Kitchens of the Great Midwest: A Novel
J. Ryan Stradal, 2015
Penguin
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780525429142
Summary
A young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate becomes the iconic chef behind the country’s most coveted dinner reservation, is the summer’s most hotly-anticipated debut.
When Lars Thorvald’s wife, Cynthia, falls in love with wine—and a dashing sommelier—he’s left to raise their baby, Eva, on his own. He’s determined to pass on his love of food to his daughter—starting with pureed pork shoulder.
As Eva grows, she finds her solace and salvation in the flavors of her native Minnesota. From Scandinavian lutefisk to hydroponic chocolate habaneros, each ingredient represents one part of Eva’s journey as she becomes the star chef behind a legendary and secretive pop-up supper club, culminating in an opulent and emotional feast that’s a testament to her spirit and resilience.
Each chapter in J. Ryan Stradal’s startlingly original debut tells the story of a single dish and character, at once capturing the zeitgeist of the Midwest, the rise of foodie culture, and delving into the ways food creates community and a sense of identity.
By turns quirky, hilarious, and vividly sensory, Kitchens of the Great Midwest is an unexpected mother-daughter story about the bittersweet nature of life—its missed opportunities and its joyful surprises. It marks the entry of a brilliant new talent. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1975
• Raised—Hastings, Minnesota, USA
• Education—B.A., Northwestern University
• Currently—lives in Los Angeles, California
J. Ryan Stradal is the author of New York Times bestseller Kitchens of the Great Midwest (2015) and national bestseller The Lager Queen of Minnesota (2020).
His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Guardian, Granta, Rumpus, and Los Angeles Review of Books, among other places. His debut, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, won the American Booksellers Association Indie's Choice Award for Adult Debut Book of the Year, the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association award for fiction, and the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award for debut fiction.
Born and raised in Minnesota, he now lives in Los Angeles. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
[An] appealing first novel…[and] colorful, character-driven story…. When he isn't writing, Stradal works as a producer for a number of reality television series, including Ice Road Truckers and Deadliest Catch, a profession he credits for honing "an instinct for the necessary." Here he uses this skill to construct a narrative that keeps readers turning the pages too fast to realize just how ingenious they are.
Dawn Drzal - New York Times Book Review
A tender coming-of-age story with a mix of finely rendered pathos and humor.
Washington Post
The author's gentle skewering of foodie snobs (from county fair doyennes to the vegan/gluten-free/soy-free police) is spot on, and the blend of humor, warmth, and longing that he uses to portray family relationships make the book insightful and endearing. Savor it page by page.
Oprah.com
Garrison Keillor’s got nothing on [J. Ryan Stradal]!
NPR, Here and Now
Stradal’s debut novel tackles foodie culture with all the finesse of a pastry chef…Reading Kitchens is all pleasure.
LA Magazine
[A] captivating debut novel...as surprising and satisfying as a great meal.
Tampa Bay Times
[Kitchens of the Great Midwest is] the first novel about the emergence and current state of foodie culture… Fundamentally, [it’s] about what happens when opposing personalities coexist: those who bake with real butter versus those who don’t, those who obsess over heirloom tomatoes alongside those who don’t even know what they are. It uses these categories as a way to look at one of the most confusing, liberating truths there is, which is that often the people we think we’re the least like are the ones we end up needing the most.
Book Forum
Stradal’s first novel is a refreshing and brisk read, with a sophisticated sense of such glories of foodie culture as open-pollinated heirloom corn, pan-seared Walleye and Caesar Cardini’s original Caesar Salad.
BBC.com
Stradal’s debut novel centers on Eva Thorvald, the daughter of a chef and an aspiring sommelier, who has food in her DNA.... Eva’s story unfolds more like a short story collection than a novel as each vignette, told from the point of view of a different character, reveals another facet of her personality....a compelling, deliciously flawed character.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) Renowned chef Eva Thorvald commands $10,000 per couple for exclusive, destination dinner parties that leave guests swooning. But...[w]hat made her into the sensitive, beloved genius she is today?... Stradal is a confident first novelist, crafting characters who are singular, sometimes unlikable but always human. —Christine Perkins, Whatcom Cty. Lib. Syst., Bellingham, WA
Library Journal
The reader sees Eva through the eyes of her father, her boyfriend, a rival, a cousin, and more. Piecing together Eva's life...fleshes out her world and makes the ending feel especially rewarding. Delightful details,... [A] promising debut that features triumph, heartbreak, and even recipes.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. From an early age, Eva is obsessed with food and cooking. What influences shape her interest?
