WWW Wednesday #May 31st

This meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words..To take part all you need to do is answer the following questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

So here’s my 3 W’s for the week.

 

 

Recently Finished

When Light is Like Water by Molly McCloskey – The writing is beautiful. Unstructured but it still had a flow to it. It felt like Alice (main character) was seated next to me, just talking about her life and I enjoyed listening to her although hers was not a happy story. You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

 

 

Currently Reading

 

Stars Over Clear Lake by Lorretta Ellsworth

For the first time in decades, Lorraine Kindred has returned to the ballroom where she was swept away by the big bands during the 1940s – and by a star-crossed romance. As she takes in the magnificent energy and brassy sounds of her youth, the past comes to life, along with the fateful decision all those years ago that forced her to choose between personal conviction and social expectations, between the two men who had captured her heart. It had been a time of great music and love, but also of war and sacrifice, and now, trying to make peace with her memories, Lorraine must find the courage to face buried secrets. In the process, she will rediscover herself, her passion, and her capacity for resilience.

 

I have been so hooked to this story from the first page. It is beautiful, sad and it is currently what preoccupies my mind. I started reading it yesterday and now, I can’t wait to go home and continue with it. At the same time, I don’t want it to end!

 

Reading Next

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beach-side community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

 

I have heard some good things about this book. I also know that there is a TV series going on. Can’t wait to start reading it.

 

And then………….

Secrets of Southern Girls by Haley Harrigan

Ten years ago, Julie Portland accidentally killed her best friend, Reba. What’s worse is she got away with it. Consumed by guilt, she left the small town of Lawrence Mill, Mississippi, and swore nothing would ever drag her back. Now, raising her daughter and struggling to make ends meet in Manhattan, Julie still can’t forget the ghost of a girl with golden hair and a dangerous secret.

When August, Reba’s first love, begs Julie to come home to find the diary that Reba kept all those years ago, Julie’s past comes creeping back to haunt her. That diary could expose the shameful memories Julie has been running from, but it could also unearth the hidden truths that Reba left buried…and reveal that Julie isn’t the only one who feels responsible for Reba’s death.

I am on the blog tour for this book. It does sound like a promising read so let’s see how it goes.

 

So, what are you reading? Let me know. Happy Reading!

When Light is Like Water by Molly McCloskey

Alice, a young American on her travels, arrives in the West of Ireland with no plans and no strong attachments – except to her beloved mother, who raised her on her own. She falls in love with an Irishman, marries him, and settles down in a place whose codes she struggles to crack. And then, in the course of a single hot summer, she embarks on an affair that breaks her marriage and sets her life on a new course.

After years working in war zones around the world, and in the immediate aftermath of her mother’s death, Alice finds herself back in Ireland and contemplating the forces that led her to put down roots and then tear them up again. What drew her to her husband, and what pulled her away? Was her husband strangely complicit in the affair? Was she always under surveillance by friends and neighbours who knew more than they let on?

Review

I decided to read something different from the usual thrillers and historical fiction. When  Light is Like Water by Molly McCloskey sounded like the right pick for me and I liked the setting. I have read a few books set in Ireland and  liked most of them. This book is mainly set in Dublin, Ireland. However, I was surprised when I found mentions of my country and city. Nairobi features briefly in the story but it was still good to read names of places that I know. There were also mentions of Daadab in Kenya which is one of the biggest refugee camps in the world. My only issue is that, it sounds like the camp is in Nairobi which is not the case. Dadaab and Nairobi are about 12 hours apart (by road). However, the inaccuracy didn’t bother me much since Kenya wasn’t the main setting of the book.

The story is narrated from Alice’s perspective. It is not chronological and this bugged me a bit. I mean it can be confusing when a character dies on one page and then they are alive  on the next one. However, the story is narrated through flashbacks hence the ‘back and forth’ order. In addition, Alice has conversations in present that brings memories from the past. I think this is what we do in real life. Our memories are up and down(all over the place). Different things spark different memories. After the initial confusion, I soon got the hang of it and started enjoying the book.

This is a slow-paced book that makes you think about life and what it means to be truly happy. Alice talks about her marriage, affair and the yearning for something better. You know how at times we sit and wonder if there is something out there that is better than what we have. Not just in terms of relationships but even careers, homes, cars…everything really. Even if things are going great, sometimes you may wonder if they could be better than just great. This is what Alice’s affair made me think about.  There are other things that she said that made me smile. For instance; she talks about meeting an ex and remarks about how sometimes, the feeling that we get from such encounters is not nostalgia but it is actually foolishness. I know that feeling…the… what the hell was I thinking that comes when you think/see an ex at times.

