When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There’s only one problem—she’s not married. She’s never seen this man before in her life. But according to her friends, her much-improved decor, and the photos on her phone, they’ve been together for years.
As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can’t remember meeting, Michael goes to the attic to change a lightbulb and abruptly disappears. In his place, a new man emerges, and a new, slightly altered life re-forms around her. Realizing that her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the question: If swapping lives is as easy as changing a lightbulb, how do you know you’ve taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living?
My Review:
When was the last time you willingly accepted a debut novel and actually enjoyed it? Well, okay, maybe not that rare, but this is one I think you might.
First, this is a unique plot device and one that has you nodding your head and grinning. Definitely light satire, humorous and chuckle worthy moments begin when Lauren discovers a husband in her flat in London that was a real surprise. She wasn’t married.
Her friends, and there are several constants, confirm they’ve been married for a little while. Just look at the photos. Decoŕ definitely looks different.
Well, the good news: She hasn’t gone crazy but when he changes a lightbulb in the attic, Michael is replaced by a new husband. Maybe she needs to reconsider the crazy part.
And then, OMG, she runs the gamut! Right age and education but dense. Bore you to tears but the body of Adonis. Health nut, gamer, sports nut, gambler, drinker, wondering eye. What if she found the one she wanted to keep? Could she keep him out of the attic?
It’s light-hearted and not to be taken seriously although there are a few interesting philosophical questions to ponder. The MC is not fully developed, the reader doesn’t get the depth and certainly of none of the husbands. The attic is apparently “magic.” We don’t know why. There is a solid twist later in the novel but at a reasonable length of time you’ll demand a point to it all.
Of course, I greatly enjoyed the narration of the audiobook—done very well, accents and all. Does Lauren finally pick a husband, warts and all, and stick with him? Do you still care? How does this ring road ever end? You’ll have to read it.
I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Publishing:Four Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Humorous Fiction & Satire, Humorous Fiction, Family Life Fiction Publisher:Random House Audio ASIN: B0CDCP4FCT Listening Length: 10 hrs 30 mins Narrator: Miranda Raison Publication Date: April 2, 2024 Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections) Title Links: The Husbands [Amazon-US] Amazon-UK Barnes & Noble Kobo
The Author:HOLLY GRAMAZIO is a writer, game designer and curator from Adelaide, currently based in London. She founded the experimental games festival Now Play This, and wrote the script for the award-winning indie videogame Dicey Dungeons. She’s particularly interested in rules, play, cities, gardens, games that get people acting creatively, and art that gets people interacting with their surroundings in new ways. The Husbands is her first novel.
The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.
In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.
Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.
My Review:
I admit to the curiosity as well as the accolades by reviewers that drove me to listen to the audiobook that Britney Spears wrote (with, I assume, help from a ghostwriter). I’ve read memoirs of other famous singers and actors and many were twice as long and certainly exhibited more depth.
I also admit that I’ve not one of her songs in my favorites list and couldn’t name one that made it big. So, yes, I might have gone into this slightly prejudiced, only seeing another young, pretty blonde exploiting her body for a short fall in talent.
Okay, okay! Sorry! Just not my generation but really my question is: Was this book a complete account of the evolution of the singer, her talent growth, the origin of her songs, personal life and creative assistants, or the horrendous chronicle of the family financially spoiled by excess into literally locking her up for thirteen years.
Thirteen years! How does that happen? Yes, I was aware of the news regarding the lawsuit. It’s an indictment of the system, the lack of proper legal representation, and the loss of financial power. But I’m not sure the memoir was meant to be the story of her rise to fame or an exposé of the family’s attempt to keep her under their total physical, financial, and media control.
Britney takes the opportunity to defend a lot of her actions, but it seems like she more than once pushed the envelope when it would have been in her larger interest to back off, particularly when she wanted so desperately to keep her boys. This would also be a condemnation of sexism in the media world (many admittedly of her choice–check the book cover) as well as conservatorships, mental health, exploitation, and (again) the paparazzi.
