Reputation: A Novel by Sara Shepard

A special thank you to Edelweiss, NetGalley and Penguin Group/Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When a hacker dumps 40,000 people's emails onto an easily accessible database, the entire student body, faculty, staff, and alums at Aldrich University are rocked. Secrets, affairs, scandals...it's all there.

But when Kit Manning's husband, Dr. Greg Strasser, is found murdered in his kitchen, things take a dramatic turn. Kit's sister, Willa, returns home to attend Greg's funeral. She fled fifteen years ago after a night she desperately would like to forget. Willa is an investigative reporter and knows that something is off with the events surrounding Greg's death—she's determined to find out what actually happened before someone else ends up dead.

Sara Shepard is always a standout. This explosive, sharp, and propulsive novel is full of twists and shocking reveals. Her writing is captivating, clever, and above all, entertaining. It is framed more like a TV series, with Shepards foot firmly on the gas, but it works. There are several moving pieces to this story—none of the characters are innocent and they all have something to hide. She skillfully tells the story from multiple female perspectives. None of these women are particularly enjoyable, but that just amps up the drama and pettiness.  

Given the number of twists and turns the narrative takes, unfortunately the #MeToo tie-in gets lost and ultimately ends up as more of a comment in passing. For me, this was the difference between 4 and 5 stars.

Reputation is a soapy story of intrigue, sabotage, secrets, and the lengths we go to keep them. I devoured it for the gossipy treat it was.

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SARA SHEPARD is the author of two New York Times bestselling series, Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game, as well as the series The Perfectionists. She is a graduate from New York University and holds an MFA from Brooklyn College. 

Woman on the Edge Launch Party

Photo credit: Girl Well Read—do not use without written permission.

The event took place at Supermarket, a vibrant restaurant and bar located in the heart of Kensington Market in downtown Toronto. It was the perfect venue to celebrate Samantha M. Bailey's incredible debut.

Bailey is a delight! She's so gracious, and was a charming hostess—I couldn't be more happy for her success. Thank you to both Samantha and her inimitable team at Simon & Schuster Canada for inviting me to the launch party.

After six years of hard work, Woman on the Edge was published on November 26th. In this explosive novel, Bailey deftly alternates between Morgan's and Nicole's stories, past and present. One of the women is struggling with her grief and the desire to become a mother, the other is struggling with becoming a mother and the overwhelming desire to protect her child.

Nicole's anxiety is compounded by the guilt of a traumatic event in her past. Her angst is palpable, as are her fears of motherhood, and she becomes a shell of her former self—a far cry from the successful CEO of her own company. Morgan's life fell apart when her husband committed suicide as a result of being found guilty of embezzlement. She was left with the repercussions, including the police thinking that she was his accomplice. The two women are forever joined by tragedy, but what is their connection?

The character descension and strong pacing ratchet up the tension. Cleverly delivered in short, suspenseful chapters, readers will grapple with not only who to believe, but with also not being able to put the book down.

With the speed of a train, this incredible debut comes careening down the tracks. It is exhilarating, tense, and consuming.

Woman on the Edge

On a subway platform in Chicago, Morgan Kincaid’s life is changed forever when a stranger hands her a baby, then jumps in front of an oncoming train. Morgan can't understand why someone would give their child to a complete stranger and take their own life.

Unfortunately, Morgan's involvement runs deeper when she's considered a suspect in the death of the woman. But Morgan has never seen her before that day. With no witnesses to corroborate her version of events, things are not looking good.

To clear her name, Morgan tries to piece together Nicole Markham's final days. Nicole believed that she, and her new baby, were in danger. Or was she a new mother struggling with postpartum depression and paranoia? And what is Morgan's connection to all of this? As she gets closer to the truth, one thing become apparent, her life is also in danger.

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SAMANTHA M. BAILEY is a Toronto-based novelist, journalist, and freelance editor. Her work has appeared in NOW Magazine, The Village Post, and Oxford University Press, among other publications. She was a writer-in-residence for Kobo Writing Life at BookExpo America 2013. She is the co-founder of BookBuzz, a promotional and interactive author-reader event held in New York City and Toronto.

Woman on the Edge is her debut novel.

The Godmother: A Crime Novel by Hannelore Cayre

A special thank you to EWC Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Patience Portefeux is a 53-year-old widow who is just getting by. Working as a translator for the Paris drug squad she can barely cover the cost of university for her two daughters, as well as the care her elderly mother requires. She comes in contact with the mother of a drug trafficker through information received from the police wiretaps and is able to secure a large amount of hash. Taking on an alias as "The Godmother," Patience become financially secure—she even has to launder money.

