The Cleaner of Chartres by Sally Vickers

The Cleaner of Chartres.  Sally Vickers. Viking Adult. June 2013. 304 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 9780670785674.

Agnes Morel is a quiet, gentle soul who arrived at the famous Chartres Cathedral and wound up a steady presence as a cleaner and as an inspiration to many who were daily visitors to the cathedral.  There’s Abbe Paul who has lost his faith in God after the death of his parents but who begins to see the face of God again in this young faithful cleaner.  No, it’s not her faith in God that is so moving; it’s her constant presence and quiet, gentle support. She seems to know exactly what to say and when to say it – or when to keep silent and just listen or “be” present to the Abbe as he talks and talks and talks.

Then there’s the restorer of the cathedral ceilings and walls, Alain Fleury, who is an artist in his own right in some ways as he describes the careful work he does. He find strength and companionship in Agnes whom he can always see from where he works.  And there is the Professor whose home is desperately in need of being put in order and the arrogant woman who hires Agnes looking for scandal in the ugliest way possible.

But just as one is unsure where this is going, the author begins to interweave past scenes from Agnes’s life, a life of abandonment, torture, predatory attack, and the consequent mental collapse she suffers, told in the most eloquent, heart-rending scenes.  Then and only as this past story evolves does one realize how amazing it is that Agnes has come out of this hellhole of darkness to become the saint-like human being she is; let no one believe it was an easy journey and there was certainly no known plan that led her to this point.  One may only speculate that somehow the hand of God often appears in the goodness of men and women and in spite of the worst one can imagine in other men and women as well.

The Cleaner of Chartres is an amazing, beautiful, harsh, peaceful, gracious story with such a profoundly sensitive yet real depiction.  Quite simply astonishing and highly recommended!

Sisterland: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld

Sisterland: A Novel.  Curtis Sittenfeld. Random House Publishing Group. June 26, 2013. 416 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9781400068319.

Kate and Vi are identical sisters who have the unusual ability to sense future events externally and in people’s lives.  While Vi totally embraces this ability, Kate has had a memorable experience that leads her to avoid even thinking about her ability.  The two sisters are very close, as identical twins very often are, but begin to grow apart as Vi becomes more and more strange, bohemian, and just plain shocking in her behavior, much to the consternation of Kate and her husband.

In the present, Vi’s job as medium increases as her TV appearance coincides with a scientist’s talk about a potential earthquake.  Given the public’s fascination with the weird and disastrous, it is Vi’s prediction that goes viral.  As the ramifications of this exposure grow daily, Kate must confront her past and the development of Vi’s “gift,” with all of its confusing and complex realities.  And so the story reverts to the past, to how both sisters recognized they could sense things, their discovery of its familial origins, and their attitude to it all.  Vi uses it, amazingly in one specific case that gets public exposure, and Kate just wants to be “normal.”  

Weaving back and forth between the past and present, the sisters’ stories weave with reality.  Kate in particular is dealing with a relationship with two dear friends, one of whom will be dealing with an unplanned pregnancy and the other being more than just a friend for a brief time.  Nothing is simple it seems, but could these experiences have been predicted, prevented, or developed in a different way? Silence is often as important as speaking when considering loyalty and betrayal, but the line can be thin indeed as Kate and Vi learn.

Curtis Sittenfeld’s presentation of characters is excellent, exploring the overt and covert connections that develop relationships, that which binds and severs closeness, the multiple random and deliberate misunderstandings that so strongly affect both one’s past and future life, the humor vital to defusing hot moments and drawing closer, and so much more!  This is an intriguing read of contemporary fiction with elements of mystery that totally engage the reader into the story until the very last page! Very well-done, Curtis Sittenfeld!

The Silent Wife: A Novel by A. S. A. Harrison

The Silent Wife: A Novel.  A. S. A. Harrison. Viking: Penguin Group (USA). June 2013. 336 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 9780143123231.

Jodi and Todd, a psychologist and builder, seem like the proverbial happily married couple.  Their lives are highly ordered and have no lack, except for the children Todd wants and Jodi cannot give him.  Still they stay together and really do love each other deeply.  This is the story of their unraveling marriage but not told in the stereotypical way so frequently found in other fiction.  The control Jodi and Todd exert in their lives harbors anxiety, denial, rage, and so many repressed memories that are about to surface!

