The French Gardener by Santa Montefiore

Review by Jan:

I have posted this review once already on our Not Your Ordinary Book Group blog, so for those of you who follow both blogs please forgive the redundancy.  Our book group lately has been choosing books that lean toward contemporary fiction, like The French Gardener.  This is the May read for our book group.  We do have book group copies available that are not on our catalog, both in eReader and book format.  If you would like a copy, please let us know.  contact us

First I will begin by saying I fell in love with the environment of this story. It's set on an English country estate, with neglected gardens, stone bridge covered streams, and an abandoned cottage complete with a scrapbook filled with secrets. It reads more like contemporary fiction, or women's fiction, rather than a typical romance.

It begins with Miranda Lambert, an ex-Londoner and writer who we soon learn is not entirely happy living in the country as she secretly sobs in her closet over her unused Jimmy Choos. Her husband, a banker, travels from London to spend the weekends with her and their two children. She is a posh socialite more comfortable in the city than the country that she now inhabits. Her children are lonely and unhappy, starving for attention; her son acts out in aggressive ways, torturing the neighbor's poor donkey and biting classmates.

I was drawn to champion this woman as soon as her husband hit the pages. David is arrogant, belittles his wife, and having an affair with her best friend! On his weekends home, he watches golf and ignores his family. Miranda, after a scolding from her husband to "get it together", hires a cook, housekeeper, and a mysterious French gardener. While cleaning out an abandoned cottage on the estate, she discovers a journal written by the previous owner who was lovingly called Shrub by her husband. The journal chronicles Shrub's love affair with her own French gardener that happened thirty years prior.

We soon learn that Shrub's French gardener in the past is also Miranda's French gardener in the present; Jean-Paul is older but still handsome. The gardener returned for Shrub but found a troubled family in her place. In honor of his lost love, Jean-Paul agrees to stay and rebuild the overgrown garden. As the garden comes back to life so does the family who lives amongst its magical surroundings, and as Miranda reads the secret journal readers also journey through a forbidden love story.

This book intertwines two story lines quite nicely. I will say I enjoyed this book despite the heavy influence of infidelity throughout, both in the past and present. Shrub's affair in the past helps Miranda forgive her own husband's infidelity in the present, so while the affairs are distasteful, there are lessons learned. It is a story filled with secret discoveries, forbidden love, and human weakness. The setting is exquisite, a gardener's ultimate dream, and the cast is fun and quirky. The only other spoiler I will give is that I think it wrapped up the French gardener's storyline in a satisfactory way. I enjoyed the journey of Miranda and her family toward happiness and forgiveness, although I wouldn't have minded if she had punished her husband just a tad longer before allowing him back home.

Hope to see you in our library someday soon,
Jan

Europa Editions

Europa Editions is a publishing company founded in 2005 and based in New York.  It publishes European authors in translation.  The books are all the same size paperbacks and have publisher’s name and a stork logo on the front cover.  The first translation they published was  Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante  I had read and enjoyed it  The first best seller they had was The Elegance pf the Hedghog by Muriel Barbery but I still took no notice of this publisher.  I thought I was just lucky finding these good reads.                    

I was reading An Accident in August  by Laurence Cosse and enjoying it when I realized it was a Europa Publication. Then I started paying attention and realized I have never come across a boring one.  According to Wikipedia The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky is the 100^th publication of this company.  The company publishes about 20 titles a year.  I have read another title by Alina Bronsky and enjoyed it.  Will read her latest.  My favorite read from last year is an Europa Publication A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth.

~Maggie

Heft by Liz Moore

Review by Maggie:

Arthur Opp is nearly 600 lbs and has not left his Brooklyn brownstone in nearly ten years.  Fortunately for him he owns his home and has a trust fund that enables him to have all the food he wants delivered to his home.  Although he was always misfit he was an academic before becoming a recluse.  He kept up a correspondence with a former student but has not heard from her in years.    Out of the blue he gets a letter and she wants to visit with him----Arthur feels he must warn her about his living conditions (he has not been upstairs in his house in many years climbing stairs is too difficult) but he welcomes the idea of being back in touch.  She has secrets of her own---one being she has a teenage son-----

Soon Arthur has cleaning lady that he develops a friendship with and we then hear of his back story.  In the meantime, the novel alternates between Arthur’s life and the tale of  Kel the teenage son of his former student.  It is easy to like Arthur and I found his sections more interesting than Kel the teenage boy.   It is a very compelling read----one cannot help but like Arthur.
~Maggie

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The Woman In Black by Susan Hill

Review by Jan:

Every once in a while I will read a book that I think might appeal to literary fiction readers, and so I will post my review on both our popular fiction and literary blogs.  This is the March read for our Not Your Ordinary Book Group.  We do have copies available if you want to become a member, both in book and Nook format.  Please contact us if you are interested.  New members are always welcome.

