⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Physician’s Daughter is set just after the Civil War, in a country struggling to move forward while still tethered to the past. Eighteen-year-old Vita Tenney dreams of becoming a country doctor like her father, only to be told that marriage—not medicine—is her future. Vita’s determination drives the novel, and Conway convincingly portrays how narrow a woman’s options were in 1865. Jacob Culhane, a war veteran weighed down by loss and trauma, becomes Vita’s unlikely ally. Their arrangement—part escape plan, part business partnership—feels rooted in the social and economic realities of the time. The novel shines in its atmosphere and introspection. Conway captures the loneliness of ambition and the disorientation […]
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A Brutally Honest Memoir That Hurts to Read
⭐⭐⭐⭐ In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy pulls zero punches. This is not a cozy celebrity memoir with amusing behind-the-scenes stories and a tidy redemption arc. It’s raw, uncomfortable, and often downright bleak. I went in expecting at least a few laughs, given the buzz and the cheeky title. Instead, I found myself wincing more than smiling. McCurdy details her childhood as a working actor with devastating clarity—from obsessive weigh-ins and “calorie restriction” to a level of parental control that’s hard to fathom. Her rise to fame on iCarly and later Sam & Cat doesn’t bring freedom, only deeper anxiety, addiction, and disordered eating. The material can be crass at times, and it’s definitely not […]
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A Tender, Sweeping Story of Love, Loss, and the Ties That Bind
⭐⭐⭐⭐½ Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash is a quiet, deeply moving novel that sneaks up on you and then stays put. Set during World War II, it follows eleven-year-old Beatrix Thompson, sent from London to live with a family in Massachusetts as part of the wartime evacuation of British children. What begins as a temporary arrangement stretches into years, and Bea grows up shaped by two homes, two families, and two very different versions of herself. Spence-Ash handles this emotional balancing act with real grace. Bea’s American host parents are kind, flawed, and loving in their own ways, while her mother back in England remains a powerful, aching presence—distant […]
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An Atmospheric Historical Novel, Even for Non-Gothic Readers
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’m not usually drawn to gothic novels, so a four-star rating here surprised me. That said, Mrs. England won me over more with its historical insight and character work than its shadows and suspense. Ruby May, a newly trained Norland nurse, accepts a post caring for four children in a remote Yorkshire household in 1904. From the outset, the England home feels unsettled—Mrs. England seems oddly unaware of Ruby’s arrival, the servants are distant, and only Mr. England and the children offer warmth. Ruby is the book’s clear standout. She’s capable and intelligent, but also young, flattered by attention, and prone to mistakes that carry real consequences. As her unease deepens, […]
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An Uneven Gilded Age Story, Highlighted by the Titanic
⭐⭐⭐ The Second Mrs. Astor promises glittering Gilded Age drama, but it only truly comes alive when history does the heavy lifting. The strongest, most engaging portion of the novel is the section devoted to the sinking of the Titanic. Those chapters crackle with tension and urgency, finally giving the story some much-needed momentum and emotional weight. Unfortunately, everything before and after that pivotal event feels thin by comparison. Madeleine Astor should be a fascinating figure—a young woman navigating scandal, wealth, and rigid social expectations—but she never fully steps off the page. The marriage to John Jacob Astor IV is treated more as a plot device than a relationship worth exploring in […]
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When One Choice Changes Everything
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Susan Meissner is such a fabulous storyteller, and Secrets of a Charmed Life shows her doing what she does best. The novel opens in modern-day Oxford, where young American scholar Kendra Van Zant interviews elderly Isabel McFarland, who is finally ready to share the truth she’s guarded for decades—starting with her real identity. What she passes on to Kendra is equal parts gift and weight, something that shakes Kendra’s tidy ideas about who she wants to be. Then Meissner sweeps us back to 1940s England. Emmy Downtree, fifteen and fiercely ambitious, dreams of returning to London to work in fashion, while her little sister Julia just wants to stay close to […]
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This Literary Recipe Misses the Mark
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Julia Child had a larger-than-life story even before she held a whisk, so a WWII spy novel based on her early years sounds like a five-course feast. Sadly, this one tastes more like reheated leftovers. The Secret War of Julia Child follows a fictionalized version of Julia on a covert mission in the Asian theater, but the story strays so far from history it stops feeling like her life and starts feeling like an ordinary action caper wearing her name tag. If you know a bit about Julia—and I’ve cooked, read, and studied her world for years—you’ll likely raise an eyebrow at the liberties taken. This Julia frets endlessly about her […]
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A Math Whiz, a Stray Teen, and One Badly Timed Road Trip
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ (3.5 stars) Jojo Moyes packs a car full of lovable misfits in One Plus One and sends them on a chaotic road trip that feels like her version of Little Miss Sunshine. Jess Thomas is a single mom doing the best she can with two kids who come with their own quirks: Tanzie, a math prodigy with a bright future if someone can pay for it, and Nicky, a shy teen dealing with bullies and a serious lack of confidence. When Jess crosses paths with Ed Nicholls, a troubled tech guy with more guilt than charm, the four of them wind up on a journey that’s equal parts frustrating and sweet. The story […]
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Murder, Politics, and Petty Genius in Early New York
⭐⭐⭐✨⭐ 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 I’ve always loved courtroom dramas, and The Girl from Greenwich Street had me excited from page one. Lauren Willig unearths the true story of Elma Sands, a young woman found dead in the Manhattan Well in 1799, and the sensational trial that followed. The accused, Levi Weeks, becomes the center of attention not because of evidence but because his defense team includes two ambitious lawyers with something bigger in mind: political gain. When Aaron Burr takes the case, Alexander Hamilton jumps in too, mostly to make sure Burr isn’t the only one grabbing headlines. The premise is outstanding, especially knowing it’s rooted in history, but the […]
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The Diary That Lied: A Wild Story of Deception and Cultural Panic
⭐⭐⭐⭐ I read Go Ask Alice when I was in my early teens and it scared the living daylights out of me. When I read Unmask Aliceand learned that it was all a hoax, I was angry. Rick Emerson pulls back the curtain on how Go Ask Alice exploded in 1971, reshaping the young adult genre with its brutal depiction of sex, psychosis, and teenage self-destruction. Marketed as the real diary of a middle-class addict, the book terrified parents, hardened LSD’s reputation, and helped fuel the momentum of the War on Drugs. Here’s the kicker: it was all the invention of author Beatrice Sparks, a serial con artist who turned tragedy into profit. Emerson paints […]
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