When good intentions fail…

Best Intentions Emily Listfield 338 pages; published 2009

There was a time when we were happy, purely happy, there must have been.

The relief we had at finding each other, reclaiming each other again after that early separation, the night I told Sam I was pregnant with Claire, and two years later with Phoebe, those times of course. But it is the smaller, incremental moments that return to me, the instances when recognition and desire take you by surprise, the evening we made love on the kitchen floor after a dinner party if only to put off cleaning up, our first parent/teacher conference, when the nursery school director spent forty minutes deconstructing the way Claire held scissors and our suppressed laughter burst out in torrents on the street until tears were streaming down both of our faces. We were on the same side once, completely on the same side, I'm sure of it. (245)

I’m not a big reader of mysteries, who when Atria books asked if I would be interested in reviewing a copy of Emily Listfield’s new book, Best Intentions, I was a little unsure. I needn’t have worried, however, as it was nothing like I expected; a beautiful read that was over far too quick for my liking!

Lisa lives in the upper suburbs of Manhattan. She’s the Vice President of a small but well respected PR company, her husband is a well-known journalist, her daughter’s attend a very prestigious school and her long time best friend owns a chic up-and-coming boutique. She would seem to have it made.

But Lisa is never quite comfortable in this flashy world, she never feels like she truly fits. It’s not the life she imagined for herself when she, husband Sam, girlfriend Deirdre and friend Jack were in college. So when this world that she works so hard to stay afloat in starts to crumble around her, Lisa is left with nothing to cling to. Everything she holds to be true is fading away a little more each day. Her career, and worse, her marriage is in shambles, her best friend is dead and she has to face the very real possibility that someone she knows and loves may be responsible.

Emily Listfield’s murder mystery is not your typical whodunit (and nope, I was way off course with who I thought did it), and I loved it all the more because of this. More than anything is this was the story of Lisa, and her struggle to find some balance in her constantly shifting worlds of work, love, and life.

The true pleasures of the book surface in all the in-betweens, in all the tiny details of the minor passages. Listfield paints scenes of home life with a brush of true beauty. A father eating breakfast with his daughters, a child’s messy room, an awkward teenager’s interactions with her mother – both bitter rival and most trusted confidante at the same time – these were the moments that made the book truly memorable.

I would recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys character driven mysteries or family dramas. 4.5/5

Dead Until Dark
Charlaine Harris
326 pages; published 2004

For a second I felt ashamed at calling Bill to rescue me: I should have handled the situation myself. Then I thought, Why? When you know a practically invincible being who professes to adore you, someone so hard to kill it’s next to impossible, someone preternaturally strong, that’s who you’re gonna call. (255-6)

Sookie Stackhouse lives in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Her life is ordinary – she lives with her grandmother, works at the local bar, and has a brother who lives nearby. Problem is, despite her lifestyle, Sookie herself is anything but ordinary. Ever since she was a young girl, Sookie has had the ability to read the minds of those around her.

Normality never sticks around for very long though – at least not with a character like Sookie in the lead. Bon Temps starts to wake up with the revelation of the reality of vampires (they’re “coming out of the coffin”). With the development of a viable synthetic blood, vampires no longer have to feed on humans to survive, and many are seeking a more human lifestyle.

When one such vampire, oh-so-scarily named "Bill", moves to town and, incidentally, next door to Sookie, her life suddenly gets turned upside down. Bill is tall, dark and handsome - and definately dangerous - but, most appealing of all, Sookie cannot hear his thoughts. Around, she does not have to endure the aching strain required to simply afford people their privacy. She is free to just relax.

But when a local woman dies under suspicious circumstances, Sookie finds herself dating a prime suspect. At what cost does her freedom come?

Vampire romances are a dime-a-dozen at the moment. Everywhere you turn you find yet another one creeping up behind you. Despite this, I found Dead Before Dark, the first of the Sookie Stackhouse series, to be an enjoyable light read. While still maintaining the romantic coupling of the moment - a (relatively) normal human girl with the dark scary vamp - it does mix it up a bit by ensuring that she herself is not entirely normal. Sookie doesn't belong in Bill's world ... but she doesn't really fit in her own either.

Harris' writing was a little slow in places; I felt like I was wading through it at times to get to the next part. Having said that, I would still recommend it to fans of the genre. Harris' humour comes into play quite strongly, leaving the book with a slightly oddball air to it, only to be effectively cut down when some of the darker elements come to the surface.

A fun read, the sequel of which I'm looking forward to reading. 3.5/5

Other Reviews

• Lightheaded at Everyday Reads
• Becflies at Librarian-ism-ish
• Trisha at eclectic / eccentric
• Trisha at Trisha's Book Blog

The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Mary E. Pearson
265 pages; published 2008

On the eighth day Father had to return to work in Boston. He and Mother whispered, but I still heard. Risky … have to get back … you’ll be fine. Before he left he cupped my face in both of his hands. “Little by little, Angel,” he said. “Be patient. Everything will come back. Over time all the connections will be made.” I think my gait is normal now. My memory is not. I don’t remember my mother, my father, or Lily. I don’t remember that I once lived in Boston. I don’t remember Jenna Fox.

