Books and Words
Reviews and Links
to Other Authors
Links
Reviewer and Free Book Websites:
http://historical-fiction.com/?page_id=2190
Author Websites
www.amandaarmstrong1974.co.uk
www.mariemanilla.com
www.lauratreacybentley.com
http://www.deborahswift.blogspot.com/
author of The Lady's Slipper, historical fiction
Review
Rose is an emotional book well worth reading for its depth of insight into a serious issue for women: physical and psychological abuse.
Rose, a young innocent girl, falls in love with Henry, a very handsome, but cruel young man. She has no experience and is continually duped by him. The story spans many years with Rose and Henry locked in a cycle of abuse. Although I wanted to cheer Rose on, I never hated Henry. He's a victim, too, of an unloving mother and absent father.
The author, Amanda Armstrong, does a wonderful job in making it clear that Rose was never to blame for what happened in her life, but as time goes by, becomes stronger and better able to cope. This is a story with deep emotional understanding and wisdom for women (and men). All the characters grow and all are well-drawn and believable people. I felt as if I knew them. Without giving away the ending, I want to say it was fitting, the sort of choice I'd want any woman to make, given the torture she has gone through.
Exit, Pursued by a Bee is driven by a heroine-astronaut, involves a Palaeolithic mongrel called Kur, Glastonbury Festival chaos, steamy sex in space, a mean-momma loose-cannon journalist and an out-of-control general who'd fix anything by nuking it. They are all involved in the attempt to overcome time-quake calamities created when alien artifacts depart from Earth, oblivious to the chaos they leave behind.
REVIEW
BENEATH THE HALLOWED HILL
by Theresa Crater.
For those who love new age spirituality, this is a must read, containing many mystical elements, including crystals with strange powers, energy healers who bring vigor and well-being, swimming with dolphins, the story of Atlantis, the Illuminati, and the power of Glastonbury, one of those thin places where who knows what might happen.
I normally do not enjoy stories within stories, but the Atlantis fantasy completely engaged me, with its beautifully depicted setting and fascinating details. I wanted to find out what would happen to Megan who was a delightfully engaging character.
Not a big deal, but the formatting on my Kindle had no page breaks between chapters which sometimes confused me, especially since there were so many plot elements woven together. Another editorial issue I found confusing was the lack of use of the perfect past tense which expresses the idea of something that occurred before another action in the past. Of course, the author may have intended this to give a sense of timelessness.
Theresa Crater is a gifted writer who explored and brought together many great mysteries in this cleverly crafted story. If you are interested in the metaphysical, you need to read this book.
To read an excerpt and buy an eBook, go to http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615723652
To read Theresa’s blog, go to http://theresacrater.com
Review: Some Cost a Passing Bell,
(eBook Length: 301 pages)
by Lee Barwood
ISBN-10: 1-55404-759-5; ISBN-13: 978-1-55404-759-8
Double Dragon Publishing: June, 2010
This story, continues Lee Barwood's Ozark stories. I loved the first one, A Dream of Drowned Hollow. Although set in the Ozarks with some of the same quirkiness, it is completely original it its scope and depth. It begins with a gang of adolescent boys planning to stay the night in a haunted house on Halloween. They are scared out of their wits by the presence of a ghostly force who allows no harm to the dwelling he built hundreds of years earlier for the sweetheart who turned him down. Her rejection set him on the path to loneliness and madness.
One of the boys, Leroy, now a grown man, ends up living in New York City where he is friends with Tim and Camilla Carthan. Tim, unbeknownst to his wife, Camilla, is a no-good philanderer who had a long term mistress as well as many liaisons with other women. His murder by his mistress and her suicide awakens Camilla to the depth of his betrayal. All of her expectations are dashed, and her sense of reality is badly shaken. Although notoriety of the murder-suicide is almost unbearable, there is an even worse side to the tragedy. In death, Tim becomes an evil parasite filling her mind with ugly nightmares. Her only hope to escape from him is to find the strange entity in the peaceful house she begins to see in her dreams, the very house where Leroy was terrified as a boy.
The Ozarks setting with its gritty characters, provincial and yet profound, is a strong backdrop for the story. I particularly enjoyed the well-meaning preacher who convinces the locals that Camilla is a witch. In the end the preacher gets a comeuppance that is both timely and redemptive. I also enjoyed the paranormal romance that ensues between the long-dead entity and Camilla, wondering how such an eerie yet beautiful pairing could ever work out.
I greatly admire Lee Barwood's talent at writing about psychic phenomena and the paranormal with such ease. Her next book A Lingering Passion is also strong, spooky, strange, engaging and completely innovative. Barwood leaves no doubt in the readers mind there is a whole world other than the physical one. The spirits who bring dreams, visitations, insanity and evil are real, often knocking on the doors of our minds, even if we don't readily let them in.
This was a captivating book, well worth reading.
Review
Still Life with Plums by Marie Manilla
As a fairly new reader of short stories, having always preferred longer fiction, I read the stories in Still life with plums hoping for shorts that informed and perhaps entertained. What I got exceeded my expectations. These stories reminded me of a writer I recently came to love, to respect, and to appreciate because of how deeply and universally his words plumb the human condition. That writer is Anton Chekhov.
The gritty tales in this collection by Marie Manilla made me cry in sorrow for the human brokenness so clearly depicted; they made me recognize how all people are connected, be they rich or poor, educated or not, male or female; they made me appreciate the human need to be deeply loved.
I admired the strength of the language: fertility triplets; peach trees dripping with life; wet grocery bags smell[ing] like worms. The dark humor made me smile: This bridal shower sucks, truly, and my shorts are too tight. The variety of characters reminded me of people I know: the Japanese-Latin-American with low self-esteem who is caught in fantastical self-importance; the single mom and her daughter who move in with guys they don't know just to survive; the columnist who has made it big time and is still looking back yet moving on fast.
