GONE GIRL
Written by Gillian Flynn and Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin
Written by Gillian Flynn and Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin
Sometimes it’s hard to know whom you can trust and even harder to know why seemingly perfect marriages fall apart. Author Gillian Flynn takes trust and mistrust to a new level in her chilling new thriller Gone Girl.
When Amy Dunne disappears on her fifth anniversary, her husband, Nick, doesn’t know what to think. Evidence in a shed on his sister’s property and the proximity of the Mississippi River point the finger at him. So does a diary Amy left behind. Nick’s twin sister Margo works hard to support her brother, who’s understandably angry and bitter. Amy’s parents, who created a series of children’s books called Amazing Amy, support Nick until the facts turn against him. The evidence points to Nick, but is he really the killer, or has some unexpected phenomena distorting the facts? In a series of unanticipated surprises, readers will become more confused, amazed, and awe-struck as layers of destructive manipulation are exposed.
Told with a deft sense of plot, character, timing, and destruction, Gone Girl will rivet you at the same time it appalls you. Where is the redeeming factor, you may ask yourself, as keep you turning pages far into the night. Do Amy and Nick deserve each other? Read the book for yourself, and make your own call.
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When Amy Dunne disappears on her fifth anniversary, her husband, Nick, doesn’t know what to think. Evidence in a shed on his sister’s property and the proximity of the Mississippi River point the finger at him. So does a diary Amy left behind. Nick’s twin sister Margo works hard to support her brother, who’s understandably angry and bitter. Amy’s parents, who created a series of children’s books called Amazing Amy, support Nick until the facts turn against him. The evidence points to Nick, but is he really the killer, or has some unexpected phenomena distorting the facts? In a series of unanticipated surprises, readers will become more confused, amazed, and awe-struck as layers of destructive manipulation are exposed.
Told with a deft sense of plot, character, timing, and destruction, Gone Girl will rivet you at the same time it appalls you. Where is the redeeming factor, you may ask yourself, as keep you turning pages far into the night. Do Amy and Nick deserve each other? Read the book for yourself, and make your own call.
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Choosing Slavery Over Freedom
SALLY OF MONTICELLO: FOUNDING MOTHER
Written by N. M. Ledgin and reviewed by Dawn Downey
Written by N. M. Ledgin and reviewed by Dawn Downey
Sally of Monticello, Founding Mother exploded my assumption about the relationship between the slave Sally Hemings and the man who owned her, President Thomas Jefferson. I assumed she was a victim, but this novel proved me wrong.
Fourteen-year-old Sally was sent to Paris to care for the widowed Jefferson (serving as U.S. Minister to France) and his two daughters. Since France did not recognize slavery, she could have remained there as a free woman. In this novel by N. M. Ledgin, she seduced Jefferson and returned to Monticello to remain by his side, choosing slavery over freedom. Love over independence.
Ledgin based his novel on historical documentation (including Jefferson’s memorandum books and family letters) and filled it in with imagination. I liked his version of Sally Hemings: a pragmatic woman who claimed a position of power within the Jefferson household.
Her story came alive for me in the small moments. An early conversation with her mother revealed that Sally looked like a white woman. Clashes with Jefferson’s older daughter suggested the entire state of Virginia suspected a Jefferson/Hemings relationship. Gossip sessions with a free black shop owner let me in on the daily logistics of black-white relations in 1800s Charlottesville. Such scenes put a flesh-and-blood face on a historical controversy.
Sally of Monticello, Founding Mother informed, entertained and challenged me. I highly recommend it, especially to those who love historical fiction and to anyone fascinated by Thomas Jefferson.
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Dawn Downey (dawndowney.com) is an essayist whose work has appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, Skirt! Magazineand Kansas City Voices.
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Fourteen-year-old Sally was sent to Paris to care for the widowed Jefferson (serving as U.S. Minister to France) and his two daughters. Since France did not recognize slavery, she could have remained there as a free woman. In this novel by N. M. Ledgin, she seduced Jefferson and returned to Monticello to remain by his side, choosing slavery over freedom. Love over independence.
Ledgin based his novel on historical documentation (including Jefferson’s memorandum books and family letters) and filled it in with imagination. I liked his version of Sally Hemings: a pragmatic woman who claimed a position of power within the Jefferson household.
