The Women in the Castle

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Not another novel set during World War II - that was my first thought when I picked up 'The Women in the Castle'. That being said, as cliched as it may sound, this novel is a bit different from most WWII novels. The author writes about an unusual subject - the widows of the resisters who tried and failed to assassinate Adolf Hitler and thus end the atrocities of the Nazis during the war. So, yes, this is not just another World War II novel - but does it live up to the intriguing premise?

The novel opens with a glittering party at Burg Lingenfels - the titular 'Castle'. Despite the dark clouds of war gathering over Nazi Germany, the hostess, Marianne von Lingenfels, is determined that her guests should enjoy the night - but ominous news from Berlin brings the festivities to an abrupt end. It is November, 9, 1938 - a date that will infamously go down in history as Kristallnacht. A date that marks the beginning of the end of the privileged life that Marianne knows. A date that the plot to remove Hitler takes root at the Burg - amongst the conspirators are Marianne's husband, Albrecht and her childhood friend, Connie.

7 years later, the war has ended - "Connie was dead, Albrecht was dead, Germany itself was dead, and half the people at the party were either killed, destroyed by shame, or somewhere between the two" - Marianne returns to the ruins of Burg Lingenfels, along with her children. She has a promise to uphold - a promise she made on the fateful night of the party to protect the families of the resisters - and in the aftermath of the war, her tireless search to gather up the surviving widows and children begins. She first locates Connie's son, Martin, in a Nazi 'reeducation' home. Together they travel across a ravaged Germany to Berlin, where they rescue Martin's mother, Benita, from the clutches of a Red Army colonel. And then Marianne finds Ania Grabarek and her sons, refugees in a 'Displaced Persons' camp.

Putting to use her indefatigable energy and formidable organization skills, Marianne gathers these widows and children to her, hoping that shared experiences and losses will bond them into a makeshift family. A born leader, Marianne takes to her heart the title of 'Commander of women and children', but to her surprise, she discovers that not all those she has rescued wish to follow her. Her black-and-white approach to good and bad will not serve her well in this gray, post-war world - and she is unable to accept that the other widows might not view their martyred husbands with the same reverence and loyalty as she does. Benita's attempt at finding love with a reluctant ex-Nazi and Ania's deepest, darkest secrets soon threaten the fragile ties of friendship between the women...

This is certainly not a classic World War II novel in any sense. But in setting out on a different path, I felt that the author missed out on bringing to the reader the horrors of the war. Even the plot to kill Hitler is not elaborated upon. Marianne's quest, is far too easy - there is no sense of struggle or desperation. She sets out to find her widows and does find them with the insouciance of someone putting together a guest list for a tea party. In the devastation that is Germany after the war, Marianne and her 'family' have food, water and shelter. Their biggest challenge is when some starving Russian troops commandeer a horse to eat - and even that horse belongs to a neighboring farmer, who also conveniently happens to have another horse to work the fields - so the hardship never fully comes across.

Marianne's past is never fully explained - I really wanted to know why she never married Connie (she clearly carries a torch for him even after he's dead), where does she meet Albrecht, why does she marry him? We never scratched the surface - always cool and composed, what does Marianne really feel? And honestly, her righteousness - insisting on her children looking at the posters of the concentration camps, sharing their presents with prisoners - it does get to be a little annoying. How can a person go through a war and deprivation, and not change at all?? Benita's character serves as little more than a foil to Marianne's - her past is better sketched, but I never really did get why a man like Connie would marry such a naive villager - I wish she had shown more spirit, especially when it came to her son.

Ania's is the strongest character arc. Through her story, we get a sense of how an entire nation could know but not know the depravities committed by the Nazis. Her reaction at a Winter Help store where she notices that the warm coats she is getting for her boys have been 'redistributed' from deportees who have been forced to leave their belongings behind is the most chilling point in the story - "this confirms what the Fuhrer has been saying - the Jews of Germany have made themselves unreasonably rich. Who would leave behind such a coat unless they owned an even better one they could bring along?" - an entire nation hoodwinked by one man's rhetoric. Even with Ania, her big secret and its denouement comes with a whimper - there is no big conflict of emotions, betrayals, no climatic showdown.

