Love You More by Lisa Gardner

Love You More by Lisa Gardner
Published by Bantam Books ISBN 978-0-553-80725-7
Hardcover $26 356 pages

I'm not big on thrillers or "women in jeopardy" books or movies (sorry, my friends who like Lifetime movies- you know who you are), but Lisa Gardner's book I Love You More had me tearing through the pages to get to the end of a crackling story.

Tessa Leoni, a Massachusetts state trooper is accused of murdering her husband and probably her missing daughter. Boston police detective D.D. Warren and her partner Bobby are assigned the case. D. D. herself may be pregnant, so finding the missing six-year-old girl hits home with her.

By all accounts, Leoni is a devoted mother; why would she kill her daughter? As Warren digs deeper, she finds that the dead man had a big gambling problem. Is this related to his death? Warren discovers that as a teen Leoni had killed a man who she claimed had tried to rape her, did she kill again?

I enjoyed how the author slowly unraveled the mysteries of the story, giving the reader morsels of information a little bit at a time. Warren is certain that Leoni murdered her daughter, and when Leoni offers to take them to where the body is buried, the resulting scene is full of tension, and the story really takes off from there. It is action-packed.

This is a book that is a real page-turner, with an interesting storyline. The two female protagonists are fascinating, especially Leoni. She is one tough cookie, and more than a match for the veteran detective. Their scenes together are very dramatic, and would be great roles for two actresses. (I kept seeing Angelina Jolie in my head as Tessa in the movie version.)

This is the fourth novel featuring D.D. Warren, but it reads just as well as a stand-alone. It did encourage me to go read the previous novels, Live to Tell, Hide, Alone and The Neighbor. If you like mystery/thrillers with terrific female characters, this one is for you.

rating 4 of 5 stars

Faith by Jennifer Haigh

Faith by Jennifer Haigh
Published by Harper Collins ISBN 978-0-06-075580-5
Hardcover $25.99

When I first read Jennifer Haigh's debut novel, Mrs. Kimble, which won the PEN/Hemingway award, I was just stunned. She revealed the life of Mr. Kimble by telling the stories of his three wives. I bought many copies of the book and gave them as gifts.

In her two subsequent books, Baker Towers and The Condition, Haigh lived up to the promise of her first novel. When I saw that her latest book, Faith, was publishing in May, I put that at the top of my TBR list, and am I glad I did.

Haigh sets her story in Boston in 2004, shortly after scandal began to rock the Catholic diocese. Many priests had been accused of sexually abusing young people, and the large Catholic community was devastated.

Sheila McGann tells the story of her half-brother, Art Breen, a priest accused by an eight-year-old boy's mother of molesting her son. There is an element of mystery to the novel as Sheila attempts to discover whether the charges are true.

Art's mother, a devout Catholic, believes her son could never do what he is accused of. Sheila's brother Mike, a former cop and father of three young boys, is disgusted, believing that no eight-year-old boy could lie about being molested. Sheila supports Art, but has her doubts.

The title of the book, Faith, is brilliant, for this is a book not about religious faith, but more about faith in your family. Sheila says to Mike,

"Sorry, Mike, but sooner or later you have to decide what you believe." It was a thing I'd always known but until recently had forgotten: that faith is a decision. In its most basic form, it is a choice.

I love those lines, because faith really is an active thing. You can grow up attending mass every week, participating in the sacraments, but to really have faith, you have to choose to believe in something.

Family is at the heart of this novel, and Sheila's family has its troubles, like most. She says:

We are a family of secrets. Without knowing quite how I knew it, I understood what might be said, and what must be quiet. If from the outside the rules appeared arbitrary, from the inside they were perfectly clear.

I suspect that Sheila's family is not as unlike other families as she believes. I think many people reading this book will relate to the McGann/Breen family.

What I like about Haigh's books is that the characters are so real, you think that you actually know them. Father Art is the most well drawn. He is a lonely man, even as a youth; perhaps being a stepson and stepbrother added to that sense of being different.

As a priest, Art cannot marry or have a family of his own, and this isolation hurts him. His loneliness is palpable, and when he meets the young boy and his drug-addicted mother, he feels a sense of family and belonging.

The least well drawn character is Art's mother. Sheila and Mike do not like their mother, they make many cutting comments about her, but I was never clear exactly what she had done to warrant this dislike. She seems to be very distant from her children, and perhaps the author made her character less clear to her children to emphasize that distance.

Faith is an emotional ride, and it affected me deeply. Days later, I find myself still thinking about Father Art, my heart aching for him. The writing is superb, the characters are so real. It is simply the best book I have read this year. It ranks up with Emma Donoghue's amazing Room in the emotions that I felt when I read it.

I grew up in a Catholic family, and that part of the story resonates with me, but you do not have to be Catholic to appreciate the richness of this story. If you have siblings, you will understand the feelings here.

Rating 5 of 5 stars.

Thanks to Harper Collins and TLC Book Tours for the preview copy. 


 

My New American Life by Francine Prose

My New American Life by Francine Prose
Published by Harper Collins ISBN 978-0-06-171376-7
Hardcover, $25.99

Book description from the publisher's website:

Lula, a twenty-six-year-old Albanian woman living surreptitiously in New York City on an expiring tourist visa, hopes to make a better life for herself in America. When she lands a job as caretaker to Zeke, a rebellious high school senior in suburban New Jersey, it seems that the security, comfort, and happiness of the American dream may finally be within reach. Her new boss, Mister Stanley, an idealistic college professor turned Wall Street executive, assumes that Lula is a destitute refugee of the Balkan wars. He enlists his childhood friend Don Settebello, a hotshot lawyer who prides himself on defending political underdogs, to straighten out Lula's legal situation. In true American fashion, everyone gets what he wants and feels good about it.

But things take a more sinister turn when Lula's Albanian "brothers" show up in a brand-new black Lexus SUV. Hoodie, Leather Jacket, and the Cute One remind her that all Albanians are family, but what they ask of her is no small favor. Lula's new American life suddenly becomes more complicated as she struggles to find her footing as a stranger in a strange new land. Is it possible that her new American life is not so different from her old Albanian one?

Set in the aftermath of 9/11, My New American Life offers a vivid, darkly humorous, bitingly real portrait of a particular moment in history, when a nation's dreams and ideals gave way to a culture of cynicism, lies, and fear. Beneath its high comic surface, the novel is a more serious consideration of immigration, of what it was like to live through the Bush-Cheney years, and of what it means to be an American.

