Christmas Ads

Years ago, back when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth, I was fortunate to work in advertising.  I still hold a special fondness for any really good advertising – but especially Christmas ads.  It’s when advertisers and their agencies pull out all the stops to either make us laugh or tug at our heartstrings.

Here’s a few of my favorites for 2016 …

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So take a break from your Christmas shopping, get yourself a warm drink, perhaps a cookie (or as in the British ads below – a nice mince pie) — and be sure to have the tissues handy…

 

 

 

 

 

Several of these are British ads and if you find the accents difficult to understand, click on the CC (in lower right of video) to get subtitles…

 

 

H&M

 Marks and Spencer

Heathrow

John Lewis

Temptations Cat Treats

and of course, Apple

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Knitting, not reading.

I know you’ve been asking yourselves, what’s going on, where are the book reviews?  Isn’t this crazy little blog called Book Barmy? Emphasis on book, if you please.  What the heck is going on?

Well my friends, I am deeply into my Christmas knitting projects.  Within my circle of dear friends there are three little ones on my knitting list (ages two, one, and not quite born yet).  I also have family in the frigid northeast who need, appreciate and wear out woolen hand knits.

And so, I am happily knitting away…

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And while audio books are an option, I prefer to take advantage of my knitting obligations to persuade my husband to relinquish our television (and his Walking Dead shows ~~ shudder) to me and my knitting evenings — after all, dearest, Christmas is coming and I have to finish these knitted presents…Okay? Nighty night…

Thought I’d pass on a few of my screen time favorites.

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First, to tag on to my most recent POST – a very decent (s0 far) time travel show on a major network.

Timeless on NBC

080-koA scientist, a soldier and a history professor travel back in time to critical historical events. They’ve go back through a rickety time machine, (okay I know,  just go with it) to various key points in history, such as the Hindenburg and Lincoln’s assignation.  And while they must not change the events of the past themselves, their mission is to find a rouge time machine traveler, who stole the more modern version of the time machine and is intent on dastardly time crimes. (I just love writing that phrase — “dastardly time crimes”).

It’s pure fun–the costumes and historical references are great…and while it’s not Masterpiece Theater, Timeless is very well scripted — and worthy escape television.

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 The Crown on Netflix

p12792950_b_v8_aa This is a lavish, Netflix-original drama which chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1940s to modern times. I’m only a few episodes into the series which begins with an inside look at the early reign of the queen.   It portrays, with great empathy, what this remarkable young woman had to take on when she ascended the throne at age 25 after the death of her father, King George VI.  The costumes and scenery are jaw-dropping, and as an added bonus, John Lithgow plays Churchill.  Mesmerizing TV for any Anglophile.

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Vera on PBS

6631Based on the novels by crime writer Ann Cleeves, these are a distinctly different sort of crime series.

Based in Yorkshire, DCI Vera Stanhope is obsessive about her work and driven by her own demons. She plods along in a constantly disheveled state, but has a calculating mind, and despite her prickly personality, she cares deeply about her work and comrades (she calls everyone “pet”).

Best to find Vera on-demand, so you can rewind to catch the accents -but after awhile you’ll get the hang of that unique Yorkshire accent, and well worth the effort.

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Graham Norton on BBC America

photoA British “chat” show hosted by the affable Graham Norton.

Mr. Norton, an Irish comedian, cultivates a relaxed atmosphere on his show, not just because guests are allowed to have a drink, but also because he interviews the guests all at once, on a couch.  This creates a warm repartee that often is uncontrolled and extremely funny.  Mr. Norton is attentive, witty, flattering without being insincere, and is genuinely interested in his guests.  He also knows when to keep quiet and stays out of the way of some fascinating and hysterical dialogue.  Even though sometimes the inside British references are lost on me, I find this the funniest talk show on television.  Look for the clip with Bill Murry, Matt Damon and Hugh Bonneville on YouTube. (I can’t seem to link it here.)

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Anne of Green Gables on PBS

Email sent from: "Teplitsky, Ariel" ateplitsky@thestar.ca Date: 9 June, 2015 11:14:14 AM EDT Ella Ballentine and Martin Sheen in Anne of Green Gables. Breakthrough EntertainmentI haven’t watched this  brand-new adaption, which just aired on Thanksgiving night.

The production is gorgeously filmed in Canada and features Martin Sheen as Matthew Cuthbert.  I have it recorded and am looking forward to seeing it with a cup of tea and, yes my knitting.

