Tag: Book review

Helen Humphreys’ — Afterimage*****

When Annie’s strict employer dies in London she travels to the Dashell’s country residence to be their maid. She finds her new employer completely opposite from her London position. The Dashells are not fussy about the state of the house. They don’t set traps for her like her last employer. And they are not religious expecting her to pray daily.

Instead, she fines herself drawn away from the work she is employed to do into Isabelle Dashell’s obsession with photography becoming her model while Eldon Dashell is fixated over maps. Annie’s love of books draws her into Eldon’s world of exploration in his packed library while Isabelle’s selfish demands pull her into a situation she wants to escape. Will she be strong enough to break away?

Haruki Murakami’s — Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his year of pilgrimage *****

Through his high school years Tsukura has a special relationship with his four best friends. But after he moves to Tokyo to continue his studies, he returns to Nagoya to discover none of his friends want anything to do with him. He is deeply hurt and only sixteen years later when he meets Jane, she encourages him to revisit his friends and find out the mystery behind why he was ostracized.

A moving story about friendships, loss and new beginnings.

Helen Humphreys’ — The lost garden ******

Gwen leaves her job at the London Royal Horticultural Society during the Blitz and volunteers to oversee a group of girls in the Land Army. She heads to Devon to discover most of the girls are more interested in the Canadian officers stationed nearby than working the land for the war effort. With little confidence in her ability to lead a group of unwilling workers, Gwen finds a friend and supporter in Jane.

This beautifully written short novel deals with friendships and love lost through the experiences of the three main characters and a hidden garden Gwen discovers while she roams over the estate.

Richard B. Wright’s — Clara Callan

After their widowed father’s death in the 1930s, Nora leaves for New York while her sister, Clara, stays behind teaching in Canada. But while Clare is out on a walk, she is raped. When she discovers she’s pregnant, she travels to New York where Nora and a friend help her seek an abortion before she returns to Canada.

After her ordeal is behind her, she meets a friendly middle-aged man she falls in love with. But is he everything she believes he is?