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Usually, I'm hard pressed to name a favorite book each year, but for 2011, there's simply no contest. Yesterday I finished The 6th Lamentation, by William Brodrick, and it's one of the 10 best books I've ever read. This is a complex novel, part historical fiction and part thriller, overflowing with compelling characters and fueled by an intricate plot in which nothing is what it seems.
A former Nazi officer, Eduard Schwermann, evaded prosecution for war crimes by escaping to England, where he's lived incognito for 50 years. When his arrest becomes imminent, he seeks sanctuary at Larkwood Priory. Schwermann's case is likely to raise unpleasant questions about the involvement of the Catholic Church, and the Vatican assigns the priory's Father Anselm to look into the possible repercussions. He begins with the sketchy knowledge that Schwermann's escape had something to do with a small French resistance group who smuggled Jewish children out of occupied Paris. As Anselm delves into records and interviews the few now-elderly survivors and their families, an amazing story unfolds.
The 6th Lamentation is both a highly literate mystery and a gripping morality tale, filled with suspense and pathos, misjudgment and misinterpretation, justice and punishment, condemnation and forgiveness. As this book so brilliantly reminds us, the past is always with us, for better or worse.
Religion, women’s rights, and social injustice all play a major role in Tracy Chevalier’s newest novel, Remarkable Creatures. One of the heroines of the tale is Mary Anning, an impoverished woman living in Lyme Regis with a prodigious talent for discovering fossils. The other is Elizabeth Philpot, a member of the minor gentry who must rely for her living upon her married brother. When Elizabeth moves from London to Lyme to live more frugally, she meets and befriends Mary, for, despite their difference in class, they share a burning interest in fossils and the living animals they once were. Elizabeth provides Mary with a rudimentary education, and in return, Mary teaches her to hunt and collect. The years pass, and when Mary makes an extraordinary find, Elizabeth works with Mrs. Anning to help build an income for Mary. It isn’t long before noted geologists and scientists are calling upon Mary to “assist” them in their own hunts. Because of the times, they take outrageous advantage of the young woman, who never receives the recognition that is her due.
These are real women, who lived in the first half of the 19th century, when the very idea of extinction was anathema because it suggested that God was imperfect. It was a rare woman indeed who received credit for any contribution to science or business, and class differences were accepted as part of God’s plan. The story of Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning deserves telling, because together, they did so much to advance scientific thought and evidence with little personal gain. Tracy Chevalier has done a service to history by revealing the contributions of these remarkable scientists.
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sequels” to classics, especially those of Jane Austen, Paula Reed has imagined a future for Hester Prynne, one of the icons of English literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is brooding and evocative of its time and place, yet simultaneously ageless in what it reveals about human nature. Now Reed presents us with an older Hester, widowed and leaving New England to claim her daughter’s inheritance in England.
This plot hinges on the reader’s ability to accept that, when she donned the scarlet A, Hester inadvertently developed a sort of sixth sense, the power to “read” the sins of others simply by looking into their eyes and sensing their auras. It’s a pretty unlikely idea to swallow, but, at any rate,this new talent causes her much distress, and others to distrust her. Now taking shelter with a girlhood friend, Mrs. Wright, Hester and Pearl are integrated into the family. Mr Wright is one of the close confidants of Oliver Cromwell, and when Cromwell learns of Hester’s powers, he insists that she assist him in the rooting out of traitors to his new kingless regime.
Reed’s story is interesting enough, but the personality of her Hester simply doesn’t match the classic one. Her other characters are credible enough, although it’s difficult to care about any of them. It’s interesting to compare the social conditions in Interregnum England with those in New England; after all, the Puritans were in control in both places, and they were not relaxed and casual! If the protagonist were some less iconic than Hester Prynne, I’d likely be less critical, but this problem cannot be overlooked. Paula Reed is a competent writer. Read Hester as a romance with strong historical overtones, and her story is an enjoyable one.
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(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
Artist/not-so-secret agent Gabriel Allon is lured from his idyllic Umbria honeymoon by a request for a "small favor" from his mentor/father surrogate, former head of the Mussad. The favor turns out to be lethal. Although the mission that develops is a crucial one, involving covert arms sales and global terrorism, Gabriel has learned to subjugate what his heart tells him in order to do what he deems right. Somehow, Moscow Rules is missing the edge that all previous Allon novels have offered. While there is menace and violence to spare, Gabriel himself seems to be going through the paces because, well, that's what he does. The villain of the piece, Ivan Kharkov, seems a caricature designed to personify all the tyrannical elements that persist even in modern Russia, and his wife, who rats him out, doesn't come across as strong or committed enough to fulfill her mission. Nevertheless, I'd rather read a Silva covert-ops novel than one by virtually anyone else writing today, and Moscow isn't bad, simply not quite as sharp as its predecessors.
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(2 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
Ace FBI "Sweeper" Edwin Kreiss has retired in disgrace, having uncovered evidence against the wishes of his government. Novice Special Agent Janet Carter, with the same "weakness" for insisting on telling the truth, is assigned to the investigation when Kreiss's daughter disappears on a camping trip. Kreiss has agreed to abstain from anything remotely connected to police work, but when the local Bureau rolls the case over to Missing Persons, he decides he'll have to take matters into his own hands. And all hell breaks loose. With bomb cells, a derelict arsenal, mountain men, Christian militia, and treacherous political infighting, Carter is hard pressed to identify the "enemy" and Kreiss doesn't care who he has to take out in order to recover his daughter. The hunters become the hunted in this no holds barred techno-thriller, filled with secret weapons, double dealing, and non-stop, ever perilous action.
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(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
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The Sixth Lamentation by William Brodrick
Linda Pagliuco, January 1, 2012
Usually, I'm hard pressed to name a favorite book each year, but for 2011, there's simply no contest. Yesterday I finished The 6th Lamentation, by William Brodrick, and it's one of the 10 best books I've ever read. This is a complex novel, part historical fiction and part thriller, overflowing with compelling characters and fueled by an intricate plot in which nothing is what it seems.A former Nazi officer, Eduard Schwermann, evaded prosecution for war crimes by escaping to England, where he's lived incognito for 50 years. When his arrest becomes imminent, he seeks sanctuary at Larkwood Priory. Schwermann's case is likely to raise unpleasant questions about the involvement of the Catholic Church, and the Vatican assigns the priory's Father Anselm to look into the possible repercussions. He begins with the sketchy knowledge that Schwermann's escape had something to do with a small French resistance group who smuggled Jewish children out of occupied Paris. As Anselm delves into records and interviews the few now-elderly survivors and their families, an amazing story unfolds.
The 6th Lamentation is both a highly literate mystery and a gripping morality tale, filled with suspense and pathos, misjudgment and misinterpretation, justice and punishment, condemnation and forgiveness. As this book so brilliantly reminds us, the past is always with us, for better or worse.
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Linda Pagliuco, January 28, 2010
Religion, women’s rights, and social injustice all play a major role in Tracy Chevalier’s newest novel, Remarkable Creatures. One of the heroines of the tale is Mary Anning, an impoverished woman living in Lyme Regis with a prodigious talent for discovering fossils. The other is Elizabeth Philpot, a member of the minor gentry who must rely for her living upon her married brother. When Elizabeth moves from London to Lyme to live more frugally, she meets and befriends Mary, for, despite their difference in class, they share a burning interest in fossils and the living animals they once were. Elizabeth provides Mary with a rudimentary education, and in return, Mary teaches her to hunt and collect. The years pass, and when Mary makes an extraordinary find, Elizabeth works with Mrs. Anning to help build an income for Mary. It isn’t long before noted geologists and scientists are calling upon Mary to “assist” them in their own hunts. Because of the times, they take outrageous advantage of the young woman, who never receives the recognition that is her due.These are real women, who lived in the first half of the 19th century, when the very idea of extinction was anathema because it suggested that God was imperfect. It was a rare woman indeed who received credit for any contribution to science or business, and class differences were accepted as part of God’s plan. The story of Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning deserves telling, because together, they did so much to advance scientific thought and evidence with little personal gain. Tracy Chevalier has done a service to history by revealing the contributions of these remarkable scientists.