Her story came alive for me in the small moments. An early conversation with her mother revealed that Sally looked like a white woman. Clashes with Jefferson’s older daughter suggested the entire state of Virginia suspected a Jefferson/Hemings relationship. Gossip sessions with a free black shop owner let me in on the daily logistics of black-white relations in 1800s Charlottesville. Such scenes put a flesh-and-blood face on a historical controversy.
Sally of Monticello, Founding Mother informed, entertained and challenged me. I highly recommend it, especially to those who love historical fiction and to anyone fascinated by Thomas Jefferson.
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Dawn Downey (dawndowney.com) is an essayist whose work has appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, Skirt! Magazineand Kansas City Voices.
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The Power of Forgiveness
THINGS REMEMBERED
Written by Georgia Bockoven and Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin
Written by Georgia Bockoven and Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin
Can the past be healed? It depends on what happened, who’s involved, and what’s at stake. In Georgia Bockoven’s Things Remembered, Karla brings old angers and a bad attitude with her when she travels to Northern California to help her grandmother, Anna, reconcile her affairs. Despite their estrangement, Karla shows up, because Anna raised her and her two sisters after their parents died without warning in a car accident.
The grandmother, Anna, will go to any length to make amends, make a friend, and help Karla, who is the oldest of the three siblings, find the peace and happiness her mother would have wanted. Karla’s heart opens when she meets a local veterinarian who’s raising his young daughter as a single father. It opens even further as Anna answers questions and offers one olive branch after another in an attempt to correct past mistakes.
The book could be sentimental if it were not so firmly rooted in truths about every family’s needs for forgiveness, acceptance, and hope. Award-winning author Georgia Bockoven has crafted an intense, optimistic story for every woman who’s ever had a faltering relationship with a sister or parent figure.
I was surprised to learn this is a reissue. But why not? Brockoven strikes universal chords that are easy to connect with and encourages us to get over the past and welcome the good things in front of us. Things Remembered is particularly recommended for anyone worn down by family relationships. Perhaps there’s a bit of that in most of us.
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The grandmother, Anna, will go to any length to make amends, make a friend, and help Karla, who is the oldest of the three siblings, find the peace and happiness her mother would have wanted. Karla’s heart opens when she meets a local veterinarian who’s raising his young daughter as a single father. It opens even further as Anna answers questions and offers one olive branch after another in an attempt to correct past mistakes.
The book could be sentimental if it were not so firmly rooted in truths about every family’s needs for forgiveness, acceptance, and hope. Award-winning author Georgia Bockoven has crafted an intense, optimistic story for every woman who’s ever had a faltering relationship with a sister or parent figure.
I was surprised to learn this is a reissue. But why not? Brockoven strikes universal chords that are easy to connect with and encourages us to get over the past and welcome the good things in front of us. Things Remembered is particularly recommended for anyone worn down by family relationships. Perhaps there’s a bit of that in most of us.
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Finding Rhythm and More in Woodcarving
THE LOST CARVING: A JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF MAKING
Written by David Esterly and Reviewed by Aline Soules
Written by David Esterly and Reviewed by Aline Soules
“A fulcrum, dividing into a before and after. Before, you think one way; then something tips, and you think another way.” (p. 218)
The facts are these: David Esterly saw a carving by Grinling Gibbons in a London church, gave up academia, and devoted himself to woodcarving in the heritage of Gibbons, who changed ornamental sculpture in the late 1600s with intricacies of flowers, fruits, and foliage. When fire destroyed a portion of Hampton Court Palace a decade and a half later, Esterly was commissioned to replace the destroyed Gibbons carving. It took a year.
The interior is this: Esterly has found the heart of creativity, in the rhythm of woodcarving, the beauty of the works created first by Gibbons and then by himself, and the challenge of making a work of beauty with precision, art, and craft.
This book is a meditation-on creativity, on discovery, on poetry, on the connection of art and physical work, on vocation, on the sublimation of one’s being to the pursuit of work larger than oneself.
Beginning sentences: “Let’s see, where was I? At the leaves alongside the peony, I guess, just where they fall over the lilac blossom. Two leaves still to do, and some uncomfortable modeling underneath them. Little lilac florets with obstructed access”…”Back to the carving bench, under the window. Clouds streaming in from the west. River gray, like the sky. On the trees on the bank a last few brown leaves hang on for dear life”…”Before me, a chaos of half- finished flowers and leaves and stems, clunkily rising out of a sea of pale wood chips.”
