Book Review: "The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern" by Lynda Cohen Loigman

What a fantastic book. Lynda Cohen Loigman has done it again!!

Forced into retirement just before her 80th birthday, Augusta doesn’t know what to do with all of her free time. She moves to Rallentando Springs, a retirement community in Florida. Much to her surprise, the first person she runs into is Irving, who worked as a delivery boy at her father’s pharmacy 60 years ago. He was her first love and her first heartbreak.

Augusta grew up in Brooklyn in the 1920s. She admired her pharmacist father more than anyone, and although it was almost unheard of at that time, she wanted to follow in his footsteps. But when her great-aunt Esther moves in with their family, Augusta’s perspectives change. Esther is a healer, and Augusta sees that there are ailments that traditional medicines can’t help.

Meanwhile, she and Irving draw closer together, and she dreams of marrying him and working with him when they take over her father’s pharmacy. But one night, everything changes and her dreams of a future with Irving are shattered. It’s a blow from which Augusta has never quite recovered, even 60 years later.

Augusta seems to constantly run into Irving in her new Florida community. Yet he seems oblivious to the hurt and anger she still carries. And when another old friend from their Brooklyn days appears, the tension between him and Irving confuses Augusta and makes her wonder what she missed all those years ago.

The book is told in dual timelines, in the 1920s and the late 1980s. It’s a story of love, family, tradition, and maybe a little bit of magic, and I was hooked from the very first page. I loved this so much.

Book Review: "The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl" by Bart Yates

Isaac is 96 years old, a historian and journalist, who is writing his memoir. But how do you summarize a life? He decides to focus on 12 different days throughout his life, days which truly had an impact.

Isaac’s story begins in Utah in 1926, when eight-year-old Isaac and his twin sister Agnes are trapped in an avalanche. From that point on, the book focuses on a specific day every eight years. Sometimes the circumstances are dramatic, like when Isaac is aboard a warship during WWII, and sometimes they’re simpler and more joyous.

While some people appear in one vignette only to never be heard from again, the core characters are Isaac, Agnes, and Isaac’s best friend, Bo. Aggie is the fiery, opinionated one, who cares fiercely for her brother, and Bo is truly affable and loyal to both Dahl siblings.

“…few things on earth are more frightening than the possibility of love.”

I enjoyed how the story was told but at times it felt very Forrest Gump-like, with Isaac popping up at different points in history. And while I’ve always been a fan of Bart Yates’ writing, some of the events chronicled seemed very overdone, like the Dust Bowl and the Civil Rights Movement.

This was our book club pick for October. Some people were conflicted, some really found the book moving. I fell somewhere in the middle, although there were places that made me feel real emotion.

Book Review: "The Only One Left" by Riley Sager

At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother's happy life
"It wasn't me," Lenora said
But she's the only one not dead

In 1929, the state of Maine was shocked by the brutal murder of three-fourths of the wealthy Hope family: the powerful patriarch, his wife, and their older daughter, Virginia. The police suspected the sole survivor, 17-year-old Lenora, who was found covered in blood, but they were never able to prove it.

While the crimes fascinated the public, Lenora never left her family’s mansion again. As she grew older, she suffered a series of strokes which left her almost completely paralyzed and unable to speak. She can only move one hand, with which she can tap out yes or no answers to questions, as well as type.

In 1983, Kit is a home-health worker who is hired to care for Leona. She is troubled by what she thinks are footsteps in Leona’s room late at night, even though that can’t be possible. Then one day Leona asks to use the typewriter and offers to tell Kit everything.

As Leona slowly types out the events leading up to the murders, Kit realizes there’s much more to the story than she ever thought. But as other shocking discoveries are made, Kit can’t be sure whether Leona is telling the truth and she is innocent, or whether Kit is being manipulated by a master.

Riley Sager’s books are hit or miss for me. I probably wouldn’t have read this if it wasn’t the selection for our book club. It was an entertaining read, although I thought the pacing was slow until the end, when Sager dropped a million twists nearly simultaneously.

Book Review: "The Sicilian Inheritance" by Jo Piazza

If you read a ton of books set in Italy, can you be considered an honorary citizen? Asking for a friend.

Sara’s aunt Rosie was one of her favorite people. She was an absolute dynamo, fun-loving and wild, but smart as hell, accomplishing anything she set her mind to. Rosie’s death leaves Sara devastated, and at a time when her marriage and her career have both fallen apart, the loss knocks her for a loop.

