The Teahouse Fire

by Ellis Avery

When Uncle Charles decides to commence missionary work in Japan, his niece Aurelia is taken along, leaving her dying mother back home in New York City. Aurelia soon runs away, even though she is unable to speak Japanese and knows little of the culture, and soon joins the household of a tea ceremony master as a servant. The master’s daughter Yukako takes Aurelia under her wing, and as Aurelia’s puppy-like adoration grows with time into a deep love – nearing obsession – for her mistress. As Japan modernizes, the tea house faces extinction unless it can convince the rapidly Westernizing society that the ancient traditions of tea ceremony hold a place in the heart of Japan.

I went back and forth about how I feel about this book. It had a great plot idea. Using the eyes of an American girl makes it easier for the reader to enter in the world of the Japanese, and it’s a bit of a cheat for the author, too – any tendencies toward exoticism in Avery’s depiction of the Japanese can be “hidden” behind Aurelia’s 19^th-century thoughts. The clash of cultures, both on the personal level, like Aurelia and her new Japanese surroundings, and on the world stage with the conflicts brought about by Westernization gave the author a lot of interesting ideas and attitudes to with which to weave a great story.

Avery’s decision to mix Japanese into the narrative wasn’t very successful. If one knows little or no Japanese, it can be confusing, and I think it didn’t aid the process of drawing me into the world of the book because I would have to interrupt the narrative to think “Wait. What does that mean?” It was interesting to see how Aurelia processed the foreign tongue, and slowly made it her own.

The biggest problem in the novel, by far, was Aurelia’s relationship with Yukako. Aurelia’s constant, obsessive love and attention to her mistress was disturbing, to be honest. You know some guys just don’t feel comfortable around gay guys because they’re convinced the moment they let their guard down, the gay guy is going to try to jump their bones? It’s an irrational, silly fear – obviously just because someone is gay does not mean they’ll be attracted to *every* member of the same sex – but let’s face it: it’s out there and many people have it. This book does not help that misconception at all. Aurelia nurses a crush on Yukako for years, and the moment Yukako does ‘relax’ around her, Aurelia does try to kiss her and pull her mistress into her arms, even though it’s clear Yukako is not interested.

Also, the epilogue was contrived and stupid. It tied things together too neatly in order to create an unbelievable happy ending. Homosexual relationships may have been more acceptable in the 1920s, but I'm pretty sure that interracial relationships were not, given the anti-immigration laws passed during that decade.

The language and imagery of the book was beautiful. I loved Avery's descriptions of silk kimonos and the minutae of the tea ceremony. I could taste the grassy matcha, feel the smooth surface of the lacquered boxes, and imagine the delicacy of the flowers used in the tea room. If the book had just had these lovely images, and had left the disturbing, obsessive one-sided relationship of Aurelia/Yukako out, I'd have been so much happier with the novel

Hush, Hush

by Becca Fitzpatrick

So how many of us, after reading Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, threw the book across the room and declared “I could write that book better than she did?”

A lot of us, yes?

But how many of us actually turned around and actually wrote our own paranormal teen romance? Not quite so many, right?

Well, it is my personal theory that this gut reaction is exactly the impetus that led Becca Fitzpatrick to write her debut novel, Hush, Hush. 

We have two students in high school, Patch and Nora. Patch is a tall, dark and handsome transfer student who meets Nora when they are assigned to sit together in their biology class. (Seriously? Since when was biology the class to pick up chicks?) Nora, our clumsy, bookish heroine, finds Patch mysterious and sexy. She’s attracted to him, but she knows she shouldn’t be because

A/ he’s a douche

B/ he’s dAnGeRoUs

 It turns out Nora, despite being skinny and rather nerdy, is like candy to all the hot guys in her school. In addition to Patch’s sexual harassment flirtations, Nora has attracted the attention of Elliot, another transfer student with a mysterious past. Soon, she feels like she’s being stalked…even when she’s alone in her own bedroom. Torn between her desire for Patch and her fear of his status as a fallen angel (which she figures out with the help of Google, naturally), will Nora make the ultimate sacrifice for love?*

* No, really. Do you think she will?

