Review: The Hedgerow by Anne Leigh Parrish

Anne Leigh Parrish showed readers the losses women suffered when men came back from WWII and resumed their lives in society in her novel, an open door (lower case intentional). Now she's back with a sequel, The Hedgerow, named for the poetry press her heroine Edith wants to open in conjunction with her bookstore.

It's 1949 in Cambridge, MA. Edith may have escaped her unsatisfying and soul-sucking marriage to Walter but she cannot escape society's expectations for women quite so easily. Having moved into her wealthy British peer friend Henry's spacious apartment, she drifts into an affair with him and then subsequently into an engagement she's not sure she wants simply out of obligation and gratitude to him for his support during her separation and divorce. What she really wants is to devote herself to her bookstore and the fledgling poetry press she is launching but Henry's neediness continues to overwhelm her as she falls back into the habit of putting her own wants and needs second until things come to light that change her trajectory.

Edith inches her way to living the life she wants but it really is slow and incremental inching. Her character feels more lethargic and trapped than she was in the first book, trapped by society's expectations, Henry's money and the ease it brings to life, and by the surprising weight of the past, both her own and Henry's. She seems to have (and accept) an inability to feel deeply and passionately about anyone, even telling both Henry and his mother that she doesn't love him despite agreeing to marry him. There is a real feeling of lassitude arching over the story as a whole and Edith rarely breaks out of her entrenched ambivalence, finding a well of determination and courage only when she chooses to publish a poet whose work she knows will be controversial and potentially censored. Like in an open door, the tone of the novel is quiet as it examines the idea of duty and what roles are available to women. And also like an open door, the novel ends with Edith facing bigger, more surprising concerns that could force her to reevaluate her chosen path once again. I felt like this sequel was a little more plodding than the first novel and I'm a bit ambivalent myself about whether I'd follow Edith any further although I continue to think Parrish is an exceptional writer.

Thank you to the publisher and author for a copy of this book to review.

Review: Clear by Carys Davies

I fell in love with Carys Davies' writing when I read her short story collection, The Redemption of Galen Pike, many years ago and I'd always meant to read more of her work but somehow never did until now. Her newest novel, Clear, is impressive, quiet, and an almost indescribable work of beauty.

John Ferguson is a Presbyterian minister who has chosen, with many others, to break away from his church and to protest the practice of wealthy landowners having the power to appoint ministers. His rebellion against the established church leaves him and his wife, Mary, destitute though, so in an effort to earn a small amount of money, John agrees to take on the task of evicting the sole tenant left on a remote Scottish island in the waning years of the Scottish Clearances. But this is not the uncomplicated and easy assignment that the devout John envisions and his life will never be the same.

Opening with John sighting the forbidding island and lamenting his lack of swimming ability, it is clear that what he is facing will challenge and test him. Once he has landed on the island, he takes up residence in the old Baillie house and starts to explore his surroundings before trying to make contact with Ivar, the only remaining inhabitant of the island, and the man he is there to evict. When John meets with an accident and Ivar rescues him, the two men cannot communicate, each speaking a language very far removed from the other. Each man keeps secrets from the other even as John starts to learn Ivar's language and ultimately those secrets will change everything.

All three major characters, John, Ivar, and John's wife Mary, come into focus as the narrative moves back and forth amongst them, telling their histories as well as the history of the Clearances and of the rift in the Presbyterian Church. Davies is a spare writer, evoking much in few words. As the reader would expect on a remote and forbidding island, landscape and nature dominates in this haunting work. The characters drive the story along as they mirror the bleakness of the world around them. This is a spectacular, quiet novel of loneliness, connection, love, and the importance of shared language; a novel to be savored.

Waiting on Wednesday

This meme was hosted by Breaking the Spine and is meant to highlight some great pre-publication books we all can't wait to get our grubby little mitts on. I'm choosing to continue the tradition even though she has stopped.

Off the Books by
Soma Mei Sheng Frazier.
The book is being released by Henry Holt and Co. on July 30, 2024.

