Redbery Books

Characters and their situations are the life blood of a great novel. Heart of Palm is a great novel. You will be wrapped up immediately in the lives of the Bravo men, Dean, Frank, Carson and Will from the moment you meet them and the women unfortunate enough to love them. Sounds sappy and sloppy, but believe me, it’s not.

Heart of Palm had one of the longest prologues I’ve ever encountered, but it set the stage beautifully for the relationship between Arla Bolton and Dean Bravo. She is the tall, svelte, elegant young woman and he is the handsome, devilish bad boy some women fall for effortlessly. I won’t tell you just how badly their relationship starts off because, honestly, it was one of those moments where I was completely caught off guard (and this was in the first 50 pages!) by what a writer created. I confess here that I yelped when I read it. Yes, yes, I said, “yelped.” 

The middle of the book follows the trials and tribulations of Frank and the quietly-getting-louder feud with his brother Carson and what Frank should do about the proposition he and his family receive. Frank is torn between what he should do and what he wants to do. Really, isn’t that how it is for us all? Here we are shown what has happened throughout the history of the Bravo family and what has made them who they are today.

Just past the middle of Heart of Palm, Laura Lee Smith kicks the story into high gear and increases the speed with which you will turn the pages to find out exactly what is going to happen. By this point of the novel, forget about getting anything else done until you close the book after the last page. 

As I read Heart of Palm, it felt warm and familiar. It dawned on me by page 250 that Laura Lee Smith writes in much the same style as Richard Russo and that made me love the book even more. Smith writes real people (many we know) and situations completely true to life. How many times in our own lives are we taken from what we know and trust to something new, foreign, but hopeful? For me – almost every day.

Christa Parravani’s memoir of her twin sister’s life is a challenging read. Cara, Christa’s sister did not have an easy life. Clearly, the best part of her life was having Christa as her sister and twin. Those of us who have (or regrettably, some of us, had) sisters, know what it’s like to have this bond. I can’t even imagine the closeness of twins, but, to have a sister is to have someone close to tell everything to: a sounding board, a confidant, someone who knows all your history – well, there’s nothing better.

Cara and Christa are as close as twins can be – even down to fooling people by flipping identities. As children, they suffer a broken home, but maintain their closeness – in fact – use it to get through that tumultuous time. As adults, they marry men who are probably not the best choices. They attempt to make a go of marriage; however, when Cara is raped, she begins to spiral into the worst place imaginable.

Christa is there to try to help Cara. Cara becomes addicted to heroin – even becomes an expert at finding prescription drugs without a prescription. Christa has continued with her life, but is always close by to Cara. Unfortunately, there is not much to be done and Cara’s life is spoiled beyond repair.

In the last several years, I’ve broadened my reading horizons and now read most every genre. The memoir has become a favorite of mine. But I find I must be careful. There are cathartic reasons people write memoirs and not everyone who writes a memoir is a writer. Parravani’s writing is most times disjointed and I was never certain if this was a lack of expertise or a method to show how incoherent life was during Cara’s fall. I admit, I’m a fan of linear writing for memoirs; and this was definitely not linear. There is not much joy in this book, but Parravani does show us the joy, power and magnificence of having a sister. She also illustrates that she was able to find happiness after her sister’s death.

Kate Baron knows her daughter. So, when the dean from Amelia’s school calls to tell Kate that Amelia has been caught cheating on an English paper, Kate knows it’s a lie. The dean tells Kate she must pick up Amelia immediately because she has been suspended. Kate’s world falls apart when she’s delayed arriving at the school and finds out that Amelia is dead. The word is Amelia has jumped off the school roof. Kate knows her daughter, and she knows that’s not true.

Kate is temporarily swept up in the police’s cursory investigation that rules Amelia’s death a suicide and closes the case. It isn’t until a short time later when Kate begins receiving anonymous text messages indicating that Amelia didn’t jump from the roof that Kate realizes she’s known that all along. What follows is a mother’s relentless pursuit of the truth.

Even though Kate works long hours as an attorney, she and Amelia have a solid mother-daughter relationship. After Amelia dies and Kate begins to sort out the parts of Amelia’s life that she didn’t know. When Kate refuses to accept the sloppy police investigation, Kate begins on her own. She uncovers text messages from someone named “Ben.” She uncovers other messages and emails that lead her to more questions than answers. But with the help of a new police detective, Kate’s on the path to finding out what really happened on that roof.

Reconstructing Amelia is definitely a No Chores Today book. McCreight has written a book that makes us turn the pages so quickly, we create windstorms. In the age where it seems everyone knows everything about everyone because of a need to connect, what happens when the really important information remains hidden? McCreight’s style is wonderfully varied depending on the narrator as she deftly mixes in pages of text messages and social media pages as well as conventional prose to develop characters and unfolding action. Superb, thought-provoking, riveting. Don’t even think about not reading this book.