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Here is what found its way to my home this week:

I was surprised to get a review copy of Tracks: A Novel in Stories by Eric D. Goodman because I thought I had missed out on a physical copy of the book – so I was delighted when Atticus Books sent me a copy. The publisher writes: “The stories in Tracks stand alone, but they become stronger when linked together. A secondary character in one story becomes the main character in the next. Tracks examines the decisions each character faces and how those decisions, as well as their interactions with the other passengers, alter the path ahead and cast past experiences and choices in a new light.”

Listen to Goodman reading from the book:

Eric Goodman regularly reads his fiction on Baltimore’s NPR station, WYPR, and at book festivals and literary events. His work has appeared in a number of publications, including The Baltimore Review, The Pedestal Magazine, Writers Weekly, The Potomac, Grub Street, Scribble Magazine, The Arabesques Review, and New Lines from the Old Line State: An Anthology of Maryland Writers. He is the author of Flightless Goose, a storybook for children. Learn more about Goodman and his work by visiting the author’s website.

Jocelyn from Kelly & Hall sent me a copy of The Book Lover by Maryann McFadden (Three Women Press, May 2012). This novel takes a look inside the world of books; from aspiring writers to booksellers to successful authors and the unchartered land of self-publishing, and explores every facet through the eyes of two women. Author Caroline Leavitt describes the novel as “a feast for book lovers” and author Sarah Pekkanen calls it “heartfelt and richly woven.”

Maryann McFadden is the author The Richest Season and So Happy Together. She is a speaker and writing coach. She lives in New Jersey where she is at work on her fourth novel. Learn more about McFadden and her work by visiting the author’s website.

The Way by Kristen Wolf is not a book I typically read, but when I was offered a copy for review from Leyanne at FSB Associates, I decided to check it out. Published by Crown Publishing in July 2011, the novel was endorsed by Oprah as a 2011 Fall Pick. The premise of the book is intriguing: This is the story of Anna, a girl in Ancient Palestine, who is disguised as a boy and sold to a band of shepherds. Subsequently captured by a secret society, Anna soon embarks on a quest that ultimately reveals the full truth of her remarkable identity…in fact, Anna is actually a female Jesus. A mix of fact and fantasy, the novel promises to be provocative and inspiring.

Kristen Wolf is a mother and writer living in the Rocky Mountains. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and holds an M.A. in creative writing and film from Hollins College. She has worked primarily as a writer and filmmaker. The Way is her first novel. Learn more about Wolf and her work by visiting the author’s website.

Pantheon Books sent me a finished copy of Watergate by Thomas Mallon which looks interesting and is being released later this month. This novel highlights the drama and high comedy of the Nixon presidency through the perspectives of seven characters. The novel moves “from the private cabins of Camp David to the klieg lights of the Senate Caucus Room, from the District of Columbia Jail to the Dupont Circle mansion of Theodore Roosevelt’s sharp-tongued ninety-year-old daughter, and into the hive of the Watergate complex itself, home not only to the Democratic National Committee but also to the president’s attorney general, his recklessly loyal secretary, and the shadowy man from Mississippi who pays out hush money to the burglars.”

Thomas Mallon has written eight novels. He has also published non-fiction books about plagiarism (Stolen Words), diaries (A Book of One’s Own), letters (Yours Ever) and the Kennedy assassination (Mrs. Paine’s Garage), as well as two volumes of essays (Rockets and Rodeos and In Fact). His work appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Book Review and other publications. He received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Harvard University and taught for a number of years at Vassar College. The recipient of Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships, as well as the National Book Critics Circle award for reviewing, he has been literary editor of Gentlemen’s Quarterly and deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He currently directs the Creative Writing program at The George Washington University in Washington, D. C. Learn more about Mallon and his work by visiting the author’s website.

Did any great books arrive at YOUR house this week?

February 12, 2012

Good morning and welcome to The Sunday Salon! Visit the dedicated Facebook Page to get links to more Salon posts.

I am very happy to report that my huge reading slump which lasted all of January now seems to be over – yahoo! I am reading some wonderful books this month which I cannot wait to share with you.