Yes, the premise is intriguing - but the novel falls a little short of my expectations. Read it, and then watch Tom Cruise's Valkyrie - that should put the book in a better perspective!! Happy Reading!!

A Gentleman in Moscow

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June, 1922, Moscow. Count Alexander Rostov is tried by a Bolshevik tribunal. Accused of being a traitor to the Revolution, he is found to have 'succumbed irrevocably to the corruptions of his class' and is sentenced to house-arrest in the Hotel Metropol. The hotel has been his home for the last 4 years, but he is not to live out his sentence in his luxurious suite but in a tiny attic room - and any of his possessions that cannot be accommodated in his new quarters become 'the property of the People'.

For the next 30 odd years, the Hotel Metropol is the entire world for Count Rostov. His window overlooks the Kremlin, and he is destined to be a mute spectator as the most tumultuous years in the history of Russia unfold. Believing that 'if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them' - the Count sets out to make the best of his new situation. Although no longer relevant, he continues to live by the etiquette and mannerisms that have defined his previous life. 'With so little to do and all the time in the world to do it, however, the Count must find a way to expand his world beyond the four walls of his prison, his gilded cage - the Hotel Metropol.

Fortuitously, 'the Fates provide a guide' for Count Rostov, in the form of a precocious nine-year-old girl Nina. From mentoring her in the rules of being a princess, to becoming a co-conspirator, exploring every inch of the Metropol, the Count and Nina develop an unlikely friendship. Several years later, Nina turns to the Count for help - asking him to watch her daughter while she goes to look for her husband - when Nina doesn't return, the Count must raise Sofia as his own. Indeed, the entire staff of the Metropol, become the family that neither the Count nor Sofia have - Emile, the head chef; Andrey, the maitre'd; Marina, the seamstress; and Vasily, the concierge. And as Sofia grows into a beautiful, talented young woman, safeguarding her future will be the ultimate test of Count Rostov's wit and ingenuity.

What a wonderful, wonderful book!! Written with wry humor, this novel wears many hats - historical fiction, philosophy, politics, social issues, satire, literature, architecture, music, food and wine, to American movies - and yet, Amor Towles does not skip a beat. He has gathered all these strands, and woven them into a glittering tale, studded with larger-than-life characters, set against the fitting backdrop of the luxurious Metropol - deeply moving, and always, that dry wit that is so enjoyable! The writing is superb - the dialogue crisp, the descriptions lavish, the plot tightly constructed.

Count Rostov, of course, is the true essence of a gentleman - he literally defines the phrase 'savoir-faire'! He is 'in' Moscow, and yet, the novel traces the several journeys he makes. From 'Your Excellency' to 'Comrade'. From his lavish estates of Nizhny Novgorod, to the grand suite in the Metropol, to his tiny attic room. From being a member of the frivolous leisure class to a working class grunt. From rubbing shoulders with the glitterati to befriending the hotel staff. From a cosseted guest to the head waiter in the restaurant. And most important, from 'Uncle Sasha' to 'Papa'. This is a story of an extraordinary man, in extraordinary circumstances - a prisoner, and still, a man in complete control of his destiny. As he very eloquently sums up his life - 'there was only one time when Life needed me to be in a particular place at a particular time, and that was when your mother brought you to the lobby of the Metropol'. Understated, elegant - a powerful testament to unconditional love!

This book is an absolute must-read, it's easily one of the best books of the year!! Buy it, or check it out at your local library!! Happy reading!!

