Day: December 6, 2021
The Silent Companions
By Laura Purcell
When Elsie married handsome young heir Rupert Bainbridge, she believed she was destined for a life of luxury. But with her husband dead just weeks after their marriage, her new servants resentful, and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie has only her husband’s awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. Inside her new home lies a locked door, beyond which is a painted wooden figure —a silent companion —-that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself. The residents of The Bridge are terrified of the figure, but Elsie tries to shrug this off as simple superstition–that is, until she notices the figure’s eyes following her.
Dolls. Creepy dolls. Dolls that just appear. Really, creepy dolls.
Honestly, I think I fell in love with the book after reading the synopsis. This story has all the ingredients of a Victorian gothic ghost/horror story of the very best kind. Star with a setting in a creepy asylum. Add in a story that goes back to 1860s, where a widowed woman travels to a Victorian estate filled with creepy dolls that seem to be the real owners and caretakers of the house and sprinkle with a diary from 1630s which tells the real origins of the story and you’re in for a few nights of sleeping with the lights on.
The storytelling is immense in this book. There’s three different time periods; Elsie’s present, her past and Anne’s diary (which is told in the first person). Three timeline lines yet the storytelling is so flawless, I had no trouble following it.
I loved the writing: so pure and so visual yet not overwhelming. Too often, whenever I read a period novel, the author gets so caught up in details of either the scene or clothing I tend to lose connection with the story. While I love a well-researched novel, I think a good author will know how much detail to add without overpowering the story with historical facts. Laura Purcell balances this out perfectly in this book. I was able to be transported and yet kept my focus on what was going on in the story.
The story ends with a twist and I almost wasn’t sure what exactly happened until I read it over a few times. One question I was left with was why did the companions even come to the house? I know how they were acquired but I wasn’t sure if it was the intention of the dolls to be obtained by Anne? Or were they affected by the house? Did Hetta summon them? I love that I was left with these questions and then at the same time, I want to know the answer to these questions.
My advice – If you love gothic horror, then you will LOVE this book. I would read it at night while the snow falls and the wind howls. Grab your favorite blanket and a cup of tea. This novel doesn’t disappoint!
My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Victoria Grace the Jerk Face
By S.E. Clancy
Ever since Tori Weston and MamaBear were abandoned by her dad, finances have been tighter than a new pair of skinny jeans. As if keeping her grades up for scholarships and working every spare moment weren’t enough, Tori gets suckered into visiting a retirement home and paired with ancient resident Marigold Williams. After learning she’s the only one to visit Marigold in decades, Tori becomes a regular at Willow Springs. Besides, someone has to help with her history homework.
Few books make it to my read-over-and-over-again shelf. This book now resides there. I will pick this up again and again just to feel all the warmth, all the love, all the kindness and all the laughter this story gives.
First, as a single mom of two early twenty-something girls, I really loved the relationship between Mamabear and Tori. Mamabear is strong, protective, funny and an excellent role model working hard to give Tori as much as she can. I related with her a lot. She set the boundaries for Tori in those tough moments of decision and yet, within those boundaries, we get to see Tori grow and flourish. And their text message conversations were hilarious. It reminded me very much of conversations I’ve had with my girls, usually via text and usually when they were in the next room.
Victoria Grace is the perfect “flail” girl. She’s awkward and funny and puts her foot in her mouth one too many times when confronted with a boy she likes. She’s learned the art of not needing scores of friends and is super faithful to the one friend she does have, Madison, even when Mads gets to be a bit too much for Tori.
She’s a great role model for young girls here. Hard working with the ability to sacrifice wants in order to get things she needs: a car, for example. She works hard for her grades and at her two jobs. Of course, Mamabear is a great example of doing that, having had to raise Tori alone after her dad took off.
Tori signs up to volunteer to spend time with some elderly folks at a local nursing home – actually, Mamabear sorta lets her know that while she has a choice, she also doesn’t have a choice. And there, she meets Marigold.
Marigold is a resident of the nursing home who’s led this wonderfully interesting and somewhat sad life. She’s worked in Hollywood for most of her life, was unlucky in love and, until Tori came along, thought to die alone with no family and no one to visit her. Tori’s unselfishness and tenacity is able to help with the latter but we’re left wondering about the former. What happened in her marriage and who was the starlet she was an assistant to?
Tori enters the nursing home much like I would expect any teenager to; smelling weird smells and wishing she had an invisibility cloak as she walked the halls to get to Marigold’s room. Along the way, she meets Jasmine, another resident with dementia who tells Tori she’s beautiful and she reminds her of her own granddaughter. Every time Jasmine reached for Tori, my heart broke a little just thinking about how many real live Jasmines there are in the world, sitting alone in a nursing home not knowing who they are or why they’re there.
I loved the way Marigold demanded the respect due her, instantly setting the tone for the relationship between her and Tori. Their relationship grows from that mutual respect and they take and give it to each other in droves. As their relationship evolved, it was interesting to watch Marigold interact with Tori, giving her pearls of wisdom and advice. She seems to steal a little bit of Tori’s youth, using it to energize her until the very end. Through Marigold, Tori gets a glimpse of life at the end and is able to size up what really matters in her life; her relationship with her mom and her boyfriend and showing kindness to those around her, even those she doesn’t know like the soldiers she writes to.
