Coming Home

Colm Tóibín’s Long Island is a sequel to his acclaimed novel Brooklyn, reuniting readers with Eilis Lacey two decades after her initial journey from Ireland to America. Set in 1976, Eilis is now settled in Lindenhurst, Long Island, with her husband, Tony Fiorello, and their two teenage children. Her seemingly tranquil life is disrupted when a stranger arrives, revealing that his wife is pregnant with Tony’s child, a revelation that propels Eilis to return to her hometown of Enniscorthy, Ireland, for the first time in twenty years.

Eilis returns to Ireland to reassess the life she built in America. She falls back in with her old friends and her former lover, stirring up long-buried emotions and forcing her to confront not only her past but also the person she has become. Torn between the familiarity of her roots and the life she has carefully constructed across the ocean, Eilis’s journey becomes one of profound self-reflection and reckoning.

Our book club was torn on this book. Some absolutely fell in love with the language and the way the story rolled along, appreciating how Tóibín delicately portrays Eilis’s struggles and the complexities of life. The novel’s exploration of the choices that define us struck a chord with many of us, offering a poignant look at the intersections of identity, loyalty, and belonging.

Others in the group, however, found the pacing slower than expected and wished for more resolution in certain plotlines. The tension between Eilis’s old and new lives, while beautifully written, left some readers craving a clearer sense of closure.

Rating: 7

Threads of Hope

Barbara Davis’s The Keeper of Happy Endings is a beautifully woven tale of love, resilience, and second chances that spans decades. The novel intertwines the stories of Soline Roussel, a Parisian seamstress with a gift for crafting wedding gowns said to ensure happy marriages, and Rory Grant, a young woman in Boston grappling with her own heartbreak and loss.

Soline’s life is marked by tragedy, including the loss of her fiancé during World War II and the destruction of her Parisian shop. Years later, Rory stumbles upon Soline’s story while seeking her own path after a failed engagement and the disappearance of her mother. Their lives intersect in unexpected ways, revealing secrets, healing wounds, and celebrating the power of hope.

Our book club found the characters multidimensional with deeply felt struggles and triumphs. Davis moves through dual timelines very well blending historical and contemporary settings with emotional depth. Themes of grief, love, and destiny are explored with a touch of mysticism, adding a magical quality to the narrative.

The novel’s pace is gentle but engaging and the story is heartfelt and memorable. Our book club talked about how she rebuilt her life after such a tragic lost. We talked about the importance we place on some treasures that we hold on to for years. Some of us didn’t like the fact that Rory is drawn to the burned up building. They found it too convenient. But for me it added a bit of mysticism and what’s wrong with that.

Rating 7.5

Suburban Chic and Scandal: A Look at When Life Gives You Lululemons

Lauren Weisberger’s When Life Gives You Lululemons is a sparkling, witty sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, shifting the focus to the glamorous yet tumultuous life of Emily Charlton, Miranda Priestly’s sharp-tongued former assistant. Now a high-profile image consultant, Emily faces a career crisis when her A-list clientele begins to dwindle.

The story unfolds in the affluent suburbs of Greenwich, Connecticut, where Emily joins forces with her old friend Miriam, a former high-powered attorney turned stay-at-home mom, and their mutual friend Karolina, a supermodel navigating a messy public scandal. Together, they tackle Karolina’s personal and professional dilemmas, exposing the absurdities and pressures of suburban life.

Weisberger’s satirical take on wealth, privilege, and the cutthroat world of image-making is both biting and hilarious. The characters are vividly drawn, with Emily’s sardonic wit and no-nonsense attitude providing the perfect counterbalance to the novel’s more heartfelt moments. Themes of friendship, reinvention, and resilience shine throughout the narrative, making it as empowering as it is entertaining.

Our book club loved this book – it was so much fun. It was light, funny, and full of drama. We talked about how Emily and her friends navigated all the crazy society challenges with humor and grace. It certainly shows how friends can help you get through anything. Enjoy the fun.

