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A historical fiction novel set in old Hollywood, ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ opens with rookie reporter Monique Grant being asked to interview the Hollywood star who has had a glamorous and somewhat scandalous life. Monique goes to meet Evelyn to get her story for Vivant, the magazine Monique works for under Frankie, an ambitious and ruthless editor. But Evelyn tells her she isn’t interested in a magazine cover—that it was just a ruse to get to Monique. Rather, she wants to tell Monique her life story that Monique is free to publish as an authorized biography once Evelyn is no longer around.  

The book’s primary narrator is Evelyn, interspersed with Monique’s voice here and there. She takes us through her life—from her foray into Hollywood in the 50s to eventually winning the Oscars in the 80s. We get to know each of her seven husbands and her one true love, Celia St. James, while being enamored by the glitzy but often chaotic Hollywood life. But how does Monique fit into the picture? And why is Evelyn ready to bare her secrets to the world when she has done so much to protect those she loved and herself by putting up a façade for so long? It’s these two elements that don’t let you put the book down for long. You want to know what exactly drove Evelyn to keep remarrying despite being in love with Celia. You need to know what her plan is now that she is almost 80 and thus no longer guided by the same beliefs as during her younger days.

Reid is a master storyteller who knows what she is doing and is evidently in love with her craft. There are sentences that you want to keep rereading. It’s the smoothest prose I’ve read in a long, long time. I’m quite stingy with my five stars but this one was a winner through and through. There is never a dull moment in the story. Everything that happens feels important and gives you a complete sense of the characters and their emotions. You love and hate all the characters equally, just as you have a love-hate relationship with most of your closest ones. Even the ‘bad’ ones aren’t really bad. They are just human.

Reid shows us that everyone has flaws but nobody is really unredeemable—that a lot of times who you are depends on what your circumstances are at that moment, that you aren’t defined by any one thing but are rather a culmination of many different things, decisions, and emotions. She also addresses the issues of homophobia, racism, and sexism and does it with so much empathy that nothing feels forced or out of place. Bottom line: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a flawless book that will always have a special place in my heart.

Five stars 
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published: 2017
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Pages: 389, Paperback

Some books are so hyped that when they let me down, I feel something must be wrong with me. Maybe I just didn’t get them? Perhaps my brain is the size of a shriveled raisin? Or was I distracted when reading, which I shouldn’t have been, and what does that say about me as a reader? These thoughts are discomfiting and, frankly, makes me feel a little stupid. I take a lot of time to bounce back and pick up another book when this happens. I don’t want the next one to disappoint as well and that’s a lot of pressure. I hate books that put me in this position and most recently it was ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’ by Maria Semple that got me all riled up.

I had high hopes, having heard so much about the book. Afterall, it had also been made into a movie starring Cate Blanchett. I searched for a physical copy despite having the e-book in my kindle. I was so sure it was going to be a great read and that I would want to see the spine on my bookshelf. From what I had heard and read, this was a fantastic story about a family trying to understand one another better and the power of a daughter’s undying love for her mother. I even thought I would enjoy the format in which it is written—a hodgepodge of emails, transcripts, invoices, school memos and even FBI reports.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette is the story of Bernadette Fox, a woman in her fifties who lives in Seattle with her husband, Elgin Branch, and their daughter, Bee, a high-school student. Once an acclaimed architect, Bernadette is now a recluse of sorts. She spends most of her time at home, coming out only to drop Bee off and pick her up from school. She’s not involved in any school activities like the other parents and is actually contemptuous of the ones who do. Then when Bee asks for a family trip to Antarctica for scoring perfect grades, Bernadette throws herself into the preparation only to disappear days before departure. Everyone thinks Bernadette broke under pressure but Bee is convinced there is more to it than meets the eye.

My problem with the story is that much of it is just about Bernadette being on the brink of a meltdown and how the town folks don’t like her much. It goes nowhere for more than half of the book—just pointlessly moving about in circles trying to establish a point that could have been made in a few chapters. It got a bit too much after a while. The emails and invoices felt gossipy. Semple was a television writer for 15 years and it’s evident that she still thinks like one. You had to piece together a story with the help of the various correspondences and, while that would have made for a fun read, Semple’s choppy narrative makes you lose interest pretty fast.

