Bookstrumpet

Che Guevara

Exposing the Real Che Guevara and the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him
Humberto Fontova
Penguin Group

Death of a Revolutionary: Che Guevara’s Last Mission
by Richard Harris
W.W. Norton

Reviewed by Mayanna Allen

Every now and then I like to peruse the biography section of the library.  I now know more about Zsa Zsa Gabor than any of my friends or family.  Last month I happened upon a whole shelf of books about Che Guevara.  What I knew about him I gleaned from bumper stickers and t-shirts.  I picked two books whose authors seemed to hold differing opinions. 

 Exposing the Real Che Guevara and the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him by Humberto Fontova draws a clear line in the sand before the reader opens to page one.  Fontova outlines Che Guevara’s participation in the killing of political dissidents during and after the revolution in Cuba.  He is quite graphic in his descriptions and uses quotes from survivors of that era.  He makes a strong case for Mr. Guevara being a blood thirsty super turd. 

My problem with this book is the preaching to the choir tone about it.  Fontova uses witty and nasty lines like “Revolutionary Ringo Starr…” page 34, to push his point.  If I had started out with a strong pro Che opinion I would not have made it past the title, making the whole book a little redundant.  But, as per the success of Michael Moore and Nancy Grace, I guess the choir likes a good sermon.

By comparison, Death of a Revolutionary: Che Guevara’s Last Mission By Richard Harris is written in a more diplomatic tone.  Richard Harris tells the story of Che Guevara’s last mission in Bolivia.  He does a wonderful job of sketching the larger political situation at hand at that point in history.  Harris obviously has a better opinion of Che Guevara than Humberto Fontova.  He skips the death camp in Cuba almost entirely.  Harris does however point out Guevara’s failings as an organizer in Africa as well as in Bolivia.  He also gives the reader a full picture of Che Guevara’s married life without passing judgment, something I had a hard time doing. 

As far as getting the whole picture on the Elvis of guerilla warfare, I think I will require more reading.  Humberto Fontova’s book felt too full of rant and spite for me to trust him.  It was kind of like reading talk radio.  Harris, on the other hand presented me with a great read, and some new facts.

Mayanna Allen is a daring reader of all things.  Magazines, signs, minds, books of all sorts and on occasion, (with great reluctance) directions.  She has read books in thirty two states and three continents.  She lives in Portland Oregon with her husband and two small children.  Visit her new blog, Mothermayi. 

Achievement IQ Moments

by Stanley F. Bronstein
Cereb Press
$18.99

reviewed by Charlotte Rains Dixon

In case you hadn't heard, it is all about story.  What is all about story?  Life.  Liberty.  The pursuit of happiness.  Everything.

We are hard-wired to respond to story, whether we are aware of it or not.  Stories deliver emotion, and emotion grabs us and gets our attention.   Story is why we love movies, and novels, ads on TV, sports, and family dinners, among other things.

So I think that author Stanley F. Bronstein is smart to release a book of stories about success.   In his latest book, Achievement IQ Moments, Bronstein asks the reader if they dare to be massively successful.  He then says, "The best way to achieve massive success is by learning how successful individuals achieved what others thought impossible," and proceeds to highlight the stories of 50 hugely successful people.

The thing about these stories is that they are interesting and heart-warming and far more entertaining to read than the usual self-help books on success.  For instance, read about a son's last-minute decision to skip becoming a CPA and join his mother's travel agency instead in "A Mother and Son Affair."  Or delve into the story of a blind motivational speaker inspired by an unplanned detour to a Ray Charles concert in "Seeing Opportunities Others Don't See."  My favorite story is the first one the collection, about a woman stricken with ALS, who is so determined to paint that she uses her nose.

I also appreciated Bronstein's story behind the story--the tale of how he came to write the book related in the introduction.  Like so many other writers before him, one day Bronstein found himself stuck, with no inspiration coming to him.  It was then he realized that he was working on the wrong project and promptly decided to head out on the road and find successful people's stories to share with other.  Achievement IQ Moments was born.

