Susan_Roberts

Because of my age, I have a problem considering the 1960s to be historical fiction but have finally realized that if historical fiction is considered anything over 50 years old, even the 1970s are considered historical fiction! Now that I’ve recovered from this fact, I will say that I loved this book and learning more about the background of the designer and models who revolutionized style in the 1960s.

It’s 1951 and post-war London is still recovering from the ravages of World War II. Two totally different girls meet at Goldsmiths arts college and their optimism for the future helps them become best friends. Mary Quant and Chrissy Walker are both at art college despite the protests from their families but both know that they want more from life than to find a rich husband and spend their lives doing charity work and raising children. Mary designs and sews her own clothes and soon Chrissie and other women at the college are wanting to dress in a similar fashion. Mary soon catches the interest of a very rich young man who becomes her partner and helps her open Bazaar in 1955. Bazaar was the first catalyst of the new fashions in London and then in the entire world. The clothes were all designed by Mary Quant and were a rebellion against the formal, rigid fashion of the 1950s. Soon Bazaar, the Chelsea district of London and Mary Quant’s clothes became the center of ‘swinging London’. With the introduction of the Beatles into the world, everyone wanted to dress in the new youthful clothes from London and Mary’s fashions became well known all over the world. She introduced the mini-skirt and different fabrics and designs than what had been available in the past. She also introduced new make-up and hair styles to the young who wanted to set new paths in fashion. Not only were her clothes different but they were affordable enough that everyone could afford them. The first US store that she got a contract with was JC Penny.

Not only does the book give the reader a look at Mary and her growing fashion explosion but we also get to know Mary and see some of the stresses that she was under as she worked with so many different people to revolutionize fashion. Her friend Crissie became a key person in her life and helped Bazaar become popular. The book also does a bit of name dropping as we learn how Mary’s fashions helped the rise of various models – such as Twiggy – and there are mentions of the Beatles and Patty Boyd and other famous musicians of the time.

This is a book about fashion and a new fashion revolution that was started by Mary Quant but more importantly it’s a book about women leaning to become successful in areas that they had never been allowed to enter in the years before. Chrissie broke away from her parents’ plan for a good marriage and upper-class life to becoming one of the main parts of Mary’s empire, Daphane went from life in the upper class to becoming a world-renowned model and eventually became a well-known photographer in war zones. Fern went from a very poor life to becoming a well-known model and becoming a writer for Vogue US. All of the female main characters became well known in areas that had been for men-only! As the women fought to become successful, they found that they were stronger than they'd ever believed before.

This well written and well researched book is about an illegal abortion clinic in Chicago in the 1940s. It’s based on a real clinic of the time and most of the characters are based on real people. The book is thought provoking and even though it’s still a controversial subject, the author does a fantastic job of presenting the truth on both sides of the issue.

Mimi was trained as a nurse and is now the stay-at-home mom of two young children living with her husband and his mother in Chicago. Her husband had been a star baseball player but an injury ended his career. He keeps hoping for a comeback and refuses to look for any other type of work. She decides that she’ll have to go to work and even though she has training, hospitals are reluctant to hire married women because, of course, everyone at this time felt that women should stay at home with their families. After no luck finding a job, a friend tells her about a clinic that is hiring. When she finds out that the clinic performs illegal abortions, she doesn’t want to take the job because it goes against her religious beliefs. However, she soon realizes that she needs the job to keep her family from losing their home. As she becomes more involved and gets to know the women who are having abortions, she becomes much more understanding of their plight and their needs to end their pregnancies. As the police begin to crack down on illegal clinics, Mimi has to decide if it’s worth risking her family to keep her job and how far she’s willing to go to help women who are desperate for the clinic’s services.

This is a character driven book and it was interesting to see the way that Mimi changed throughout the book – from a stay-at-home mom to a woman willing to risk her freedom to help other women. From a woman who felt that she had no choices to a woman who realized that she had the freedom to help other women and that she was stronger than believed herself to be.

