To the Bright Edge of the World - Eowyn Ivey

Little, Brown & Company, August 2, 2016.

Four Stars

The stark beauty of the Alaskan landscape is brought brilliantly to life in Ivey’s latest novel. As the 19^th century comes to a close, exploration of the northern land is still going strong, and the vast setting is filled with mysteries. Colonel Allen Forrester is given the task of navigating Alaska’s remote Wolverine River with a small group of men – the American government wants to use the river to open up trade routes and access gold reserves, but the traditional people and spirits of Alaska may not allow him to succeed.

Forrester has recently been married to Sophie, but he must leave his young bride behind almost immediately, in order to explore the wilderness. Sophie soon realizes she is pregnant, and she begins to feel trapped in the Oregon army barracks – she craves adventure too, at a time when women were expected to stay safely at home. To compensate for her homebound life, she takes up hobbies such as birdwatching and photography, and she manages to expand her own horizons in surprising ways.

The story is told through the letters that pass between Forrester and Sophie, and they are supplemented by maps, illustrations and newspaper articles that bring a real sense of the time. Alternating with the story set in 1885 are sections set in the present day – these also take the form of letters, between Walter, a descendent of Forrester, and Joshua, an Alaskan museum curator. They are planning to exhibit Forrester and Sophie’s various historical ephemera in the tiny museum, to preserve a part of Alaskan history. Although their sections act as a framing device, they are just as strong as the other parts – they are fully developed characters in their own right.

Walter’s descriptions of the historical documents add context to Forrester’s adventures, which are often surreal. The intervention by white explorers led to the disappearance of the spiritual and even supernatural elements that were present in Forrester’s time, and he describes his surprising interactions with them in his letters. He speaks of shapeshifters, shamans, and crossing the boundaries between the living and the dead. However, even though Forrester’s discoveries were interesting in a larger way, it was Sophie’s domestic exploration of her small, intimate world that I enjoyed most.

This is a lengthy novel, but it held my attention for the most part by jumping through time, place and perspective. The beautiful setting and strong sense of place add a magical element to the characters’ lives, although they are deeply rooted in the earth. Considering the poetic title and stunning book cover, this novel definitely lived up to my expectations as a beautiful, complex and timeless story.

I received this book from Little, Brown & Company and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye - Marius Gabriel

Lake Union Publishing, August 4, 2015.

Three Stars

Gabriel’s novel follows the three Redcliffe sisters in the years leading up to World War II. Beginning during the Spanish Civil War, two of the sisters are trapped in rural Spain, while one remains in England. Isobel is the oldest, separated from her wealthy Spanish husband after the death of their child. Her youngest sister Felicity is only nineteen, and she has recently decided to join a convent back in England as a nun. When Isobel’s mansion is requisitioned by the Republican army, one of their soldiers decides to escort the women across the country so they can find safe passage back to England.

The soldier, William Willoughby, features throughout the sisters’ lives for many years to come. Although Felicity has a crush on him, his rejection solidifies her decision to become a nun. Isobel travels from Spain to Germany in a show of support for the Fascist cause, but when she reverses her politics after witnessing the persecution of Jewish citizens during Kristallnacht, she ends up in the arms of Willoughby. Isobel is strong and domineering, but even loving sister Felicity is shocked by the ensuing events.

Meanwhile, middle sister Chiara is relatively safe in London, living a fun and carefree life at dances and on dates, until she meets a much older man who refuses to commit to her. At the same time, London becomes more dangerous for everyone as bombs drop with increased frequency. Each sister grows up under the shadow of WWII, and it brings them together and drives them apart in shocking ways.

The novel is episodic, broken into long chapters that almost stand on their own – in fact, they were originally released individually as separate short stories. Each chapter does enhance the others, as we see overlapping events through the eyes of another sister. Although they care deeply for each other, they are just as likely to cause each other pain when they make difficult decisions.

I found the historical aspects very interesting, especially Isobel’s uneducated support of Hitler’s Nazi regime and her shock and disappointment when she learns the truth about the government’s agenda. I liked that none of the sisters were all good or evil – they were well-rounded, complicated individuals. What I did not enjoy was the stiff, unrealistic and often silly dialogue. The sisters’ emotional responses seemed real, but their ability to realistically express themselves was lacking. There was also an issue with the unresolved ending, which may be leaving room for a sequel. There were plenty of loose ends for the Redcliffe sisters to resolve in the future.

I received this novel from Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Girl from the Sea - Shalini Boland

Adrenalin Books, September 16, 2016.

Three Stars

The Girl from the Sea is yet another novel that is being compared to Gone Girl, and once again it doesn’t quite stand up to the original. I’m looking forward to the day when every thriller with a female character isn’t being compared to Gillian Flynn’s famous novel, because it does a disservice to both. Boland’s novel is very different from Flynn’s – it is not quite as strong, but it explores a very interesting idea and it manages suspenseful elements quite well.

A woman is found washed up on the beach in England, with no memories of who she is or what her life was like. After several days of being unable to even recognize her own reflection, the woman is claimed by her apparent boyfriend Piers, who tells her that her name is Mia James. She learns that she is very wealthy, with a beautiful waterfront townhouse, glamorous friends, and a wonderful lifestyle. However, Mia immediately feels uncomfortable in her own life, and she is certain that Piers is keeping secrets from her. The only think she truly knows about herself is that she loves to row, and she is drawn to the rowing club and one of its charismatic instructors, Jack.

