A Tangled Mercy by Joy Jordan-Lake. "After the sudden death of her troubled mother, struggling Harvard grad student Kate Drayton walks out on her lecture—and her entire New England life. Haunted by unanswered questions and her own uncertain future, she flees to Charleston, South Carolina, the place where her parents met, convinced it holds the key to understanding her fractured family and saving her career in academia. Kate’s attempts to discover what drove her mother’s dangerous obsession with Charleston’s tumultuous history are derailed by a horrific massacre in the very same landmark church where tragic events took place in an 1822 slave revolt. In the unimaginable aftermath, Kate discovers a family she never knew existed as the city unites with a powerful message of hope and forgiveness for the world."
I loved this book. Alternating chapters tell the story in 1822 and its parallel in 2015. The fiction is tied to real events and people in both centuries. The stories in the past and the present are equally compelling and the way they are tied together at the end was beautiful. I listened to the book on Audible and the narration, especially the chapters set in 1822, was quite good. I got a strong sense of place and of the characters. The book provided some thought-provoking situations and difficult decisions that had to be made by the characters.
The Ocean Liner by Marius Gabriel. "Cousins Masha and Rachel Morgenstern board the luxury liner the SS Manhattan bound for New York, desperate to escape the concentration camps that claimed the rest of their family. Among their fellow passengers fleeing the war, each with their own conflicts, secrets and surprises, are the composer Igor Stravinsky, making a new start after a decade of tragedy, and Rose Kennedy, determined to keep her four children, particularly Rosemary, from harm. And then there's young Thomas, a Nazi with a secret. But, under the waves, the Manhattan is being stalked by a German U-boat."
A very gripping novel with a mostly satisfying ending, but also some tragic situations, especially the heartbreaking true story of Rosemary Kennedy, whose intellectual disabilities and strong sex drive were an embarrassment to her family, leading to a lobotomy at age 23, which reduced her mental capacity from that of an 8- to 12-year-old to that of a 2- to 3-year old. It was absolutely horrifying how she was treated by her family.
The other stories, (some of which were based on real people but were much more fictionalized than the Kennedy saga), had happier endings and I thought the book was engrossing and an easy read.
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith. This novel takes us from 1631-37 to 1957-58 to 2000 and back, and forth, and back and forth! We learn about the life of Sara de Vos, the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to Amsterdam's Guild of St. Luke, who defies the expectations of her time and paint a landscape that haunts her memory. In 1957, the painting has been in the owner's family for generations. It is stolen and a young art historian forges a nearly identical fake. In 2000 the forger, now a celebrated art historian and curator, learns that the original and the fake are both on their way to her museum."
Then the real intrigue ensues (along with a little bit of confusion on my part - like when a magician puts a ball under a cap and switches it rapidly with 2 empty caps - where did it end up?!). There's plenty of other drama involving the personal lives of the main characters.
As you may have noticed, I only "review"/post about books I liked, so - needless to say - I liked this book!
I loved this book. Alternating chapters tell the story in 1822 and its parallel in 2015. The fiction is tied to real events and people in both centuries. The stories in the past and the present are equally compelling and the way they are tied together at the end was beautiful. I listened to the book on Audible and the narration, especially the chapters set in 1822, was quite good. I got a strong sense of place and of the characters. The book provided some thought-provoking situations and difficult decisions that had to be made by the characters.
The Ocean Liner by Marius Gabriel. "Cousins Masha and Rachel Morgenstern board the luxury liner the SS Manhattan bound for New York, desperate to escape the concentration camps that claimed the rest of their family. Among their fellow passengers fleeing the war, each with their own conflicts, secrets and surprises, are the composer Igor Stravinsky, making a new start after a decade of tragedy, and Rose Kennedy, determined to keep her four children, particularly Rosemary, from harm. And then there's young Thomas, a Nazi with a secret. But, under the waves, the Manhattan is being stalked by a German U-boat."
A very gripping novel with a mostly satisfying ending, but also some tragic situations, especially the heartbreaking true story of Rosemary Kennedy, whose intellectual disabilities and strong sex drive were an embarrassment to her family, leading to a lobotomy at age 23, which reduced her mental capacity from that of an 8- to 12-year-old to that of a 2- to 3-year old. It was absolutely horrifying how she was treated by her family.
The other stories, (some of which were based on real people but were much more fictionalized than the Kennedy saga), had happier endings and I thought the book was engrossing and an easy read.
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith. This novel takes us from 1631-37 to 1957-58 to 2000 and back, and forth, and back and forth! We learn about the life of Sara de Vos, the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to Amsterdam's Guild of St. Luke, who defies the expectations of her time and paint a landscape that haunts her memory. In 1957, the painting has been in the owner's family for generations. It is stolen and a young art historian forges a nearly identical fake. In 2000 the forger, now a celebrated art historian and curator, learns that the original and the fake are both on their way to her museum."
Then the real intrigue ensues (along with a little bit of confusion on my part - like when a magician puts a ball under a cap and switches it rapidly with 2 empty caps - where did it end up?!). There's plenty of other drama involving the personal lives of the main characters.
As you may have noticed, I only "review"/post about books I liked, so - needless to say - I liked this book!
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