REVIEW: THE APOTHECARY by Maile Meloy

With illustrations by Ian Schoenherr

Normally I don't read young adult books for review.  I think this is due mostly to the fact that I never really read them when I was a young adult.  I sort of skipped that and went straight on to adult titles (The most notable exception being the wonderful stories of John Bellairs). That, and I suppose I am so buried under books written for adults that to expand genres would only complicate matters.  But something about the descriptions drew me to The Apothecary and I wasn't disappointed.  

The young heroine is a smart and insightful, but terribly self-conscious fourteen year-old girl.  Already struggling (like anyone) to make the awkward transition from kid to teenager in a sunshiny, idyllic Los Angeles of the early 1950s, she is forced to uproot and move to London.  Her parents, successful television writers in Hollywood, are under surveillance by HUAC.  Rather than  fight a losing battle against unfounded suspicion, they decide to take jobs writing for the BBC.  

Just one of the gorgeous illustrations by Ian Schoenherr

Dropped in the midst of postwar London, without a friend or a clue, Janie Scott becomes immersed in a strange and magical world.  She befriends the son of the local apothecary (the pharmacist, in American) and discovers that the shop dispenses more than the usual remedies.  They are charged with keeping safe an ancient book with recipes and must keep it from falling into the wrong hands. 

Janie's adventure is great fun.  And like any true young adult book ought, not everything turns out perfectly.  Having just been to London myself this past summer, I especially enjoyed seeing the city through the eyes of another who also felt wonder and overwhelmed at every turn.  

I was incredibly thrilled that the Chelsea Physic Garden figures into the story.  It might have been my favorite stop in London; I didn't want to leave.  It's truly an oasis in the middle of the city, and  is a very impressive garden in its own right.  

One of my MANY photos from the Chelsea Physic Garden

All to often books talk down to young readers.  Not so here.  The book is well written and moves right along.  It's adventurous and imaginative.  Despite its young tone, I was never bored.  I can highly recommend it for young ladies with a particularly precocious spirit.  

A great many thanks to Penguin for the review copy.  

______________________

ISBN 9780399256271 | 368 pages | 04 Oct 2011

Putnam Juvenile | 9.25 x 6.25in | 10 - AND UP years

REVIEWS: BOOKS THAT DIDN'T QUITE FLOAT MY BOAT

I try to give every book the same consideration, particularly when it's in the review pile.  As a (wannabe) writer myself, I can understand the toil that an author went through.  I respect that.  But there are still some books, that no matter how much I should have liked, and thought I would enjoy, I just can't get excited about it.  It stinks.  It's a disappointment to me as an expectant reader, and I'm sure as an author and publisher.

But with a New Year quickly approaching, I feel it is as good a time as any to slough off some of the titles that have straggled on my nightstand...

ASK ALICE by DJ TAYLOR

I loved Taylor's previous work, Bright Young People, about high society in 1920s in London.  That book was nonfiction.  Ask Alice once again draws on Taylor's encyclopedic knowledge of the era but in novel form.  The heroine, naive but learning, goes from beguiled to ingenue to jaded.  

The opening pages of the book, told from Alice's point-of-view, were completely riveting.  Once Taylor introduces a London character who has a pigpen in his back garden, the whole thing falls apart.  The narrative voice loses its way.  Even when we return to Alice on the London stage, Taylor cannot regain the balance or the verve of the early pages.

To his credit, Taylor is an excellent descriptive writer.  His sentences are well-formed and packed with elegance.  In this case, it is the over-arching story that is weak. 

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Language: English ISBN-10: 1605980862

BRIGHT AND DISTANT SHORES by DOMINIC SMITH

Here again is a book from one of my favorite authors.  The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre left me in tears and The Beautiful Miscellaneous was quite touching.  My penchant for his writing coupled with my downright obsession with the 1893 World's Fair should have been a no-brainer.  

