"Lilah"

Author: Marek Halter
Genre: Historical Fiction / Religion / Romance
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group, 2006
Pages: 272
My Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Set in the magnificent culture of the Middle East more than four thousand years ago, Lilah is a rich and emotionally resonant story of faith, love, and courage

Living in exile, Lilah is in love with Antinoes, a Persian warrior. They have known each other since they were children, and Antinoes dearly wants to make Lilah his wife. Yet Lilah does not feel she can marry without the blessing of her brother, Ezra. She and Ezra are close, and Lilah knows her brother well—he does not want his sister to have a husband outside their faith. Ezra is a scholar of the laws of Moses, and Lilah believes it is her brother’s destiny to lead the Jewish people back to the Promised Land. While Antinoes pressures her to accept his proposal, Lilah realizes that before she can consider her own happiness, it is her duty to help her brother accomplish the seemingly impossible task that is before him.
 
Putting herself in grave danger, and with the help of Antinoes, Lilah wins Ezra an audience with Artaxerxes II, the King of Kings, who grants permission to lead the exiles on their journey back to the Promised Land. After a hazardous trip across the desert, Lilah, Ezra, and the thousands who join them arrive in Jerusalem. But the hardship of rebuilding the Temple takes its toll, and the religious enthusiasm of some turns to extremism. Ezra, listening to the zealots, orders all non-Jewish wives and their children banished from Jerusalem. Lilah, whose love for Antinoes has never wavered, is horrified by this command. She knows she must now choose between her brother and her conscience, which tells her that the time has come to defy him.

Lilah is a timeless story of one woman’s stand against intolerance; it will linger in the reader’s mind long after the last page has been turned.

Review: Of the three books that make up The Canaan Trilogy this was my least favorite. Actually, it was not a favorite. I got through it. It was the darkest of the three, but also had the most "fluff". I finished reading it simply because I had read the other two. I wanted to give up many times.

Lilah takes place four thousand years ago, but lacked an existing biblical tale to embellish. As a woman in the 21st century I found it very difficult to follow her reasoning and don't know if much of this would have happened this way 4000 years ago anyway.

This also fell short as a love story/romance.

Read the synopsis above and you will have no reason to read this book. I've read 400 page books that seemed shorter than the 272 this one is. The storyline is drawn out and slow moving. Reviews on Barnes and Noble are no less favorable.

I recommend Lilah if you are reading The Canaan Trilogy (see Sarah and Zipporah) and wish to finish out the series. Otherwise, you can sit this one out.

If you only want to read one book in this trilogy, I recommend Sarah. The other two cannot compare.

"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan"

Author: Lisa See
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing, 2005
Pages: 272
My Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Lily is haunted by memories–of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness. In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu ("women’s writing"). Some girls were paired with laotongs, "old sames," in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become "old sames" at the tender age of seven.

Review: This book piqued my interest because I know next to nothing about Chinese culture and about as much Chinese history that could be squeezed into one college history course taught by a less-than-inspiring professor. I've heard about foot binding, arranged marriages, and other traditions and practices, but this book delves right into these subjects and it's just so fascinating - painful - but fascinating.

See does a fantastic job of describing and explaining, in the context of a plot and storyline, enough about Chinese culture so that even if readers know nothing about it they don't feel as though they're on the outside looking in. I also realized that while some of the traditions seem so foreign and even, strange to me, the reasoning behind it and the expected outcome, kind of make sense. This isn't to say that I agree with the means to the end, but on some level I can appreciate where they're going with it. This book is the reason I try to choose books outside of my comfort zone. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

True Colors

Author: Kristin Hannah
Genre: Fiction / Romance
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2010
Pages: 544
My Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: The Grey sisters had only each other when their mother died years ago. Their father provided for them physically on Water's Edge, the ranch that had been in their family for three generations, each of them however, longed for their father's love. Winona, the oldest, knew early on that she could never get it. An overweight dreamer and reader, she didn't exhibit the kinds of talents and strengths her father valued. Vivi Anne, the youngest, had those things. And it was Vivi Anne who only ever saw a glimmer of their father's approval. When Vivi Anne makes a fateful decision to follow her heart, rather than take the route of a dutiful daughter, events are set in motion that will test the love and loyalties of the Grey sisters. With breathtaking pace and penetrating insight, Kristin Hannah's True Colors is a novel about sisters, vengeance, rivalry, betrayal—and ultimately, what it truly means to be a family.