If you missed it, do not despair, it is supposed to air again during the Christmas holidays.

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In the meantime, fear not, I’m still here and will do some sparse reading when I’m able.  I know you’ll understand

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Take me away…

I’m guessing you may be in the mood to escape and, as it just so happens, I have some reading recommendations to take you away for a  bit                      (you’re quite welcome).

Taking you away to one of my favorite guilty reading pleasures – Time Travel.

Now don’t scoff, this genre is tricky – one false move and the novel is relegated to those dusty bookstore shelves of either fantasy or science fiction.

Accomplished authors convince the reader that time travel is not only credible, but enticingly possible.  Like watching a magician perform or a classic Disney movie  — the reader is happily ensconced between reality and make believe. Bring it on, I say — bring it on.

 

 

And so, without further ado, my favorite time travel tales…

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens)

 

s-l1600Near, and dear to my heart, this was my introduction to time travel, aged 12, sitting on the floor of my grandfather’s library, this book spread open in front of me.

In 1889, a practical Yankee is hit on the head and wakes up in England — in the year 528.  He fools the inhabitants of the time into thinking that he is a magician and becomes Sir Boss of the Round Table.  The Yankee believes that he is the saving grace for the people of Camelot, using capitalism as his means to set them free. The societal commentary and satire was above my head during that first reading.  But upon adult re-reading, the lampooning of social class institutions and of inherited rank is pure Twain — witty (but sobering) sarcasm.

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Here’s my cherished original copy from my grandfather’s library.

 

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wrinklesA Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

I also read this as a young girl and have re-read it several times since. A Wrinkle in Time is written for young adults but can be enjoyed at any age.  Winner of the 1963 Newbery award, it spins a captivating tale, which opens (wait for it) on a dark and stormy night.  Meg Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack when an unearthly stranger appears at their door.  He claims to have been blown off course, and goes on to tell them that there is such a thing as a ‘tesseract’, or a wrinkle in time.  Meg’s father had been experimenting with time-travel when he suddenly disappeared.  Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin venture to outwit the forces of evil as they search through space for their father.  Pure fantasy, pure delight.

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finneysTime and Again by Jack Finney

When asked about my all time favorite books —  Time and Again has a permanent place on that list. I have bought and given away many copies of this book over the years.

In 1970, Simon Morley, an advertising sketch artist, is approached by U.S. Army to participate in a secret government project, which involves — in case you haven’t been paying attention here — yes, time travel.

Simon or ‘Si’, as he’s called, jumps at the chance to leave his twentieth-century existence and step into 1882 New York City.  Aside from his thirst for experience, he has good reason to return to the past—his girlfriend Kate has a curious, half-burned letter dated from that year, which holds a mystery about her lineage.  But when Si begins to fall in love with a woman he meets in the past, he will be forced to choose between two worlds—forever.

What sets this classic time travel novel apart from any other is the detail, the exquisite illustrations and curated photographs.  Mr. Finney’s highly detailed descriptions bring the period to life –  from the interior of the Dakota residence to the often pock-marked faces of the people, unprotected (as they were then) from small pox.

Warning, these descriptions may slow you down, but that’s fine, as this is a book to be read slowly and richly savored.

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8165y22bnllKindred by Octavia E. Butler

Equal parts time travel and slave narrative, this novel is still as popular as it was when it was first published in 1979.

Often studied as high school required reading, Kindred is the first-person account of a young African-American  writer, Dana, who finds herself shuttled between her California home in 1976 and a pre-Civil War Maryland plantation. There she meets her ancestors: a spoiled, self-destructive white slave owner and the proud black freewoman he has forced into slavery and concubinage (I checked, yes, that’s a word…). As her journeys into the past become longer, Dana becomes intimately entangled with the plantation community, making difficult compromises to survive slavery and to ensure her existence in her own time.

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5153jkewj9lThe Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

A highly imaginative novel in which the author has combined time travel with the intricacies of love, marriage, children, sickness, loss, joy and sorrow.

Henry is a time traveler, although not by choice. A genetic mutation causes him to spontaneously travel through time without warning and he finds himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of importance in his life.  Clare, his wife has been with him through most all his time travels, and his various life stages.  She waits for each of his visits throughout the years until they can meet in real time.  Together they hold fast to their love and attempt to have some semblance of a normal life.