(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
Hester: The Missing Years of the the Scarlet Letter: A Novel by Paula Reed
Linda Pagliuco, January 4, 2010
sequels” to classics, especially those of Jane Austen, Paula Reed has imagined a future for Hester Prynne, one of the icons of English literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is brooding and evocative of its time and place, yet simultaneously ageless in what it reveals about human nature. Now Reed presents us with an older Hester, widowed and leaving New England to claim her daughter’s inheritance in England.This plot hinges on the reader’s ability to accept that, when she donned the scarlet A, Hester inadvertently developed a sort of sixth sense, the power to “read” the sins of others simply by looking into their eyes and sensing their auras. It’s a pretty unlikely idea to swallow, but, at any rate,this new talent causes her much distress, and others to distrust her. Now taking shelter with a girlhood friend, Mrs. Wright, Hester and Pearl are integrated into the family. Mr Wright is one of the close confidants of Oliver Cromwell, and when Cromwell learns of Hester’s powers, he insists that she assist him in the rooting out of traitors to his new kingless regime.
Reed’s story is interesting enough, but the personality of her Hester simply doesn’t match the classic one. Her other characters are credible enough, although it’s difficult to care about any of them. It’s interesting to compare the social conditions in Interregnum England with those in New England; after all, the Puritans were in control in both places, and they were not relaxed and casual! If the protagonist were some less iconic than Hester Prynne, I’d likely be less critical, but this problem cannot be overlooked. Paula Reed is a competent writer. Read Hester as a romance with strong historical overtones, and her story is an enjoyable one.
(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva
Linda Pagliuco, June 11, 2009
Artist/not-so-secret agent Gabriel Allon is lured from his idyllic Umbria honeymoon by a request for a "small favor" from his mentor/father surrogate, former head of the Mussad. The favor turns out to be lethal. Although the mission that develops is a crucial one, involving covert arms sales and global terrorism, Gabriel has learned to subjugate what his heart tells him in order to do what he deems right. Somehow, Moscow Rules is missing the edge that all previous Allon novels have offered. While there is menace and violence to spare, Gabriel himself seems to be going through the paces because, well, that's what he does. The villain of the piece, Ivan Kharkov, seems a caricature designed to personify all the tyrannical elements that persist even in modern Russia, and his wife, who rats him out, doesn't come across as strong or committed enough to fulfill her mission. Nevertheless, I'd rather read a Silva covert-ops novel than one by virtually anyone else writing today, and Moscow isn't bad, simply not quite as sharp as its predecessors.(2 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
Hunting Season
Linda Pagliuco, May 16, 2009
Ace FBI "Sweeper" Edwin Kreiss has retired in disgrace, having uncovered evidence against the wishes of his government. Novice Special Agent Janet Carter, with the same "weakness" for insisting on telling the truth, is assigned to the investigation when Kreiss's daughter disappears on a camping trip. Kreiss has agreed to abstain from anything remotely connected to police work, but when the local Bureau rolls the case over to Missing Persons, he decides he'll have to take matters into his own hands. And all hell breaks loose. With bomb cells, a derelict arsenal, mountain men, Christian militia, and treacherous political infighting, Carter is hard pressed to identify the "enemy" and Kreiss doesn't care who he has to take out in order to recover his daughter. The hunters become the hunted in this no holds barred techno-thriller, filled with secret weapons, double dealing, and non-stop, ever perilous action.(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
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