One Day in December
Josie Silver, 2018
Crown/Archetype
416 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780525574682
Summary
Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.
Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies.
But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic...and then her bus drives away.
Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway.
Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.
What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Josie Silver is an unashamed romantic who met her husband when she stepped on his foot on his twenty-first birthday. She lives with him, her two young sons, and their cats in a little town in England called Wolverhampton. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Consider setting aside some time and prepare to be charmed as author Josie Silver takes readers on a captivating journey—where female friendship is as important as romantic love.… One Day in December is an unmistakable winner.
USA Today
A must-read. In Josie Silver’s charming rom-com, Laurie experiences love at first sight through her bus window… then the car pulls away.… What follows is a decade of heartache, betrayal, and destiny.
US Weekly
In Josie Silver’s One Day in December, a chance encounter on a London bus turns into a Bridget Jones-inspired romp.
Cosmopolitan
Love at first sight! But he’s her BFF’s new BF. What to do? Do you really have to ask?
Entertainment Weekly
[L]ovely…. Silver’s propulsive narrative is enjoyable, and the mix of tension and affection between Jack and Laurie is charming, addictive, and effective. Readers who like quirky love stories will be satisfied by this cinematic novel.
Publishers Weekly
[A]sweetly romantic novel.… Readers who enjoy contemporary romance will root for Laurie and Jack as they work through laughter-through-tears experiences and toward a happily-ever-after worth fighting for. —Charli Osborne, Southfield P.L., MI
Library Journal
Silver writes with verve and charm in this debut, and readers will be pulling for Laurie and Jack as they detour through missteps and misunderstandings.
Booklist
The pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic.… Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. How would you describe the connection Laurie felt upon first seeing Jack? How do you think he perceived her when he saw her from the bus stop? Have you ever felt a similar connection with someone?
2. Why didn’t Laurie tell Sarah that Jack was the person she’d been looking for?
3. How similar are Laurie and Sarah? In what ways do their personalities differ? Which character do you identify with?
4. Why do you think Jack doesn’t admit to Laurie that he remembers her from the bus stop?
5. Should Sarah have noticed the tension between Laurie and Jack?
6. Is it realistic for Laurie and Jack to try to be friends considering their feelings for each other? Why do you think they try so hard to remain friendly?
7. How does Laurie’s relationship with Oscar compare to her relationship with Jack? Is it possible for her to love them both simultaneously?
8. On page 209 Laurie notes that she’s been conflicted about "how much information constitutes the truth, how much omission constitutes lying." Do you think she’s lying to Oscar and/or Sarah considering what she hasn’t revealed to each of them?
9. Laurie describes the flowers Jack sends her as "lush and extravagant… but then in the shortest time they’re not very lovely at all. They wilt and they turn the water brown, and soon you can’t hold on to them any longer." Do any of her relationships also fit this description?
10. How does Laurie cope with loss, in terms of family members, romantic interests, and friends?
11. By the end of the story both Laurie and Jack have grown and changed significantly. How do these changes affect their relationship?
12. How do Laurie’s New Year’s resolutions evolve through the years?
(Questions issued by the publishers.)
The Age of Light
Whitney Scharer, 2019
Little, Brown and Co.
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780316524087
Summary
She went to Paris to start over, to make art instead of being made into it.
A captivating debut novel by Whitney Scharer, The Age of Light tells the story of Vogue model turned renowned photographer Lee Miller, and her search to forge a new identity as an artist after a life spent as a muse.
"I'd rather take a photograph than be one," she declares after she arrives in Paris in 1929, where she soon catches the eye of the famous Surrealist Man Ray.
Though he wants to use her only as a model, Lee convinces him to take her on as his assistant and teach her everything he knows. But Man Ray turns out to be an egotistical, charismatic force, and as they work together in the darkroom, their personal and professional lives become intimately entwined, changing the course of Lee's life forever.
Lee's journey takes us from the cabarets of bohemian Paris to the battlefields of war-torn Europe during WWII, from discovering radical new photography techniques to documenting the liberation of the concentration camps as one of the first female war correspondents.
Through it all, Lee must grapple with the question of whether it's possible to reconcile romantic desire with artistic ambition-and what she will have to sacrifice to do so. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Whitney Scharer earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington, and her short fiction has appeared in the Bellevue Literary Review, Cimarron Review, and other journals.
