Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Family drama

A WEEK at SURFSIDE BEACH by Pierce Koslosky, Jr. – Short Story Collections, Vacation Stories, Family & Relationships

Vacationers from all walks of life converge on Portofino II-317C, South Carolina, a quaint blue beach house, in Pierce Koslosky Jr.’s short story collection, A Week at Surfside Beach.

From May 30th-December 26th each group of people comes to stay one week at a time, to forget their cares of the big city, to work, to celebrate, or to simply get away. Surfside Beach has much to show them, including temperamental weather.

The small town itself offers a charming supermarket where fishing supplies, whoopie pies, and local southern favorites can be found. The Christmas vacationers, the final of the thirteen beach house renters, struggle to find a tree in time; a real tree simply wouldn’t allow enough space for the family to sleep, and the fake tree would cost too much. But they find arts and crafts supplies in town, to fashion a paper Christmas tree during a day of rainy weather.

We all know that during vacations there are disagreements, lover spats, lessons learned, stolen kisses, and many other moments for a reader to see through the eyes of the characters at Surfside Beach.

The house itself exists in the real world, as does the town of Surfside Beach. Koslosky purchased the actual house after Hurricane Hugo hit the coast of South Carolina. The short stories connect the characters through this realistic setting.

These thirteen stories are rich with emotion and relationships. Even in just one tale, two families quarrel over a better view, a better beach house, an entrée item at dinner, their kids fighting, and a lack of parental approval of the feuding families’ son/daughter Romeo and Juliet hidden romance. Human compassion shines through these conflicts, such as in a later story where a father shows his son kindness and understanding when a gang of locals leads him astray, presenting a strong faith in humanity.

Koslosky creates a believable work of fiction which flows from story to story, recreating a well-known setting of a beach house, the characters playing out a reminder that while nothing is perfect even in paradise, nothing needs to be perfect.

A Week at Surfside Beach by Pierce Koslosky Jr. won Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA SHORTS Awards for Short Story Collections.

July 22, 2022
NIGHT JASMINE TREE by Debu Majumdar – Asian American Literature, Multi-Cultural and Interracial, Multi-Cultural Romance

Shankar, a recently retired professor of physics, and his wife, Durga, have left Michigan to resettle on Long Island with their son’s family in Debu Majumdar’s award-winning novel, Night Jasmine Tree.

While the migration from the Midwest to the East Coast is a small one, considering both characters moved from India decades before, the move spurs Shankar to ponder the life he left behind and to reassess his relationship with his sisters and parents.

In India, there are many different cultures, the main sprouting from the Hindu faith and political structure, the caste system.

In the West, we may be familiar with this caste system, we mostly are all aware of the ‘untouchables.’ However, what we may not understand, is how rigid the caste systems truly are. Durga and Shankar are not from the same caste. Shankar is Brahmin, his wife is of a lower caste. This difference is enough for Shankar’s family to reject her outright and disown him.

The pain he sustains by their rigid beliefs hurts him deeply, and that pain sustained years of estrangement. Now, however, a letter from his sister causes him to reassess his own role in the dissolution of his family even as he enjoys spending time with his son, daughter-in-law, and young grandchildren.

Carefully organized, the novel is arranged into five parts with the chapters designating a time and place.

Since the plot occurs on two continents, this framework is helpful to the reader. The author adroitly dovetails the past and present by having Shankar share stories of his own childhood with his grandchildren. And what stories they are! Sweet and funny, often involving animals, and the children are riveted by their grandfather’s tales of a childhood spent in India. Shankar was a good student but not above getting into mischief or naively causing trouble. India comes alive for the children as they hear about an encounter with a tiger, the annual celebration involving kite fights, and a haunting but hilarious ghost story. The reader turns the pages as eagerly as the children beg to hear another story.

Consideration of Shankar’s past also involves his having grown up in a household in which the ancient traditions of Hinduism are sacred duties, and any failure to adhere to them is a moral failing.

It is difficult for Shankar to come of age wanting to do what makes him happy but feeling tremendous fear that he won’t live up to his father’s exacting standards. Will he become a “tejya putra,” a son who is rejected by his own father? There’s no worse fate for a Brahmin male. And, yet, shouldn’t his father love him simply because children deserve love, and not because Shankar will one day perform the essential funeral rites for his parents?

