The three women have been friends forever bonding over their Nigerian background. Over wine and good food they have shared the highs and lows of relationships, career paths and bad breakups. Now a new exciting woman has joined the inner circle. Isobel is fun, rich and sympathetic to their woes but you know what they say about things that seem too good to be true. This is an electric story of friendship, loyalty, sisterhood with backstabbing and gossip that makes Sex and the City look tame. The more they share the tighter they become and the more ammunition they give Isobel will make it harder for her to go away. One terrific debut with mouthwatering recipes included - chick lit with a poisoned blade. 4 stars
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A solid murder mystery with a twist. Hope doesn't remember any part of her life before being pulled out of a wrecked car fifteen years ago. When she makes the decision to get away from the small town that has sheltered her and spread her wings not everyone is on board. Her best friend Lindsay can't quite let her go but is not prepared for her sudden disappearance and starts to investigate. Not everyone is as convinced as Lindsay that Hope is innocent or the victim of foul play. Just like real life missing person cases there are false leads, missed evidence and some lucky breaks but when you are looking for someone who is a ghost online and whose whole existence is based on a made up past, without those police data bases, it makes her that much harder to find. Tightly woven story with lots to love for true crime fans and murder mystery aficionados. 4 stars
Young women keep taking the role of caregiver to an elderly woman only to disappear. Elspeth keeps hiring pretty blonde women who remind her of the daughter who disappeared years before even though her other daughter dotes on her. The puzzle pieces are many and finally after trying to shove them in and make them work things begin to fit a pattern. The pace is fast and furious and the added strange relationship between mother, adopted daughter and the one who got away adds fuel to the fire. Money, jealousy and a killer on the loose all mean a solid thriller for those readers who love family secrets. My only question is why did the women stay after learning of the fate of those before them? 3 1/2 stars
Three stories in different timelines that connect with common themes. The first takes place in an alternative "Free States" America in 1893. David is born into a wealthy family and his grandfather is trying to marry him off to an older gentleman but David is secretly in love with a less worthy man who might be a hustler. The second story is more familiar 1980's America caught in the HIV/AIDS crisis. The third story is the longest and takes place in the faraway future where a series of shattering viruses , climate change and living under a totalitarian government add up to less than a desirable vision of the future. Many of the same names are used in the three stories so it can be a bit confusing and I wanted to think of them as related to each other. The overwhelming themes that I took from this 700 page tome is the longing for love, loneliness, the need to pull away from meddling family and a connection to being of Hawaiian descent (although it is not a Hawaii we recognize). It was refreshing to think of relationships and marriage as between two people without caring if that was between a man/woman, man/man or woman/woman. The writing is emotional and deep and it will quietly pull you in. 3 1/2 stars
An entertaining and introspective memoir of journeys both creative and around the world. Jami Attenberg spent a big portion of her adult life hopping from friend's couches and depending on the kindness of strangers during her self funded cross country book road trips. Plenty of places yielded little book sales but gave her inspiration and then she expanded her travel overseas. She draws from within and from the people she meets to find that golden path to true creativity and owning those things you produce. Taking risks doesn't come naturally to those raised in the midwest but she threw caution to the wind and followed her dreams alone searching for the place she would call home or at least home for now. 3 stars
All mothers have a bad day but Frida had a really bad day when she left her baby home alone and got caught. Even after her realizing her mistake and vowing never to let it happen again, Harriet is taken away from her and placed with Frida's ex-husband. Frida is sent to the School For Good Mothers where she will, with the help of a robotic baby, learn to become a good mother and hopefully get Harriet back. This is a strange mix of brainwashing, mom prison and psychiatric unit where your brain waves and emotions are held against you. Even in this scary environment, Frida works diligently and bonds with her robot child. Will it be enough? This heartbreaking look at motherhood (especially a single mom) and how society judges and can punish for a single offense. It is a mix of futuristic sci-fi like programs and a deep dive into moms without instruction manuals and necessary skills with the threat of foster care hanging over them. It is emotional and jarring. 4 stars
4 1/2 stars
Molly is exceptional at two things - keeping the rooms at the deluxe hotel she works at spotless and keeping things to herself. Her life has become more out of sorts since her grandmother passed away so she throws herself even more into her work at the hotel. When she discovers an important guest of the hotel dead in his bed she sweeps any bad feelings under the rug and goes back to work like any other day. It turns out that she is up to her feather duster in serious trouble resulting from her friendship with a couple of bad eggs. Molly's innocent and matter of fact attitude will warm your heart. With a spotless reputation, shiny outlook on life and the help of a few good people hopefully Molly can mop up this dirty mess. Eleanor Oliphant meets Mary Poppins in this warm and cozy mystery debut that is begging to become a mini series. 4 1/2 stars The GREAT GATSBY story revisited from new eyes - those of the women that pivoted around Jay Gatsby. The one that got away Daisy Buchanan, her best friend Jordan Baker, and sisters Catherine
and Myrtle Wilson are the ones who were controlled and kept in their place by powerful men. Each of these women had a history with Gatsby and each of them had a motive to put a bullet in him. With the same lush language and lazy pull of the Fitzgerald classic, Jillian Cantor gives us the characters most affected by that one summer and the frustration they felt at not being in control of their universe. It was the women who had to put up with messes created by the men who controlled them and the society that let it happen. Pour yourself a good stiff cocktail and find a comfortable settee on the veranda cause honey, you aren't going to stop reading till morning. 4 1/2 stars Olga runs a successful high end wedding planner business, her brother is a representative for Brooklyn and has higher political aspirations. Both of them are hiding secrets and living a lie of sorts. They are torn between family obligations of giving back to their people- the Puerto Rican community both in New York and the island. These roots run deep as their mother left them as children to join the revolution and free Puerto Rico. This all takes place after Hurricane Maria decimates the island and Brooklyn is dealing with gentrification. A powerful story and love letter to the Brooklyn Puerto Rican community that speaks to finding your voice, overcoming family history and fighting for your people. Readers who enjoyed CAUL BABY by Morgan Jenkins and Alyssa Cole's WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING will find much to love here. 4 stars
Every word of this slim book illuminates the lives of brown girls growing up in Queens. Timeless, provocative and sensory the prose pulls you into a world full of danger, discovery, promise and hope.
It will resonate with all women as the author speaks the universal language of sisterhood. Required reading for those of us seeking an understanding of what life is like for immigrant Americans straddling multiple cultures and searching for their own voice. 4 stars |
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