2. How would you characterize the Midwest as Stradal paints it in this book? What makes the setting unique and important for this particular story?
3. Stradal structures the novel as a collection of smaller vignettes from many different points of view. What are the advantages of this narrative style?
4. Throughout the novel, characters and stories intersect in unexpected ways. Which of these connections surprised you most? Which seem most important to Eva’s story?
5. Food takes center stage in this book. How does it bring people together and how does it keep them apart?
6. At times, Stradal seems to poke fun at foodie culture. Which scenes or exchanges between characters struck you as a strong commentary on this foodie evolution?
7. Eva Thorvald is the heroine of the novel, but in some ways she is still quite mysterious. What is it about her that draws people to her?
8. From Lars to Eva to Pat, Stradal’s characters have their own prejudices about food and the way it should be made. What are some of their ideas, and which ones do you agree or disagree with?
9. Cindy has always claimed she would never be a good mother. Why does she insist on this and do you believe her?
10. The recipes prepared in Eva’s feast serve as a walk through her memory. How do foods or recipes play a role in your own memory or life story?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Circling the Sun
Paula McLain, 2015
Random House
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780345534200
Summary
Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal bestseller The Paris Wife, now returns with her keenly anticipated new novel, transporting readers to colonial Kenya in the 1920s.
Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating woman—Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who as Isak Dinesen wrote the classic memoir Out of Africa.
Brought to Kenya from England as a child and then abandoned by her mother, Beryl is raised by both her father and the native Kipsigis tribe who share his estate. Her unconventional upbringing transforms Beryl into a bold young woman with a fierce love of all things wild and an inherent understanding of nature’s delicate balance.
But even the wild child must grow up, and when everything Beryl knows and trusts dissolves, she is catapulted into a string of disastrous relationships.
Beryl forges her own path as a horse trainer, and her uncommon style attracts the eye of the Happy Valley set, a decadent, bohemian community of European expats who also live and love by their own set of rules.
But it’s the ruggedly charismatic Denys Finch Hatton who ultimately helps Beryl navigate the uncharted territory of her own heart. The intensity of their love reveals Beryl’s truest self and her fate: to fly.
Set against the majestic landscape of early-twentieth-century Africa, McLain’s powerful tale reveals the extraordinary adventures of a woman before her time, the exhilaration of freedom and its cost, and the tenacity of the human spirit. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1965
• Where— Fresno, California, USA
• Education—M.F.A., University of Michigan
• Currently—lives in Cleveland, Ohio
Paula McLain is an American author best known for her novel, The Paris Wife, a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway's first marriage. That work became a long-time New York Times bestseller. Her 2015 novel centering on female aviator Beryl Markham was released to excellent reviews in 2015.
McLain has also published two collections of poetry in 1999 and 2005, a memoir about growing up in the foster system in 2003, and the novel A Ticket to Ride in 2008.
McLain was born in Fresno, California. Her mother vanished when she was four, and her father was in and out of jail, leaving McLain and her two sisters (one older, one younger) to move in and out of various foster homes for the next fourteen years. It was an ordeal described in her memoir, Like Family: Growing Up in Other People's Houses.
When she aged out of the system, McLain supported herself by working in various jobs before discovering she could write. Eventually, she received an MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan and has been a resident of Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony as well as the recipient of fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
She lives in Cleveland with her family. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 8/19/2015.)
Book Reviews
Enchanting.... A worthy heir to Dinesen, McLain will keep you from eating, sleeping, or checking your e-mail—though you might put these pages down just long enough to order airplane tickets to Nairobi.... Like Africa as it’s so gorgeously depicted here, this novel will never let you go.
Boston Globe
Richly textured.... McLain has created a voice that is lush and intricate to evoke a character who is enviably brave and independent.
NPR
McLain succeeds in bringing the past to life, and by the last pages, readers will hate to say goodbye to such an irresistible narrator.
