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#BestsellerCode100: Writer’s Review of Testimony by Anita Shreve

08/16/2018 / / 0 Comments

Let’s take a look at the next novel from The Bestseller Code 100 list, Testimony by Anita Shreve, from a writer’s perspective.

This post contains spoilers.

 

Testimony* by Anita Shreve

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Summary: When the headmaster of Avery Academy receives a video of three of his older male students engaged in sexual acts with an underage girl, he is shocked. What will be the consequences for the students involved and for the school, which is already struggling? How did this happen and what should he do about it?

Plot/Format

This novel has an unusual format in many ways. First of all, instead of the standard rising conflict, the author presents the highest level of drama — the most intense scene — in the first chapter. All the following chapters cover either the acts that gave rise to the event or the results from it. It is like a mirror is shattered in the first scene and the rest of the book is about trying to reassemble the pieces.

The story is told from the perspectives of multiple characters, some of whom are closer to the sex scandal than others.  At times the diversity of viewpoints is excessive and unnecessary, for example when Natalie the lunch lady at the school or the town boy named Daryl, who sells alcohol to minors, get their say.

To her credit, Anita Shreve uses an unnamed researcher from the university to instigate some of the “testimony” and tie together the pieces with the finest of threads. The book might have been stronger, however, if the researcher was more concrete and pulled the pieces together more tightly.

Each chapter also varies in point of view. For example, the first chapter with Mike the headmaster is in third person. The second scene (by Ellen, Rob’s mom) is told in second person. Sienna, the underage girl, narrates in first person.

Characters

Because Anita Shreve tells the story from multiple perspectives, it isn’t clear who the protagonist is. The reader learns the most about one of the boys named Silas; what his motives were and what happened to him.

A case could also be made that Mike, the headmaster of the school who views the video, is the main character, especially since he’s the character we meet first. On the other hand, his actions also instigated much of what happened to Silas.

 

Photo of a house in Vermont by Mariamichelle via Visualhunt.com

Setting

The setting is a private school in Vermont. It adds atmosphere, but the story could have been placed anywhere and still had the same impact.

Discussion

A test for the greatness of any novel is how well it remains relevant over time. Unfortunately, from the perspective of the #MeToo era,  how Shreve treats the three young males who get drunk and sexually assault an underage girl seems tipped towards sympathy for the boys. The girl is presented at times as a willing participant, or at the very least less of a victim, than the boys. That perspective feels outdated.

Overall, although the construction of the novel was intriguing, the themes didn’t work for me. I had to work to finish the novel because I didn’t really care what happened to any of the characters.

 

Join us on social media:

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 53. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire (2011) – Discussion begins August 20, 2018
Romance

Author Post: Francine Mathews

08/10/2018 / / 2 Comments

Francine Mathews writes a variety of genres. In addition to police procedural mysteries and spy thrillers, she has written a series of historical novels about Jane Austin acting as an amateur sleuth under the pen name Stephanie Barron.

Public domain image of Nantucket from NASA

Francine Mathews Novels

Merry Folger series

  1. Death in the Off Season (1994) – reviewed below
  2. Death in Rough Water (1995) -reviewed below
  3. Death in a Mood Indigo (1997)
  4. Death in a Cold Hard Light (1998)
  5. Death on Nantucket (2017)

In this police procedural mystery series, Detective Meredith (Merry) Folger is a third generation police officer who lives on the Island of Nantucket off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Caroline Carmichael series

  1. The Cut Out (2001) – reviewed below
  2. Blown (2005)

Francine Mathews worked for a few years as an intelligence analyst for the CIA. She used her experience to write the Caroline Carmichael novels.

Death in the Off Season*

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Summary:  Detective Meredith Folger’s father, who is chief of police, assigns Merry her first murder investigation when the mysterious brother of a prominent citizen ends up drowned in a cranberry field. Did the murderer intend to kill the victim, who had been hiding in Brazil for a decade? Or was the true target his brother Peter, a local cranberry farmer?

The Nantucket setting is intriguing and Mathews weaves in local details, such as the difficulty for residents to find affordable housing on an island that fills with wealthy tourists each summer. The plot is nicely complicated by the twist that we don’t know who the intended target is. There’s also a red herring or two.