2 stars
Fiction
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Maria Semple
Published: 2012
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Pages: 324, Paperback

We all have secrets, regrets, and other bottled-up emotions that we successfully hide, often from ourselves. The monsters resurface every now and then but are quickly buried deep in the crevices of our heads and hearts. Perhaps by doing so we are locking up an essential part of ourselves and thus we are never completely healed and whole. What if we confronted those dark feelings and we were honest about who we are? Maybe someone would judge us, like us a little less, but why should that matter when, by tackling our demons, we can finally be at peace? 

‘The Authenticity Project’ by Clare Pooley, with its myriad characters, one of which you are sure to relate to, makes you think of this and other conundrums of life. You realize no one is perfect and you aren’t either but not all flaws should be embraced. It’s human nature to change and evolve and working on our weaknesses and niggles can make us a better version of ourselves. 

The book begins with 37-year-old Monica, who runs a cafe in London, finding a green notebook, titled The Authenticity Project. Julian Jessop, 79-year-old artist, has written some truths about his life and left it at her cafe. In it, he asks the person who finds it to write his/her story and then leave the book for someone else to discover. Monica does as instructed and then lets it go. From then on, the journal falls into the hands of various people—an addict, a tourist and an Instagram influencer. As they all tell their own stories before leaving the book for others to come across, the characters end up forging a bond among themselves. By doing so, they realize the power of community, friendship, and the importance of staying true to oneself.  

 The language is easy albeit a bit clichéd here and there but that doesn’t take away from a story that brims with hope and positivity. There are moments of clarity when you feel like everything in life is manageable, every problem solvable, if you can just muster up the courage to be your authentic self. The Authenticity Project is fiction but, in a way, it is self-help too. It will make you re-evaluate your thinking and look into your actions to see what subtle changes you can make to significantly alter your life. The book also conveys a powerful message on the importance of fostering good relationships and being kind. All in all, it’s a cozy, feel-good book that reminds you to be a little easy on yourself as well as those around you.

3.5 stars
Fiction
The Authenticity Project
Clare Pooley
Published: 2020
Publisher: Penguin Random House 
Pages: 404, Paperback

Shirley Jackson is best known for her short story ‘The Lottery’ and the novel ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ that is considered the best haunted-house story till date. It has also been made into a movie, twice. Published in 1962, ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ was her final work. Jackson died shortly thereafter in 1965. She was just 48.

The Blackwood girls, Mary Katherine, also known as Merricat, and Constance, and Uncle Julian are the last surviving members of a grand old family. The rest of the clan were all murdered. Someone put arsenic in the sugar bowl and the family added it to their dessert. Merricat survived as she had been sent to her room before supper and Constance didn’t have sugar. Uncle Julian only took a little so he didn’t die even though it led to tons of health issues later on.

Constance is believed to have been behind it all because she cleaned the sugar bowl before the police arrived. There was a spider in it, she said. The three, and a cat named Jonas, live in the castle where the massacre took place, with only Merricat going into town every now and then for groceries and books.

The story is basically about how the three of them live their lives on a day-to-day basis, isolated from the rest of the town folks and hated (also somewhat feared) by them too. Then a cousin arrives. Charles claims to be worried about them and just visiting but he never leaves, especially after he finds out that the girls keep a lot of cash in the house. While he warms up to Constance, Merricat hates having him around and tries to get rid of him. That eventually complicates things even more.

Narrated from Merricat’s perspective, we only get a sense of what she sees and feels. But she’s neither an amicable person nor a reliable narrator. She hates everyone she meets and though there are many characters in the book, they are all portrayed in an unfavorable light. The mystery is easy enough to figure out with only one main twist a little more than halfway into the story. What makes it charming and creepy is the claustrophobia-inducing setting. You feel trapped in a castle with three eccentric characters, one of whom seems troubled and determined to go to any length to protect her family. There isn’t anything supernatural in this book but you get the feeling that something’s lurking somewhere all through. It spooks you and makes for a compelling read.

3.5 stars
Fiction
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Shirley Jackson
Published in 1962 by The Viking Press
The current Penguin Edition published in 2016
(For the 70th Anniversary of Penguin Classics)
Pages: 146, Paperback

Shari Lapena published her first book in 2008 but she only became a popular name after ‘The Couple Next Door’ came out in 2016 and became a bestseller in Canada and internationally. I loved Lapena’s 2020 book ‘The End of Her’. It had so many mind-bending twists and turns. Even as someone who has read hundreds of thrillers till date, I couldn’t predict what was going to happen next. Just when I would make up my mind about one thing, something would happen that would make me rethink my previous stance. Lapena knows how to keep her readers on the edge.

