Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman by Elizabeth Buchan - realistic fiction - woman loses husband and job to her assistant at work. Predictable.
Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier - historical fiction - set in England in the period from January 1901 (just after Queen Victoria's death) to May 1910 (just after the death of her son, King Edward VII). Lots of detail on mourning customs of the day. Pretty wierd book.
Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams, read by Kristin Kalbli - I figured out some of the relationships pretty quickly in this triple time period mystery (1930, 1951, and 1969), set on an island in Long Island Sound (based on the real Fishers Island) populated by the wealthy during the summer and a mostly Portuguese immigrant population year-round. Nevertheless, the book held my interest all the way through. The audiobook narrator was a big reason. I'd certainly read/listen to this author/narrator again.
The Passion of Dolssa - by Julie Berry, read by the author, Jayne Entwistle, Fiona Hardingham, and Allan Corduner - historical fiction, audiobook, young adult, 2017 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book. Botille Flasucra, a 17-year-old peasant girl matchmaker in 13th-century southern France, meets Dolssa de Stigata, an 18-year-old noblewoman mystic on the run from the Inquisition. Condemned to burn to death as a heretic, Dolssa is hidden by Botille and her family and friends. Fiona Hardingham narrates Dolssa’s sections in a gentle, lilting tone. Jayne Entwistle’s warm, earthy narration brings to life teenaged Botille, her sisters, and the other peasants in Bajas, where the sisters run a tavern. The contrast between the two narrations reaffirms the differences between the two young women’s characters. Allan Corduner’s intense baritone sounds ominous as he portrays the Dominican Inquisitors who pursue Dolssa. The narrators smoothly handle the many words of dialect included in the story. At the end, the author reads extensive historical notes and a glossary. The audiobook is a plus for proper pronunciation of the Occitan words used in the novel, but I also enjoyed looking at a print copy to see how they were spelled. The ending is a little confusing - the author explains it here: http://www.julieberrybooks.com/about-the-ending-to-the-passion-of-
Anna of Kleve by Alison Weir - subtitled "The Princess in the Portrait" - The fourth of noted Tudor historian Alison Weir's fictional takes on the wives of Henry VIII, this one covers another lesser-known queen, the fourth, Anne of Cleves (properly, in German, Anna von Kleve), whose marriage to Henry was annulled. Weir has some interesting theories about Anna, and shares the basis for them in her author's note at the end. I found them plausible. They certainly make Anna more interesting. At 498 pages, the book is a little long, with a little too much detail (especially about the endless moves from palace to palace) than necessary. LT early reviewer, historical fiction.
Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt, read by Erin Bennett - nonfiction audiobook. 30+ pages of endnotes, 13-page index, numerous photos and diagrams both black-and-white and color in print book (and I think in a PDF with the audiobook). Stories of the female human computers working at the Jet Propulsion Lab in California from the 1940s to 2016, mostly on unmanned space missions (so it was a history of those too). Personal stories of the women felt forced into the narrative.
© Amanda Pape - 2019
