I recently read Van Praag’s The Witches of Cambridge and very much enjoyed it. I loved the way that this author added magical elements to a story with characters with whom I enjoyed spending time. Once I read that, I vowed to read more by this author. The Lost Art of Letter Writing fully met my expectations and I definitely recommend it. There are again elements that require suspension of disbelief while adding depth to the story.
In this novel, readers meet a number of characters. First off is Clara. She owns a special shop with everything a person could possibly need to write a beautiful letter, whether or not they choose to send it. Clara too writes letters with the special pen left to her by her grandfather. She does not necessarily know the recipients but has seen them in Cambridge. One of the people to receive Clara’s letters is a widower who is raising a teen. Readers may be surprised to see what happens to him and will wonder about what it means to have a wish fulfilled.
Readers also meet a young woman who can foresee the bad that may become someone and a young man who is preternaturally talented in his music. They also will meet a ghost.
Around these character’s intersecting stories is the story of the letters that change Clara’s life. She goes to Amsterdam to get them translated and meets another important character there.
The stories of all of these people overlap in places. I cared for everyone and loved this story. By the way, I also loved this book’s cover.
Have you read anything by Van Praag? What did you think?
Kate Charles is one of my absolute favorite mystery authors. She has written a couple of series; these include the Book of Psalms series (that starts with A Drink of Deadly Wine) and the Callie Anson series of which Desolate Places is the most recent, although it was published in 2021. I so hope that Charles will keep writing. I held off reading this one for the longest time because it was the only of her books that I hadn’t read and I didn’t want to be done.
Charles is an American who writes stories that are based in England with Ecclesiastical matters having an important place. Callie Anson is a deacon who is awaiting ordination as a priest. In this fifth in the series, along with Callie are many recurring characters. These include Brian with whom Callie works and Marco who is her fiancee. There is also Callie’s brother Peter who falls in love often and Callie’s rather difficult mother. There are then the various police officers and Callie’s good friends.
In this entry, a woman from a rather upper middle class background is found dead in a rundown hotel. Felicity had recently herd from an old boyfriend and her husband has been having an affair (small spoiler). Who murdered her and why?
Among the suspects is Tariq who is an illegal immigrant. Callie becomes involved in helping him without telling Marco (because of his work as a family liaison officer) with the police. Charles does a good job of helping the reader to feel empathy for Tariq. Readers will also hope that Tariq would invite them for dinner.
This is a well told story with much on the relationships of the many characters. Some of these go well while others face tragedy. For me, Desolate Places was a delight from start to finish.
If Charles doesn’t write more soon, I will have to go back and reread both series. That would not be a hardship. I could also read the standalones again.
This book was so easy for me to love. It is short (under 200 pages) and a paean to what books, bookshops and reading can mean to people.
Two of the main characters are a twenty-something young woman who has been hurt in a relationship and has, as a result, left her job. She goes to stay with an uncle who has taken over the family used bookstore.
When Takako first arrives, she has no interest in reading but one night all that changes. Through her, readers discover the excitement and sweetness that happens when the world of books opens to a person.
The neighborhood where the bookshop is located is a real one. I would love to go there.
This book is filled with quotable moments. For example:
It was as if, without realizing it, I had opened a door I had never known existed…It was as if a love of reading had been sleeping somewhere deep inside me all this time, an then it suddenly sprang to life. ..And there was no danger Id run out of books…It made me feel like I had been wasting my life…
Anyone who loves books and/or books about books, read this one. You won’t be sorry.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for this title. All opinions are my own.
Mary Oliver was the most wonderful poet. I read her works almost daily. Oliver’s love of the natural world, dogs and people as translated through her works is wondrous.
Given how much I love her poetry, I was so excited to see that a book has been written to introduce Mary Oliver to younger readers. Hopefully, they will grow up to read her oeuvre when older.
I loved this book! Adults who find that Oliver speaks to them will want to give this a look too and not let it just be for kids.
The illustrations are gorgeous and show Mary as she goes from a young girl to a woman with white hair. Her biography is simply delineated including her relationship with Molly, the love of her life. Oliver’s love of nature also comes across clearly.
I recommend this one most highly!!!! It is so pretty to look at.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for this title. All opinions are my own.
This book is so sweetly illustrated. There is much to look at on each page. Kids could find the nine children and count or they could name the many objects that they see, for example.