If this book was, in fact, written in response to Twilight as I suspect, then Becca Fitzpatrick succeeded because Hush, Hush is a superior novel in so many ways. 

First of all, Nora has friends. In fact, she has a best friend, called Vee, and they do everything together - Shopping, homework, talking about boys, you name it. When Nora is with Vee, she acts like a normal teenager instead of some preternaturally mature mini-adult. It also gives Nora credibility as a lovable heroine because you can see this friend trying to protect her, making sacrifices on her behalf, and if Vee thinks Nora is this great, maybe it’s reasonable for these guys to find her so special, too.

Second, the characters think about sex. A lot. I mean, they’re freaking teenagers, and they have hormones oozing out of every pore. The chastity of Edward Cullen is frankly bizarre, and it is a relief to see a hero and heroine so aware of their desire to do it, even if they never actually get that far.

You’ll notice that I don’t really talk about the whole supernatural arc this book. That’s because it really doesn’t come up for the first two-thirds of the book. You’ve got this gorgeous guy who knows stuff he shouldn’t and seems to alternate between horny and threatening, and it’s pretty obvious something spooky is happening. But Nora is just uncertain enough of things that there’s a possibility that she’s just going crazy. Once the Big Reveal has taken place, however, the action suddenly ramps up and minor characters suddenly become major villains. It’s not unexpected but it’s very sudden. The mythology behind the angels/fallen angels in this book is weak and a bit confusing.

The writing is decent. I was constantly reminded of the plot of Twilight as I read it, but Fitzpatrick can actually write decent dialogue and create realistic character relationships.  Like I said at the beginning, it is as if the author took the first few chapters of Twilight and spun it in her own direction, successfully creating her own story and universe.  It's not a rip-off by any means.  But I do think that if one read the first novel in Stephanie Meyer's series and Hush, Hush back-to-back you'd pick up on more than a few parallels. 

The ‘hero’ Patch is a manipulative bastard who plays mind games with Nora, sometimes playfully teasing her and otherwise outright threatening her. Nora suffers from Dumb Horror Chick syndrome; she knows that she shouldn’t open that door/look behind that shower curtain/fall in love with that jerk but she does it anyway. Patch’s personality change towards the end of the novel isn’t very convincing, given how he’s acted for the previous three hundred and fifty pages. I think fans of Twilight and supernatural thrillers will enjoy this very much, but I don’t think it has a lot of crossover appeal. 

PS – The ARC (advance reader’s copy) I read does not have the same ending as the final published version of this book. I think only a few sentences were changed, but I haven’t seen a the hardcover in stores yet so I haven’t confirmed.  

To read more about Hush, Hush, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.

Best Intentions

by Emily Listfield

Lisa Barkley is struggling to find her place in life. Her daughters are growing up and no longer want to spend their free time with their mom; it’s uncool. The exclusive private school Lisa’s children attend is populated with wealthy students, and Lisa is quite uncomfortable around the other mothers. The company she works at has been sold and the new owners seem intent on phasing her out. Her husband, a reporter who desperately needs to break a major story, has become distant and secretive lately. His late night phone calls and last minute trips out of town leave Lisa wondering if he’s having an affair. Even her best friend, Deidre, has grown more distant after becoming the mistress of one of Lisa’s college friends.   But it’s only after Deidre is brutally murdered that Lisa’s world really begins to spin out of control.   It seems like every man she knows is potentially the killer, including her husband Sam.

Deidre isn’t murdered until well past the half-way point. So this is a bit different from the usual murder mystery, where there’s a body on the floor by the end of the first chapter. Much of the narrative has been dedicated to building up Lisa’s world, her fears and worries. Her stress is the underlying tension that pervades the novel as her every well-intended action seems to backfire or blow-up in her face. She is an easy character to sympathize with, because her concerns about her family, her career, and her strained relationship with her husband are nearly universal. Everyone knows a Lisa. 

