The Stories We Tell

For my first book of 2025, I chose to write about The Stories We Tell by Patti Callahan Henry. Judging by its description and some of its reviews, it sounds like a book that has a soap opera feel to it. However, I'm hoping it will have more substance than a typical daytime drama. Also, coming from this author, I have high expectation for its writing style and story content.

When Eve learns about the car accident that her husband and sister are in, she thinks something is terribly wrong. Neither one is where they said they would be. Why is that? Cooper, Eve’s husband, offers an explanation for this, but I wonder if it’s entirely true.

Before the accident, Cooper and Eve Morrison are one of Savannah's power couples. Yet, is their marriage as happy as it appears? Eve’s sister, Willa, has been living in a cottage on their property at the time of the crash while she gets her life in order.

Questions about the circumstances of the accident persist for Eve. Cooper's account of what happened that night isn't ringing true, and Willa has lost any memories of the event due to injuries sustained from it. An intriguing mystery emerges about what actually occurred. Eve needs to know the truth – about the accident and other things. In the process of discovery, she has to confront some difficult realities about her life.

This is a story about an old, wealthy Southern family that has its share of conflict, problems and secrets that are exposed as a result of the accident.

I’m not at all disappointed in the words that are used or the way they are used to tell this narrative. It’s hard to find books that are this well written. Yes, some of it is like a stereotypical Hallmark movie, but the suspiciousness surrounding the true cause of the crash kept me absorbed until the very end.

Become a Banterer! If you would like to be placed on Maria's Book Banter’s e-mailing list, please e-mail me at mariabookbanter@gmail.com. You will receive links to blog posts shortly after they are published. Your contact information will not be sold. If you would like to be removed from the list, let me know. Any questions, comments or book recommendations can be sent to this e-mail address too.

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This Motherless Land

 At the end of my last blog post, I mentioned that my next book would be Here One Moment. Well, that’s not going to happen. Instead, we’re going with This Motherless Land, a brand-new release, by Nikki May. I first heard about this book from Jenna Bush Hager, who raved about it on the Today Show. When I heard her description of it, I thought it sounded like the quintessential book for Maria's Book Banter.

This Motherless Land is the saga of Funke, a young Nigerian girl who goes to live in England after losing her mother in a car accident, and her cousin, Liv. Feeling desperately homesick and experiencing culture shock, Funke is living with her mother’s estranged family, who are full of racist preconceptions about Funke. However, Liv is excited about Funke living with them and sincerely wants to look out for her.

This book takes us through Funke and Liv’s personal journeys as young women. They face many startling twists and turns over the years, including identity transformations, family toxicity, deceptions, romance, and above all forgiveness and redemption.

My instincts were correct. This Motherless Land is the type of book I like to read with its complicated characters in unusual and unforeseen circumstances. It’s a love story, but not in the traditional romantic sense. If you read the book, I think you’ll understand what I mean. Did I like Funke and Liv as people? No, not always. That’s ok. As long as there's a compelling narrative that will keep me involved and that’s what This Motherless Land did for me.

This will be the last blog post for 2024. Despite a few stops and starts, it has been a productive year for Maria's Book Banter. I'm looking forward to another one in 2025. (2025, can you believe it?!?!) Until then, keep sending me your book recommendations for the new year.

 

Happy Holidays from Maria's Book Banter!

 

Become a Banterer! If you would like to be placed on Maria's Book Banter’s e-mailing list, please e-mail me at mariabookbanter@gmail.com. You will receive links to blog posts shortly after they are published. Your contact information will not be sold. If you would like to be removed from the list, let me know. Any questions, comments or book recommendations can be sent to this e-mail address too.

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The Kids Are Gonna Ask

 

I chose The Kids Are Gonna Ask by Gretchen Anthony for my next selection because it supposedly combines mystery with humor - an interesting combination and something different for this blog.

After tragically losing their mother, twins, Thomas and Savannah are being raised by their grandmother. They are seventeen and secretly want to know who their father is.

At the start of the story, the twins have their own podcast that are recorded conversations with dinner guests. It is during one of these sessions when Thomas first expresses a desire to meet his father – something he nor Savannah have ever done before now. Since the guest for that dinner was rather unusual who told an odd story about her father eating his twin in utero, that particular episode goes viral. As a result of this popularity, they do another podcast about looking for their father called The Kids are Gonna Ask.

Doing the search in a public format, they hope to learn more about themselves and their origin story as well as their mother, Bess, and the parts of her life she kept hidden. Themes of belonging and connection begin to emerge as the story progresses.

