A strange and eerie debut novel.   As the title suggests, it is the story of a Christian cult heading towards acts of violence.  It is told in short segments narrated mostly by the three main characters-John Leal, the leader of the cult, Phoebe, a follower, and Will, who rejects Leal’s teachings and is in love with Phoebe.

The Incendiaries takes a long time to unfold,and, for me, each character’s back story got in the way of the plot’s progress.  Also, parts of the novel were a bit confusing, and some paragraphs I had to reread two or three times.

For my summer classic read, I chose Oscar Wilde’s only novel because I was intrigued by the concept and the author.  Dorian Gray, a beautiful English gentleman, is having his portrait painted by his friend and admirer, Basil Hallward.  Another English gentleman, the cynical and corrupt Lord Henry Wooten, is espousing his theories on life and nature while the portrait is being finished.  As the dark, Gothic novel progresses, Dorian goes from innocence to complete depravity.  While he stays as handsome and youthful as ever, his portrait takes on the true aging and abuse he heaves on himself and others.  Dorian keeps the frightening picture locked in a room in his attic, but there is always a chance that someone will find it as well as discover all the foul acts he has committed.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a fast paced, sometimes exciting read with clever ideas verbalized by Henry Wooten.  One can see Wilde in all three of the main characters, and for me, his life was as exciting and horrifying as his novel.

In 1967 Willa Drake is eleven years old and living with a younger sister, a kind-hearted, gentle father and a bipolar mother.  In 1977 she comes home with her soon to be husband, Derek.  In 1997 Willa becomes a young widow with two teenage sons.  And in 2017 she has remarried and moved to Tucson when a phone call from a stranger sends her to Baltimore.  Like many of Tyler’s characters, Willa wants to please everyone, which is impossible.

Like most of Anne Tyler’s novels, Clock Dance is filled with quirky, heart-warming characters.  The neighborhood Willa visits in Baltimore has its share of endearing, well-meaning sorts.  Although I don’t think this is one of Tyler’s best, it is worth a read.  It’s engaging and fun with a likeable main character.

 

 

The Great Believers is a two part story that alternates between Chicago in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s and Paris in 2015.  The Chicago part focuses on Yale Tishman, a gay young man-his job, his friends and how he and his community were affected by the AIDS epidemic.  The main character in the Paris sections is Fiona Marcus.  Her brother was one of the first of Yale’s friends to die from AIDS, and because of this, she becomes a champion for gay equality.  She is in Paris searching for her daughter and granddaughter.

It took me about fifty pages to get into The Great Believers.  There are a lot of male characters, and, in the beginning, I kept mixing them up.  However, once I was clear about who was who, I couldn’t stop reading.  Stay with it; it’s well worth it.  The Great Believers artistically depicts important issues and memorable characters.

A sparse, beautifully written novel about a different kind of love triangle.  Ellis, Michael and Annie form a threesome.  Ellis and Annie are married, Michael is gay and loves Annie platonically and Michael erotically.  Ellis loves Annie and Michael while Annie understands what is going on and approves wholeheartedly.  The action takes place in Oxford, England, Provence and Venice with an appreciation of Van Gogh thrown into the mix. Most of Tin Man takes place in the 1980’s and 90’s when the AIDS virus was at its peak.

This is a terrific little book that lovingly yet tragically describes different types of love from mother love to true friendship.

The High Season was listed on a few articles about good summer reads.  It’s a quick, engaging read with good guys, bad guys and a lovely setting on the coast of Long Island.

Ruthie Beamish is curator of a small history museum in Orient, New York.  She lives with her husband(they’ve been contemplating a divorce for three years) and their fifteen year old daughter.  Every summer they rent out their home and move to a smaller, less attractive place in order to be able to afford the life they live in Orient.  However, this summer, Ruthie and her daughter have been invited to stay at the home of a wealthy board member of the museum while her family is in Europe.  The High Season follows Ruthie and her friends, family and enemies throughout the summer.

For me the perfect summer read-light, but not silly.

 

 

 

 

 

Mirza’s debut novel is slow paced with wonderful prose and a captivating story.  It is about a devout Muslim family originally from India who settle in California.  The father, Rafiq, travels often for business, loves his wife and three children but has high expectations for all of them.  The mother, Layla, devotes herself to her family and never regrets it.  The two daughters are obedient and hard working.  The youngest member, a son, Amar, is the challenge.  He does not do well in school,  leaves the mosque when it is time to pray and is always arguing with his father.

The novel begins at the eldest sister’s wedding, but soon after jumps to Amar’s difficulty in first grade.  At first it is a bit disconcerting that the years change so quickly, but soon the reader learns to go with the flow.  Fatima Farheen Mirza is an excellent writer who has given us five unforgettable characters.

Gabriel is a ten year old boy living in Burundi in 1992.  He has a happy life-a French father, a Rwandan mother, a seven year old sister, a warm, loving extended family, and four close friends who do everything together.  However, when the genocide in Rwanda spills over into Gaby’s country, his happy childhood becomes a nightmare.  Neighbors, relatives and friends are murdered for no reason and and the perpetrators face no consequences.

Faye, who experienced much of what his fictitious character faced,  does a wonderful job of quickly taking Gaby from a somewhat idyllic life to one of unadulterated horror.  Small Country is a novel I will not soon forget.

The author of The English Patient has written a very fine novel about a secret side of London after World War II.  Warlight begins in 1945. Fourteen year old Nathaniel and his sixteen year old sister, Rachel, learn that their parents are leaving for Singapore for an indefinite amount of time.  They will be taken care of by a man they have never met who they nickname The Moth.  The Moth brings many intriguing, mysterious visitors into their home.  These characters, the siblings’ parents’ whereabouts and the secret war being carried out after World War II, are part of what makes Ondaatje’s novel so fascinating.

When I read The English Patient, I felt the prose was fog-like, hard to penetrate.  Warlight has some foggy patches, but it is easier to decipher than The English Patient.

This debut novel has been getting a lot of hype for its subject matter and the interesting way that it is written.  All of the characters are Native Americans living in Oakland, California.  All the chapters are short(2-8 pages) and center around one of about a dozen of these characters.  The focal point is a pow wow that will take place in the Oakland Coliseum, and all of these twelve individuals will be participating in the pow wow in one way or another.  Although the plot line is fairly predictable, the conclusion is shocking.

There There is a great work of prose.  Orange’s writing is simple, yet emotionally charged.  In just a few pages he gets his reader into the heart and mind of each of these Native Americans.  I would suggest reading this novel quickly.  When I didn’t pick it up for several days, I had to go back and reread about some of the main characters.