The Beautiful American by Jeanne Mackin

The Beautiful American.  Jeanne Mackin. New American Library Trade: Penguin Group (USA). June 2014.  384 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9780451465825.

Expatriate Nora from America remembers her friendship with Lee Miller as a child.  Nora was the child of the gardener who took care of Lee’s yard. At first they were allowed to play together, but then something tragic happened to Lee and the friendship was abruptly terminated. 

Years later Lee and Nora meet in Europe during the WWII years, but Lee doesn’t seem to recall their earlier friendship, only the time of their European journey.  For Lee has evolved into a very successful model who is the lover of the brilliant artist Man Ray. 

Nora falls in love with another artist only to suffer a brutal betrayal.  All of the involved characters meet up several times over the years of the Vichy takeover.   During that time Nora will meet and get to know the famous artist Pablo Picasso as well as other notable characters pivotal to the cultural changes rocking European and American society.

Nora loses her daughter toward the end of the Vichy government’s brutal reign.  Heartbroken and possess with the need to find her child, who is actually a grown-up woman with her own story that she definitely does not want to share with anyone, least of all her mother.

An added bonus involves the world of perfume as both a business and an artistic significance during this time – beauty and fragrance in a most unsavory time!

The Beautiful American is a tightly plotted, moving story filled with the bohemian allure of the artists living expatriate lives in Paris and elsewhere throughout Europe as well as the ferocity and complex machinations of wartime soldiers and political leaders.  The story’s haunting ambience will remain in the reader’s thoughts and feelings for a long time after experiencing this exquisitely depicted story of love, betrayal, forgiveness, haunting memories and so much more!

Finely crafted, Jeanne Mackin!  A keeper of historical fiction for sure!

Backlands: A Novel of the American West by Michael McGarrity

Backlands: A Novel of the American West. Michael McGarrity. Penguin Group (USA). May 2014. 512 pp.  ISBN#: 9780525953241.

Emma Kerney is dying of heart disease and is determined to insure that her son, Matthew, eight years old at the beginning of this novel, will be financially secure.  She’s also determined that her ex-husband, Patrick, a drinker and all-around nasty individual, will be able to touch very little of what she’s leaving for Matthew.  While she has a sudden upswing in her health, she accomplishes all she set out to do and even has some amicable moments with Patrick.  But life is never that simple, and eventually Matthew is left with only his father to raise him.  At first it all goes well as Patrick tries to train Matthew in riding and caring for horses, Matthew’s great love.  Matthew’s ultimate goal, however, is to finish high school and attend college, a dream Patrick mocks!

As time passes, we read the remainder of the story of Matthew, Patrick, the New Mexican Spanish residents, including one who eventually marries Patrick for a short time.  This is the story of survival in the lean years of the early twenties and thirties, when these New Mexico residents were faced with drought and the Great Crash that financially destroyed people in this community as well as throughout America.

Matthew, however, evolves into one determined, hard-working man.  As his relationship with his father deteriorates, his luck in obtaining work with the CCC of Roosevelt’s administration and other choices force him into becoming the owner and caretaker of the ranch his father used to run. 

Without giving away the many exciting, challenging scenes in this novel, suffice to say it’s a great novel of the West and a story of the Darwinian struggle to persist and succeed at living and working in a beautiful but tough land beloved by so many – the Great American West!  Very nicely crafted, Michael McGarrity!

Combat and Other Shenanigans: Tales of the Absurd From a Deployment in Iraq by Piers Platt

Combat and Other Shenanigans: Tales of the Absurd From a Deployment to Iraq. Piers Platt. Create Space Publishing. February 2014. 180 pp.  ISBN#: 9781496128676.

Few war stories are both comical and serious, but this one year memoir is unique in both respects.  Lieutenant Piers Platt as a cavalry platoon officer attends enough schooling to sink a ship while in Kentucky and then Germany, but he has to receive even more training after he is deployed to Iraq.  It’s a soldiers world with gutsy language, pranks for all newcomers, a place where rules are made to be broken, where punishments are handed out and then rescinded hours later, and where one lives fluctuating between constant boredom or ever-looming life-death situations.

