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A look through different eyes
Every now and then, my husband, Lloyd, reads a book that impresses him so much that he volunteers to write a review for my blog. This is one of those rare finds. Reviewed by Lloyd Brinson JAMES: A Novel. By Percival Everett. Doubleday. 303 pages. $28, Often, after reading a really good book – fiction…
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If words were paint …
Bob Moyer considers a reissue of the novel Salvador Dali published in 1944. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer HIDDEN FACES. By Salvador Dali. Pushkin Press Classics. 352 pages. $16.95 If … . . . You are obsessed with Salvador Dali, have visited his incredible museums in Spain and Florida, have a replica of the melted…
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Sailing toward death, in fine style
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson DEATH ON THE LUSITANIA. By R.L. Graham. Macmillan. 381 pages. $18.99. On May 1, 1915, the RMS Lusitania, one of the most luxurious ocean liners then sailing the seas, left New York City, bound for Liverpool, England. Six days later, on the afternoon of May 7, as the Lusitania was…
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She got by with a little help from her corgi
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE QUEEN’S FAITHFUL COMPANION. By Eliza Knight. William Morrow. 368 pages. $18.99, trade paperback. I was between books, looking for something engaging and not too heavy, when the mail lady delivered an advance proof of The Queen’s Faithful Companion. The subtitle read: “A Novel of Queen Elizabeth II and her…
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From chaos, violence comes a brilliant novel
Bob Moyer reviews the latest novel by one of his favorite authors. One note: Despite what Bob writes, not all Southerners called the conflict of the 1860s the War Between the States. Some – I think particularly of an elderly woman who owned a historic house in downtown Charleston that a group of graduate students…
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This rich history falls short as fiction
Bob Moyer thinks that Jerome Charyn takes on more history and weaves more tangled webs than he can handle in his latest novel. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer RAVAGE & SON. By Jerome Charyn. Bellevue Literary Press. 288 pages. $17.99. The lower east side of New York City has a heap of Jewish history, and…
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Seeking the truth about City 40
Paul O’Connor reviews a novel set in the 1950s in the Soviet Union, based on a real-life nuclear disaster, and finds it surprisingly entertaining. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE HALF LIFE OF VALERY K. By Natasha Pulley. Bloomsbury Publishing. 370 pages. $28, hardcover. Fans of historical fiction get an extra discipline in The Half…
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Mystery, history and the lives of women
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson ASHTON HALL. By Lauren Belfer. Penguin Random House Audio. Read by Jayne Entwhistle and Kristen Sieh. 12 hours, 38 minutes. Also available in hardback from Ballantine Books. Don’t start listening to (or reading) this book unless you have some time to spare. Once you start, you won’t want to stop.…