Review: Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors and I've read most of her books. True Colors was so disappointing. The plot had such potential, but it went too far outside her comfort zone, resulting in a mediocre story. I never did feel connected to the characters. I wouldn't even recommend this book as just a light, fluffy, fun read. Because I've read so many books by Kristin Hannah and generally love her stories and style, I will continue to seek out her novels (I loved Summer Island). However, if True Colors was the first book I'd read by Hannah, it would also be my last.

Other Kristin Hannah Novels
Angel Falls
Summer Island
The Four Winds
The Great Alone
The Enchantment
The Nightingale
The Women

"The Puzzle Barktree"

Author: Stephanie Gertler
Genre: Fiction / Romance
Publisher: Penguin Group, 2002
Pages: 336
My Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: When Grace Hammond Barnett's parents die suddenly, she is bequeathed a lakeside house she never knew existed. Leaving her city life behind, she travels to the house for refuge-and meets a man who helps her unravel a devastating secret buried in her past...

Review: Predictable and typical, but still good. As a character study, it's interesting.

If I wasn't a mother, I'm not sure this book would have been as memorable. I found myself evaluating Grace's parents and probably didn't judge them as harshly as someone without kids may have done.

"Not My Daughter"

Author: Barbara Delinsky
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing, 2010
Pages: 448
My Rating: Highly Recommend

A pregnancy pact between three teenaged girls puts their mothers' love to the ultimate test in this explosive new novel from Barbara Delinsky, "a first- rate storyteller who creates characters as familiar as your neighbors." (Boston Globe).

Synopsis: When Susan Tate's seventeen-year-old daughter, Lily, announces she is pregnant, Susan is stunned. A single mother, she has struggled to do everything right. She sees the pregnancy as an unimaginable tragedy for both Lily and herself. Then comes word of two more pregnancies among high school juniors who happen to be Lily's best friends-and the town turns to talk of a pact. As fingers start pointing, the most ardent criticism is directed at Susan. As principal of the high school, she has always been held up as a role model of hard work and core values. Now her detractors accuse her of being a lax mother, perhaps not worthy of the job of shepherding impressionable students. As Susan struggles with the implications of her daughter's pregnancy, her job, financial independence, and long-fought-for dreams are all at risk. The emotional ties between mothers and daughters are stretched to breaking in this emotionally wrenching story of love and forgiveness. Once again, Barbara Delinsky has given us a powerful novel, one that asks a central question: What does it take to be a good mother.

Review: EXCELLENT! While my children are still very small, Not My Daughter does make me anxious about the coming teen years. No matter how good/great a job you do as a parent, your child(ren) is/are his/her own person and exposed to all sorts of outside influences (both positive and negative). Children also can't reason and understand implications in some situations as well. Not My Daughter also made me nauseatingly aware that as challenging as I think these preschool years are, the biggest challenges are still ahead. Little people, little problems. Big people, big problems.

"Amy and Isabelle"

Author: Elizabeth Strout
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1998
Pages: 303
My Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: In her stunning first novel, Amy and Isabelle, Elizabeth Strout evokes a teenager's alienation from her distant mother — and a parent's rage at the discovery of her daughter's sexual secrets. In most ways, Isabelle and Amy are like any mother and her 16-year-old daughter, a fierce mix of love and loathing exchanged in their every glance. And eating, sleeping, and working side by side in the gossip-ridden mill town of Shirley Falls doesn't help matters. But when Amy is discovered behind the steamed-up windows of a car with her math teacher, the vast and icy distance between mother and daughter becomes unbridgeable.

As news of the scandal reaches every ear, it is Isabelle who suffers from the harsh judgment of Shirley Falls, intensifying her shame about her own secret past. And as Amy seeks comfort elsewhere, she discovers the fragility of human happiness through other dramas, from the horror of a missing child to the trials of Fat Bev, the community peacemaker.