With a fascinating woman at its core, The Godmother is an unflinching look at the gritty side of Paris in contemporary France.

What struck me about this book was the subtly and understatedness—it was clever without being trite or predictable. What Cayre makes up for with ingenuity, she alienates with the slightly formal tone and quirkiness of the book.

The story itself was well executed, however, (dare I say) lacking in morals. At times it was rather dark and twisted so if this is your bag, you will love it. Readers are taken to the underbelly of Paris—forget the glamour one associates with the City of Lights, this is the drug infested criminal underground. For me the difference between 3 and 4 stars was the slow start. It took several attempts to get into the story, but once I did, I enjoyed the book.

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HANNELORE CAYRE is a criminal lawyer, film director, and writer.

She currently resides in France.

The Shape of Family by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

A special thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Shape of Family is an intimate look at a family fractured by an unspeakable tragedy. Jaya and Keith meet in 1988 at a pub in London—she is the cultured daughter of an Indian diplomat and he is a middle-class banker from Philadelphia. Their union results in a house in the suburbs of California complete with two children; Karina is the oldest, a typical strong-willed teenager, and Prem, their treasured youngest.

When an unspeakable tragedy happens, the Olanders are not immune and the family splits. Jaya turns to religion taking and takes comfort in her spirituality. Keith puts all his energy and attention into his career and women. Karina exercises her independence, trying to regain control of her life, and Prem watches it all unravel.

Karina's self-destruction is exacerbated when she goes away to college—this should have been her new beginning. Desperate for the love of a family, she makes a choice that ultimately forces her immediate family to deal with their painful past and the roles they've played.

A solid 3.5 stars.

This novel was incredibly captivating from the onset. It is a brilliant character study about a family that is torn apart by tragedy, unspoken grief, and regrets. It is a quiet study on a tender topic in that grief is deeply personal—everyone mourns differently.

However, the different between 3.5 and 4 stars was Karina's disintegration. Without giving too much away, the narrative veers into a storyline that I not only detached from, but grew incredibly frustrated with. And then the novel ends rather abruptly.

There is no denying that Gowda is a beautiful and riveting writer, and I would definitely recommend this book. 

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SHILPI SOMAYA GOWDA is the international bestselling author of Secret Daughter and The Golden Son.

Gowda was born and raised in Toronto and now resides in California with her husband and children.

Erin Morgenstern: The Starless Sea by Ben McNally Books

Photo credit: Girl Well Read and Ben McNally Books.  Do not use without written permission.

Ben McNally Books and Doubleday Canada hosted Erin Morgenstern to discusses her new novel, The Starless Sea, the highly anticipated follow-up to her 2011 bestseller The Night Circus. The event took place in Toronto at the Isabel Bader Theatre where Morgenstern took the stage for a reading.  Erin was then joined by Ajay Fry to discuss the inspiration behind the book, her writing process, and answer questions from the audience.

Erin has special ties to Canada—she got her first passport to come to Toronto for The Night Circus book tour and she met her husband here. If she was to list her favourite things about Canada, half of them would be food!

Are you inspired by symbolism in including it, or do you find symbolism as you are writing?

"I knew I wanted to start with symbols for this one, partially because I like a very strong visual language and The Night Circus clearly has a very strong visual language and it has a colour scheme," Erin said. She also wanted the same for The Starless Sea, but not start with the colours, but with symbols. Erin created a running list of symbols she might use, and from there she focused on the key, the bee, and the sword which became the main motif. "Symbols are for interpretation and not definition."

What did you draw upon for inspiration?

"It's very much a book about stories and I though I was writing a book about books when I first started," Erin mused. She wanted to write a story about books and used this as her jumping off point. The idea of a story, as opposed to a book, is a malleable sort of thing. What is the story?

Your protagonist is someone who is interested in video games, were you trying to write a Choose Your Own Adventure type story?

It takes Erin a long time to figure out what exactly she is writing. She knew Zachary was a grad student and that he was studying something story related, but she wanted something different. This is where the game theory/game design piece comes in. The idea of which version of the story is the actual story (choices within choices) reminded Erin of the retelling of old stories or myths. The Starless Sea felt old and new at the same time (the video game element was the new feel).

How difficult is the editing process? 