Scharer received an Emerging Artist Award in Literature from the St. Botolph Club Foundation, a Somerville Arts Council Artists grant, and been awarded a residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. The Age of Light is her first novel. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
(Starred review) [S]tellar debut chronicles the tumultuous working and romantic relationships of photographer Man Ray and model-turned-photographer Lee Miller in early 1930s Paris. This brilliant portrayal… [and] page-turning story… thrillingly depicts the artistic process.
Publishers Weekly
Scharer's debut is both engrossing and cinematic, a must for readers who enjoy a fictional peek into the lives of real-life artists.
Library Journal
(Starred review) Scharer's intoxicating first novel… bring[s] a stunning chiaroscuro effect to the saga of a woman transforming herself into an artist.
Booklist
(Starred review) A portrait of Lee Miller, the American cover girl and war photographer whose wild spirit captivated Picasso, Cocteau, and other eminences in 1930s Paris.… [W]hat a story!… [I]rresistible reading. Sexy and moving.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. In many ways, Lee Miller is a strikingly modern heroine and she makes choices, particularly regarding her sexual and romantic relationships, that deviate from the social norms of the time. Were you surprised by her actions, and did Lee’s behavior change your understanding of women from this period in history
2. The settings in this story contrast romantic, bohemian Paris in the 1930s with scenes of war-torn Europe in WWII. In what ways did the contrast between these two places—as well as the different settings of the prologue and epilogue—affect your experience of the novel?
3. The expatriate, inter-War community in Paris is well known for producing numerous creative innovators—F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Cole Porter to name a few recognizable personalities outside this novel. Why do you think Paris at this time was so inspiring to so many individuals?
4. The Age of Light opens with Lee Miller as a middle-aged woman in England. We know she’s married to Roland Penrose and is no longer working as a photographer. How did this foreshadowing impact your experience of the novel? How did this impact your feelings about Lee and Man’s relationship and Lee’s artistic journey as they developed over the course of the book?
5. Feelings of jealousy and paranoia play a huge role in this novel—especially with regard to romantic relationships. Given Surrealist artists’ rejection of hetero-normative culture, do you feel this envy was rightly earned? In Lee Miller and Man Ray’s relationship, did one person seem to have more traditional views of monogamy than the other?
6. The novel hints at Lee’s tumultuous past with her father, and his visit to Paris is exceptionally tense. How do you feel Lee’s childhood history of modelling for her father influenced the way she made her art, and her relationships with men?
7. The 1930s were a period of intense political, economic, and social change for Europe and the United States. The artists depicted in this novel created works inspired by pervasive feelings of anxiety and unease in the world around them. Do you feel these themes are relevant to today’s cultural climate? Which contemporary artists are challenging and interrogating our current events in the same way?
8. Lee Miller experienced trauma at many points in her life: during her childhood, in her relationship with Man Ray, and during WWII. How does the structure of this novel help us understand this trauma? How are we to feel about Lee by the end of the novel? Do you see her as a survivor or as someone ultimately undone by what she has experienced?
9. Ilse Bing and Claude Cahun are two other women artists depicted in this novel. They do not readily accept Lee into their social circle and are vocal about their distrust of her and her relationship with Man Ray. Did you empathize with Ilse and Claude? Do you think these women would have been more effective in overcoming patriarchal attitudes if they had worked together? In current professional environments, what forces or attitudes do you think work in favor of women overcoming patriarchal attitudes? What forces work against?
10. Lee ultimately decides to invite Man Ray to Bal Blanc under the guise of needing his help. What does it say about Lee that she chose to confront him in such a public way? Do you think Man Ray felt sincerely sorry for his actions regarding Lee’s career and their relationship? What would you have done in Lee Miller’s position?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
The Silent Patient
Alex Michaelides, 2019
Celadon Books
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250301697
Summary
Promising to be the debut novel of the season The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.
Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect.
A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas.
One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.
Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety.
The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—September 4, 1977
• Where—Cyprus
• Education—M.A., Cambridge University; M.A., American Film Institute
• Currently—lives in London, England, UK
Michaelides was a screenwriter before turning to novels. He wrote The Devil You Know (2013) starring Rosamund Pike and co-wrote The Con is On (2018), with Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Parker Posey, and Sofia Vergara. Michaelides lives in London. (From the publisher and Amazon.)
