Victoria: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire by Julia Baird

Victoria: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire.  Julia Baird. Random House Publishing Group. November 2016. 752 pp.  ISBN#: 9781400069880.

Victoria the Queen, from the moment she was born, defied tradition.  She lived during an age when women were possessions of their husbands and thought to be dim-witted enough to need a man’s decisions, protection and directions in order to survive, let alone be called successful.  But Victoria also grew up to live in an age when warfare took away men and women began to envision a future of meaning and interesting living.  So Julia Baird’s biography of this intriguing young woman, devoted wife and lover, and formidable Queen is riveting reading indeed!

To begin with, Victoria’s mother is a domineering creature whose eye is on the prize of royalty but who believes she will be Regent who will control all of England.  Through those frustrating years, Victoria sets to learn all she can about the kingdom she knows she will eventually inherit.  This provides some rowdy, contentious scenes but as we later learn, Victoria is built of sturdier mettle than even her mother realizes. 

Upon marriage, Victoria turns into a workhorse but one who is perhaps overly amenable to her counselor, the Prime Minister, who is really more of a father figure than subject of the Queen.  This troublesome relationship ends with her marriage to Prince Albert, who little by little assumes Victoria’s duties as she is so busy carrying, birthing and raising nine of her children.  Yet somehow Victoria keeps hold on a certain amount of ruling until that becomes total upon Prince Albert’s death.  Victoria seems to have suffered from recurring bouts of melancholia, aggravated immensely by her husband and some of her children’s deaths. 

The remaining, many years of Victoria’s rule are rife with friction and deep love from other men, Disraeli on the positive side and Gladstone a fearsome opponent, just two examples.  Victoria had very strong opinions and this at times led her to support conflicts with gruesome consequences and ignore events that turned out to be momentous, history-changing conflicts. Her determination to control her children produced both love and discord that literally also affected the future course of European history. As Victoria’s kingdom expands into India and Africa, so does her responsibility and love for these lands.

More than all the above, this is the life story of a very down to earth, proud, strong and weak, faithful, loyal, dependent and independent enigma of a woman who ruled the Kingdom of England for almost as long as the present Queen Elizabeth.  You will experience all possible thoughts and emotions while experiencing all of the vicissitudes of this remarkable and worthy Queen of a magnificent empire!  Julia Baird has crafted an exceedingly well-researched (notes, glossary and bibliography are included), intriguing biography that tells the truth in all its failures, successes and in-between moments that constitute the life of royalty.  Highly recommended historical biography!!! Wonderful!

The Waiting Room: Love Is More Ferocious Than Terror by Leah Kaminsky

The Waiting Room: Love is More Ferocious Than Terror. Leah Kaminsky. Harper Collins Publishers. November 2016. 320 pp.  ISBN#: 9780062490476.

Children of Holocaust survivors carry a heavy burden!  Dina is living in Haifa, Israel, with her husband.  She’s expecting a child but wonders how her looming fear regarding the warning of an expected terrorist attack by Palestinians will affect her child.  She’s originally from Australia but came to Israel when she visited and found that she felt at home in a way she never had before.  But time has passed and terrorism is a constant nemesis which allows no one to relax – ever!

Add to the mix that her dead mother visits Dina all the time, correcting her behavior, throwing out Jewish maxims, leaking her melancholy mood into the very fiber of Dina’s being.  At first Dina is silent, since she knows that her mother’s memories are never absent, a condition normal for survivors of those awful camps at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.  Dina’s father was silent but by the end of the novel he too will come to share his story.

The result?  Dina is constantly exhausted and not just from her pregnancy.  Her practice as a doctor is filled with severely and moderately sick people, hypochondriacs needing attention (more survivor guilt), and occasional outbursts of hatred toward Arabs, children, etc.  Dina’s focus lately is an overwhelming need to get away – anywhere, anytime, anyplace!  She and her husband are becoming more and more estranged every day and the only reason she doesn’t return to Australia is she doesn’t believe she can take her child away from its father.

Despite all the doom and gloom above, Dina’s got a feisty sense of humor which manifests in almost every situation she finds herself.  However, it usually never passes the thinking stage. The remainder of the story involves the individual stories of her parents, a secret about their family that Dina never imagined, and Dina’s reconciliation with the past and present.  It’s a long, dark, funny, and beautiful journey!

So many novels have been crafted about the Holocaust and its survivors, but Leah Kaminsky has created a unique story about growing from survival which hits the reader as endearingly realistic!  This is a fine, fine work of historical fiction that should be must reading not only for adults but also young adults and/or high school students. 

It is said that history is repeated if one does not learn from it – Leah Kaminsky has given us a character who travels a long journey toward ending a destructive cycle and reentering life.  L’Chaim!

Ray and Joan: The Man Who Made the McDonald's Fortune and the Woman Who Gave It All Away by Lisa Napoli

Ray and Joan: The Man Who Made the McDonald’s Fortune and the Woman Who Gave It All Away. Lisa Napoli. Penguin Publishing Group. November 2016. 368 pp. ISBN#: 9781101984956. 

