Late Flight To Lisbon: A Journey of Healing and Love

Posted on by Jan tramontano

I haven’t read a romance in many years and if this book is any example, they have deepened in a variety of ways. While the rich, handsome hero is in place and the strong heroine may be swept off her feet,she knows who she is and what she wants. The beauty of found family and the pleasure experienced by the wealthy sparkle with description. But beneath the glamor, the globetrotting and a magical life when money and time are plentiful, this story explores some very serious issues.

Meanwhile… As the Story Moves On

Posted on by Jan tramontano

There is a lot in this book that I never thought about. Much of it covers familiar ground. It is a story of three characters at a crossroad whose lives converge. It is about forgiveness. It is about the long arm of incarceration. And of course, it is about the power of books. But most of all it examines how single, life changing moments may have the power to override all your life has been and will be. 

The Haunting Toll of a Missing Child

Posted on by Jan tramontano

When a child goes missing, an unfathomable nightmare begins for a family, the community and the police. Yet, we have a bizarre fascination with these events as evidenced by the upsurge in true crime media. It seems people can’t get enough of podcasts, TV shows, movies and books. Although some of this story has the feel of a whodunnit and what happened, at its core it's about the forever toll a child gone missing takes on families and neighbors. It weakens faith in home as a place of safety. What piqued my interest in this novel is how characters with different kinds of involvement weathered the loss.

Friendship and Feminism: The Book Club for Troublesome Women

Posted on by Jan tramontano

The fact that history repeats itself is never more obvious than when reading historical fiction. This book, The Book Club for Troublesome Women depicts the wives of 1960s middle class families and the societal pressure to keep women at home. This was a time period when women were discouraged from pursuing careers or stimulation outside of their families. Fifty years later, these regressive ideas are gaining momentum once again in the form of misguided restrictive laws based on false memory about how good this was for women.

The Road Not Taken

Posted on by Jan tramontano

Do you ever wonder about what your life might have looked like if you made one different decision? Or wonder if you were not afraid to take risk that might have changed everything? Perhaps, a first love didn't work out the way you'd hoped and you wonder what might have been... It's easy to fall down that rabbit hole but sometimes it's more satisfying to read somebody else's should have could have story. As I was reading this book, I thought about people and times in my own life who I hadn't thought about in years. It's good when a book gives you a look back into your own memories. As long as you don't spin out!

A Tale of Immigrant Resilience

Posted on by Jan tramontano

Newly released this week, this novel is a throwback to the kind of novel that made me an avid reader. It’s a Barbara Taylor Bradford Woman of Substance kind of book. The undaunted heroine rises from meager circumstances. With talent, grit, and ambition, she faces many obstacles but becomes successful and climbs the rungs of society. This is not a criticism. It is a reflection of the circumstances in the early twentieth century and Maisie McIntyre is such a character.

The Long Reach into the Past

Posted on by Jan tramontano

The narrative explores the haunting legacy of the Holocaust through Anne Berest's discovery of an ancestral postcard, initiating her search for family history. The text reflects on personal trauma, societal complicity in atrocities, and contemporary parallels of inhumanity, urging remembrance to prevent repeating the past while confronting present-day prejudices.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Latest Novel: A Dream Count Unpacked

Posted on by Jan tramontano

In this latest novel by Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, she explores the idea of dream count, a backwards look at the past in the hope of arriving at a better future. If the past is filled with so much unrealized potential, how can the failed affairs of old be transformed?

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson: A Story of Resilience

Posted on by Jan tramontano

This novel by Charmaine Wilkerson explores themes of loss, grief, and family trauma within a well-educated Black family in Connecticut. It follows Ebby, a survivor of her brother's murder, as she grapples with her past while reclaiming a family heirloom. The narrative, told through multiple perspectives, adds depth and emotional resonance.

Everything We Never Had, A Story of Fathers and Sons

Posted on by Jan tramontano

This beautifully crafted novel was written for a young adult audience but I would recommend it for teens and adults alike.Long listed for the National Book Award it is the tale of four generations of Filipino Americans grappling with identity, past trauma and the long reach it has into the future.