I finished reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding which lived up to my expectations (read my review). This classic novel is being discussed in my Bookies Too Yahoo book club and I think it makes an excellent discussion book. Golding explores the question of morality and the breakdown of civilization in the book…and it gets a little emotionally rough in places. I only vaguely remember my thoughts of the novel when I first read it as a teenager, but as an adult it made a big impression. There is a lot of symbolism in Lord of the Flies which makes it a novel that would, I think, stand up very well to a re-read. Have you read this classic?

My next read was a novella by Tina Egnoski. In the Time of the Feast of Flowers is really a coming of age story about two teenage girls growing up in Florida during the mid-1970s (read my review). Having graduated from High School in 1978, there was much I could relate to in this very well written book. Egnoski won the 2010 Clay Reynolds Novella Prize for this one, and it is easy to see why. She writes beautifully.

Have you ever read the first two pages of a book and know immediately you will love it? That is what happened for me when I began reading Come In and Cover Me by Gin Phillips. Some time ago I bought Phillips’ debut (The Well and The Mine) and am now more motivated than ever to read it. This latest novel is set in New Mexico and revolves around an archeologist named Ren. Ren has an unusual gift of being able to communicate with the dead – or maybe I should say, they communicate with her – and she is led to uncover the life of a woman, an artist, who lived in prehistoric times. But the book is deeper than all of that – it is about loss and recovery, and letting go of the past to move on with with our lives. The writing is wonderful. The character development is paced perfectly. I am 2/3rds of the way through and should finish the novel today…so watch for my review. Have any of you managed to get a copy of this one yet? It was released last month through Riverhead.

I have no idea what my next read will be – I am letting my mood guide my book choices these days – but I have a feeling it might be a light, genre read. We’ll see…

Today is a gorgeous day in Northern California. My hubby and I are heading over to a friend’s house for lunch and I don’t imagine I will have a lot of time to just kick back today. What about you? Are you doing anything fun? Whatever it is, I do hope you will have time, at some point, to enjoy a great book!

Abby Newman is a teenager growing up in a small Florida town in the mid-1970s. She comes from a good family. She is smart. She has her whole future in front of her. But, then there is Dana, Abby’s best friend, a girl who lives life on the edge of disaster and tests the boundaries of good behavior. Dana comes from a home which includes a series of questionable step-fathers and a permissive mother. As Abby and Dana’s friendship grows ever closer, they begin to break in to local homes, slipping through windows in the dark of night, rummaging through other peoples’ hidden lives, and taking small items as souvenirs. Abby’s relationship with Dana becomes more than a friendship – she falls in love with this wild girl who dares to break the rules, and the two teens become secret lovers. As their world begins to spin out of control, the dark secrets of their lives will teach both of them lessons about betrayal, loyalty and the consequences of impulsive decisions made in a split second.

Tina Egnoski’s award winning novella, In the Time of the Feast of Flowers, is a sensitive coming-of-age story. Egnoski writes with authority not only about life in a small town, but about a generation growing up during the socially progressive years of the 1970s. Feminism took on a prominent role in the decade of the 70s, and Egnoski’s novella explores issues of sexual exploration and women’s rights through the eyes of two female characters. Abby’s struggle with her sexuality – gay or not gay? – and her crush on an English teacher, provide much of the internal conflict in the book.

Another strong theme is that of searching for one’s identity and the feeling of moving away from one’s parents and becoming more autonomous. Abby, who has been raised to follow the rules and who is expected to go on to college and a profession, finds her time with Dana thrilling and empowering.

How do I describe the heightened thrill of standing in an empty house, adrenaline pumping in my chest and at my temples? Both invincible and invisible, I left behind my cautious self and became, even if for only a few minutes, someone else, as if by turning the doorknob and stepping inside – zip, flash, bang – I was confident and stealthy, in charge. – from In the Time of the Feast of Flowers, page 27 -

Egnoski’s writing is poetic and her characters ring true. The complex relationship between Dana and Abby drives the plot, and although I was not completely surprised by the turn of events toward the end, there was enough tension to keep me turning the pages. Ultimately, despite some personal tragedy for the characters, the novella delivers a hopeful message that we can survive our deepest mistakes and move forward into a satisfying future.

