A Secret Kept

Antoine and Melanie, brother and sister, return to the beach in France where they vacationed as children as a celebration of her birthday.  Their holidays had involved their grandparents and parents. Many memories stired, one so vital that once shared it caused Antoine to question his childhood, parent's relationship, and his role as a single parent of teenagers.

With inquiry and confrontation, Antoine discovers the truth about his mother and her death, and begins to understand his father's demise as an aloof and bitter parent.  Antoine's own relationship with his children is uneasy, as he learns to separate himself from his ex-wife.  Angele comes into his life at a time when he is struggling with his relationships, helping him learn to feel good about himself again.

The Full Cupboard of Life

Alexander McCall Smith
The Full Cupboard of Life
The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
198 pp.
Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf , 2003


No one delights the literary senses more than Alexander McCall Smith in his novels of life in Botswana. Mma Precious Ramotswe's intuition and kindness shines through her detective work as the number one lady detective in her country. Her secretary (pardon me, the administrative assistant), Mma Ramotswe's wedding plans are limping forward while the case of a wealthy woman occupies the agency. This novel is one of a series. All books require a cup of tea and the ability to enjoy simple acts of humanity.

Her Fearful Symmetry

Twin sisters are bound to one another by the past. Elspeth is dying of cancer and so has bequeathed her London flat to her two nieces, who live with Elspeths sister, Edie, in the United States.  Elspeth has a young lover who lives in the flat beneath hers.  He works at the cemetery adjacent the house. Robert gives tours and is an academic who fails to make headway with his thesis.  He is emotionally paralyzed by Elspeth's death. However, emotional paralysis is a theme shared by other characters in the novel.

Edie allows her daughters, who are also twins, to travel to London and reside in the flat, as the condition of ownership is that the girls occupy the flat for one year.  The novel explores the relationship which the girls have with one another, and with their neighbours. Martin lives on the third floor and has such extreme OCD that he never leaves the flat.  His wife has recently left him due to the many barriers he has constructed around his world.

Julia and Valentina, the twins, begin to respond to peculiar happenings in their aunt's flat.  Elspeth's ghost is haunting the space and communicating with them through her ability to move objects. They inform Robert, who responds with compete belief. As the suspense mounts and the story unfold, the characters take on more definition.  We learn more about Edie and why she left England, vowing never to return.  Julia who is timid like a mouse and Valentina who seems so selfish, like her aunt, begin to test themselves as independent women.

No all characters are likable, but the surprise ending explains much, as peculiar as it is.  This book held my interest, especially the ghost story and Martin's life upstairs.  An exciting read!  You may want to read, The Time Traveller's Wife, also by Audrey Niffenegger.

Secrets to the Grave

This novel continues where Deeper Than The Dead  ends. Tami Hoag writes a very suspenceful story.  Her plot and subplots are clever and imaginative.  However, her characters lack depth, but in a series she may be able to develop them more fully.  When I read one of her books, I do n ot want to put it down.  Some of her descriptions are not for the faint of heart.  She is truly one of the best murder mystery writers.

Ladies No.1 Detective Agency

I cannot say enough good about Alexander McCall Smith's series featuring Precious Ramotswe,  as the fearless and intelligent detective .  With the assistance of her secretary, Mma Grace Makutsi (administrative asssistant) who has the higest mark in typing ever received at the Secretarial School for Girls, she brings resolution and comfort to her clients while misadventure swirls around her.  Reading one of the novels in this series is like laying in the warm spring sunshine, or receiving a letter from a long-lost friend. The characters are born of the African soil, with kindness for their kinsmen guiding their way.

With her white truck kept in repair by Mr. J.L. B. Matekoni and his crew of somewhat irresponsible mechanics, Mma Ramotswe is able to travel the dusty roads which take her to locations where she finds  theives, adulterers, and murderers.  All in a day's work for the traditionally built woman.

Read the following:
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998) · Tears Of The Giraffe (2000) · Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001) · The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002) · The Full Cupboard of Life (2003) · In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004) · Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006) · The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (2007) · The Miracle at Speedy Motors (2008) · Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (2009) · The Double Comfort Safari Club (2010) · TV series (2008)

The Boleyn Wife

Lady Jane Parker marries Anne Boleyn's dashing brother, George.  It was an arranged marriage by their fathers.  George has no use for Jane, who feels unloved.  Jane is the narrator as she chronicles her life from Henry V111's first wife, Catherine of Aragon to Katherine Howard, who was beheaded for adultery.  Jane had a front row seat to the drama of Henry's Court, as well as a participating role.


However, I would suggest reading the novels by Phillipa Gregory (The Other Boleyn Girl, The Red Queen, The Constant Princess, etc. ) which chronicle this era in more detail and with sophistication.

The Shape of Snakes; Fox Evil

In classic British style Minette Walters weaves a story that keeps you in suspence throughout the novel.  There is the clash of classes, with the police often bumbling the investigation.  Strong female protagonists keep the interest high and even the 'good' characters have their flaws.  In The Shape of Snakes, Tourette's Syndrome is explored, while in Fox Evil, the plight of the poor who travel from town to town in their trailers is exposed. Minette Walters is an intelligent author. 

