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#185 ~ Hedge Fund Wives

Hedge Fund Wives by Tatiana Boncompagni

Hedge Fund Wives, Tatiana Boncompagni’s second novel, tells the story of Marcy Emerson, a midwestern girl who moves to New York City with her husband as he begins his career in hedge funds.  Although Chicago is anything but a small town, but she is not prepared for the cut throat world of NYC hedge fund wives.  Marcy gave up much of herself when she left the only world she ever knew to follow John’s dreams. One thing she brought with her were her insecurities.  To the sharks who ruled the world she was entering, insecurity was as good as flowing blood in the water.  Marcy has to learn to trust in herself and her own abilities.   She had no choice.  As with the current shaky financial climate, she was the only safety net she had.

Marcy quickly learns that she doesn’t have it so easy.  Any one of the local hedge fund wives could be out to make her life hell – or use John as a step up the social ladder.  Luckily for Marcy, she is able to make friends like Gigi and Jill.  Jill works for a home interior magazine in addition to being married to a successful hedge funder.  Her life, much like her home, seem perfect on the outside.  Gigi is a chef who runs a prestigeous catering company.  She was a famous author and TV personality prior to marrying her hedge funder.  Together, they make an unusual trio, but they give Marcy the foundation she needs to make NYC her home and begin to take steps to make her life rewarding.  Her decisions with work don’t John happy, but with him spending more and more hours working, she is responsible for her own happiness.  She becomes stronger in the face of uncertainty.

With news of hedge funds going belly up and the nearly endless news about how some of those funds were involved with Bernard Madoff’s ponzi scheme, this novel had an interesting subtext.  The people that Marcy meets, both the husbands and the wives, are living in a bubble that’s about to burst and other than Gigi, whose book on upscale party food is flopping as a result of the economic downturn, she is the only one who seems to have any inkling that it’s happening.  The hedge funders and their wives are deluding themselves and, because they are out of touch with the greater reality, their ability to survive the turmoil is as questionable as some of the futures upon which they deal.

Boncompagni’s second novel has a similar storyline to Gilding Lily, her first novel.  Both novels feature a beautiful, young, and likeable woman who is out of her element in New York City.  As with Lily, Marcy’s world is well researched.  Boncompagni clearly knows what’s what and who’s who.  She knows what they want and how they get it and she translates that very well into her fiction.  Although Hedge Fund Wives didn’t capture my imagination the way that Gilding Lily did, I enjoyed this novel.  It was a welcome distraction and read very quickly.  If you enjoy chick lit that is as timely as it is juicy (who knew there was such a thing as a gyno spa?), Hedge Fund Wives would make the perfect poolside read this summer.

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To buy this novel, click here.

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• Hedge Fund Wives: How They Are Learning To Cope (huffingtonpost.com)

Dog Days of Summer Sign Up and Button

With great thanks to Sheri at A Novel Menagerie, The Literate Housewife’s Dog Days of Summer theme week has a brand!  Doesn’t our bassett hound in front of the fan speak volumes about the hottest days of summer, those days that leave you begging for fall?  Well, if we can’t make things cooler, we can embrace this time of year and devote the week of August 24th to those adorable pets whose species is besmirched by this saying.

The books that I’ll be reviewing here that week are:

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Secrets of Happiness by Sarah Dunn
The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

Want to know how you can participate and use the beautifully coordinating button?

1) Read and review one or more of the books I’ve chosen to review that week.  If you’ve already reviewed one of those books and review another book that relates to dogs, just let me know.  I’m fine with that.  Please grab the button and use it if you’d like.

There will be a dog and/or summer related prize drawn using List Randomizer for one of the bloggers who sign up below and review at least one of the books on my list.

All participants will be included in the general drawing for the Dog Days of Summer bookmarks I’ll be making for this event.

2) Submit a picture of you, your family, or your pets (not strictly dogs) survive the Dog Days of Summer.  Please feel free to use the button and encourage your friends and family to vote for you.

