Category Archives: Fiction

Coral Glynn by Peter Cameron

I have had a busy week- I read 4 new books and want to tell you all about them. Here is the first pick for you to read…..

Coral Glynn by Peter Cameron is definitely a book to read…think Daphne du Maurier meets  Jane Eyre in the 1950’s . This fascinating story is about Coral, a private nurse, hired  to take care of the matriarch who is dying of cancer in this small English town. The isolated house is contaminated by bitterness, loneliness and loss from the people who dwell there. Mrs. Prence, the housekeeper, is a cranky old woman who tries to make trouble for Coral, and Major Clement Hart, the son,  is a lonely WWII veteran who is unmarried, has a limp and carries wounds from the war and  life.

The themes of loss, repressed homosexuality, and partial truths or ” lies of omission” permeate the landscape of this story. I don’t want to give too much away but each character’s personal history is withheld and revealed at moments that makes you want to scream instructions to each character- like “don’t do that” or “tell them the information”- a bit maddening for the reader on the sidelines. There is a scene where Coral walks in the forest and sees children doing something that leaves you horrified when she walks away. Or witness the time that Coral purchases a dress and is so frustrated by the impossibility of zippering herself up that she storms back to the dress shop to return it.

I was incredulous at some of the behaviors of the characters but I was hooked on the story- I had to find out what happens. The writing is rich with imagery. One reviewer said it best: “by the end of this absorbing story of love missed, love lost, love found, I was thinking that this must be what it’s like to slip into a bath of hot tears “( NY Times Book Review, Dominique Browning, March 16, 2012). I agree. The book did not lead me to where I thought the characters would end up and I liked the pleasant surprises. That’s my 2 cents.

The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson

Warning: this story is not for the faint of heart, but don’t miss it because it is a brilliant book. Adam Johnson’s orphan gives us a bird’s eye view of what it might be like to live in the world’s most secretive society: North Korea. 

The main character , Pak Jun Do, is an orphan (though that might not be true ) who goes from tunnel rat, to kidnapper of Japanese citizens from their beaches, to one who spies by listening to radio transmissions for “Dear Leader”, Kim Jong-il,  and finally impersonating a General. It is a strange voyage and one that leaves you anxious because nothing is permanent or safe in this society. The torture, the prison camps, the starvation and the rules are very real. Through Jun Do, we watch his transformation from soldier carrying out the orders of this repressive regime to becoming a person we root for with his final selfless acts.( NY Times Book Review, Michiko Kakutani, January 12,2012)

Pak Jun Do goes from being an instrument of the state to a victim in this Kafka like story. The facts of  the moment are subject to a rewrite later today or tomorrow in North Korea. This is a Stalinist society where anyone can be an informant, your mother, brother, husband, or child.  The citizen who does the good deed for the state  can be rewarded with life in prison, or a labor camp- it is an insane, unsafe place.  The North Koreans are bombarded daily with broadcasts promoting the greatness of the regime and the limitations of the outside world.  As a part of the ongoing propaganda by the North Korean government, their starving people are told  food aid will be sent to the citizens of the United States  who are victims of imperialistic America.

I had the honor of hearing Adam Johnson speak about his new book and at the conclusion I learned enough about North Korea that made me think this story is more  non fiction than fiction.  That’s my 2 cents.

A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion by Ron Hansen

A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion by Hansen is based on a true story set in the 1920’s. It involves an affair that leads to the murder of one of the spouses- a common tale. I am not giving away the plot as it opens with the murder but flashes back to the circumstances that led to the murder of Albert Snyder, Ruth’s husband.  Ruth is an unhappy wife and is portrayed as a seductress, who has “been on more laps than a dinner napkin” reports Hansen. Judd Gray is a bra and corset salesman, with a reputation for being a player with a weak will and in a dull marriage. Ruth and Judd are both married to others when they began a torrid affair in 1925 and then decide to murder. Supposedly the movies The Postman always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity are based on this murder. The lead characters are knuckleheads and screw up  quickly, but I was mesmerized and recommend the book.

