The White Hare by Jane Johnson

Happy Monday, readers! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things tour for Jane Johnson's The White Hare. 

Mila, her mother Magda, and her daughter have come to White Valley to turn a rundown country home into a guest house. But from the start things go awry. 

The locals are superstitious and surly. The location is remote. And two women on their own aren't necessarily going to be treated with much respect. But that's not all. Things have gone missing, workers have gotten injured, and everyone hints of strange and possibly dark happenings at the house. 

Mila is hesitant to believe local lore, but even she has to admit there's something strange about the house and the area. But is it a ghost. Or is it something older, something wilder, something that traces back to the earliest Cornish people?

The White Hare is brimming with brilliant characters and excellent atmosphere. And I absolutely love it!

Set after WWII, the book finds Mila, a newly single mom in a quite awkward position, her mother, Magda, a formidable Polish woman not to be trifled with, stuck together in this new venture. Mila wants what's best for her daughter Janey. Magda wants...what Magda wants. And Mila already feels trapped just a few days into their arrival at the new home. 

Before long, they meet a stranger, Jack, who is a help. But not all of the locals are as welcoming. And the already remote setting plus the local sentiment has Mila feeling even worse than before, longing for her lost home in London. 

Janey on the other hand seems to find things to like in the new place. And her imaginary friend, Rabbit, is almost always by her side. But she's begun to say strangely prescient things and her drawings have become odd as well. And Mila isn't sure what to do. 

Mila and her struggle to provide the best for her daughter are at the heart of the story. As is the mystery of the valley and the house itself, which is hinted at throughout. 

This is a book to be savored. A book that will transport you to the Cornish countryside no matter where you happen to be while reading. A book that's perfect for anyone who enjoys a little bit of mystery and a little bit of magic in their reading!

The Woman in the Wood by M.K. Hill

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things tour for M.K. Hill's latest DI Sasha Dawson mystery, The Woman in the Wood. 

Three years ago, nineteen year old Rhiannon Jenkins went missing. Witnesses last saw her with four men: reality star Danny "Abs" Cruikshank, Andrew "Deano" Dean, Jeremy "Jez" Weston, and Tony Gardner, who had been vacationing in Wales. And although no evidence of wrongdoing has ever been found, simply being associated with the story meant something of a downfall for Abs in particular. 

Now, however, Deano is dead. And it doesn't look to be an accident either. Tony is convinced that he's being followed, which is enough for him to call a meeting with the other two. Could it be that someone knows what happened that night? But if so, why have they waited so long to exact their revenge?

Sasha Dawson is part of the team investigating Deano's death and it's clear from the start this is murder. The man was killed by a train, and completely drunk, true. But he also had acid in his eyes and burns consistent with a cattle prod. Which matches the train conductor's statement that he'd seen someone with a walking stick on the train platform. 

But for Sasha, this case is more than just Deano's murder. It's uncovering what happened three years ago as well. 

So let me start off by saying that although this is technically the second book in a series, you don't have to have read the first book in order to sink into this one. Which is perfect because I myself have not yet read the first book, The Bad Place. 

That said, I so enjoyed this book by Hill that I abs (sorry, had to do it) will be seeking out book 1 and book 3 when it's released as well!

The book alternates between various points of view (starting with Deano's but mostly focusing on Sasha and Abs) and timelines so that the reader gets the full perspective of the present day investigation while also getting pieces of what happened three years ago. Although it is known from the outset that the men are guilty of something, the revelation of the exact what, why, is teased out as the story progresses. 

I found myself truly unable to tear away from this one and I did not see the twist coming at all! This was a great mystery and I'm really looking forward to reading more from Hill. 

The Woman in the Wood is an excellent police procedural, perfect for readers who love intricate and careful plotting and great characters! It's out now from Head of Zeus.

The Miracle of Grace by Kate Kerrigan

When Grace learns that her mother has stage IV ovarian cancer and that it's likely terminal, she's shocked. Frankly, though, it's not so much the cancer that sets her reeling as the way she finds out about it - an innocuous notation, number eight in fact, on one of her mother's to do lists: 

8. Tell G have ov cancer. Prob term. 

Eileen's cancer should bring the two together, unite them against a fate that is almost inevitable. Instead the note, the illness, the whole situation stresses the relationship between mother and daughter. But as time progresses and Grace's life spirals even further out of control, she comes to realize that her mother is the one who has always been there. In time, she also comes to learn that there's much about her mother she's taken for granted and stories she's never been told... 