 I had been trying to get my hands on her other works for a while, when I came across ‘A Stranger in the House’. I wanted more of this amazing writer who had crafted such real but complex characters and stories. I couldn’t wait to read this psychological thriller that delves into a couple’s seemingly-perfect relationship and the secrets they keep to ensure their lives are smooth. (Trigger warning: the book has repeated references to gun and domestic violence as well as pregnancy and fertility issues.)

Following a whirlwind romance, Karen and Tom have been married for two years. They are very much in love. Then, one day, Karen gets into an accident in a part of town that she never goes to. There has been a murder nearby and the police think she killed the man and fled. The man, who was murdered, had been snooping around their house on and off, claiming to be a ‘friend of the wife’s’. The couple’s neighbor, Brigid, had seen a harried Karen get into the car on the night of the accident.

At the hospital, the last thing Karen remembers is that she was preparing dinner and waiting for her husband to come home. Each of the characters, and there aren’t that many, recollect the night’s events as they try to piece together what might have happened. We see the story unravel through different perspectives.

I wasn’t disappointed but having been exposed to Lapena’s writing style, I saw what she was trying to do. I won’t say I could predict what was going to happen next but I had a good sense of the general direction of where things were headed. Lapena is good at creating tension but her stories, settings, and style are eerily similar. She seems to have a trope or perhaps she thinks she has figured out the formula of success with The Couple Next Door and can’t think beyond that. I’m not saying you shouldn’t read her books. Just don’t read two of her books back-to-back or when one of her stories is still fresh in your mind.

3 stars

Fiction

A Stranger in the House

Shari Lapena

Published: 2017

Publisher: Transworld Publishers

Pages: 371, Paperback

I’m not a die-hard fan of fantasy although I read books in the genre every now and then. Don’t come at me, fans of ‘Harry Potter’ (Potterheads?) and George R.R. Martin, but I never really saw the appeal behind those doorstopper books. I read all seven Harry Potters (not counting the various add-ons here) and the first part in the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series. They didn’t feel as mind-blowing as they were made out to be.

So, naturally, I wasn’t much enthused about the ‘Shadow and Bone’ trilogy despite coming across it at multiple bookstores and people asking me if I had read it. My favorite booktuber (shoutout again to @paperbackdreams) hated it, especially the main character, Alina. She thought Alina was annoying and lame. I usually like and agree with her reviews so I had made up my mind not to pick it up. Then Netflix came out with a series and the promo looked interesting. I hence decided to read the book before binge-watching it. The book is okay, albeit a bit predictable. I want to watch the series now to see what they have done with the story.

A war orphan, Alina Starkov is raised on the estate of a minor noble in Ravka, along with her best friend and fellow orphan, Mal. The two are tested as children for the rare magical ability that would make them a Grisha, elite magician-soldiers of the kingdom. When they are found to have none, they get recruited into the common army instead. Then, during a trek across the Shadow Fold, a swath of impenetrable darkness that crawls with monsters, Alina unleashes a dominant magic that even she didn’t know she possessed. This catches the attention of the Darkling, a soldier close to the king, who believes she is the ‘Sun Summoner’—the only one with the power to destroy the Fold.

My problem with fantasy is that it feels a little too trope-y: There is a hero, a problem to solve and a villain to fight. Just the names and settings are different. Shadow and Bone too follows the same tried and tested path. There’s nothing new here. Hundred pages into the book, I could sense where the story was headed (and I was right). The story would have been riveting if I could have connected with Alina, Mal, the Darkling or any of the many characters that appear in the book. But they are all half-baked and I felt nothing for them. That, in turn, made it difficult for me to get sucked into the world Bardugo has created even though the scene setting is quite good. 

Shadow and Bone was fun while it lasted but I wasn’t actually living in another world while reading it, which is kind of the main point of fantasy, isn’t it?