This will be a contest.  There will be a dog and/or summer related grand prize for the picture getting the most votes.  Second and third place will receive a bookmark.

All participants will be included in the general drawing for the Dog Days of Summer bookmarks I’ll be making for this event.

All pictures must be received by August 20th to be included in the contest.

Pictures will be posted at 9am EST on Monday, August 24th and voting will end at 5pm EST on Friday the 28th.

3) Comment on my reviews.

For each comment, you will be entered in the general drawing for the Dog Days of Summer bookmarks I’ll be making for this event.

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me an email.  Please note that I will be on vacation until August 3rd.  I will have access to email and plan on posting reviews, etc. while I’m away, I won’t be online as frequently.  I will get to your email as soon as possible.

Ready to sign up? Here’s Mister Linky!

Vacation Reading 2009

Today we’re getting ready for our vacation to Michigan.  We can’t wait to see our family and it’s been a while since I’ve been home.  When I’m there, I’m looking forward to spending time with friends, family – especially my nieces Carly (9 months) and Lawson (3 weeks).  I can’t wait to give them hugs and kisses.  I’m also looking forward to spending some time seeing my grandparents.  My dad’s father is living in Grand Rapids and my mother’s parents live in Spring Lake.  Spring Lake isn’t too far from Grand Haven – my favorite beach along Lake Michigan.

I also hope to get some leisurely reading done.  I doubt I’ll even look at all that I’m bringing, but I want to keep my opti0ns open.  Here’s what I’ve selected:

Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz ~  I’ve been waiting ever since Korelitz’s Blog Talk Radio interview this spring.  Also, I’ll be discussing this via Twitter with Laura from I’m Booking It during the first week of August.  She won the contest that Miriam from Hatchette Book Group sponsored.

Here are some reviews by other book bloggers:

BermudaOnion’s Weblog
Booking Mama
Books, Movies, and Chinese Food
Everyday I Write the Book
S. Krishna’s Books
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón ~ I was already excited to read this after finishing The Angel’s Game.  Actually well before that.  I’ve heard on Twitter how wonderful TSOTW is, but since TAG was a LibraryThing Early Reviewer’s snag, I read that first.  Then the accolades for TSOTW came in again when I posted my review of  TAG this week.  Game, set, match.  I’ll be reading this novel during my vacation.

Here are some reviews by other book blogers:

Devourer of Books
Fyrefly’s Book Blog
Wordlily
Jen’s Book Thoughts
A Guy’s Moleskin Notebook
Boston Bibliophile

The Song of Hannah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy ~ Eva sent me a copy of this book after I published my review of The Triumph of Deborah. I enjoyed her portrayal of women from the Bible – like I said in my review, this isn’t your mother’s novel about Biblical heroines!  I know less (if that’s possible) about Hannah than I did about Deborah, so this should be good.  The Triumph of Deborah read very fast, so I’m sure this one will be, too.

I couldn’t find any reviews of this novel by other book bloggers.  If you’ve reviewed this one, please add a link in the comments.

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran ~  This is the August pick for my Facebook Historical Fiction Lovers book club.  I’m really looking forward to reading and discussing this novel.  I’ve been wanting to read Moran’s work since I started seeing it pop up on blogs last summer.  We’ll be hosting a chat with her during August.  Please join the group if you’d like to read along with us.  There will be a contest for some of Moran’s other work!

Here are some reviews by other book bloggers:

Caribousmom
Stephanie’s Written Word
Violet Crush
Reading Reflections
Diary of an Eccentric
Medieval Bookworm

Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman ~ This is another Early Reviewers snag of mine.  I started reading it briefly before my Tudor desires got the best of me this week.  It’s about the Scottsboro trials and I have a feeling it’s going to be very good.  This is probably the book I’ll start with on the road tomorrow (I’m really enjoying The Virgin’s Daughters and will probably be finished before we leave…).

