A Perfect Hand

A funny thing about reading Yann Martel's Son of Nobody and Ayelet Waldman's A Perfect Hand (#1,372) back-to-back that I might otherwise not have noticed is that both novel's plots were driven by characters rarely given any voice of substance in the novels in which they appear.

In A Perfect Hand, the hero and heroine are a gentleman's valet and a lady's maid.  Both Charlie Wells and Alice Lockey have worked hard to rise to the level of upper servants in noblemen's households.  Besides acquiring a wide range of useful knowledge and abilities, they have also learned people-pleasing skills.  Neither are in a position they wish to give up when they meet at a house party and fall in love.  Unlike their master and mistress, Charlie and Alice will never be able to marry.  Unless, that is, they are in the same household.  What if they can persuade their employers to fall in love and marry?

As the wheels start turning, the plot, as they say, thickens.  The merry dance of courtship leads to an entirely different destination for some of those involved.  A chance outing leads to a life changing decision.  And the world will never be the same again for anyone involved.

Okay, I'll admit it.  I did find the ending very affecting.  Bring a tissue.

Son of Nobody

I'll be the first to admit that Yann Martel's newest novel Son of Nobody (#1,371) won't be everyone's cup of tea.  It was very much mine, though.  If you've been doing any serious prepping to watch Chris Nolan's Odyssey this summer, you may have read one of the many translations of Homer's epic.  The usual setup is a scholarly intro followed by divided pages, the top containing the translation and the bottom section the footnotes. (I do love a good footnote!)  Martel has imitated this setup in his own novel.

Harlow Donne is a Canadian scholar who has won a year's postgraduate study at Oxford under an eminent Classics professor because of his facility with ancient Greek language studies.  The problem is that the grant is so spartan he cannot afford to bring his wife or little daughter Helen with him, so he decides to go on his own.  At Oxford he comes across pottery shards and then papyri shreds which seem to have a common thread - they mention Psoas, son of nobody, being present at the siege of Troy.  Bit by bit Harlow puts together an entirely new perspective on the Trojan War, that of an everyday foot soldier.  Harlow is so excited by this he goes to visit the actual sites on his own.  His academic advisor, the famous scholar is apoplectic, insisting that Harlow is making it all up, ignoring the work assigned to him and threatening to ruin him professionally.  

This whole story plays out in the footnotes of Son of Nobody.  But equally fascinating are the scholarly footnotes Martel includes as though his fictional version of The Iliad really existed.  The details on the daily lives and times of common soldiers fighting in the Trojan War are not what we usually read about; The Iliad's point of view is that of gods and kings, not everyday people who rarely merit even a passing mention.  Psoas' story is given pride of place here, as told by one of his friends.

Do either of these men turn out to be the heroes of their own stories?  If you have both patience and curiosity, spend the time to find out!

Thistlemarsh

Thistlemarsh (#1,370) by Moorea Corrigan is one of the most imaginative books I've read in a long time.  It's set in an England which has just come through World War I.  The fairies have been gone from England for over a hundred years, though some people buried in the countryside still believe they could return.  That's the world Mouse Dunne finds herself in when she unexpectedly inherits Thistlemarsh, a fairy-blessed house, and the title of Lady Dewhurst.  Her cousin Bertie, the rightful heir, was a casualty of the war, and so is her brother Roger.  Roger's body has recovered, but not his mind.  Mouse hopes to provide him a safe haven at Thistlemarsh.  Her uncle Lord Dewhurst, however, has left Mouse Thistlemarsh as a spiteful bequest, with an impossible condition attached; restore the rotting remains to its former glory in a month, or it will all pass to the wretched Carlyle, a childhood nemesis.

Mouse is determined not to let that happen, but she is at a loss as to how to do that; no money came with Thistlemarsh, and her skills are limited to battlefield nursing.  Although the fourth member of their childhood quartet is still in the village of Tithe, he is now the vicar, and of no practical use in renovations.

When Mouse meets the mysterious Thornwood in the woods surrounding the estate, he proposes a deal.  He will help with the restoration in time to meet the lawyer's deadline, but for a price.  As Mouse knows from her upbringing, it's a dangerous thing to strike a bargain with a fairy.  The perils they face as they battle enchantments laid in a web across Thistlemarsh bond this unlikely pair.  Will they survive the unlikely return of the Fairy King?  You'll just have to read it to find out. I highly recommend that you do!

The Bookstore Diaries

I think the thing I like best about Susan Mallery's latest romance The Bookstore Diaries (#1,369) is its colorful treatment of the top, bottom and sides of the pages.  They form a series of images, including one of The Painted Lady bookstore featured in the book.

That said, I don't usually read Susan Mallery.  Her story about two sisters in a seaside California town boasts unusual spellings of the protagonists' names (Jax and Ryleigh) several failed marriages, a jilting, a truly terrible ex (although he is a devoted father to his and Jax's two kids) and a bookstore that houses secret diaries.  When renovations on The Painted Lady require the temporary removal and storage of the anonymous diaries, Jax gives her patrons a chance to retrieve their own diaries prior to construction.  Those not claimed are supposed to be stored safely away.  Sounds good, but a snoopy employee just has to read them for the juicy gossip they contain.  You'd think that would be good enough to drive a whole plot, but in the end, it just boils down to two diaries read, and of course they result in positive outcomes for all concerned.

Both sisters have romance woes.  Ryleigh wants to be married in the worst way, so why does she turn down the oh-so-eligible bachelor she's been dating?  And why can't Jax see the handsome contractor right under her nose who is trying to get her attention?  The drama with both siblings dragged on way too long for my taste.  In the end, as far as I was concerned, it rated a big "Meh".  The physical book is still eye-catching, though!

