Mrs. Bridge

Mrs. Bridge is a novel by Evan S. Connell. The book is difficult to describe. It is made up of a series of vignettes that cover the married life of India Bridge. Some novels that take place over a long period of time with large gaps of time between chapters tend to be uneven and have poor character development. This story progresses evenly and makes sense. Some chapters are comedic episodes, others are introspective but each chapter reveals the evolution of time on the characters. It starts with the marriage of India to Mr. Bridge and continues until the end.

Many of the comedic chapters reminded me of the BBC comedy Keeping Up Appearances. Mrs. Bridge is an upper middle class resident of a mid-western town. Her house, personal appearance, and children are all properly arranged, dressed, and mannered. The bathrooms are stocked with guest towels for when the guests arrive. Mrs. Bridge always wears stockings. Her children have impeccable table manners (mostly). Despite doing everything properly, Mrs. Bridge has an inner conflict that many women can relate to.

The story is not all comedy. There is a balance of introspection and thoughtfulness that resonates with real life. There is a touch of sadness to the story. Mrs. Bridge seems to be aloof and floats from one day to the next. Her own sense of propriety, and sometimes life events, keeps her from pursuing many personal interests.

This book may not be for everyone, but I found it well worth the time to read. There is no overt plot, climax, or resolution. In some ways it is like reading someone's personal journal. There is a movie out starring Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. I am curious how they developed the script and what changes they made to make it watchable.

Book Rating: 4 Stars

A Cry In The Night

A Cry In The Night is a Mary Higgins Clark mystery. A recently divorced mother of two gets swept off her feet by a handsome, wealthy artist and farmer. How any sane woman could get married to a guy within one week of meeting him and not recognize some warning signs, I'll never know. Right off the bat I could recognize the guy was no good and you know he is going to do some bad things. Really, the story reads like a bad Lifetime movie. Ya know the kind of movie where a creepie guy is able to be abusive because the woman thinks she is in love. The kind of movie where an emotionally fragile woman melts and submits because a good looking guy says, "I love you." and excuses all kinds of bad behavior.

I did finish the book. Mary Higgins Clark does know how to right a suspenseful mystery. Thing is I figured most of it out within a couple of chapters. I finished the story to see how it all played out but mostly to see how long it would take before the woman recognizes her mistake and runs. I should have known better because she realizes her mistake when it is almost too late.

I am not opposed to reading more Mary Higgins Clark in the future, but only for some mindless reading.

Book Rating: 2 stars

Up next: Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell

Someone to Watch Over Me

Written by Jill Churchill, Someone to Watch Over Me is a gentle mystery in the same style as Agatha Christie. I am sure Agatha Christie fans would enjoy this book and others by the same author. I call this a gentle mystery because there is little objectionable material in the book. This particular story is subtitled A Grace and Favor Mystery. Grace and Favor is the name of the mansion where the two main characters live.

The two mystery sleuths, and also main characters, are a brother and sister team. In order to earn their inheritance, the two most learn to make a living while maintaining a family estate. The town assumes they are well to-do, but they are actually penniless. Their inheritance is controlled by the family lawyer. In the mean time there are two mysterious deaths which must be solved.

Unfortunately, our library only has one of Churchill's mysteries. I think I will suggest getting more. I know there are many patrons who would enjoy them.

Book rating: 4 stars

Up next: A Mary Higgins Clark book.

Crooked House

This was my first foray into Agatha Christie mysteries. I usually don't read mysteries because they become so cliche and predictable. Agatha Christie is a true master and she keeps you guessing until the last minute. This story did not feature her usual detectives, Inspector Poirot or Miss Marple. Instead the detective is the son of a police chief. Many consider this to be one of her best stories. I have only read a few, so I can't compare. Still, it was enjoyable.

Over the weekend I finished up Witness for the Prosecution and Three Blind Mice. Neither of those stories had the usual detectives. They were fun and quick reads too.

Lots of fun information about Agatha Christie and the official website.

Book Rating: 4 Stars (all three books)

I am moving on to a new author before I burn out on Agatha Christie, but I will definitely pick up some of her other stories again!

