THE DIVORCE PAPERS by Susan Rieger

April 9, 2014

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The publisher calls this a “debut romantic comedy” but I would call it more a “debut end of romance comedy.” As the title points out, this is a book about a divorce, which inherently means a lack of romance. Quibbling aside, it is a very charming, humorous look at a necessary evil of society.

Anne Sophie Diehl (Sophie) is our unlikely heroine, a young criminal attorney working for a small but prestigious law firm. Maria Meiklejohn Durkheim (Mia) is a potential divorce client.

Mia’s father is one of the firm’s oldest and most important clients, so because their divorce attorneys are not available when she wants to come in, they push Sophie into doing the intake interview. She has no interest or desire or worse yet, experience, in handling a divorce, but her boss David, doesn’t give her a choice. He gives her a form to fill out and off she goes. Mia and Sophie hit it off, and Mia insists on using Sophie as her lawyer despite her protestations of incompetence. David forces her into it and oversees the case, and Mia is happy with the double billing for using both lawyers.

Sophie not only doesn’t want to do it, she has her own issues with divorce. Her mother is a famous mystery writer from France, and her father is a Marxist history professor at Columbia, and Sophie felt their divorce in the usual, negative, life changing, devastating way. As a child of divorce myself, I totally bought it.

The Durkheims are comfortable. Dr. Durkheim runs a pediatric oncology unit at the local hospital, and Mia comes from a very wealthy family. It is Dr. Durkheim who wants the divorce, and Mia and their daughter Jane are devastated. Durkheim hires the local divorce attorney with the worst reputation, and the game begins.

By now you must be wondering, where is the comedy? Well, I’ll tell you. The characters, particularly Sophie and Mia, are wonderfully warm, smart and funny. And a lot of the comedy comes from the format of the book.

This is an epistolary novel. If you are not familiar, Encyclopedia Britannica defines it as “a novel told through the medium of letters written by one or more of the characters.” In this case, there are emails, letters (some hand written,) legal documents, the occasional newspaper clipping and so on. It is an unusual format but one which I really enjoy. For one thing, the book moves really fast. For another, it makes everything that happens, and all the characters, seem very intimate and familiar.

To be fair, there is a bit of romance; Sophie has a history of bad relationships but ends up on a promising note. So while I still wouldn’t call it a romance, I would call it a fast, fun read.

4/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE DIVORCE PAPERS by Susan Rieger. Crown (March 18, 2014). ISBN 978-0804137447. 480p.

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AFTER I’M GONE by Laura Lippman

February 13, 2014


Lippman returns with a brilliant standalone novel that includes a nod to her series heroine, Tess Monahan, and is set in her hometown of Baltimore. She grabbed me on page one with a quote from the classic Herman Wouk book, Marjorie Morningstar, which sort of set the mood for me. (If you’re not familiar with the 1955 bestseller, Slate did a great piece on it for the 50th anniversary: Marjorie Morningstar: The conservative novel that liberal feminists love.)

Felix Brewer is a charmer with an eye for beautiful women, and Bambi Gottschalk is a stunner. Their chemistry is instanteous and explosive, and long-lasting – until Felix disappears after many years of marriage and three children.

Felix does very well, keeping the family in the lap of luxury. He owns a strip club among other businesses, mostly not legal, but when he’s arrested and facing ten years in prison, he takes off, hiding his assets and leaving the family penniless. Bambi, who was barely graduated from high school when they married, has never worked and has no job skills. She relies on her husband’s lawyer and his wife, her best friend, and they help as much as they can.

The only one who may know where the money has gone is Julie, Felix’s girlfriend, and she’s not talking. Surprisingly, no one ever looks for Felix and his disappearance is just accepted as fact by everyone except his wife and mistress. Bambi refuses to have him declared dead so never collects insurance, and in her heart believes that someday he will come home. Julie is convinced that Felix will send for her, which becomes her undoing.

Ten years after Felix disappears, Julie disappears too, and it is believed that she is finally with Felix. Except that many years after that, her body is found in a deserted area of a park, and her murder is at the heart of this mystery.

Sandy is a retired Baltimore homicide police who is working on cold cases as a consultant to the police department. He starts looking into Julie’s murder, and while it is central to the story, this is much more than a mystery. We also get a look at what happens to the five women left behind when Felix disappears – his wife, his three daughters, and his mistress. The story spans more than thirty years, moving back and forth from the early days of the marriage, the years when Felix disappeared, the three girls growing up, and the 2012 murder investigation.