I highly recommend this collection; they are stories I will read again. I look forward to more of Marie Manilla's work.
website: http://www.mariemanilla.com/
publisher: http://www.wvupressonline.com/manilla_still_life_with_plums_9781933202600
Review
Lake Effect: Poems by Laura Treacy Bentley
If you like the serene image on the cover of pinetrees reflected on midnight-blue water, then you will love the word-images inside this volume of poetry.
"Inisheer floats like vapor, seaside lights are sequined far below" are a dream of Ireland, of a time from a past life perhaps, another existence when life was simple and quiet and beautiful.
The poetry is far more than peaceful though. It is at times mysterious: "Eight skeletal disks bloom unpetaled on West Virginia farmland. They turn their heads..."
And sometimes the words invoke turbulence: "...stitching and unstitching the wild swans that marked my way here to the fuchsia that bleed on Iish Mor where fishermen sail an ashen sea."
And there's hope: "all the way back, me singing half-remembered songs; Silently we turned in midnight flowers and followed the summer moon pearled in the gray hand of morning."
If you are unsure whether or not to buy this book, wait no longer. Its rhythms and images, struggle and hope, moon and sun will surely bless you.
website: http://www.lauratreacybentley.com
publisher: http://smithdocs.net/home Lsmithdog@aol.com
Review by Mary A Converse (from www.Amazon.com)
The Ride: The Legend of Betsy Dowdy
Kitty Griffin
& Marjorie Priceman
The author read this wonderful, beautifully illustrated book to an assembly of young people, parents, historians, city officials and military at our museum. The book required little explanation, it inspired and captivated as she read. There is a lesson in patriotism and positive action for a young person in this thoroughly researched tale. My favorite overheard remark from a little girl, "Wow."
website: www.kittygriffin.com
publisher: Atheneum
A Dream of Drowned Hollow,
(eBook Length: 333 pages) by Lee Barwood
ISBN-10: 1-55404-320-4; ISBN-13: 978-1-55404-320-0
Double Dragon Publishing: January 2006
Reviewed by Christina St. Clair: five stars.
A Dream of Drowned Hollow resonates with truth about Gaia, our Mother Earth, and how she fights back against environmental exploitation. The importance of Mother God imagery, where the whole earth and all its creatures are revered, is emphasized. Although this theme is contrasted against authoritative notions of dominion over the earth for gain, the story balances feminine and masculine spiritual principles in a non-judgmental way. The story honors the mystical and supernatural aspects of living. It is a very special love story too, abounding in Ozark folklore. This book contains wonderful depictions of the region and the culture. Believable characters move the story forward, drawing the reader in, creating convincing paranormal events.
April Rue Stoner, the heroine, is a girl I liked more and more as the story progressed. She is a young impoverished college student who (through no fault of her own) is isolated from most of her family, but in spite of being alone, is determined to live a meaningful life. She loves the woods, but trees seem to take on life in mysterious ways. She is frightened by her second sight abilities that give her a strange connection to something outside of the realm of the natural, yet she continues to be drawn to nature where she finds solace as well as terror.
April Rue is invited to her estranged Granny Cinders' farm in the Ozarks. Here she experiences a strong sense of connection, and forms a warm relationship with her grandmother, who is wise and welcoming. Together they enjoy the simplicity of country life: "Early morning was the best time to gather the plump blackberries, before the sun got too high and the summer heat had a chance to roll in and cook anyone still out snagged in the berry thickets" (Kindle location 1902-7). Granny also teaches her the importance of protection from evil powers as well as to trust in her abilities to discern the world of the supernatural.
Her special powers though have a purpose--it is she who must save the land from a ruthless developer, Trevor Dalton. He intends to dam rivers and drive out residents who have been in the Ozarks for generations, many of whom are aware spirits abound. April Rue, in a vision, "watched in disbelief as the beautiful old apple orchard was leveled…as bulldozers and backhoes dug out great pits and moved earth and trees alike out of the way"( Location 1751-56).
I would recommend this book to all who enjoy supernatural fantasy, all who care about the environment, and anyone who wants to read a story they'll have trouble putting down. I read the book twice. Even though I knew what was going to happen during the second reading, I still couldn't get enough.
website: http://www.leebarwood.com/
publisher: http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.php?ISBN=1-55404-320-4
Painting of Saichō, who was a Tendai Buddhist
Last night a monk visited me--
I was sleeping and I jolted awake to see a figure looming over the bed. It scared me--to say the least. I tried to call on Jesus for help, but couldn't. I tried to go into a meditative practice to calm myself down, but couldn't. I managed to turn the light on. It was 12:30 AM. My rational brain kicked in and I told myself it must have been my husband's astral body (you never know) looking to see if I was sleeping. He was out on the couch in the living room. I told myself it must have been a nightmare brought on by a Midsomer Murder I'd just watched of a woman who was menaced by unseen intruders in her house at night(seems logical). I told myself it was nothing to worry about because whatever it was or wasn't, it was now gone.
I lay for a while with the light on until I felt calmer and I sensed that whatever this had been, it was benevolent, someone or something checking up on me.
So being a rational human being with a big imagination, I've decided it must have been the Monk from Ten Yen True having a look at one of the people to whom he gave the first ten yen coin--I wonder what he wants of me, what lessons I am to learn, what people I am to meet? I know he is kind, he is good, he is a teacher of Pure Land who seeks to help all come into the presence of Amida Buddha who will welcome them with open arms and open heart into a land of compassion free from suffering.
READ more about Ten Yen True--currently seeking a publisher...
