The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

Now this is what one would call fiction-lite; nothing too strenuous, extremely entertaining and you manage to learn a little bit about history without having to think too hard. The White Queen of the title is Elizabeth Woodville, wife to Edward IV; the story covers the infamous war of the roses between the red roses of Lancaster and the white roses of York. The sudden marriage between Edward and Elizabeth leads to rumors and gossip at court and causes trouble down the road. George, Edward’s brother, tries to take his power from him and leads to a war pitting brother against brother. Unfortunately, not a lot is known about the specifics of this time period, but Gregory does an excellent job of filling in the blanks with plausible scenarios and she writes a hell of a story to keep you entertained along the way. Plus, as a bit of an Elizabeth I buff, it is always interesting for me to learn more about the history leading up to her reign.

A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve

In A Change In Altitude, we meet Margaret and Patrick, a married couple who are off on a year-long adventure living in Kenya. Shortly after their arrival, they meet a British couple who invites them to move into the guest cottage on their property. A quasi-friendship develops and the two couples make the decision to climb Mount Kenya. But during their ascent, a terrible accident occurs and Margaret and Patrick marriage struggle to overcome the tragedy and keep their marriage intact. One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was the picture it gave me of life in Kenya, both for the expatriates and the local people. The differences are just striking and really make you think about the injustices that so many people must endure.

No Time to Wave Goodbye by Jacquelyn Mitchard

No Time to Wave Goodbye is the sequel to Jacquelyn Mitchard’s 1999 hit, The Deep End of the Ocean and picks up with the Cappadora family 22 years after son Ben was abducted. Miraculously, Ben was found nine years later and while the family struggled to adjust to a new normal, Ben, now known as Sam, has never felt truly at ease with his family. Now that the family is grown, Vincent, the struggling oldest son, has become a filmmaker. His second film is a documentary called “No Time to Wave Goodbye” and focuses on five families whose children have been abducted; but whose outcomes are not as happy as the Cappadora family. For these families don’t have closure – their children were never found, dead or alive. So the exist in a sort of limbo. The film is a success but just as they begin to celebrate, a tragedy strikes their family. A tragedy that they lived through once and barely survived. This is a very moving story and I highly recommend it, although man oh man does Mitchard like torturing this poor family. It will pull on your heartstrings and may even make you cry. It’s a relatively short book and if you’re like me, you’ll have a hard time putting it down.

The Street by Ann Petry

The Street was my book club’s pick for September; the host had decided on a New York theme and had given us several options to choose from and this one won. After finishing this book, I can’t decide if I liked it or not. I definitely liked it up until the end, but found the end vastly unsatisfying. But that may have been Petry’s point; and it’s definitely a good choice for a book club pick since there is a lot to discuss here. Since this book was published in 1946, and is set in 1944, I assume that it speaks the truth about the conditions in Harlem and life for African Americans during that time period. And while I shouldn’t be surprised by some of it, I still kind of was. This is the story of Lutie, a single African American woman struggling to raise her son in Harlem. She is separated from her husband because he cheated on her and the only jobs she can get are menial and pay just enough for her to support her son but with no padding; they can barely save enough to go to the movies occasionally. And Lutie wants more for herself and more importantly, for her son and she’s fighting against a system that is bound and determined to not let her succeed. As I said before, the ending left me cold, it didn’t feel true to the rest of the story, although I won’t spoil it here. That said, it’s a powerful novel and will definitely make you think about injustices that still exist in America today.