Erin can't get overly attached to what she writes because there is a 50/50 chance of the material making it into the final version. "It allows me to write more and take more chances, where I can push things, and not settling on the first try." Her first draft is a trepidatious draft. Once the words are there, she can go back over it, make it stronger, and find the pieces that work—but during that process, she throws a lot away.

Where does The Starless Sea come from?

"I actually don't remember," Erin joked. She has a lot of imaginary architecture in her head and has always envisioned an underground libraryesque space. It is not an actual library because there are no librarians. "If it doesn't have a librarian, is it really a library?" There are bits and pieces that she wrote easily ten years ago—she didn't know where they were going, but that they belonged to this space. To come up with the narrative, Erin needed to take her time and explore the space and figure out who the people are that occupy said space and what their stories are.   

What is the most rewarding feedback you get?

"I feel like the most rewarding feedback is when people have tattoos." Erin admitted that even though she loves tattoos, that she doesn't have any because she doesn't have anything that she relates to/reacts to that strongly.

What sparked your fascination with stories to begin with?

Erin was an overactive, imaginative, artsy kid and so she gave Zachary one of the qualities that she had as a kid which was to read in her closet—she wanted to be that immersed in the work without distractions. She was also a theatre kid (creative theatre) and even got her degree in theatre. Erin studied light and design, acted and directed, and wanted to pursue theatre professionally. This has come in very handy when she is writing—she has a very theatrical vision about the way a room is lit, what is smells like, how she stages things, and she gets to play all the roles. It is more fun for her to approach it this way, but because Erin is very visual, she struggles finding the right words so that her readers can experience what she is seeing. Erin admitted to using thesaurus.com a lot.

Another thing she struggles with is the rhythm of the prose and how it needs to sound lyrical. "I don’t know what I’m doing with commas, but I know how it needs to sound."

What is that when you spend so much time doing a solitary thing and then go out and be face-to-face?

"Being alone with this book for so long in the imaginary space in my head, it takes on a life of its own." The book was very meaningful to Erin, but the point is for it to be read, and for the reader to have an experience with it. She can’t have that same experience with all of the false starts and things in her head, so she tries to imagine what the reader experiences, but that is individual and unique—each reader will have their own reactions.

What advice would have given yourself?

“Calm it down,” Erin quipped. Her advice to herself would be to strike the right balance because sometimes she writes for herself and sometimes she writes for the book.

When is your next book coming out?

Her next book is literally a 3,000 Word document of notes and weird phrases—it isn’t anything close to resembling a story.

Writing process

"You need to put the words on the paper, that’s the tricky part." She tricks her brain that the work is worth pursing by writing late at night (and sometimes she has wine). In the early stages, Erin says that you have to find a way to stop doubting yourself and viewing the writing as work. "I will pretend I’m not really working and work at odd times of the day, or really really late at night because my inner editor, my self-doubt voice, goes to bed before the rest of me," Erin said. "You have to play games with yourself and you have to figure out what works for your own personal process." She was always a reader before becoming a writer. A finished book is looks so nice and she thought that as a writer you would start and the beginning and write to the end and then stop. Change a few commas here and there. But that isn't how she works. "I think you don’t get to see the messy stages of the process, you don’t get to see the false starts, you can only hope that someone talks about them." When you go to a theatrical production, you know there was a rehearsal, or when you look at a painting you know there are many layers over sketches, but as a reader, you don’t see the process behind the finished product, it can only be imagined.

She writes in short vignettes that are self-contained. This comes in handy when she does revisions because she can omit whole parts and can layer different plot elements.

When in doubt, just add Ninjas!

How would you describe The Starless Sea?

"I thought I was writing a book about books and then it turned into a book about stories. But at its core it's a story about a guy names Zachary Ezra Rawlings who is a grad student in Vermont and when he was about 11, he found a magic painted door and if he had opened it, it would have led him to this magical space, and he didn't. What if you didn’t follow the rabbit down the rabbit hole? What if you didn't test the structural integrity of the back of your wardrobe? Do you think about that years later, does the rabbit haunt you?"

What does the editing process actually look like?

Erin starts with a letter from her editor (that makes her mad) of the big picture things that are not working. She reads through the letter twice and then she throws the letter away—if it is important enough, she will remember. She goes back into her document and starts with writing new things, the sections that need a rewrite. By focusing on the new material, it removes her from the existing material and she can be more objective with it and remove what isn't working.

