Books Set in North America (New Hampshire); Europe (Vienna); and Asia (Israel)

Queen Esther, by John Irving (2025)

John Irving is a very quirky author.  While the title seems to refer to Esther, a Jewish orphan, adopted as a young teen to be a nanny to the daughter of the Winslow family, much of the book actually focuses on her son, Jimmy.  Esther was born in Vienna, Austria in 1905.  Soon after her birth, her family immigrated to the United States to escape the growing antisemitism.  Sadly, antisemitism was prevalent in the United States as well, and Esther's mother was murdered antisemites in Maine.  (Her father had died en route to the United States.)

The Winslows of New Hampshire provide Esther with a loving, but non-Jewish, family.  She grew up knowing of her Jewish background and values.  She is determined not to marry, but does agree to be the birth mother to Jimmy, who will be raised by Honor Winslow.  Esther longs to find her Jewish roots and becomes like the biblical Queen Esther and work to protect the Jews post-World War II.  Her life becomes mysterious and her Winslow family believes she has ties to Israel's Mossad.

Esther's son is curious about his birth mother and her ties to Judaism.  He also is determined to become a writer, so travels to Vienna, the place of his mother's birth.  At this point, the novel takes a turn and we meet all the quirky characters that are Irving's signature.

Irving's descriptions of live in New Hampshire are so New England.  His take on the formation of Israel are also so vivid and factual.  As he describes walking down the streets of Jerusalem, I felt as though I, too, were walking with Jimmy.  As Jimmy meets people, he has the opportunity to determine his own life course ~ is he the child of Esther, or of Honor?

I enjoyed the beginning and the ending of this novel, but got bogged down my much of the middle of the book.

3 Stars

Read: January 27, 2026

Books Set in North America, New Hampshire, United States of America

The Last One at the Wedding, by Jason Rekulak (2024)

Read:  November 25, 2025

5 Stars

Books Set in North America, United States, New Hampshire

Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult (2007)

 

All High School students suffer from teenage angst as they struggle to find their true selves.  Many students are bullied and others are complicit in the bullying in an attempt to fit in.  This novel, which is a bit dated, began as an ordinary day in a small town in New Hampshire until Peter Houghton, who had been bullied every day since kindergarden, brought a gun to school and began shooting.

 

There is no denying that Peter was the killer of several students, some of whom had teased and bullied him for years.  Among the injured was Josie Cormier, whose mother was the Judge over the trial, and Josie’s boyfriend, Matt Royston.  Matt was a jock and one of the most popular students at the school.  He was also jealous and possessive of Josie.

 

Josie had been a close friend of Peter’s when they were children, but their friendship was strained after their mothers had a falling out.  Josie still felt some sympathy towards Peter, but was afraid if she showed it, she would be ostracized by the “cool” kids.

 

The book travels between the present and past as we learn of the events leading up to the shooting.  The book is about teenage angst – something that probably all readers can identify with.  Picoult tackles these issues in the bigger drama of school shootings, which have become common events in schools.

 

There are several subplots, including a troubled and difficult relationship between Josie and her single mother, Josie’s abusive boyfriend, reckoning with sexual identity, and pregnancy scares.

 

At the end, we learn that, although Peter shot and killed several students, Josie actually shot her Matt, her abusive boyfriend, and Peter promised to protector her from this carnage.  The jury finds Peter guilty of murder and he is sentenced to life in prison.  He finds and escape through suicide, and Josie was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 5 years.

 

As with most of Picoult’s novels, this examines social issues and is well written and researched.

 

Read:  November 28, 2020

 

4 Stars

Books Set in North America: New England

True Crime Addict, by James Renner (2016)

In the evening of February 9, 2004, U Mass student Maura Murray simply disappeared after a minor car crash on Route 112 in Woodsville, New Hampshire.  A passing motorist (who lived within sight of the accident) stopped to offer assistance.  Maura declined his help.  The motorist then went home and called the police to report the accident. By the time police arrived, the car was still at the scene, but Maura was gone.

Enter the author, James Renner.  Renner is an investigative journalist, with a special interest in crime.  After having been fired from his job at a newspaper (for unspecified reasons), he became obsessed with Maura Murray’s disappearance. He decided to investigate the disappearance.

On the surface, Maura seemed to live a charmed life.  She had been a Cadet at West Point, until she decided to change universities and enroll as a nursing student at the University of Massachusetts. She was engaged to be married to Billy, who was the All-American boy.  Sadly, behind the façade, thing couldn’t be more different.

Shortly before Maura left the University on February 9, she told her colleagues that she needed to attend a family emergency.  This proved to be false.  There was no family emergency, nor was there any perceivable reason for her to be in New Hampshire on that evening.

