A VINTAGE AFFAIR is the story of a friendship that ended in tragedy. Or rather, two friendships that ended in tragedy, both causing a tremendous amount of survivor guilt to both women […]
Isabel Wolff’s A VINTAGE AFFAIR
Cynthia
Cynthia Sally Haggard was born and reared in Surrey, England. About 30 years ago she surfaced in the United States, settling in the Mid-Atlantic region as she wound her way through four careers: violinist, cognitive scientist, medical writer, and novelist.
In June, 2015, Cynthia graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University, Cambridge MA.
Her first novel, "Thwarted Queen," a frustrating tale (hence the title) of a woman who was nearly crowned Queen of England, was shortlisted for many awards, including the 2012 Eric Hoffer New Horizon Award for debut authors. To date, sales have surpassed 38,000 copies.
Her second novel, "Farewell My Life," a Cinderella-ish tale with not-so-charming princes who inhabit the edgy setting of 1920s and 1930s Berlin during the rise of the Nazis, won a Pinnacle Award for Historical Fiction (2019) and was a Distinguished Favorite for the 2019 New York City Big Book Awards.
WAKENHYRST by Michelle Paver, read by Juanita McMahon
I don’t read Horror, so I have no basis of comparison for WAKENHYRST. Perusing other reader’s comments, I see that they are disappointed that this piece doesn’t really fall into the Horror […]
William Boyd’s RESTLESS
RESTLESS by William Boyd is one of those novels with a parallel plot. There is the present-day told from the point-of-view of Ruth Gilmartin a 20-something PhD student at Oxford and a […]
SECRET GERMANY: Stefan George and his Circle by Robert Edward Norton
Who was Stefan George? If you look him up, you will find out that he was born in 1868 and died in 1933, and that he was a poet. In fact, he […]
THE BEAST’S GARDEN BY Kate Forsyth. Narrated by Jennifer Vuletic.
I am a fan of Kate Forsyth. I love the way in which she takes folk tales and put a new twist on them. I loved Bitter Greens (her take on Rapunzel), […]
KUSHNER INC.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption. The Extraordinary story of Jared Kushner & Ivanka Trump by Vicky Ward. Narrated by Vicky Ward & Fiona Hardingham.
Whenever I complained about Ivanka Trump, my husband would tell me: “Don’t knock Ivanka. She’s the only adult in the room who can do anything about Trump.” I was never so sure. […]
John Irving’s THE CIDER HOUSE RULES
Ostensibly, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES is the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch, who founds an orphanage at St. Cloud Maine, and of his favorite orphan Homer Wells, who follows in his footsteps […]
J. K. Rowling’s A CASUAL VACANCY
A CASUAL VACANCY by J. K. Rowling is the story of a bitter class struggle between the smug, wealthy inhabitants of Pagford, and their much poorer neighbors who inhabit the council flats […]
Mr. Locke is an apt name for her “guardian”…(THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY by Alix E. Harrow, narrated by January LaVoy)
How wonderful to read something so imaginative! I loved the voice of naughty (temerarious) January Scaller, who at 7 had precociously worked out how to annoy everyone. Her mischievous side really drew […]
Happy 2022 Everyone!
Here’s to the New Year…hope all of you are keeping healthy, happy & safe! Today, I thought I would share one of the most fascinating novels I have ever read: THE KING’S […]
Maggie Gyllenhal’s movie based upon Elena Ferrante’s THE LOST DAUGHTER drops today on Netflix!
THE LOST DAUGHTER by Elena Ferrante is a meditation on motherhood. When 40-something Leda decides to rent a beach house near Naples for the summer, her unaccustomed solitude leads her to meditate […]
Emile Zola’s NANA
NANA, published in 1880 by Emile Zola, is an interesting take on sex-obsessed Paris of the nineteenth century, the Paris that has now become a stereotype for sexual behavior in our own […]
THE SWEETNESS OF FORGETTING by Kristin Harmon narrated by Kim McKean
Here is yet another novel about the harrowing events of World War Two, with the Fairy Tales a beloved French grandmother told to her grand-daughter used to find two missing men. What […]
FIVE DAYS GONE: The Memory of My Mother’s Disappearance as a child by Laura Cumming narrated by Kate Reading.
I don’t usually read memoir, as I normally don’t find it very interesting. And this quiet narrative of family strife would normally cause me not to continue due to boredom. But there […]
Merry Christmas Everyone!
I thought you might enjoy this photo of a troika of horses for this Christmas! Today, I thought I would share some thoughts with you about another of my favorite novels of […]
Happy Christmas Eve Everyone!
Today, I thought I would share some thoughts with you about one of my favorite novels of all time: TIGANA by Canadian fantasy writer Guy Gavriel Kay. Here is a book review […]
A brilliantly wicked piece set in the movie world of Berlin in the early 1930s (LAUGHTER IN THE DARK)
“Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he […]
WINTER GARDEN by Kristin Hannah narrated by Susan Ericksen
Having just finished Katherine Arden’s WINTERLIGHT trilogy of Russian folktales set in 1300s Rus, it was absolutely fascinating to read about the Siege of Leningrad presented as the Russian folktale THE PEASANT […]
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