Teaser Tuesday-July 20, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme,
hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
Anyone can play along!

From my current read: The Secrets of Newberry, by Victor McGlothin-historical fiction from 1950's New Orleans

"I'll see to the work all right," she whispered, leaning in closer to Pearl Lee's ear. "I'll see to it just like I seen that rascal Trotter Delacroix easing out your back door this morning." Page 42







© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2010].

Review-Follow Me-Joanna Scott

FOLLOW ME
Joanna Scott, Little, Brown, 2009, $24.99/C$27.99, hb, 400pp, 9780316051651








When you layer a family saga with secrets and betrayal with a story containing a host of entangled relationships written by an author who expertly engages your attention till the end, why wouldn’t you want to read Follow Me?

The story begins in 1946 when Sally Werner, a naïve and recalcitrant farmer’s daughter from Pennsylvania heads out with her cousin Daniel one afternoon. She realizes too late that her motorcycle ride with Daniel and subsequent actions have left her pregnant. Unwilling to face the daily barrage of religious ramblings or the feelings of guilt caused by her parents’ pious gaze, she abandons her son and runs away. When looking for someplace to settle, Sally falls in love with a boy named Mole. After Mole is killed in a car accident, Sally learns she is pregnant. Her daughter, Penny Mole, grows up to become a successful lawyer and lives with her own daughter Sally, whose father left without provocation before her birth.

Sally’s granddaughter and namesake is keeper of the secrets and chronicler of her muddled multi-generational heritage of deceit and deception. Scott crafts a cadence of consequences as the pieces are joined, but always some part is missing, making the truth difficult to visualize.

Scott’s writing is pure magic. The plot she creates is like a tailor whose sharp needle weaves an intricate pattern of lines and keeps you guessing until the entire picture is uncovered. Follow Me is a celebration of life you will not want to end.
Wisteria Leigh

Published in Historical Novels Review May 2009 Issue

Review-Canvey Island

Canvey Island

James Runcie
Other Press
978-1-59051-293-7
312 pages

The story takes place in 1953 on Canvey Island as a storm approaches. Quickly the waters rise and a devastating flood leaves behind destruction and death. One of those dead is Martin’s mother Lily. Len, Martin’s father had taken Vi, Lily’s sister to a dance, as was customary. Lily preferred staying home to dancing. This time her decision proved fatal as her leg was caught in some debris that had settled below the rising food waters. When Martin went to get help it was too late. The water had claimed Lily’s life.

The novel is a story of Martin’s life and family relationships. Martin decides to become a water engineer to help cope with the guilt from his inability to save his mum. Martin also must cope with the growing closeness between his father and Aunt Vi. Martin leaves Canvey Island, leaves his first love and leaves his problems behind-or so he thinks.

Years later, unfulfilled and disappointed with life as it is, Martin returns to Canvey Island.The allure of the past will test his love for his wife Claire as he must chose passion or infidelity, truth or lies.

The story is told in a multi-voice chapter format from each character’s perspective providing depth and understanding. The author’s honest look at love and death are difficult and often depressing. However, there is enough drama to keep the reader interested and curious to the end. I learned from Linda and Martin, that the past can sometimes be an illusion of reality and not what we expect when we revisit it. (3/5 stars)

Thank you to Library Thing and the Early Reviewer program for this review copy.