The Violets of March

New Yorker Emily Wilson has just learned that her husband has been having an affair and that her marriage is over. To clear her mind, she decides to spend the month of March with her great-aunt Bee, who lives in Bainbridge Island, WA. Having visited often as a child, she feels the beauty and peacefulness of the island will help her not only research her next novel, but get her life back on track.

As Emily settles in to bed the first night, she discovers a red diary from the 1940s in the nightstand beside the bed. Not knowing the identity of the author (who is Esther?), she can hardly tear herself away from what she’s reading. Is the story that’s unfolding fact or fiction? Are these characters, with their dark secrets, members of her own family?

Sarah Jio’s debut novel is a winner. Her telling of a story within a story is beautifully done, and her writing is perfectly descriptive, not overly flowery. I especially loved Aunt Bee and her relationship with her best friend Evelyn. It's sweet and touching and will make you thankful for your own best friends!

While I'll admit there were aspects of the book that weren't entirely plausible, I'm still a sucker for a well-written book filled with love, self-discovery, suspense and extremely likable characters. I'm looking forward to reading more from Ms. Jio and hope you'll add this novel to your must-read pile.

The Perfume Collector

Imagine receiving a letter telling you a complete stranger has left you an inheritance. That’s exactly what happens in 1955 to demure socialite Grace Monroe, who, with some gentle coaxing from her best friend, travels to Paris to learn more about her unknown benefactor, the mysterious and seductive Eva d’Orsey. 

The latest novel by Kathleen Tessaro is a delicious tale of love, beauty, heartbreak and intrigue that seamlessly intertwines Eva’s complicated life in the glamorous locales of London, New York and Monte Carlo in the 1920s and Grace’s life in the novel’s present day (1950s). I was captivated by Tessaro’s knowledge of the perfume industry, which provides the backstory for the novel. Her descriptions of the art of perfume making are so evocative that you can almost smell the sumptuous concoctions. Add several wonderfully complex characters to the mix and you have all the ingredients for a novel that was extremely hard to put down (I did not want to go to bed!)

While it might not take long for some people to unravel this alluring story (I admit I had things figured out about halfway through the book), getting to the end is a journey you’ll want to take — and soon!

The Chaperone

The Chaperone was incredibly engaging, one of three novels I raced through while sunning myself last week at the beach. As you’d expect from the title, the story focuses on Cora Carlisle, a somewhat prudish Kansas housewife, who volunteers to chaperone 15-year-old Louise Brooks one 1920s summer in New York City. Laura Moriarty deftly chronicles their exploits in the Big Apple, where a strong-willed and somewhat loose-moraled Louise has come to study at a prestigious dance academy. Louise, with her jet-black bob, ends up becoming one of the decade’s most famous silent film stars (really!), but Moriarty ensures that we never lose sight of the fact that Cora is the book’s true star.

I found Cora’s backstory about her search for her birth mother and how she arrived in Kansas (via an orphan train, which was a common way to place orphans from cities like Boston and New York with foster families in the Midwest and West between 1853-1929) to be quite interesting. I also appreciated Moriarty’s ability to make her characters multi-dimensional, especially Cora, who struggles to embrace the changing times — women’s rights and the end of prohibition — while remaining true to her conservative Christian values.

Even though the book starts out a bit slow, once the story begins to unfold you won’t want to put it down. A delightfully entertaining read.

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train

William Kuhn invokes a modern adventure for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, who has grown a little blue and unsatisfied with her life at Buckingham Palace. In an attempt to break out of her routine and remedy her current situation, she sets off on an unscheduled journey, wearing a skull-emblazoned hoodie as her “disguise.” Mrs. Queen boards a train bound for Scotland, and it’s kind of fun envisioning her acting as a mere commoner, paying for taxis and making polite conversation with complete strangers (she even pretends to be Helen Mirren). Desperate to find the Queen and avert a major PR nightmare are several members of her royal staff including a butler, lady-in-waiting, a young female employee of the royal stables, and a clerk from the shop that supplies Her Majesty’s cheese. A clever idea for a story, it certainly fits the bill if you’re looking for an easy summer read.