Scribner is the program that Erin uses to write. It enables her to organize pieces of the story on a bite size level which makes it possible for her to be able to layer the new pieces over the old.

Final words

Erin thanked us all for coming. "Yay, Canada!" But also to Ben McNally Books which makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in the book via the intersection of Bay and King.

The Starless Sea

A timeless love story set in a secret underground world—a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth.

What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life.

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ERIN MORGENSTERN is the author of the number-one national best seller of The Night Circus that has been sold around the world and translated into thirty-seven languages. She has a degree in theatre from Smith College.

Morgenstern lives in Massachusetts.

Lit on Tour: In Conversation with Jennifer Robson

Photo credit: Toronto International Festival of Authors and Girl Well Read.  Do not use without written permission.

As part of the Lit on Tour series, Jennifer Robson read from her newest enthralling novel, The Gown, which is about the real-life wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.

In conversation with professional costume designer, Delphine White, Robson spoke about her inspiration for the novel, the wedding gown, and her time in England. She even brought an embroidery sample she made to give context of the work that went into the dress. A question and answer period, as well as a book signing followed.

In the beginning of the novel, the women were working on the wardrobe for the Royal Family's visit to Australia.

How did the Royal Family justify new clothes? 

Quite simply, they didn't ask. They went on a grand tour of South Africa to cement their diplomatic relationships. In 1941, there was a clothing ration and you had to buy garments with coupons where you were given a one-time coupon for a summer wardrobe. The recovery period from this was felt for a long time.

"The Royal Wedding was used to lighten up," Jennifer said. 1947 was an exciting year for fashion (the house of Dior was founded). Fashion designer Norman Hartnell and Christian Dior had a relationship—he dressed the Queen Mum who always wore crinolines.

"Women from this time dressed stark, almost like they too were in the military with boxy, plain garments," Robson explained. "Dior was exciting, he was using yards of fabric in his skirts which could not be sold in England because they had too much fabric." His designs were very structured and featured the waist rather than hide it.

Elizabeth's gown was flattering—it was more defined at the waist and skimmed the more anxiety areas (hips) and aged her a little bit (she was only 21 when she got married). As dictated by the King, the gown did not have short sleeves. It was opposite to the Queen Mum's 1923 wedding gown which was rather shapeless and Robson described as resembling a pillowcase.

Hartnell was a conservative designer, but for the wedding gown, he used lots of embellishments and the train was fifteen feet long. Jennifer estimates that there were about 350 people involved in making the gown (which includes the fabric makers). There were also bridesmaids gowns to make, as well as gowns for the duchesses. 

For her research, Robson interviewed Betty Foster, the last surviving seamstress that worked on the Princess' wedding gown. Betty started her work day at 8:30 a.m. and worked until 6:00 p.m. After eight hours, there are diminished returns in that the peau de soie would mark if you were to make a mistake. Betty also worked on Greer Garson's gowns. (Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson, CBE, was a British-American actress who was popular during the Second World War, as one of America's top ten box office draws from 1942 to 1946.)

What was the timeline for making the gown?

"It was three months from [the] commission awarded to the wedding," Jennifer said. Betty told Robson that the timeline was reasonable, they were used to it. She also said the the 1953 Coronation gown was more important that the wedding gown. 

With the world's press at their doorstep, these women had tremendous pressure and coped extremely well under the circumstances.

Six different women were responsible for the embroidery on the gown, yet it looks like it was done with one hand. The women would not have had a pattern to work from, just sketches. There are also no known samples of the wedding gown in existence, just of the Coronation gown.

Symbolism

Hartnell was inspired after seeing Botticelli's La Primavera, and the gown is full of flowing lines, leaves, swags, and vines that are reminiscent of the painting. The Princess' gown also had symbols of rebirth, growth, and fertility (roses, orange blossom, ears of wheat). The star flower is the most noticed motif, as well as roses which symbolize purity and the monarch.

Elizabeth was originally going to wear her ATS uniform to get married in. The Princess became a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1945. She was the first full-time female member of the Royal Family to join the Armed Services. During her time in the ATS, Princess Elizabeth learned to drive and to maintain vehicles.

Controversies 

How could she afford the gown? Even though she was the future Queen of England, the Princess did not have an unlimited budget. Wartime rationing was still in place for everyone, including the Royal Family. Jennifer explained that people started sending in their ration coupons, but legally they could not be used. The Princess' ladies-in-waiting opened the envelopes, wrote thank you notes, and sent them back. In addition to the coupons Princess Elizabeth had saved, the government ended up granting the bride 200 extra clothing coupons.  