Let me also mention that Bronstein is the author of two previous books about success, Find Purpose in Your Life and Achieve Massive Success, and Find Purpose in Your Career and Achieve Massive Success, both available at his website, which is listed below since the powers that be at Typepad seem not to want to let me make a link here.

Here's where to find the books:

http://books.stanleybronstein.com 

http://stanleybronstein.com/aiqbooks

In The Woods

Tana French
Viking, 2007
24.95

reviewed by Paula Harris

On an idyllic summer afternoon in 1984, three twelve-year-old children living in the exurbs of Dublin go to play in the deep woods near their homes. But they never come home for tea or bedtime. They never answer the calls of their worried, searching parents. Later that night, the police find one of the boys clutching a tree trunk in terror, his sneakers filled with blood.  He has absolutely no memory as to what happened to him or to his friends. The other two children are never seen again dead or alive.

Twenty years later, the found child, Adam Ryan, is on the murder squad of the Dublin Police. His past a secret from everyone, Ryan now uses his middle name, Rob, to further disguise his identity. When a body is found on an archeological dig near where he grew up, Rob and his partner, Cassie Maddox, at loose ends and a bit bored, ask to take the case. Too late Rob learns that the victim is another child, the same age as his lost friends, and that she has been killed at almost the exact spot where his friends disappeared. Though Rob has ominous and haunted feelings about the case and knows that because of his past he should ask to be removed, he continues on. Never in his wildest dreams does he realize the terrible impact this decision will have on his personal life, his career and his partnership with Cassie.

What a great beginning for a mystery novel! The writing is fresh and original; the characters live. The relationship between Cassie and Rob is delightful and special. Modern day booming Ireland is well portrayed. The Irish dialect of some characters adds flavor and interest but there’s never so much of it that the reader has to struggle to understand what is being said. The foreshadowing and flashbacks are expertly handled, the plot so compelling that I could scarcely put the book down. This novel won an Edgar Award, for reasons that are very obvious. And yet…

Many scenes through out go on and on and on. In this first outing as an author Ms. French seems not to trust that her readers will “get it”. And that’s a shame because she is such a good writer her points are easily made. The solving of the mystery, though some readers have harshly criticized it, didn’t disappoint me.  The ending of the book did. It was, again, far, far too long. And why? The fate of the hero was pretty obvious. It seemed it could have been wrapped up in half a dozen pages. Instead, it went on until the true end was anticlimactic, robbed of the punch it should have had. I was left with a vague, unsatisfied feeling that, long as it was, something vital was missing from the ending.

Nevertheless, In The Woods is an excellent and enjoyable read. Lots to like here. Any mystery lover who doesn’t expect simple solutions will find it worth the effort. Ms. French’s next book, The Likeness, came out earlier this year. It continues some characters from In The Woods and I’m expecting another good read.

Paula Harris had the fabulous good fortune to be born and raised in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, and also the luck to have lived in most of the major cities up and down the west coast in years past. She has been happily back home in Oregon for some years now. Happy mom of four sons, adoring grandmother of six, she lives in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her husband, her old cat, and her books, with the detritus of her many other hobbies and projects scattered comfortingly in and around the house.

Postively Wyrd

by Derek J. Ayre

Tom Graves is certainly no stranger to the esoteric arts having been a researcher with strong interests in the intuitive part of the mind. He has also written books on dowsing, namely The Diviner’s Handbook and Discovering Dowsing amongst others.

Since I first became involved with my own spiritual development back in the 1970s, I have read a lot of books, many of which I have forgotten over the years, but some really stick out in my mind because they have triggered what best can be described as an “ah-ha” experience. Once such book was one of Tom Graves’ work -  Positively Wyrd, published by Gothic Image Publications, Glastonbury, England.

Wyrd is a Nordic word meaning fate or karma, and I feel strongly that this what attracted me to this book because it is very Zen oriented and the sub-title says it all really – “harnessing the chaos in your life” – in my mind, there is nothing like a bit of chaos to make things interesting! 

Through the pages of this work, Graves takes his reader into his opinion of how weird and wonderful life is and presents many arguments to prove his point and I feel that he does this very well.

