Chilling Childhood

Winter Sisters by Robin Oliveira

When a blizzard of epic proportions hits the northeast of America in January 1879, creating both havoc and devastation for the city of Albany, New York, one part of the damage is the disappearance of the young sisters Emma and Claire O’Donnell. After finding the bodies of these girls’ parents, Dr. Mary Stipp (the famous Civil War surgeon, previously known as Dr. Mary Sutter), refuses to believe these girls are dead, and keeps up the search. Not long after all hope was lost, the two girls show up in the wake of a flood, and the story of what happened to them while they were missing threatens the whole city.


This is one of the books I took on to read and review for the website Book Browse, and to be honest, it was my second choice, but now I’m glad that my request for the other book fell through. This is the first of Oliveira’s books I’ve read, but the novel “My Name is Mary Sutter” has shown up on my radar for a long while. Apparently, this book is somewhat of a sequel to that one, which was published in 2010. I say 'somewhat' because from what I can tell, while many of the characters from the previous novel were brought forward for this one, I truly feel that this book stands alone, which is certainly to its credit. Of course, now my interest is piqued to read the previous book, since I truly appreciated the character of Mary Stipp (nee, Sutter), and would love to read a book that focuses primarily on her.

That alone could be considered a very high recommendation, and for the most part, it is. That said, I should mention that there were two things that didn’t sit totally right with me with this novel. To begin with, I felt the start of this book dragged just a little bit. This could be because I really wanted to hear something about these two girls, and Oliveira held off giving anything away about them for some time. I’m unsure how Oliveira could have fixed this, unless she advanced one of the chapters with the girls just a little bit closer to the start of the story. Another thing that didn’t work too well for me was the very end of this novel. To be clear, Oliveira didn’t ruin the book with a sloppy ending, but I felt that some of the things in the last chapters were unnecessary, with information that felt overly convenient in tying up any loose ends. As I’ve often said, sometimes allowing the readers to imagine what happens after the last page can make an extremely powerful ending, and I think Oliveira missed out on that here.

However, once Oliveira introduces the girls and their story, that’s when the novel really takes off. Oliveira increasingly picks up the pace and brings us a story using all the mystery/thriller mechanics available, to make us fully enraptured. Together with the drama of the blizzard and the flood, Oliveira introduces us to a large cast of characters, with various involvements with the girls and/or Mary, all of whom hand us just enough clues and send us down just the right amounts of rabbit holes to keep us turning the pages, without getting frustrated. Oliveira also gives us several climaxes, with just the right amounts of down-shifting in between, to make this story even more gripping. Now, I’m pretty good at figuring out “who done it” so when I doubt my own conclusions several times, I know the author has done a superb job in twisting their tale for me.

Oliveira’s style here is also highly appropriate for the era, using language that suggests certain levels of propriety, without any stodginess. With this, Oliveira draws this city using hints and descriptions of well-known locations to complement the characters and the story, while avoiding being overly poetic or lyrical. In addition, Oliveira seems to give each character a very unique voice, and although I sometimes mixed Claire up for Emma (although the former doesn’t say much throughout the book), I felt that Oliveira portrayed each character – both major and minor – with sensitivity and poise, and allowing the readers to emotionally connect with them all.

In short, I honestly enjoyed this novel, and found it to be exceptionally well written, with congenial characters (and detestable antagonists), and an exhilarating (if sometimes less than pleasant) story line and plot. (By the way, if Oliveira ever reads this, I’m hoping that if she decides to write a third novel, I’d like to suggest it focus on one minor character in this book – that being the particularly intriguing, and highly lovable, prostitute; I’d love to see a whole novel about her life after the incidents in this story.) Therefore, I am warmly recommending this book and think it deserves a solid four out of five stars.

Viking Press (Penguin Group) will release "Winter Sisters" by Robin Oliveira on February 27, 2018. This book is available (pre-order) from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, Kobo audio books, eBooks, iTunes (iBook or audiobook), The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery), new or used from Alibris or Better World Books as well as from an IndieBound store near you. I would like to thank the publishers for sending me an ARC of this novel via Edelweiss in exchange for a fair review.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

My 300th Post - Review of a Modern Classic

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Joseph Heller published this best-selling novel in 1961, and it is the only book I’ve ever read more than once. It is also one of the first books that come to mind when someone asks me to name my favorite book of all time (along with Ondaatje’s novels “The English Patient” and “The Cat’s Table”). This begs the question as to why I’ve never reviewed it, and my only answer is that I simply never got around to writing a review. But that’s not completely true. There’s something about reviewing a book that you love so much that you’re afraid you’ll ruin it for others with your review. There’s also the problem of having something new to say about a book that is so iconic, its title is now literally a dictionary entry. What I mean by this is that even those who have never read this book know what is meant when someone calls something is a “catch-22” situation. 


Of course, I could talk about how this book was almost called “Catch-18” but the publication of Leon Uris’s novel “Mila 18” made them change the title before publication. I could discuss how it compares and contrasts with the book M*A*S*H, which became a wonderful film (unlike the film version of this book) and an amazing TV series (they didn't dare), but I can't because I never read that book (but I have the DVD of the film, and one day I hope to buy the full set of the TV show on DVD as well). But I think I would prefer to write a real review of this novel, and not an essay, trivia article or a list of FAQs. But first:

So, what is it about this book that has enthralled me? To begin with, I’d have to say that the writing is probably the first reason. Heller’s prose here is irreverently sassy and filled with absurdities together with an underlying anguish for the suffering of these people who are living in the eye of a storm as soldiers. It is important to note that despite the many humorous sections, Heller doesn’t gloss over any of the tragedies, nor make light of any of the misery. Still, Heller’s book is really a comedy at heart, albeit a very acerbic one.

Combine this with what seems like a deep affection for every character, is what helps Heller portray both the nonsense and the pathos with equal aplomb. Furthermore, although we get angry with certain characters for things they do and say, Heller also shows us their vulnerable sides as well (for the most part). That means, of course, that those characters we love – the protagonist Yossarian in particular – also receive a balanced presentation, and we love them even more for their flaws together with their strengths. Furthermore, although Heller fills this book with literally dozens of characters – both minor and of slightly more import – each one gets just enough focus and detail that I’ve never felt confused regarding who each of them were, or what they were doing.

These two important elements only enhance Heller’s wildly spectacular plot, that weaves its way through the many unusual characters and their equally curious antics. What’s more, the number of stories and goings on surrounding the essential plot of Yossarian not wanting to fly any more missions are as various and numerous as the number of stories. Yet again, this is because Heller writes with such control that we’re never bewildered by any of them.

In short, I’ve always found every aspect of this book to be masterfully written, and that Heller constructed the whole work to absolute perfection. This novel is a joy to read from start to finish, including the scenes that are upsetting and even gruesome at times. There is nothing that could make me give this less than a full five stars out of five, and recommend it highly and wholeheartedly (and I think I need to re-read it yet again)!

“Catch-22” by Joseph Heller is still available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo audio books, eBooks.com, iTunes (iBook or audiobook), The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery), new or used from Alibris or Better World Books as well as from an IndieBound store near you.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad