Book review: The Door

The Door, Szabo, cover

This is a beautifully written, slightly claustrophobic novel of a young, Budapest-dwelling Hungarian author – whose name we never learn until the end of the novel – who employs Emerence, an elderly woman, to become her housekeeper. Everyone in the neighborhood has tremendous respect for the older woman, but no one seems to know much…

Read More

My June 2022 reads

June 2022 reads

Summer reading is always my favorite reading – even if my son’s fractued arm put a damper on beach and poolside reading during this steamy month… But that lament is for another day. At least the reading was always good. I had a great June in books. Here are the novels I read and the…

Read More

Book Review: The Switch

I read this book largely in one day, on the beach between swims. It’s a fast paced, fun tale about an identity swap between grandmother and granddaughter. Leena is a twenty-something management consultant/workaholic living in London. Her job is her life and she’s used to dazzling clients and being the It-girl of her consultng firm.…

Read More

Book review: The Guest List

The Guest List book cover

This is the third Lucy Foley I’ve read, and it is most definitely her best. This mystery novel set on a remote, wild island off the coast of western Ireland digs deeps into the psyches of its multiple point of view characters, and the slow reveals keep the story moving quickly and maintain reader interest…

Read More

Book review: The Flat Share

The Flat Share book cover

I had heard about this novel that had been a runaway success, and was curious to read this feel-good, romantic comedy for myself. This is the story of two quirky young Londoners who both share a common challenge one would imagine is well understood by many a city dweller. How to afford living in London…

Read More

Book Review: Grown Ups

Grown Ups book cover

Irish author Marian Keyes always delivers interesting characters, and her latest novel, Grown Ups, doesn’t disappoint. The novel unfolds in Dublin, and on various holiday locales around Ireland – and one further afield in Tuscany, Italy. We’re introduced rather quickly to a large cast of characters. The Casey brothers – Johnny, Ed and Liam –…

Read More

Book review: All the Lonely People

All The Lonely People book cover

I so enjoyed reading my first Mike Gayle novel, Half A World Away, earlier this year that I decided to also read his newest, All the Lonely People. It didn’t disappoint. This story opens as we observe a grumpy, old man, Hubert Bird, speaking from his London home with his daughter who works in Australia.…

Read More

Book review: Love Stories for Hectic People

I have written past posts about Australian-author-transplanted-to-Italy Catherine McNamara’s fiction, whether it be her debut novel, her short story collection, Pelt or her Rome reading from her latest short story collection, The Cartography of Others. So I was thrilled when I learned that she’d branched out into flash fiction, and that her latest collection of…

Read More

Book review: The Chalet

The Chalet

Full disclaimer : COVID has left me brutally ski-deprived. I spent this past January driving through mountains positively mocking me with their pistes fluffy with beautiful, virginal snow, yet with not one lone skier on them due to COVID restrictions. COVID killed the season last year, and it’s looking as if this year won’t be…

Read More

Book review: The Heatwave

Heat Wave book cover

I read The Girl in the Photograph, an earlier novel by this author, and was underwhelmed, but I was intrigued by the premise of this novel and its setting. I’m glad to have picked it up, and found it a compelling read. This novel is largely set in southern France’s Provence region, in a small,…

Read More