The author did an excellent job at presenting both sides of the controversial subject of abortion without coming down strong on one side of the other. This book is emotional, powerful and an honest look at an ethical dilemma that still faces many women today. It leaves the reader with a lot to think about on both sides of the abortion issue.

This well written dual time line novel about two sisters and a daughter is centered around the summer of love – 1967 in California. The story is told by all three main characters and gives the reader an all-encompassing look at what is actually going on.

The three main characters are:

-Winnie is the younger sister who moves to San Francisco when she graduates from college to live a hippie lifestyle and become a poet. She knows that she won't be happy staying at the family vineyard in Napa. When she connects with an old boyfriend, she finally finds true happiness in her life. She and Lincoln are each other's muse – his songwriting and her poetry meld together and help her love her new life.

-Miranda is the older sister who wants to stay at the vineyard and work to create new flavors of wine that will compete with French wines. She worries about her sister and there is always a strong bond between them. The choices that each sister makes will lead them on totally different paths their entire lives.

-Dawn is hiding secrets from her mother Miranda. Her life is a mess due to alcoholism and she is working on her recovery. Her mother doesn't know that she has a problem with alcohol and Dawn wants to keep it a secret mostly because her mom now runs a well-known winery. As Dawn begins to unravel a big family secret, it will involve all three women. Will the secret bring the three family members closer together or tear them apart?

The author does a fantastic job of describing life and attitudes during this time period. The importance of the music and the anti-war movement are background to the story that's being told. On one side we see the free thought and poetry of the time while the other sister lives a totally different life working hard to create a family legacy. All three of the main characters were well written but my favorite was Miranda who chose to work on the family vineyard but always loved and worried about her sister who was definitely part of the counter culture in San Francisco. Even though the book deals with many difficult subjects – addiction, mental health and family issues – the feeling at the end is hopefully that family love can help people through difficult occurrences in life. This was a great look at life in the 60s with results that echoed throughout later years.

I went into this book expecting not to like it -- something in the blurb just didn't hit me right. I sure am glad that I gave the book a chance because I loved it. It probably helped that Artemis II had just landed and my interest in space travel was as high as it had been during the space race of the 1960s.

This beautiful love story is set in the 1960s when Joe Mitchell's spacecraft loses contact with the earth. He and the other astronauts on board are presumed to be dead. As his wife Vivian waits to find out if they are truly lost in space she spends her time re-living their love story in her mind. She can't accept that their perfect love story may be at an end. After the malfunction is blamed on operator error, Vivian knows that she has to do whatever she can to clear her husband's name. Is this how their love story ends?

The author does an excellent job of telling the story in dual time lines -- one is the story of Joe and Vivian meeting and falling in love and the second is the endless hours after the space craft goes missing. I preferred the earlier time line but both were well done. Also I thought that the first half of the book was much stronger than the ending.

I grew up in the 60s and always paid attention to the space race so this book brought back a lot of memories. Another great book by this author.

In 1929 in the Ozark Mountains in Missouri, there was a moonshine still operated by a father and his daughter Shine. They made some of the best moonshine in the area because of some of the special flavors that their grandmother added to the mash. This is during Prohibition when government agents spent time searching for and destroying stills on small farms and pouring out the moonshine that they found. When the father is killed by government agents, the business is taken over by all three of the sisters and helped by their grandmother Liddy – who has been making moonshine for ages. The sisters are all totally different but work together to get their business running -Rebecca is an outside girl who is interested in nature and in hunting and would sooner be in the woods than being around people. Elsie is the middle sister and she yearns for love and marriage and a life very different from the life she is living. Jace – who everyone calls Shine - is the most interested in the moonshine business. She has red hair and a fiery temper to match and has learned all about making moonshine from her beloved father. She basically takes the lead on the family business after their father dies.