In the audiobook, she bubbles over with her love for Hesam (Sam) Asghari, but that was strike three as of May 2024 and fourteen months of marriage.
The memoir told a little flatly, there is always more to the story than is revealed.
Michelle Williams narrated and did a great job. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.
The Author: Multi-platinum, Grammy Award–winning pop icon Britney Spears is one of the most successful and celebrated entertainers in music history, with more than 100 million records sold worldwide. In 2021, she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. Spears’s album Blackout was added to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Library & Archives in 2012. She lives in Los Angeles, California. [Amazon]
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer, dancer, songwriter, actress and author. She has sold over 83 million records worldwide according to Zomba Label Group. The RIAA ranks her as the eighth best-selling female artist in American music history, having sold 32 million albums in the U.S. Her success as a recording artist has allowed her to work in other media; she has acted in film and television, has written two books, and has been contracted to endorse several products, including her own perfume line.
Spears released her debut album …Baby One More Time in 1999, propelling her to international stardom. It spawned the Billboard topping single “…Baby One More Time”. She released her second studio album Oops!… I Did It Again in 2000 with continued success. A third album Britney was released in 2001, followed by the release of her fourth album In the Zone in 2003. The album’s breakout single “Toxic” won Spears her first Grammy Award. After the release of a remix album/greatest hits collection, she released her fifth album Blackout in 2007.
As a result of her fame, Spears’s personal life has received much media attention. This only escalated after her marriage to Kevin Federline in 2004. She gave birth to her first child, Sean Preston, in 2005 and to her second child, Jayden James, in 2006. The couple’s divorce in November of the same year was highly publicized, followed by an ongoing custody battle over their sons. [Goodreads]
Apparently, the upper Midwest will follow the pattern of cold, winter-like weather with summer temps and warm weather and no chance to acclimate. Not sure the plants like that either, not knowing whether to slow or grow. The cool weather crops are loving it, of course. The flower bed is actually looking pretty good with weeds as high as flowers, and the fairy garden yielded enough tender sprouts that the rabbits and deer came out and mowed everything down. Both animals are cute—from afar—until you realize they are munching on freshly transplanted annuals. The ferns gave it up a long time ago.
Skip the next paragraph if you are following Punkin the Pom odyssey becoming a real dog. Apparently, she is beginning to sense there are things out there she might have been missing out on—walks being one of them. She’s doing pretty well with the CE. Not so sure about me walking her and tries more often than not to dart away from me, hitting the end of the line on her harness. Otherwise, still few treats, no toys, and no offers of companionship.
First, the CE and our daughter headed to California for a family reunion. I took the opportunity to do some heavy cleaning and projects easier done while the house was quiet (note all the audiobooks!) Then, the household turned upside down with the unexpected return of a family member and his puppy, a mini-Aussie/Jack Russell mix, who has way too much energy, appetite, and interest in all things food, treats, toys, and walks. She can’t get enough of any of those things…and Punkin is noticing.
May was a struggle, though we did read and review seventeen books, again leaning heavily on audiobooks and this time filling in where the CE missed a deadline or two.
As always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.
The CE and I both read Your Forgotten Sons and loved it, touched us deeply, and will remain in memory.
Book of the Month for May—Your Forgotten Sons
My Reading Challenges page still is behind. I know it. Once again a vow to get to it when the chaos settles down. Right now, the Goodreads Challenge is four books behind schedule at 58 of 150.
Welcome to my new subscribers and I hope to get back to a schedule of visiting all of my followers soon!
Award-winning author Denny S. Bryce and USA Today bestselling author Eliza Knight collaborate on a brilliant novel that uncovers the boundary-breaking, genuine friendship between Ella Fitzgerald, the Queen of Jazz, and iconic movie star Marilyn Monroe.
One woman was recognized as the premiere singer of her era with perfect pitch and tireless ambition.