There was also a debate as to where the silk worms were from—were they from the enemy, Japan, or from the ally, China? It was determined that they were indeed from China.

10,000 seed pearls were imported from the US, and they had to pay the duties on the pearls.

How much impact did Elizabeth have?

Robson explained that it was actually the King and Queen Mum who decided on the design of the gown based on the ten sketches that Hartnell did.

The Gown

London, 1947: Besieged by the harshest winter in living memory, burdened by onerous shortages and rationing, the people of postwar Britain are enduring lives of quiet desperation despite their nation’s recent victory. Among them are Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, embroiderers at the famed Mayfair fashion house of Norman Hartnell. Together they forge an unlikely friendship, but their nascent hopes for a brighter future are tested when they are chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime honor: taking part in the creation of Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown.

Toronto, 2016: More than half a century later, Heather Mackenzie seeks to unravel the mystery of a set of embroidered flowers, a legacy from her late grandmother. How did her beloved Nan, a woman who never spoke of her old life in Britain, come to possess the priceless embroideries that so closely resemble the motifs on the stunning gown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her wedding almost seventy years before? And what was her Nan’s connection to the celebrated textile artist and holocaust survivor Miriam Dassin?

Robson takes us inside the workrooms where one of the most famous wedding gowns in history was created. Balancing behind-the-scenes details with a sweeping portrait of a society left reeling by the calamitous costs of victory, she introduces readers to three unforgettable heroines, their points of view alternating and intersecting throughout its pages, whose lives are woven together by the pain of survival, the bonds of friendship, and the redemptive power of love. For this novel, she traveled to England to speak with the last surviving woman who worked on Queen Elizabeth's gown and was greatly inspired by all the stories the seamstress remembered.

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JENNIFER ROBSON is the internationally bestselling author of Somewhere in France, After the War Is Over, Moonlight Over Paris, and Goodnight from London. She studied French literature and Modern History as an undergraduate at King’s University College at Western University, then attended Saint Antony’s College at the University of Oxford, where she obtained her doctorate in British economic and social history. While at Oxford, she was a Commonwealth Scholar and SSHRC Doctoral Fellow.

Robson lives in Toronto with her husband and children. 

Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman

A special thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hoffman's latest work is a short story about loyalty and betrayal that takes place in early 1900s Massachusetts. A young woman is literally and figuratively trying to find her voice.

After the death of her beloved father, twelve-year-old Adeline vows never to speak again. Her adulterous mother needs to support them financially so she accepts a job as a housekeeper to the families of the three lighthouse keepers. When a local woman disappears, it is Adeline, who holds the key the mystery.

This short story is part of Inheritance, a collection of stories.

What a beautifully atmospheric story. Readers of my blog will know that Alice Hoffman is my favourite author. In this 28 page short story, she manages to do what it usually takes a whole novel to accomplish—the characters are fully developed and the narrative is compelling and intricate.

Haunting, mesmerizing, and heartbreaking. Alice Hoffman, you are a gift!

ALICE HOFFMAN has a BA from Adelphi University and an MA in creative writing from Stanford University.

Hoffman's first novel, Property Of, was written at the age of twenty-one, while she was studying at Stanford, and published shortly thereafter by Farrar Straus and Giroux. Since that remarkable beginning, Alice Hoffman has become one of our most distinguished novelists. She has published over thirty novels, three books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults.

Her novel, Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Practical Magic was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Her novel, At Risk, which concerns a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools. Hoffman’s advance from Local Girls, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman Breast Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA.

Hoffman has written a number of novels for young adults, including Aquamarine, Green Angel, and the New York Times bestseller The Ice Queen. In 2007 Little Brown published the teen novel Incantation, a story about hidden Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, which Publishers Weekly has chosen as one of the best books of the year.

Her works have been published in more than twenty translations and more than one hundred foreign editions. Hoffman's novels have received mention as notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. She has also worked as a screenwriter and is the author of the original screenplay “Independence Day,” a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Wiest. Her teen novel Aquamarine was made into a film starring Emma Roberts. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, The Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, Harvard Review, Ploughshares and other magazines.

She currently lives in Boston and New York. 

Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

A special thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) is back in a holiday installment of the Shopaholic series and there's nothing she loves more than Christmas! Well, not including a good sale...or online shopping.

