Part supernatural tale, part historical fiction.part unsolved mystery  this novel takes place in Amsterdam during the winter of 1686.  Nella Brandt has married an older, successful merchant she has just met.  She leaves the rural setting where she lived her whole life and moves into his home in Amsterdam where she tries to find her place among the other occupants-Johannes, her husband, Marin, her sister-in-law and two in help.  She quickly learns that her new home is a den of secrets.  Also, as a wedding gift Johannes presents Nella with a miniature of their house.  Each tiny article delivered hint of the family’s future.  Who is this artisan who can see into the Brandt’s lives?  Burton’s debut novel is interesting and informative but not a must-read.

Every summer I read a classic; this is my choice for this year.  Yes, Henry James is difficult, yes, he can be wordy and complicated, but this novel was well worth the time and effort I put into it.  It is the story of Isabel Archer, a young American living in Europe who suddenly comes into a large inheritance.  Isabel is an intelligent, thoughtful, kind person who has three men who wish to marry her.  How she decides and where it takes her is the main action of the novel, but what Isabel thinks and feels is really the soul of The Portrait of a Lady.  There’s a reason this book has stood the test of time-it’s exquisite.

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010, Vargas Llosa’s most recent work of fiction is an enjoyable, captivating read.  The book actually contains two discreet heroes, Felicito Yanaque, a man who refuses to be extorted by thugs, and Don Rigoberto, who acts as a witness at his ex-boss’s wedding knowing full well that the boss’s twin sons will seek revenge on him.  In alternating chapters, we learn each man’s point of view, as well as their lives and those of their families.  A thought-provoking page turner which becomes contrived towards the conclusion.

Kent Haruf’s posthumous novel is short,sweet and sad.  With the same direct unpretentious language he used in his other works, Haruf tells the story of Addie and Louis, a widow and a widower in a small Colorado town.  Addie asks Louis to begin spending the night with her because that’s when she is loneliest, and Louis agrees to.  Their relationship turns into something, deep, meaningful, honest and necessary for both of them.  A beautiful heart-felt read.

I decided to read this work of historical fiction because I had heard that Elizabeth Berg had spent three years writing it and because I knew next to nothing about the author, George Sand.  Berg’s telling of Sand’s family, lovers and literary friends is interesting, and gives one a flavor of life in France in the mid 1800’s.  However, too often Berg’s renderings of Sand’s search for love, her desperate need for love and her many disappointments in her lovers got a bit tedious.

Just as good, if not better, than her last book, “Life After Life.”  This novel follows Ursula Todd’s younger brother, Teddy, from childhood to WWII to marriage and a child to old age.  Teddy, unlike Ursula, only has one life, a life he has lived for over nine decades as a thoroughly decent man.  Surrounded by a group of wonderfully well-drawn secondary characters, Teddy navigates life’s highs and lows with love, humor and sensitivity.  A God’s Ruins was so good, I did not want to finish it.

An enjoyable, easy to read novel that tries to put too much into too few pages.  This debut work is a love story, a war story, a story of familial secrets and a tale of historical truths.  With the tale going back and forth in time between 1915 and 1990, the plot hinges on a home in a small village in Turkey and who the rightful owners are-the Armenian family who originally owned it or or the Turks who took it over after the Armenians fled during the genocide.

This novel is not for everyone, but I enjoyed it.  It’s a family saga about Iranian Jews who are forced to leave their homeland when the Shah is overthrown. Wealthy in Iran, most of them eventually find success in Los Angeles, but often pay the price for financial gain.  There is a touch of surrealism in the novel, which does not add or detract from the books artistry but does help emphasize Nahai’s themes of family and lineage.

A wonderful read that I would recommend to just about anyone.  A coming of age novel about a 14 year old boy who must spend a summer in rural Kentucky with his mother, who is traumatized by the death of his younger brother, and his grandfather.  With his grandfather’s love and guidance, Kevin Gillooly learns what it take to be a man.  Well-written, engrossing and heart-warming.

What a wonderful surprise! I knew nothing about this debut novel before I began to read it, and found it a thoroughly pleasurable experience.  It is the story of the Lee’s, a racially mixed family, half Chinese-American, half WASP, living in a small town in Ohio in the 70’s.  The novel begins with sixteen year old Lydia Lee’s death, and then unfolds to reveal layers of problems and untold dreams within the family.  I highly recommend it.