Rating: 8.5

Love Unscripted

Alice Hoffman’s The Marriage of Opposites is an evocative novel inspired by the life of Rachel Pizzarro, the mother of the renowned Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro. Set on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas in the early 19th century, the book weaves themes of love, rebellion, and art into a tapestry of cultural and historical intrigue.

Rachel, a strong-willed and passionate woman, defies societal expectations through her forbidden romance with her late husband’s nephew, Frédérick. Their love story is both a source of scandal and a testament to resilience, mirroring the novel’s broader exploration of identity, family, and creativity. Hoffman’s prose is richly descriptive, bringing the island’s landscapes and the complexities of its diverse communities vividly to life.

Through Rachel’s story, Hoffman examines the sacrifices and freedoms of defying convention while tracing the roots of artistic inspiration. The novel is a compelling blend of history and magical realism, offering a portrait of a woman whose indomitable spirit paved the way for her son’s artistic legacy.

Our book club was mixed on this novel. Some thought it was an enchanting tale with a dynamic female character and others didn’t care for Rachel. We discussed how societal expectations weigh heavy on people who live their life their way and damn with the consequences.

Rating: 7.0

An Ordinary Life

Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake is a poignant exploration of memory, love, and the intersections of past and present. Set during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the novel unfolds as Lara, the narrator, recounts a transformative summer of her youth to her three grown daughters while they all work together on their Michigan family orchard.

The narrative shifts between Lara’s present-day family life and her youthful romance with a budding actor, Peter Duke, whose star later rises to Hollywood fame. The story draws parallels between Lara’s youthful idealism and her mature understanding of love and sacrifice. The daughters’ varying reactions to their mother’s stories underscore themes of how family lore shapes identity and relationships.

Our book club mostly enjoyed the novel. We loved the looking back at one’s younger self as Lara explains her life to her daughters. We especially liked how the daughters reacted (some different some identical). We discussed how our pasts effect us and how and why we make the choices we do. I specifically loved the beauty of ordinary lives that Patchett’s tells so well in this book. I listened to Meryl Streep on the audible and she is so outstanding bringing Lara to life. Some of the other book club ladies read the book and thought it dragged a bit. I told them they should have listen to the audible.

Rating: 8.5

Being Significant or Not

Wow! Never pictured the 1940’s New York City and the theater crowd quite like Elizabeth Gilbert does in her latest, City of Girls.

We are introduced to Vivian Morris, who at the age of 19 flunks out of Vassar and is sent to live with her aunt (Peg) who owns a run-down theater troupe in New York City called the Lily Playhouse.  The uptight proper life Vivian is used to peels away as she enjoys a freedom, she never thought was possible.  The first half of the book is Vivian’s coming of age – and what a time she had. But remember this is long before the social upheaval of the free-love 1960’s.

Vivian palled around with Celia, the most beautiful of the showgirls, who taught her everything she needed to know about getting men to buy them dinner and drinks and about sex.  They partied their way through the Stork Club and other popular venues, drank expensive champagne and had lots of sex. 

At one point there is a scene that grows dark. Celia is quite aware of what is happening and gets Vivian out of the way. To me it foreshadowed the events to come. Sex is never quite so free.

By the time Aunt Peg’s friend, Edna Parker Watson, and her much-younger husband come to stay, Vivian and Celia are out-on-the-town every night.  Edna and Peg decide to put on a show and Peg asks her ex-husband to leave Hollywood and write the play.  

The playhouse is brought back to life and the play is a huge success.  And Vivian has found a way to be involved.  She is an amazing seamstress.  She begins to date the leading man in the play and seems to settle down a bit.

Naturally, it all comes crashing down. And Vivian is at the center of it. Edna Parker Watson gives one of the best put-downs I have ever read. 

The second half of the book loses its intense tension but kept us riveted because we cared about Vivian and wanted her to be okay.

We all loved the book.  We read a lot of books set in the 1940s but usually around the war, so it was nice to imagine what the City was like at the time and also learning about the small theaters that use to dot the City.

Our book club talked about Vivian’s sexuality and the price she paid when it got out of control.  We talked about Edna Parker Watson, her reaction and about her husband.  We loved Aunt Peg.  Don’t we all want mothers like that?  Vivian’s mother was cold, but Aunt Peg gave Vivian the warm and love she needed.