What was lacking here was Smith's usually extraordinary narrating characters.  Rather than feeling their adventuresome spirit in the vivid colors of the South Pacific, it reads more like a monochrome manual for gathering archaeological samples.  I desperately wanted to like this book, but I just can't recommend it.  

Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Language: English ISBN-10: 1439198861

INDIGO

IN SEARCH OF THE COLOR THAT SEDUCED THE WORLD 

by Catherine E. McKinley

Indigo is my favorite color; it always has been.  It was the color of my bridesmaids' dresses and plenty of decor at my wedding.  I'm also always a fan of books that take a small idea or item and uncover vast histories about it.  I thought this is what I would find between the covers here -- a surprising and insightful look at a stunningly beautiful color.

Indigo is less a history and more a personal diary.  The author embarks on a journey to Africa in order to discover more about indigo, but she is sparing in her details about the history that brings her there.  Rather than intertwining the old and the new, the old becomes abandoned for her own adventures.  There were also glaring historical errors like her mention of "the invention of the cotton gin in 1974," (page 4) that made it hard to enjoy.


Hardcover: 256 pp


Size: 5.5 x 8.25 in

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1608195058

_________

In all cases, I sincerely wish to thank the publicists for providing the review copies.  I hope they will not find me unfair in my assessments.

REVIEW: FOREVER RUMPOLE by John Mortimer

It's going to be impossible to review this book without comparing it to the works of PG Wodehouse.  The writings share a number of attributes -- silly surnames, ridiculous situations, and even more unlikely solutions.  Barrister Horace Rumpole tells stories from the first person, much like Bertie and Mr. Mulliner, but his are from the Old Bailey and its environs.  And instead of focusing on the theft of cow creamers and fickle romances, Rumpole must use his wits to set free ne'er-do-wells who (probably) didn't commit the crime they are on trial for.

Somewhat jaded, Rumpole has seen it all at this point.  He is little fazed by the cluelessness  of dregs of society or the incredible antics of the Ministers of Parliament.  His nonchalant narrative makes the stories all the more entertaining for a lay audience.  One needn't be a student of the law to get caught up in the tales of the court anymore than you need to have a country house to want to go Bunburying.  I will admit, however, that my maniacal watching of Law & Order: UK hasn't hurt any with some of the vocabulary.

Unlike Bertie Wooster, Rumpole is actually trying to better his world, one client at a time.  He doesn't think of himself first, or rely on a Jeeves to get him out of a scrape.  Rumpole takes on injustice when everything stacked against him.  He thrives on it.  He's a bit like Wile E. Coyote, except his traps actually work.  While other barristers and solicitors are content with a deposition, Rumpole finds the one tiny detail that unravels an entire case.

Reading Rumpole is a sheer delight.  The stories are lithe and funny.  Mortimer has drawn imperfect, realistic characters for us to watch from the gallery.  Or better yet, beside him at a pub, sharing a pint and stories of "that time when...".

A great many thanks to Meghan at Viking for the review copy.
____________________________

ISBN 9780670023066 | 528 pages | 10 Nov 2011 | Viking Adult | 5.98 x 9.01in | 18 - AND UP 

REVIEW: MURDER IN A FIRST-CLASS CARRIAGE by Kate Colquhoun

The First Victorian Railway Killing

I'm a sucker for these sorts of books.  In fact, when I received the review copy, my husband joked, "Well, someone said, 'Let's write a book for you!'"  It has so many themes I love: mystery, the Victorian era, trains, and a murder trial.  AND it's British.  

Drawn from the annals of the Old Bailey and newspaper accounts, it traces the murder of one Mr. Thomas Briggs, an older but successful business man who was traveling home via the rail. Among many of the mysterious circumstances are the seeming lack of motive, the sort timespan in which the crime could have been committed and the loss of a hat (In fact, in Britain, this book was titled Mr. Briggs' Hat).  Even more intriguing is the setting.  The British Victorians had a love/hate relationship with crime even then.  As a society, they were obsessed to the last, bloody detail of the darkest side of human nature -- while at the same time obsessed with repressing and destroyed every shred of it within. 

