GOLDEN HILL by Francis Spufford (fiction): The English writer, Francis Spufford, has interests which range far and wide. This time he has chosen to write his first novel, setting it in New York City some 30 years before the Revolutionary War. This is an intelligent, picaresque novel which moves apace filled with accurate details of colonial life and brushes with the law. The appealing rogue at its center is the subject of town gossip and speculation. The reader is left guessing until the end when he is really is.
MERIVEL by Rose Tremain (fiction): Rose Tremain is a favorite writer of mine. Her historical fiction is accurate, entertaining and intelligent. Robert Merivel was a character in her novel “Restoration.” Here he is again in 1683, 15 years older, still practicing sensible medicine and still a confident of King Charles II. This is an older novel written in 1989, but is sure to please as the reader follows Sir Merivel’s adventures in Paris, England and Switzerland. It is not necessary to have read “Restoration” to enjoy this book. I highly recommend it, and any novel written by Tremain.
PRINCE CHARLES: The Passions ans Paradoxes of an Improbable Life by Sally Bedell Smith (non-fic./biography): Bedell Smith has made a study of Britain’s Royals, and here she presents a fair and balanced portrait of Prince Charles, a man who has been dissected in the popular press, sometimes fairly, but often misunderstood. I believe I now have a clearer picture of what makes Charles tick and especially how his upbringing affected every aspect of his life. I may not like him more, but I am surely more sympathetic to Charles and respect him more for reading this well-presented biography. There is more to the man than just his difficult public life with Diana, Princess of Wales. I highly recommend this book.
GLASS HOUSE by Louise Penny (fiction/Mystery): Summer is a great time for reading mysteries and Penny’s next to latest book is now in Paperback and will not disappoint. This time it seems that Gamache, who has been promoted to Chief Superintendent of the Surete du Quebec, is involved in a necessary deception which almost loses him his job. Recommended as an entertaining anytime read.
BOOKS OF INTEREST
WAKING LIONS by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen (Fiction)
VARINA by Charles Frazier (Fiction)
TWO SISTERS by Anne Seierstad (Non-fiction)
PRIESTDADDY by Patricia Lockwood (Non-fiction)
THE MARS ROOM by Rachel Kushner (Fiction)
THE LAST NEANDERTHAL by Claire Cameron (Fiction)
