Book Review: Beatrice Munson

Book: Beatrice Munson

Genre: Chick Lit / Contemporary Fiction / Women’s Fiction

Author: Lorena Bathey

Cover Critique:

The cover is quite simple and gives an impression of a hand-made drawing. Though it makes sense after reading the story, it definitely has room for improvement. I like the whole concept but maybe bright colors would have made it more attractive and eye-catching.

Review:

This is a story about Marissa Lyons, a divorced woman in her forties with two kids, which made me think that why is the book named after some other character? Well, I found out soon as we get introduced to Beatrice in the first chapter. In the opening scene, we see Marissa spying on one of her neighbours who have just moved in. This peculiar neighbour is, Beatrice Munson: smart, beautiful blonde and her high-school arch enemy. Why she hates Beatrice so much? Because in high-school, she had a crush on this cute guy named Jeffery, but he chose to date Beatrice instead of her. Hang on, let me tell you that it was not Beatrice’s fault, nor was she “mean” to our "insecure" heroine in any way.

Anyways, let’s move on to what happens next. Years later, she still holds that grudge against Beatrice and fears that she will steal every one’s attention due to her impressive personality and beautiful looks. With those negative thoughts and just a smidgen of self-esteem, she bakes some delicious cupcakes (her mom’s favourite recipe) which is just a great excuse to meet her and find out why she has landed in her neighbourhood and more importantly, in her life again.

Soon, we are surprised to see that Marissa has not only forgotten about her hatred, she is also totally captivated by Beatrice’s charm. Looks like, Beatrice has moved her magic wand and Marissa is under the spell as she finds her an epitome of all-good. Is that because Beatrice’s crazy, adventurous and exciting life, makes her feel small in front of her? Does she envy her for being so passionate and daring and wishes secretly that she could be like her and follow her dreams? Read the book to find out!

This book sucked me right in with its warmth, passion and high dosage of good humour, along with ample twists and turns to keep me hooked from first chapter till the very last pages. The characters are drawn in such a way that you feel like they are part of your neighbourhood and like your friends with whom you can share your secrets and feel comfortable. In spite of their faults, they are well-rounded, realistic, relatable and extremely adorable.

The writer has kept a very candid and frank style throughout the story which made me feel as if I was reading someone’s private diary, written without inhibitions and with utter honesty. Though this book is Lorena’s first novel, she is successful in involving the reader into her fictional world of memorable characters so much that the readers lose track of the real world around them. I think this speaks volume of her calibre as a writer.

The book is aptly named after Beatrice whose character is like some sort of “guru” or a “revolutionary spiritual leader” who has the power to convince people and bring a positive change in their lives. She makes things "happen" rather than just sitting and dreaming about them. She infuses this spirit in the whole neighbourhood with her presence and ideas.

There is Marissa, who lacks confidence and guts. She does not want to take charge of her life but soon, she finds herself acting on her long-lost passion of photography by opening a studio and joining a newspaper as a journalist. Soon, all the ladies of Vista Heights: Andrea, Lily, Deidre get spontaneous and the whole neighbourhood catches “Beatrice fever”. They start embracing opportunities lying in front of them, thus explore and widen their horizon.

The book is a joy-ride full of excitement and nervous energy. It reminded me of Katy Perry’s upbeat song, “Firework”! There is lot of activity going on, which keeps the story fast-paced. It also delves into the various aspects of divorce, marriage, flirtations, friendships and much more but in such a way that it does not burden the reader; instead it is heart-warming and enlightening. There are laugh-out-loud funny scenes, especially the one with drag queen parties. I was stumped by Lola Rau’s character and wanted to read more and more of her. There is a lot of mention of yummy food, which made me hungry, looks like Lorena is fond of tasty treats! *smiles*

Apart from fun surprises, there is also a rape scene. But it has been written in a very mature way and it did not make me gag, so I think the writer pulled it off neatly.  I loved this book as the story reached a satisfying climax and gave many underlying messages as well. Well done Lorena! I would love to read more of Lorena’s work in future too. Highly recommended!

Review Girl Rating: 9.5/10

“I would like to thank Lorena Bathey for sending me a free copy of her book, Beatrice Munson for the purpose of reviewing it on my blog. To buy this book on Amazon, click here. You can also buy this book from her website, by clicking here.” 

Book Review: The Gift

Book: The Gift

Genre: Non-Fiction / Memoir

Author: Ita Willen

Cover Critique:

The cover is as simple and effective as it should be. It shows the picture of Ita Willen’s grandmother, which shows a striking resemblance with her own picture given inside the book.

