Monday, April 29, 2013

Book Review: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

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Title:  Life After Life

Author:  Kate Atkinson (Author Website)

Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books; First Edition edition (April 2, 2013)

Pages: 544

Format: Advance Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.com

About the Book: (from publisher)

What if you could live again and again, until you got it right?
On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in a variety of ways, while the young century marches on towards its second cataclysmic world war.
Does Ursula's apparently infinite number of lives give her the power to save the world from its inevitable destiny? And if she can -- will she?
Wildly inventive, darkly comic, startlingly poignant -- this is Kate Atkinson at her absolute best.

About the Author:

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Kate Atkinson was born in York and now lives in Edinburgh. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and has been a critically acclaimed international bestselling author ever since.

She is the author of a collection of short stories, Not the End of the World, and of the critically acclaimed novels Human Croquet, Emotionally Weird, Case Histories, and One Good Turn.

Case Histories introduced her readers to Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, and won the Saltire Book of the Year Award and the Prix Westminster.

When Will There Be Good News? was voted Richard & Judy Book Best Read of the Year. After Case Histories and One Good Turn, it was her third novel to feature the former private detective Jackson Brodie, who also made a welcome return in Started Early, Took My Dog.

Kate was awarded an MBE in the Queen's 2011 Birthday Honours, for services to literature.

Related Media:  Book Trailer

 

My Review:  I believe this is the first book by Kate Atkinson that I have read.  I must say her writing was outstanding.  I love the concept/ story line of Life After Life.  The whole idea of being able to relive your life with a bit of hind sight is intriguing.  What might you do differently if you would have known what you now know??

Life After Life takes place between 1910 and 1960.  Atkinson superbly portrays this era in history  both in London and Germany.   The main character Ursula was very well developed as were the lesser characters in Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.   I had a bit of difficulty connecting to Ursula as each “new” Ursula was a a little different than the previous one due that Ursula’s past experiences.  This left me with a bit of confusion and a disjointed feeling initially.  But once I got a feel for this I saw how each life added another layer to the story. 

As a social worker I was fascinated by Ursula’s story and the impact a small change or decision would make of the final outcome of her life.  It is amazing how a even a small change can rewrite history.  We have so many choices in life and you never really know how a different choice may impact your life. While in life we may experience hind sight, we don’t get the chance to use that gained knowledge to change our future.   Would be interesting if we could. 

Kate Atkinson crafts her story in such a manner that the reader truly does experience that feeling of déjà vu when reading Life After Life.   This ability to provide the reader with that experience shows the true writing talent of Kate Atkinson.  But this is where I might delineate from my fellow book bloggers…I found the end of one of Ursula’s life to the next very disheartening.  Once I would start reading again and would be at a similar place and the story took a different path I found this very disjointed.   I am a casual reader at heart and like a nice flow to the story.   While Life After Life is amazingly written, I really missed the continuous flow of the story.  In my opinion, Life After Life had many starts and ends within the telling of the story that decreased my enjoyment of getting lost in the story.  This in part could have been due to the fact that I read bits of the story at a time due to my busy schedule and that might have taken away from my overall experience of the book. I think Life After Life by Kate Atkinson is best read in large chucks of time.

My Rating: 4 – I would recommend Life After Life by Kate Atkinson as the characters and writing are amazing and the concept of the story fresh and unique.  I really enjoyed the attention made to the details of the historical significance of the setting.   Life After Life would make for a great book group discussion. 

My Rating Scale: 1 – didn’t like it; 2 – it was ok; 3 – liked it; 4 – really liked it; 5 – it was amazing

Other Bloggers Reviews :

Bookfan

The Bookstop

Book Magnet

Kevin From Canada 

 

Happy Reading!

**Disclosure – Advance copy of Life After Life by Kate Atkinson received from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Book Review: The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin

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Title: The Aviator’s Wife (author Website)

Author: Melanie Benjamin

Publisher: Delacorte Press (January 15, 2013)

Pages: 416

Format: Advance Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.com

About the Book: (from publisher)

For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles's assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.

Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. In the years that follow, despite her own major achievements-she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States-Anne is viewed merely as the aviator's wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life's infinite possibilities for change and happiness.

Drawing on the rich history of the twentieth century-from the late twenties to the mid-sixties-and featuring cameos from such notable characters as Joseph Kennedy and Amelia Earhart, The Aviator's Wife is a vividly imagined novel of a complicated marriage-revealing both its dizzying highs and its devastating lows. With stunning power and grace, Melanie Benjamin provides new insight into what made this remarkable relationship endure.

