“Come and Go, Molly Snow” by Mary Ann Taylor-Hall
Mary Ann Taylor-Hall uses foreshadowing in the very first paragraph of this novel, when she describes Carrie’s intentions: “If you want to play the fiddle in a bluegrass band, then I-75 is one of the roads, you’ll be on.” Carrie wrote a song that day “Doin’ 75 on I-75.” That was when she mistakenly thought the bluegrass music capital of the world was Lexington, Kentucky, when she had only just graduated from high school.
Carrie describes the song as “mainly a real fast breakdown.” And that is exactly what happened to her — a breakdown.
But first, there was Cap Dunlap who caught her eye, but didn’t seem to notice her. She saw the “can’t be had” guitarist on stage and thought his grin was “dazzling, the boy did shine.” Her dream was that Cap would notice her fiddle playing and include her in his band.
But when Carrie discovered she couldn’t have Cap, she “took on what was handy.” Getting pregnant ended that relationship.
So, Carrie struggles to play music, balanced with a full-time job at the University and keeping her baby, Molly.
Five minutes of distraction is all it took for Carrie’s nightmare to begin. Her five-year-old daughter is accidentally killed on Carrie’s watch. This is the beginning of her breakdown.
During her recovery, Carrie is befriended by two sisters from Cap’s family. As she begins to mend her shattered life, she picks up her fiddle.
Music is known to affect our emotions and our mood, and for Carrie the music allows her to express what she couldn’t say in words.
Healing doesn’t come immediately but Taylor-Hall slowly walks us along the road Carrie has to walk. It is through friendship, her own inner strength and the healing power of music that brings Carrie back to life.
This book was originally published in 1995. I read it then, and I persuaded my book group to read it — where it is still mentioned as one of their favorite reads.
At the time of its publication, the Los Angeles Times commented that “There’s music in this novel, and the song of a woman’s loss and pain, and the song of her redemption.”
— Review by Lizz Taylor, Poor Richard’s Books
“The Cliffs: A Novel” by J. Courtney Sullivan
Needing an escape from the heat of Kentucky, I chose a novel set in Maine, specifically a small seaside town where the “townies” put up with the summer influx of vacationers. I had not read Sullivan’s work before this, but all the blurbs on the back of the book were from authors I had read and admired.
Sullivan does an excellent job of weaving together the stories of women from multiple generations. She allows each of these characters to speak in their own voice filling in the mysteries of the gothic mansion on the cliff overlooking the sea and the connection with the women who are tied to the place.
The main character is Jane, a broken, lost woman trying to understand what went wrong with her marriage, why her mother preferred her sister and why her sister drinks too much. Other women include the original owner of the house, who is widowed following a ship wreck. There are also the second occupants who establish a boarding house for summertime guests. They sell the house to the present-day woman who has money but is without taste or appreciation for the history of the house. And then, there is also a ghost, a young female who still lives in the house.
Jane is hired by the current owner to investigate the house and all of the people who have been connected to it. Jane is also helping her sister dispose of the goods in her mother’s house who has recently passed. Jane has a childhood friend who also is part of the story and decides to help Jane figure her future by hiring a psychic, who may be a fraud, but the intention is to help Jane find peace with her past.
The land where the house sits also ties in to a Native American tribe from the 1600s. This location was where the people gathered to enjoy the summer and the food they grew there for the winter. But, disaster struck when a ship carried away four of the braves and disappeared over the horizon.
Sullivan takes great care in introducing each of the voices in the telling of Jane’s story and her connection with the house. This is a carefully outlined history of the land we inhabit, the people who have lived there and how each person has left behind a story that will always tie them to the house.
This book was chosen by Reese Witherspoon to be one of “Reese’s Book Club” picks. Witherspoon is involved in numerous women’s and children’s advocacy organizations.
— Review by Lizz Taylor, Poor Richard’s Books
“Brother” by Ania Ahlborn
Adopted into a family of cannabilistic serial killers, Michael Morrow hates the monster he is. His participation is never by choice but a result of years of physical and emotional abuse. Michael and his older brother, Reb, spend their time cruising the back roads of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia looking for victims to take home to their mother.
Desperate for the love and approval of Reb — terrified he will be the next victim to be tied up, tortured and field dressed — Michael survives his days and nights keeping his head down and doing what he’s told. When he meets and falls in love with Alice, a record store clerk, Michael wants nothing more than to run away with her and shed his horrific past. Dreaming of a different life, Michael plots his escape to a brighter future with Alice.
Michael’s story is pure tragedy and my heart ached for him. The subject matter is intense and disturbing but taking a deeper look into the relationship between Michael and Reb make this story so much more than a horror novel.
— Review by Karyn Collins, Paul Sawyier Public Library
“Comfort Me with Apples” by Catherynne M. Valente
Welcome to Arcadia Gardens, the idyllic neighborhood where everything is perfect. For Sophia, everything was made specifically for her, and she was made specifically for her husband.
“I was made for him,” she chants as she walks through her perfect home. “I was made for him,” she says as she cleans her perfect kitchen. “I was made for him,” she whispers as she tends to her perfect garden. In all the perfection, things don’t seem to actually fit Sophia, but Sophia would never complain or fuss because she was made for him.
Catherynne M. Valente’s “Comfort Me with Apples” is an eerie novella that feels like a Stepford Wives and Bluebeard-like retelling, but the grisly twist at the end will make the reader question everything they just read. Nothing is as it seems at Arcadia Gardens. In a place where happiness should be a given and ignorance is bliss, an apple holds the key to unlocking the sinister truth that Sophia’s husband is hiding. This haunting, cleverly written and unsettling story is the perfect read for this spooky season.
— Review by Heather Avila, Paul Sawyier Public Library