Favored suspect Franz Muller

The book is very well researched and chock full of quotes from eyewitnesses and reports.  Yet all of this studiousness makes it feel at times a bit more academic than a mystery to be solved.  Between an inquest, an extradition and two trials, some of the information begins to feel redundant, if complete.  The author also chooses to italicize the quotes she uses, rather than surround them with quotation marks.  Rather than getting used to it, I found it increasingly distracting.  Still I read happily to the end, devouring the gripping tale of the crime and investigation itself. 

Murder in a First-Class Carriage explores a completely fascinating chapter of Victorian crime that has been lost to time somehow.  I am admittedly obsessed with this idea and often read from The Old Bailey Online for a voyeuristic peek into the past.  This book brings one of those many, dusty stories back to life.

_______________________

Many thanks to Kate at Overlook Press for the review copy.

Murder in the First-Class Carriage
By Kate Colquhoun 
352 pages
ISBN 13: 978-1-59020-675-1
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Release Date: October 27, 2011

GIVEAWAY: THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Sir A.C. Doyle

I don't suppose it's entirely fair for me to be reviewing a classic.  It's fairly certain that the tales of Sherlock and Watson are good.  As one who grew up on them and the Granada series (Jeremy Brett IS Sherlock), it's hard to imagine my literary memory without them.   Rereading them was a joy.  I'd forgotten how lithe and modern the writing was.  Doyle also creates such vivid characters.  Each of their voices is different.  It's no wonder than 120 years later, people are writing new stories, blockbuster films are being made and critically-accliamed television shows keep people riveted to their sets.  Not to mention, scores of people making the pilgrimage to 221B Baker Street itself (yes, I admit, I went.  And it was wonderful).  

At Sherlock's house.

Penguin Classics has reprinted this collection of stories, which includes: "Silver Blaze", " The Yellow Face", "The Stockbroker's Clerk", "The Gloria Scott", "The Musgrave Ritual", "The Reigate Squires", "The Crooked Man", "The Resident Patient", "The Greek Interpreter", "The Naval Treaty", and "The Final Problem."  You can see Doyle's growing impatience with Sherlock as he reaches fatal finale at Reichenbach Falls. Not to worry, though.  It seems Sherlock isn't going anywhere for some time.  I'm pretty protective of Sherlock, but it seems in general his inspiration has brought about some fabulous story-telling.  

To win a copy of this book is elementary.  Please leave a comment below.  Include your first name, your email (at) com address, and phrase about why you love Sherlock.  US only, please.  Winner will be chosen at random on Sept 27 2011, at 11:59PM EST.  

REVIEW: THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN JOHN EMMETT by Elizabeth Speller

I am unhappy to report that the strongest element about this book is the cover art.  It hearkens back to the wonderful Great Western Rail (and other) posters of the 1920s and 30s in England -- the Golden Age of Travel.  The contents, I'm afraid, do not. 

The story is set in 1920, just as England sputters into a recovery after the First World War.  The main protagonist, Laurence Bartram survived his days in France but returns to an empty home.  His wife and son died while he was away.  With little to anchor him, he receives a letter from the sister of an old friend.  She asks him to help discover the cause of her brother's sudden suicide -- or perhaps uncover something more sinister.  

Trafalgar Square, London, 1920.

Unfortunately, the plot drags on for far too long.  It has none of the suspense that can sustain a drawn out storyline.  The reader simply has to plod along with Bartram, looking over his shoulder  while he traces various threads.  It's one gloomy parlor interview after another.  

Bartram himself is not a terribly compelling character.  Sad and sympathetic, but not engaging.  The only brightly drawn character is his friend Charles.  Clearly modeled after one of London's Bright Young People, he actually brings to life a sliver of the times.  And it's not just the fact that Charles' outlook is more positive.  He is the only one with a palpable personality.