This book watches 9 kids as they grow from infancy to childhood. Without banging the point on the head, the book celebrates that there are many different kinds of families who come with many different backgrounds and yet have similar experiences.
This is a lovely book for a young child and adult to look at together.
Many thanks to NetGalley and NorthSouth Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
The Bookstore at the Beach is the second title that I have read by Ms. Novak, following her earlier novel, One Perfect Summer. As was true of that book, this is a long (448 pages) story that is filled with plot and character.
Readers follow and get to know the lives, struggles and joys of three generations of women from one family. The oldest is Mary. She runs a bookstore in a small town and leads a fairly insular life. Mary is not a risk taker. Why? What happened to her in the past that formed her attitudes and character? No spoilers so you have to read the book to find out.
Next up is Autumn, Mary’s daughter. She has come with her two children to spend time with Mary over the summer. Readers learn early on that Autumn’s husband has been missing for nineteen months, most likely related to his travel in Ukraine. Should Autumn hold on to hope that he will come back or…should she again become involved with her high school crush who lives in the town where Autumn is summering?
Finally there is Taylor, Autumn’s daughter. She was feeling numb and engaged in sexual activity without using birth control. Is she pregnant? If yes, how will this define her life? There is also a strong plot line about Taylor’s friendship with Sierra as Taylor wonders if she is in love with her.
The author holds onto all of the many plot strands without losing any of them. She tells a story that has some depth and that held my interest.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
Sarah Morgan has become one of my favorite authors when I want a story with good characters, plot and settings. That is definitely true in her newest novel which has all of these qualities.
Characters include two women who were best friends and are now coming back together. They are Milly and Nicole. There are other characters as well from Milly and Nicole’s lives.
Milly lives and works at her family’s lakeside resort. While no specific location is given, I would visit there if I could! Milly is recently divorced and mom to a young teen.
Nicole made it big as an actress. She has not been able to secure her mother’s admiration and, as a child, adored Milly’s more open and affectionate family.
A scandal causes Nicole to reach out to Milly. From here, the story takes off. It is one about reconciliations, friendship, living a good life even when that is not a perfect life, and more.
Highly recommended to readers of women’s fiction.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 06 May 2025
General fiction-women’s fiction
308 pages
From the Publisher
Other books by this author:
Note: While some of these are listed as e book bargains, that was true at the time of the original post and may no longer be true.
I had learned about this novel long before it was published and knew that I wanted to read it. I was absolutely thrilled to be given an advance e-galley.
I could not wait to sit down and begin this novel. I went on to savor it and find it easy to give The Eights an excellent review.
WWI led to devastation and a reorganization of British society. Many men died; consequently, many women were unlikely to marry. Social changes came as with the suffrage movement and (finally) the admittance of women to Oxford degrees. (Prior to this, women could attend but would not formally graduate).
This engrossing historical novel follows four women from this time period who were known as “the eights” because of the corridor that they lived on at their Oxford College. Readers meet Beatrice, Marianne, Otto, and Dora. Each has their own history and backstory.
Beatrice is the daughter of a very politically active mother who was an absent parent. Readers learn that it was difficult for Beatrice to confide in her mother. Beatrice s studying PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics).
Marianne is a cleric’s daughter. It is clear that she is hiding something. Marianne is also less financially well off than some of her peers.
Otto is part of a family with socialite sisters. Her parents would like her to marry. Otto is studying Mathematics.
Dora has had two major losses from the war. Both her brother and fiance died. These men would have been at Oxford had they lived. Dora feels that she is there in their place. Dora is studying English.
The world of Oxford in this time period is engagingly portrayed through many characters in addition to these four. I came to care very deeply for the eights and did not want the book to end. It is my sincere hope that Miller is penning her next novel even as I write this.
Note that there is a helpful glossary at the back of the book for those who are unfamiliar with British higher education.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 15 April 2025
Historical fiction
382 pages
Note:
Recommended those who have enjoyed the novels by Pip Williams.
