A lot was going on this month with my spouse's hip replacement after a fall and broken femur head at the end of the previous year, and a number of complications following. Early in the month, I wasn't getting enough sleep and having trouble concentrating, so I read a number of short stories and novellas.
NOTE: After further consideration, I've decided not to continue to review every book or short story I read. I don't think anyone reads my reviews anyway, particularly on this blog. I will continue to write reviews for any book I receive through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. Those reviews are also posted in my LibraryThing accounts (one concentrates on children's books), as well as reviews for other books I deem worthy (particularly any book challenged or banned here in Texas). In this blog, I will continue to list (and count) all the books and short stories I read, although I will probably not enter all of these into my LibraryThing accounts.
Signal Moon by Kate Quinn
Signal Moon, a short story by Kate Quinn, is an interesting blend of science fiction and historical fiction. In 1942, Wren (Women's Royal Navy Service) Lily Baines is a Y-station listener on the British coast in Yorkshire. Fluent in German, she listens for snippets of German radio transmissions and Morse code, writing them down. One night, she picks up American sailor Matt Jackson transmitting - from 2023! She figures out a way to warn him about what she heard - before it actually happens.
Lily's experiences are based on those of a real Wren, Pat Owtram. While Matt is completely fictional, Quinn's active-duty Navy husband helped her make him sound real. The title comes from a line in a Dylan Thomas poem that is a part of the story.
The Bookstore Sisters by Alice Hoffman (short story)
I also read all seven of the short stories from Amazon Prime Reading's A Point in Time collection, described as "a transporting collection of stories about the pivotal moments, past and present, that change lives," are available to borrow as part of an Amazon Prime membership. Five of the stories take about 50 minutes to read; the other two are 33 and 74 minutes long. I was intrigued by the collection because I've read other works by some of the authors.
Ash Wednesday by Paula McLain - An immigrant school custodian is cleared but yet still blamed for a deadly Ash Wednesday fire in the badly-designed school for poor, mostly immigrant children. The tale is based on a 1908 fire in Cleveland, Ohio, inspired by a memorial to the victims in a local cemetery.
Naomi's Gift by Martha Hall Kelly
A Wild Rose by Fiona Davis
Landing by Olivia Hawker
We Are Bone and Earth by Esi Edugyan
Mother Swamp by Jesmyn Ward
Alison's Conviction by Thomas Keneally
The House at Mermaid's Cove by Lindsay Jayne Ashford
A mixture of romance and historical fiction, this book was better than I expected, given that it was a free book that could be borrowed through Amazon Prime Reading. Alice washes ashore on Cornwall in England in 1943 after her ship from Africa is torpedoed. She's rescued by Viscount Jack Trewella and becomes involved in his group's aid to the French Resistance. The romance was pretty predictable, but the historical fiction is quite good, especially the representation of everyday life in Cornwall in wartime. Alice is a very likeable character with an unusual past. Be sure to read author Lindsay Jayne Ashford's afterword, where she explains the inspiration for the story, setting, and characters - some of whom are real people.
Wreck the Halls by Melinda Rathjen, illustrated by Gareth Williams
Perfect for toddlers who love trucks (or anything that moves), Wreck the Halls is a cute Christmastime preschool board book featuring a wrecker that helps celebrate the season. The colorful, cartoon-like illustrations by Gareth Williams are engaging, and Melinda Rathjen's rhyming text, with some challenging vocabulary, will amuse the reader. I can't wait to give this book to my great-grandson this coming Thanksgiving, when he'll be 19 months old - perfect age and time for him (and all of us, his family) to enjoy this book.
Silver Alert by Lee Smith
Herb Atlas is 83, not too healthy, and married to Susan, his third wife, who's 70 and suffering from an early-onset dementia (I think it might be a form of frontotemporal degeneration, aka FTD). He's trying to care for her in their beautiful Key West home, with the help of home health aides, not always successfully. Then Renee Martin arrives (hired by Herb's daughter's partner) to give Susan a pedicure, and seems to be the only person who can calm Susan down.
Only Renee is not who she seems. Her real name is Deidre (Dee Dee) Mullins, and it's obvious to me right away that she's a victim of sex trafficking earlier in her life. The story alternates viewpoints between Herb and Dee Dee aka Renee.
Herb's daughters (from his deceased first wife Roxana), his ex-wife Gloria and her son Ricky, Susan's son, and their significant others, stage an intervention to put Susan in memory care and move Herb into a nearby senior residential facility. On moving day, Dee Dee (Renee) comes by the house to say goodbye, and Herb invites her to ride in his Porsche. What was supposed to be a short ride around Key West turns into a drive north for lunch at Herb's and Susan's favorite place on another key, then on to Disney World - thus setting off a silver alert.
I really could relate to much in this book. My husband is 81, I am 65, although our situation is somewhat reversed - while reading this book, I've been caring for him during his recovery from a partial hip replacement due to breaking a femur in a fall. My mom, however, suffered from FTD (albeit a different form than I think Susan has), and I remember the difficulty my siblings and I had trying to convince my dad that home health care just wasn't working any more, especially as his health was deteriorating, and we needed to move them both into a senior residential facility.
Dee Dee has her own story, too, and both she and Herb are engaging characters - Herb is especially funny. I loved most of this book - except the ending, which I felt left a lot of unanswered questions and unresolved situations. Nevertheless, I'd recommend this latest book by Lee Smith to others.
Goodnight, Vienna by Marius Gabriel - Amazon Prime Reading