Here are reviews by other book bloggers:

Books and Movies
Bookworm’s Dinner

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein ~ The Dog Days of Summer is going to be here before you know it, so I’m hoping to get a head start while I’m on my vacation.  Sheri at A Novel Menagerie created some wonderful banners and buttons for that week and I’m planning on gettijng my Mr. Linky post put together and posted over the weekend.  I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Here are reviews by other book bloggers:

Ex Libris
At Home with Books
Hey Lady! Watcha Readin’?
Age 30+ … A Lifetime of Books
The Bluestocking Society
Book Chatter and other Stuff

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#184 ~ The Angel’s Game

The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

As a lover of Gothic fiction, I was over the moon to have been selected to snag a copy of The Angel’s Game from LibraryThing‘s Early Reviewers program.  I was far from disappointed.  Despite a vague sense that the novel was long, I loved the story and quickly became engrossed in it.  Set in Barcelona, I loved mystery and darkness and enveloped David Martín’s life after he began writing stories in installment for a small local paper. His way was paved for him by his benefactor and legendary Barcelona author and his talent caught the interest of a strange Parisian editor, Andreas Corelli.  Corelli wants him to take a year of  his life to write a book written to  his own specifications.  In exchange, Martín would recieve a small fortune  and a freedom from tight weekly or monthly deadlines.  While researching Corelli’s odd request, Martín becomes embroiled in so deep in a sinister mystery that inevitably leads back to the history of his house and disrupts the few relationships he’s been able to maintain over the years.

Zafón creates a Barcelona of dark tunnels and secrets that is both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.  He clearly loves this place, right down to the underbelly where the witch’s reside.  I couldn’t imagine a more perfect setting for this novel.  Only Barcelona could house the cryptic castle-like home that Martín chooses to rent as soon as he has a reliable source of income.  I love wondering what the house was all about and the sheer foreboding present in the novel whenever it was mentioned.

My favorite scene of the novel is when we first see Corelli.  Martín isn’t sure he believes what he is seeing, but what he believes he sees in that moment is about the more freakishly alive thing I have read in a long time.  I could clearly picture what Martín thought he was seeing and it gave me goosebumps.  It was such a strong image that I could close my eyes and conjure the image back up again without needing to read that passage over again.

If what I’ve read thus far is any indication, Carlos Ruis Zafón is destined to become one of my favorite authors.  According to Wikipedia The Angel’s Game is a prequel to Zafón’s first novel, wihch I have not read.  [For the once this summer, I'll actually be reading novels in order.  What a nice feeling! LOL!].  I will definitely be making time to read The Shadow of the Wind soon.  I’m curious to learn more about The Cemetery of Forgotten Books the fate of Sempere & Sons bookshop.  I can see enjoying his work more with each book I read.  With the translation of this novel being so beutifully written, I cannot image what it’s like to read Zafón in his native language.  This is a must read for fans of Gothic fiction.

******

To buy this novel, click here.

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What I Need Right Now…

Is a good Tudor novel!

Yes, I’m still in a bit of the duldrums when it comes to bloggin and reading lately.  Work has continued to be intense and busy.  Thankfully, the family and I leave for Michigan Saturday morning and I’m off on Friday.  Relief, sweet relief, is just a few short days away.

In order to get me through the home stretch, I have decided to read  a good juicy Tudor novel.  If ever I had a go-to type of novel, it would be about the Tudors.  Sometimes I tire of them, but like any good book-aholic, I always come back begging for more.  Recently, Kaitlyn from Berkley/NAL, Penguin Group USA sent me a copy of Jeane Westin’s novel The Virgin’s Daughters.  It’s in my purse right this minute and I’m jonesing for my lunch break so that I can dive in.  One of the main characters is Lady Katherine Grey, sister of the tragic Nine Day’s Queen, Jane Grey.  She is serving on Elizabeth’s court as Chief Lady-in-Waiting.  I just have a feeling this is going to be good.  I can’t imagine what life would be like in court when your own sister had been sentenced to death for treason. Even though Elizabeth embraces the same religious views as the late Jane Grey, I would be extremely nervous if I were Katherine.

