Book of the week
Romancing Miss Bronte Juliet Gael 2010, 416 pages Setting: Victorian England Juliet Gael has created a remarkable fictional work based on the life of Charlotte Bronte. Using scholarly sources, and Charlotte's own letters, the author brings Charlotte and her family to life. Gael skillfully creates the sisters' personalities using insights provided by the characters from Charlotte's novels and imagining the impact of...
Book of the week
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand Helen Simonson 2010, 358 pages Setting: Village of Edgecombe St. Mary, present day When he hears of his brother's sudden death, Major Pettigrew is helped by Mrs. Ali, the Pakistani village shopkeeper who happened to come to his door that morning on an errand. Major Pettigrew is a widower, and Mrs. Ali's husband died a year ago. They begin spending some time together, and their improbable...
Book of the week
The Long Way Home: An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War David Laskin 2010, 386 pages Setting: Europe and America, 1899 to 1920 David Laskin gives us the story of 12 male immigrants (from Poland/the Pale of Russia, Italy, Norway, Slovakia and Ireland) who arrived in the United States at the turn of the last century. He recounts what conditions were like in their home countries and why they chose to emigrate. He found...
Book of the week
The End of the Road Sue Henry 2009, 214 pages Setting: Homer, Alaska Residents of Homer, Alaska, Maxie and her mini dachshund Stretch usually bump into mysteries when they venture down into the “lower 48.” But this year Maxie stays in her hometown, and a mystery finds her. She and Stretch befriend a stranger, John Walker, and invite him to dinner with her friends. They enjoy his company, although he doesn't reveal...
Book of the week
Dragon Keeper: Volume One of the Rain Wilds Chronicles Robin Hobb 2010, 474 pages Genre: Fantasy “The queen dragon was blue and silver and blue again, depending on how the sunlight struck her. She was easily three times the size of the young dragons hatching. She dropped the limp deer that hung from her jaw. Eat, she instructed the young dragons.” But the queen dragon disappears shortly after the dragons emerge from their cocoons, and...
