Review

Sarah's Key, Tatiana de Rosnay.
So I was hoping when I sat down to this book that I would discover an inspirational story that would bring forth hope, which had been driven out of Europe during the reign of the Nazi's. You know, the kind of inspiration that emerges after the disaster, when you realize there are so many amazing people out there doing amazing things in the face of evil. I was wrong, this book began sad and ended with only a sliver of hope.
The novel set in France during German occupation has two heroines. Sarah who was a young girl when her Jewish family was sent to a concentration camp and Julia, an American woman living in modern Paris. The first half of the book goes back and forth between the stories of the two women chapter vs. chapter. While many books are set up in this style, (the first time I experienced this was Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath), at times it can be frustrating if you are a working woman like myself. I only have a limited time to sit a read and I have to remember whose voice I am reading and what had preceded the part I was on, etc.
Not only were the two different voices a mere annoyance it would have been nice if we (the readers) had been given a break from the dark depressing tale that was Sarah's holocaust nightmare when we were reading about Julia. Instead we were led down the loveless, lonesome life that was Julia's. The book does become intriguing at the end... and wraps up nicely... just beware if you want a light story to take you through the week this is not it.

Review

Getting Rid of Matthew, by Jane Fallon.

While I was not profoundly intrigued, I spent several enjoyable evenings curled up with this story. The book focuses on one woman who has an affair with a married man, who decides to leave his wife and move in with his lover. Epitomizing the saying the grass is always greener, each lover realizes that the fantasy is always better than reality. And as us feminists who enjoy a modern day fairy tail, depicting woman who take their lives into their own hands as they hypocritically allow men to lead them astray, love the romance and the drama as the novel unfolds. It was a quick read, great for nights when thinking hurts and an escape is needed.