Regardless of how affectionate and attentive Shankar’s mother is toward him, he knows that she will always defer to her husband. She will let him dictate the terms of his sisters’ marriages, and she will never allow Shankar to disobey his father. The classic tension between duty and desire is artfully and affectingly rendered. All readers will be able to relate to the hold the past has on us. And like us, until Shankar resolves old animosities with his family, he’ll never indeed be free.

The author is a master craftsman of descriptive writing, especially when contemplating natural settings.

Debu Majumdar deepens characterization by connecting Shankar’s interior and exterior worlds. While contemplating existence through his main character’s eyes, the author gives us a work of lush and searing beauty, wondrously told with compassion, empathy, and truth. Night Jasmine Tree is a highly recommended reading for all.

Night Jasmine Tree won 1st Place in the 2018 CIBAs in the Somerset Awards for Literary Fiction.

December 20, 2021
END of the RACE by Judith Kirscht – Contemporary Literature, Family Drama, Women’s Literature, Women’s Fiction

An intricate mystery set in a small fictional town in northern Michigan, End of the Race is contemporary fiction at its finest. Annika Wolfson is a young mother and accomplished swimmer that has faced adversity in many areas of her life. Growing up in the Berglund household was rarely quiet for Annika because her father struggled with mental health and his unwavering feud against the affluent Wolfson family. Despite the long feud between the two families, Brian Wolfson and Annika bond as kids over swimming and their dream of the Olympics. Fast-forward a handful of years, Brian and Annika are now married and have a daughter. Their dreams of Olympic gold have been close to reality but always just out of reach.

After facing defeat in Athens a few years prior, Annika dives back into training for one last shot at Olympic gold, but then tragedy strikes. While in a low and vulnerable place, her husband Brian leaves to go on a sailing trip with friends from college and ends up missing. As Annika tries to unravel what has happened to her husband, she begins to suspect that the Wolfsons are not all they appear on the surface. Navigating a complicated family dynamic, she races to find answers as her life comes crumbling down around her and her daughter.

Kirscht keeps readers on the edge of their seats as she delicately deepens the mystery of Brian Wolfson’s disappearance. This mystery is far from the only one within the story. What happened that caused Annika to miss the Sydney and Athens Olympics? What happened all those years ago between Tom Berglund and Karl Wolfson that has created an almost Shakespearean divide between their houses? As the story progresses, Kirscht answers these questions bit by bit as the narrative alternates between the past and present. Towards the end of the novel, the timelines catch up with one another. There are still many things left unsaid and plenty of room for interpretation after the novel’s conclusion.

The mystery is presented mostly through Annika’s eyes, so readers only learn what she does. The full picture of the Wolfson family and their secretive attitude towards any outsiders is never fully explained. Even though Annika is a Wolfson by marriage, she is an outsider to her in-laws and her own family. The frustration and confusion she feels as a result adds complexity to the story as a whole.

Journey to the rustic setting of northern Michigan, where the idea of family may not be as simple as it seems. End of the Race is a quiet and refreshing story that will have readers longing for a trip out on the water.

End of the Race won First in Category in the CIBA 2019 Somerset Awards for Literary novels.

March 3, 2021
WHISPERS by Lynn Yvonne Moon – Family Drama, Teen & Y/A Physical & Emotional Abuse, Teen & Y/A Sexual Abuse

Whispers by Lynn Yvonne Moon explores the issue of incest through the life of twelve-year-old Musetta, whose father has just died. We meet Musetta at her father’s funeral and realize that this girl is dealing with serious issues. Still, more than grief, she’s filled with rage – and relief. And we cannot blame her. Whispers is filled with enough intrigue and family secrets to glue readers’ eyeballs to the page and hug their parents when they reach the end of the tale.

Musetta can’t get the attention of her grieving mother, and she’s not sure who she can turn to for help. Who will believe her story? But she knows what happened to her. After her father’s funeral, she believes the Friday night ritual of rape is over and that the molestation will stop. However, it’s not quite that easy.