What makes life weird, (wyrd or karmic), is the strange twists and turns that can suddenly turn up unannounced and seem to throw us out of kilter. This is because the human mind seeks permanence with many things. This can be substantiated by the experience that most of us get from time to time that “it always happens to someone else” unless weirdly, “it happens to us!” and this can be something positive or exciting like winning the lottery or something as negative as death and bereavement.

As one reads through the early chapters of the Way of the Wyrd, one gets the feeling that the author is saying nothing at all, offering no answers, and that makes it very Zen!  Graves says, “Control is a myth, and fate – a life without choice – is no better. Somewhere between those two extremes is a way of life that works, one in which we do reclaim our choices: but it can take more than a hint of weirdness to reach it…” And so we are led into Graves’ weird and wonderful world…

So we cannot control anything.  Fate isn’t just something that happens; and this is because everything is universally connected by the “web of the wyrd” which has been created by the Wyrd Sisters, synonymous with 3 Fates Sisters or Moira of Greek mythology, who between them control the destiny of all mankind.  Clotho is the sister who spins the cloth of a person’s life,  Lachesis weaves a person’s life into the greater fabric of all that is life – she represents blind chance with her many criss-cross paths, and then for the third sister we have Atropis, who cuts away that portion of cloth when the person’s life is over.  Spin, weave and cut.

So suggests Graves, “No choice it seems; no hope. You can’t fight the fates”.

In true Zen fashion the author at this early point in the book seems to have led the reader down a blind alley. There is nothing you can do. Accept your lot and get on with it. But as Graves points out,   “There is always a twist…. that’s the part that is weird”

As we travel across the “woven cloth” of life, there are many threads leading away from where we are in different directions, and many connected to them. And there is a way to have more say in the way your life’s direction will take you… 

This is where it gets very close to Zen for me, the practice of acceptance and awareness. The message that I get from this book is, how can you possibly choose which way you are going to go, if you are not aware of where you are right now? Armed with this information you can begin to learn to let go, to become non-attached. It is at this point that you are at the criss-cross part of the Web of the Wyrd.

Put it in a nutshell, Positively Wyrd is a book that is crammed full of analogies to Greek, Norse and other mythologies and reading it really made me think that these ancient peoples, who before writing became a medium, knew a thing or two about life, and about psychology. If not them, then their gods certainly did.

Derek Ayre, has run and managed Ayre Hypnotherapy in Cardiff, UK since 1976. Derek’s use of hypnotherapy is Zen based utilising Zen practise and encouraging the use of meditation that produces a trance-like state very similar to self-hypnosis.

Derek is a registered member of the National Council of Psychotherapists (UK) and the National Council of Hypnotherapists (UK)

Website: http://ayrehypnotherapy.com
Blogs: http://piecesofzen.blogspot.com
http://clavinovapiano.muxgo.com/

An Interview With Robin Gideon

by Charlotte Rains Dixon

Robin Gideon is a new star in the erotic romance field, with so many novels coming out over the next few months it is hard to keep track of them all (I think even she gets confused).  I met Robin when I was editing for an online erotic romance publisher, and had the thrill of plucking one of her novels out of the slush pile.  I've been a huge fan ever since, and if you like erotic romance, you will be, too.  Robin took time away from her novel writing to answer a few questions.

QUESTION: You are such a prolific writer. Where do you get your ideas?

ANSWER: I get my ideas from everywhere. My novel “Passion’s Bandit” (a Zebra historical romance) came during a vacation when a friend bought a Batman paperback and said the writing wasn’t very good. I picked it up, agreed with her, but then started coming up with ideas about a masked hero. My novella “Silky Sins: Cassandra” came to me while sitting through an impossibly boring company meeting. “Cassandra” starts out with my titular heroine, in a board meeting, wondering if she could secretly masturbate and not get caught--and that’s the fulcrum of the novella. I play a lot of “what if” games with myself, imagining things like: “What if, beyond all expectations, a young woman falls in love simultaneously with a man and a woman?” Or: “What if my promiscuous hero falls completely in love with a woman who will not tolerate infidelity?” And then I run with it from there.

