Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

I love novels about strong, intelligent women. This book falls in that category. The story centers around two women with a strong friendship that develops over time. They really don't even see each other that much - with both of them having different jobs during WWII. Maddie is a pilot, fighting her way through a man's world of flying. She is fearless and persistent though, which serves her well in the end. The majority of this story is written from Maddie's perspective, although she is not the narrator. That is just one twist in this story. "Verity" is a spy - an incredibly intelligent and beautiful spy who speaks three languages fluently.

How these two women support each other in the worst of times is a testament to true friendship. Since one woman narrates 3/4 of the novel and the other 1/4, the story unfolds but the reader doesn't understand the nuances of what the first narrator is saying until the second narrator sheds light on the events from her perspective. There are definitely several twists to the story that I don't see coming.

Usually I feel free to reveal spoilers in my posts - people are warned about that, after all, in the heading of my Blog - but this time I don't want to ruin the impact of the true depth of this relationship. I read a lot of novels about World War II - but not to read about the evil of Hitler and the Nazis. I read them because I am fascinated by the incredibly strong and brave men, women and children who fought against Hitler - just because it was the right thing to do. Maddie & "Verity" are both strong characters, but there is no one stronger than "Verity". Loved her.

Wendy's Rating: *****

The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church

This book held a lot of meaning for me - on several levels.  Love can certainly be a weight that you bear, but it can also provide meaning by opening you up to life's possibilities. 

Meridian is an incredibly intelligent young woman who falls in love with a brilliant physicist. She falls in love with his intellect - and he hers. She sacrifices her individuality to marry him and support his scientific journey. I can't remember who says it, but I keep thinking about the comment made about people who can adapt have a higher IQ. I guess Alden adapts to the changes in his own work - but he really can't adapt to the changes he senses in Meridian as she starts to become an individual, separate from him. Although he adapts to Jasper without a second thought, which I found interesting - and shocking. Meridian adapts to all the changes in her life: leaving Chicago; leaving school; moving to Los Alamos; becoming a "housewife" in place of an intellectual sounding board for Alden; the whirlwind friendship of Belle - and her tragic death (did NOT see that coming!); Clay; Alden's slow death; the death of her precious crows; the death of her intellectual pursuit. All of these things just make her stronger in the end. She adapts and she moves forward. She leaves a legacy.

Alden infuriated me. I kept reminding myself that he was much older than Meridian and those were different times, but he still could have brought more meaning to her life just by simply communicating with her like he did when she was his student. Then, finding out they were millionaires and he leaves her a pittance to live on after he dies. How insulting is that?! It was incredibly satisfying that she fought the estate plan in the courts!

I had some misgivings about Clay. There was a huge age gap between Alden & Meridian - and look how that turned out. I was concerned (as Meridian was) about the age difference and life experiences between Meridian & Clay. I do believe they truly loved each other though. Clay opened up a whole new world for Meridian. I thought it was admirable that he respected her wishes and never tried to get her back after Alden died. Now that is love. I also think that Meridian did the right thing by letting him go. That showed her love for him. She didn't want to do to him what was done to her. At the same time, it made me sad. His birthday gifts to her were amazing. Her final gift to him really demonstrated that there are all kinds of ways that people can love each other.

It was satisfying to me that Meridian realized that she had married a "crow" and that it was unfair of her to expect him to be anything different than a "crow". Very insightful. I love that she took care of him to the bitter end.

I really loved this book - and I really loved the message.

Wendy's Rating: *****

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

I really liked this book. There was a lot going on for a 300+ page book however. It would have been nice to delve into all of the key relationships more: Alma & Ichimei; Alma & Nathaniel; Alma & Irina; Irina & Seth. As far as that goes, I would have liked more information about the personal lives of Ichimei, Nathaniel, Irina and Seth! They each had an interesting history and we barely get a hint of what each of their experiences were like. 

We know that Ichimei spent time in the "relocation camp" Topaz, and that his family ended up in Arizona at the end of the war, but we find out nothing about his marriage and kids. Obviously, Nathaniel was gay - and a gay man in San Francisco at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic! Did Alma suspect anything? At one point she surmised that he must have been discretely sleeping with other women, since he wasn't sleeping with her, but she didn't seem all that surprised when he fell ill with the "gay man's disease". I would have loved to know more about Nathaniel's life - although it explains why he so willingly married Alma. Marrying your first cousin is definitely odd though....

