Review: All The Summer Girls by Meg Donohue

In All The Summer Girls, Meg Donohue tells a story of three childhood girlfriends who return to the summer house at which they created enduring memories but also suffered a great loss. Now adults, each at a crossroads in their lives, they return to Avalon, NJ for a girls weekend in an effort to repair their friendship but also to heal themselves in order to move past their individual crises.

As students in Philadelphia Friends School, Kate, Dani and Vanessa were best friends. The three girls were very different from each other  - straight-laced Kate thrives on lists and order, Dani is a free-spirit with disregard for rules and convention and Vanessa is confident and rapidly growing into her striking good looks. Despite their differences, a close friendship is formed among the girls and they spend each summer at the shore in Avalon, NJ. Kate's twin brother, Colin, is also part of their group is much loved by each of the girls. When Colin drowns in the ocean the summer before their senior year in college, it devastates each of the girls, taints the Avalon shore for them and silently drives wedges between their friendship.

As adults, the women are still quite different from each other and more mature versions of their adolescent selves. Kate is a successful attorney in a Philadelphia law firm and still thrives on order in her personal and professional life. Dani has been wandering since college - she lives in San Francisco attempting to write her first novel while she runs through a string of jobs. Vanessa is now married and living in NYC and recently chose to quit her job and stay home with her young daughter, Lucy. Each woman is facing a crisis in their personal lives as they decide to reunite at the shore for a girls weekend. They are tentative with each other and Colin's death still remains as an unhealed wound for each woman.

My Thoughts
Meg Donohue has struck an interesting balance with this book - part beach read, part serious exploration of women's friendships. For about 10 years, I took part in a summer share on the Jersey Shore so when I saw the cover and read the synopsis, I expected (and looked forward to) a lighthearted romp of boozy weekends in the summer sun. This book was less about weekends at the shore and more about the role the shore played in cementing these women's friendships and whether it can bring them back together and heal them as adults. I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed getting to know the women and the peeks offered of the shore. A perfect read  in the waning days of summer.

Sunday Salon: Aug 18, 2013

Wow - it has been more than one month since my last Sunday Salon and things have been a little quiet on the blog since then. July was a challenging month and although I got reading done, I was having problems getting the blogging done.  I was hoping for a more productive August but, as you can tell, things are still quiet.  I am waiting for the blogging bug to hit again  . . .


  Scenes from the City
Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous in the city - no humidity, moderate temps and sun, sun, sun! I spent the day walking through the village and Soho.  I even made a stop at my favorite bookstore - Housing Works Books - and picked up Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell.  So many bloggers rave about her work and I still haven't read her so I am looking forward to getting to this one. Here are some pics from yesterday in the city:

I love this name of this bar!

Hope you have had a great weekend!

Review: Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky

Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky: Charlotte and Nicole were childhood friends and together they spent summers at Nicole's family's house on Quinnipeague Island, Maine. As adults, they grew apart when Nicole married Julian and fell into a career blogging about the farm to table movement while Charlotte traveled as a successful journalist. They are reuniting on the island for the summer in order to work together on a cookbook about the "Quinnie" specialties and the magic of the island and its locals. As the summer progresses, each woman reveals secrets which has the potential to destroy their recently rediscovered friendship.

 Charlotte was raised by irresponsible parents who practically neglected her; she found comfort in her friendship with Nicole and Nicole's parents became like parents to Charlotte. She spent many summers with them on the island of Quinnipeague in Maine. Charlotte feel in love with the island and the comfort she found there with Nicole's family. Due to her rough childhood, Charlotte always had an edge and was stronger than the more meek Nicole. Nicole is more trusting and less sure of herself and she relies on Charlotte to lead. After the girls grew apart and Charlotte didn't return to Quinnipeague for Nicole's father's funeral, Nicole still felt like the needy friend constantly connecting with Charlotte by email and tracking her career. What she didn't know, however, was that Charlotte desperately wanted to connect again with Nicole and to find comfort again on the island. When Nicole approached her about helping on the cookbook, Charlotte jumped at the chance.

 Through the love of the island and the work on the cookbook, the women begin to repair their relationship. As the summer goes on, however, each reveals secrets to each other than dramatically change their relationship. Nicole begins by revealing that her husband of ten years, Julian, has MS and the progression of the disease threatens his career as a surgeon. More than that, however, it is threatening their marriage as Julian swears Nicole to secrecy about the disease and shuts her out as she tries to help him. Charlotte has a history with Julian which is unknown to Nicole but in light of Julian illness, Charlotte feels compelled to share it with Nicole.

  My Thoughts
The cover of this book drew me in with its beautiful fields of lavender and the shoreline in the distance. In much the same way, the author drew me to Quinnipeague with the descriptions of the island's protective locals and the magic of the herbs which are endemic to the island. The island is a character in the book and it has a power over the two main characters in the book - Nicole and Charlotte. It feels as if their friendship could not be repaired or weather the revelations anywhere else but the island. Their shared history on the island (and maybe that salt air?) keep them committed to working through their issues and trying to recapture a little of what they had on the island as children.

Barbara Delinsky weaves a story with many twists and turns and works in multiple interesting, current topics. Those include progress in the treatment of MS, the farm to table movement, and umbilical cord blood banking. All of this, coupled with wanting to see how things progressed for Julian and whether Nicole and Charlotte could mend their relationship, kept me reading. Definitely a perfect summer read - or maybe a winter read when your mind needs to escape the dreary winter and get to a beautiful island!

Review: The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines by Shoreh Aghdashloo

The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines by Shoreh Aghdashloo: Shoreh Aghdashloo is a Emmy award-winning Iranian actress and the first Middle Eastern actress to be nominated for an Academy Award. Like many actresses, her road to success was filled with struggles, doubt and tireless focus on her craft. Shoreh, however, has a whole other set of challenges to face - she fled Iran following the revolution when her ability to speak freely and to continue to pursue acting became threatened. In a daring but necessary move, she left her entire family behind and escaped to Europe and ultimately to Los Angeles.

