I Couldn’t Love You More by Jillian Medoff

Published by: five spot

Published on: May 15, 2012

Page Count: 399

Genre: Women’s Fiction

My Reading Format: Review copy sent to me by the publisher for consideration.

Available Formats: Paperback and eBook

Coming Soon: I will be interviewing Jillian Medoff next week. I hope you’ll come back and get to know the author a little better.

In the meantime, you can connect with Jillian on Facebook and Twitter as well as on her website.

My Review

We read to know we are not alone. ~ C.S. Lewis

Eliot Gordon has a full if unconventional life. She lives with her partner Grant, his two daughters by his first marriage and their daughter Hailey. Although the two aren’t married, they are in love and have created a home for the entire family. Despite standard issues with being a stepmother, life is good. Then, Eliot’s younger sister, Sylvia, tells her that Finn, her college sweetheart, is back in Atlanta. Eliot has unresolved issues with Finn and the way in which he left her life. Seeing Finn again is exhilarating at first, but soon begins to spin out of control. Eliot needs to decide what she really wants in this life. Unfortunately, it may be too late.

I opened my review of I Couldn’t Love You More with a quote from C.S. Lewis because it kept popping into my head as I read the first half of this book. While there are certainly differences between Eliot and me, I could identify myself at her very essence. There were sections of the novel where I felt as if Jillian Medoff must certainly have found a way to steal the inner workings of my mind or, at the very least, stalked me while I was in college. I make those accusations in the most positive light. As I read Eliot’s story, I was right there with her. I had my pen out and was underlining passages like crazy. With each new section, I felt closer to Eliot. Especially as I read Chapters Ten and Eleven, I never set my pen down. This section about Eliot and Finn’s friendship before dating is absolutely perfect (emphasis mine):

But I savored these moments, holding them tight in my hand, each one a rare treasure to unlock later and study. He had  to know I had a crush on him–how could he not? But I pretended I didn’t, and he pretended I didn’t, and all that pretending helped to sustain us. Everywhere we looked, boys and girls were becoming friends, sleeping together, then fighting and breaking up. But Finn and I endured, and it was because the deepest part of our relationship–the most gripping–was inside our silences, coded among the words left unsaid. Or maybe I just told myself this because I loved him and was desperate for him to love me back.  (page 119)

Eliot wasn’t just like me before things went horribly wrong. We had the same thought patterns after, too:

Yes, I was insane. It’s insane, isn’t it, to love a ghost? To obsess about a man who treated you badly, then left you behind without so much as a backward glance? It’s insane to wait for him to reappear, even though you saw him vanish with your own two eyes. It’s insane to tell yourself that everything would be different if only, if only. The whole thing was insane, even the idea that he–that they–truly loved me in the first place.

And yet. (page137)

As the novel progresses and Eliot and Finn are reintroduced to each other, I follow Eliot through her confusing emotions. Although I’ve not experienced that myself and truly hope not to, I continued to see myself in Eliot’s guilt, anxiety, and utter giddiness. I can imagine finding a resolution to an incomplete relationship would feel so good that you would lose track of the lives you’re playing with. In your desire to see those “if onlys” realized, you forget the good that came into your life because that first relationship ended poorly.

I Couldn’t Love You More isn’t only about coming to terms with an unfinished relationship. It has much to say about sisters, surviving selfish parents, what it means to nurture and parent, letting go of the past, and forgiving those who have hurt you the most deeply. This novel has its poignant moments, but it is also full of humor. The opening birthday party, scenes with Grant’s first wife, and Sylvia’s self-serving hypochondria gave this novel the balance it needed to keep it from feeling heavy.

I drank in I Couldn’t Love You Morel from the beginning. I lingered over the passages like those above because it felt as though they were spoken to me directly. Then, when Eliot’s flirtation with Finn goes a little too far, this novel became impossible to put down. By the end, not only was I connected to Eliot, I was proud of her. I appreciated how she owned up to her mistakes and refused to let guilt destroy her life, whatever might be left of it. Eliot Gordon is a character after my own heart. I understood her and I know that because she existed within the pages of this book, someone understands me, too. In this book, Jillian Medoff made me fully aware that I love to read because in doing so I know I’m not alone. That is the power of the best women’s fiction.

