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Summer, 1918.  As the first World War comes to an end, Leon and Louise’s life long love affair begins.  Both are living in a small French village, helping with the war effort:  Leon takes a job deciphering Morse Code messages, and Louise informs families when their soldier has died.  Both are injured by German artillery fire and think the other dead.  Though devastated,

The Secrets of Mary Bowser is the story of Mary Bowser, a freed slave who returns to Richmond, Virginia to spy for the Union.  Mary and her mother are slaves for the prominent and wealthy Van Lew family.  When Mary is 12,  Bree Van Lew decides to free Mary and her mother, and to pay for Mary’s education in Philadelphia.  At

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, set during the decades following the Great Migration, begins with Hattie trying to save her twin babies who are suffering from pneumonia.   Hattie is 17, recently relocated to Philadelphia, and  desperately in love with her twins (though maybe not as in love with their father).  She hopes she can help them, but seems to know on

I met the endearing Maggie Hope in MacNeal’s Mr. Churchill’s Secretary this past summer, and could not wait for Princess Elizabeth’s Spy to come out.  Now Maggie has completed her MI5 training (or as much as she can:  Maggie is an expert code breaker but physically can’t meet the rigorous demands) and has gone under cover as a math tutor for Princess

Meet Edie Middlestein…lawyer, mother, wife, passionate about food.  So passionate, in fact, that she is overweight and battling diabetes.  Her husband leaves her, and her grown up children try to fix her.  And so unfolds the story of The Middlesteins, a readable and touching family saga. There are many memoirs of dysfunctional families, especially those with alcoholics, and stories of families with anorexic children, but I

The following quotation on the jacket of Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, caught my eye as the school year began, and prompted me to revisit Anna Quindlen’s writing:  “Being a parent is not transactional. We do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward endeavor: We are good parents not so they will be loving enough to

E-book or paper?  Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is a snapshot of today’s book business, with some thriller and adventure thrown in.  Clay Jannon is a young, west coast web designer and victim of the recession.  Laid off, he takes a night shift job at Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore and tries to put his tech savvy side to work for his

On March 18, 1990, two people posing as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston claiming they were responding to a call.  They stole 13 paintings, including 5 Degas drawings, which have never been recovered.  Enter Claire Roth.  Young, naive and idealistic, Claire is an up and coming painter.  For Isaac, her lover and  art teacher, Claire

Attica Locke’s The Cutting Season made me think about how the past always impacts the present, especially with regard to history.  This is a very  deep emotionally and historically detailed novel. The past and present theme runs throughout the novel-a murder in the past and present, Belle Vie as it was and as it is, society and it was and as

The End of Your Life Book Club is simply a gem.  It is a book that will find you, and inspire you, regardless of your circumstances.  It is a book I want to share with everyone with whom I talk books!  A beautiful tribute to his mother by publisher and editor Will Schwalbe, The End of Your Life Book Club opens with