Daughter of Egypt

Who knew Marie Benedict shared my fascination with Hatshepsut, one of the few female pharaohs of Ancient Egypt?  Well, now everyone does, with her latest novel Daughter of Egypt (#1,368).  In addition, she introduces us to Lady Evelyn Herbert, daughter of Lord Carnarvon, in her capacity as an active participant in the excavation of Tutankhamen's tomb beside Howard Carter and her father.  Lady Evelyn is portrayed here as a Hatshepsut enthusiast as well.

The novel alternates between Lady Evelyn's determination to go to Egypt on an archaeological dig along with her father and the story of Hatshepsut herself as she grows into the role of Pharaoh.  Both are strong women with ideas of their own which don't necessarily reflect the conventions of their times.  Somehow each of them find a way to make things happen to suit their individual visions.

While I was already familiar with most of Hatshepsut's story, Ms. Benedict does posit an interesting theory on why her name and image were obliterated from buildings and temples after her death.  I had a real sense of awe gazing at her mummified remains at the new Cairo Museum of Egyptian Civilization where she and other pharaonic mummies were reverently placed with great ceremony by the Egyptian government several years ago.  Her funerary temple near the Valley of the Kings is every bit as magnificent as portrayed in Daughter of Egypt.

But the real revelation in this book is the role Lady Evelyn Herbert actually played in Egyptian archaeology.  Although I've read quite a bit about the excavations carried out there (Thank you novelist Elizabeth Peters and your marvelous Crocodile on the Sandbank series, who in real life was Barbara Mertz, eminent Egyptologist!) and even sailed on a Viking ship in Egypt plastered with photos and mementoes of Lord Carnarvon, patron of the Egyptian dig which uncovered King Tut, never once have I heard a whisper about Lady Evelyn and her role in the proceedings.  I certainly didn't know that she was the first one to enter the newly discovered tomb in 1922!

Fascinating! 

Dear Miss Lake

I received Dear Miss Lake (#1,367) by A J Pearce as a giveaway on Goodreads and I was thrilled.  I have read and suffered through the war years in London with Emmy Lake and her friends at Women's Friend magazine in previous books.  This is the fourth and final book in the Emmy Lake Chronicles, I am sad to say.

Looking on the bright side, though it is difficult after years of sacrifice and loss on the home front, the war finally seems to be coming to an end.  Hitler has redoubled his efforts to destroy London's spirit with the new V-1 rockets and the Allies are making their final push in Europe to bring him to heel.  It's just so hard to hold on to a positive attitude at home...

One thing that makes life easier for the hard-working staff at Women's Friend is a move to a country estate where Emmy's friend Bunty is making a new life for herself on her grandmother's estate.  The manor house at Rose Hall is transformed into a working magazine where the staff can enjoy a respite from the constant bombing.  The fact that their diets can be supplemented with fresh produce from the estate certainly doesn't hurt, either.  

Meanwhile, the mail bags of letters addressed to Miss Lake asking for her advice continue to grow as casualties mount and the stress of constant "making do" wears on everyone.  Emmy can hardly keep up with the volume of letters, so others on the staff help pitch in to sort and prioritize the most urgent mail.  

Emmy herself joins the ranks of those women waiting anxiously for months for word of their loved ones.  How can Emmy make her readers know that she understands what it is like for them, yet maintain the positive attitude the government insists on?  Can Victory come soon enough for all of them?

Ms. Pearce brings things to a satisfying conclusion in her final book.  Much as I enjoyed this series, I would highly recommend that you read the four books in order beginning with Dear Mrs. Bird.  The plot line just moves right along without much recap in the subsequent books.  Binge reading might be a good approach for these books!

And I will add one final caveat: I dislike the cover art of Dear Miss Lake just as much as I did the original cover of Dear Mrs. Bird.  I never would have picked that first book up if I hadn't read a good review of it.  You really can't judge a book by its cover!

The Shippers

Everyone should read Katherine Center's Author's Note to her latest romance The Shippers (#1,366).  It's a heartfelt tribute to the power of reading about love.  She's not afraid to state right up front that there will be a happy ending to her book.  Of course there will be!  Why else would her legions of fans read every word she writes?  Obviously, it's the power of love.  The Shippers has the added attraction of laugh out loud comedic scenes.  It's not necessarily a good idea to be eating or drinking while reading unless you don't mind paying for the dry-cleaning bills.  I'm just saying...

JoJo Burton has spent most of her life trying to find just the right guy to spend her life with after an impressionable childhood.  She's a mathematician who can figure out all the angles except for her own love life.  But now, she's found the right one.  If only her hideous wedding gown would stop itching and she didn't have to use the bathroom one more time before marching down the aisle to exchange vows with her perfect-looking, texting groom.  Her childhood friend Cooper Watts appears just as she emerges from the lady's room and gives her a most valuable piece of advice - "Stop, drop and roll".   And therein hangs the tale.

How can you not find romance on a cruise ship when her sister Ashley is not only the bride, but the chief matchmaker for everyone else on board?  Every activity is rigged to pair up JoJo with the man of her dreams.  Somehow, JoJo seems to find a way to miss that all important connection, even with Cooper there beside her to root her on.

Family and friends; love and romance, problems and solutions all play a role here.  It's such a wonderful way to lose yourself for however long it takes you to read The Shippers.  The only thing I hate about Katherine Center's books is that they do, eventually, end.  Til next time!