Three books that made a hot summer more bearable
I've been busier reading than writing this summer and have neglected my Gentle Reader blog. But, oh, the beautiful words I've read have smoothed the edges some on an otherwise rough season.
As the school year started, Louise Penny helped fill my thoughts with all that is important in life: family, friends, a good dog, a well-cooked meal shared, art and love. Her 10
th
in the Inspector Armand Gamache series, "The Long Way Home," follows the now retired Chief of Homicide at the Surete du Quebec as he gives up the peace and comfort of Three Pines to go in search of a friend. Clara Morrow's husband, Peter, is missing. The inspector, his former second-in-command Jean-Guy Beauvoir, Clara and bookstore owner/former therapist Myra travel from the quiet village to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River where they discover the damage left by a sin-sick soul.
Louise Penny's books are a favorite of mine. If you haven't yet had the pleasure of reading her works, start with "Still Life." I have yet to meet anyone who's been able to put it down.
"The Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd is destined to be a classic. It follows the story of Hetty "Handful" Grimke, a house slave in early 19
th
century Charleston, and Sarah Grimke, the daughter of the wealthy slaveholders.
While Handful pushes against the bonds of slavery, Sarah pushes as well against the limits imposed on women. Their stories intertwine as the two not only react to history but make it as well.
Kidd's novel is inspired by the actual historic figurer of Sarah Grimke, whose story she enlarges to retell a time in America fraught with the struggle to be free on so many levels.
If you want to prolong the pleasures of summer and haven't yet picked up Emma Straub's "The Vacationeers," do yourself a favor and jump right in the turbulent waters of this beach novel.
Actually, calling "The Vacationeers" a beach novel is completely inaccurate. It is a family drama fraught with tension as the heads of the family, Franny and Jimmy celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary with a trip to Mallorca with the cloud of his adultery hanging over them.
They bring with them their daughter Sylvia, who is determined that she will not start her freshman year of college a virgin, and their son, who is accompanied by his cougar girlfriend and a boatload of debt. Joining the crowd is a happily married gay couple who nervously await the news of a planned adoption.
The book is funny, sad and oh so real.
Coming this fall, you'll want to check out "The Dress Shop of Dreams" by Menna Praag and "The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe" by Alexander McCall Smith. I am grateful to have gotten an advanced reader's copy of both of these and can assure readers they'll be in for a treat with these two.