Category Archives: book reviews

The Monday Book: THE MURDERER’S DAUGHTERS by Randy Susan Meyers

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daughtersThis book came into the bookstore randomly this past fall, and one night in a lighthearted “what will I read next” ramble, I pulled it from the bookshelf …

… and lost my weekend. Murder’s Daughters is one of those “don’t get up” books where your life partner is going to need to bring you sandwiches. (S/he will if you promise to do the same when it’s his or her turn to read the book.) The plot moves pretty quickly for being as psychology-driven as it is, something I really enjoyed. I like analytical books, but they can drag. This one did not. What’s going to happen next was always on my mind as I carried it into the bathroom, read it at the kitchen table, ignored customers in the bookstore the first time they said hello.

The premise is straightforward: a man loses control and kills his wife, but the only reason he’s able to is that one of his two daughters–a mere child–opens the door for him. Everything else in the dysfunction junction tale that follows stems from that moment. And there are some lovely human psychology moments. How the girls get out of the children’s home they get stuck in –because their blood family doesn’t step up to the plate–is so compelling and so true to humanity that I cried.

The ways in which the two girls so differently handle their subsequent relationship with their father is interesting, but more compelling to me was the depiction of their growing up years in a group home, and how they related to each other by in turns being maternal and manipulative. The girls are well-drawn characters. Great characters drive great plots.

Meyers puts the synopsis of the book well on her website (http://www.randysusanmeyers.com/the-murderers-daughters/): “The Murderer’s Daughters is narrated in turn by Merry and Lulu [the daughters]. The book follows the sisters as children, as young women, and as adults, always asking how far forgiveness can stretch, while exploring sibling loyalty, the aftermath of family violence, and the reality of redemption.”

BTW Meyers has links to buy the book on her site. I know y’all will first explore ordering it from your local bookstore, then if needed buy from her Powell’s link; Powell’s is a cool bookstore with excellent business ethics.

On her website you’ll also find links to her new book, The Comfort of Lies. If the characters are as well-drawn as Merry and Lulu, it will be a great read. Clear a weekend.

The Monday Book: AGE OF MIRACLES by Karen Thompson Walker

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miracles I got this out of the library as a recorded book, not really knowing any more than the back blurb. (Our library is wonderful, but recorded books run heavily to thrillers, so anything that wasn’t one, I was interested in.)

Happy occasion, that, because I might not have picked this book up had I realized its vague science fiction premise. Jack and I listened to it together down in our cabin away from civilization, as a break from cutting wood and working on some writing and generally chilling out for Christmas.

The book has two main threads tied together as its theme: what if the Earth simply slowed down in its rotations, what would happen to all the ordinary people living ordinary lives? And what’s it like to be a sixth grader with a crush on a boy while the Earth is dying?

Jack commented more than once that he thought this was two separate books pulled together on the advice of a writing teacher – not that he was complaining, because he loved it. But the odd juxtaposition of sixth grade angst and “well, crap, this is the Apocalypse” works well in the way someone occasionally pairs orange and purple on the catwalk, and that works. It’s a compelling read, perhaps reminiscent of How I Live Now, but more carefully constructed. It’s also not really a teen book, but an adult one using a child’s innocence to tone down horror and fear.

It rushes to an ending that you think isn’t going to work, and that is actually pulled back from disaster by a symbolism so lovely, Jack and I cried. If you like “what happens now” books that aren’t driven by heavy action, if you like thoughtful stories about the inner workings of teenagers, if you are interested in the science of disaster, you’ll like this book.

We loved it.