Tag: fiction (Page 6 of 12)

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn | Book Review

August 3, 2023 / Monique

Set in 1947, The Alice Network is the story of Charlotte (or Charlie) an American woman desperately seeking her French cousin (Rose) who disappeared during the war. Her one clue is the names Eve Gardiner, Rene, and Le Lethe.

Well Eve turns out to be an old drunk with damaged hands, a poor temper, and the owner of a Luger, which she aims square between Charlotte’s eyes.

Rene is a profiteering monster who ran Le Lethe, a restaurant in Lille frequented by the Germans during the Great War.

Eve worked as a spy for England and had perfect French and German. She infiltrated the restaurant as a stuttering French waitress and managed to pass a number of excellent secrets to the head of the Alice Network, Louise de Bettignies (alias Alice Dubois).

The novel is historical fictional, with Eve, Charlotte and Rene being the imagined characters. But the Alice Network was real, as was Louise de Bettignies, the Queen of Spies, who ran a WWI network of spies in an area of France near Lille. She was formidable.

The novel is great, as is the author’s note pointing out the many stories in the novel that are based on real stories of female spies during the Great War, their trial records, and personal accounts.

Published by HarperCollins Canada
Or visit the author site for the book trailer and cool additional resources

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Book Review

July 27, 2023 / Monique

The audiobook of Carrie Soto Is Back is super. Carrie Soto is an incredible, record-breaking tennis player. She retired after an injury but is spurred into coming out of retirement to defend her title against young upstart Nicki Chan.

There’s excellent drama in the sports world and it comes through in this novel. Plus the author includes all sorts of subtle mentions of characters from her other novels. Plus the main reader is great, and then there are several others who narrate as the sports commentators. It adds an extra layer of audio delight.

Carrie Soto Is Back is a really fun summer listen.

Published by Penguin Random House Canada

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff | Book Review

June 17, 2023 / Monique

The Thursday Night Murder Club and No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency would meet their match with The Bandit Queens. Where the former titles involve affable do-gooders with the common sense needed to solve their community’s problems, here we have gossipy housewives who watch too many crime dramas and are keen to off their husbands. That said, these women are charming.

Five years ago, Geeta’s good-for-nothing drunk of a husband ran off. The village believes she killed him, and the rumour persists, to the point where Geeta is ostracized from friends and others in the small community. She’s a member of a micro-loan club and when one of the members doesn’t show up with her weekly repayment, it’s left to Geeta—widowed and childless—to foot the bill so the whole loan group doesn’t go under. Instead of that endearing her amongst the women, one of whom is her former best friend, Geeta finds herself being blackmailed by the woman she help.

Turns out that Geeta’s reputation for getting rid of a n’er-do-well husband has the attention of the other wives who would also like to be widows. Geeta has some tricky cards to play, and she does not have a good poker face.

Parini Shroff’s debut novel is a wonderfully funny, a macabre, look at life in an Indian village. There’s witty women, sneaky husbands, minor criminals, unwitting accomplices, terrible dark crimes, caste hierarchies, sexism, and all manor of distractions and disruptions in this small village. This is one hell of a debut.

Published by Penguin Random House Canada

Watch the Barnes & Noble BookClub YouTube channel: Parini Shroff discusses The Bandit Queens

The Price of Salt, or Carol by Patricia Highsmith | Book Review

May 6, 2023 / Monique

Patricia Highsmith is the author of more than 20 books, including well-known classics. Her first novel Strangers on a Train (1950) became a major commercial success and was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock. Her most popular literary creation was Tom Ripley, the dapper sociopath who debuted in her 1955 novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley. There were four other Ripley novels, and a film. Yet she decided to publish The Price of Salt (or Carol) in1952 under a pseudonym. The novel tells the story of a young woman Therese Belivet, who serves a glamorous older woman (Carol Aird) in a department store at Christmas. That casual encounter sparks in a romance between the two women, and a Thelma and Louise style cross-country road trip. They are chased by a private detective hired by Carol’s husband, but their crime is exploring a romance that is not accepted socially at the time.

Many publishers turned down this incredible book because it was about a lesbian relationship. The 50s in America were not open days for homosexuals. Most American novels at the time depicted gay or lesbian relationships as deviations and the characters met untimely ends. But Highsmith found a publisher, and the book found a loving audience.

I’d say this novel is about discovering a strength you didn’t know you had.

The Lady’s Guide to Death and Deception by Katherine Cowley | Book Review

March 12, 2023 / Monique

My venn diagram of reading is spy novel meets literature. So I’m glad that ages ago at a marketing conference Scott Cowley mentioned his wife Katherine Cowley was writing Jane Austen spinoffs. I have read and loved all 3 books in the series (review #1, review #2).

In Jane Austen novels, Mary is the underestimated, often overlooked character, which makes her the perfect inspiration. In Katherine Cowley’s series, Mary Bennet is living a secret life as a spy for Britain.

The Lady’s Guide to Death and Deception is set in Brussels. Napoleon Bonaparte has escaped from the Isle of Elba, and England with the Allied forces are preparing for war. Mary’s spy work has her in multiple disguises, befriending strangers, kissing men (oh the impropriety, it’s 1815), and learning the French waltz. It’s a fun and witty historical novel, influenced by Austen.

Elizabeth Finch by Julian Barnes

February 23, 2023 / Monique

Elizabeth Finch is about a platonic teacher-student relationship and how we come to idolize people who create poignant moments in our lives.

