The Barefoot Mailman by Theodore Pratt

 

"He [Steven] understood then that it wouldn't be many years before a regular railroad ran along here, all the way to Miami, just as Doc had predicted. Walking the beach would become a thing of the past. It gave him a queer feeling of life changing, turning over, and of good, familiar things passing."

                      -from the novel

This book was recommended and loaned by a friend who enjoys reading about Florida history. It is set in South Florida around the 1880's, before the "land boom." Main character Steven Pierton has taken on the role of mailman, delivering mail from Jupiter Lighthouse to Miami, walking barefoot the 100 miles along the beach. He has to watch out for outlaws called beachcombers, a negative meaning of a word I've only heard used positively. He occasionally had to escort others along his route, one who became a love interest and one he clashed with over multiple issues, a corrupt land speculator named Sylvanus Hurley. 

I enjoyed the first 2/3 or so of the book but the end got into political battles, turning violent, and I was left a bit confused. I will rate the book a 3; the writing is good, but the novel is far from the best historical fiction set in Florida!

Thanksgiving by Janet Evanovich

"She slowly drove through the streets, observing the newly hung eighteenth-century Christmas decorations. Red velvet bows and evergreen sprays adorned many of the private residences. Traditional Williamsburg wreaths of laurel, trimmed with fresh apples, pineapples, pinecones, and peanuts hung on doors."\

       -from the novel

Since it was November, the title intrigued me. I have never read anything by this author, and I may have had her confused with another. At any rate, I had no idea she is known as a romance writer, probably my least favorite genre. It is highly doubtful I will ever read another of her works.

I was delighted at first when I saw that the setting was Colonial Williamsburg, one of my very favorite historic sites in the US. I was there for a week the first of 3 visits and absolutely fell in love with it. So, it was fun remembering the places mentioned in the story: King's Arms Tavern, Christiana Campbell's, Market Square, College of William and Mary, Duke of Gloucester Street, and Bruton Parish Church, among others. Also, my second visit was just after Thanksgiving and we expected to see Christmas decorations going up but fall colors were a bit late, so we got to enjoy the beauty of that, as well. (And we live in Florida, so we don't see this change of seasons.) 

In this novel, Megan Murphy is a greeter in Colonial Williamsburg after experiencing 3 broken engagements. She meets the new and handsome pediatrician in town and wouldn't you know, falls madly in love. So very predictable and very syrupy sweet! I am rating the book a 2 which is rare for me. In my opinion, there is no literary value and the setting was its only redeeming feature!

                                                                     A typical Christmas wreath in Colonial Williamsburg

Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger

 

"But tonight, around this fire, it is not about trying to understand what awaits us beyond this life. It is about enjoying the gift in this moment together, here under these stars, as the night sings to us. What you are afraid you have lost, Corcoran O'Connor, is not lost at all. The joy of your friendships, of your family, of moments like this when our spirits touch, this will always be with you. When the journey ahead takes you to the darkest of places, the joy in these memories will be a part of the light that helps you see your way through. This I promise."

              -Henry Meloux, from the novel

This is my 21st novel by this author and I have loved them all! It is #18 in the Cork O'Connor series. I fear there may only be a couple more. I surely hope Krueger will continue the series.

Lightning Strike was very different in that it portrays Cork as a 12-year-old boy. Others in the series have featured him as an adult, as sheriff of Tamarack County and later, a private investigator. In other episodes, Cork has mentioned his father, Liam, who preceded him as sheriff, but this one has Liam as a main character. We learn more about Cork's mother and Grandmother Dilsey, too, but many other characters reappear such as Henry Meloux, the Mide or healer whose wisdom I love to quote.

The novel begins with adult Cork having just been sworn in as sheriff and looking back to the summer of 1963 when his life would change dramatically. The rest of the book recalls that story beginning with Cork and his young friends discovering the dead body of Big John Manydeeds, an Anishinaabe of the Iron Lake Reservation. At first Liam assumes a suicide but with Cork and friends doing their own investigating, clues to foul play are slowly uncovered.

