Blog Post
Mission Impossible, By Order of the Queen
by muffy
Some books are just better with Robert Ian Mackenzie turning pages for you. This marvelous narrator coaxes, spellbinds, and occasionally sings his way through this unbelievably merry, wildly imaginative and totally entertaining 22-discs Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin.
A series of screwball adventures followed a conspiratorial media debacle aimed at Freddy, the bookish, stiff-upper-lip Prince of Wales and his glamorous and ditsy wife. In order to safeguard the British monarchy, they were sent on a quest to re-conquer a barbarous land – The United States.
Clueless and dressed only in furry bikinis, they hopped freight trains, cleaned toilets, and became enmeshed in the madness of a presidential campaign, all the while gained the dignity and humility required for the future heads of state.
Perfect for long car trips. Do remember to pull over while laughing. We want you safe.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #23
by muffy
With a poet’s sensibility and a Southern writer’s gift of storytelling Darnell Arnoult’s (website) accomplished first novel Sufficient Grace is moving, captivating, and destined to be in a few beach bags this summer. (Starred review in Publishers Weekly).
Character-rich and evocative of place, this is the story of Gracie Hollaman and her two very different Southern families – the white, middleclass one that she abandoned and the black one that took her in and allowed her to develop a special gift. Written with warmth and gentle humor, this novel is also about grit, dignity, and about lives reclaimed with faith and love.
For readers of Kaye Gibbons’ Charms for The Easy Life (1993); Clyde Edgerton’s Walking Across Egypt, (1987); and Lee Smith’s Fair and Tender Ladies, (1988).
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #22
by muffy
I frankly cannot remember the last time a debut thriller generated such buzz. Library Journal, Booklist, as well as Publishers Weekly all gave John Hart’s The King of Lies starred reviews.
Critics are calling it ”stunning…, an exceptionally deep and complex mystery thriller”; “The writing is beautiful and the story is gripping, but it is the character study… that puts this debut novel on the must-read list.”
At the center of the mystery is Work(man) Pickens, a struggling North Carolina attorney with some serious baggage – one of them is being accused of his father’s murder. You won’t want to miss this one.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #21 (Happy Mother's Day)
by muffy
It is not for everyone but it will richly reward the patient reader.
The stream-of-consciousness narrative in Love Burns, the debut novel by noted Israeli playwright Edna Mazya, and the experimental writing style might feel like sand between the toes, but this "surprisingly fresh, deeply sardonic" (Publishers Weekly) tale of obsessive-love-turns-homicidal would keep you turning pages, and the provocative blend of sly humor and suspense might just win you over.
Ilan, a middle-aged astrophysics professor at a Haifa university is obsessed with his beautiful young wife while life is spiraling out of control. A fateful encounter with his wife’s sexy Russian lover proves to be his undoing. Thank heavens there is mother to take charge.
Already a bestseller in Europe.
Blog Post
Fingersmith - A Victorian Thriller
by muffy
BBC feature film Fingersmith, based on the novel (short listed for the Orange Prize and the Man Booker Prize in 2002) by Sarah Waters, is a Victorian thriller not to be missed.
The paths of Maud, a wealthy heiress and that of Susan, an orphan raised in a den of petty thieves (or fingersmiths) collide with devastating consequences and yet, a deep connection is forged that spell their redemption.
Beautiful period costumes, moody cinematography, and knock-your-socks-off plot twists made for 180 minutes of sensual viewing pleasure.
Check out Waters’ other titles Tipping the Velvet (in DVD); and her latest - The Night Watch.
In 2003, Granta magazine named Sarah one of 20 Best Young British Novelists.