My one potential stumbling block is Queen Elizabeth I.  I have yet to read a novel where Elizabeth is a prominent character that I’ve actually loved.  I really don’t know why that is.  She is a glorious Tudor monarch.  What’s not to like?  I’m definitely taking my chances on this one.

And, if The Virgin’s Daughters gives me the fix I’m thinking it will, why not go on all out binge?  Erika Mailman so graceously sent me a copy of Ella March Chase’s The Virgin Queen’s Daughter.  The connotation alone could make for a wonderfully scandalous novel.

Am I a good addict or what?

#183 ~ Two Brothers: One North, One South

Two Brothers: One North, One South by David H. Jones

Walt Whitman has a calling, not only as a poet but as someone to do what he can to ease the pain of the injured and dying soldiers from the American Civil War.  Although a native of New York, Whitman does not let a soldier’s military affiliation prevent him from being of comfort to one who needs it.  It is in this capacity that he meets and learns the story of Private William Prentiss.  William Prentiss was the youngest son of a proud Marylander from Baltimore.  He held the distinction of being the only brother who fought for the South.  Clifton, his brother closest in age, fought for the North.  After William’s passing, Whitman has the opportunity to meet with the surviving Prentiss brothers and together they uncover the story of the Civil War, which tore the Prentiss family apart.

Two Brothers: One North, One South is much more focused on the battles and political shifts than other Civil War novels I’ve read in the past.  The remembrances of the battlefields and the political discussions and arguments, which were undoubtedly the result of thorough research, felt authentic and even authoritative.  I felt as though I was an insider at each of the Cary sister’s parties or meetings.  I also felt as if I was witnessing the long marches and grueling battles.  This provided the authenticity required to make the story work.  Because of the level of detail, this novel would easily satisfy those well versed in Civil War history.  I attended a seminar that was taught by a man who makes such reenactments his primary hobby.  While reading this book, I often thought about how perfect this novel would be for those who participate in Civil War reenactments.  I can just imagine them reading this book around the campfire and commiserating with the characters’ less than luxurious conditions while in the midst of a reenactment. I think they would especially get a kick out of scenes such as the one where William and a Union soldier are conversing with each other on the sly while they were each hunkered down behind their barricades.

I listened to this book on audio.  As much as I enjoyed learning about the Prentiss brothers and the Carey sisters, it was in spite of the narrator, Kirsten Beyer.  The way she read the dialog particularly didn’t work for me.  Some of the characters’ dialog, especially at the beginning while they were discussing the politics of the war, felt more like formal letter writing than natural speech between family, acquantences, or friends.  While this is not the fault of Ms. Beyer, her reading of this dialog made them feel even more than an arm’s distance away from me and from each other.  Her change of voice for the male characters especially didn’t work very well for me.  Her pacing and style did work better for me during the straight narration. Still, given that most of the characters were male and this story very much took place on the battlefields, I think that a male voice would have made a more natural fit for me.

While reading Two Brothers: One North, One South, I learned a great deal about how the American Civil War affected Maryland and its people. I also learned about the role that women like the “Cary Invicibles” played in Confederate history. Beforehand, I had never heard of sisters Hetty and Jennie Cary or their cousin Constance. I thought it was fascinating how they made the first Confederate battle flags and managed to deliver them to the troops. I was disappointed that there was not more about what happened to the “Cary Invicibles” after the war, but given the structure of this novel, there was no way to tell that story. David H. Jones brings to light the pain experienced by families torn apart by the politics surrounding this war without making the story feel cliched. Having Walt Whitman there to tell William’s story after his passing worked very well for me. While this isn’t my favorite Civil War novel, I left it feeling enriched in my country’s history.

+++++

A special thanks to Paula from Author Marketing Experts, Inc. for sending me a copy of this novel for review.

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To buy this novel, click here.

Want to Walk the Red Carpet?

