I love to read, recommend books and open the world of reading to others. I tutor to ensure that the next generation of readers will know the joys of a good book because their reading skills have improved. I am an avid reader, especially of mysteries and fiction. I believe that two of the world's greatest inventions were the public library and eyeglasses!
Last year I read and reviewed The Hollywood Spy, one of the Maggie Hope stories by this author. It set the stage for this new novel as it opened my eyes to what was happening among the pro German U.S. groups in the lead up to WWII. What I learned was appalling.
In many ways, Mother, Daughter, Traitor, Spy picks up where The Hollywood Spy left me. The difference is that this title is based on the lives of a real mother and daughter. Many other characters are also based upon real people. Here is a story about good and evil.
Readers get to know Vi and her daughter, Veronica. Veronica was set to have a very bright future as a journalist after she graduated from Hunter College. One mistake derailed her. Vi and Veronica subsequently leave New York and move to California at a relative’s urging. This puts the reader right back into a story about anti-Semitism, pro German sentiment and the world of spies. There are many shocking events over the course of the novel.
I highly recommend this title. I even think that it would be a wonderful one for high school students who are studying American history to read. It is, after all, important to know what happened right here in the U.S. In addition, some of the parallels to today’s political landscape are also here-just think about that.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 20 September 2022
From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
Review
“A suspenseful page-turner, vivid historical account, and inspiring story of female empowerment all in one . . . Riveting!”—Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman with the Blue Star
“A timely, fascinating story about a little-known chapter in American history, one that resonates especially strongly today.”—Jennifer Chiaverini, New York Times bestselling author of Resistance Women
“A fascinating, thought-provoking thrill ride through the fascist underbelly of 1940s Los Angeles, Mother Daughter Traitor Spy will have you glancing over your shoulder and wondering just what you’d dare—and whether you’d make it out alive.”—Lauren Willig, New York Times bestselling author of The Other Daughter
“Gut-wrenching . . . This is historical fiction at its best.”—Lauren Belfer, New York Times bestselling author of And After the Fire
“Susan Elia MacNeal is at the height of her powers in this riveting suspense novel.”—Sujata Massey, Agatha Award–winning author of The Widows of Malabar Hill
“Susan Elia MacNeal is outstanding! Her ability to convey a spellbinding story that is realistically rooted in this time period puts her among the best!”—Charles Todd, New York Times bestselling author of the Ian Rutledge series and the Bess Crawford series
Are you now, or were you ever, a mother with young children? If yes, did you feel that you received the support that you needed from your partner? Did you want not just help but proactive assistance? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, you may well identify with Nora Spangler.
Nora has a four-year-old, is pregnant and it is her year to become (or not) partner in her law firm. She is trying her best but is overwhelmed. Nora loves her husband (she says) but some days is incredibly irritated by him.
So…Nora and Hayden look at a house that is for sale in an upscale community. Interestingly, the husbands there are way more helpful than usual. The women all have these incredibly high powered jobs. What is going on here? Do Nora and Hayden want to live here? Will they?
Also, what about that arson that killed Penny’s husband. Nora is investigating it thinking about a wrongful death suit. Is it that or is it murder?
There are many threads running through this novel. I have seen mixed reviews but I found it to be a book that I enjoyed. Make up your own mind. Give this one a look.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Katherine Center has become one of my favorite authors. She writes good stories with character about whom I care. Hello Stranger is one of my top two read by her, the other being How to Walk Away. That was the book that made me know that I would always want to read Center’s titles.
This novel has a heroine whose voice I loved. Sadie Montgomery can be funny and sassy. She is a portrait artist who has some complicated family relationships. Her mom, also a portrait artist, died young while Sadie’s father was very disappointed that she walked away from being a doctor (his profession). There are also a stepmother and stepsister who challenge Sadie.
Sadie has many other relationships too. There was a boyfriend and there are her dog, a vet, a good Samaritan whom she does not seem to like, a therapist, a best friend, coffee shop baristas, a neighbor whom she finds creepy, and others. It is fun to watch all of these relationships over the course of the story.
Center also looks at a serious and real issue in this story. Looks is just the right word as Sadie suddenly has a medical crisis that leaves her unable, literally, to see faces. She knows that they are there but nonetheless can’t make sense of them. This is a real condition and one that the author researched for the novel. It is especially challenging for Sadie as she is an artist and her work has always been face centered.
Readers will want the best for Sadie. Read this very enjoyable novel and wait to see how her life evolves. I highly recommend it.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.
An e book bargain for 27 May 2024. I LOVED THIS BOOK!
#OnceUponaWardrobe #NetGalley
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callhan tells the story of Joy Davidman and C.S. (Jack) Lewis. I absolutely adored that book so was thrilled when I received an early review copy of Once Upon a Wardrobe, another novel about C.S. Lewis.
The structure of the story is that George, a young boy with a heart defect, discovers The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and wants to know more about it. George’s sister, who loves him deeply, shares that Lewis is at Oxford where she, Megs, is a student. Wanting to do what she can for George, Megs gets to know Jack and Warnie and brings the tales that Lewis shares home to her brother.
