Despite the unfortunate subject, this book was a joy to read.
Lisa Genova brilliantly captures the creeping confusion and unease when the family of a decorated Boston City cop notices his increasingly odd behavior, the unusual angry outbursts, the complaints that he was drunk on duty, and the sudden loss of balance.
It worries them enough to insist he gets a medical check-up. Their reaction when he’s diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease is beautifully described with compassion and dignity and an amazing insight into the four sibling’s individual emotions. Wallowing in the knowledge that each of them has a 50% chance of being stricken with Huntington’s disease, the siblings have different views about being tested for it.
Some don’t want to know, wishing to live their lives hoping it won’t catch up on them. The others prefer to know so they can brace themselves, living the life as best they can while they’re still able. Lisa’s understanding of the trauma and fear that each one of the siblings is carrying in their hearts is truly beautiful.
A New York Times bestseller ▪ A Library Journal Best Books of 2015 Pick ▪ A St. Louis Post-Dispatch Best Books of 2015 Pick ▪A GoodReads Top Ten Fiction Book of 2015 ▪ A People Magazine Great Read
From New York Times bestselling author and neuroscientist Lisa Genova comes a “heartbreaking…very human novel” (Matthew Thomas, author of We Are Not Ourselves) that does for Huntington’s disease what her debut novel Still Alice did for Alzheimer’s.
Joe O’Brien is a forty-three-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their…
It’s beautiful in the sharpness of Gail Honeyman’s observations of Eleanor Oliphant’s eccentric behavior, which usually gets dismissed as plain weird but, in fact, masks a deep sadness and heart-breaking loneliness.
But there is no maudlin or gooey self-pitying in Gail’s writing, just well-crafted and sometimes hilarious turns of phrase. The scene where the guy in the coffee shop asked for her name to put on the coffee cup made me splutter out loud.
It’s disturbing how Gail Honeyman suddenly reminds us of the Eleanor Oliphants we’ve met in our own lives and only ever saw the strange behavior and the odd things they said. We never looked deeper and probably didn’t even try, as we avoided eye contact and quickly stepped around them.
It’s a cliché, and I hate it, but I must say it – I couldn’t put the book down. Well done, Gail Honeyman.
"Beautifully written and incredibly funny, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is about the importance of friendship and human connection. I fell in love with Eleanor, an eccentric and regimented loner whose life beautifully unfolds after a chance encounter with a stranger; I think you will fall in love, too!" -Reese Witherspoon
No one's ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.
Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of…
This is a historical fiction set in 1541 but written in such a beautifully crafted style you feel the immediacy of it as if you were living it right now.
Author CJ Sansom obviously does forensic research but compliments this with a fantastic imagination. Essentially, this is a murder mystery set around the time King Henry takes his procession of a thousand caravans all the way up to York.
Sent to York to assist in some legal work, Lawyer Matthew Shardlake is unfortunately given a special task by Archbishop Cranmer – to ensure the safety of an important and dangerous prisoner who is to be taken back to London for interrogation. But the murder of a local glazier drags Shardlake even deeper into a dangerous conspiracy that threatens the very future of the Tudor throne.
CJ Sansom’s writing style is so smooth you forget you’re actually reading a book, and it makes you reluctant to put it down until the very last page.
Following on from Dissolution and Dark Fire, Sovereign is the third gripping historical novel in C. J. Sansom's number one bestselling Shardlake series, for fans of Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory.
'When it comes to intriguing Tudor-based narratives, Hilary Mantel has a serious rival' - Sunday Times 'Sansom has the trick of writing an enthralling narrative. Like Hilary Mantel, he produces densely textured historical novels that absorb their readers in another time' - Andrew Taylor, Spectator
Autumn, 1541: King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission of his rebellious subjects…
Dublin 1941. A brutal murder. A missing ledger. And a case of mistaken identity has barman Eamon Foley running for his life. Nine months later, Foley is in a crowded pub in Tralee.
The music is loud. The singing is louder. His brother-in-law, Joe McCarthy, is shot dead. In the chaos, Foley thinks he sees the Dublin killer rushing through the door. Is this a message? Have they caught up with him at last, looking for the ledger? Or is it as the local Gardaí suspect -Joe was killed by a jealous husband, given his reputation as a notorious womanizer? They dismiss Foley’s concerns with horrendous results.
