Blog Posts by Auntie Anne
Anne is a cheese-fed daughter of Wisconsin, but don’t hold it against her. She wishes that the band Led Zeppelin never broke up. And she enjoys fitness and exercise so that she can play with her two awesome granddaughters.
06/05/11
She fantasized about living the life of Joan of Arc, championing God's causes on the battlefield and in 15th century Britain's royal court. From a very early age, Margaret Beaufort focused on her destiny as the heiress to the red rose of the House of Lancaster, convinced that her devotion to God would lead her to a calling of greatness. Her first big disappointment was her betrothal to Edmund Tudor, the King's half-brother. Her loveless marriage gives her a son, Henry, but leaves her a widow at the age of 13. Widowed and powerless, her son is given to the younger Tudor brother, Jasper, as his ward. Jasper becomes her ally in raising her son, training and educating him to become the future King of England. As she enters into two more marriages, she see the House of York rise and fall. As the war of the roses is waged for the throne of England, Margaret spends hours on her knees, waiting and praying for signs from God as outrageous politics and plotting between cousins carry on around her. As the years pass, and her son George and ally Jasper Tudor are banished from England as enemies to the York throne, Margaret's religious fervor and political ambitions transform her into a cold, calculating powerbroker. She takes her place in history as the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty when the last Yorkist king, Richard III, is killed in battle by her son, Henry Tudor. King Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's daughter, thus uniting the two warring houses. Their son, Henry, becomes King Henry VIII, and the rest is history.
For fans of historical fiction, particularly of British regency, this is fascinating reading. The author allows the reader to get inside of Margaret's head to see what drove her. The transformation from a powerless little girl who's only role in life was to bear a male heir to the Lancaster line to a ruthless political mastermind is as resolute as her ambitions. Gregory's picture of her as a stalwart, god-fearing matriarch is in stark contrast to her rival as Henry VIII's other grandmother, Elizabeth Woodville in The White Queen. One would have to believe Margaret Beaufort was the mother-in-law from hell.
Tags: Historical Fiction, War of the Roses
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05/27/11
I looked up the meaning of "goon squad" in the online Urban Dictionary. There are many definitions, besides the traditional one of hired thugs. The definition that best describes this book is "a group of slightly sketchy males, who drive fast even in [crumby] cars, wear aviators, blast music and smoke. The difference between these men and bros (besides the smoking) is that inside members of the goon squad have hearts of gold."
A Visit From the Goon Squad is, at first glance, a series of short stories about a group of people involved in the music industry. The first few chapters are difficult reading because the characters are ones you don't feel compelled to care too much about. They are train wrecks. Each chapter takes place in a different setting and time - New York City, San Francisco, a safari in Kenya, Naples, the Arizona desert. Each chapter also has its own style and voice - one spoken like a Bay Area punk rocker, one revealing forward flashes to future tragedies of members on safari, one a PowerPoint Presentation diary of a 12-year-old, one largely comprised of text messages.
As confusing as it begins, the author's talent as a writer draws you into the characters, revealing to her readers why some characters are such train wrecks, why others rise above their past. You begin to see how all the characters are inter-connected in some way, and how each has influenced the lives of others. You feel compelled to read on . . . until you get to the last chapter, where you realize the book has come full circle, but in the present, not the past where it started out. As one editorial review from Publisher's Weekly so aptly stated, "This powerful novel chronicles how and why we change, even as the song stays the same."
A Visit From the Goon Squad is indeed powerful, written in a creative, unorthodox style. Worthy of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction? You decide.
05/15/11
The body of a viciously beaten woman has washed up on the beach in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The city's detectives readily dismiss the case as another unsolvable murder, assuming that it is just another housemaid killed by her employer. In a city where the burkas required by conservative Islam keep women anonymous in life and death as well, this is a common crime.
But Katya Hijazi, a forensic technician in the coroner's office, is determined to find Leila Nawar's killer. This is not an easy task, since she must maintain the strict protocol of Islam, never going out unless escorted, nor could she interview or speak to strange men. With dogged determination, she discovers the woman's identity as that of a provocative and controversial Saudi filmmaker, and with the help of her friend Nayir Sharqi, uncovers the woman's film library which exposes an underworld of prostitution, violence and exploitation. It appeared as though the young beautiful filmmaker had earned some enemies.