I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits

Published by: Hogarth Books

Published on: May 8, 2012

Page Count: 320

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: Review copy sent to me by the publisher in order to participate in the author’s TLC Book Tour.

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook

Giveaway: As part of this tour, I get to give away a copy of I Am Forbidden. One lucky reader living in either the US or Canada who comments on this post by 5/22 will have a chance to win. Good luck!

Today it is my great pleasure to be Anouk Markovits’ host on her TLC Book Tour.  This tour is to celebrate her novel, I Am Forbidden.

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

My Review

When a woman is born into a Hasidic Jewish family, there is truly but one acceptable fate open to her. She must marry as well as she can within her community and raise as many children as God sees fit to bestow upon her. She is responsible for keeping her house, food, and, sexually speaking, her husband clean. While this can lead to a beautiful life if a woman is so inclined, anything outside of this box, which can feel as tiny as a phylacteries to some daughters and wives, is unacceptable. Giving into the temptation to want more will make you forbidden. It doesn’t end there. Being from the lineage of a forbidden person makes you forbidden as well. It is within these strict traditions held by the Satmar community that Atara Stern and Mila Heller are born. Although not biologically related, they were raised as sisters after Mila’s parents are killed during World War II. Atara wants to be a good daughter, but she is also excited about learning and longs to explore all that the world offers while Mila longs to be a good Jewish wife and mother. When Mila marries, these best friends and forever sisters are parted in every way.

Until reading I Am Forbidden, I knew little about Hasidic Judaism. What little I did know I learned from television. Although Anouk Markovits left the Hasidic community in which she was raised at a young age, her novel is full of the love she has for her community. There is a beauty in living ones life for one’s faith. Unfortunately, the truth isn’t as black and white as ultra conservative religious sects would like for it to be. It is difficult to live a pure life without doubts or questions. The scenes at the very beginning of the book with Zalman Stern illustrate the seemingly ridiculous lengths people will go to keep from sin. What one has to do in order to remain permitted in this community, however, becomes oppressive when one dares to question to unquestionable and challenge the infallible.

While both men and women can be forbidden, women are in the most precarious position. Not only do they have little say in their futures, but even when women willingly and lovingly enter into a marriage, their position it tenuous. A young woman can scrupulously abide by the stringent and uncomfortably intimate laws of family purity, but if she fails to produce offspring, she can be cast aside with the blessings of the community. After 10 years of infertility, a man is nearly compelled to divorce his wife and remarry in order to live out the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. As an outsider reading this book, there appear to be so many stumbling blocks in the way that it is a wonder that any woman, no matter how dedicated, can shoulder the incredible responsibility of family life and purity in an environment within which she has absolutely no control.

I Am Forbidden is an incredible and addictive read. It took me a short time to adjust to the author’s narrative style, which lays out the story in pieces of varying sizes along the way. Once I caught the rhythm, I couldn’t set the book down for long. As someone unfamiliar with the language and traditions of the Satmar community, I did find the glossary at the back of the book very helpful, especially in the beginning. Markovits also incorporated translations along the way. Regardless of how different my life is from those characters who came urgently alive within the pages of this book, getting caught up in their world felt natural. Had I had the opportunity, I could have read the entire novel in one sitting without a single restless moment or wandering thought. In choosing I Am Forbidden as its premier novel, the newly formed imprint Hogarth has set the bar extremely high. I very highly recommend this novel.

Anouk Markovits’ TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

A Wedding in Haiti by Julia Alvarez

Published by: Algonquin Books

Published on: April 24, 2012

Page Count: 304

Genre: Memoir

My Reading Format: Review copy sent to me by the publisher for consideration

Available Formats: Hardcover and eBook

My Review

Julia Alvarez and her husband Bill own and operate an organic coffee plantation in the Dominican Republic. It hadn’t been in their plans, but when they saw a place where they could help a declining industry, they did. Well, Bill did and convinced Julia to agree. Through their endeavor, they met Piti, a young Haitian man who crossed the border to find work. They cannot remember exactly how old Piti was when they first met, but he soon became close to them and Julia makes a promise to attend his wedding someday. When that day comes, Julia and Bill plan a trip to Haiti.