We talked about the second half of the book and its difference from the first half. And the man she finally fell in love with.

Definitely a book club pick. Enjoy the ride.

Rating: 8.0

Summer of 1969

What goes through your mind when you think of the Summer of ’69 – free love, psychedelic drugs, Woodstock, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Charles Manson, Chappaquiddick, Vietnam, San Francisco and the moon landing-so many things.  I was too young to be anything other than an observer. But what a year it was.

Elin Hilderbrand takes us back to that turbulent time in her latest Nantucket read about the Foley/Levin family.  She explores the unique dynamics of families when life happens with all its unpredictability.

Kate’s son, Tiger, gets drafted out of high school.  She wants him to go to college and avoid the war, but he refuses and enlists and ends up in the thick of the fighting in Vietnam.  This starts Kate down a summer filled with remorse and alcohol. 

Kate, her children, Blair, Kirby, Tiger and Jessie and her second husband David spend the summers in Nantucket with Kate’s mother Exalta.  The name sure fits the person.  The story line follows these family members as they acclimated to the ever-changing events of the summer of 1969.

As the counter-war on the establishment rages and the young people burn draft cards protesting the Vietnam War, Kate’s family gets caught up in the upheaval.  Blair, Kate’s oldest is married and having twins. Her husband didn’t want her to continue her studies or work.  She’s miserable.

Tiger is fighting in the war. Kirby is working for the summer on Martha’s Vineyard and getting into her own mishaps as only a young person can. And Jessie, only 13, falls in love with a young man staying in the family’s home.  What could go wrong?

What we enjoyed in this novel was the family dynamic and how each member grew over that summer, some in small ways and others in leaps and bounds. It’s an easy and delightful read.  It was fun for us to talk about that summer (most of us were in middle school-some a little younger).  We talked about how that year was as magical as it was scary to us with all its mixed messages.  We also talked about how different it was for women in 1969 and how we need to continue to go forward – never to go back.

Rating: 7.5 Photo by NASA on Unsplash

As a side note:  Mary Jo Kopechne babysat me when I was a small child.  My grandparents lived across the street from the Kopechne’s in Berkeley Heights. When she was in high school, she would babysit my brother and me when our parents went out with our grandparents. I was very young and don’t have a good memory of her, a bit here and there. But I do remember seeing her parents when I visited my grandparents over the years. Mary Jo was their only child.

It’s such a small world.  

Little Fires Everywhere

“…she was standing on the tree lawn in her robe and a pair of her son Trip’s tennis shoes, watching their house burn to the ground.” 

Now there’s an opening for you.

Set in the idyllic town of Shaker Heights, Ohio, whose residents basically crafted their own little utopia. They carefully planned a community designed to reflect their values. But utopia’s seemingly perfect setting stems from a set of rules and conditions.

Enter the disruptors Mia Warren and her 15-year-old daughter, Pearl. The story weaves a tale of the long-time residents, the Richardsons and the newcomers, the Warrens.  Elena Richardson rented the Warrens a home she owned in town.  Pearl Warren became friends with the Richardson children, and even dates one of them. The two families become even more entwined when Mia Warren becomes a part-time housekeeper for the Richardsons. 

The Warrens and Richardsons have two distinct ideologies and as the story develops you can feel the conflict swirling around even before the catalyst arrives on the scene, an infant baby girl abandoned at the local fire station.

We read this book for our April book club and most of the members enjoyed the novel. Unlike many reviews of the book, we didn’t find that the race issue, a Chinese baby being adopted by an American couple, the McCulloughs, was the main topic of the story.  We all felt that the story was about clashing family values and what happens when everyone is shouting, but no is listening. We did discuss the adoption of a Chinese baby to a white family, but really felt the story lay at the feet of Elena Richardson and Mia Warren. 

It’s so easy to judge other people and find fault in their morals and values. But sometimes you need to open your own ears and really listen.  Sometimes you’re not as far apart as you think.