In terms of suspense and plot, the book was rather predictable. Although Emily Listfield made several of the male characters seem suspicious, it seemed pretty obvious which man was the murderer. It was a fast read, but at times I would find myself skipping some of Lisa’s internal commentaries, and would have to go back and re-read the section. Lisa just seemed a bit tedious at times.

Ultimately, Best Intentions is a character-driven novel, the author’s dramatic attempt to answer the question how well can you ever know another person? Emily Listfield may not have the most epic answer, but her portrayal of people, set as they are in the real world, and the many masks they wear is realistic and at times, quite poignant.

           To read more about Best Intentions,but it or add it to your wishlist, click here.

Our Lady of the Potatoes

by Duncan Sprott

Descended from an Irish grandfather who braved the Atlantic to begin anew in France, Marie-Louise Murphy is raised in a household steeped in Irish traditions. Newborn babies are spat on for good luck, while wearing pearls will surely bring bad. Although her mother covers her daughters in mud and rags to hide their beauty, Marie is found out and is soon posing as a model for Francois Boucher. One thing leads to another, and her portrait attracts the attention of the King himself; at the tender age of fifteen Marie becomes one of Louis XV’s many mistresses. However, no courtesan can hold the King’s attention if she upsets Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV’s former mistress and greatest friend.  After a few short years, Marie is married off and removed from Versailles. She ultimately outlives the King and the monarchy, survives the Revolution and three marriages, reaching a ripe old age of seventy-seven.

There are some very cute scenes in this novel, like when Marie teaches Louis XV her Irish superstitions like spitting in his right shoe before wearing it to bring good luck. Indeed, I thought Sprott did a great job of capturing Louis XV’s loneliness and frustration at the isolation that comes with being a King of France. Louis is constantly at the center of attention, unable to even dress himself or eat breakfast without scores of onlookers. He needs his mistresses more for the private, quiet moments he can spend with them than for the sexual release. Unfortunately, Louis XV is not the main character in this book, and doesn’t even appear in all that much of it.

The story is told in a very dry, clinical style: A happened, and then B happened, then C, etc. Although the characters should have been interesting – I do love me some good court intrigue – but even at their most passionate they fall flat.  The dialogue is rather static, sounding accurate to the time and place without capturing the emotions of the speaker. The rich Rococo architecture and furniture are described evocatively, but the distant stance of the narrator would suit a straight biography better than this fictional account of Marie-Louise Murphy.

This is an older book that I don't believe was officially published here in the US, but I wouldn't be surprised if you could turn up a copy at your local used bookstore.  At the bottom of this review I've included the portrait of Marie-Louise Murphy painted by Boucher:

            To read more about Our Lady of the Potatoes,but it or add it to your wishlist, click here.

The Other Queen

by Philippa Gregory

I am a pretty big fan of Philippa Gregory’s historical fiction. (I’m never able to spell her name correctly, though. Always, I write Phillipa and have to go back and correct it.) Loved The Other Boleyn Girl. The Constant Princess was really good, too. The Virigin’s Lover and The Queen’s Fool were pretty fun. So I was looking forward to The Other Queen with my heart a-flutter.

It is the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, during her captivity in England. Her two ‘guardians’ are George and Elizabeth Talbot (today Elizabeth is better known as Bess of Hardwick.)  Their attitudes toward her could not be more different: George thinks it is a great honor to host the prisoner Queen, while Bess thinks it a bother and a huge waste of their money. Their conflicts about the prisoner only worsen with time, as George Talbot finds himself falling for the stunningly beautiful Queen of Scotland.

One of the most interesting conflicts in the book was the class differences between Bess and her husband, and how they informed their decision-making. Bess had come up from the merchant class, strategically marrying “up” with each husband (George Talbot was her fourth) and understood the value of money very well. She kept meticulous records of her assets and counted every penny. George grew up as a noble and never had to worry about money; he would just hold out his hand and cash would appear. He believes that the nobility are inherently better than “normal” people and can’t stand the idea of William Cecil having more power than him in Elizabeth’s court. Bess identifies with Cecil, and indeed acts as one his spies, because they both came from an ignoble background but have striven through cleverness and force of will to create a better life for themselves, rather than having titles handed to them by virtue of being born. 

