Marianne Kehoe

War and Women

Revisado: 12-01-15

I read "The Nightingale" right after reading "Circles: A Family Memoir", both about female heroes during the Nazi occupation. History books concentrate on battles and body counts, but these books make war come alive in all its depravity, scarring populations for generations.

The language was evocative, especially in scenes of utmost despair. The descriptions of the first walk over the Pyrenees in winter, the clank of car doors, the railroad cars, even what passed for shoes, were vivid. I just wish the story had been a little tighter. I could have done without the chick lit ending, or even the flash-forwards. The occupation was the well-done meat; the rest detracted.

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Excellent moments

Revisado: 07-20-15

The stories varied in holding my interest. As a non-military person, after awhile I just let my mind skip over all the abbreviations which were like a foreign language. That said, this civilian gained an appreciation for the difficulty returning troops have adjusting to their new normal.

If the chapters had been either titled, or simply delineated by number, it would have been easier to follow.

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Tedious

Revisado: 07-20-15

I kept with this, waiting for it to pick up, which never happened. I had no empathy for the characters and wanted creepier descriptions and more tension. Plot would have been better served if it had been a short story.

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Creepy Good

Revisado: 07-05-15

This terrifying, well-reserched account of the torpedo attack of the Lusitania brings the event to life 100 years later. From the beginning, as you meet the passengers, you speculate which will survive, and the tension never lets up.

Larson uncovers the story behind the story, with vivid descriptions and motivations, both careless and sinister, all the way up to the Cunard Line and Winston Churchill himself.

I re-listened to many parts because the scenario was too painful to grasp the first time. I predict that this book will be on everyone's Top 10 list this year.

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Up and Down

Revisado: 07-05-15

This story had some wonderfully tense moments, depicted life on a slave-owned plantation well, and the narration was compelling. However, I thought the plot wound down to become no more than a disappointing soap opera.

Character development was also uneven; secondary characters were more caricatures than people. I'm thinking the author was in a rush to finish, and it was too bad because the second half was a weak shadow of the first.

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Disappointing and Plodding

Revisado: 05-10-13

I enjoyed Zeitoun and was anxious to have Eggars describe Saudi Arabia. However, I never developed any empathy for Alan or his team of three. His liaison with his doctor was contrived. The narrator's breathy voice had little variation. Who got the contract? - no surprise here either. But I didn't care.

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History Repeats Itself

Revisado: 05-06-13

This is a story of two parallel cases of child neglect, abuse, and abandonment - three generations apart, but all too similar. The characters are vividly drawn and situations so real that I was compelled to listen from start to finish in one day. The author does a masterful job of interspersing the two main characters' stories. Her details are so vivid that you can imagine lice burrowing into your scalp, snow flakes peppering your bedding, and the wooden seats on a journey to the unknown.

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Toenail by Toenail...

Revisado: 09-30-12

From the tender (her back's burden) to the tragic (her pet horse), this memoir was alive. The detail was riveting and masterfully interwoven with universal themes and self-discovery. I felt Strayed's anticipation for those boxes waiting along the route, and disappointment when they weren't there. I feared for her life and was dismayed with her impulsiveness. I cared.

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Tedious

Revisado: 07-25-12

The main drawback of this book was that I never developed any empathy for Cora, and I struggled between two and three stars - three for the historical research, two because the plot seemed too contrived, as if it existed just to deliver the details of the period. And those details were somewhat superficial. No build-up to Luise's being chosen for the dancing company's troupe. Few feelings expressed after Cora's sexuality was declared off-limits after the birth of her twins. And the twins were phantom characters - they might as well have been still-born for the little they added to the plot.

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Introspection in Living Color

Revisado: 05-08-12

Any additional comments?

From a reader who's saved Quindlen's "The Good Enough Mother" in my documents so I can send it to frazzled moms, I treasure her homespun revelations. The author's narration is so clear and heartfelt that we could have been sharing life's milestones over coffee at my kitchen table.

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