It should come as no surprise that we here at LLF (cough…Virginia especially…cough) love S.J. Watson's debut novel, Before I Go to Sleep. It has been getting rave reviews from librarians and now the Wall Street Journal is hopping on board the train. This article by Cynthia Crossen just popped up today.
"To Be Sung Underwater" by Tom McNeal (Little, Brown and Co., June 2).
I almost didn't read this exceptional novel. The flap copy made me think the plot was too familiar, too Nicholas Sparks for my taste. Fortunately, I had to grab a book on the fly one morning, and "To Be Sung Underwater" was at hand. A few pages into it, I was blissfully lost in the two worlds of Judith Toomey, first in her high-school years in Nebraska, and decades later, in her grown-up life as a wife, mother and film editor in Los Angeles. Mr. McNeal writes a kind of prose that's almost endangered today: natural, smooth and subtle. There's not the smallest hint of him thinking to himself, "What a clever turner of phrases I am." Yet he produces one extraordinary sentence after another as he unspools two irresistible tales. If you despair of the vigor and grace of modern fiction, read this.
"The Upright Piano Player" by David Abbott (Nan A. Talese, June 7).
A first novel, 10 years in the making, by a legendary London advertising executive, now retired, "The Upright Piano Player" was widely praised by British critics (The Independent: "Elegant, rich and gratifying"). It's the story of a retired business executive, estranged from his wife and son, whose life begins a downward spiral after a violent encounter with a stranger. Mr. Abbott said he gave his main character a business background "because I believe business is rarely treated accurately in contemporary novels. If the characters work in industry, they are invariably stupid or evil. That wasn't my experience. I often came across intelligence, discernment—and even honor."
"Before I Go to Sleep" by S.J. Watson (Harper, June 14).
This first novel by a British health-care worker, who reportedly wrote it in between shifts at a London hospital, is a psychological thriller, a description that usually appeals to me but frequently disappoints. This one sounds promising because it's about an amnesiac. Mr. Watson's main character, Christine, has a strain of amnesia in which she hold memories for only a day—while sleeping at night, her memory is scoured clean. So imagine this: Her husband's name is Ben, and one morning she picks up her journal and it says, "Don't trust Ben." Ridley Scott (producer of "The Good Wife," among many other fine television series and movies) has already acquired film rights.
Hmmm….in another life I was a Business major and I must admit my interest is also piqued by The Upright Piano Player. Add another title to the "to-read" list.
-Annie
Were you a kid who enjoyed discovering fun, random factoids? Or the one who secretly loved being dragged to every Civil War battlefield by your parents? (no? that was just me? ok, fine). Well, Ken Davis' Don't Know Much About History is a win for all! The 20th Anniversary Edition, out this month, is chock full of fantastic answers to new questions you never even thought to ask. For example, Why is there a statue of Benedict Arnold's boot in Saratoga, NY? (Answer: to symbolize the place where he hid the papers needed to sabotage West Point…gasp!) or Which President spent $10 million in government funds for improvements on his private homes (Answer: Richard Nixon…color me shocked).