This is a fast moving story with believable characters that you can’t help caring about and rooting for. In fact, the characters propel the story along as much, if not more, than the mystery.

Laura Lippman is one those authors that I drop everything to read; she is one of the best crime fiction writers working today. If you haven’t read her yet, do yourself a favor and pick up any of her books. I fell in love with her very first novel, Baltimore Blues, and haven’t looked back since.

This is a genre bending novel; mystery for sure, but women’s fiction readers will love it too, as will book groups. After I’m Gone is a truly wonderful read and I was very sorry to have to turn the last page. 

2/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

AFTER I’M GONE by Laura Lippman. William Morrow (February 11, 2014). ISBN 978-0062083395. 352p.

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A STAR FOR MRS. BLAKE by April Smith

February 6, 2014


I am familiar with April Smith and her Ana Grey F.B.I. thrillers, and they are excellent. A Star for Mrs. Blake is quite the departure from her series, but I think it is her finest book.

Cora Blake is a widow from a tiny island in Maine who loses her son during World War I. At sixteen, he lied about his age and joined the army, like a lot of young men did back then. Sadly, he gave his life for his country, and Mrs. Blake became a Gold Star Mother, joining the ranks of thousands of other mothers who also lost their sons to war.

The United States government inquires whether she wants his remains returned or buried where he died, and she chooses the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France. A few years later, Congress passes legislation to fund the transportation of the Gold Star Mothers to their sons’ graves in Europe, and Mrs. Blake receives an invitation. Several thousand Gold Star Mothers made the journey, and this beautifully written novel is about this little known slice of history set during the Depression.

Smith makes it personal by creating a small group of women and telling their stories. They travel first class with an army officer as chaperone, and a nurse, both of whom have interesting back stories. The group also includes a Boston society woman, heir to a railroad fortune, poor Jewish and Irish immigrants, and a woman who, they are warned, is a recent release from an insane asylum. This group quickly becomes a rather dysfunctional family, helping each other, fighting with each other, but at heart always knowing that they share a terrible loss.

Part history lesson, part travelogue, but fully wonderful, Smith says she’s been wanting to write this story for twenty-five years, and I’m really glad she finally got her way. Despite the seriousness of the subject, there is some humor and the book never becomes maudlin. The characters move the story along, and it is a fast read. Book groups especially will love this. If you liked The Postmistress by Sarah Blake or Losing Julia by Jonathan Hull, you will probably like this one too – and if you haven’t read either of those, do yourself a favor and add them to your to-be-read list.

I had never heard of Gold Star Mothers group, but they are still active. Loss is, of course, no longer limited to just sons; those who have lost daughters are also eligible. For more information on Gold Star Mothers, please visit www.goldstarmoms.com

02/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

A STAR FOR MRS. BLAKE  by April Smith.  Knopf (January 14, 2014). ISBN 978-0307958846. 352p.

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THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

February 2, 2014

What is the language of flowers? During the Victorian era, a man would present a woman with a bouquet, and she would run home to try and decipher his meaning; honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, red roses for love.

Diffenbaugh takes that language and uses it as a tool for our heroine. At the center of this story is 9 year old Victoria Janes, a product of the foster care system in northern California. She never knew her mother or father and has already lived in 32 foster homes. Her social worker describes her as “Detached. Quick-tempered. Tight-lipped. Unrepentant.”

Now the 9 year old is being taken to live with Elizabeth, yet another foster mother. “This is your last chance,” she’s told. “Your very last chance.”

Elizabeth lives on a working vineyard, but she grew up on a flower farm. All the tricks that Victoria uses to try and alienate Elizabeth do not work – Elizabeth stays calm, even in the face of broken memorabilia and prickly pear spines placed in her shoes. She constantly tells Victoria, “I will love you, and I will keep you.” But Victoria is not a believer, and she is almost impossible to reach.

When Elizabeth sees that Victoria has a fascination with flowers, she decides to feed that. She takes Victoria to the huge San Francisco flower market, and while there points out her nephew, working at one of the stands. Elizabeth explains that they are estranged; that she and her sister have had a feud going on for many years and do not speak and she doesn’t know her nephew at all.

Elizabeth teaches the prickly child the Victorian language of flowers. While the language has gone by the wayside, Elizabeth grew up learning it and she passes it along to her very willing pupil. And Victoria finally learns a way to communicate.

