Fox River, by Emilie Richards

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Fox River by Richards Richards: Book CoverFinished 5-8-09, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2001

“It’s a fork in the road,” Maisy said, stroking her daughter’s hair.  “And you don’t even feel up to walking a straight line.  But you will.  You can.  You’ll get through this honey, and make all the right choices.  There’s no question.”

For once in her life Julia was profoundly grateful to be suffocated in her mother’s soft arms.  But as she sobbed, she wondered who was comforting Christian.  Who would tell Christian that at this critical fork in the road he would take the right path?  Who would hold him and reassure him?

 She knew, without a doubt, it should have been her.

Chapter 11

This grand sweeping romance will draw you into the world of horses and fox hunting and the privileged people who live there.  Julia, who comes from the most respected of horsemen families, is a woman who has had to deal with a lot of tragedy in her almost 30 years and it all culminates with a fall off a horse that leaves her blind.  Her father died when she was too young to remember, her best friend was murdered, her boyfriend was sent to prison for the murder, and the last of the foursome was killed in a car crash.  And this is all before she begins to think her nine year marriage may be over.

Christian was released from prison when another inmate confessed to the murder, but nine years is a long time to serve for a crime you didn’t commit.  He is welcomed back to Virginia horse country by the man who had taken him in as a teenager and had never stopped believing in his innocence.  Now he just has to face down locals who still believe he’s guilty and face up to Julia, whose trouble on the stand helped send him to prison.

Julia’s mother, Maisy, is a wonderful character who takes in her daughter and granddaughter and shares a novel she’s writing which becomes another story within Fox River.  There is no shortage of action and it all weaves together perfectly for a wonderful family saga full of life and death, lies and betrayal, love and revenge.

I adored this story.  I think if you are interested in horses or fox hunting you might appreciate it more, but it is certainly not a necessity.  This is my first Emilie Richards novel, but it won’t be my last!  Read my interview with her here.

9 in ’09 with Emilie Richards

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This Friday I invited Emilie Richards to answer 9 questions.  I am almost finished with my first Richards novel, Fox River, and have enjoyed it so much I contacted her before I even finished it.  I sent her the questions Wednesday night and she had sent me her answers by the time I checked my mail Thursday morning!  Thank you, Emilie!

Emily is a  minister’s wife, mother of four, and author of the the popular Ministry is Murder mysteries and the Shenandoah Album novels.  I’ll post my review of her novel, Fox River, on Sunday and I can assure you that I will be reading more of Emilie Richards.

Visit Emilie’s website (www.emilierichards.com) for a list of her books, quilts, and upcoming events.  And now, the questions…

1. You have written over 60 books.  What is your writing routine?  You must be very disciplined.

I am disciplined, but that’s easy enough since I love writing so much that I look forward to my time at the computer.  I usually do email or blogging over coffee, then after breakfast I launch into whatever I need to work on that day.  I try to take care of promotion, research, editing, brainstorming etc. in the morning because I actually write best between about 2 and 6.  I save that time for the most concentrated work and try to avoid interruptions.  I set aside Mondays as my day off, but I do write at least half a day each on the weekends.

2. You have been a minister’s wife for many years and write the Ministry is Murder mystery series.  How has your congregation responded to your books?  Any fun stories?

I learned some time ago that people will see themselves in my books whether I put them there or not (and you can bet I don’t).  Strangely, though, nobody seems to think I’m writing about anything that could actually happen in a real church, nobody except ministers’ families, of course.  My best mail comes from fellow clergy wives and clergy of all denominations, also lots of PKs (preacher’s kids) who recognize my characters and sympathize.  Their real life stories put mine to shame.

I do have to say that our congregation has been totally supportive, and the church I loosely base the series on (and the town of Emerald Springs) invited me for a book signing last year.  They love it.

3. I just visited your blog for the first time and fell in love (http://blog.emilierichards.com/).  You cover a range of topics from the inauguration (made me teary eyed) to swine flu (made me happy you’ve recovered – you have to read it for details, readers).  As a relatively new blogger what has surprised you the most and do you have favorite blogs that you visit?

I was dragged kicking and screaming into the blogosphere.  I’ve never kept a journal, never wanted to, and doing it online seemed pointless and excruciating.  How wrong could I be?  I adore blogging.  I’ve gone from wondering what on earth I’d talk about to how on earth can I fit everything in?  It’s a joy and a journey.  In the very near future I’ll be running my next contest there (for Happiness Key) and anybody who comments on my “happiness” blogswill be entered to win a beach bag stuffed with gifts chosen by my characters.

I am a big fan of my friend author Diane Chamberlain’s blog, and nothing beats Lee Lofland’s The Graveyard Shift for great research on police procedure.  I visit many others, but I’m trying not to become addicted.

4. What is the one thing you could not live without?

My imagination.

5. Who or what inspires you?

I love stories about the “little guy” or “gal” who have overcome adversity, or stood up for their values against impossible odds and won.  There are so many, and we see so few of them.  But I am always inspired.

6. I love quotes.  Do you have a favorite?

I fall in love with quotes and immediately forget them.  But here’s one from Milton that I saw today in the NY Times, and I really like it:  The mind is its own place, and in itself/ Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n.”

7. What are you currently reading?

I just finished Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.  I have Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell on my bedside table and Blood Bayou by my friend Karen Young, plus I’m listening to Storm of Swords by George Martin.  There’s a new Diane Mott Davidson mystery on my list, and I’ve downloaded the new Harlan Coben and Lisa Scottoline to listen to once I finish Storm of Swords.  Is that eclectic enough do you think?  I also received a Sony reader for my last birthday (love it) and last night I downloaded three of L. Frank Baum’s Oz books, and three Sherlock Holmes to go along with other classics I’ve already downloaded.  Life is good.

8. If you were trapped in the life of one fictional character who would you choose?

Stephanie Plum, because even though she’s in constant danger, cars explode when she’s not inside them, and she has both Ranger and Joe to keep her life interesting.

Of course I’d also love to take up permanent residence in the Land of Oz, so the choice would be tough.

9. And finally, what are you working on now and are there any books we’ll see on the shelves soon?

Happiness Key, my latest Mira, will be on bookshelves June 30th, along with the new paperback of Sister’s Choice, last year’s hardcover.  Happiness Key is in trade paperback, a new venture for me, and I’ll be offering a $1.50 off coupon on my website, and in my newsletters.  It’s easy to sign up for my email newsletter on my website.  Happiness Key  is the quintessential beach book, set on the Florida Gulf Coast.  It’s a friendship novel, about four very different women and I adored writing it.  Fortunate Harbor, the sequel, is in progress now.  Once it’s finished I’ll launch into A Truthfor a Truth, the fifth book in my Ministry is Murder series.  I think I’m supremely lucky to have two different kinds of books to keep my work fresh, and I never tire of either.

Happiness Key

Thank you, Emilie!

Salty Like Blood, by Harry Kraus, MD

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Salty Like Blood by Kraus Kraus: Book CoverFinished 5-1-09, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 2009

In the next hour we asked every resident of the street if they’d seen our little girl.  Everyone we questioned returned the same concerned stare, as if we were bad parents.  They never said it, but I felt it at every doorstep.  You let your little girl go out by the water alone?

Chapter 3

Seven year old, Rachel Conners, is a normal little girl with two parents who love her.  Then, while visiting her sick grandfather on the Chesapeake shore, she goes missing.  Her parents, Dr. David Conners and his wife Joanne, are frantic and their sometimes troubled marriage approaches a breaking point.  Joanne wants to assume she is dead and move one, but David needs answers and the two live apart, each trying to cope in their own way.  While David stays at the shore to look for answers he is tempted by fantasies of his Muslim neighbor and back in the city, Joanne begins to fall prey to her ex-fiancee, Blake. 

This book tackles the horrifying prospect of losing a child and the uncertainty that comes with a disappearance.  David and Joanne’s marriage was in trouble and it was shown, warts and all.  It shows happens when two partners need to grieve or fight in two different ways. 

