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Beautiful Ruins

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There’s nothing like a trip to the Italian coast when the temps plummet into winter.

Beautiful Ruins is a lovely, lovely tale—taking the best parts of an intricate tale like The Casual Vacancy and blending it with sweeping, emotionally wrought stories of love, such as in The Light Between Oceans. Were I a single girl in 1962, I just may have fought Amedea for Pasquale’s heart. Oh, Pasquale …

What you need to know before you dive in—the reader is jostled back and forth between 1962 in Italy and “Recently” in the States. Most of the characters figure prominently in one or both eras. There’s …

Michael Deane, a publicity assistant in 1962 and producer of ill-repute in present-day L.A.

Pasquale Tursi, a young hotelier (well, sort of, anyway) in Porto Vergogna (“Port of Shame”), Italy in 1962.

Dee Moray, a young actress on the set of “Cleopatra” in 1962, who morphs into Debra Moore, teacher and theater owner in modern day Pacific Northwest.

Dick and Liz. Duh.

Alvis Bender, The Hotel Adequate View’s only regular American customer and author extraordinaire. Sort of.

Pat Bender, front man for the Reticents and Debra’s son.

Claire Silver, Michael’s frustrated “Should I work for Scientologists?” assistant with a porn-addicted boyfriend, as well as two charity cases on her office doorstep. And that’s where the story begins …

Author Jess Walter takes readers on a journey from one coast to another, beginning with Pasquale and Dee in Italy and ending with … Pasquale and Dee in Italy. But along the way? Love is discovered and abandoned by nearly everyone involved. Whether it’s Pasquale slowly motoring away from Dee, Maria setting Alvis free, Pat’s refusal to take responsibility, Michael’s rejection of the moral high ground, Dick and Liz and Eddie Fisher …

What I most enjoy though is that Walter is able to touch the heart without going all Nicholas Sparks on us. The setting alone—that Italian coastline—is ripe for Sparks’ angst and emotional destruction. But Walter is able to go to the exact same place without the sap, but instead with humor. Pasquale’s attempt at a tennis court on the cliffs, Michael’s self-absorption, Aunt Valeria’s insults, Richard Burton’s booze … the humor is what makes the story human.

This is easily one of the best books I’ve read all year, and extra special in that I would not have discovered it unless someone had recommended it to me. So I’m paying it forward — don’t miss Beautiful Ruins. Excellent. Just excellent.

Beautiful Ruins
Jess Walter

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Heading Out to Wonderful

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Liked A Reliable Wife? So did I. But I liked this better.

Author Robert Goolrick’s sophomore effort, Heading Out to Wonderful, is worth your time on a long, rainy weekend. Or a road trip. Or the doctor’s office. It doesn’t take very many pages before you are completely engrossed in the tale of Charlie Beale, and his journey to Brownsburg, where his life intersects with that of Will and Alma Haislett, their son Sam, and the residents of this tiny town in Virgina in the late 1940s.

Here’s what you need to know—it’s historical fiction, it’s a love story, and it … doesn’t end well. I’m not saying it’s not a good ending—it’s just, well … I don’t want to give it away. Like The Midwife of Hope River, I find love stories like these so much hotter than that “50 Shades” tripe.

“She took off her dark glasses, very slowly, bowing her head to do it, gentle, graceful. She looked up at Will briefly, nodding hello. Then she just stood, and she turned her head slowly to stare at Charlie Beale. Five seconds. Ten, maybe, no more, but it seemed forever.

His hands were on the counter. He felt the urge to do something, to wipe the butcher block, to jingle the change in his pocket, but nobody moved, and he didn’t either …

…But Charlie Beale had heard her name. Sylvan Glass. She went off in his head and his heart like a firecracker on the Fourth of July. Something dazzling. Something stupendous.

Something, finally, that was wholly and mysteriously wonderful.”

