May Bookclub Pick: Leeway Cottage by Beth Gutcheon

Our book club pick for May was Leeway Cottage, a story of a family before, during and after World War 2. Annabelle Sydney Brant grew up summering in Dundee, Maine and was a privileged child. When her father dies, she is left with only her mother, a woman who is overbearing and impossible to please. When she turns 18, Sydney runs away to Manhattan to pursue a singing career and it is there that she meets the famous Danish pianist, Laurus Moss. The two fall in love and are married but before they can settle too completely into married life, the world is upended by WW2. Feeling impotent and fearing for his family, Laurus leaves the US to help lead the Danish resistance from London. During the separation, Sydney gives birth to their first child, Eleanor, and continues to live her life, partying with friends, summering in Dundee and increasingly indifferent to the war, while in Europe, Laurus’ family escapes Denmark for Sweden. Despite their differences, the time apart doesn’t seem to estrange Laurus and Sydney; their relationship survives and even flourishes. Post war, their lives pick back up where they left off – wintering in Manhattan and summering in Dundee. I enjoyed seeing the progression of Sydney’s character throughout the book; she matures from the young, pampered Annabee, to the hippie Sydney, to the young mother; and all the while, clashing with her mother, Candice. Yet, perhaps not surprisingly, as Sydney ages, she becomes more and more like her mother and seems unable to stop herself. This novel also explores deeply the Danish resitstance to the Nazi occupation and I, for one, was amazed at what they were able to accomplish; due to their actions, the Danish people were able to save all but 500 of the Jews living in Denmark during the war.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Sarah's Key is the story of the Vel d’Hiv roundup in Paris, in which thousands of Jewish families were arrested and held at the Velodrome d’Hiver before being transported to Auschwitz by, and this is the most important piece of the puzzle, the French police. This was not done by the Germans or the SS or anything like that, this was perpetrated by the French, on the French. The saddest thing  about the Vel d’Hiv roundup is that the majority of those taken were children; and of all of those sent to Auschwitz, none survived. This story is historical fiction – the Vel d’Hiv roundup did occur, however, the characters in this novel are the creation of the author. The main characters in this story are two women in two different time periods. Sarah Starzynski is a 10-year old at the time of the roundup and is taken with her mother and father to Vel d’Hiv, and then to a holding camp outside Paris. Shortly thereafter, the children are separated from their parents and left at the camp, while the adults are sent to Auschwitz. Julia Jarmond is an American writer who lives in Paris and is assigned to write an article commemorating the 60^th anniversary of Vel d’Hiv and becomes consumed by it as she delves deeper into the event. She also uncovers the shocking history of the apartment owned by her husband’s family. As her own life becomes more complicated she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to Sarah. This is a decent WWII novel; nothing amazing, but nothing bad. I did enjoy reading about Vel d’Hiv, which I had never heard of before, but I also felt some of it was a bit much. And I enjoyed Sarah’s story more than Julia’s, but perhaps that’s because I just love historical fiction so much. 

Come Back: A Mother and Daughter’s Journey Through Hell and Back by Claire and Mia Fontaine

Claire Fontaine has great life; a successful career as a screenwriter, a wonderfully supportive husband, Paul, and a bright happy 15 year old, Mia. Until the day Mia ran away with a Wiccan friend, leaving a note telling her parents not to worry, “I have a Swiss army knife and mace.” Mia is quickly found but has spiraled quickly downward, becoming addicted to drugs and self mutilation. Sent to live with Claire’s sister in Indiana, her spiral continues and her drug use intensifies. Finally, her parents make the decision to send her to Morava Academy in the Czech Republic, a quasi-military institution where the teens aren’t allowed to speak and are strictly monitored. There, Mia finally begins to come to terms with the abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her biological father. Back home, Claire and Paul undergo their own transformation, participating in their own form of group therapy to learn how to deal with Mia when she gets out. This story is told in alternating narratives from both Claire and Mia’s perspectives and is both uplifting and depressing. You feel for both Mia and Claire and understand how a parent can be driven to do this to their own child; yet when you see the outcome, you can’t help but realize it was for the best. I believe I read somewhere that the two were forced to write under a pseudonym for privacy reasons – the biological father is a New England blueblood – but you can feel how real this story is. I literally couldn’t put it down. For more info, click here. 

The Associate by John Grisham

I wasn’t eagerly looking forward to John Grisham’s newest novel but I also usually enjoy him so when The Associate came into the library, I grabbed it for a weekend read. It is typical Grisham and semi-formulaic, but still enjoyable. This is the story of Yale Law student named Kyle McAvoy who dreams of going into public service until he is blackmailed over a 5-year old rape charge. The blackmailers pressure Kyle into giving up his public service job and into joining a prestigious law firm. This is all so he can steal secrets related to a large lawsuit, and turn them over to the rival firm, or so he’s told. Most of the law stuff rings true, although since I’m not a lawyer, I can’t vouch for it completely, although there are a few exceptions; most notably, that the file room for the case would be locked from 10:00 pm – 6:00 am. But while this isn’t Grisham’s finest, it will keep you entertained for a few hours; and you’ll be glad you didn’t suffer through being an associate yourself.

Looking forward to September

Big news on the new release front - two good authors have books coming out in September. I realize it's still four months away but that's OK, it's still nice to have something to look forward to!

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon: This will be book 7 in her Outlander series and should be setting up the next, and final, book. This book takes place in 1777 and while Jamie and Claire know that the Americans will win the Revolutionary War, they don't know what the cost to their family will be. And knowing the outcome doesn't guarantee survival.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown: This is the eagerly anticipated follow up novel to The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons. Robert Langdon is back again and apparently the entire course of this novel takes place in 12 hours. No other details are available yet but I am sure that will change as we get close to September. 

The Baroness is Away

I'm on vacation for the next two weeks so there will be no reviews. Look for more the last week in April. Until then - happy reading!

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane

The Given Day was my first Dennis Lehane book – I saw Mystic River when they  made it into a movie, but hadn’t read any of his books, despite the great word of mouth. But I happened to pick this one up from the library the other day and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It’s historical fiction, which probably added to my enjoyment, and takes place during the end of WWI. Most of the book is set in Boston and Lehane successfully interweaves the stories of Babe Ruth, before he was traded to the Yankees; Luther Lawrence, a black man who finds himself in trouble wherever he is, yet still manages to beat Babe at baseball and befriend a white cop; and Danny Coughlin, a beat cop and son of a Captain in the Boston PD, who gets involved with unionizing the BPD. The narrative is told in distinct parts that slowly interweave and become increasingly important to each other. One of the things that amazed me the most was the deplorable working conditions that the BPD were forced to endure – they were paid below the poverty level for years and when they tried to unionize to get a fair wage, they were systematically suspended or fired for being “Bolsheviks.” It’s both interesting to see how far we’ve come as a country, and depressing to see how some things will never change. This is a big book, clocking in at 720 pages, but definitely worth the time.