Review:

This book is a memoir of a survivor of the atrocious crime of Holocaust. Those of you who would like to jitter their memory and know what exactly this book is about, I am going to make things easier for you and present you with the gist of this historical event:

“The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community. 

During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic people (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals.” – (Courtesy: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Website) 

Now, let’s talk about the book. This memoir starts with a Prologue and ends with an Epilogue. The chapters are named after the four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall which metaphorically explain that life itself is like the continuous cycle of Nature, it moves on, no matter what. Before Prologue, the writer quotes a line of Nietzsche, “We have art in order not to die of the truth”. This gave me a feeling that in spite of the fact that this book is going to be about the tragic, heinous and ugly events of Holocaust told from the eyes of a child who came out as a survivor, it will still have an optimistic approach towards life and I was right.

In the Prologue, the writer sets the mood for heart-wrenching events described in the following chapters of the book by saying, “I am afraid of opening wounds. I am afraid of onrush of emotion. I am afraid the survivor will begin to tell me about everyone he lost and overflow with pain at the memories. I am afraid the survivor will fall apart on me into a weeping heap of bones.”

I loved her honest and straight-forward approach of writing. As I moved on to the chapters one by one, I felt sympathetic towards her loss as she goes on to describe how she lost her family members in Holocaust with vivid descriptions of death camps, especially Auschwitz concentration camp.

But the book is not just about these tragic losses, it is more about her views on life in the aftermath of that incident that changed her life. She not only debates about various religions from Judaism, Hinduism, Islam to Buddhism and Dalai Lama’s but also refers to many philosophers while trying to explain her way of perceiving things in life. While I may not agree with many of her judgements on various religions, I was still extremely interested to read more and find out how she interprets various concepts.

The beauty of her thoughts lies in her ideology of “hope” and seeing the “good” in things in spite of carrying the burden of dreadful memories of Holocaust. As she says, “Anyone can look beautiful or hideous depending on what you want to see in them....If I were a photographer I would try to capture the miraculous, the elegance of nature, the beauty of things, the goodness of people, the innocence of children, the wisdom of age, the Zen quality of even resignation.”

She talks about post- Holocaust trips to India, Nepal, Tibet and refers to pre-Holocaust bliss of her childhood in Poland with so much intensity and passion that I felt I was able to visualize things and events as she told them. She quotes about the inhuman conditions of Auschwitz many times in her book, but always in a way that surprises me. I can’t help but quote a few lines to capture the positive effect that it caused on my outlook on life.

It is pretty much the crux of her memoir, she says, “The whole problem with people who had an easy childhood and have no image of Auschwitz in their minds is that they don’t see that the ordinary world in which one is safe and fed and loved and sheltered is extraordinary. I realised suddenly what a wonderful effect the Holocaust has had on me. To be alive and healthy and free is like a miracle. Normal life is a miracle. That is the great gift I have received.”

There are so many lines and paras that I would love to quote to share with my readers, but that is not possible. Those of us who have interest in history and politics, would definitely like to read this wonderfully written memoir. It is insightful and thought-provoking. It does not matter whether your views match with hers or not, the whole point is the overall impact of her book, which is that one should be grateful and cherish every moment of life.

It is written in a poignant and literary style, which made me finish this book in one sitting. It also shows her inclination towards philosophy as she refers to Freud, Spinoza, Nietzsche, Dante and many others while dictating her doctrine. Though I may have found some of concepts outdated or ridiculous but then everyone’s experiences in life make them what they are and how they think.

So, the book gave me a frame of reference which I had not witnessed before, and a familiarity and knowledge which added to my awareness of things around me, about various aspects of life and most obviously, about the writer and her life. The book is worth a read for lovers of literature, history, comparative religions and philosophy.

Review Girl Rating: 9/10

“I would like to thank Sandra Sanchez of “The Wessex Collective” Publishing House as well as the author of this book Ita Willen for sending me a free copy of her book, “The Gift” for the purpose of reviewing it on my blog. To buy this book on Amazon, click here.” 

About the Author: 

Ita Willen was born in Poland in 1945, has a BA in philosophy from University of Texas in Austin and currently resides in Colorado. She was named for her paternal grandmother who died in a concentration camp, exact time and place unknown. In 1972 Random House published The Grubbag, a collection of weekly columns she wrote (under the name Ita Jones) for the Liberation News Service from 1968-70.