Victoria gradually settles in with Elizabeth. School doesn’t work out, so Elizabeth home schools her. Eventually Victoria comes up with a crazy plan to somehow keep Elizabeth all to herself; a plan that only a child could think would work. Instead, she manages to push away the only adult who ever truly loved her.

Victoria ends up in a group home for the remainder of her childhood. At 18, she ages out of the foster care system, and she becomes homeless. “My hopes for the future were simple: I wanted to be alone, and to be surrounded by flowers.” The story weaves back and forth between Victoria’s nightmare of a childhood and her adult life as a florist.

After she is forced out of the group home, she ends up sleeping in the park, under some trees and bushes and is not unhappy. Having spent most of her life hungry, she has some food issues but manages by eating food left on restaurant tables.

One morning she shows up at the nearby Bloom flower shop, leaves in her hair from her park bed, but the owner, Renata, hires her anyway on a temporary, cash basis. She quickly learns the floral business. Renata soon realizes that Victoria is a gifted floral designer and lets her loose, and finds her a place to live.

Victoria helps build up the wedding business at Bloom. She interviews the brides-to-be about their fiancés and their relationships, picking flowers for their weddings that reflect personally on each couple based on the Victorian language. Eventually, she moves out on her own and starts her own wedding business.

But her personal life is still difficult. When she starts working for Bloom, she is at the flower market every week. Victoria sees a man who looks at her in a way that she doesn’t care for, so the next week she brings him rhododendron, which means “beware.” He later hands her a sprig of mistletoe, which we understand to mean as a way of getting a kiss, but the Victorian meaning is “I surmount all obstacles.” They continue communicating this way and eventually she realizes it is Grant, Elizabeth’s estranged nephew. But Victoria is extremely introverted, bordering on hostile. Can this young woman find love and happiness?

Diffenbaugh’s debut novel is enchanting. She is a mesmerizing storyteller. I read this in one night, I simply couldn’t put it down. One of the things I love most about The Language of Flowers is that it is that rarity in discussion books, an inspirational, uplifting story with a happy ending.


The original hardcover had a close up of a begonia on the cover, which means “caution.” The paperback cover (above) has a spray of camellias, which means “my destiny is in your hands.” The flower that I’m taking from this book is a single pink carnation, which means “I will never forget you.”

01/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (April 3, 2012). ISBN 978-0345525550. 352p.

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THE SISTERS WEISS by Naomi Ragen

January 28, 2014


Ragen goes back to her roots, Ultra Orthodox Jewish family stories, this time using Rose and Pearl Weiss as her vehicle.

Growing up in the ultra Orthodox Jewish community in 1950’s Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the sisters Weiss paths diverge as they become young adults. Rose, the elder sister, meets a young French girl at school, and a visit to their home changes her life forever. Rose is headstrong and by chance, finsd her calling in life as a teenager – she wants to become a photographer. Her community, her family, her Rav (rabbi) all reject this choice for her. They forbid her from seeing her new friend and send her off to live with her Bubbee (grandmother) and force her to attend a Satmar school. The Satmar’s are even more religious and don’t really believe in educating women; they consider that they are there to learn to be good Jewish wives and mothers before they are married off.

But Rose is rebellious and in her isolation learns to lie to her family. They decide the only solution is to marry her off at age 17, the usual age girls marry in that community. They even let Rose choose her husband, but at the last minute, she decides she cannot live that life and runs away. She loses touch with her family for the next forty years, which is her biggest regret in life.

The story then moves ahead to Rivkah, Pearl’s daughter, who is in a similar situation to that of the aunt she’s never met, and their worlds collide with some devastating effect. Rivkah finds a box hidden under her mother’s bed with a letter from this exiled aunt, and a newspaper clipping about her photography award.

Rivkah can’t bear to go from being someone’s daughter to someone’s wife, so she runs away, first, to the cousin she’s never known, and then to her aunt. But she learns that there are no easy answers, and that all choices come with consequences and responsibility.

Naomi Ragen grew up in this community and currently lives in Israel, so is accustomed to the lifestyle; she’s lived it. She is intimately familiar with the difficulties, and the blessings, that have kept her people going for so long, and likes exploring all sides in her stories.

The characters are well developed, the culture interesting and I learned a lot. This is a fast read, albeit not an easy one. This is a family I won’t soon forget.

01/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE SISTERS WEISS by Naomi Ragen.  St. Martin’s Press; First Edition edition (October 15, 2013). ISBN 978-0312570194. 336p.

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