The one weakness is the dialogue, which consists mainly straightforward interrogations with little realistic conflict between the participants and no subtext. It could have been richer.

 

Death in Rough Water

In the second of the series, Mathews delves deeply into the economic woes of the fishing industry on Nantucket. Merry’s close friend Del returns to the island after the death of Del’s’ father, fisherman Joe Duarte. It looks like Del is going to take over her father’s boat and fish for swordfish, but she is brutally murdered.  Merry’s father orders Merry to take a vacation. Instead, she continues to investigate her friend’s death.

For this novel, the intrigue builds around the father of Del’s daughter. If Merry can discover the toddler’s father’s true identity, it might reveal the motive for the murder. Mathews also weaves in a subplot around an anti-fishing activist and an explosion at Town Pier.

I was a bit disappointed when one of the side characters, who had been an admirable person up to this point, goes crazy with jealousy. It seemed like an unrealistic and contrived way to generate another suspect. The author could have created another character — one who was less stable from the get go — to fill the jealous role and it would have been more believable.

 

The Cut Out

When CIA analyst Caroline Carmichael discovers that her husband Eric — who is supposed to have been dead for two years — is actually alive and possibly working for the enemy, she is shocked. When the director sends her to find Eric and figure out what is happening, Caroline jumps at the chance even though she knows she’s being used.

Unlike with her Merry Folger books, this novel is filled with a huge cast of characters, so many that it is hard to keep track of them at times. Some of the characters were flat and not memorable, which didn’t help. The characters also travel all over the world, so the setting is more complex than the Merry Folger books.

The plot is also more tangled and and much, much darker.  As is usual with the spy thriller genre, the protagonist spends most of her time trying to figure out who she can rely on in her own team, including whether she can trust her own husband, rather than battling the bad guys.

In an unusual choice, the author writes flashbacks in present tense. I found it disorienting, which may have been the intention. After all, Caroline has just learned her husband is not who and where she thought he was.

The dialogue is better in this novel because everyone is lying and covering up their true agendas.

Conclusion:

Overall, I enjoyed the Merry Folger books a great deal and would like to read more in the series.

 

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About Author Posts:

Because I read a lot of mysteries, I’ve been trying to come up with a better system to keep track of which novels I’ve finished. I thought blogging would help, which it does, but I don’t always review everything I read. To get more organized, I’ve decided to create a series of author posts with lists of novels and links to my reviews. I plan to edit these pages as needed.

#BookBeginnings Killing the Blues by Michael Brandman

08/10/2018 / / 2 Comments

Today we’re reading Robert B. Parker’s Killing the Blues (A Jesse Stone Novel) by Michael Brandman for Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Book Beginnings is a fun meme hosted by Rose City Reader blog. To participate, share the first sentence or so of a novel you are reading and your thoughts about it. When you are finished, add your URL to the Book Beginnings page linked above. Hope to see you there!

 

book-beginnings-button-hurwitz

Robert B. Parker’s Killing the Blues* (A Jesse Stone Novel) by Michael Brandman

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

When Robert B. Parker passed away in 2010, Michael Brandman took over writing the Jesse Stone novels. In addition to Killing the Blues, he also wrote Fool Me Twice and Damned if You Do for the same series.

Summary: Jesse Stone has taken a job as chief of police in Paradise, Massachusetts as a way of leaving his disturbing past in Los Angeles behind. When a string of car thefts lead to murder, he must find a way to protect the summer tourists and at the same time figure out if his past might have come back to haunt him.

First Sentence:

Coffee was the only thing on Jesse Stone’s mind when he entered the Paradise police station on a bright New England spring morning.

His first stop was usually the coffeemaker. But when he saw what was happening in front of Suitcase Simpson’s desk, which was located across the aisle from the kitchen area, he headed for his office.

Discussion:

I like that the story starts in a low key way, instead of dropping a murder in the first scene as many murder mysteries do. We get to know the characters before the action starts.

What do you think? Do you like the beginning? Would you keep reading?

Are you a Robert Parker fan? What do you think when another author takes over a series?

#BestsellerCode100: Number 54 Testimony by Anita Shreve

08/06/2018 / / 0 Comments

Time to start the discussion of our next novel from The Bestseller Code 100 list, Testimony by Anita Shreve.

