All the Water in The World

Title:  All the Water in The World

Author:  Eiren Caffall

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2025. 304 pages.

ISBN:  1250353521 / 978-1250353528

Rating:   ★★★★

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

Opening Sentence:  "The Monster in the Water: This is the hypercane, the biggest king of hurricane there could be."

Favorite Quote:  "If there was light here, there could be light in other places. If there was power in me, I could spread it. I could let that power glow and make myself a beacon."

There is The World As It Was and The World As It Is. There are memories of what was, and there are the challenges and reality of what is. Nonie and her family are survivors. She, her sister, and her father have survived the storms that drowned New York City and perhaps much of the rest of the world. Nonie has the unique ability to "feel" water. She can sense storms.

They live in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) along with a few others who survived - a family created. The AMNH provides a refuge from the elements, a safe space from the Lost scavenging the city, and a way to try and preserve the treasures of the museum. Per the book description and the author's note, the setting of the museum and the work of Nonie's parents as researchers and curators is an homage to real individuals in Iraq and Leningrad who worked to save historical treasures in times of war and upheaval. If I had not read that note, I don't know that I would make that connection. This book is definitely not historical fiction, but this note did send me in search of that history.

The plot of the book is straight forward. A storm like no other - a hypercane - has arrived. In scientific research, a "hypercane" is a theoretical, extreme tropical storm with enormous destructive power that could form if ocean temperatures get to 50°C (122°F). This is a storm that Nonie does not feel. It just arrives. The storm forces Nonie and her family to flee the AMNH. The goal is to travel up the Hudson River to their mother's childhood home - a farm that may or may not still exist. It is unclear why they feel that the farm survived the storms and provides a safe space, but they do. A dreamed Utopia, perhaps? The dream of safety and peace that every refugee has, perhaps?

The book then tells the story of this precarious journey. As the book description states, "They encounter communities that have adapted in very different and sometimes frightening ways to the new reality." This is a book of survival and, in some sense, adventure. As expected, there are helpers along the way and those who would harm. In each encounter is a microcosm of society - communities organized and run in different ways, individuals who follow along with the leaders and those who would follow the voice of their conscience and of humanity.

Flashbacks bring in the past - the people, the places, and the things lost. These memories help to flesh out the main characters and create a greater intensity to the emotions of the book. A post-apocalyptic book of danger and survival can sometimes provide the perfect escape from reality! All the Water in the World is such a book. It helps that I can visualize and put myself in the physical setting of the book. At some point, I think this book would make a good movie. The ending is perhaps too neat a package, but what an adventure getting there.

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

Good Dirt

Title:  Good Dirt

Author:  Charmaine Wilkerson

Publication Information:  Ballantine Books. 2025. 368 pages.

ISBN:  0593358368 / 978-0593358368

Rating:   ★★★★

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

Opening Sentence:  "'Shhh,' her bother says."

Favorite Quote:  "What had they done? This was the question that hung in the air above every black family that had ever run into misfortune. And not only. It was a subtext understood by so many women, of any color, who had ever been harmed. It was the question that few dared to ask out loud but many had in mind, with regard to families that struggled to pay the bills. It was the question asked by those who wishes to avoid acknowledging that responsibility might lie elsewhere. What did you do?"

From Connecticut to the South to Africa to Europe and around again, this book tells a circular story centered around one family, one family heirloom, and one act of violence that forever altered them.

At the center of the story is Ebony "Ebby" Freeman. The two defining moments of her life... At age ten, she sees her older brother murdered in a home invasion. At twenty something, she is left standing waiting at the alter as her groom does not show. After being jilted with no explanation, she runs away to France to a friend. Ebby's story is about coming to terms with her past and forging a path forward. "This was the true miracle of life, he thought. Not so much to be born as to bear up under what comes your way. To find a way forward. To embrace what was good."

Surrounding Ebby are her loving parents. The Freemans are the only Black family in an otherwise completely white enclave of Connecticut. They are successful in their careers and affluent. They cherish their children. Because of their son's brutal death, they are even more protective of Ebby.