She’s completely unprepared for Rosie’s dying request that she travel to Sicily, where their ancestors are from, and scatter her ashes. Rosie also left her the deed to a plot of land in Sicily, and she asks Sara to research whether it truly belongs to their family. Oh, and one more thing: Rosie wants Sara to look into the murder of her grandmother, Serafina, in the early 1920s.

When Sara arrives in Sicily, she is taken by the beauty of the island, but she quickly realizes that nothing is what it appears. She isn’t sure whom she can trust, there’s doubt about whether her family actually owns the land—and if they do, whether she can lay claim to it—and there are all sorts of conflicting stories about Rosie’s grandmother. The more she digs, the more danger she’s in.

The narrative shifts between Sara in the present and Serafina’s in the 1910s and 1920s. The story is part mystery, part historical fiction, but it’s a fascinating look at how women find power and can thrive despite the barriers they face. I did feel like one narrative had more closure than the other, though.

I’ve read a few of Jo Piazza’s books—one of her own and two she co-wrote with Christine Pride—and I really love the way she writes. I enjoyed this a great deal, and thought it was cool it was based on a story from Piazza’s family.

Book Review: "Self-Made Boys" by Anna-Marie McLemore

The Great Gatsby, but make it queer and YA.⁣

⁣ I loved this book so much. It definitely will be a contender for one of my favorite books of the year. And amazingly, it’s the second fantastic Gatsby retelling I’ve read this year (although this one is referred to as a “remix”)—I absolutely loved Jillian Cantor’s Beautiful Little Fools, too. ⁣

⁣ Nicolás Caraveo is a 17-year-old trans boy from a small Wisconsin farm town who moves to New York City in 1922. He’s offered a job in the stock market and he’s determined to make a better life for his family. He’ll be reunited with his cousin, Daisy Fabrega-Caraveo, who already has made a life for herself.⁣

⁣ Imagine Nick’s surprise, however, when he discovers that Daisy is nearly engaged to wealthy Tom Buchanan—and she’s reinvented herself as Daisy Fay, passing for white despite her Latina heritage.

⁣ ⁣ Nick has a small cottage in West Egg. And then he meets his neighbor, the magnetic young Jay Gatsby, whose house is host to the most extravagant parties and who wears the most beautiful clothes. Nick is drawn to Jay, and then he discovers that Jay is also transgender. But he also finds out that Jay is slightly obsessed with Daisy, and Nick is willing to bring the two together—even if it means Nick has to ignore his own feelings for Jay.⁣

⁣ This is such a beautifully written, creative book. I was drawn into all of these characters, some who are more familiar to the original than others. And knowing the story as I do, I was totally hooked in needing to see how McLemore pulled everything together. Just incredible.⁣

Book Review: "Hotel Portofino" by J.P. O'Connell

In Hotel Portofino, drama abounds for an English family running a hotel in post-WWI Italy.

Bella fell in love with the Italian Riviera on her honeymoon and always hoped they’d get back there. She finally convinced her husband Cecil that they should buy a hotel there, for English tourists summering in Italy. She knows that running a hotel will be a great deal of work, but she’s hoping that it may distract her adult children, both of whom were drastically affected by the war.

She’s also hoping that the hotel might save her crumbling marriage. But right now she can only concentrate on the chaos around her—a wealthy, old ladyfriend of Cecil’s is bringing her daughter to the hotel as a possible love match for their son. There’s a new nanny on her way, and the Italian housekeeper is acting suspicious. And Bella is not prepared for the theft of a painting or a local acolyte of Mussolini looking to make a name for himself by targeting the hotel.

I read this with a friend and we both agreed that while there was a lot of potential with this book, it really fell flat. The plot was mostly melodramatic and very typical of the Downton Abbey-type programs I think this wanted to be like. I found most of the characters unlikeable (and honestly, couldn’t tell them apart at times) and wanted something unexpected to happen to shake things up, but to no avail.

This is going to be a PBS series later this year so it’s possible the book was written after the show was filmed, and that might explain the hollow feel of the story, almost like it was the novelization of a performance. Still, I had a good conversation about the book with a good friend, so not all was bad!

Book Review: "Beautiful Little Fools" by Jillian Cantor

The latest novel from Jillian Cantor, Beautiful Little Fools is a fantastic retelling of The Great Gatsby through the eyes of three female characters in the book.