There were so many storylines that it was almost too much.  Losing a parent, losing a child, racial prejudice, small town expectations, betraying a friend, and social pressures are just some of the main themes.  The multiple storylines kept the story moving, although I’m not sure they all came together for me. 

The story is a quick read and written in a straightforward voice that will keep you guessing what will happen next.  David’s quest for answers leads to thoughts of revenge and forgiveness and Joanne must deal with the lies in her marriage.  The end was surprising and far-fetched (at least I hope so!) and I never really liked Joanne.  She was too cold and distant and never really thawed.  David was a more sympathetic character and I was rooting for him to find his answers and save the day.

All in all, there was more good than bad and I did enjoy it.

The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom with John & Elizabeth Sherrill

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Cover ImageFinished 4-28-09, rating 5/5, autobiography, pub. 1971

“Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings, Corrie.  It’s something we make inside ourselves.”

Chapter 3

The ten Boom family was an institution in Haarlem, Holland.  The family had owned the watch shop for over 100 years and the current ten Booms had settled into a comfortable life.  Father, known as one of the finest watch makers in the country, and Mother, with her giving spirit even though her own health was weak, raised 4 children and welcomed two sisters into the tiny house behind and above the shop.  This is a family that knew how to take care of each other. 

By the time the Nazi’s occupied Holland only Corrie, the youngest and author, her sister Betsie and Father were left in the house.  The two oldest children, Nollie and Willem, had families of their own close by.  The ten Booms were faithful Christians, exemplifying the spirit of grace, compassion, and giving.  When the Germans began taking Jews from their small village the ten Booms were appalled.  When the first Jew appeared on their doorstep there was no question that they would take him in.  So, the word was out and more people in need began showing up and the ten Boom family home became the headquarters for the Jewish underground effort. By this time Corrie and Betsie were into their 50’s and Father 80’s.

Corrie and her family had a secret room built in the house, had an illegal telephone and radio, and had to make deals with sympathizers to obtain ration cards and shelter for those needing to hide.  The operation became quite large and it was only a matter of time before they were caught.  First, everyone in the family was rounded up and taken to prison and there they were split up.  After some time both Corrie and Betsie were taken to a camp in Holland and then on to a concentration camp in Germany. 

The one thing that sustained Corrie and her family was their faith in God.  This book is a beautiful tribute to the Christian spirit that they were willing to give and suffer so much in the face of hatred.  Corrie’s words leave an impact and she has much to teach us all about forgiveness, death, and loving your enemies.  I am sure that I will read this book again.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Also reviewed by

Library Queue

Teaser Tuesday – Fox River

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teasertuesdays31Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! ;)

 

After nine years of listening to sobs and belches, to coughs and demented laughter, Christian tried to imagine that sort of peace.  One night, before the guards could intervene, he had listened helplessly as a man murdered his cellmate.

Fox River by Emilie Richards, Chapter 13

Fox River by Emilie Richards: Book Cover

What Book is That? Quiz (Take Two)

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You guys know your covers!  Thanks, Jo Jo, MOG, Tonya, the two Kathys, and Mark 🙂

It was such fun the first time I thought I’d try it again.  Can you identify these books by their censored titles?  Leave a comment with the number, title and author.

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1.  Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire – Tonya

2.  Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts – Jo-Jo

3.  Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder – Tonya

4.  Tex by SE Hinton – Mark

5. Charming Billy by Alice McDermott – Kathy

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 6. Heart & Soul by Maeve Binchy – Kathy

 7.  The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown – Kathy 

8.  Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – MOG

9.  Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende – MOG

10.  Here On Earth by Alice Hoffman – Jo-Jo

Blue Smoke, by Nora Roberts

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Cover ImageFinished 4-26-09, rating 4/5, romantic thriller, pub. 2005

“Something else I need to talk to you about.”  He set down hos fork, looked into her eyes.  “Pastorelli’s out.”