My New American Life is whip-smart funny. Satire is not always easy to pull off on the written page , and Prose does it amazingly well.  Her writing, especially of Lula's thoughts, had me cracking up, like this one:

"Lula knew that some Americans cheered every time INS agents raided factories and shoved dark little chicken-packagers into the backs of trucks. She'd seen the guys on Fox News calling for every immigrant except German supermodels and Japanese baseball players to be deported, no questions asked."

Lula wants desperately to grab a hold of the American dream, but her job as a nanny to an 17-year-old young man leaves her bored and stuck in the suburbs with no friends and nothing to do. Prose makes you feel her stifling suffocation. When the wanna-be Sopranos Albanians show up and ask her to "hold on to" a gun for them, Lula does as she's asked, even though she knows this could lead to trouble for her and her employer and her deportation. Yet, strangely, she cannot say no to them; and besides, it's a little excitement.

I usually identify with at least one of the characters in a novel that I read, but I could not identify with anyone in this book, yet that did not stop me from enjoying it. I live in New York City, a city that runs because of its immigrant population, and this book gave me a new perspective on the people who leave their families behind to start a new life elsewhere.

Lula misses her homeland; she cries

"for her once-beautiful homeland now in the hands of toxic dumpers and sex traffickers and money launderers. She cried for missing her country, for not missing it, for having nothing to miss. She cried for the loneliness and uncertainty of her life among strangers who could still change her mind and make her go home."

All of the characters are interesting: sad sacks Mister Stanley and his friend Don (both divorced and lost), young Zeke (I just wanted to hug him and tell him it will be all right), the Albanians (a riot!) and Lula's friend Dunia, who hits the immigrant lottery by finding a rich man to marry.

There are so many fantastic scenes-  at the restaurant where Lula gets a celebratory citizenship dinner with Zeke, his dad, Don and his caustic daughter, Lula's date with Alvo, the college trip- all are sharp and memorable.

Prose successfully combines the comic and the tragic, and throws in some politics, like Don's work with detainees at Guantanemo. Her portrait of American life soon after 9/11 (through Lula's eyes) is vivid and thought-provoking.

rating 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Harper for providing a review copy.

Sutton Foster at Barnes & Noble

Broadway fans know how talented Tony winner Sutton Foster is. She has appeared in Shrek: The Musical, Young Frankenstein, The Drowsy Chaperone and Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she won the Tony for Best Actress.

She is currently starring in the frequently sold-out revival Anything Goes, playing the iconic role of Reno Sweeney, made famous by such legends as Ethel Merman and Patti LuPone. Once again, she is nominated for a Tony award.

Last year she had a sold-out week of shows at the Cafe Carlyle, and that performance was captured on a CD titled appropriately, An Evening With Sutton Foster Live at the Cafe Carlyle. To promote it, she made an appearance at Barnes & Noble 86th St. store in NYC.

She was scheduled to appear at 5pm, but had to push it back to 6:15, explaining that she was taping an episode of Sesame Street with Elmo. She was very excited to be asked to be on Sesame Street, and honestly, who wouldn't be?

To make it up to the crowd, she did an extended Q&A session.  She  said that Reno Sweeney is her most challenging role yet and that when she was asked to do it, she immediately said yes, then thought, "wait" and was on the fence, but she said that her fear of the role is why she must do it.

She watched lots of '30s movies with Barbara Stanwyck and Betty Hutton to get into the speech patterns of the role. She cited Carol Burnett as someone whose career she admired, and she struck me as very much like Burnett. She's quirky funny, can sing, act- she can do it all, and she has Burnett's down-to-earth charm. She's pretty, but naturally pretty, like the girl-next-door, not glamorous movie-star beautiful. And she has an All-American girl smile that lights up her face.

I saw her last year in 2nd Stage Theatre's drama Trust, where she played a completely different dramatic role as a dominatrix. She told us that she did do some research for that role, and it was crazy. She was very good in the role, proving that she can do just about anything.

When asked what roles she'd like to play, she said Mama Rose from Gypsy, and the Baker's Wife from Into the Woods.  She'd also like to play a Disney princess, and she'd be a terrific one.

Last year was a big year for Foster, playing in Trust, performing at the Carlyle and on tour, and in the Encores five show performance of Anyone Can Whistle. She said that the experience of singing There Won't Be Trumpets with Stephen Sondheim sitting in the front row was unforgettable for her.

She sang two songs from the CD- John Denver's Sunshine On My Shoulders (one of my husband's favorites and a perfect song for the glorious weather we had that day in NYC) and a funny Down With Love. I regret not seeing her last year at the Carlyle, and when she performs there again, I will get tickets. She is one of the most talented performers on Broadway, and she will have a career like the great Bernadette Peters. Her CD is wonderful, perfectly capturing her sense of humor and crystal clear, lovely voice. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys good music.

Rob Lowe's Stories I Only Tell My Friends

Me and Rob Lowe at Barnes & Noble 5th Ave. store NYC

I met Rob Lowe at a book signing at Barnes & Noble, and he is very handsome- and very tan. He was engaging to everyone, even the woman in line who was a little stalker-ish and had to be gently nudged away from the table by security.

I told him that my son and his friend became interested in politics thanks to his Sam Seaborn character on TV's The West Wing, but when I lamented that my son is a Republican, Lowe laughed and said "We need them too!"

The book is a fast read, and Lowe drops names likes he's carrying them in overflowing wheelbarrow. He's kind of like a Hollywood Forrest Gump, meeting famous people at every turn, starting when he was eight-years-old and talked his way into Liza Minnelli's dressing room at a theater in his hometown in Ohio. It's a charming story, and foreshadowing of more famous meetings  to come.

His mother moves the family to California, and he ends living near the Sheen family. He and his brother Chad hang out with Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez, and become best friends, often going on auditions together. (There's a great picture of Lowe and Martin Sheen in the book from this era.)

The most interesting part of the book recounts Lowe's experience auditioning for and getting a big part in Francis Ford Coppola's movie The Outsiders. The cast of the movie included Estevez, Tom Cruise, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon and Patrick Swayze. This movie was the stepping stone for most of these actors' careers, but Lowe was devastated when his role was severely diminished in the final cut.

