Tag: Fiction

Heaven Should Fall by Rebecca Coleman

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 12 Comments
Heaven Should Fall by Rebecca Coleman
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Publication Date: September 2012
Category: Literary
Source: Book Reporter/Faithful Reader
Description:

Alone since her mother’s death, Jill Wagner wants to eat, sleep and breathe Cade Olmstead when he bursts upon her life—golden, handsome and ambitious. Even putting college on hold feels like a minor sacrifice when she discovers she’s pregnant with Cade’s baby. But it won’t be the last sacrifice she’ll have to make.

Retreating to the Olmsteads’ New England farm seems sensible, if not ideal—they’ll regroup and welcome the baby, surrounded by Cade’s family. But the remote, ramshackle place already feels crowded. Cade’s mother tends to his ailing father, while Cade’s pious sister, her bigoted husband and their rowdy sons overrun the house. Only Cade’s brother, Elias, a combat veteran with a damaged spirit, gives Jill an ally amidst the chaos, along with a glimpse into his disturbing childhood. But his burden is heavy, and she alone cannot kindle his will to live.

The tragedy of Elias is like a killing frost, withering Cade in particular, transforming his idealism into bitterness and paranoia. Taking solace in caring for her newborn son, Jill looks up to find her golden boy is gone. In Cade’s place is a desperate man willing to endanger them all in the name of vengeance…unless Jill can find a way out.
My Thoughts:

When you first read the synopsis of this book it sounds like a romancey type of thing doesn’t it? Oh ho ho, it’s so much more. Jill and Cade do fall in love. There’s your romance. That’s about it. Shortly after Jill becomes pregnant they go to stay with Cade’s family and things take a dark, twisty and crazy turn.

The characters in Heaven Should Fall are wonderfully thought out. They are real, they are flawed and they make you want to slap them across the face a time or two..or maybe give them a hug? I really connected with these people and I know I’ll be thinking about them for a while.

How much can a person stand? How far can someone be pushed before they lose sight of what and who they were? This book is compelling and desperate and compulsively readable.

The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 19 Comments
The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: January 2013
Categories: Jewish, Historical Fiction
Source: St. Martin’s Press via Shelf Awareness
Description:

In the wake of World War II, a young, enigmatic woman named Lily arrives in Montreal on her own, expecting to be married to a man she’s never met. But, upon seeing her at the train station, Sol Kramer turns her down. Out of pity, his brother Nathan decides to marry her instead, and pity turns into a deep—and doomed—love. It is immediately clear that Lily is not who she claims to be. Her attempt to live out her life as Lily Azerov shatters when she disappears, leaving a new husband and a baby daughter with only a diary, a large uncut diamond – and a need to find the truth.

Who is Lily and what happened to the young woman whose identity she stole? Why has she left and where did she go? It’s up to the daughter Lily abandoned to find the answers to these questions, as she searches for the mother she may never find or truly know.  

My Thoughts:

I found The Imposter Bride to be an engaging and character driven book. The story can be quite bleak but the characters kept me reading.

The story is told in alternating chapters by Lily and her daughter Ruth. Even though the book begins with Lily the story really belongs to Ruth. She is only an infant when her mother abandons the family and she grows up knowing little to nothing about her. Ruth is surrounded by family members that love and care for her but more than anything she wants to know about her mother. Why did she leave? What was her real name? Where is she now?

All Ruth has of her mother are the few things she left behind and a lot of questions. This book is about her search for answers.

This book is quiet and powerful. It reminded me that family can come in many different forms.

The Imposter Bride was shortlisted for the Giller Prize in 2012.