“I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

The Great Gatsby is one of my absolute favorite books ever—so much so that my first dog’s middle name was even Gatsby. This book was one I’ve been eagerly anticipating since learning about it last year, and after devouring it yesterday I’m happy to say it more than lived up to my expectations.

In the summer of 1922, Jay Gatsby is shot to death in his West Egg swimming pool. Police believe he was killed by George Wilson, who took his own life shortly thereafter, so the case is quickly closed. But when a diamond hairpin is found at the scene of Gatsby's murder, one detective believes the murder could actually have been perpetrated by one of three women—Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, or Catherine McCoy, Myrtle Wilson’s sister and George's sister-in-law.

The book looks at the lives of the three women, how Jay Gatsby came into their lives and, ultimately, what chaos he caused that might have pushed them to murder him. It’s a fascinating retelling because it brings so much added depth and takes the focus off Nick Carraway, who narrated the original book.

I absolutely loved Beautiful Little Fools. What a creative idea that still felt very true to Fitzgerald’s original novel, yet with some angles he wouldn’t have explored back then. While it's helpful to have read the original book, I don't know if you have to, because this is a different story in many ways.

This was so excellent!

Book Review: "The Four Winds" by Kristin Hannah

The newest novel from Kristin Hannah, The Four Winds, proves that sometimes being tough is the only choice you have.

At 25, Elsa’s family has told her that she is too old and too ugly to ever find a husband, which in Texas in 1921 is the only path for a woman. So she’s expected to not make a fuss, stay out of the way, and live an uneventful life until the time comes when she must care for her parents.

But that’s not an acceptable option for her, and when she meets Rafe Martinelli, she makes a decision that changes the course of her life. When she finds herself shunned by her family and forced out of her home, her only choice is to marry a man she barely knows and move onto his family’s farm.

Thirteen years later, in the midst of the Great Depression and an unprecedented drought, the farm is dying. While Rafe is desperate to move to California where opportunities are rumored, his parents don’t want to leave their farm, and Elsa is determined to help them keep fighting. This causes friction in their marriage and with their older daughter, Loreda, who wants out of the relentless drought and dust storms, too.

When it gets to the point where the survival of her children are at stake, Elsa summons every last ounce of bravery she has and drives to California with them. Yet what they find when they get there, the lives they must pursue, will change each of them.

This is a beautifully written, emotional piece of historical fiction. Hannah once again proves herself an impeccable storyteller. Elsa is an exceptional character and her story is one of courage and exceeding what everyone has always told you that you could accomplish.

At times the darkness and emotions of this story feel a little relentless even though it’s fact-based, and I’ll admit I found Loreda’s character difficult to like. But this is definitely a book that moved me and once again made me thankful to those who came before.

NetGalley and St. Martin's Press provided me with a complimentary advance copy of The Four Winds in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

Book Review: "The Boy in the Red Dress" by Kristin Lambert

The Boy in the Red Dress is a fun, unique, and compelling story about living your life on your own terms—and trying to protect your friends.

It’s New Year’s Eve in New Orleans in 1929. Millie is running her aunt’s speakeasy while she is out of town. Everyone has come to the Cloak and Dagger to see Marion Leslie perform. This “boy in the red dress” is a consummate performer and Millie’s best friend.

That night, though, a young socialite is showing people an old picture of Marion and asking questions. Seeing her has truly upset Marion, as it reminds him of an earlier, horrible time in his life. But he’s also angry that this woman has shown up and he wants her to leave.

Before the clock strikes midnight, the woman is found dead outside the club. It appears she was pushed off a balcony, and her friends immediately accuse Marion of her murder. But Millie knows he couldn’t possibly be guilty, even if the police want nothing more than to accuse a boy who dresses as a woman to be punished.

Determined to clear his name, Millie starts her own investigation. She uncovers secrets, blackmail, illicit love affairs, and people bent on keeping her from the truth, but she doesn’t care. She’ll stop at nothing to figure out what happened, even if it puts her in danger.

As she mounts her own investigation, she has to deal with her own conflicted feelings between Olive, a young waitress at the club, and Bennie, the handsome bootlegger. But romance has to take a back seat until she finds the real killer.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. Despite the time period, I love how the book never made a big deal about anyone’s sexuality or how they choose to live. Millie is a conflicted teenage girl unsure of what her heart wants, but she will fight to protect anyone who tries to hurt someone she cares about.

This was a great story, so well-told and poignant at times. I loved these characters and would love to see another book with them!