Fiction | Book Chatter

The House on Tradd Street
By Karen White
(NAL Trade, Paperback, 9780451225092, November 2008, 352pp.)

The Short of It:

Full of Southern charm but sadly, the story never grabbed me.

The Rest of It:

Melanie Middleton sells houses. Old houses. But she doesn’t really like them and can’t understand why anyone would ever want to restore one. This becomes a bit of a problem when an old man leaves his home to her with a slew of conditions that must be met. She has to live in the house for year, restore it and only then can she sell it.

Well, you know where this going, right?

It’s haunted and Melanie has, how can I say it…a special talent.

I know that Karen White has a huge following and really, there were parts of this novel that I liked quite a bit. I adored the parts about the house and I grew to like Melanie quite a bit, but in the end it was too much of a good thing. There’s romance. Actually, quite a bit of it and as charming as Jack Trenholm is, the whole relationship was formulaic (think, woman in peril).

Plus, it took way too long to set-up.

Having said this, I took a peek at the other books in the series as this is only book one and I have to tell you that book two looks to be a bit more my style. Everything is more established, the newness of the romance is gone and the story looks pretty good.

Would I give Karen White another shot? Yes, but I prefer a story with a little less romance and a bit more meat on its bones and frankly, more about the house and its inhabitants.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains IndieBound affiliate links.

The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
By Ann Weisgarber
(Penguin (Non-Classics), Paperback, 9780143119487, 336pp.)

The Short of It:

The parched, barren landscape of the Badlands is a constant reminder of what was in this harrowing tale of black Pioneers in the early 20th century.

The Rest of It:

This is a hard place. Hard to take, hard to like.

Rachel, a cook at a boardinghouse falls in love with Isaac, the boardinghouse owner’s son. Isaac wants to claim land under the Homestead Act and when Rachel offers to keep house for him in return for marriage, Isaac agrees, but only if Rachel will sign over her share of land. Seeing that they both have something to gain from the relationship, they agree to marry for a year on a trial basis.

Fourteen years later, Rachel is pregnant with their fifth child and struggling to keep food on the table. Isaac, continues to work deals to increase his land hold, but the supplies are dwindling and there is no water to be found as they are living through one of the worst droughts ever.

Rachel’s story is, without a doubt, a story of hardship, survival and courage. She is an amazingly strong woman and although her sense of loyalty is admirable, she is not naive. No, that is the one thing she most certainly is not. As the harshness of the environment continues to take its toll, Rachel ponders what it means to be a rancher’s wife and what it will mean for her daughters down the line.

Books like this one, take you outside of what you know and allow you to experience a different lifestyle from the comfort of your own home. To say that this book grabbed me from its opening pages and held on to me throughout, would be an understatement. It was a quick, riveting read and gave me a lots to think about. I highly recommend it.

If you live within the US or Canada and would like a chance to win a copy of your own, click HERE. Giveaway ends on November 20, 2011 (Pacific).