Miami Herald
Markham is a novelist’s dream.... McLain riffs on the facts, creating a wonderful portrait of a complex woman who lived—defiantly—on her own terms. (Book of the Week)
People
(Starred review.) McLain's latest showcases her immersive command of setting and character.... [Beryl] Markham's true life was incredibly adventurous, and it's easy for readers to identify with this woman who refused to be pigeonholed by her gender. Readers will enjoy taking in the rich world McLain has created.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) Famed aviator and renowned racehorse trainer Beryl Markham is only one of the subjects of McLain's captivating new novel. The other is Kenya, the country that formed the complicated, independent woman whom Markham would become.... [An] intriguing window into the soul of a woman who refused to be tethered. —Sally Bissell, Lee Cty. Lib. Syst., Fort Myers, FL
Library Journal
(Starred review.) A full-throttle dive into the psyche and romantic attachments of Beryl Markham—whose 1936 solo flight across the Atlantic in a two-seater prop plane...transfixed the world.... [T]he young woman McLain explores...is more boxed in by class, gender assumptions, and self-doubt than her reputation as aviatrix, big game hunter, and femme fatale suggests.... [S]parkling prose and sympathetic reimagining.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. At the beginning of the book, Beryl reflects that her father’s farm in Njoro was “the one place in the world I’d been made for.” Do you feel this is a fitting way to describe Beryl’s relationship with Kenya, too? Did she seem more suited–more made for–life there than the others in her circle? Is there a place in your life that you would describe the same way?
2. While it is clear he loved his daughter, do you feel Beryl’s father was a good parent? Do you think Beryl would have said he was? Did you sympathize with him at any point?
3. Beryl is forced to be independent from a very young age. How do you think this shaped her personality (for better or for worse)?
4. After Jock’s drunken attack, D fires Beryl and sends her away. Do you understand his decision? Despite all the philandering and indulgent behaviors of the community, do you feel it’s fair that Beryl was being judged so harshly for the incident?
5. How would you describe Beryl and Denys’s relationship? In what ways are they similar souls? How does their first encounter–outside, under the stars at her coming out party–encapsulate the nature of their connection?
6. Karen and Beryl are two strong, iconoclastic women drawn to the same unobtainable man. Do you understand how Beryl could pursue Denys even though he was involved with Karen? Did you view the friendship between the women as a true one, despite its complications?
7. Why do you believe the author chose the title Circling the Sun? Does it bring to mind a particular moment from the novel or an aspect of Beryl’s character?
8. When Beryl is quite young, she reflects that “softness and helplessness got you nothing in this place.” Do you agree with her? Or do you think Beryl placed too much value on strength and independence?
9. When Beryl becomes a mother herself, she is determined not to act as her own mother did. Do you feel she succeeds? How does motherhood spur her decision to exchange horse training for flying? Could you identify with this choice?
10. After Paddy the lion attacks Beryl, Bishon Singh says, “Perhaps you were never meant for him.” Do you think that Beryl truly discovered what she was meant for by the end of the novel?
(Questions from the author's website..)
The Marriage of Opposites
Alice Hoffman, 2015
Simon & Schuster
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781451693607
Summary
A forbidden love story set on the tropical island of St. Thomas about the extraordinary woman who gave birth to painter Camille Pissarro—the Father of Impressionism.
Growing up on idyllic St. Thomas in the early 1800s, Rachel dreams of life in faraway Paris. Rachel’s mother, a pillar of their small refugee community of Jews who escaped the Inquisition, has never forgiven her daughter for being a difficult girl who refuses to live by the rules.
Growing up, Rachel’s salvation is their maid Adelle’s belief in her strengths, and her deep, life-long friendship with Jestine, Adelle’s daughter. But Rachel’s life is not her own. She is married off to a widower with three children to save her father’s business.
When her husband dies suddenly and his handsome, much younger nephew, Frederick, arrives from France to settle the estate, Rachel seizes her own life story, beginning a defiant, passionate love affair that sparks a scandal that affects all of her family, including her favorite son, who will become one of the greatest artists of France.