Renner follows the threads of Maura’s life.  Because this is still an “open investigation”, law enforcement officials could give Renner very little information.  Still, Renner dogged Maura’s friends and family in hopes of uncovering the truth of her disappearance.  Interestingly, Maura’s family virtually shut down all communication channels and her closest friends were also unwilling to open up to the author.

In the process, Renner describes his own life in a remarkable candid fashion to explain his obsession with crime and criminal investigations.  He also is very candid about his own use of drugs, some prescribed and other not, his history with his family’s skeletons, and his trouble child, and his self-destructive behavior.

Renner pursued this case for years, even setting up a blog inviting others to provide him with clues as to Maura’s whereabouts.  This book, part crime story, part memoir, recounts Renners research efforts and he offers a possible solution to the disappearance of Maura Murray.

The author has a skill with words.  This book was very readable and enjoyable despite the sad subject of a possible abduction of a young woman with a full life ahead of her.

Read: December 2, 2018

4.5 Stars 

Books Set in the United States: New Hampshire

Change of Heart, by Jodi Picoult (2008)

Jodi Picoult’s novels tackle controversial topics. Change of Heart examines restorative justice and the death penalty.  As we begin this book, we learn that June has just lost her husband in a car accident. The policeman who tells her about the accident later becomes her husband.  When June is pregnant with her second child, an itinerant carpenter, Shay Bourne, appears offers to do some repairs the home.  Before the baby is born, Shay has murdered June’s second husband and daughter.  He is convicted and given the death penalty.  A young man named Michael Wright is the last hold-out on the jury to condemn Shay to the death penalty.

Fast forward 11 years, and Shay has exhausted all of his appeals and a date for his execution by lethal injection has been set.  Shay has been moved to a portion of the State prison for dangerous prisoners.  Michael is now a Catholic priest and June and her daughter, Claire, with her policeman husband is now 11 years old.  Claire has a medical condition and needs a heart transplant.

Shay wants to donate his heart to Claire believing that it will bring him redemption.  Lethal injection, however, will render the heart unusable.  Enter Maggie, an ACLU attorney, who determines that the law will allow the State to execute Shay by hanging, thus preserve the heart for transplant.

The novel it told through many voices ~ Michael, the priest, Maggie, the attorney, June, and Lucius, a fellow prisoner. While Shay is spending his final months before his execution, a number of “miracles” seemingly occur.  Is Shay the messiah?  The book is a discussion of the death penalty in theological terms.

I really enjoyed the debate of this novel.

5 Stars

Read:  April 22, 2018

Books Set in the United States: New England

Mystery on the Isles of Shoals, by J. Dennis Robinson (2014)

I picked up this book for two reasons: First, it is about the Isles of Shoals, the mysterious islands off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire, where I spent my childhood. Second, because it reminded me of my late mother. My mother first told me about the ax murders that had taken place in the 1870s on Smuttynose Island. This book isn't really a mystery, per se, as we known from the start that the murderer was captured, tried, convicted and executed. The "mystery" is the legend that surrounds the murders.

Almost as soon as the murder of two Norwegian immigrant women were murdered on Smuttynose Island, their deaths became local legend. The author of this book attempts to dispel the legend and compile the evidence that supported the trial of Louis Wagner and show that justice was served.

The two women, Karen Christensen and her sister-in-law, Anethe Matae Christensen, were brutally murdered on the night of March 6, 1873. The women, along with Maren Hontvet, were alone on the island that evening and, with their husbands, were the sole residents of the island. On that night, the women were all together in the house owned by the Hontvet's, Anethe and Maven's husbands were on the mainland preparing their nets for a fishing expedition. John Hontvet, Maren's husband, was a successful fisherman and was believed to have some money hidden in his house.

Enter Louis Wagner. He was a Prussian immigrant down on his luck. He stole a dory and oared out the 10 or so miles to the island in the dark of the night with plans to seal John Hontvet's stash of money. He knew the men of the house were on the mainland (in fact, he was going to assist them in preparing their nets), so thought he could easily enter the house, grab the money and return to the mainland with no one being the wiser. His planned robbery, however, went terribly wrong, when, upon entering the dark house on Smuttynose, he awakened Karen, who was an unexpected visitor in the house.

He picked up an ax and began bludgeoning the women. Maren was able to escape, but Karen and Anethe were not so lucky. After stealing approximately $16, Wagner rowed back to the mainland and set off for Boston, where he spent to stolen money on a haircut and new clothing.

Wagner quickly became the main murder suspect and was caught. He never actually confessed and offered numerous theories and stories explaining his sudden departure for Boston, not of which made any sense. Despite this, many people questioned whether or not he was the actual murderer, and in the a trial that went on for days, many technician theories were raised. He was ultimately found guilty and hanged.