I graduated from High School in 1978, and related to many of the references in this book. Egnoski includes the music, dress, attitudes and technology of a time that helped form the woman I became, making this a novella which felt meaningful to me on a personal level. Readers who enjoy novellas, coming-of-age stories and books which explore complex themes, will find In the Time of the Feast of Flowers an intriguing read.

In the Time of the Feast of Flowers won the 2010 Clay Reynolds Novella Prize.

Recommended.

• Quality of Writing: 
• Characters: 
• Plot:

Overall Rating:

FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher/author for review on my blog.

Readers wishing to purchase this book from an Indie Bookstore may click on the book link below to find Indie sellers. As an Indiebound Associate, I receive a small commission if readers purchase a book through this link on my blog.

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A plane crashes on a deserted island, leaving in its wake children – the only survivors. These children are British school boys, civilized kids with manners and well-versed in respect for authority. There are very small children – the “littluns” who don’t seem to understand the enormity of what has happened. And there are older kids, boys who quickly recognize the need for a leader, a chief of sorts. A new society is forming, and before long survival demands a return to one’s baser instincts.

Lord of the Flies is a classic. Penned in 1954 by Nobel Laureate William Golding, it is a novel which asks deep moral questions and examines what happens when the civilized world is stripped away and individuals are left to create their own society.

Two main characters emerge early on. Ralph is a sandy-haired boy who is quickly chosen to be the “chief” and who focuses on building shelter and maintaining a fire to attract rescue. He holds “assemblies,” where participants are called to participate with a blow from a conch and are designed to maintain order. Jack is a charismatic boy, the leader of a choir of boys, who quickly establishes himself as the hunter, tracking down the wild pigs on the island with a sharpened stick as a spear. Before long, Jack and Ralph are in a competition for leadership with Ralph being the voice of reason, and Jack appealing to the more savage aspects of the boys’ personalities.

Another character, Piggy, emerges as the philosopher and the scapegoat. Piggy is obese, bespectacled, afflicted with asthma, and a bit of a know-it-all. Despite his wisdom (or maybe because of it), he is bullied.

There had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which did not matter, but by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination for manual labor. – from Lord of the Flies, page 60 -

There is also a fourth character, Simon, who plays an important role in the novel. Simon is a loner, but he is also reasonable and practical and gifted with an insight which the others lack. When talk of a beast begins, it is Simon who refuses to acknowledge a physical beast and instead recognizes that the beast is the fear within them.

These four characters – Jack, Ralph, Simon and Piggy – take center stage in a novel about the disintegration of morals and the descent into savagery.

I first read this novel in high school…and my memory of it is inexact. Of course, I remembered Piggy for his victimization, but in terms of theme, my memory was lacking. During this re-read, the story returned to me and I found it so much more compelling from my adult point of view. Classic literature is defined as something which stands the test of time…and there is no doubt that The Lord of the Flies meets that definition with its memorable characters, shocking twists of plot and ruminations on what it means to be human. Written in the 1950s, it could easily have been penned today.

Lord of the Flies is a novel which will generate great discussion in book groups and in the classroom. It is not an “enjoyable” read, and yet it is an engaging one. There is a good deal of violence in this slim book and I found myself anxious as the plot unfurls and it becomes obvious that things are going very, very wrong.

This is a classic, dysptopian-type novel about good vs. evil, but it also forces the reader to look within and to examine his or her role as part of a larger society.

Highly recommended.

• Quality of Writing:
• Characters:
• Plot:

Overall Rating:

FTC Disclosure: I purchased this book.

Readers wishing to purchase this book from an Indie Bookstore may click on the book link below to find Indie sellers. As an Indiebound Associate, I receive a small commission if readers purchase a book through this link on my blog.

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Visit Metroreader today to get links to other readers’ mailboxes.

