Where does love begin and where does it end?

Where does love begin and where does it end? "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flyn

The perfect couple: Amy and Nick have been married for five years. So far, so good. Yet, there is not much harmony left. Then, all of a sudden Amy is missing on their 5th Wedding Anniversary. From here, more surprising and devious plot develops, cleverly put together by the writer.

This is a book about love and marriage and at the same time a thriller. However, not a conventional one, if I think about the ending of the novel, which I totally loved. There are surprising developments, uncoventional truths, we get manipulated and lied by both protagonists.

In spite of its length (more than 600 pages), it was hard to put down. The novel is made up of twho parts. The first part contains two voices, two points of view. The book begins with Amy's disappearance, and her diary entries. Then chapters alternate between Nick's narration and Amy's diary, dating back from the day the two first met years before, and gradually arriving at present.

The second half becomes more like a psychological crime thriller. It made me question what I know about the characters, their lives and secrets. Everyone is unreliable and everything is questionable. The surprises and twists kept me (as a reader) guessing up until the final page and my first thought upon finishing the novel was that I wanted to read it a second time.

It is definitely a book I recommend.

 

 

Something about Gillian Flyn: It is the first time I discover Gillian Flyn, the author. She is an American writer and television critics, born is Kansas City, Missouri. In 1989, she received a degree in English and Journalism. She also wrote two other novels: Sharp Objects (2006) and Dark Places (2009).

(photos taken from http://gillian-flynn.com)

 

 

Reading now...

"Who are you?
What have we done to each other?

These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they weren't made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife?

Biographical Notes

Gillian Flynn was the chief TV critic for ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY and now writes full-time. Her first novel SHARP OBJECTS was the winner of two CWA DAGGERS and was shortlisted for the GOLD DAGGER. Her latest novel, GONE GIRL, is a massive No.1 bestseller. The film adaptation of GONE GIRL, directed by David Fincher and starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, won the Hollywood Film Award 2014." (Text from the book cover, "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flyn, published by W.&N. Publishing House)

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

"At night I would lie in bed and watch the show, how bees squeezed through the cracks of my bedroom wall and flew circles around the room (...)The way those bees flew, not even looking for a flower, just flying for the feel of the wind, split my heart down it seem. The bees came the summer of 1964, the summer I turned fourteen and my life went spinning off into a whole new orbit, and I mean whole new orbit. Looking back on it now, I want to say the bees were sent to me."

(The Secret Life of Bees, Chapter 1)

The Secret Life of Bees draws on Kidd's personal experience as a child growing up in the segregated South and on American history. Even though slavery was outlawed in the USA in 1865, several laws known as the Jim Crow Laws were enacted to limit the civil liberties of the newly blacks in the American South. These laws ensured that blacks were treated as second-class citizens. Under Jim Crow, blacks and white were forced to attend separate schools, were not allowed to get married, were not able to use the same library books, etc.

It is a truly charming book, wonderfully written, and heart-moving. The main character is Lily, a motherless teenager who has been brought up by her bitter and angry father, T. Ray. Lily's journey to find something or someone, to answer the questions and fill the gap that her mother'death has left within her takes her to a mesmerizing place in the American South (Tiburon).

The descriptions and beautiful, you could even smell the honey, hear the bees and feel the heat. The characters are full and August Boatwright is one I wish I knew in real life. Lily's thoughts and her anguish are written so well I was reading through tears. It is a moving story, uplifting, full of heart and inspiration. The casual references to racial attitudes in South Carolina in 1964 are shocking and the unique beekeeping sisters she finishes up with, stay with you and haunt you long after you finish the book.

Reading about bees and not only

"Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black stand-in-mother, Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racist in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina-a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about devine female power, a story that women will share and pass to their daughters for years to come." (Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, Penguin Books, 2002)

Different levels of life

"Every love story is a potential grief story. You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it works, and sometimes new is made, and the world is changed. Then, at some point, sooner or later, for this reason or that, one of them is taken away. And what is taken away is greater than the sum of what was there. This may not be mathematically possible; but it is emotinally possible." (Levels of life)

"Levels of Life" is a heartbreaking personal meditation on the ceaseless grief of an affectionate and devoted husband (Julian Barnes) upon the sudden death of his wife (Pat Kavannagh). It is also a book of linked narrative-a historical essay on ballooning and photography, etc. It is not until halfway through the book that J. Barnes introduces his own story (The Loss of Depth). In 2008, after an illness of five weeks, Julian's wife Pat dies leaving him a widower at the age of sixty-two. The novel is a sharing of his experience of grief and mourning.

It is not an easy-reading book. I must confess I had to restart reading the first chapter a few times. After reading it, I admit I found myself in front of two different stories: the first two chapters represent the first story and the last one the center of the novel. This novel touches on aspects of grief that most of us will have faced at some time or are still going through. Each chapter is a metaphor in itself.

At first glance the stories seem loosely linked. However, reading the beginning of each chapter we find a linking pattern: (1):"You put together two things that have not been put together before and the world is changed."(2)"You put together two things that have not been put together before; and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't." (3) "You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it works, and sometimes new is made and the world is changed." Barnes is interested in how things are put together and what happens when they are apart.

Time to have some tea with Jane Austen

"No coffee, I thank you, for me/never take coffee.-A little tea if you please, sir, by and bye,-no hurry-Oh!here it comes. Every thing so good!" (Miss Bates in Emma)

Since I am a Jane Austen fan I wanted to begin my New Year reading list with a book about her. Thus, Tea With Jane Austen by Kim Wilson became the first book I read for 2015. It is quick and fun reading. It is also a portrayl of Austen and her era (the Regency), of how she acquired her tea, what type of tea, how she served her tea...This book has everything you need to know about tea: tea in the morning, in the afteroon, and in the evening, at tea parties, balls, and so on. I particulary enjoyed reading extracts from Jane's novels and letters to her sister Cassandra.

This book has recipes of the time for cakes, biscuits and drinks. However,  I would not classify it as a recipe book. I have learned lots if interesting things about the history of tea. Did you know that coffee appeared first before tea in England? But since tea had become a more fashionable drink of high society and royalty, coffee was soon forgotten. In Jane's time, tea was a valuable commodity and was kept under lock and key. The preparation of the tea was made by the lady of the house. In the Austen household Jane was the keeper of the keys to the tea chest.

Another thing I liked about this book was the type of paper used and the illustrations included.

So, it's time to sit down with one of your favorite Jane Austen's novels and a cup of tea! Enjoy it!