Platt’s writing includes a lot of acronyms for military weapons and procedures that are incomprehensible to the average reader and could have had more explanation for non-military readers, but those who have served in Iraq will definitely relate to all of it.  The reader isn’t quite sure whether one should be amused or horrified by the deplorable state of the equipment these soldiers rely on for travel, defense and attack while out on missions.  Add to that the realistic scenes of killing and coming close to being killed, and the reader realizes how stressed out these men are and their almost desperate need to have plenty of humor to cope with the realities of everyday war. 

This story actually takes place at the end of the Iraq war when American soldiers were cleaning up after the major battles and dealing with leftover insurgents who must have missed the memo about the end of the war and were still dropping IEDs and shooting at soldiers, all designed to perpetuate the war that was over but really wasn’t over quite yet.

Platt writes in a uniquely light tone about the idiotic decisions made by “higher-ups” in sending soldiers into deadly areas such as Samarra.  Yet he also describes the Iraqi people’s joy and determination when they finally got the opportunity to vote.  All in all, what is conveyed most is the unity and powerful friendships that developed between these men who truly “cared” for each other in such an admirable way.  That alone is worth the great read provided by Lieutenant Piers Platt!  Thank you and all who served with you!

Bombay Bhel - Stories by Ken Doyle

Bombay Bhel: Stories by Ken Doyle. Ken Doyle. Loquent Press. February 2013. 190 pp.  ISBN#: 9780615763576.

These stories are redolent with the spices and flavors of Bombay, now called Mumbai, India, but they’re also about the different type of residents who fill that huge city with their loves, hates, struggles, poverty, riches, and more.

Meet Hassan, frantic to find out if his parents have survived the Kapilgaon riots in which his family’s home is burned beyond hope.  His Anglo friend Brian wonders if Hassan is all right, not knowing he inadvertently becomes one more victim of the Hindu-driven violence.

We learn about a student’s love of Mr. Watson, an independent, free-thinking principal of St. Magnus School.  He’s a man despised by the Jesuit priests who do everything to make Mr. Watson a failure and eventually wind up pushing him into an early retirement.  Prejudice abounds on many unexpected levels in these stories.

Annie, whose husband has passed away, is now forced to move into her son’s home.  This story depicts her memories and personal objects associated with tender times.  Change is a difficult but positive reality for these people who have survived difficult but cherished days of old.

So these stories continue, depicting the severity of money-lenders who help the poor but harshly enforce the terms of that assistance.  Kindness and compassion are anomalies in a city replete with those bordering on financial disaster at every moment of their lives, those who scramble for success in a fiercely competitive business environment.

It’s a hard world endured by the poor in these stories but rich in relationships and vivacious in determination to get ahead, no matter what the cost.  Love of food, education, independence and different social groups fill these pages with delightful, yet real, stories sure to engage any and every reader.  Keep writing, Ken Doyle – you’ve got the Muse!

Mrs. Hemingway: A Novel by Naomi Wood

Mrs. Hemingway: A Novel.  Naomi Wood. Viking/Penguin Group (USA). May 2014. 336 pp.  ISBN#: 9780143124610.

Hadley, Fife, Martha and Mary were all women with the title of Mrs. Hemingway at different times obviously; but this is the story of their immense love for the famous author and lover, Ernest Hemingway.  It’s about their coping with the fact that they were losing him to “another woman” and their connection with each other despite the fact that divorce and then death robbed each of the greatest love known. 

Hadley was the quietest of the four women, of little wit and yet whose role as not only lover but also editor of her husband’s short stories and early novels cemented the early years of their marriage.  She is the one who loved him through his early writing failures and the constant poverty that stalked the young couple during those barren years. How pivotal was the early loss of Hemingway’s early works and was this an unforgivable act that was part of the eventual demise of a deep relationship? Was Hadley responsible for losing Ernest to another woman by including her in their every vacation and social gathering? The reader cannot help but question why she continued these perverse invitations when she gradually began to realize she was losing him.

Fife was the most energetic of the three, a woman who was so vivacious that no one knew what she would say or do next, the daredevil of them all.  Most intriguing is her closeness to both Hadley and Ernest, even after he had abandoned Hadley and married Fife.  How long would that unique zest for life satisfy the ever-leering Hemingway whose unfaithfulness seemed a vital part of his life, as important as his writing and his need for danger?