First off, there are voices in her bedroom walls – and worse, the molestation continues. Is it her father’s ghost? She can’t go to her mother for help, and she won’t go to the law unless her mother is by her side. Who would believe her over her late father’s reputation as an upstanding citizen and the favorite local judge?

But Musetta isn’t alone. Her friends hear the ghostly voices and soon believe her. As they band together, taking on the role of detectives, they have no way of knowing how much danger lies ahead. But when one of her friends is abducted, then another, it will take all the courage and resourcefulness she has to continue on and to discover precisely who is behind the creepy whispers and the horrible abuse before it’s too late.

Lynn Yvonne Moon develops a protagonist who will search for the truth no matter where it leads, and no matter what, she discovers about her family. Soon, she uncovers the lies of her grandparents.

Her father was a twin? It takes several more visits with her grandparents and a box filled with photos and papers before Musetta has the proof she needs. But will it only get her into more trouble? Of course.

This award-winning, page-turner of a novel reveals the reality that generational secrets have power. Secrets that put Musetta and all of her friends in great peril. Musetta’s determination to put the pieces of her family puzzle together led her further along the path to her family’s undoing. Because what she uncovers will have readers blood running cold.

Lynn Yvonne Moon unravels her complicated plot on this sensitive topic with a deft hand. Careful readers will pick up tiny clues that will keep them turning pages as we root for Musetta in this hair-raising tale of family intrigue and abuse.

Whispers won the CIBA 2018 DANTE ROSSETTI Award for Young Adult fiction novels.

October 22, 2020
WHEN a CONSCIENCE KNOCKS by James G. Skinner – Romantic Literature, Marriage/Relationships, Alzheimer’s disease

One woman’s life follows a roller-coaster ride of love, political turmoil, and tragedy in James G. Skinner’s novel When a Conscience Knocks.

Jenny Robinson enters a confessional and falls apart. Sensing her distress, the Catholic priest encourages her to divulge her story, which she does. In 1976, at the age of twenty-two, Jenny left her hometown of Richmond, England, and took a teaching job in Iran.

It’s during this time where she meets Juan Miguel Ochoa, a Gallaecian. A diplomat at the Spanish Embassy, Juan is near twenty years her senior. Romance ensues, and within less than two years, Jenny and Juan marry.

Jenny has no idea what she’s getting into as she blindly trusts Juan’s lead throughout his diplomatic career. During their marriage, Juan’s work takes them to numerous trips through Europe, Central and South America, and the USA amid political tensions, wars, and terrorism. But as they approach their twenty-fifth anniversary, life throws a disturbing curveball. Juan’s erratic behavior heralds the early onset of Alzheimer’s. While Jenny’s life abruptly fills with uncertainty, the last thing she expects is to be involved in an affair.

New author James G. Skinner opens with a conflicting scene as his principal character, Jenny Robinson Ochoa, confesses to committing adultery. At the same time, her husband slowly succumbs to Alzheimer’s disease in a nursing care facility. What follows in the twenty-plus chapters is the account she discloses to a Catholic priest.

Jenny’s feelings and thoughts about her husband’s involvement with the chaotic global events surrounding them dominate Skinner’s first-person British narrative. Her continual ponderings, covered within a chronological list of backstories, capture her personality’s development amid the ebb and flow of their marriage, travels, and political upheavals. Conversations between Jenny and Juan focus on explanations of world history and Juan’s diplomatic involvement to a politically uninterested wife. Although the many dialogue scenes that present facts tend to be a bit dry, Skinner does a decent job weaving in historical events.

As stated in the Dedication, the purpose of When a Conscience Knocks is to provide readers with an example of how Alzheimer’s affects intimate relationships. No one would dispute that Alzheimer’s disease is devastating to both victims and loved ones, and Skinner’s fictional character is not exempt. Rather than placing the debilitating disease front and center, Skinner pivots the attention upon the partner. Indeed, this is a coming-of-age tale—one’s woman’s struggle to find her identity, her voice amid conflict and relational codependency.

When a Conscience Knocks takes an alternate route, describing the pain and torment those on the sidelines experience when their partners succumb to Alzheimer’s disease’s devastation.

