springdellgirl

 Oh Yes, There's More

 From Goodreads:

A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill-prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.

A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

This what I would call a thoughty novel. It makes you think. It is a well-written and smart historical novel. I really liked it. It is beautiful and atmospheric. You felt what it must have been like to be young, in love, and living the bohemian lifestyle in post-war Paris in the 1920s. The book offers a fascinating glimpse into the unraveling of a marriage.  

I loved the character development. Hemingway, the flawed, driven and ambitious young writer trying to make a name for himself as he surrounds himself with other creative individuals who become literary greats of their lost generation. Despite Ernest's flaws and short-comings I never lost empathy for the man even though I disliked him immensely. I also felt that despite the book being a fictional "memoir" I thought that Hadley had a genuine voice. Watching the crumbling of their marriage was both heart-wrenching and poignant. The situation of Hadley was so achingly sad as she realizes the truth about her complex marriage to Ernest with his infidelities, post-war issues, and intensity. I found the book absorbing. I liked it. It isn't a happy tale but it is an interesting one.

My Rating: Good...and it makes me want to read Hemingway's A Moveable Feast and The Sun Also Rises.

 From Goodreads:

The Reading Group follows the trials and tribulations of a group of women who meet regularly to read and discuss books.Over the course of a year, each of these women become intertwined, both in the books they read and within each others lives.

Inspired by a shared desire for conversation, a good book and a glass of wine-Clare, Harriet, Nicole, Polly, and Susan undergo startling revelations and transformations despite their differences in background, age and respective dilemmas.

What starts as a reading group gradually evolves into a forum where the women may express their views through the books they read and grow to become increasingly more open as the bonds of friendship cement.

There are several types of books that are bound to always grab my attention and interest. They are:
1.) books about sisters (especially 3 or more), 2.) books about lake houses, and 3.) books about book clubs. So when I saw this book sitting on the shelf at the library I had to pick it up. I was looking for some light and fluffy reading. The Reading Group is that but it also came with a dull and slow moving story and a cast of unlikeable characters who experience nearly every mid-life cliche there is to experience. Big disappointment.

The book had a couple of things going for it that kept me reading. First, it was British chick-lit which was a nice change; and second I loved the organization of the book. The author divides the chapters into months and lists the books they were reading for each month including a little synopsis of the book and their discussion. That was fun but that was about as good as it got.

One other thing I loved was the quote at the start of the book:


"The real, hidden subject of a book group discussion is the book group members themselves"--Margaret Atwood

That I do truly believe but, unfortunately, in this book it falls flat.

My Rating: Mediocre

From Goodreads:
 
Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts’, suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. Nothing is quite as it seems, however: Ivo is withdrawn and secretive, and the English social scene is full of traps and betrayals. Money, Cora soon learns, cannot buy everything, as she must decide what is truly worth the price in her life and her marriage.

I am completely sick of every book these days saying "If you like Downton Abbey you are sure to like..." Enough already. (You can add any Jane Austen-esque book too.)

The book did give me more insight into the history of titled yet short on money British nobility marrying wealthy American heiresses to secure their positions and lands and in return giving the heiress the status symbol of a title. That was as close to Downton Abbey as it got. I also liked the juxtaposition of American culture versus English culture during the turn of the century. I found that quite fascinating.



This book is definitely not straight up historical fiction. I would categorize it as historical romance. Some loose ends weren't tied up as neatly as I would have liked at the end of the book and the brooding, contrived, and slightly unlikeable Duke was no Mr. Darcy but the writing was adequate. That said, I didn't feel that the author included enough depth and detail to make the story more compelling. Still, it was a good diversion and a quick read.

My Rating: Okay

From Goodreads:

It's the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay, where servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn. But war is coming, and the world is changing. When the master of Tyneford's young son, Kit, returns home, he and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform Tyneford—and Elise—forever.

This was a book club selection from this fall. According to the cover this is another book that if I like Downton Abbey I am, again, sure to love this book. Fail. This book is nothing like Downton Abbey except for the setting of the English country house.

I did enjoy reading a WWII story told from the unique perspective of an Austrian Jew from an upper class family forced to escape Austria by fleeing to England to work as a domestic in the home of an English aristocrat.


Elise was an interesting character, not your typical beautiful but down on her luck heroine. I do think that her romance with Kit was far-fetched and never was exactly riveting. Perhaps it was the dialogue which I found to be awkward at times. I thought her relationship with Mr. Rivers was more interesting and real.

The storyline leaves the glittering bourgeois world of upper class Austria and moves to the English countryside and with it goes the life of the story. I thought the Landaus were, by far, the more charismatic and engaging family...not the Rivers... and I wish the storyline of the book would have stayed with the intriguing Anna and Julian. Throughout reading this book I found my mind wandering to what might be happening with them and hoping the storyline would turn in that direction. Sadly, it did not and I was left to read pages and pages of nothing happening in England. Austria was where the action was and I wish the storyline would have included what was going on there.

Even though the plot started out strong it seemed to fizzle and lose momentum about half way through but I still cared about the characters and wanted to know their fates. The author did a wonderful job of painting a beautiful picture of Tyneford and the English countryside. All in all, I enjoyed The House at Tyneford.

My Rating: Good