Alice is the kind of character who is easy to dislike. However, I liked her. I found her to be relatable. She made mistakes that made her seem selfish at times but at the same time, too err is human, right?  I thought the book depicted the realities of life. I may not agree with her decisions but I understand why she made them. I sympathized with her. She seemed so lost. Apart from marriage and affairs, the book also covers mother-daughter relationships. The relationship between Alice and her mom was mostly sad,complex but I liked reading about it.

Slow paced novels have always been a challenge for me and I did struggle with the pace. However, I still enjoyed the story. The themes of love and life were so well portrayed. It was easy to sympathize with Alice despite her flaws. The writing is beautiful. Unstructured but it still had a flow to it. It felt like Alice was seated next to me, just talking about her life and I enjoyed listening to her although hers was not a happy story.

“I read once that commit to love is to commit to loves diminishment. Which means that commitment is less about optimism than it is about realism – accepting that love is doomed to become less of itself, and proceeding anyway, in the faith that one will be equal to that truth when it arrives.”

The Nazi’s Daughter by Tim Murgatroyd

The Netherlands, Spring 1943. When her glittering career as a ballerina is cut short by a dancing injury, Elise Van Thooft-Noman, rebellious daughter of a powerful Dutch Nazi, flees to an isolated island off the coast of Holland. Here she meets Pieter Goedhart, reluctant village schoolmaster and Resistance fighter. A dangerous affair is kindled between them. Meanwhile Elise’s Nazi family and the terrifying brutality of war are closing in, threatening to destroy all she holds dear…

New York, September 2008. Uncomfortably overweight, single and scraping thirty, Jenni Malarkey is summoned to a mysterious party to celebrate her estranged grandmother’s glamorous life. Her journey through Elise’s secret history will force her to confront a legacy of guilt and shame… Past and present intersect, as unlikely hearts connect to seek love and redemption, in this haunting time-shift novel set in wartime Holland and contemporary New York.

Review

The Nazi’s Daughter by Tim Murgatroyd is the story of Elise and Jenni, two women, generations apart  inked by blood and history. Jenni is Elise’s granddaughter. The story begins with the death of Elise. Jenni attends a celebration of her grandmother’s life although it is clear from the start that the two didn’t really know each other. However,  at this ceremony, she decides to get to know her grandmother. She starts searching for answers and asking questions to find out who she was.

The story is narrated in two timelines. The past is set in 1943 with Elise growing up as the Nazi’s daughter. She suffers an injury and goes off to live at the coast where she meets Peter. Peter is in the resistance. In his house, there are people hiding in the attic including Jews, a man wanted by the Nazi and black pilot. Peter and Elise meet and over time, friendship turns to something more. However, their identities pose a threat to the relationship and to the lives of those around them. If the resistance finds out about Peter’s relationship with Elise, they could eliminate her based on the fear that she will reveal their secrets. If the Nazis find out about the relationship and take a closer look at Peter, they may find the people in his attic and that would mean death to them and Peter. In addition, one of the Nazi officers, Cornelius has an interest in Elise and is determined to marry her. This poses another challenge to the relationship.  Although both are hiding secrets and fears about the relationship, Peter and Elise can’t fight the feelings that they had for each other.

I liked the past narrations. The 1943 timeline was interesting. The author developed the setting to reflect the realities of the time. The conflict between the Nazi, resistance and Jews was vividly portrayed through the pages. I know this shouldn’t shock me but I still can’t believe that there are people who were once loyal to Hitler. In the book, the Nazis determination is evident. They believe in Hitler and his ideologies. They are so dedicated to their leader that not even family can deter their commitment. On the other hand, I liked the description of the resistance. These are people who decided not to support the Hitler madness and risked their lives to do so.

Elise stands out in the narrative. She was rebellious, strong and determined. Her family name haunted her wherever she went but in a way, she was determined to establish her own identity. On the other hand, her granddaughter was different. I don’t have much to say about her apart from the fact that I admired her resolve to find answers. However, thinking about her now, I don’t think her character was as well developed as Elise’s. I didn’t connect with her and I actually found myself more interested in her grandmother’s story.

This book is tragic and certain events broke my heart. However, the story was addictive. I especially wanted to know Elise and the events that took place in her life. The writing has an easy flow to it. The only thing that bugged me a little bit was the amount of details. I could skip a paragraph and find out that I hadn’t missed anything. Nevertheless, I think that this book will appeal to lovers of historical fiction.

Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor

A world away from Brewster Place, yet intimately connected to it, lies Linden Hills. With its showcase homes, elegant lawns, and other trappings of wealth, Linden Hills is not unlike other affluent black communities. But residence in this community is indisputable evidence of “making it.” Although no one knows what the precise qualifications are, everyone knows that only certain people get to live there—and that they want to be among them.

Once people get to Linden Hills, the quest continues, more subtle, but equally fierce: the goal is a house on Tupelo Drive, the epitome of achievement and visible success. No one notices that the property on Tupelo Drive goes back on sale quickly; no one questions why there are always vacancies at Linden Hills.

In a resonant novel that takes as its model Dante’s Inferno, Gloria Naylor reveals the truth about the American dream—that the price of success may very well be a journey down to the lowest circle of hell.

Review

Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor is a story about cultural/class divide and societal expectations which dictate the lives of the affluent African-American residents of an area called, Linden Hills. These residents live in exclusivity. To live in Linden Hills, you had to have achieved certain standards. To continue living there, these standards had to be maintained. The story is mainly narrated by two young men, Lester and Willie. One of them lives almost at Linden Hills but doesn’t have the stature of success. All that he has is a home on the right address (almost at the gates of Linden Hills but not quite there). The other man  lives outside Linden Hills, on the wrong side of town. In the days leading to Christmas, the two mingle with the residents of Linden Hills when they start looking for work in the homes and  get a glimpse into the secret lives of these residents.

I  liked the development of the characters in this book. Some of their stories were tragic. Others will remain with me for a long time for instance, the gay lovers who had to live a lie to fit into the society. One of them ends up as the best man at his lover’s wedding and  gives a  toast revealing his true feeling by reading from a poem that only Willie and Lester understand. The author describes the wedding being as sad as a funeral. On the other hand, another resident of Linden Hills buries his wife but the funeral is more like a celebration. It was merrier than the wedding. There is also a white man secretly in love with a black woman but publicly dating women of his own race. Linden Hills is filled with seemingly successful people. However, the secrets and lies  behind closed doors tell a different story.

“They all trying to say something with music that you can’t say with plain talk. There ain’t really no words for love or pain. And the way I see it, only fools go around trying to talk their love or talk their pain. So the smart people make music and you can kinda hear about it without them saying anything.”
― Gloria Naylor, Linden Hills

The book tackles various themes including racial relations. What stood out to me especially was the issue of ‘acting white’. It illustrated what success meant to different characters and how others perceived them. It raised the question of what does success mean? Whose standards dictate what it means to be successful? Is the white gaze an influence on what the black people perceived as success? On the other hand, the illusion of a perfect marriage versus what happens behind closed doors was illustrated in the narrative. I liked the fact that at the beginning of the book, there was a story of a married couple living outside Linden Hills. They were poor and the man had a mental problem that caused him hallucinations once in a while. It was a dysfunctional but okay couple. On the hand, in Linden Hills, one of the most successful men in the area had the most disturbing marriages and for most part of the story, his current wife lived as a prisoner.  The man still attended the funeral and wedding, keeping up social appearances and making excuses for his wife’s absence.There was also a key theme of gender roles and in specific, the role of different women and where they stood in this ‘image of success. It was interesting how different women were portrayed from the wives, daughters and mothers. There was also a divide between the educated and successful professionals and those who were not and how this affected their relationships with the men.

Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor is a deep, thought-provoking book. However, it is not the easiest read. Naylor’s writing reminded me of Toni Morrison’s Beloved. The writing is complex and doesn’t really have a flow. It jumped from one POV to another and tackled various themes at the same time. At some point, it sort of read like a compilation of short stories of different characters. The narration sounds poetic which is not a narrative style that I am used to. However, the book is definitely worth reading. Naylor illustrates how the residents of Linden Hills fought hard to let go of the past that defined them. The ties of slavery were severed only for new forms of self-slavery to emerge. They moved from one master to another. In this case, they were enslaved by their need to achieve high social status and wealth.

“True insanity, as frightening as it might be, gives a sort of obliviousness to the chaos in a life. People who commit suicide are struggling to order their existence, and when they see it’s a losing battle, they will finalize it rather than have it wrenched from them. Insanity wouldn’t permit that type of clarity.”
― Gloria Naylor, Linden Hills

About Gloria Naylor

Born in New York, The United States

January 25, 1950

Died: September 28, 2016

Genre: Literature and Fiction

Gloria Naylor was an African-American novelist whose most popular work, The Women of Brewster Place, was made into a 1984 film starring Oprah Winfrey.