Set in a world of almost unimaginable beauty, The Marriage of Opposites showcases the beloved, bestselling Alice Hoffman at the height of her considerable powers. Once forgotten to history, the marriage of Rachel and Frederick is a story that is as unforgettable as it is remarkable. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—March 16, 1952
• Where—New York, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Adelphi University; M.A., Stanford University
• Currently—lives in Boston, Massachusetts
Alice Hoffman was born in New York City on March 16, 1952 and grew up on Long Island. After graduating from high school in 1969, she attended Adelphi University, from which she received a BA, and then received a Mirrellees Fellowship to the Stanford University Creative Writing Center, which she attended in 1973 and 74, receiving an MA in creative writing. She currently lives in Boston.
Beginnings
Hoffman’s first novel, Property Of, was written at the age of twenty-one, while she was studying at Stanford, and published shortly thereafter by Farrar Straus and Giroux. She credits her mentor, professor and writer Albert J. Guerard, and his wife, the writer Maclin Bocock Guerard, for helping her to publish her first short story in the magazine Fiction. Editor Ted Solotaroff then contacted her to ask if she had a novel, at which point she quickly began to write what was to become Property Of, a section of which was published in Mr. Solotaroff’s magazine, American Review.
Since that remarkable beginning, Alice Hoffman has become one of our most distinguished novelists. She has published a total of twenty-three novels, three books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults.
Highlights
♦ Her novel, Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights.
♦ Practical Magic was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.
♦ Her novel, At Risk, which concerns a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools.
♦ Hoffman’s advance from Local Girls, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman Breast Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA.
♦ Blackbird House is a book of stories centering around an old farm on Cape Cod.
♦ Hoffman’s recent books include Aquamarine and Indigo, novels for pre-teens, and the New York Times bestsellers The River King, Blue Diary, The Probable Future, and The Ice Queen.
♦ Green Angel, a post-apocalyptic fairy tale about loss and love, was published by Scholastic and The Foretelling, a book about an Amazon girl in the Bronze Age, was published by Little Brown. In 2007 Little Brown published the teen novel Incantation, a story about hidden Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, which Publishers Weekly has chosen as one of the best books of the year.
♦ More recent novels include The Third Angel, The Story Sisters, the teen novel, Green Witch, a sequel to her popular post-apocalyptic fairy tale, Green Angel.
♦ The Red Garden, published in 2011, is a collection of linked fictions about a small town in Massachusetts where a garden holds the secrets of many lives.
Recognition
Hoffman’s work has been published in more than twenty translations and more than one hundred foreign editions. Her novels have received mention as notable books of the year by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People magazine. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, Harvard Review, Ploughshares and other magazines.
She has also worked as a screenwriter and is the author of the original screenplay "Independence Day," a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Wiest. Her teen novel Aquamarine was made into a film starring Emma Roberts.
In 2011 Alice published The Dovekeepers, which Toni Morrison calls "... a major contribution to twenty-first century literature" for the past five years. The story of the survivors of Masada is considered by many to be Hoffman’s masterpiece. The New York Times bestselling novel is slated for 2015 miniseries, produced by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, starring Cote de Pablo of NCIS fame.
Most recent
The Museum of Extraordinary Things was released in 2014 and was an immediate bestseller, the New York Times Book Review noting, "A lavish tale about strange yet sympathetic people, haunted by the past and living in bizarre circumstances… Imaginative…"
Nightbird, a Middle Reader, was released in March of 2015. In August of 2015, The Marriage Opposites, Alice’s latest novel, was an immediate New York Times bestseller. "Hoffman is the prolific Boston-based magical realist, whose stories fittingly play to the notion that love—both romantic and platonic—represents a mystical meeting of perfectly paired souls," said Vogue magazine. (Adapted from the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Hoffman mixes fact and fiction to produce a richly imagined tapestry shot through with her signature blend of folklore, fairy dust and romantic passion.
Washington Post
As lush and evocative as one of Pissarro’s paintings.
USA Today
Jacob Pizzarro was the given name of Camille Pissarro, a master of the 19th century’s Impressionism movement that valued color over lines and contours. His life is brilliantly imagined in The Marriage of Opposites, and Hoffman, to great effect, tells much of the story through his mother’s eyes.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Hoffman finds inspiration for her particular brand of magical realism in the Caribbean island of St. Thomas.... Hoffman’s subject matter and her evocative writing style are a wonderful fit for this moving story, which illuminates a historical period and women whose lives were colored by hardships, upheavals, and the subjugation of personal desires.