The book's jacket copy says: A captivating debut following a cross-country road trip that will make you believe in the goodness of people, Off the Books sheds light on the power in humanity during the most troubled of times.

Recent Dartmouth dropout Mei, in search of a new direction in life, drives a limo to make ends meet. Her grandfather convinces her to allow her customers to pay under the table, and before she knows it, she is working as a routine chauffeur for sex workers. Mei does her best to mind her own business, but her knack for discretion soon leads her on a life changing trip from San Francisco to Syracuse with a new client.

Handsome and reserved, Henry piques Mei's interest. Toting an enormous black suitcase with him everywhere he goes, he's more concerned with taking frequent breaks than making good time on the road. When Mei discovers Henry's secret, she does away with her usual close-lipped demeanor and decides she has no choice but to confront him. What Henry reveals rocks her to her core and shifts this once casual, transactional road trip to one of moral stakes and dangerous consequences.

An original take on the great American road trip, Off the Books is a beautifully crafted coming of age story that showcases the resilience of the human spirit and the power of doing the right thing. The spirit of Frazier's characters will stay with readers long after they have arrived at their destination.

Waiting on Wednesday

This meme was hosted by Breaking the Spine and is meant to highlight some great pre-publication books we all can't wait to get our grubby little mitts on. I'm choosing to continue the tradition even though she has stopped.

The Faculty Lounge by
Jennifer Mathieu.
The book is being released by Dutton on July 23, 2024.

The book's jacket copy says: By the acclaimed author of Moxie, a funny, bighearted adult debut that is at once an ode to educators, a timely glimpse at today's pressing school issues, and a tender character study, following a sprawling cast of teachers, administrators, and staff at a Texas high school

With its ensemble of warm and unforgettable characters, The Faculty Lounge shows readers a different side of school life. It all starts when an elderly substitute teacher at Baldwin High School is found dead in the faculty lounge. After a bit of a stir, life quickly returns to normal--it's not like it's the worst (or even most interesting) thing that has happened within the building's walls. But when, a week later, the spontaneous scattering of his ashes on the school grounds catches the attention of some busybody parents, it sets in motion a year that can only be described as wild, bizarre, tragic, mundane, beautiful, and humorous all at once.

In the midst of the ensuing hysteria and threats of disciplinary action, the novel peeks into the lives of the implicated adults who, it turns out, actually have first names and continue to exist when the school day is done. We meet: a former punk band front man, now a middle-aged principal who must battle it out with the schoolboard to keep his job; a no-nonsense school nurse willing to break the rules, despite the close watch on their campus, when a student arrives at her office with a dilemma; and a disgruntled English instructor who finds himself embroiled in even more controversy when he misfires a snarky email. Oh, and there's also a teacher make-out session in a supply closet during a lockdown.

As these people continue to manage the messiness of this school year, there is the looming threat of what will become of their beloved Baldwin High. Ultimately, at the heart of this unconventional workplace novel is a story of the power of human connection and of the joy of finding purpose in what it is we do every day.

Review: Ladies' Lunch by Lore Segal

Interconnected short stories are my favorite way to read short stories and as a lady of a certain age who would like to lunch (sometimes, if I'm feeling social enough), how could I resist this collection by Lore Segal?

Ruth, Bridget, Farrah, Lotte, Bessie are Manhattanites in their eighties and nineties. They've been friends for decades, lunching together as they share their lives' trajectories. The stories tell of their current situations, including the move to assisted living of one of their number, aging, loss, COVID, frustration with aging children, and more but also of their long history together, the ups and downs of longstanding friendships, and the perspective and wisdom that comes from a long life. There are a few stories that may or may not be connected to the bulk of the other stories but they too tackle the transitions of life.

The stories are both bittersweet and filled with life, even if the acknowledgement that life is much shorter at the ladies' end is never far away. There is humor and sadness here but what these stories capture is the beautiful mundanity of life, the value and support of friendship, and importance of living every day. Segal's characters live forward; they look back but they always move onward. The stories are not all equally interesting and some can feel a little muddled at times. The elderly main characters are unique and unusual in literature. Over all, this was a strong and readable collection centered on an underrepresented demographic.

