Julie's Review: Recipe for a Perfect Wife

Author: Karma Brown
Series: None
Publication Date: December 31, 2019
Publisher: Dutton
Pages: 336
Obtained: Publisher via Netgalley

Genre:  Historical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3.5/5
Bottom Line: Interesting take on being a wife now and 50 years ago
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: When Alice Hale leaves a career in publicity to become a writer and follows her husband to the New York suburbs, she is unaccustomed to filling her days alone in a big, empty house. But when she finds a vintage cookbook buried in a box in the old home's basement, she becomes captivated by the cookbook’s previous owner--1950s housewife Nellie Murdoch. As Alice cooks her way through the past, she realizes that within the cookbook’s pages Nellie left clues about her life--including a mysterious series of unsent letters penned to her mother. Soon Alice learns that while baked Alaska and meatloaf five ways may seem harmless, Nellie's secrets may have been anything but. When Alice uncovers a more sinister--even dangerous--side to Nellie’s marriage, and has become increasingly dissatisfied with the mounting pressures in her own relationship, she begins to take control of her life and protect herself with a few secrets of her own. ~amazon.com

Review: I don't think I could have ever been a wife in the 1950s. Talk about pressure to be perfect!! Sure nowadays we are expected to do the majority of it but even the incremental help we get from our spouses is a step in the right direction. I mean I don't really like to cook and waiting around being patient isn't my thing either, but if I were a woman during those times would I be the same person I am today because the setting and opportunities were very different.

Eleanor "Nellie" Murdoch is a young wife who moves into a sprawling house with her handsome and successful husband Richard. She enjoys her garden, using her family recipes and spending time with the women of the neighborhood. Except things aren't going so well with her husband and she gets pregnant pretty quickly. She's at a loss for how she ended up where she's at but it determined to make the most of the situation. She's resourceful, she's got a garden and her friendship with her neighbor, Miram, that she's enjoying her new life at least a bit.

Flashforward to 50+ years later and Alice Hale is about to embark on her new journey moving out of NYC and into the house that Nellie used to live in. To say that Alice is less than thrilled about this is to put it mildly. She didn't want to leave the city at all but her husband insisted especially since they are about to embark on trying to become parents as well. Except Alice isn't ready for all these changes but she's let her husband Nate take the lead for now. That is until she starts to immerse herself in being an 1950s wife and learns a thing or two about herself in the process.

Both Nellie and Alice are strong women who use any means necessary to ensure that their lives turnout the way they want and that means taking control. I definitely don't agree with their tactics but it gets the job done and it does give them the lives they want.

I love dual timelines and Ms. Brown does a fantastic job in Recipe for a Perfect Wife. I will say that some of the novel was a bit predictable but overall I enjoyed seeing both Nellie and Alice come into their own and be comfortable with who they are.

Julie's Review: In This Moment

Author: Karma Brown
Series: None
Publication Date: May 30, 2017
Publisher: Park Row Books
Pages: 304
Obtained: publisher via Netgalley
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: How split second decision can alter your life and those around you
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary:Meg Pepper has a fulfilling career and a happy family. Most days she’s able to keep it all together and glide through life. But then, in one unalterable moment, everything changes. After school pickup one day, she stops her car to wave a teenage boy across the street…just as another car comes hurtling down the road and slams into him. Meg can’t help but blame herself for her role in this horrific disaster. Full of remorse, she throws herself into helping the boy’s family as he rehabs from his injuries. But the more Meg tries to absolve herself, the more she alienates her own family—and the more she finds herself being drawn to the boy’s father. Soon Meg’s picture-perfect life is unraveling before her eyes. As the painful secrets she’s been burying bubble dangerously close to the surface, she will have to decide: Can she forgive herself, or will she risk losing everything she holds dear to her heart? ~amazon.com  

Review: In This Moment is a novel that allows you to wonder what you would do if you were in Meg's shoes. Would you have waved a kid across at an intersection that had no crosswalk? Or perhaps you have and it turned out just fine but unfortunately for two families, this isn't what happened.

