The Book Whisperer Discovers a Dark, But Often Funny Novel Featuring Women Who Take Control

Since I am always seeking books for my book clubs, I do a good deal of research. I had read about The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff and wondered if it would make a good choice for one of my book clubs. How do I find out? Why, I read it, of course! That is a rule to which I adhere: read a book before choosing it. And I am glad I read The Bandit Queens because it will make a terrific book for a discussion at a book club.

Geeta lives in an Indian village and is part of a small consortium of women who borrow money to open their own small businesses. Geeta makes jewelry, specifically wedding jewelry. Five years ago, her abusive, lout of a husband disappeared. Many of the villagers are convinced Geeta killed him and disposed of his body. They don’t stop to think about how she might have done such a dangerous thing, but the gossip continues to swirl around her. Occasionally, Geeta denies that she killed Ramesh; other times, she simply doesn’t contradict the accuser. In fact, Geeta relishes her freedom from Ramesh and his abuse.

Then Farah, another woman with an extremely abusive husband, shows up on Geeta’s doorstep. Clearly, she has been badly beaten. She insists that Geeta must “make a widow of me”; the women of the village who become a widow call it “removing my nose ring,” the sign of a married woman. Geeta knows that Farah’s husband not only beats her, but he also beats their three young children.

Now, this story is about women being abused and misused. That’s not to say that Shroff hasn’t infused the story with humor as well. When the women of the loan group gather each week, readers hear all the mothers repeat certain sentences: “It’s such a gift to be a mother.” “There’s no better blessing than a son.” “Joys of Motherhood.” “Such a privilege.” These sentences and phrases are repeated throughout the novel. In part, the women are trying to reassure themselves of the “joys of motherhood,” but they are also jabs at Geeta who has no children.  At one point, Geeta returns the favor: “Well, I don’t have the joys of motherhood, but I do have the joys of sleep and money.”

Geeta often gives as well as she gets when the other women berate her. When Farah’s husband dies of a suspected heart attack brought on by his alcoholism and mistreatment of his own body, no one suspects any foul play. Later, though, Farah tries to blackmail Geeta, and readers will enjoy the tongue-lashing Geeta gives Farah. Has Geeta helped Farah kill Farah’s husband? Or does he die of natural causes?

However, Geeta receives more unwanted guests when Saloni, her one-time friend, and twins Preity and Priya seek Geeta’s help in getting rid of Darshan, Preity’s husband. This story is complicated by the fact that the twin sisters live with their husbands in the same household. Darshan had tried to court Priya, but she rejected him. In retaliation, he threw acid on Preity, thinking that she was her identical twin sister, Priya. In a strange arrangement, the parents encouraged Darshan to marry Preity, whose face he had ruined. What sort of marriage is that? Then readers learn Darshan is a serial rapist and often chooses young women to ruin.

BookRiot describes The Bandit Queens as a story “for fans of dark humor and social commentary! The book is expectantly funny, but it also tackles things like the pursuit of freedom from abuse. The characters are well thought out, and there’s great female friendship.”

In this small village, Ramesh has disappeared, presumed killed by Geeta; Farah’s husband has died of a heart attack; and now Darshan is dead, presumably from a fall. Will the police in the nearby larger town begin an investigation? Then, surprise, Geeta has been right all along about not killing Ramesh because he returns to the village, supposedly blind from drinking bad alcohol. What happens next?

Readers will find The Bandit Queens hard to put down. They will feel outraged by the men’s treatment of the women. Book club members will be loudly discussing domestic abuse, rape, forced marriages, and widowhood.

As a reader, I wished for a glossary of Indian terms used throughout the book. Most of them I could understand through the context of the story, but a glossary would have been helpful.

The Book Whisperer RECOMMENDS The Phoenix Crown!

Authors Janie Chang and Kate Quinn

What happens when two bestselling authors team up to write historical fiction? The result is a rousing novel set in San Francisco before, during, and after the 1906 earthquake that rocked the city. Kate Quinn and Janie Chang, two authors I admire and enjoy, wrote The Phoenix Crown set in San Francisco.