In this novel Neil is an adult learner in Elizabeth Finch’s class. She is an enigma. Although her teaching style is not to everyone’s liking, she has an affect on Neil that leads to a lifelong friendship (maybe friendship is too strong, mentorship).

The novel is broken into three parts. The first is the most charming, and where we are introduced to Elizabeth Finch. The second part is Neil’s look at EF’s research into early Christian history. It’s an academic essay parading as part of the novel. And, it is fascinating if you want to think about moments in history where we could have made different choices. In the third part, Neil tries to offers a more objective perspective of EF and her research.

I really like Julian Barnes’ work and this was a good read. Like EF, it’s not for everyone. The Guardian suggests that each new section is forced to compensate for the shortcomings of the last. Fair comment, I’d say. But I still liked it.

Available everywhere. Published in Canada by Penguin Random House.

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

January 10, 2023 / Monique

Louise Penny is one of those authors that gets me hook, line and sinker, every time. I find her Chief Inspector Gamache so charming that it’s hard to not read each instalment in a single day. Yes, I binge read Louise Penny.

In this book (18th in the series), Gamache spends most of his time in Three Pines. Drama and murder has come to his door step. This book is a psychological thriller. It has some Silence of the Lambs characteristics. No cannibalism, but it’s steeped in psychological horror.

Without giving too much away: the story is told through a series of flashbacks to one of Inspector Beauvoir’s first cases with Gamache. Two children have been abused and their mother is murdered. The older child is convicted of the murder but Gamache suspects the younger was as involved, if not more. Memories of that tragedy are brought to the forefront in a present-day discovery of a mysterious painting locked away in a hidden room above the village bookstore. The children, now grown, are involved in the discovery but the danger to Gamache is unclear. There’s some psychological warfare happening right under his nose but it’s a puzzle within a puzzle that Gamache just can’t solve. It’s about revenge, but who is seeking the revenge? Gamache has enemies.

Louise Penny is a fabulous writer. The Gamache books have always woven in art and music, along with politics and suspense. There’s less politics in this one and more psychological thriller. The series has steered that way since an absolute page-turner two books ago, The Devils Are Here, which was set in Paris, France. If you’re new to Louise Penny and don’t want to go all the way back to book #1 then I’d start partway through the series at #7 A Trick of Light.

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

December 21, 2022 / Monique

Get ready to step into the grittiness of London and the glam (and gangs) of Soho clubs during the period between the World Wars.

Our cast of characters includes:

Nellie Coker who is newly released from prison and back to managing her infamous nightclubs.
Chief Inspector Frobisher who’s cleaning up corruption on the streets and in his own force.
Gwendolyn Kelling who’s in London from York and looking for two runaway girls who are hoping to make their fame on the stage–and are likely to end up at one of Coker’s clubs as a dance hostess.
Nellie’s children: Niven (the eldest and most put together), Edith (the brains of the operation), the twins Betty and Shirley, the youngest girl Kitty, and the youngest boy Ramsey (coke addict and aspiring novelist).

It’s an all-star cast. They are each great in their own way and their lives are woven together like a braid. The storytelling is amazing and I cheered for each of them. The basic rivalry is between the Cokers and Frobisher, with Miss Kelling caught in the middle. But actually they all face another nemesis and that’s what lets readers cheer for them all.

The dialogue is wonderful. The quality of word choice is top notch. The quick wits and pacing of the novel is superb. I can’t say enough. I loved this book.

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson is available from Penguin Random House.

Who Is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht

December 1, 2022 / Monique

Who Is Vera Kelly? is a quick witted spy novel set in 1960s Buenos Aries. Vera is newly recruited to the CIA and soon enough finds herself wiretapping congressmen and infiltrating a group of student activists.

Vera is smart, a fast learner, a lesbian, and about to find out what it’s like to be caught up in Cold War politics during a coup.

Vera Kelly Is Not A Mystery is the follow-up story. Vera is back in New York and loses her job and her girlfriend in a single day. But Vera is feisty and sets up shop as a female detective. Suddenly she’s on hot on the trail of a Dominican exile who’s wanted by Dominican Republic President Balaguer (and his goon squad). Vera can’t depend on the CIA (although could she ever). So it’s just her and her wits. And I must say, Vera is witty.

Rosalie Knecht has crafted a tight Cold War spy series. A bit of a nod to the character driven Le Carré style of writing but more modern. If you liked Ben MacIntyre’s The Spy and the Traitor or David Benioff’s City of Thieves, then you’ll like the dark, slow burn of these novels.

A Trace of Deceit by Karen Odden

November 3, 2022 / Monique

A Trace of Deceit is a great whodonit and peak into the world of art auctions. Miss Annabel Rowe is a young painter who’s studying at the Slade in London. She’s set to meet her brother Edwin for their regular Tuesday dinner but he never shows. Went she goes to his apartment, she finds two inspectors investigating his murder.

Annabel isn’t your usual Victorian lady who will demure and defer. She marches down to Scotland yard and demands to speak to Inspector Matthew Hallam. She has a plan and a plea that leads to her job shadowing Matthew.

They have a lovely romance that blooms out of their efforts to solve the mystery of Edwin’s death, recover a stolen valuable painting, and catch the culprits.

The behind-the-scenes look at the art work, auction houses, and the underworld of politics and the shipping industry are highly entertaining. Author Karen Odden draws on some of her personal experience from working at Christie’s auction house in the mid-1990s.

My favourite moments were the descriptions of various paintings throughout the novel. It was a short course in art history and painting techniques.