Brief Reviews: a Collection

There are a number of books I've read over the last few months that I've never reviewed here: some because I didn't have enough to say about them, some because I reviewed them for the Library Journal as part of my professional duties & so can't do so here. But I can share some brief thoughts about all these kind of reads, and today is the day!

First off, a few Library Journal reads:

The Wolves of Eden / Kevin McCarthy 

Classic Western with a twist: told by two Irish brothers who enlist when they arrive in America and are involved with all sorts of historical events. Gritty and dark but with a strong sentiment at heart. It got one of my rare starred reviews.
See my full LJ review here 


The Sisters Hemingway / Annie England Noblin  

Just finished this one & my review isn't up yet: suffice to say that it's about 3 sisters who go back home to the Ozarks when their aunt who raised them dies, and they discover many family secrets - including how to be a family again.


Home for Unwanted Girls / Joanna Goodman

A tale of  the awful condition of orphanages in Quebec in the 50s, and the story of two women affected by a choice to give up a child. I thought it would be a great bookclub read when I first encountered it, and stand by that opinion. 
See my LJ review at my library's website.


And then a few reads that I tried in order to fill certain years of my Century of Books Project, but as it turns out I don't have too much to say about these ones!


Freckles / Gene Stratton Porter (1904)

Considered a classic, though I don't know why. This story of young orphan Freckles, who talks in Irish brogue though he was brought up in an American orphanage, and has an aura of nobility about him, was full of purple prose (in the nature scenes I felt like I was reading John Foster). And the plot skates close to the theory that blood will out - Freckles is descended from the aristocracy in the end, naturally. The only part I liked was that his love interest was tough, independent, and a crack shot. 



The Orchid House / Phyllis Shand Allfrey (1953)  

Three girls growing up at Maison Rose in Domenica; their old nurse Lally; and a cast of family and neighbours. All the girls - Miss Stella, Miss Joan, and Miss Natalie - are coming home for a visit and so Lally returns to Maison Rose to see them again and nurse their children in turn. I wasn't really sure what to make of this one. The author grew up in the West Indies, and her experiences seem to inform this book. But something about it made me uncomfortable, and I didn't connect with any of the three rich girls or the sad sack childhood friend Andrew who all three are still partly in love with, even though he's married their cousin. It's a Virago, though an unusual choice for one, and it wasn't terrible - I just didn't click with it at all.


The Cannibal Galaxy / Cynthia Ozick (1983)

Another odd choice for me: a novel about teaching, really - about how mediocre teachers and curriculum only serve to seed mediocrity in their students (and thus the wider society).

 Joseph Brill, having survived the war, feels compelled to teach. But his life as a principal is steeped in mediocrity, at least until the brilliant daughter of Hester Lilt is enrolled in his school. I found this book confusing, dull, and a bit obvious in its thesis that geniuses are destroyed by schooling. Oh well, perhaps it's just the author's sensibility that I didn't get along with, at least this time.