Quinn and Chang bring to life many characters, particularly Gemma, a rising opera star from nowhere, and Suling, a Chinese American who is a talented embroideress. These two people would be unlikely to meet except for a series of circumstances that bring the two together. Along with these two main characters, readers will meet other important people in Gemma’s and Suling’s lives.

Gemma’s talent as an opera singer allows her to meet the wealthy and influential Henry Thornton. Suling’s family does the laundry for Thornton. As a result, Thornton becomes the conduit for the two women of such disparate worlds not only to meet but also to become allies and friends.

Gemma and Suling both suffer from abuses brought on by men in their lives. Too, they are both seeking to reunite with a friend they have in common. Alice Eastwood, another woman with a mission, is also in Thornton’s orbit. She is a curator of botany at the California Academy of Sciences. She is determined to identify plants and keep some from extinction; the earthquake only intensifies her desire to save the plants.

Readers know the earthquake is impending and that knowledge serves to heighten the tension in the novel. Along with the earthquake, tensions continue to grow for Gemma and Suling as they learn the truth about Thornton and their missing friend.

Surviving the earthquake itself is no small feat. Then escaping Thornton’s clutches becomes the next hurdle because he is ruthless and heartless, considering only his own needs and his survival. He doesn’t realize the ingenuity of the women he is trying to harm, however.

Read The Phoenix Crown for a bit of history and a rousing good story of women who seek justice after they have been badly wronged. Quinn and Chang do not shy away from tough topics: arranged marriage, racism, and sexism. Because of their tackling such topics, book club members will find much to discuss.

The Book Whisperer Is Disappointed

I am often seeking YA books for a book club I lead. When I discovered Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe, I thought I had hit pay dirt. Philippe’s prose is described variously as “effortlessly charming,” “sharply funny and insightful,” and “witty and well-developed.” I also liked the title.

As I read, I agreed with most of the comments I had discovered. Henri Haltiwanger, first-generation Haitian, is a charming high school student. He’s busy with his schoolwork, activities, and dog-walking business. Henri attends the prestigious high school, Fine Arts Technical Education Academy (FATE), on a scholarship. Henri carefully keeps his friends at school and his home life separate.

The dog-walking business is, in fact, a one-man operation fully run by Henri himself with one employee: Henri. He created a website that makes it look as if he works for a larger company, Uptown Updogs. He even sports a T-shirt with the name and logo on it to make the company more legit.

His dog-walking scheme becomes problematic when Corrine Troy’s mother hires Henri to walk Corrine’s newly acquired dog. There are two problems with this new client. First, Corrine is one of Troy’s classmates. Second, Corrine and her mother live in Henri’s building where Henri’s father is the superintendent taking care of the building maintenance. A third problem develops when Corrine determines Henri is the sole employee of Uptown Updogs.

Corrine blackmails Henri into helping her overcome her lack of popularity at the school. Henri and Corrine are like oil and water, but readers may suspect that may change as they become better acquainted.

Although I thought the book would make a good one for our book club, I quickly realized that the story is not suitable for my group. I am not a prude, but the underage sex and drinking put me off the story quickly.

The Book Whisperer Is Enthralled With Yellowface

If you are a writer and have even published one book to less than stellar success, would steal a dead writer’s work and revise it as your own? Do you believe writers must stick to their own race, gender, and/or experiences for their stories? These are fundamental questions readers will grapple with as they read Yellowface by R.F. Kuang.

Juniper Song Hayward, known popularly as June, graduated from Yale. She has published her first novel, but she has received little notice with that book. She went to Yale with Athena Liu who has become the darling of the publishing world fresh out of the university. June and Athena are acquaintances. While they have spent time together off and on, one could hardly call them best friends. Athena limits her friendships.

June and Athena find themselves in DC. One night they hang out together in a bar, getting wasted. Athena suggests they go back to her apartment. There, they continue to drink. They decide they are hungry; Athena makes awful, doughy pancakes, but the two devour the pancakes anyway.  Suddenly, Athena is choking, and June tries her best to do the Heimlich Maneuver but without success. She calls 911 and paramedics arrive, but it is too late. Athena, successful author, lies dead on her kitchen floor.

