All my life I have had friends roll their eyes while I attempt to tell a story, begging me for the "Reader's Digest Version."
Impossible.
But.
I am also a person who's been known to "push" a book or two.
If I love it, I'm going to squeal about it, and friends can feel assured they'll have this book placed in their hands at some point.
My latest squeal is for Lou Berney's "November Road." When I first heard about this book I knew it was going to tug at me until I was able to get a copy.
First - it's Lou Berney.
Second - like most people my age, I'm still drawn to stories about the 60s.
Third - The Kennedy assassination. It's still, after all these years, a mystery, and one that still has me in its thrall.
November Road isn't always an easy read. There are, after all, New Orleans mobsters and they're not nice guys, so expect them to be written realistically. Brilliantly realistically.
But. There are also some moments, and characters, who are going to give you hope.
Berney possesses what other successful writers possess - an ability to communicate character emotion; empathy, compassion, intelligence.
Pick it up and fall in love with a man named Guidry, a woman named Charlotte, two kids and a dog.
From the book description: "Set against the assassination of JFK, a poignant and evocative crime novel that centers on a desperate cat-and-mouse chase across 1960s America—a story of unexpected connections, daring possibilities, and the hope of second chances from the Edgar Award-winning author of The Long and Faraway Gone."
As often happens while reading a book that resonates with me, I found a quote that will stay with me for a long, long time. Something Charlotte said: "When I have a camera in my hand, it reminds me to look in new places. To have new thoughts . . ." I wish I had written that
Note: I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher, but with no guarantee of a review by me in return.
1 comment:
Thank you for your post. I received an early copy from the publisher also. I can't put this book down. It is just the kind of book to read during the summer months. Full of gangsters, and steamy sex scenes, and the 1960's. Loving it.
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