Here’s another book review for all of you, any of you, who might actually be reading. Enjoy. This book took me by surprise, a fun and wonderful surprise.

Book Review Wellesley Wives

When this book opens, we meet four very different women, who are all part of the Wellesley scene with wealth, expensive homes, jewels, cars, etc. Popsy, the one I would consider the main character, though the book switches points of view between the four, is married to Peter, and they’ve had a long happy marriage. Her two daughters, Lily and Rosie, and Sandra, Popsy’s best friend, married to Peter’s business partner make up the rest of the quartet of women. They seem to have everything anyone could want. And then, one by one, for various reasons, their lives fall apart, beginning with the news that the business is going bankrupt. Through adversity and trials, losing money, a husband’s unfaithfulness, another husband’s desire to try swinging and some shocking revelations about one of the other women, you wonder if and how they will survive. And if they do, will love and friendship remain?
When I began the book, I wasn’t sure I would like it. But Popsy is such an engaging character, warm and accepting, loyal and unflappable, and I wanted to know what would happen to her. I was glad I stuck it out, because as their lives unfold, we see how these four women do more than merely survive. They grow; they adjust; they triumph. Each woman, in herself and through the support of the others, becomes stronger, finds something in herself she probably didn’t even know was there. Their lives are a journey in this story, and each of them took me along for the trip, and damn, was I ever glad to go.
So, I started out early in the story not sure if I would end up caring about these women to rooting for them and cheering at the end. I went from only liking Popsy to caring deeply about each woman. For me, the power of a book is in its characters. And in these four Wellesley wives, I met four unique and interesting women, not always perfect, not always wonderful, but oh so very human and believable, four women I’d be proud to call my friends. I was sad when the book ended, and I still think about them and wonder what they’re doing, imagining them as they continue on their fictional life paths. And I’m still cheering for them all the way.

By Suzy Duffy

Recently, I was given the great privilege of reading this book, and I’ve been so excited for today to arrive, the day I would get to post my review of the book and interview with the author, Emma Elliot. I ask her about favorite authors, and when I read her answer, I had to smile, knowing how well her wonderful book fits with the stories her favorite author wrote. Read on for my review and the interview. Don’t miss the chance to read, A Thin, Dark Line!

A Thin, Dark Line
By Emma Elliot

I didn’t expect to get drawn into this story and completely lost in it from the first paragraph, but that’s exactly what happened to me.
In the beginning, when we meet Eloise, the main character, and see her interact with her best friend’s family, I knew I was going to love the story. The characters felt like people I could know, warm, welcoming, quirky at times and loving. Well, the good guys, at least. I come from a large family, and many of the scenes with eloise among her circle of friends reminded me of some of the happier memories of times with my family.
When eloise hires Cormac O’Malley, just out of a fifteen-year prison term, to work for her as a handyman, her action raises ire among the people in the small town. She is harassed and threatened, and in one scene, my fists were clenched, heart racing and stomach in knots, for fear of what was going to happen. I kept repeating in my head, “It’s gonna be all right; it’s gonna be all right.” I think I even held my breath till the scene was over!
And Cormac, what can I say, from the moment he appears on the scene, I liked him. There was something about him, a gentle spirit, that spoke to my heart, even though he was jumpy and defensive, expecting the negative reactions he’d get from people, unable to recognize acceptance in the beginning. I haven’t felt so strongly the need to cheer for a male fictional character in a long time, but more than anything, I wanted cormac to succeed, to be proven to be innocent of the crimes happening since his release. I wanted Cormac and eloise to fall in love and to live happily ever after.
In this story, there are good guys and bad guys, and guys who should be good but aren’t, and some who don’t do good things but you understand why. Eloise’s circle, her best friend’s family including two adorable little boys, her cousin and his life partner, the glorious family who own the local pizza joint, even the library helper who blinks all the time, combine to make a believable real life type of cast of characters. While the action and mystery kept me guessing and angry and at times, scared out of my wits.
When it was over, I was fully and deeply satisfied, even as I wanted more of it, just a few more pages of time to spend with characters I had come to love.
I am a book rereader. I often reread books I’ve loved, and I know this book will join that list, because I just couldn’t get enough. And though I had an Advanced Reader copy of the book, I’ll be buying it first thing the day it is released! I know I’ll want to visit this fictional group of people who became a family of sorts to my heart.

Here are my questions and answers. Read on and get acquainted with a fascinating woman.

Interview with Emma Elliot
1. Your characters are brilliant, vividly drawn. They feel alive. Are any of them based on real people in your life?

Thank you! I’d hoped they would all come across as someone with whom you could carry on a conversation if you were to reach for the same novel at the bookstore or sit next to them on a train. They certainly felt that way to me. I’m sure several share characteristics with people I know, but only the boys are consciously patterned after someone in my life.

