The Alter Girl by Orest Stelmach



This novel is a prequel to The Boy from Reactor Four and the Boy Who Stole from the Dead.  It tells the story of Nadia Tesla as an adult, before she becomes involved with Adam.  She has lost her job due to the economic downturn, and she becomes obsessed with finding out the truth about her godfather's death.  Was it a simple accident or did someone push him down the stairs?  Her search for answers brings her into contact with her estranged mother and brother along with some dangerous and shady characters.

Interspersed with this tale is the story of Nadia's childhood attempt to survive for three days alone in the woods in order to achieve an award in the Ukrainian scout group to which she belongs.  These memories help explain something of Nadia's past and the relationship she and her brother had with their father.

Both story lines are riveting.  Will Nadia find the truth about her godfather's death without dying herself?  Although we know she survives her scouting challenge, we worry about what will happen to her in the woods alone.

Through her investigation, she begins to forge new relationships with her mother and brother.  As she learns, so do we.  We learn about the plight of the Ukrainian people after World War II.  We learn about their modern culture, and the culture of the past.

It is a fascinating and riveting book which I highly recommend.

As Night Falls by Jenny Milchman


This novel did not appeal to me.  I found the plot to be too drawn out, the characters to be two-dimensional, and the writing to be rather flat.  The majority of the story focuses on a home invasion by two escaped convicts.  The story of the criminals and the family that becomes their target is interspersed with the backstory of the criminal who has targeted this house.  Although the events which occur are tense, the fact that they go on and on leaves the reader not really caring about the fate of the family.  A surprise is revealed late in the novel to explain why this particular family has been targeted, but, again, it did not feel like enough of a reward for reading that far.

I am not saying that this novel is bad.  I am simply saying that it was not one that I enjoyed.

The Stranger by Harlan Coben



Harlan Coben never fails to keep you turning the pages as fast as you can to see what will happen next.  This novel is no different.  The lives of a normal suburban couple are turned upside down when a stranger appears and tells the husband something about his wife that he did not know.  Without spoiling the story, it is difficult to go into too much detail.  Suffice it to say that the wife disappears, and the husband spend the rest of the novel frantically trying to find her.

In some ways, this novel is more ominous that Coben's usual fare. The stranger is able to turn lives upside down with a little persistent digging on the Internet.  It is a cautionary tale for the modern era.  The edning was, t me, a bit disappointing, but that is a small thing compared to how riveting the book is.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah



Set in France during the second world war, The Nightingale tells the story of two sisters who are very different but both heroic in her own way.  Vianne, married with a young daughter, experiences the war as a villager whose husband has gone to fight the Germans.  Her sister, Isabelle, becomes involved in the French resistance.  The story begins with a modern day event of an elderly woman moving out of her home and into assisted living.  her son is helping her move and is surprised when she insists on taking an old trunk from the attic.  This trunk is full of momentos from the era, things (and events) which her son knows nothing about. The reader does not find out until the end of the book which sister is still alive to tell the tale.

Narration switches from Vianne to Isabell. Their perceptions of each other are often vastly distorted.  Vianne thinks Isabelle is simply headstrong and rash, never thinking before she acts.  Isabelle believes Vianne is simply a coward.  The trials they must survive during Nazi occupation are often horrific for both sisters.

This book, like All the Light We Cannot See, provides an important viewpoint of the war that is not often discussed: how it affected simple people who had to endure occupation and fighting.  I highly recommend this book.

The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg



The Dream Lover is a fictionalized account of the life of George Sand.  The novel skips back and forth between Sand's past and her present, which can, at times, be jarring; however, these multiple storylines help the reader understand why George Sand might have acted as she did.  She is a passionate woman who is eternally looking for real love, from her family, from men, and from a woman.

The writing is delicious, creating the time and the feel of the settings and making characters come to life.  The problem I had with this novel, however, is that I grew tired of the main character.  Aurore Dudevant takes the pen name George Sand, partially to make her novels sell better and partially because she envies men and the power their sex gives them.  She takes to wearing men's clothing at least some of the time.  The irony of this situation is that, in spite of all of her talk of equality, she is willing to sacrifice herself and her children for a man.  There is such a string of men in her life that one becomes tired of the endless parade and of what she gives up for these men who, on the whole, are not deserving of her love.

She is involved with the major literary and artistic characters of her day, some as lovers and others as friends. The love of her life is an actress, Marie Dorval.  They share one passionate night together, but George is never able to recover from her love of Marie.  She does become involved with a number of other men after this relationship, but it is the memory of Marie that sustains her.

Perhaps the novel stretches too far, trying to include all of the events of her life.  For me, it was simply too much.

The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan



I love Amy Tan, but this was not one of my favorite books of hers.  The story centers around Violet, being raised by an American mother in a courtesan house in Shanghai.  Violet yearns to know more about her father, but when she finally does it is devastating to her.  The story follows Violet through tragedies, hardships, betrayals, and loss - from her childhood to being a grown woman with an adult child of her own.  This never-ending parade of horrible events got wearying as I read and read.  "Surely," I would think, "things will look up for Violet."  Although they did, briefly during the story, I began to feel a bit shell shocked by her experiences.

The reader will learn all about courtesan houses and life in the cities and the rural areas of China. (Here's a hint - always opt to be a city girl.)  Many interesting characters appear throughout the novel, but their motivations and backstories are so unclear, that they make little impression.  Amy Tan's novels are always sweeping, but I felt this one swept a bit too much.

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult



I loved this novel!  Jodi Picoult always creates characters that spring to life from the pages of her books. She always tells about emotional journeys.  This novel, however, has a surprise ending that I never saw coming.

Thirteen year old Jenna Metcalf has been searching for her mother, Alice as long as she can remember.  Alice disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident at the elephant sanctuary where they lived.  Alice, a renowned researcher on grief in elephants, survived the accident, but disappeared from the hospital and has not been seen or heard from since.

Jenna spends hours searching the internet and posting on missing person message boards.  She hounds the police to keep investigating.  Finally, she enlists the help of a psychic, Serenity Jones who was once a famous TV personality famous for finding missing persons, but has since become not much more than a pal reader in a walkup apartment.  She also hires a private investigator,   Virgil Stanhope, who was a police officer originally involved in investigating her mother's disappearance. Serenity, who has lost faith in her psychic abilities, and Virgil, who has lost faith in mankind, are drawn to Jenna, and end up helping her despite their reservations.

This motley trio checks out every possible lead.  The characters they encounter along the way are also an interesting crew.  As they gather more and more information, they still cannot determine what really happened on that fateful night.

This is a riveting mystery, but it also teaches the reader a great deal about elephants.  I will never be able to enjoy seeing an elephant in a zoo again.  I would highly recommend this novel.