Review: I loved this interesting look at life in small-town America. The relationship between mothers and daughter(s) is like walking a tight-rope and I thought the author did a great job weaving Amy and Isabelle's lives together.

Student/teacher relationships seem to make the news a lot and I thought the author was able to tell the other side in this novel. It ends as you might expect.

"Like Water for Chocolate"

Author: Laura Esquivel
Genre: Magical Realism
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1992
Pages: 256
My Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: This internationally popular romantic fable from Mexico centers on a young woman who discovers that her cooking has magical effects. The tale's heroine, Tita, is the youngest of three daughters in a traditional Mexican family. Bound by tradition to remain unmarried while caring for her aging mother, Tita nevertheless falls in love with a handsome young man named Pedro. Pedro returns her affection, but he cannot overcome her family's disapproval, and he instead marries Tita's elder sister. The lovestruck young woman is brutally disappointed, and her sadness has such force that it infects her cooking: all who eat it her feel her heartbreak with the same intensity. This newly discovered power continues to manifest itself after the wedding, as Tita and Pedro, overcome by their denied love, embark on a secret affair. Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in tum-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit.

Review: I'm pretty sure the author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake took the idea for that book from this one. Once I accepted the far-fetched nature and style of this particular genre it was easy to enjoy this quick read. I got a little too involved in the characters lives insofar that if I were one of Tita's friends I would have had something to say about her choices. I also would have written a different ending, although I find that just because a book doesn't end the way I would have chosen, it can still be a good ending. If you're interested, Like Water for Chocolate has also been made into a movie, and the author wrote the screenplay as well.

"The 5 Love Languages"

Author: Dr. Gary Chapman
Genre: Health, Family, and Lifestyle
Publisher: Moody Publishers, 2010
Pages: 201
My Rating: Highly Recommend.

Synopsis: Dr. Chapman identifies five basic languages of love and then guides couples towards a better understanding of their unique languages of love.

Review: Dr. Chapman is a marriage counselor compiled this information over 30 years in the field. This is a quick read and I LOVED it. Good information. Highly recommend for anyone in a relationship. It provides insight and makes marriage less about Mars and Venus.

The book includes a questionnaire/quiz that will identify your love language, as well as your partners. The "quiz" can also be found here.

These are the 5 love languages:

Words of Affirmation:  This is the person whose emotional love language, their love tank, is fueled by encouraging words.  They feel most loved by the kind words and encouragement their partner speaks to them.  It also has to do with communicating love to them by making requests, not demands or ultimatums.  While the words spoken to one another are important in any relationship, the person whose primary love language is Words of Affirmation feels most loved by the words that affirm and encourage them.

Quality Time: The person with this as a primary love language thrives on focused attention, quality conversation where true feelings and thoughts are shared, and quality activities with shared interests.  This is the fuel for their love tank, and without it they feel unloved, discouraged, and disconnected.

Receiving Gifts:  The person whose love language is fueled by this language is not concerned with the cost of a gift, but rather the thought the giver put into the gift for them.  Gifts can be made, found, or purchased.  Chapman also discusses the gift of giving one’s self to your partner who has this as their primary love tank fuel, as the physical presence can be the gift desired most in many cases.

Acts of Service:  For the person with this primary love language they feel most loved by the things people do to show their love to them.  The implication is the acts of service which speak so loudly to them are tied to loving them, the person, not serving out of coercion or manipulation.  Sometimes gender roles or stereotypes are challenged with this language, for example, a husband who vacuums for his wife who has this as her primary language.  He does it to show his love as an act of service even though vacuuming is not stereo-typically a husband’s role. 

Physical Touch:  The person with this primary love language thrives on physical contact to feel secure in their spouse’s love.  Chapman discusses the difference between implicit (implied) touch and explicit (expressed) physical touches.

There are other "5 Languages" books in print. View them all here.

