I've Been Reading, A Little

I have relied heavily on audio books for the past seven months--I will write more about some of those  amazing books later. During that time I have read exactly three books in paper form. All three are latest releases from some of my very favorite contemporary authors. I was super lucky and blessed to get ARC copies from the publishers. Thanks so much Atria Books and Putnam for the opportunity to read these lovely novels.

I adore Kate Morton novels. I love the detailed story telling that takes the reader through generations of character development and the atmosphere of the old romantic settings. I read her newest novel The Clockmaker's Daughter back in October when it released and loved that it was just the right amount of spooky for me during that fall season.

Elodie is an archivist and finds some interesting items in the collection. Not only does the picture of the manor spark her own memories but they don't seem to fit with the other items in the collection. She's intrigued and anxious to find out who they might really belong to. She soon discovers that a mystery surrounds the pictured woman--a muse to a successful artist, the young woman disappeared from his rural England home the night the artist's fiancé was murdered. Now, Elodie wants to discover the truth.

I enjoyed the novel. It was the first book that I picked up in several months that I was able to read and stay engaged with for long periods of time. Morton's characters were dynamic and exciting and the twists in the plot kept me guessing. Her novels take the time to build the worlds and fully flesh out her characters and the plot. I was not disappointed in her most recent offering.

The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton is published by Atria Books and released in October 2018.

Lyndsay Faye is an expert at writing in the vernacular of the time period and her unique style is on full display in The Paragon Hotel. Set right in the middle of Prohibition and the 1920's, Alice James's adventures take the readers from the streets of New York where Alice has been mixed up with the mob to an all-black hotel in Portland, Oregon. Alice hopes to recover from a gunshot wound in the seemingly quiet hideaway but racial unrest and a missing mulatto boy sparks her need to help her new friends.

Drawing on historical events, Faye shows an unsafe world for Portland's black citizens. Terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan, the amazing characters that inhabit the world inside the doors of the Paragon Hotel   must simply survive while trying to carve out an existence for themselves in a city that doesn't want them.

The Paragon Hotel is an entertaining novel. Faye is brilliant at having poignant, powerful moments mixed with humor and laughs and plenty of action. She doesn't shy from the violent details of the mobs or the Klan. Her clever use of language keeps the reader engaged and on their toes. I am still a huge fan of her novels and The Paragon Hotel earned its place on my front room shelf.

The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye is published by Putnam and released on January 8, 2019.

I loved The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield so much that after lackluster reviews I didn't even dare read her second novel and it has long sat on my shelves unread. However, a copy of her recently published new novel Once Upon a River landed in my lap thanks to SheReads and Atria Books and I just couldn't resist. 

The novel immediately captured my attention and imagination. A soaking wet and injured man stumbles into a crowded tavern late one night. His nose is broken and he is barely breathing. Everyone rushes to his aid. In his arms he carries the body of a small, dead girl. They've surely come from the river. The local midwife is called and after she attends to the severe injuries of the man she checks on the dead child. The tiny perfect child shows no signs of what may have killed her and as the midwife stands pondering, the child begins to breathe again. The once dead and now living girl sparks the imagination and story-telling skills of the community. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Once Upon a River and about half way through the novel even found myself staying up way way past my bedtime to binge read until the ending and I haven't done that in many, many months. I loved the mystical and other worldly elements of Setterfield's story. She weaves a story by focusing on the characters and setting and I love feeling immersed in her worlds. Setterfield has won be back with her newest novel and I highly recommend it.

Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield is published by Atria Books and released on December 4, 2018.