Although used to life in the Dominican Republic, the travelers are not fully prepared for the realities of Haiti. They realize they are in for a bumpy ride the moment they attempt to cross the border with their truck. They quickly learn that there are rules and then there are the rules made on an individual basis and at a cost. That this cost is much to high for so many living in Haiti was not lost on Alvarez. Yet what frustrates them on a vacation does not seem to depress the Haitian people. Quite the contrary. In a land where nothing in more abundance than poverty, its people are full of seemingly never ending hope.

The wedding trip takes place before the earthquake. Julia and Bill then make a return trip to help Piti once again afterward. I was as eager and anxious for their return journey as they were. This memoir, which includes several candid snapshots from both trips, is without a doubt well written, engaging, and full of insight about marriage, family, and the poorest nation in our hemisphere. While always honest, it is not without its humor and joy. It would make an excellent addition to the reading list of anyone interested in social justice. I cannot recommend A Wedding in Haiti enough.

Published by: St. Martin’s Press

Published on: March 2011

Page Count: 368

Genre: Women’s Fiction

My Reading Format: Audiobook purchased from Audible.com using a monthly credit for Armchair Audiess

Audiobook Published by: Tantor Audio

Narrator: Dan John Miller and Cassandra Campbell

Audiobook Length: 10 hours and 54 minutes

Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, and Audiobook

My Review

In A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by Marley and three other ghosts in an attempt to change his heart before it is too late. Emily and Einstein is a twist on this classic tale. Sandy Portman is a man used to getting what he wants. He was born into affluence and he is as selfish and spoiled as an adult as he was as a child. He’s married to Emily, a vivacious, creative, up and coming book publicist who at one time sparked his interest. Her innate sense of joy and her unconditional love make him weary and, after just a few years of marriage, he is going to ask her for a divorce while she’s volunteering at a local animal shelter. That was the plan, anyway, until a dog dashes out into the busy New York street and causes the accident that takes Sandy’s life. Sandy feels robbed as he leaves his body. He feels entitled to more life. So, when an old man is actually able to communicate with him, he takes him up on his offer for a second chance. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he’d have to earn his redemption while embodied in Einstein, the dog who caused his death. If Sandy was no better behaved as an adult, becoming a dog does not have an immediate impact on his worldview of even his own life. It takes the fear of fading away quickly to make him even attempt to help Emily.

Emily’s life after Sandy’s death is reminiscent of The Devil Wears Prada. Her job at the publisher has little room to allow her to grieve the loss of her husband. Coworkers try to sabotage the projects she’s put her heart and soul into. When she creates success despite their interference, they then reach in to take credit. Then a formidable woman steps in to lead the company in a new direction and pushes Emily to do more and to be more. This is all too much for her on top of losing the apartment at the Dakota because, although her husband had promised to change his will and leave her the apartment were anything to happen to him, he never did. His mother expects to get it back for the family trust. All Emily has going for her a neighbor she never noticed while her husband was alive and her new dog, Einstein – and he seems to work against her more than anything else. The universe is converging on Emily, forcing her to confront the truths she refused to believe about her marriage and herself.

Emily and Einstein is narrated by Dan John Miller and Cassandra Campbell. Dan John Miller came across perfectly as the whiny, entitled Sandy/Einstein. Where Einstein’s character could very easily have been unlovable, Miller’s narration added just the right touch of irony and humor to keep the internal dialog from feeling overbearing. There are times when I’m frustrated and I want to shout, “Old man!” Likewise, Cassandra Campbell’s narration made Emily come alive. Just as with the characters in You Know When the Men are Gone (Campbell is also nominated for an Audie for this title in the Short Story Collections category), I couldn’t help but empathize with this woman who deserved so much more. Miller and Campbell fit together far better than their characters did. One note about the production of this audiobook. There were several places throughout the audiobook where it appears that sections weren’t inserted correctly. I would hear the narrator repeat the same few words twice. The first two times it happened, I went back to listen again to see if it was my phone, but in both instances, the same words were again duplicated. These repetitions didn’t keep me from enjoying the audiobook, but they were like hitting speed bumps along the way. I listened to the Audible version and it may not impact other versions.