It is the most wonderful time of the year. Her mum and dad always host and there's carols playing, the neighbours coming over for some cheer, Christmas pudding, and of course, presents.

Only this year, Becky's parents are moving and have asked her to host. What could possibly go wrong? Well for starters, her sister Jess needs to have a vegan turkey. How hard can that be to find? And Minnie is asking for a picnic hamper. She can definitely find one online. But Luke only wants aftershave, how boring. Where is his Christmas spirit? Then the guest list, and their demands, start spiralling out of control. And to top it all off, an old boyfriend surfaces along with his pushy girlfriend and it is not exactly clear as to what their motives are.

Will Becky be able to deck the halls and pull off Christmas?

Readers of my blog will know how much I ADORE Sophie Kinsella so it will come as no surprise that I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy of the newest Shopaholic book! Her writing makes me smile and if you haven't listened to a Sophie Kinsella audiobook, I highly recommend it, especially if narrated by Jayne Entwistle.

I love how Kinsella capitalizes on the chaos of Christmas. She juxtaposes the frenzy of the season against the time-honoured festivities. We all have our traditions and there are certainly times where I question some of the things I bring upon myself in the spirit of Christmas. It's totally worth it, right?

These books always border on being a little over the top, but they are so engaging and entertaining. Becky tugs on my heartstrings—she is endearing, fun, and hilarious (even when she's trying to be serious). We could all use more Becky in our lives.

This book is sparkly, festive, and simply delightful. A must holiday read.

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SOPHIE KINSELLA is the author of the bestselling Shopaholic series as well as the standalone novels Can You Keep a Secret?, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, Twenties Girl, I’ve Got Your Number, Wedding Night, My Not So Perfect Life, Surprise Me and I Owe You One.

She lives between London and the country.

Love Offline by Olivia Spring

A special thank you to the author, Olivia Spring, for inviting me to participate in the blog tour and for generously providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Emily is trying to get over a bad break-up. Her ex-boyfriend had been cheating on her for the last six months of their five year relationship. Only she can't stop torturing herself by looking at her ex on social media where he just posed about his engagement to the very same girl!

An introvert, Emily is more comfortable hiding behind a screen than to go out and meet someone. However, she's not having any luck with online dating so her best friend, Chloe, suggests that she unplug and instead, attend events geared towards singles. The very thought of actually doing this is giving Emily some anxiety.

But then she meets Josh. He is funny, handsome, and above all, kind. He almost seems to good to be true. Emily's hunch may be right when she suspects that he is hiding something. Should she give him a chance and fall in love the old fashioned way, or go back online and protect her heart?

If you are a fan of Sophie Kinsella and Lindsey Kelk, then this book is for you! Love Offline is a rom-com for the modern woman.

Those of you who are regular readers know how much I adore British authors and Olivia Spring is definitely one that I never pass on. She injects humour and heat throughout her books (warning: some may be offended at the language and sex scenes) and I love her phrasing. Her writing is clever, fresh and a contemporary take on a love story.

I adored Chloe and Emily—their friendship was so endearing. Chloe also brings cake in a crisis. Doesn't every woman need a Chloe in their life? Spring pens some strong female characters and although Emily doesn't appear to be strong because she is an introvert, she is forced outside her comfort zone in order to get out and actually meet people versus just swiping, and as a result experiences growth in more than just in the romantic/relationship sense. What I also liked was the comment on social media and online dating, and how things work, or...don't.

Olivia, congratulations on another smart, sexy, and fabulous book!

OLIVIA SPRING is a PR professional from London. She loves cake and has always wanted to be a writer. Because she still works in public relations, she adopted a pen name to spare the embarrassment of any clients that may read anything racy.

Forbidden by Time by Negeen Papehn

A special thank you to the author, Negeen Papehn, for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Bita is a strong, modern woman who is successful in her professional life—she's a dentist—and is a no-nonsense kind of gal. In her personal life, she is single, which to her pushy Iranian mother (and the rest of her family), is concerning. 

Determined to be self-sufficient and to stand on her own two feet, Bita purchases her first home. An unexpected spark with the handsome, older real estate agent leads to more than just a business transaction.

The relationship has its challenges with their fifteen-year age gap, Ramtin's ex-wife and daughters, and Bita's overbearing family. Despite all that is working against them, it is Ramtin who she wants to be with. But then something unexpected happens and Bita must decide if he is worth the ultimate sacrifice she will have to make.