Have you seen the contest Donna Woolfolk Cross, the author of Pope Joan, has running through the end of the month?  She’s offering a chance to walk down the red carpet with her for the US premier of the cinematic adaptation of her novel!  I received an email from the author yesterday and I am so excited!  In addition to the contest, please keep your eyes open for a guest post from Donna along with a book giveaway!

The Contest

To enter the contest, purchase a copy (multiple entries for each copy you buy!) of the Three Rivers Press edition of the novel on or before July 31, 2009 (go to PopeJoan.com for the details). After you’ve purchased the novel, send a copy of the dated receipt containing the ISBN number for the novel (978-0307452368) along with :

Your Name
Your Phone Number and/or
Your Email Address

to:

POPE JOAN RED CARPET

c/o Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency
216 East 75th Street
New York, New York 10021

The Prize

Please note that your receipt must be received by August 15th in order to be eligible for the contest.  On August 17th, Donna is going to draw the winner from all of the receipts she receives.  The winner will be notified right away and, if you are the lucky winner, here is what you awaits you:

• Two tickets to the movie premiere
• Round trip airfare for two from any location in the continental United States or Canada
• A walk down the red carpet with Donna Woolfolk Cross and her family
• One night hotel accommodation for you to share with your guest

The Movie

If the idea isn’t enough to tempt you to enter this contest, how about some still photos from the film?  These shots are just beautiful!  I’ve never seen John Goodman look so brooding and menacing (I’ve not read the novel yet, so I’m not sure if he character is menacing or not).

This photograph reminds me a lot of the cinematography from Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Wasn’t this guy in Lord of the Rings? Take away Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom from the frame and you realize just how good looking David Wenhamis is!

The Novel

A little history about this novel:  It was originally published by Ballantine Books in 1996.  It went though several printings, but is now published by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group.  When the book changed publishers, Donna made some corrections and additions, added an updated “Author’s Note” that includes new research on Joan, and added a list of “Best of the Best” Reading Group questions, formulated from her experiences chatting with book groups.  The new version is the definitive version.

I haven’t read this novel yet, but it’s been on my TBR pile for some time.  I had no idea that it was being made into a novel until I received the author’s email.  Have you read it?  Would you be interested in reading it with me and chatting about it on Twitter?  I’d love to schedule something like that for this fall.  Send me an email or leave a comment here.

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#182 ~ The Goodbye Cousins

The Goodbye Cousins by Maggie Leffler

Di, short for Diotima, was born in Pittsburgh.  After her parent’s divorce and her father’s remarriage when she was eleven, her psychic mother kidnapped her and took her to Europe.  There, she was constantly on the move. Her mother loved her, but she moved around a lot and never really made any strong connections with other people.  The one exception was Alecia, her cousin.  After her mother’s death and the subsequent death of her father, whom she only spoke to once after the kidnapping, she returns to Pittsburgh as a single mother with a toddler son.  Without a place to stay, she and Max move into Alecia’s apartment wth her fiance, Ben.  The cousins couldn’t be more different.  Di is an earth mother while Alecia is entirely focused on her career.  Alecia takes control of situations whereas Di is impetuous.  The close proximity, Alecia and Ben’s increasingly distant relationship, and Di’s lack of financial resources puts a strain on the cousins.  They may have found family in each other, but is that enough?

The Goodbye Cousins is a novel about how relationships impact and define our lives.  Both women come from difficult home lives.  Alecia’s father is a wealthy man and he dotes on her, but he is also extremely controlling.  They both dismissed Alecia’s mother from their lives once her mental illness made living with her unbearable.  Di’s mother might not have been crazy, but she kept her daughter from a loving father out of a mixture of fear and spite.  Their experiences might have been different, but they could relate to each other in ways no other person could.