Naylor won the National Book Award for first fiction in 1983 for The Women of Brewster Place. Her subsequent novels included Linden Hills, Mama Day and Bailey’s Cafe. In addition to her novels, Naylor wrote essays and screenplays, as well as the stage adaptation of Bailey’s Cafe. Naylor also founded One Way Productions, an independent film company, and was involved in a literacy program in the Bronx.

A native New Yorker, Gloria Naylor was a graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale University. She was distinguished with numerous honors, including Scholar-in-Residence, the University of Pennsylvania; Senior Fellow, The Society for the Humanities, Cornell University; the President’s Medal, Brooklyn College; and Visiting Professor, University of Kent, Canterbury, England. Naylor was the recipient of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships for her novels and the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for screenwriting.

The Girl from the Tyne by Melody Sachs

Ballroom dancer Alice Rooney seduces Jack Wood, a local boy from a good Tyneside family. With a little one on the way, Jack is forced in to a shotgun marriage. He vows to protect his baby daughter but his marriage is volatile from the start.

Damaged by her own dysfunctional childhood Alice shows not a scrap of affection towards little Lizzie. As Alice feels more trapped and unhappy, Lizzie becomes the focus of her frustration and anger. Lizzie’s saving grace is her loving grandmother, Mrs. Wood, who does her best to improve life for her whenever she can.

When Jack is drafted in to the Air Force at the start of WWII, Lizzie is left alone with her unstable mother and life becomes almost unbearable.  It’s only when Mrs. Wood steps in and introduces Lizzie to the Madame Bella’s Academy for the theatrical arts, that Lizzie blossoms. Though still very young and innocent, will Lizzie fulfill her dream to escape her mother’s clutches and leave Newcastle behind to pursue a glittering theatrical future? And will she be safe, if she does

Review

The Girl from the Tyne by Melody Sachs begins on the night that Jack met Alice. The author describes how Jack prepared  for the ballroom dance. Before he leaves the house, he dances with his mom. It is all high spirits as the young man ventures out into the night that would later alter the course of his life. Alice was gorgeous and talented. As soon as Jack saw her on stage, he was enchanted by her beauty. He described her as a real woman unlike the girls that he had previously met. He finally gets a dance with her but quickly realizes that she is not the girl for him. However, Alice has other ideas. Jack is exactly the guy for her and she has no intention of letting him go. The night ends with the conception of Lizzie.

Alice, Jack and their daughter Lizzie have a strange, little family. Alice is one of the meanest mothers that I have ever read about. She seems to dislike Lizzie. Sometimes it appears as if she is just extremely jealous of her daughter. She didn’t want her to have friends. She hated it when her husband dotted on their little girl. From birth, Lizzie has to deal with her mother’s anger issues and jealousy. It was crazy!

I sympathized with Lizzie from the beginning and immensely disliked Alice. However, I couldn’t stop reading about her. As details of her upbringing came up, I sympathized with her a little bit but still… On the other hand, my feelings for Jack kept changing through the chapters. I liked him then hated him in equal measure. I was frustrated with how he dealt with his wife’s abuse. I know he loved his daughter and was just doing what he thought was right but it was frustrating to see him not stand up to Alice. The family members on each side were also interesting to read about. On Jack’s side, Mrs. Wood was such a lovely grandma to Lizzie. She loved her family, a fact which was evident throughout the story. Lizzie’s uncles and aunts were well portrayed in the book. On the other side, Alice’s mum, Mrs. Rooney was not very easy to like though she did have her good moments. I really liked her other daughter, Peggy though. Another key character in the book is Madame Bella. I felt like she’s is the kind of woman I would like to know(in real life). She was loud in her dressing, opinions and affection. I also liked Lizzie’s best friend, Molly and her mom, Mrs. Brown.

This book is character-driven. The author gave background stories of each character such that I felt like I knew all of them. I would roll my eyes when Alice started speaking even before she said anything but I just knew what to expect. Oh boy is what I would think whenever Mrs. Rooney showed up because I knew trouble was coming. Sometimes, I wished I could sit down with Jack and have a talk with him about standing up to Alice. Peggy made me smile each time. She was so delightful. Mrs. Wood (Lizzie’s grandma) made me wish I had known my grand folks. She is what I imagine what I think about grandmas. The characters made me feel invested in the story. This made me feel different emotions through each chapter. Most times, it was sadness and anger especially where Alice was involved. Other times, it was joy where Lizzie triumphed. It was quite a roller-coaster.

