Books Completed (One book completed since my last update, a total of 11 for the month. That'll probably be my last book for October, although you never know)
"I've read other books by Evelyn Piper, Bunny Lake is Missing and The Nanny, both because I'd seen the movies and realized that they were books as well. I've searched for others of her books and finally found The Motive, also published as Death of a Nymph. It was originally published in 1950.
I liked it and I didn't like it. I'll start there.
Joseph (Joey) Anton, a writer, currently working in LA, hears that Shirly, who he rooms with back in New York, has been found murdered in a park near her apartment building. John decides to go back to see what happened. He inherits her dog, Stinky as he calls it. Shirley was taking Stinky out for his nightly walk when she was killed.
The story jumps from one character to another and is quite a psychological mystery. We tend to see more of what they are thinking than actual action.
Tidbits - We see Shirley before her murder, walking in the park. A man is sitting on the park bench she uses. She recognizes actor, Gavin More, and invites him to stay in her spare room (John's actually) rather than on the park bench. It's after this that she is murdered.
There is Leo, a Jewish poet, married to Mary Day, his one time nurse. Leo survived the concentration camps and believes that Mary Day, murdered Shirley. Mary Day has disappeared. Leo is desperate. Gavin tells Leo that he will find Mary Day. Leo gives Gavin a doll of Mary Day's to prove to her that Gavin is helping him.
There is Jane Greer, a friend from their school days of Shirley, who persuades Joey to read her manuscript, a biography. Is it related to the murder?
It's a rambling story that exists mainly in people's thoughts, which makes it both interesting and frustrating. For a short book, it was a relatively slow read. But as the story gets into the crucial moments, the pace picks up and all these loosely related (seemingly) events start to tie together in a neat way.
It's an interesting story. Joey is a smart man who is reluctant to get involved but finds himself almost inexorably drawn more and more into the mystery. How everything ties together seems far fetched but also leaves you, thinking, yeah, that was neat. One of those books I'm unsure how to rate. (2.5 stars) "
Currently Reading (one of my new arrivals made it as my next read)
"As with her most recent publications, Wrong Norma is a facsimile edition of the original hand-designed book, drawn and annotated by the author. Several of the twenty-five startling poetic prose pieces have appeared in magazines and journals like The New Yorker and The Paris Review.
Anne Carson is probably our most celebrated living poet, winner of countless awards and routinely tipped for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Famously reticent, asking that her books be published without cover copy, she has agreed to say this: "Wrong Norma is a collection of writings about different things, like Joseph Conrad, Guantánamo, Flaubert, snow, poverty, Roget's Thesaurus, my Dad, Saturday night, Sokrates, writing sonnets, forensics, encounters with lovers, the word 'idea', the feet of Jesus, and Russian thugs. The pieces are not linked. That's why I've called them 'wrong'."
Inspector Mallett's stay at the country house hotel of Pendlebury Old Hall has been a disappointment. Room, food and service have been a letdown and he eagerly anticipates the end of his holiday.
His last trial is to sit and listen as the hotel boor, whose family once owned the house, sits down at his table. The next day the man is dead and Mallett unwittingly finds himself investigating the suspicious 'suicide'."
Spain at the time of the dreaded Inquisition. Catalina, a destitute cripple, has been promised a miraculous cure but she becomes the centre of a storm of religious and political intrigue…
Maugham is, as always, a master story-teller and here he brings a terrible and troubled time vividly to life."
After a week of no communication Daniel finally returns, bruised and battered from a run-in with a so-called messiah. But disturbing things are also happening close to home. Juliette Lefebvre, the owner of Heavenly Pleasures and maker of the most gorgeous chocolates in town, is distraught. Someone is spiking her very expensive chocolates. Is it an elaborate and horrible joke, or is it a warning that worse may yet happen?"
Attending a rigid French school in 1940s Casablanca, a teenage girl is barred from ever questioning the dogma she is taught to believe—her punishment for doing so will be as swift as it is shocking.
Locked in a loveless marriage in the Belgian bourgeoisie, a young woman satisfies her husband's desires, twice weekly, as required. She has not yet thought to pursue her own.
These novellas—the first works by Jacqueline Harpman to arrive in English in decades—reveal her incredible stylistic range and demonstrate once more her penetrating psychological insight. Here we find the origins of a singular, relentless voice."
Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father’s daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother’s son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out.
Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That’s a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger."
When an off-site company retreat meant to promote mindfulness and collaboration goes utterly wrong when an avalanche hits, the corporate food chain becomes irrelevant and survival trumps togetherness. Come Monday morning, how many members short will the team be?"
Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairy tales and cautionary stories.
But real life doesn't always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds."
The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.
The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge
Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling."
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