October 2, 2020
ESTELLE: A Novel by Linda Stewart Henley – American Historical Romance, Southern Fiction, City Life Fiction

Twenty-two-year-old museum intern and unknown artist, Anne Gautier, has undertaken a significant project, restoring an elegant house on one of the most beautiful streets in New Orleans. The grand old Creole home has been in her family for many generations, and, when her grandfather died, he left her the house on Esplanade Avenue, where all the best French Creole families once lived.

There’s only one stipulation: She must restore the property or ownership will revert to the city. Even though the house is not in the best part of town, Anne is determined to celebrate the historical home not only because of her own family, but also because it was an integral part of New Orleans’ history during the visit of Edgar Degas in 1872. In fact, in Anne’s attic, Degas’s notebook gives her the money she needs to begin the restoration.

Her plans go sideways when someone breaks in and vandalizes the home, leaving behind a threatening note and a mystery to solve. On top of this, Anne is trying to reconcile her feelings about Stella, the half-sister Anne recently met. Is Stella behind the vandalism? She was left out of their grandfather’s will. Anne tries to rely on her new boyfriend, Sam, for advice, but he has begun acting strangely, sneaking around behind her back and hedging his answers to her questions. With no one to lean on, a demanding job, and her own artistic-inspiration waning, Anne may never see her beautiful home and its essential history revived.

The dual settings of New Orleans in 1870 and 1970 give this novel a unique perspective. The juxtaposition of the Musson and De Gas families’ issues to the modern trials of Anne and her own family provides perspective and education for the reader. Though their struggles seem completely unalike, the parallel stories are paradoxically similar. Estelle De Gas, sister-in-law and cousin of Edgar Degas, is a strong woman trying desperately to hold her marriage to a cheating husband together. At the same time, maintaining the expected appearance of a well-to-do Creole family while knowing the family’s fortunes have fallen.

Anne is struggling to find her place in the world and to hold together what family she has left while dealing with her own untrustworthy partner, Sam. Though Sam admonishes her for refusing to look at the practical realities of life, she seeks to make her surroundings beautiful, just as Estelle does in encouraging Degas to find his inspiration in la Nouvelle-Orléans. Anne wants desperately to make her own way in the world. Though Estelle isn’t an unmarried young woman, she understands the integral role she plays within her sphere of familial influence. The more Anne learns about Estelle, the more she realizes she needs to take a leaf from her ancestor’s playbook and find her own strength.

Art plays a huge role in this novel. Edgar and Anne share a similar notion that the life of an artist is not one easily shared with another. Both are suffering from a lack of inspiration and direction. During the time Degas spent in America, he had achieved little recognition, and his brothers hoped he would take an interest (and make an investment) in the family cotton business. Anne has given up her art for her busy internship and her flailing love life. Though the museum job isn’t her dream, she understands art is not an easy way to make a living. She avoids facing the truth just as Degas begins to feel he must help his family by selling his work and sending them much-needed money. Eventually, New Orleans offers both a new subject matter for their art. Anne, with her new-found sympathy for the poor of the city and Edgar with his own family’s business.

The growth of Anne’s relationship with her half-sister, Stella, is an interesting subplot in conjunction with Anne’s realization about the struggles of poverty-stricken New Orleanians. Anne has only recently learned of her sister’s existence because Stella, the product of a teenage dalliance, was given up for adoption immediately after her birth. Anne’s overwhelming guilt over her half-sister’s lost inheritance haunts her, and though she wants to share, giving up a portion of her estate is not the easiest thing to do. But the hard truth is, Stella is facing eviction from a Section C housing, a slum where the houses are more like shacks. Anne could offer Stella a home in their grandfather’s former home, but will she?

August 12, 2020
BIRD IN A SNARE (The Lord Hani Mysteries, Book 1) by N.L. Holmes – Political Thriller, Ancient Egyptian Mystery, Family Drama

Politics is a deadly game in the days of Kings and their competing 14th-century B.C. Egyptian factions. Official diplomat, Lord Hani, is on a royal assignment when he discovers even the king’s motives are suspect. Hani begins to fear for the welfare of his family and himself, as he gets a sinking feeling that the hunter has become the hunted. He’s the live bait, the Bird In A Snare.