Although this is the third and final installment in the Forbidden series, it can read as a standalone novel. There is enough information provided for those that didn't read Forbidden by Faith or Forbidden by Destiny, yet isn't repetitive.

Bita is the strong-willed, older sister of Maziar from Forbidden by Faith. She was a stand-out character in that book, so I was happy that she was chosen to be the main character for this story. She is a dynamic, strong, and multi-faceted character that many women will be able to relate to. 

What I enjoy most about this series is that it is a modern/cultural take on the forbidden love/Romeo and Juliet trope. Each of the main characters must overcome familial obligations and expectations, as well as experience growth and ultimately, they must decide if the relationship is worth the fall-out that could occur.  

Papehn writes with intense feeling and purpose—she injects her contemporary love stories with the emotions of all of the characters. She also infuses the novels with her own experiences and voice, bringing her Iranian heritage into each book in this series as the basis of the narrative. These types of stories are important to tell because they represent so many, yet are not widely read or written about.

Congratulations, Negeen, on another fabulous achievement. I can't wait to see what you do next!

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NEGEEN PAPEHN is a graduate of USC dental school and divides her time between her patients and writing.

She was born and raised in southern California, where she currently lives with her husband and two boys.

Indigo: In Conversation with Margaret Atwood

Author Photo Credit: Toronto Star. All other photos by Girl Well Read—do not use without written permission.

Indigo Books & Music hosted acclaimed Canadian author, Margaret Atwood, in conversation at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto. She discusses her new book, The Testaments, a sequel to her 1985 novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, with CBC's Anna Maria Tremonti.

Margaret Atwood's dystopian masterpiece, The Handmaid's Tale, has become a modern classic and now she brings the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion in this riveting sequel.

Can you believe that The Handmaid's Tale was written 35 years ago? I read it the first time when I was in high school and remember being blown away.

What happens next?

Simply put, she didn't know. The Testaments is set 15 years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale and Atwood realized that she couldn't continue in the voice of the main character from The Handmaid's Tale. This book is narrated by Aunt Lydia (a character from the previous novel); Agnes, a young woman living in Gilead; and Daisy, a young woman living in Canada.

Aunt Lydia makes a two-dimensional appearance in The Handmaid's Tale, and she reappears in The Testaments. In this book, she is busy writing a manuscript, counting on the fact that no one will actually read it. Atwood said that she didn't know how important Aunt Lydia would become. "She is a good person that does bad things." In the TV series, Aunt Lydia is played by the inimitable Ann Dowd.

We move away from Gilead—the 80s happened, 9/11 happened, there was a financial meltdown, things became unstable. Atwood wanted to visit Gilead in the future as a crumbling society.

Popularity

These books have taken on a life of their own. When Atwood sees people dressed up like Handmaids, it is a visual nod to her work, however her wish is "for it not to be relevant."

How do you create?

Margaret said that she reads a lot, including ads and newspapers. She uses the library and is aware of what is going on in the world. Anger is not her downfall, it can be motivating.

She is working on something new, but would rather not say at the moment.

Cover

The jacket was designed by Noma Bar and there are four women (at first glance it appears that there are only two). When asked about the cover design process, Atwood admitted she was involved in the process (most authors are not) and that at one time she was a poster designer.

In closing

While Atwood’s works have both delighted and disturbed readers, she does consider herself a positive person. She spoke about the climate crisis and the challenges we are facing; "Everyone should realize that the climate change is a real thing, and that who you should vote for is not the person who says it’s not happening."

The Testaments

WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results.

Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third voice: a woman who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets.

As Atwood unfolds The Testaments, she opens up the innermost workings of Gilead as each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

A special thank you to Libro.fm Audiobooks, Simon & Schuster Audio, NetGalley and Atria for an ARC/audiobook listening copy in exchange for an honest review.

Twenty five years ago, the police were call to a home with reports of a baby crying. Upon arrival, they find a well cared for ten-month old baby happy in her crib. But downstairs, there are three bodies that all dressed in black next to a note. And the four children who reportedly live there are nowhere to be found.

At the age of twenty-five, Libby Jones has just found out that she has inherited a large home worth millions in an upscale neighbourhood in Chelsea. The home was held in trust by her birth parents—she learns their identity at the meeting with the solicitor that is handling the estate. There are others that have been waiting for this day as well, and they are on a collision course to meet.

In a word, brilliant!

Jewell's writing is enthralling, descriptive, and complex. She packs an emotional and psychological punch with just the right amount of suspense. The setting is pivotal to the story and becomes one of its characters—if creepy houses are your bag, than this book is for you!

