Monthly Archives: August 2009

Kathryn Stockett, “The Help”

Posted on August 28, 2009 by carolwallace

In the Afterword to The Help, Kathryn Stockett acknowledges the magnitude of what she took on in the project. After all, it takes audacity for a white woman to presume to depict the lives of black maids in Mississippi in … Continue reading →

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Jeanne Ray, “Step Ball Change”

Posted on August 26, 2009 by carolwallace

Step Ball Change is a tap-dancing term. That’s the first thing you need to know. The second is that this book is a lot of fun. I was sitting on the beach whining about the book on my Kindle when … Continue reading →

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Denise Mina, “Garnethill”

Posted on August 24, 2009 by carolwallace

Nothing to do with what I feel sure the characters would call the “poncy” home-furnishings catalogue. Garnethill is a neighborhood in Glasgow, and not a posh one either. I don’t imagine there aren’t a whole lot of posh neighborhoods in … Continue reading →

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Elizabeth Strout, “Olive Kitteridge”

Posted on August 22, 2009 by carolwallace

This book made me feel terrible for two reasons.  First, it’s a sensitively-rendered series of interlocking tales about the sadness and splendor of everyday life in a tiny coastal town in Maine — rather more about the sadness. It’s beautifully … Continue reading →

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David Ebershoff, “The Nineteenth Wife”

Posted on August 21, 2009 by carolwallace

I always felt there had to be something really interesting about plural marriage. I guess “Big Love” handles some of this but I’ve never seen it, so when a friend recommended The Nineteenth Wife I jumped on it, and I … Continue reading →

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Penelope Lively, “Consequences”

Posted on August 13, 2009 by carolwallace

Last time I read this book, Joanna Trollope had written it, and the title was Legacy of Love. Okay, I’m being flippant, but there is a Trollope book that links the love stories of three generations of women. And if … Continue reading →

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Andrew Taylor, “The Judgement of Strangers”

Posted on August 12, 2009 by carolwallace

Well, that was disturbing. I can see what Taylor’s up to now and it’s pretty clever. The Judgement of Strangers interlocks with The Four Last Things in interesting ways and the third novel (which I will read, albeit with trepidation) … Continue reading →

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Andrew Taylor, “The Four Last Things”

Posted on August 10, 2009 by carolwallace

Am I spoiled? Here’s a perfectly good literate murder mystery set in London, with an Anglican vicar as a protagonist, and I’m faintly disappointed. Well, if I am spoiled, it’s Andrew Taylor’s fault, because his Bleeding Heart Square was so … Continue reading →

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Yann Martell, “Life of Pi”

Posted on August 9, 2009 by carolwallace

Huge international best-seller and where was I when everybody was reading it? Avoiding it, because it seemed like one of those fantasy/allegory tales I just don’t get. Well, I wasn’t wrong. It’s really well done; intelligent, sympathetic, challenging in all … Continue reading →

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H.O. Sturgis, “Belchamber”

Posted on August 7, 2009 by carolwallace

This is one in that marvelous series published by New York Review Books Classics, with lovely covers and interesting introductions, often obscure works that have been unjustly neglected. I was thrilled when I started reading: Sturgis, who was a friend … Continue reading →

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