With a Nod to Jane A. – Most Ardently Yours by Freya Sampson

Most Ardently Yours is a light and entertaining romance that absolutely cries out for a movie adaptation. I'm just wondering if the very dishy Glen Powell could do a British accent, since I can see him cast as Nick, one of the two leading male characters. 

Zoe Knight is a Londoner who is struggling with her ambition (to be a romance novelist), the loss of her mother, and a break-up with a demeaning boyfriend who has just published a book of his own (which of course she helped write). Zoe is a big fan of Jane Austen, among other writers of classic romances and social commentaries, and her favorite male character is none other than Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pride and Prejudice fame.

She comes across a shop, Baskerville Books, which appears to specialize in what she and her best friend, Bianca, call "dicklit" – those books that feature spies, military exploits, and other features that tend to appeal to men. Per Nick, the owner, there's not a single romance book in his store, and he says he hates romance fiction, which leads to an argument, and Zoe making off with the single copy of Pride and Prejudice she manages to find, much to Nick's consternation.

Then, the fantasy man of her dreams, Darcy himself, comes to life. How Zoe copes with this surprising development, and some very interesting episodes to follow, fills out the plot. Of course Nick, and some other delightful characters join in the story.

At first I found the contemporary British slang a bit too "twee" as my English husband would say, but I got past that, and found this fast-moving book to be very enjoyable. It was the perfect escapist choice for an afternoon's reading after a very frustrating and rather upsetting morning. 

Love and Duty in London – The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris

I can't imagine how such this book ever got within even being mentioned in the same sentence as the Booker Prize, unless it was as some kind of tokenism as a bone thrown to, or on the other hand, a massive rebuke of, the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community of London.

That community is more or less the same as the Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods I lived in close proximity to in Brooklyn for over 15 years. I had plenty of opportunities to interact with and observe the women and children (no contact with the men, of course, other than occasionally on public transportation) on errands and while shopping – I often frequented stores on some of the main Jewish shopping streets (though I also went to the Italian specialty shops). For a time, I volunteered as an English conversation group leader at the Boro Park (a very observant neighborhood) branch of the Brooklyn Public Library where I was at times viewed rather suspiciously by some of the women who gathered there. 

Chani Kaufman is nineteen, and one of the middle daughters of a very large family of all girls. Her mother seems to be perpetually pregnant and exhausted and has no time for her questions as she prepares for her wedding, which was arranged in the traditional way, by a marriage broker. Chani takes instruction in how to be a good Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) wife from Rivka (originally Rebecca), the Rebbetzin (rabbi's wife). 

Rivka is struggling in her marriage, and has recently experienced, at forty-four, a massive miscarriage. Though she is tasked in her Rebbetzin role with counseling the girls on their Torah-defined (as their sect views it) responsibilities to their prospective husbands, families, and the community, she is questioning her own life choices and faith.

While Chani is described as a little unconventional compared to her friends and classmates, as she is more willful and high-spirited, she is essentially a typically innocent and obedient Haredi girl. She is ignorant and fearful of sex and what she wants to learn from Rivka is the "how's" of intercourse. Rivka will only take her answers so far, and defers to Chani's mother, who has no time or energy to explain anything, so Chani becomes ever more anxious about what she will face on her wedding night. 

Unknown to Chani, her fiancé, Baruch, at twenty, is as ignorant and fearful as she is, but of course in their tradition, there is no discussion of such things between them, and in fact, as is typical, they have met only a few times for chaste coffee "dates" before he proposes, so they hardly know each other. Baruch is also somewhat under the thumb of his very overbearing and judgmental mother, who deems Chani, whose family is very modest and undistinguished, as wrong for him. Baruch's family is far more materially successful and his mother has her eye on a very different girl. His mother connives to stop the marriage but Chani will not be deterred, and neither will Baruch, to his credit.

All of this swirls through the book, which starts as Chani awaits the wedding ceremony to begin, and is told in rapid flashbacks, alternating Chani's story with Rivka's, and interjections for Baruch and his best friend, Avromi, who is also Rivka's son. Avromi has his own story of rebellion that strongly influences Rivka's choices, though there is much more under the surface with her. 

The book abruptly concludes after Chani and Baruch's wedding night, and Rivka's surreptitious attendance of the wedding and her departure from the ceremony.

I was really astounded by the ending. It felt as though there was another entire book to follow, or at least a few more chapters. Rivka especially seemed left adrift.