The City of Veils provides the reader with many twists and turns in this mystery based in Saudi Arabia, a country torn between the strict edicts of islam and the lure of the modern world. Zoe Ferraris weaves a good mystery and gives us a revealing glimpse into life behind the veil. This is the author's second mystery set in Saudi Arabia, the first of which is Finding Nouf.
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04/29/11
Wendy White was a late bloomer. All her classmates and friends couldn't wait to graduate and get out of rural, run-down Haeden, N.Y. But Wendy was a homebody, happy to stay in Haeden, help her dad in his business, work as a bar maid at night, and get her own apartment. So when Wendy goes missing, everyone assumes that she must have been abducted by a stranger. That is, everyone but Alice Piper and Stacey Flynn.
Alice Piper was an extremely bright and precocious high school student. Raised by her idealistic, free-spirited parents in a sort of hippy commune environment, Alice has a completely different perspective of Haeden, as a town that is suffocating and sick.
Stacey Flynn is young reporter who has come to Haeden from Cleveland to cover the community beat. She quickly zeros in on the small-town mentality and habit of burying their heads in the sand when things get too dicey - such as Wendy White's disappearance. Piper and Flynn arrive at the same conclusion, but from different directions and different solutions.
In her debut novel, Cara Hoffman does an excellent job of gradually building up the suspense, doling out pieces of information so that the readers can come to their own conclusions. Until the shocking ending that blows you away! Hoffman's book is based on a true case that she covered as an investigative reporter covering New York State's rural and Rust Belt communities, where she reported on environmental politics and crime. She makes a harsh indictment against violence and adolescents in small-town America.
03/31/11
Natalia is a young doctor living in an unnamed Balkan City that has been devastated and broken by years of war. While en route to an orphanage located in enemy territory, she receives word that her beloved grandfather has died far from home. Since he was a well-respected doctor and a very rational man, the circumstances surrounding his death are confusing and mysterious. Beset by memories of tales her grandfather told her as a child, she becomes convinced that his last journey was in search of the "deathless man," a drifter who claimed to be immortal.
Filled with myths, fables, superstitions and a touch of magical realism, The Tiger's Wife alternates between grandfather's past and Natalia's present. As Natalia is lured into her grandfather's past, she must piece together the puzzle while reconciling the present state that her country is in. Stories of the tiger who escaped from the zoo when the city was bombed by the German's, the woman from his village who became known as the tiger's wife and the mysterious deathless man, are brought to life by the author's rich prose and honest portrayal of life in her embattled country of origin. Tea Obreht is an author to watch, immensely talented and wise way beyond her years.
Tags: literary fiction
03/29/11
"No one questioned how she came by the information or what she had to do to get it; they simply paid."
Vanessa "Michael" Munroe has a special talent for finding information where others cannot. Armed with fluency in multiple languages and a reputation for extracting highly accurate sensitive information, she has turned this into a very lucrative career, dealing this information to corporations, heads of state and private clients who are more than willing to pay her price. Her past life as the daughter of missionaries in violent Central Africa is the demon that torments her, causing her to turn violent when backed into a corner, or when someone she loves is harmed. When she was 14 she escaped from a horrific life, only to walk into another one at the hands of a sadistic mercenary. But while "in training" for a drugs and guns dealer in Cameroon, she became an expert at martial arts, and not too shabby at handling a knife. These skills, of course, also aid her in her current occupation.
Munroe accepts a job from a Texas oil baron, who hires her to find his daughter who disappeared four years ago in Central Africa. The job takes her back to her old haunts in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, where she is kidnapped twice and barely gets away with her life more than once. In addition to finding the oil-dude's daughter, she must lay to rest her demons from this savage world.
One reviewer referred to the character of Vanessa Munro as a "warped composite" of Lara Croft, The nameless Bride from Kill Bill, and all three Charlie's Angels. Action-packed and fast-moving, the author has left plenty of unanswered questions and room for a sequel. The Informationist is Taylor Stevens debut novel, and a must-read for thriller lovers.
