Woman No. 17 by Eden Lepucki

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Edan Lepucki's latest, Woman No. 17.

Lady and her producer husband are separated and so she decides she needs a nanny to help with her youngest son, Devin. Lady is supposed to be focusing on writing a book, after all, and the help will allow her to do so. Or so she thinks. 

S answers the ad and seems a good fit. But S isn't just looking for a nanny position. S is an artist working on a live art project recreating the life her mother once lived. 

As the sweltering summer passes by, the two woman play out their roles almost perfectly. Almost. As the days pass, their secrets bubble to the top and threaten to spill over. 

Well, Woman No. 17 was a study in awful people and toxic relationships, apparently.

Lady and her husband are on a trial separation. A separation prompted and held strong by Lady herself. She says she needs space, room to breathe and think, and hiring a nanny further allows that. Or so she thinks. She's under contract to write a book after an article about her oldest son gained tons of attention. But she's blocked.

S meanwhile, is a floundering artist. Her first attempt at art flopped and now she's onto a new project, in part to prove her seriousness to her medium after her boyfriend dumps her. Her new project? To become her mother. She dies and cuts her hair, buys a new wardrobe, takes up drinking in massive quantities, and even adopts new mannerisms all to recreate her mother's life in the early 90s. And documents it through Polaroids.

The women are tied together by their terrible relationships with their mothers. Indeed, Lady and S's mothers seem like two peas in a pod. And Lady and S have a lot in common as well. In fact, had they not been so focused on their own projects, they would have seen that and likely gotten on like a house on fire.

But that isn't the story.

No, instead, again this is a story about terrible people and toxic relationships. Their story is a train wreck from the very start and the reader can't possibly tear themselves away as they watch it all come to a crashing, burning end.

Edan Lepucki can write crazy good. But all in all I can't say that this was a fun read. As I realized neither of these characters was going to learn from or do anything to change their ways, it became more and more difficult to watch their stories play out. They're miserable people making everyone around them miserable.

Again, though, Lepucki can weave an engrossing story. Her prose is undeniably powerful. I think, however, that her debut, California, is much more my speed. Woman No. 17 was too close to reality TV for my own taste.

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Edan Lepucki and her work you can visit her website here. You can also follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Pre Pub Book Buzz: The World Before Us by Aislinn Hunter

Aislinn Hunter's The World Before Us has been on my radar for a while now. It was released in Canada in September and has been on my wish list as I bided my time for either a US release or inevitably broke down and ordered it internationally. Well, the wait is finally over! The World Before Us is due out from Hogarth in March.

Here's a bit about the book from Goodreads:

When she was just fifteen, smart, sensitive Jane Standen lived through a nightmare: she lost the sweet five-year-old girl she was minding during a walk in the woods. The little girl was never found, leaving her family, and Jane, devastated. Now the grown-up Jane is an archivist at a small London museum that is about to close for lack of funding. As her one last project, she is searching the archives for scraps of information related to another missing person--a woman who disappeared some 125 years ago from a Victorian asylum. As the novel moves back and forth between the museum in contemporary London, the Victorian asylum, and a dilapidated country house that seems to connect both missing people, it unforgettably explores the repercussions of small acts, the power of affection, and the irrepressible vitality of everyday objects and events.

Seriously, an archivist at a museum (a bookish character), a missing-person mystery, AND a Victorian asylum... yes, this hits the right notes for me already!

This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakauwila

Morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Kristiana Kahakauwila's This Is Paradise.

This debut short story collection from Kahakauwila highlights Hawaii in a way that will surprise and please readers, I think. Each story presents a slightly different look at the state and the people who live there. In "This is Paradise" it is - as the book synopsis calls it - a "chorus" of women telling the tale. Central to the story is the observance of a tourist whose choices show that Hawaii isn't always paradise for everyone. The second story, "Wanle," is about a young woman embedded in the cock fighting world whose ultimate goal is to avenge her father's death. "The Road to Hana" and "Thirty-Nine Rules for Making a Hawaiian Funeral Into a Drinking Game" both deal heavily with the native vs haole issue.  There's also a heavy focus on family and relationships throughout the book, as in the last two tales, "Portrait of a Good Father" and "The Old Paniola Way" (and stories previously mentioned).

While I enjoyed this sort of insider's look at Hawaii, I only wish that I could list it as one of the places I've visited in my life. It would give me as a reader a chance to contrast the touristy Hawaii with Kahakauwila's Hawaii. That said, the author does a wonderful job instilling a strong sense of place and an appreciation of the people who call it home.

This is Paradise is a great showcase of Kahakauwila's writing skill and talent in storytelling. One can only hope that there will be a full length novel somewhere down the line - something to really sink your teeth into - but until then this collection is a wonderful introduction to this author.

To see other stops on the tour, check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Kristiana and her work, visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook.