SCARLET FEATHER by Maeve Binchy

I joined the book club at my library. This was January's selection. I must be one of the few people alive who have never read Maeve Binchy. Tom Feather and Cathy Scarlet, friends from culinary school open a catering company called Scarlet Feather. The book follows 'a year in the life' - their jobs, their relationships, their families. Unfortunately, I found both main characters to be completely unlikeable - uncommunicative, judgemental, childish. Luckily, Binchy does a pretty good job of creating supporting characters who are interesting - a pair of nine-year-old twins; Cathy's parents (working class, hard working, kind and fair) - but not really enough to sustain an almost 500 page novel.

So, why did I give this book a decent review rating? The average age at the book club appears to be about 75. Each and every one of them loved this book. They thought the characters had fine moral fibre. They wanted the catering company to do well. They commiserated over the relationship problems. They rooted for the possible romantic ending. They chose another Binchy book for February. Any book that will bring seniors together, provide entertainment, companionship and purpose is all right by me. (I, however, won't be going in February)

THE HUSBAND'S SECRET by Liane Moriarty

"For my wife, Cecilia Fitzpatrick
To be opened only in the event of my death"

Cecilia found the envelope among a stack of old tax records and imagined it contained a sentimental message, given it was dated just a few days after the birth of their first child, fifteen years ago. Cecilia has no idea that the letter is a Pandora's Box that will blow her world apart.

Although Cecilia doesn't know it, the unopened letter will link her to two other women. There is Rachel, the part-time school secretary at her daughters' school. Rachel has rebuilt her life after the murder of her teenaged daughter twenty years ago and her divorce from her husband. As her son and daughter-in-law plan a move to New York with her much adored grandson, Rachel realizes that she must rethink her life once again. Tess, the third, is the daughter of Rachel's work share partner. She has brought her six-year-old son with her while she cares for her recently injured mother. She too is contemplating major changes in her own life and marriage. The lives of these three women are tied to each other by one man’s secret.

This is certainly not great literature. What it is, however, is an interesting, well written tale about moral ambiguity, secrets and their consequences in the lives of three women who suddenly find themselves connected by them. Bring this book on vacation. 

TUESDAY NIGHTS IN 1980 by Molly Prentiss

James is an art critic with synesthesia - a neurological phenomenon that crosses sensory pathways, allowing him to see sounds, hear colours - an ability that allows him to become one of the top art critics for the New York Times. A personal loss on New Years Eve of 1980, temporarily robs him of this ability and his career is sent spiralling downward. Raul is an artist with a connection to a sister left behind in politically unstable Argentina - an artist who, in James' opinion, is 'the next big thing'. Raul, too, suffers a tragic loss in 1980 - a loss that will forever impact his life as an artist. Lucy is a small town Midwest girl who moves to New York to experience life.

Over the course of one year, as the art world faces an unprecedented swell of commercialization, these three people connect and remake each other. James, Raul, and Lucy encounter the depths of fame, humanity, and loss, and are forced to redefine their relationship to art, beauty, and life.

I would assume that this is a reasonably accurate picture of the art world of New York in 1980 - my only experience into this world was taking a bus trip to the Museum of Modern Art to see the Picasso exhibit - hardly enough for me to know for certain. However, the book drew me in and I felt, just for those few hours while I read, that I was part of it.

THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood

I recently watched the first season of The Handmaid's Tale - the television adaptation of Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel.  The programme is extremely well done and sent me straight back to the book.

This is one of the scariest books I have ever read. The Rebublic of Gilead (formerly The USA) is a totalitarian and theocratic state.  Pollution, radiation and sexually transmitted diseases have caused sterility and only a very few women have the ability to conceive and deliver a healthy child.  The Handsmaids (named for the servants of Rachel and Leah in the Bible who bore children for their mistresses) have borne healthy children in the past and are assigned to elite families for the sole purpose of giving them a child.  The book depicts a world in which no one is free, where everyone is constantly under watch, and women have no control over their bodies. The main reason it is so frightening is because although it seems so far fetched,  it is based on an ideology that is heard every day from the lips of politicians, the media, religious leaders and others:  the need to return to 'traditional family values'.  This book shows how this can go terribly wrong when taken too far.  But how far is 'too far'?  We walk a very fine line when we start to give our freedoms - even little ones - away.  It is entirely possible to lose much more than we bargained for.