Alone in the apartment, June looks into Athena’s office and finds a manuscript. Athena has told June she just finished the story. Now, Athena does not use a computer; she types up her work from moleskin notebooks by using an old-fashioned typewriter. She also famously refuses to talk with anyone about her work until it is ready for her editor. As a result, June knows that Athena’s latest work is untraceable. Hmmm….

June takes the finished manuscript which is hardly ready for publication. Many of the sentences are incomplete and there are notes on items to be filled in. June revises the work extensively, and she does her own research, using Athena’s notes.

When June submits the book, an editor decides to take an option on it. The two work together to hone the manuscript further. Readers won’t be surprised to learn the book is wildly successful. However, at what price to June, now known as Juniper Song? Readers also learn well into the story that Athena coopted June’s own story about being sexually assaulted by another Yale student. That assault left June bereft and needing therapy, yet Athena took it and wrote it as her own story. Does that justify June’s behavior later?

Readers will find much to discuss in this dark novel. Discussion will center on June’s actions in taking the manuscript, but Athena’s earlier betrayal of June will also be a topic for discussion. Other matters include racial prejudice, what an author can or cannot write about, and who should get to tell stories.

The Book Whisperer Is Intrigued By a New Series

Rising Star by Michele Kwasniewski is the first book in a series about Dani Truehart. Dani, 15, is, as the title indicates, “a rising star.” Her mother is one of those Tiger Mothers determined to make one of her daughters a star.  Dani’s older sister Geena is bright, but her mother wants her to be a gymnastics star. That dream fails. While the mom is happy Geena will go far on her academic skills, she still wants a STAR. Her focus now is on Dani to become a singing and dancing sensation.

The pressure on Dani is tremendously harmful, but the mom cannot see that. At first, Dani is happy to go along with her mother’s dream. However, the relentless pressure to be thin and to practice wears on Dani. When Dani succeeds in winning attention from Jenner Redman, a music industry manager, it looks as if she is on her way to stardom. Redman was once quite successful, but he has fallen on hard times; still, he uses what’s left of his fortune and his reputation to help Dani succeed. Of course, Dani’s success also means Redman’s return to his own fame and fortune.

Living with Redman on his Malibu estate, Dani tries to maintain connections with her family and work on her career. Is this the career that Dani wants? Readers discover Dani’s fears and doubts as they follow her through auditions and performances. As she becomes more aware of the motivation of others around her, Dani questions not only herself, but those who seek to use her for their own gains.

Michele Kwasniewski writes from her experience in film and television, thus giving authenticity to the story. Kwasniewski shows readers the toughness Dani must build up to continue to seek fame. For book clubs, members will discuss Dani’s mother’s motivations, Dani’s father’s lack of intervention, and the brutal music industry. This coming-of-age story will captivate readers.

The Book Whisperer Says, “Let’s Take a Ride!”

Readers, are you looking for a wild ride in a bright green Jaguar with two women on the lam? Then join eighty-four-year-old Louise, a possible thief, and Tanner, a twenty-one-year-old college dropout as they drive from Georgia to California on a mission to save a life, possibly their own. The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley starts innocently enough when Louise’s daughter engages Tanner, her friend’s daughter, to be a live-in caretaker for Louise.

Neither Louise nor Tanner wants this arrangement, but they both need a bit of help. Louise has had a hip replacement and has been in rehab for longer than she would like. She is now home, but her children insist she must have some in-home help. She accepts that alternative rather than moving to an assisted living home or nursing home. Tanner, badly injured in a freak accident, is also fresh out of physical therapy after surgery to repair her badly broken leg. Tanner’s dream of finishing college as a soccer player and possibly playing professional soccer has gone with the wind.

After an age-progression photo appears on the national news showing an elderly woman suspected of stealing over $100,000 in jewels forty years ago, Tanner fears she has begun living with the wrong person because the picture looks suspiciously like Louise. Louise and Tanner have been wary of one another from the start, so readers will wonder how this fast car ride will turn out.

Did Louise really steal all those jewels years ago? Did she kill a man as she later claims? And who is George, and why is that person important to the story? Take the ride with Louise and Tanner to discover all the juicy and possibly dangerous secrets. You will be glad you made the trip.

The Book Whisperer Enjoys a YA Novel & Recommends It!

