Book Review: A Wedding in Provence: A Novel by Ellen Sussman

A Wedding in Provence: A Novel by Ellen Sussman

Published by: Ballantine Books

Published on: July 15, 2014

Page Count: 288

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley

Available Formats: Kindle ebook and hardcover

My Review: 

Have you ever been a part of a wedding (your own or a family member or close friend's), and in the days leading up to the big event, tensions and relationship drama and past issues all begin to surface, layers peeling away like an onion? We all have. Weddings bring out the best and worst in people. All that togetherness can really make things interesting.

That's the case in A Wedding in Provence for the soon-to-be wed couple Brody and Olivia. They've arrived in the French countryside a few days before their ceremony, to be held at the inn owned and operated by Olivia's best friend Emily and her husband Sebastian. As the other wedding guests arrive, we learn about their relationships with one another and their past and present lives. There's Brody's womanizing best friend Jake, Olivia's two adult daughters Nell and Carly, Brody's mother Fanny and Nell's date Gavin who all bring their (literal and figurative) baggage with them for the weekend. Also present are the shadows of others who aren't attending the wedding: Nell's recently deceased boyfriend Chaney, Nell and Carly's father, Carly's workaholic boyfriend Wes, Brody's father and widower Brody's first wife and first love.

The relationships are complicated and still in progress in many cases. Olivia wants to relax as the bride-to-be but is mothering her two troubled daughters, both of whom are working through issues from their lives back home and undergoing a period of self-discovery. Their father is still a part of their lives (as much as he can be), and Nell and Carly are unsure about letting their mother's new husband into their lives. Nell still struggles with her boyfriend's suicide months before, and is still making the rash decisions she has made her whole life, such as bringing her seat mate from her flight with her to the wedding. Gavin seems like fun at first but is sketchy, not surprisingly bailing on Nell as soon as he gets the chance. Carly, the put-together, predictable sister, is rethinking her boring life with a boring boyfriend and let loose a little. Brody is navigating his parents' failed marriage, and father's sickness and absence from the wedding. Even innkeepers Emily and Sebastian have hit a rough patch in their marriage.

Overall, this book is a fun read. I would have loved to see this French town on the Mediterranean, and its fabulous wine and food take more of a central role in the book. At times I found the characters and their sex lives to be tiring. But, the characters are complex and were enjoyable. At the end of the book Olivia is the beautiful bride and Brody the happy groom, and they are married surrounded by their favorite friends and relatives. The book ends but not neatly, which is, I think, just like real life, which has many of the same themes this book has: second chances, making up for lost time, healing, forgiveness and love.

Three and a half stars out of five

If you liked this book, you’ll like French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France by Richard Goodman and Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes (for an American take on visiting the European countryside), and Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin and Once Upon a Time There Was You by Elizabeth Berg (for stories about weddings).

Book Review: Flyover Lives: A Memoir by Diane Johnson

Flyover Lives: A Memoir by Diane Johnson

Published by: Viking

Published on: January 16, 2014

Page Count: 263

Genre: Memoir

My Reading Format: Hardcover provided by the publisher

Available Formats: Hardcover, Kindle edition, Audible audio edition, audio CD, MP3 CD

My Review:

Diane Johnson, author of Le Divorce (most familiar to me) and more than a dozen other books, pulls together her writing life and a story about those family members who came before her to shape her path. From a family that's been in the Midwest for generations, Johnson writes in Flyover Lives about a solid, no-frills upbringing, the results of family research, her life as a writer, her life as a single mother with young children and her current life with grown children and the freedom to travel with her husband. Johnson's book is divided into three sections: her life growing up in Moline, Illinois, the stories of her Midwestern ancestors and her writing life and more recent years.

I found Johnson's writing style to be in keeping with her upbringing: good stories told adequately but without all the flowery language. She presents her stories factually and honestly, and doesn't delve too deeply into her own inner workings. That's not to say that her stories aren't painting a picture of her life. They are, and in a way I really enjoyed reading. Johnson's early life in Moline is one that is different, simpler and more innocent than what children experience today, and it's nice to read about an upbringing like that. It was interesting to read about the family history she has uncovered and how it has helped her realize the good lot from which she comes, and the characteristics of her ancestors that she's inherited. I like the dichotomy of her life in Moline paired with her lives in other places, the premise for this book I think: Paris, California and London. 

There were times I had trouble finding the string that should hold the memoir together. Beginning and ending the book with a recent house party in France were in the right place as bookends to prop everything up, but there were places I got lost in the middle. But there were things I enjoyed immensely: the anecdotes and the stories of how a writer became a writer.

Three out of five stars

If you liked this book, you’ll like Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard.

To Read: The Most Beautiful Walk in the World by John Baxter

I recently complained about a book I picked up at Atlanta's High Museum's exhibit this summer of "Girl with a Pearl Earring (Vermeer) and other Dutch painters. I visited Paris on Peachtree: The Art of the Louvre's Tuileries Garden two weeks ago and picked up a book from the shop that I can't wait to get into, and I hope it will measure up to my expectations. (By the way, the exhibit's last days are now. It ends on January 19, so go if you're going.) Doesn't this book look wonderful?

Book Review: The Cleaner of Chartres: A Novel by Salley Vickers

The Cleaner of Chartres: A Novel by Salley Vickers

Published by: Viking Adult

Published on: June 27, 2013

Page Count: 304

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: ARC provided by NetGalley for my Kindle

Available Formats: Hardcover and Kindle editions

My Review:

Each morning Agnes cleans the cathedral in Chartres, a small town in France. She is quiet and dependable, and does her job well. Soon she's doing odd jobs for other people in town. Everyone appreciates her diligence but no one can seem to get close enough to hear to learn about her past or how she came to live in Chartres. Twenty years prior Agnes had been dropped off as an infant in a basket on the steps of the cathedral, and the story of how she came to be left there was always a mystery both to Agnes herself and those around her. Some of the people in Chartres can't help but speculate and gossip about Agnes, and some of what is said about her is untrue and hurtful. Though she does has a past that she's still working to come to terms with, a few of the townspeople give her the benefit of the doubt and trust her no matter what rumors are circulating about her. Quietly, Agnes is trying to figure out who she is as a person and fill in the missing gaps of her own story. A few of the folks in town are patient with Agnes, treating her with care, and I really enjoyed reading about those relationships. 

By the time I finish most books, I want to really feel invested in the main character and feel like I know them personally. I didn't quite have that feeling with this book and its main character Agnes. After struggling a bit with this (and also struggling to sort out the chronology of the story, a bit of a challenge), though I learned much more about her as the book continued, Agnes was still very much a mystery. I had many unanswered questions about her. Though I wasn't as well acquainted with Agnes as I would have liked, her employers and peers in her little town felt the same way. Agnes is simply a woman that no one will every completely know. That's just her nature. By the end of the book, I was OK with that even though I didn't have all the answers.

Three out of five stars