Still Me by Jo Jo Moyes

 

"I thought about how you're shaped so much by the people who surround you, and how careful you have to be in choosing them for this exact reason, and then I thought, despite all that, in the end maybe you have to lose them in order to truly find yourself."

        - Louisa, from the novel

Apparently, this is the most recent novel in a trilogy involving Louisa Clark, quoted above. Our Page Turners group read the first one, Me Before You and liked it. Somehow, I missed the second installment, After You, so I guess I will need to fill in the gap one of these days.

In this novel, Louisa has found a new love---she refers to him as Ambulance Sam. But looking for adventure outside her comfort zone, she moves to New York City where she has accepted a job with a very wealthy but dysfunctional family. She is hired to be an assistant to Agnes Gopnik, much younger trophy wife of Leonard Gopnik. She wants to maintain the relationship with Sam but it turns out to be much harder than it seemed. 

In trying to discover who she really is, Lou experiences ups and downs, including homesickness, flirtation, betrayal and perceived betrayal. She even gets involved in a protest to save a library and efforts to reunite a family. Lou's story is funny, romantic and poignant, taking the reader on a roller coaster of emotions. I laughed aloud, I got angry, and I even got a bit teary at one very touching scene. I do enjoy the British flavor of Moyes' writing and, overall, I enjoyed the book, rating it a 5. 

The Watchmaker's Daughter by Dianne Haley

 

"Can we ever be sure of anything, Valerie?.....Or of anyone? For every brave soul like Jean and Emile risking their lives helping people escape from France, there are twenty others prepared to turn them over to the authorities without hesitating."

               -Marianne, from the novel

I am definitely a fan of historical fiction but it had been quite a while since I read a WWII era novel.  This one was quite good, rather a page turner. I give it a 4 rating only because I wasn't very satisfied with the ending.

Valerie Hallez, the daughter of a watchmaker (no surprise there!) in Geneva, Switzerland, is working for the Resistance. It is 1942 and the Nazis have recently overtaken France; Switzerland faces the threat of being next. Valerie delivers secret messages along with deliveries from her father's shop, unbeknownst to him. She helps Emile (mentioned above) hide and care for fugitives from France in an unused warehouse until their escape can be arranged.

Valerie and Philippe, her soldier amour (see my use of French there?), have difficulty communicating since he is away training for possible war and they get only short and infrequent visits. When she finds his name on a secret list, she sees trouble for him and bravely sets out to save him. 

I have read historical novels involving the Resistance in France, the Netherlands and even Italy but this was the first occurring in Switzerland. I find them all inspiring with their tales of great courage and determination. This one was no exception and apparently is the first in a series with these characters. 

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka

 

"Every time I phone my father or my sister, it is like crossing a bridge from the world where I am an adult with responsibilities and a measure of power, to the cryptic world of childhood, where I am at the mercy of other people's purposes, which I can neither control nor understand."           -Nadezhda, from the novel 

This May selection for our Page Turners book club was quite a surprise. I first thought surely it should be "tractors in Ukraine" but no, the title is actually of a book within the book. (Former engineer, Nikolai Mayevska, has a fascination with all things motorized, but particularly tractors and is writing a book---in Ukrainian.)

Main character, Nadezhda, is appalled when her 84-year-old father, Nikolai announces he is going to marry a 36-year-old Ukrainian woman. Nadia, as Nadezhda is sometimes called, is convinced the intended wife, Valentina, is a gold-digger and will be nothing but trouble. As it happens, this coming catastrophe brings Nadia back in contact with her sister, Vera, with whom she has been feuding since the death of their mother. The two of them become allies in trying to stop the marriage and when that doesn't work, to free Nikolai from Valentina's clutches.

I enjoyed the novel. I am rating it a 4. I learned more than I wanted to know about tractors, but large doses of humor made up for it. The story included some Central European history, as well, involving Germany, Russia and Ukraine. Very interesting in light of what is happening there currently.

More after the Page Turners meet to discuss the novel.

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Sixteen Page Turners met today and enjoyed a fascinating discussion of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. Our average rating was 3.7 with most individual ratings of 3 or 4 (the highest-rated book this year).  Almost everyone found something to like about the novel and only a couple of members found it tedious, disjointed or too political. Many appreciated the layering of history, family dynamics and immigration issues. And most of us really liked the humor. One participant had visited Ukraine and had an elderly father involved with a much younger woman. Wow! How much more background could you need to get involved with this book? 

Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger

 

"Sift. Sift all that comes to you. The answer is what is left in your hands after everything else has slipped through your fingers.....As my niece has said, finding is never about seeking. It is about opening yourself to what is already there."

         -Henry Meloux, advice to Cork, from the novel

Well, check off book 15 in the Cork O'Connor series. My followers know I am a huge fan! This one gets a 5 rating, as have almost all the others. After a couple of 500+ page tomes, this one was a refreshing, face-paced mystery, just over 300 pages. Krueger has a beautiful writing style, especially when describing the natural landscape of Minnesota and surrounding lands. Short chapters and cliffhangers make these novels true page turners. I've gotten to know and love Cork O'Connor and his family. Have gotten to experience his 3 children growing up while Cork and family have gone through many rough and frightening times. I will be so sad when and if Krueger ends the series.

In this O'Connor adventure, Cork, former sheriff and now private investigator, is hired by Lindsay and Trevor Harris, grown grandchildren of John Harris, who has mysteriously disappeared in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. After a massive search has turned up nothing, they are still concerned that their grandfather is out there and in trouble.

Without spoiling the plot, I will just say that Cork and Lindsay, who accompanies him, disappear as well and end up in grave danger. Perpetrators are a Native terrorist group called the Warrior Cohort who seem to stop at nothing to get their point across to "white folks" (developers) who seek to destroy land they hold sacred.

Helping in the search for Cork and Lindsay are several who care about Cork, including his son Stephen, Daniel (future son-in-law), Rainy Bisonette and Rainy's grandfather, Henry Meloux, the aged and wise Mide, quoted above and one of my favorite characters.

I will just say I loved the ending with its implication of sweet things to come. On to #16, Sulfur Springs!

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

"Likewise, the Charles Dickens one, seriously old guy, dead and a foreigner, but Christ Jesus did he get the picture on kids and orphans getting screwed over and nobody giving a rat's ass. You'd think he was from around here."    

        -Demon, referring to Catcher in the Rye and David Copperfield 

Maybe you have figured out by now that I am a sucker for stories of kids trying to survive tough circumstances. I taught fifth grade and that is about the age at which Damon Fields, nicknamed Demon, begins his story. In contemporary southern Appalachia he survives an abusive stepfather, foster care, child labor, poor schooling, athletic success and addiction, among other obstacles. The novel is inspired by David Copperfield which I sort of wish I had read, or reread, beforehand. (I probably read it but ages ago!) 

This was the second 500+ page novel I have read recently, and it got a little tiresome partway through. I gave it a 4 rating because Kingsolver's writing is excellent, and I felt she portrayed Demon realistically. When the young man became addicted to opioids after they were prescribed due to an injury, I was reminded of The Empire of Pain The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe, which our Page Turners read last year. That nonfiction book opened our eyes to the deviousness and callousness of the pharmaceutical companies that pushed those addictive drugs which ruined many people's lives and may still be doing so.