His recollections of these guys and that movie is fascinating, especially for people my age who loved the book and movie. Cruise is driven and focused, Dillon is a laid-back ladies man, and Swayze could do anything and everything (ballet, gymnastics, carpentry, horseback riding, motocross and of course, dancing) superbly.

Fans of The West Wing will be disappointed that he devotes only one small chapter to that time. He left after four years, and it wasn't on the best of terms. It appears that he was isolated from the rest of the cast, most of whom were relatively unknown (except Martin Sheen).

Lowe dated many women (including Demi Moore, Melissa Gilbert and a whirlwind romance with Princess Stephanie of Monaco). One funny anecdote has Robert Wagner saying to Prince Rainer, Cary Grant and Gregory Peck "Ya know, guys, I think that kid's banged every one of our daughters." Funny, RJ, and probably true.

Lowe struggled with fame, with the difficulties of being the It-Boy, then making bad career choices, the sex scandal with an underage girl when he was 22, and eventually alcoholism. When he decided he wanted to get sober, he went to a serious rehab and did it. (He's been sober for over 20 years).

He eventually finds true love with Sheryl, a makeup artist he meets on a movie set. He recounts their courtship and his declaration of his love for his wife of 20 years is so moving.

"And in the most surprising fact of my life, one that at one point I thought I was incapable of feeling and unworthy of achieving: I am still in love with my wife. After almost twenty years of marriage, I look at her face and see her radiant light; I hold her and feel our hard-earned and sometimes difficult history passing between us, enveloping us in a urea of comfort, gratitude, and profound attraction."

Lowe's book reminds me of Cloris Leachman's autobiography, Cloris. She knew and worked with everybody, including her good friend Marlon Brando.  Like Leachman, Lowe presents a snapshot of Hollywood during a certain time period, and he is a good writer. If you grew up in the 1970s and 80s, this book will bring back memories.

rating 4 of 5 stars

By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

Sanaa Lathan as Vera Stark

2econdStageTheatre's new production, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark is the latest play by Lynn Nottage, who won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2009 for Ruined.


Ruined was a very heavy drama, and Meet Vera Stark has more of a comedic touch- at least during the first act. Vera is an African- American maid working for actress Gloria Mitchell (the wonderful Stephanie J. Block), once America's little princess, now desperately trying to hold on to her career in the 1930s.

Vera, played by the luminous and brilliant Sanaa Lathan, is an actress too, but parts for her are more difficult to come by. And the only ones available are for maids or slaves. When Gloria auditions for a big Southern epic (ala Gone With the Wind), Vera sees an opportunity for her to play the important role of the maid/best friend to the protagonist, and asks Gloria to help her, which Gloria brushes aside.

It is hinted that Vera and Gloria have a closer relationship than employer-employee, and that is developed more deeply in Act II. Act I is more of screwball comedy from the 1930s or 40s, with gorgeous dresses, the helpless, self-involved star, an African-American friend of Vera's (the versatile, funny and gorgeous Karen Olivo) passing herself off as a Brazilian actress to date the director of the movie, Kimberly Hebert Gregory playing a friend of Vera's who frequently breaks into a version of "Let My People Go", and Vera exaggeratedly acting the part of the subservient Southern maid to get the role in the movie.

I saw the show with an audience filled with high school students, and they enthusiastically reacted, laughing and applauding at the action on the stage. They especially liked Gregory's performance, perhaps because they know women just like her sassy character.


Act II has a much more serious tone. It is present day and three academics discuss Vera Stark's career. They review Vera's last appearance in 1973 on The Ben Donovan Show (think Mike Douglas/Merv Griffin). The show-within-a-play is an intriguing concept, and it works well here.

Vera is much older, and Lathan is remarkable in this Act. She plays a defiant, tough, possibly drunk  Vera in Act II, as opposed to the sunny, lively, younger Vera from Act I.


We see how difficult it was for Vera to find good work after her breakout role, and when Gloria shows up, the contrast between their lives and careers is stark. The only difference between them is their skin color, but that difference made all the difference in Vera's life. We learn more about Gloria and Vera's past connection as the academics debate about what really happened to Vera Stark.

The play is brilliantly written by Nottage, who transitions from comedy to drama to great effect. It has a lot to say about what it meant to be black in America at that time, and the price one pays in deciding whether to or not to be true to oneself.


The roles for women in this play are layered and rich and,  Lathan, Block, Gregory and Olivo make the most of them, with Gregory and Olivo playing multiple, diverse roles. The use of film in the show is well done, as we get to see part of the film, The Belle of New Orleans, at the center of this story.


I would say that By the Way, Meet Vera Stark is a nearly-perfect piece of theater. It succeeds on so many levels, and leaves you with much to contemplate as you leave the theater. It runs through May 29th at 2econdStageTheatre on 43rd & 8th Ave. If you love good theater, do not miss this one.

Moonface: A True Romance by Angela Balcita

Moonface: A True Romance by Angela Balcita
Published by Harper Perennial ISBN 978-0-06-153731-8
Trade paperback $13.99

From the publisher's website:

The moving and hilarious true story of a young woman who found romance and laughter in the midst of illness At the age of eighteen, Angela Balcita had reached a point in her life when her health could not keep up with her optimistic personality. After suffering kidney failure and after her body's rejection of the kidney her brother donated to her, she was in desperate need of a transplant. Lucky for Angela, she had found the ultimate partner in crime: her boyfriend, Charlie. Although they had known each other for only a short period of time, Charlie offered Angela his kidney. The ensuing story is unforgettable, with readers following Angela and Charlie's journey through preparations for their respective surgeries; the procedures themselves, difficult yet emotionally riveting; the process of recuperation through the relapses; and the eventual healing—both inside and out—that greets this undeniably powerful duo. Expanded from Angela's unforgettable "Modern Love" column in the New York Times and by turns funny, bittersweet, and heartwarming, Moonface will make readers laugh, cry, and, above all, appreciate the importance of unconditional love. I remember reading the "Modern Love" column that inspired this terrific book and thinking, "Wow- that is true love!" When I heard that the column was expanded into a book, I had to read it. I have a very good friend who has also undergone the same transplant. She has had kidney problems for over 20 years, and I didn't truly understand everything that she had gone through until I read Angela's book.  It's hard to believe that people like Charlie exist: a boyfriend who is willing to give up a kidney for his girlfriend. But what is more surprising is the number of other people that Angela knew who were also willing to donate a kidney.  Donating a kidney is not like giving your friend your car; it's a major surgical procedure and there can be serious complications.  It renews your faith in humanity, and certainly says something about what a good person Angela is to have so many people willing to sacrifice for her. At the heart of the book is Charlie and Angela's love story. Charlie's family was understandably wary of this because Charlie was willing to give Angela a kidney, but they did not want to get married.  I loved the scene where Charlie tells his family that he is giving Angela a kidney, they reacted like any family would. Charlie's recovery from the surgery is difficult, and at a followup doctor visit, the doctor asks him if he would do it again. Charlie says no, he wouldn't, and this devastates Angela.  Angela decides that she would like to have a baby, and although many doctors tried to discourage her, she finally found one who believed she could do it. Again, Charlie supports her, although he worries about her.   Moonface is such an honest book, filled with love and joy, humor and pain. Charlie is almost too good to be true, but he is also human. Angela perseveres, not letting her lifelong illness stop her from going after things she wants. They are kooky, sharing a similar goofy sense of humor that gets them through difficult times.  I also loved her parents, and can't imagine how hard it was for them to live through this, especially her dad, a doctor who couldn't fix his baby girl.  Balcita writes a crisp book, filled with emotion and I found her quirky chapter titles like "The Celebrated and Adored Royal Filipino Mind Reader" and  "The Woman Who Swallows Fire and Exhales Angels" amusing.  It's a beautifully moving true love story that will touch your heart and make you laugh. It would make a wonderful anniversary gift for a young couple.  rating 4 of 5 stars Thanks to Harper Perennial for providing a copy of the book.

Grandma's Recipes

Adriana Trigiani's first non-fiction book, Don't Sing at the Table: Life Lessons From My Grandmothers is fabulous, one I gave to several people for Christmas. (If you haven't gotten Mom a Mother's Day gift, this is perfect!)

TLC Book Tours and Harper Collins Publishers are teaming up to offer lunch and a walking tour of Greenwich Village with Adriana Trigiani during BEA (Book Expo of America) and to win, you have to blog about a recipe your grandmother gave you.

I discussed this topic with my husband and we both laughed because, between us we could only remember one recipe each from our respective grandmothers. Apparently culinary skills were not prized in either of our families. (We don't have Italian grandmas- we're Irish, English, Scottish and French/Canadian, maybe that explains it.)

My husband remembers his nana making hotdogs with her famous "Michigan Sauce" on top. Every summer, his grandparents would drive their Airstream trailer up from Florida to upstate New York and spend a week or two with them. Nana had a small kitchen in her trailer, so hotdogs were an easy recipe to make.

The recipe came from Clair and Carl's Restaurant in Plattsburgh, and my husband and his siblings have such fond memories of this tasty lunch special. My husband was thrilled that I made it for him for this blog post, although he said his Nana's tasted sweeter- maybe she added a pinch of cinnamon or sugar to the sauce and didn't tell anyone. I'll try that next time.

Hot dog with Nana's Michigan Sauce

Michigan Sauce for Hot Dogs
1 lb. hamburger (finely ground)
2 tsp. cumin powder
4 shakes of hot sauce
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
8 oz. can tomato sauce
6 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. minced onions
2 tsp. black pepper
salt to taste
Put hamburger in medium pot, add water until meat is covered. Use a masher to blend until fine. Cook over medium heat until meat starts to brown, the add tomato sauce and rest of ingredients. Simmer for one hour on low.


Whenever one of our birthdays rolled around, my Grandma Hubbard always made her famous "Crazy Cake". She lived in a small town about ten minutes away from us, but for some reason we thought we were taking a "big car trip" whenever we went to see her. I can remember how excited I was the first time I got to watch her make the cake, I was mesmerized. She combined the dry ingredients, made three 'holes' in the cake mix (which she let me do), then poured vegetable oil in one hole, vinegar in the second and vanilla in the third. She poured water over it all and mixed well.

I was amazed when a real cake came out of the oven, and she didn't use eggs in the recipe. Sometimes this recipe is called "Depression Cake" because it was popular during the Depression, and my grandma got the recipe from her mother.

When the cake cooled she'd frost it and then put it in her white Tupperware container, and carefully hold it on her lap for the trip to our house, where the lucky child got to make the first cut. The cake is so moist and tasty, you almost don't need frosting.

Crazy Cake

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. white vinegar
2 cups water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, baking soda) in a mixing bowl. Make three wells in the mix, add oil in the first well, vanilla in the second, vinegar in the third. Beat until smooth. Pour into an ungreased 9x13 pan, bake for 30-40 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Frost with canned frosting or make your own favorite frosting. For this cake, I used my neighbor Barbara's recipe:
8 oz. Cool Whip
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup milk
4oz. package of box INSTANT pudding
Mix together sugar, pudding and milk. Fold in Cool Whip. Frost cooled cake.

Writing this post brought back lovely memories of our grandmothers. My husband's grandma passed away last year and mine lives five hours from me, so this was a nice reminder of them so close to Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to all- may your special day be filled with love!

Molly Jong-Fast Live at Barnes & Noble UES

Molly Jong-Fast drew a standing only crowd at her book signing for The Social Climber's Handbook at the Upper East Side Barnes & Noble on April 27th.

Jong-Fast is the daughter of author Erica Jong, who sat beaming in the front row like the proud mama she is. The crowd was made up of many family and friends of Jong-Fast, as evidenced during the Q&A session, where she called on all the questioners by name. At one point, she called on someone and said "Hi- a person I don't know!" Then dejectedly, "Oh, I do know you."

Not only was Erica Jong in attendance, but author (and also a daughter of a literary lion) Susan Cheever asked the first question. Then singer Judy Collins walked in the door. I felt like I was a guest at a very chic Park Ave. party; how I got an invitation, I'm not quite sure.

The novel tells the story of Daisy Greenbaum, an Upper East Side socialite who turns to murder when her financial wizard husband is on the verge of losing his job, and therefore their comfortable lifestyle, following the beginnings of the financial meltdown.

It is a satire, and from what I have read so far, a wickedly funny one. Jong-Fast has a quick, cutting sense of humor, one I was introduced to when I began to follow her on Twitter. She is funny in person too, not just on the page.

