Review 486: In the Country of Women

In the Country of Women by Susan Straight
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This autobiography is a different sort than I’ve read before. It is a chronicling of family history, focused on the author’s own personal history for the majority of the book. The book is written for her three daughters, sometimes addressing them directly, even recounting what they did when young. This premise is so personal that it sounds like it wouldn’t be very interesting to read about another person’s family. Yet the author is a skilled writer it was an absorbing read.

Susan Straight grew up in Riverside California and still lives in the same neighborhood. She married her high school boyfriend and members of his extended family lives in the area as well. They are a mixed-race couple, so their backgrounds are quite divergent. Her mother immigrated from Switzerland, while his family were slaves back in the mid-1800s.

The author’s story is mostly from her younger days towards the present, but when it came to the parents, grandparents, and other ancestors is not necessarily linear. There is an abundance of characters in this book, and found it at times difficult to keep track of everyone and how they were related. I ended up giving up in that task, and just went along with the narrative flow.

I enjoyed the book, wished my family had more detailed information like this, so perhaps it made me a bit envious. I listened to the audio book which was well done by the narrator, but had a copy of the print book. This was handy as there are family photographs throughout the book.

Review 485: The Flâneur

The Flâneur: A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris by Edmund White
My rating: 2.75 of 5 stars


The Flâneur is one who strolls aimlessly about without a destination in mind, wanders wherever curiosity strikes at the moment. This book replicates this approach, at least for the author. It wanders aimlessly through some curiosities in Paris, with a bit of French history, settling mostly on the culture of Paris, discussing artists: writers, painters, musicians, and others.

The first chapter is a general sort of overview of Paris, all the weird things that could be found or done there (such as a wife swap club), and of course the fashion. There are also some spots pointed out, cafés and through this meandering land on Collette, a leading woman writer in the 1920s, who was full of contradictions.

The next chapter begins wandering about touching on varied subjects, then lands on African Americans in Paris, how their experience of racism was completely different, and much more accepted. This morphs into jazz musicians with some details about Bricktop, Bechet and Josephine Baker.

And so we meander through the book on varied topics, history of Jewish people in France and Paris, with particulars on some people, multitude of museums, Hôtel de Lauzun in particular and Baudelaire, and gay culture and writers in another chapter. The last one discusses royalty, the descendants of the old Kings and Queens who where banned from living in France, and what they have been up to since the beheading of King Loius XVI and Marie Antoinette.

My personal interest in these varied subjects ran the gamut. If I read this book back when it was given to me over twenty years ago, when I was studying French, I suspect the book would have interested me more than today. It was quite a wandering about of subjects.

Writer and the City Series - book 1 of 7 

Review 484: The Orchid Thief

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The book mostly followed a quirky character John Laroche who was arrested and charged with stealing rare orchids from the Florida swamp of Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve.

The book also has many details that are fillers and don't add anything to the overall story other than odd details. The book felt like it lost it's thread about mid-way or so, but did pull it back together for the closing.

I did learn there is a big trade in stolen rare plants, orchids in particular. Apparently some people go crazy for these plants.

Review 483: Trinity

Trinity by Louisa Hall
My rating: 2.75 of 5 stars


This book was okay, but not a fan of the style. It's a fictional biography of Robert Oppenheimer told through seven testimonials. These people were from different times during Oppenheimer's life, and often when talking about him they would delve into their own life. The last one went on and on, very long and repetitive it was too much. One or two were somewhat interesting, but considering the whole book it was just okay.

Review 482: Sutton Place

Sutton Place by Dinah Lampitt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A historical novel about Anne Boleyn, the early days of her at the royal court, to the end of her sentence of death. The book is also about the Sutton Place estate. This is the frame of the novel, with the lands being cursed by Queen Edith. Her husband Kind Edward (the Confessor) refused to consummate the marriage then banished her to a nunnery which caused her to curse the lands that he loved.

Although the majority of the book is during the time of King Henry VIII during his affair with Anne Boleyn, there are also moments of other time, modern and otherwise, to show how the curse effected those who lived at Sutton Place.

Richard and Anne Weston upon being granted the estate by King Henry VIII built a new grand house. They had three children, two girls and Francis who was known as the handsomest man in England. We follow Francis more than his siblings.

The writing style was a bit odd to me, it would switch point of view quite often. Before getting used to this constant shifting, it made for some confusion about who was thinking these thoughts. The book would’ve been stronger with less of this switching around between characters. And there were many, many characters.

The book made me realize how little I know about the English history other than some vague generalities. The general outline of events appear to be accurate, at least for the major players. This is a first in a short series, but I will not be seeking out any others by the author. This one was enough. I’d rather try different authors and a clear sort of writing style.

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Review 481: Love Minus Eighty

Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

In the future, little under 100 years from now, the recently dead can be resurrected. Or if they were in a cryogenic stasis they can be revived decades later. People end up taking insurance to be frozen for 1,000 years. Younger women who died in an accident end up in a facility which allows rich men to come and “date” these dead women who are woken up for a few minutes at a time. The women are nick-named bridesicles. It’s expensive and horrifying for the deceased. After several dates the man may think they are a good match and pay to revive the woman, they marry and she is again trapped as she is tied to him, unable to divorce. It’s so creepy!

The story has three points of view, one woman, Mira who is the oldest one in the bride-program, and it definitely wasn’t her choice. We have Rob who accidently hits a woman with his car one night after a devastating break-up with his girlfriend. She ended up dying from the accident and in the facility, Rob changes his entire life to go ask for her forgiveness. We also have Veronica, a dating coach without any connection to this program, but she and her co-worker/friend become friends with Rob and their lives become intertwined.

The plot and story is well done. I was captivated by the story and this invented future. Why it may seem wonderful to bring the recently dead back to life, this status some women were put into was horrible for them. The story also had some interesting technology in it, like screens that pop-in and follow people living their life, a reality tv-show played out in real time. Although it too can be faked with coaches feeding people their lines. There also seems to be some assumption that intelligence diminishes in the future.

I listened to the audiobook version, which had three narrators, one for each point of view. They all did a great job and this was one of those books that seemed enhanced by audio.

Initial short review:

Quite enjoyed this and was leaning towards rating as 5 stars, but not quite there.
Book rating: 4.5 stars