I admit
this was a long book, but it didn’t feel long. Roberts does an incredible
job of weaving in backstory as Shelby Foxworth works to put her life back
together after the death of her husband.
It’s nice
that Roberts didn’t make Shelby a whiner, or I’d have stopped reading. There
were times I understood and sympathized with Shelby's role as a young mom of a three-year-old daughter. She juggles a lot, but puts her
head down and keeps going. A hard-working, relatable character is one you
root for in a story like this.
Roberts
shows her mastery of character, setting, and story development—with a mystery
to solve, a steamy romance (who doesn’t love a handsome man who works well with his
hands?), and plenty of down-home comfort, this book is a definite summer read.
Here’s an overview from Barnes & Noble:
Shelby
Foxworth lost her husband. Then she lost her illusions…
The man
who took her from Tennessee to an exclusive Philadelphia suburb left her in
crippling debt. He was an adulterer and a liar, and when Shelby tracks down his
safe-deposit box, she finds multiple IDs. The man she loved wasn’t just dead.
He never really existed.
Shelby
takes her three-year-old daughter and heads south to seek comfort in her
hometown, where she meets someone new: Griff Lott, a successful contractor. But
her husband had secrets she has yet to discover. Even in this small town,
surrounded by loved ones, danger is closer than she knows—and threatens Griff,
as well. And an attempted murder is only the beginning...
*Booklist
(starred review)
Controversial
is an understatement when it comes to this book. Rumors and questions
surrounded the publishing of the book so long after To Kill a Mockingbird. Was
this what Harper Lee really wanted? Was it pushed out now because of
money? Oh boy, the conversations before
the launch were lively, and now, they’re even louder.
Some folks
love it, and are glad to read something else of Lee’s even fifty years later.
Some can’t believe Harper Lee actually agreed to publish this as the character
Atticus Finch is controversial in this one. (Word is the character inspired by
Lee’s own father is shockingly different from the one we learned about in grade
school.)
Either way,
this book will be talked about for some time. So, if you’re curious, or want in
on the discussion, you should probably check it out.
Overview from Barnes & Noble:
A
historic literary event: the publication of a newly discovered novel, the
earliest known work from Harper Lee, the beloved, bestselling author of the
Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Originally
written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman was the novel Harper Lee
first submitted to her publishers before To Kill a Mockingbird. Assumed
to have been lost, the manuscript was discovered in late 2014…
I posted
the overview from Barnes & Noble (B&N) because it made me want to read
this book. It just sounds interesting (King Lear and a pandemic? Whoa!). Maybe
you’ll think so, and put it on your book list, too.
P.S. Mine
is really long, and also eclectic.
Overview
from B&N:
It seems
like over the last few years a bunch of novelists got together and made a pact
to pen postapocalyptic stories. If you choose to check out just one of
them, Station Eleven, Arthur C. Clarke Award winnner
and National Book Award finalist, is a great pick. In its opening pages,
famous actor Arthur Leander collapses onstage during a production of King Lear.
His death (though unrelated) heralds the beginning of a worldwide flu
pandemic. The novel moves back and forth through time to describe what
happens as the illness and panic spreads…