QUESTION: You must write a lot every day to get so much accomplished. Do you have a regular writing schedule?

ANSWER: I write every night, seven days a week, usually from 9 p.m. to at least 10:30, though if I’m on a roll I can write all the way to midnight. I shoot for 1,500 words, with no more than 4,000 no matter what. I find if I write until I’m completely drained, then I have a tough time getting started the following night. But if I keep it at a manageable level then I have no trouble sitting down and tapping the keys on the following night.

QUESTION: Could you talk a little about the books you published 12 years ago? Why did you stop writing back then? What led you to begin writing again?

ANSWER: The historical romances I wrote for Zebra were a gas. There isn’t a one that I didn’t thoroughly love writing, and I received some pretty good reviews and sales in the process. “Cheyenne Desire” was named 3rd Best All-time by Amazon.com for Sexy Romances and given five stars out of five, which is pretty unusual for them. And Romantic Times had some pretty nice things to say about all twelve of my novels. They were translated into German, Chinese, and Romanian. It’s weird seeing your own novel printed in a language you can’t read. The reason why I quit publishing was because I had a baby and then “went corporate,” as the saying goes. I didn’t really stop writing, but I did stop sending my stories in to get published. With the baby and a corporate career, I couldn’t do any advertising or marketing, and I didn’t want to deal with an agent and an editor, so I just wrote whenever I could and put my publishing ambitions on the back burner. Now my daughter’s not such a tyke anymore, so a little more than a year ago I started investigating agents and publishers once again. I didn’t know much about epublishing, but once I started reading it, I knew that it was the medium I wanted to immerse myself in. I still love the feel of a good book in my hands, but epublishing is the future. There’s just no doubt in my mind whatsoever about that. And with the ultra-erotic romances coming out from some of the more adventurous epublishers, I knew I’d found a creative home for myself. The precise limitations of the romance publishing world are expanded in epublishing, giving me more creative license, which is something that I really, really enjoy.

QUESTION: Do you prefer ebooks or traditional books?

ANSWER: For the tactile pleasure of simply reading, there’s nothing more comfortable than a good, solid hardcover. But as far as fiction goes, even though some of the stories being epublished right now are perhaps lacking in professionalism, it is a daring medium that’s not afraid to take risks. Some of the stories and writers in the epublishing world are nothing less than top notch, and if you’re looking for stories that take readers to adventurous places in the heart and soul, then epublishing is definitely the place to go. I couldn’t possibly have written a novel like “Ecstasy in Eden” or a novella like “Silky Sins: Cassandra” for the New York publishing world. My old New York editor would have a heart attack if I had turned those stories in for publication. Additionally, epublishing is the future. As digital readers get more affordable, more and more people will accept epublishing. And it’s a “green” medium; not a single tree gets cut to put out an ebook.

QUESTION: What is your favorite title that you are releasing over the next few months?

ANSWER: I’m not trying to be evasive, but I really can’t answer that. It’s like asking which of your children you’re most fond of. I love every story I write, and each one is my most favorite and most frustrating. Then I finish it and get started on a new story, and that one becomes my most frustrating and most favorite.

QUESTION: Advice for writers who would like to emulate your success?

ANSWER: Read. Read some more. Then read some more after that. I can’t tell you how many people over the years have asked me for advice on writing, and when I find out how little they read it amazes me. Check out all the different publishers, and check out different writers. Don’t get stuck in a rut, but when you find a writer that speaks to you, read everything she’s written. Too often would-be writers simply think they’ve only got to spend time at the computer, and that’s just not the case. They’ve got to spend at least as much time reading as they do writing. You learn nothing by reading your own writing. It’s only by reading other writers that you can really expand your knowledge base.

Check Robin's website for a complete list of where you can find her novels.

