Mussolini's Italy to Hollywood where old family ties and open wounds are healed or at least scabbed.
A struggling movie studio run by two Jewish brothers are finding it hard to keep putting out the movies that play to the war stereotype. In an environment where German, Italian and Japanese Americans are being cast as the enemy who lives next door these movie industry people are finding it impossible to work in anything that doesn't cast them as a villain or village idiot. Relationships are formed by people who never would have found each other in Europe or Asia but now a sense of survival has lumped them together. Atmospheric and beautifully told, this is historical fiction that digs deep into the soul of those not in the spotlight. For readers of old Hollywood shenanigans as well as those looking for more of a cultural perspective. 4 stars
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Liv has acute amnesia and sleep disorders from a violent incident two years earlier. Now, every time she falls asleep her mind resets and goes back to two years earlier. With no memory of the changes that have happened she goes back to her old apartment, old boyfriend and old job which just serves to confuse her more. One day she wakes covered in blood next to a dead man she doesn't recognize and is on the run. The police are after her but also a voice on the phone claiming he wants to help her. Chapters alternate between the past and present rapidly which only heightens the confusion Liv must be feeling. A well constructed thriller and well narrated audiobook. 4 stars
A dystopian look at a world where men have complete control of women (think HANDMAIDS TALE) because unmarried women and gay men must be witches. Young untethered women must submit to being registered and questioned on a regular basis (think WWII Nazi Germany) to keep them on the straight path. Josephine loses her mother at a young age and she has spent most of her life trying to find her and in a sense find herself. A different kind of coming of age story in a screwed up authoritarian society with an underlying layer of myth and magic.
3 1/2 stars Black psychologist super couple Kennith and Mamie Clark knew the dangers of segregation and racial inequality in the 1940's and later. They saw what it was doing to their neighbors in Harlem and elsewhere in the country but after their famous "doll study" they knew that it was affecting the youngest of the population. The study took a wide group of young black children and had them choose which doll they wanted to play with and which doll looked the most like themselves. Their results were shocking in that most of the children chose the white doll over the black doll and wanted to see themselves as looking like the white doll. Their honest answers showed that they felt that being black was considered bad. This was overwhelming proof that very aware of racial prejudice at a very young age. The Clarks spent their whole career helping to fight segregation and improve education and self worth in the next generation. While half the book is treated as a biography the couple's struggle and both professional and as a family their commitment and findings are enlightening. 3 1/2 stars
An alternative history that will shock you and make you think. It is 1953 in a London that is no longer free but is in a shaky alliance with Germany after the Nazis won the war. German is taught in schools, culture is carefully monitored, history is rewritten and the Nazis in power expect Great Britain's citizens to live according to The Protector's Anglo-Saxon vision. Women have no rights and have been slotted into a caste system with those of pure blood and of breeding age at the top. Rose in a higher level has a privileged life and a good job editing/rewriting classic English literature erasing inflammatory material and is mistress to a high ranking German in the Culture Ministry. When she is sent to spy on one of the lowest female ranks, those who are too old to bear children or widowed , she is appalled to see how they are barely eek out an existence in Widowland. She has been sent there to find who is spreading subversive graffiti that will anger the Protector when he comes to London for the coronation of King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. The more Rose digs into the women of Widowland the deeper she is pulled into danger and unravels everything she has believed to be the truth. Fascinating dive into what could have been with perfect pacing this proves that the more you push strong women down the harder they push back. WWII buffs as well as those who love a dystopian thriller like THE HANDMAID'S TALE will dive into this and not come up for air until the last page. 4 stars
A beautifully told story of love and sorrow handed down through generations starting with the first Chinese woman to come to America. Beginning in 1834 With Afong Moy who leads a sad life as a sideshow performer and filtering down to Dorothy in 2045 who attempts to understand her past pain, this is a story of how each generation is overshadowed by trauma from the past. These traumas often feel like a glimpse of deja vu or feeling like you know someone you have never met - a way of seeing life from the shadows or a dream that you can't quite remember clearly. These women endured much and embraced a somewhat different path yet had many similarities. Jamie Ford is so talented in finding something in each character that we can embrace and make a connection. It will come as no surprise how much cruelty humans can inflict upon each other and their equally immense capacity to show compassion. The background for this book, the study of epigenetic inheritance ,is fascinating and Ford provides a wealth of background and reading materials. This will appeal to his many fans as well as readers of Asian historical fiction by Lisa See and Amy Tan. 5 stars
Rita is surrounded by death and that is not good. Working as a forensic photographer for an understaffed police department keeps her connected piece by piece in hundreds of photos to solve what has happened to the recently dead. Add to that Rita's ability (or curse) to see the ghosts of the recent victims and it is too much. Mentally, emotionally and spiritually drained by a forceful ghost who was murdered along with others, Rita is trying to help them, keep her secret from others and keep her job. At least she has strong protection from her Navajo grandmother and neighbor but it might not be strong enough to prevent her from being in danger. Rita's journey of working through the loss of her mom, family ties, her Navajo roots and solving the murders through photos is interesting and helps the book straddle horror ,murder mystery, police procedural genres as well as indigenous fiction seamlessly. Fans of Stephen Graham Jones ONLY GOOD INDIANS and WIND RIVER will love this. 4 stars
A beautiful blending of the power of nature and earth magic. Iris and her mom run a wild animal shelter in the Pacific Northwest. Her love of the animals and the forest around them is partially due to the fact that she and her mom are witches and their magic helps them calm and heal the animals in their care. They must keep this secret from everyone. Pike is an intern who Iris is attracted to though she denies it and repelled by his ego and irritating charm but mostly his hatred of witches. The escape of an important owl from the center means that Iris and Pike must head into the deep forest to retrieve the owl but Iris can't share know how important it is that they bring the owl back. There is much adventure on the trip and they figure out that they are better together than at each other's throats. A bit of fantasy, a bit of a harrowing adventure and a spark of romance make this a novel that will appeal to teens and adults alike especially those of us looking to lose yourself in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. 4 stars
A fascinating way to write a crime thriller. Imagine you witness your teenage son stabbing someone and are powerless to stop it and save him from jail. Now, imagine that when you wake up the next day you have gone back in time to the day before it happened. Jen is desperate to figure out why her son viciously attacked a man in their front yard but as she goes further and further back in time to piece together the five "W"s, she starts to question everyone important in her life. Each chapter goes back in time through a few years so we travel back looking for the same clues that Jen is searching making this perfect for armchair detectives. The tension is high, the timeline is as fixed as the unconditional love Jen feels for her only child and you want to believe that it is all a terrible mistake.
A fast paced crime thriller with the magical twist of time travel that will resonate with even hard core detective story readers. 4 stars There are monsters among us and sadly for Devon her son, Cai is one of them. Devon was married off to a powerful family to breed a book eater but had a mind eater instead. The child was set to be sent away to the Knights to be used in any way they saw fit until Devon escapes with the baby. That escape does not come without a price and should she not deliver the whereabouts of the one family who make a drug to control the mind eaters, her child will pay with his life. This is a secret underworld that humans are not privy to just like the witches and vampires of DISCOVERY OF WITCHES with all the violence and hunger of DRACULA and creative world building of Neil Gaiman. Imagine being able to consume (literally) books and instantly know all the knowledge within the pages. Now imagine only being able to satisfy that hunger by devouring a mind - memories and all. There is one lesson to be learned from this - never underestimate what a mother will do to protect her child. 4 eating machine stars
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