Can Lord Hani find out who is responsible for the mysterious assassinations and the shifting armies’ alliances before becoming the one they target next?

The sands under the royal family’s feet are precarious. The investigation must be thorough but also quick. There is no time to waste in this seething era where a wave of change could bring dire consequences. Lord Hani knows he must stop the murderer to save himself and his family, but can he also act to protect the larger target, the fate of the Egyptian New Kingdom?

Lord Hani is summoned by the king to the Royal Palace and assigned a secret, specific investigation to complete on his majesty’s behalf.

The king suspects not only murder but also betrayal. He decries what he sees as political manipulations that touch pockets of power, self-serving coalitions, and religious beliefs. The king knows not all his countrymen are honest, but he trusts Lord Hani. For help, Hani turns to his young secretary Maya, who is eager for adventure and dedicated to serving Lord Hani to his utmost capability. This mystery will undoubtedly test his skills. If he impresses, will he have the courage to voice his love for his boss’ daughter, and ask for her hand in marriage?

The extensive travel required to visit scenes of crimes and associated places of interest takes a prolonged time by boat and overland, leaving Lord Hani’s family unprotected.

He’s concerned for the safety of his children and wife in his absence. There is good reason to worry. Threats arise from people of the royal court, and also people from the uprising new religion. A risk even exists from within Lord Hani’s own family, namely, his eldest son. Time is not on his side as Hani and his secretary Maya follow clues, interview suspects, and analyze motives. The action reaches a crescendo, and Lord Hani will have to confront his most dreaded fears.

Bird in a Snare by N. L. Holmes is beautifully descriptive, with details that bring the historic period and the fascinating characters to vibrant life. Suspense builds as an intricate web of intrigue is spun. Readers will be delighted to learn that this is the first of a series set in the ancient Egypt of Akhenaten’s reforms.

August 3, 2020
CELIA’s HEAVEN by Nancy Canyon – Magic Realism, Family Saga, Contemporary Literature

It’s as if a large chunk of her heart was wrenched away in an instant. Celia’s twin sister died suddenly in a terrible accident. Now Celia is haunted by this dear sister who is gone forever. Moreover, the emotional distance between herself and her parents, the only family that’s left behind, is painful. From her hell on earth, she yearns for her own, Celia’s Heaven, where all could be right again. But the road to Heaven is paved with broken promises and a shattering revelation.

Celia leads an unsatisfying life. The residents in her town are repulsed by her because she works as a stripper. Her father berates her for her life choices. She gets it, but she makes good money, and money is hard to turn down. Although Celia’s boyfriend asks her to marry him, she still likes to be with other men and acts on her impulses. Amid the emotional chaos, Celia continues to look for a miracle. The only thing on the horizon, however, is the worst winter snowstorm in years, and it could be deadly.

On the anniversary of her twin’s death, Celia reminisces about the times the two shared together. But something weird is happening, she is seeing glimpses of her twin – even hearing messages from her. What is she trying to say? Is there some warning to communicate? Or is it some secret she needs Celia to know? Her sister’s spirit is restless, and Celia is trying to understand and help. Perhaps by helping her sister, she will be helping herself as well.

Nancy Canyon’s beautifully written story has a smooth, crisp, surface tone with an underlying, pulsing energy. Fascinating, conflicted characters will grab any reader’s interest right from the start. Even the dialogue is masterful for what is said and what is left unsaid. All in all, Canyon shines at painting detailed, intense character portraits that spring to life and find their way right into the heart of the reader. Each character struggles to reconcile the choices they’ve made that affect them and those around them. But now they face fears about what is to come. The powerful writing takes the reader into the intimate journeys of Celia, her boyfriend, and others including her sister. These are women and men who live in quiet desperation, and thoughtfulness, praying for a better life and hoping to survive.

Set against a backdrop of a nightmarish snowstorm, Canyon’s characters are put to the test, trying to survive the current situation that seems to have supernatural strength and the emotional turmoil they each face. Is peace a possibility? Is happiness and love too much to hope for? Celia’s twin may know something that will change lives forever if only Celia discovers the key to unlock her message.