After their father is killed, the girls decide that they need to take their product further away to sell. They believe that it’s better than most moonshine and want to get top dollar. Shine takes their product to Hot Springs Arkansas where she gets a buyer from a popular bar in the area where she meets and has to deal with gangsters like Al Capone. Can they keep their business intact to keep food on their table and avoid the government men who are working hard to make sure that they don’t stay in the business of making illegal moonshine.

I really enjoy books about sisters and even though these sisters are very different from each other, they are all strong in their own way and determined to keep their family safe. They each do their part to keep the family running despite their occasional disagreements. This book was well written and the setting was so well described that you almost felt like you were in the Ozarks with the family. The research was extensive and the story line was interesting. My only problem with the book is the time jumps later in the book and the fact that the first 50 of the book while the family was still on the farm was much more exciting for me.

Overall, I thought this book was a well written look at a significant time in our history – when people had to resort to doing something illegal to keep food on their table as it also looked at the people who despite working on something that was against the law, were hard working and were good people. If you enjoy historical fiction, you don’t want to miss this one!

I don't read many true crime books but this one caught my eye since it occurred in an area of South Carolina that I'm familiar with plus I wanted to learn more about what would cause a seemingly happy family man to kill his wife and son. The author did a fantastic job with his research and laid the story out in a concise way. He also wrote about some of the inconsistencies that were published in the press and the rumors that were going on while the crime was being solved. Even though it's still difficult to believe that someone could kill their wife and son (Paul), the author does an excellent job of explaining the mindset and problems that drove Alex to commit murder.

The author did extensive research for this book but for me the most important thing that he did was to interview many people who knew Alex – not only the people he worked with but family members and people in town who had known him his entire life. Along with the boat accident, he explained other deaths that may have been associated with the family and how they affected (or why they didn't affect) the entire family. I have read several books about the murders but this is the first one that gives transcripts from phone calls that Alex made from prison after his conviction. The conversations gave a good look at his state of mind and his lack of remorse because despite the verdict, he always said that there was no way that he would kill his beloved wife and son.

This book is a well-done portrait of Alex Murdaugh and the horrific crimes that he was accused of. The writing is so well done and the research so extensive that it reads like a Southern murder novel.

This is a book written for young teens. It's not a genre that I normally read but I was curious to see how detailed the author would get when discussing this sad part of our history. I think it's a great book for kids to read. I don't think that they get much history taught in the schools anymore and this is a well researched and well written book to help learn more about US history.

This book is about the Dolan family and primarily concentrates on twelve-year-old Caroline and nine-year-old Daniel. They are the two oldest children in a farming family with 5 children. They spend a lot of time together and are very close. Because one of the younger children is having a bad reaction to the dust from the storms, their mother takes the youngest children to the northeast to live with family. Caroline and Daniel make the trip with her but have decided to return to the farm to help their father on the farm. When they return to the farm, Caroline takes over as the main cook and takes care of the house. The descriptions of the dust storms are terrifying. It was scary to think about the home filling up with dust, the animals dying from the dust and the lack of rain that makes it impossible to grow crops. It was amazing to read about the clean up that had to be done in the house after every storm when the house was full of dust and there were huge piles of dust outside the doors. There was one terrifying scene when Daniel and Caroline got caught outside when a storm hit and it was almost impossible for them to find the house again. The Dolan family was better off than some of the other local families but they were willing to share what little they had with people who were less well off.

The book not only dealt with children's reaction to life in such an unsettled time but it dealt very well with grief. There were always neighbors leaving to try to find a better life, the children missed their mother and they weren't sure what the future would bring to their family farm.

I think this is a great book for your middle-schooler to read. It is a well researched look at what children went through during the years that the drought caused horrendous dust storms that threatened the lives of people as well as farm animals and the crops.

This dual time novel take place in Greece during present times and during WWII. Both time lines are based on women finding happiness by starting over. The woman in each time line is stronger and more resilient than they know and both are looking for a way to survive bad situations and find happiness.

