Forgive Me

Forgive Me by Amanda Eyre Ward

All of Amanda Eyre Ward's books are the kind that keep you up all night because you can't put them down. Forgive Me is no exception.

Part of the appeal is the story, but another is the quick sentences and staccato of her stories.

Forgive Me is about Nadine Morgan, an foreign correspondent who has gotten caught up in the nomad lifestyle of a journalist. After being beat up in Mexico, she returns to her hometown in Cape Cod and is forced to confront who she is and who she wants to be. She makes one last trip to South Africa to complete a story that has been following her, her entire career.

I stayed up until 2:30 reading this last night, so be forewarned. Once you start, it's hard to put down.

Loving Frank

I finished Loving Frank. It was an interesting and engrossing story, but possibly because it also described the history of Frank Lloyd Wright and was set around the Women's Movement (you know I prefer historical fiction to nonfiction).

What was interesting was that Mamah left her husband and two very young children as well as her sister to pursue this relationship. And while she talks about missing them, there almost seems something unnatural about it. The character, Mamah, seems to use the writings of a swedish feminist and her ideas of following your passion a little too literally.

The ending was shocking because I didn't realize that there was a murder and fire at Taliesin in 1914. But I do want to go visit Taliesin in Wisconsin now.

Loving Frank - Part One

What I'm reading now....

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

This is the much talked about fictionalized story of Frank Lloyd Wright's lover, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. It was a very scandalous story especially for the early 20th century.

It's made me interested to look and learn more about Wright's homes (esp Taliesin which is a big part of the 3rd part of the book). But I may wish I hadn't been so curious...I just learned about Mamah's fate!!!

I'll write a full review after I finish.

I bought "Profiles in Courage" at the bookstore today. Why haven't I read it before now?

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl is such a smart book! Sarah was reading it over the holidays and gave it a good review, so we picked it for my book club.

Unfortunately, we haven't had our meeting yet, so I was holding off posting so I wouldn't give away my thoughts on the book, but I figured I'd better post something.

Blue is a high school student - but definitely not your average teenager. Her mother was killed in a car accident when she was young and since then she and her father don't stay any place for very long. For her senior year in high school, they settle in the NC mountains where she will attend St. Gallways. There she becomes part of an elite group of students, the blue bloods, who have a close relationship with one teacher, Hannah Schnieder (sometimes distrubingly close).

In that year, Blue gets the chance to be more of a "typical" teenager but also learns more about her life, her mother's death as she recounts the tale of Hannah Schneider's death.

At times, I thought the voice of Blue was a little too mature for a teenager, but then by the end it all made perfect sense.