I think lovers of historical fiction or family drama will love this book. The book covers a time period of 1932 to 1950. A lot happens during the time including World War 2 which had Jack leaving his young family. The author describes the period in such a vivid manner than enabled me to understand what was going on. There were mentions of food rations, bomb shelters, air raids and descriptions of lifestyles including dressing that made the time period come alive at the background of the story. The story is harrowing yet beautiful at the same time. It is well narrated in an easy flow that helps readers follow the events through the years. I truly enjoyed reading this book and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

 

 

New books that I can’t wait to read in June

There a number of books set to be released in June that I am pretty excited about. I decided to share them with y’all to find out whether you have read/heard about them. So here goes…

Part of the Silence by Debbie Howells

When they find Evie Sherman, battered and left for dead in a maize field, the young woman has no recollection of who she is. After three days in a hospital bed, the fog in her head begins to lift, and she remembers two names: her own, and that of her three-year-old daughter, Angel. Evie is convinced that Angel is in grave danger. But the police can find no evidence of the girl’s existence.

As Evie’s grasp on reality slips away, she finds herself haunted by the same three-word warning, which she hears over and over: Trust no one. But whom is she being warned against? The police? The doctors and nurses? Or the mysterious figure who’s been watching her, who knows all her secrets, has a hidden agenda—and perhaps their own twisted version of reality.

I read Debbie Howell’s debut, Beauty of the End last year which I absolutely loved. I really like the sound of her new book.

 

The Fourth Monkey by J.D Barker

 For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one which proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive. 
 
As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows even in death, the killer is far from finished. When he discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own.
 
With only a handful of clues, the elusive killer’s identity remains a mystery. Time is running out and the Four Monkey Killer taunts from beyond the grave in this masterfully written fast-paced thriller. 

I first heard about this book from Renee (its book talk). I tried to get it from NetGalley but was unsuccessful. The second time I came across the book was on the Breathing Through Pages blog. It is here that I learned about submitting requests directly to the publisher/author and I finally got the book. Needless to say, my expectations about this one are quite high.

 

The Serial Killer’s Daughter by Lesley Welsh

Suzanne’s life changes forever the day she receives a visit from Rose Anderson, the woman who has been living with her estranged father, Don.

Don is dead, but Rose wants Suzanne to have his possessions – including a series of intimate diaries and a mysterious collection of photographs of women. 

To Suzanne’s shock, one of the photos is of her friend Sophie, who died ten years ago in an unexplained and devastating fire.But Don only met Sophie once, on an unsettling visit he paid Suzanne just days before Sophie’s death… So why did he have a picture of her?

Unable to let Sophie’s memory alone, Suzanne begins to dig into her father’s life. What horrors is she about to unearth in his journals? And who is it that’s out there, watching her every move?

 This book will be published by Bookouture (my favorite publisher). I like the sound of the book. Sad to hear that the author died last month though.

 

Liar by K.L Slater

Single dad Ben is doing his best to raise his children alone, with the help of his devoted mother Judi. Life isn’t easy, but Judi’s family means everything to her and together, they manage. 

Then Ben meets Amber. Everyone thinks this is a perfect match for Ben but Judi isn’t sure … there’s just something about Amber that doesn’t add up.

Ben can’t see why his mother dislikes his new girlfriend. And Amber doesn’t want Judi anywhere near her new family. Amber just wants Ben and the children. 

The further Judi delves into Amber’s personal life, the closer she gets to shocking secrets that could change everything. And Judi must make a decision that could lead to the most disastrous consequences.

I have read all books by K.L Slater. Blink is one of my favorite thrillers and I can’t wait to see what Liar has to offer.

 

 

Two Sisters by Kerry Wilkinson

They told us he had been missing for nearly two days, that he probably drowned. They told us a lie.

Megan was ten years old when her older brother, Zac, went missing among the cliffs, caves and beaches that surround the small seaside town of Whitecliff. 

A decade later and a car crash has claimed the lives of her parents.

Megan and her younger sister Chloe return to Whitecliff one summer for the first time since their brother’s disappearance. Megan says it’s to get her parents’ affairs in order. There are boxes to pack, junk to clear, a rundown cottage to sell. But that’s not the real reason. 

Megan has come to confront her family’s past after receiving a postcard on the day of her parents’ funeral. It had a photograph of Whitecliff on the front and a single letter on the back.

‘Z’ is all it read. Z  for Zac.

