DCL Book Chat

The Uncoupling is a book about sex. Or rather, it’s a book about no sex. In the sleepy suburban town of Stellar Plains, New Jersey, a spell has come over the women who work at the local high school. They feel an icy chill and they suddenly no longer have any desire to engage in sex. The very thought is repulsive. This cold wave happens to coincide with the staging of that year’s school play, Lysistrata, the ancient Greek comedy where the women of Athens decide to withhold sex until their men stop fighting the Peloponnesian War.

If you can let yourself embrace this magically-realistic premise, Wolitzer’s story puts an interesting spin on how sex and our love or hate of it can affect a relationship. The spell knows no bounds and we hear from, among others, a formerly passionate spouse; a teen in the thrall of new love; a disaffected partner resentful of hurtful remarks; and a serial-dating single. These different voices give the story a well-rounded perspective. As the characters exam their sex lives, they examine their whole lives and their place in each relationship. They consider intimacy at all its levels. Wolitzer’s writing style is easy to read and she is spot on with describing certain elements of high school life and suburban living.

The ending of the story is, perhaps, a bit predictable and heavy on the mystical, but the body of the story is entertaining and thought-provoking enough to carry the reader through.

Laura J.

Julia Glass won the 2002 National Book Award for Three Junes. In this her fourth novel, she writes a funny, moving and thought provoking story revolving around a curmudgeonly 70-year-old retired Harvard librarian. Percy Darling’s wife, Poppy, died suddenly 30 years ago. Now, his staid, solitary lifestyle changes dramatically when he allows his older daughter, Clover, to renovate his barn and turn it into Elves and Fairies, a preschool for the wealthy families who live in their suburb outside Boston.

Other characters whose stories unfold and intertwine with Percy’s are his other daughter Trudy, a renowned Boston oncologist; her son Robert, a premed student at Harvard who gets involved with an eco-terrorism group; and Sarah, whose son Ricco attends Elves & Fairies and to whom Percy forms an attachment. Others include Ira, Ricco’s gay teacher and Celestino, a Guatemalan gardener, who Percy meets while Celestino is tending Percy’s neighbor’s garden.

I would recommend this book to discussion groups and to readers who enjoy Elizabeth Berg, Joyce Carol Oates and Anne Tyler.

Allison

Three adult sisters return home to straighten out their own lives and support their mother who is fighting cancer. The girls are not particularly close and their personalities strongly reflect their birth order so they tend to drive each other crazy.

This refreshingly unsentimental story of family dynamics is told with warmth and humor by promising new novelist Eleanor Brown who will be at the Highlands Ranch Library on June 30.

Marsha

Colorado Springs baker Ramona Gallagher’s life is in a downward spiral. Her boulangerie is in financial trouble, she’s not getting on with her parents and her pregnant daughter’s husband has been seriously wounded in Afghanistan. When her daughter leaves for Germany to be with her husband, her thirteen year old stepdaughter has nowhere to go. So Ramona takes her in. What follows for Ramona is a summer of reconnecting – with her family, with her high school crush and with a prickly teenager who needs a lot of love. Stir in some baking tips and mouthwatering recipes and readers will discover a story with a lot of Colorado based charm.

Dedra

Bruce Machart’s debut novel, The Wake of Forgiveness, is a stirring and dramatic tour-de-force. Jumping between several time periods spanning 1895 – 1924, we learn the story of the Skala family. We learn how grief has distorted a father’s ability to love his sons, especially the youngest, Karel, whose birth began the cycle of anger and withdrawal. We learn how Karel resiliently manages to grab affection wherever possible. And we learn how power can mangle a relationship in the span of a midnight horse race. Like All the Pretty Horses meets East of Eden, The Wake of Forgiveness tells a tale of tough westerners living harsh lives of brutal passion. It deals with damaged relationships and heart-stopping emotional turmoil through beautifully written passages of brusque eloquence.

Laura

Best-selling novelist Octavia Frost learns of her rock star son Milo’s arrest for the murder of his girlfriend on the Times Square news crawl. A family tragedy has driven them apart but Octavia rushes to California with the hope of exonerating Milo. Surprising information is revealed as she delves into events surrounding the murder and gets reacquainted with Milo and his circle.

Parkhurst gives a unique twist to the story by including excerpts from Octavia’s recently completed experimental work in which she has rewritten the endings to her novels. Excerpts from Octavia’s new work help drive the plot and reveal the emotions behind her personal and professional struggles.

This novel illustrates the ways family life can both damage and heal us, and the nuances of the mother-son relationship are beautifully explored.

Marsha

Five year old Jack has lived his entire life in an eleven foot square room. His mother was a nineteen year old college student when she was kidnapped by a man who has held her captive for seven years. His mother has conceived a dangerous plan for escape; will Jack be able to pull it off, and what will his world be like if he does? Told entirely in Jack’s bright but socially naïve voice, Room delivers charm, humor, breathtaking suspense and, most of all, a mother’s love for her child. It’s a book you will never forget.

Dedra

When Ruby Leander was nineteen years old she found an adorable abandoned baby in a trash can. Sure that no one wanted the tiny girl with the beautiful eyes, she kept her, loved her and is raising the now eleven year old with the help of wonderful friends in Santa Fe. But when Ruby reads about a baby kidnapped by carjackers she is faced with a heartbreaking decision. Consider this one for your bookclub.

Dedra

Juliet by Anne Fortier is a debut novel that blends the contemporary story of Julie Jacobs with the ancient legend of Romeo and Juliet. Fortier, who grew up in Denmark, said that her mother was in love with Verona, Italy, and lived in Italy for a time. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was part of the stories from her childhood. Later, when Fortier and her mother went to Siena – they fell in love with the city and were surprised to hear that the first written version of Romeo and Giulietta was actually penned in 1340 as taking place in Siena.

This gave Fortier a glimmer of an idea. What if there were twins whose parents died mysteriously in Italy. The small girls are taken to the U.S. and raised by Aunt Rose. When she dies – Janice gets the house and Julie gets a key and is told to go back to Siena, Italy and find her roots.

Once Julie finds letters and stories from 1340 in her mother’s things in Italy, the book travels between 1340 and present day. We soon find that there is a bigger mystery than the way Julie’s parents died. It has to do with the ancient manuscript and story of the star-crossed lovers, a treasure and a centuries old family feud. Julie also finds out that she is a descendant of Giulietta Tolomei and wonders if the contemporary Romeo is going to be her undoing.

Readers will be captured by the first few pages of the book and find that the danger for them is staying up until dawn to find out what happens. Fortier did an excellent job of creating interesting characters and is able to drop readers into the middle of medieval Siena life. Her website helps readers by giving them an interactive map of Sienna, reader’s questions and a great book trailer video that sets the mood. http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/features/anne_fortier/index.php

In 1988 Dexter and Emma spend one night, July 15^th, together on the eve of their college graduation.  Without actually making that total physical connection they manage to connect well enough that they stay in contact with each other for the next several decades.  But theirs is not a simple relationship.  Instead, they bounce off each other like billiard balls exploding from the break as they both try to find love in all the wrong places.  Like “When Harry Met Sally” meets “Same Time Next Year,” we learn about Dex and Emma’s struggles to find meaning and romance as we check in with the characters on the same day over a period of twenty years.  Nicholls deftly combines witty dialog with real soul-searching to create a funny and heartbreaking novel.

Laura