Burial Rites

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Iceland, 1829. Convicted of the brutal murder of two men, Agnes Magnusdottir is sent to an isolated farm to await the day of her execution. The inhabitants of the farm, Jon and Margret and their daughters, are horrified at having to house a murderess - and do their best to keep a distance from her. As the days pass, Agnes stoically goes about her chores at the farm - her chosen spiritual guide, Toti, the only person who makes an effort to draw her out. Her host family is unwillingly drawn to the tale that she narrates to her confessor, Toti, but will their realization that Agnes might not be guilty be enough to save her from a gruesome death?

"They said I must die. They said that I stole the breath from men, and now they must steal mine". From the very first sentence, Hannah Kent sets the tone for this haunting novel. And although the end is never in question - "Burial Rites" is based on the true story of the last woman to be publicly beheaded in Iceland - the author maintains the tension throughout. The Agnes in this book is a constant surprise - reviled as a cold-blooded killer, she still fiercely holds on to what little dignity that is left to her. She doesn't ask for sympathy or pity, and is determined to hold on to the only things that cannot be stolen from her - her words, her poems, her sagas. Google couldn't tell me if the real Agnes was guilty or not - but I was certainly hoping for a miraculous reprieve for the author's Agnes!!

The author writes beautifully about the life of the peasants at the farm. Icelandic customs, the food, the formidable winters - even the dust and mold from the turf croft - I was literally transported to Kornsa, watching Agnes and Margret going about their daily tasks. The descriptions are quite visceral - chalking it up to the author telling it like it was back then - but seriously, I could have done with a little less of the mucus and other bodily emissions. Agnes' monologues capture her quiet desperation, her acceptance that a woman has no chance in a world where her stories are told by others. And Margret is the perfect foil - they recognize a kindred spirit in each other, and the arc of their relationship is intriguing.

This is no doubt a very serious novel - there are really no light moments at all. The very grimness, however, is so utterly striking. I was fascinated by Agnes' story, wanting to know everything quickly - and yet, the prose is so evocative, every word needs to be savored!! The seasons and landscapes of Iceland, the routines of the life at the farm, Agnes' journey are not easily forgotten - this is a novel to get lost in, a novel that grabs your attention and holds on, a novel that will stay with you long after you've finished reading. A must-read, for sure!

The Company of the Dead

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More than a century after it sank in the icy depths of the North Atlantic, the Titanic continues to fascinate. Many wealthy, influential people went down with the ship - people who might have shaped history differently, had they lived. What if the Titanic had sunk a few hours earlier or later, or even made it all the way to New York? What if a different set of people had survived? This 'what if' is at the heart of 'The Company of the Dead' - a sci-fi/alternate history novel written by David Kowalski. 

An inadvertent time-traveller, Jonathan Wells, is stranded in 1911, and despairing of ever making it back to his timeline, decides to right the wrongs that he knows are soon to come. His first stop? The RMS Titanic. Hoping to avert the disaster and to save the ship, he hands the ship's lookout a pair of binoculars and the Titanic succeeds in navigating past the iceberg it was supposed to hit - only to founder on another iceberg a few hours later. The Titanic sinks, despite Wells' well-meant intervention - and Wells goes down with the ship, leaving behind a journal.

The year 2012 - the world is hurtling towards a nuclear holocaust and total oblivion. This is a world in which Astor becomes US President in 1912 and keeps the United States out of the Great War. Germany and Japan prevail, and rule the world between them. The monarchies in Germany, Japan, Russia, France and Italy are flourishing. The United States is no longer united - led by Texas, the 2nd Confederacy has successfully seceded, and the Union and the Confederacy are 2 separate nations. Feudalism is rampant, and there have been no civil rights or suffragette movements. World War II never happens, and Hitler is simply a mediocre Austrian painter. And Joseph Kennedy, grand-nephew of JFK - who, by the way, never becomes president, but is still assassinated in Dallas - is the only man who can turn back the clock and set things right, even if it means erasing his own existence.

