General Chat

Yes Tess it is easier to write the review immediately after reading as I have found to my cost.

2nd Review

The Garden Party by Sarah Challis.

When I started this book I wasn't too sure that I would like it. Gradually I warmed to the people and the plot. Initially being impatient with Alice, I became keen for things to turn out well for her, and for David to get his (much needed) wake-up call, before it was too late.
From a rather nicey-nice story (Alice with her unrealistic expectations) to total reality - truth hitting her in the face - this story vastly improved as the plot deepened and we learned more about the thoughts and feelings of many of the people.

Noone actually out of the ordinery, just various family members trying to make a go of it in this tale of modern life - including blended families, internet interaction and the possible hurdles of retirement.

I really enjoyed reading this Sarah Challis offering.

:-) :-) :-)

Thanks Tess

The Garden Party
Poor Alice - all she wanted, was to have a nice garden party with all of her family around to celebrate her marriage, birthday and her husband's birthday and retirement - but trying to organise it was another matter, with so much going on with her children and their families. It showed that once the children become parents themselves, they have their own lives and commitments. Grandparents just have to sit back and perhaps enjoy them separately, if they can't get them all together. It all turned out well in the end though, and Alice had her garden party.

The Mourning Wedding
I was a little confused with the aristocratic names (Fotheringay, Fortescue, etc) and again with all the titles and this was my first Daisy Dalrymple book. I wasn't rapt in it but it held my interest to see who really was the culprit. Not bad - but not good either.

I like your review of The Garden Party Berona .. you have got it in a nutshell.

Persie

Berona - IO agree with Persie.

Third Review.
-
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. by Jamie Ford.

The story emcompassed the memories of Henry, a first generation Chinese/American boy living in Seattle. His memory is given a jolt by the discovery of property stored in the basement of The Panama Hotel by Japenese Americans before they were sent to camps in 1942.

Henry tells us of his school days, where he is the only "Chinese" boy in the school - and has great difficulty fitting in or being accepted by either culture.
He meets" new girl" Keiko at school, (a Japenese/American girl) and the two become firm friends. Still rather isolated from the other pupils at school.
Henry has to keep his friendship with Keiko a secret from his parents - as they had been affested by previous Japanese aggression against China, when they lived there.
The two explore the sometimes hostile streets, but do have a friend in Sheldon, a Black Jazz musician, who plays sax on the streets of seattle. He and his music become important to both children, they even manage to see/hear him at a Jazz Club!

Then Pearl Harbour is attacked by the Japanese, Americans of Japanese extraction become "the enemy" and are sent away to camps.

Keiko and Henry are seperated but try to maintain their friendship ......

I felt that I got to know Henry and wanted everything to go well for him. The story also throws a light on what happened to Japanese Americans and how they coped. (a real eye opener).
I moving story of two (or three) cultures, love and seperation. Henry "comes of age" during all this turmoil.


Highly recommended.



:-) :-) :-)


P.S. Did anyone else read it?

I don't think anybody else did Tess, thanks for reviewing it.