Jack’s life story is beautifully told. There were very hard times and yet a man emerged who is so beloved by many. I won’t detail the biography so that readers can discover it for themselves.
George is preternaturally wise about life while Megs is perhaps less so. Over the course of the novel, she learns that her beloved scientific point of view and way of solving problems is but one way to look at the world. She and George are both deeply human, seeking, loving people with whom readers will enjoy spending time.
Those who have read the Narnia stories will eagerly read this title looking for the same insights that young George is seeking…to understand where the characters in the books came from, who they may have been based on and more. Will those answers be in these pages? You will need to read the novel to find out.
Those who have not read the Narnia books can still love this title. Its insight into a person’s life with all of its tragedies and peaceful moments are for all readers.
I give this one my highest recommendation. Ms. Callahan your talent for understanding Lewis and life are so impressive.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
This book has received a tremendous amount of publicity, and there have been many excellent reviews. Now that I have read this one, I can see why. In these pages readers will find humor, excitement, some heartbreak, good characters, many settings, and some surprises.
Overall, this is a story of two sisters, named Penny and Josephine. As the novel begins, they are in their 90s and about to receive a special honor in France. Readers discover that each of them had an exciting war, meaning World War II.
In addition to learning about their wartime experiences, readers learn about those close to Penny and Josephine. This includes everyone from housekeepers to a special nephew to those that they have loved over the years.
I think readers will be taken by the story and its characters. it is one with a unique flavor
Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this title. All opinions are my own.
Those who have read the earlier entries will be eager to get their hands on this title which is number five in the series. The books are best read in order but, if a reader is willing to accept spoilers from the earlier novels, they can read in any order.
First, the cover. I love the period feel to each of the covers in the Verity Kent series. They beautifully evoke the time period and character of what is inside the book.
Readers know (or find out) that Verity has had several earlier adventures which evolved from her work during WWI. Because of the Official Secrets Act, Verity’s family has no idea of all that she has experienced. Her mother, especially, judges her daughter. Readers may be surprised (as her mother would be if she knew) to learn that so much has happened to this young woman who is in only her early twenties.
In this novel, readers become better acquainted with Verity’s family. Her great aunt Ilse, who is German, arrives on Verity’s doorstep unannounced. What has brought her to England? How will she manage being in England where she is often viewed as an enemy despite her advanced age? Who has she seen? What does it mean? How do events in the present relate to Verity’s connection with her aunt when the war was on-going? Are the repercussions from that time about to cause trouble?
Verity decides to leave London early for the Christmas holidays, feeling that this will be better for her aunt. This allows readers to spend time with Verity’s parents and siblings in Yorkshire. Some of these relationships are less than ideal. Readers will also get to know some in her community including old friends, and new vicars and their wives.
When a murder occurs Verity and her dashing husband, Sidney, are on the scene and ready to solve the crime. Readers will try to figure things out right along side them.
I very much enjoy this series and highly recommend this latest entry. Alas, now it will be at least a year before I can catch up with Verity and Sidney again.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
July wants to know what happened to her mother. It is a mystery that has needed solving for many years.
July knows some things. Watch for them as they are enumerated. Ponder what it means to July to have received significant info on her tenth birthday. Will her quest to learn about her mother give her what she needs? Read this one to find out.
I received a sample of this title. It intrigued me enough to get me to buy the book. Hopefully it will appeal to you as well.
Many thanks to Random House UK, Vintage | Harvill Secker and NetGalley for this sample. All opinions are my own.
Samuel Burr has written a lovely book and one that I very much enjoyed. Here is a story about friendship, community, figuring out one’s life and the ways in which life might puzzle us.
The premise is that Pippa, a superb cruciverbalist, wants to form a group for those who love puzzles in all their guises. This leads to the collection of characters and eccentricities that fill these pages.
When Pippa was well past child bearing age, a child was left on her doorstep. He was in a hatbox (pay attention to this). Pippa took on parenting him as did the other fellowship members (each of which has a special talent). The time comes when Clayton, now grown, goes on a quest to learn more about his origins. Readers and he learn much in the process.
Readers will hope for Clayton’s happiness. They may be surprised by some of the details of the story. For example, Pippa adored Danielle Steel and had all of her novels. Her friend Nancy frequently reread them as well. Will this be significant? What other clues will Clayton find as he tries to solve what might be his biggest puzzle?
Anyone who enjoys a touching story should reach for this one. Those who loved The Wishing Game as much as I did will find much to enjoy here as well.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor-Doubleday for this title. All opinions are my own.
I do note that in the beginning it was a bit difficult to keep the characters straight. Readers can trust that it will all come together and don’t need to worry about this.
This title was published in April 2024.
From the publisher:
READERS GUIDE
Teeming with heart, humor, and lovably eccentric characters, The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is a moving, wildly clever, and life-affirming triumph about finding one’s place in the world.
Right up until her death at age ninety-two, life was a fabulous puzzle for crossword doyenne Pippa Allsbrook. The missing piece was Clayton. He’s the infant she found tucked in a hatbox twenty-five years earlier and raised among the brainiest, quirkiest extended family a boy could imagine: the riddlers, jigsaw artists, maze designers, and codebreakers in Pippa’s collective, the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers.