The "villain" is silly and the discovery of the villain even more so.  It seems as if Speller wrote herself into a corner and had to create loopholes and surprise characters to make her shifty plot work.  As it is, it makes little sense, and by the end the reader really couldn't care any less.  Even if I wanted to read a melodrama, this was hardly an engrossing example of it.  

But don't just take my word for it.  You can read an excerpt here.  You can also view the trailer here.

_______________________

A sincere thanks to the folks at HMH Books for the review copy. 

ISBN-13/EAN: 9780547511696 ; $26.00

ISBN-10: 0547511698

Hardcover ; 448 pages

Publication Date: 07/04/2011

Trim Size: 5.50 x 8.25 

It's rare for me to not like a book, but when I do find something that's not to my liking, I normally set it aside.  I did not do that here.  I read it cover to cover in order to give it a fair shake.  

REVIEW: The Art Detective by Philip Mould

Fakes, Frauds and Finds and the Search for Lost Treasures

I could not have enjoyed reading this book more.  It is fresh, fast, and furiously entertaining.  If you need a summer read with some substance, look no further. Part Indiana Jones, part London academia, Mould shares tales of his years in portrait dealing with elegant charm.

The Hampden Portrait of Elizabeth I, one of Mould's finds.

He leads off with a tale of a packrat who had amassed as many pieces of junk as he had treasures.  There is an aching sadness as both the narrator and reader realize how the collector's life was consumed.  Thankfully, the extensive collection was salvaged and donated to SCAD in Savannah.  

He also delves into the nail-biting world of research (yes, it is exciting), discovery and finally winning at auction.  Many hours are spent in dusty corners of libraries, scouring tidbits of information on the internet, and interogating other experts in the field -- all to determine who put brush to canvas, who made that little smear of paint.  The answer can cost a collector millions of dollars, in either direction.  (It reminds an old soul like myself of the wonderful episode of the Dick Van Dyke Show when they go to auction to get ideas for an episode of the Alan Brady Show.)

Dick Van Dyke & Mary Tyler Moore

This book is great fun, and educational but refreshingly not didactic.  And Mould is quick to give credit to others in his gallery and in the field who are constant sources of assistance and perspective.  It's rather like watching Antiques Roadshow UK (of which he is a appraisal member) -- it's more about the stories behind the art, and the people who love art, than the price tag associated with it.  

Thanks to Meghan at Viking/Penguin for the review copy!

Book: Hardcover | 5.51 x 8.26in | 272 pages | ISBN 9780670021857 | 10 Jun 2010 | Viking Adult | 18 - AND UP

REVIEW: BRIGHT YOUNG PEOPLE

Considering my obsession with this period in history, and some of its tenants, I cannot believe it took me so long to find this book. I have heard, anecdotally, of the Bright Young People but I knew little about their specifics. Even with this marvelous history as a guide, they are still a fluid, amorphous bunch. Which I suppose was the point.

After WWI, the French turned to surrealism. America turned to jazz. The English, it seems, turned to their aristocracy-turned-high society. The inception of exorbitant inheritance taxes burdened the landed gentry -- their parents. Older siblings returned from the war broken and confused. This lost generation needed an outlet, an escape, and above all to be heard. The result was stunning.

These fabulously wealthy twenty-somethings knew that time was fleeting, and made the most of it. Champagne flowed at parties that lasted until dawn. Scavenger hunts zigzagged the players all across London. And yet there was a deeper sadness that permeated their carousing. A sort of nostalgia in their own time.

Besides, it was not all frivolity. The great writer Evelyn Waugh was a bright young person. So too was the fantastic portrait photographer Cecil Beaton. This frenzied time produced self-assured artists.

This book chronicles the soirees and the stories of those who gave them in sparkling, sepia-toned perfection.

Bright Young People
The Lost Generation of London's Jazz Age
D. J. Taylor
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Paperbacks, January 2010

ISBN: 978-0-374-53211-6, ISBN10: 0-374-53211-7, 5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 384 pages, 16 Pages of Black-and-White Illustrations/10 Illustrations in Text/Appendix/Notes and References/Index