Category Archives: Biographical Fiction

A Pile of Book Reviews

Posted by Ayesha in Biographical Fiction, Brain Dump, Contemporary Fiction

Between reading and audiobooks, I have been flying through some books. And I realized I haven’t slowed down enough to review them. Instead of a dedicated post for each book, I thought I’d group them together in a couple of posts to move things along.

image via bn.com

image via bn.com

Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz - I debated telling you about this one, but I thought I would save you the trouble of reading it. As someone who works in this field, I didn’t enjoy the book at all. The tone of the book is negative throughout and has very little redeeming qualities. There were some things that were better than others, but it also happened to be predictable. I read it because I wanted to see the movie. But the movie was even worse, which I’m sad about because I think Tina Fey and Paul Rudd could save anything. But no, somehow, the movie was an even worse version because it elaborated and created story around all of the worst parts of the book. I do NOT recommend this title. 2/5

image via bn.com

image via bn.com

Son by Lois Lowry - Son is the last book in the The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry. This was a quick read that gave the last main character his complete story. I liked that it gave a little more background into the world that Jonas and Gabe came from, and also explored worlds beyond that grayscale community. Son also has a little sense of adventure that seemed to lack a little in the middle two books. I’m not entirely sure what the point of the series was, but it was an easy read, and I’m glad I finished them all. 3/5

“Wow,” you must be thinking at this point. “Has she read anything likable?” Actually I have, but I had to get the mediocre ones out of the way. On to better reads! 

image via bn.com

image via bn.com

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson - This is one of those books that is always sitting on the “Buy 2 Get the 3rd free” table at Barnes and Noble. It’s always in my basket, and then it never makes it home with me. I listened to it on audiobook, and I’m glad I finally did. This is a story about retired Major Ernest Pettigrew, who lives in the English countryside, and is a very traditional and proper Englishman. The story follows him as he develops a friendship with Mrs. Ali, the widowed Pakistani shop keeper in their small town. He’s not just faced with the difficulty of beginning a new relationship in his old age, but also with the small-minded views that the town, his son, and Mrs. Ali’s family constantly whisper about. I really liked this story, and am glad I listened to it, because the narrator gave the characters such fun personalities. 3/5

Z

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Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler - After watching Midnight in Paris, and reading The Paris Wife, I became intrigued by Zelda Fitzgerald. I looked up a little bit about her, and found this recent novel. Much like The Paris Wife, this novel explores the courtship and marriage of this famous literary couple. What began as a whirlwind romance moved into a tumultuous public relationship that crossed oceans. Zelda Fitzgerald was a writer and painter. She was supportive of Scott and his career, but had to deal with his ego and creative moods. This book is a work of fiction and isn’t the exact story of these two, but Fowler did a lot of research, and really nails the two main characters’ personalities. With the release of The Great Gatsby and lots of attention on the famous novelist, it’s nice to get a glimpse into the woman beside him. I highly recommend this read, especially if you enjoyed The Paris Wife and Midnight in Paris. I can’t seem to get enough of these 1920s era fictional memoirs. So, if you know of any more, please send them my way! 4/5

 

Have you read some books that you weren’t a fan of recently? What about some really great ones that you want to spread the word about? I’d love to hear all about them in the comments below.

cutting-for-stone

Book Review: Cutting for Stone

Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone has been sitting atop the fiction bestseller list for quite sometime. Many people had recommended it to me. I became intrigued when I read an interview that he did for Maurice on Books. And I purchased it for my nook. The story follows twin boys whose mother (an Indian nun … Keep reading →

American Wife

Posted by Ayesha in Biographical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Inspiration

Last week, I read American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, otherwise known as the fictionalized Laura Bush story… if Laura Bush were from Wisconsin instead of Texas, and George W. Bush bought the Milwaukee Brewers instead of the Houston Astros.

I guess I wasn’t the only one that noticed. Actually, Sittenfeld acknowledges that she wrote this book to display her Democratic admiration for the former First Lady.

I should preface this by saying that I didn’t go into this book knowing it was LB’s story she wish she had. I mean, I was reading and reading, and loving it. I described one part to E, and he said, “Oh, just like Laura Bush.” And I looked at him incredulously and thought, “Oh. Yeah.”

But once that piece of information was available to me, I enjoyed the book, only slightly, less. There are greater parts of this book that are just good fiction. How would Sittenfeld know what LB was feeling the moment she (if this happened in her life) went on a blind date? She doesn’t, but she makes you believe in Alice and Charlie and their dream of just living a nice life together with presidency far from their minds.

It’s captivating. Alice is very likable, as is Charlie. The world isn’t perfect. People aren’t perfect. This book is about a relationship and a family. It is not a political commentary. I would still recommend it, although now you know it’s inspired by LB, and try not to hold anything against the book because of the woman. It’s worth the read.

I give it a 3 out of 5.

Evolving Love

Posted by Ayesha in Biographical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Education, Family, Inspiration, On Love and tagged with , , , , , ,

Last time, I was just tapping into what The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain, taught me.

What keeps marriage going? How do we assure ourselves that our marriages will work when so much around us suggests that it doesn’t?

So, love evolves and changes. I hope that when E and I have been married for one week, one year, ten years, that we will be more in love with each other than we were the day before. I’m more in love with him now than I was yesterday, and certainly more in love with him than the first time I realized I loved him (a loooooong time ago). But there are days when I’ve questioned myself and my ambition and my needs and E’s needs. Can we sustain that love? And the answer is yes, but we also have to be ready for the game to change, and know that we’ll get through it. I mean, the love I have for him now is very different from that high school love we had five years ago.

We’ve gone through a lot and we have a lot more to go through. We have to work through transitions and allow for our love to grow and change as we do over the years. Isn’t that what marriage is about? Being ready to make those changes, knowing that the person beside you will always be beside you and having faith that they know the same? So much life will come along: children, loss, careers, moves, etc. What’s going to get me through it? What’s going to get E through it? I will say E. I hope he says me, he might say Halo. Just kidding.

I have to believe that we won’t suffer a fate like the Hemingways. And I’m going to work my hardest to always be open to the change and movement and evolution of the love we have. I hope you will, too. I’m sure you already are, faithful reader. That’s why I love you. Thanks for hanging with me through this one. It is a big deal.

Behind the Shadow of Bohemia

Posted by Ayesha in Biographical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction and tagged with , , ,

I just finished The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, and it’s left me with quite a few thoughts.

Firstly, I love that this book is about Ernest Hemingway’s first wife. I know very little about Hemingway and haven’t read much of his work, but I find him fascinating nonetheless. And this book makes me want to read more of his writing. Plus, I love the autobiographical feel of the book, even though it is fiction. McLain made a good move in getting to the essence of the characters, a devoted writer’s life, and the world of bohemian Paris in the 1920s.

Secondly, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I seem to have a thing for Paris lately. The book doesn’t talk much about Paris itself, but it certainly left me with a feeling of what it was like for the elite artists of that time. Most of them were just starting out, like Hemingway, hoping to become famous writers. And others were famous, like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ezra Pound. Some of them were rich and living decadently, and others lived simply, just for their writing. As a person that’s spent a lot of time with musicians, I get that. Sacrifices are all worth it for the art. But they did meet, travel, and work together. And McLain really gives the reader a sense of that collaboration from the start. Also, she paints Hemingway as a person who would do anything and go anywhere for his writing. And Hadley was always there to support him, for the first five years, anyway. ***Spoiler alert: Hemingway had four wives. Hadley, the Paris wife, was the first, so we know how that ends.

Thirdly, with said spoiler, this book got me thinking about how marriages stay together. Hadley was always so supportive of Ernest, and the way McLain tells it, Ernest loved her and needed her very much in the early days. But eventually, he moved on. Most of the artists and the group they kept company practiced open relationships, so it was hard to ever see Hadley and Ernest ending, even when they got very frustrated with each other. It made me wonder, as a bride-to-be, what keeps marriages from falling apart? What can I take away from McLain’s Hemingways?

I’ll tell you in the next post. It’s kinda heavy. So, be prepared for some heavy thinking.