The Titanic Survivors Book Club: A Novel by Timothy Schaffert

 

 The Titanic Survivors Book Club: A Novel by Timothy Schaffert.

Doubleday, 2024. Adult fiction.

Who would you call a survivor of the HMS Titanic which sank in April, 1912? Someone who had a ticket but never sailed? Someone who was on the ship and was rescued? Someone who gave their ticket to someone else? Someone whose lover convinced him not to go? Someone who would rather have been on the Olympic and traded tickets? Someone who donated the price of their ticket to charity?

Come along on this ride with author Timothy Schaffert to a fading Paris where Yorick, a second class steward who chose books for the ship's second class library but never boarded for sailing, has opened a bookstore. He was listed as going down on the ship originally. When a group of people receive invitations addressed to Titanic Survivors, Yorick meets people who will influence the rest of his life.

With small connections to the ship, the handful of characters include the beautiful Zinnia whose Japanese-American family makes glorious candies; Haze, the handsome but decadent young man who charms both Yorick and Zinnia; an aging actress, a gambler, and others. who form a book club.

Schaffert writes gorgeous, lyrical descriptions of people and places. Divided into several parts, the narrative continues past 1915 and WWI years. It is a tribute to love, friendship, chance, and books.

The Frozen River: A Novel by Ariel Lawhon

 

 

 The Frozen River: A Novel by Ariel Lawhon. Random House, 2023. Adult Historical fiction.

It is 1789 and Martha Ballard is the midwife and healer for her community of Hallowell, Maine. Martha keeps a journal of her days and bears witness to the births and deaths in the area. When two men are accused of rape, one is found dead in the Kennebec River. The other is a prominent judge. With a new doctor in town, there is a dispute about the death and Martha's whole family becomes involved. Martha and her journal are called to testify on the matter.

I know I may sound like the woman who claims every year is THE best Christmas tree, but this is THE best historical fiction I have read this year. Martha and her husband are loving and practical. Life in the early colonies is hard, made even harder with a long winter. The babies Martha delivers form a bond with their mothers and the midwife. Based on a nonfiction biography's information (Pulitzer Prize winner L.T. Ulrich's A Midwife's Tale) about the real Martha Ballard, the story is gripping. End notes tell what compromises Lawhon has made in this fictional story in order to make this novel read more smoothly. Grab a pen and start your own journal!

The Lantern's Dance by Laurie R. King

 

 The Lantern's Dance: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R. King. Bantam, 2024. Mystery. 

   When Sherlock Holmes and his wife, Mary Russell, go to France to visit with Holmes grown son, Damian Adler and his wife and young daughter, they land in a spot of trouble involving shady characters who seem to be after Damian. While Holmes spirits the little family into safety, Russell nurses her hurt ankle and translates a journal found in crates sent from the esteemed art institute to Damian's home. Chapters of the translated journal provide clues about the Holmes family, their link to a famous artist, and why Damian may be in danger. Of course, all is resolved in a glorious way, thanks to the capable hands of Laurie R. King. 

  I highly recommend starting with The Language of Bees for some background on Russell and Holmes. Those of us who have followed the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novels over the years celebrate any new title. King continues to expand Holmes' family and provide background on his past. 

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A Piece of the World: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline

 

A Piece of the World: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline. William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, 2017. Adult fiction.

This is the fictional story of Christina Olson of Cushing, Maine and her family. Christina is the inspiration for the woman in Andrew Wyeth's famous painting, Christina's World. Kline has done a masterful job of imagining her life. Disabled for most of her life, Christina and her brother were hosts to Wyeth many summers. Well researched and documented in notes at the end of the book, this tale provides inner imaginings based on what is known about Christina. More information has been published about Wyeth and Christina's relationship since the publication of this title and readers will want to find out what happened to them all. An illustration shows the famous painting at the very end of the book. Overall, a haunting, evocative, lovely story well told.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

 

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. HarperCollins, 2023. Adult fiction.

As the pandemic rages in 2020, Lara and her husband cocoon as their three adult daughters return home to wait it out and help harvest cherries on their farm in Michigan. The girls beg their mother to tell them of her brush with fame in Hollywood and with actor Peter Duke before she was married. Lara's starring role was always as Emily in Thornton Wilder's Our Town and that role has captured the magic of her whole life.  

The story unspools quietly and there is none better than Ann Patchett at telling a tale. Each of the daughters is distinct and well drawn. The alternate chapters of past and present are well presented and easy to follow. Settle back and enjoy this one!

The Exchange by John Grisham

 

 The Exchange: A Novel by John Grisham. Doubleday, 2023.                                                 Adult fiction.

    Mitch McDeere and his wife Abby are back! In The Firm, the young couple started out with a Memphis law firm that almost derailed both Mitch's career and their lives.  Now, it's fifteen years later, and Mitch is still a high powered lawyer, but with an international firm in New York City. His friend and colleague, Luca, has a grown daughter, also a lawyer with connections to Mitch's firm, who has been kidnapped and is in danger. From Rome to Tripoli to Istanbul to Marrakech and Maine and New York, the action involves the McDeeres and their young twin sons. Time is running out for Giovanna. Can the McDeeres help?

The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress: A Novel by Ariel Lawhon

 

The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress: A Novel by Ariel Lawhon. Doubleday, a division of Random House, 2014. Adult fiction.

  When Judge Crater disappears in 1930, no one seems to know what happened to him. His wife is in Maine at the summer house. The maid, Maria, and her Detective husband, Jude, want a child, but she works as a maid in the mornings and a seamtress later and cannot seem to conceive. The showgirl, his mistress Ritzi, knows a lot more about the judge and the underbelly of old New York than would be good for anybody. The twisty action follows what the author imagines might really have happened. It begins and ends in 1969 with an ailing Mrs. Crater. The novel has a noir feel and a helpful list of real and imagined characters at the end tells who is who and what happened to them.