Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan

  Under the Wide and Starry Sky: A Novel by Nancy Horan. 2013, Large print edition. Random House. Adult Fiction.


     In this wonderfully descriptive historical fiction novel, Nancy Horan brings to life Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife Fanny van de Grift Osbourne. Fanny's life before meeting Stevenson is full. From the gold fields to San Francisco to Belgium, Fanny has lived large. With three children and a not so upstanding husband, she leaves with the children and nanny to study art in Europe. Nothing turns out as she hoped. Later, in France, she meets the ten years younger than she Stevenson. While he falls in love with Fanny almost instantly, she is much more hesitant about the young writer. Their lives are definitely roller coaster material with his frequent illnesses and her struggles to free herself from a husband, from expectations about women and from the unexpected lives that her children live. A wild ride, this tale will keep readers going and provide much satisfaction in providing details about the many places they lived, how they survived the hard times, and how his family finally accepted Fanny.

The Song of Hartgrove Hall by Natasha Solomons

  The Song of Hartgrove Hall: A Novel by Natasha Solomons.
                              Penguin Random House, 2015. Adult fiction.


After the three Fox-Talbot brothers return to their English manor house from WWII, nothing is the same. The gorgeous Russian Jewish singer, Edie Rose, becomes part of all their lives. Chapters alternate between the after-war years and fifty years later as the youngest of the brothers tells of Edie's death. The grandson, Robin, has inherited Edie's talents and is a piano prodigy as a young child. Descriptions are lush and full of details. Family loyalties are tested. Love comes in many ways. And, forgiveness is sweet. If you enjoy this title, you may also want to read The House at Tynford by Natasha Solomons in which a young Jewish Austrian woman hides out as a maid in another manor house and finds unexpected love.

Alena by Razchel Pastan

 Alena: A Novel by Rachel Pastan. Riverhead Books (Penguin), 2014.
                           Adult fiction.


The main character, an unnamed young woman, goes to Italy with Louise, a selfish Midwestern art curator. The young woman soon finds herself hired by Bernard, the owner of the Nauk, a small Cape Cod art museum. Their former curator, Alena, has disappeared. Increasingly, the mystery deepens; what happened to Alena?  The new curator struggles to mount an exhibit of  local artist, Celia Cowry. McManus, another artist and disabled vet, becomes more and more disturbed that his own promised exhibit is not to happen. Handsome policeman Chris becomes more than just a good friend.  All the while, the atmosphere of the near ocean and the characters, quirky people all, make a fine backdrop for mysterious happenings.


With definite echoes of Daphne du Maurier's haunting masterpiece. Rebecca, Pastan makes the story her own. Bernard is not the love interest. His sister is part of the novel as is Ben, who also paints.The Nauk is the carefully constructed building, not a house such as Manderley. The Mrs. Danvers character is echoed in Agnes, a museum assistant not nearly as creepy as Mrs. D.  Readers familiar with the original will enjoy making comparisons, but ultimately will long to reread Rebecca.

Lights Out by Ted Koppel

 

  Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, 

                                                         Surviving the Aftermath

                                     By Ted Koppel. Crown, 2015. Adult nonfiction.

 

   Ted Koppel has done his research and provides stunning data on the ease with which America’s aging electric grids could be attacked. Far from being just the fare for horrific movie scenarios, this well written book not only shows the very real probability of losing electricity and describes what being without basics would mean to both city and rural dwellers. While some “preppers” and “pioneers” and Mormon communities show how they are preparing for an extended emergency period, most  Americans are totally unaware of the dangers and unprepared for even a short crisis. Koppel’s interviews are current and done with people in charge of power, politics, and plans.  In the foreword to his grandchildren, Koppel  says, “Here’s hoping that Opi got it wrong.” Readers will agree with that sentiment!

• For more information about the book, the author, and Penguin Random House, please see More Info
• For more information aboaut the author, please see  Author Bio
• I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest  review.

The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

   The Seven Sisters: A Novel by Lucinda Riley. Atria Books, 2015. Adult fiction.


An epic tale of sisters whose wealthy father, Pa Salt, has adopted each of them from different places as children and named them after the stars themselves. When he dies, the sisters are called together to Atlantis, their lakefront castle in Switzerland. In this book, the eldest, Maia, seeks to find the truth about her birth, her father, and how she came to be. The quest takes her to Brazil. The story starts as almost a fantasy, dips into historical fiction, and becomes a love story.


Obviously the first in several books, one about each sister, the story is well told. The parts about the Christ The Redeemer statute and its history is fascinating. Maia's connection to a family in Rio is almost too easily found, but the story moves quickly.

The Unfortunates: A Novel by Sophie McManus

 
  The Unfortunates: A Novel by Sophie McManus. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2015.  Adult fiction. In this debut novel, Sophie McManus tells the story of mother Cecilia Somner, her grown son, George, and his wife, Iris. Part of THE fictional Somner family of great wealth and traditions, the mother is about to go into a health facility for experimental treatment to halt her decline. George has a job that is supposedly running a foundation, but really just an opportunity to have lunch out and to write his own weird theatre project. Iris has realty aspirations, but is an outsider to the wealthy enclave in which they live. All three are hiding secrets and life soon changes in unfortunate ways none of them could have expected. 
 It seems to me that several debut novels lately have taken the tack of reality television and roll along with minimal plot development until things just "happen". If you get caught up in the story, that's great. If not, the going is slow. I thought the characters were interesting and wanted to see what happens to them, but the reading was involved and the text seems dense. Chapters are numbered and I thought titles might have helped. Even a family tree of the Somners would have been a nice touch. If you liked Bill Clegg's Did You Ever Have a Family, you might like this one. I just thought that the characters were all unfortunate!

The Hours Count: A Novel by Jillian Cantor

The Hours Count: A Novel by Jillian Cantor. Riverhead Books,
                                   2015. Adult historical fiction.


Using the real characters of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, the couple who in 1953 were executed for conspiring to commit espionage, or spying, Cantor weaves a masterful fictional story about them and their neighbors and families. It is true that when she was arrested Ethel left her young children with a neighbor. The fiction kicks in with Millie and Ed Stein who live down the hall in the novel. Millie's son, David, does not speak. Her husband, Ed, a Russian Jew, ignores their child. Millie and Ethel bond as women and as mothers who live on the 11th floor and go to the same park and butcher's shop. As their husbands' work intertwines, the naïve women are surrounded with lies, talk of "Reds", and things that they do not understand. Millie becomes more than friends with Dr. Jake Gold and confides in him about David's problems and those with her husband. As things become more dangerous for them all, Millie's life spins out of control as much as, but in different ways than, Ethel's.


An afterword sheds light on what is real and what is not. Certainly the McCarthy era was terrifying for many. Rumors of spies made average citizens suspect of their own neighbors. Cantor stresses that Ethel was accused and convicted of typing up notes. Ethel's own brother later admitted that was a lie. Cantor's haunting portrayal of the caring mother and loyal wife fleshes out Ethel Rosenberg as well as other women of the time. Because it is so well written, the novel will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.