Carvers may be “bringers of shadows, strainers of the while radiance of eternity, wreckers of a smooth plank,” they may “live in a world permeated by error” (p. 238), but they are also creators in a universal sense. What they experience, writers experience, dancers experience, musicians experience, we all experience if we are serious about the art and craft of what we pursue and we can all learn from this book if we make space enough to absorb the wisdom Esterly offers.
Before you read this book, you think one way; after you read it, you will think another.
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Aline Soules is the author of Meditation on Woman
http://www.amaon.com/Meditation-Woman-Aline-Soules/dp/1937536130
Visit her blog: http://alinesoules.wordpress.com
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The facts are these: David Esterly saw a carving by Grinling Gibbons in a London church, gave up academia, and devoted himself to woodcarving in the heritage of Gibbons, who changed ornamental sculpture in the late 1600s with intricacies of flowers, fruits, and foliage. When fire destroyed a portion of Hampton Court Palace a decade and a half later, Esterly was commissioned to replace the destroyed Gibbons carving. It took a year.
The interior is this: Esterly has found the heart of creativity, in the rhythm of woodcarving, the beauty of the works created first by Gibbons and then by himself, and the challenge of making a work of beauty with precision, art, and craft.
This book is a meditation-on creativity, on discovery, on poetry, on the connection of art and physical work, on vocation, on the sublimation of one’s being to the pursuit of work larger than oneself.
Beginning sentences: “Let’s see, where was I? At the leaves alongside the peony, I guess, just where they fall over the lilac blossom. Two leaves still to do, and some uncomfortable modeling underneath them. Little lilac florets with obstructed access”…”Back to the carving bench, under the window. Clouds streaming in from the west. River gray, like the sky. On the trees on the bank a last few brown leaves hang on for dear life”…”Before me, a chaos of half- finished flowers and leaves and stems, clunkily rising out of a sea of pale wood chips.”
Carvers may be “bringers of shadows, strainers of the while radiance of eternity, wreckers of a smooth plank,” they may “live in a world permeated by error” (p. 238), but they are also creators in a universal sense. What they experience, writers experience, dancers experience, musicians experience, we all experience if we are serious about the art and craft of what we pursue and we can all learn from this book if we make space enough to absorb the wisdom Esterly offers.
Before you read this book, you think one way; after you read it, you will think another.
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Aline Soules is the author of Meditation on Woman
http://www.amaon.com/Meditation-Woman-Aline-Soules/dp/1937536130
Visit her blog: http://alinesoules.wordpress.com
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THE BOOK OF JOBS: WHAT STEVE IS DOING ON THE CLOUD
Written by Skye Atman and reviewed by Nanette McGuinness
Written by Skye Atman and reviewed by Nanette McGuinness
Steve Jobs On The Cloud
An entertaining, punny send-up, The Book of Jobs: what Steve is doing on The Cloud gentle fun at one of Silicon Valley's most beloved figures, Apple founder Steve Jobs.
Author Skye Atman keeps her tongue firmly stuck in her cheek as she gathers up icons of mostly 20th century history and pop culture to answer a question that inquiring minds and stalwart Jobs fans have undoubtedly been begging to know and dying to discover: When Steve Jobs left for the afterlife, aka The Cloud, would the afterlife ever be the same?
Without stooping to excessive spoilers-lest I ruin readers’ fun-suffice it to say that in the colorless Cloud that Atman paints of the afterlife (inhabitants have their choice of only black or white, per orders handed down from the Big Guy), Mahatma Gandhi, John Lennon, Martha Graham, Jim Henson, Albert Einstein and a heavenly host of deceased geniuses help ease Jobs’ transition away from life on Earth while he labors assiduously to improve organization up in The Cloud and meet with the Big Guy. Along the way, Jobs gets a "Magical Mystery Tour" "Across the Universe," plans a party, meets Lennon's lovely assistants Lucy, Prudence, Michelle, Eleanor, and Rita, finds out about reincarnation and encounters the goddess Siri.
A charmingly delightful romp of a read.
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Nanette McGuinness has performed opera, oratorio, and concerts on two continents in nine languages; she's also the translator for the wildly successful Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novel series as well as co-director of the chamber music group, the Jewish Music & Poetry Project, and a founding member of the chamger ensemble, Vinaccesi Ensemble. She keeps and occasional blog.