MelanieBenjamin About the Author:

Melanie Benjamin was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.

While attending Indiana University—Purdue University at Indianapolis, Melanie performed in many community theater productions before meeting her husband, moving to the Chicago area and raising two sons. Writing was always beckoning, however, and soon she began writing for local magazines and newspapers before venturing into her first love, fiction. As Melanie Hauser, she published two contemporary novels.

By incorporating her passion for history and biography, Melanie, now writing as Melanie Benjamin, has finally found her niche writing historical fiction, concentrating on the "stories behind the stories." ALICE I HAVE BEEN is her first historical novel; THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MRS. TOM THUMB her second.

She and her family still live in the Chicago area; when she's not writing, she's gardening, taking long walks, rooting for the Cubs—

And reading, of course.


You can also follow Melanie Benjamin on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

Setting:  The Aviator’s Wife portrays the life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh from December 1927 when she met Charles Lindbergh in Mexico City until Charles Lindbergh’s death in August, 1974.   The 1920’s and 30’s were an interesting time in history, to give this story a bit of perspective, women received the right to vote on August 18, 1920 and World War II occurred from 1939 to 1945.

Anne Morrow – Lindbergh

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Anne Spencer Morrow  - June 22, 1906 – February 7, 2001 In 1930, Anne was the first woman to earn a first-class Glider pilot’s license.  Anne Spencer Morrow and Charles Lindbergh were married on May 27, 1929
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Anne Morrow Lindbergh with firstborn son, Charles Lindbergh, Jr. This baby was kidnapped on March 1, 1932. .Anne Morrow Lindbergh with three of her children Reeve, Ansy and Scott in 1950. Anne and Charles Lindbergh in 1968

My Review:  I am quickly becoming a huge fan of historical fiction.  My youngest son, recently did a report in school on Charles Lindbergh, so I was excited to have the opportunity to read The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin.  In The Aviator’s Wife, the author tells the story of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of the ever famous Charles Lindbergh.   Anne and Charles met after Charles’ successful solo non-stop flight from New York to Paris in his monoplane, The Spirit of St Louis.   The two met at the home of Anne’s father, while he was the Ambassador to Mexico, in December 1927.  

The 1930’s was a time in history in which women were not as independent as today.  Women had just received the right to vote in August, 1920.   Anne was first known as the Ambassador’s daughter to later become the Aviator’s Wife, which was very appropriate for the time.  Anne was a college graduate with her own opinions and much more independent than she realized.   In her own rights, Anne  was the first woman to earn a first-class pilot’s license.   I loved the sense of adventure and bravery she showed.   Anne learned to fly, navigate, communicate and be a great partner to her husband in the air.  As many women do, Anne went through events and stages of life that changed her and drove her in her pursuit of happiness. 

In many ways her marriage to Charles was very one sided.   Charles was a very guarded man when it came to his childhood and emotions.  He is not portrayed in The Aviator’s Wife as a loving husband and father.   Melanie Benjamin, portrays Anne’s devastating heartbreak of losing her first born son, Charles Lindbergh, Jr. with such raw emotion.   The Lindbergh baby was kidnapped and murdered in 1932.   The author makes the reader truly feel the heartbreak of this young mother and her struggle to be able to grieve her baby.   Anne goes on to have 5 more children and essentially raises them herself.   Her husband, Charles is gone most of the time and she takes care of the children and household alone.   I loved Anne Morrow Lindbergh, her strength, dedication, and perseverance. 

The Aviator’s Wife is very interesting and kept me reading.   I love how  Anne Morrow Lindbergh eventually finds her own voice and life.  The marriage of Charles and Anne was not without it’s problems,  devastating tragedy and hurtful betrayals but through it all Anne decides in the end she does not regret her marriage to her hero.   I feel The Aviator’s Wife is a honest portrayal of a very public marriage and the woman behind the famous man.  

My Rating: 4    The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin will be greatly appreciated by fans of historical fiction and readers who enjoys stories of strong, enduring women.  If you enjoyed The Paris Wife by Paula McLain you will also enjoy The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin.  While I didn’t lose many hours of sleep to complete this book, I did neglect a fair amount of household chores to read! 

My Rating Scale: 1 – didn’t like it; 2 – it was ok; 3 – liked it; 4 – really liked it; 5 – it was amazing

Other Bloggers Reviews :

As the Crowe Flies (And Reads!)

The Book Club Cheerleader

BookNAround

Reviews from the Heart

A Bookish Affair

A Casual Reader’s Blog 

 

 

Happy Reading!

**Disclosure – Advance copy of The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin received from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.