This is a complex story, and even with Henry shuttling back and forth in every chapter, the author deftly keeps the plot clear, compelling and, at times heartbreaking. But, as the Washington Post said, this is
“ a love that works despite all travails and impediments.”

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41zn3vr2v5lA Murder in Time by Julie McElwain

I just finished my most recent time travel read the other night.  Kendra is a tough FBI agent who goes rouge in order to assassinate the killer who brought down half her FBI team mates.  She pursues the killer to Aldrich Castle in England and hides in a stair well only to emerge still in the same castle  — but in regency-era 1815.

Mistaken for a lady’s maid hired to help with weekend guests, Kendra is forced to quickly adapt to the time period until she can figure out how she got there; and, more importantly, how to get back home. However, after the body of a young girl is found on the grounds of the county estate, she starts to feel there’s some purpose to her bizarre circumstances. Stripped of her twenty-first century FBI tools, Kendra must use her wits alone in order to unmask a cunning serial killer.

Pure entertainment with enough action and adventure to keep the reader entertained.  Kendra, and her bad-ass self, turn the 19th century on its ear.

A digital review copy was provided by Pegasus Books via NetGalley

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So, dear Book Barmy readers, choose any of these books to take you away — away from your worries to these wonderful tales of other times — and other places.

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Book Barmy Birthday!

Given the last week or so, I forgot it was Book Barmy’s birthday.

It’s been four years (more or less) since the birth of this tiny little blog.

It all started with my scribbled book notebooks and Connie, my artistic and talented web designer, and now — well, shut the door — there’s all of you.

While I could plan a celebration…

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I know you’ll understand, if instead, I celebrate this way…

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I especially appreciate (and acknowledge) you turning a blind eye to my run-on sentences and errant punctuation — not to mention my often overwrought writing style.  Not forgetting the often curmudgeonly rants and raves.

I love when you come by to visit Book Barmy and make a comment — I cherish every one.

Because of you, my loyal readers, this blog is now one of my favorite things in a wonderfully full, yet admittedly, barmy life.

HERE’s my very first post.

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Just not for me…

I recently read two books , well one I read and the other I abandoned, but neither were for me.  I’ve decided that’s OK, as Simon, one of my favorite book bloggers says — someone else may love these novels.

 

51fippvh2mlThis is Your Life, Harriet Chance!

by Jonathan Evison

I was initially drawn to this novel, because of its unique premise, which mirrors the 1950’s television series “This is your life”.  In the show, a famous person’s life was re-told with flashbacks to life changing moments, the places they lived, the important people who played a vital part in said lives.  See a sample of the show HERE.

The cover gives the appearance of a light-hearted novel (there I go again judging a book by its cover).  Harriet is 78, her husband has recently died and she decides to go on an Alaskan cruise he planned before he got Alzheimer’s. 

Ahh, a cheery-new-lease-on-life story you would think…but we are being led terribly astray.  There is nothing cheery about Harriet Chance’s life.

Like the television show, we go back and forth in time to experience Harriet Chance’s life.  But her life is littered with bitter heartbreak. There are betrayals at every turn.  And the litany of tragedy goes on and on — there’s child molestation, rape, unwanted pregnancy, unfaithful marriage, alcoholism, drug addiction and as a final blow, bitter adult children trying to get her money.  After awhile, I stopped keeping count of the awful events in hapless Harriet’s life.

As added angst, Harriet’s mean, dead husband appears to her in a caught-between-life-and-death role, which never feels fully developed and causes Harriet’s children to harbor suspicions about their mother’s mental stability.

The author is remorseless in his portrayal of seniors and dementia.  Harriet herself is characterized as a terrible mother, a distant wife and a bitter old women. Her husband’s Alzheimer’s is portrayed with sneering and unfeeling sarcasm.

I kept reading, hoping for a ray of sunshine in this story, some sort of redeeming act or event that would make Harriet’s life, if not great, then at least OK.  But nope, there is nothing — nothing to resurrect poor Harriet’s life

This is Your Life Harriet Chance! (I never really got the use of the exclamation point) is well written, but one of the most depressing books I have ever read.

A digital review copy was provided by Algonquin Books via NetGalley

The Bookshop on the Corner

by Jenny Colgan

51zbzhmoxxlThe Bookshop on the Corner, came home with me from the library’s new arrivals shelf.  I’m a sucker for a book about books or a bookshop and this one is set in Scotland – double points.   Took it to bed with me that evening and set it down after five or six chapters and went to sleep somewhat disappointed.