Book Reviews
(Starred review) [S]uperb…. This edgy, intricately plotted psychological thriller establishes Michaelides as a major player in the field.
Publishers Weekly
Clever plotting, red herrings, and multiple twists ensure most readers will be surprised by the ending of this debut thriller…. Dark, edgy, and compulsively readable.— Kiera Parrott
Library Journal
Unputdownable, emotionally chilling, and intense, with a twist that will make even the most seasoned suspense reader break out in a cold sweat
Booklist
While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud. Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for THE SILENT PATIENT ... then take off on your own:
1. How would you describe Alicia Berenson and the life she has lead up to the time she kills her husband? What was your initial sense of why Alicia refused to speak?
2. Alicia's self-portrait is entitled Alcestis, based an ancient Greek Eurpidean tragedy, which in turn is based upon Greek mythology. Do a bit of research into the myth to find out what Alicia might have been saying about herself in her portrait. What, in other words, does the painting reveal about the painter?
3. Follow-up to Question 2: The author once took a post-grad course in psychotherapy and subsequently spent a couple of years working part-time in a psychiatric unit like the Grove. What does Michaelides mean when, in 2018, he said in an interview with the Bookseller…
I saw how the world of psychotherapy might be the perfect modern setting to reimagine [Alcestis'] story and explore its themes of death, guilt and silence.
4. Follow-up to Questions 2 and 3: Do you begin to see Alicia as a mythic character, a parallel to Alcestis? If so, in what way?
5. The author has created his own challenge: he must gradually reveal Alice to readers (and to Theo) without allowing her to tell her own story. How does Michaelides use Alicia's physical appearance and artwork to reveal her character?
6. What do think of Theo, initially, as he begins to work with Alice? What do you come to understand about him, and his motivation, as the book unfolds? In what way does your view of Theo change?
7. Were you shocked by the big reveal at the end? Or did you see it coming?
8. The Silent Patient is called a psychological thriller, but the reviewer of Crime by the Book blog considers it an in depth character study in which both characters' identities take precedence over the actual crime. In what genre would you place the book—character study or plot-based thriller? (It's presumably "both," but let's say you have to choose one or the other.)
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)
Adele
Leila Slimani, 2019
Penguin Publishing
240 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780143132189
Summary
From the bestselling author of The Perfect Nanny—one of the 10 Best Books of the Year of The New York Times Book Review—her prizewinning novel about a sex-addicted woman in Paris
She wants only one thing: to be wanted.
Adele appears to have the perfect life: She is a successful journalist in Paris who lives in a beautiful apartment with her surgeon husband and their young son.
But underneath the surface, she is bored—and consumed by an insatiable need for sex.
Driven less by pleasure than compulsion, Adele organizes her day around her extramarital affairs, arriving late to work and lying to her husband about where she's been, until she becomes ensnared in a trap of her own making.
Suspenseful, erotic, and electrically charged, Adele is a captivating exploration of addiction, sexuality, and one woman's quest to feel alive. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1981
• Where—Rabat, Morocco
• Education—Ecole superieure de commerce de Paris-Europe
• Awards—Prix Goncourt (France); La Mamounia (Moroccan)
• Currently—lives in Paris, France
Leïla Slimani is a Franco-Moroccan writer and journalist, who was awarded the 2016 Prix Goncourt for her novel Chanson douce. The novel was published in 2018 in the U.S. as The Perfect Nanny.
Life and work
Slimani was born in Rabat, Morocco, and left at the age of 17 for Paris to study political science and media studies at the Sciences Po and Ecole superieure de commerce de Paris-Europe (ESCP). After her graduation she began to work as a journalist for the magazine Jeune Afrique.
Slimani's first novel, Dans le jardin de l’ogre ("In the Garden of the Ogre"), published in 2014, won the Moroccan La Mamounia literary award. Two years later, Chanson douce was released, becoming a bestseller even before it was awarded the Prix Goncourt. That novel made Slimina the most-read author in France in 2016.
Slimani holds French and Moroccan citizenships. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 1/31/2018.)