This post does not contain spoilers.

 

Testimony* by Anita Shreve

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Summary: When the headmaster of Avery Academy receives a video of his students engaged in sexual acts with an underage girl, he is shocked. What will be the consequences for the students involved and for the school, which is already struggling? How did this happen and what should he do about it?

Have you read Testimony by Anita Shreve? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Related posts:

  1. Book-beginnings, a discussion of the first line of the novel
  2. Karen’s review from a reader’s perspective
  3. Roberta’s review from a writer’s perspective

You can also join us on social media:

Do you have suggestions for ways to improve this reading challenge? We’d love to hear them.

Have you written about Testimony by Anita Shreve? Feel free to add a link to your review in the comments.
__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 53. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire (2011) – Discussion begins August 20, 2018
Romance

Sujata Massey: Author Post and The Pearl Diver Review

08/05/2018 / / 2 Comments

Sujata Massey taught English in Japan for several years.  She used her experiences to create the delightful Rei Shimura mystery series.

Novels by Sujata Massey

Rei Shimura series:

  • The Salaryman’s Wife (1997) –review
  • Zen Attitude (1998)
  • The Flower Master (1999)
  • The Floating Girl (2000)
  • The Bride’s Kimono (2001)
  • The Samurai’s Daughter (2003)
  • The Pearl Diver (2004) – reviewed below
  • The Typhoon Lover (2005)
  • Girl in a Box (2006)
  • Shimura Trouble (2008)
  • The Kizuna Coast (December 2014)

Daughters of Bengal:
The Sleeping Dictionary

The Perveen Mistry Investigations
The Widows of Malabar Hill (2018) (historical mystery)

Review:

The Pearl Diver* by Sujata Massey


(*Amazon Affiliate Link)

Rei Shimura has been banned from Japan and is now living in Washington D.C. with her boyfriend Hugh. When her cousin is kidnapped, Rei leaps into action to find her. One thing leads to another and soon she’s also trying to find a Japanese woman who disappeared many years earlier. Are the two cases linked?

Although the novel is no longer set in Japan like the first novel, I still like how Massey works in details of Japanese culture, especially Japanese antiques, food (bento boxes), and pearl diving. The new setting is also concrete and detailed. Massey has a fine touch with setting.

The plot is rich, with many well-developed characters. The front matter includes a “Cast of Characters” list with snippets about a dozen of the more prominent characters. Character lists are always handy references, but aren’t necessary to enjoy this book. Unlike some other novels, the author does a good job of introducing new people so that it is easy to remember who they are.

Compared to her debut novel, which had a few bumps, this one is well done. I particularly liked the ending, which I won’t reveal.

I want to read more of the novels in this series.

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Sujata Massey Author Post

Because I have been reading a lot of mysteries, I’ve been trying to come up with a better system to keep track of what I’ve read. I thought the blog would help, which it does, but I don’t always review everything I’ve read. To get more organized I’m going to try to create an author post for each author with lists of novels. I will update later by linking to newer reviews and marking books as read .

#BookBeginnings Testimony by Anita Shreve

08/03/2018 / / 6 Comments

Today we’re starting the next book in The Bestseller Code 100 challenge, Testimony by Anita Shreve for Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Book Beginnings is a fun meme hosted by Rose City Reader blog. To participate, share the first sentence or so of a novel you are reading and your thoughts about it. When you are finished, add your URL to the Book Beginnings page linked above. Hope to see you there!

 

book-beginnings-button-hurwitz

Testimony* by Anita Shreve

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Summary:  When the headmaster of Avery Academy receives a video of his students engaged in sexual acts with an underage girl, he is shocked. What will be the consequences for the students involved and for the school, which is already struggling? How did this happen and what should he do about it?

First Sentence:

It was a small cassette, not much bigger than the palm of his hand, and when Mike thought about the terrible license and risk exhibited on the tape, as well as its resultant destructive power, it was as though the two-by three plastic package had been radioactive.

Discussion:

The first chapter  should come with a warning. I took the book with me to read while waiting to get my car’s oil changed. Within minutes I realized that the intense description of sexual acts on the video weren’t something I felt comfortable reading in public. It made me squirm with embarrassment and I had to put it away. That is the first time I’ve ever had that happen. (I did my grocery list instead).