Father says it will come in time. “Time heals,” he says.

I don’t tell him that I don’t know what time is. (7)

Her mother gave her a box of discs, all labeled. Jenna Fox/Year One ... Year Two ... Year Sixteen. "Watch them," she suggests. "Maybe they'll help you remember."

That's the problem. Jenna doesn't remember. She doesn't remember her mother, her father, even herself. She doesn't remember why her grandmother seems to hate her and she doesn't remember the accident that left her in a coma for over a year. She doesn't remember anything at all. What's more, the little bits that are coming back to her piece by piece are leaving her with the awkward suspicion that something is not quite right.

There is something curious about where we live. Something curious about Father and his nightly phone calls with Mother. And certainly something curious about me. Why can I remember the details of the French Revolution but I can’t remember if I ever had a best friend? (12)

Why is she not allowed to leave the house? Why did they move from Boston to California? How did they time their move to her waking up so perfectly? And, if California is their new home, why does her father spend all his time in Boston, keeping his job at the large bio-engineering research hospital?

What aren't they telling her? What doesn't she remember? 4/5



Also Reviewed Here
Serena


Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!

The Eyre Affair

Jasper Fforde

384 pages, published 2001

Book 1 in the Thursday Next series

Though I have read The Eyre Affair in the past, I thought I'd reread it since I bought the rest of the series in a recent book buying binge... wait... I wasn't going to admit to that... can I take it back?

Okay let's start again: I have never read this book before and there is no rest of the series sitting on my book shelf and there was no book buying whatsoever. I am firmly sticking to my (stupidly) self-imposed "no new books" policy and as such there was no book binging whatsoever ... now if you'll excuse me, I just have to go and revive Bethany who has collapsed in disbelieve.

On with the review.

Thursday Next, experienced operative in the London LiteraTech (Literary Detective) divison, is somewhat bored with her life: she is tired of her job, can't remember the last time she saw her time travelling father for more than five minutes, and lives alone with her pet Dodo. What she doesn't know, however, is that her world is about to be turned upside down when she is assigned to the investigation of the theft of the original manuscript of Charles Dickens Chuzzlewit. Far from an ordinary case, Thursday meets her arch-nemesis - criminal mastermind Acheron Hades, a man gleefully free of morals and who doesn't pull back from his threats to remove (and forever kill) long beloved literary characters, right off the page.

Though her encounter with Hades is a complete disaster, Hades still feels the need to increase the stakes in their relationship by threatening the integrity (and the live) of a more beloved book/character - Jane Eyre. Without the heroine, the novel will be destroyed forever. Will Thursday be able to save Jane? Can she restore her rightful place? And will she be able to all this and still manage to escape Hades herself? 5/5

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Mark Haddon
272 pages, published 2003

An immensely moving book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time gives an insight (both haunting and humorous) into the life of a family dealing with Asperger’s Syndrome. Narrated by fifteen-year-old Christopher as he takes on the mystery of who is responsible for the midnight murder of the dog across the road, the day to day happenings of his family are cast into a remarkably difficult light for him.

Originally intended as a children’s story, Haddon’s unique novel is a good read for anyone of any age who wants a exceptional insight into an interesting mind. 4/5

Motherless Brooklyn
Jonathon Lethem
336 pages, published 1999


To be honest, I only found the story so-so – though I will be fair in admitting that I am not a great fan of detective novels. That being said, I would still recommend this book for it’s insights into the main character alone.

Set in the seventies, Lionel finds himself an oddity in an unkind world – a man suffering from Tourette’s before his condition has gained public knowledge. Told entirely from his perspective, the reader is exposed to the uncontrollable mind of the well meaning Lionel as he follows the clues to discover the killer of his boss and mentor.

Watching this poor man utterly incapable of maintaining control over the words he says or the manner in which he focuses his attention – and being filled with dread at the smallest things, knowing just how it will affect him - just makes one glad they are not put in such a position. 3/5

The Dante Club
Matthew Pearl
370 pages, published 2006

Revolving around Longfellow and his collection of poets and authors working on the first American translation of the Divine Comedy, this murder mystery combines cleverly inventive crime fiction and nerdy insights into academia. I can’t really tell you anything else without giving away the plot, but it is highly recommended for anyone who loves Dante or who just enjoys a good literary crime fiction.

I did feel that the book dragged a little towards the end – though to be far, I’m not an avid crime reader and may have just wanted to get to it’s conclusion. Despite this, it was beautifully written and I found several passages over which I hovered. 4/5