book reviews of literary, mainstream and genre fiction and nonfiction http://www.curledup.com/index.htm Clark has an affinity for human dramas, an historian’s eye, and the imagination to recreate characters and bring them alive in their passions, fears and conceits. With the same powerful prose that defined The Nature of Monsters, Savage Lands takes place in an entirely different scenario: the struggling French-owned colony of Louisiana in 1704. Drawing inspiration from those years of turmoil and the “casket girls,” impoverished young women of marriageable age sent to Louisiana as wives for the colonists, Clark crafts a remarkable vision, retreating in time to a France roiling with opportunists and desperate people harboring dreams in a new world... http://www.curledup.com/ccsavage.htm Masterfully bringing a fresh, unique perspective to the intricacies of family life, Lively focuses her novel on the lives of Alison and Charles Harper, who have raised their six children - Paul, Sandra, Gina, Roger, Katie, and Clare - in the substantial Edwardian house of Allersmead. Along with Ingrid, who has been the family’s au pair for many years, Alison and Charles have persisted in an odd sort of marital bond, both enduring what has normally been expected of them. As Gina arrives back at Allersmead with her boyfriend, Phillip, she recalls the resigned and rather sardonic Charles, content to isolate himself in his study, writing his books about history, philosophy, sociology (“a bit of everything”), and Alison - the homemaker and housewife, an “outmoded figure” of dependent womanhood... http://www.curledup.com/plfamily.htm In Borodale’s debut novel, young, naïve Agnes Trussel discovers that much of what we do in life stays unexplained and she will probably never understand the motives behind why her mentor, John Blacklock, a pyrotechnic and maker of fireworks, acted in the way that he did. A country girl from Sussex, Agnes’s mistake is made flesh when a new life swells up inside her at the rough hands of John Glincy, a local letch and drunkard. Convinced that, if she stays in Sussex with her family, her "fleshy crime" will remain and be discovered by her father and mother, she steals some gleaming gold coins from the decaying body of her neighbor, Mrs. Mellin. As the coins begin to show their true value to her, her heart beats so fast that she can hardly hear the plan, “the twists and tangles of her life becoming like a wattle fence”... http://www.curledup.com/bkofires.htm GAIN, Richard Power’s amazing sixth novel (originally published in 1998), takes one of the most difficult issues of our time and humanizes it. The issue is corporate culpability. We all know that “better living through chemistry” has its price and its consequences, but who is to pay? Not Clare, the transnational corporation whose history is charted across three generations in this saga of a novel. The company makes soap - a cleaning product that offers the homemaker so much to gain. And the company, of course, has gained, prodigiously, over the years: it has profited immensely. Clare manufacturers its products in Lacewood, Illinois, where Laura Bodey is an estate agent. Laura has ovarian cancer. Her story - of her illness and how, as she disintegrates, her family reunites around her - is intertwined with the story of Clare International. Long before the novel makes the facts plain, we’ve already drawn connections: our chemistry is killing us. The brilliant Powers draws parallels and cycles in abundance but, to his credit, he never once hits over the head with any moralizing message... http://www.curledup.com/gainpowr.htm As much as I love Kurt Vonnegut and cherish his world-weary yet humane wit, he isn’t above the general predicament of unpublished story collections: on the whole, they tend to not be as good. The feeling is all the worse when the collections are posthumous, for they leave a disappointed taste in the mouth that can only be washed away by re-reading the classics. This book may best read alongside its companion volume of previously published short stories, Welcome to the Monkey House. But as-is, it’s a heartwarming tribute to pure vintage Vonnegut, a must-read for fans longing for his spry commentary at the close of a decade even more in need of his words. The stories in this collection are fables for adults. They tend toward simple morals and straightforward storytelling, condensing Vonnegut’s dry, brisk style into neat little packages. And, for what they are, they succeed... http://www.curledup.com/kvbirdie.htm Berkowitz has a flair for the noir that has become popular the last few years, his ex-cop P.I. Jackson Steeg stumbling through life with an eye to making up for past deeds and a tough Hell’s Kitchen background. But Steeg looks like a choirboy in comparison to his brother, Dave. A conscienceless mobster, Dave is initiating his son, Anthony, into the business, a fact that Jackson finds deeply disturbing. But blood is blood, so when Dave asks his brother for help with a possible arson indictment, Jackson is reminded of that link. Unfortunately, the arson in Dave’s warehouse claimed three homeless people, and a number of others are found later in the debris. Someone has been using the warehouse to store dead bodies, and Steeg thinks he may have a serial killer on his hands. The DA’s office isn’t particular about which lowlife they arrest and are happy to keep Dave as the most likely suspect... http://www.curledup.com/sinnersb.htm This is the first of M.C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth detective series I have read, but it certainly won’t be the last. I found the novel charming from start to finish, written with a wry twist that never fails to highlight the folly of expectations when dealing with human nature. Hamish, a Scottish detective with no aspirations save to remain in the small village of Lochdubh and avoid working in the big city, is a unique combination of acerbic wit and blunt honesty, an unmarried man of some charm who has captured the notice of many a lady with his bright eyes and shock of red hair. This case brings Hamish in direct conflict with a self-proclaimed witch who has seduced the local husbands with promises of renewed virility. Warning the woman, Catriona Beldame, not to stir up animosity among the local families, Macbeth is greeted with a curse and sent on his way. When this witch is murdered in her bed, her hut set afire to destroy any evidence and relieve the villagers of their superstitious fears, Hamish works furiously to uncover her past and remove the onus of murder from any of his colorful friends and neighbors... http://www.curledup.com/mcbwitch.htm Dimes destroyed polio. Five bucks can beat malaria. GIVE A LITTLE not only contains remarkable, inspiring stories of how small donations are making an extraordinary difference in the lives of millions both here in the United States and around the world, but also lays out where and how to start giving... today. http://www.curledup.com/win.htm Tweeting curledup.com, curledupkids.com and curledupdvd.com recommendations... http://twitter.com/curledup