The Divorcees

The Divorcees

Author: Rowan Beaird

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Publish Date: June 6, 2023

I received an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lois grew up in a loveless home in Chicago. Her father, the wealthy owner of a meat packing industry, had no affection for her whatsoever and was grateful to marry her off to a lawyer. Her mother, having died earlier, was also unloving. Lois felt the marriage might supply her with the love she had always wanted. However, she soon found herself in a loveless marriage as well. In 1951, leaving a marriage on grounds of unhappiness was unheard of. The only way to get a divorce was to go to Reno, Nevada.

Her father, furious at Lois for choosing to divorce her husband, sends her to a Divorce Ranch in Reno for the six weeks needed for the divorce. Run by a woman named Rita, the Golden Yarrow provides a place for women awaiting their divorce in Reno. At the time, divorce was shameful and the women on the Ranch were often in a precarious state. It was thought unacceptable for a woman to live alone. She must stay in a rooming house or live with a roommate. The goal of most of the women, therefore, was to remarry as soon as possible.

Lois doesn't go out at night to the Casinos and Clubs with the others and keeps mainly to herself. She plans to move into a place of her own and has no plans to remarry. This choice, alone, sets her apart from them. She lounges by the pool during the day, which is where she meets a new, mysterious guest at the ranch.

Greer has come to the ranch awaiting her divorce. She has a giant bruise on her face, which the others whisper about. Choosing not to take meals with the others, and not allowing maid service, Greer remains in the shadows of the Golden Yarrow.

One day, while lounging at the pool. Lois meets Greer. The two form a friendship and soon, they are going out with the others to the Casinos. Greer is independent and encourages Lois to follow her dreams. Unlike the others, Greer thinks every woman should follow her own desires and not become merely a man's accessory. 

As Greer begins to have more influence over the others, she and Rita become at odds. Rita sees Greer as a troublemaker. The others see her as a sort of leader, giving them new ideas about life.

But is Greer who she seems to be? What dark past sent her to the Golden Yarrow? When tragedy happens and the others find out the truth, will it be too late?

This story keeps you guessing. I rooted for Lois to the very end. I can not imagine the courage it took her to leave her marriage and search for her own happiness in a world that saw her as nothing but a housewife. A must-read for modern women, this novel is a stark reminder of how far women have come. 

 

The Sunset Crowd

Author: Karin Tanabe

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: July 4, 2023

*I received an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 Beatrice is a rebellious teen New Yorker from old money. After being sent to a private school in Switzerland for her behavior, she befriends (and falls in love with) Kai de la Faire. Kai is gorgeous, part Hawaiian, and the crush of every girl in the school. 

Years later, in the mid-1970s, Beatrice is a photographer in LA. The hottest thing going on the strip is a new store -Sunset on Sunset- owned and operated by Evra Scott. Evra is a wealthy socialite, the daughter of Hollywood Royalty. Her store is THE store, and Avra is THE girl in LA,. Avra's current love interest is Kai de la Faire. Beatrice, Evra, Kai, and their friends live the ultimate LA party life. Fueled by drugs and alcohol, they enjoy all that fame and money have to offer.

One day, Theodora Leigh comes into Sunset to return outfits from Paramount Studios. Evra is fascinated by this young girl with a mysterious past... Part Chinese, and multi-lingual, she is getting ready to produce a film of her own. Evra is fascinated by young Theodora and takes her under her wing. Theodora soon becomes a part of their crowd as well. Young, beautiful, and talented, she seems to know all the right people. She shows up everywhere at just the right moment.No one seems to notice until it is too late.

This novel will take you from the Hollywood Hills to the French Riviera. You'll get a front-row seat at how glamorous people live. You will also get a good look at their motives and mores. The author has developed real and believable characters.. It is interesting to see how each of them reacts differently to events and to each other. I think this is one saving grace for Beatrice. Deep down, some East Coast common sense remains.