Instantaneous, want-to-die-without-her love at first sight. It doesn’t make sense, but it never does. Goolrick is masterful at painting emotions on the page—it’s as if you can reach out and touch the illicit love between Charlie and Sylvan. Their story, and those separately—Sylvan’s desire to escape her destiny and Charlie’s desire to create the perfect family—are indeed wondrous, and sad, and touching. A great escapist read (and by that, I mean you will love Charlie and despair at his descent into madness, but if you were reading this as a true account in the local paper, you’d probably think he was whack and a creepy stalker dude.)

Me? I’m going to go grow a bubblegum tree.

Heading Out to Wonderful
Robert Goolrick

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Caravan of Thieves

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Is it a screenplay masquerading as a book, or a book masquerading as a screenplay?

David Rich may be a debut author, but he’s no novice. His work prior to this book was heavy on the screenplay—and I’m not sure that was knowledge that helped or hurt the cause as I read.

Lest you think I’m about to insult, I’m not—the book is a good read. I may not put it in the same category as a Clancy or Baldacci, but for the CIA-style thriller, it was enjoyable. The story’s main character, Rollie Waters, is drawn into a three-way war over money that was stolen in in Iraq and Afghanistan and shipped back overseas. It’s when Rollie realizes his father is involved that the story really takes off.

Here’s the rub for me—with the number of times Rollie has the shit kicked out of him, I had a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact he was even alive. Seriously—the guy is taking a fist to the face, the butt of a gun to the back of the head, roundhouse kicks to the gut … on what feels like every third page of the book. And he just.keeps.going. People are dropping like flies, but not him. He’s superhuman, which makes it not so believable. And that screenplay thing—if you are a reader who loves to picture the movie version in your head, you will love this book. I didn’t mind it so much except that scenes seemed to jump very quickly one from one to another, as if there was just a “fade to black” note missing on the page. Dialogue, too, could be a tad hard to follow — easy enough if you’re watching the character saying it, but not so much when you’re reading it instead.

It’s fairly violent, but no more than a “Bourne” movie, so I tossed my copy to my teen son, who may like it. Here’s my “Olive Garden review” comment, and then I’ll leave it … As much as I love Clancy and Baldacci, the tiny type on the pages of the paperbacks can drive me nuts. I went hardcopy here, and it was way easier on the eyes. I’m just sayin’…. if you’re in the mood for a thriller, this is a good option for a quick weekend read.

Caravan of Thieves
David Rich

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The Lion is In

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If you’re looking for a happier ending to “Thelma and Louise,” this is it.

Delia Ephron had me hooked with “You’ve Got Mail”—a movie, yes, but the dialogue still kills, years later. When “The Lion is In,” arrived at the library, I was one of the first to snatch it up. And she doesn’t disappoint. This novel, about three women on the path to self-discovery on their way down South and through a run-down bar, was a perfect afternoon/evening distraction.

The story centers on Lana, Tracee and Rita, who find each other along a rural stretch of highway, most definitely in the middle of nowhere. More than just a metaphor, the highway leads them to their savior, in the form of a lion named Marcel. I didn’t quite “get” it at first—the book jacket is telling me that a lion changes their lives. Really? Oh, but yes.

There’s something identifiable within each of these ladies—what, I won’t say. I just know for me, there was something about each one of them that spoke to me. It made the book so much more enjoyable, as each has to climb out from behind their fears and confront the future. Sometimes, it’s with humility and grace, other times, it’s with some pretty outrageous humor.

And it’s not just the relationships the girls have with each other (or themselves, though, really, that’s what the book is about and those are the most profound)—the guys are pretty interesting as well. From Clayton the bar owner and his assistant, Tim, to Tucker the cop and the downright disturbing Harry, the men play the perfect foils. Above all, Marcel the lion is really the guy who turns it all around, without ever saying a word. (Or eating anyone—sorry, gore lovers.)

This is one of those books I would love to see turned into a movie. I wouldn’t even mind if LiLo played Lana. (You’d think she’s more of a Tracee, but I gotta say she brings the crazy that would make Lana jump off the screen.)

This makes for a great weekend read—put it on your list for the beach bag this summer.

The Lion is In
Delia Ephron