BJ’s Standout Reads November 2019
Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen I loved this one, told from the perspective of Alice, and is a fictional account of her job as assistant to the world renowned editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, Helen Gurley Brown. Helen pushed the boundaries from the very beginning as the editor of the magazine and Alice entered the story just as Helen was taking over as editor. It was a fascinating insight into the history of the magazine, as well as the blatant sexism Helen faced as the editor in a male dominated industry. Of course, Helen took the magazine straight to the top. Haters gonna hate.
I Liked My Life by Abby Fabiashi Madeline just died, and she is still able to see her daughter Eve and her husband Brady as they are coping with her death. See, Madeline jumped off the roof of the library where she used to volunteer and died, and Eve and Brady are struggling with why she would have done that. Madeline is able to enter their thoughts, as she tries to fix up Brady with a woman she lines up, from the beyond, as Eve’s tutor. Eventually Madeline’s time hovering over her family is running out, and all she wants is to ensure that they’ll be OK without her.
The Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly This one was told from 3 perspectives during World War II: Caroline an American socialite who volunteers at the French consulate and organizes relief efforts for French children affected by the war, Kasia a Polish woman who gets arrested by the Germans for her role in the Polish Underground, and Herta a German doctor who takes a post at the Ravensbruck concentration camp. The camp was notorious for medical experiments performed on the women inmates, Kasia was one of them and Herta was the doctor performing the experiments. After the war Caroline learns about the women of Ravensbruck and seeks to get them out of Poland and into America where they can receive better medical care for the damage done to their bodies at the camp. Eventually all 3 women intersect as their roles during the war collide.
BJ Knapp is the author of Beside the Music, available for purchase here. Please sign up for the Backstage with BJ Knapp mailing list to get updates on events, signings, dog pictures and so much more.
added on 12.10.19