As much as I love curling up with a book on a cold, grey day, I much prefer reading outdoors on a spring like afternoon such as we’ve had lately. Of course, my favorite reading venue is a sunny, breezy beach with salt in my hair and sand under my feet.
Great summer reads are those that
keep you up late or miss mealtimes because you want to read “just one more
chapter.” My routine was disturbed by a couple of titles recently.
Clare Whitfield’s “People of
Abandoned Character,” due out May 1, opens in 1885 with Susannah at her
grandmother’s funeral. An orphan, she is now completely alone in the world.
Terrified that she will end up as destitute as her mother was, she returns to
the filthy slum of Whitechapel where she was born, to train as a nurse at the
London Hospital.
Susannah resigns herself to the
modest but secure life of a nurse until she meets the handsome Dr. Thomas
Lancaster. Unsure why he is so in love with such a plain woman as herself, she
agrees to marry him after numerous proposals.
Soon after they return from their
honeymoon in Brighton, Thomas changes. He becomes angry and abusive, and he
disappears on several nights to return home first with scratches and later
covered in blood.
At the same time, Susannah is
reading about the horrific murders and mutilations of women in Whitechapel.
Many of the murders happen on the same nights that her husband disappears.
Susannah is determined to find
out if her husband is the Jack the Ripper. She ends up finding out much more.
In addition to being a thrilling
page-turner, Whitfield’s book explores several questions: what makes a person
good or bad? Can we overcome our origins? Or is our fate determined before
we’re born? Moreover, the book is rife with dangerous secrets—Thomas’s,
Susannah’s, and those of the people closest to them.
Another engaging thriller is “In
My Dreams I Hold a Knife” by Ashley Winstead, which hits bookstores August 3.
Jessica returns to her alma mater for a 10th reunion and to flaunt
her improved looks and income to her old friends, the East House 7, and all the
other classmates that made her feel unimportant.
Not at the reunion are her best
friend Heather, who was brutally murdered their senior year, and Jack,
Heather’s boyfriend, who was suspected of the murder, but never tried for lack
of evidence.
However, Heather’s brother is
determined to use the reunion to out the murderer and bring his sister justice.
What they all discover is that the East House 7 is hiding more secrets than
just who killed Heather.
Although some of Winstead’s minor
characters are flat and stereotypical (mean-girl sorority sister, homophobic
frat boys), her book gives the reader plenty of action and suspense, with a
heavy dose of romance also. A perfect read for a late summer beach trip.
Another great read, which
launched Feb. 1, is “West With Giraffes” by Austin writer Lynda Rutledge. Woody
Nickel, a 105 year old veteran, tells the story of driving two young giraffes
from New York to San Diego in 1938. Based on historical fact, the novel tells
the story of a thrilling, dangerous, and near-deadly trip across a country with
no interstate highways.
Woody, a Dust Bowl orphan, is
left alone, jobless, and friendless by the 1938 hurricane that also left one of
the giraffes injured. He and zookeeper Riley Jones race across country over treacherous
mountains, under low bridges, and through dark, narrow tunnels. They also have
to keep their cargo of “towering creatures of God’s pure Eden” safe from
murderous thieves.
Along the way, Woody deals with
the trauma and guilt of losing his entire family and leaves behind his lying
and stealing. A flawless novel, “West With Giraffes” is exciting, and the end
will leave you in tears of sadness and joy.
Hinging on two man-made disasters—the near extinction of giraffes and the Dust Bowl—the novel expertly depicts the importance of the natural world as well as the importance of sharing stories. The planet is not ours, but “God’s own pure Eden,” just as stories are not ours alone and should be shared with all who will listen.