Skye is a teacher in London who finds herself in an abusive marriage. She wants to start over and when she sees a lottery for several cottages on an island in Greece for 1 euro, she puts her name in. She's thrilled when she finds out that she won a cottage but is pretty appalled when she sees the state of the cottage. These were cottages that hadn't been lived in since WWII and needed a lot of work to make them livable. Skye is thrilled to be hiding from her husband and with the help of the local handyman, she is determined to make her house livable and lovely. She soon makes friends with the other people who have won the lottery and for the first time in a long time, she is beginning to find happiness but soon finds out that it's impossible to hide. While the renovations are going on, she finds a packet of letters hidden in the chimney that make her view life differently.

In the 1940s, Katarina has fallen in love with a man who soon leaves to be part of the resistance. When German troops take over the island she is upset over the cruelty of the German soldiers and joins the local resistance movement despite the danger. She continues to long for the man she loves to return and has no idea if he is even alive. She is strong as she fights against the people who are trying to ruin her island and the people on it.

This is a debut novel by Izzy Broom. She did a fantastic job in her descriptions of the Greek island of Folegandros. Greece is on my short list of places that I want to visit and this book made me think about making travel plans now. Based on how well written this book is and how much I enjoyed it, I can't wait to read whatever she writes next.

A rare violin shows up in lost and found at Heathrow airport. Devlin, a baggage handler is looking for a special gift for his girlfriend and thinks that she'll love the violin. Just the opposite happens and Devlin and the violin start spending their days in a camper. He goes to Walter who used to be his teacher to try to get some help and then they end up going to a violin shop, run by Gabrielle to try to find out about the history of the violin.

Soon the trio of strangers start working together to find out the history of the violin. They all feel like the instrument has special powers and they finally feel a part of something – something that matters, and which makes them matter. Soon all of their flats are robbed and torn apart by the person who wants possession of the violin. As the bond between the three of them gets stronger, they work together to not only find out about the history and the luthier who made the violin but also to keep the people threatening them away from the violin.

The mystery behind the violin is gradually told by the violin and we learn all about the special people who had owned the violin in the years since it was first made in the early 1800s and more importantly about the woman whose voice was trapped in the violin which causes it to make such beautiful music.

I don't usually enjoy magical realism unless it's used well as part of the story. This book did a very good job of using magic subtly as part of the plot line. I really enjoyed it and am glad that I gave it a chance. I enjoyed the modern day characters more than the historical characters. I enjoyed seeing Devlin, Walter and Gabrielle become a team that depended on each other and actually liked each other after all of them being loners most of their lives. The author did a lot of research on music and the history of violins and I learned a lot. Overall, this was a great read.

Jane is having a mid-life crisis - her first and only novel was published 6 years ago and she keeps getting rejects on her current book because really no one read her first book. She's getting close to becoming an empty-nester when her daughter leaves for college. Her son will still be at home but she knows it won't be long before he leaves too. To top it all, she is bored and aggravated with her husband of 19 years. They don't talk anymore or do anything fun - they are just trapped in a rut and she wants some excitement in her life. Plus she has seen some texts on his phone that have convinced her that Dan is cheating on her. From Dan's point of view, they have a great life and a fulfilling marriage and when she tells him at their anniversary dinner than she wants a divorce, he is shocked.

They are having an anniversary dinner at a very high scale restaurant when several armed people enter and take all of the diners and the staff hostage. It's an underground climate activist group and no one really knows why they've been taken hostage. The activists are very confused and very unorganized but Jane soon realizes that a lot of their dialogue and what is happening is directly taken from her failed first novel. She realizes that she and Dan are the only ones who know what's going to happen next and that they are the only ones that can save everyone.