Obviously Irina had a horrible life. It wasn't surprising why she kept disengaging from Seth. What her mother did to her - or at least allowed to happen (and don't tell me she didn't know anything!) - was disgusting. How wonderful for Irina that she met Alma - and through Alma, Seth. And speaking of Seth. Other than falling in love with Irina - and being a huge support to Alma - we really don't know anything about his upbringing at all.

So, yes, lots of interesting people and several interesting relationships. I can't say that my favorite relationship was Alma  & Ichimei though. Alma's materialism and self-centeredness really bothered me. I completely understand why she felt she couldn't marry Ichimei at that time. A mixed-race marriage, with mixed-race children between two people that lived on completely different social levels. That would have been incredibly difficult for even the bravest of women at that time. Alma loved her creature comforts too much. To me, that makes their love story flawed. I loved Ichimei though. And I am glad that they found each other again. I do believe that Ichimei is the only man that Alma ever truly loved romantically.

I suspected that Ichimei had already died, so it didn't surprise me when we find out he had died before Alma moved to Lark House. Irina was caught up in the love story of Alma & Ichimei, so she was waiting for him to come to Alma in the hospital at the end, and he did. The mind can be very powerful. So whether he was a figment of Irina's imagination, or a "ghost" coming to lead the love of his life "home", I thought it was a nice ending.

Wendy's Rating: ****

America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

What a wonderful book! I loved that the authors used excerpts from real letters. One thing I have learned over the years is that our Founding Fathers were flawed people, just like the rest of us. Thomas Jefferson wrote that all men were created equal, but was unable to free his own slaves. He had a long-term a relationship with a slave - and (potentially) fathered 5 or 6 children with her - despite the fact that she was his daughter's age, a slave, and at the time it would have been considered an incestuous relationship since Sally was his deceased wife's sister. It doesn't really seem that much has changed in politics over the decades, generations, centuries.... Men in power do what they want.

I really loved William Short. He was willing to sacrifice everything to hold to his principles. It's amazing that he could hold such strong beliefs and still consider Jefferson his respected mentor. I think that Martha (Patsy) was put in an impossible situation. Her father was giving her a MAJOR guilt trip, her mother made her promise at her death that she would look after her father, William Short wouldn't sacrifice his beliefs about the evil of slavery and return to Virginia.... Martha was presented with a lose/lose situation. So, she lost William and suffered through an abusive marriage with an alcoholic husband. I was actually quite shocked - and impressed - that she sought advice about divorce. I didn't think that was done in those times - especially in the upper classes where reputation is everything. I was so relieved that she reconnected with William Short after Tom's death in the book - and even more relieved that the real William Short was a significant person in Martha Jefferson's real life!

I admired Martha/Patsy for the strong woman that she was. I was also impressed that the men around her let her be strong (for the most part). Even Tom seemed to appreciate her strength - unless it went directly against what he wanted or believed. Obviously, both Thomas Jefferson and his daughter were highly intelligent. Too bad Thomas Jefferson and Tom Randolph didn't hire financial advisers! Their debts were staggering! 

Really loved this book!

Wendy's Rating: *****

Faithful by Alice Hoffman

I really loved this book! Yes, it's sad for several reasons: Helene's comatose state for ten years and counting; Shelby's guilt; the death of Sue; the estranged relationship between Shelby and her father; Shelby losing Ben....  For every sadness though, something positive happens - even if it's just a deeper understanding of something or someone.

Shelby talks about her "angel", but I think she had four "angels" looking after her: her mother, Ben, Maravelle and James. If every person had four people in their lives that loved them unconditionally and never gave up on them, no matter what, there would be less troubled people in the world.

I really wanted Shelby to end up with Ben. Ben loved her so much - and tried so hard - and was so incredibly patient and kind. I kept waiting for them to reunite. I thought their online dating match would be the catalyst for them starting over. I was so bummed when he walked away, even though I understood it too. Then when he announced he was getting married, my heart broke for Shelby. Too little too late. In the end, when Ben came back, I was relieved that they came to terms with each other - and also that Shelby didn't hurt James by going back to Ben. I honestly don't know who was the better match for Shelby, but at that point, James loved her just as much and Ben was married with a baby on the way. Shelby definitely made the right choice.