Have you ever had to quit reading a book because of similar circumstances?

What do you think? Would you read Testimony?

#BestsellerCode100: Writer’s Review of A Visit from the Goon Squad

07/30/2018 / / 2 Comments

Let’s take a look at our next novel from The Bestseller Code 100 list, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, from a writer’s perspective.

This post contains spoilers.

 

A Visit from the Goon Squad* by Jennifer Egan

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Summary: Written as a collection of loosely-related short stories, the novel centers on two characters, a recording executive named Bennie and his employee, Sasha.

A Visit from the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011.

Characters

As to be expected from a prize-winning novel, the characters are diverse and well-developed.  Because of the sheer numbers of characters and because they pop up here and there in the stories, I found creating a flow chart with names and role summaries helped keep them straight.

Sasha is a bright young woman with an interest in  music who also is a kleptomaniac. She works for Bennie, a big wig in the music industry who is struggling with his divorce from Stephanie. Stephanie works for Dolly at La Doll PR firm and her brother is Jules Jones, who attacked a young movie star named Kitty Jackson and was sent to prison. Later Dolly recruits Kitty to help clean up a bad guy’s image. Dolly’s daughter Lulu becomes Bennie’s assistant after Sasha leaves to marry Drew Blake. Yes, the stories are that convoluted.

solar panels

Setting

Most of the stories take place in New York City, but both the settings and timeline hop around.  In addition, some of the settings are more pronounced than others.  For example, Lou and his family go on safari in South Africa, which is described in detail. Toward the end Sasha ends up living in a “desert” next to some large solar arrays and her daughter describes it lyrically, but with only the briefest of phrases in a chapter that consists of the images of slides from a slideshow.

Symbolism and Subtle Messages

All the while the stories are skipping from place to place, the author is leaving clues and subtle messages. The reader has to be alert and observant to keep up. For example, when Dolly takes her daughter Lulu on a dangerous trip, Lulu bites into a starfruit, an act which is “ripe” with symbolism. Sasha’s relationship with her stepfather and uncle also suggested some deeper meaning, although the issue was always skirted. Alex, who never really caught on that Sasha had stolen a woman’s wallet during their date, is trapped in an apartment with a view that is being eclipsed by construction.

Discussion

A Visit from the Goon Squad is a multi-layered tapestry. It shows how lives can be intertwined and how acquaintances — the six degrees of separation idea — can lead to deeper connections to others. It also reveals how seemingly random encounters can drastically change lives.

Personally, I found it fun and exciting to read. I can’t imagine how Jennifer Egan kept all the different threads of stories straight while she was writing, but she does an amazing job. I will definitely read this book again and look for more novels by this author.

Have you read A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Join us on social media:

__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 54. Testimony by Anita Shreve (2008) – Discussion begins August 6, 2018
Mystery/suspense

#amreading The Beauty of the Fall by Rich Marcello

07/29/2018 / / 0 Comments

It’s been a busy two weeks, but now I can settle in and review some of the books I read while on vacation, starting with The Beauty of the Fall by Rich Marcello (see his note below). The novel won the 2017 Rosie’s Book Club award for contemporary fiction.

The Beauty of the Fall* by Rich Marcello

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Summary:   Dan Underlight is overwhelmed with his problems. He helped found the tech company RadioRadio with his friend and boss Olivia, but after sixteen years together, she fires him. He is divorced and is still grieving the death of his young son, Zack. Will he be able to pull himself together enough to start another company?

 

Discussion

This novel reflects on some of the harsh realities of our times. In addition to being an insider’s view of technology start-ups, it has themes not only of workaholism, grief, domestic violence, and self-mutilation, but also of therapy and recovery. For example, the main character’s relational therapy session in chapter 2 (after he’s fired) sounds like more fun than most kids have at a play group.

I’ve talked before how authors should treat their introductions like they are inviting the reader into their home, that they should be welcoming. For this novel, the introduction has a few bumps, none of which are serious. For example, it might take a little time to get used to the  present tense verbs. Present tense is hard to pull off, but it is becoming increasingly popular, especially in literary fiction.

Turning the noun restroom into a verb in the first full paragraph might make a few grammar purists want to bail.