"Perfection"

Author: Julie Metz
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Hyperion, 2009
Pages: 352
My Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: A breathtakingly honest, gloriously written memoir about the complexities of forgiveness when a young widow discovers her husband's secret life after his death Julie Metz seemed to have the perfect life—an adoring if demanding husband, a happy, spirited daughter, a lovely old house in an idyllic town outside New York City—when in an instant, everything changed. Her charismatic, charming husband, Henry, suffered a pulmonary embolism and collapsed on the kitchen floor. Within hours he was dead, and Julie was a widow and single mother at 44. Just like that, what seemed like a perfect life melted away. But the worst was yet to come.

Six months after his death, Julie discovered that her husband of 12 years, the man who loved her and their six-year-old daughter ebulliently and devotedly, had been unfaithful throughout their marriage, going so far as to conduct an ongoing relationship with one of Julie's close friends.

This memoir—moving, simple, filled with incandescent images—is the story of coming to terms with painful truths, of rebuilding both a life and an identity after betrayal and widowhood. Ultimately, it is a story of rebirth and happiness—if not perfection.

Review: Suffice it to say, this book was the undoing of my already failing marriage.

It's well-written and quite interesting and I felt nothing but sympathy for the author. She basically lived (and is living) what would be a worst nightmare for any of us. It's also a great example of Karma at work.

That being said, the last part of the book is one sexcapade after another. I could have done without the list of men she slept with and the details. She could have ended this memoir a lot sooner by leaving out the sordid details, which did not add to her story. However, I give anyone who writes a memoir a lot of credit though. You pretty much put yourself out there for potentially millions of people to read, not to mention those directly involved in your life. I haven't decided if it's a leap of faith or a true display of narcissism, but memoirs are a favorite genre of mine and I eat them up either way.

"Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

Author: Anne Tyler
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing, 1996
Pages: 336
My Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Pearl Tull is nearing the end of her life but not her memory. It was a Sunday night in 1944 when her husband left the little row house on Baltimore's Calvert Street, abandoning Pearl to raise their three children alone: Jenny, high-spirited and determined, nurturing to strangers but distant to those she loves; the oldest son, Cody, a wild and incorrigible youth possessed by the lure of power and money; and sweet and clumsy Ezra, Pearl's favorite, who never stops yearning for the "perfect" family that could never be his own." Now grown, they have gathered together again - with anger, with hope, and with a beautiful, harsh, and dazzling story to tell.

Review: This book grabbed me from the first page. Excellent read. I thought it was genius beginning a book from the perspective of someone on their death bed and then reading her children's experiences and take on things as they flashback through the years. It's a good look at family relationships (sibling/sibling, parent/child etc).

I'm not sure why but I always like to see from where a title of a book comes. The Homesick Restaurant is the name of the restaurant Ezra "owns" and while he always tried to mark special occasions etc by inviting them all to his restaurant they never completed a meal as a family. Something would happen and one would always leave so therefore, they never enjoyed a complete dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - ironic too since he served foods that would be comfort food for people and remind them of home. I have to read more Anne Tyler novels.

"Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde"

Author: Jeff Guinn
Genre: Historical
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2009
Pages: 480
My Rating: Highly Recommend

Go Down Together was a step outside my comfort zone and I want to continue challenging myself with new subject matter and authors.

Synopsis: Bestselling author Jeff Guinn combines exhaustive research with surprising, newly discovered material to tell the real tale of two kids from a filthy Dallas slum who fell in love and then willingly traded their lives for a brief interlude of excitement and, more important, fame. Go Down Together has it all-true romance, rebellion against authority, bullets flying, cars crashing, and, in the end, a dramatic death at the hands of a celebrity lawman.

This is the real story of Bonnie and Clyde and their troubled times, delivered with cinematic sweep by a masterful storyteller.

Review: I'm not sure why I picked this book up other than my interest in history in general and biographies/autobiographies. I was never infatuated with the story of Bonnie and Clyde, never interested in crime novels, and hadn't studied much about this particular period of time in history.