Publishers Weekly
In this lovely and imaginative fictionalized biography,... Hoffman brings into focus the birth of impressionism and the forces that shaped Pissarro's artistic drive through the complicated, rich, adventure-filled life story of his fiery mother, fueled by her love for her family, her stubborn flaunting of society's rules, and her deep loyalty to her friends. —Beth Andersen, formerly with Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI
Library Journal
Hoffman’s fans and those of historical fiction in general will savor The Marriage of Opposites, a vividly rendered account of how one woman’s refusal to deny true love ultimately helped lead to an artistic revolution.... [A] story as sublime as an Impressionist painting.
Shelf Awareness
(Starred review.) [A] rhapsodic blend of keenly observed historical elements and vibrantly fabulistic invention generates an entrancing saga of sacrifice, forbidden loves, betrayals, and family tragedies endured in a world fractured by religion, class, and race, and redeemed by art and by love. Hoffman is at her resplendent best in this trenchant and revelatory tale of a heroic woman and her world-altering artist son.
Booklist
(Starred review.) A ghost wife, a stolen child, wandering eyes, hidden ledgers—and more—bind the 19th-century Jewish community on a paradisiacal island in the West Indies.... Lilting prose, beautifully meted out folklore and historical references, and Hoffman's deep conviction in her characters...[make this] a total pleasure.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the title—which marriage or relationship does "The Marriage of Opposites" refer to? Where in the novel do you first recognize the title’s significance?
2. In Chapter 1, Rachel says, "Perhaps that was what my mother disliked most. I resembled her. I could not help but wonder if for some women, that was the worst sin of all." Discuss Rachel’s relationship with her mother, her own stepchildren, and female relationships around her. What sort of resemblance does she mean? Compare these relationships with the one Rachel has with her son, Camille.
3. "...on this island, strength was a necessity" (page 22). Consider the power dynamics in the novel, from mental strength to willpower, physical strength versus financial dominance. Discuss what is meant when Rachel’s father tells her that her marriage is "a combining of strengths" (page 27). For these characters, which strength is most valuable?
4. Discuss the importance of identity in the novel. What are the roles of religion, race, and class as they contribute to each character’s definition of self?
5. Weather and the natural world figure strongly in The Marriage of Opposites. Consider how Rachel, Frederic, and Camille view the rain and the heat. Discuss the differences or similarities in their points of view. How do descriptions of weather define life on St. Thomas and life in Paris?
6. There are many sorts of love that are "forbidden" in the novel. Why does the community disapprove of Rachel and Frederic’s relationship? Why does Rachel later disapprove of her son’s relationship with a working member of her household, when she herself has been so close to Adelle and Jestine?
7. The mystical world plays a key part in life on the island. Often, characters speak of spells, spirits, and ghosts and use herbs to cure emotional and physical distress. Compare the role of spirituality on St. Thomas and in Paris. At what point does the mystical distinguish itself from Jewish tradition?
8. The relationship Madame Halevy forms with Camille? Why do you think he is so interested in her and the stories she has to tell?
9. Discuss this line from page 272: "But a servant, no matter how beloved, was not a friend, and a slave was a shadow, nothing more." What did you learn about slavery and servant culture in St. Thomas in this novel? Do you feel it is similar to American slave-owner, servant-worker relationships? Can there be true friendships in a relationship where one person has more power than the other?
10. "Always pay heed to the woman who comes before you. If he’s treated her badly, he will treat you much the same" (page 231). How does Rachel’s understanding of Madame Petit affect the way she raises her children? Does this statement grant Lydia any sense of clarity on her father? Discuss how Rachel, Lydia, and other women understand the roles of the women who came before them.
11. The Marriage of Opposites contains a fluid definition of family. Many characters, both male and female, have illegitimate children who are unacknowledged, abandoned, or cast off. Discuss the different manifestations of family in this novel. Were you surprised to learn who Aaron and Jestine really are? Why or why not?
12. In the afterword, Alice Hoffman explains briefly how she came across the story of Pissarro’s mother. How was your reading of the novel or opinion of it affected by the knowledge that this is based on a true story?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
The Little Paris Bookshop
Nina George, (trans., Simon Pare) 2015
Crown Publishing Group
416 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780553418798
Summary
Monsieur Perdu can prescribe the perfect book for a broken heart. But can he fix his own?
Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls.
The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.
After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.
Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—August 30, 1973
• Where—Bielfeld, Germany
• Education—high school
• Awards—(see below)
• Currently—lives in Concarneau, France
Nina George is a German writer, most recently known as the author of The Little Paris Bookshop (2015), an international bestseller, that has been translated in more than 28 languages. All told, she has published more than 25 books (novels, mysteries and non-fiction), as well as over one hundred short stories.
As a cop reporter, columnist and managing editor, George has also published more than 600 columns. She has worked as a for a wide range of publications, including Hamburger Abendblatt, Die Welt, Der Hamburger, as well as TV Movie and Federwelt.
Life and work
George dropped out of school in 1991 before finishing high school and worked in various catering establishments from the age of fourteen. Since 1993, she has written as a freelance journalist and columnist for magazines like Cosmopolitan, Penthouse, TV Movie, Frau im Trend. In 1997, she wrote her first book, Good Girls Do It in Bed, Bad Ones Everywhere, under the pseudonym Anne West. She was living in Hamburg. In 2008, she appeared under the name Nina Kramer in Thriller A Life Without Me about women's reproductive health.
It was after her father's death that George wrote The Little Paris Bookshop, a semi-autobiographical novel, which talks about bibliotherapy, how the fear of death holds us back from living life to the fullest, the mourning process, and travel on river boat from Paris to the south of Provence.
The novel also contains meta-literary references to many famous works and authors, including Erich Kästner's idea of a list of books as remedies for different afflictions. At the end there's an appendix where she offers an alphabetical list of books and what she recommends them for, starting with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. She finds inspiration for her writing in reading authors such as Jon Kalman Stefansson, Anna Gavalda, Dominique Manotti, Erica Jong, and Dorothea Brande.
George lives in Concarneau in France with her husband Jo Kramer.
Pseudonyms
George writes under three pen-names. Under Anne West, she writes non-fiction about issues of love, sexuality and eroticism. Under Nina Kramer, her married name, she wrote a thriller in 2008. She also wrote detective novels with her husband and co-writer Jo Kramer, their pseudonym being Jean Bagnol.
Awards
In 2012 and 2013 she won the DeLiA and the Glauser-Prize. Her first bestselling novel The Little Paris Bookshop (first published in German as "Das Lavendelzimmer" on May 2, 2013).
Associations
George is a member of PEN, Das Syndikat (association of German-language crime writers), the Association of German Authors (VS), the Hamburg Authors’ Association (HAV), BücherFrauen (Women in Publishing), the IACW/AIEP (International Association of Crime Writers), the GEDOK (Association of female artists in Germany), PRO QUOTE and Lean In. Nina George sits on the board of the Three Seas Writers’ and Translators’ Council (TSWTC), whose members come from 16 different countries.
In 2014, she delivered the keynote address in Berlin at the German Writer’s Conference to 140 attending writers. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 8/19/2015.)
Book Reviews
Hits the sweet spot of bestsellers—it’s about old Europe, it’s about a bookseller, it’s got Paris in the title…and it’s got that kind of woo-woo mystical thing going on, like that other big translated fiction title The Alchemist.
New York Times Book Review
The settings are ideal for a summer-romance read…Who can resist floating on a barge through France surrounded by books, wine, love, and great conversation?
Christian Science Monitor
Nina George tells us clever things about love, about reading that 'puts a bounce in your step,' about tango in Provence, and about truly good food. . . . One of those books that gets you thinking about whom you need to give it to as a gift even while you're still reading it, because it makes you happy and should be part of any well-stocked apothecary.
Hamburger Morgenpost (Germany)
Enchanting and moving.... Rarely have I read such a beautiful book!
Tina magazine (Germany)
Though George’s prose is sometimes a bit overwrought and the "physician, heal thyself" plot device has been done to death, her cast of engaging characters keeps the story moving. Her sumptuous descriptions of both food and literature will leave readers unsure whether to run to the nearest library or the nearest bistro.
Publishers Weekly
This newly translated German bestseller is a warmhearted, occasionally sentimental account of letting go of the old loves to make room for new.... A charming novel that believes in the healing properties of fiction, romance, and a summer in the south of France.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. "Memories are like wolves. You can’t lock them away and hope they leave you alone." The Little Paris Bookshop begins when Monsieur Perdu opens the room he’s kept sealed off for two decades. What are your first impressions of Perdu, and do you think he’s justified in shutting out the past?
