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Reviews by PhyllisE

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In Five Years
by Rebecca Serle

A story of best girlfriend friendship, not a romance (5/26/2022)

Thanks to Atria Paperback/Simon and Schuster Publishers for a gifted copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

This 3.5 star book had a lot of buzz when it first came out in 2020. I received a gifted copy from the publisher in 2021 but just recently read it in May 2022. I …more

French Braid: A novel
by Anne Tyler

Brilliantly written family portrait (3/25/2022)

Thanks to NetGalley & Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

I couldn't wait for this latest title of Anne Tyler's. I've read and enjoyed almost all of her books, and this one was just as wonderful as …more the others. As usual, it's about a family - starting in 1959 when the Garretts take a family vacation and continuing to the present. Parents, children, grandchildren. There are many characters, but I didn't have trouble keeping track of them as the names and personalities were distinct and memorable. Once more, Tyler writes expertly of family relationships - children and their parents, and those children grow up to become parents themselves and then grandparents. For instance, it was sweet to read about David as a grandfather, and remember when he had been first a child with his toys and songs, then a college student bringing home a girlfriend, and then also as a parent. When his son Nicholas and young grandson Benny return home during the pandemic, I marveled along with David at how Benny was so similar to the young David.

But don't expect this to be an overwrought, epic, multi-generational saga. This 256-page novel features only the significant conversations, actions, and thoughts of the various characters. Yet when I finished reading it I felt that I knew exactly what Tyler was trying to convey, as Greta explains, "So this is how it works...this is what families do for each other - hide a few uncomfortable truths, allow a few self-deceptions. Little kindnesses...and little cruelties."

No one can write about family dynamics like Tyler. How people really interact with each other. What they think, what they say, and actually do. As one character notes, "Oh, the lengths this family would go to so as not to spoil the picture of how things were supposed to be!"

Some people complain that Tyler's books don't have a plot, but they're missing the point of her brilliant writing. "French Braid," like her other novels, is a family portrait containing insightful observations, portraying their relationships with each other, the love and the irritations, the miscommunications and misunderstandings. And it's Tyler's observations, descriptions, and what she chooses to focus on that make this another amazing book that I highly recommend. (less)

The Magnolia Palace: A Novel
by Fiona Davis

Captivating historical fiction with a mystery (2/13/2022)

Thanks to Penguin Group Dutton & NetGalley for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own. #TheMagnoliaPalace #NetGalley

I have never been disappointed by anything I've ready by Fiona Davis and her newest novel stands up to my expectations. It …more is a dual timeline (1919 and 1966) with a strong, independent women in each period, plus a variety of memorable characters and a mystery. The storylines come together at the end of the novel in a very satisfying conclusion.

Davis says in her Author's Note how she "likes to layer a fictional story over the scaffolding of historical facts," and she has done so quite cleverly in The Magnolia Palace. The palace itself was the home of the immensely wealthy Frick family and is today's Frick Collection, a world famous art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection features Old Master paintings and European fine and decorative arts, including works by Bellini, Fragonard, Goya, Rembrandt, Turner, Velázquez, Vermeer, and many others.

We are introduced to the Collection and the Frick family in 1919 through Lillian Carter, or as she was known at the time, Angelica the artists' muse. Through a fortunate misunderstanding, she is hired as Helen Frick's personal assistant and moves into the Fricks' home. This works out well for her since she needs to keep a low profile due to being a murder suspect, which is another misunderstanding. The alternate timeline is 1966, and features British fashion model Veronica Weber, who inadvertently finds herself locked in the museum with a museum intern during a snowstorm.

Both of the young female main characters are models with unstable financial situations, without anyone to depend on other than themselves. And on top of that Lillian is falsely suspected of murder. Whether 1919 or 1966, both women have precarious social standings, but the pair ultimately demonstrate integrity when faced with the opportunity to be dishonest and deceitful.

Davis does an excellent job in describing the Fricks' style of living: the clothes, the food, the music, and the classes - as well as the art, of course. But it is ultimately the characters that make the book so readable. I had trouble putting it down as I became involved in Lillian's predicament of being so entrenched in the Frick family instead of following her dream of being a Hollywood star. By introducing Veronica's story, Davis has the opportunity to explain what really happened back in 1919. But alternating between the two women's narratives creates a delicious tension that kept me turning the pages. (less)

Black Cake: A Novel
by Charmaine Wilkerson

Skillfully plotted and beautifully written (2/6/2022)

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books & NetGalley for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

This debut was definitely in the "amazing" category and worth all of its 5 stars! It's a story of family, identity, and …more

Beautiful Little Fools: A Novel
by Jillian Cantor

Amazing historical/fiction page-turner! (1/21/2022)

Thanks to the Book Club Cookbook Galley Match program & Harper Perennial for an advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard about the concept: The Great Gatsby is reimagined and told from the points of view of …more Daisy Buchanan and two other women from the classic novel. But I was blown away by this amazing historical fiction/mystery and can't stop thinking about the clever premise and how well author Jillian Cantor told the stories of these women. She incorporates the action and characters from F. Scott Fitzgerald's well-known story, but in this version the women are cast sympathetically, with much more description of their lives. They are portrayed as likeable, independent, intelligent, and strong, within the constraints of the 1920's. Additionally, Cantor successfully captures the style and tone of the 1925 novel with vivid cultural details: the cars, the clothes, the drinks, the jewelry, and the lifestyles.

Just a short summary of the plot from the book jacket: "On a sultry August day in 1922, Jay Gatsby is shot dead in his West Egg swimming pool. To the police, it appears to be an open-and-shut case of murder/suicide when the body of George Wilson, a local mechanic, is found in the woods nearby. Then a diamond hairpin is discovered in the bushes by the pool, and three women fall under suspicion. Each holds a key that can unlock the truth to the mysterious life and death of this enigmatic millionaire.

"Their stories unfold in the years leading up to that fateful summer of 1922, when all three of their lives are on the brink of unraveling. Each woman is pulled deeper into Jay Gatsby’s romantic obsession, with devastating consequences for all of them."

Cantor says this can be read as a companion to The Great Gatsby, or on its own as I'm sure most people will read it. I had read Gatsby years ago in an English Lit university course, so I reread it last November, knowing I would read Fools in January. With the original fresh in my mind I was amazed at how this novel fit so well with Gatsby, almost like a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces making the story complete. Most of the women in my book group hadn't read Gatsby recently, and they felt the novel was totally readable as a standalone.

I highly recommend this fascinating novel, which Cantor describes as "an exploration of the interior lives of women, their struggles, their triumphs, and most of all, their secrets." (less)

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