I’m leading a Zoom book club with friends living in Texas and Oklahoma. Finding the right book for the monthly discussions is both a privilege and a joy, yet it is also work! I must read the book to determine if it makes a good fit for our group. Oh, dear! I must read the book! You can see that I jest since reading is a primary function of my life. Recently, I read The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee. I do think it is a good fit for our discussion and will choose it for the near future.

The Downstairs Girl has been a Reese’s Book Club YA Pick and a New York Times Bestseller. Those accolades were enough to persuade me to read the book. Still, the book had to stand on its own for me to choose it for one of our discussions. It does that—stand on its own.

Seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan is a talented hatmaker, but Mrs. English, her cruel employer, fires her without warning one day. Not only does Mrs. English fire Jo, but she tells Jo she has told the other hatmakers in town they should not hire Jo because she is Asian and because she is a “saucebox.” Old Gin, the man who has raised Jo, tells Jo she can return to the Payne household as a lady’s maid to Caroline, the Payne’s cruel and mean-spirited daughter. Jo grew up with Caroline because Old Gin works as a stable hand and horse trainer for the Paynes. Even as a child, Caroline was often cruel to Jo and frequently reminded Jo of “her place,” that is lower in status than Caroline’s.

Readers will sympathize with Jo and Old Gin because they encounter racial prejudice every day in Atlanta, GA, just as their Black counterparts do. Jo and Old Gin barely get by on their minuscule wages. In fact, they live under the Bells’ print shop, a fact known only to Jo and Old Gin. The Bells own and run a local newspaper. Where Jo and Old Gin live used to be a hiding place for slaves attempting to escape. There is a “listening tube” to the underground space from the print shop above.

Jo has used that listening tube to eavesdrop on conversations. Those conversations have helped her improve her English and understand the world around her. Now, she overhears the Bells talking about the need to raise their subscriptions by 2000 to stay in business. Of course, if the Bells close the newspaper and sell their property, Jo and Old Gin will be in jeopardy of losing their secret dwelling.

Jo hears Mrs. Bell and her son Nathan talking about ways to improve subscriptions. They believe adding an agony aunt column will help garner a larger readership. Jo, the saucebox, sees an opportunity to use her wit and opinions to help the Bells and thus keep her home. She writes a letter and slips it anonymously into the Bells’ letterbox. She says she would like to contribute regular letters but remain anonymous. She doesn’t even want to be paid.

Jo’s columns do begin to increase the subscriptions, and she also receives many letters in response to the column.  As Jo works for the Paynes as Caroline’s maid, she listens to conversations and uses some of what she hears in her columns for the Bells. Other problems arise when Billy Riggs, local criminal, begins threatening Old Gin and Jo.

Without giving away any spoilers, I will say that The Downstairs Girl offers readers several surprises that fit well into the story. It also has a satisfying ending that does not neatly tie up all the pieces, but it gives readers pleasure. Book club members will have much to discuss including racial prejudice and its terrors, education, what it means to be a “saucebox,” and genuine care for one another.

The Book Whisperer is Delighted With a Pastiche of Pride and Prejudice: Pride and Premeditation

Since I am always on the prowl for a new author to discover, I am delighted to tell readers that I recently discovered Tirzah Price, who writes for young adults. I read Pride and Premeditation, a pastiche of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. In Price’s story, readers will delight in the same characters that Austen created along with the same period in history.

Price has made Mr. Bennet a barrister, an expert in business law. Mr. Collins, set to inherit the business because the Bennets have only daughters, is a clerk, learning the law and expecting to be a solicitor some day with grandiose plans to become a barrister and eventually Queen’s Counsel. Lizzy longs to be a solicitor herself, but that dream is not likely to be fulfilled because of the restrictions on women at the time.

Price has made Mr. Collins as odious in Pride and Premeditation as he was in Pride and Prejudice. Early in the story as Mr. Collins tries to woo Lizzy, much to her mother’s delight, Lizzy quotes a line from Shakespeare to him: “I do wish that we could become better strangers.”

When Mr. Bingley is accused of murdering his ne’er-do-well brother-in-law, Hurst, Lizzy is determined to prove to her father that she is capable of working for his firm. She is also interested in seeing justice done because she quickly comes to believe in Bingley’s innocence after she does some sleuthing in Bingley’s and Hurst’s households. To muddy the waters, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and his father’s law firm are representing Bingley in the pursuit of justice.