When someone's cell phone rang in the front row, she asked if it was her stepfather's, and then warned all of us that if a cell phone rings, "I WILL say your name and talk about you."

The idea for the book came when she and her husband were at a school application meeting for their child that went on for over six hours. It was 2008, an when they went in the Dow was at 8000. When they left six hours later, it was at 7200. This gave Jong-Fast the seed of an idea for her book.

She read a scene from the book inspired by The Bonfire of the Vanities, one of her favorite books. The scene featured Daisy's husband walking their 8 year-old daughter to school and trying to explain to her exactly what it was he did for a living. The audience howled with laughter  of recognition at the description of his friend, a 60 year-old man walking his child from his third marriage to school down Park Ave.

Then she read a scene where Daisy kills someone because, "since she's actually a murderer, so I'll read a part where she murders. Because deep in her core, Daisy was a murderer in the best possible way."

When someone said that she'd done such a convincing job writing Daisy as a murderer, Jong-Fast said that she wrote it "cover up her own crimes." She also said that we'd be surprised at how much crime occurs in the Upper East Side, adding, "but not by me."

Erica Jong asked if Jong-Fast thought that satire could improve the world. She replied "I'd be really shocked if my book brought down the banking system, but if that helped sell books, then yes."

Jong-Fast says that she doesn't think of herself as of the upper class, as her protagonist Daisy is, but more as "the servant class, a journalist. Not a part of the society I satirize, but as an accessory."

It was delight to meet Jong-Fast, she's very down-to-earth, and someone you could enjoying dishing with over a long lunch. I can't wait to finish her book.

My review of Fire on the Horizon, a great book about the Gulf oil spill

Fire on the Horizon, by John Konrad and Tom Shroder, is a fantastic read about the BP oil spill last year in the Gulf of Mexico. My review from the Citizen newspaper is here:

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The Maisie Readalong Concludes with A Lesson in Secrets

Book Club Girl's  Mad For Maisie Readalong concludes with the eighth novel in Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, A Lesson in Secrets.


We've followed Maisie from her days as a maid in Lady Rowan Compton's estate, through her schooling and tutelage under the brilliant Dr. Maurice Blanche, her WWI service as a nurse in France, opening up her own private investigations/psychologist office, and now working undercover for the British secret intelligence as a university instructor in the current novel.

Maisie takes on the job working to discover if there are any terrorists at the University. She hesitates at first, but remembers her late mentor Maurice's words to her that she needs to be open to the unexpected. While at the school, the dean is murdered, and Maisie finds herself assisting the police in their investigation as well.

The dean had written a famous children's book about soldiers putting their weapons down and refusing to fight. There were rumors that this book had caused a large mutiny in France during WWI, with British and German soldiers laying down their weapons. This book plays a big part in the mystery, one that is intriguing indeed.

I liked how this novel not only took Maisie out of her comfort zone of work, but forced her to face personal challenges as well. Her friend Sandra lost her husband, and Maisie took Sandra into her home and offered her a job. Sandra uses her position with Maisie to investigate her husband's death. I would like to see Sandra stay on as part of Maisie's office staff.

Maisie worries about her father's health, and his refusal to move in with her at Maurice's home frustrates her. It is ironic that Maisie is so in tuned with other people's secrets and feelings, yet her father is able to hide something big from her.

Billy Beale, her faithful assistant, is stubborn as well. Maisie has offered Billy a downpayment on a new home, one that will change his family's life forever and for the better, but Billy is hesitant to accept. The men in Maisie's life are frustrating her.

And then there is her boyfriend James Compton, son of her benefactor, Lady Rowan. He is supposed to be away on business in Toronto, but Maisie finds out he has been in London. Is their relationship in trouble?

I always learn something of historical interest in these novels, and in this one, we learn that women played a big part in wartime intelligence.  Over 10,000 women worked for the Secret Service in London during the war, reporting troop movements, sabotaging the German enemy, and consorting with the enemy to get information. I will definitely be looking for information on this subject.

The rise of the German Socialist Party, the Nazis, is on the horizon, and we see the beginning of the debate between the Brits who, weary of the lingering WWI problems, do not to wish to get involved in Germany's issues, and those Brits who see the dangers of the Nazi Party and Hitler's rise. I can't wait to see where Winspear  takes this in future books.

I really enjoyed reading the Maisie Dobbs series; I like Maisie as a strong female character, one young ladies can look up to. Not only is Maisie interesting, but the secondary characters are as well, and Winspear introduces many new ones in each book, rather than just relying on the ones we already know.

I've learned much about Britain following WWI, an era I was unfamiliar with. It seems that while the methods of war have changed over the decades, the effects of it on the people who fought it, and those who love them, remain the same.

If you like historical fiction with a strong female protagonist, and cozy mysteries, I highly recommend the Maisie Dobbs series. Thanks to Book Club Girl for hosting this fun, rewarding challenge.

I give A Lesson in Secrets 4 of 5 stars, the same score I give the entire series.

Good People on Broadway

Good People, a play with a limited run on Broadway ending May 29th, has not gotten the hype of some of the other shows that recently opened, yet I found it to be the strongest of the plays I have seen recently.

Frances McDormand brilliantly plays Margie, a single mother with a developmentally disabled adult daughter to care for. She works minimum wage jobs in South Boston, and lives in a crummy apartment. For entertainment, she plays bingo with her friend and her landlady.

With no one to care for her daughter, she is frequently late for work, and when her understanding boss (Patrick Carroll)  is forced to fire her, she doesn't know what to do. Her high school friend, played by Becky Ann Baker, suggests that she contact her high school boyfriend who is now a successful doctor. She even suggest that maybe Margie claim that he is the father of her daughter, which Margie rejects.

Margie goes to see Dr. Mike, (Tate Donovan in a fantastic performance) after he does not return her phone calls. She shows up at his office and asks him if he has a job for her. Mike senses her desperation, but he says he has nothing available. He is  uncomfortable at being reminded of where he came from, but
he bristles when Margie suggest the same.

Margie finds out about a party Mike's wife is throwing for him and their home, and she dares Mike to invite her. He reluctantly does so.