The author, a secular Jewish woman living in London, has said she was inspired to write this book by teaching English for one year in a Haredi girls' school, where she was able to observe the customs and rituals of the community. She seems both highly critical and but also admiring of the Haredi beliefs and lifestyle. Many of the characters, but particularly Chani's and Baruch's mothers, the matchmaker, and Rivka's husband, Chaim, felt very clichéd and stereotypical. Clearly the author has many unanswered questions of her own but it doesn't feel like she dealt with them by writing this book. Disappointing. 

Crime Solvers – The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

It is interesting how discussing a book with a book club group can change your opinion of it. I was very enthusiastic about The Word Is Murder when I began reading it, though I had misgivings about the portrayal of one of the major characters, Hawthorne, the crime-solving detective, as a homophobe. For me, that's a major flaw in a character's (a person's) personality. The more we discussed it, and the more I considered it, the more it disturbed and offended me, and I don't understand why the author gave Hawthorne that characteristic, since he doesn't seem to take it anywhere. Hence, I downgraded my opinion from "4 Stars" to "3 Stars" on my Goodreads page.

The author, Anthony Horowitz, is himself the other main character and narrator, who relates the story of the crimes involved from his perspective. This is an unusual technique, but I found it clever, and amusing. Not all of the book clubbers agreed, but I'll keep my opinion intact.

The plotting is excellent, and Horowitz keeps the reader guessing almost until the very end. I may or may not read the next book in this series, if only to find out more about the mystery of Hawthorne's homophobia, and if Horowitz manages to change his mind. The Word Is Murder is the fourth of these novels.

Horowitz, a British author, was previously unknown to me, but it turns out that he has had a prolific and successful career in children's and young adult fiction, as well as adult fiction. He is also well known as the television writer of "Foyle's War" (which has run on Netflix) and "Midsomer Murders" which has run on PBS, though I have never watched it. It might be work a look...

Another Side of 60s London – East End Passport by Roy and Cécile Curtis

The full title of this charming little book is East End Passport: A Guide to Petticoat Lane. I picked it up at a new (only to me – it's been around for 50 years or so) used bookstore, Rodgers' Book Barn, in Hillsdale, NY, on a recent weekend trip, along with some other treasures. 

Published in 1969, it is wildly out of date as a travel guide, and be warned, uses some language and commentary that over five decades later, could be deemed somewhat offensive or patronizing by certain readers, but it must be taken in its historical context.

It has a wonderful design – the size and shape of an old-style British passport, with numerous pen and ink sketches by the author's wife, Cécile.

Its great value is as a window into the historic East End of London, where numerous immigrant groups passed through on their way to other parts of London, the whole of Great Britain, or to America, as my own great-grandparents did just after 1900. It retains some of the flavor of what it must have been, not unlike New York's Lower East Side, South Philadelphia, or the West End in Boston as they once were, and now are entirely changed to the point of being unrecognizable. 

Fortunately for me, my first trip to London in 1988 included a Sunday walking tour of the area, when it still retained a bit of its old-time flavor. I only wish I had had this book beforehand for more context and added insight. However, I am happy to have it now, and enjoyed it despite the odds and ends that made me wince just a bit.

A Tale of Two Eileens: The Switch by Beth O'Leary

Such an easy to enjoy novel, set in London and a small village in the Yorkshire Dales, about two women, twenty-nine-ish Leena and her seventy-nine year old grandmother Eileen.

Leena is a high-octane rising-star executive at a consulting company in London, known for her outstanding presentations. She's in a relationship with Ethan, something of a male counterpart. Eileen is supercharged too, but as the get-it-done, list-making center of village activities, serving on every committee and a friend to all. Her former husband, Wade, left her for a dance instructor, but she's doing just fine without him.

The two form a sandwich of a relationship with Marian, Leena's mother/Eileen's daughter. What they all share is their deep grief over the recent loss of Carla, Marian's younger daughter, to an agonizing death from cancer. Leena and Marian are currently estranged.

Leena has a panic attack and meltdown at a presentation, and her kind (fortunately) boss, Rebecca, forces her to take a two-month leave of absence so she can heal and regroup. Leena confides in Eileen, who urges her to visit in the village. They decide, on a whim, to switch places for the two months: Leena will stay in Eileen's village cottage and Eileen will go to London to Leena's apartment, which will be a chance for her to grab a taste of her youthful dream to be an independent woman in the city.

