By Carol Rifka Brunt

The Short Take:

Families, death, memories, art, and beauty — this debut novel brings them all together with grace and eloquence. Set in 1987, and narrated by a misfit 14-year-old girl, this touching novel explores how even in death those we love still shape our world. Rich and rewarding, it’s an exceptional first novel.

Why?

When the person you feel closest to dies, it’s hard indeed. When that person dies from an illness that no one wants to talk about or acknowledge — AIDs — it’s even harder. When you feel all alone and completely misunderstood without that person, it’s hardest of all. However, this book is not a terrible downer. It focuses on finding ways to deal with loss while continuing to treasure the person you miss. It’s about moving on without moving away. It’s lovely.

The young June makes an engaging narrator, with all the angst and self-loathing that seems to automatically come with being different and 14. What a hard age that is! Her deceased uncle reaches beyond the grave to help her, as well as the one other person who is mourning him in solitude and even greater despair — his dying partner.

The evolution of this relationship, as well as the changing relationship between June and her more popular,older sister form the dual heart of this worth-while novel.

However, I really do not get the title. It draws from the title of a portrait of the two sisters and there is a negative-space wolf head in the portrait, but it still seems odd to me.

A Little Plot:

Dying uncle Finn insists on creating a portrait of two sisters who have grown estranged as they enter their teen years. Neither of them want to pose. June because she treasures the time she spends alone with her uncle, who is also her closest friend and confident, and doesn’t want to share him. Greta just doesn’t want to.

After Finn’s death, mysterious packages begin arriving for June — treasures from her uncle. Then comes the request to befriend the stranger she first saw at Finn’s funeral. For June it is a thunderbolt: her beloved Finn also loved someone else, the man her parents claim killed him. She is torn, yet also in need of comfort herself. Making this connection could make the difference.

For more about Carol Rifka Brunt and her novel, click here.

By Andrew Taylor

The Short Take:

Once again Taylor explores another place and time in this mesmerizing mystery.  This time it’s a college in 1786 Cambridge, England; where some young men go to learn, others go to endlessly amuse themselves, and one has been labeled insane because he saw a ghost. To get to the bottom of this unfortunate situation, his mother sends an investigator who adamantly denies the existence of ghosts. It’s a really good read — as much for the mystery as for the window on this other world..

Why?

Taylor writes a smart mystery. In addition to multi-layered plots, interesting characters, and misleading clues, he also utilizes unique and interesting settings for his novels. And, his in depth research makes them come alive. His fictional Jerusalem College is no exception, with it’s faculty rivalries, student pecking order, and less-than-stellar academics.

The way he reveals his mystery through the investigation of ghost sceptic, John Holdsworth, leads you to suspect virtually everyone of everything. Questions of who is responsible for the ghost appearance, the deaths of two different women, the disappearance of a rare book, and other questionable activities all intertwine. In lesser hands, it would be enough to make your head spin, but Taylor keeps things clear and understandable.

Of course, I was totally wrong about almost everything I suspected. But that just adds to the pleasure for me.

A Little Plot:

Holdsworth’s wife was so addicted to hearing a medium’s messages from their dead child that she ultimately ruined their finances and killed herself. That drove him to write a book denouncing the existence of ghosts. In turn, the book brought him to the attention of the wealthy mother of a college student who claimed to see a ghost.

So Holdsworth heads to Jerusalem College, where he encounters — among other things — a group of debauched young men with a secret club, multiple academic rivalries, and a caste system that very clearly squashes the common man. Knowing there are no ghosts, Holdsworth is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery as well as help the young man currently imprisoned at an insane asylum.

He’s got a lot on his plate, and is still dealing with his own internal ghosts.

For more about Taylor and his work, click here.

I just got this email from Mr. Pearl. I have read both his other books and enjoyed them, particularly The Dante Club. So I thought I would give you a heads up about his newest effort. Sounds interesting. Here’s what he had to say:

Dear friends,

My new novel THE LAST DICKENS is in bookstores everywhere tomorrow! Please consider showing the booksellers support for the book by ringing one up at your local store or online as soon as you can!

My inaugural book reading/signing is tomorrow, Tuesday (March 17), in New York City. I hope all you New York and Tristate area folks will come to hear about the book and say hello at the Barnes & Noble Greenwich Village location (396 Ave of the Americas, at 8th st) at 6:30pm. Bring friends!

THE LAST DICKENS is a literary thriller that begins when Dickens’s sudden death leaves his final novel unfinished. His young American publisher James Osgood sets out on a quest from Boston to England to discover how Dickens’s novel was going to end, unleashing a real-life puzzle that becomes a matter of life and death. Lots more at www.MATTHEWPEARL.com!

Events following the one in New York will be in Newton (MA), Atlanta, Miami, Iowa City, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Brookline (MA), and Cambridge (MA). Details included below for each event. I’ll send a reminder email to those I have listed as living in each area the day before each respective event–but I try to be sensitive to email clutter, so otherwise I’ll be updating you on my website’s news page rather than through emails. You can also become a fan at my new Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Matthew-Pearl-author/29977879540

I’m happy to report very nice early reviews: the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says that THE LAST DICKENS is “ambitious and satisfying.” Booklist calls it “a brilliant, exciting thriller” that “aligns perfectly with” THE DANTE CLUB and THE POE SHADOW.” And the London Daily Mail declares the novel a “gripping read” that “ensures excitement.” I’m glad I can now share the book with all of you! Please forward this email to anyone you think might be interested, or any book clubs looking for a new pick.

With best wishes,

Matthew
www.matthewpearl.com

What’s up?

Not only did Mr. Fuller send me this wonderful email, I also got a chance to meet him at the recent Southern Festival of the book. The generosity of his spirit shows in his life as well as his writing.

This is what he had to say:

Dear Rikki,

Thank you for your stunning review.  I was truly moved and touched by your
kind and generous words.  As a writer (and you know whereof I speak), you
sit in your office, working away, hoping that someday, someone will get a
chance to read the work and hopefully get it.  You have made that dream come
true.

I don't know if it will be a movie.  I have given exclusive rights to a
producer (a man who was my agent for 12 years, so I trust him), and he has
numerous irons in the fire.  That said, the American Civil War is a
non-starter in Europe and Asia.  Authors who are appreciated for their other
works find their Civil War novels unpurchased and unread.  The movie of
Sweetsmoke would be expensive, and have to make its money back in the US
alone.  That makes it a tough sell.  But you never know.

When I finished the novel, I thought of an entire scenario for a second book
about Cassius, as I didn't want him to go away.  But as time has passed, I
think this is the best place to leave him.  So I currently have no plans for
a second Cassius novel.  I am, however, working on my next novel.  I'd be
able to work faster except for all the publicity that I've been doing.

Thank you again for your review.  I am both humbled and pleased.

Warmest appreciation,

Dave Fuller

I have to admit I get a real thrill when an author responds to my review. It’s the groupie in me, I guess. Recently Douglas Preston had this to say about my review of his work, The Monster of Florence. This non-fiction exploration of a serial murderer in Italy actually ensnarled Preston as a suspect.

Here’s what he said:

Dear Rikki,

Thank you for the intelligent and well-written review, and my
apologies for not responding sooner. I’ve been on vacation and away
from my computer.

It certainly was a difficult experience, but at least as a writer I
was able to write about it and thereby exorcise those particular
demons. I greatly appreciate your support.

Warmly,
Doug

Want to know more about Douglas Preston and his frequent writing partner Lincoln Child? Click here.