Anchoring this family is their history, particularly as it is embodied in Old Mo. Old Mo is a stoneware jar that has been in the family for generations. The book intersperses Ebby's story with the stories of those generations and their trials through being ripped from their home to the enslavement of generations to the eventual treacherous journey to freedom. The clay of the jar gives the book its title. "Her dad's mom would like the soil around here. Good dirt, she would say. There is a town, not far away, that is famous for its clay."

The jar is all the more special for its secrets - words engraved in the clay as reading and writing was forbidden for slaves. However, the maker of the jar knew. "... Words also had the power to hold memory." And "Words have power. So does the absence of words. Sometimes, when people choose not to speak, their silence can block out the sun."

This book, like Charmaine Wilkerson's debut Black Cake, covers a lot of ground. Through all the characters and their individual stories, the book delves into this nation's history:

• "Most of the trouble in this world boils down to one person not recognizing the worth of another."
• "Things are always changing ... It's true, some of the worst things keep repeating themselves, but things do change. And as citizens, we can do our part to keep things moving in the right direction."
• "History, too often, has been told from only certain perspectives. This is not good enough. History is a collective phenomenon. It can only be told through a chorus of voices. And that chorus must make room for new voices over time."

Yet, the story winds back again and again to Ebby and her parents, grounding that history through the lives of this family. Another wonderful story by the author.

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

Isola

Title:  Isola

Author:  Allegra Goodman

Publication Information:  The Dial Press. 2025. 368 pages.

ISBN:  0593730089 / 978-0593730089

Rating:   ★★★★

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

Opening Sentence:  "I still dream of birds."

Favorite Quote:  "I am done living fearfully."

Historically, Marguerite de La Rocque's date and place of birth are not known. Her date and place of death are not known. However, the story of her life is remembered and has been retold in different ways since the 1500s when she lived to today. This book brings her story to life and does what I loved about historical fiction. It tells a great story, one that has me turning pages. It paints a well-defined character that has me invested in the story. It introduces me to a history I would never otherwise have come across.

The history goes that Marguerite was an heiress who was orphaned early in life. She lived on her estate with a governess and servants. The estate was managed by a relative, Jean-François de La Rocque de Roberval. Historians do not agree on the exact relationship - uncle, brother, cousin. This book depicts a cousin. This part of the story depicts the lack of control a woman - any woman regardless of wealth or class - had over her own life at that time. Marguerite is an heiress and yet her wealth is controlled entirely by a male relative, who does not have her best interests at heart. She has servants aplenty, but their actions are controlled by the one who controls their pay, even if he does it with Marguerite's inheritance. He is the one in charge.

At his insistence and under his control, Marguerite accompanies Roberval as he travels to the New World to take on a governing position. On the voyage, Marguerite beings a love story with Roberval's assistant. Displeased, Roberval punishes her by dropping them off to survive on a deserted island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. That is the reference for the book's title. "I leaned over the table to see jagged coasts and islands dimpled all around the waves. Each was called ISOLA." Some say it was the phantom island knowns as the Isle of Demons. Some say their ghosts can still be seen there. Had I not known the historical basis for this book, I would say such an action was far-fetched. The story is all the more compelling for being based in history.

The story continues with survival on the island and life after. The story of life after seems somewhat anticlimactic after the buildup of her childhood and the intensity of the time on the island. It completes the story historically and emphasizes the story of survival but lacks the emotion of the rest of the story.

Overall, the book tells a compelling story of this young woman's fight for survival and of her evolution from a pampered child to a strong survivor. I feel for the young, orphaned child and cheer for the woman who faces her dire circumstances and survives.

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

Amazing Grace Adams

Title:  Amazing Grace Adams

Author:  Fran Littlewood

Publication Information:  Henry Holt and Co. 2023. 272 pages.

ISBN:  1250857015 / 978-1250857019

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

Rating:   ★★★

Opening Sentence:  "Grace is hot."