One woman was the most glamorous star in Hollywood, a sex symbol who took the world by storm.
And their friendship was fast and firm…
1952: Ella Fitzgerald is a renowned jazz singer whose only roadblock to longevity is society’s attitude toward women and race. Marilyn Monroe’s star is rising despite ongoing battles with movie studio bigwigs and boyfriends. When she needs help with her singing, she wants only the best—and the best is the brilliant Ella Fitzgerald. But Ella isn’t a singing teacher and declines—then the two women meet, and to everyone’s surprise but their own, they become fast friends.
On the surface, what could they have in common? Yet each was underestimated by the men in their lives—husbands, managers, hangers-on. And both were determined to gain. Each fought for professional independence and personal agency in a time when women were expected to surrender control to those same men.
This novel reveals and celebrates their surprising bond over a decade and serves as a poignant reminder of how true friendship can cross differences to bolster and sustain us through haunting heartbreak and wild success.
My Review:
Marilyn died in 1962, the year we were married. Many historical events happened the same year and I must confess many of them were lost in my own life concerns at the time. Born in 1926, Marilyn was thirty-six. Born in 1917, Ella passed in 1996 at 79 years. Both achieved legendary status, and while it is true that they did form a friendship, this is a fiction accounting of that friendship.
At times, the palaver got so thick, I completely discounted the incident. Indeed, it’s explained at the end of the book that (remember) it is a work of fiction.
What isn’t fiction is that given the time in the civil rights movement, Monroe’s support of Ella could have hurt her career which was already flourishing. It was because Marilyn was up for a pic in which she was to sing that she began hounding Ella to coach her as Ella was admittedly one of her singing idols.
Ella was well-known and successful but struggled for the level of acceptance and the better gigs as that of Lena Horne, Dinah Washington, and Nina Simone. And Ella was a big woman. The Mocambo wanted small and pretty; Marilyn helped her get into the Mocambo.
While I was fully engaged in the voice of Ella in the audiobook, I found the voice of Marilyn annoying at times, cloying, sure she did not use her public persona voice during all the private conversations.
An audiobook, I hoped for a tidbit of one of Ella’s songs. And then there was the iconic Happy Birthday song to President Kennedy by Marilyn—that breathy, sexy song so familiar to generations of fans.
The book jumps between reflections of Ella and Marilyn, sometimes creating a disjointed narrative, Ella coming over as most authentic. I enjoyed the different stories of both ladies and their families, including the account of Ella’s Aunt Virginia! Marilyn’s story inevitably covered failed marriages, including the extremely physically abusive Joe DiMaggio marriage, although Arthur Miller—while not physically abusive—swung just as hard to the mental side of abusive and was just as damaging.
“There is something in the bond of an honest friendship between women that a lover can never breach and that fake friends will never understand.”
To her credit, Ella didn’t drink, smoke, or do drugs and that became a heavy wedge between their friendship. While Ella decried Marilyn’s increasing dependency on drugs and booze, she couldn’t be a part of it.
Lots of literary license here, still there are tidbits to be gleaned between dramatic recreations or fictionalized accounts of what may have or could have happened. The authors spent untold hours in research. Perhaps the most telling is the insight given in the epilogue.
If you enjoy biographical accounts, historical accounts of some of our famous personalities, you might very well enjoy this collaboration. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Publishing:Four Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Biographical Fiction, Friendship Fiction, Biographical Historical Fiction Publisher:HarperAudio ASIN: B0C7DXY8TW Listening Length: 11 hrs 15 mins Narrators: Karen Chilton, Caroline Hewitt Publication Date: March 5, 2024 Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections) Title Links: Can’t We Be Friends [Amazon-US] Amazon-UK Barnes & Noble Kobo
The Authors:
Eliza Knight is an award winning, USA Today and international bestselling author. Her love of history began as a young girl when she traipsed the halls of Versailles and ran through the fields in Southern France. She can still remember standing before the great golden palace, and imagining what life must have been like. Growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, her weekends were filled with visits to museums, and historical reenactments. Escape into history for courageous heroines, irresistible heroes and daring escapades. Join Eliza (sometimes as E.) on riveting historical journeys that cross landscapes around the world. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society and Novelists, Inc., the creator of the popular historical blog, History Undressed, a co-host on the History, Books and Wine podcast and a co-host for the true crime podcast, Crime Feast.