Emily and Einstein is a sweet, creative story about love, loss, selfishness, and forgiveness. I enjoyed living in New York City with Emily and watching her grow as she faced the challenges that seemed to dump on her lap all at one time. I liked that the book felt familiar yet didn’t give in the most of the obvious plot twists. Given Sandy’s temperment and personality, I had no difficulty giving into the belief that he would become a dog after death. This book reminded me of the best parts of The Art of Racing in the Rain. If you enjoy stories of women facing difficult odds and making their own way, this is a book for you.

Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge

Published by: Amy Einhorn Books

Published on: April 26, 2012

Page Count: 304

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: ARC sent to me by the publisher for consideration

Available Formats: Hardcover and eBook

My Review

Faith is an elderly widow living by herself in Texas in her family’s mansion. Since the death of her son and her husband, Faith has rarely ventured from the home filled with precious and priceless antiques. Her daughter Claudia has long since left both town and her life. Soon it will be the year 2000. She hears the voice of God. He is telling her to sell everything she has. People say everything is big in Texas and Faith Bass Darling, who simply is clearing her house of absolutely everything, is having a whopper of a yard sale. Antiques, collectibles, furniture, and Tiffany lamps all being sold for whatever the buyer can afford. While many people are happy to take whatever gems they can find off of the old woman’s hands without looking back. There are those who care about Faith and her family who are determined to discover just why this is happening on New Year’s Eve.

My maternal grandmother and my mother both have had life long passions for going garage sale-ing. When my parents took us on family trips, my mom would frequently tell my dad to stop because she saw a garage sale. Whether he did or not was dependent upon a lot of things, but my mother was always on the look out. Up until recently, my grandma always gave us a Christmas present and a GS present. GS standing for garage sale, of course. Those were always the most fun packages to open. Although I don’t get as involved in garage sales as my grandma and my mom, you can say that it is in my blood. I absolutely had to read this book.

Lynda Rutledge wrote a novel set in Texas that made me feel so close to home in Michigan. No, I’m not the run away daughter of a wealthy heiress (God knows I daydreamed about running away and being the child of someone rich and famous many times), but I do know how it feels to be separated from my mother. The thought of her living far away from me, especially if she were to ever develop a disease like Alzheimer’s as Faith has is a real fear of mine. She raised me well and I know that things are not the most valuable possession. Things may be lost, stolen, unappreciated, or accidentally sold for little or nothing with something else. The love and forgiveness of your family is what is truly priceless. It is this aspect of Faith’s story that meant so much to me.

Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale, filled with the power of memory and the value of forgiveness, is a well-written and well-rounded novel. The way in which Faith’s Alzheimer’s disease was written into the narrative caught me off guard at first, but it served to alert the reader that something wasn’t right and provided insight into Faith’s thought processes. The way in which her disease manifested itself in her kitchen was heartbreaking. While what I took away most from the novel was sentimental, this does not mean that it wasn’t fun. Faith is quite a character and so are many of the neighbors and strangers who come to her garage sale. I also enjoyed each of the Provenance sections, which provided detailed descriptions of key items in Faith’s yard sales along with the item’s history. Those sections brought a touch of Antiques Roadshow, fitting perfectly into the story.

The best gift I can give my mom is a story about getting an honest good deal via a garage sale. Mom would know immediately that something wasn’t right in her yard that New Year’s Eve. Very much like Bobbie, the local antiques dealer, Mom would do all that she can to step in and take control of the situation. She would have to get to the bottom of why Faith was allowing her home and her legacy to be pillaged. Discovering all the secrets held in this Texas town and within Faith’s heart are worth the work. This is how I know that Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale will make the perfect Mother’s Day gift for my mom. I am looking forward to her reading this book so that we can talk garage sales.