Let it be….

Rating: 8.0

Lying, cheating, private jets and tons of money – what more could you ask for!

The Last Mrs. Parrish

As winter begins its climb up north it never seems to leave quietly for its summer home. Instead it kicks and moans leaving snow and rain and wind in its wake. We in New Jersey are weary of winter and want nothing more than warm temperatures and sunny skies. So, we tend to pick saucier reads in March – anything for a little warmth.

This month we picked The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine.

The novel opens in Amber Patterson point of view. As the reader you want to empathize with the protagonist and reading through the first half of the book you simply can’t with this awful person. You continue to read because you know something must be coming.  Well, welcome to this psychological suspense novel, where all is not what it seems.

Amber manipulates her way into Daphne Parrish’s life with the guise of grieving for a dead sister. Daphne lost her sister to a devastating disease and is a board member of a charitable organization tasked to raising money to find a cure.  Amber joins the organization claiming she also lost her sister to the same illness.  Daphne takes her under her wing and the two bond over their shared grief.

Designer clothes, private jets and loads of money attract all sorts of types. Amber’s a long way from her impoverished roots in Missouri but she has learned from her previous mistakes and greedily takes on the privileged class of Long Island Sound.  As Amber gets closer and closer inside the Parrish family, she seems unstoppable.

The second half of the book is in Daphne’s point of view. I was so disgusted with Amber’s character by the time I got to the second half of the book that I almost put the book down. Don’t keep reading. Daphne’s character will keep you vested in the book.  There is another central character that I’ll let the reader discover for themselves.  Note: he made my skin crawl. This is one of those books that you can’t divulge too much without giving away the story.

For the most part, our book club liked this book. Amber got no sympathy from us. We were all rooting for Daphne.  We talked about how women can help other women.  We had a long discussion about about psychological abuse and how it evolves over time and what can be done about it.  

This saucy read certainly warmed up our March.

Last word: Without giving anything away, I would never taunt a sociopath – just sayin.

Rating: 7.5

Photo by Ross Sneddon on Unsplash

Welcome October – Such a Beautiful Month

Since October is such an extraordinary month we had to pick an equally amazing book.  And we did – “Ordinary Grace,” by William Kent Kruger.

“When my mother finally sang it was not just a hymn she offered, it was consummate comfort. She sang slowly and richly and delivered the heart of that great spiritual [‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’] as if she was delivering heaven itself and her face was beautiful and full of peace. I shut my eyes and her voice reached out to wipe away my tears and enfold my heart . . . And when she finished the sound of the breeze through the doorway was like the sigh of angels well pleased.” Pure nirvana!

Death visited the small Minnesota town of New Bremen in many forms one summer and it shaped the lives of the protagonist, Frank and his entire family. This is Frank’s coming of age story and he tells it as an adult looking back forty years. The story is filtered now with his years of experience.

At the time of the story, Frank’s father was a local minister, his mother was the choir director, his sister had just been accepted to Julliard, and his younger brother, Jake, was his side-kick and suffered from a severe stutter. This ordinary summer started out with a tragedy for one family.  That tragedy seemed to bring a string of bad karma for some other townspeople before landing at Frank’s family’s door.

The characters of this story, including Emil Brandt and his sister, Lise, vividly depict small-town America in the 1960’s including all the wonderful details of the era.

After tragedy strikes Frank’s family this story could have turned very melancholy. However, the story finds a surprising strength – it keeps its hope. In the end Frank and his family find a way to go on, to go forward. A good lesson for all of us.

We loved this book and highly recommend it to everyone.  Book clubs can talk about marriage, parenting, and childhood. How our youthful experiences shape our adult live.

One of the things I really loved in this book is how richly flawed the parents are, especially the mother. But we are drawn to her. We know her dreams and her fears. We want her to find happiness. There are profound lessons in this novel for all of us.

There’s a very good pod cast with the author, William Kurt Kruger.  I recommend that book clubs listen to it. We did and everyone enjoyed it.

Rating: 9.0

Before book club we signed our book Novel Women!

The authors enjoying a class of wine!