This disturbing book raises many issues about personal freedom, government and conflicting ideologies - an excellent and thought provoking read.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS by B.A. Paris

'Behind Closed Doors' is a story of psychological suspense. Jack and Grace Angel's marriage is the envy of all who know them. He is handsome, wealthy and a successful lawyer specializing in domestic abuse cases. She is beautiful, kind and an accomplished artist. They appear to be devoted to eachother. The title of the book should tip you off to the fact that all is not well 'behind closed doors'. Their harrowing story is told alternating between their past and the present. Jack is a sadistic psychopath (not a spoiler - it's pretty much spelled out in the first few pages) with evil plans for Grace and Millie, her younger sister who has Down's Syndrome.

This book was not always easy to read, particularly if the reader has experienced any form of abuse. Still, the author plays a good game of cat and mouse and draws out the story to a satisfactory conclusion. I would definitely put this one in the category of 'beach book' - a fast, exciting read that does not demand too much of the reader. 

A SEASON IN PURGATORY by Dominick Dunne

When young Harrison Burns becomes an accessory to a crime of passion committed by his friend and prep school classmate Constant Bradley, his silence is bought by patriarch Gerald. 'My soul was lost, but my future was bought and paid for'.

In 1975, 15-year-old Martha Moxley, who lived in a wealthy area of Greenwich, Conn., was found beaten to death with a golf club. The prime suspect was the 17-year-old neighbour, Thomas Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy. "A Season in Purgatory" was designed to parallel the Moxley murder case. There is a theme of power and privilege - as well as the theme that those with the most expensive lawyers win.

"A Season in Purgatory" blends in all the familiar tales of Kennedy damage and damage control. Constant Bradley's classy, beautiful wife, Charlotte, is given a million dollars by his father when she threatens to leave him because of his womanizing. A mentally challenged sister is packed off to an insane asylum and never mentioned. People are paid to write school essays and an autobiography for Constant, and his father buys up copies of the book to make sure it is a best seller. The oldest brother, Jerry, who is really supposed to be the great family political hope, has an accident, and the woman with him ends up in a wheelchair. A sister becomes an alcoholic. Gerald Bradley has a stroke.

Dominick Dunne (disclosure: he is one of my favourite authors - I subscribed to Vanity Fair for years just so I could read his column) has taken all the most chilling character flaws of generations of Kennedy's and compressed them into one creepy plot line (which happens to be closer to true than not) - a highly readable tale about the privileged who feel they can make their own rules. 

THE POSTMISTRESS by Sarah Blake

In 1940, Frankie Bard, 'girl reporter', was reporting from London, alongside Edward R. Murrow. The U.S. had not yet entered the war.  Among those listening were the residents of a small town on Cape Cod. Iris is the postmaster in Franklin and takes her job of delivering the mail very seriously..  Will is the local physician and Emma is his new bride.

Frankie feels that the real story is not being reported on; nothing is being said about Jews being forced to leave their homes. Her journalist friend, Harriet Mendelsohn, receives letters from Jewish relatives telling her some of what is going on. Then Harriet is killed during one of the bombing raids from the Nazis and Frankie tries to find ways to tell their stories.   The author expertly conveys the fear and uncertainty of Americans worried that their sons will be sent off to war, and their limited knowledge of what is happening to the Jews in Europe.

Back in Franklin, Will loses a mother during childbirth, and after listening to Frankie on the radio, decides he can be more help working in hospitals in London. Emma thinks he is going out of guilt for something that wasn't his fault, but she lets him go. She doesn't tell him that she is pregnant. Will asks Iris to hold a letter for him, to give to Emma if he is killed, knowing Iris will watch over her.

Several months later, Iris is sorting the mail and does the unthinkable. She opens a letter, reads it, and decides not to send it on.  In London, Frankie gets permission to go to France and rides the trains recording the stories of the various people fleeing Germany and France.

Frankie's journey eventually leads her to Franklin, with another letter in her pocket that she has vowed to deliver.

Sarah Blake's book is beautifully written and has successfully captured life in small town America at the start of the Second World War. I would definitely recommend this one.