The Underside of Joy by Seré Prince Halverson

Published by: Dutton

Published on: January 2012

Page Count: 320

Genre: Women’s Fiction

My Reading Format: Review copy sent to me by a publicist

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook

My Review

Ella Beene found  the life she always wanted when, after divorcing her first husband, she ran into Joe and his two young children at the family store. Joe’s wife abandoned her family just months before and Ella quickly fit into the lives of Joe, Annie, and Zach like a long lost puzzle piece. They married and Ella felt fulfilled in her role as wife and stepmother. Her happiness didn’t last long. It was only a few short years into their marriage that Joe died in an accidental drowning. At Joe’s funeral, the children’s birth mother appears. Through the process of determining what Paige’s intentions are for the children she abandoned and discovering that true state of the family store causes Ella to reevaluate her life, her relationship with Joe and his family, and fight for her role in Annie and Zach’s lives.

The Underside of Joy is a novel that touches on marriage, destiny, parenting, and family secrets. If found it both interesting and hard to put down from the moment Joe left the house on that fateful morning. The novel was rich in story with a young widow left to raise her stepchildren and save her husband’s family’s store. The added dimension of the shame brought to Italian immigrants sent to interment camps during WWII gave it that much more depth. The way in which the shame and the secrets seep through the generations can be stifling. By never speaking of it, people step on each other’s most tender parts without even knowing it.

I could very much relate to Ella as a heroine. Having moved away from my family to make a life in my husband’s hometown, I appreciated the way in which Ella adopted the town of Elbow, California. I wish that I could feel as connected to my community as she does. Because she had nothing to lose when she landed in Elbow, she was able to give her heart away to it. Being an adoptive mother, I also know well how a child can capture your heart completely. In that relationship, it is so important to put your own feelings and needs aside not only to allow but encourage your children to love and know their birth parents and extended family as it is appropriate to the situation. That Ella struggled with her conscience as the issues with Paige progressed felt true to me.  I appreciated so much how she listened to her heart and took Paige’s circumstances into account along the way.

The Underside of Joy is a beautiful book. This only just begins with the cover. It had all of the elements that make reading women’s fiction fulfilling. I loved the world that Seré Prince Halverson created in Elbow and the various characters she brought to life there. It made me happy to be a reader and longing for the upcoming days this summer when the weather is nice enough to plan a family picnic. I highly recommend this book and will be keeping Seré Prince Halverson on my radar.

Published by: Harper

Published on: June 2011

Page Count: 388

Genre: Literary Fiction

My Reading Format: Audiobook rented from my local public library.

Audiobook Published by: Harper Audio

Narrator: Hope Davis

Audiobook Length: 12 hours 25 minutes

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook

Armchair Audies Category: Literary Fiction

My Review

Ann Patchett’s latest novel tells the story of Marina Singh, a pharmacologist in her mid 30s who came to her profession by way of an accident that occurred during her OB/GYN residency. Marina is happily working for Vogel, a pharmaceutical company, when she receives news that her coworker, Dr. Anders Eckman died in the Brazilian rain forest while on a mission to discover the status of the fertility project Dr. Swenson has been developing there for Vogel. Mr. Fox, Marina’s employer and lover, asks Marina to go to the jungle to bring back information about the deceased Dr. Eckman as well as to get check up on Dr. Swenson’s project. What Mr. Fox does not know is that Dr. Swenson the physician who taught Marina everything she knew about obstetrics and gynecology. It is not without trepidation that Marina makes the journey to Dr. Swenson and the Lakashi people. It is an understatement to say that Dr. Swenson intimidates Marina. This trip into the unknown forces Marina to confront all of her ghosts.

Not since The Emperor’s Children have I been as irritated by a reading experience as I was with State of Wonder. Whereas I considered The Emperor’s Children death by character development, State of Wonder was death by whining psychoanalysis. Spending time with Marina continually grated on my nerves. When she wasn’t rehashing the effects of the malaria drug she had to take in order to travel, she was over analyzing herself and others. With each mention of Dr. Swenson’s name came a fresh batch of anxiety. Had the book been half the length, this wouldn’t have had the chance to fester within me the way that it did. I kept hoping that when Marina finally came into contact with Dr. Swenson that the crisis as such would be over. I’d hoped that she would be able to let go of her own issues and focus on the tasks at hand. Not so. Even Dr. Swenson herself commented on how Marina focused on the minute details of unimportant things. On Marina’s first night at Dr. Swenson’s camp, it was so bad that when her thought processes finally slowed down so that she could fall asleep I applauded. Alas, the celebration was short lived. She immediately had a dream. Sigh.