Darcy sees Lizzy as a buzzing fly in the ointment and resents her interference until she proves that she is more than an irritant and that she can help prove Bingley’s innocence. The story moves along quickly and offers readers some heart-stopping moments as Lizzy gets more than she bargains for and trusts one person she should not have trusted.

The story is delightful, and I highly recommend it. The second book in the series is Sense and Second-Degree Murder. In it, Elinor Dashwood and Marianne, her sister, work to solve their father’s murder. Manslaughter Park is the third book; it features Fanny Price at her uncle’s estate. Fanny decides to uncover the truth about the Bertram family business, blackmail, and more. In Manslaughter Park, Lizzy Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy also appear.

Reading Pride and Premeditation along with Pride and Prejudice would make a delightful book club discussion.

The Book Whisperer is Disappointed

Readers all know not every book is for everyone. For me, a recent book that has not appealed to me is Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal. The book is well-written, but I had trouble caring about the characters or understanding some of their motivation. Although Publishers Weekly indicates “Macneal successfully balances thrilling action sequences with poignant passages,” I did not find that to be true for me. Yes, there are some dramatic moments; since I had no investment in the characters and their lives, I did not find the action thrilling or dramatic. The reviewer at Publishers Weekly goes on to write that Macneal “brings her fully developed characters to life.” Perhaps that is true for other readers.

Macneal never makes it clear to me why Jasper Jupiter, the show’s owner and master of ceremonies, thinks Nell will make a good addition to his show. Macneal describes her minimally as having birthmarks. Nell recognizes that townspeople ogle her and talk about her birthmarks; is that enough for Jasper to add her to his “freak show”? Jasper builds a story around Nell and fits her with heavy metal wings for her flights above the crowd.

In the 1860s in England, there is an insatiable appetite for the unusual and the weird—some of which are manufactured. Even Queen Victoria is interested in such human oddities.

The story becomes more complex when Nell becomes so famous that Queen Victoria requests that Nell visit the palace after the Queen attends a performance of the Circus of Wonders. Jasper feels slighted and is angry that Nell is invited and yet he is not. That slight starts the characters on a path toward destruction.

Readers will have to determine for themselves if Circus of Wonders lives up to the Publishers Weekly’s hype. For me, the story falls short.

The Book Whisperer is Enthralled with The Lost Bookshop!

Readers seeking a book that features mystery, romance, books, and a bit of magical realism should look no further than The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods. This story will captivate readers especially those who enjoy stories showcasing books and authors. Like many other recent novelists, Woods has chosen to tell the story through alternating chapters by Opaline, Martha, and Henry. 

Opaline’s story takes place in the 1920s while Martha’s and Henry’s stories take place in the present. Readers will rage against Opaline’s much older brother and her mother who do not have Opaline’s best interests at heart. Opaline takes her life into her own hands, but her despicable brother keeps showing up at the most inopportune times to intervene in her plans. Readers will continue to root for her success, and they will be rewarded.

Martha escapes from an abusive husband to make a life for herself free of fear. She finds employment with Madame Bowden in Dublin as a housekeeper and general helper around the house. Like Opaline, Martha finds Shane, her abusive husband, turning up like the bad penny he is. Also, like Opaline, Martha overcomes Shane’s influence.

Now, we come to Henry, a graduate student. He seeks the lost bookshop that Opaline owned and ran on Ha’penny Lane in the 1920s. The trouble is the store has disappeared. Or has it? As Henry explores the area where he is certain the bookshop used to be, he meets Martha. They become involved in solving the mystery of the bookshop.

As a reader who loves reading stories set in bookstores and libraries and stories about books, readers, and writers, I found The Lost Bookshop enthralling. I could hardly put the book down.

Without giving away any spoilers, I will say that the story contains unexpected turns and rewards the readers with a terrific plot. This line from the book sums up my feelings about books: “The thing about books is that they help you imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.” Words like spellbinding, transportive, and captivating describe The Lost Bookshop. I eagerly await The Story Collector by Woods which will be out in August.