02/23/11
Major Ernest Pettigrew is the embodiment of the British phrase "stiff upper lip." A widower living in the small village of Edgecomb St. Mary in the bucolic British countryside, the Major is a staunch traditionalist, trying valiantly to instill his honorable values of duty and honor in his son, Roger. Without much success, however. But his idyllic world is about to be turned upside down. His brother has just died, and his son and sister-in-law are pressuring him to sell a pair of very valuable Churchill shotguns given to his father by the Maharajah for his courageous military service. Lord Dagenham is broke and is about to sell off his ancestral estate of Edgecomb St. Mary to greedy American developers. And the Major has fallen in love with an Indian widow who is a local shopkeeper. That should make a few ripples in the tranquil waters of Edgecomb St. Mary society!
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is not just a delightful, charming and poignant novel (which it is). The author deftly deals with serious social issues with empathy and humor. Helen Simonson talks about her heart-warming first novel.
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01/30/11
Set in rural Mississippi, this is a murder mystery with a twist. The protagonist is a black man. Silas "32" Jones is a constable with the local sheriff's department, who was the town's football hero. Hence his nickname - "32". The chief suspect is a white man, Larry Ott, who 20 years ago, was Silas' friend for a short time, and was the last person to see a girl whom he taken to a drive-in movie, but never returned home. She was never found and Larry Never confessed. More than 20 years later, another girl has disappeared and Larry, who was never able to rise above the town's suspicions, is once again blamed. Silas and Larry, who once called each other friend, must now confront their past in order to find the killer.
Set against the steamy backdrop of the South, and full of creepy characters, any of whom could be the killer, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Edgar award-winning author Tom Franklin, is a must read for mystery lovers.
01/14/11
"And out of the Darkwood Mr. Toppit comes, and he comes not for you, or for me, but for all of us." And Mr. Toppit is dark indeed. When the author of "The Hayseed Chronicles," a little-known British series of childrens' books is killed by a cement truck, his family becomes plagued and burdened by the sudden popularity of the books. A strange American woman, who was at the scene of the accident, goes to the hospital and stays with the family after Arthur Hayman dies. She manages to hitch her wagon to the Hayman family and "The Hayseed Chronicles." Upon returning to Los Angeles, she proceeds, without permission, to read the books on a radio show that she hosts. The books become so popular in the U.S. that she is given her own daytime TV talk show, which becomes wildly successful.
Enter the fictitious "Mr. Toppit," who wreaks havoc on the Hayman family. Rachel, the daughter, was fragile at best, prior to her father's death. Luke, the son, who just wanted to live an anonymous, insignificant life, becomes immortalized as the fictional Luke Hayseed, hero of his father's books. And many skeletons step out of the closet regarding Mrs. Hayman and their first-born son who died as a baby.
Mr. Toppit is a very dark but riveting first novel for Charles Elton. It has a strong theme of the personal hold that fate has over the characters of the book, and "Mr. Toppit" takes on a very devilish persona. Listen to Amazon's interview with the author regarding his debut novel
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12/20/10
Set during the Great Depression, Jacob Jankowski's life had been turned upside down when he became orphaned and homeless at the very time that he was to graduate Veterinary school. As luck would have it, he hopped on board a passing train, which just happened to be the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Before he knew it, he was put in charge of taking care of the circus animal menagerie. Amid the strange and sadistic world of this second-rate, down on its luck circus, Jacob falls in love with Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, who is married to the sick, twisted and cruel circus boss. Jacob is determined to protect Marlena and Rosie, the lovable elephant, from her husband's abusive, sadistic behavior.
I was totally prepared not to like Water for Elephants, since the subject is a circus during the Great Depression. Sounded depressing to me. However, this story is both brutal and poignant - brutal in Gruen's description of the filthy, squalid atmosphere of the mangy circus atmosphere; and poignant in the intimate, loving relationships that the circus performers have with the animals. It is a story which would appeal to men and women alike. It has something for everyone, especially if you're an animal love. I found it very interesting that it was written by a woman in a man's voice, which she accomplished very well.
Watch for the movie scheduled to be released in April, starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson. Here's the trailer:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQa177w25Dw
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