Book Reviews
Although the misery is universal, this story is uniquely, and often amusingly, French.… Possibly because of the book's Frenchness, nothing about Adele's behavior is pathologized until the very last pages. She submits only belatedly to therapy. Nobody tells her that she has a disease or ought to spend some time leafing through the D.S.M. Instead, Slimani approaches Adele's habits as a study in the art of tending a secret.… Adele has glanced at the covenant of modern womanhood—the idea that you can have it all or should at least die trying—and detonated it.
Molly Young - New York Times Book Review
Bold, stylish and deeply felt.
Wall Street Journal
Written in prose of elegant but never bloodless neutrality.… [Adele] leads readers through the labyrinth of desire into an understanding of solitude, isolation and the search for authenticity as our common fate.
Independent (UK)
Displays an undeniable literary power.
L’Express (France)
A slim, compelling read, Adele examines topics ranging from marriage and motherhood to adultery, but the overarching theme is the notion of freedom.… The plot of Adele recalls Kundera’s masterwork [The Unbearable Lightness of Being].
Vanity Fair
The feverish spark of obsession licks at the corner of nearly every page.
Entertainment Weekly
Sensational.… In her novels, home and hearth are a furnace, not a haven. Families are groups in which power struggles are conducted in close quarters, and with gloves off.
Time
Exposes the dark desires of a seemingly normal woman.… Adele—and the reader—must come to terms with what it is we demand of women in modern times, and how those punishing requirements lead so many of us to crack and try and get autonomy through unorthodox means.
Nylon
[F]ascinating…. Though some readers might feel the novel waits too long to explore why its protagonist feels compelled to behave the way she does, this is nevertheless a skillful character study. Slimani’s ending is the perfect conclusion to this memorable snapshot of sex addiction.
Publishers Weekly
[A]rtful, edgy…Although some of the secondary characters lack depth, Adele has it in spades…. The book's denouement may frustrate readers—but then, that rather seems the point.… [A]n unflinching exploration of female self-sacrifice and the elusive nature of satisfaction.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. On page 121, Slimani writes of Adele, "She understood that desire was unimportant." What do you think this means? Why does Adele feel so compelled to have sex with different men?
2. Did your opinion of Adele change when you learned more about her relationship with her mother?
3. Every so often, it seems that Adele is going to turn over a new leaf. For example, on page 48, Slimani writes, "She is going to clean up her life. One by one, she is going to jettison her anxieties. She is going to do her duty." Do you think she really wants to get better? Do you think she ever will?
4. Was Richard right to try to create a sense of routine and security for Adele toward the end of the novel? What would you have done in his place?
5. How did you interpret the novel’s ending? Do you think Adele will come back?
6. Did you feel sympathy for Adele? What about for Richard?
7. Slimani has said that this novel was loosely based on the case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a French politician and former managing director of the International Monetary Fund who said that he was suffering from sex addiction after being charged with sexual assault in 2011. What do you think of Slimani’s decision to make the main character a woman?
8. Slimani’s first novel, The Perfect Nanny, was about a seemingly flawless nanny who ended up killing her two young charges. If you read The Perfect Nanny, did you notice any similarities between the two novels?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
The Lost Girls of Paris
Pam Jenoff, 2019
Park Row
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780778330271
Summary
A remarkable story of friendship and courage centered around three women and a ring of female secret agents during World War II.
1946, Manhattan
One morning while passing through Grand Central Terminal on her way to work, Grace Healey finds an abandoned suitcase tucked beneath a bench.
Unable to resist her own curiosity, Grace opens the suitcase, where she discovers a dozen photographs—each of a different woman. In a moment of impulse, Grace takes the photographs and quickly leaves the station.
Grace soon learns that the suitcase belonged to a woman named Eleanor Trigg, leader of a network of female secret agents who were deployed out of London during the war. Twelve of these women were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance.
But they never returned home, their fates a mystery.
Setting out to learn the truth behind the women in the photographs, Grace finds herself drawn to a young mother turned agent named Marie, whose daring mission overseas reveals a remarkable story of friendship, valor and betrayal.
Vividly rendered and inspired by true events, New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff shines a light on the incredible heroics of the brave women of the war and weaves a mesmerizing tale of courage, sisterhood and the great strength of women to survive in the hardest of circumstances. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
• Education—B.A., George Washington University; M.A., Cambridge University; J.D., University of Pennsylvania
• Currently—lives in Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Pam Jenoff was born in Maryland and raised outside Philadelphia. She attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Cambridge University in England.
