We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

By Karen Joy Fowler

A review by Jessica Coles

A truly worthwhile novel changes a reader long after the book is finished and back on the shelf.  We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is a wonderful example of this.  The first person narration brings to mind the novel We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates as it shows a family fighting through heart wrenching changes and decisions. 

From the author of The Jane Austen Club comes a new book, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.  Set in Indiana, Rosemary opens the story with the logical beginning, by starting in the middle, skipping around as the story evolves.  Rather than distracting or cumbersome, Ms. Fowler’s use of the shifting timeline adds to the humanness of the character and the reader can instead experience Rosemary’s life as she works through the issues of her past.  The question that haunts the reader from the beginning lingers throughout – what has ripped Rosemary’s family apart?

Karen Joy Fowler has an amazing talent to bring the reader into her character’s mind. Somehow Fowler is able to open up her character, place the reader inside and allow another life to be lived for the 321 pages of her novel.  The doubts, loves, passions and disappointments are all experienced through the inner life of the character Rosemary rather than looking from the outside.

The less that is said about this book, the more it will be enjoyed.  So stop reading reviews of this incredible work and pick up the novel itself.  Pick a comfortable location, make sure the kids are busy and lose yourself in the world of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.

Runner by Patrick Lee

A review by Jessica Coles

Runner, the newest novel by Patrick Lee, will not disappoint fans of his previous trilogy, The Breach, Ghost Country and Deep Sky.  Lee has an amazing ability to capture the reader from the first page.  His writing takes ahold and refuses to let go – the only way out is to finish his book.  Runner is a science fiction, mystery, conspiracy novel and crime thriller all wrapped into one.

Lost in thoughts of the ghosts that haunt him, Sam Dryden is on his nightly jog when he is jolted from his reverie by a terrified girl and the men chasing her. As the chase begins, Sam must make decide in an instant whom to believe, whom to help and how far he is willing to aid a stranger while knowing nothing about her.

Thus the story expands to include Rachel.  Rachel knows she must escape from the men chasing her – but why?   She can only remember the last two months.  Before that there is only darkness.  She must find the reasons behind the pursuit and decide whom she can trust without the benefit of knowing anyone – only that someone is trying to kill her and keep her from remembering her past.

Sam and Rachel quickly see the extent of the power behind the men chasing Rachel. Why are so many people willing to risk everything to silence her? What will happen if she does learn of her past? Who is Rachel?  The only thing that is certain is that no one can be trusted – and that she can see inside the minds of those around her…

From small towns to exotic locations and from the desert to space, Sam and Rachel must answer their own questions.  Where is the line between good and evil? Is love a reason to kill?  Is the desire for freedom an excuse to harm others? How can a person know their thoughts are their own?

Patrick Lee will not disappoint any of his fans with this newest novel and addition to his collection. Runner is a nonstop action novel that refuses to be put down until the last page.

Above

By Isla Morley

Publication Date March 4 2014

Where does a will to live turn into madness?  When is it excusable to take away another’s right to freedom in order to save their life?

Above is a dramatic look at an “End times” survivalist who is very serious about his beliefs.  The reader can see first hand the effects of his beliefs on others.

How can you live life if you wake up every morning to your worst nightmare?  How do you know who is lying, who has your best interests at heart – who is protecting you and whose ideas of reality are so skewed as to be harmful?  What if someone’s idea of safety is another’s idea of torture? 

Ms. Morley tells a story in first person through the eyes of Blythe who has no reason to doubt those in authority.  As Blythe looks back through her life, she writes of her kidnapping and imprisonment in a Kansas silo.  The reader experiences with Blythe the day-to-day reality of complete isolation.  Ms. Morley is able to capture the mind of the teenage girl and her struggle in a nightmarish situation as the character deals with boredom, hatred, anger and the unending battle to escape.  

Suddenly Blythe has more to fight for than just her own freedom and sanity.  She must fight for her child as well through health along with the growing independence the child demands.  Is the world above them everything they dream of or is it a nightmare all it’s own? 

The narrative style of the author is well suited to show the many sides of this story.

Attention to details such as current events and well-known publications make the reading believable and more frightening. 

Above shakes beliefs of what is evil and what is good.  Perhaps there is a dose of each in every action. Blythe must find her own freedom – freedom from the silo and freedom from her past while attempting to forgive the unforgivable. 

A Wilder Rose By Susan Wittig Albert

Book Review by Jessica Coles

A Wilder Rose: Rose Wilder Lane, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Their Little Houses by Susan Wittig Albert copyright 2013 by Persevero Press. 

Ms. Albert has brought forth a fictionalized accounting of the complicated relationship between Rose Wilder Lane and Laura Ingalls Wilder and an investigation of the idea that Laura was not the sole author of the Little House books.  Laura Ingalls Wilder is best known for her popular Little House children’s series started in 1932, however, much controversy surrounds the actual authorship of the books.  A Wilder Rose investigates the theory that Rose Lane was the actual ghostwriter of these novels mainly through a first person account of the time surrounding the writing of the Little House series.    The resulting novel is an intimate view of day to day life of Rose Wilder Lane, her struggles with writing, money, family and freedom. 

A Wilder Rose begins with an interview of Rose Wilder Lane soon after the publishing of the first four books (Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy and On the Banks of Plum Creek) has taken place.  This quickly opens the stage for a first person account told through the eyes of Rose Wilder Lane from 1928 to 1939.  Ms. Albert has based this accounting on diaries, journals and letters available from the time although she clearly states that the result is fiction. 

The historical setting and timeline of the novel is accurate and intimately illustrated. Although the reader cannot know exactly how true Ms. Albert stays to the primary sources, she often quotes from the materials.  

The book portrays a very dark period of time for the United States.  The stock market crash of 1929, the resulting Depression, Dust Bowl and the Dirty Thirties were themselves very dark times.  Even allowing for this setting, much of the book seems to have a consistently negative view of the surroundings and the relationship between mother and daughter.  This relationship is quite stagnant in the novel, giving a one dimensional view of Laura and Rose’s interactions.  However, this is quite likely a vivid look into this historical era.

While it is set in the time of the stock market crash of 1929 and FDR’s New Deal policies, this novel shows  the warring of Midwest farming families against the agricultural changes that took place in the 1930s.These struggles are quite relevant to today’s arguments of the balance between individual freedom and independence and the federal government’s involvement in the lives of citizens. 

While a fictional accounting of the two women, this novel is an amazing and informative glimpse into the world of a talented author, a loving but conflicted daughter, and a woman who longed to take care of family while still dreaming of freedom.  Both the narration and the subject matter have been woven into a fascinating journey for the reader.  Fans of the Little House series will find themselves reliving the moments when they first stepped into Laura’s world and glimpsing the reality behind the stories.  The magic that was created during the first foray into the books is not lost in A Wilder Rose but rather enhanced and deepened.