This book is a great read, especially if you love to read about the rich and famous. I don't want to leave spoilers, but,  I will say I wasn't especially happy with the ending. I'd have liked a little more closure. However, I think that was the point. Sometimes you're just left to wonder.

 Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly

*I received a digital copy from the publisher. I was not compensated in any way.

author: Marie Bostwick

publisher: William Morrow

release date: May 30, 2023

    Having lost her job and her marriage, Esme Cahill returns to the lake resort where she was raised by her grandparents. Her grandmother, Adele, had asked Esme to return to Last Lake just before she passed away. Now Esme finds her grandfather, George, and her estranged mother, Robyn struggling to keep the resort out of financial ruin. Not only are the finances shaky, but the resort itself is run down as well. On top of that, George has hired a mysterious (handsome) new chef that lives out of a van.

    In a storage room, along with Adele's beautiful quilts, sits a box of items Adele left for Esme. As she goes through the box, Esme slowly unravels her grandmother's secret past and a beautiful love story.

. I think that one of the things I enjoyed so much about the story is that it adds a few touches of the unexpected. There are quite a few "stories within the story". Esme's relationship with her mother is strained at best since Esme was taken from her care as a child and placed in her grandparents' custody. Both Robyn and Esme have their share of regrets, and Robyn has a few secrets of her own.

Esme's story is interspersed with chapters of Adele's. As Esme finally learns what brought Esme to Asheville and why she decided to stay, she has to take a long look at herself and her own life choices. This is a book about our dreams and the decisions we make to follow them, or let them go.

Read this book if...

...you love southern fiction

... you love stories of coming home

... you love books about family.

The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue

Title: The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue Author: Barbara Samuel Publisher: Ballantine Books Pages: 324 Copyright date: 2004

This is one of those novels that draws you in from the first page and you just can't put it down. At the novel's opening, Berta is losing her husband of 62 years to a long illness. As her friends gather round, the novel focuses in turn, on the lives of each of her neighbors. 

Trudy is recently separated from her husband of 20+ years. His infidelity took her by surprise. As she struggles to make her way as a single woman in a world she never imagined facing as anything but a couple, she takes stock of her life. She looks at her decision to leave college and marry, trading travel and academia for the life of a mom. 

Jade is recently divorced from a con-man who is now doing time in prison. She returns to her childhood home to help Berta, her grandmother, recover from her grandfather's death. However, she is still struggling with her own divorce and heartbreak.

Shanelle grew up dirt poor in a trailer park. She is married to a good man and has a good life. However, her husband resents her dream of becoming a writer.

The story is told, in turn, through the eyes of each woman. Each struggles to make her own way and still hold up her friends in their struggles. 

I love how the author tells the story realistically. There are no fairy tale endings here. There is no  black and white. Each character is human and behaves as we, ourselves, would in similar circumstances.

I was especially drawn to Trudy. Her struggle though her separation and having to deal with "the other woman" in a small town was heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.

I really enjoyed this book. 

Read this book if...

*you love stories about friendship

*you love stories about relationships

Who Asked You by: Terry McMIllan

Title: Who Asked You?  Author: Terry McMillan Publisher: Thorndike Press Copyright: 2013 Pages: 546 (large print edition)

I was thrilled to find this book on the shelf at my local library. I had no idea Terry McMillan had a new novel! I have been a fan of her writing since I read Mama years ago.
Who Asked You is the story of Betty Jean Butler, a woman in her 50's struggling with her husband's Alzheimer's, one son in prison, a daughter addicted to drugs, and another son (a successful chiropractor) who is ashamed of his family. Add to this her two sisters, one overly religious, one overly judgmental (and both with problems of their own). When her daughter drops off her two young sons with Betty and never comes back, Betty is really put to the test.
Told in turns from the point of view of each of the main characters, this story is hard to put down. McMillan is an amazing writer- her characters are fully rounded and believable. You can't help but love them all. Well, all except Arlene maybe....
I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to her next novel.