Heartwarming story and wonderful characters aside, this book is a gentle call to action. Especially today, when folks seem meaner, more selfish and more polarized than ever, it’s a call to find that kindness inside of you. To step outside of your box and reach out to those you don’t know to help them. To take extra steps to quit under-estimating our young people and pay attention to our elderly, for they have so much wisdom yet still to give. To know family and friends are the most important things we can ever have. To learn to appreciate what we have in the here and now and know that once we do, better things usually show up in our lives.
My advice – Read this book. Then read it again. Then read other books. Then go back to this one and ready it again. A box of tissues is optional but always a good idea.
My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
The Vanishing
by Wendy Webb
Julia Bishop is recently widowed and left penniless by her husband who engaged in fraud as a means of making money. A stranger shows up one day offering her more than just a job, but a new life and a chance to disappear. Moreover, it’s a chance to work taking care of her favorite author, Amaris Sinclair….who is supposed to be dead.
First, let me say this book opens with a creepy scene of a séance-gone-really-wrong which happened many years before our story takes place. It sets the scene, so to speak and instantly drops hints at the type of ghosts we may be dealing with. I was instantly hooked and couldn’t wait to find out who these entities were and why they were haunting.
What I really love about Wendy Webb’s writing, especially in this book, is that while I was reading it, I felt each ghost leap out and brush against me. I heard the whispers in the dark hallways. I could almost see myself, like Julia, feeling against the wall hoping for a light to turn on to dispel the darkness. It wasn’t so much that this book was scary as much as it was intensely eerie. I found myself wondering who Amaris Sinclair was and got quickly drawn into her story as it unfolded. I also loved the dogs, who were fiercely protective of Julia pretty much from the moment she entered the house and almost where characters in their right in the story.
I also loved the setting. Who doesn’t love the idea of an isolated, historic mansion in the middle of the woods. Add a snowstorm causing all the main characters to be snowed in and my anxiety levels increased while reading this book. I wanted a way out and I read this during the winter when it was snowing.
Now, I’ll admit, I raised an eyebrow or two at a few things – like why Julia would be so willing to trust a total stranger with her whole life and future after being so brutally betrayed by her husband. Or her quick romance Again, after being betrayed by her husband, it’s hard for me to believe she so easily fell into the arms of someone else so quickly. There’s almost a brushing aside of the natural grief and uncertainty in the face of Adrian Sinclair’s offer.
Also, I was unsure of the endings. I say endings as there seemed to be two of them. One ended the ghost story which honestly was over much quicker than I anticipated. I felt a little let down. But then the epilogue happened and my literal reaction was, “Wait….WHAT?” So was it a dream? Is it real? And even though I initially hated that ending, I also loved that ending because it DID leave me wondering if any of it was real or not and if not, at what point did it stop being real. That is true, talented story-telling, in this reader’s opinion and it made me want to read more of Wendy Webb’s books.
My advice – read this on a rainy afternoon, with a blanket on your lap and a dog at your side. A cup of tea (or hot chocolate) should be at the ready. Then, immerse yourself in this story and don’t let go.
My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star:
The Strangers on Montagu Street
by Karen White
Psychic realtor Melanie Middleton is still restoring her Charleston house and doesn’t expect to have a new houseguest, a teen girl named Nola. But the girl didn’t come alone, and the spirits that accompanied Nola don’t seem willing to leave…( nicked from Goodreads)
I have four words to say about the ghostly aspect of this book.
Dollhouses creep me out.
They creep me out more than empty rocking chairs, more than creepy old dolls, more than clowns and even more than those shaggy old monkeys with cymbals attached to their hands that play for no reason at all.
*shudders*
From the moment Nola, Jack’s estranged daughter, laid eyes on the dollhouse in Jack’s mom’s antique shop, I knew I was in for several nights sleeping with the lights on. As usual, Karen White gives us a super scary ghost story (complete with a ghost dog!) while weaving it into a more gentle one involving Nola’s recently deceased mother.
We get a gift in this book – we get to go a little deeper in the characters. Up to now, we’ve only seen the talented, smug, sexy side of Jack who would love nothing more than to have Melanie put her trust issues behind her and give him a second glance. This book introduces us to the parental side of Jack – the Jack who stumbles and bumbles his way through attempting to parent a teenager (a teenager, no less! Karen’s not easy on this guy at all!). There’s a lovely side of Melanie we get to see also.
Nola is a refreshing, funny, witty, sarcastic teenager who’s hanging on to life by a thread. I fell completely in love with her. As a mom of girls (both adults now), I wanted nothing more than to reach into the book, grab Nola and hug her under all the bad things in her life disappeared. I felt her distrust, her every disappointment but most of all, I felt her complete love for her mother. I hoped the relationship between her and Melanie would give the latter some insight into her relationship with her mother but that inched along as the story progressed.
What I did like to see if for once, we got to see Melanie lay down a bit of her OCD-ness and search inside for some real wisdom in dealing with Nola. Nola, unable to live peacefully with her dad, moves in for some much needed perspective and space while she heals. And yet, while Melanie is so capable of being so wise where Nola is concerned, I’m still left wondering why she fails to apply any wisdom to her own life.
Still on rocky ground with her daughter, Ginnette makes a reappearance as does Melanie’s dad. There’s a super sweet reconnecting of these two characters in a “love never dies” type of way. It’s warm and heartfelt, even though I find myself wanting to kick Melanie’s dad for STILL failing to acknowledge the abilities of his ex-wife and daughter.
Melanie finding out she’s pregnant is just rewards for trying so hard to retain any control over her rapidly fraying life. There’s nothing like a baby to shake one up and make one realize that little is within our control.
My rating: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Faith Love n Joy 