3 stars 
Fantasy
Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo
Published: 2012
Publisher: Orion Children’s Books
Pages: 307, Paperback

I’m not into romances and love stories. They usually make my eyes roll far back into my head or cringe. I can’t remember the last time I read or enjoyed a romance novel that wasn’t literary or had some other plot going on apart from the boy-meets-girl and-romance-ensues bit. I wouldn’t have read ‘Get a Life, Chloe Brown’ by Talia Hibbert if my absolutely favorite booktuber (@paperbackdreams) and some friends whose reading tastes I like hadn’t been going gaga over it.

‘Get a Life, Chloe Brown’ is the first part in a trilogy of sorts but it works well as a standalone novel too. Hibbert has written three books and each tells the story of a different Brown sister. The second book is ‘Take a Hint, Dani Brown’, and the final one is ‘Act Your Age, Eve Brown’. Dani and Eve both make appearances in Chloe’s book and are interesting characters that you want to know more about. The little of what you get to see of them in Get a Life, Chloe Brown leaves you wanting more and it only seems fair that they each have a book of their own.

Chloe Brown suffers from fibromyalgia, a condition that leaves her in pain, accompanied by fatigue, and sleep and mood problems. Her fiancé dumps her because he can’t deal with her issues and slowly her friends too disappear from her life. She lives in a mansion with her grandmother where everything is taken care of for her. One day, after a near death experience, she decides to take charge of things. The extremely organized and meticulous Chloe makes a list. It includes things like moving out of her family home, going camping, getting drunk, having meaningless sex and other random things.

Then she meets Redford Morgan. He is the superintendent of the building she moves into. Both feel a visceral attraction to each other that they initially try to deny and suppress. But as Redford helps Chloe tick items off her list, they end up giving in to their emotions. What follows is a lot of sweet gestures, hot moments, and ultimately a misunderstanding that eventually leads to a heartwarming ending.

As far as love stories go, it’s an out and out cliché. But what makes Get a Life, Chloe Brown different is Hibbert’s sense of humor that gives Chloe a fun, distinctive and interesting voice and the sensitivity with which the story addresses the issue of abusive relationships. Hibbert also sends out a message of body positivity through her main character who is beautiful and chubby, two traits that are often considered antonyms. It’s a feel-good book that leaves you sighing, giggling, and happy.

Three stars
Get a Life, Chloe Brown
Talia Hibbert
Published: 2019
Publisher: Avon
Pages: 384, paperback

While I’ve always enjoyed good thrillers, horrors and bloodbaths weren’t really my thing. The pandemic changed that. I turned to spooky stuff to get my mind off the very real threat out there. It worked. Now, I no longer need that distraction but I find I’ve sort of developed a taste for it. Readers recommending books that made their skin crawl makes mine tingle in anticipation.

I’d heard a lot about ‘No Exit’ by Taylor Adams. Some friends said it left them traumatized and booktubers would shut their eyes, shake their heads and squeal when reviewing this book. I couldn’t find it at any bookstore in Kathmandu but I finally got the e-book. Twenty pages in, I wasn’t very enthused. I didn’t like the writing style and the setting felt a bit off but things escalated pretty quickly and left me stunned. No Exit is, hands-down, the best edge-of-the-seat thriller I’ve read in a long time.

On her way home to see her sick mother, college student Darby Throne gets stranded at a highway rest stop in Colorado because of a blizzard. There’s no cellphone signal. At the rest stop, there are four other people waiting out the storm with her. Then, Darby sees a little girl locked in an animal crate at the back of a van parked next to her car. She quickly finds out who, out of the four people, the van belongs to and everything from then on is about saving the child and ultimately herself too when the kidnapper finds out she has seen the girl.

The premise feels like that of any other thriller. But what goes down is insane. It’s creepy. The scenes are so vivid. It makes you jump, gasp, and shudder. There were multiple times when I had to put the kindle down and cover my eyes and ears to shake off the images that were forming in my head. I was visibly rattled and my husband, more than once, commented on why I was reading a book that was driving me crazy and making me shriek. Thinking about it now, two weeks after finishing the book, still makes my heart race.

It was so good (if this were a post on Instagram instead of a review in a national newspaper, I’d have put 10, no 20, o’s behind that so.) It’s definitely not for the faint of heart but if you enjoy an eerie, nightmarish read, you’re doing yourself a great disservice if you don’t pick this one up right away.

Fiction
No Exit
Taylor Adams
Published: 2019
Publisher: William Morrow
File size: 1747 KB
Print length: 371 pages