Now onto my review:

The Woman In Black is a ghost story set in historical England.  At only 164 pages, it is a shorter novel, but beautifully written and well worth a read.  It was first published in the 1980's and is now a major motion picture starring a grown-up Daniel Radcliff. 

The setting is both lovely and eerie. There are no graphic elements in this book, but rather more of an emotional pull toward the character's plight and the mystery surrounding the woman in black. Arthur Kipps, the main character of this story, is a solicitor sent to a small country town to settle the affairs of a deceased client, Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. Arthur becomes increasingly aware that the residents of this country town are keeping secrets about Eel Marsh House, and avoid his questions when asked. When Arthur notices an emaciated woman dressed in black at Alice Drablow's funeral, the residents do not wish to discuss her appearance, or even acknowledge who she might be. Determined to complete his task, Arthur sets out to Alice Drablow's home, Eel Marsh House, a solitary stone structure built on a causeway of marshes; travel is only achievable when the tide is down, leaving Arthur deserted to discover the secrets of the house and the mystery behind the woman in black.

Small spoiler alert: I will say that I truly enjoyed this book, even though I normally prefer a story with a happy ending---even I can step outside my happy-endings-box every once in a while! :o)

The story carries an emotional heaviness made more poignant by the solitary setting. The author's descriptions of the environment are perfect. It almost reminds me of a Hitchcock style story combined with the dialog of a Brontë novel. The suspense and mystery elements are well paced. Toward the middle of the story, however, I became very aware that this mysterious woman in black was not going to find happiness, that there wasn't going to be a benevolent light at the end of a proverbial tunnel for her to float away in peace; I knew the ending would be sad, as it needed to be to justify the burden of fear carried by Arthur Kipps and the other characters of the story.

As always, hope to see you in our library someday soon,
Jan

Request The Woman In Black from the Bangor Public Library

The Women by T.C. Boyle

Review by Maggie:

If you liked Paris Wife you will love The Women by T.C. Boyle.   Boyle takes a look at the scandalous life of Wright through his wives and mistress----he had three wives and Mamah Cheney the woman he left his first marriage for----This book is told through the eyes of a Japanese intern who arrives at Taliesin to apprentice with the master.  In his first week there Wright has the intern peeling potatoes. The author uses the experiences of the women, Kitty his first wife, who even though she bore him six children gets very little attention in the book, Mamah the tragic mistress, Maude an opiate addict and Olga his exotic last wife. . .

Wright lived an unconventional life and his public life was always tied to what was going on in his tempestuous private life.  

This is an excellent read---I liked it much better than Loving Frank by Nancy Horan which came out about the same time.   Wright led such a colorful life driven by his appetites and huge ego and his refusal to conform to societal norms he makes a wonderful subject for novelists especially one as good as Boyle.
~Maggie

Request The Women from The Bangor Public Library

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Review by Jan:

I adored Garden Spells by this author and am very pleased to write that I enjoyed The Sugar Queen just as much.

(Garden Spells review)

The Sugar Queen is about a young woman named Josey who cares for her overbearing mother.  Josey stores candy in her secret closet and reads romance novels and travel books, dreaming of adventure and leaving the responsibilities of her repressed life behind. Everything changes when a local woman named Della shows up in her closet, hiding from an abusive boyfriend, and teaches Josey how to have the courage to reach for happiness.  Josey's emotional journey from an unhappy recluse to social confidence is as heart-wrenching as it is beautiful, and like Garden Spells, every character is worth remembering.

This is a stand-alone book, not connected to Garden Spells, but with a similar setting in a southern quirky community. Once again, the story is sprinkled with just the right amount of magic to keep it intriguing, and with a unique cast of characters, flawed yet exquisitely penned.  Allen's writing style is simply perfect.  I devoured this book in one evening, and I do hope you give it a try.

Hope to see you in our library someday soon,
Jan

Request The Sugar Queen from the Bangor Public Library

Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens

Review by Maggie:

Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens is a good read but not as enjoyable as her first novel Still Missing.  However, I have heard from many people that they liked it better than her first.  I would be interested in hearing your opinion.  I thought it could use some editing and that it went on for about 100 pages too long. Telling the story through her therapy sessions she is able to convey a sense of stress. This is an effective story telling method that worked well in her first novel. Sara, her character, is an adoptee who is eager to find her birth parents. When she does find them it is a disaster. Her mother wants nothing to do with her and Sara does not want her father to know her. Character development is nil so there is no one that we like. The character we learn the most about is the serial killer father and we end up finding him sympathetic. This book lacks suspense and is bit predictable.

As she did in Still Missing she has the surprise fiend at the end.  As I mentioned before, some patrons are telling me they liked it better than her first novel---what do you think?

~Maggie

Request Never Knowing from The Bangor Public Library