Mia has no idea how she ended up on that beach, but investigators assume it was a rowing accident – she must have gone out alone at night and fallen into the sea. Mia doesn’t remember anything from her past, and she is shocked to learn that her father is dead and she is estranged from her sister and mother. However, as the secrets surrounding her are gradually exposed, Mia realizes there may have been a more sinister explanation for her accident – and the person she trusts the most may be the most dangerous.

This novel had an exciting start and it moved quickly in many different directions, but then many of these loose ends were just abandoned with no explanation. The concept of Mia’s accident is an original idea, although I didn’t feel like the suspense followed through to the end. I did figure out much of the ending – although there was a twist I didn’t see coming – but it wasn’t surprising or thrilling enough to really get excited about. This novel was a great escape for a few hours, but not powerful enough to put it in line as the next Gone Girl.

I received this novel from Adrenalin Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy - Beau North

September 16, 2016.

Three Stars

When Elizabeth Bennet rejects Darcy’s marriage proposal, he goes to bed feeling devastated, with a plan to leave for London the following day to hide from his disgrace. However, unlike in Jane Austen’s original Pride and Prejudice, Darcy doesn’t wake up the next morning and carry on with his life, eventually clearing up the misunderstandings between himself and Elizabeth. Instead, he awakens to hear the maid singing the same song as they day before, and he soon realizes that he is reliving the previous day over again.

At first, Darcy is pleased because it is as if his proposal to Elizabeth never happened, so he can carry on without the embarrassment. He treats the day as a reprieve, and goes to bed happy – but when he wakes up, it is once again the same day. As the pattern repeats over many days, with the maid singing her song each morning, Darcy experiences the gamut of emotions, including a descent into madness and carelessness with his own life. He feels he is living a waking nightmare that he can never escape.

It is not until Darcy begins to think less of himself and more of fixing the problems he has created that he finds he may have hit on a solution to his recurring day. Selfish Darcy finally decides to take the initiative to make better choices and change for the better in his treatment of others, especially Elizabeth and the Bennet family, and he has infinite second chances to be the best man he can be.

The nuances of language and character are perfectly fitted to Austen’s original novel. This is good, solid fan fiction, but I don’t think it would succeed on its own. It relies too much on the original Pride and Prejudice source material to enforce the romantic aspects of Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship – if you haven’t read the original, it is unlikely that you will recognize any spark of romance between the two of them here. This novel has very high ratings because it is so easy to transfer the fans’ love of the original onto this Darcy novel, but it cannot stand alone. However, judged as a companion novella, it is an interesting, clever idea and I think fans will love it.

I received this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

You Will Know Me - Megan Abbott

Little, Brown & Company, July 26, 2016.

Four Stars

Katie and Eric Knox have based their whole marriage on getting their talented gymnast daughter Devon into the Olympics. They have sacrificed their own careers, taken out a second mortgage on their home, and spent countless hours on the road, taking Devon to practices and competitions. It will all be worth it, because Devon is six weeks away from the competition that will make her an Elite gymnast, only steps away from the Olympic team. However, a sudden death could ruin all of Devon’s dreams.

Coach Teddy takes care of all the girls at his gym, including his wayward niece Hailey. When her boyfriend Ryan is killed in a hit and run car accident, Hailey suffers from a mental breakdown and begins harassing Devon. Katie, who thinks she knows everything about her daughter, can’t figure out what Devon has to do with it – but there are dark secrets swirling all around her. In the close-knit gymnastics community, rumours abound and loyalties are constantly shifting.

You Will Know Me is written from Katie’s perspective, which makes this different from Abbott’s other teen-centric novels. Her stories are about adolescents, but they are focused on very adult themes, so it is interesting to see this one told from a mother’s point of view. It is about the moments when a child leaves the shelter of home and becomes a separate person – a person that her mother does not even recognize. Katie always thinks the best of Devon, but even she isn’t sure what her daughter is capable of.

Katie was drawn to Ryan in life – his charismatic personality made her feel important in a way that she hadn’t since falling into the shadows of parenthood. After his death, Katie becomes almost obsessed with him – the crime itself, and how it has affected everyone around her. The microcosm of the gym shows the full desperation of desire and ambition, as embodied by young teenage girls. There is an overarching layer of dark foreshadowing, and creepy hints of what is to come.

Abbott is so fantastically manipulative, always providing new twists just when you think you have it all figured out. She makes you question how well you can know your own family – the people you are physically closest to, but who still hold so many secrets. Abbott’s genre has been called “girl-noir”, and it’s a fitting term – she is not as obvious as other suspense writers, making her novels a guilty pleasure with a measure of intelligence. She takes seemingly small, domestic situations and extrapolates them to the full extent of their darkness.

You Will Know Me was perfectly timed to coincide with the 2016 Rio Olympics – watching those powerful young gymnasts on tv gave me a mental image of what Devon and her peers were going through in this novel. It doesn’t even matter if you figure out who killed Ryan, because it is more about character and family dynamics. Once again, Abbott has used great writing to elevate a basic plot into perfection.

I received this book from Little, Brown & Company and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.