Upon receiving her master's in history from Cambridge, she accepted an appointment as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. The position provided a unique opportunity to witness and participate in operations at the most senior levels of government, including helping the families of the Pan Am Flight 103 victims secure their memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, observing recovery efforts at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing and attending ceremonies to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of World War II at sites such as Bastogne and Corregidor.
Following her work at the Pentagon, Pam moved to the State Department. In 1996 she was assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Krakow, Poland. It was during this period that Pam developed her expertise in Polish-Jewish relations and the Holocaust. Working on matters such as preservation of Auschwitz and the restitution of Jewish property in Poland, Pam developed close relations with the surviving Jewish community.
Pam left the Foreign Service in 1998 to attend law school and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. She worked for several years as a labor and employment attorney both at a firm and in-house in Philadelphia and now teaches law school at Rutgers.
Pam is the author of The Kommandant's Girl, which was an international bestseller and nominated for a Quill award, as well as The Diplomat's Wife, The Ambassador's Daughter, Almost Home, A Hidden Affair and The Things We Cherished.
She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and three children. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
[The] emotional profundity [of The Orphan's Trail] is sadly lacking in Jenoff’s latest.… Jenoff has at her disposal a great, mostly untold story of heroism and espionage, both about the woman who trained an elite force of operatives and then spent years looking for them after their death, and also about what it was like to be one of those women, but the result has all of the tension of a Hallmark card. This is a slight re-telling of a remarkable story and an unusual slip-up from the dependable Jenoff.
USA Today
Jenoff brings serious girl power to this story of brave women and the war.
Cosmopolitan
A portrait of sisterhood, courage, and drama. A must-read.
Glamour
[A] fast-paced novel… Jenoff allows [her characters]distinct personalities to shine. This is a mesmerizing tale full of appealing characters, intrigue, suspense, and romance.
Publishers Weekly
[P]assion and heartache greet the brave patriot. Verdict: Jenoff weaves the stories of three remarkable women in this fast-paced title that boasts an intriguing plot and strong female characters. —Laura Jones, Argos Community Schs., IN
Library Journal
[A] gripping WWII-era tale…. Jenoff breathes life into the tale of a committed “Band of Sisters” who displayed boundless courage in the face of historically dire circumstances, creating a compelling and exciting read.
Booklist
Jenoff's wartime chronology is blurred by overly general date headings… and confusing continuity. Sparsely punctuated by shocking brutality and defiant bravery, the narrative is, for the most part, flabby and devoid of tension.… A sadly slapdash World War II adventure.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for THE LOST GIRLS OF PARIS ... and then take off on your own:
1. What possesses Grace Healy to open the suitcase at Grand Central and abscond with the photos? Would you have done so?
2. What do we learn about Eleanor Trigg, who initially was a secretary at SOE? Why is she given the responsibility to put together the spy team—what qualifies her in terms of experience and character? (Eleanor is based on the real life of Vera Atkins: see below.)
3. What does Eleanor look for in her recruits? Why does she select each of the women she does?
4. Talk about the training process for the women and the rigors involved. Would you have made the grade? What would have been most difficult for you?
5. What about Marie, whose point of view we follow? During training, she has trouble mastering a number of the tasks, so much so that she would appear unqualified. Where you surprised at her later accomplishments?
6. The story has three different points of view and moves back and forth through time. Did you appreciate the shifting perspectives and chronology? Or was it difficult to follow at times?
7. Why do you think the romance between Marie and Julian is limited to eye contact and fleeting glances. Would you have preferred to have more of their relationship develop on the page, rather than off (not counting his profession of love much later in the book)?
8. Of the 12 women selected, do you have a favorite; do some impress you more than others?
9. Most of all, talk about the incredible courage all of these women possessed—and the horrific, life-threatening dangers they faced.
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)
Consider two nonfiction works on Britain's female spies:
• Helms, Sarah. A Life in Secret: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII. Knopf Doubleday (2006).
• Loftis, Larry. Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became World War II's Most Highly Decorated Spy. Gallery Books (2019)