Ray Kroc, the founder of the world-wide famous McDonald stores, began with little money but a large imagination.  Lisa Napoli has given the reader a fascinating look at how this mega-business began.  Not only were the ideas waiting to be born by Ray and other entrepreneurs but also the machines that facilitated the delivery of “fast food” within minutes of being ordered.  So, we learn how hamburger presses, French fry cutters, and mixers to make multiple shakes at a time were made.  We hear how company policy was made on how franchise owners would all operate the McDonald stores the same way, including the precise timing for making hamburgers, fries, soda and shakes.  No one could deviate with his or her own version of what was better depending on geographic areas.  Ray’s first and second wives wanted quick success but grew increasingly frustrated at the ups and downs of this process, financially as well as technologically.  His third wife changed his life completely and added the final touch to a dream come true!

Joan Kroc, on the other hand, saw her poor, younger years as ones that would shape the rest of her life but certainly not in the way that most people would expect.  Joan had few talents except for a dazzling, sexy voice.  She was also quite beautiful and took care of her appearance carefully for the rest of her life.  Her empathy with people who were trying to make a living with the lowest minimal wage made her a gift giver whom some called overly generous and others called crazy.

Crazy or not, the reader is uplifted at the way Joan tipped tax drivers and waiters/ waitresses, founded and supported the McDonald’s House institution for families with children suffering from cancer, and it just goes on and on with National Public Radio receiving a shockingly large ($200,000,000) donation, as well as other donations to zoos around the world and a radio station, et al.

Ray and Joan… is fascinating reading sure to please all readers! Very nicely presented Lisa Napoli!

Semi-Scripted: A Wanderlove Novel #2 by Amanda Heger

Semi-Scripted: A Wanderlove Novel #2. Amanda Heger. Diversion Publishing. November 2016. 224 pp.  ISBN#: 9781686303030.

Marisol Gutierrez is a nurse come to Los Angeles, in her mother’s place, to win a grant for their failing medical practice.  Marisol’s nervous about the interview to come but decides she will fill the waiting time by going to her favorite game show.  When approaching the site, Marisol sees a bunch of strange characters such as a man wearing nothing but a dirty diaper, characters covered in multi-colored glitter and makeup.  No entry for this show and not surprising given the oddities trying to gain entry.

Marisol wanders away and is immediately accosted by a guy named Evan who is inviting her into what the reader learns is a failing game show.  All those strange people dressed and made up weirdly are also waiting.  Evan is an intern on the show and he knows they are a breath away from being canceled.  So his job is to recruit guests who will be invited to come onstage and become part of the show. However, the guest has no idea what will happen but has to agree anyway.  The upshot after a comic wait is that Marisol’s playing of the part in the game is a winner and boosts the ratings above the normally dismal number.  So now the game show owner says they are away from the danger zone but on a probationary status, one week at a time.

Marisol, meanwhile, has bigger things on her mind.  Her interview for the grant is horrendous and now it turns out she has to give a presentation to the Board, proving her quest for the grant is more worthy than that of the other applicants.  Marisol’s in a panic and so is Evan.  For Marisol is not ready for the presentation and Evan has been told to get Marisol back or the show’s a goner.

The remainder of the novel takes up these two quandaries, with Evan and Marisol being more and more drawn to each other with many funny moments included. Amanda Heger has written a comic, contemporary novel that leads the reader through a light, crazy and dramatic journey in Los Angeles, California where anything can happen – and does!

Faithful: A Novel by Alice Hoffman

Faithful: A Novel. Alice Hoffman. Simon and Schuster. November 2016. 272 pp. ISBN#: 9781476799209. 

A car accident happens in a flash, and Shelby is severely injured.  She will recover from these physical wounds but mentally and emotionally she is devastated because her friend, Helene, who was a passenger now lies in a permanent coma.  While over a period of time, visitors arrive to visit Helene and are healed of incurable ailments, Shelby can’t bring herself to visit Helene for the miracle of restoring a devastated sense of self-worth.  Shelby repeatedly says, “I am nothing,” a short sentence that makes her parents and friends cringe.  Little by little, Shelby becomes a recluse in the basement of her home, her own worst enemy, a young teen unable to forgive herself.

Although Shelby lives in a perpetual state of despair, the reader gets gimmers of some spunk still occasionally rising to the surface.  This, then, is the story of her recovery, inch by inch, step by step.  As part of her self-imposed penance, Shelby has shaven her head and lost a tremendous amount of weight, making her appear almost ghost-like.  The reader is almost as desperate as Shelby and wonders if there’s any chance of hope for Shelby or Helene.  Ironically, Helene’s mother finds purpose in her daughter’s unspoken mission, to heal and make other persons whole.  For Shelby it will, surprisingly, be dogs who contribute to Shelby’s awakening!