From the Titanic to Roswell and then back to the Titanic - the book takes the reader on an incredible journey. The author lovingly and meticulously outlines this new alternate reality - and while the rich detail is to be commended - it eventually ends up being the iceberg on which the novel founders. At 750 or so pages, this is a hefty book, and almost 400 of these deal with conspiracies, double-crosses and treachery - it's almost too hard to keep track of the good guys from the bad!  After a point, I didn't even care about who was fighting whom, and why - I just wanted to get back on the Titanic!! The concept is so intriguing and the book is well-plotted - it is simply not as crisp or fast-paced as it needs to be. 

Be it a novel, movie or a TV series - the central conceit of time-travel is to not change anything. In this book, well, the whole point to time travel is to change history - and that makes sense, doesn't it? What's the point of time travel, if you can't change history - besides, doesn't history change the minute a time traveller shows up in the past? And although I believe that most of history's 'what-ifs' are best left unanswered - wouldn't it be cool to go back in time? Where would I go? And what would I change? I'll think about it while you dive into 'The Company of the Dead'!! Happy Reading!!

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Beauty and the Beast is hands down my favorite Disney fairytale - and Belle, my favorite princess!! For starters, she's not technically a princess, but an ordinary girl looking for something beyond 'this old provincial town'. She has spunk, and is confident enough to turn down Gaston, the village heart-throb. She dreams of Prince Charming, but finds beauty in the ordinary. Best of all, she loves books - seriously, this one's a winner, through and through!!

This much-loved fairy-tale - the original, as well as Disney's charming version - has stood the test of time. A handsome prince is cursed for his arrogance by a witch - condemned to live as a Beast until he finds someone that can love him, before the petals of an enchanted rose fall off. A village maiden stumbles upon his castle by accident, and in exchange for her father's live, agrees to be the Beast's prisoner. A few magical interludes later (Stockholm syndrome, ahem!), true love blossoms. And yet, the Beast lets the maiden return to her father - for isn't letting go the truest measure of love? Will the Beast be reunited with his true love?

We all know how it ends - and we still watch with bated breath as the story unfolds - and in Disney's newest version, the canvas is extravagantly opulent! The massive interiors of the castle, the elaborate costumes, the quaint little French village and oh, the library - the sets are magnificent!! The screenplay remains mostly faithful to the animation - the additions, in fact, are a bit awkward. While Belle slurping her soup to make the Beast feel at ease brought a smile to my face - the little jaunt to a Paris suburb, or Belle's design of a primitive washing machine?? I'm all for feminism, but feels a little forced here - and plague, well, there's just no place for plague in a fairytale!!

And the songs? Well, this is a musical, after all!! Starting with Belle's signature song "This old provincial town" - very picturesque, but did they really have to channel Sound of Music for this one? Close my eyes for a second, and I could almost hear "The Hills are Alive"!! The cutlery cabaret, "Be Our Guest" is a wonderful feast, and "Gaston" impresses with the quick-footed, dramatic choreography. The piece de resistance, is of course "Tale As Old As Time" - oh, how I love this song!! The new songs, unfortunately, I barely registered!!

Emma Watson - not to take away from her incredible performance - but I have to admit, I had a hard time looking past Hermione Granger. I mean, isn't she a little young - look at those freckles - to be in a grand passionate affair? And I was half expecting her to whip out her wand and reverse the curse - I think 'Beautify' will do the trick, don't you?!! I was also expecting the Beast to be a bit more beastly, you know?? With those blue eyes, and gentle face, I was just reminded of an overgrown cat - it was still Dan Stevens, just a little hairier than usual?? By the way what was with the highly publicized gay moment in the film? Yes, Gaston's sidekick, LeFou has been portrayed effeminately - but that's not what I noticed. What I noticed was that LeFou has a conscience, and is not afraid of standing up to his friend! Good for you, LeFou!!

I expect this movie will have a whole new generation of little girls falling in love with the feisty Belle. And for those of us who've always loved Belle, this movie does not disappoint!! So go watch it!! Oh, and don't forget to IMAX!!