First we learn of Todd’s extra-marital activities which he sees as absolutely harmless.  But that’s about to change when he dates the daughter of a good friend and that young woman becomes pregnant.  That is what at first horrifies him and then serves as the impetus for his leaving Jodi and making plans to wed Natasha.  At first Jodi handles it with equanimity but little by little she starts remembering more of her own past therapy, her own family memories, her own repressed, ultra-state of denial.  Many more secrets lie in these pages, exposed like an onion being peeled and yielding a stinging, teary, piercing affect!

Todd also begins remembering more, especially when he undergoes quite a fright over something he never deemed possible and Natasha’s tender love turns into nagging and harshness.  She even wants to be friends with Jodi, which is one of the most incredible moments in the novel. Todd seems to think he can stay friends with Jodi even though he has his lawyer give her thirty days to leave their former home.

On and on it goes, a study in what really drives people to violence and revenge.  But it’s done with such graceful, gradual subtlety that the reader knows what’s coming and yet is crept forward toward the shocking end inch by inch by inch! 

Jodi is about to become an amazing woman, in more ways than one for sure! The Silent Wife: A Novel is a superb crime or psychological thriller crafted by someone who truly knows her topic and can write a stunning plot as well! Superb writing and consequently reading!

Transatlantic by Colum McCann

Transatlantic.  Colum McCann. Random House Publishing Group. June 2013. 320 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 9781400069590.

Four stories are interwoven in this novel of escaping the boundaries of earth and soaring to a peaceful yet ecstatic state of mind and soul.  Yet this is the stuff of history so often given noble status and sometimes just ignored as a cog in a wheel.  Colum McCann gives all equally dignified and seminal status!

First we read about the first flight in 1919 from England to Ireland of Arthur Brown and his transatlantic team, flying a former bomber plane used in the First World War.  One carries a letter that never gets delivered but will show up years and years later to be given dubious recognition. 

Then we meet Frederick Douglass who arrives in Ireland in 1845 and again in 1846 to speak and listen about the emancipation of slavery while he observes the beginning of the Great Famine and the hatred between Ireland and England over the fight for Irish independence.

The story of George Mitchell’s diplomatic quest in 1998 for Irish Independence is told from multiple perspectives, but it’s mainly Mitchell’s perseverance and frustration that stands out vividly in a cause with so many points of view and demands that it’s mind-boggling.  It feels hopeless yet Mitchell never gives up hope, even as he truly yearns to be home in America with his wife and infant son.

 One young woman is inspired by Frederick Douglass’s eloquent speech about freedom and her story is the multigenerational story told for the last portion of the novel.  This is a story about women whose strength is what forges great nations behind the scenes and beyond the ephemeral talk and ideas of politicians, poets and storytellers themselves.

It takes a bit of time before one begins to connect the dots in this very fine historical and contemporary novel.  It’s truly a timeless classic work of fiction presented in a highly literate yet readable style.  While it doesn’t brook foolish theories or deny the negative aspects of people or issues, it dreams larger than the muck it seeks to surmount.  For that it deserves great praise and high recommendations!!!

Circle of Shadows by Imogen Robertson

Circle of Shadows.  Imogen Robertson. Pamela Dorman Books. June, 2013. 384 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 9780670026289.

This is the fourth in a series of historical suspense novels by this author and it’s quite unusual.  It involves two sleuths who are British and here attempt to solve their first criminal mystery outside of England, in Germany in 1782.  Harriet Westerman is an intelligent, fearless gal whose past history with murder has left some pain and a bit of shadow about her public image.  Gabriel Crowther is a bit of a recluse who speaks his mind at all times, no matter how offensively it is taken, but he is also bright and an anatomist, fascinated with the scientific properties of the body for criminal analysis and healing as well.  Now they learn that a good friend, Daniel Clode, is accused of murdering Lady Martesen. They immediately leave for the Duchy of Maulberg in German!

First, they discovered that Daniel Clode has been acting like someone who is insane and then they are shocked to find that Lady Martesen was probably killed not by smothering, as originally thought, but by drowning.  But how can someone be drowned and have no sign of water anywhere on the clothing or body?  Westerman and Crowther are surprised by the fairness of the investigation in Maulberg, a place that is rather an enigma since it is ruled by an absolute dictator who allows them room for investigation perhaps with a slightly hidden financial motive.

Meanwhile other characters such as the brilliant mathematician Pegel appear on the scene and discover the presence of a secret group that is equated with the Free Masons but is not anything like them in reality. in fact, the plot that begins to unfold turns out to be one that could change the face of European governments, one country at a time and not in a healthy productive way!

