoned by her mother in Kenya and who eventually wins respect in the male-dominated worlds of horse training and aviation.
The Spring Hill book discussion group found the love triangle exhausting, but Markham's escapades in the Kenyan bush involving lions, elephants, and colonial politics make it a
The North Water is beyond dark. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road looks like a leisurely stroll through a park on Sunday compared to this gruesome novel about a 19th century whaling expedition. The Volunteer is heading out on a six month voyage to northern waters, where hopefully all the whales haven’t been killed yet. Captain Brownlee, the ship’s surgeon Sumner, and harpooner Dax all carry secrets on board--some repugnant, some violent--while the financier may have sinister motives for sending them on this assignment. What happens after they set sail is gripping, graphic, and gruesome, and is not
The Buddha in the Attic is a short novel depicting the lives and struggles of Japanese mail-order brides arriving in America in the years leading up to World War II. It is not one central story that follows a single character--or even a few. Instead, the author uses the first person plural narrative style (through the use of "we" and "our") to tell the stories of countless, mostly nameless women. The narrative begins on the boats, as the young girls share their dreams for the unknown future, and continues with their lives in America as they struggle to adapt to a new land and a new language
Having read many books with Anne Boleyn as either a periphery or main character, Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession offers a very different take on this notorious woman. In this second novel of the Six Tudor Queens series, Alison Weir paints Anne Boleyn in an almost sympathetic light. Where she is generally seen as a conniving, cold and adulterous woman, Weir shows her as a woman shaped by the events of her upbringing and pushed to her limits by the pursuit of a king who always gets his way, and the promise of being Queen.
The second and perhaps most well known of King Henry VIII's wives, Anne
Out of Darkness is a heartbreaking and powerful read. This is a story about racism, disaster, love and hope.
Naomi is a 17-year-old Mexican living with her half siblings and white stepfather in New London, Texas, in 1937. Naomi is in danger of her stepfather's wrath and abuse, but she'll do anything for her siblings.
Wash is a black teen who's been living with racism his whole life; he goes to a inferior black school while the white kids go to the state-of-the-art school down the road, and he's tired of keeping his eyes to the ground. Naomi and Wash fall in love. It's against the rules--they
I Will Send Rain is both bleak and hopeful. You will feel a lot of things while reading this perfectly crafted, emotional story of an Oklahoma farm family living through the Dust Bowl.
Samuel and Annie Bell move from Kansas to Oklahoma, set up a home, and have two children Birdie and Fred. The Bell family clings to their land and hope rain will save their crops. The pacing brings the reader into the Dust Bowl slowly and the way Meadow’s develops each character pulls you into a world where each day is a struggle to survive. Samuel, Annie, and Birdie plod along, secretly hoping to escape their
Lilac Girls is a World War II historical fiction book focusing on Ravensbruck, a women's concentration camp where some prisoners endured cruel experimental surgeries. Chapters alternate between the perspectives of three different women: former actress and wealthy American, Catherine Ferriday, who sends care packages to orphaned children overseas; Kasia, a Polish teenager and Ravensbruck prisoner; and Herta Oberhauser, a German doctor performing experiments in Ravensbruck.
Before reading this book, I hadn't heard of the Ravensbruck Rabbits, but found their story, which is based on real people
The Boston Girl is told by 85-year-old Addie, who revisits her long life of memories during an interview given by one of her grandchildren. It’s an incredibly intimate one-sided conversation that completely ensnares the reader. This storytelling style made me feel as if Addie was my grandmother. Like other special books with superb storytelling, The Boston Girl envelopes the reader inside a bubble. While reading it, you feel like you are living the story and your real life is just an inconvenience that exists outside of the bubble.
Addie Baum is both fiercely independent and endearingly
Much is expected of Alexander, the only son of Alexander the Great, but he's more than ready for the task. His skills on the battlefield are well known, and he's charming, yet cautious when it comes to social and political affairs. His search for a wife worthy of the noble lineage of his family finds him engaged to Princess Mereret, the daughter of the Egyptian King Ptolemy. While waiting for the wedding date to arrive, a slave girl named Kiara is sent to entertain him. Although Alexander is stunned and enchanted by her beauty, his responsibility is clear.
When evil events begin to unfold
The Atomic Weight of Love is an outstanding debut novel. Meridian Wallace puts her dreams of a Masters and PhD. on hold and follows her husband, Alden Whetstone, to Los Alamos, New Mexico where he helps develop the atomic bomb. Meridian’s unfinished scholarly work in ornithology leads her to question her life with Alden, who becomes more interested in his work and must lead a rather secretive life. Clay Griffin, a Vietnam veteran, changes the course of Meridian’s life when he teaches her the value of an equal relationship and following her own path. Meridian’s growing interest in women’s
What had she just done? She had obediently opened a door and stepped through into blackness, without even knowing if there was a floor on the other side.
Why, oh why, haven't I read more books by Frances Hardinge? I loved the first book of hers I read years ago, thoroughly enjoyed another, and have seen how well reviewed everything she writes is. Now this one has convinced me I simply must find a way to read them all.
In spite of everything, there was real pleasure in the thought of her lie sending tremors through Vane, knocking her enemies off balance. She was filled with pride and a
Due to the untimely death of a local clergy who'd enlisted Letty Murphy's services, she must now flee her life of prostitution at the White Dove Saloon. She takes on a new persona, Sister Leticia. Her accomplice, Eulis Potter, the town drunk and local gravedigger, also takes a new identity as the Reverend Randall Ward Howe. Although in most ways an unlikely pair, Letty and Eulis are a good match in that they both want what a new life can provide. If only they can shed the coarseness of their pasts and remember to walk only in the goodness and righteousness of the religious conviction they now