In the morning I checked some of the reviews and publicity for this novel and found I was in the distinct minority.  Ms. Colgan’s novel has been liked by one and all — just not me.

Nina, a recently laid-off librarian decides to travel to one of Scotland’s remotest areas.  She discovers their library is closed and there is no bookmobile.  So she decides to move up there with her vast collection of books and buy a van from which to sell her books throughout this remote corner of Scotland.  Ah ha, this book is not about a bookshop, it’s about a book van – well I guess that’s OK, I’ll keep reading.  After all Parnassus on Wheels was one of my favorite books.

But, turns out this is chick lit – disguised as a book for book lovers.  Straining all credibility, there’s a handsome train engineer who leaves Russian poetry books for Nina in tree branches – really?.  And just as in The Little Paris Bookshop, Nina feels compelled to recommend books to solve every problem or malady, with trite results.

I finally returned the book to the library, when I got tired of the Scots Nina encounters being uncharitably portrayed as if caricatures — less than bright and seldom clean.

I just couldn’t take any more.

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Colonial Williamsburg

Sorry for the radio silence here at Book Barmy, but we’ve been traveling again, our itchy feet never keep us down on the farm for long.

We’re back from Virginia (very sobering area — the Trump signs were astoundingly prevalent.  Please vote folks), where we took a side trip to one of our favorite places ever ~~ Colonial Williamsburg.

We spent our honeymoon there many, many years ago — although even back then, it was still considered Colonial Williamsburg ~~ we’re not that old.

In case you’ve never been to this living museum – it is unlike any other.  It doesn’t feel contrived or corny – it really does recreate the eighteenth century, when Williamsburg was, for a time, the center of government, education and culture for the Virginia Colony .

It was here that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and others reluctantly maintained the forms of British government and later helped adapt its best bits to the needs of the newly formed United States.  Sorry I geeked out there for a moment ~~ end of history lesson.  Can you tell I love this place?

The historic area has many original buildings as well as reconstructed ones, including period shops, taverns, the courthouse and Governor’s palace. The interpreters are true re-enactors and speak in period grammar and phrases.  They represent period notables, as well as the common residents of Williamsburg – including slaves, gardeners, cooks, etc.

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It’s a wonderful experience just to wander and feel like one has traveled back in time.  Walking the brick sidewalks and exploring the little gardens behind the buildings.

 

img_2047But best of all, you may choose to stay in a colonial house…so you can sleep like this

 

 

 

 

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With your very own garden view

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And for the food (you knew that subject would come up didn’t you?), the four taverns serve period-based fare  – candlelight only, if you please, and a minstrel to entertain while you eat.

Afterwards, you slowly wander back to your colonial home with lights twinkling in the windows and you swear you’ve gone back in time.

(Click to make bigger and better see the candlelit windows.)

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Have I enticed you to go to Williamsburg?  If so, more information HERE.

Books will return to Book Barmy in the coming days.   I read a strange, but interesting, book and am halfway through a time travel novel.  So that should keep you coming back.

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Waiting in the Wings by Geene Reese

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Waiting in the Wings, by Geene Reese

 

Even though I’ve lived in San Francisco for 35 years, I never tire of its physical beauty, architecture, diverse culture, and most of all, this city’s colorful, and often, disreputable history.

So, I was very excited to receive Waiting in the Wings, a historical novel set in prohibition-era San Francisco and based on the true story of the author’s great aunt.

From the introduction: Hidden in a compartment of my grandmother’s bottom dresser drawer was an old scrapbook.  Pressed inside were photographs of a beautiful young woman and hundreds of newspaper clippings about vaudeville shows and the movie industry.  This, is how I learned about my great aunt Ruby Adams.

This is no dry historical biography, in just the first pages, both Ruby, a beautiful, spunky vaudeville performer, and 1920’s era San Francisco sparkle to life.  For a San Franciscan, the opening chapter is pure delight as we walk the sidewalks of the city with Ruby  — leaving the original St. Francis Hotel, crossing street-car-crowded Market Street, and into the historic Strand theater.  On our way, doormen greet her and others smile in delight –everyone knows Ruby and her delightful vaudeville review.

This is a time of transition for vaudeville theater, as the moving picture industry is starting to encroach.   Ruby, with her striking looks, is contemplating a move to moving pictures, but still gaily performs her vaudeville routine in the historic theater where she practically grew up.