Go to the dedicated blog for the meme to see the complete tour schedule in the left hand sidebar.

A tantalizing array of books arrived at my house this week:

Jenny Lawson’s blog is on my daily must-read list. Better known as The Bloggess, she is painfully funny and outrageous. Her often inappropriate humor just makes me laugh. So when I saw she was publishing her first book, a memoir, I was eager to get my hands on it. I literally begged my contact at Penguin. I think I even offered to kill if it would help me get a copy of the book for review. So imagine my joy when Let’s Pretend This Never Happened arrived at my doorstep! Due for release in April 2012 through Amy Einhorn, the book is being described as “adorably offensive,” and “hilarious, snarky, witty, totally inappropriate.“  Lawson says out loud what most of us just think privately. I am going to try to wait until April to read Lawson’s memoir – but don’t be surprised if I break down and get to it sooner.

Jenny Lawson writes for Good Mom/Bad Mom on the Houston Chronicle. She also writes a satirical sex column and  a parenting column.  Her blog is outrageously entertaining. Lawson lives with her long-suffering husband and daughter. She also has three cats: Posey, Rolly and Ferris Mewler.

Blue Monday by Nicci French arrived through Pamela Dorman Books (due for release in early March). This novel is the first in a new series of psychological thrillers and introduces Freida Klein, a solitary, incisive brilliant psychotherapist, who spends her sleepless nights walking the streets of London. When a five-year old boy is abducted, Frieda is left troubled: “one of her patients has been relating dreams in which he has a hunger for a child. A child he can describe in perfect detail, a child the spitting image of Matthew.“  Before long, Frieda is at the centre of the race to track the kidnapper. “But her race isn’t physical. She must chase down the darkest paths of a psychopath’s mind to find the answers to Matthew Farraday’s whereabouts.” I’ll be offering a giveaway of this book toward the end of February…so keep an eye on my blog if you want a chance to win a copy!

Nicci French is the nom de plume of bestselling writing partners Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. Nicci Gerrard graduated with a first class honours degree in English Literature from Oxford University and taught English Literature in Sheffield, London and Los Angeles in the early 80′s. She moved into publishing in 1985 with the launch of Women’s Review, a magazine for women on art, literature and female issues. She eventually became acting literary editor at the New Statesman, before moving to the Observer, where she was deputy literary editor for five years, and then a feature writer and executive editor.

Sean French also studied English Literature at Oxford University at the same time as Nicci, but their paths didn’t cross until 1990. In 1981 he won Vogue magazine’s Writing Talent Contest, and from 1981 to 1986 he was their theatre critic. During that time he also worked at the Sunday Times as deputy literary editor and television critic, and was the film critic for Marie Claire and deputy editor of New Society. Sean and Nicci were married in 1990 and began work on their first joint novel in 1995, adopting the pseudonym of Nicci French. Learn more about the couple and their work by visiting the Nicci French website.

How The Dog Became The Dog: From Wolves to Our Best Friends by Mark Derr arrived from The Overlook Press (published October 2011). I stumbled upon an article on Brain Pickings about The Silver Fox Experiment and this book. Embedded in the article is a wonderful video excerpt from BBC’s excellent The Secret Life of the Dog. After watching the entire footage, I knew I needed to read Derr’s book as well, which explores the science and history of dogs as well as the dog-human relationship and how it has shaped our development and history.  Check out this terrific piece on NPR about the book.

Mark Derr is the author of Dog’s Best Friend and A Dog’s History of America. He is an expert on the subject of dogs and writes for The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Natural History and Smithsonian. Learn more about Derr and his work by following the author’s blog.

Hyperion Voice sent me an Advance Readers Edition of The Red Book by Deborah Copaken Kogan (due for publication April 2012). I read Copaken Kogan’s debut novel Between Here and April which I really enjoyed (read my review), and so I was happy to receive a copy of her most recent book. The Red Book is described as a cross between “The Big Chill” and Mary McCarthy’s “The Group.” It centers around a once-close circle of Harvard alumni who meet up at their 20 year class reunion.

Deborah Copaken Kogan is the author of Shutterbabe, her best selling memoir about her years as a war photographer. She has also published one previous novel. She has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Elle, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Slate. She lives in New York with her husband and three children. Learn more about Copaken Kogan by visiting the author’s website.

The good folks over at Tor Forge sent me a finished copy of Living Proof by Kira Peikoff (being released later this month). Set in the future in 2027, this debut novel explores a current and relevant topic and adds a futuristic twist. This imagined future proposes that destroying an embryo is considered first-degree murder. A brilliant young doctor by the name of Arianna Drake seems to be thriving in the spotlight until she comes under investigation for possible illegal activity. Described as “a celebration of love and life that cuts to the core of a major cultural debate of our time,” this promises to be a thrilling debut.

Kira Peikoff has written for  New York Daily News, The Orange County Register, Newsday, and New York magazine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from NYU. Living Proof is her first novel. Learn more about Piekoff and her work by visiting the author’s website.

Did any wonderful books arrive at YOUR home this week?

February 5, 2012

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Sunday Salon. Visit the dedicated Facebook page to get links to other readers’ posts.

My January reading was the slowest of any time over the last four years. I only finished five books – half of my goal to read ten books per month. Not a great way to start a new year. I am really hoping that I can turn things around in February!

My final book for January ended up being The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney (read my review) which I enjoyed for its twisty plot and quality of writing. The novel is set in England and centers around the mystery of a missing girl, a family of gypsies and a private investigator. Penney narrates the book from two points of view and dips back and forth in time. Readers who enjoyed The Tenderness of Wolves will most likely not be disappointed in this one – although I preferred Penney’s debut myself.

I started February with Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron (read my review). This is an amazing book, although a heartbreaking one. Benaron won the Bellwether Prize for Fiction in 2010 for this novel and I think it was well deserved. Set in Rwanda in the years leading up to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, Running the Rift follows the life of a talented runner named Jean Patrick. Very few books actually make me cry, but this one did just that. Benaron knows how to develop characters and by the end of the book I really cared about Jean Patrick, his girlfriend Bea and their families. If you like world literature, historical fiction and literary fiction…this is the perfect book for you.

My current read is a classic. Lord of the Flies by Nobel-prize winning author William Golding was first published in 1954 and was Golding’s debut novel. The book is not without some controversy having been challenged frequently for its violent portrayals of young boys who sink into savagery after being stranded on an island together. Lord of the Flies has been adapted to film – first in 1963, then in 1990. Have any of you seen the movie? Here is a trailer from the 1990 version:

Lord of the Flies is a relatively short book (200 pages), so I hope to finish it up by tomorrow. I have no idea what I will read next. I have a huge stack of books for February, as well as several that I had hoped to read in January. I am going to let my mood guide me.

In other bookish news, the folks over at World Book Night have extended the deadline to enter to be a giver to February 6th…so you have one more day to enroll! I was really excited to get an email telling me my application was chosen. Apparently, nearly everyone who completes an application will be allowed to participate. So don’t wait!!! I think this is going to be a fabulous event to look forward to in April!

Today is a sparkling, blue-sky day in Northern California. It is nippy out there this morning, but temps are supposed to get into the 60s later today. It feels more like early spring here than the middle of winter! I’m anticipating a hike with Raven and my hubby later, some reading, and a little quilting. How about you? Whatever you are doing and wherever you are, I hope it involves a great book!

There are many horrific events in the historical record. The Rwandan Genocide which occurred in 1994 and resulted in the deaths of more than 800,000 people (or close to 20% of the country’s population) is, perhaps, one of the most tragic. The violence took place over a 100 day period, although there were small outbreaks of violence in the years leading up to the tragedy – episodes which pointed to a build up of rage and misunderstanding between two ethnic groups: the Hutu and the Tutsi. The long-standing tension between these two groups escalated in part due to agitation by political and military leaders. The slaughter of hundreds of thousands of civilians occurred while the rest of the world looked on and did nothing.