Renee Elise Goldsberry plays Mike's younger, African-American wife Kate. It's not easy to shine when you are playing opposite the tremendous McDormand, but Goldsberry is terrific. When Margie shows up at the party after it was cancelled, Kate invites her to stay. That is when the play gets really interesting. The interaction among these three strong actors is fascinating; the scene crackles with tension. Kudos to writer David Lindsay-Abaire for this, and Daniel Sullivan for the tight direction.

Goldsberry, Donovan and McDormand all deserve Tony nominations for this show, and the great Estelle Parsons does her usual wonderful work as the landlady. The themes of race, class, and sacrifice are examined and the ending has a surprising twist, one that will have people debating which side they are on and what other good people would do in the same situation. It is the best new play of the season.

That Championship Season on Broadway

Jason Patric signing autographs after the show

Kiefer Sutherland greeting fans after the show

I'm surrounded by men in my life- my husband, two sons, even our late, great basset hound Malcolm was male- so stories about men and what they think have great appeal to me.

The Broadway revival of Jason Miller's 1972 Pulitzer- Prize winning play, That Championship Season, has five weeks left in its run, and it is a show that really gives insight into the male mind.

Kiefer Sutherland (terrific in his Broadway debut), Chris Noth, Jason Patric, and Jim Gaffigan all play men who twenty years ago won a high school basketball state championship under their gruff coach, brillantly played by Brian Cox.

The play takes place in 1972 in a small town in Pennsylvania. Gaffigan is the affable mayor readying himself for a re-election campaign. Sutherland is his campaign manager, a man who would like it to be his turn to be in the political spotlight. Patric is Sutherland's drunken brother, returning home after wandering the country. Noth plays a variation on his Mr. Big (Sex and the City) and Peter Florrick (The Good Wife) characters as the successful car dealership owner who may not support his teammate in his re-election bid.

At first, the men share good memories and alcohol, but things take a turn, and some ugly truths come out. Patric's drunken brother stumbles around, but he generally is the truth-telling instigator. Patric (son of playright Miller)  does a good job with this role. Noth's character is a bit slimy, and Gaffigan shows off a serious side in his role. He shows good range as the fun-loving glad-hander who turns angry at a betrayal by a friend.

Cox has the showy role of the Coach, a man anyone who has participated in organized sports will recognize. He loves to recall the winning of the big game, even if it may not have happened exactly as he and the others will admit.

It is Sutherland who is a revelation in the show. He is a man who takes care of everyone- his drunken brother, his mean father, his wife and kids- and now it is his time to shine. The anger and resentment builds in him and he explodes in a powerful scene. His performance is the best in a strong cast.

The time is 1972, and there is some language that some will find racist and misogynistic, (the audience groaned at some language) but that was the accepted language at the time as anyone who remembers Archie Bunker can attest. The cast really works well together, and they are believable as men who are approaching middle-age and the reality that their dreams may not come true, while confronting a past that is based on a lie.

The show made me think, and at times brought me to tears. Go see it if just for the strong performances, especially Sutherland's. Following the show, the cast signed autographs, with Sutherland staying the longest and posing for photos; he's a nice guy who's good to his fans.

My Korean Deli an American story

My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe

Published by Henry Holt and Company 

Hardcover $24

As someone who married a man who owned two fast food restaurants, I really related to Ben Howe's story. He perfectly captures the craziness, the back-breaking work, insanely long hours, the horrible bureaucratic obstacles and yes, the occasional rewards of owning your own small business in America.

Howe tries to balance his work as an editor at the Paris Review, and the contrast between that world of the Upper East Side in NYC and the Brooklyn neighborhood where the Korean deli is located perfectly mirrors the patchwork of life in New York. His vivid portrait of his boss, George Plimpton, is so intriguing. What I know of Plimpton has mostly come from his reports of his own adventures (Paper Lion, etc.), so this look at him from Howe's point of view is fascinating.

Then there is Howe's Korean mother-in-law, Kay. Howe's wife  Gab wanted to buy a deli for her mother to thank her for the sacrifices she made to educate Gab, sending her to college and law school. While WASPy Howe doesn't quite get this, he supports his wife, and they extend their living in his in-law's basement to buy the deli for Kay. Kay and Ben clash immediately while trying to find a deli to buy, and when they do buy one, Ben is way too slow to pick up the nuances of working the cash register. He is relegated to stocking shelves.

The deli is a meeting place for various characters in the neighborhood, some who hang around all day and night. Howe usually worked the late shift, so his customers were the creatures of the night. He grew to tolerate, and respect, these people, even while they exasperated him. One employee, an African-American man named Dwayne, came with the store, and while he was a good employee, always showing up for work, he frequently offended customers of the store with his language. In a book filled with colorful, interesting people, Dwayne is perhaps the most interesting. He knows everyone and everything about the neighborhood, and is a single dad trying to raise his daughters.

Immigrants are the backbone of this nation, and Howe tells Kay and her husband's story with honesty and respect. Where they came from, how hard they worked to get to America and make something of themselves, it is a tribute to the people who work long, hard hours, doing work that many people refuse to do, that explain how many cultures come here and make a success of themselves for their families.

Howe nails the difficulties of owning your own small business- the strain it puts on a marriage, the constant money worries- it's a 24/7 responsibility, much like having a child, which Ben and Gab are also struggling to do. His tales of the deli, what it means to the neighborhood, to his family, and eventually to him, give the reader a real appreciation of small business owners. I loved his story of Gab trying to get from Queens to Brooklyn during a horrible snowstorm, and of keeping the store open during the big blackout.

Howe is a gifted writer, and this book is one I would highly recommend. It's a great American story.

Rating 4.5 of 5 stars

Baby, It's You! Sure To Be A Smash

Last night I had the opportunity to see the new Broadway musical  Baby, It's You! What a show! If you combined Jersey Boys with Memphis, you'd get Baby, It's You. It tells the story of Florence Greenberg, a housewife from Passaic, New Jersey who discovers the Shirelles and founds a record company (or two or three).

I knew nothing of Greenberg, and hopefully this show will make her a household name. She is an early proponent of girl power, albeit she pays a price in her personal life as many driven people do. I read that Bette Midler had hoped to do a TV movie based on Greenberg in the 1990's, but couldn't get the license for some of the early music. What a shame, it would have been a perfect vehicle for her, and more people would know what a contribution Greenberg made to pop music.

Broadway vet Beth Leavel plays Florence, and does an amazing job. (Tony, anyone?) At first I found her Carol-Burnett-as-Eunice-from-Mama's-Family's wig unnerving, but when she makes her transformation from Jersey housewife to New York music executive, I got the point.