Orange Blossom Special

I decided to keep going with this blog. It is hard to share negative opinions through the library blog. Here, I can rip a book to shreds and not feel guilty. I promise to share positive reviews here too, if I happen to come across any books that I actually enjoy. Lately, there hasn't been much of interest in the adult fiction area. Young adult fiction on the other hand, looks much more interesting.

Up next for the chopping block is Orange Blossom Special by Betsy Carter. This is the author's first foray into novel writing and she does have some talent. What is lacking is the story. A rather short novel covers about three decades. The jumps in time lead for poor character development.

A widowed mom and her teenage daughter decide to make a fresh start in Florida. The Orange Blossom Special is named for a train, although it has very little to do with the actual story. The editorial comments on the dust jacket lead you to believe that the author was able to capture an accurate view of the 1950's. Never believe what is on the dust jacket. Instead we get to see a train-wreck, of sorts, follow the two main characters.

Can anyone truly get a fresh start by simply moving to a new town? I don't think so. I think no matter where you go, you bring your problems with you. Perhaps the new location will give you a new point of view, or new friends to help heal wounds. But without making serious, life improving choices, those problems can still weigh you down. In this story, the main characters hope to start living anew after a tragedy. Instead, the mom continues to drink in excess and make rather poor choices and the daughter deals with depression. They don't make any other life changing choice except changing their location.

The more I think about this story, the less I like it. I know many others on Amazon liked it.... Anyway, the story has adultery, alcoholism, and abuse. No problem skipping this one. I only read the first 100 pages and skipped to the end. Not really worth the time to even do that much.

Book Rating: 2 stars for effort.

Up next Crooked House by Agathe Christie.

Dear & Glorious Physician

Dear And Glorious Physician, a novel by Taylor Caldwell, is about St. Luke. In the introduction, the author claims to have read over 1,000 books to research the life of Luke, one of the authors of the New Testament. I have my doubts about the quality of the research.

I know the reviews at Amazon are overwhelmingly positive. I also know this book is considered a classic. And yet, I had a really hard time reading this book. And perhaps this is one example of how reading about a Christian figure from a different Christian perspective can cause difficulty.

The story starts with the assumption that modern Christianity existed long before Christ was actually born. This pre-Christ Christianity persisted in secret societies of believers primarily made up of scientists, physicians, and philosophers. Never mind that Christ was a Jew born to Jewish parents. Never mind that Christianity actually started after Christ was killed. The author does other things that I had a hard time swallowing, but won't elaborate here.

It's too bad because I think the author is a gifted writer and storyteller. This is just one case where my personal interpretations got in the way of the story. I couldn't get past page 100. It would appear that many of the author's books are based on similar Christian views, so I will probably move on.

Book Rating: 2 1/2 stars


Up next: A non-fiction break with Wikinomics.

Leaving Cold Sassy and Night Inspector

Leaving Cold Sassy is the sequel to Cold Sassy and the last novel of Olive Ann Burns. Or at least, it is the intended sequel to Cold Sassy. Burns never finished her book before her death. Her editor assembled some of the finished chapters and notes and compiled them in a book with a biography of the author. Only true fans of Cold Sassy would read this sequel. It is fun to see how the author intended to write the story of Will Tweedy, but it is not really much of a story.

You can tell that Burns was in a dark place when she started writing the sequel. The biography section explains why. She endures a second bout of cancer after losing her husband to cancer. She may have outwardly had a positive attitude about her condition, but her writing reveals where her mind was. Her characters all experience disappoint, heartache, and loss. There are affairs, poverty, and abuse. Sure, these types of things happen in real life, but it certainly makes this book much darker than the first. I am not sure I would have enjoyed the second book.

The next book I attempted to read was Night Inspector by Frederick Busch. The author utilized a literary technique that I found very annoying. He describes his main character in bits and pieces of conversation and action, leaving the reader to put the pieces together. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. At least it didn't work for me. I was so confused that I stopped after 5 pages. The author won a Pulitzer for this book, so I am sure it gets better. I didn't have the patience for it, so it went back to the library.


I am now reading: Dear and Glorious Physician by Taylor Caldwell.