This book is from the same series of books as Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed, which I thought was great all around. That book took on the source material and transformed it, and while it did have some over-clever nods to the material, the narrator was aware of the material so it wasn’t schlocky the ways that sometimes these pastiche novels can be. This novel was, sadly. This is a re-doing of The Taming of the Shrew, which is weird to adapt, since 10 Things I hate about You was […]
This Will Be Our Year, Took a Long Time to Come
Breathing Lessons is the story of a single afternoon in the marriage of Ira and Maggie, as they take a road trip to attend an old friend’s funeral. Along the way, they encounter some unique characters, reminisce about their lives together and take a detour to attempt to mend their relationships with their ex-daughter-in-law and granddaughter. There. That’s the plot summary for this book, but it tells you absolutely nothing about what really happens. Breathing Lessons is a case study of a marriage. I could […]
Once Upon a Time. . .
I don’t specifically remember the first time I read this book, but that could be because I’ve read it at least once a year since then–at this point, that’s ten or more rereads. This is my favorite book. It’s the story of Rebecca, a fifty-something widow, who at a family picnic one day sort of “wakes up” and realizes she has no idea how she turned into the person that she’s become. She runs a party planning business out of her home, attempts to corral […]
I could be happy the rest of my life with a vinegar girl
Anne Tyler is one of my favorite authors (this is the third book of hers I’ve reviewed this year), and that is the only reason I was willing to read Vinegar Girl, a modern retelling of The Taming of the Shrew. I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed reading this. The modern twist in Vinegar Girl is that the “shrew” character, Katherine, is the daughter of an eccentric scientist, Louis Battista. Louis’s lab assistant, Pyotr, is in the U.S. on a visa which […]