Month: March 2018

I stumbled on this book  by accident. It was on a table at our local library sale, and the title caught my eye, so I picked it up. That cover! Astonishing! I had no idea what I was in for.

Whenever I describe the topic of this book to others, I am immediately treated with responses of rebuke or disgust. “I’m not reading that! That’s awful!” But I encourage you to look beyond the ghastliness of the subject matter. I don’t want you to miss out on the experience of the beauty of this book. I am completely ambivalent. I almost wish I had not read it so that I could have remained unaware of this brutality, and yet, I feel like everyone should read it.

Giraffe is a fictionalized, almost journalistic, account of an incident in the 1970s in Czechoslovakia. The largest herd of giraffes ever held in captivity was intentionally slaughtered, though the political reasons are dubious and inconclusive. The author presents the story through the eyes of the different unwilling participants in this drama: a scientist, a female factory worker drawn to the beauty of the giraffes, even the leader of the giraffes, called Snehuka, “Snow White,” for the whiteness of her unspotted belly.

This book is beautiful and horrifying, honest and without sentimentality. The writing is superb. If you can brave the subject matter, you will feel honored for having borne witness to the story.

 

 

 

I love a good ghost story!

1950: at Idlewild Hall, a boarding school for delinquent girls, 4 roommates develop a bond over their shared circumstances. Lurking in the background is the simmering fear of Mary Hand, the ghost that roams the grounds. Mary Hand summons your deepest fears and calls to you to let her in from the cold. If you don’t resist her, you die.

2014 : Journalist Fiona Sheridan is investigating the refurbishment of Idlewild Hall. Why would an eccentric wealthy stranger want to restore this dilapidated building to its former glory? Buried secrets come to light during the renovations that reveal the mysteries of what happened to those four friends back in 1950, and also the real story of what happened to Fiona’s sister, Deb, who was murdered twenty years ago and left on the grounds at Idlewild.

The story moves back and forth in time from 1950 to 2014, the constant presence of the ghost Mary Hand tormenting those who visit Idlewild. The supernatural elements of this story were spooky enough to keep me turning the pages, and the earthly, present-day evils only enhanced the tension. The denouement was a bit far-fetched, but I still enjoyed way everything came together.

There is a lot going on in this book. There is the simmering suspense of Mary Hand, and the author weaves in other plot elements of unsolved murders and disappearances to create a complicated story. I was enthralled from start to finish, and relished the creepy atmosphere of Idlewild Hall.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the advance copy.

The residents of post-WWI Bridgetonne, England, are unnerved by The Hawkman, the town’s most enigmatic indigent. This shabby, filthy recluse is harrassed by the local children and berated by the adults. He doesn’t speak, he bothers no one, and yet, the residents, especially Lord Thornton, want him out.

Miss Eva Williams, an American outsider, has taken a position at the local college under the employ of Lord Thornton. She is challenged by Thornton’s notion that the Hawkman should be gotten rid of in order to ensure the safety of the women of the college; however, her efforts are not what Lord Thornton intended. She shows compassion instead of contempt, and that causes quite an uproar in Bridgetonne.

This book is dreamy and mythical, bordering on magical realism. The backstories of both The Hawkman and Miss Williams are revealed gradually,  interwoven with folklore and dark fairy tales to reinforce the motives of the characters.

I enjoyed this book because of its originality and departure from straightforward historical fiction. The atmosphere was believable and yet mysterious. At times the fairy tales arrived unexpectedly, leading to an abrupt change of narrative, and I didn’t understand the purpose or moral of most of them. Regardless, the writing was illusory and fantastical without sacrificing the sober reality of the effects of war.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Amberjack Publishing for an advance copy in exchange for my review.

In The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore, five girls out with their camp leader on a kayaking and camping excursion. Their leader decides to push the girls even harder, rowing for a farther, more secluded island for camping. No one from camp knows where they went, and no one from camp knows that these girls are stranded and alone. There is a pivotal point in these characters’ lives that changes the course of their adulthoods.

The novel is told in vignettes, back and forth in time from the adolescent girls at Camp Forevermore and then their later adult lives. Each girl’s story is told in turn. Not all the girls’ adult stories seem relevant to the camp incident, but perhaps that’s the point the author is subtly implying: some girls overcome, and some never recover. I appreciated that the characters were not cardboard stereotypes. The girls have different personalities and come from different backgrounds, and that adds to their experience and also to their suffering on the island.

I enjoyed this novel. The writing is intelligent and contemplative. The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore is a story of basest natures coming to the surface when faced with adversity with the follow up of how one trauma can infect people’s minds for the rest of their lives. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.