The characters are rich and highly developed. Told through multiple perspectives, this captivating and twisty narrative is executed masterfully. Jewell has a knack for creating suspense that is both compelling and sublimely atmospheric.

Disturbing at times, gripping, and often quirky, The Family Upstairs is one of my favourite books this year.

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LISA JEWELL is the internationally bestselling author of seventeen novels, including the New York Times bestseller Then She Was Gone, as well as I Found You, The Girls in the Garden, and The House We Grew Up In.

In total, her novels have sold more than two million copies across the English-speaking world and her work has also been translated into sixteen languages so far.

Lisa lives in London with her husband and their two daughters.

Meet Camilla Gibb

Photo credit: Penguin Random House Canada, Girl Well Read, and Aurora Library. Do not use without written permission.

Camilla Gibb's widely praised novel is a poignant and intensely atmospheric look beyond the stereotypes of Islam. At this event, Camilla provided the back story of this amazing work.

Gibb spent 15 years researching Sweetness in the Belly whose roots began to form 1994-95 when she was was studying for her PhD in social anthropology.

Originally from England, Camilla grew up in a family with a rigid, ex-military father who was rarely employed (he was even thrown out of the Army). She was told by her father that religion was invented because humans were weak so she grew up having what she calls "spiritual envy." Gibb's parents divorced when she was 10 and her 40-year-old mother had a passionate affair with a 28-year-old Armenian actor who had grown up in Lebanon—although not a Muslim, he spoke Arabic. Camilla said that he brought joy into her world with his zest for life, and piqued her curiosity about the Muslim world.

"I was curious enough that once I got to university I started studying not only anthropology but also middle eastern studies," Camilla explained. "I knew that I wanted to learn the language, so in my third year of undergraduate at the University of Toronto, I went to Cairo and spent a year living in this heaving, seething metropolis of 18 centuries of history and it was a vastly overwhelming place where I couldn’t have felt smaller." She was asked why she wasn't Muslim, she felt that she had lost the gene for faith.

When Gibb returned to Toronto, it took three months for her to be able to look up—she had shielded herself and been guarded in Cairo. While studying at U of T, she met a young Ethiopian woman who had come to Canada as a refugee. The woman shared her experiences with Gibb exposing her to that part of the world and the culture of Ethiopia.

In 1992, Camilla went to Oxford. It was at this time that the government of Ethiopia was overthrown. Her professor worked in Sudan/Ethiopia and encouraged her to go to Harrar (the fourth most holiest city). She did end up visiting and lived there for a year.

Gibb longed to return to Ethiopia. She also wanted to write about her experience but didn't know how. In 2000, while in Banff, she got the idea about Lilly going back to Harar. Camilla also cited the film Hideous Kinky as another seed. Gibb spent three years writing and then took the book to her editor at DoubleDay who asked "Who is Lilly as a grown up?" This became the version we know (and love) with the first draft providing the backstory.

In 2005, the book was optioned for film which took Camilla back to Ethiopia and back to the women who also served as inspiration—she experienced wonderful reunions with friends. Unfortunately, the film (which premiered at TIFF) is not without controversy: an early synopsis described Lilly as a "white Ethiopian" woman portrayed by Dakota Fanning and this fuelled a cultural appropriation debate on Twitter.

Although the story is located in a historic and cultural context, it stems from Gibb's imagination and offers readers an emotional experience.

Sweetness in the Belly

After her hippie British parents are murdered, Lilly is raised at a Sufi shrine in Morocco. As a young woman she goes on pilgrimage to Harar, Ethiopia, where she teaches Qur'an to children and falls in love with an idealistic doctor. But even swathed in a traditional headscarf, Lilly can't escape being marked as a foreigner. Forced to flee Ethiopia for England, she must once again confront the riddle of who she is and where she belongs.

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CAMILLA GIBB is the author of five novels: Mouthing the Words, The Petty Details of So-and-so's Life, Sweetness in the Belly, The Beauty of Humanity Movement and This is Happy. She has also been the recipient of the Trillium Book Award, the City of Toronto Book Award and the CBC Canadian Literary Award and shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Camilla has a Ph.D. from Oxford University and is an adjunct faculty member of the graduate creative writing programs at the University of Toronto and the University of Guelph-Humber. She is currently the June Callwood Professor in Social Justice at Victoria College, University of Toronto.