Leavel has such a powerful, beautiful singing voice, I wished she had more songs to sing. She sang "The Dark End of the Street" with Allen Louis, Geno Henderson and Christina Sajous, their vocals blending together heavenly. I also enjoyed "Don't Make Me Over" and "Walk On By", songs she sang with Erica Ash (wonderful as Dionne Warwick) and Louis.

But the highlight was "Dedicated to the One I Love", which is for my money one of the best pop songs ever written. When the Shirelles (Sajous, Ash, Kyra Da Costa and Crystal Starr Knighton) sang that song, they gave me chills. The ladies voices were pitch perfect, and the enthusiasm they displayed was contagious. And the speed at which they made costume changes must be a record!

The audience for this show was the most involved I've ever seen at any Broadway show- people singing, humming, dancing in their seats, and squealing with joy as they recognized their favorite songs. At the end of the show, the cast sang "I Say a Little Prayer" and "Shout/Twist and Shout" and the entire audience gleefully joined in the celebration.

Louis looks like Billy Dee Williams in his "Lady Sings the Blues" days, and his character's romance with Leavel and the issues that an interracial couple faced in the early 1960's is a solid storyline in the show.

The costumes are beautiful, they look more vintage than like costumes created for the show. The staging is inventive, and I can see this show having a long national tour and regional theater run following a LONG Broadway run.

The music, the costumes, the acting, the singing (Henderson's "Since I Don't Have You" is a standout)- it calls come together to create an unforgettable night of theater. If you liked Jersey Boys, you will love Baby, It's You!

The Mapping of Love and Death

I'm up to the seventh novel in the Maisie Dobbs series, The Mapping of Love & Death, for bookclubgirl's Mad About Maisie Readalong.

There are some dramatic changes in this novel for Maisie. Following the death of her mentor, Dr. Maurice Blanche, Maisie is his heir and now lives very comfortably without any money worries. Having this money enables Maisie to help her assistant Billy and his family move to a more hospitable home, one that will give them a new start after the tragedy of losing their daughter.

She also has a new love in her life, James, the son of her benefactor, Lady Rowan. This is a surprising turn of events, one of the reason I enjoy the Maisie series so; the author constantly surprises the reader with new characters and unexpected relationships- much like life itself. Maisie and James make such a lovely, companionable couple, I'm rooting for them to be happy together.

We also see a new side to Maisie in her interactions with Detective Caldwell. He makes some snide comments about Maisie moving up the ladder because of Lady Rowan and Maurice, and Maisie gives it right back to him. Usually Maisie is more circumspect with her words, but she spars with Caldwell and I found this side of Maisie intriguing.

The character of Khan, a wise man who Maurice introduced Maisie to many years ago, is reintroduced here. He has many words of advice for Maisie, including

"Extremes live within us all. What is given will be taken, what we have is often only of value to us when it is gone."

and

"Anger is a conduit for wonder, a tool for adventure. But it is also an instrument of power- and like all things, power has two faces."

Maisie's case takes us back to the war once again, as she investigates the death of a American cartographer who fought with Britain in France. We get another valuable history lesson about mapmakers and their contribution to the war effort. I did not realize how valuable their skills would be in war, and it was interesting to read about it.

Seven books down, one more to go in the series so far. I really think that Maisie is such a terrific role model for young ladies, and these books would be wonderful gifts for high school girls.

Rating 4 of 5 stars

Caroline Kennedy at Barnes & Noble

April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, Barnes & Noble Union Square hosted Caroline Kennedy, who discussed her book, She Walks in Beauty- A Woman's Journey Through Poems. Poet Sharon Olds, whose two poems Socks and High School Senior are in the anthology, discussed poetry with Ms. Kennedy.

The inspiration for the book came when, for her 50th birthday, three friends gave her poems. Kennedy was clearly touched by the gift, and thought that a collection of poems celebrating all of the different aspects of being a woman would make a great book.

Kennedy spoke of a renewed relevance for poetry. Poems are short and intense, and in today's communication of Twitter (140 characters) and text messages, people have become used to getting information in bite-sized pieces. She said that "poetry can be a way of creating community", and spoke of her work with an after-school poetry club in the New York City Public Schools.

She wanted "a book of poems for middle-aged women, a book that speaks of women's experiences through poems." She said there are many poems about love and solitude, not so many about friendship. Kennedy looked for "poems that turn ordinary moments into extraordinary ones."

Sections of the books include "Falling in Love", "Making Love" (which her children were not thrilled with), "Marriage", "Work" "Beauty, Clothes and Things of the World""Friendship" and "How to Live". Each section has poems that illustrate the chapter title, and features both poets familiar- Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, William Blake- and those new to the casual poetry reader, like Ellen Hagan, Rita Dove and Lucille Clifton.

Kennedy read W.H. Auden's Leap Before You Look, joking that it had special meaning for her following her ill-fated attempt at senatorial politics a few years ago.

Poet Sharon Olds also spoke of Auden's poem, saying that you could "feel the joy of music in his poem", and how much she liked that the repetition creates expectation and suspense.  She also read her own poem, High School Senior, written from the perspective of a mother whose daughter will soon be leaving the nest for college. It is readily identifiable for those of us moms who have experienced those same feelings.

I enjoyed the evening, although I think it may have been better to have an experienced moderator asking the questions of the women; at times, the program seemed to lack a little focus. It was nice to meet Kennedy, who signed copies of her book. I got to finally tell her that we have something in common- we both gave birth to our first-born children on the same day.

She Walks in Beauty- A Woman's Journey Through Poems is a lovely book, one that would make a wonderful gift for Mother's Day or a birthday. Kennedy's introduction to each chapter is insightful, and I liked the way the chapter headings follow a woman's actual journey through life.

Strings Attached

Strings Attached by Judy Blundell
Published by Scholastic

Hardcover $17.99

I haven't read much YA, but this book intrigued me.  Its setting, alternating between Providence and New York City in 1950, is unusual for this type of book. The protagonist, 17 year-old Kit Corrigan, has set off for New York to make it big on Broadway. She is a triplet, but the book is not all about her relationships with her siblings, which would have been the easy way to go.