State of Wonder is nominated for an Audie award in the Literary Fiction category. It is for this reason that I finally read the novel and it is for this reason that I finished it. Had I attempted to read this book in print, I very much doubt I would have made it to Marina’s flight to Brazil. For someone as intelligent as Marina, she never seemed to have any confidence in her own abilities. She virtually appointed Dr. Swenson guardianship of her self-worth. This intensified after her last experience as an OB/GYN resident. At the age of 35, Marina very much needed her experience in the jungle to force her to live life instead of beiing afflicted by it.

State of Wonder did start to pick up once Marina got to the camp. She met and bonded with Easter, the 10-year-old deaf boy from another tribe who helped Dr. Swenson. He was a character I could finally embrace. Also, I found Dr. Swenson more tolerable than I had expected her to be given Marina’s extensive inner dialog leading up to her arrival in Manaus. I did find it appropriate that it was the doctors from Michigan who gave me my only chuckle. It was nice to finally be able to experience the world within this novel outside of Marina’s head.

State of Wonder was my first experience with Hope Davis’ narration. While I wish I had an overall better experience, I very much credit her with making it possible for me to finish the book. Although she did use some voice differentiation, she kept the characters distinct mainly through tone and attitude. I didn’t notice this at much at first when Marina and Dr. Eckman’s wife Karen were in conversation, but it was readily apparent once Dr. Swenson arrived on scene. While I wanted to wish the story swiftly to its end many times, her pacing was consistent and appropriate to the story throughout. I hope to one day get a chance to experience her work with a book I enjoy.

There were many times that I actually despised State of Wonder. I wanted out of Marina’s head and I wanted a grown woman to stop calling her peers – not to mention her lover – by their given names. I didn’t want to slap Marina, I just wanted to walk away and be done with her. I do think that my impatience with Marina’s stemmed from being able to see something of myself in her. I am a pleaser as well and have given many other people the keys to my happiness. Seeing what that type of thought process looks like is not pretty, especially when belonging to a professional 35-year-old woman. In the end, I did not hate this book. As I reached the very last disc, I stopped regretting not DNFing the book six discs ago. The story finally meant something to me and I was grateful. It was by no means a resounding “Hooray!”, but State of Wonder did provide a small pay off for my perseverance.

A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein

Published by: Algonquin Books

Published on: November 2009

Page Count: 304

Genre: Literary Fiction

My Reading Format: eBook purchased for my Kindle

Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

My Review

Pete Dizinoff is a man who needs to be in control is eclipsed perhaps only by his need to look like he’s in control. He has the right job and the right wife. A wife who looks to him for greater social and political understanding. He has a son he adores. He has set up his life in such a way that he believes that his family is above what happened to his best friend Joe Stern’s family. Joe’s oldest daughter Laura gave birth to a baby in a library bathroom, killed it, and threw it in a dumpster. Any small comfort Pete showed his friend at the time was tainted by his heart, which was full of self-righteous indignation. What Pete sowed in judgement, he later reaped as this story begins. Laura’s been away from their small suburban town for many years. She was sentenced to time in a mental hospital following her trial and has led a bohemian life afterwards. When Laura reappears in town and starts a relationship with Pete’s son Alec, Pete’s grip on his family begins to slip. Alec is 10 years younger than Laura and he must protect his son from her.

A Friend of the Family is told from Pete’s perspective both in the present as well as from different times in the past. From the beginning we know that something is going to happen. Looking back on his character, I am not surprised at how he strings the reader along, giving up bits of information as he goes along. He is controlling the setup and the delivery. He made me impatient at times, but when he finally admits to how his obsession with his son’s love life impacted both his professional as well as personal life, he made a huge impact. In fact, his story, parsed out in moments here and opinions there was essential. Had he simply spelled it out at the beginning, so much would have been missed. He may like to play the puppet master, but he is above all else honest about himself even when he cannot be honest to others.