We join Ruby as she prepares for her nightly performance, observing both the back stage workings and the show performance itself.  We are also with Ruby, that fateful evening, when she is injured in a back stage accident.

Ruby’s injuries are extensive and the accident, upon investigation, reveals negligence. Her career over, Ruby files a lawsuit…and here Waiting in the Wings takes a compelling turn.  Ms. Reese takes us into the corruption and prevailing attitudes of the time, with unscrupulous lawyers and shady dealings behind the scenes.

At this point in the novel, some non-San Franciscans may get bogged down with the name dropping.  And yes, there are numerous names to keep track of  — greedy politicians, questionable judges, and shady lawyers.  Many of these names are still famous here today — Spreckles, Newsom, Davis –and, while I found it rough going at times, it was still fascinating.

Throughout it all, Ruby is resilient and carries on with unflagging spirit. There is romance as Ruby is buoyed through the ordeal by the affection of quirky, but lovable, speakeasy owner “Coffee Dan”.

This story of legal shenanigans and “death by a thousand delays” moves ahead with the help of actual newspaper clippings (with photos) and snippets of court documents. I won’t spoil the outcome, except to say, the case ends up in Superior Court.  I found Waiting in the Wings fascinating and compulsive.  I had to keep reading to find out what happens to our brave Ruby Adams.

It is clear that Ms. Reese did an enormous amount of research.  This gives Waiting in the Wings pitch perfect realism   — from the jargon and dialogue of the era, to the weather, the newspapers of the time, even the popular boxed candy gifts of the era (some still in business today).

But, most strikingly, this realism allows the reader a time capsule view of 1920’s San Francisco — with lovingly re-created scenes that pull from our city’s rich history, buildings, diverse neighborhoods and the never-ending, conga line of eccentric and questionable characters — nothing much has changed.

 

A copy of the book was provided by the author, in exchange for a honest review.

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News of the World by Paulette Jiles

51a2vbgihjlNews of the World

by Paulette Jiles

 

 

You may remember THIS post, where I had just finished an exceptional book but still in proof/advanced reader’s format.  It’s been driving me slightly crazy, but I had to keep silent as the original publication date (March) had been pushed back to October.

Today News of the World is released and I can finally tell you about what other reviewers are calling a “gem” of a book.  And I agree wholeheartedly,  News of the World is just that  — a “must have” gem.

This short novel (200 pages) is set just after the Civil War in 1870’s Texas.  Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd is a widower in his seventies who fought in two wars.  A former printer, the captain enjoys a vagabond existence as a news reader.  He travels to small towns in Texas, reading the news from a wide range of newspapers.  His audiences, who either can’t read or don’t have access to the newspapers Kidd orders from around the world, pay a dime admission to hear the news from as far away as London or New York.

The Captain is mindful about what he reads, sometimes skimming over politics or post Civil War uncertainty, and always ends his readings with a fascinating or exotic tale.

One evening the Captain is approached by a freed slave who is traveling with an orphaned German-American girl.  Now 10 years old, Johanna was taken captive at age six, by the Kiowa during a raid during which her parents and sister were slaughtered.  Now, four years later, she has been sold by the Kiowa to the army for a few blankets and some old silverware. The child must somehow be returned to her uncle and aunt who live 400 miles away near San Antonio.  The freed slave, a black man, is reluctant to be traveling with a white girl child through territory still reeling from the aftermath of the Civil War.  Kidd accepts the monumental sum of $50 to take the girl back to her relatives and he plans his news readings to follow a route that will eventually take them to San Antonio.

Thus begins a journey through the beautifully described Texas hill country. The relationship between the Captain and the reluctant, Kiowa speaking Johanna grows close and protective as they journey towards their destination.  She calls him “Kep-dun” and he teaches her English name which they agree will be pronounced  “Chohenna”.  She distastes shoes and grapples with the many layers of woman’s dress of the time. The aging Captain, meanwhile is trying to protect them from marauding Indians, cowboys and rove soldiers while simultaneously showing her how to eat food with utensils and to use a gun. 

There are harrowing attacks, harsh weather and long boring days in a wagon and while their journey is suspenseful and often amusing — it is mostly heartwarming as they start to form an unlikely affection for each other.

News of the World is chocked full of details — of horses, weapons, dress, and society’s attitudes at the time — but rather than weigh down the story, these details bring it alive for the reader. 