Doing Business in 21st Century India

by Gunjan Bagla

Reviewed by Beth Robinson

There's an interesting mix of the culturally fantastical and the extremely practical in this book, perhaps a bit like India itself, as the author attempts to simplify the very complex.  The author, Gunjan Bagla, is a native of India and a management consultant for Western companies that want to enter into business in India.  Much of the material was refined during the course of seminars he has taught on the subject and he regularly moves into first person to share his own experiences.

If you are doing business with people from India or are considering traveling there, then the book is worth checking out of the library for the sections on context and communication.  If you are planning on extending your business into India then go purchase your own copy, because you'll be delving more closely into the sections on marketing, finance, and key legal and accounting issues.  You'll need to go to other resources for many exact contacts, but Doing Business in 21st Century India gives you the framework in which to look.

 This book is easily readable and written in a casual style so that even the drier portions are pleasurable.  The main chapters are divided into smaller sections with headings and some side points are set off in their own boxes.  As a helpful extra touch, it includes a glossary of Indian English with a web address leading to a continually updated version.

Beth Robinson lives near Philadelphia with her husband, daughter, two
grey tabbies, and a whole lot of books.  She is currently employed as
a product development chemist and is earning an MBA degree online with
an eye towards moving into marketing.  She creates embroidered
collages and blogs about her artistic journey.  Her current
overarching goal is to learn to think better, an endeavor that also
has its own blog.

Thought blog: http://www.inventingelephants.com
Art blog: http://www.artbybethrobinson.com
Buy my art: http://pumpkin12pm.etsy.com

 

The Painter from Shanghai

by Jennifer Cody Epstein
 
Reviewed by Lori Eads

I knew this book was being sent to read and review, and I waited eagerly by the mailbox for its arrival.  The moment I ripped open the shipping envelope and glimpsed the book within I was immediately intrigued.  For starters, the jacket photograph and color design is gorgeous.  It features a profile view of a delicate woman in a beautiful green silk blouse  – although we aren’t able to see her face.  As someone who often chooses a book from the shelf because the cover drew my attention – I knew this is one that would have absolutely caught my eye. 

I started reading it that evening and then had to force myself to put it down and get some sleep at around 3a.m.  I resumed reading it as soon as I could after waking up the next morning. 

It often happens that I get so caught up in a novel that I rapidly devour it - but with this novel I had a different experience.  After the first page I was utterly captivated by the story – I didn’t want to read it too fast and miss savoring even one word. 

“Captivated” is the best word I can use to describe my experience with Jennifer Cody Epstein’s novel, which is based on the life and works of Pan Yuliang.  Many more adjectives spring to mind: lush, savory, tender, heartbreaking, hopeful and of course, as it is the story of an artist, colorful. 

As the author’s note states, Epstein has taken the meager information she was able to gather about Yuliang and created an “impressionistic portrait” of her life, adding depth and nuance to the story.

We meet Xiuquing, (which means “Clever Innocent”) who has lost both her parents and is living with her opium-addicted Uncle Wu Ding by the age of 7.  One day, when she is 14, he tells her they are going on “journey.”  An understatement if there ever was one, as well as a foreshadowing indication of the rest of the novel – the unfolding of the incredible story of this girl's abrupt and forced entrance into womanhood, as well as the journey of the rest of her life.

She finds herself being sold by her uncle to the Hall of Eternal Splendor, a brothel in Wuhu.  Given a new name, Yuliang (it means “Good Jade”) she begins her new life of beatings, abuse and a retreat into her private world – where Mirror Girl, the girl she sees in the reflection in the glass -endures the sexual demands of her customers. 

Yuliang finds an ally and friend in Jinling, the current “top girl” of the Hall, who teaches and mentors Yuliang in the ways of the “new leaf” – the newest addition to the brothel. 

The resigned yet hopeful, and then shattering cycle of Yuliang’s days  continue as she meets Inspector Pan Zanhua, who sees her as more than a prostitute – and then she endures the loss of her closest friend in the Hall. 

But her life and soul truly begin to open and flower, however tentatively, with her introduction to art – drawing and painting.  It is here that we see her begin to realize that she can make choices and decisions for her own life, however restricted they may be by her position in society and the oppressive governmental influence. 