There is so much going on in A Friend of the Family that I cannot begin to do more than scratch the surface. Pete is an interesting character. He walks a fine line between between being a well meaning man who cares for his family and the life they have together and an unsympathetic control freak. I found his story, his family, his friends, and his community fascinating. While I often wish that I’d read a book earlier, I’m glad that I chose to read it just before Algonquin Books’ Book Club event with the author and Steven King because it was fresh in my memory. Just watching them discuss the book online made me dream of retiring to a commune where people read and discuss great books. I most definitely recommend A Friend of the Family.

A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer duBois

Published by: The Dial Press

Published on: March 20, 2012

Page Count: 384

Genre: Literary Fiction

My Reading Format: ARC sent to me by the publisher in order to participate in the TLC Book Tour

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook

Giveaway: As part of this tour, I get to give away a copy of A Partial History of Lost Causes. One super lucky duck living in either the US or Canada who comments on this post by 3/31 will have a chance to win. Good luck!

Today it is my great pleasure to be Jennifer duBois’ host on her TLC Book Tour.  This tour is to celebrate her new novel, A Partial History of Lost  Cause.

I have a lot of fun working as a tour host for TLC Book Tours.  They always have great books and authors on tour.  Check out their website for more information on this tour and the others that they are hosting.

My Review

Doctors prefer not to test young people for adult onset terminal illnesses, but after her father was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease, Irina demanded the testing. She promised everyone that she wanted only to be prepared and that her faith in God was strong. She was only giving the medical establishment lip service. Huntington’s Disease, when passed down by the father, has a much earlier onset and given her results, she could easily expect onset to begin in her early 30s. Irina is devastated. In many ways, her college and post-college years are lived out in such a way as to provide an example of why those tests aren’t routinely performed on young people. Irina pushes away those who are close to her and avoids creating any new relationships. As she nears 30, her best friend is a Swedish man with whom she plays a weekly gave of chess in Harvard Square. When her father finally dies, she finds a letter he wrote to Aleksandr Bezetov, the current world chess champion asking him how he proceeded in the face of certain defeat. This unanswered letter prompts Irina into action. She is determined to use whatever time she has remaining to track down this man, now a political dissident running for president against Vladimir Putin’s hand-picked candidate, and find the answer to her father’s question.

A Partial History of Lost Causes is a beautifully written in alternating chapters from both Aleksandr and Irina’s point of view. This approach worked so well for this novel because our knowledge of and interest in Aleksandr builds along with Irina’s. We first encounter Aleksandr in 1979 as he arrives at a chess academy in Leningrad. It is there that he becomes noticed by the Kremlin and not just for his ability to play chess. It is there that he gets involved with an underground political movement. Despite the age difference and their vastly different lives, they are both people who live too much in their heads. They cling to their intellectual existence. It is their security blanket and they cannot fully relate to those who seek shelter elsewhere. Although they both have reason to that death is imminent, that really isn’t what is holding them back. Truly, they are both afraid of living.

When you read a book written by a first time author, it can feel like you are taking a leap of faith. You never know what you are getting and, because many of your trusted sources have not read the author either, the safety net provided by the opinion of others just isn’t there. Jennifer duBois is an example of what makes taking that risk both exhilarating and refreshing. The story is sharp and her writing is gorgeous. There were sections I purposefully reread because I wanted to roll the words around my head again so that I remembered how they felt. This was especially true in those sections when Irina and Aleksandr were at their most reflective. I double underlined this passage where Irina is comparing her life to her colleagues:

I could have had any or all—or most—of those things, I suppose, but my major character flaw is an inability to invest in lost causes. When you are the lost cause, this makes for a lonely life.

As a person who came of age the year that the Berlin Wall fell, I became invested in the book from the very first chapter. The story and the duBois’ writing kept me focused and wanting more. Irina and Aleksandr laid bare their souls without shame and discovered the truths for which they were searching. A Partial History of Lost Causes was one of the most beautiful novels I have read in quite some time. I can only imagine the places Jennifer duBois will go in her career, but I’m calling shotgun. I don’t want to miss a single word.