While not reading, writing or researching for her latest book, she tries to keep up with her three not-so-little children. In her spare time (if there is such a thing…) she likes daydreaming, wine-tasting, traveling, hiking, staring at the stars, watching movies, shopping and visiting with family and friends. She lives atop a small mountain with her own knight in shining armor, three princesses, two very naughty Newfies, and a turtle named Fish.
Look for STARRING ADELE ASTAIRE a story full of glitz and glam, delving into the life of Adele Astaire, a spirited and talented woman who served up smiles and love both on and off the stage—with and without her also famous brother Fred Astaire— along with a determined young dancer with rags-to-riches dreams. Coming in June 2024, THE QUEEN’S FAITHFUL COMPANION.
For more information about book club visits, downloadable reader guides, upcoming author events, book news, newsletter and more, visit her website: http://www.elizaknight.com
If you love history and want to dive in for some fun, visit Eliza’s popular, award-winning blog:
To connect on social media, visit/follow Eliza at the following:
Twitter: @elizaknight
Denny S. Bryce is a best-selling, award-winning author of historical fiction. A former dancer and public relations professional, Denny is an adjunct professor in the MFA program at Drexel University, a book critic for NPR, and a freelance writer whose work has appeared in USA Today and Harper’s Bazaar. She is also a member of the Historical Novel Society, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Tall Poppy Writers. Originally from Ohio, she likes to call Chicago her hometown but currently resides in Savannah, Georgia. You can find her online at DennySBryce.com.
Set in Minnesota, Gone to Dust is the debut private-eye murder mystery from Emmy Award-winning Seinfeld writer Matt Goldman.
A brutal crime. The ultimate cover-up. How do you solve a murder with no useable evidence?
Private detective Nils Shapiro is focused on forgetting his ex-wife and keeping warm during another Minneapolis winter when a former colleague, neighboring Edina Police Detective Anders Ellegaard, calls with the impossible.
Suburban divorcée Maggie Somerville was found murdered in her bedroom, her body covered with the dust from hundreds of emptied vacuum cleaner bags, all potential DNA evidence obscured by the calculating killer.
Digging into Maggie’s cell-phone records, Nils finds that the most frequently called number belongs to a mysterious young woman whose true identity could shatter the Somerville family – but could she be guilty of murder?
After the FBI demands that Nils drop the case, Nils and Ellegaard are forced to take their investigation underground, where the case grows as murky as the contents of the vacuum cleaner bags. Is this a strange case of domestic violence or something with far-reaching, sinister implications?
My Review:
Okay, yes. I was looking for an audiobook, a nice mystery, and the blurb sounded interesting. And of course, dropping the Emmy Award-winning Seinfeld writer’s name helped. (As it happens, however, that show was not one I watched.)
The setting is Minnesota in the winter and I was reading it in the upper Midwest before we slowly ground into spring, so thought I might identify. Only so far though. Minnesota is a whole nother winter.
I’m not sure what it was. Yes, you have to say covering a body in vacuum cleaner dust patiently gathered from hundreds of vacuum cleaner bags is unusual. Even Nils Shapiro, the “Scandinavian Jew” might have been considered an unusual character, certainly considering he still pined after his ex. (I often wondered why then she is an “ex.”)
Just not one that really grabbed me. Nils is a contradiction alright. He was trying for the police department when there was a change in the budget, so he managed to create a private detective agency. I guess he found a modicum of success as he is called by a police detective buddy to help him with his vacuum dust case.