Many books have been written about the Smuttynose ax murders, including Anita Shreve's novel, The Weight of Water. Her book takes a fictional spin on the murders and depicts Wagner in a more sympathetic light than the fact show.

I found this book an interesting read. As I noted, it is not so much of a mystery as it is a compilation of facts the support a finding that Louis Wagner had the means and opportunity to commit this horrendous crime. The author also provides an interesting history into life in the New England fishing villages and thoughts on capital punishment at this period in time.

3 Stars

Books Set in the United States: New Hampshire

The Pact, by Jodi Picoult (1998)

The Pact is about two teenaged lovers who may or may not have entered into a suicide pact.  The novel opens with the death of young Emily Gold.

Emily Gold and Christopher Harte, whose parents were next-door neighbors and close friends, were born within months of each other.  From infancy, they were best friends.  Emily and Chris have gone from friends to lovers.  While Chris is enchanged by the sex, to Emily it feels almost incestuous.

As the two prepare to graduate from high school and look towards college, Emily begins to feel suicidal.  She tries to convince Chris to join her in death.

In the wee hours of the morning, Emily and Chris plan to carry out their suicide pact.  Emily dies, but Chris survives.  Soon he is charged with her murder.  Much of the book is spent on his arrest and trial.

This was a quick read, but I found it unsatisfying.  We never really see what caused Emily’s depression, although there are some red herrings.  Neither Emily or the parents of the teenagers are well developed.

Read: November 13, 2016

Three Stars 

Books Set in the United States: New Hampshire

Keeping Faith, by Jodi Picoult (1999)

Read: April 28, 2016

3.5 Stars

Books Set in the United States: New Hampshire

The Death of the USS Thresher: The Story Behind History’s Deadliest Submarine Disaster, by Norman Polmar (2004)

As a young child, I lived in the Portsmouth, New Hampshire area.  I was in second grade when a new girl joined our class.  Then as suddenly as she appeared, she was gone; her family moved away.  Her father had been on the Thresher.  It is one of my earliest memories of a news event.  I was too young to fully appreciate the significance of the sinking of the Thresher, but because of my classmate, I often think of the event.

The USS Thresher was a new class of nuclear-powered submarines.  It was build during the Cold War era and the Thresher was to be a new killer submarine, specifically designed to seek and destroy Soviet submarines.  Construction on the submarine began in 1958 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.  It was originally launched in 1960 and formally commissioned in August 1961.  After some trial operations in 1961 and 1962, the submarine underwent a major overhaul that took several months from 1962 to 1963.

In early April 1963, the submarine was ready again for deep-diving tests.  On April 1963, during deep sea dives off the New England coast, the Thresher lost contact with its rescue ship, the Skylark.  The last garbled communication may have indicated some minor problems, followed by eerie sounds that were compared to a ship collapsing.  The Thresher was officially lost at sea.  Aboard the submarine were 129 crew members and shipyard personnel, making the sinking of the Thresher the first nuclear submarine disaster and the deadliest to date.

An inquiry was conducted to determine the cause of the disaster.  The formal briefing, issued in June 1963 concluded that, based on current information, it was impossible to determine the cause of the event.  Subsequent investigation have led to various theories of the cause, but the actual cause will never be known.

Although the book did not go into detail about the lives of the 129 aboard the submarine, I cried when I got to the part where the families were informed of the disaster.

This book goes into detail about the construction of submarines, but is a quick read. 

3 Stars

Read: March 19, 2016 

Books set in the Untied States: New Hampshire

Leaving Time, by Jodi Picoult (2014)  5 Stars

Leaving Time is told through the eyes of several characters:  There is Jenna, a thirteen-year old girl, who has spent the past 10 years wondering why her mother left her when she was three-years old.  There is Alice Metcalf, Jenna’s mother who has spent her entire professional life studying elephants, specifically how elephants experience grief.  There is Serenity Jones, a washed up psychic.  There is Virgil Stanhope, a former cop who investigated the tragedy at the elephant sanctuary 10 years earlier.  Ostensibly he committed suicide on the day of his promotion, only to reappear as Victor, a private investigator.  And finally, there are the elephants residing in an elephant sanctuary in New Hampshire.

Alice had been studying elephants in Africa when she meets Thomas Metcalf, who ran an elephant sanctuary in the States.  They have a brief night of passion, before he returns to New Hampshire.  They stay in touch, but when Alice discovers she is pregnant, she visits Thomas in New Hampshire.  They wed before they really know each other and she learns of his mental illness.  She stays with Thomas working at the elephant sanctuary while trying to continue her research.