Favorite Quote:  "She speaks five languages yet she could not find the vocabulary to articulate her heartsickness, to negotiate their grief."

Middle age? Perimenopause? Teenage child? Midlife crisis? Comfortable but uncertain marriage? Lost career? Lost dreams? Is it any one of these things or is it all of these things that cause Grace Adams to unravel and go over the edge?

This book is the story of Grace Adam's very bad, horrible day. However, it is also the story of Grace Adam's life - her decisions, her choices, and her circumstances - that lead her to this existential crisis and breakdown.

The concept is perhaps a relatable and understandable one. The idea of a family situation leading to the loss of a job is unfortunately a realistic one. The idea of a middle aged person - particularly a woman - wondering how life ended up here is one heard often in real life.

The telling of the story is, however, a challenge. The "present" day story is of Grace trying to get a birthday cake to her estranged teenage daughter in an effort to reconcile with her. Grace'e mental trajectory travels from present day to many other times in her life - when she starts her career, when she meets her husband, at points in her marriage, and a few days before the present. It follows her thought process as to how she is where she is. Unfortunately, this makes the story confusing at times and makes it difficult to invest in the emotion of the moment. Because the book starts in the present and goes back, it is also hard to invest in the emotions of the past as you know how it all turns out. I do wish the story had not been circular.

In her present, Grace makes a lot of questionable choices. The language of the book - particularly the frequent cursing - does not help. I want to root for Grace, but, somehow, as relatable as her story is, Grace does not develop into a character I cheer for. The story goes in too many different directions and pulls in too many themes for me to settle in with one.

The books ends up about where I expect it will. Unfortunately, that means there is not necessarily the payoff of a lesson or of closure after wading through a couple of hundred pages of Grace's crisis. Rather than a touching story or a humorous story as the description indicates, this ends up being somewhat sad and depressing. 

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

Mrs. Porter Calling

Title:  Mrs. Porter Calling

Author:  AJ Pearce

Publication Information:  Scribner. 2023. 320 pages.

ISBN:  1668007711 / 978-1668007716

Rating:   ★★★

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

Opening Sentence:  "Margaret and I had been tap-dancing in the garden for nearly twenty minutes, and I was beginning to feel the strain."

Favorite Quote:  "We can only do our best .. and leave it at work when we go home."

Mrs. Porter Calling is the third book in the series, The Emmy Lake Chronicles. The series chronicles the story of a young woman - one who wants to be a journalist and a war correspondent - in World War II London. The books find a balance of the grim story of war and of the feel good story of a group of friends who are like family and the joy and comfort they find in each other even in dark time.

Dear Mrs. Bird brings Emmy, with her dreams of being a journalist, to a job at a magazine as a typist for a women's advice column. Emmy manages to find a way to put her own spin on her job. Yours Cheerfully takes an even more serious tone as it explores the role of women in the wartime effort and the gender discrimination and expectations they face. it explores the challenges they face and the resilience of these women to create change.

This book brings the story back to that of the magazine at which Emmy works. The magazine is changing ownership, and with that comes change. Journalistic integrity and the whole premise of the magazine and its audience is at risk.

Emmy and her friends are in a race against time to save the magazine and its mission. "You can have all the fancy vision in the world, but it's the readers who matter. Muck them about and there won't be a Woman's Friend."

Although each of these books can stand alone, reading the series as a series provides necessary background and shows the progression of the characters. Without having read the first two books, I am not sure I would have "gotten" all the characters or relationships.

Of the three books, this one is the least about the wartime London setting. In fact, I feel that the book could have been set anywhere in time and place. This book is about business world and about the people passionate about an institution trying to save it from those who seek change for the sake of change and who would destroy something special in the process. Given the 1940s London setting, this book and the conflict also becomes about the British class structure.

Given the tone and tenor of all three books, I suspect going in how the book will end. It delivers that sweet story, but I would have appreciated something unexpected and unpredictable.

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