For one, there are too many degrees of coincidence. Small town—okay—I get it. Everybody knows everybody or is a relative. There are red herrings, twists, and the plot involves Nils the man as much as the case. It isn’t too hard to figure out the perp. An easy read (or listen) and entertaining but it just didn’t have the tension sufficient for me to get excited.
I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Publishing:Three point Five Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Jewish Literature, Private Investigator Mysteries Publisher:Blackstone Audio, Inc. ASIN: B074G4TM97 Listening Length: 7 hrs 24 mins Narrator: MacLeod Andrews Publication Date: August 15, 2017 Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections) Title Link: Gone to Dust [Amazon]
The Author:Matt Goldman is New York Times Best Selling author and Emmy Award-winning TV writer. He has been nominated for a Shamus Award and is a Nero Award Finalist. His TV credits include Seinfeld, Ellen, and The New Adventures of Old Christine.
I’ve solved my TBR problem by getting the audiobooks. And, no, I can’t always find a new book in an audiobook format, but you’d be amazed at what your library stocks. So, it appears I’m now listening to approximately two audiobooks to one read. It would seem I’m more active than I thought and audiobooks are ideal for getting the activities accomplished while listening to a great book—especially if it’s read by a dynamic narrator. I have a few favorites. These are a few of the latest.
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My Thoughts
Oh good grief! This one gets crazy quickly. Probably the most outrageous of the series (this is #4) and not only stretches disbelief but invents it. Quirky, nutsy fun, just go with it. Dialogue can get juicy. There is some romance for those who must have some kissy scenes. Vero takes center stage in this one and with her questionable background I’m hoping she’ll go back there (the background). Otherwise, fast read, entertaining. 3 stars
No, it’s not an Andy Carpenter installment, my favorite paired with fav narrator Grover Gardner. This was written eight years after the start of his Carpenter series, definitely a testament to his talent in delivering a serious, thoughtful narrative with a moral punch. The protagonist, a reporter, dreams of equaling his famous father and perhaps pulling a Pulitzer. When an event happens that might get him there, however, events turn ugly, becomes sick and twisted enough to see the price may be too high. 4 stars
Book Five and of course it being an Underwater Investigation, I grabbed it. Usually this unit is all about evidence retrieval but in this case a seasoned diver has gone missing. Then boy does it get complicated! Well developed characters, atmospheric (are you kidding?!) and recommended. 4.5 stars
Book Details:
Genre: Heist Thrillers Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Author: Andrew Mayne ASIN: B0C7HGT7DD Print Length: 286 pages Publication Date: Mar 12, 2024 Amazon Goodreads
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Summary
Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice just went too far. I was totally on board with installments one and two. Number three went further afield and this one off the tracks. Silly entertainment. A fan of this series might tolerate this book and hope that episode five will get back on the rails.
♥Down to the Wire demonstrates the breadth the author can write with this introspective and thoughtful twist on the old “be careful what you wish for.” I had to go back and look to confirm the author was the same David Rosenfelt who writes the wise-cracking but brilliant semi-retired dog-loving attorney. This one keeps you on the edge of your seat.
♦Dark Drive is the Amazon Editors’ pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. The CE and I’ve read others by this author, the last being Night Owl, a techno-thriller. Always intelligent, bright, and informative, I tend more toward the underwater storylines. Definitely for the reader who enjoys action adventure.
I received a copy of these audiobooks from my local library or the author and publisher through NetGalley that in no way influenced my reviews. These are my honest thoughts.
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by the Washington Post, TIME Magazine, BBC, TODAY, Elle, CrimeReads, and more
“Hailed as the queen of Irish crime fiction, French spins a taut tale of retribution, sacrifice, and family.”—TIME
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Searcher and “one of the greatest crime novelists writing today” (Vox), a spellbinding new novel set in the Irish countryside.
It’s a blazing summer when two men arrive in a small village in the West of Ireland. One of them is coming home. Both of them are coming to get rich. One of them is coming to die.