I really liked Jane from the first page -- her mental dialogue is often hilarious and there were several times that I laughed out loud when she was talking to Dan and later when she was trying to keep everyone safe. Dan is just the opposite - he's quiet and loving but together they are both hilarious. How will they handle this dangerous situation together? Not only are Jane and Dan quirky but some of the other diners and several of the activists are fun too.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a funny but realistic book about a woman who wants more excitement out of her life and blames her husband and family. It takes a dangerous situation to convince her that her life may really be just perfect.

This book follows two women decades apart that are connected by the Earthshine Soap company and the impending arrival of Halley's Comet.

1910 - Opal is a doctor's wife and is pregnant but working at Earthshine to get enough money to go to Paris and meet the charismatic spiritualist who supposedly has 'talked' to her dead first love. She works with Bertie Tuttle to develop cures for women who have come down with mysterious ailments. After seeing the poor working conditions at Earthshine, she works to start a strike to help the female workers.

1986 - Nona was the first Earthshine girl and in all of the early ads. Even though she is now working on a soap opera, she is still recognized for her earlier print ads. When a group of women brings a class action suit against Earthshine for the harm that the soap causes, Nona begins to investigate the origin of the company.

My problem with this book is that there were too many characters that we didn't get information about. I found it difficult to really get interested in any of the characters and think it would have been helpful to get more background information about the main characters.

This beautifully written novel is story of friendship, guilt and forgiveness and the power we have in our own small way to change the course of history.

This is a book about books and how they can change someone's life. This is a book about love and grief, family and friendships and most importantly it's about how books can make a major difference in someone's life.

Tilly's fiancé, Joe, had been dead for several months and she is just basically just getting by and having a tough time getting beyond her deep grief. When she receives a call from a local bookstore that there is a book on hold for her that was ordered by Joe, she's pretty skeptical. When she goes to the bookstore and meets the owner, Alfie, he tells her that before Joe died, he ordered 12 books - one for each month of the next year. The books were carefully chosen to help Tilly get through the next year. There was a book about Paris that inspired her to take a trip to Paris where she made new friends, there was as cookbook that inspired her to start preparing wonderful food and a book about running that inspired her to train and run a half marathon. She still missed Joe but the books he picked gave her other avenues to create a life without him.

This beautifully written book made me laugh and made me cry. I totally understood Tilly, the main character losing her love of reading after the death of her husband. The same thing happened to me after my husband died -- after years of reading 15-18 books a month, I read nothing for 3 months. I missed reading but just couldn't pick up a book. I loved the way that books ended up helping Tilly's grief by giving her new goals to accomplish. I was so impressed with this book that I just ordered three of Libby Page's earlier books. Plus I've added several of the books that were mentioned to my tbr lists.

This wonderful uplifting book is a book about books and about the community that can be formed when you get a group of book lovers together.

Grace has been mourning her beloved husband Frank for a year and on the anniversary of his death she decides to open the door to his study for the first time. Seeing his study reminds her of what an avid reader he was. He had even started a book club at their local bookstore. She wasn't interested in reading and never asked much about his book club. Her daughter and grandson suggest that she join the book club that Frank started. She doesn't really want to but her grandson suggests that she go to one meeting and if she didn't like it, they'd never mention it again. She agrees to attend and when she goes she's amazed to find out that it's a silent book club. Members don't read the same book and discuss it - instead they all read their own book and then share about their book. She really doesn't like all of the quiet reading but when she leaves, one of the members, Annie, talks to her and they make plans to meet again and become friends. Once she gets used to the silent book club plus finds Frank's reading journals, she begins to realize what a great idea it all is - especially for people who are a bit shy. She makes it her new goal to expand the book club and bring new members into her book club and as she breathes new life into the group, she might just find this is where she truly belongs.

The book club not only gave Grace a new community of friends but it also helped her start a new life without her beloved husband. The book club helped take her grief to a smaller part of her life instead of being her whole life like it had been. This is a wonderful story about the way that books can change your life and help bring meaning and friendship. As a plus for me, there were several books mentioned that I have added to my 'to be read' list.

