I've been letting this story marinate in my mind for two weeks, because it's that good, that original, that aware. Anya is a woman who identifies as lesbian, but she is not out in every setting, including the one where her body and mind are in this novel. She is a young Russian woman beginning … Continue reading The Incredible Events in Women’s Cell Number 3 – Kira Yarmysh (translated from Russian)
Looking for Jane – Heather Marshall
Looking for Jane is a fictional look at the choices women had regarding unwanted pregnancies during the period from 1960 to the time abortion was legalized in Canada. The story opens in 2017, with Angela, who is managing her Aunt Jo's antiques store. Angela was fired when her employer found out she is pregnant. Angela … Continue reading Looking for Jane – Heather Marshall
Roses in the Mouth of a Lion -Bushra Rehman
I requested and listened to the audio version of Roses in the Mouth of a Lion, the story of Razia, growing up in Corona, Queens, part of a large Muslim immigrant neighborhood. I want to say this immediately: this is definitively one of those times when hearing the author read her novel was a phenomenal … Continue reading Roses in the Mouth of a Lion -Bushra Rehman
One Extra Corpse – Barbara Hambly
One Extra Corpse is the second entry in Hambly's Silver Screen mystery series. Emma's husband died in WWI and, after losing her parents and brother as well, she eventually ends up in Los Angeles with her sister in law Kitty, a gorgeous and untalented star of silent film. This is a light and a well-researched, … Continue reading One Extra Corpse – Barbara Hambly
The Mitford Affair – Marie Benedict
NOTE: I assume in writing this that many readers are generally familiar with the lives of the Milford family l and of the period covered by this novel in particular. For those who have not heard much about them, this review has some spoilers. The Milfords of the 20th century, an aristocratic British family with … Continue reading The Mitford Affair – Marie Benedict
Moonrise Over New Jessup – Jamilla Minnicks
It is 1957. Alice grew up in rural Alabama, working the land with her family. Her mother died when she was young. Her sister Rosie took off for Chicago. Alice hasn't heard from Rosie for years. And now, with her father's death, she has to leave. The landlord got the worst of his effort to … Continue reading Moonrise Over New Jessup – Jamilla Minnicks
Winterland -Rae Meadows
Winterland takes place at first in the 1970s in a small Siberian community in the Soviet Union. Norilsk is way in the north, past the Artic Circle, 3000 kilometers (1900 miles - ish) from Moscow, where Yuri, a devoted Communist Party member met Katerina, a successful ballerina with a very promising future. They married, moved … Continue reading Winterland -Rae Meadows
The Making of Her – Bernadette Jiwa
Joan Egan grew up poor, living in a house on the Cranmore Housing Estate in Dublin. She was the eldest child, the "mistake" that led to her parent's hasty marriage. Her mother died when she was thirteen. Her father, always a heavy drinker never did well after that . The youngest four children are parceled … Continue reading The Making of Her – Bernadette Jiwa
Gilded Mountain- Kate Manning
Gilded Mountain is a masterpiece of historical fiction, bringing alive the very early labor movement in the United Staes even featuring a cameo appearance by Mother Jones. Sylvie Pelletier, child of French Canadien immigrants, travels with her mother and siblings from Vermont, to a company town in Colorado. Her father works for Padgett Fuel and … Continue reading Gilded Mountain- Kate Manning
Bookish People — Susan Coll
.Fifty-four year old Sophie Bernstein (Mrs. Bernstein to us) owns an independent bookstore in Northern Virginia. She is struggling with her grief from her lawyer husband's sudden death. She finds herself being less and less involved with the day to day life of the bookstore that she usually micromanages. It doesn't feel fun anymore.. In … Continue reading Bookish People — Susan Coll
They Called me Bookworm 