As the murder took place during the annual Shrove Tuesday celebrations, Daniel Clode was like all other celebrants wearing a mask, one that is part of the plot to undo him as he will be executed if found guilty.  But there’s much more to this mystery and the above summary is only a tad of all the clues that are gradually revealed with just the right amount of tension and intrigue, including a notable amount of period description and detail that is very interesting as well as the investigation.

Imogen Robertson is a talented writer who has penned a mystery others have compared to Anne Perry for detail and Tess Gerritsen for forensic evidence. This reviewer couldn’t agree more!  Mystery fans and historical fiction fans will love this novel for sure!  Very well done and highly recommended!

                                                                                          

A Trick of the Light by Lois Metzger

A Trick of the Light.  Lois Metzger. Harper Collins. June, 2013. 208 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 978006213308.

Mike Welles seemed like a pretty together teen.  He had good grades, was a good baseball outfielder, had a good friend in Tamio Weissberg, and had an okay home life that now seemed to be slowly unraveling.  Tamio and Mike spent hours seeing what is known as stop- motion animation films and then discussing the techniques involved in making them.  This involved making a small figure, like the well-known and well-loved figure King Kong, and then creating the illusion of movement by moving the figure multiple times over hundreds of frames. It turns out this mirrors or parallels what Mike is about to experience where a voice in his head is at first a minor presence and will soon become the guiding leader of Mike’s thoughts and actions, a process and journey that almost becomes fatal!

Mike’s parents leave him alone because they are involved in their own mid-life crisis and so there’s no one monitoring the gradual change in their son’s eating and exercising habits.  Add to that Tamio becomes a relationship of the past as Mike fixes his attention on two girls in school, one a newcomer who is driven to become a famous ballet dancer and the other one who seems obsessed with healthy eating habits and exercise.  Val and Amber couldn’t be more opposite personalities if they worked at it; when Val places her dancing over Mike, he interprets it as more rejection and links to Amber who feed his growing obsession with attaining the perfect physical body.

It’s rather obvious where this going and yet the author does a fine job of allowing one to sense something is dreadfully wrong but being unable to concretely pin down the looming crisis.  This is a serious story that needs to be told, a seemingly innocuous path into which any teen boy could fall and one that is extremely difficult to offset.  Mike remains a likeable character caught in a web of lies that everyone around him initially misses.  His friends remain supportive and present in spite of Mike’s rejection of each one by one.  The voice in Mike’s head is persistent but presented as not so intense until the very end of the story.  The end of the story isn’t one that is fairy-tale “roses” but one that leaves the reader satisfied and hopeful about Mike’s future.

A Trick of the Light is a credible, all too real story that is fictional and yet bears far too much tragic reality.  A must read for teens and their families and friends, as well as teachers of teens!  Nicely done, Lois Metzger!

The Rockin' Chair: Family Is The Foundation for Everything by Steven Manchester

The Rockin’ Chair: Family Is The Foundation for Everything. Steven Manchester. The Story Plant.  June 2013. 272 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9781611880670.

John McCarthy is mourning the upcoming loss of the love of his life, Edie, who has Alzheimer’s disease and is rapidly fading.  No memories but that of her childhood, and even those distorted, she lives in fear and recognizes no one. After she passes away, John calls his only son, Hank, and his three grandchildren home. He knows that the entire family is wounded but he also knows that this familial love is everything and not to be compared with anything else in life.

Hank, however, wants nothing to do with John initially, as all he remembers is a critical, harsh parent who showed very little love and who treated him like a child even when he became a responsible adult.  The wounds are so deep the reader will wonder if even a Herculean effort on John’s part can mend the pain that Hank washes away in beer.  Hank’s eldest son is a war hero but holds a secret that shames him into paralysis.  The next son has lost his love through betrayal and doesn’t know if he can move forward to be the great writer he has dreamed of becoming for years.  And finally, Hank’s daughter is a drug addict and alcoholic who is ashamed of her life and the poor mother she believes herself to be.

The pages fly by in the process of confrontation, grudging small moments of agreement and relishing some few fond memories, and a journey of healing that will melt the hardest of hearts!  For there are things about John that neither his son nor grandchildren know, some to be revealed before his death and some afterwards. 

A new chapter is forged for the McCarthy family, one forged from excruciating pain interwoven with tender scenes of understanding and reconciliation. 

Steven Manchester is master of writing a heart-throbbing family story, one that always satisfies readers because it refuses to descend into a maudlin atmosphere and doesn’t brook foolish talk.  It thrives because it is the crafting of a story that elicits the deepest wishes of head and heart for all readers, indeed for all humanity, a sense of family, a real sense of what “home” could be. The Rockin’ Chair undeniably deserves wide acclaim!