Review: The Curious Secrets of Yesterday by Namrata Patel

We've all felt the weight of expectations. Some expectations are heavier than others. Some are very small things while others affect your whole life and its trajectory. Some people rise to meet expectations. Some revolt against them. And some chafe against them quietly, wondering how to live life on their own terms no matter what the expectations on them are. This latter group of people includes the main character of Namrata Patel's newest novel, The Curious Secrets of Yesterday.

Tulsi Gupta is in her thirties. She lives with her mother and grandmother in Salem, Massachusetts. The Gupta women run a spice shop and practice Ayurvedic healing, tracing their family lineage back to the Vedic Hindu Goddess of Earth, Dharti. Tulsi's grandmother Aruna started the shop and her mother, Devi, has taken over most of the running of it. Both older women are waiting for Tulsi to take her final test as a spice healer and assume her rightful place, taking over from her mother. The problem is that Tulsi doesn't want to be a spice healer. She wants no part of this family tradition and has no idea how to tell her mother and grandmother the truth: that she feels stuck and wants out, out of the store and out of Salem. So instead of admitting these feelings, Tulsi maintains the status quo, quietly unhappy. But change comes to people's lives whether they seek it out or not and change is barreling down on Tulsi. She uncovers evidence of a major family secret, the new cafe next door has a very attractive chef/owner, and an anonymously run social media account first catapults the Gupta's store into the spotlight and then notoriety. All of these things pile up, forcing Tulsi, Devi, and Aruna into some hard reckonings.

The cover of this book suggests to the reader that this is going to be a lighthearted story, and in many ways it is, but it also tackles some difficult topics like abandonment, lies, and devastating family secrets. Tulsi, as a character, struggles to find herself because of her instinct to be a caretaker and a mediator, to defend her mother and grandmother, even when their choices are indefensible and have caused her pain or to miss out on things in her life. It is painful to watch Tulsi stifle her own needs and wants for so long and the constant repetition of her unhappiness with the expectations placed on her in the first part of the book does wear thin. (I'm obviously not as patient and understanding as Tulsi.) The beginning of the story also contains many explanations of Ayurvedic healing, perhaps trying to make the concept more accessible to an unfamiliar audience but it felt much more than necessary and slowed the pace of the story down. As the story progressed, this became less of an issue though as it focused more on the characters and the plot. The romance subplot stays fairly lowkey centering Tulsi finding herself as the focus of the story so don't go into this thinking it is a romance. It's not. There might be a touch too many plot threads here: a family curse dooming the Gupta women to single motherhood, Ayurvedic healing and the role of spices in it, complex family dynamics, a budding romance, the mystery of Tulsi's father, the mystery of grandmother Aruna's rift with a former friend, the rewards and perils of social media, and a coming of age to name a few. The novel needed to either focus tighter, eliminating some of these, or go into more depth to make them all equally relevant to the story. Even with the busy-ness of the plot though, ultimately this was a warm and pleasing novel that makes for a different and generally likable, happily ever after summer read.

Thanks to Amazon for sending me this book to review.

Waiting on Wednesday

This meme was hosted by Breaking the Spine and is meant to highlight some great pre-publication books we all can't wait to get our grubby little mitts on. I'm choosing to continue the tradition even though she has stopped.

What Would Jane Austen Do by
Linda Corbett.
The book is being released by One More Chapter on June 18, 2024.

The book's jacket copy says: When Maddy Shaw is told her Dear Jane column has been cancelled she has no choice but to look outside of London’s rental market. That is until she’s left an idyllic country home by the black sheep of the family, long-not-so-lost Cousin Nigel.

But of course there’s a stipulation… and not only is Maddy made chair of the committee for the annual village literary festival, she also has to put up with bestselling crime author –and romance sceptic – Cameron Massey as her new neighbour.

When Maddy challenges Cameron to write romantic fiction, which he claims is so easy to do, sparks fly both on and off the page…