Celia’s Heaven won First in Category in the CIBAs 2013 PARANORMAL Awards.

July 17, 2020
BICKER and the SOOLIVANS by Jenna Hestekin – American Civil War Era, Historical & Heartwarming Romance, Family Drama

The Soolivan family is split apart by the Civil War, but when the ugly side of fate intervenes, a silver lining appears to bring a broken family back together again. While Andy Soolivan is convalescing in the hospital with his new friend, Bicker, he receives news that his uncles have all been killed. In a letter explaining the details, August Soolivan urges his son Andy to come home. The family has suffered enough.

As the Soolivan family comes back together, a one-armed Bicker arrives like a lost pup looking for a home. He is welcomed into a family that values togetherness above all else. Penelope, the oldest daughter, catches his eye. The only problem is Penelope. She’s hiding the fact that she is engaged to her beau, who is still fighting in the war. She agonizes, though, because he hasn’t written in weeks. But she isn’t the only daughter in the family with secrets to keep. Will fate allow the Soolivan family to find peace when the war has taken so much from them, and will the emerging feelings between Penelope and Bicker be allowed to flourish? Fate and family are at the heart of Bicker and the Soolivans, and everyone from the casual reader to the critic will feel their heart warmed throughout this authentic feel-good story.

Hestekin’s greatest strength is her ability to create well-developed, engaging characters that fuel a wonderfully character-driven story. The majority of the novel takes place at the Soolivan home and in the nearby small town of Alma, Wisconsin. The characters drive a gripping tale of a family coming together to heal from the losses of a devastating war and the splitting apart again to follow love’s new beginnings.

Bicker and the Soolivans will sweep you off your feet, make you forget about the current state of world affairs, and fall in love with the antics of a midwestern family in Civil War-era America.

Jenna Hestekin’s Bicker and the Soolivans earned Semi-Finalist status in the CIBAs 2018 for American Western Fiction, the LARAMIE Awards.

**You can purchase a copy of Bicker and the Soolivans directly from the author’s website, by clicking here.

March 23, 2020
CHRISTMAS at LADYWELL, A Time for Secrets by Nicola Slade – Historical Mystery/Thrillers/Suspense, Two-Hour Literature & Fiction Shorts, Family Life Fiction

Christmastime in the English countryside, what could be cozier? Nicola Slade casts a charming spell on the reader with her novella, Christmas at Ladywell, A Time for Secrets. The main character Freya Wellman, jolly with the holiday spirit, has much to do to ready her ancient home, Ladywell, for yuletide guests. She happily juggles tasks to ready an adjoining cottage for a visit from a famous American actor and his girlfriend. Freya also cares for her small daughter, Violet, and visits with friends and an interesting assortment of townspeople. Most eagerly, she awaits the arrival of her smart and funny husband, a successful scriptwriter who’s been in America working on a film with the actor.

It’s a busy, festive time, and the reader is more than happy to witness all this gaiety at Ladywell. Of course, that name invites inquiry, one answered by stories that are nestled like Russian dolls in this exquisite book. Freya’s ancestral home is brimming with secrets and enchantment conjured over centuries. While Freya isn’t visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, the reader is treated to three fabulous historical tales that chart the experiences of previous inhabitants of this wondrous place of potent, healing waters, invisible flowers, and a legendary, loyal hare.

Whether it’s 1390, 1543, 1825, or the present day, there’s a mystical sisterhood at Ladywell that bridges time, a linking of strong women who tend home and hearth and pass on the secrets of the land. The past re-emerges into the blissful bustle of Freya’s current life as she learns of a family connection with King Richard III. Is this connection tied to a future event? Will the secrets of the past travel to the future?

With the loveliest prose and sharp humor, Slade offers the best Christmas gift for her readers with this gem of a book. Those who read her prior work, The House at Ladywell, will undoubtedly want to read Christmas at Ladywell, but this novella also works marvelously as a separate book. So, put the kettle on, get comfy by the fireplace, let the cat snuggle on your lap, and settle in for a cheerful read that befits the season!

December 23, 2019