There is a very strong sense of place in this novel.  I’ve enjoyed visiting there frequently after my godmother moved there 20 years ago.   Street names and references to Fox Chapel took me back to my visits with Aunt Donna.  I also found the characters like the landscapers to feel like authentic Pittsburghers.  When you get such a good sense of where the story takes place, it makes other aspects of the novel fall into place as well.  Aspects of the novel that didn’t feel complete or didn’t work for me, such as the discovery of what precipitated Di and Roxanne’s abrupt disappearance, were smoothed over by how true to place the novel is as a whole.

The Goodbye Cousins begins as a letter from Di to her son Max.  Although I understand Di’s motivation to let her son know about his family, Di’s near omniscient narration of the story of her return from Europe and her reunion with Alecia didn’t always work well for me.  I liked Di and her voice was fresh and interesting, but her ability to have known almost everything that was going on with other people drew me out of the story from time to time.

I very much enjoyed reading The Goodbye Cousins.  Maggie Leffler’s characters are interesting and her writing was smooth.  Di was a lovable character and I thought her struggles to be a good person and a good mother were heartwarming.  While preparing to write this review, I discovered that The Goodbye Cousins is a sequel to Maggie Leffler’s first novel, The Diagnosis of Love. I wouldn’t have guessed that.  The first novel focused on Alecia’s fiance’s twin sister.  Although Holly does play a role in this novel and she is an interesting character, I would never have guessed this novel to be a sequel.  As with Belong To Me, I don’t think that reading a sequel first impacted my reading or “ruined” the first novel for me.  I think this story speaks to women of all ages.  This book would be a perfect choice for a relaxing read in your hammock with a cool breeze and a cold  beverage of your choice.

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To buy this novel, click here.

2009 National Book Festival Authors Announced!!!

Through Facebook, I noticed that the authors for the 2009 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. have been announced.  Thank God I was sitting down when I read it!  Click here for the link to the site which contains the entire list.  The following are the ones I’m absolutely thrilled and excited about:

TEENS & CHILDREN

Judy Blume ~ OMG!!  I read so much of her work growing up.  What girl out there didn’t read Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret a billion times in preparation for adolescence?  Let’s not even talk about one of my favorite characters of all time, Ramona.

FICTION & FANTASY

Junot Díaz ~ I haven’t read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, but I’ve read so much about it.

John Grisham ~ I know there will be so many readers excited to hear him speak.  I’m not a huge fan, but the man has an incredible following. My mother loves his work.  I would love to get his autograph for her, but I doubt the lines will allow it.

John Irving ~ Of all the authors, John Irving is the adult author one I’m most looking forward to hearing.  I will be waiting in his line.  I’ve only read The Cider House Rules, but you can bet I’ll be reading A Prayer for Owen Meany and others before September roles around.  What an outstanding author to have at the festival!

Jodi Picoult ~ I’ve really grown out of enjoying her novels, but her work was instrumental in helping me when my PPD was at its most severe.  In turn, this is where the inspiration for my initial reading challenge and blog came from.  I have very fond memories of being up at 3AM because of my anxiety and reading her books.  I’m certain you’ll have to get there early to hear her and bring someone to stand in for you in her autograph line.

Nicholas Sparks ~ Not a fan, but I am nearly alone in category.  I know that there will be minions there to see him.

Jeannette Walls ~ I so loved The Glass Castle.  I know that she will be a wonderful speaker!

David Wroblewski ~ The Story of Edgar Sawtelle fans are going to love this!

MYSTERIES & THRILLERS

David Baldacci ~ A Virginia native – and he lives only about 30 minutes from me.

Michael Connelly ~ Tell me people won’t be excited to hear him?

HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY

Sue Monk Kidd ~ I loved The Secret Lives of Bees and I really didn’t love The Mermaid Chair.  Despite the 50/50 average, I would love to see her if I can.

Azar Nafisi ~ I haven’t read Reading Lolita in Tehran, but I’d love to hear her speak. I’m sure she’ll be fascinating.

If you’re planning on attending (or even if you’re not), who are you most excited about?