I am a firm believer that when someone is despondent, like Shelby was after the accident, that giving them responsibility is a great way to fight depression. I think it was awesome for the pet store owner to tell Shelby that she was the new store manager, even when she didn't deserve it at the time. His belief in her was the starting point for Shelby's life turning in a different direction.

There was an underlying sense of forgiveness throughout the book. People got hurt, both physically and emotionally, but people worked through their hurt/anger/sadness and came out the other side of it. Helene's parents welcomed Shelby into their home; Shelby understood that she had shut her dad out of her life after the accident and that their estrangement wasn't all on him; Ben & Shelby made peace with their life choices and not ending up together; Sue was unhappy in her marriage, but didn't lay that burden on Shelby; Harper felt remorse for what he had done for Shelby and Shelby trusted him so much as a vet that she brought her dying dog to him despite what had happened between them. 

Loved it!

Wendy's Rating: *****

The Brave by Nicholas Evans

This book had a different feel for me than Nicholas Evan's other books. Usually his settings are in the great outdoors - on a ranch, in the woods. This book's main focus was Hollywood - in the early days. I liked the book, but it had a layer of sadness running throughout. Just about all of the main characters had to live with decisions they had made in the past, which may or may not have been the best decisions. There were certainly some significant repercussions regardless.

I liked Tommy as a boy - and as a man eventually. He felt so out-of-tune with his "parents". This was curious to me. First of all, they were his grandparents, so you would think they would have loved him deeply and showed it, like many grandparents. Secondly, they wanted another child and could never have one. Here was an opportunity to "have" another child. I guess I just didn't understand their "distance" from Tommy. But then, when Diane tells Tommy that she is actually his mother, instead of his sister, Diane's mom reportedly dies from a broken heart. Really? She just didn't seem that invested in Diane or Tommy. I am so glad that Tommy had Cal after Diane was gone, but apparently Cal's love wasn't enough for Tom to carry on with life without feeling the heavy weight of what happened. I get that. He killed to protect his mother - and his mother took the blame. The whole thing was very sad.

I really liked Diane. She was obviously talented and beautiful. As Tom says late in the book, her life could have been so different if she had met Cal first (before Ray). Oh, what might have been.... Many of these characters would have led a very different life most likely, had that happened.

I am happy that Tom reunited with Danny - and developed a relationship of peace with Gina & Dutch. I also liked that he ended up with Karen's mom and not Karen herself! Despite the "happy ending" however, I finished the book feeling sad for Tom, losing his mother - and his guilt associated with that; for Cal - for losing Diane too; for Danny - who will now have to live his life with innocent blood on his hands. It was a melancholy read for me.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand

I enjoy a good summer read. Elin Hilderbrand's books always take place in a nice setting. I really don't know anything about Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket, so it was interesting to read about the rivalry between the two islands - and how people prefer one over the other - even though they are only eleven miles apart. I would like to visit both and form my own opinion one day!

I had an issue with Tabitha blaming Harper for the death of Julian. Why on earth would Tabitha waste 14 years blaming her sister for her premature son's death when all Harper did was come to help? As far as splitting up the twins, that didn't bother me as much because people split up their children, twins or not, all the time for various reasons. Tabitha's REAL issue with Harper was that she "got to go" with their father while she was "forced to stay" with their mother. The odd thing about that is that I don't think Tabitha would have been happier with Billy. But maybe she wouldn't have been so uptight about everything if she had stayed with Billy more often. It's kind of ridiculous that they didn't spend more time with the opposite parent anyway, considering they were only miles a part. This is especially puzzling after we find out that Eleanor & Billy were getting it on anyway! I didn't really like Tabitha at all for most of the book. Instead of making changes to be happier, she just blamed other people for her unhappiness. Fortunately, Ainsley got a much needed break from her at a critical moment in her life.

I wasn't really sure who would end up with whom. Usually the woman doesn't end up with the married man, so that was a surprise. Maybe I wouldn't have been as surprised if I had known earlier that Sadie was such a witch - and in love with someone else anyway! It was a happy ending, with a few sad things along the way. I was sad about Billy dying in the first place. I was sad about Brendan. I was happy that Harper and Tabitha each had a chance to put a positive spin on the other's life: Harper taking over the store and making the necessary changes to turn a profit; Tabitha remodeling Billy's home. Both of these projects were too overwhelming for the sister that was mired in them.

All's well that ends well!

Wendy's Rating: ****