stand still

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

Genre: historical fiction

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Review: Children who were sent to the British countryside during the Blitz were able to come when it seemed like the nightly airstrikes were over.  Children who were sent to America may have had to stay for the duration of the war.  Some were lucky, like Beatrix, who became a true part of the Gregory family for the five years she lived with them.  This section of the book is engaging and heartwarming.

Unfortunately, once Bea leaves the Gregory family, though, the narrative falters.  Instead of being continuous, the story leaps through the next 30 years, landing only in 1951, 1960-1965, and, in an Epilogue, 1977.  Although this satisfies a reader's desire to find out what happen's next in the life of a good character (which Bea is), the jumping around causes us to lose our connection with Bea.

Still, Spence-Ash's writing is solid and the foundation that is set up in the first part of the book is strong enough to carry us through to a satisfying, if not altogether unexpected ending.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

oh, so lovely

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
Rating: 4.5 stars (out 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: Evvie (pronounced eh-vee) is not a misanthrope.  She's not particularly socially awkward.  She just... doesn't really feel like it right now.  A young widow, her husband died literally as she was preparing to leave him (he deserved to be left).  Except that nobody knows that; they all think she's properly grieving for him.  So, you know: guilt.

Dean is a former Yankees pitcher who's got the yips.  He's tried everything to get his arm back, but nothing works.  His childhood best friend is also Evvie's best friend, and it just so happens that Evvie also has an apartment in her house that would be perfect for Dean while he tries to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life.

What follows is a fairly predictable boy-meets-girl story, with a few false notes.  But it is oh, so lovely.  Reading about Dean and Evvie made my heart happy.  Both characters leap off the page (seriously, I was tempted to look up and see if they were actually in my living room with me) and their trials and tribulations are both realistic and compassionately drawn.  Is this a perfect book?  No.  Do I think it's going to be very popular this summer?  Yes.  Do I highly recommend it?  Even more yes.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

not good till the end

Winter Haven by Athol Dickson

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Challenge: A-Z (title)

Summary/Review: I was really not enjoying this book until I got to the very end, which almost made up for the turgidness of the prose. The last chapter saved the book from getting an even lower rating.

This is a story of Vera, a young woman (much younger than she acts) who sets off to pick up the body of her brother who has washed up on the shore of a small Maine island. How we got there, and why he doesn't appear to have aged in 13 years, are the "mystery" of the book. The answer, when it is finally revealed, is fairly straightforward, and not unsatisfying.

In the course of finding that out, though, Vera must deal with her own guilt over not stopping her brother from running away, and her belief that her "visions" of what happened to her brother are actually punishments from God. She must also deal with unkind islanders, a "ghost", and a too-handsome man (with a wandering eye) who might be friend or might be foe.

One might suppose that all of those factors would combine to make a compelling story. Alas, that is not the case. Dickson gets too bogged down in his first-person narration to let the story run naturally. We are teased with hints and glimpses of what's really going on, but Vera's overdrawn naivete prevents us from finding anything in the story that will allow us to be drawn in.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.