It is this heartbreaking episode of genocide which informs Naomi Benaron’s affecting novel Running the Rift. Benaron opens her story in 1984, ten years before the tragedy, with a young Tutsi boy named Jean Patrick and his family. Jean Patrick loves to run and he has dreams of going on to college despite the difficulty which the Tutsi people face in attending secondary schools. As the chapters unfurl, the years slip past and Jean Patrick comes of age. He is a dreamer, an extraordinary athlete, and a young man with a generous heart. He loves his tight-knit family and clings to the memory of his father. Eventually he finds himself training to become an Olympic runner. He falls in love with a beautiful Hutu woman named Bea who is smart, fiery, and on the path to becoming an activist on the heels of her journalist father. But behind the hope which Jean Patrick holds in his heart, is an uncertain future. There are ominous signs that all is not right in Rwanda. There is the rumble of civil war. There is the hatred toward the Tutsi people being fanned by an outspoken Hutu militaristic government. And, eventually, the day will come when everything Jean Patrick holds dear, including his life, will become threatened.

Running the Rift is a heartbreaking, character-driven novel about the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable horror and loss. Benaron builds her story slowly, taking time to develop the characters and unveil their simple lives against the backdrop of the stunning Rwandan countryside. Jean Patrick lives and breathes on the page, as does his counterpart, Bea. The reader begins to care deeply about these characters and worry for them seeps in as the novel progresses.

I turned the final hundred pages of Running the Rift with my heart in my throat and tears in my eyes because at its heart, this book is about individuals. It is not about an historical event. It is about the people, the families, the individual lives which were destroyed or forever changed during those fateful days in 1994. It is unimaginable. It is horrifying.

I remember when the Rwandan Genocide happened. I was living in California and I remember the news footage of people laying slaughtered in the streets. I remember asking myself how this could happen and why no one stopped it. What Benaron’s novel does so exquisitely is to get beneath the headlines and examine the daily lives of the people living in Rwanda in the years leading up to the tragedy. She uncovers the tensions and the complexities of a country in flux and how misunderstandings between ethnic groups can grow into something so hate-filled that neighbors and friends can turn on each other.

Benaron explores themes of forgiveness and redemption in her novel which I found hopeful. The author has worked with Rwandan genocide survivors and visited Rwanda where she has an adopted son, so her insight into the aftermath of the genocide feels authentic.

Running the Rift won the Bellwether Prize for Fiction and it is well deserving of this literary award which recognizes “fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships.” This is a novel which is sublimely crafted and highly recommended.

• Quality of Writing:
• Characters:
• Plot:

Overall Rating:

FTC Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher as part of BOOK CLUB. Follow the discussion here.

Readers wishing to purchase this book from an Indie Bookstore may click on the book link below to find Indie sellers. As an Indiebound Associate, I receive a small commission if readers purchase a book through this link on my blog.

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I received an email today letting me know that my application to become a book giver for World Book Night on April 23, 2012 was accepted and I was one of those chosen to give books away!!!

Dear World Book Night book giver,

 Yes, you read that right: World Book Night book giver! Has a nice ring to it, yes? And you’re one of them, or will be on April 23! Thank you!!!!!!!

It is not too late for YOU to also apply…the deadline has been extended to Monday, Feb. 6 at midnight and all you need to do is go here to send in your application.

Have you applied but didn’t get an email like I got? Check your spam folder…because it looks like no book lovers will be denied:

…everyone who applied with any care or thoughtfulness will get their box of books come April 23. Everyone take a deep breath. We’ll find a way, and we plan to have extra boxes stationed all over America. No book lover will be denied.

So, I hope you’ll join me this April in giving out free books to people and celebrating this wonderful thing called reading!!

Ray is a private detective who is working through his own personal demons after separating from his wife. He doesn’t like missing person cases so it is with some reluctance that he listens to a Romany man tell him about his missing daughter, a girl gone six years now. Despite his reticence, Ray finds himself pulled into the case and promising to find out what happened to Rose Janko all those years ago after she wed a Gypsy named Ivo.