Oh, Eileen is wonderful! Her story, her journey from a bright-eyed, devout child enamored with a pair of red slacks to the mother she becomes was my absolute favorite part of this book. It's likely in part due to the fact that she reminded me just a bit of another character I'd recently become attached to whose relationship with her husband was similar to how Eileen's turned out. Just a smidge of reminiscence but enough to make her that much more of a favorite of mine in the reading.

Grace on the other hand took much longer to become attached to. It was her stubbornness and anger over the note that I just couldn't reconcile! It's hard to imagine (though I know it happens) turning anger and hurt over such a revelation onto the person who's suffering rather than the situation itself.

Don't worry, that's part of Grace's story.

The dual narrative gives readers a chance to really get to know both Grace and Eileen AND illustrate the true differences between their generations. This was another aspect I really, really loved about The Miracle of Grace. Eileen is somewhat trapped by her situation thanks to the time and place she's grown up in. Grace's own coming of age, however, is much different - again thanks to the era in question. There was so much social change, some of which Grace acknowledges in her own chapters, between when the two woman lived that it's quite easy to see how there would be such a disconnect between them.

Where Recipes for a Perfect Marriage also explored those generational differences, The Miracle of Grace is focused on the mother/daughter relationship rather than a spousal one. The style and elegance of Kerrigan's writing is always present but I do appreciate how different the two stories are from one another and even from the Ellis Island trilogy as well. Kerrigan has a great range and is a wonderful storyteller!

Rating: 4/5

Recipes for a Perfect Marriage by Kate Kerrigan

If you checked out the blog on Sunday then you know that I've been super excited about the first time ever US ebook release of two of Kate Kerrigan's earlier titles, Recipes for a Perfect Marriage and The Miracle of Grace. I also featured an excerpt of Recipes and promised a follow up review for you. Well, here it is!

Tressa is a successful food writer and kitchen designer living and working in Manhattan. But while her professional life is flourishing, her personal life is lacking. Tressa wants a husband and a family but still hasn't met the right man. And considering her flings with arrogant chefs in the industry are leading nowhere fast, she doesn't have much hope of meeting anyone anytime soon. 

Until she does. 

Dan, the super at her building, is hot. And he's into her. REALLY into her. And when - just a few months after beginning their relationship - he proposes, Tressa feels she has to say yes. But by the time they return from their honeymoon she realizes she's made a huge mistake; Tressa doesn't love Dan. 

Tressa's ideal marriage is based on the one her grandparents had. One of such passion that they lasted for fifty years. But Tressa doesn't know the whole story about her grandparents' relationship. She doesn't know, for example, that her grandmother wasn't in love when she got married either...

I'm going to go ahead and admit that I kind of (really) didn't like Tressa when Recipes began. All of her time and energy focused on how much she hated Dan was mean! I sympathized with her. I definitely sympathized with her! I'm sure everyone can relate to realizing a relationship is wrong. And I'm sure plenty of people (based on the statistics out there) have come to that conclusion after getting married.

But Dan's a nice guy. A really nice guy who's trying in spite of the fact that Tressa is making it so hard on him. Part of me wonders if he would have seriously considered her having some sort of mood disorder based on the abuse he takes from her!

And Tressa's grandmother, Bernadine, isn't much better with her husband James. At least there she's still harboring hurt over losing the man she really was in love with. But James, too, tries. And puts up with a lot.

I should point out that I don't need to fall in love with a character in order to enjoy their story. This is one perfect example why: the characters' evolution is the story.

While Tressa is trying to decide what to do about her marriage, how soon is appropriate to begin talks of divorce, she's decided to write a cookbook using her grandmother's old recipes. Each section of the book begins with one of those classic recipes, adding more to the theme of "Recipes for a Perfect Marriage." It's right there in the beginning of the book with the first lines:

The heart of a recipe, what makes it work, is a mystery. Taste is such a personal thing and yet the right recipe can open a person’s mind to a food they thought they didn’t like. Then again, you can put all the right ingredients together, follow the instructions exactly, and still have a disaster on your hands.

And it's there in the recipe for Tressa's grandmother's rhubarb tart with the comment that the rhubarb alone is too bitter to be palatable. Tressa and her grandmother both are like that rhubarb - bitter. For Tressa, it's of her own making. For her grandmother it's because of an unfortunate series of circumstances. But their husbands, to my mind, are the sugar (even for the reader, considering they're both more likable in the beginning than their wives are!). 