Shoreh Aghdashloo had a relatively privileged upbringing in Tehran. Despite her parents' more practical plans for her, Shoreh was drawn to modeling and then acting at a young age. Although her father felt putting herself on display was not respectable for a young woman, he saw quickly that she would not be deterred. She married Aydin, a painter, at a young age and he agreed that she could follow her passion for acting. When revolution swept Iran in 1979, however, both women and acting came under attack by the Islamist government. In a bold move and with th e help of her husband, Shoreh escaped across the border to Turkey and ultimately settled in London. Aydin, however, would not leave Iran so they parted and, ultimately, ended their marriage when it became clear that Shoreh could not (or would not) return and Aydin would not leave Iran. Shoreh also lived separated from her parents and fearful for their safety back in Iran. Once in London, she pursued and obtained a university degree but acting was never far away. Shoreh acted in a series of plays, many of which were popular with the expatriate Persian communities in London and throughout Europe. She met her second husband in one of those plays and together they continued to act over the coming years. Once in LA, Shoreh was given the chance to act in The House of Sand of Fog and for that role, she was nominated for an Academy Award. After much hard work and and an unusual amount of sacrifice, Shoreh had achieved commercial success and recognition.

My Thoughts
The author's story has all the elements of a moving, lyrical tale - two loves, escape from oppression and a passion for the arts. Unfortunately, the telling of the tale is not particularly lyrical. The text is choppy and the author moves from event to event rather rapidly. There were a number of non sequiturs and I kept wanting some of them to be developed more but then it would be dropped and we would be on to something else. Some of the most powerful, moving moments in the book got lost in its telling  - it felt as if pivotal events would just be mentioned without any reflection.

Despite its shortcomings, however, the book does deliver in immersing the reader in Persian culture and educated me on the political history of modern Iran and its devastating consequences for its citizens. In addition, the author conveyed two key themes very effectively; first, her desire for a free Iran and her commitment to staying out of the country at great personal cost until that is realized. Second is her passion for acting - I was impressed by how diligently she worked at her craft, often in relative obscurity. She didn't seem to be in it for the attention but for the pure satisfaction of acting and bringing plays to audiences, no matter how small. Shoreh Aghdashloo has a powerful story to tell and overcome almost unbelievable odds to pursue both freedom and her craft.

You can read other reviews of this book by checking out the TLC tour here.

Thank you to TLC for providing a ARC of this book. 

Sunday Salon: July 7, 2013

In my June 23rd Sunday Salon post, I mentioned that I was soaking up the sunny, low humidity days in the city. Well, it is a good thing I did - since then, it has rained incessantly and now that the rain has stopped, the city humidity has come to visit.

Credit

 This takes reading on the roof off the table for a the time being. Now I am just glad to be basking in some air conditioning! I am sure after another week of this weather I will acclimate and be back to outdoor activities.

Credit

 In Case You Missed It
 - Despite having a four day weekend (or maybe because of it), I only posted one review this week:
Wedding Night (audio) by Sophie Kinsella. It was an entertaining listen by my favorite chick lit author

 -Last week I posted my review of Kate Kerrigan's sequel to Ellis Island, City of Hope. I loved this continuation of Ellie's story and it is a great immigrant story.  I will have a guest post from the author on the blog this week.

 - I also posted a review of J.Courtney Sullivan's Commencement which had me feeling nostalgic for my own college days

Hope you have a great week and are staying cool where ever you are!

Audiobook Review: Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella (read by Jayne Entwhistle, Fiona Hardingham and Mark Bramhall; 13 hours, 13 minutes) introduces us to sisters Fliss and Lottie. Lottie has her heart set on marrying Richard and is convinced he is about to propose when they meet for a extravagant lunch in London. When Richard doesn't propose, Fliss is devastated and, in a fashion very typical of her, she throws herself into the next thing - which happens to be her ex-boyfriend Ben. Meanwhile, Lottie's sister, Fliss, is recovering from her recent divorce and still harbors a lot of resentment towards her ex-husband - in fact, she logs every violation of the custody arrangement for their son Noah on a flash drive she wears tucked away on a necklace around her neck. She is determined to keep Lottie from making the same mistakes of the heart as she has and the antics begin.

Lottie is on the rebound from Richard after he failed to propose when she hears from Ben. She and Ben spent a magical summer on the Greek island of Ikonos when they were eighteen. Coping with the aftermath of her own failed marriage, she doesn't want to see Lottie go through the same pain as a result of a quick decision to marry her old flame. Fliss needs to stop the wedding and, barring that, she needs to stop the couple's wedding night.  If the marriage is not consummated, no divorce is necessary - it can simply be annulled. Fliss's single-minded focus on this mission has her going to great lengths to interrupt the couple's honeymoon.

My Thoughts
Even as I write the summary above, I think, "This is ridiculous!" However, I truly enjoyed this book and even found myself heading out on extra walks just to listen a little more. The secret is the heroines, Fliss and Lottie - you begin to care and root for them which allows you to suspend disbelief in their crazy antics.  As I have said before, Sophie Kinsella does this better than any author in this genre. If you are looking for a fun, enjoyable read (or listen) this summer, I definitely recommend Wedding Night.

Winners of Literary Blog Hop!

Congratulations to the winners of my Literary Blog Hop Giveaway!

 Mona won Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines
 Iris won City of Hope
 Books in the Burbs won A Hundred Summers

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone who stopped by my blog to for the Hop - I hope you stick around and keep reading!

 Thank you to Judith of Leswammes Blog for hosting the hop!