A Goodreads Most Anticipated Book of Spring A Book Riot Best Historical Fiction of April A Brit & Co. New April Book to Add to Your Calendar STAT
“The Eights is an entertaining and moving imagining of four smart women dealing with the engrained misogyny of the time. I came to love these four women as though they were my sisters.” —Tracy Chevalier, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Glassmaker
“A story about women taking their place in a man’s world, The Eights beautifully captures the power of friendship and love in the wake of extraordinary loss. It was a pleasure to read.” —Pip Williams, New York Times bestselling author of The Dictionary of Lost Words
“Miller’s engrossing debut follows the first women undergraduates eligible to earn degrees at Oxford University. …. They’re unlikely allies, a novelistic trope that Miller transcends through insightful and surprising characterizations…. It’s a memorable tale of a fast-changing world.” —Publishers Weekly
“Miller describes campus life in vivid detail, and her protagonists are complex, with hidden motivations and insecurities that are gradually revealed as their friendships develop. This pairs well with Helen Simonson’s The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club and Kate Quinn’s The Briar Club.” —Booklist
“A heartfelt, thoughtful and engaging book about the first women students to go to Oxford University – their friendships, their secrets, their ambitions and their opponents – in the tremulous, haunted years immediately after the First World War. Joanna Miller brings 1920s Oxford to life with a vivid immediacy and makes us care deeply about four young women who find themselves pioneers in a strange new world, trying to find a way forward in the aftermath of war. A thoroughly lovely debut that will win many hearts, with its celebration of friendship and the persistence of hope.” —Joanna Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Whalebone Theatre
“My book of the year. The writing is wonderful, the subject fascinating and the storylines utterly absorbing. I’m so sad I’ve finished it. I loved everything about this book. I ADORED it.” —Jill Mansell, Sunday Times bestselling author of Rumor Has It
“The past feels astonishingly present in Joanna Miller’s debut…Rigorously researched, The Eights brilliantly synthesizes fact and fiction, and the trials and triumphs of the quartet are deeply relatable. [Surrounding a] debate about whether women have any business being at Oxford … The Eights is a rewarding read for anyone who enjoys emotional, character-driven narratives and for anyone who celebrates impeccable writing. But most of all, it’s for anyone who has ever been told they couldn’t do something but did it anyway.” —BookPage
I recently took a course on Jane Austen in which we read all six of her major works. I have also been to a terrific exhibit on Austen at New York City’s Morgan Library and saw a very creative Pride and Prejudice, courtesy of the Guildford Shakespeare Company. So, it has been great fun to be immersed in Austen in her anniversary year.
I had earlier read Pride and Premeditation (see below) and decided that it would be enjoyable to read another of Price’s novels. As can easily be deduced from the title, this one is a take on Sense and Sensibility. Anyone who has read that novel will enjoy seeing how the characters from it appear in this young adult mystery. The personalities seem to stay intact but the characters are used in the service of the story. So, for example, Wickham comes on the scene but not in the same way as in the novel. Still, readers will expect that he is up to no good, in accord with S and S.
The concept of the story is that Marianne and Elinor’s father did not die a natural death. His greedy daughter in law and his son do inherit the estate but the estate is a bit different. Mr. Dashwood was the principal in a detective agency and left his business as well as his real estate behind. Marianne was involved with this business as well and Elinor has been made a budding chemist (the better to detect poison?). Will the sisters conclude that Mr. Dashwood was indeed murdered and, if so, by whom?
I found this book to be light and entertaining. I plan to go on to read the cleverly named Manslaughter Park.
Again, this is not an adult book but I think can be enjoyed by readers of many ages, especially if the reader would like a bit of fun with Austen.
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-Price’s second “Jane Austen Murder Mystery” is just as clever as the first (Pride and Premeditation), this time giving a murderous spin to Sense and Sensibility. This novel begins much the same as Jane Austen’s classic, with the death of the Dashwood patriarch and their brother’s inheriting everything. However, in this tale Elinor and Marianne discover that their father’s death was a poisoning. Marianne, an apprentice detective following in her father’s footsteps, and Elinor, an aspiring chemist, are the perfect duo to take on the case. Over the course of the investigation characters from the original novel appear, easily recognizable despite changes in circumstance for many of them, because Price expertly crafts their personalities to match the source material. The mystery is just complex enough to keep readers guessing without becoming frustrating, it revolves around opium, so the book may be better suited to more mature readers. A suspension of disbelief may be necessary due to the historical inaccuracies (explained in an author’s note) regarding the Dashwood sisters’ unladylike, but empowering, behavior. All characters are white. VERDICT A delightful reimagining of a classic that will be enjoyed by Jane Austen fans and mystery readers alike.-Mariah Smitalaα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 