The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd

 

"If what Pinckney said about indigo was true, it could save us. It would save me. There was no way my father and mother would foist me off on some mean old man needing an heir. There was no way they would give the running of the plantation business to George if I was the one who made it a success and released the property from its debt. At the very least it would allow me my pick of suitors if marry I must."

                -Eliza, from the novel

Most followers of my blog know I am a fan of historical fiction. This one was the February selection for the Page Turners group. I didn't like it much at the start but soon I found there was much to enjoy and learn from. The main character, Eliza Lucas is a real historic figure of S.C. history, improving the state's economy in the mid-18th century by experimenting and successfully producing indigo, a plant used to make blue dye.

One of these days, I would like to read some biographical information about Eliza to see how much of her actual life appeared in the book. 

A couple of readers in our group rated the book a bit lower---one thought it repetitive and another thought the ending was confusing. I rated the novel a 5; I didn't find much not to like. Most of us admired Eliza's ambition and determination. She had great persistence at a time when women were devalued and seemed to be a feminist ahead of her time. I also admired her compassion toward her slaves but apparently there is some question about the accuracy of that portrayal.

To add to our discussion, a guest came to demonstrate how indigo is used to dye fabric. The process was a bit messy but not even close to the challenge Eliza faced to produce the product in her time.

This novel reminded me a bit of The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd about the Grimke sisters of SC which I enjoyed very much.

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

 

"It was a special kind of hell, Reka Muller thought, to be as old as she was and have to live among all these young women. Old women were largely invisible in the wide world, and for the most part she didn't mind. If you were invisible, you were ignored, and that meant you could do whatever the hell you wanted. But young women noticed you."

    -from the novel

I didn't much care for this book when I first began but it quickly grew on me! I have read a couple by this author in the past and enjoyed them and I found this one quite unique and intriguing.

The setting is a run-down boarding house in Washington, D.C. where several single women of greatly varying backgrounds have been brought into an unlikely friendship by newcomer, Grace March. 

The story begins at Thanksgiving, 1954, where Briarwood House is the scene of two murders! The author then takes the reader back 4 years and begins to introduce each woman with her own chapter, allowing one to wonder who did the killing and why.

We meet Mrs. Nilsson, the curmudgeonly landlady, raising her two children, Lina and Pete, poorly. And the boarders include Fliss and baby daughter (husband is a doctor overseas) and Nora Walsh, who works at the National Archives and is seeing a gangster (?). Other boarders are Reka, an artist and Bea Veretti, a former baseball player of the women's league during WWII. And we mustn't forget Claire, a library worker or Arlene, a proud member of HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) looking for a "commie" around every corner. That only leaves Grace March, renter of the attic room, who holds a deep, dark secret---but then so do some of the others.

Quinn's writing is quite readable and pleasant. I really liked the "Interstial" parts of the book, where briefly the Briarwood House gives its point of view of the goings-on.  These were amusing as in "The house would roll its eyes if it had any." I got a kick out of historical events I remember---TV shows like "Ozzie and Harriet" and "I Love Lucy," the trials of the birth control pill, and disturbingly McCarthyism and serious homophobia. I didn't know McCarthy was nicknamed Tail Gunner Joe and had forgotten that Senator Margaret Chase Smith had stood up to his bullying. (Wish we had more like her in Congress today!)

Rating: 5

Counting Miracles by Nicholas Sparks

 

"On a deeper level, Jasper couldn't shake the feeling that he and the white deer were connected somehow. He wasn't sure whether it was an omen or a message, but as he sat in the truck, he felt with a growing certainty that the white deer's appearance had been meant specifically for him. Like his father and grandfather, after all, Jasper had always wanted to witness a miracle."

                  -from the novel

In the past I enjoyed a number of Sparks's novels, but this is the first in a few years. I remembered much of his work being romantic and sentimental, sometimes too much so for me. Those adjectives would describe this one as well, but I found the story compelling. 

Tanner Hughes discovers after the death of the grandmother who raised him the name of his biological father and a place where he might be found, Asheboro, North Carolina. He takes off to hopefully find the man. Truthfully, he is trying to find himself and discover a purpose for his life. 

While he in Asheboro, he meets Dr. Kaitlyn Cooper, a single mother, literally by accident and the two hit it off, as one might predict.

Meanwhile Jasper Jones, an elderly man with a tortured past who lives alone in the woods hears of the sighting of a rare white deer in the forest. He fears it is in danger from poachers and sets out to save it, risking his own health and safety. 

The plot thickens and becomes a page-turner as the two stories mesh. My rating is 5.

Glamorous Notions by Megan Chance

 

"Julia had taught her how to play a game. Julia had used her. Lena had been enchanted but the entire time Julia was only taking advantage of her, and she'd put Lena, unaware and stupid, in danger."

    -from the novel

Everyone should know: Don't judge a book by its cover. From the cover design and title, I thought this novel would be light reading, possibly romantic and was I wrong! It turned out to be a thriller and quite a page-turner halfway through. I found the novel exciting and entertaining and rated it a 5.

Beginning in 1950 Hollywood, Elsie Gruner is married to Walter, a wannabe movie star, when she meets Harvey and Charlie. These two new friends convince her she is very talented when they see her fashion drawings and encourage her to apply to a prestigious design school. Partly because of ambition and partly needing to get away from Walter, Elsie soon manages to enter an art academy in Rome. There she meets the charming Julia (referred to in the quote) who draws her into some mysterious (illegal?) business and changes her future in a huge way. Julia persuades Elsie to change her name (No way she should have the same name as a cow!) so they come up with Lena Taylor as an appropriate name for an up-and-coming dress designer. 

When Lena is forced out of Italy, she returns to Hollywood and by a stroke of good fortune gets work in a movie studio where she becomes quite successful all the while telling lie after lie about her past even to screenwriter Paul, her new romantic interest. "Oh, what a tangled web..." Taking place in the 1950's, the McCarthy era, communists are feared and imagined around every corner, further complicating Lena's life.

James by Percival Everett

"At that moment the power of reading made itself clear and real to me. If I could see the words, then no one could control them or what I got from them. They couldn't even know if I was merely seeing them or reading them, sounding them out or comprehending them. It was a completely private affair and completely free and. therefore, completely subversive."

         -from the novel

James is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn reimagined and from the point of view of Jim, the runaway slave who became Huck's traveling companion. Since I am quite a fan of Mark Twain and have enjoyed ...Huckleberry Finn more than once, I placed it on my TBR list right away. It did not disappoint!

Jim and Huck meet up soon after they have run away from different situations for different reasons, and they travel together along the Mississippi River on foot and by raft, canoe, and riverboat. The two get separated at times but then reunite and they share some wild and sometimes frightening adventures. They meet some interesting characters and some nefarious ones along the way.

Parts of the story are sad and infuriating but there is humor at times. It is especially compelling being told by Jim who is shown as an intelligent, literate, resourceful, and compassionate man, as opposed to how he is seen by those they meet and in the original novel previously mentioned.

I am so glad I read James. I rate it a 5!