From this series and other books by Krueger, I have learned much about the native culture in the area around Minnesota. It is very sad to read of the ill treatment of these First Americans. Here is a quote that illustrates: "They tried blankets tainted with smallpox. They tried guns. They tried boarding schools. Now they're trying this [Relocation Act of 1956]. It's all meant to separate us from one another, to wring out what makes us who we are." (Grandma Dilsey)

I found this prequel a page turner; I rate it a 5!

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

"But we aren't defined by the names we carry or the religion we practice, or the nation whose flag flies over our heads. I know that now. We're defined by who we are in our hearts, who we choose to be on this earth."      -Eva Traube Abrams, from the novel

From October 4, 2020

This is the second novel I have read by this author and I have become a fan. Of course, she lives in my city so that gave me reason to look for her work in the first place. Page Turners read The Winemaker's Wife several months ago and, in fact, Ms. Harmel joined us briefly on our Zoom meeting to discuss it. What a treat! I rated that book a 5 and the group average was 4.

As my followers know, historical fiction is my genre of choice quite often. The Book of Lost Names was set partly in WWII occupied France, as was The Winemaker's Wife. The Book... involves dual timelines, starting out in 2005 and flashing back to the 1940's for much of the plot. 

In 2005, 86-year-old Eva Traube Abrams, a librarian in Winter Park, Florida (right up the road from us!) comes across a periodical showing an antique book, Epitres et Evangiles, one that she she is all-too-familiar with and knows as The Book of Lost Names. The article is about a librarian in Berlin who is trying to return books taken by the Nazis to their rightful owners. Eva quickly decides to fly to Berlin to retrieve the book.

In 1942, Eva Traube is a graduate student living in Paris, when her father, a Polish Jew, is arrested. She must try to get her mother to Switzerland before she is taken away, as well. En route they end up in the small town of Aurignon. Eva has done such a great job of forging documents for her mother and herself she gets recruited to help forge documents for people, mostly Jewish children, needing to escape to Switzerland. In this way she meets several interesting characters, including Remy Duchamp who works closely with her and they become...close.

The Author's Note was fascinating as Ms. Harmel shared how she became convinced to write this novel. She described the actual historical figures that were the basis for some of her fictional characters. Her research into the role of forgers in the French Resistance was thorough. She says she wanted to "dive deep into the research about both forgery techniques and the fascinating history of Nazi looting and share that with you [the reader], all wrapped up in a story about love, loss, courage, and the highest stakes." She definitely succeeded! Another novel by Harmel that rates a 5 from me.

----------------------------------------

from November 16, 2023

I read the novel a second time since it was the November selection for Page Turners. I enjoyed it again and had forgotten enough that it kept me turning pages. The group average rating was 4.0 with almost all votes 3 and above. Some loved the ending, and some found it just a little too perfect. Much of the discussion centered around the Holocaust---other novels, biographies and memoirs we had read and even survivors we had met or heard speak. Most of us highly appreciate Ms. Harmel's research and writing style. 

The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen

 

"And that's what we must learn to deal with: Our place in a world that sees us as used up and irrelevant. This new generation looks only to the future, with little regard for the past and what it could teach them. What we could teach them."        -Maggie's thoughts, from the novel

Maggie Bird is a retired CIA operative living in a small town in Maine happily raising chickens. When a dead woman is found in her driveway, it is evident her past has caught up with her. Fortunately, Maggie has a group of other former spies who are friends living in the area and they take part in the investigation. This greatly frustrates Jo Thibodeau, the town's acting police chief, who is conducting the official inquiry because Maggie's friends always seem to be a few steps ahead of her. They call themselves the Martini Club and indeed the novel is the first of a series called The Martini Club.

Flashbacks take the reader back to Maggie's last mission which had gone tragically wrong. The Spy Coast is pretty much a page-turner. I will rate it 4. I will likely read other fiction by this author.

Gerritsen wrote the Rizzoli and Isles series from which a TV series was produced. I enjoyed those episodes very much. It is interesting that Gerritsen was a physician before she became a very successful writer because Isles was a medical examiner helping with Rizzoli's detective work.