Put most simply, she gains her voice, and expresses it without self-censoring in her art.  No matter what losses befall her, she holds on to her art, her painting … her passion for it … while standing firm against the suffocating forces around her. 

I made some random notes during the reading of this novel, and however disjointed they may be, I think they help express my admiration for the story itself, and the skill and artistry of the author herself. 

I am captivated by the vast array of descriptive colors, the feel of textures and materials, and the scents described.   My heart honestly ached for this lost young girl.  I was startled by the jolt back to reality when I put the book down and was suddenly aware of present – modern day.
Most of all, I am envious of the multitude of solitary hours she spent devoted to her art and am awed by her single-minded compulsion to learn and perfect her craft … and her passion to create and draw and paint. 

In short – this is a work of art that mustn’t be missed by any woman, any artist, any writer, any student of history, any human being that is interested in reading about someone who lived quite a few years ago, in a time and place that is foreign to most of us and yet is still so easy to relate to and care about. 

And I can’t wait to read it again.  

A native of the Las Vegas valley, Lori won her first writing contest in fifth grade and knew that writing was going to be an important part of her life.   From then on, even during her 18 year career as an ophthalmic technician and surgical assistant, she has dreamt of writing for a living.
She left ophthalmology in 2007 to work full-time on her first novel, take writing classes, start a blog, and write freelance articles.  She spends her free time haunting the shelves of her neighborhood library, or curled up at home – lost in a book.

Lori, her husband and their two kids, two cats, two birds and spoiled rotten dog still live in Las Vegas, close to grandparents and her favorite used book stores. 

The Satanic Verses: A Novel

by Salman Rushdie
Random House
$16.00

Reviewed by Mayanna Allen

I bought The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie a year ago. I knew a little about the fatwa that had been issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini. I figured I owed it to the renegades of the world to actually buy the book and read it. The title of the book has the word “Satan” in it! It all seemed so dark and mysterious. Plus the book is a whopping five hundred and sixty some pages long, what a feast. At the time I was pregnant and so tired that I couldn’t even pick the book up, let alone read it. When the baby started walking around asking for snacks, I figured it was time to get crackin’.

Admittedly I expected more evil than this book has to offer. You know, long black pointy fingernails, greasy poorly died black hair, and too much silver jewelry. I am ignorant as too much of the doctrines of Christianity, and even more so Islam. So, at first I assumed the fatwa was over the frustrating pace and intricate language. I had a mental picture of the Ayatollah Khomeini, all hot and sweaty by the pool trying to get through the first chapter of The Satanic Verses. He gets so pissed by the first thirty pages that he throws the book on the floor and yells “You can’t just make up words like that! Who does he think he is anyway! A Fatwa on his head!” He then stomps off to find a magazine.

Mr. Rushdie strings tiny words together making me feel rushed, and well, not so bright at times. I kept having to go back and re-read at first. Once I was used to it happening, it became a nice little mental surprise. It was the same sensation I remember having when I finally cracked the code to the Pig Latin my older siblings would use to communicate over my head.

This is book is the kind of reading project to take on if you are trying to quite smoking, or budget by staying in. It is immense, cluttered and rich. You should read it, people died so that it could be published. And if that paltry guilt trip doesn’t get you through first chapter, I don’t know what will.

Mayanna Allen is a daring reader of all things. Magazines, signs, minds, books of all sorts and on occasion, (with great reluctance) directions. She has read books in thirty two states and three continents. She lives in Portland Oregon with her husband and two small children.

When a Man Loves a Woman

LaConnie Taylor-Jones
Genesis Press
$6.99

Reviewed by Anne Ficklin

This is a charming tale of love, trust, and healing – and really, how can I not enjoy a book that starts out with “I’m gonna kill him!”

A.J. Babtiste is a single father who has fallen in love with the unattainable Victoria Bennett who has closed off her heart after a painful and humiliating betrayal by her ex-husband.� A.J. is determined to break through Vic’s walls and earn her trust and love.� Vic is bravely holding him off and keeping her desire for him in check when an accident gives A.J. the opportunity he needs to gain the upper hand.� While the progress is difficult, and a little slow because of Vic’s eight year battle with her anger and hurt (and boy does she have trouble letting them go) things eventually start working out. I really enjoyed a particularly touching conversation between Vic and her mother about three-quarters of the way through, it gave me pause and I found some of the advice could be applied to my own life also.