Pauline Pfeiffer (Fife) was replaced twenty years later by Martha Gelhorn, a woman who never wanted to be married and who craved the journalistic excitement provided by revolutions and wars overseas.  That shared zest for danger united them until he wanted her to quit working and devote her life to children, a rift that eventually drove Ernest to Mary who loved Ernest’s love for writing and words more than anything else about him. It was Mary who most had to deal with his ever-looming depressive bouts and eventual suicide.

Mrs. Hemingway is fascinating reading for the way the focus is really on these four women and not on the moods and raucous behavior of their husband.  While one might think it’s a tedious story, Naomi Wood has managed to craft a story that gives unique qualities to each woman and yet shows how a particular pattern followed each marriage, ironically one that the wives never really challenge during the time they spent with this wild but unpredictable man.  Nice job, Naomi Wood and a strong addition to the fiction about this most outrageous but talented journalist and author!

Treading on Dreams by Jeff Gardiner

Treading on Dreams.  Jeff Gardiner. Tirgearr Publishing.  March 2014. 195 pp., 1711 KB. ASIN No.: B00J4Z63PI.

Danny is totally “gone over” his housemate Selena, who is engaged to a hyper-religious minister, Melvin.  It’s hard to believe but Melvin strikes Danny as the most perfect human specimen any woman would be glad to adore.  But the problem remains that Danny adores her more, more than he Melvin does – at least that’s what Danny thinks. 

Jaz, Danny’s friend, has a reputation as a womanizer, and while Danny likes his friend, respect initially is not part of the picture.  Then Jaz introduces Danny to a wild world of drugs, booze and rock ‘n roll that Danny totally embraces and learns quickly to love.  Selena is trying hard to get Danny “saved,” but so far Danny feels if he can’t have her he surely doesn’t want her mercy or salvation.

The picture is about to dramatically change with the illness of a certain character which in turn will cause a dramatic change in Danny.  Sounds wonderful but it has its share of painful moments, a costly price for a different kind of salvation. At the same time, things are looking rather bleak for our perfect couple.  Where will it all end, with it seeming as if each character loves the wrong person, only to be left dealing with unrequited love.  The journey is intriguing and Jeff Gardiner depicts it with adept skill!

Treading on Dreams is an engaging, fast-paced story that defies prediction and yet has just enough intrigue and romance to totally thrill every reader!  

One must battle perfection to grow up and deserve true love! Nicely done, indeed, Jeff Gardiner!

Suspicion: A Novel by Joseph Finder

Suspicion: A Novel.  Joseph Finder. Penguin Group (USA). May 2014. 400 pp.  ISBN#: 9780525459606.

Danny Goodman is a well-known author who has penned a distinguished book about President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and is now way behind on finishing his next book about entrepreneur/railroad developer Jay Gould.  Now, his daughter Abby is about to be grossly embarrassed because her father can’t pay her tuition at the private Boston school, Lyman Academy. 

Even more poignant is the fact that Abby has become the only friend of Jenna Galvin.  Jenna’s dad, Thomas, is super-rich; but because he’s not from an upper class family, the other students at Lyman won’t accept Jenna, except Abby.  For that reason Thomas Galvin reaches out and saves Danny from a heap of trouble with an incredible amount of money for tuition and beyond!  Danny is very uncomfortable with this so-called loan; it seems too good to be true and it is so, so costly!

A request comes for Danny’s expertise at history but it’s a request that will put the lives of Dannie, Lucy (his girlfriend) and Abby in mortal danger!  If Danny doesn’t cooperate, it’s highly probable that he’ll spend over thirty years in prison.  He’d like to believe he has a choice but he really doesn’t. Instead he will have to obey the instructions of DEA agents by planting surveillance devices, reporting significant messages, and taking photographs of men who are supposedly all tied into a Mexican drug cartel.  Think this is a spoiler summary – NOT – readers can’t imagine the surprising spins and turns this plot will take until one can’t tell who is really telling the truth and who is lying.

Add to plot an “angel of death,” some viciously brutal murders, a world of diminishing trust of each character for every other character, and some wild scenes where enemies attack, stories are twisted, and threats are carried out and you have a small picture of an amazingly thrilling novel that one just can’t put down, one that ends with a screeching bang followed by a mysterious self-imploding clue.  Stunning novel that clearly demonstrates the adept skills of a brilliant thriller author!  This would make one heck of a wild movie as well!

Very, very nicely done, Joseph Finder!