Read this book if...
*you love Terry McMillan
*you love women's fiction
*you love African-American fiction

The Last Time I was Me by: Cathy Lamb

Title: The Last time I Was Me Author: Cathy Lamb Publisher: Kinsington BOoks Pages: 417 Pages

Synopsis from Goodreads:

I wrapped up my grandmother's tea cup collection and my mother's china, then grabbed a violin I'd hidden way back in my closet that made me cry, a gold necklace with a dolphin that my father gave me two weeks before he died of a heart attack when I was twelve and, at midnight, with that moon as bright as the blazes, I left Chicago. When Jeanne Stewart stops at The Opera Man's Cafe in Weltana, Oregon, to eat pancakes for the first time in twelve years, she has no idea she's also about to order up a whole new future. It's been barely a week since she succumbed to a spectacularly public nervous breakdown in front of hundreds of the nation's most important advertising and PR people. Jeanne certainly had her reasons--her mother's recent death, the discovery that her boyfriend had been sleeping with a dozen other women, and the assault charges that resulted when Jeanne retaliated in a creative way against him, involving condoms and peanut oil.

Now, en route to her brother's house in Portland, Jeanne impulsively decides to spend some time in picturesque Weltana. Staying at a B&B run by the eccentric, endearing Rosvita, she meets a circle of quirky new friends at her court-ordered Anger Management classes. Like Jeanne, all of them are trying to become better, braver versions of themselves. Yet the most surprising discoveries are still to come--a good man who steadily makes his way into her heart and a dilapidated house that with love and care might be transformed into something wholly her own, just like the new life she is slowly building, piece by piece.

As heartfelt as it is hilarious, The Last Time I Was Me is a warm, wise novel about breaking down, opening up, and finally letting go of everything we thought we should be, in order to claim the life that has been waiting all along.

This was a fairly entertaining read, but I had problems with the believability factor. How can a wealthy (although hated) member of a small town be missing and no one investigate or even question the disappearance? I have my doubts that real anger management classes visit bars together, throw peanut butter at one another, pretend to be birds, and require male members to go out dressed as women.  Even if a grown woman were brave enough to jog naked at night, would her anger management class not at least question the safety of such when she told them about it? How can an alcoholic quit cold turkey and experience zero withdrawal symptoms? Lastly- the court trial, although hilarious, was highly unrealistic. No judge would put up with that.

 That being said, it was a funny read. You just have to take it as the chick lit beach read that it is, and not expect more.


 The main character was not entirely likable. You've lost your husband and unborn child in a horrid accident, you've had a nervous breakdown and are struggling with alcoholism...but you can feel much better by staring at your shoes? The reader is left wondering if Jay couldn't have found himself a kinder, less self-absorbed wife.


The other characters, although one-dimensional, were much more likable. Rosvita, in spite of (or maybe because of) her neurotic germ obsession was amusing.
All in all, as I stated earlier, this is an OK beach read, as long as one takes it for what it is. Would I read it again? No. However I DID finish it which, for me, was saying something at least.

Read this book if...
*you are bored and looking for a light, humorous read

The Wisdom of Hair

Title: The Wisdom of Hair Author: Kim Boykin Publisher: Berkley Books Pages: 292

From Amazon:

“The problem with cutting your own hair is that once you start, you just keep cutting, trying to fix it, and the truth is, some things can never be fixed. The day of my daddy’s funeral, I cut my bangs until they were the length of those little paintbrushes that come with dime-store watercolor sets. I was nine years old. People asked me why I did it, but I was too young then to know I was changing my hair because I wanted to change my life.”

In 1983, on her nineteenth birthday, Zora Adams finally says goodbye to her alcoholic mother and their tiny town in the mountains of South Carolina. Living with a woman who dresses like Judy Garland and brings home a different man each night is not a pretty existence, and Zora is ready for life to be beautiful.