While the overall plot is somewhat predictable, many unlikely and surprising events ensue, and the result is a contemporary, colorful, entertaining, and heartfelt story that most readers are likely to enjoy (and maybe envy a bit). I definitely recommend Beth O'Leary's The Switch.

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, by Phaedra Patrick

A sweet, small book that teeters on the edge of Hallmark-movie territory but thankfully doesn't quite fall in. It's soothing and optimistic, with all the plot lines neatly tied up at the end.

Arthur Pepper is a sixty-nine year old retired widower living in the suburbs of York, England. Miriam, his wife of over forty years, passed away unexpectedly and he is facing both the one-year anniversary of her death and his upcoming seventieth birthday. Since Miriam's death Arthur has been cloistering himself in his house, following a very set routine and has more or less removed himself from the world. His daughter lives nearby but is occupied with her own problems and his son has made a life in Australia for himself, his wife and children. A few neighbors look in on him but he essentially keeps to himself.

Everything changes when Arthur decides it is time to pack up and give away Miriam's clothing. He discovers an unfamiliar gold charm bracelet tucked away into the toe of a boot, and he starts to wonder where this item came from and what the charms may have meant to her.

Arthur and Miriam had lived a very quiet life together, watching their TV programs, taking modest trips to the seaside, and treating themselves to the occasional dessert or fish and chips. All he knew of Miriam was the always-correct organized wife and mother who wore tonally-shaded clothes and comfortable shoes. None of that fit with the elaborate bracelet he has found and his curiosity motivates him. As a result, he sets off on an unexpected odyssey where he must confront new and at times, alarming, developments that make it clear that Miriam had a very different life before they met.

Some of Arthur's encounters are quite improbable but they are imaginative. Others seem somewhat formulaic and a touch clichéd. In the context of this story, those particular developments are forgivable and don't really take away too much from the gentleness of Arthur's story.

At the end of it all, Arthur and his fellow characters find satisfaction and resolution in positive ways. There are no unexpected great revelations here, and nothing of the subtlety and wit of masters of the human condition like Alexander McCall Smith, but this is a charming, if rather slight book with which to while away some downtime. It provides all the comfort and familiarity of a favorite childhood food, or as the British would say, a nursery pudding, without asking a lot of the reader.

A Search for Life's Truths – The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

I read this book in hardcover form, but came across the audio book version at the library and just finished listening. I enjoyed my original read but this version was just great. The characters truly came alive with Juliet Stevenson's narration.

Such a fascinating tale: Alma Whittaker is the central character. We meet her as a girl of eight, born in 1800, and follow her thereafter until she dies eight decades later. She is a brilliant young girl with an analytical mind, raised by her formidable Dutch mother, a brilliant and capable woman, and her father, an Englishman of modest background who has made an enormous fortune through his ingenuity, shrewdness and native intelligence. They live in a vast estate on the banks of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia, where Alma is exposed to the worlds of business, philosophy and the intelligentsia at her parents' dinner table. Her father is so rich and powerful that everyone comes there in hope of sponsorship for their project or scheme.

In time, Alma finds her calling as a botanist, and chooses mosses as her specialty. As she is no beauty, she comes to feel no one will love her, and she throws herself into her work.

Things change when she meets Ambrose Pike, a botanical artist, and falls in love with him, though he is much younger. Despite that, they marry.

Her relationship with Ambrose becomes the pivot point for the rest of her life. Every choice she makes thereafter is based on it.

This novel is not a romance, however, it is a story of self-discovery and of discovery of much larger concerns, including the quest to understand the origins of life itself – hence the title, The Signature of All Things.

The action shifts locations – the London of Henry Whittaker, Alma's father – and on through Philadelphia, Amsterdam, Tahiti and more during Alma's life. And, the people she meets are extraordinary... and her life equally so, though she does not see this for a very long time.

The descriptions are vivid, the dialog is superb, and the historical and social contexts of Alma's 19th century are brought to life. And in the end, the conclusion is most satisfying.

Highly recommend!

Off to London for a Bit of Fun: I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

Sometimes light is just right, especially in the hands of the skilled Sophie Kinsella. I enjoyed listening to this London-based romance/family-focused/self-discovery novel that revolves around Fixi Farr, a late-20s woman who is trying to please everyone but herself.

All the elements and clichés are here, and we know it will all work out right in the end, but Kinsella's down-to-Earth but very British dialog makes it all more fun getting there, especially hearing it read on the audio book by a British actress.

Kinsella does throw in a few twists and a unique premise which makes the book all the more appealing. Cheers!