Cal Hooper took early retirement from Chicago PD and moved to rural Ireland looking for peace. He’s found it, more or less: he’s built a relationship with a local woman, Lena, and he’s gradually turning Trey Reddy from a half-feral teenager into a good kid going good places. But then Trey’s long-absent father reappears, bringing along an English millionaire and a scheme to find gold in the townland, and suddenly everything the three of them have been building is under threat. Cal and Lena are both ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey, but Trey doesn’t want protecting. What she wants is revenge.
From the writer who is “in a class by herself,” (The New York Times), a nuanced, atmospheric tale that explores what we’ll do for our loved ones, what we’ll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide.
My Review:
The good ole boys are back and more than happy to render opinions, considered or not—in their own way and in their own time. Book 2 picks up with Cal and Trey as main characters, Cal still struggling with his transition from retired Chicago cop to rural village in the west of Ireland.
Trey, the teen, is still exhibiting all the anti-social, rebelliousness as before, worsening when her absentee dad reappears with an English millionaire. Trey sets her venomous eyes on revenge and proceeds to set in motion an action that, combined with a tale of gold in them thar hills, sets the village into a frenzy of conflict.
I hope the narrator gets paid by the word cause this is a long one. Probably much too long, though in all honesty, I must confess to listening to hours of spirited brogue-studded pub discussions partly just to hear the unique Irish vocabulary amid lilting sounds.
“They are not dishonest men, or anyway not what they or Trey would consider dishonest, not one of them would ever so much rob a package of mints from Noreen’s and between any of them a spit and a handshake would be as solid as a legal contract…(but) an Englishman wanting to reap from their land falls under different rules.”
In fact, most of the book is filled with dialogue and if the author is a master of thrillers, she might also be considered the mistress of dialogue. Like a senior who wanders from one subject to another, it just keeps going while gaining very little in advancement of the plot.
As the plot begins to reveal the sub-plot…wait: Is the main plot Johnny coming home and Trey taking umbrage or the supposed possibility of gold? And then, the discovery of the body. Hooboy! Now Cal gets to shine, if somewhat in the background as this would appear all Trey’s episode.
I enjoyed Cal’s part in mentoring Trey inThe Searcherand appreciate he’s out of his jurisdiction, but this is where the well-plotted (if overly long) storyline begins to add a few subtle twists.
Still, those long-winded, beer-driven lively and animated discussions in the pub between all those ole boys deciding whether or not to throw in money to look for gold offered a number of humorous breaks from the more serious Trey foreground leg of the plot.
Wholly atmospheric, character-driven tale of Irish proportions. If you like to ferret out the culprit, it may not be real difficult for you, or maybe I wasn’t paying attention, but I was caught by this one. There were only so many it could have been but had my money on someone else.
I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Publishing:Three Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Police Procedurals, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction, Suspense Publisher:Penguin Audio ISBN: 0593493435 ASIN: B0C7729CF8 Listening Length: 16 hrs 24 mins Narrator: Roger Clark Publication Date: March 5, 2024 Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections) Title Link: The Hunter [Amazon-US] Amazon-UK Barnes & Noble Kobo
The Author:Tana French is the author of In the Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, Broken Harbor, The Secret Place, and The Trespasser. Her books have won awards including the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards, the Los Angeles Times Award for Best Mystery/Thriller, and the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Dublin with her family.
From six bestselling authors, including New York Times bestseller Kate Quinn, comes a vividly imagined novel following the lives of those in ancient Pompeii on the fateful day Mount Vesuvius erupts.
Pompeii was a lively resort flourishing in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius at the height of the Roman Empire. When Vesuvius erupted in an explosion of flame and ash, the entire town would be destroyed. Some of its citizens died in the chaos, some escaped the mountain’s wrath . . . and these are their stories:
A boy loses his innocence in Pompeii’s flourishing streets.