The accident spawns Meg's downward spiral into guilt, shame and anxiety. It has her reliving the death of her best friend in high school, which she still carries guilt around. It causes her to pull away from her husband and daughter. She doesn't know how to tell them about her involvement with Paige's death. She's internalized it for so long that she feels she can't verbalize it. It's what haunts her sleep. I felt as if I was experiencing the slow downward spiral with Meg, which was a good thing. It put you in her shoes and living what she was at the same time. I felt horrible for Meg but also wish she would have leaned on her husband or family a bit more.

As Meg struggles with the guilt of being part of an accident, her daughter Audrey is also struggling with her own issues from the accident. She turns to reckless behavior which she wasn't prone to previously. She also pulls away from her parents and begins to lie to them about her whereabouts.

My frustration throughout the novel was Ryan, Meg's husband and Audrey's dad. He seemed so oblivious about what they were going through. He saw the signs in both of them that said they weren't dealing properly with the accident but chose to believe they were both fine. It wasn't until things came crashing down around them that he finally acknowledged they weren't "fine". Some of Meg's decisions weren't smart but she was also reeling. I felt that Ryan needed to acknowledge his role in their issues as well.

Ms. Brown always writes engaging characters, with real life situations that you end up asking yourself how you would react. I can't wait to read what she publishes next.

Google+

Julie's Review: Come Away with Me

Author: Karma Brown
Series: None
Publication Date: August 25, 2015
Pages: 304
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Damn
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

Summary:  An unexpected journey leads one woman to discover that life after loss is possible, if only you can find the courage to let go… One minute, Tegan Lawson has everything she could hope for: an adoring husband, Gabe, and a baby on the way. The next, a patch of black ice causes a devastating accident that will change her life in ways she never could have imagined. Tegan is consumed by grief—not to mention her anger toward Gabe, who was driving on the night of the crash. But just when she thinks she's hit rock bottom, Gabe reminds her of their Jar of Spontaneity, a collection of their dream destinations and experiences, and so begins an adventure of a lifetime. From the bustling markets of Thailand to the flavors of Italy to the ocean waves in Hawaii, Tegan and Gabe embark on a journey to escape the tragedy and search for forgiveness. But they soon learn that grief follows you no matter how far away you run, and that acceptance comes when you least expect it. Heartbreaking, hopeful and utterly transporting, Come Away with Me is an unforgettable debut and a luminous celebration of the strength of the human spirit. ~amazon.com

Review: Come Away With Me is the kind of book that will keep you up long past your bedtime to complete the journey. At the end of the journey it will leave you in utter awe and disbelief. It is the kind of book that you will want to go and read again, if only you could experience it again for the first time. For me, that is a rare and delightful experience.

I know this will make me sound like a horrible human being but honestly at times, Tegan got on my nerves. I understand the horrible tragedy she's been handed but she's also hurting those that are the closest to her. She's wallowing in her own despair and can't seem to get herself out of it. Seriously, there were a few times I wanted to smack Tegan to get her to realize that she did still have a life to live. There were times when I felt her loved ones were a bit easy on her; a lack of tough love.

I wanted Tegan to lash out at Gabe. I wanted her to spit her anger and fury at him because she needed to and he needed to hear it. It would also work wonders for her recovery. You are desperate for both of them to find their way back to each other and to regain the love they have for each other.

Gabe is uber-patience with Tegan. It is evident that he just wants his wife back. He knows they can't go back to the way things were but they have to find a way to move on. I love how he makes her take the trip to some places they would eventually get to in their lifetime. He's trying to get her to live life again.

Each of the locations, Thailand, Italy and Hawaii start to bring Tegan to back to herself but not without setbacks. Those setbacks are heartbreaking to read. Each of these locations is breathtaking with beauty and makes me a bit envious of the trip but not for the reasons they are there.

I really can't go into much more detail about this beautiful, heartbreaking and hopeful novel without ruining it. If you haven't read this novel, make it a priority for the rest of the year or at least early 2016.


  Google+