I recently read Wilkinson’s 10 birthdays which was an issue-based YA. I dint know that the author also writes other genres. I like the missing persons theme in thrillers so I can’t wait to see how this goes.

 

Unsub by Meg Gardiner

Caitlin Hendrix has been a Narcotics detective for six months when the killer at the heart of all her childhood nightmares reemerges: the Prophet. An UNSUB—what the FBI calls an unknown subject—the Prophet terrorized the Bay Area in the 1990s and nearly destroyed her father, the lead investigator on the case.

The Prophet’s cryptic messages and mind games drove Detective Mack Hendrix to the brink of madness, and Mack’s failure to solve the series of ritualized murders—eleven seemingly unconnected victims left with the ancient sign for Mercury etched into their flesh—was the final nail in the coffin for a once promising career.

Twenty years later, two bodies are found bearing the haunting signature of the Prophet. Caitlin Hendrix has never escaped the shadow of her father’s failure to protect their city. But now the ruthless madman is killing again and has set his sights on her, threatening to undermine the fragile barrier she rigidly maintains for her own protection, between relentless pursuit and dangerous obsession.

Determined to decipher his twisted messages and stop the carnage, Caitlin ignores her father’s warnings as she draws closer to the killer with each new gruesome murder. Is it a copycat, or can this really be the same Prophet who haunted her childhood? Will Caitlin avoid repeating her father’s mistakes and redeem her family name, or will chasing the Prophet drag her and everyone she loves into the depths of the abyss?

I first heard about this book from Renee (It’s Book Talk). After reading the description, I just knew that I had to get it. The title reminds me of one of my favorite TV shows, criminal minds where I first heard the term being used.

 

A Mother’s Courage by Renita D’Silva

When a passionate love affair threatens to leave Lucyin disgrace, she chooses a respectable marriage over a life of shame. With her husband, coffee plantation owner James, she travels to her new home in India, leaving her troubled past behind her. 

Everything in India is new to Lucy, from the jewel-coloured fabrics to the exotic spices. When her path crosses that of Gowri, a young woman who tends the temple on the plantation’s edge, Lucy is curious to find out more about her, and the events that lead her to live in isolation from her family… 

Now. With her career in shatters and her heart broken by the man she thought was her future, Kayva flees from bustling Mumbai to her hometown. A crumbling temple has been discovered in a village nearby, along with letters detailing its tragic history – desperate pleas from a young woman called Gowri. 

As Kavya learns of Gowri and Lucy’s painful story, she begins to understand the terrible sacrifices that were made and the decision the two women took that changed their lives forever. Can the secrets of the past help Kavya to rebuild her life? 

This book will be published on the last day of May so it is not really a June release. However, I will read it in June so it still makes the list. I love books set in India. I also like the time period that the story is set in(1929). Looking forward to reading this one.

So, have you already read any of these books? Are any of them on your June TBR? Let me know if there are any June releases that you are excited about.

Happy Friday!

WWW-Wednesday #May 17th

This meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

To take part all you need to do is answer the following questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

So here’s my 3 W’s for the week.

Recently Finished

 

The Darkest Lies by Barbara Copperthwaite is not your regular kind of thriller. It does have all the things that make a good psychological thriller such as unpredictable twists, sneaky characters (and psychopaths), lies and secrets. Nevertheless, the book goes beyond the thrills and tackles a number of heavy themes. One of them is the theme of grief which was dominant throughout. The characters being so realistic made this theme come alive in the story and hence the emotional aspect of the book. You can read my review here.

 

 

Currently Reading

My current read is historical fiction. I am only a few pages in and its quite promising so far. I can tell that it will be a special book.

The Girl from Tyne by Melody Sachs

When ballroom dancer Alice Rooney seduces Jack Wood, he soon finds himself in a volatile marriage. Yet from the moment he meets his baby daughter, he knows he will do anything to make her happy.

But at the start of WWII Jack is drafted by the Air Force, and little Lizzie is left with her mother. Damaged and troubled, Alice grows increasingly unstable and Lizzie finds herself the focus of her mother’s frustration and anger. It’s only when Lizzie arrives at Madame Bella’s Academy for the Theatrical Arts that she blossoms.

Will she escape her mother’s clutches and can her dream of a glittering theatrical future ever come true?

 

Reading Next

Another historical fiction that I can’t wait to read.