It’s so like Pippa to leave Clayton with one last puzzle: that of his own personal history and the fates that led him to the Fellowship. For Clayton, this is his chance to figure out where in the world he belongs. Clue by clue, he’s also discovering more about Pippa’s past and where his future lies. Like all great puzzles, it won’t be simple. But nothing worth solving ever is. The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is a poignant and exuberant debut novel about finding human connections at the crosswords of life.
The following questions are designed to enrich your book club’s discussion of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers and illuminate its themes of family, secrets, and coming of age—no matter how late that might be.
Questions and Topics for Discussion
1. In Pippa’s Fellowship, she found her people. In what ways does the Fellowship mirror the communal experience and commonalities of your own reading group?
2. One of the first challenges for the Fellowship (and for readers) is the cryptogram on page 40. How many of you tried to solve it before reading on? And in what ways does the solution—In the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take—reflect the journeys of the characters?
3. On page 5, Pippa describes finding the infant Clayton as “miraculous” and a “solution she’d spent a lifetime searching for.” To what problem in Pippa’s life is his appearance a solution?
4. At first, Clayton bristles at the idea of Pippa’s game “from the beyond the grave” (on page 9) Why does Pippa think Clayton still needs to be challenged?
5. The motto of Pippa, the cryptic queen, is Veni, Vidi, Solvi—I Came, I Saw, I Solved (on page 23). That certainly sums up the Fellowship, but how does it also apply to life?
6. Though brilliantly skilled, Pippa says that in her younger years she always felt invisible. In what ways does establishing the Fellowship finally make her feel seen?
7. The puzzles, mazes, and brain games of the Fellowship aren’t just for enjoyment’s sake; they help, as Pippa says on page 31, to make “sense of the world around us.” How is that true of the word games you yourself indulge in for fun?
8. On the one hand, Clayton is intrigued about following his mother’s clues toward the discovery of his past. That’s understandable. But do you also understand his apprehension?
9. Clayton, having been raised among people considerably older than him, dresses, feels, and acts older than he is. In what ways does he still have growing up to do? Other than his biological parenthood, what aspects of life has he yet to learn and discover?
10. Operating in a man’s world, Pippa took joy in confounding people’s expectations of her. When was the last time you confounded someone else’s expectations? How did it play out for you?
11. One of the reasons for the Fellowship partaking in puzzles is the pleasure of routine. What routines do you have in your life? What are the ones you’re unconscious of? Aware of? And those you can’t imagine living without?
12. Why do you think Clayton has difficulty in making human connections? In your own life, even in this reading group, are you eager to make new connections? Or do you tend to wait for someone else to do the connecting?
13. Clue words during Clayton’s quest include adventures, appearance, dared, anger, remorse, and anew. How did they apply to Clayton in his quest?
14. Ultimately, Pippa just wanted Clayton to find a zest for life. Why did she think he’d lost it? How did she help? In what ways did Clayton help himself on his journey of self-discovery?
15. In the end, Pippa wonders if there is one clear path to happiness or, as Earl the mazemaker puts it on page 321, it’s a matter of “moving forwards or backwards, sideways even.” How true is that of Pippa’s and Clayton’s journeys?
16. Before reading the novel, were you already a “gamer”? Or were the cryptograms, word games, crosswords, mazes, and brain teasers something new for you?
Suggested Reading
Other Recommended Novels Miss Benson’s Beetle, Rachel Joyce The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman River Sing Me Home, Eleanor Shearer A Single Thread, Tracy Chevalier Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus The Book of Secrets, Elizabeth Joy Arnold Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Nonfiction for Further Reading Why We Remember, Charan Ranganath, PhD Attached, Amir Levine, M.D., and Rachel S. F. Heller, M.A. The Charisma Myth, Olivia Fox Cabane Who Do You Think You Are?, Michelle Brock Incognito, David Eagleman
The author of this cheerfully illustrated book speaks directly to her young readers. She engages them with information, questions and things to think about.
Wonderful Me is a positive and affirming look at the ways in which kids can/can learn to take good care of themselves. The topics covered include everything from sleep to friendships and much, much more.
This book provides an excellent resource for its intended audience. It deserves a spot in home and school libraries.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.
I have been a fan of Erica James for many years. I count on her new books to offer me a welcome diversion from my everyday life. Swallowtail Summer is now a favorite for me.
Ms. James notes that she was inspired to write this story after hearing a group of long term friends talking. It led her to wonder what it would be like if a spanner (my word) got thrown into the mix. From there, she created a novel with good characters and a lovely setting.
Three men and their wives have known each other for many years. There is Alastair whose wife Orla recently died. What happened to her? How will this reverberate? There are then Simon and Sorrel. Sorrel has had a long term crush on Alastair. How will this reverberate? Then there are Frankie and her Danny. Danny has recently had a heart attack. The adult children of S and S and F and D also are part of the story.
What will happen when Valentina comes into this group? A lot (!) will be stireed up.
This is a long and involving story that at moments reminded me a bit of Rebecca (DuMaurier). I was sorry to see it end.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 