With the help of a beloved teacher, she moves to a coastal town and enrolls in the Davenport School of Beauty. Under the tutelage of Mrs. Cathcart, she learns the art of fixing hair, and becomes fast friends with the lively Sara Jane Farquhar, a natural hair stylist. She also falls hard for handsome young widower Winston Sawyer, who is drowning his grief in bourbon. She couldn’t save Mama, but maybe she can save him.

As Zora practices finger waves, updos, and spit curls, she also comes to learn that few things are permanent in this life—except real love, lasting friendship, and, ultimately… forgiveness. 

When I fist began this book, I was immediately taken in by Zora and her escape from life with her Judy-Garland-obsessed alcoholic mother. However, as Zora embarked on life in her new apartment and began beauty school, I started feeling like this was going to be another star-crossed romance in which a woman hitches her star to the first handsome man she sees and they all live happily ever after. In her quest to "save" Winston from his alcoholism, Zora very nearly loses herself. Fortunately, she comes to her senses (but I won't include spoilers).The story also paints an excellent picture of the many facets of alcohol and it's use (and abuse). Honestly, this one didn't leave me hanging on the edge of my seat. However, it was interesting enough to continue with. I'd definitely like to see a sequel. I'd like to know what happens to Zora in the future- whether she continues with her independence or succumbs to her mother's way of "living her life like it wasn't worth anything unless she had a man under her roof."

Read this book if...

*you love southern fiction

*you love stories of friendship

*you love stories of finding strength and independence in the face of adversity

The Cottage at Glass Beach

Title: The Cottage at Glass Beach Author: Heather Barbieri Publisher:HarperCollins Pages:302

I borrowed this book from my local library.

From the inside cover:
Married to the youngest attorney general in Massachusetts State history,Nora Cunningham is a picture-perfect political wife and doting mother. But her carefully constructed life falls to pieces when she, along with the rest of the world, learns of the infidelity of her husband, Malcom.
Humiliated bu the press, Nora packs up her daughters- Annie, seven; and Ella, twelve- and takes refuge on Burke's Island, a craggy spit of land off the coast of Maine.  Settled by Irish immigrants, the island is a place where superstition and magic are carried on the ocean winds, and wishes and dreams wash ashore with the changing tides.
Nora spent her first five years on the island but has not been back to the remote community for decades- not since that long-ago summer when her mother disappeared at sea.  One night while sitting alone on Glass Beach below the cottage where she spent her childhood, Nora succumbs to grief, her tears flowing into the ocean.  Days later she finds an enigmatic fisherman named Owen Kavanagh shipwrecked on the rocks nearby.  Is he, as her aunt's friend Polly suggests, a selkie- a mythical being of island legend- summoned by her heartbreak, or simply someone who, like Nora, is trying to find his way in the wake of his own personal struggles?


 From the cover blurb, I was a little hesitant.  I was afraid it would be another romance set on a beach.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the case.  It was part coming home novel, part mystery, with a little bit of the supernatural thrown in.  The mystery unveils itself a little at a time, and keeps you guessing up to the very last page.  I must say that I found Ela to be a bit irritating, and  unlikable.  As mother of a daughter, I feel guilty saying this, but it is true.  She seems totally unreachable.  I found myself thinking, "Well send her to her dad!! Get her some counseling! Just get her out of this story!"  Sorry, Ela, but you're a selfish brat. Some of her actions were justifiable, but seriously, the child needed counseling.  I can understand her being upset about her parents' separation, but she took it too far. The fact that both parents were so caught up in themselves that they couldn't see the child was mentally unstable was, sadly believable in this day and age. Lastly, I do feel there were a few unresolved issues in the end.  I still had questions.  I won't spoil it for anyone. Let's just say I'd have liked an epilogue. All in all, it was a good read.  Plenty of twists and turns. Not boring at all.

