With Love From Wish & Co. by Minnie Darke 5*

Marnie Fairchild, from the rogue side of the Fairchild family, and thus not part of its fortune, is a businesswoman. She’s gone from a food truck to a high-end gift service. Her business includes everything from selling specialty gift wrap to personal gift shopping for her clients. She’s ready to move up in her retail location and has her heart set on a posh address where her grandfather worked as a cobbler. Marnie works hard, but she has goals. She wants that space.

Complications come when gifts are misdelivered. One to the wife, one to the mistress.

Her characters are charming, but not perfect, her plot has surprises and a fresh approach to the “woman starting a small business” trope, and she did a great job of struggling with the issue of personal responsibility, in this case, by enabling cheating husbands, but also the emotions when the recipients of the gifts realize that they weren’t chosen by a loved one, but a pro.

I love the interwoven lesson of women being responsible for their own happiness and hope to read more from this author.

I received this book from NetGalley and Dell, the publisher. It goes on sale August 17, 2022.

Lucy by the Sea, Elizabeth Strout 5 stars!

 

 

Reading this novel was like visiting old friends from a social distance. We got to know Lucy and William both in prior novels (My Name is Lucy Barton, Oh William!, Anything is Possible) and revisit characters introduced in Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again, and even The Burgess Boys. And that is lovely, as we have come to know that Elizabeth Strout’s voice is true and authentic, we can trust these characters just as we trust our own friends. Strout let’s our friends Lucy and William experience the pandemic on the coast of Maine, as physically isolated from Lucy’s beloved New York as they can be. This book isn’t for anyone still experiencing pandemic PTSD, because in her honesty, Strout brings us right back to the uncertainty of 2020 and the horror of separation from those we love most.

Personally, I love these characters and Strout’s writing style, which is probably apparent from my familiarity with her books and recommend Lucy by the Sea to anyone else who fell in love with the characters in other books. But the book also stands alone for anyone who has not read the others, as these characters don’t depend on their past iterations to come to life. As yet another pandemic book, this one stands out as a chronical of what was, and how emotional humans, especially older ones, can thrive, and survive

 An Arc of Lucy by the Sea was provided to me by the publisher, Random House, and will be released September 20, 2022.

Mad Honey: A heartbreaker by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, 5 stars,

 

 

 

To say Jodi Picoult books pull their themes from the headlines or that they break your heart would be an understatement. In Mad Honey, her talent for creating characters that I love and want to prevail is added to the depth that collaborating with Jennifer Finney Boylan to put the issue of not just the legal rights, but the right to live of transgender people in the U.S. today in sharp focus. It’s one thing to argue bathroom bills and choice for adults, but Mad Honey expands the discussion in ways that only good story telling can do.

As with most Jodi Picoult books, the research of the other theme in this book is tremendous. The bees! I thought I knew some things about bees, but I barely scratched the surface. Fascinating both factually and for the metaphor of the lives of these ancient creatures as applied to this family.

Mad Honey also touches on the issues of domestic assault, divorce and how the ones we love most are often the most cruel. I could not stop reading this book, and yes, it will break your heart. 

I try to read everything Jodi Picoult publishes, because she takes such a balanced approach to issues.  I am looking forward to reading more of  Jennifer Finney Boylan's books, and hope these two collaborate again.

I received this advance reader's copy from the publisher from the publisher, Random House-Ballantine. Mad Honey will be released on October 4, 2022.