About the Book: Michael and Pauline seemed like the perfect couple - young, good-looking, made for each other. The moment she walked into his mother's grocery store in Baltimore, he was smitten, and in the heat of World War II fervour, they marry in haste. From the sound of the cash register in the old … Continue reading Book Review: The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
American Literature
Book Review: Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham
About the Book: A cool, cruel, rediscovered classic of American noir, soon to be a major motion picture directed by Guillermo del Toro. Stanton Carlisle, employed as a carny at a travelling circus watches their freak-show geek - an abject alcoholic, the object of the voyeuristic crowd's gleeful disgust and derision - and wonders how … Continue reading Book Review: Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham
Book Review: The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner
The Yellow Bird Sings... About the Book: Poland, 1941. After the Jews in their town are rounded up, Róza and her five-year-old daughter, Shira, spend day and night hidden in a farmer's barn. Forbidden from making a sound, only the yellow bird from her mother's stories can sing the melodies Shira composes in her head. … Continue reading Book Review: The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner
#BookBingo – Round 21
I've filled a horizontal line this round. Bingo! Beloved Classic: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne I have a lot of beloved classics but just in case I don’t read anymore of them this year, I figured I'd better lock this one in! This round gives me another full row filled across the top of … Continue reading #BookBingo – Round 21
The Classics Eight: Little Women
Little Women AND Good Wives – a reflection in words and images I first read Little Women when I was ten. I was gifted a copy and took it with me to Europe in that same year, carting it everywhere and reading it over and over. I never read it again, but still have that … Continue reading The Classics Eight: Little Women
Book Review: The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis
The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt… About the Book: One spinster sister must unravel the complicated secrets of her family to reveal their true legacy. Judith inherited all the Kratt family had to offer – the pie safe, the copper clock, the murder that no one talked about. She’s presided over the house quite … Continue reading Book Review: The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis
The Classics Eight: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter... About the Book: In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne takes readers back to the puritan days of the American colonies, into a society as unforgiving as its harsh New England winters. The story of Hester Prynne, who bears a scarlet “A” upon her breast as a symbol of her adultery, and that … Continue reading The Classics Eight: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
New Release Book Review: Evening in Paradise by Lucia Berlin
Evening in Paradise... About the Book: The publication of A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin’s dazzling collection of short stories, marked the rediscovery of a writer whose talent had gone unremarked by many. The incredible reaction to Lucia’s writing – her ability to capture the beauty and ugliness that coexist in everyday lives, the … Continue reading New Release Book Review: Evening in Paradise by Lucia Berlin
Book Review: The Beguiled by Thomas Cullinan
The Beguiled… About the Book: A classic slice of Southern Gothic, shot through with psychological suspense. When an injured Union soldier is found in the Virginia woods as the Civil War rages, he is brought to the nearby Miss Martha Farnsworth Seminary for Young Ladies to recover. For the sheltered girls and their teachers, the … Continue reading Book Review: The Beguiled by Thomas Cullinan
Film Review: Hemingway & Gellhorn
Hemingway & Gellhorn... Director: Philip Kaufman Cast Leads: Nicole Kidman (Martha Gellhorn) & Clive Owen (Ernest Hemingway) Released: 2012 by HBO (Television release) Incidentals: MA15+ 154 minutes running time About: Starring two of today’s most acclaimed actors, and directed by Oscar nominee Philip Kaufman (in his first film for television), Hemingway & Gellhorn tells the story of the passionate love affair … Continue reading Film Review: Hemingway & Gellhorn
Theresa Smith Writes 