Monday, August 23, 2010

Wrapped in Rain


Wrapped in Rain is one of the most beautiful written books I have ever read. It's one of those books that so good you don't want it to end. It is compelling, authentic story of humanity's good & evil. The characters are so strong, that I will carry this story & people with me for a long time.

Tucker Mason never received affection from his wealthy & abusive father. He has few happy memories of his childhood. Time spent with his half-brother, Mutt & his childhood girlfriend, Katie. Of course, Miss Ella, the housekeeper who was like a mother to him & the only secure source of love Tucker ever knew.

Tucker is now a world famous photographer & has done his best to leave his difficult, painful childhood behind him. But when Katie comes back into his life with her little boy, Jase & Mutt escapes from the mental hospital where he has lived for the past 8 years, Tucker realized that maybe there are some memories that can't nor shouldn't be, left behind. through the ever-present voice of Miss Ella, Tucker realizes he has a choice. He can continue to let his hatred, the sins of his father, control his life & the decisions he makes, or he can lay it down & choose the harder path of love & forgiveness.

Every day that you get up, you got to lay that anger down. Lay it down & walk away. Then one day, you'll wake up & forget it's there. Only the remnant remains. An empty shell. If you don't, it'll eat you up & you'll rot, from the inside out

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Not So Pretty View of Ireland

Many people think of Ireland as a magical place full of green pastures packed with woolly sheep and lovely stone cottages and winding country roads. And I'm sure there are plenty of such things in Ireland. But there are also plenty of places like Faithful Place, the dreary, poverty-stricken neighborhood depicted in Tana French's new novel called, well, Faithful Place. French has taken a somewhat minor character from her last novel, Frank Mackey, and made this new book his story. It's a dreary place, yes. And it's a dreary story, yes. But French is a remarkable writer. Her agility and sense of place makes Faithful Place seem like it's one of the characters itself. Frank goes back to his childhood neighborhood when an old suitcase is found hidden in the chimney of an abandoned apartment house. The suitcase happened to belong to his childhood sweetheart--the sweetheart that he and everyone else assumed had run off to merry old England without him. His entire life, as it turns out, has been built on a falsehood. The dialogue among all these people is priceless. I found myself thinking in this Irish brogue and wanting to say words like "yous" and "eejit" and other choice terms I can't repeat in polite company. The Mackeys and their neighbors lead harsh lives, and their unhappiness shows up in hard ways. We discover why it is that Frank Mackey left home and never looked back. But we feel bad about it. And we mourn for his lost sweetheart Rosie right along with him.

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

CHILDREN IN THE MORNING

A Mystery
By Anne Emery
Beau Delaney is sort of a showboat, a promising lawyer whose exploits have become the subject of much discussion and even a Hollywood film of one of his cases. He's the father of ten children, some of them foster children, some of them adopted children, and some of them his own blood.
Then he is charged with the murder of his wife, Peggy. Monty Collins, a blues man and lawyer, tries to prove is client is not guilty but knows his client, Beau, is keeping secrets. All Beau will say is that he wasn't at home when the death happened but his neighbors say they saw Beau outside the home before eleven o'clock which tips the scales against Beau. The last words uttered by Peggy is "Hells Angels".
Besides his lawyer trying to save Beau from jail so is his pal, Father Brennan, a fried of Monty and Maura's, his ex-wife. Watching this all through the eyes of a child is Monty's and Maura's little girl, Normie. When Normie starts having nightmares and visions like her great grandmother about Beau, the plot thickens and becomes more and more mysterious. We hear the story from two points of view, experience and innocence, Monty and Normie; therefore, asking ourselves which of them will be first to uncover the truth about Beau Delaney.