Books Set in Europe, Paris, France

The Perfumist of Paris, by Alka Joshi (2023)

Read:  September 26, 2024

4 Stars

This is the third book in the Jaipur Series.

The Henna Artist: Read February 6, 2021 and August 27, 2024

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur: Read September 8, 2024

The Perfumist of Paris: Read September 26, 2024

Books Set in Asia: Siberia, Russia and North America: New York, New York.

The Nesting Dolls, by Alina Adams (2020)

 

The Nesting Dolls focuses on three Jewish women: Daria (from 1931 to 1942), Natasha (from 1970 to 1991) and Zoe (1991).  Daria is Zoe’s great-grandmother, who was born in Russia and married the talented musician, Edward Gordon.  They and their two young daughters were sent to Siberia for a minor infraction during the Stalin years.  The janitor, Adam, of their building was also deported to Siberia.  He had a reputation for having reported on his mother for her infractions, thus was feared.  He ostensibly was being deported for not having reported Daria’s family to the authorities.  In Siberian village, however, he was granted better quarters than most if its occupants.  Adam would come to play a vital and integral role in saving Daria’s family.

 

We then skip a generation to Natasha, Daria’s granddaughter.  The family was now living in Odessa.  Natasha had a brilliant mind for mathematics and was hoping to attend the prestigious Odessa University.  Sadly, the quota for Jews was filled and Natasha was giving failing marks on her entrance exams.  She had to settle for a mediocre school and was then given a job teaching math to junior high students.  Her childhood friend, Boris, had always been in love with her, but she took him for granted.  One day she met Dima, a refusenik, who convinced her that she could be instrumental in letting the outside world know about the atrocities going on in Russia.  Natasha fell in love with Dima, and soon finds herself pregnant.  Her only way out was to marry Boris who, while being seemingly apolitical, was able to gain passage out of the USSR.

 

Finally, we meet Zoe, Natasha’s granddaughter.  She was born in America but bears the burdens and guilt imposed upon her by her grandmother and great-grandmother.  Like them, she, too, has two men in her life and must choose between what she believes is best for her family and what is best for herself.

 

Each of the three women are encased in each other’s lives, much like the nesting dolls that Russia is famous for.  Life does not always give you want you think you want, but it just might give you what you need.

 

I loved this novel.  I really felt the characters come alive.  I also loved how the author skipped a gereration and focused on the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Daria, the initial character.

 

Read:  June 15, 2021

 

5 Stars

Books Set in North America: United States: Maine

The Guest Book, by Sarah Blake (2019)

The Miltons were an old WASP family to whom the word “summer” was a verb.  One summer afternoon in 1936, while sailing in Penobscot Bay, Ogden Milton and his wife Kitty decided on a whim to buy Crockett’s Island.  This Island became the family’s rock and anchor for the next several decades.  The novel follows three generations of Ogden women, and the story goes back and forth between Kitty the matriarch, her daughter Joan, and granddaughter Evie.

A year earlier, the Milton’s had lost their 5-year old son when he fell from a window.  Thus, when Elsa, a German Jew who was an acquaintance of Ogden’s, asked Kitty if she would take care of her young son to protect him from the War, Kitty declined.

The Milton’s were known for hosting elaborate parties on their summer island, but the guest were all old money.  The next generation began mixing with people who were NOKD (not our kind, dear).

Ogden was head of a family investment firm and all his employees were of moneyed families.  When he hired Len Levy, a Jew, everyone was wary of him and the stereotypes of Jews and money was not far from their minds.  Len was assigned a somewhat menial task of reviewing documents.  In the process, he uncovered the firm’s investment with Nazis.

The surviving Milton son, Moss, was expected to join the firm and take over from his father.  Moss, however, was artistic and wasn’t interested in his family’s firm.  He befriended Reg Pauling, an African-American writer.  On a whim, he off-handedly invited both Reg and Len to his family’s island.  When they decided to take him up on the offer, the Milton’s were caught off guard.

Kitty spent the rest of her life trying to atone for the decisions she made in her life.

I felt this book tried to take on too much by mixing race and religious stereotypes into this novel.

It was a fast read.

Read:  August 7, 2020

3 Stars

Books Set in Europe: London, England

The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton (2012)

The Secret Keeper is a mystery with all sorts of twists and turns.  The novel begins when 16-year old Laurel sees her mother, Dorothy, stab a strange man to death at their country estate.  The murder is deemed have been in self-defense, and, with one exception, the family never discusses the matter again.  Laurel, however, her the man address her mother by her first name. Who was this man and what was his relation to her mother?

Laurel has never forgotten the murder.  Now, 50 years later, Dorothy is nearing the end of her life and Laurel hopes to learn of her mother’s past.  Dorothy’s children have gathered around to care for her.  Laurel goes over old photograph albums with her mother and comes across a mysterious photograph taken during London during World War II. She also finds Peter Pan book with an inscription to Dorothy from Vivian.

The story is told between the present (2011) and London in 1941.  We learn early on that Dorothy may have had a checkered past.  Laurel seeks to learn about her mother’s past.  Dorothy lives across the street from the wealthy and beautiful Vivien Jenkins. They both do volunteer work for the War effort.  Dorothy has a vivid imagination and attempts to befriend Vivian.  Dorothy’s boyfriend is Jimmy, a young man from a working class background, making a living as a war photographer.  Although Dorothy loves him, she doesn’t want him to come in contact with the wealthy Vivian.

Somehow, thought, Laurel knows that there is a relationship between her mother, Vivian and Dorothy.

The characters really come alive.  There were twists in this novel that I never saw coming.  It held my interest from page one to the end.

Read: August 21, 2018

5 Stars