I have watched The Wizard of Oz on TV more times than I can count and really enjoyed Hazel Gaynor's story about Dorothy's Auntie Em's earlier life and how she ended up Kansas. There are lots of references to the Wizard of Oz from a mention of the ruby red shoes, Toto and lots more. It was fun to see all of these references back to the original story and I think that Frank Baum would have approved of this story.

This story begins long before Dorothy was born. Emily and her two sisters had emigrated from Ireland with their parents and after several stops, they ended up in dirty and gritty Chicago. The oldest sister moved to California and Annie married someone that Emily didn't really like or trust. When Emily married Henry and they decided to farm in Kansas, Annie was very unhappy and kind of nasty to her sister about the move. Annie was pretty spoiled and willful and didn't want Emily to leave and not be available to help her. But Emily was not only in love with Henry but she soon was in love with the beauty that was Kansas and wanted to do everything that she could to help the farm. After a miscarriage, she realized that she'd never get pregnant and resigned herself to never becoming a mother. When Annie and her husband died, their will requested that Emily and Henry take responsibility and raise their daughter Dorothy. Life in Kansas was tough when Emily brought Dorothy to Kansas - the Depression was affecting farm prices and the huge dust storms had started along with frequent tornadoes. Emily wasn't sure how Dorothy would adapt to Kansas or adapt to her because she wasn't really sure how to be a mother. Yet despite everything, they did become a family.

Be sure to read the Author's notes at the end of the book where she gave some political background of the story and talked about her love of the Wizard of Oz movie. It was apparent when reading this book that the author had done considerable research into the time period and into the movie. It was a fun book to read and it was interesting to find all of the references to the original story.

I don't read much historical fiction that takes place in the 1800's but this was a book about books and I couldn't resist it. This is a romance - not just a romance between two people but it's also a romance with books and bookstores.

Evelyn and her mother live in a large manor house in Yorkshire when the bailiff's come and tell them that they must move out immediately and can only take personal belongings. Evelyn's father is a gambler and has lost ownership of their manor home and spent all of his money. They have no other close family and decide that their only choice is to move to York to live with an elderly aunt.

It's apparent at their first meeting that the aunt doesn't want them there and continues to mention their disgrace. Evelyn realizes that it's up to her to make some money to help her family. Her mother thinks that women working is disgraceful so Evelyn has to hide the fact that she has gotten a job at a bookstore. It's a dusty old bookstore that is disorganized and kind of shabby. Just as Evelyn starts enjoying her job and helping to get things organized, the owner's nephew William shows up in need of a job.

He is a writer who is trying to write a book and has told everyone that he has written a book but has some serious writer's block and just can't get the book written. He knows that his uncle will hire him and is very unhappy to find out that Evelyn already has the job that he wanted. So now we have two people both desperately needing this job to survive but the bookstore can only support one of them.

William and Evelyn decide to have a competition over who can sell the most books and the winner will get the job in the bookstore as their reward. The more time they spend together at the bookshop, the more they become interested in each other. Can they break through their distrust of each other ? Can Evelyn become the muse for the book that William has been trying to write? Will they have a happily ever after?

It's 1956, the war is over and American politicians are working to publicize the names of people who are thought to be members of the Communist party. The Hollywood blacklist was a list of people in the entertainment industry that were ineligible for employment because of their suspected ties to the communist party. A Map to Paradise looks at three women who are struggling to find happiness in their lives despite all that is going on in the world.

Melanie is an actress who had a major role in a hit movie. Her name is on the black list because her co-star in the movie is suspected of being a Communist. They acted like a couple in love to help publicize the movie so she is also a suspect. To keep her safe, her boyfriend makes arrangements for her to live in a house in Malibu, far away from reporters. Melanie wants to go back to acting and doesn't understand why she is unable to work in Hollywood. The only people that she talks to are her cleaning lady, Eva who is an immigrant from war-town Europe and her neighbor Elwood who is a script writer with agoraphobia and lives with his sister in law next door. Early one morning she sees Elwood's sister in law, Jane, digging in his rosebushes. After that she's unable to get him to the phone and she becomes suspicious of Jane. She sends Eva next door to help with the cleaning but wants Eva to find out what's happened to Elwood. Eva wants to keep a low profile because she lied on her entry forms to the US and is fearful of being sent back to Europe.