Sin In The Second City

I love Chicago! I consider it the most AMAZING city in the United States. Whether you’re into the arts, history, shopping, cuisine or sports, it can be found in The Windy City, all served up with genuine Midwestern hospitality (NYC and LA should take a page out of the how-to-be-awesome Chicago handbook!). So, when I received Sin in the Second City as a gift, I couldn’t wait to jump right in.

The book revolves around Minna and Ada Everleigh and the upscale brothel they opened in Chicago in the early 1900s. These Southern sisters were true marketing geniuses, knowing that if you had the best—attractive prostitutes, decadent food and drink, musical entertainment and beautiful décor—you could charge a fortune for the privilege of enjoying everything the Everleigh Club had to offer. Minna and Ada, unlike their rivals, seemed to know the secret of how to properly treat employees, customers and politicians to ensure their establishment maintained a reputation as the crème de la crème of whorehouses in the city’s Levee district. And these ladies were laughing all the way to the bank. Like the Donald Trump of madams, it is alleged the Everleighs amassed a fortune worth nearly $20 million by today’s standards. Crazy!

While I don’t read much non-fiction, the first half of the book provided intriguing, well-researched accounts of the corruption among the city’s leaders, the cut-throat competition between the madams, the profession itself and, of course, the infamous Everleigh sisters. Unfortunately, the second half of the book focused almost exclusively on the crusade by religious activists to abolish the sex trade, not only in Chicago but across the country. With their claims that young women didn’t become prostitutes by choice but rather were forced into the profession (it was labeled “white slavery” by religious zealots), Reverend Ernest Bell and his followers worked tirelessly to shut down the red-light district of Chicago. By this point in the book, Karen Abbott’s tone came across just a bit too preachy for my liking and my interest was waning. While I’m not trying to lessen the seriousness of human trafficking, this book left me annoyed that some people just aren’t content unless they’re ruining the fun for others. 

Speaking from Among the Bones

My favorite little sleuth is back! Flavia de Luce is up to her old tricks in the fifth book of this series—stumbling upon yet another murder! It’s springtime and the sleepy little town of Bishop’s Lacey is preparing to celebrate the 500^th anniversary of its patron saint, Saint Tancred. However, the celebration is nearly derailed when the church’s beloved organist is found murdered.

As usual, the charming, quirky Flavia must use her powers of deduction to help Inspector Hewitt (much to his chagrin) solve the crime. The story is filled with a sprinkling of Flavia’s love of poisons, a continued disdain for her two older sisters and a (very!) surprise ending.

Alan Bradley has created a wonderfully original series that is a joy to read. It’s too bad that he’s only planned six books in the series because there’s a lot of potential for this precocious 12-year-old. So, even if “detective/crime” books aren’t really your thing, I think these books might surprise you. Start with the first in the series, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and I think you’ll be hooked!

Dancing for Degas

When I read a review of this book, I was intrigued at the possible similarities to one of my favorite novels, Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier. As a fan of historical fiction, my interest was piqued by the book’s premise: Alexandrie, a young French farm girl, lands a coveted spot as a ballerina with the celebrated Paris Opera ballet, a role that will allow her to create a beautiful new life for herself and provide financial support for her family.

Once in the City of Lights, Alexandrie works hard to impress the ballet master and unwittingly becomes a muse for French artist Edgar Degas, a frequent patron of the ballet. Performing in the Paris Opera comes with a price, however, and the “extracurricular” life these girls must lead is often an unseemly one.

This story, filled with love, art and dreams, sounds promising, right? Unfortunately, author Kathryn Wagner hasn't created one likable character. From Alexandrie’s selfish mother to the vapid dancers to the narcissistic male suitors lining up in the Green Room after each performance, there’s not one redeeming character in the entire novel. Yawn.

That said, avoid this book and pick up a copy of the aforementioned Girl with a Pearl Earring instead.