Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is on its surface a murder mystery and below the surface a wonderful coming of age story and a beautiful look at the marshlands of the North Carolina. After being left by every member of her family Kya finds a way to survive and along the way become an expert on the local flora and fauna. She also finds love for both wonderful and devastating results.
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene tells the story of Maurice Bendrix, a novel writer who fell in love with the wife of another man. Reflecting back on the affair a couple years after it had ended Maurice is still undecided whether he wants closure, revenge, or to reunite with Sarah. The story told from different viewpoints is an interesting look at how we care for others and find faith in the world.
American Duchess by Karen Harper is a novel based on the life of Consuelo, nee Vanderbilt. Strongarmed by her mother into a marriage to the Duke of Malborough (cousin of Winston Churchill); the book tells the story of how she grew in maturity, took control of her life, found love, and ultimately made peace with her mom. Struggled with the last third of the book where I think the author tried to cover a lot of time quickly; I overall enjoyed the story and am glad to have learned more about this interesting woman and the times in which she lived.
Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer is the story of Viscount Desford and the adventures which ensue when he picks up Cherry Steane who has run away from her aunt and is on her way to London to ask for her grandfather's help. This one of Heyer's later books and a plot I think she explores better in Sprig Muslin, but that being said the dialogues in this book are wonderful particularly those between Des and his father and brother.
Please head over to Carolyn's for more Open Book!
Thanks for linking to An Open Book! I hear so much about Where the Crawdads Sing. I did listen to the audiobook version of The End of the Affair, which was wonderfully done. I'd like to read it some time too. There were some phrases there that had be going back and re-listening.
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed in the ending of Where the Crawdads Sing (maybe I was the only one, I don't know...). The End of the Affair is one of my all-time favorite books, recommended to me by my dad. I thought I was going to hate it when I started it--and now I've read it at least ten times! (Greene's The Power and the Glory is also outstanding, if you haven't read it.) :)
ReplyDeleteI love the End of the Affair! I've been thinking that I really need to re-read it sometime.
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