A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS by R. J. Ellory
R. J. Ellory’s A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS is the heartrending story of Joseph Vaughn, a boy who grows up under an unlucky star. The narrator is only eleven when his thirty-seven year old father, Earl, dies in 1939, leaving him and his impoverished young mother to fend for themselves. Earl’s death leaves Joseph and his mother deeply shaken. The boy is further traumatized when a classmate is found dead, after having been stripped, beaten, and assaulted by an unknown perpetrator. This girl’s murder is just the first in a long string of calamities that will dog Augusta Falls, Georgia, where Joseph and his mother live. The specter of death constantly haunts this tragic tale of hopes dashed and innocent lives snuffed out prematurely.
October 10, 2009
· 
Judi Clark · 
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Tags: 1940s, Betrayal, Georgia, Gothic, Murder Mystery, RJ Ellory, Small Town · Posted in: Coming-of-Age, Mystery/Suspense, US South
MUDBOUND by Hillary Jordan
“Mudbound” is the very unaffectionate name that Laura and her children give to her husband, Henry’s, Mississippi cotton farm. Mudbound is without running water, electricity and, as the name implies, muddy and dirty. For a good part of the year it is inaccessible to any town because the huge quantity of rain washes out the only bridge that links Mudbound to civilization.
August 9, 2009
· Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: 1940s, Algonquin Books, Betrayal, Hilary Jordan, Small Town · Posted in: Bellwether, Class - Race - Gender, Contemporary, Debut Novel, Family Matters, Literary, US South
THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS by John Boyne
John Boyne’s novel, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS is outstanding. It is beautifully written with a most powerful storyline. Nine year-old Bruno is an innocent, carefree boy growing up in Berlin during WWII. He has three “Best Friends For Life,” and wants to be an explorer when he grows up. Bruno lives in a beautiful mansion, complete with gardens and servants, along with his older sister Gretel, their lovely mother, and their father, a high ranking SS officer.
May 19, 2009
· Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: 1940s, Good & Evil, Holocaust, Movie-Book, War Story · Posted in: Allegory/Fable, Germany, World Lit