Olympus Bound

Selene DiSilva is a woman of mystery - a loner, a vigilante sworn to protect women, she stalks the streets of Manhattan - her only companion, her dog, Hipployte. On an icy morning, she comes across a body that has washed ashore - a young woman, horribly mutiliated and wreathed in laurel. But this is no ordinary crime - and Selene is no ordinary woman. She is Artemis, an Olympian, a Greek goddess, an Immortal - once all-powerful, the Goddess of the Hunt must now summon all of her dwindling powers to track down the killer...

Greek mythology meets murder mystery meets historical fiction - all my favorite genres come together in The Immortals - the first book of the Olympus Bound trilogy written by Jordanna Max Brodsky. I love the basic concept - immortal Greek Gods walking amongst mortals, and while their depleted lives are a far cry from their divine existence as mighty Olympians, they have survived through the millenia, taking on new identities as required. Readers not familiar with Greek mythology will benefit from a quick Google search on who's who on Mt Olympus - starting with Artemis, her twin Apollo and all their step-siblings - most of them do make an appearance in the book!

The ritualistic killing of the murder victim is as described as in the long-forgotten Eleusinian mysteries, and Selene must find and put an end to the mysterious cult which is using human sacrifice to restore the ancient powers of the God being worshipped. Reluctantly, she enlists the help of her estranged family, and Classics professor, Theo - a mortal, who finds himself in the unlikely position of being Artemis' sidekick! Needless to say, after the requisite twists and turns, a couple more murders, bullets and arrows flying - the culprits are brought to justice!! Alls well that ends well!!

This type of fantasy novel inherently requires a suspension of disbelief - we're talking Greek Gods here, after all!! Even with that in mind, some parts of the book are simply too outrageous!! The whole romantic angle with Theo and Selene - that just didn't sit right. I mean, I get why Theo is smitten - but Artemis?? Her attraction to Theo is unfathomable, her ambivalence about hanging onto her 'chastity' (ahem!) - would an immortal goddess really be swayed by mortal desires of the flesh - comes across as an awkard attempt to add tension to the story - so not needed!! And while I enjoyed the little excursions into history through Selene's memories - Artemis killing Alexander Hamilton - now that truly made me LOL!!

The premise of the book is great, but the execution is a bit sketchy. Some parts almost come off as a Young Adult fiction - in fact, if it hadn't been for the gruesome murders, I would have happily handed this one to my daughter! I happened to borrow the second book of the trilogy at the same time as the first, so the question of whether I'll continue with the series is moot - which brings us to Winter of the Gods...

Winter of the Gods brings back Selene and Theo - the unlikely crime-fighting duo to solve yet another New York murder. The dead body sprawled across Wall Street's iconic bull statue is surrounded by a multitude of sacrificial animals - and all signs point to another cult in the making. Once again, Selene must depend on Theo and her family to unearth this conspiracy which threatens the very existence of the Gods.

The inherent problem here is the repetition - at the end of the day, we have a fading Greek goddess detective, another string of murders, and a divine justice ending - there are just too many similarities with the first book. This time around it is the Gods themselves that are being sacrificed, and Theo has a much larger role to play - apparently being 'Friend of the Gods' comes with benefits such as being able to use divine weapons.

We meet more of Selene's family - including Eros, the God of Love, who is now a gay French dude, Phillipe, who runs - of all things - a matchmaking site!! And there are tons more references to Greek myths - all of which should make this book tons more interesting - but it doesn't really flow as it should. Theo's new friend, Minh, just happens to be a archaeo-astronomist (is that even a thing?), who is easily able to decipher the meaning of the sacrificial animals - really, talk about coincidences!! And while on Minh, the whole thing with teaching her boyfriend a lesson - almost too much to bear (pun fully intended!!)! Let's not even mention the Selene-Theo "will they - won't they" track - it is just too much like a bad teen movie!!

Needless to say, I did not enjoy this sequel. I can imagine that the third book will take us to Mt. Olympus, and a face-to-face with Zeus - and yes, I do intend to read the third one when it comes out!!