Apparently this crime marks the beginning of the tabloids in the 1920’s, the crazy paparrazi trying to cover the story. There were twelve major newspapers in New York City then, and each found its circulation double when there was an article about Ruth and Judd.  And so the couple became the focus of endless stories.  Palm-readers discussed the lines in Ruth’s hand that hinted at this horrible fate; their faces were examined by phrenologists to determine the hidden malignancies that caused the lovers to murder.  “The title comes from an editorial in the New York Daily Mirror written by Cornelius Vanderbilt III  in which he castigated the couple for the homicide based on ‘a wild surge of guilty passion,’ a phrase so juicy and apt that Hansen adopted it as his book’s title” ( by Janet Maslin,NY Times Review, June 5, 2011)

Another aspect of the story was how quickly the death penalty is implemented in those days- no wasting time. The readiness to betray each other was pretty astounding- confessions and accusations are quick to follow the murder. One reporter called the trial the Dumb Bell- Murder. Judd is conflicted about the murdering Albert, weak in so many ways, but once “Ruth-less” he finds God and religion in his prison cell.

Hansen had the facts but makes it a fiction tale because ” there was a great deal to be imagined.  We know they first met in Henry’s Restaurant on 36th and Sixth Avenue in June, 1925, but what was said there?”  Hansen fills in the blanks. The period of the 1920’s is fascinating, check out Ordinary People- Extraordinary Times @ joharaf.wordpress.com/author and then read the book.That’s my 2 cents, Tracy.

You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon

You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon is a great book of short stories! (see her comments). All connected by their location at the military base of Fort Hood, Texas, the chapters are told by the women who are waiting for their men to return home. Fort Hood housing, like all army housing is very intimate, “you hear through the walls… you learn too much”. The base becomes very quiet when the men are gone. But life continues – bills have to be paid, “babies still cry, telephones ring, Saturday morning cartoons screech, but without the men, there is a sense of a muted life” (Fallon).

I love that Fallon shares that when you leave Fort Hood, the sign by the gate warns, You’ve Survived the War, Now Survive the Homecoming. Homecomings are not easy, husbands and wives getting to know each other again and shifting responsibilities.The author speaks from experience, she is a military wife and her husband has deployed three times to the Middle East. The stories are fiction but are based on true experiences.

I learned so much about the lives of army wives and the rules established by the military order. One surprising story was a woman who believed her husband was having an affair with another woman soldier in his battalion and she can appeal to the commander at the base about her suspicions. The commander can order a transfer of any soldier from a battalion in order to preserve the marriage and the unit. It makes sense. If you have an unhappy marriage it can effect the soldier and thus the safety of the whole unit. But the level of control by the military command over your lives on the base and in the military was unknown to me.  She captures the experience, the mood, the ups and downs for the military family. Another fact I did not know is that if your husband / wife dies in the line of duty, the family gets a special parking spot. It is an honor to have the parking spot but who would really want that “award”? Try this book, it is now in paperback and it is a window into a world of silent heroes, the wives and their families.

Tracy’s 2 cents!

Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante

Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante

Turn of Mind by Alice Laplante is about  a former surgeon who has Alzheimer’s. She might not remember that her husband has died or what she had for lunch, but Dr. Jennifer White has not forgotten her  skills as a hand surgeon. She becomes a suspect when her busybody best friend, Amanda, is found murdered with four of her fingers surgically amputated. Did she do it?  She cannot remember.

Suspenseful, the novel  builds through her fractured memories a story of secrets and clues that all is not as it seems.  Events seem to trigger flashbacks of the past and  her friendship with Amanda and their husbands. One revealing memory demonstrates the extent of her friend’s treachery all done in the name of being a friend who honors truth above all else.

“Alzheimer’s is bleak territory, and to saddle Jennifer with suspected murder seems cruel and unusual punishment. But in LaPlante’s vivid prose, her waning mind proves a prism instead of a prison, her memory refracted to rich, sensual effect” ( NY Times Book Review, Slutsky, 7/15/11). I thought the author did a excellent job conveying the feeling of loss and confusion when in a state of dementia. The doctor’s strategy of keeping a notebook which she and others write down the conversations, events in her daily life is brilliant but leaves you wondering – what is real?  A great read….

Busy Tracy

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. See what John Green has to say about his book.

It is a young adult book but easily read by adults, should be read by adults. The story is about teenagers who meet in a cancer support group- Hazel Grace (terminal) and Augustus Waters (80% chance of survival). The dialogue is near perfect, the storyline riveting, and their friendship amazing. It is insightful and echoes with all the themes that saturate our lives: how to leave your mark on this world, will we be remembered, the need to be valued, how to live and die. Hazel has used up her “wish” but Augustus will share his and they are off on an adventure with twists, laughs and tears. I can’t stop thinking about  this book!

Busy Tracy with her 2 cents