Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. So we asked them, and all Denver Post readers, to share their mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email bellis@denverpost.com.
“The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell,” by Robert Dugoni (Lake Union Publishing, 2018)
Sam Hill was born with “ocular albinism,” which causes his pupils to be red and leaves him vulnerable to bullying in many different forms. Called “Devil Boy” or “Sam Hell” in school, he suffers degradation at the hands of other students as well as certain staff members at the all-Catholic school that his mother forces him to attend. Indeed, she sees his quirk of nature as a blessing, and a sign that he will live an extraordinary life. A new friend, one with a different target on his back, brings him companionship and a respite from the cruelties that children often visit upon one another. When, as an adult, he is confronted with an old bully from the past, he struggles to make the choices he could not as a child. At times beautifully written, this novel was disappointing only because it goes off in too many different directions, including his romance with an old childhood friend/lover that seems forced and far less satisfying than what we would wish for him. The redemption at the end is touching, but left me wondering if there could have been more. — 2½ stars (out of 4); Karen Hartman, Westminster
“The Lost Book of Bonn,” by Brianna Labuskes (William Morrow, 2024)
From the author of “The Library of Burned Books,” this latest work of historical fiction is based largely in post-World War II Germany. A librarian from the Library of Congress staff is enlisted (in both senses of the word) to help sort and appropriately dispose of books, documents and manuscripts collected by the famed Monuments Men. Our heroine, Emmy Clarke, is captivated by the inscription in one book, in particular, and her search for the owner leads her to uncover the fates of several individuals through whose hands the book passed. The fates of these individuals mirror those of countless Europeans changed forever by their experiences in World War II. — 3 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
“Miss Austen,” by Gill Hornby (Flatiron Books, 2020)
In 1850, more than 20 years after Jane Austen’s death, her beloved sister Cassandra continues to guard the reputation of the great writer. While seeking revealing letters Jane wrote to friends, Cassandra traces through the patchwork of her own decisions. Hornby wisely doesn’t attempt to mimic Austen’s style, and her excellent writing made my heart ache for both Cassandra’s missteps as well as Jane’s. Although I couldnt’ entirely accept the depiction of Jane Austen in this novel (so much for preserving her reputation), the writing compensates. There is much compassion here, a little humor, and plenty to consider about the lives that 19th-century single women were forced to lead. — 3 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker
“The Bondwoman’s Narrative,” by Hannah Crafts, edited by Henry Louis Gates (Grand Central Publishing, 2002)
Arguably the first novel written by an African-American woman while she was still a slave, lost for decades, Henry Louis Gates Jr. stumbled across the hand-written manuscript in the early 2000s. He brought it to the public’s attention and provided background about the author’s life and the times in which she lived. Her writing style is very much Dickensian in its general tenor, unsurprising since she seemed to have studied a copy of “Bleak House” while a house slave for a family, supervising teenage girl students. Yet the plot doesn’t sidestep the bitter truths she had to conquer. Loosely based on Crafts’ own home life as she grew up without a family, labored at boring and difficult farm and house chores, attended to her owners as a personal servant, and finally fled north. Thankfully, her tale survived. — 4 stars (out of 4); Bonnie McCune, Denver (bonniemccune.com)