Harvest AND The Bone Garden AND Sinner

Tess Gerritsen is an intelligent author who contributes admirably to the genre of the mystery.  Her strong female characters and well developed plots make her novels a good read.

 



These three novels are penned by Tess Gerritsen, who is a physician turned author. Both rely heavily on her medical knowledge for character development and plot.

In Harvest, a ring of doctors are involved in illegal organ procurement in order to meet the needs of those who pay. The system for organ donation is by-passed (sorry, no pun intended) through a lack of ethics and financial gain. Informative and suspenseful, as the true colours of the players are not revealed until the very end.

The Bone Garden is two stories in one, however the tales merge by the conclusion of the novel. The details of medical life in the 1830's is fascinating, as is the exposure of life for the poor and women, both terms being mutually inclusive. The conditions of childbirth led to many deaths and peculiar actions of certain characters interested in hiding paternity. The heroine's discovery of unidentified bones in the garden she is creating for her new home leads to a remarkable connection from the former inhabitants of their house to the bones of a long lost woman.

The Sinner - can a nun be pregnant? Can she then be brutally murdered? Is the parish priest responsible? A fast paced mystery that has the reader wondering until the conclusion.

Wolf Hall

Hilary Mantel
Wolf Hall
650 pp.

Toronto:  Harper Collins, 2009                 


Winner of the 2009 Man Booker P and the National Book Critics Circle Award. This book is simply excellent.  It is a personal look at Tudor times (1500-1535)  through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell. Wolf Hall is a fictionalized biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex in the court of Henry VIII of England.  Cromwell's rise to power from a working class family was incredible.  The Tudor break from the Church of Rome, the divorces and the deaths of Henry VIII's wives, and Cardinal Wolsey demise were only some of the events to which Cromwell was an advisor.  The novel ends with another death ordered by Henry, securing Cromwell as one of the most poweful men at Court.  Though political in nature, the stories of many individuals are told, making this era come alive and seem relevant today.

Trace

Patricia Cornwall
Trace:  A Scarpetta Novel
435 pp.
New York:  Putnam, 2004

Thumbs down for this mystery!  Cornwall did not develop her characters, leaving the reader wondering why and what would be their motivations.  The parents of the murdered 14 year old girl are totally unbelievable in their peculiar relationship and their feelings toward other people.  Scarpetta is yet another forensic medical examiner performing stellar autopsies under bureaucratic pressure. Her side-kick, a former rough cop, never leaves her side, even when she attends professional meetings. It's just not done in the real world.  This particular novel is also disjointed, jumping from story to story, with the secondary story not being understood or developed in conjunction to the main narrative. Because I enjoy mystery novels I may read another of her many published novels.  Perhaps she has done better work.

A Cold Christmas

A Cold Christmas                                                                                              

Susan Wren Mysteries

by Charlene Weir

244 pp.

New York, NY:  Thomas Dunne Books, 2001

  
It's Christmas and Caley James has no money, no working furnace, and she's sick with the flu.  Her three children are left to their devices and her no-good, no-account, low-life ex husband and his mother. Dragging herself from her bed to play at the organ at the local church, she has to earn money to pay for Christmas. That is, until the furnace man turns up dead in her basement.  This starts a police investigation which Police Chief Susan Wren must undertake alone as most of her staff have been stricken with influenza.  Through in a few nosey neighbours to complicate matters and the pathos runs to comedy.

   The author has developed a cast of characters are who believable and sympathetic.  Her settings are every day homes, which demonstrate that murder can happen anywhere - even in your basement. Some characters have criminal pasts, whereas others are simply nasty individuals. A precocious child who must protect his adoptive mother and his dad pulls at the heartstrings. Who among us has not had a Christmas go awry?

Also by this author:  Murder Takes Two, Family Practice, Consider the Crows, The Winter Widow

Hotel Catalonia May 2010

Why do Canadians live in the North?

PhD complete!

After three years of courses, classes, and writing papers, my doctorate in educational administration has been achieved! Graduation is May 8, 2010 from the University of South Carolina, however, Lorne and I will be on the road home to Nova Scotia via the Outer Banks.

Warm Sand, Cold Drinks and Latin Music

What a great way to escape the mundane tasks of everyday life! Mexico is an incredibly beautiful country, with the character of an indulgent parent. Our resort was a mini-paradise that offered a week of relaxation, sport, pleasure.

City of Lights juin 2009

A mother and daugher holiday in the City of Lights was just enough

to make us want to return another time for another season. The architecture was grand beyond any expectation. City parks are designed for people to use - lunches, rendez-vous, mothers strolling babies, business people on the bicyles as they commuted to work. Mastery of the metro was easy enough, even with suitcases in tow. Our little apartment was located close to Le Louvre and had a small balcony which allowed us to overlook Place Colette with its fountain and cobblestones. A trip to Versailles still makes us remember The Sun King with fondness, while motocycles and tour buses lined up outside.