Kit broke up with her boyfriend back home, Billy, who promptly joined the army with Kit's brother Jamie. Billy's dad Nate is a mob lawyer who finds Kit and offers to set her up if she will reconcile with Billy and keep him informed. He entices her with a job and an apartment, and Kit mistakenly thinks she can handle all this without getting involved in mob business.

The setting of 1950 New York, with the nightclubs, the air raid sirens and the beginnings of the McCarthy era is well done, and is probably not known to many readers. The relationships among the characters, Kit, Jamie and Billy echo the relationships among Kit's father, her aunt and Billy's father. The unraveling of the truth about the past colors the future of the younger generation.

As the story progresses, Kit makes bad decisions that she will eventually pay for, but you can see why she made them. Raised in poverty, she strives to achieve the American dream. She is willing to work hard, but seduced by Nate's offer she ends up in a web from which she cannot escape.

The author creates interesting characters, and I liked Kit's young neighbor and her Aunt Delia best. But the story rests on Kit's shoulders, and she is a character that high school girls will relate to. Her dreams of stardom, her tormented love life, the loneliness of life in a big city, all these make for dramatic story telling.

Strings Attached is well written, with strong characters in a unique setting. It will appeal to high school girls, but as an adult, I enjoyed it as well.

Rating 3.5 of 5 stars

Bottom of the 33rd

Bottom of the 33rd- Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game by Dan Barry
Published by Harper Collins- ISBN 978-0-06-201448-1
Hardcover, $26.99

Major League Baseball just opened up another season, so the perfect book to read this week is Dan Barry's Bottom of the 33rd- Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game.


The game took place on April 18, 1981, Holy Saturday, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The Triple A League Pawtucket Red Sox hosted the Rochester Red Wings. The Sox had future superstar Wade Boggs on their team, the Red Wings had the incomparable Cal Ripken Jr. at third base.

But Barry wisely does not put those superstars at the center of his story. What makes this narrative interesting are the not-so-famous people. The Pawtucket owner, Ben Mondor, a wealthy businessman who grew up poor in Pawtucket and made it big, took the team at its lowest point and restored it to its former glory.

He prized loyalty above all, and when Budweiser refused to sell him beer because the former owners owed them money, he remembered that for a long time. Miller sold him beer, and even though Budweiser was the fan favorite, and Budweiser eventually begged him to buy their beer year after year, Mondor stuck with Miller because they were loyal to him.

Mondor put together a small but hardworking front office team, and they turned the bankrupt team into a success by "keeping prices low, making the stadium safe and family-friendly and emphasizing that the Pawtucket players on the field were the Boston Red Sox of tomorrow."

One of the most unforgettable characters is pitcher Win Remmerswaal. He is from the Netherlands, and "doesn't seem to accept basic social customs, such as adherence to the law or value of currency." His car license plate was a "piece of cardboard with a few meaningless numbers scribbled on it." At the end of one road trip, it was discovered that he was missing. He showed up several days later, explaining that he had never seen the nation's capital, so when they had a layover in Washington, he took a few days to sightsee. He is hilarious!

Triple A baseball is the last step before the major league team, so there is an interesting dynamic on those teams. There are the young players destined for future glory, like Boggs and Ripken. There are 'old guys'- the 25 and 26 year-olds- who have kicked around for awhile, and this is their last shot at making the big team. Some of them get called up to play in September on the parent club, only to be sent back to Triple A next spring to try again.

The agony of working to see your dream come true, knowing that there is a short time limit on it, is palpable in this book. First baseman Dave Koza has dragged his wife Ann from Florida to Pawtucket to Wyoming every year in pursuit of his dream. Ann finds some kind of factory work wherever they land, and she goes to every game. She is one of the 19 people who watched all 32 innings of the game, lasting until 4am on Easter morning when it was finally called. They are the heart of this marvelous book, and the end to their story is so moving.

The longest game, which is finally finished two months later in Pawtucket, is told in detail, alternating with the stories of the people who participated in it. I grew up in Auburn, NY, which has a Single A baseball team, and this book really resonated with me. I know my entire family will want to read it.

Barry gives the reader a close-up look at our national pasttime, and what that means for the cities where it is played. He tells the stories of the participants with honesty, humor, and heart. If you liked the movie, Bull Durham, this book is for you. It is a must-read for every baseball fan.

rating 5 of 5 stars

Among the Mad

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by Henry Holt & Co.- ISBN 978-0-8050-8216-6
Hardcover version $25

Reading for bookclubgirl's Mad For Maisie Readalong

The sixth Maise Dobbs book, Among the Mad, is one of the strongest entries in the series. Instead of a case coming to private investigator/psychologist Maisie Dobbs, she is a witness to a crime. A man blows himself up in the middle of a crowded London street,  mere feet from Maisie.

Something about the man, who looked like an injured war veteran, stood out to Maisie, but she could not stop him. Detective Chief Superintendent Robert McFarlane recruits Maisie to assist Scotland Yard's Special Branch with this case. Maisie is not fond of MacFarlane, but she knows she has a duty to assist the police in apprehending the person responsible for the bombing.

A letter was sent to to the Home Secretary stating that more serious bombings would occur, and many more people would lose their lives if their demands are not met. The writer is decrying the poor treatment of returning war vets. They cannot get jobs, decent health care or monetary benefits they are owed.

I liked how relevant this story is to today's readers. Although the story takes place in 1931/1932 London, it echoes the experience of soldiers who have served and been wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The weapons of mass destruction, via a chemical bomb scare, is relatable to many of us who live in large cities.

This novel has a few differences from most Maisie novels. There is more action, a sense of urgency as Maisie races to find the culprit before anyone else is hurt. Maisie also puts herself in harm's way as she directly confronts a dangerous man.

Although the reader doesn't know the exact identity of the bomber, we are privy to his writings, and know his motive and thoughts. That is an interesting twist to this novel, as we are usually in the dark until the very end as to who did it or why.

I always learn an interesting fact from these novels, and in this one, I learned that dogs were used as message carriers, went on patrol, and were used to increase morale among the soldiers.

Billy's wife Doreen continues her downward emotional decline following the loss of their young daughter. She has to go to a mental hospital, and the conditions there are frightening. Billy's anguish over his wife's illness and Maisie's attempts to help their family touched me.

Among the Mad is a real page turner, with a lot of action; it has emotion and the political messages resonated for me as well. This is a superior mystery.

Rating 4.5 of 5