When Lila and her film director husband take on an adaptation of Tender is the Night, and put a feminist spin on things, she enters therapy to prepareWhen Lila and her film director husband take on an adaptation of Tender is the Night, and put a feminist spin on things, she enters therapy to prepare for the role.
But in doing so sets in motion a revenge plot that may get her killed. As Jonah, the therapist, digs into her past, her life is falling apart. Is Jonah a help or does he have secrets of his own?
In the end no one is who they say they are and no one is safe from this twisty thriller.
With translated books, things can get confusing at times. Not so with this one. It was translated beautifully.
Europe wasn’t a great place to be early With translated books, things can get confusing at times. Not so with this one. It was translated beautifully.
Europe wasn’t a great place to be early on. A lot of excesses and people behaving very badly. As a woman leaves Europe for Buenos Aires, she is running for her life. Literally. As she steps off the boat in this strange and not so modern town, she has to learn to live without drawing attention to herself. She is angry and lonely and confused. She needs blood and with the Yellow Fever burning through the entire country, she has a lot of bodies to choose from.
In our own time, another woman is struggling with life, her mother’s illness, and even with her own role as a mom.
She has taken to wandering in the cemetery. And in a twist, her mother has given her an envelope with two keys and the deed to a mausoleum at this cemetery. But since her mom is unable to speak, it’s still a bit of a puzzle.
Finally, she takes out the keys and opens the mausoleum. The smaller key opens a casket and when she opens it, she gets a shock. This other woman has locked herself in there for decades. And yes, she is a vampire!
The relationship between the two women kept me reading long after bedtime. It was intriguing and different from anything I have read. And I absolutely loved it.
If this is gothic, I am all in!
netgalley/ Penguin Group/ Dutton March 05, 2024...more
A lot of historical facts blended with some imagination give us a look at who Hester may have been.
It’s the early 1800s when Isobel Gamble sails from A lot of historical facts blended with some imagination give us a look at who Hester may have been.
It’s the early 1800s when Isobel Gamble sails from Scotland to Salem with her new husband, Edward. She is a gifted seamstress who sees in full color. He is an apothecary who has sampled too much of his own medicine forcing them to leave England and Scotland for a fresh start. On the journey, the captain’s life is saved by Hester and Edward and he is forever in her debt.
Soon after they arrive, Edward leaves, joining the captain as a medic on his ship. He also stole all of Isobel’s money she had hidden. He leaves her alone and with no money. Nothing but her sewing. Isobel isn’t one to sit and moan. She finds work sewing.
One day she meets a young Nathaniel Hathorne and they are drawn to each other. His family with a history of cruelty and witch-hunting. Her family, the witches. They come together as she sews for him, always with a message sewn into her work. A red letter A. Because A is red to Isobel.
There is so much going on in this book. The story of immigrants who weren’t treated kindly, of women who were easy to call witches if they didn’t follow the ‘rules’. With the early times of the underground railroad and how even freed slaves were rarely free.
It was a beautifully researched and written story and I loved it.
NetGalley/ October 4th, 2022 by St. Martin’s Press
Mattauk is an oceanfront community, where three midlife women are about to make some noise!
Nessa James is alone now that her twin daughters are off toMattauk is an oceanfront community, where three midlife women are about to make some noise!
Nessa James is alone now that her twin daughters are off to college. In her neat house close to the ocean. A nurse who also sees the dead. A gift inherited from her grandmother. The voices in her head are screaming for help and she has no idea what to do.
Harriett Osborne has had enough of men taking what she has worked hard for. Now her husband has left her for a younger woman and her career has imploded. She returns to her home in Mattauk, and finds her power.
Jo Levison has an 11-year-old daughter and a husband. She’s happy with both. But she is at war. With herself. Her body and what is happening to it. Hot flashes have taken on a whole new meaning.
When the voices Nessa hears lead her to a remote beach by an exclusive housing development for billionaires only, they are there when they find the first body. The police are not part of the solution, but the problem. And the normal rules don’t apply to the sick and fabulously wealthy men who have a lot of secrets.
So the women pool their talents and get to work. Women’s work. Cleaning up the mess of men.
What a thrill of a tale! I loved these women. A strong story of women who are tired of men getting away with murder and are about to turn the tables!
NetGalley/ May 3rd,2022 by William Morrow & Company
There are so many books and movies out now that portray witches as evil, worshippers of Satan. I expected this book to compare how women were viewed tThere are so many books and movies out now that portray witches as evil, worshippers of Satan. I expected this book to compare how women were viewed then and now.
And the introduction did some of that. The rest was more of a personal rant about feminism.
We know any woman who was troublesome for a man could be killed as a witch. While the research was well-done, the book really missed the mark for me.
NetGalley/ March 8th, 2022 by St. Martin’s Press...more
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