An heiress dreads her wedding day, not knowing it will be swallowed by fire.
An ex-legionary stakes his entire future on a gladiator bout destined never to be finished.
A crippled senator welcomes death, until a tomboy on horseback comes to his rescue.
A young mother faces an impossible choice for her unborn child as the ash falls.
A priestess and a prostitute seek redemption and resurrection as the town is buried.
Six authors bring to life overlapping stories of patricians and slaves, warriors and politicians, villains and heroes who cross each other’s paths during Pompeii’s fiery end. But who will escape, and who will be buried for eternity?
My Review:
I went looking for another book by Kate Quinn for #ReadingIrelandMonth24 and stumbled across this one. Of course I was excited! Six best-selling authors collaborating on the destruction of Pompeii? And one of the two narrators my favorite from the audiobooks with Kate Quinn? A win-win for sure.
I love the collaboration of the stories, each with their own vignettes, and gradually each tale begins to overlap and meld into a solid, entertaining storyline. It’s a wide swath of humanity—from the privileged and spoiled maiden to a prostitute just trying to survive day to day with her beloved sister.
With the current disaster or dystopian craze, I can see where this would make for an edge-of-your-seat flick (never mind the one made in 2014). The suspense is killing, especially when you know what’s coming. Why aren’t these people fleeing for their lives?
They had warning—by the volcano itself.
But rather than focusing on the population, the novel brilliantly hones in on the personal lives of just a small cross-section of the residents. It’s emotional, obviously deeply character driven that engages the reader quickly and invests them in each individual’s chances for survival.
Of course there will be a woman about to give birth—what worse time could there be? Politics are, as always, playing a big part in where the Romans’s minds are—haven’t they been through earthquakes before and survived? No reason to scatter with a few rattles and rolls. The high-born daughter betrothed to a man old enough to be her father—talk about frying pan to the fire!
In the face of an apocalyptic cataclysm, how will these people react? Selfless or selfish? Will either save them from the poisonous and heated gases, a shower of ash, and another of rock and stone?
The authors take the readers to heart-pumping expectations only to switch scenes and confront another crisis. The separate contributions by authors are seamlessly woven together to create one extremely thrilling book about a historical pyroclastic flow that killed more than 2,000 people.
I really enjoyed the book! But just too much disbelief that any could have survived, given a late muster to move results in my star rating. Still, I greatly recommend the audiobook; get your copy. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Publishing:Four point Five Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Ancient World Historical Romance, Ancient History Fiction, Literature Anthologies Publisher:HarperAudio ASIN: B0BT18P822 Listening Length: 11 hrs 19 mins Narrators: Andrew Kingston, Saskia Maarleveld Publication Date: August 8, 2023 Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Kate Quinn – Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance, before turning to the 20th century with “The Alice Network”, “The Huntress,” “The Rose Code,” and “The Diamond Eye.” All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in San Diego with three rescue dogs.
Saskia Maarleveldis an experienced audiobook narrator and voice-over actress based in New York City. Raised in New Zealand and France, she is highly skilled with accents and dialects, and many of her books have been narrated entirely in accents other than her own. In addition to audiobooks, Saskia’s voice can be heard in animation, video games, and commercials. She attributes her love and understanding of reading books aloud to coming from a large family where audiobooks were the only way to get through car rides without fighting! Visit saskiamaarleveld.com to learn more.
Best Books of the Year So Far 2024
Well, the good news: She hasn’t gone crazy but when he changes a lightbulb in the attic, Michael is replaced by a new husband. Maybe she needs to reconsider the crazy part.
The Author: HOLLY GRAMAZIO is a writer, game designer and curator from Adelaide, currently based in London. She founded the experimental games festival Now Play This, and wrote the script for the award-winning indie videogame Dicey Dungeons. She’s particularly interested in rules, play, cities, gardens, games that get people acting creatively, and art that gets people interacting with their surroundings in new ways. The Husbands is her first novel.
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction
