Happy May Day! I vaguely remember dancing around a maypole as a child, but not sure what it's all about so Wikipedia to the rescue -
May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice.
So there you have it, but let's reflect on April for this review. I read 2.5 books - .5 because I discovered a book started late last year but never finished as I was organizing my Audible account. Yay!
Two books deal with memory, highlighting Alzheimer’s/dementia family members, and the third is billed as a mystery/thriller. Hmmm...
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is about best friends (more like frenemies) who vacation at an Italian villa with a legendary past. There was a murder in the 70's among a group of vacationing friends while two (or three) try to make an album. The stories bounce between the vacationing girlfriends and the 70's group consisting of two stepsisters, their mercurial musician (married) boyfriends and a drug dealing musician wannabe. I found this to be really predictable and trying too hard to be a Kate Morton story. There was a small twist I didn't see coming that was interesting, but not enough to redeem the entire book for me. And the end presents a did-she-or-didn't she scenario that I just didn't care enough to think it through. I give it a C.
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult was like two stories in one. The first half follows Diana, a New Yorker who takes a trip to the Galapagos Islands just as the world is shutting down for COVID. There she is forced to relax and just be, and predictably she forges a relationship with a rough-around-the-edges local man and his angsty daughter. I really enjoyed this half ... the switch to the second half seemed like a record scratch. I was miffed at first, but like many of Picoult's books you're supposed to wrestle with the everyday dilemmas. I don't want to give to much away, but the second half has Diana questioning reality, reconciling with her past, and deciding if the plan she had for her future is relevant.
“…the reliability of memory and how it fails us … The Japanese believe that it takes three generations to forget. Those who experience a trauma pass that along to their children and their grandchildren, and then the memory fades. To the survivors of a tragedy, that’s unthinkable. What’s the point of living through something terrible if you cannot convey the lessons you’ve learned? Since nothing will ever replace all you’ve lost, the only way to make meaning is to make sure no one else goes through what you did. Memories are the safeguards we use to keep from making the same mistakes.”
The found half-finished book is Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore. This was a slow burn and my favorite of the three. Set in Owl’s Head, Maine
“You aren’t owed anything, not really. Because the universe doesn’t work like that, the universe doesn’t make everything even for us”.
TBR List
- All Adults Here by Emma Straub
- One Night on the Island by Josie Silver
- The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
- Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan
- Search by Michelle Huneven
