Book Review | Book Chatter

Days of Awe
By Lauren Fox
Knopf Publishing Group, Hardcover, 9780307268129, August 2015, 272pp.

The Short of It:

Life goes on even when you feel like it shouldn’t.

The Rest of It:

I read this one far too long ago to remember all of the wonderful details but I STILL remember how I felt while reading it and I remember having all kinds of love for it.

The story is simple but the characters and the way they are woven into each other’s lives, are not. The story opens with the funeral of Isabel Moore’s best friend, Josie. Isabel and Josie, both middle school teachers and as close as friends can be, have done everything together so when Josie is killed in a car accident, Isabel’s world is turned upside down.

Isabel’s grief is all-consuming and yet, on the outside it’s not terribly apparent just how bad off she is. Her husband can’t deal with her anymore and can’t understand why she is unable to move on from this. But inside, she’s quietly falling apart. Especially when she learns that Josie’s life was not picture perfect either.

I really enjoyed this novel. I enjoyed it because it perfectly captured that moment of grief where you can’t figure out how to live. The presence of Josie is everywhere for Isabel and she’s stuck between mourning her and not liking her for the things she did prior to her death. The events leading up to her death force Isabel to question if she really knew her friend at all. How does one move on from this?

There is a slight meandering quality to the story but it felt right to me. When you lose a loved one, you find yourself floating through life and the narration has that same feel. Isabel is just floating along, trying to make sense of her loss and I must say, her pain is quite evident and raw and just so tangible. The author did a really good job of capturing all that angst. I highly recommend it.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

The Captive Condition
By Kevin. P. Keating
Pantheon Books, Hardcover, 9780804169288, July 2015, 288pp.

The Short of It:

Dark and sinister, yet funny and smart.

The Rest of It:

Edmund Campion’s thesis is rejected by Dr. Kingsley so Edmund takes a job as a groundskeeper, working for a guy called The Gonk. Unfortunately, The Gonk is not a good guy and has some secrets of his own.

Dr. Kingsley has secrets too. The woman he’s been having an affair with, Emily Ryan, is found by her two daughters, face down in her own swimming pool. Charlie, unable to raise his daughters on his own, literally abandons them by leaving them with Kingsley and his wife. The girls, however, are more “in the know” than the adults think and they do things to their adult counterparts to keep them on their toes. Oh, these girls are beyond creepy and do their best to make Kingsley afraid of his own shadow. Twins, no less. Reminded me of The Shining a little bit.

This story has a great setting. There’s the highbrow academic side, set against the backdrop of a small Midwestern town. But there’s the other side, the darker side complete with a graveyard and cottage. The promise of something sinister lurks on every page. I enjoyed this part very much.

Kingsley, is an interesting character but the story, I think, is meant to be Edmund’s and he didn’t hold my interest as much as some of the other characters did. The first half was fairly strong, but in the second half, things became a little disjointed. I admit to skimming through a few parts just to get back to Kingsley.

This is a black comedy. Have you read one lately? I think I expected more of a ghost story. There are ghostly elements and graveyards and murders to keep you turning the pages, but it’s peppered with humor which gives it a different feel.

Although the ending did not hold my interest as much as the first half did, I’d absolutely read another novel by this author.