The author does a great job of setting the reader up for the story of Bonnie and Clyde by discussing their childhoods to life in a West Dallas slum. Considering I knew next to nothing about Bonnie and Clyde prior to reading this and never gave them much thought - what struck me the most was how young they were (early 20s) when they started their crime spree. Times really were desperate and they weren't content to sit by and simply "exist" and hope things would improve. Also interesting to me was the way the author referenced them - Clyde and Bonnie and not Bonnie and Clyde. The author did his research and erases the Hollywood myth that Bonnie was the brains behind the operation.

The end seemed very anticlimatic, although obviously true to life. I wish Bonnie and Clyde would have gone down swinging, but no, they were simply ambushed and Clyde defniitely never knew what hit him; Bonnie didn't have much time to ponder. I'd like to see some Bonnie and Clyde memorabilia and visit some sites/landmarks connected to them.

Also included on the middle pages of the book were photographs of Bonnie and Clyde at various points of their lives and "careers".

The Castaways

Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Genre: Fiction / Chick Lit
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company, 2010
Pages: 400
My Rating: Recommend

The Castaways may be slow reading at times, but the ending makes it worth sticking around.

Synopsis: Greg and Tess MacAvoy are one of four prominent Nantucket couples who count each other as best friends. As pillars of their close-knit community, the MacAvoys, Kapenashes, Drakes, and Wheelers are important to their friends and neighbors, and especially to each other. But just before the beginning of another idyllic summer, Greg and Tess are killed when their boat capsizes during an anniversary sail. As the warm weather approaches and the island mourns their loss, nothing can prepare the MacAvoy's closest friends for what will be revealed. Once again, Hilderbrand masterfully weaves an intense tale of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of endless summer island life.

Review: A nice read, but kind of a snooze most of the way through. The subject matter makes it heavy for "beach reading", but I loved the ending. There were key details pertaining to the characters that weren't revealed until the conclusion. Had the reader been privy to this information early the book may have read faster, but it did make for some interesting twists and revelations toward the end.

Other Elin Hilderbrand Novels:
The Five-Star Weekend
Summer of '69
The Blue Bistro
Golden Girl
The Hotel Nantucket
The Island

The Winter Street Series
Winter Street
Winter Stroll
Winter Storms
Winter Solstice

The Winter in Paradise Trilogy
Winter in Paradise
What Happens in Paradise
Troubles in Paradise

"The Beach House"

Author: Jane Green
Genre: Fiction / Chick Lit
Publisher: Penguin Group, 2009
Pages: 352
My Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Nan Powell is a free-spirited, sixty-five-year-old widow who's not above skinny-dipping in her neighbors' pools when they're away and who dearly loves her Nantucket home. But when she discovers that the money she thought would last forever is dwindling, she realizes she must make drastic changes to save her beloved house. So Nan takes out an ad: Rooms to rent for the summer in a beautiful old Nantucket home with water views and direct access to the beach. Slowly people start moving in to the house, filling it with noise, laughter, and with tears. As the house comes alive again, Nan finds her family and friends expanding. Her son comes home for the summer, and then an unexpected visitor turns all their lives upside down. As she did so masterfully in her New York Times bestseller Second Chance, Jane Green once again proves herself one of the preeminent writers of contemporary women's fiction.

Review: Lots of fluff, predicable, not memorable, but not terrible. The plot had so much potential and it definitely falls short of being a "must-read", but if you're looking for a light, easy read, this is a good choice.

"The Help"

Author: Kathryn Stockett
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Group, 2011
Pages: 544
My Rating: Highly Recommend

The Help is excellent and a must-read.

Synopsis: Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed. In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

Review: Excellent, excellent, excellent. If you haven't already read it, make sure it's on your list. AND, don't forget to read the section added by the author at the very end "Too Little, Too Late". Cannot wait to see if Stockett writes another novel.

"Zipporah"

Author: Marek Halter

Genre: Historical Fiction / Biblical

Publisher: Crown Publishing Group, 200

Pages: 288

My Rating: Recommend

Zipporah is the second book in The Canaan Trilogy.

