Queen Anne Books

I first heard about Grant's newest novel on NPR, a favorite place for book reviews. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, The Clothes on Their Backs is the story of Vivien Kovacs as she struggles to figure out her identity and place in modern London. She is the daughter of Hungarian refugee immigrants who have chosen to live very quiet, almost invisible lives constantly fearful that there will be trouble for them in the new world. At the story's center is her father's brother, himself an immigrant, but with an entirely different approach to life. He lives large, gets caught up in a landlord scandal and in Vivien's father's eyes, brings disgrace to the family. Against her father's deepest wishes, Vivien develops a secret relationship with her uncle taking a job as a personal assistant recording and transcribing the story of his life. The tension in the story arises as the uncle and niece do a little identity dance, pretending that each does not know the true identity of the other. As Vivien listens to her uncle's account of his life, she wonders if he knows who she really is, while at the same time discovers the dark secrets of her family that her parents have kept hidden. The book recounts her memories of the time spent as a child and later with her uncle, told from the perspective of middle age in a London reeling from the bombings of 2006. Like peeling away the layers of the onion, Grant reveals the Kovacs family history, while sensitively dealing with the larger issues of refugees in a new country terrified of political and social persecution, and the complicated relationships between family members who refuse to accept one another's reality. I give this book a solid thumbs up. ~Wendee

There have been many (too many) redos, continuations, re-imaginings, and spin-offs of Sherlock Holmes. Being a big fan, I've read most of them, but most of them are not worth reading (though my recent favorite is Michael Chabon's The Final Solution). Charles Finch has come up with a wonderful alternative, a way for readers to be in the world of Sherlock Holmes without it being subject to the expectations and scrutiny that would come with his using that character.

A Beautiful Blue Death introduces readers to Charles Lenox, an amateur detective in Victorian London. He seems almost to be Holmes' rich, aristocratic brother; Lenox's friend, and assistant, is a doctor who could be a school friend of Watson's; and, of course, the art of careful observation and deduction is the key to Lenox's success. I won't give away the mystery (it involves a rare, blue poison), but it was very satisfying. There's even a bit of possible romance that I always wished for in the Holmes stories.

I plan to read the next two in this series coming this summer - The September Society (in paperback) and The Fleet Street Murders (in hardcover). I'm hoping they'll be equally well-done fun. ~Lillian

This slim novel caught my eye the day it arrived in the bookstore. The title alone captivated me, as did the soft pink cherry blossoms set against the sky blue cover with mathematic equations floating gently in the background. But the clincher came in an email from a dear friend with whom I've shared books for more than 30 years. She insisted I "run, not walk" to the bookstore for this new release. Thank goodness I followed her advice. The Housekeeper and the Professor is an elegant story with a small handful of characters, each beautifully crafted with just the right amount of detail. The professor is an aging man, a brilliant mathematician who has suffered a severe head trauma leaving him with only 80 minutes of short-term memory. The housekeeper is a single mother who is sent by her agency to care for the professor. Each day the professor greets her as if she is a complete stranger, asking her shoe size and phone number. These simple mathematical elements are the beginning of their extraordinary friendship. The professor introduces the housekeeper to an amazing world of mathematics. Though forbidden by the agency, the housekeeper's son joins his mother daily after school because the professor insists that mothers must be with their children when school lets out. Adored by the professor, Root brings youthful energy and his passion for baseball, which becomes the cornerstone of the gentle and loving relationship that develops. As I neared the story's end, I actually put myself on a reading ration, trying to make the book last as long as possible. I'm not a math person on any level, but I was so intrigued by the understanding the Professor brought to the topic. So now I pass along these sage words of advice: Run, don't walk to the bookstore for The Housekeeper and the Professor. It will be a gift to yourself, and everyone else you share it with. ~Wendee

Set in the mid-nineteenth century, Flanagan introduces two well-known, powerful figures of that era -- Charles Dickens and Sir John Franklin -- to tell his story of colonialism, exploration, ambition and, of course, wanting. The story begins in a Tasmanian penal colony where Franklin has been appointed governor. The colony doesn’t hold convicts, however, but the remnants of an aboriginal tribe. During a welcome celebration for Sir John and his wife, Lady Jane, they are so introduced to Mathinna. They are so entranced with her talent and beauty, they decide to adopt the young girl as an experiment to prove that any human being can be civilized. The novel then moves forward in time and place to England where Charles Dickens is trying to recover from the loss of his youngest daughter. He is approached by Lady Jane to write an editorial defending her late husband who has been accused of cannibalism during his last exploration of the Arctic. The article is such a success, he decides to write a play about the last days of Franklin.
The novel goes back and forth between Tasmania and England; between 1839 and 1854 adding history and details to the story of Franklin and Dickens. Flanagan not only uses this novel to explore some of the darker aspects of human history, but he also compellingly writes about aboriginal life in the wild, the deplorable life in the penal colony and the “civilized” lifestyle in 1854 England. Perfectly titled, this novel examines all that ’wanting’ implies: desire, lust, and also inadequacy

~Patti