the sound of glass by Karen White: review

(I was in the middle of reading one book when I decided to read my November book club pick, not the smartest thing to do. So I am almost finished Golden Notebook, so I hope to have a blog by the end of the week.)

the sound of glass by Karen White ( and yes I realize I did not use capitals in the title, but neither did she,) published by New American Library a division of Penguin Group, May 2015. This book starts off with a plane crash, accident and a young woman afraid of her husband. Then we jump ahead 2 generations to an accident which leaves a young widow looking for answers about her husband and an inheritance of his family home in Beaufort, South Carolina.  We also have a step-mother, half-brother Owen to Merritt, the second generational widow, and Gibbes the brother to Merritt's husband Cal. All these lives are weaved within a tale of abuse, suffering, hardship and mystery that gets centered around a plane crash that happened when Edith Heyward finds a note in the bottom of a suitcase that had blown up over the skies of Beaufort. This book is written in two voices one is Merritt whenever we are in a chapter about her and the second is third person narration when we are in other chapters.  This is a bit confusing at first, but makes sense.

The only other thing that was really troubling in the read was the fact that each generation of abusers in the narrative were named Cal. I had to think which Cal were they talking about, but eventually I got used to it and settled in for the read. The domestic abuse in this narrative was both physical and psychological, making the woman feel less than adequate, playing on their fears, until they were lucky enough to escape, unfortunately one was through death of the woman.

Characters that I loved:
Loralee- Merritt's very young step-mother who writes down sayings in a journal for her son, some of her own and some her mother uses to say to her. She also spouts of sayings from her mother to Merritt, which annoys Merritt immensely, as she has never liked her step-mother for taking place of her mother.
Owen- the half-brother who is the only one who seems to be able to bring a smile to Merritt's face. He is very much like his big sister and Loralee loves to make the comparisons.

Okay I liked all the characters, but the two above were my favorite. Merritt for her strength to face her demon. Gibbes for his gentleness towards this new family, especially since he knew nothing about Merritt as his brother never mentioned her and vice a versa.

There are so many plot twists, some more obvious then others but still essential to the telling of the story. A good book all around.

Review: THE LEWIS MAN, by Peter May

THE LEWIS MAN by Peter May, first published overseas in 2012, my copy was published by Quercus in the United States, 2014.

My husband loves chess, so while I was dropping my daughter off to go to the University of Nottingham in England, I kept seeing the signs for Peter May's book called the THE CHESSMEN. I was immediately intrigued because of the reference to chess, I am a little crazy that way when it comes to finding books. I asked at all the bookstores, including the one at the Heathrow, they just looked at me as if I were nuts. So I was on my own. I came home looked at my local book store, nada. Went online where I did find it, but realized it was part of a series. In fact it was the third book in the series. If you are like me, you do not start a book in the middle or end of a series. So I set about finding the first book, THE BLACKHOUSE. It was not in the stores, I find that retail stores never seem to have the first book of any series. However, my library had the first book, one copy which I had to have shipped to my branch. The opening caught me and it was here that I met the Inspector Fin Macleod for the first time. An inspector who comes back to his hometown to solve a mystery. His visit brings up bad memories and bad relationships, but this crime committed is similar to a crime in Edinburgh that has been unsolved for years. After reading this book, I knew that I had to find the next book in the series. I however, could not find the book anywhere, not in bookstores, not in the library, only on-line being shipped from the United Kingdom. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

Then about a week ago, I was in the bookstore and found THE CHESSMEN. Now I really had to find the second book, surely someone would have it. I looked in the bookstore and nothing. I looked online and still nothing in the States. Library, my last resource, boom, we have lift off. Only one place had it and so once again I had to order it to my local branch.
I love the way that Peter May opens a story, he kind of slowly pulls you into it and then you are hooked. In this story, we open up with a little girl heading into the bogs to help harvest the peat. We find her in the kitchen getting ready and we see what she sees, even what her father and brother do not wish her to see hidden in the bog. Then we jump headlong into the book who is this mysterious man, is he one of the bog men from hundreds of years ago that have been preserved in the peat, or something newer. Our Inspector Macleod has left his job in Edinburgh and has come back to fix up his family home, he is no longer with the police. But this does not stop him from looking into the body and asking some really important questions. Like who is Tormod, the father of  his love interest Marsaili, and how is he related to the body in the bog.

This book deals with not only solving the murder, but also dealing with someone who has dementia. Trying to get a person who is lost in their memories, who cannot function or remember to even get up and go to the bathroom, how can they possibly aid in the investigation. Another topic brought up is teenage pregnancy, how do you deal with a baby when you want to go to school and the whole world seems against you. Lots of good topics wrapped up in one pretty good mystery.

I cannot wait to read THE CHESSMEN, and yes I know it is not about chess. But that title led me to a great read. Look Peter May up, he also has another series, which I am going to start to read.