Ashton Hall by Lauren Belfer

  Ashton Hall by Lauren Belfer. Ballantine Books (an imprint of Random House), 2022 Adult fiction.

I admit I picked this book up at the library thinking it looked like the Phyllis Whitney and Victoria Holt titles I read in high school summers. What a surprise! Belfer takes the old stereotypes and stands them on their heads in this contemporary tale.

Hannah Larson and her nine-year-old son Nicky travel to Ashton Hall to visit her elderly family friend, Christopher. Her husband, Kevin, is a lawyer in New York. Their marriage has struggled, somewhat due to Nicky's health problems. Nicky acts out, curses, and can be violent. At other times, he is the darling child of everyone's dreams. Elderly Christopher Eckersley soon finds that better treatments are in America rather than Cambridge and he leaves them in the capable hands of the hall's other staff and occupants.

Things take a mysterious turn when Nicky finds the bones of an Elizabethan woman in an unoccupied wing of the vast mansion. When Hannah uses her research skills to learn more about the former occupants of the hall, she goes into a rabbit hole that provides more questions than answers. Religious and political matters greatly influenced the times and the occupants of great houses across England including Ashton Hall.

Belfer is certainly masterful in the red herrings she provides and the details about neurodiverse children, differences between very British terms and American ones, and the conclusions her characters surmise about the past and the present for women. There's feminism, history, romance, and mystery all wrapped up in one book...a great summer read! 

The Mayfair Bookshop: A Novel of Anacy Mitford and The Pursuit of Happiness

 

 The Mayfair Bookshop: A Novel of Anacy Mitford and The Pursuit of Happiness by Eliza Knight. William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, 2022.

Historical fiction.

Lucy St. Clair is an American working temporarily in present day London in a historic, prestigious bookshop. She has lost her mother and is struggling with her grief. She also has a first edition of one of the real Nancy Mitford's works. In her quest to find out more about Mitford and the book's mysterious inscription, Lucy finds connections between the author and herself. The novel is told in alternating chapters from Lucy's perspective and the fictional letters of Mitford and details about the whole Mitford family. If you know nothing about the famous Mitford sisters, this title will have you scrambling to learn more. You'll also root for the likeable, smart, and very American Lucy St. Clair. 

Evvie Drake Starts Over: A Novel by Linda Holmes

 

 

 Evvie Drake Starts Over: A Novel by Linda Holmes. Ballantine Books (an imprint of Random House), 2019. Adult fiction.

Evvie Drake lives in Maine. She is not entirely happy, but her life changes drastically when her friend Andy suggests that she rent some space to down and out professional pitcher Dean Tenney. Evvie's doctor husband had died about a year ago and she could use the money. The tale takes off from there.

This is a family story. It's a friendship story. It's funny, romantic at times, a little sad at times, and ultimately realistic. Watching Evvie Drake start over is a great occupation for the summer. The Maine scenes will make readers long for lobster and water. Make friends with Evvie and watch for more by Linda Holmes.

The Fifth Petal: A Novel of Salem by Brunonia Barry.

 

The Fifth Petal: A Novel of Salem by Brunonia Barry. Crown Publishing, 2017. Adult Mystery.

In 1989, three young women were killed in Salem. Now, one of their daughters, Callie Cahill,  has returned to the town to help police discover what really happened. Of course, since it IS Salem, rumors of witchcraft swirl. Policeman Rafferty and his wife who runs the local tearoom hope to clear former historian and now homeless person, Rose Whelan. Callie, now a music therapist,  was like a daughter to Rose and wants to help her, too.  Callie seems vulnerable to love from a wealthy young local man and readers want to root for her, but is he for real? It all stirs into the cauldron of mystery and suspense created by Barry. 

The It Girl: A Novel by Ruth Ware.

 

 The It Girl: A Novel by Ruth Ware. Scout Press (an imprint of Simon and Schuster, Inc.), 2022. Mystery, suspense. 

While it sounds impudent to say that Ruth Ware, the author of six New York Times bestsellers in six years, has gotten better, I must say it.  I have read all of her books, hoping that she will find her own voice and not just copy Agatha Christie like themes and plots. I have not been a fan. 

But, in this story set in Edinburgh, Ware has come into her own. During Hannah Jones' freshman year at Oxford ten years ago, her roommate, the beautiful and dazzling April Clarke-Cliveden was found dead in their rooms. Now, Hannah and her husband, Will, are looking forward to their first child. But, when the man who was sent to prison for the killing dies and a journalist raises new questions about April's death, a who-done-it is born. 

And, what a tale! The handful of students that Hannah and Will knew at Oxford could all be suspects. And what did no one know about April herself? Ware manages to put enough red herrings into the story to keep readers on the edge of our seats. It moves quickly and makes us long for more of Ware's own characters and voice. 

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart.

 

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart. Delacorte Press, 2022. Young Adult.

If you read We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and liked it, try this prequel. The wealthy Sinclair family owns an island off the coast of Massachusetts and summers there. While the first book focuses on a more current generation, this new book features a previous generation of Sinclairs: sisters Carrie, Penny, Bess, and Rosemary. Teenagers have many of the same feelings and questions, no matter the time period, it seems. Part twisty mystery, part teen angst, part tragedy, part multigenerational family, the book will please fans of the first novel. It is a great diversion for a hot summer! 

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post: A Novel by Allison Pataki.

 

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post: A Novel by Allison Pataki. Ballantine Books (a division of Penguin Random House), 2022. Historical fiction; Biographical fiction.

Most of us in the current age do not know much about Marjorie Post or her father, C.W. Post, who invented Grape Nuts cereal and changed the way Americans eat breakfast. She grew up poor in Battle Creek, Michigan, but came to be one of the richest women ever. This fictional tale follows her childhood, her four marriages, her children (including Dina Merrill, Hollywood actress), and her fame as a hostess in Washington, D.C. Marjorie made history because she was not willing to be merely a wife and mother but involved in the General Foods business as well as giving to many charities and noble causes. Pataki does a good job of telling her story in a straightforward and seemingly well researched manner and it will appeal to those who like to learn more of interesting women of the past.