Robin Henry

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

I am afraid I will have to join the minority who did not like this one. The Washington Post reviewer calls it “plodding” and I would have to agree. One reviewer on Goodreads says it seems like the author read The Grapes of Wrath and decided it needed an update. I would have to agreeContinue reading “The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah”

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

There are very few books that live up to the hype and this one does. The Thursday Murder Club delivers on so many levels–it’s a cozy, it’s an ensemble piece with multiple points of view, it’s hilarious, it’s a warning against underestimating the elderly. It is hard to believe that this is Osman’s debut novel,Continue reading “The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman”

Good Company by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

Joy. Pain. Choices. Love. Family. Secrets. In her second novel, Sweeney does it again. She shows us a family; she shows us ourselves; she shows us an imperfect world with imperfect people who somehow manage to love each other and mean it. When Flora finds Julian’s wedding ring in an old filing cabinet, the ringContinue reading “Good Company by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney”

The “feisty female” in historical fiction

I have been reading Susanne Alleyn’s excellent book about writing historical fiction. Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders (2015) recently; though I find it helpful, interesting, and often quite humorous, there is one idea I would like to push back on just a bit–the feisty female. Alleyn writes that too often authors give their historical charactersContinue reading “The “feisty female” in historical fiction”

Throwback Thursday: The Year Before the War

Originally reviewed in 2017… I started using NPR’s book concierge and decided to begin with this sweet, sad story of the run-up and beginning of World War I in Britain containing a cast of characters who are by turns loveable, laughable, pitiable, and enviable. Beatrice Nash is the new school mistress in the village ofContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: The Year Before the War”

A Spy Named Orphan: the Enigma of Donald MacLean by Roland Philipps

Another volume of Cold War riches from recently declassified files! This entry follows the life of Donald McLean, one of the Cambridge Four Five. Written by an insider, Philipps is the grandson of Roger Makins, former boss of Donald MacLean and the last person from the Foreign Office to see him before he disappeared andContinue reading “A Spy Named Orphan: the Enigma of Donald MacLean by Roland Philipps”

Fallen Founder: the life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg (2007)

Isenberg is probably more famous for White Trash (2016), but this 2007 volume is a fantastic addition to the many books about the American founders. Gordon Wood argues in Revolutionary Characters that Burr is most useful as an anomaly, because he sheds light on the “real” founders. While admitting that Burr was cast as theContinue reading “Fallen Founder: the life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg (2007)”

Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick

I found this browsing in Half Price Books. I had read A Reliable Wife several years ago and was unaware of Goolrick’s second novel. A Reliable Wife is one of those books that stays with you for a long time–you keep thinking about it. Heading Out to Wonderful does not disappoint. Goolrick’s prose is beautiful:Continue reading “Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick”

Rereading Lady Susan by Jane Austen

Lady Susan is frequently dismissed by scholars as a youthful creation of Austen, not worthy of inclusion among her mature works. Many point to it as an example of her younger self experimenting with an epistolary novel, which she abandoned, and which she did not revisit in her later writing. She revised Elinor and Marianne,Continue reading “Rereading Lady Susan by Jane Austen”

Chawton House Reading Group Titles

The Nobleman by Isabelle de Charriere and Tales of Fancy v. 1, The Shipwreck by Sarah Burney I recently joined the Chawton House Reading Group when it went virtual and it has been a great pleasure to meet once per month with people who love books and who also love Austen. The group includes manyContinue reading “Chawton House Reading Group Titles”