Imagine being a teenage girl in the late 1960’s, unwed and pregnant. Your family sends you to a home for wayward girls where you are given a different name for anonymity and lied to by the doctor, nurse and governess of the home. Fern, Rose, Zinnia and Holly meet at this home for wayward girls and become caught up with a charismatic librarian who gives Fern a book about witchcraft. The girls pledge their loyalty to the coven and become witches. As their babies are born and the realization of returning to their “normal” lives near, will the girls escape their pledge to the coven? Can the girls just leave the coven and live a normal life? Will they stay in touch? Read and find out.

This was a complex read for me. Chosen by my book club, and I am in the end, so glad they did. I initially had a hard time adjusting to the language, and the pattern of writing. This for me require a slow contemplative read. I developed a deep respect for the author. Taught me much about the times, especially the plight of women. Behind this complicated soap opera are themes around issues of second chances, class issues, social mores, cultural aspects of the time, and integrity. I can’t say I loved it but I can say, it was a remarkable novel, and I am glad I read it. I am also glad I did not live during that time.

This book was very disappointing to me. It was entirely too long and drawn out. The characters (especially the main one Olivia) was annoying and held no accountability to her own faults. The plot got more and more ridiculous and should have been solved easily if people just communicated. Lastly the agenda pushing was over the top, it made the book even harder to get through.

I'm not saying this book is awful, it actually draws some interesting parallels between Vietnam and the Holocaust. It is with sadness I say that the gladness was sucked right out of me with the repetition and long draw out story

Still Life by Louise Penny Really appreciated this sophisticated Mystery. Well written, well thought out, exciting, and engrossing. A different type of Mystery then many of the popular fiction I have read. Intricate plot planning, good character development, multi-dimensional characters, and a good mystery as well. I was very involved in trying to solve it. Also loved Armand Gamache, an introspective, honorable, diligent detective, interested in the people as well as the crime. I delighted in his manner of investigation, his desire to listen, to learn, to admit when he is stuck. Jane is dead, and many are suspected. As it is with small towns, everyone knows everyone and there are secretes, but there is also a marvelous feeling of community. The town itself becomes a character. A “Who done it”, of the highest caliber.

Loved this new novel by one of my favorite authors. It has a determined, very independent heroine, Sloan Cooper, with a very supportive family. After a traumatic incident, she returns home where she recovers. Meets Nash, who has recently bought a house near her parents and has traumas of his own from childhood. There is a lot of suspense as Sloan tracks a duo of serial killers. Spoiler alert: happy ending!

The bodies of the Pine family, mother, father, sister and little brother are found dead in their vacation home. Two sons have survived one, a college student, who couldn’t attend the trip because he had classes, and one a prisoner for the murder of his girlfriend. What happened here, and why. An intriguing story. Very suspenseful.

I really enjoyed this historical fictional novel with the backdrop of the beach at Martha’s Vineyard. They were all interesting characters and the author’s note is very interesting to see how the author tied it to history and her own life.

Flashback, Jill and David’s daughter Sophia goes missing at the park, she is found 40 minutes later, fine, but with bug bites, or are they needle puncture marks in her arm? Blood tests reveal no drugs, no harm done. Or so they think. Then three months later Sophia disappears again. The parents are now suspects. Interesting premise. Kept me guessing as to what happened.

It was entertaining but some parts seemed far fetched