Book Review
Blue Mountain Rose
by Meg Nola
An artistic novel, "Blue Mountain Rose" explores new love and new life stages against the backdrop of Shakespearean productions. In Julie Hammonds’s engaging novel "Blue Mountain Rose", the members of an Arizona Shakespeare company...
Book Review
Sisters of the Spruce
by Meg Nola
A Japanese Canadian girl defies social and cultural boundaries in Leslie Shimotakahara’s historical novel "Sisters of the Spruce". During World War I, fourteen-year-old Khya travels with her family to a remote region of British...
Book Review
Such Good People
by Meg Nola
"Such Good People" is a hearty novel about injustice that is nonetheless infused with hope. In Amy Blumenfeld’s multifaceted novel "Such Good People", a fateful encounter impacts a close friendship and exposes troubling...
Book Review
Standing Up
by Meg Nola
A memoir about personal emergence in the wake of abuse, "Standing Up" is a revealing text. Mary L. Devine’s triumphant memoir "Standing Up" is about emerging from domestic violence to pursue a career in law enforcement. After a heady...
Book Review
Allegro
by Meg Nola
In Ariel Dorfman’s luminous novel "Allegro", Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is drawn into a perturbing medical mystery. In 1765, nine-year-old Mozart is thrilled to have his first symphony conducted in London by Maestro Johann Christian Bach....
Book Review
The Reindeer of Chinese Gardens
by Meg Nola
In Barbara Sjoholm’s stirring historical novel "The Reindeer of Chinese Gardens", a woman is determined to become a writer. At the turn of the twentieth century, Norwegian Dagny yearns for “foreign places and adventure.” She...
Book Review
Permission
by Meg Nola
Memoirist Elissa Altman’s encouraging writer’s guide is about pushing beyond doubt, fear, repression, and shame to craft stories of relevance and truth. A teacher of memoir writing, Altman details the integral concept of...
Book Review
33 Place Brugmann
by Meg Nola
In Alice Austen’s engrossing historical novel "33 Place Brugmann", World War II disrupts a close-knit group living in a Brussels apartment building. In August of 1939, the residents of 33 Place Brugmann are aware of Adolf Hitler’s...