The Nazi’s Daughter by Tim Murgatroyd

The Netherlands, Spring 1943. When her glittering career as a ballerina is cut short by a dancing injury, Elise Van Thooft-Noman, rebellious daughter of a powerful Dutch Nazi, flees to an isolated island off the coast of Holland. Here she meets Pieter Goedhart, reluctant village schoolmaster and Resistance fighter. A dangerous affair is kindled between them. Meanwhile Elise’s Nazi family and the terrifying brutality of war are closing in, threatening to destroy all she holds dear…

New York, September 2008. Uncomfortably overweight, single and scraping thirty, Jenni Malarkey is summoned to a mysterious party to celebrate her estranged grandmother’s glamorous life. Her journey through Elise’s secret history will force her to confront a legacy of guilt and shame…

Past and present intersect, as unlikely hearts connect to seek love and redemption, in this haunting time-shift novel set in wartime Holland and contemporary New York.

 

Happy Reading!

 

 

The Darkest Lies by Barbara Copperthwaite

A mother desperate for the truth. A daughter hiding a terrible secret.
Melanie Oak appeared to have the perfect life. Married to her childhood sweetheart, Jacob, the couple live with their beautiful, loving, teenage daughter, Beth, in a pretty village.

Nothing can shake her happiness – until the day that Beth goes missing and is discovered beaten almost to the point of death, her broken body lying in a freezing creek on the marshes near their home.

Consumed with grief, Melanie is determined to find her daughter’s attacker. Someone in the village must have seen something. Why won’t they talk?

As Melanie tries to piece together what happened to Beth, she discovers that her innocent teenager has been harbouring some dark secrets of her own. The truth may lie closer to home and put Melanie’s life in terrible danger…

Review

Melanie, Jacob and Beth Oak were a perfect, happy, little family who seemed to be living a regular but blissful life. However, their lives were shattered on the night that Beth went missing. A search party later found her beaten and left for the dead. Beth’s parents were obviously devastated by the news. They were even more distraught when it became apparent that there was a lot of deception surrounding the night that Beth disappeared.

The story is narrated mainly from Melanie’s perspective. Her pain was so raw that I found myself at the brink of tears a couple of times. Melanie and Beth were close and Beth was everything to Melanie. The narrative styles sounds like Melanie is narrating the events to her daughter. In her mind, Melanie explains her actions, describes her anguish and search for answers. There were a few chapters narrated by Beth. Her PoV was fascinating. It gave a background to events before the tragic night until finally; we get Beth’s version about the attack. There were two other narrators that added to the intrigue of the book. One was creepy while the other tragic.

I liked Mel’s characterization. She was likeable and sympathetic. I liked how determined she was to find her daughter’s attacker. She knocked on doors and asked questions that made a lot of people mad/uncomfortable. She even upset the police. Mel is what I envision when I think of a mother’s love. Her character was very well portrayed hence believable.

With lies and deceit being major themes in the book, there were a lot of sneaky, unlikable but yet addictive characters. You won’t believe the kind of deception that went on. The characters lived in a small village where everyone seemed to be lying about something. This meant that there were many suspects. The town was crazy. They all knew each other and people were in each other’s business. However, nobody would even admit to seeing Beth on the night that she disappeared.

Although quite emotional, this was an entertaining book. I was able to detect one of the lies from the get-go. I had my suspicions about a character but I was so wrong about what they were lying about. The other lies and twists caught me off guard. The book had unpredictable turns that kept me totally glued to the story up to the final page. Besides the great characterization, this was another reason why I enjoyed reading the book so much.

The Darkest Lies by Barbara Copperthwaite is not your regular kind of thriller. Of course it has all the things that make a good psychological thriller such as unpredictable twists, sneaky characters (and psychopaths), lies and secrets. Nevertheless, the book goes beyond thrills and tackles a number of heavy themes. One of them is grief which was dominant throughout. The characters being so realistic made this theme come alive in the story and hence the emotional aspect of the book. My heart broke especially for the Oaks.

The writing is flawless. I fell in love with Copperthwaite’s writing. She has a way of taking readers through different emotions, making one feel like part of the story. The imagery had me visualizing different scenes and the characters felt like people I knew. All in all, this was a brilliant read and I highly recommend it.

Lies by T.M Logan

 

When Joe Lynch stumbles across his wife driving into a hotel car park while she’s supposed to be at work, he’s intrigued enough to follow her in. And when he witnesses her in an angry altercation with family friend Ben, he knows he ought to intervene.

But just as the confrontation between the two men turns violent, and Ben is knocked unconscious, Joe’s young son has an asthma attack – and Joe must flee in order to help him. When he returns, desperate to make sure Ben is OK, Joe is horrified to find that Ben has disappeared.

