Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. Sure, you could read advertising blurbs on Amazon, but wouldn’t you be more likely to believe a neighbor with no skin in the game over a corporation being fed words by publishers? So in this series, we are sharing these mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email bellis@denverpost.com.
“Tom Lake,” by Ann Patchett (Harper, 2023)
I thought this book would be about a guy with a laughable short name, but, no, Tom Lake is the name of an actual lake in this novel that excavates layers of family history and reveals family dynamics, Patchett’s forte. Set in Michigan’s rural cherry orchard country, the mother’s stories about her early life and relationships unwind during long days of harvesting cherries. The daughters, whose sibling mannerisms likely will resonate with many women who have sisters, start to examine their own life choices, as they digest their new understanding of their mother and her early life choices. This one is a Reese Witherspoon book club pick. Could there be a film in its future? — 2½ stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
“The Invisible Hour,” by Alice Hoffman (Atria, 2023)
“In books, no one helped a girl who didn’t help herself, and every fairy tale ended with the same lessons: Trick your enemy, do what you must, believe in enchantments, save yourself.” Alice Hoffman is wonderful at transporting a reader into other worlds and times. “The Invisible Hour,” an homage to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter,” begins with the story of Ivy, a young runaway who joins a commune/cult in Blackwell, Mass. (a previous Hoffman setting). Unsurprisingly, books are burned, rules proliferate, and violators are shamed or tortured by branding with symbolic letters — but here “A” is for self-absorbed and anarchy and wickedness, rather than for adultery.
Ivy and her daughter Mia are avid readers, and Mia finds solace and salvation through a first edition of “The Scarlet Letter.” “Once she began to read, she understood there was a door that would lead her out of her situation, and that every book was a door, and that there were a thousand lives that she might live.” From this point on, Hoffman indulges in the magic for which she is famous. There are ghostly sightings and vaguely explained time travel that furthers Hoffman’s theme of women’s power and agency over their own bodies. I can’t say “The Invisible Hour” is Hoffman’s best work, but she still writes a book that almost suspends disbelief, and is definitely worth the read, especially for her fans. — 2.5 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker
“The Personal History of Rachel Dupree,” by Ann Weisgarbe (Penguin Books, 2013)
Pioneers were a diverse group, so it’s fascinating to have them come to life in this book. Set in 1917 in the South Dakota Badlands, this intimate saga traces the lives of Rachel DuPree and her husband, Isaac, a former Buffalo soldier. The story provides a delicious mélange of imaginary, fascinating characters alongside real humans like Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Booker T. Washington, to provide a portrait of what life was like for a “normal” Black-American family. A rarity in those times, the family leaves Chicago to stake a homesteading claim, then struggles for years, challenged by drought, illness, death and isolation. Rachel’s priority is her children, Isaac’s, the land, putting them at odds and testing definitions about love, loyalty and courage. — 3 out of 4 stars, Bonnie McCune; bonniemccune.com