Read this book if....
*you love mysteries
*you love stories with a beach/ island setting
*you love stories about survival after divorce / separation
*you love stories with a supernatural element



Sea Change by Karen White

Title: Sea Change Author: Karen White Publisher: New American Library Pages:392

From the back cover:

For as long as she can remember, Ava Whalen has struggled with a sense of not belonging, and now, at thirty-four, she still feels stymied by her family. Then she meets child psychologist Michael Frazier and thinks her days of loneliness are behind her. After a whirlwind romance, they impulsively elope and Ava moves to Matthew's ancestral home on St. Simon's Isl;and off the coast of Georgia.

But after the initial excitement, Ava is surprised to discover that true happiness still eludes her.  There is much she doesn't know about Matthew including the mysterious circumstances surrounding his first wife's death.  And her new home seems to hold as many mysteries and secrets as her new husband.  Feeling adrift, Ava throws herself into uncovering Matthew's family history and that of the island, not realizing that she has a connection of her own to this place- or that her obsession with the past could very well destroy her future.

Although I'm usually not big on books that pull heavily on romance for the story line, I have been a Karen White fan since I first began reading the Tradd Street series.  I also loved The Color of Light. Some of her books are a little romance-heavy for me but she weaves a good story.  This one I liked in that it relied less on romance and more on the story itself.  I like the setting White chose for the story and her descriptions of St. Simon's island are wonderful. She creates a great sense of place. At first I couldn't put this book down, but as it got toward the end I found myself getting less excited.  I couldn't understand why Matthew was so secretive about his former wife.  He hadn't even bothered to tell Ava about her before they married.  (Agreed, it was a whirlwind romance, but wouldn't a former marriage come up at some point?) I felt like it got a little wordy and I was also left not completely believing the ending of the Pamela/ Georgina/ Geoffrey storyline.  I guess the ending was a little unsatisfying.  All in all, this was a pretty good read, although not my favorite by Karen White.  I still look forward to her next book, and I would still recommend this one to any one who loves a good southern mystery.

Read this book if...
*you love southern fiction
*you love mysteries

*you love books with an island setting

Haunting Jasmine by: Anjali Banerjee

Title: Haunting Jasmine  Author: Anjali Banerjee Publisher: Berkely Trade Pages: 304

I checked this book out from my local library after reading a review on another site.

From the back cover: Divorcee Jasmine Mistry is intent on restarting her life when she gets the chance to do just that.  A call from the past brings her home to Shelter Island, a green dot on the middle of Puget Sound, to run her beloved aunt's bookstore.  The familiarity is heartening- the rocky beaches, pewter skies, country boutiques and above all, Auntie's Bookstore, nestled in a quaint Queen Anne Victorian, and believed, not incidentally, to be haunted.

Although my fiction tastes normally run toward southern fiction, I felt I had to give this one a try. It has books, it has ghosts, it has a female character who finds her independence... I was intrigued.  I admit, I was afraid I would find a sappy romance here- a woman loses her love but is saved by another man.  (I hate those books!)  This book was surprisingly different.  I don't want to spoil it. I will say that the book is realistic in its depiction of the character's divorce and the way she deals with her former husband's infidelity. However, the book also has a magical quality. The bookstore is haunted- not just by any ghosts, but by the ghosts of authors, no less.  Beatrix Potter, Edgar Allen Poe...even Dr. Seuss makes an appearance.
While the book is not a traditional romance-I HATE those- there is an underlying theme of love.  How does love change over time?  How does love change us?  Jasmine is reeling from the pain of her ex-husband's infidelity while her sister is planning a marriage to the man of her dreams.  A family friend walks away from the "perfect family" and never looks back. Again, the thing I love the most about this book, is that the character finds her ability to start over and find her place in this world within herself, not from a man. Does a man have a place in her life? Yes...but I won't spoil that for you....Let's just say he is a catalyst for change...and that's not a bad thing....

Read this book if:
* You love books and book stores
*You love books about women who save themselves
*You love reality with a little magic thrown in