Taylor-Jones writes with a very smart, compassionate feel, but I would have liked to see much more character development.� There was very little physical description given so I had a hard time connecting with the characters because I couldn’t see them. There were also a lot of secondary characters that were only briefly mentioned and then when brought up again we seemed to have missed pieces of their lives so it was hard to keep up with.� I had some trouble hearing the author’s voice as well; this is my first time reading a distinctly multi-cultural novel so it was hard to get in rhythm however that was definitely my problem - not the author’s, but it did give me a chance to enjoyably broaden my horizons.� I also got distracted by some loose threads in the plot, the biggest of which is the question of whom and where A.J.’s twin girls’ mother was seriously drove me crazy and was not answered until more than half-way through the book. I actually flipped back to the beginning a couple of times just to see if I had missed the answer on the first pass.

All in all this is a sweet, intelligent, heartwarming story and it caught my interest enough that I’m going to look for Taylor-Jones’ first novel about the Babtiste family as well, and that’s a pretty good compliment.

From an early age Anne’s nose became stuck in book, and now after countless books and a few years we won’t count—has happily not found its way back out.� While not having any formal training in writing, she does have an intense passion for reading that she is very excited to share with our readers.� Anne lives in Southern Nevada with her husband and son.

A Woman Without Lies

Elizabeth Lowell
HarperCollins
$7.99

Reviewed by Anne Ficklin

Do you remember your first big crush, heart skipping a beat and then pounding faster, breathless and goofy and light-headed?  That is what Lowell’s  A Woman Without Lies  is to me… my first big crush in the world of adult fiction.  I remember as a teenager, sneaking the book from my mom’s stash and being enthralled in the dynamics of the characters.  Lowell’s prose and colorful textures held my rapt attention. 
Even now all these years later when I come across a book that touches me, in the back of my mind I will unwittingly compare the heart wrenching l reactions I receive to the memories of the emotional experiences I had reading this book.

I wanted to review this old favorite to share the foundation of my literary taste, of why I enjoy romance novels of all kinds, and why I have finally accepted that there is nothing wrong with that.  While romance novels – whether they are sappy or raunchy, or just make you laugh out loud – may not be for everybody, maybe even to the derision of some, for many others they are a simple getaway, a daydream, or just plain fun.  For me romance is an uncomplicated break from myself, where I don’t have to think deeply because sometimes real life can be hard enough.

Having that in mind I read A Woman Without Lies again with adult comprehension under my belt and my brand spanking new reviewers’ eye.

 To my surprise I found the intensity to be slightly softened by time and experience.  Somewhere between growing up, getting married, and having a child I have unavoidably changed, and yet reading it again was like curling up in my favorite t-shirt.  It may be faded and a little frayed, but it is still comfy and makes me happy.

Enough about me and my ramblings, on to the story.

We meet Angelina “Angel” Lange, a stained glass artist, who has known great love and joy, and also had her life torn apart by tragedy, leaving her spirit fractured and her life a narrow lonely existence.  Miles “Hawk” Hawkins, a rich and jaded investor, surges into her world with demands and a deep mistrust in the nature of all women, stemming from a bitter betrayal in his youth.  Hawk is drawn in by Angel’s beauty and apparent honesty and innocence – though he believes it to be false – and sets out to acquire and then dispose of her by any means necessary.  In this classic plot structure they are pulled together and torn apart in a way that may not be surprising but is still a satisfying read. 

The real beauty for me is climatic scene where Angel believes Hawk has left her for good I find myself immersed in her pain, in the colors and textures of her art as she pours her misery into a breathtaking masterpiece.  And that my friends , is the feeling that sticks with me, now softer  though it may be, it still does not fail to make me cry say “I hate this stupid book”, then quickly turn the page and devour the rest of the story.