With Johanna, Ms. Jiles beautifully renders the trauma and readjustment of children captured and adopted by Native Americans.  And Captain Kidd is one of the finest western characters ever written — reminiscent of Lonesome Dove or True Grit.

I especially savored Captain Kidd’s newspaper readings which are filled with fascinating (there’s that word again) historical references of the time, from arctic explorers to the politics of Hamilton and Davis.

This is historical fiction at its best, with a riveting story line, memorable characters, and writing that is graceful and spare.  And if you’re like me, you need a few moments to compose yourself after the ending.

News of the World is up for the National Book Award and is at your independent bookstore today.  Highly recommended.

An Advanced Readers Copy was provided by William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins publishers.

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In the Woods by Tana French

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Years ago, I used to devour those quick, cozy, connect-the-dots mysteries, often reading nothing else for months on end.  Then, suddenly, I ground to halt, having grown tired of the often predictable plots and one-dimensional characters. I vowed to only read mysteries that were well written, with intelligent plots and fascinating characters.

I voiced my new resolution and high standards to my bookgroup at the time and was quickly introduced to a range of authors including Deborah Crombie, Elizabeth George, and Peter Robinson  On my own, sans bookgroup, I’ve since discovered Louise Penny, Kate Atkinson, and Susan Hill.   So, my mystery reading days are back in full swing.

Thanks to a friend’s urging, I’ve just discovered a new series and author — Tana French.  I must have been under a rock, because In The Woods (her first in the series) was published in 2007.  I was aware of this book, having seen it over the years.  But, look at that cover — doesn’t it look like a horror filled, psychological thriller?  Shame on me for judging a book by its cover.

In the Woods immediately pulls you in, the terrifically written prologue sets the stage and puts the reader into a carefree summer day in a 1984 suburb of Dublin with three children playing in the woods.

When the children don’t return home, only one child, Adam Robert Ryan, is found catatonic, remembering nothing but his shoes are soaked with blood.  Now twenty years later, Ryan, going only by Adam Ryan, is a detective for the Dublin Murder Squad.  No one knows of his connection with the 1984 incident.   A young girl is found murdered in the very same woods and Ryan finds himself in his old hometown which triggers memories of what happened on that tragic day.

In the Woods is narrated by Detective Ryan and Ms. French has given him a complex voice – taunted by the past, torn up with survivors guilt and the hard, cool viewpoint of a detective.

What I warn you to remember is that I am a detective.  This is my job, and you don’t go into it — or, if you do, you don’t last — without some natural affinity for its priorities and demands.  What I am telling you, before you begin my story, is this — two things: I crave truth. And I lie.

Detective Ryan and his partner from the Dublin murder squad, Cassie Maadox, begin their gentle but relentless investigation into the death of young Katy Devlin. Their relationship is intricately developed and compassionate.

How can I ever make you understand Cassie and me?  I would have to take you there, walk you down every path our secret shared geography. The truism says it’s against all the odds for a straight man and woman to be real friends, platonic friends; we rolled thirteen, threw down five aces and ran away giggling.  She was the summertime cousin out of storybooks, the one you taught to swim at some midge-humming lake and pestered with tadpoles down her swimsuit, with whom you practiced first kisses on a heather hillside and laughed about it years later…

Ms. French deftly weaves back and forth between the two plots and it’s fascinating to see if two murders relate or are a mere coincidence. The interrogation scenes are some of the best parts of this debut;

It becomes second nature, interrogation; it seeps into your blood until, no matter how stunned or exhausted or excited your are, this remains unchanged:  the polite professional tone, the clean, relentless march as each answer unfolds into question after new question.

There is rich atmosphere, from the Irish weather;

It was your basic Irish summer day, irritatingly coy, all sun and skidding clouds and jackknifing breeze, ready at any second to make an effortless leap into bucketing rain or blazing sun or both.

To the murdered girl’s autopsy;

I thought of the old superstition that the soul lingers near the body for a few days, bewildered and unsure

In the Woods is atmospheric and engrossing, with richly drawn characters and some lovely detailed writing.  Hard to fathom that this is Ms. French’s first novel.

I read most of the day – couldn’t put it down. The ending does not tie up all the loose ends but I’m hoping the next in this intelligent series will start to resolve some of the questions.

Out of my way folks — got to get to the library for the next one, The Likeness.

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Warning, the crime(s) are graphic and do involve child rape.

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