Inevitably, the twins meet with vocal opposition. Saying it is an invasion of Bess and their father’s privacy - a legitimate point, I thought. However, having outspoken critics only increases the podcast’s listenership. This is where it gets crazy.

Soon, Savannah and Thomas find themselves at the center of a national controversy with ramifications for themselves and others that they would have never imagined. Some of which weren’t entirely plausible I thought or maybe I'm just naïve.

Did I like this book? There's no easy answer to that question. I basically did and wanted to keep reading to see what happened next. So, there's that. I had a few issues with character likeability and the logic of the plot.

This is not my first Gretchen Anthony novel. Before I started Maria's Book Banter, I read her debut novel, Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners, and really enjoy it. This author has a unique way of telling a story, which incorporates subtle, but offbeat humor – something I very much appreciate.

My next book will probably be Here One Moment by my favorite novelist, Liane Moriarty. It’s a long one. So, the blog post for it will most likely be published in November. Looking forward to it!

Become a Banterer! If you would like to be placed on Maria's Book Banter’s e-mailing list, please e-mail me at mariabookbanter@gmail.com. You will receive links to blog posts shortly after they are published. Your contact information will not be sold. If you would like to be removed from the list, let me know. Any questions, comments or book recommendations can be sent to this e-mail address too.

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The Tour

For my next book, I wanted to read something that was easy and light-hearted, allowing for a blog post that would be a breeze to write. I may have struck gold at the end of the rainbow when I came acrossed The Tour by Jean Grainger.

This is where we meet the kind, yet practical-minded Conor O’Shea. He's the type of person you would want as a friend, which makes him the perfect guide for a tour of Ireland. Early in the book, Conor receives a letter from an old girlfriend, Sinead, that says she is coming home to Ireland after being away for over 20 years. Sinead is the only woman Conor has truly loved, but he's not sure how he feels about her now. In the meantime, I couldn’t help wondering if there could be something between him and his friend, Anastasia.

As Conor is grappling with the prospect of seeing Sinead again, he is leading a 7-day tour with a group of Americans. On this life-changing trip is an array of travelers who are in Ireland for different reasons and looking for different things from their journey.

These amusingly engaging characters will have unique and wonderful experiences, meet unexpected people, discover new strengths, confront their past, and face harsh realities about their lives. It could be said these individuals’ stories have overly optimistic conclusions, but I say sometimes it’s good to read a book that is positive and uplifting.

While there's a bit of Irish history and culture mixed in here and there, The Tour is mainly character-driven. There are some surprising turns in this book that are somewhat dark. However, those disturbing instances didn’t stop me from enjoying it. if you're in the mood for something that will put a smile on your face, I suggest you take The Tour.

Become a Banterer! If you would like to be placed on Maria's Book Banter’s e-mailing list, please e-mail me at mariabookbanter@gmail.com. You will receive links to blog posts shortly after they are published. Your contact information will not be sold. If you would like to be removed from the list, let me know. Any questions, comments or book recommendations can be sent to this e-mail address too.

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The Night She Disappeared

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell asks the question what happened to Tallulah and Zach. They went for a night out and haven’t returned. Usually, they are very responsible young adults who take good care of their son. Now, Tallulah’s mother, Kim, is frantically worried. The last she heard is that they were going to a party at Dark Place, Scarlett’s family home. Scarlett is someone Tallulah knows from college whose house is right next to a wooded area.

Fast forward a year, Sean takes a new job at Maypole House, a boarding school, as the head teacher. Apparently, the position has had scandal linked to it before Sean came. Maypole House is also located near the same wooded area as Dark Place.

Sean’s significant other, Sophie, moves with him to the school. On the first day in their new home, Sophie finds an unusual sign that says, “dig here”. Sophie thinks that there's something familiar about this sign.

As a detective novelist, Sophie becomes fascinated by what happened to Tallulah and Zach and launches an amateur investigation on her own. She meets Liam who is a classroom assistant and former student at Maypole House. He was also at Dark Place the night of the party. What can he tell Sophie about the disappearance?

My initial impression after reading the first few chapters is that it’s shaping up to be a solid mystery with interesting characters, an intriguing setting, and a curious wooded area.

As the story progresses, we see glimpses into the lives of Tallulah, Zach, Scarlett and Liam. We learn about their relationships and how they interacted with each other. More importantly, we know their thoughts and feelings – even their secrets. What can these moments tell us about what happened that night? I believe there are clues to be found in these parts of the book.