How or whether their relationships come together in harmony or become the disasters Tressa notes in the lines above is for you to find out. I can promise you that even if you don't like rhubarb, though, you'll love following both Tressa and Bernadine's stories!

Recipes for a Perfect Marriage by Kate Kerrigan - Excerpt

Hi, everyone! Today, this first day of November, I have a very special post-Halloween treat for you. I know some of you might have grown tired of all the horror posts from the end of last month, so this will be a welcome change for you  especially, I expect :)

This is quite an exciting post for me. You may recall when I read and reviewed Kate Kerrigan's Ellis Island trilogy; I loved this series and was quite sad when all was said and done. So you can imagine how truly pleased I was to find out that UK publisher Head of Zeus would be releasing two of Kerrigan's earlier titles in ebook here in the US. This is the first time these titles have been available Stateside! I'll be covering them both here on the blog this month. Today I've got an excerpt of Recipes for a Perfect Marriage to share with you, but before we dive into the excerpt here's a bit about the book from Goodreads:

New York food writer Tressa returns from honeymoon worried that she has married her impossibly handsome new husband Dan out of late-thirties panic instead of love.

In 1930’s Ireland, her grandmother, Bernadine, is married off to the local schoolteacher after her family are unable to raise a dowry for her to marry her true love, Michael.

During the first year of her marriage, Tressa distracts herself from her stay-or-go dilemma by working on her grandmother’s recipes, searching for solace and answers through their preparation.

Through the stories of these two women Recipes for a Perfect Marriage challenges the modern ideal of romantic love as a given and ponders whether true love can really be learned.

And now, here's a taste of Recipes for a Perfect Marriage.  

Prologue

The heart of a recipe, what makes it work, is a mystery. Taste is such a personal thing and yet the right recipe can open a person’s mind to a food they thought they didn’t like. Then again, you can put all the right ingredients together, follow the instructions exactly, and still have a disaster on your hands.

That’s how it has always been with me and my Grandma Bernadine’s brown bread. I would do exactly as she showed me, but it would always come out a little too crumbly or doughy or hard.

“You’re too fussy,” she’d say. “Put some jam on and just eat it anyway. It’ll be different again tomorrow.”

And it was always different. But it was never right. Like my marriage to Dan.

They say you just know the man you are going to marry. That’s how it’s supposed to work. You date guys, sleep with them, live with them—get through your twenties having fun falling in and out of love. Then one day you meet this man and you just know he is “The One.” He’s different from everyone else you have ever met. You feel happier, more special, more alive when you are with him. So you get married.

For two weeks you are Barbie and Ken. There’s a big showoff wedding at the Plaza, and you wear a white meringue of a dress even though you are over thirty. You spend what should be the down payment for your first home on fourteen days in the Caribbean.

Then, when you get your “Ken” home, you realize he was an impulse buy. You wanted the “married” label so badly that you didn’t think it through, and now he doesn’t look as good as he did under the spangly lights of singledom. He doesn’t fit you properly, either; although you convinced yourself he’d be suitable for everyday use, you now find him uncomfortable and irritating. He has cost you your freedom; he is the most expensive mistake you will ever make. You have been married for less than three months and everything he does and everything he says makes you scream inside: For the rest of my life! I can’t live with this for the rest of my life!

But you don’t say it out loud because you are ashamed of having made such a terrible, terrible mistake. Even though you despise him for the way he clips his toenails in bed, you know it is not grounds for divorce. You know that this silent torture you are living with is entirely your fault for marrying him when you didn’t really love him. Not enough, certainly. Now that you think back on it, did you ever love him at all, or was it all just about you desperately wanting to get married? Because surely love is too strong to allow these petty everyday annoyances to turn it into hatred. Love is bigger than that. Love doesn’t make mistakes. Not real love. Not the kind of love that makes you marry someone.

by the seventh week of married life the statistic that one in four marriages ends in divorce cheers you, and you have decided that six months is a respectable amount of time to be seen trying to make it work.

Except that you know you haven’t. Tried, that is. And you can’t help thinking that perhaps you are just part of a generation of women who finds marriage a challenging and difficult state of being.

Or perhaps there is no universal group, no zeitgeist-y cliché to hide behind.

In which case I am just a woman who married the wrong guy and is trying to find a way out.

I hope y'all are as excited about this one as I am! I'll be posting my review of this one Friday and I'll be covering Kerrigan's The Miracle of Grace next week as well.