The novel unwinds between the present and the past, and slowly the reader begins to piece together the tragedy that occurred at the elephant sanctuary 10 years earlier, leaving Jenna motherless with the mysterious disappearance of her mother.  Virgil was one of the cops who investigated the original events, but realized at the time the case was handled badly.  He hopes to redeem himself by helping Jenna search for her mother.

Through Alice’s voice, we learn about elephant behavior.  Elephants grieve for lost members of the herd, and when a mother loses a calf, it will stay with the body for days as it grieves. Picoult did her research, and as noted in the Afterwards, the bits about the elephants are based on real elephants at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, an actual sanctuary for elephants in captivity.

The ending, while fitting for the novel, requires a bit of magical thinking.  It does explain, however, some of the seemingly inconsistence in Jenna’s life.  I enjoyed this novel and read it in two days.

Read:  March 12, 2016 

Books Set in the United States: New Hampshire

Lone Wolf, by Jodi Picoult (2012)

I thought this story was rather far-fetched with respect to Luke Warren, who is portrayed to be a wolf biologist who actually lived in the wild with wolves for two years.  That aside, this is a novel about a dysfunctional family (aren't all families dysfunctional?), yet have to deal with a family member who has suffered irreparable brain injury.

The author does a good job at keeping the suspense, as family secrets are not divulged, and the reader is kept guessing as to causes of the family split.

Luke, Georgie, Edward and Cara were a family until Luke's research took him into the wild.  When he returned, he was a changed man.  At age 18, Edward and his father had a fight, ostensibly because Edward revealed to his father that he was gay.  The fight was enough so that Edward suddenly left the family and moved to Thailand where he got a job teaching English.  Luke and Georgie divorced; Georgie remarried and began a new family.  Cara moved in with her father.

One night, Luke and Cara were in a car accident that left Luke permanently brain damaged.  Cara suffers from extreme guilt, thinking that she was the cause of the accident.  When Georgie learns of the accident, she immediately called Edward and asked him to return.

Much of the deals with the ethics of ending a terminal life.  Jodi raises interesting points.  Throughout the novel are passages from Luke, as he discusses the lives of wolves and how they can correspond to human lives.

3 Stars

Read: December 20, 2015

Books Set in the United States: New Hampshire

Handle with Care, by Jodi Picoult (2009)

This novel follows the family of Willow O'Keefe, a young girl born with Type III osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone syndrome.  The novel is told though the eyes of numerous people, including her mother, father, sister, her mother's OB/GYN and her mother's lawyer.  The brittle bone syndrome means that Willow must be extremely careful ~ the slightest movement can and will break her bones.  To care for Willow, her mother Charlotte has become a stay-at-home mother.  Her father Sean, a police officer, works overtime to afford the treatment and other special needs for Willow.

After Willow suffers broken bones while on vacation Disney World, her parents are initially arrested on grounds of child abuse.  Her parents seek out a lawyer to sue the bark, but end up discussing a lawsuit against the OB/GYN on grounds of malpractice for a wrongful birth.  The theory being that if they had known earlier that the fetus Charlotte was carrying, they may never have carried Willow to term.  They are told that if they win, they will have sufficient funds to care for Willow throughout her life.  Filing suit, however, means that Charlotte will be pitted against Piper, who, in addition to being her doctor, was also her closest friend.

The novel traces the medical ethics of and personal morality in the case of a disabled child.  In addition, it explores the impact of such a child has on other family members.  Sean is opposed to abortion and knows that that option was not truly an option.  He opts out of the lawsuit and defects to the defense.  This leads to a separation between Charlotte and Sean.

Willow's older sister, Amelia, feels neglected by all the attention given to Willow.  She develops bulimia and starts cutting herself to make her self feel.  All of this is done in secret and her parents are unaware of how the attention to Willow affects Amelia.  No one considered how the wrongful birth suit would impact Willow.  She feels somehow the cause of the split between her parents.

Jodi Picoult did a lot of research into both the disease and the ethics surrounding a wrongful birth lawsuit.

5 Stars

Read: December 12, 2015

Books Set in the United States: New Hampshire

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, by Joel Dicker (2012)

I just loved, loved, loved this novel.  It is a mystery/thriller with so many twists and turns.

What really happened to 15-year old Nola Kellergan on August 30, 1975?  And how is the writer Harry Quebert involved in her disappearance?

Thirty-three years after Nola's disappearance, up-and-coming young writer Marcus Goldman visited the quiet little town of Somerset, New Hampshire to get inspiration from his mentor, Harry Quebert.  Marcus' hope for quiet inspiration, however, are interrupted when Nola's body is found buried in the garden on Quebert's property and Quebert is accused of her murder.

There are so many interesting characters living in this small New Hampshire town, each with an interest in keeping Nola's murder unsolved.  I couldn't put this book down!


5 Stars

Read: May 23, 2015