Moving forward, I formulate my own ideas about what took place at Dark Place. However, as I continue to read, I abandon these theories somewhat. Considering all these unique individuals involved in this story and certain events leading up to that night and after it, I realize there's much more that still has to be revealed.

Approaching the end, I have a general sense of what occurred that night. So, I'm ready to wrap this thing up and put a bow on it, but there's probably even more that has to come to light. Indeed, there are a lot of moving parts to this mystery.

This is my first Lisa Jewell novel. I’ve heard good things about her work. I wasn’t disappointed in The Night She Disappeared. Although it didn’t have an entirely believable ending, I do recommend it because of the overall story it told.

 If you would like to be placed on Maria's Book Banter’s e-mailing list, please e-mail me at mariabookbanter@gmail.com. You will receive links to blog posts shortly after they are published. Rest assure, your contact information will not be sold. If you would like to be removed from the list, let me know. Any questions or comments can be sent to this e-mail address too.

The Marriage Portrait

Set in Renaissance Italy, The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell is the fictionalized story of Lucrezia de Medici, who became a Duchess at the young age of 15-years-old by marrying Alfonzo II, Duke of Ferrara.

Early in the story, it is revealed that Alfonzo plans on murdering Lucrezia soon after their wedding. Why does he want to kill her is my first question. After all, he's the one who suggested the union. The marriage was arranged by Lucrezia’s father, which was customary in those days. Lucrezia always had a bad feeling about the marriage and begged her father to get her out of it.

The Marriage Portrait received fairly good reviews, but I'm going to have to disagree with them. The story is told so disjointedly and unfocused that it was difficult for me to connect with it and its characters. The painfully slow, fragmented narration only causes confusion as well as a lack of advancement. The writing style rambles, which doesn’t help matters. I wanted to yell “Get to the point already”!

Nearing the end of the book, Alfonzo becomes very dark and controlling towards Lucrezia. Clearly, he's a dangerous man with many secrets. It is only now when an interesting plot begins to develop. While there is some suspense at the end of The Marriage Portrait, it’s really not enough for me to give this book an endorsement.

If you would like to be placed on Maria's Book Banter’s e-mailing list, please e-mail me at mariabookbanter@gmail.com. You will receive links to blog posts shortly after they are published. Rest assure, your contact information will not be sold. If you would like to be removed from the list, let me know. Any questions or comments can be sent to this e-mail address too.

Half A World Away

 

It’s been awhile since my last blog post. There are a couple of reason for that. First, I had difficulty choosing the next book. Second, I eventually selected Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, a book that received mixed reviews. I got not quite halfway through and decided to put it down because much of it is mundane. I also found some of the characters to be a bit irritating as well. Fortunately for me, some of my readers (a.k.a. The Banterers) sent me some promising titles for future blog posts. Even more fortunate for me is that someone suggested Half a World Away by Mike Gayle.

Kerry is a hard-working, resourceful, single mother who cleans houses for a living. Admirably, she's instilling good values in her son. As the story begins, there are hints that Kerry has had some recent problems in her life – perhaps involving her health.

Then we meet Noah, a defense barrister (lawyer) with Caribbean heritage. He is currently experiencing marital problems that lead to a separation. He is distraught over the break-up.

So, we have 2 outwardly very different main characters. Telling their own stories, they are both at crossroads in their lives. What will their eventual connection be? Let’s see where this will go.

And, oh yes, there is a connection. Looking back in retrospect, I should have realized exactly what it is from the beginning. All the clues are there.

Despite her history with heartache, Kerry is a delightful character with interesting insights regarding her clients and life in general. Noah, on the other hand, is more polish and serious, but fair-minded. There are some truths about his early childhood he needs to know about, even though he's the type of person who doesn’t like to reflect on the past. His relationship with Kerry and marital difficulties will force him to do so in manners he hasn’t done until now. Likewise, Kerry needs Noah in a way he could never imagine.

Half a World Away draws you into the lives of these individuals. They are so very different, and yet, so accepting of each other. It’s very inspiring. This book takes you on Kerry and Noah’s personal and shared journeys of discovery and rediscovery, and I for one, was happy to be part of it. This is the second novel Maria's Book Banter has featured by Mike Gayle. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

If you would like to be placed on Maria's Book Banter’s e-mailing list, please e-mail me at mariabookbanter@gmail.com. You will receive links to blog posts shortly after they are published. Rest assure, your contact information will not be sold. If you would like to be removed from the list, let me know. Any questions or comments can be sent to this e-mail address too.