"Miller's Valley" by Anna Quindlen

Miller's Valley by Anna Quindlen

I settled into this book like a comfortable chair.  Mimi was such a natural and easy narrator that I feel sad that in order to hear her voice again, I'll have to re-read the book. There was a tragedy to her story and her world that was very subtle yet impactful.  The material for tragedy was plentiful -- a beloved brother lost, an environment and home slowly drowning, a confusing family dynamic, poverty -- yet Mimi is no drama queen and does not wallow in sorrow.  But it's there. And told to us beautifully in this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.

"The Madwoman Upstairs," by Catherine Lowell

Thank you to Touchstone Book and Edelweiss for granting me access to this Advance Review Copy of "The Madwoman Upstairs."

Could I be the only person reading about the Brontë's last (fictional) descendant to have never read a book by any Brontë? I'll never know, but I suspect it is possible.

I devoured this book in a twenty-four hour period.  It had just about everything I love in a book -- intrigue, literary mystery, romance, history and a puzzle. I enjoyed learning about Oxford, the Brontë family and imaging myself in the drafty tower.

The only thing I wish were different is -- and I'll try not to spoil anything -- is when our heroine does or does not find or not find that which she has been seeking.  Kind of anti-climactic!

But I loved it.  Read this book!