All three of these women are hiding secrets from the world. In the beginning, they aren't friends - they are individually doing what they can to survive in their worlds. As several secrets come to light, their friendship begins to grow. But can they really trust each other or are they only setting themselves up for trouble?

I really enjoyed this book. All three women were very strong in their own way. Even Melanie who was the most naïve grows as she becomes involved with the other two women. This book is full of suspense - a fire in Malibu, a possible dead body and the black list in Hollywood all add to the story and make it an interesting look at America in the 1950s. I really liked all three female characters but my favorite was Eva who had been through so much in her life and had the most to lose if her secret was revealed.

Be sure to read the Author's Notes at the end of the book to find out more about the author's research into the beginnings of the Cold War and the blacklisting of the early 50s. This was another great book by Susan Meissner.

This beautifully well written novel follows three women in different time periods whose lives have intersected over a book written in Cuba in the early 1900s. Only one copy of the book was printed and someone wants to find it before it goes up for auction.

1900 - Boston and Cuba. Eva is teacher who is sent from Cuba to America during the summer of 1900 to attend and exchange of ideas at Harvard. Her country is trying to become a free country and she wants to do her part to help. She has been working on writing a novel for years and believes that she will have some free time during the summer to work on her book. Then she meets a man who sweeps her off her feet. Instead if spending time on her book, she spends every available minute with him. After the tumultuous outcome of their affair, Eva finally writes her novel hoping that he will read it. That book is what ties all three women together.

1966 Havana. Pilar is a librarian. Life isn't safe in Cuba during this time period. Fidel Castro is in charge and punishing anyone who speaks against him. Pilar should be safe but after her husband was arrested, she began to feel like she was being watched. A friend in her apartment building is getting ready to flee Cuba and brings Pilar a copy of The Lost Story to her in hopes that she can find the author and return the book to her. She is still being watched and someone in the government knows that she is hiding books for people to keep them safe. How much danger is she willing to put herself into by trying to protect the books.

2024 London. Margo owns a company that looks for lost things. When she is hired to find The Lost Story, she isn't sure why the book is important to the person who hired her but begins her search. Soon her life is in danger and she's being followed. She has no idea why this book is important and when someone who was helping her gets killed, she decides that maybe she should stop. Her ex-husband begins to help her but as they get closer to finding the book, the danger to both of them increases.

The story is told in alternating chapters by all three women. The author did a fantastic job and there's no confusion about any of the women and you always know which time period you are in. She also melds all three stories seamlessly for the ending. I not only enjoyed the story but learned a lot about Cuban history while I was reading. This book is another great book from Chanel Cleeton.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but once I got into it I thought it was fantastic. It was a great story about the work behind the scenes to create the first Barbie doll but it also took me down memory lane as I thought about my first Barbie doll. The first doll was sold in March, 1959. I was past playing with baby dolls but that year, my friends and I all HAD to have a Barbie doll. We spent endless hours changing her clothes, combing her hair and making up stories about her life.

Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel Toy company, walked into the board room in 1956 with a doll that she had found in Germany. She wanted to create this doll for America. At first the other members in the meeting were surprised. This wasn't a baby doll like girls were playing with all over the world - this was a woman with real life attributes. They didn't see any way that this doll would be accepted. But Ruth was a strong woman who insisted that they give it a try. She assembled a team to work on the creation of the doll - an engineer who used to work for an aerospace company, clothes designers and engineers started working on what it would take to bring Barbie to the public. This was a totally new design and they ran into a lot of roadblocks but she felt like this was what little girls needed and insisted that they continue to work on the doll. In 1959, the first year of sales, Mattel sold 300,000 Barbie dolls and it became the must-have toy for girls.