Author Skye Atman keeps her tongue firmly stuck in her cheek as she gathers up icons of mostly 20th century history and pop culture to answer a question that inquiring minds and stalwart Jobs fans have undoubtedly been begging to know and dying to discover: When Steve Jobs left for the afterlife, aka The Cloud, would the afterlife ever be the same?
Without stooping to excessive spoilers-lest I ruin readers’ fun-suffice it to say that in the colorless Cloud that Atman paints of the afterlife (inhabitants have their choice of only black or white, per orders handed down from the Big Guy), Mahatma Gandhi, John Lennon, Martha Graham, Jim Henson, Albert Einstein and a heavenly host of deceased geniuses help ease Jobs’ transition away from life on Earth while he labors assiduously to improve organization up in The Cloud and meet with the Big Guy. Along the way, Jobs gets a "Magical Mystery Tour" "Across the Universe," plans a party, meets Lennon's lovely assistants Lucy, Prudence, Michelle, Eleanor, and Rita, finds out about reincarnation and encounters the goddess Siri.
A charmingly delightful romp of a read.
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Nanette McGuinness has performed opera, oratorio, and concerts on two continents in nine languages; she's also the translator for the wildly successful Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novel series as well as co-director of the chamber music group, the Jewish Music & Poetry Project, and a founding member of the chamger ensemble, Vinaccesi Ensemble. She keeps and occasional blog.
SCARED TO DEATH
Written by Wendy Corsi Staub and Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin
Written by Wendy Corsi Staub and Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin
Paranoia or Reality
Do strange sounds and fluttering shadows make you look over your shoulder? Does paranoia creep into your everyday life? If so, or if you’re a parent, you should read Wendy Corsi Straub’s Scared to Death in which the ordinary and the impossible collide with increasing frequency.
Tension escalates at a fierce pace as two strangers Elsa Cavalon and Marin Quinn fight the feeling that they are being stalked. Marin Quinn’s husband, a politician, went to jail for corruption after an undefined crime. Elsa Cavalon lost her adopted son, Jeremy, when he was seven. How does Jeremy connect the two? Each one is certain that she’s never truly alone. Someone driven by vengeance is always nearby, watching them and their children. The stalker is determined that someone will pay for an incident that altered her life forever.
Wendy Corsi Staub does an outstanding job of weaving her multiple stories together in ever-tightening, suspense-filled scenes. She keeps readers on the edge of their seats with a conflict that is every parent’s nightmare. Evolving twists and turns deepen the mystery, heighten the tension, and keep the reader turning pages.
Although I almost never review the same author twice, I made an exception for Staub. I reviewed a later book, Hell to Pay several issues ago, then found Scared to Death in an old stack of books still waiting for review. I took it with me for its escape value one weekend, and wanted to do nothing but read. By the end of the weekend, I felt compelled to share. Staub is worth watching. Learn more about her multiple genres and prolific work, at http://wendycorsistaub.com/index.html.
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If you’d like to be a Writer Advice reviewer, please contact the editor, B. Lynn Goodwin at lgood67334@comcast.net. Thank you.
Tension escalates at a fierce pace as two strangers Elsa Cavalon and Marin Quinn fight the feeling that they are being stalked. Marin Quinn’s husband, a politician, went to jail for corruption after an undefined crime. Elsa Cavalon lost her adopted son, Jeremy, when he was seven. How does Jeremy connect the two? Each one is certain that she’s never truly alone. Someone driven by vengeance is always nearby, watching them and their children. The stalker is determined that someone will pay for an incident that altered her life forever.
Wendy Corsi Staub does an outstanding job of weaving her multiple stories together in ever-tightening, suspense-filled scenes. She keeps readers on the edge of their seats with a conflict that is every parent’s nightmare. Evolving twists and turns deepen the mystery, heighten the tension, and keep the reader turning pages.
Although I almost never review the same author twice, I made an exception for Staub. I reviewed a later book, Hell to Pay several issues ago, then found Scared to Death in an old stack of books still waiting for review. I took it with me for its escape value one weekend, and wanted to do nothing but read. By the end of the weekend, I felt compelled to share. Staub is worth watching. Learn more about her multiple genres and prolific work, at http://wendycorsistaub.com/index.html.
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If you’d like to be a Writer Advice reviewer, please contact the editor, B. Lynn Goodwin at lgood67334@comcast.net. Thank you.