And that’s when Joe receives the first message . . .

Review

Lies by T.M. Logan is a twisted psychological thriller about deception. At one point in the book, a character described the feeling that you’d get if one day you discovered a trapdoor under your carpet in the living room. That is the feeling I had when reading this book. The levels of deception were insane.

Joe Lynch saw something that he wasn’t supposed to. His intervention led to things spiraling out of control.  Soon, the stalking and framing started. Someone hacked his facebook account. Someone else is posting from another account to taunt Joe. Then he is seeing messages on his phone and laptop that nobody else sees. Someone seems to be out to get Joe and they were doing a pretty convincing job to make him look like the bad guy.

Joe’s life was disintegrating pretty fast that I was convinced that there was no way out. The lies kept piling up. There were so many secrets that it was hard to guess the truth. Due to all the lies, I didn’t like most of the characters except Joe and his son. Joe seemed like a regular guy just caught up in a bad situation. Although some of his actions were really frustrating making him appear weak and naïve.

Lies by T.M Logan is a book that I think fans of psychological thrillers will enjoy. It had mystery and tension to the last page. I felt like some parts were slow although this could have been because I was so tense and curious about how it would all end. I just needed to find out the truth… and fast! I loved the ending and couldn’t have predicted it. Deception being a main theme, I kept trying to guess the truth but couldn’t do it until the reveal. The story being told from Joe’s perspective made me feel like I was going through the nightmare with him. I made discoveries at the same time that he did and we were both shocked by the twist at the end.

This is the third book that I have read recently about cyber stalking. It made me think about the impact of sharing our personal lives online and how easily this could be used against us.

A Criminal Defense by William L. Myers, Jr.

Losing the trial of his life could mean losing everything.

When a young reporter is found dead and a prominent Philadelphia businessman is accused of her murder, Mick McFarland finds himself involved in the case of his life. The defendant, David Hanson, was Mick’s close friend in law school, and the victim, a TV news reporter, had reached out to Mick for legal help only hours before her death.

Mick’s played both sides of Philadelphia’s courtrooms. As a top-shelf defense attorney and former prosecutor, he knows all the tricks of the trade. And he’ll need every one of them to win.

But as the trial progresses, he’s disturbed by developments that confirm his deepest fears. This trial, one that already hits too close to home, may jeopardize his firm, his family—everything. Now Mick’s only way out is to mastermind the most brilliant defense he’s ever spun, one that will cross every legal and moral boundary.

Review

I have had this book since March but didn’t get a chance to read  it until last Saturday. It took only one sitting to get through it. This book was something else. It’s the kind of book that you read and end up thinking about long after the last page.

A Criminal Defense by William L. Myers, Jr. tells the story of Mick and David. The two are friends but soon become lawyer and client when David is accused of murder. Right from the start, David claims that he is innocent. Of course, few criminals admit their guilt so this is isn’t quite a surprise. Mick decides to represent him even though it is not clear if he believes in his innocence or not. One thing that was very clear was that Mick was not going to let anyone else defend David. He was totally committed to be the one to do it.

In the first chapters, readers get to meet all the key characters from Mick, his wife Piper, David and his wife, Marci and Tommy who is Mick’s brother. The chapters give their background stories in detail. The relationships are so complex but contain juicy details that made me want to know more about this group of people. They were complex but realistic. There were instances when my heart broke due to the things that they underwent. Most of the time though, their actions just baffled me in a way but I totally loved it.

The story has so many twists. It isn’t a regular case. There are lies, schemes and blackmail. The number of affairs was crazy and this just complicated the case. Both sides of the case are playing dirty and everyone desperately wants to win. The schemes had me shaking my head. I loved seeing what the teams were coming up with especially on the side of the defendant.

This book has one of the best main twists that I have ever read in a thriller. It shocked me so much that I had to stop reading and take a walk to clear my mind. It was unpredictable and just perfect. Looking back, I guess the clues were there but still, I don’t think that I could ever have guessed that ending.

As you can see, I loved A Criminal Defense by William L. Myers Jr. I think the author did a brilliant job with the twists, criminal case and the character development. The book had everything that I like in thrillers. It was suspenseful with twisted, devious characters that I liked due to all the drama that they brought to the story. I liked how brilliant the lawyer was and the courtroom drama was so intense. Throughout the trial, I knew a bombshell was coming but I couldn’t have guessed it. If you like legal thrillers, domestic noirs or simply suspenseful, well-written books with great twists then you should definitely read this one.