JJ is Ivo’s nephew, a fourteen year old boy without a father who has grown curious about his family’s secrets. He loves his cousin Christo, Ivo’s son, who is suffering from a mysterious family disease. JJ wants nothing more than to find a cure for Christo and uncover the identity of the father he has never met.

As Ray and JJ get closer to understanding what is hidden beneath the surface of the Janko family, things get more dangerous, and what appears to be the truth ends up being something entirely different from what they expect.

Set in Northern England in the mid-1980s, Stef Penney’s second novel takes the reader on a convoluted journey to uncover a mystery. Rich in detail about the nomadic life of the Romany people, The Invisible Ones is an intriguing and well-written book. There are two narrative threads which intertwine. JJ’s point of view is that of an insider, while Ray (although part-Gypsy himself) is clearly viewed as an outsider. In large part, the novel deals with the idea of identity and how the cultural, familial, and individual roles we play come together to form the complete person.

Strange, isn’t it, how you can think of yourself as one thing for ninety-five percent of your waking life, and then an encounter with something or someone jerks you into remembering you’re something else, that other five percent that’s always been there, but slumbering, keeping its head down. – from The Invisible Ones -

Penney has a way of constructing her novels to provide tension. This novel had me guessing right up until the end when Penney inserts a twist I did not see coming. Despite some moments of implausibility, the plot of this novel held up in the end.

Readers who enjoy suspense mysteries embedded in family sagas will enjoy The Invisible Ones.

Recommended.

• Quality of Writing:
• Characters:
• Plot:

Overall Rating:

FTC Disclosure: This book was sent to me by the publisher for review on my blog.

Readers wishing to purchase this book from an Indie Bookstore may click on the book link below to find Indie sellers. As an Indiebound Associate, I receive a small commission if readers purchase a book through this link on my blog.

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Yesterday marked three years since Caribou left me. Three years. It is hard to imagine because until very recently, her loss felt so acute it could only have been days since she closed her eyes for the last time. Caribou was a dog, but she was more than that to me. She was my search and rescue partner. She was a loyal friend. She rescued me from the depths of depression, and then showed me there was still joy in my future when she brought me to my husband through his dog, Argus.

After Caribou died, I shared my early anguish…and then I fell silent. My grief for her become solitary. My husband and I got a new puppy – Raven – very quickly. I loved her, of course I did, but I didn’t open my heart all the way to this new puppy. I just could not. It seemed around every corner was this memory of another dog, a friend to whom I was not ready to say good-by. Not yet.

After Raven came to live with us, I was asked many times if I would train her to do search and rescue. My answer was always no. My husband and I had talked about it, and in the end decided we were done with that part of our lives. Truthfully, I had lost my heart for it. The thought of slipping into my search gear and stepping out into the woods to train a new dog filled me with something like despair.

A month ago, however, I did just that. It was a beautiful sunny day with a cool breeze. My husband and I called it a hike, but we both knew we were doing something bigger. We clipped a search vest on Raven, fastened a bell to her collar, and headed into the woods to play search games. Raven is a natural. She took to the game as though she had just been waiting for the day we would ask her to “go search.” She ran with abandon, tongue lolling, eyes bright. And I found myself laughing, encouraging her, praising her every effort. We had fun.

Fast forward several weeks now. My husband and I are walking back to our vehicle and Raven is prancing, head up and proud of her training session. The sun is filtering through the pines and the wind has reddened our cheeks. A joy has filled my heart and as I watch my dog, I realize I am not thinking of Caribou. Instead I am enjoying Raven with her easy going personality, her sense that life is a big game…and love swells inside me. I have not noticed grief walking away, but suddenly I recognize its absence in the lightness of my step and the unfurling of joy from my heart.

That is the nature of grief, I think. It is there for a long time, and then it slips away and leaves in its wake a small scar. It makes way for something else eventually. For me, that something is the ability to enjoy a hike with my dog again, to find laughter in playing a search game, to feel a connection with another being who I had first held at a distance.

My husband and I are not returning to canine search and rescue. We have no plans to certify Raven. We are simply enjoying the time together – the three of us.