The Widow of Pale Harbor

Title:  The Widow of Pale Harbor

Author:  Hester Fox

Publication Information:  Graydon House. 2019. 352 pages.

ISBN:  1525834266 / 978-1525834264

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "This was the fourth dead raven to appear on Sophronia Carver's front path in as many weeks, and there was no explaining it away as coincidence this time."

Favorite Quote:  "A bird in a cage was no safer than a bird in a bush if someone chose to reach their hand in and pluck it out. At least the bird in the bush had the chance to fly away."

The Widow of Pale Harbor is Hester Fox's sophomore novel. Her debut was The Witch of Willow Hall. Both books have a similar structure and feel. The main character is a woman. Both are set in small towns and around atmospheric, old houses. Both have elements of witchcraft and past scandals and a very Gothic feel. Both have an element of romance.

This book adds a recurring reference to the works of Edgar Allen Poe, which adds interest. In fact, it prompts an interest in rereading some of his amazing works. Interesting, this October marks the 170th anniversary of the death of Edgar Allen Poe, perhaps explaining the time and the references in this book. The setting for this book is in Maine in 1846; it is concurrent with the final years of Edgar Allen Poe so his work is the "current" work of the day.

The Witch of Willow Hall ultimately was about a young woman finding her voice and owning her strengths and abilities. I enjoyed that story. The Widow of Pale Harbor unfortunately veers too much in the direction of a romance, which is not my preferred genre of reading.

Let's set the stage. Sophronia (Sophie) is a wealthy young widow living a secluded life in Pale Harbor. She is deemed a witch and responsible for the death of her husband. She is the scapegoat for all that goes wrong in the town. Gabriel Stone is the new transcendentalist minister in town except for the fact that he is not really a minister. He is here trying to fulfill the dream of his dead wife. Strange happenings - dead animals, warnings, threats, and more - abound in this town. The mystery is who is truly responsible.

Ultimately, this book ends up being more Gabriel's story and more romance than anything else. Unfortunately, Gabriel's character does not ring true. He is set up as a man devastated by his wife's death making his purpose in life to fulfill her dream. He meets Sophie, and there is instant attraction and an instant love story. The "instant" belies the depth of his feelings for his wife. The book also reveals in a sentence or two the back story of Gabriel and his wife. The events so succinctly written also belie the idea of Gabriel's grief at her death and the idea that he will dedicate his life to making her dream a reality.

The mystery of the book also has a very prosaic, very worldly ending. The supernatural and Gothic elements are lost in those very human, very criminal actions.

What made The Witch of Willow Hall work was the strong female main character and her growth and progression through the book. Sophie, the widow in this book, demonstrates no such change. She is depicted more as a victim, which makes for less engaging reading.

Although I was not the reader for this particular book except for the Edgar Allen Poe references, I do look forward to seeing what Hester Fox writes next. I enjoy the atmospheric setup and hope that the next book comes back to telling the story of a strong woman rather than that of a romance.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Lost Letters of William Woolf

Title:  The Lost Letters of William Woolf

Author:  Helen Cullen

Publication Information:  Gradon House. 2019. 336 pages.

ISBN:  1525892088 / 978-1525892080

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Love letters have  only one hope for survival."

Favorite Quote:  "You were my best friend. Whenever anyone hurt me, you made me better. Whenever I was scared, it was into your arms I ran. Whenever I was lost, you found me. So what do you do when the person you count on most in the world is the person that's hurting you? Where do you go? To whom do you turn?"

There is a song called Escape or The Pina Colada Song by Rupert Holmes. That is the soundtrack of this book for me. If you know the song, you know how that story ends. The question is ... how does the story of William Woolf end? The book itself poses the question.

"It wasn't just their physical selves that had changed, though, that part was easily understood; what confused him was trying to identify when their feelings had altered. Was it a million little incremental changes over a long period of time? Or something obvious he had missed. If their essential selves were still the same, couldn't they find each other again? Or had they traveled too far down separate roads to reconnect in a different but happier place?"

That question arises in so many relationships somewhere along the way. The story lies in what each person in the relationship does with that question. What decisions are made? What compromises? What mistakes? At some point, what is done that is irrevocable.

The fact that this is the main point of the book is not clear from the beginning. William Woolf works at the Dead Letters Depot, a final repository of letters that for some reason or another have been undeliverable. William's journey of self-reflection begins with letters addressed to "My Great Love." I expect the book to be more about the letters and the potential and the mystery of letters that never arrive. To me, the letter has the potential to change lives. In this day and age, letter writing is unfortunately a dying art. I know, however, that I have certain letters in my life that are a part of my history and that I will hold on to forever.

I am a little disappointed that this is not the direction the book takes. As it evolves into a book about relationships, the letters and the Dead Letter Depot becomes just the background environment. The story the book tells still has relevance and emotion for many people. It is just not the story I expected to read.

Intermingled with the story of the marriage is William and Clare's history and their individual disappointments with the direction life has taken. William's goals for developing his work at the Depot into more seems thwarted at every turn. Clare has given up her passion to purse a career that supports financial security. Loneliness exists in this togetherness, and loneliness leads to dreams and other decisions that do not belong in a marriage. At the same time, their history demonstrates what brought them together.

There is also no real surprise or twist to the story of that relationship. It is a quiet exploration of what it means to love in the context of a long-term marriage. In that, the book makes a sad statement. "... the older I get, I realize that love is not enough on its own. It's the day-to-day reality of living with someone that really counts? What's love got to do with it?" To me, it depends on the definition of love and commitment. Love should have everything to do with it just as I wish the Dead Letter Depot had more to do with this story.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl

Title:  A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl

Author:  Jean Thompson

Publication Information:  Simon & Schuster. 2018. 336 pages.

ISBN:  1501194364 / 978-1501194368

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "It was the end of lilac season, that brief, heady time."

Favorite Quote:  "Most marriages had their share of bad spells, or of just bumping along. Laura knew that now. Knew that most people stayed married in spite of the unhappy parts. They hung on and waited for things to get better, or they walled themselves off from each other, or built their enmity for each other into a solid and enduring structure."

Grandmother. Mother. Daughter. Evelyn. Laura. Grace. All are women. All are girls. These women are three generations of a family in a small Midwestern town. This is a book not about a story but about women and the choices they make and the reverberations of those choices through the generations.

The choices most influential in their lives have to do with the men in their lives. All three in one way or another cater to the men in their lives.

Evelyn once dreams of getting a PhD. An affair in college leads to an unplanned pregnancy. Fear leads to a hasty marriage of convenience. She fulfills the duties of her marriage but builds a lifetime of resentments for the dreams she walked away from.

As a child, Laura finds her mother distant perhaps because Evelyn dreams of another life. Laura goes completely the direction. She is not looking for a career. Home and a family are her calling. Unfortunately, the man she marries turns out to be a drunk. Early on in their marriage, Laura finds herself increasingly isolated because of her husband's offensive behavior. To make matters worse, their son Michael, unfortunately is also in and out of rehab.

Grace is still young, at about 20 years old. She has watched her mother and learns the lessons from her mother's behaviors. Will she make the same choices as her mother and her grandmother? Will she change the paradigm to live a different life?

Evelyn and Laura make the choices they do, and then live in the unhappiness of the consequences and the unhappiness of the path not taken. Grace's story is still beginning so perhaps there is hope. However, for the most part, that sense of sadness permeates the book.

Be prepared. This book is a slow moving contemplation of these ideas and not really about a plot line. That meandering pace and the overwhelming sadness make this book a challenge. The bigger challenge to the book though is the characters. The men in the book range from needy to cruel with none aware of or caring of the women in their lives. In other words, the men are one-dimenstional, serving only to accentuate the women's unhappiness. None of the three women stand out or make a lasting impression.

Much has been written about the choices you make when caught in an unhappy situation. Either change the situation or change yourself. The "situations" in this book cover a wide range - unexpected pregnancy, addiction, war, infidelity, illness, death and even more. The book is mostly about the impact of these factors on these women and their increasing resentment and unhappiness. It is considerably less about these women standing up and determining the course of their lives in these circumstances. I spend part of the time feeling sad for them and part of the time wanting to jolt them into action and make a different choice.

So, sadness and annoyance in equal measure seem to be sum total of this book for me.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.