sincerely swaim

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

London, 1939 + 1960s: Sisters, Hazel and Flora, are evacuees living in a rural village to escape worn-torn London. Hazel fills their days with walks and games to distract her young sister, including one that she creates for her sister and her sister alone—a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own. The unthinkable happens when Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the Thames river. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, and she carries that guilt into adulthood as a private burden she feels she deserves. When Hazel discovers an illustrated book describing the imaginary world she created just for Flora, she embarks on a quest to reveal the truth about her sister’s disappearance all those years ago.

From what I read on the book jacket, this seemed like an easy pick with the time period, the unsolved details of a disappearance, and a magical land. I did enjoy the essence of the book but found it was lacking in fluidity. There are multiple settings and time periods and love interests, and it became a bit frustrating to switch between one part of Hazel’s life to the next. I found that I was most interested in reading about the sisters’ experience living with Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in their charming stone cottage. I might just be in my cottage core era.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

England, 1938: Rebecca tells the story of an unnamed young woman who marries the wealthy owner of a splendid English estate, Manderley, and becomes obsessed with the memory of her husband’s first wife, whose influence still rules there. How can the shy new bride ever fill Rebecca’s place or escape her vital shadow?

Rebecca was a challenge for me to complete. To stay engaged with pages and pages of description and limited dialogue doesn’t rank high on my list of skills. I tend to prefer vivid descriptions and dynamic plot lines. Rebecca, though a classic, simply missed the mark for my taste.

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

Kentucky, Depression-era: Alice Wright marries a handsome American, hoping to escape her stifling life in England.  When small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, she answers the call to join a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.

What happens to these women–and to the men they love–becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity, and passion. These heroic women refuse to be cowed by men or by convention. And though they face all kinds of dangers in a landscape that is at times breathtakingly beautiful, at others brutal, they’re committed to their job: bringing books to people who have never had any, arming them with facts that will change their lives.

The setting of this story was different from any other Depression-era novel I’ve read. While a little heavy on the drama that finds these women, this book was saved by the fact that the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky isn’t fictionalized. I enjoyed imagining real women delivering books through the mountains over 100 years ago.

The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Florida, Present Day – Near Future: Florida is slipping away. As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels wreak gradual havoc on the state’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Kirby Lowe, an electrical line worker, his pregnant wife, Frida, and their two sons, Flip and Lucas, prepare for the worst. When the boys go missing just before the hurricane hits, Kirby heads out into the high winds in search of his children. Left alone, Frida goes into premature labor and gives birth to an unusual child, Wanda, whom she names after the catastrophic storm that ushers her into a society closer to collapse than ever before.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. I nearly devoured its 336 pages while on vacation in Southeast Georgia in a setting that wasn’t much different from the intercostal waterways of southern Florida found in The Light Pirate. If I had to describe the vibe of this novel it would be Where the Crawdads Sing meets After the Flood meets a lil bit of magic. The story is sometimes told from multiple characters’ points of view but isn’t fussy or confusing with the delivery. The technique Brooks-Dalton uses to describe the constantly changing circumstances is pro level. I’m contemplating suggesting this as my next book club pick.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

West London, 2019: Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before and decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she’s facing at home. When widower, Mukesh, arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list…hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again. 

Yet another book club recommendation that has reminded me of the importance of reading outside of your normal genre. There are wonderful stories to be shared outside of historical fiction! The beauty of community and the breadth of connections spanning generations and demographics is where the true charm of The Reading List lies. This book served as a great reminder of what makes reading magical to me.

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Australian Ski Resort, Present Day: Writer Ernest Cunningham attends his family reunion at a ski chalet. By the end of the trip, people will die. But as you know, everyone in Ernest’s family has killed someone, so it’s his job to figure out who killed whom and why.

While a bit tricky to keep the characters straight at the beginning, this was an interesting “whodunnit” mystery with an Agatha Christie vibe. The setting certainly made it feel more like a cozy mystery than a psychological thriller, which I prefer. There’s talk of this becoming an HBO series. I think it would be very interesting to watch the storyline played out for TV.