Synopsis (book jacket): Although she is a Cushite by birth—one of the people of the lands to the south—Zipporah grew up as the beloved daughter of Jethro, high priest and sage of the Midianites. But the color of Zipporah’s skin sets her apart, making her an outsider to the men of her adopted tribe, who do not want her as a wife. Then one day while drawing water from a well, she meets a handsome young stranger. Like her, he is an outsider. A Hebrew raised in the house of the Egyptian Pharaoh, Moses is a fugitive, forced to flee his homeland. Zipporah realizes that this man will be the husband and partner she never thought she would have.

Moses wants nothing more than a peaceful life with the Midianites, but Zipporah won’t let Moses forget his past—or turn away from his true destiny

She refuses to marry him until he returns to Egypt to free his people. When God reveals himself to Moses in a burning bush, his words echo Zipporah’s, and Moses returns to Egypt with his passionate and generous wife by his side.

A woman ahead of her time, Zipporah leaps from the pages of this remarkable novel. Bold, independent, and a true survivor, she is a captivating heroine, and her world of deserts, temples, and ancient wonders is a fitting backdrop to an epic tal.

Review: Prior to reading this I was unaware that Moses had a wife, but he did (see Exodus 2:16-21). Halter does a good job creating a story about Moses' wife considering how little about her is historically unavailable, but in general the character of Zipporah is too everything; too bold, too independent, too strong-willed, too perfect. . . to be believable. However, that is not to say that isn't worth reading. It is. The storyline is solid (although some parts do seem longer and read more slowly than necessary) and certainly detail what is already discussed in the Bible.

Zipporah ventures into darker themes than Sarah, but as is usually the case, good triumphs over evil. It's an ending I didn't see coming; I was surprised at how much I empathized with Zipporah.

"Never Tell Our Business to Strangers"

Author: Jennifer Mascia
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Random House Publishing, 2010
Pages: 383
My Rating: Recommend

What's it like to grow up as the daughter of criminals? Read Never Tell Our Business to Strangers to find out.

Synopsis (book jacket): When Jennifer Mascia is five years old, the FBI comes for her father. At that moment Jenny realizes that her family isn’t exactly normal. What follows are months of confusion marked by visits with her father through thick glass, talking to him over a telephone attached to the wall. She and her mother crisscross the country, from California to New York to Miami and back again. When her father finally returns home, months later, his absence is never explained—and Jenny is told that the family has a new last name. It’s only much later that Jenny discovers that theirs was a life spent on the lam, trying to outrun the law. Thus begins the story of Jennifer Mascia’s bizarre but strangely magical childhood. An only child, she revels in her parents’ intense love for her—and rides the highs and lows of their equally passionate arguments. They are a tight-knit band, never allowing many outsiders in. And then there are the oddities that Jenny notices only as she gets older: the fact that her father had two names before he went away—in public he was Frank, but at home her mother called him Johnny; the neat, hidden hole in the carpet where her parents keep all their cash. The family sees wild swings in wealth—one year they’re shopping for Chanel and Louis Vuitton at posh shopping centers in Los Angeles, the next they’re living in one room and subsisting on food stamps. What have her parents done? What was the reason for her father’s incarceration so many years ago? When Jenny, at twenty-two, uncovers her father’s criminal record during an Internet search, still more questions are raised. By then heis dying of cancer, so she presses her mother for answers, eliciting the first in a series of reluctant admissions about her father’s criminal past. Before her mother dies, four years later, Jenny is made privy to one final, riveting confession, which sets her on a search for the truth her mother fought to conceal for so many years. As Jenny unravels her family’s dark secrets, she must confront the grisly legacy she has inherited and the hard truth that her parents are not—and have never been—who they claimed to be. In the face of unimaginable tragedy, Jenny will ultimately find an acceptance and understanding just as meaningful and powerful as her parents’ love. In a memoir both raw and unwavering, Jennifer Mascia tells the amazing story of a life lived—unwittingly—with criminals. Full of great love and enormous loss, Never Tell Our Business to Strangers will captivate and enthrall, both with its unrelenting revelations and its honest, witty heart.

Review: This wasn't the most captivating memoir I've ever read, but I'm sort of in awe of the author. Her family life was anything but normal and she survived and amazingly, thrived. I wasn't sure what to feel for or about her parents. I guess at the end of the day they did the best they could, but were lacking in so many ways.