At first Shelby identifies with homeless people she meets but is astounded at the hostility and rejection she experiences, that is until she meets Ben.  He’s the first person who is frank with her at all times, telling her how her appearance and attitude are horrible.  But because it’s done with honesty and without cruelty, a glimmer of the truth he speaks begins to sink past Shelby’s self-hardened exterior.  Little by little, Shelby will develop an interest in healing animals, thinking perhaps she should become a veterinarian.  She’ll also make some huge mistakes in love but will learn to accept these weaknesses gradually.  One can’t forgive the large catastrophes without learning to let go of the small errors.

Alice Hoffman’s writing has certainly evolved over the years.  Thoughts and feelings are explored in the depiction of her characters.  Instead of pointless and self-destructive words and deeds, Shelby explores the reality of those around her.  What looks like love frequently is dependency interlaced with denial.  There’s a fine line between the experiences of guilt, self-recrimination, and self-pity.  So many layers of thought and feeling are depicted, definitely Hoffman’s gift to explore and express.  This novel is fine, fine reading which this reviewer highly recommends! Stunning, dynamic contemporary fiction!

Hard to Die by Andra Watkins

Hard to Die.  Andra Watkins. Word Hermit Press. November 2016. 264 pp. ISBN #: 9780990859376.

Theodosia Burr Alston, the daughter of Aaron Burr, is fiercely defensive of her father, believing others led him astray and that even others allowed his duel with Alexander Hamilton and his trial over supposedly being a traitor to label him as an infamous character. 

It’s now 1950 and Theodosia is having a hard time accepting that she is dead and between worlds.  She has been given a mission, which she has to figure out herself with the occasional hints of a “Guardian.”  She has already failed four times and will have thirteen times to get it right.  If she doesn’t get it right, she will be forced to remain forever in this limbo of an existence.  So she’s a divided character.  Part of her wants to know the mission and complete it and the larger part of her wants to kill General Wilkinson, Aaron Burr’s partner at one time in planning an invasion of Mexico.  But now General Wilkinson has a different role, one which is rather confusing to the reader at times.

We next meet a West Point Cadet, Richard Cox, who used to be a spy against the Russians.  Now “George” is forcing him to return to the spy business and Richard wants no part of it.  George tells Richard that he will die if he doesn’t return.  It seems there’s a spy who has been caught and some vital information is on the loose about nuclear weapons.  Remember 1950 was a time of virulent anti-Communistic opinion.  The plot gets murky, however, when the reader is not sure if George is on the sides of the Americans or Russians at odd moments here and there toward the latter part of the novel. 

Some other historical figures enter the fray as Theodosia and Richard get closer and the forces against them are oppressively close and threatening.  All the historical characters in this novel have a good side and an evil side, and the reader must keep flipping the pages rapidly as the author does such a great job in mixing up the conclusions readers want to shape from the very first page.  That takes talent, indeed!

How many times can one die?  Does goodness guarantee one will win the challenges that rapidly and forcefully impress Theodosia and Richard?  Will these life-threatening scenes end in the separation of Richard and Theodosia who are getting ever closer?  Good story, Andra Watkins! 

Breathe in Grace: A Zev Evans Novella by James LePore

Breathe in Grace – A Zev Evans Novella. James LePore. The Story Plant. June 2016. 96 pp.  ISBN#: 9781943486922.

Zev Evans is a fixer, a tender man who aims to help the “down and out” by doing whatever is needed at any moment.  The enigmatic part that makes this novella phenomenal thriller is that sometimes Zev operates alone, shooting victims in the forehead fast than they can lift their guns. Sometimes he calls on his “friends” to set up meetings or get information needed to complete his complicated task. 

The action quickly starts when coming out of a piano recital, Zev sees an Arab-looking man smack a young woman so hard in the fact that she almost falls over.  The man having the appearance of an Arab has nothing to do with Zev’s fury; it’s seeing someone supposedly strong abuse a woman. 

At one time Zev was a Marine but was honorably discharged for taking out another Marine, who wasn’t the good guy everybody claimed he was but was probably actually a traitor.  Seeing injustice makes Zev crazy; he’s got these “wild horses” in his head that he can only control with drugs that assist the effects of the plate in his head. 

To say more would spoil an amazing story but suffice to say that Zev and his friends tap into what this Arab is secretly doing.  Let’s just say that young woman isn’t the first to be severely harmed and the Arab’s got bigger plans going involving a very complicated and dire issue.  Yes, Zev will finish the task he’s obsessed with but the reader will be flipping the pages rapidly with all the surprise twists and turns that pump up the plot to its final, satisfying climax.  Despite his furious temper, Zev is a highly intelligent and gentle guy whose personality is totally embraced by the reader by the very last page, which by the way will make you want to read more about this unique, vigilante style “fixer.”  Stay tuned – a prequel will follow very soon.  

Nicely plotted, James LePore, with your talented touch!