Contemporary Fiction Archives - Page 12 of 12

The Bright Forever by Lee Martin: Book Review

On a beautiful July evening, nine-year-old Katie Mackey disappears on her way to the library. And our hearts break. I just don't know where to start. It's hard not to compare this to Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, but there's a huge difference. As I remember it, The Lovely Bones dealt with the family's grieving process through the years following Susie's death. The Bright Forever follows the immediate aftermath of Katie's disappearance. All the rage, despair, hope, shame, suspicions, and "what if"s are examined in this book. And then it goes a step farther. At the very end is something of a call to action. The last narrator (there are several) says, "And what about the ones that evening who saw us come and go...and never for an instant thought there might be something wrong? The problem is this: how many of us were there who could have done something to stop what was going to happen? Where does responsibility start and end?" "We thought we were all free: free from work, from chores, from one another." "'He always looked like he was carrying the world on his back. I'd see him around town, and my heart would break.' 'Did you ever tell him that?' I asked her. 'Tell him that you saw him, that you felt something about what it was to have his kind of life?' 'I can't recall ever saying a word.' 'He might have liked to have heard it.'" What could be prevented if we just noticed each other? Not even just crimes. Maybe the neglected little boy wouldn't grow up to be the twisted man if someone had noticed his pain when he was younger. Just noticing. How hard is it, really? And yet we seldom do it. I can't say that the characters were…

Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews: Book Review

Weezie Foley is back and better than ever. She’s trying her best to win Savannah’s historic district decorating contest, but the couple across the street are throwing tons of money into their efforts. To add to her troubles, her boyfriend Daniel always becomes decidedly Grinch-like at Christmas, and she just can’t get him into the Christmas spirit. But nothing ever defeats Weezie for long, and there are plenty of laughs as we watch her determinedly spread Christmas cheer. I adore Mary Kay Andrews, and her Savannah books are my favorites. I wish I could be friends with Weezie and her best friend, BeBe. I would say that I have a crush on Daniel, but I have my own sexy husband who is also a fantastic cook. I’ll let Weezie keep Daniel. This was a short, easy, fun read that reminds us what is truly important about Christmas. I picked up a few other pointers along the way too. First of all, “Unless you scrub [your hands:] under hot water for at least three minutes with an antibacterial soap, you’re just inviting trouble.” And here the hospital I work for is teaching us to wash our hands for 15 seconds. Next, “Never, ever ask a former clergyman to say the blessing over a holiday dinner. Not if you like your dinner warm, anyway.” I kind of knew that one, but it never hurts to repeat the lesson. And finally, and most importantly, DO. NOT. EVER. interrupt a group of UGA football fans who are watching a replay of the 1980 Georgia-Florida championship game. Ever. Trust me. The results will not be pretty. But they will be hilarious. I was howling with laughter as I read about this extended family Christmas dinner! I recommend this for a fun little Christmas read. It…

Black Mountain Breakdown by Lee Smith: Book Review

We first meet Crystal Spangler when she’s a dreamy twelve-year-old Virginia mountain girl, in the summer before she begins high school. We follow her as her dreaminess leads her to look for meaning, or for herself, in all the wrong places. I adore Lee Smith’s work. She writes about the mountains of Virginia. I’m in North Carolina, but reading a book by Lee Smith feels like coming home. She captures the spirit of these mountains and these people perfectly. Just read this opening paragraph: ”Now the lightning bugs come up from the mossy ground along the river bank, first one, then two together, more, hesitant at first, from the darkness gathered there already in the brush beneath the trees. Crystal sits and watches, holds her breath, the Mason jar beside her knee; if she looks down, she can’t even see it now. She touches it with her finger and feels the glass with the letters raised and indecipherable in the dimness so that they could be anything, any words at all. They could be French. Suddenly out of the scrub grass at her knees comes rising a small pale flickering light, sickly unearthly yellowish green, fairy light. It is so close she can breathe on it and see the whirring, tiny wings. Crystal doesn’t move. She could catch it, but she doesn’t. Only her eyes move to follow the flight, erratic at first as if blown by wind although there is no wind in the hot still damp of early June on the river bank, then into the dark branches, away and gone. Crystal can barely see the river on down the bank, barely hear it. She looks across the river bed now to the railroad track cut into the mountain which goes straight up on the other side, almost…

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout: Book Review

4 Stars. Olive is obviously at the heart of this collection of stories. It's very easy for fictional characters to be all good or all bad. I had moments where I hated Olive, cheered her on, admired her, pitied her, and even loathed her. But if you look deeply inside all of us, isn't that the way we would really feel about [...]