Marti's August Picks

The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

I love books that start with a well-known and accurate historical fact and then create a piece of fiction around that fact. B. A. Shapiro did just that in her book, The Art Forger. In 1990, various pieces of artwork were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Three of the missing pieces were drawings from Degas. From this we are drawn into a world of stolen art and forgeries.

The main character, Clair, is an artist, who has been maligned in the cutthroat art world. She is skilled at copying specific artists and wants to show her own paintings. Claire is asked to paint/forge a copy of one of the stolen works from the Gardner Museum in trade for a one-woman show of her work. This decision leads her to a search through history and time about the artist, Degas and Isabella Gardner. Is the painting After Bath by Degas an original or a forgery? The plot continues to unfold highlighting the controversial missing painting.

The main character, Claire, as an artist, can easily be led by her desire for exposure, can be universal in her desires. The unfolding of the plot does, at times, slow and then speeds up as in real life where nothing happens and then a waterfall of events occur almost simultaneously. The book does come to a head with a couple of surprises.

The book was an enjoyable read. There was a lot of information about painting styles and materials as well as historical information about paintings. The story did not rush to an ending and did seemingly meander at times going back and forth in time as the story unfolded.

 Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky

Barbara Delinsky has written another bestseller.  Her newest book is a testament to her story telling ability.  The novel set on a fictional island in Maine and is filled with the best the island offers: food, herbs, friends and the sweet salt air from the ocean.

The characters from the book are some of my favorites of all of her books.  I love the grittiness of Charlotte, the reticence of Leo, the determination of Julian, and the passion of Nicole.  Each character fills a need within the book, but continues to grow and change as the book moves forward in its story.

The plot is intertwined with story threads such as organic ingredients, the use of herbs, stem cell research and use as well as Multiple Sclerosis.  On top of that there is guilt, forgiveness, anger, and fear, all so strong that they are visceral. How Barbara Delinsky balances all that as well as the complex characters all speaks to her skills at writing.

The book was a wonderful read and has a deeply moving story. You can almost smell the lavender on the island with the crashing waves. The beach chair is optional.

Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand

Welcome to summer! There is a new Elin Hilderbrand book out! To me, her books epitomize what summer should be sun, beaches, small towns, and plenty of water! Nantucket sounds so wonderful in these books. Too bad the stories are not real...SIGH....

Beautiful Day is a story about a wedding on Nantucket during the summer. The Grahams and the Carmichaels have come together for a wedding between Jenna and Stuart. Beth Carmichael wrote a book of thoughts to her daughter, Jenna before she died. "The Notebook" as it is called contains all kinds of advice, ideas and other information about how to plan Jenna's wedding. Jenna and her older sister Margo follow the suggestions as closely as possible. This does cause an issue or two with the groom's family, but that seems to have worked itself out.

What hasn't worked itself out are all the last minute problems that occur when two disparate groups of people come together for a wedding. What hasn't worked itself out are last minute secrets turned into disclosures that occur when people get together. On top of all that are the issues of the complicated relationships between the step children/mothers, affairs, cheating spouses, and jealousy. It is a veritable smorgasbord of emotions, opinions, feelings in a short time and in a small space. You just know stuff is going to happen .... and it sure does!

I enjoyed seeing the wedding weekend from the variety of voices used. Each chapter has at least three voices (nicely labeled) with "outtakes" about how that person either felt about or things they wanted to say. This technique gave the book a different vibe and allowed the reader many views. One of the things I did not like was the men that were characterized as shallow, cheating and lying scums. The wedding seemed to have a number of them within the immediate cast of characters. While they certainly gave the books some twists and turns, I would have felt better if more of the characters were less ugly in their behaviors.

Thank you Elin Hilderbrand for helping welcome in summer with another great read!!! ( 4.5 stars out of five)

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian is part mystery and part historical fiction. Two stories intertwine around a family and a unknown assailant. Chris Bohjalian unveils the story piece by piece describing each scene with an eye toward setting up the story. The story splashes back and forth in time drawing you to the conclusion. The writing draws you into the story and keeps your attention. There are twists.

However, I did not find the story as compelling as I have others. It contained the moral ambiguity, that is often seen from his books. The characters were interesting. There were twists in the plot. However, I felt the ending was a little ho hum and did not grab you but kind of whimpered. The ending disappointed me, which is hard for me to say about a Chris Bohjalian's book. I enjoyed the reading and the book was good, but not as outstanding as some of his other books.

I will continue to read Chris Bohjalian. His books are well written and draw you into the story. His ability to tell a story is excellent. This book is not a favorite. (three out of five stars)

The Movement of Stars by Amy Brill

This was an awesome read! The story is loosely based on the life of Maria Mitchell and her desire to study and find a comet. It contains much information about astronomy that can be overwhelming, however the information is not needed to understand the story at its heart. It is a story of longing, desire, love and acceptance in a very regimented and structured world.

The main character is Hannah Gardner Price. She lives on Nantucket and the majority of the story takes place between 1845 and 1848. Through the character of Hannah, we are introduced to the infancy of modern astronomy. However, she lives in a very strict community of Quakers, who profess to openness and understanding but who are in reality very controlling of their population. Hannah is extremely intelligent and able to complete the most complex mathematical equations of the time, however she is still expected to follow the confines of being a woman in a Quaker society. Her emotional understanding of people is stunted, as she does not have similar interests to others in her world.

Her family does not seem to support her quest to find a comet. She finds herself in deeper and deeper straits financially as she does not marry or leave the island. Hannah takes on a student to help him learn the mathematics to improve his position on a ship. A black man and a white woman – need I say more?

I found myself tearing up at times... knowing that Hannah so desperately wants to be successful in her pursuit of the stars and the barriers that are constantly thrown against her – barriers that are meant to force her to conform... I struggled with her as she learned to stand and take steps toward understanding herself, her life and her role!

I did have trouble drawing myself into the book until about 60 pages in. I found myself recoiling against some of the characters for their behaviors. Even though they are authentic and appropriate for the time. At the end, I was glad and sad... A 4+ star book out of 5 stars!

The Heist by Janet Evanovich

The Heist by Janet Evanovich is the first book in a new series. The book is a cross between the story lines of the movies The Sting and The Thomas Crowne Affair. The main characters are Katie O’Hare (FBI) and Nicholas Fox (con man).

Katie has been on the heels of Nicholas Fox for years. Each time she almost has him in her grasp, he manages to slip away... She finds him very frustrating, exasperating and always one step ahead. Nicholas Fox loves having Kate following him. He has started to become quite bold in leaving her clues and Toblerone Bars. They end up working together on a case much to Katie's disgust and the situations they get into and out of are not run of the mill.

While, I did not find this novel to be humorous, as I had hoped, I did find the story line to be interesting and at times almost comical. The suave personality of Nicholas and the caustic in your face personality of Kate brings the situations and the characters alive! The supporting characters are very well drawn and certainly not ordinary!

I enjoyed this book and would read the next in the series.  It was better than okay and not great.