2. I find suspense somewhat nerve-racking to write. How did you write your suspense and action? Did you sit down and plot it out carefully, or did you just know what you wanted and started writing with it all falling into place, or something in the middle?

I’m such a type A personality in every respect, but strangely enough I find that I cannot be so strict with myself when it comes to writing. I can’t plot, save for in the loosest idea of the term, or outline, else I find myself feeling stifled. I have an idea of the direction in which I wish to take things—whether the characters allow me to or not is a different story—but I generally just sit down and put pen to paper without too much forethought. Of course, then I go back through once I’ve finished a scene and revise, tighten, and tweak.

3. I’m always interested in settings. Why did you choose to have Eloise be a librarian?

I have an undeniable love affair with books. I’ll admit I have the Kindle app on my phone, but nothing compares to a tangible reading experience. Being a librarian has always been one of my top five dream jobs, and Eloise showed up in my head in her library. She was never anything but.

4. Do you have a favorite author, or an author who inspires you?

Mary Stewart is my absolute favorite author in this era of fiction writing. I love all of her books: her seamless blending of subtle, classy romance and breathless suspense; the rich descriptiveness of places, so much so that the settings are entities unto themselves; the strong secondary characters. I wrote her a letter once—she’s in her nineties now—and she replied with a handwritten note. I have it framed. I would love to sit in her garden with her and talk over a cup of tea.

5. Have you always written or wanted to write?

Truthfully, I cannot remember a time when I didn’t want to write. I have loved words from the time I realized that scribbles on a page were connected and, when grouped together with skill and imagination, could form worlds and lives, love and loss, magic and music and something able to transport and uplift and broaden the scope of our existence. I think there is little as powerful as story. History has shown that with the tradition of tales told and recorded throughout the ages. If there is anything that connects all of humanity, it is our love of stories. And it’s been a lifelong dream to count myself as a storyteller.

6. What’s your favorite book, or if you’re like me and can’t pick just one, tell me a couple of them. Did those books affect the direction you went with your own writing?

If I have to choose an absolute favorite book, it would be “The Night Country,” by Loren Eiseley. The book is a collection of archeological/anthropological essays, which sounds dry, but it is a brilliant, poetic pondering of the nature of man. For me, the book reiterates the lyricism of language, and that, as a storyteller, one can make even a desert-ravaged carcass beautiful.

7. Can I have pizza at the restaurant with the whole gang? I want to meet Eloise, and Cormac, and the kids and all their extended friends and family!

I’ll put a word in, so Fiona will be sure to have a fresh batch of zeppoli made just for you. And I’m certain if you asked, Eloise wouldn’t mind baking some brownies.

My Tribute to a Hero
Neil Armstrong

By now, everyone must know that Neil died today. He was eighty-two. Can you believe it? I can still remember where I was when he took those first steps on the surface of the moon. I was at camp, yeah, a camp for blind kids in California. The camp directors had gone and rented two TV’s for the event, and they said they got some funny looks from the store when the sales people heard they were renting it for a camp full of blind kids. But we were there, spellbound, listening with all our might for those first words from another world.

I was just about twelve at that time, and my head and heart were all caught up in the Beatles, Credence Clearwater Revival, wishing I was old enough to protest the war in Vietnam, peace signs and incense. and, starting junior high! I wasn’t completely wrapped up in the space program back then, except to marvel at what they had done. Wow, Man, someone had walked on the moon! Far Out!!! “really far out” as my dad would have teased.

I became interested in the space program about fifteen or twenty years ago. I’ve read all I can get my hands on, own the movies, and as I said earlier today, Apollo 13 is one of my favorite movies. It’s in the top five actually. And now I wonder, when did we lose it, humankind’s love of exploration? Will we never venture farther than earth orbit again? Is there anyone to dream big enough to start the movement back to space? Will I die before that happens? Now that I’m old enough and fascinated enough to be eager for it, where are those who will dream the dream, those who will make it happen and those who will go? Where are the leaders who will put their hearts and effort behind it?

For one moment in time, the entire world was united in wonder, as Neil Armstrong talked about small steps and giant leaps. What will unite us again? In wonder and excitement, not in sorrow and dismay?

Where do I sign up? If they want fifty-four-year-old, blind with other disabilities volunteers, where do I sign up? Beam me up, Scotty, I want to go! Even if it’s just from the comfort of my living room and my imagination.

I think I’ll take a break from my marathon of old west wing episodes and have a star trek marathon tonight in honor of Neil Armstrong and all the real heroes of space.

God speed Neil Armstrong.

Book Review
Waiting on Hope
By T.M. Souders

I’ve had this book on my kindle for quite a while now, and I’ve seen many raves for it on twitter, so I decided to give it a shot. It was a sometimes painful but ultimately beautiful story.
As the book begins, Lexie is standing on her balcony, trying to make herself jump, very much at the edge of committing suicide. Only the fortunate arrival of her best friend, pounding on her door, prevents Lexie from taking the jump.
We learn very early on in the story, that Lexie was raped by her best friend’s husband a couple months before the book opens. She has not spoken of it to anyone, but she is broken and traumatized. When she realizes she is pregnant, as a result of the assault, she drops everything and gets in her car to head home to her parents’ farm. She plans to live there, till she has the baby, and then she will give the child up for adoption and try to go back to her life. But as in real life, things don’t always turn out the way we plan.
The rest of the book deals with Lexie’s healing, everything from a less than compassionate and sympathetic male obstetrician, to a wonderful understanding therapist, to putting her relationships with her parents, brother and high school sweetheart back together and building a new life right there.
This book made me cry several times. Lexie’s journey of recovery is often so painful to read, her emotions and devastation raw and realistic. But it is ultimately a story of love and healing that speaks to the heart of anyone.
My only problem with the story was that everyone in her life seemed to be guilting her over Lexie’s plan to give her child up for adoption. Her mother constantly goes on and on about her grandchild. Her father and sweetheart make their own comments. What Lexie ends up doing I’ll leave for the reader to discover. I loved how it turned out, but I wanted to knock heads together often. It’s a perfectly reasonable thing for a woman to want to give up a child who was conceived from rape, and the way people around her tried to convince Lexie to do something different broke my heart. None of them were walking in her shoes, after all.
But beyond that, the whole book was realistic, painful but triumphant. Lexie is an incredible character, with depth and strength I admired. I rooted for her from word one and rejoiced and cheered in my heart for her successes. The book will live with me for a long time.

Why else do I have a blog like this if not to write about me and my life?

My biggest issues right now is that my sleep patterns during the week suck beyond measure! i wake up at three AM or before, but I don’t have to start work till 7_30. i’m so exhausted, I’m falling asleep on my couch after work, which doesn’t help the cycle of insomnia at all, of course.

I’ve been stuck on chapter 23 of Haven for nearly three weeks. I finally started it over completely, and it’s flowing better, but the exhaustion doesn’t help me concentrate when I try to write.

last night I took an over the counter sleep aid, and i could hardly sleep in spite of it. I worke often, and finally, in desperation, I got up and came out to try to sleep on my couch. i still tossed and turned, eventually falling asleep for another half an hour, before right on time at three, I woke up, wide awake. I’ve got to do something about this! Ugh.

on top of that, my rent is going up $75 starting October, unless I don’t sign another lease, and I do not know how I am going to cope with that increase. I live up to the very last dollar as it is. Sigh. I’m nearly fifty-five,a nd i’m still not ahead of things.

ok, ok, enough bitching.

On a happy note, I’m getting my hair cut and colored tomorrow which will make me feel good and will get me out of the house. working from home is nice, but the downside is not getting out and socializing.

Need to think about breakfast now. i’ll be posting a new book review here in a few minutes. enjoy.

Ghostwriter, by Lissa Bryan

This is the story of Sarah Howell, a struggling ghostwriter, who as the book begins has recently had a break up with her boyfriend and is struggling to write the autobiography of a politician. While searching for a new apartment, she is invited to look at the home for rent on a small island, an island where she will be the only resident. She discovers this is the actual home where her favorite author, Seth Fortner, lived and died, and she jumps at the chance to live there. She enjoys her quiet solitary life, until some strange things begin to happen.
I am addicted to stories that take place on islands. And I still love the gothic novel, stories that often take place in big lonely houses in isolated locations, so I was thrilled at the chance to read this. I just about squealed and rubbed my hands together with pure glee, when I realized we’d get to visit that house on that island. And I was not disappointed!
The first time Sarah’s picture of the famous author flies off the wall, where it had been hung securely, I almost jumped out of my seat! The series of events that follow, events which frighten Sarah but don’t push her away from the house and the island are in the best sort of ghost or gothic stories tradition. Is there a ghost in the old house, or is there a living person trying to get Sarah to leave?
This story had me spellbound, a little nervous, looking over my shoulder and listening for strange sounds and eager for the outcome. Even when I thought I’d realized what was happening, I couldn’t stop reading and wanted more. And every time I thought I knew what was coming, I didn’t. The details from Seth’s letters of his time in World War I were fascinating and added to the richness of the story. Sarah’s friendship with an unlikely character, the main relationship of the story, at first had me thinking, “What?” and then warmed and delighted me. I love stories about friendship. The strength of such a bond is one of the most interesting things to me, and if that friendship can move to love that’s the best.
The ending both surprised me and yet I felt it was actually right for the story and the characters.
This book is really about characters, Sarah, Seth the author, the others who come and go in her life. They are strong, well-drawn people. You come away feeling you know them and wishing you could. I wanted to be able to read Seth’s books, visit the island and punch the ex-boyfriend in the nose!
A truly wonderful story!