“Midway, my legs go wobbly, so I restroom to regroup.”

Don’t bail, however, because the introduction is rough for a reason. Dan is grieving and unstable and about to be fired. He’s having a tough time and the prose reflects that. Once past the first pages, the story smooths out and becomes engrossing.

I was especially taken by the insights into the corporate culture of tech companies. Sometimes the business-related sections were a bit dry, but it seemed to fit the character. He becomes a different person at work, more cerebral and less emotional. Outside of work, the two sides reverse in prominence.

Conclusion

The Beauty of the Fall is full of surprising twists and searing tragedies. Fortunately, the author blunts the harshness of some of the most traumatic events by foreshadowing and/or revealing them to the reader after they have occurred. Seeing how Dan deals with each new onslaught — in either positive or negative ways — will likely help readers better deal with similar situations.

What more can you ask for in a novel?

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A Note from Author Rich Marcello:

I spent the last year on the board of the Bridges Center for sexual and domestic violence, and one of the main characters in the novel, Willow (who is Dan’s love interest), is professionally based on Dawn Reams who runs the Bridges Center. She helped me a great deal as I was shaping the novel, and in particular, she focused on the DV passages in the book to ensure they were authentic and unflinching. That’s why I am donating 2018 profits from the book to Bridges.

See Rich Marcello’s:

Paperback: 378 pages
Publisher: Langdon Street Press (October 25, 2016)
ISBN-10: 1635054028
ISBN-13: 978-1635054026

 

Disclosures: This book was provided by the author for review purposes. I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at not extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

#BestsellerCode100: Number 55. A Visit from the Goon Squad

07/23/2018 / / 0 Comments

Time to start the discussion of our next novel from The Bestseller Code 100 list, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.

This post does not contain spoilers.

 

A Visit from the Goon Squad* by Jennifer Egan

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Summary: Written like a collection of loosely-knit short stories, the novel centers on two characters, a recording executive named Bennie and his employee, Sasha. The stories move through different times and settings.

This novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011.

 

Have you read A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Related posts:

  1. Book-beginnings, a discussion of the first line of the novel
  2. Karen’s review from a reader’s perspective
  3. Roberta’s review from a writer’s perspective

You can also join us on social media:

Do you have suggestions for ways to improve this reading challenge? We’d love to hear them.

Have you written about A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan? Feel free to add a link to your review in the comments.
__________________

What are we reading next?

If you ever have questions about what we are reading next or when we’re starting the next discussion, check the 100 Book List tab in the navigation bar at the top of the blog. Links in the list go to the landing page from this blog where the discussion starts. However, this is an open-ended challenge so feel free to jump in with any of the books at any time.

The next book is number 54. Testimony by Anita Shreve (2008) – Discussion begins August 6, 2018
Mystery/suspense

#BookBeginnings A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

07/12/2018 / / 9 Comments

Today we’re looking forward to starting the next book in The Bestseller Code 100 challenge, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan for Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Book Beginnings is a fun meme hosted by Rose City Reader blog. To participate, share the first sentence or so of a novel you are reading and your thoughts about it. When you are finished, add your URL to the Book Beginnings page linked above. Hope to see you there!

 

book-beginnings-button-hurwitz

A Visit from the Goon Squad* by Jennifer Egan

(*Amazon Affiliate link)

Summary:  Written like a collection of loosely-knit short stories, the novel centers on a two characters, a recording executive named Bennie and his employee, Sasha. The stories move through different times and settings.

First Sentence:

It began the usual way, in the bathroom of the Lassimo Hotel. Sasha was adjusting her yellow eye shadow in the mirror when she noticed a bag on the floor beside the sink that must have belonged to the woman whose peeing she could faintly hear through the vaultlike door of a toilet stall. Inside the rim of the bag, barely visible, was a wallet made of pale green leather.

Discussion:

Do you think she’s going to take the wallet or not?

While in a therapy session, Sasha reveals that not taking the wallet is a bigger challenge than stealing it.  Showing her unusual response to what is essentially an everyday occurrence gives the reader a deep insight into her character right at the start.

I can see why Jennifer Egan won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011 for this novel.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

Or have you already read A Visit from the Goon Squad?

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