#181 ~ Last Light over Carolina ~ Review and Blog Tour

Last Light over Carolina by Mary Alice Monroe

Life is hard in McClellanville, South Carolina.  It was built on shrimping, a difficult and demanding industry that had once been good.  With the easy access to foreign shrimp and the decreasing catches over time, more and more people are leaving McClellanville behind.  Carolina and Bud Morrison have lived the shrimper’s life.  They married with much passion and high hopes for the future, but they’re marriage is about as vital as Bud’s credit.  Bud leaves for work on his boat, the Miss Carolina in the morning without making Carolina get up to fix him breakfast.  She was up with a toothache most of the night and he wanted to allow her some more sleep. Still, they had faught the night before and he left without a kiss.  They both remember the glory of their early days together and wonder if the lethargy and lack of forgiveness that has engulfed their marriage is just part of being married for so long.  They had no idea what would happen to Bud that day on the Atlantic and how it would change their perspective on everything.

My favorite scene of the novel was the scene where Bud, his father Oz, his brother Buddy, and his cousin Pee Dee found their own secret sweet spot of shrimp and brought in the haul of their lives.  Despite the harsh lifestyle required to be a shrimper, it was easy to see why the exhilaration of that day would keep a man working in that craft for life.  It’s equally easy to understand why a man looking to regain his place in his community and his stature in his family would choose to return to that spot even when the conditions were not favorable.  His marriage is rocky and the fact that he can’t provide basic dental care for his wife makes him feel even worse.  He found magic in that spot of the ocean where the Morrison family stacked their claim thirty years ago.  Going back was the only logical thing he could do to save them.

This is the first novel I’ve read by Mary Alice Monroe. I’ve only heard good things about her writing and now I see why. From the beginning there was something comfortable and familiar about her prose. There was just something about this story and the way that it was written that felt like home. The simple introduction of Carolina barely awake with a toothache while Bud prepared for the day felt so lived. That passage brought to mind flashes of Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson from In the Bedroom, a movie with just the right tone and lighting for their home and their marriage. Just as in the movie, the characters are real. They don’t sleep in full make-up and they are almost simply resigned to their fate.

Last Light over Carolina is a beautiful novel that tells the story of a marriage, a  family, and a struggling coastal South Carolina town.  What happens to McClellanville and the Morrison’s marriage mirror each other.  They both have lost the passion that made them what they were.  From the moment I picked it up, I never wanted to put it down.  Reading this book made it so easy to understand why the life surrounding shrimp is so often romanticized.   Despite the hard work and awful hours, the world opens up in a special way only for them.  It’s no wonder when you Google shrimp boat, you’ll find so many oil paintings and watercolors. Just like Monroe’s writing, it captures and keeps your imagination.  I cannot recommend this novel highly enough.

++++++

Thanks to Sarah from Pocket Books for sending me a copy of this novel for review.  I’m so happy to be participating in my first Pocket Books Blog Tour.  This was a wonderful first novel to get my feet wet (no pun intended – only caught that myself on the re-read).  Here are some of my fellow tour hosts and hostesses:

All About {n}: www.bookwormygirl.blogspot.com
Bookin’ with “BINGO”: http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/
My Guilty Pleasures: http://www.mgpblog.com/
Just Jennifer Reading: http://www.justjenniferreading.blogspot.com/
Chick With Books: http://www.chickwithbooks.blogspot.com/
Bella’s Novella: http://www.bellasnovella.com/
BermudaOnion’s Weblog: http://www.bermudaonion.wordpress.com/
Books and Needlepoint: http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/
Booksie’s Blog: http://booksiesblog.blogspot.com/
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Book N Around: http://booknaround.blogspot.com/
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ScarpettaJunkie’s Blog: http://scarpettajunkie.wordpress.com/
Frugal Plus: http://frugalplus.com/
Carolina Gal’s Literary Café: http://susansliterarycafe.blogspot.com/
This Book For Free: www.thisbookforfree.com
Marta’s Meanderings: http://martasmeanderings.blogspot.com/

*******

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