I branched out in July and read books by two authors who came highly recommended and were new to me – authors Elin Hilderbrand and Lisa Jewell. Much like when I started reading Louise Penny and the Inspector Gamache series, I will read as many novels as possible written by these authors.
First Book Title – Summer of ’69
Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Date Read: July 3-7, 2021
Type of Book: Fiction
Publication Date: 2019
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Recommended by: My sister recommended the book. My daughter-in-law recommended the author.
Ideas Expressed/Message/Plot:
For the Levin family, the summer of 1969 brings changes, soul-searching, enlightenment, and growth.
Favorite Characters/Quotes/Lines:
(E-book)
Pg. 22 – “But what I guess I’m trying to tell you is that the guys carry things they think have magic powers or things that remind them why they might like to stay alive.” This reminded me of the Tim O’Brien book, The Things They Carried. (In the notes at the end of the book, this title is mentioned.)
Pg. 162 – “She woke up at midnight, realized it was noon in Vietnam, and started to wail. Mothers all across America were standing strong, fortified by their love of country and their hatred of Communism, but Kate couldn’t muster those emotions. Tiger possessed good instincts and had an abundance of street smarts; he was everything you could ask for in a soldier, and his father had been a career military man. Kate should have felt confidence and pride – but all she could think was that she might never see him again.”
Pg. 315 – “So much of what seems painfully important in the moment fades away.”
Pg. 403 – “Keep him safe, she says in her mind. This is foxhole religion at its most basic. The only person who wants the soldier to live more than the soldier himself is the soldier’s mother.”
When I finished this book, I felt:
Like I had read part of my own story.
Other books to read by this author:
What Happens in Paradise, The Perfect Couple, Summer of ‘79
Notes/Comments about book and author:
As I read this novel, I found myself thinking several times that this is similar to my own story. Minus the house in Boston, the summer house in Nantucket, and the fact that I was only seven years old in 1969 whereas Jessie is thirteen. The book drew me in from the very first page. A story about a family in 1969 and all the turmoil that existed in society and in many homes during that particular year.
I like the way she weaves historical context into the storyline, and it made me think of my own family at the time. For example, I always thought about how my mom dealt with my dad being in Vietnam, and at one point, my dad, brother, and brother-in-law were all three there at the same time. By reading Kate’s experience in the book, it made me realize that I have never really given much thought to the torment my mother must have had about her son as well.
A Personal Note:
It is hard to explain why I never considered my brother at risk, except perhaps because he was not in the infantry as I remember (I think he drove a supply truck and was 19-20 years old at the time but that does not diminish the danger for him). I do not recall ever talking with him about his experience there.
My dad was in the infantry, in the midst of the fighting, and when he came home, I saw the effects of PTSD in my dad. My brother stayed in the army for twenty years, and what I remember are the times he came home on leave for visits. But I never thought about my mom and how hard that must have been for her. I never wrote my brother either as Jessie does with her brother in the book, but she is older. I was only six-seven years old, so I had no idea what was really going on.
That’s what this book did for me. It opened my eyes to help me understand what a mother went through when her son was sent to Vietnam, and how it affected the youngest sibling.
Second Book Title: Watching You
Author: Lisa Jewell
Date Read: July 11, 2021
Type of Book: Fiction
Publication Date: 2018
Publisher: ATRIA Books
Recommended by: This author was recommended to me by my daughter. When I checked the library, this title was the only one electronically available for checkout.
Ideas Expressed/Message/Plot:
One of the nicest neighborhoods in Bristol, England houses an array of characters who each have a story, a past, and an obsession of their own.
Favorite Characters/Quotes/Lines:
(Ebook)
Pg. 398 – “Babies did that to you: they pinned you down in the moment at precisely the same time as hurtling you into the future and hitching you back to the past.”
Pg. 403 – “You don’t have a brother or sister yet. But until you’ve experienced the incredible mix of emotions that a sibling brings to your life it’s really very hard to imagine. The love and the hate, the fun and the fights, the rivalry and the kinship. No one else knows our world like a sibling does. They’re there, every crap summer holiday, every day off school, every time your parents argue, every boring Christmas Day, every birthday party, they’re there. And they are a part of you. And with Viva it sometimes felt like we were continuations of the same person, that I began where she ended, and vice versa.”
When I finished this book, I felt:
Accomplished. I read this book in one day.
Other books to read by this author:
Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs
Notes/Comments about book and author:
It has been years since I have read a novel in one day. Somehow, having nothing pressing to do but laundry on a Sunday, I checked out this e-book and read it throughout the entire day. The writing is straightforward, the plot intriguing, and the characters interesting. As the New York Times Book Review states on the front cover, “Tricky, clever, unexpected.” I am hooked on her as an author, and I will read more of her work.
Two Authors New To Me
It is always good to branch out. I think I’m a little behind in embracing these two authors, but I will catch up I’m sure. Please let me know what you think of these authors and offer any title recommendations! I’ve only just begun. Happy reading!