The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood

The year is 1960, and JFK has just been elected. With the election of such a young president, the entire country has the hope that with John and Jackie Kennedy in the White House, there will be change. Nobody hopes for this more than, Claire, a suburban house wife and mother of one daughter, with another baby on the way. Claire has everything she could want; a house in the suburbs, a loving husband, a family, and a group of friends. Despite having everything she could want, Claire is unhappy. She doesn't love her husband and feels stifled by her life. When Claire and her husband go away for his mother's birthday, Claire's life changes.

It's 1919 in San Francisco, where Vivien is looking for her long lost love who seems to have vanished during the terrible San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Refusing to believe that her lover, David, was killed in the earthquake, Vivien spends time looking for David. Vivien, who is an obituary writer, helps people deal with grief, yet can't come to terms with her own grief or the thought that David is dead. When death hits Vivien close to home, she realizes life is too short to spend life wondering what if.

Ann Hood does a wonderful job weaving together the two stories of Claire and Vivien in The Obituary Writer. For both women, who grieve different things, it's easy to see how their stories just might inspire one another. The Obituary Writer is a beautiful glimpse of two really interesting historical time periods. Hood's writing style makes this a quick, fun read while making you empathize with both Claire and Vivien.

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

Teddy Todd was the favorite child of mother, father and aunt. Sweet-natured and accommodating, his favorite boyhood activity was walking through the countryside near his home. He loved his pets, literature and Nancy, the girl next door. As an adult he maintained the same accommodating nature and was rather apathetic about adult endeavors, particularly employment. Before World War II, for want of any other interest, he followed his father and older brother into banking. After the war, he worked for local magazines and newspapers and married Nancy just because it seemed to be the thing to do. He lived and died as his wife, and later his daughter, wanted him to. But during World War II, he was different. War inspired him to join the RAF, become a leader of men and fly bombing raids over Germany. The gentle man who loved flowers and animals and poetry found his calling in raining down destruction on civilian populations. In years to come, he, like many other war veterans, found that later generations (represented by his self-absorbed, unlikeable daughter, Viola) did not appreciate, and even disparaged, his service and accomplishments.

A God in Ruins is a companion piece to Kate Atkinson’s award winning book, Life After Life but also a contrast, particularly in the aspects of wartime bombing. In Life After Life, Atkinson skillfully and with horrifying detail created a London suffering through a ferocious effort to bomb its populace into submission. A God in Ruins examines war from the perspective of the young men who, in the face of great personal danger, flew many times over enemy territory, bombing its cities.

Much of the appeal of this book lies in the author’s great descriptive abilities. Whether it is fear and camaraderie in the fuselage of a British bomber, contentment in walking through the countryside, the comfort of huddling around the warm stove in a cold kitchen, revulsion at the horror of war casualties, grief for the dead, or annoyance and irritation caused by many people and situations, Atkinson easily puts the reader in the psyche and physical space of her characters. 

Everybody Rise by Stephanie Clifford

It is spring in 2006.  Evelyn Beegan is 26 and is treading the same waters that most recent college grads have to brave: the first real job.  Evelyn is the newly minted director of membership for People Like Us, a new social networking site.  Think Facebook for the society set complete with invite-only membership.  As a teen, Evelyn attended Sheffield Academy- an exclusive eastern boarding school.  Now, we find our main character returned to her alma mater for the annual Sheffield-Enfield lacrosse match in order to do a little networking.  The book begins with Evelyn’s obsession to sign up all of the “right” people for the website but before we know it, she is desperately attempting to sprint to the top of New York City’s social hierarchy. 

Several reviews have likened Clifford’s Everybody Rise to an Edith Wharton novel set in the 21^st century.  This is an apt description, but Evelyn’s evolution throughout the book seems a much more positive one than any of Wharton’s female characters.  Evelyn must learn how to be a self-sufficient adult in a world outside that which her parents have always wanted her to find.  And more than that, to find a purpose in life.

Everybody Rise is available August 18^th.  Check out a copy now.

Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot

Princess Mia is back in Meg Cabot's newest book Royal Wedding. Like the generation of girls who grew up reading The Princess Diaries books, Mia is all grown up. The original cast including Michael, Lilly, Tina, and Grandmère are back and witty as ever. Mia is still struggling with everything that comes along with being the princess of Genovia including dealing with hounding paparazzi who nearly keep her trapped in the Genovian consulate. That's until Mia's longtime boyfriend Michael plans a surprise trip to the Bahamas. While on their own private island, Michael gets down on one knee and proposes to Mia. As if a royal wedding isn't enough for Mia, there are more surprises in store.

The Royal Wedding is sure to resonate with readers who grew up reading The Princess Diaries books. A generation of teen girls grew up along with Princess Mia, and now we're all feeling the same way she is--faced with relationships, first jobs, and figuring out how to be an adult.  Written in her usual way, Meg Cabot's Royal Wedding pokes fun at current pop culture, gets you laughing, and makes you want to re-read all of The Princess Diaries books.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

New York Times bestseller Kristin Hannah's newest book The Nightingale is set in 1939 France. With the world set for war, sisters Vianne and Isabelle are put to the test as World War II rages through Europe. Vianne, the oldest of the sisters, says goodbye to her husband Antoine as he heads to the eastern front. With an empty house, Vianne quarters a Nazi officer. Life is no longer what it was as Vianne's every move is watched, forcing her to act cautiously to protect her daughter Sophie. Vianne decides to make a bold move when the Nazis implement anti-Jewish laws in France. Realizing that she can't just stand by, Vianne does all that she can to make sure Jewish children are safe, even if it means risking her family's safety.

Younger sister Isabelle has always had the rambunctious streak. She doesn't sit by idly as chaos erupts. She's never been afraid to speak her mind, even if it gets her into trouble. Life in war-torn France is no different. Risking her life, Isabelle, known as the Nightingale, takes in downed airplane pilots. She doesn't just make sure they're safe from the enemy, she actually leads them over the Pyrenees to safety in Spain.

The Nightingale beautifully tells the tale of two women in the French Resistance movement. Kristin Hannah has the ability to paint the picture of just how desperate World War II made people in this heartbreaking, beautiful story.

Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West by Hampton Sides

Many Americans know little about the history of the American Southwest, other than the false impressions we have gotten through cowboy movies. In some of our minds, the fight for the Alamo was part of the Mexican-American war; “Manifest Destiny” was a righteous ideology justifying the absorption of western lands by the United States; the Indians were savages; and Kit Carson gets jumbled in with those other buckskin-wearing frontiersmen, Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. The actual history of the area and its people is far more complicated and interesting than these stereotypes would make it seem. Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West by Hampton Sides is a well-researched, detailed, and entertaining history of the territory taken from Mexico by President James K. Polk as a result of the Mexican-American War. Basically a biography of Kit Carson-- hunter, trapper, explorer, guide, U.S. Army officer and both friend and foe of Native Americans—this book sets Carson’s life in the context of the greater American experience. And a violent and bloody experience it was, as emigrants from the East struggled to wrest New Mexico, Arizona, California and Colorado from the control of the indigenous people and residents still loyal to Mexico.  Later, after the discovery of gold in California and Colorado, and still later the Civil War, additional factions contributed to the turbulence in the area. Carson was at the center of much of the action. He lived in the vast wilderness west of the Missouri River from the age of sixteen and, although illiterate, could speak English, Spanish and various Native American languages. He became the go-to man when Santa Fe Trail merchants or the U.S. Army needed a scout or guide. He assisted John C. Fremont’s exploration of California. He was a scout and messenger for General Kearney, the first U.S. Army officer in the newly acquired territory. He was an agent for peace and war with Native American tribes, particularly the Navajo. And he was an officer in the Union Army, fighting in little known battles of the Civil War fought in New Mexico. The life of Kit Carson and the story of New Mexico are intertwined and filled with contradictions: cruelty and kindness, courage and cowardice, nobility and dishonor.  Blood and Thunder is fascinating reading, relaying an American history we should all be aware of. 

Happy Fourth of July!

The blog is taking a break today in honor of the Fourth of July holiday. Remember the West Allis Public Library will be closed July 3rd-5th. We'll reopen Monday, July 6th at 9 am.