Everyone knows her brother Fred but Adele Astaire was an equally talented and famous dancer in her own right as well as his partner for many years. They graced stages from Vaudeville to New York to England. It was in England that Adele lost her heart a few times as she danced her way into a few thousand others. They partied with the Royals but were equally kind and helpful to other dancers on the way up. This is a historical who's who of stars of Hollywood, Broadway stage as well as British society brought down to earth by the author's portrayal of a woman who loved being on stage but also
hungered for a family and children. We follow Adele from Prohibition to post WWII to view a life living the dream she and her brother worked so hard to achieve even as she was denied her own personal happiness. For readers of behind the glamour looks at the rich and famous. 4 stars
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A historical queer romance set in New York City in the 50's. Nick is a tough guy who comes from a tough Italian American family. He has worked his way up to his dream of being a crime reporter working for one of the top newspapers in the city. He is also quietly gay and terrified that his career and life would be over if outed. Andy is the boss's son who is likable, friendly and not sure of his feelings for his girlfriend, his legacy at the paper or his new friendship with Nick.
Out of mentorship comes friendship that becomes a relationship with serious consequences. In a very dangerous world for the queer community can they have the life they both know is true? There is not much about their newspaper job instead the story focuses on the social stigma of being gay in the 50's. 3 1/2 stars Lou is the victim of a serial killer. As part of a new program she has been brought back to life along with the other women who died at the hands of the killer. As she tries to get back into the life she abruptly left with her husband and new baby there is something that lingers in the back of her mind.
She doesn't remember anything about her death. The other women in her support group find relief in playing a video game that lets them pick a victim's avatar and then hunt the killer. At least in the game they can kill the killer and not just be satisfied that their killer is on death row. Lou just wants to fill in the gaps and feel like herself again. This feels like a near future that is within reach and not just the VR aspect. 3 1/2 stars Lady Tan was a female doctor practicing as best she was able to during the 1500's Ming Dynasty China. At a time where women had no rights at all and their pain and suffering was considered the ultimate love for their husband, women were never examined directly by a doctor but through a screen with a woman go between. Women grew to depend on themselves and knew a multitude of herbal remedies and a wealth of knowledge from assisting births as midwives and handed down from female family members. These women doctors and midwives treated patients at great risk to themselves especially if they were not able to cure their patients. Lisa See works her magic once again in bringing us behind the forbidden walled fortress of women of society and royalty. From foot binding to serving their sharp tongued mother-in-law to hiding their illness, depression or infertility. It is an amazing story of courage and the desire to better women's lives and one that could have been lost forever had not Lady Tan's secret journals.
4 1/2 stars A strange pandemic is gripping London (sound familiar?) and Neffy has signed up for a clinical trial of a new drug to combat it. She awakens after a bad reaction only to discover that the world they knew is gone and the staff have abandoned them. One of the few people left has a prototype for a memory device that allows the user to "revisit" favorite memories. For Neffy this is a blessing and a curse and soon with no future to look to she becomes addicted to the machine and the past. Through these memories she goes through her childhood and her fraught career as a marine biologist and in her spare time she writes letters to one of her subjects, an octopus. This is an interesting look at when the lab worker becomes the lab specimen as if to make amends and "a fly caught under the glass" look at how people react to a crisis. Neffy could not reconcile the treatment of these marine animals that felt cruel and the respect she had for the octopus and upended her career. I loved the back story of the world of the octopus which was full of fascinating facts. 4 stars
1872
Mary, a Crow native is married off to an older but gentle fur trader from Canada. She does not want to leave but is already seeing her people herded into smaller and smaller spaces than promised, beholden to the whites for food, punished for hunting the buffalo that have always been theirs as well as their children stolen to be made civilized. While she befriends a few of the Metis women and a few of the men who work for her husband she has no love for Abe's friends and the whiskey traders who poison her people with whiskey and the wildlife for quick kills and terrorizing the natives. Mary is fierce and resourceful and although she loves her husband once he begins drinking and his friends ruin him it is up to her to seek out and dispense justice. Riveting historical fiction that offers a clear look at the violence, greed and waste of the white settlers compared to the gentle indigenous people. Fans of JEREMIAH JOHNSON and BEARSKIN will find much to love here. 4 stars |
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