reviews

Pen pals... Author:  Jerome Loving To say he left a problematic legacy is probably a bit of an understatement.  Yet there’s no denying that Norman Mailer was one of the most successful and critically acclaimed writers in the second half of the 20th century.  At times sexist, other times racist, Mailer’s literary efforts received extensive criticism both before and after his death in 2007.  But it was when he was glamorizing the lives of murderers that he got himself into the most trouble.  In Jack and Norman, literary critic Jerome Loving tells of one of those murderers and a friendship [...]

Missing, Presumed . . . Author: Maile Meloy In a world where the biggest concern is what the cruise buffet is serving - where lost children only mean they're wandering around an expensive luxury boat - the unthinkable happens. Cousins Liv and Nora plan the perfect vacation - time away from the stress of meal planning and the stultifying, successful upper middle class life to somewhere exotic. A trip in style with that deliciously artificial cadence of no responsibilities. When the boat docks in the wilds of an unnamed country reminiscent of Costa Rica, however, the fake low-key cruise world [...]

Champagne, Islands, Murder, and Young Love Author: Beatriz Williams Summer, 1951. Miranda Schuyler, a young girl, arrives at Winthrop Island along with her recently widowed mother who is set to wed the affluent Hugh Fisher – head of the island’s elite summer families. For Miranda this means a new and glamorous world, including an exploration of the decadent bubble that is wealthy island life led by her stepsister, the worldly Isobel. As the two girls bond basking in the lull of parties and drink, fancy car rides and nights under the stars drunk on champagne, fate twists around a local [...]