Ultimately, though, I found the book extremely disappointing because the characters are so flat and one-dimensional. Bess Talbot is a shrew who counts her money and complains about expense. She is thoroughly unpleasant, and it’s little wonder her husband would be driven from her arms. Mary, Queen of Scots, is the most arrogant person you’d ever meet. Here are some excerpts from the first few pages of her narrative (the story is told by its three main characters, switching the point-of-view in alternating chapters):

They must be mad if they think they can treat me as an ordinary woman. I am no ordinary woman. I am half divine. I have a place of my own, a unique place, between the angels and nobles…

I am a queen three times over because I was born Queen of Scotland, daughter to King James V of Scotland, I was married to the Dauphin of France and inherited the French crown with him, and I am, in my own right, the only true and legitimate heir to the throne of England…

I deserve the highest place in the world…

I will wear nothing but my own beautiful clothes. I tell them that I will go in rags rather than wear anything but a queen’s wardrobe…

I am a queen; different rules apply for queens…

As a queen my person must be inviolate, my body is always holy, my presence is sacred. 

Imagine Mary going on like this for 300 pages, and you can see how tedious it would be. It’s really unfortunate that the two female characters are so wooden and flat; this could have been a fascinating relationship to explore. Instead they just internally bitch and whine for chapter after chapter.

Husband George is no better. When he isn’t bitching about Cecil’s England he wails about his love for Mary and how much he adores her with her goddess-like beauty. He comes off as a bubble-headed fool.

I mean, the book ought to be excited. There’s the subtle tension between prisoner and guardians, there’s intrigue in the courts, and action in Mary’s multiple escape attempts. But it’s plodding and boring.

Gregory really didn’t seem to put the effort into this book that have gone into her past novels. It kinda makes me wish she’d move on from the Tudor eraso that she can (hopefully) re-kindle her enthusiasm. But at the same time, I enjoy her Tudor novels, so I’m hoping this was just a bad egg and that a better novel will follow.

            To read more about The Other Queen,but it or add it to your wishlist, click here.

Mr. Darcy’s Dream

by Elizabeth Aston

In 2003, Elizabeth Aston launched Mr. Darcy’s Daughters, a sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. The book did quite well, and she’s been merrily expanding the series ever since. Her latest book, Mr. Darcy’s Dream, is the sixth book in the series. 

A distraught Phoebe Hawkins retreats to her Uncle Darcy’s estate after her father forcibly ends her romance with handsome Mr. Stanhope. She is joined at Pemberley by her beautiful cousin Louisa Bingley, a kind girl in no rush to marry, in spite of the fact she’s been “on the market” for three seasons already. The two girls plan to spend their time rusticating in the country, planning a great ball for Mr. and Mrs. Darcy. But even in the country Phoebe can’t escape Mr. Stanhope, and as construction begins on Mr. Darcy’s fancy new glasshouse, romance blossoms amongst the hothouse plants for Louisa and Phoebe.

I don’t think it’s necessary to read the previous books in this series, but it definitely helps. I have only read the first book, Mr. Darcy’s Daughters, several years ago, and I was able to navigate the story well enough. That said, there is little information given for the supporting characters, and it was difficult to keep track of the relationships between the various Darcy relations. Generally, the older characters (the ‘parent’ generation) are from Pride & Prejudice while the various children and cousins are inventions of Aston’s from previous books. Detangling this web was frustrating, but it did not interfere with the story. 

Plot-wise, there was a little too much going on. The main romance between Phoebe and Mr. Stanhope moved in fits and starts; perhaps if more time had been spent developing the characters the romance would have flowed a little more smoothly. Their problems resolve suddenly, literally the last event in the book (sorry if I spoiled it for anyone, but Aston’s fans know that she has a happy-ending formula) and even though you know the reconciliation is coming, it appears out of nowhere. 