I found it so interesting to read about all of the challenges that the team at Mattel faced in bringing the doll to reality. Even after the doll entered the market, there were ups and downs over the years. During the women's movement, the Barbie doll was deemed as bad for teaching young girls the wrong way to handle their futures. Mattel countered by introducing Barbie in many different roles -- as an astronaut, a nurse, a doctor and a pilot to name a few.

Be sure to read the Author's notes at the end of the book. She did significant research on the creation of the Barbie doll at Mattel and she shares a little about the real people in the novel and which characters only existed in her mind. There are also some great pictures of some of the Barbie dolls over the years.

I missed this book when it published last year and after reading all of the great reviews, I knew that I had to read it. I loved it. The writing is beautiful and the characters are well written. This is a book that needs to be read slowly so that you don't miss any of the beautiful writing but you want to read it fast to find out how it ends. It's hard to believe that this was a debut novel for this author. I know it's a book that I won't soon forget.

In July, 1962, a Mi’kmaw family travelled from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick blueberries. This is a trip that they made every year - parents, three sons and two daughters - but this season will have a tragic ending. Ruthie, the 4 year old and the youngest in the family goes missing. The family searched for her and finally called the police who aren't at all interested in the disappearance. Joe, the closest in age to Ruthie is the last person to see her sitting on a rock at the end of the field. Joe blames himself and the loss of his sister affected him for the rest of his life.

This book is told in alternating chapters by Joe from 1962 to the present. He discusses the loss of his sister and the subsequent problems that he has in his life. The alternating chapters are told by Norma - a young girl who lives in Maine. Her chapters mostly take place in present time. As a young girl she felt that he mother was over-protective. she wasn't allowed to play with the children from school and was barely allowed to leave the house. When she got older she was given a bit more freedom but her mother always kept her on a short leash. When she was a child, Norma had vivid dreams about a cabin and a large family. They were so real yet her mother insisted that they were just dreams. as she grows to adult hood, she continued to feel like she doesn't really fit in with her parents. Once her parents die, it's up to her aunt to tell Norma the truth about her past. Norma is over 50 when she finally learns the secrets that her family kept from her.

This novel is about love and loss, families both good and bad and the endearing love between siblings. I highly recommend it if you enjoy well written family sagas full of both sadness and love.

If you are a fan of Anne Tyler, you're going to love this book and it may become your favorite of her books like it did mine. If you haven't read Anne Tyler before, you need to read this. You'll find out how wonderful her storytelling is with wonderful and insightful looks at people - both the good and the flaws.

Gail Baines is having a rough day. Her normal quiet life is imploding. She works at a private school and believed that she would get the job as head of the school when the current one left. When she's informed that she was passed over due to being socially awkward, she leaves her job and goes home. Another problem is that her only daughter is getting married in three days and she hasn't been invited to the spa day with the bridesmaids and the mother of the groom. On top of all that, her ex-husband shows up from out of town with no where to stay plus he has a cat with him that he is trying to get adopted. To say that her placid life has changed to one of confusion and anxiety is putting it mildly. Then things get even worse - her daughter shares a secret with her parents about the groom and insists that she is going to cancel the wedding. Gayle wants to be helpful to her daughter but not intrusive and she agonizes over her daughter's decision as she compares it to her personal reasons for the end of her marriage.

Gail's real decision comes down to what to do with the rest of her life. She's 60 - is it too late to change her career and her life in general?

Gail is a fantastic main character -- quirky, a bit or a worrier - well maybe more than a bit - and a person who likes her life to be calm and planned. Her ex husband is just the opposite - very spontaneous and free. Some of their conversations made me smile and other times I felt like they were being very insightful. This was a fantastic new book by a Pulitzer Prize winner and you don't want to miss it.