2. "Perdu reflected that it was a common misconception that booksellers looked after books. They looked after people." Monsieur Perdu helps countless people find books that heal them. In your life, have you ever felt that a book restored you to yourself? If there was a Literary Apothecary where you lived, would you visit?
3. In Chapter 3, Perdu refuses to sell a copy of Max Jordan’s Night to a customer, because he feels it would upset her. How would you react if this happened to you? Is there such thing as a dangerous book?
4. On their journey South, Perdu forges a powerful friendship with both Max and Cuneo. What do the three characters teach each other?
5. The death of the deer is an emotionally charged scene that serves to ignite something within Perdu. What do you think it represented for the three men?
6. We come to know Manon through Perdu’s account of her, and her travel diary. What did you think of her as a character? Do you believe it is possible to love more than one person at once, as she does?
7. In Chapter 32, Samy says there are three kinds of love: sexual love, logical love, and a love that "comes from your chest or your solar plexus, or somewhere in between." What do you think she means by this, and do you agree?
8. The time to mourn, or "hurting time," becomes important for nearly every character in The Little Paris Bookshop. Do you believe a period of grieving is necessary when a loved one is lost? Does it depend on the circumstances in which they left your life?
9. Perdu finally arrives in Bonnieux, where he asks Manon’s husband Luc for forgiveness. Does Luc provide Perdu with the sense of closure he lacks? Does Perdu offer anything to Luc?
10. The text that is perhaps most vital to Perdu’s emotional journey is Sanary’s Southern Lights. Were you surprised to discover the author’s true identity? Why or why not?
11. The novel includes pages from Manon’s journal, letters between Perdu and Catherine, recipes, and a reading list. Did these artifacts make your reading experience a richer one?
12. Love and friendship, the power of stories to heal—of these, what do you think this novel is most about?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
The Blue Jay
Michelle Schilcher, 2015
Self published
207 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780996575003
Summary
A debut novel about a young woman and a young boy scarred by abandonment who find they share an unlikely bond.
Josie McCray was eight years old when her mother left. Now a young teacher, she guards her heart carefully but finds herself pulled to mentor a child in need.
Payton Runnells was 12 when his mother left. Now in foster care, he’s slow to trust anyone but senses that Josie might somehow understand the grief that grips him.
As Josie and Payton lower their walls and forge a frienship, they begin to open themselves up to all life has to offer.
Author Bio
• Birth—April 15, 1984
• Raised—Ankeny, Iowa, USA
• Education—B.A., Iowa State University
• Currently—lives in Ankeny, Iowa
Michelle Schlicher is an American fiction writer and the author of The Blue Jay.
A graduate of Iowa State University, she subsequently worked for six years in communications and marketing. During that time she became involved with a local mentoring organization, which had a huge impact on her life and became the foundation on which The Blue Jay is based.
Michelle grew up in Iowa and still resides there with her husband and two children.
Visit the author's website.
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Book Reviews
A lovely debut novel!
Amazon Reviewer
I fell in love with Josie and Payton and I loved watching their relationship grow.
Susan - The Book Bag
I fell in love with so many of the characters. They were so real they became like friends.
Amazon Reviewer
I wouldn’t be surprised if one day Hallmark were to turn The Blue Jay into a film, really I wouldn’t.
Raluca - The Found Girl
I was actually quite surprised that The Blue Jay is a debut novel. To me, the book read like a seasoned author had written it.
Amazon Reviewer
This book will make your soul smile.
Goodreads Reviewer
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think Josie decides to become a mentor?
2. How are Josie and Payton similar? How are they different? How do these similarities and differences mold their friendship?
3. What are your thoughts on Josie's dad, John? How has he helped shaped who Josie is?
4. Why did Payton lash out at Josie when she voiced her concerns about Ira? Was his outrage warranted?
5. Mia is described as a surrogate mother to Josie. What is your impression of their friendship?
6. How did Louis help Josie? Why do you think he left such an impression on her?
7. Should Payton have forgiven his mother? Why or why not?
8. If Josie's mother were to return, in your opinion, what should she do?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)