I know you think I’ve been languishing, and maybe I have a little. But mostly I have been reading, because as a recent Facebook meme put it, “Sometimes you just need to lie on the couch and read for a couple of years.” Or a couple of months in my case. So many new books, and a few so good I want to read them again. Katherine Heiny’s novel Early Morning Riser (Knopf, digital galley) is bright and funny but also smart and serious, and Heiny’s writing reminds me a bit of Laurie Colwin, which is always a good thing. Schoolteacher Janey falls hard for woodworker-handyman Duncan, who is handsome, sexy and kind, and who apparently has slept with every woman in Boyne City, Michigan. And he’s still friends with them, including his ex-wife Aggie, who is now married to Glenn but has Duncan mow her yard. A lot of folks are Duncan-dependent, Janey realizes, especially his intellectually challenged assistant Jimmy. That and the fact Duncan doesn’t want to get married again leads Janey to sadly move on. But then a tragedy down the road unexpectedly entangles her life with Duncan, Aggie, Glenn and Jimmy. You just never know what’s going to happen when you greet a new day.
Jessica Anya Blau’s coming-of-age novel Mary Jane (HarperCollins, library e-book) is like a nostalgic blast from the past on the radio. You can’t help but smile. It’s summer of ’75 in Baltimore, and 14-year-old narrator Mary Jane Dillard, whose parents are conservative country-club types, gets a job as a nanny with the unconventional Cones — psychiatrist Richard (he has a beard), artistic Bonnie (she’s braless) and five-year-old daughter Izzie (precocious) . Mary Jane is enchanted by their casual manners and friendliness, and they welcome her housekeeping and cooking skills. Then Richard invites rock star client and heroin addict Jimmy and his movie star wife Sheba to move in for some intensive therapy, and Mary Jane gets a close-up look at sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Wearing cut-offs and singing harmony to Jimmy’s hits, Mary Jane knows she’s courting her parents’ disapproval and ignores rising tensions at the Cones. A day of reckoning is inevitable, and there will be consequences. Still, you readily understand why Mary Jane thinks it’s the best summer ever. A bit of a priss at first, Mary Jane turns out to be a real charmer. So is Mary Jane the book.
Heading to the beach? Take your favorite adult beverage and Mary Kay Andrews’ The Newcomer (St. Martin’s Press, digital galley), a heady mix of family drama and mystery, with a spritz of romance. Letty Carnahan is so sure her wealthy brother-in-law Evan Wingfield is behind her sister Tanya’s death that she goes on the run with her four-year-old niece Maya. Like previous Andrews heroines, Letty is smart, feisty and good with people and interior decorating. She and Maya end up hiding out at an old-timey mom-and-pop Florida motel, where the snowbirds eye her and Maya with suspicion. But Letty, who has more secrets than shells on the beach, manages to win over the motel’s owner, get a job and spark with the local deputy. Evan and his henchman are hot on her trail, though, as are some of Tanya’s old “friends.” There’s treasure to be had on Treasure Island. Cheers!
Despite its evocative title and cover, Jennifer Weiner’s That Summer (Atria, digital galley) isn’t a breezy beach book. Rather, Weiner crafts an involving, non-linear saga of female friendship and empowerment hinging on a devastating “Me Too” incident. A misdirected e-mail initially connects Philadelphia cooking teacher Diana “Daisy” Shoemaker with successful business consultant Diana Starling. But as Weiner explores Daisy’s present life with her wealthy husband and restless teenage daughter — the memorable Beatrice — she also excavates Diana’s patchwork past. Turns out both women have history with Cape Cod and share more than a first name. Weiner has a light hand with some heavy subject matter for the most part, although men generally do not come off well. Still, she’s preaching to the choir, and her many fans will appreciate the affecting story.
How about a few thrills and chills? Have I got the books for you. Both Alexander Andrews’ Who is Maude Dixon? (Little, Brown, digital galley) and Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot (Celadon Books, library e-book) are clever takes on the perils of literary impersonation and plagiarism. Andrews’ inventive tale is more of a caper as writer-wannabe Florence Darrow becomes the assistant to best-selling, reclusive author Maude Dixon. Maude is the pseudonym of hard-drinking Helen Wilcox, who decides a trip to Morocco will cure her writers’ block. And it’s in Morocco that Maude/Helen disappears and Florence wakes up in the hospital and decides she will become Maude. Delicious, devious complications ensue. The Plot also entertains, but it’s a more serious exploration of ambition and identity as once-promising novelist Jacob Finch Bonner decides to steal the sure-fire plot of a dead writing student’s unfinished manuscript. Devilish consequences snowball when Bonner’s book becomes a best-seller. So good.
So is Flynn Barry’s tense Northern Spy (Penguin, library e-book), in which Tessa, a single mother and BBC news producer in peacetime Belfast is shocked to discover her sister is working for the IRA. Tessa, who grew up in the city’s Catholic neighborhoods, doesn’t know who to trust — family friends she’s known her whole life, or the British intelligence officer who wants her to inform on the IRA sympathizers. Desperate to keep her young son safe, Tessa becomes a double agent, knowing that she could be betrayed in a heartbeat. Errant sisters also figure in Carole Johnstone’s twisty and twisted Mirrorland (Scribner, digital galley). After a dozen years in California, Cat Morgan returns home to Edinburgh when her brother-in-law Ross lets her know that her estranged twin, El, is missing, presumed drowned in the Firth of Forth. The mystery of El’s disappearance lies in the twins’ dark childhood, during which they escaped into a fanciful world called Mirrorland. The twins’ blurrng reality and imagination spills over into Johnstone’s gripping but confusing narrative.
The real-life kidnapping of Polli Klaas in 1993 California plays in the background of Paula McClain’s first suspense novel When the Stars Go Dark (Random House, digital galley). Missing persons detective Anna Hart takes a break from work after a personal tragedy, returning to her late foster father’s house near Mendocino. When the 15-year-old daughter of a well-known actress and her husband goes missing, Anna is brought into the case, even though it calls up traumatic memories of her childhood and the later disappearance of a teenage friend. It’s a well-written if unevenly paced story, and the villain is easy to spot. Be sure to read the author’s note at book’s end.
Nancy, Thanks for the kind review! Hope you’re not actually languishing. Xoxo
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I read Northern Spy and When The Stars Go Dark, both good. Mary Jane is on my list and I just picked up That Summer. I am thinking about heading outside with my book (People We Meet On Vacation) but it’s kind of hot. I may skip it but I am always motivated to read outside as long as bugs do not attack me.
Ti, I like the idea of reading outside more than actually doing it, especially in Florida! Give me a screened porch at least.