“He–”  She drew herself in, glanced around to see if any of her family could overhear.  “When?”

“Last week. I just got word.”

Chapter 5

Reena was only 11 years old when she watched her family restaurant burn to the ground.  She had been attacked by a boy in her class and their two fathers had come to blows, causing the other father to take a match to their family livelihood.  Years go by as Reena studies to become a member of the arson unit and she returns home to the Little Italy area of Baltimore.  She is welcomed with open arms by her large Italian family and life settles into family, fires, and the occasional boyfriend.  She is a strong woman who has a hard time finding a man who admires her determination and when she does the relationships end in death or abuse. 

I really liked this book.  I liked Reena, although I didn’t love her.  The secondary characters were fun and lovable and well developed.  I’d love to read another story involving the Hale clan.  I think it is the large family with so much love and loyalty that made this book feel so cozy.  The hero, Bo Goodnight, was a dream and easy to fall for.  Who doesn’t want a well-built, handsome carpenter who fell in love with you at first sight and has spent years trying to find you?

I’m not sure I would classify this as a thriller.  It is more of a family/romantic drama?  There was a mystery, but it really wasn’t that hard to figure out.  Actually, my biggest complaint is that for a smart woman, Reena was a little slow in seeing the obvious.

I’m not a Nora Roberts fan, but I really enjoyed this book and recommend it for a fun, fast-paced read.

Free books for May

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may-free-books

Leave a comment, tell me which book you want and I’ll get the book to you for FREE either by mail or personally if I’ll see you soon.  The first one to request each book wins.  Once you’ve ‘won’ the book I can get your shipping address if I need it.  Also, you can come back and get a free book every month if you want. These have all been read a few times.

1. Paradise Lost by JA Jance  for Arthur

2. The Perfect Bride by Brenda Joyce  for Gautami

3. Intensity by Dean Koontz  for Suboo

4. The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardner  for Bridget

Thanks for helping me clear my shelves.  And, as always, Happy Reading!

Wow!  That was my quickest sell-out ever.  Thanks for stopping by!

April Morning, by Howard Fast

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Cover ImageFinished 4-23-09, rating 4/5, ya historical fiction, pub. 1961

For myself, I had the feeling that I was looking at my father for the very first time, not seeing him as I had always seen him in the vague wholeness of age and distance, but looking at the face of a surprisingly young man, his wide, brown face serious and intent upon me, his dark eyes shadowed in their inquiry, his broad full-lipped mouth tight and thoughtful.  How was it, I wondered, that I had never noticed before what a strikingly handsome man he was?  How was it that I had seen in him only the strength of overbearance and not the thewed strength of those massive brown arms spread on the desk with the white shirt sleeves rolled high and carelessly?  It was no wonder that men listened to him and heeded his words.

Chapter – The Night

It’s 1775 and the Battle of Lexington is about to take place in Adam’s backyard, but he doesn’t know it.  He is still hung up on feeling anger toward his father, unappreciated by his mother, and maligned by his younger brother.  He is a typical 15 year old, caught between wanting to grow up and needing to hold on to his childhood angst.  When their small community is warned that the British are headed their way, the men arm themselves, but hope that diplomacy may rule the day.  Adam is in the second line of defense when the British come through, guns firing and the blood flowing.  Adam started that April morning as a boy, but by the end of the day he had grown up witnessing murder, feeling despair, vowing revenge, and realizing that family is the most important thing. 

I loved this book.  I thought Adam’s adolescent relationship with his overbearing father was so real that it is really the heart of the book.  The battle and the rag tag way the men fought back that day at Lexington was a wonderful view into the ways of war over 200 years ago and it is interesting to contrast it with what we do to each other during war today.  This slim novel takes place over that one April day when Adam was forced into adulthood too soon, as was the case with many boys in 1775.

This book is told with such poignant honesty that it will touch your heart.  Although it is about life in the 1700’s, I think teens will recognize the feelings in this book and it may help them put their own feelings into perspective.  I’m glad I was able to watch Adam on his journey to manhood.