Jennifer duBois’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, March 12th:  Book Snob

Wednesday, March 14th:  Bibliosue

Monday, March 19th:  Unabridged Chick

Tuesday, March 20th:  Broken Teepee

Monday, March 26th:  Luxury Reading

Wednesday, March 28th:  Book Club Classics

Thursday, March 29th:  BookNAround

Monday, April 2nd:  Wandering Thoughts of a Scientific Housewife

Wednesday, April 4th:  Wordsmithonia

Thursday, April 5th:  She Treads Softly

Monday, April 9th: Coffee and a Book Chick

Wednesday, April 11th:  Jenny Loves to Read

Published by: Penguin

Published on: January 5, 2012

Page Count: 416

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: Audiobook purchased through Audible.com using a monthly credit.

Audiobook Published by: Penguin Audio

Narrator: Dan Stevens

Audiobook Length: 11 hours 23 minutes

Available Formats: Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook

Synopsis from the Publisher

Small-time private investigator Ray Lovell veers between paralysis and delirium in a hospital bed. But before the accident that landed him there, he’d been hired to find Rose Janko, the wife of a charismatic son of a traveling Gypsy family, who went missing seven years earlier. Half Romany himself, Ray is well aware that he’s been chosen more for his blood than his investigative skills. Still, he’s surprised by the intense hostility he encounters from the Jankos, who haven’t had an easy past. Touched by tragedy, they’re either cursed or hiding a terrible secret-whose discovery Ray can’t help suspecting is connected to Rose’s disappearance. . . .

Review from My Bookshelf

Did you ever begin a book and then suddenly notice that themes from the book started to appear everywhere? I had that type of situation with The Invisible Ones. Suddenly, gypsies were surrounding me, and I don’t just mean My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, either. They were mentioned in other books, like “From a View to a Kill,” the first short story on the Quantum of Solace audiobook and in conversation overheard. It’s probably just a matter of my brain being more keyed into gypsies that made this happen, but it felt rather spooky.

This book nearly stalked me via Twitter. It was no where on my radar when out of the blue Ellison (@egwreads) asked me if I had read it. She quite literally demanded that I read it. Jen (@devourerofbooks) jumped in to let me know that the audiobook was superb. My arm only twists so much before I give in and, as it happened, I had an extra Audible credit so I picked it up. I started it soon after and became lost in the world of Ray and the Jankos.

The novel is told from the perspective of both Ray, the man investigating the long term disappearance of a gypsy woman, and J.J., a teenage member of the Janko family trying to find his way in the world. Ray’s story isn’t told in chronological order, which adds an additional layer to the mystery. What made Ray’s story so interesting was his foot in/foot out connection to the gypsy world. He was perhaps trusted more than a complete outsider, but he was not completely one of them, either. The same is true on the other side. Although he owns the business, it is his partner, who is often assumed to be the man in control. He, too, seemed torn about where he belonged. That was the aspect of his character that I found the most interesting. J.J., however, is the most interesting character in the novel. Coming of age is confusing in and of itself, but to live in a family full of secrets and with a cousin dying of a family affliction makes doing so that much more difficult. Yet, he is full of insight. Ray’s questions coincide and in many ways exacerbate the questions J.J. has himself. Being next to him as he learns his limits was quite an experience.

The Invisible Ones is narrated by Dan Stevens. As I am a late adopter of Downton Abbey, he was unfamiliar to me at the time I listened to this audiobook. In fact, I just started the series as I began writing this review. In many ways, I’m very happy about that. I had no expectations of him or for him to color the experience. He well distinguished each of the major characters and I just loved what he did with J.J. I hope that he continues to narrate audiobooks. He delights both on screen and off.

Reading The Invisible Ones made me wonder why I have left The Tenderness of Wolves untouched on my shelves practically since it was published. Steph Penney is a lively and engaging author. I am thankful to have had this audiobook thrust down my throat. Ha! I highly recommend it.