There are a few sub-plots that should have been developed more or dropped entirely, because they add very little to the story. Mr. Stanhope’s brother-in-law is having an affair, a plot that becomes entangled with George Warren (a villain character that I *think* has appeared in previous novels) and his own plots to humiliate the Darcy clan. Other plots, like Louisa’s budding romance, don’t get the page-time they deserve and I feel short-changed for it. I feel like this book was really rushed, and didn’t get the thorough editing it might have needed, and as a result it is not nearly as entertaining as it had the potential to be.

            To read more about Mr. Darcy’s Dream, but it or add it to your wishlist, click here.

The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do

by Mark Sanborn

I’m the first person to admit that many self-help books are pure hogwash, but I also think that there are some very good ones that will help pull you out of a rut if you take the time to seriously consider the exercises and put them into practice. For example, Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster really helped change my perspective on consumerism, corporate responsibility, and God’s role in providing what we need. (Yes, it’s a Christian self-help book. Christians probably need just as much, if not more, help as everyone else out there.) The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People was revolutionary in its time and even now, it’s a highly recommended book. There are multiple classes that use it as a textbook at my college. (I have tried to read it multiple times but never gotten past the first three habits. It’s an extremely dense book.) Where does The Encore Effect fall on the self-help shelves? 

Mark Sanborn wants to help you perform your tasks in life, whatever they may be, with passion, energy and delight. When you hear an excellent singer, what do you shout at the end of the concert? Encore! Do more! This is the reaction Sanborn’s book seeks to help you create at the end of every interview, presentation, conversation and situation. If you can leave your ‘audience’ – your boss, your friends, co-workers, and customers – satisfied, and perhaps craving just a little extra time with you, you will stand out in the crowd and succeed.

Honestly, The Encore Effect seemed rather like 7 Habits Lite. At less than 150 pages, written in very easy language, it’s a fast read.  You could probably sit down and read the book in two hours tops. But like most self-help books, you will get far more out of the book by reading it in small doses, and taking the time to put what you’ve read into practice. Unfortunately, Mark Sanborn is big on ideas and platitudes but a bit fuzzy on details and how-to. In his chapter on “Pitfalls: How to Keep From Stumbling,” he writes about all the things that may prevent you from achieving your maximum performance, like apathy or fear. These are very good things to address. However, Sanborn doesn’t really address them. I don’t have a final copy of the book, so I can’t provide a direct quote, but in effect he says that the antidote for apathy is concern. 

…

No, that’s it. Concern is the solution. If Sanborn had perhaps included a paragraph explaining how to foster concern about something you don’t care about – because there are a lot of things I should feel passionately for, but I don’t – it would have been more helpful. If he’d written a whole chapter addressing this pitfall, that would be even better. But telling the reader that the best way to fight apathy, one of the worst pitfalls to achieving your ultimate performance, is with concern, and moving on without addressing the topic further is very frustrating and not at all useful. 

A lot of the advice/suggestions in the book are extremely common sense. Sanborn did have some excellent passages about the importance of deliberate practice, or doing tasks with an eye on improvement rather than just getting the job done. If you’ve never taken a public speaking course he also has some solid advice about connecting with your audience. The reader can take useful information away from this book, but I feel like I’m reading a first draft. There isn’t enough depth or applicable step-by-step instructions. 

Interesting Note: I read this book as a bound galley, not the final version that hit bookstores. Apparently, the fairly secular self-help manuscript I read has metamorphosed into a Christian self-help book, with an added feature called “Intersections” at the end of each chapter that tie Sanborn’s words to the New Testament book of John and more references to God in the actual text.  Correction: There are two versions of this book in print: a Christian version printed by Waterbrook Press and a secular version printed by Doublesday.  Thank you so much for clarifying this, Mark!  (PS - He wrote a great follow-up note in the comments, so be sure to read it as well!)

 

To read more about The Encore Effect, buy it or add it to your wishlist, click here.