The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady
by Elizabeth Stuckey-French
Genre: Women’s Literature, Dark Humor
Publisher: Doubleday
Publish Date: February 8, 2011
Format: Hardcover | 352 pages
Rating: 4 of 5
Marylou Ahern wants to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs. Fifty years ago he was in charge of a secret government study that exposed pregnant women to radiation without their knowledge or consent. Marylou thought she was taking vitamins when in fact she was getting much more. The consequences were devastating. Her daughter died of cancer and she and her husband divorced.
Now Marylou has found Dr. Wilson and he is living with his family in Florida. She changed her name to Nance and moveed to Florida intending to befriend the family and ultimately kill Dr. Spriggs. When she meets the family she finds Wilson is suffering from dementia, Caroline, his daughter, is having a midlife crisis and Vic, her husband, is on the verge of an affair. Two of their three children suffer from Asperger’s syndrome, one is obsessed with building a nuclear reactor in the yard and the other with Elvis, and the youngest daughter seems all too normal.
Nance manages to cause a lot of mischief and create problems for everyone. Eventually she realizes that Wilson has dementia and doesn’t even remember who she is or why she is upset even though she tells him over and over again. And besides, she is growing fond of the family.
Using a humorous and engaging style the author delves into serious subjects. The story is told from the alternating point of view of each of the main characters and takes place over a few months. At times serious and other times laugh out loud funny, there is much clever dialog and many over the top situations.
I had fun reading this little gem of a book. It’s one I might have overlooked had I not been offered a chance to review it for Doubleday and I’m excited to have discovered it. Recommended.
About The Author
Elizabeth Stuckey-French is the author of the short story collection The First Paper Girl in Red Oak, Iowa. Her stories have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Gettysburg Review, Southern Review, Five Points, and other literary journals. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida, where she teaches fiction writing at Florida State University.
Giveaway Information [Contest now closed]
Thanks to Liz at Doubleday Books you have a chance to win your own copy of Revenge of the Radioactive Lady. I have 2 copies to give away to my readers. Contest is open to US addresses only, no PO Boxes. The book will be shipped by the publisher.
To enter fill out the form. Comments are always welcome but you need to fill out the form to enter the drawing.- For a second entry, be a follower. Email, RSS, Twitter, etc.
- For a third entry ‘like’ my facebook fan page.
The deadline for entry is March 27th, midnight, central time. I will draw 2 winners using random.org. Winners will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address.
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I participate in Book Review Party Wednesday. Click the link to read more great reviews.
One of my favorite birds is the Red-headed Woodpecker. There are several of them at Cantigny Park, one of my favorite birding places, and they can usually be found in the wooded section high up in the large old trees. A sighting of one is always a treat as this is not a common bird and is considered a near threatened species due to a loss of its habitat.
This is a gorgeous bird, a medium size woodpecker about 9 inches long with striking red, white and black colors. It is found in the United States east of the Rockies and southern Canada.
I had been trying to get a good picture of one for over a year. Last summer on a sunny day I was taking pictures of flowers when I saw a flash of red in one of the low trees. The sun was in the wrong position, it was too bright and there were shadows but I got a decent shot of him anyway. When he flew onto a branch I was able to get a better picture.
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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce. Head on over to At Home With Books to see more great photos or add your own.
I’m going to cheat and say a few words today. There is nothing exotic about this geranium. It’s a plant I’ve had out on my deck for several summers. Except it is blooming now. Today. Inside the house. I found a flower tucked among the leaves when I went to water it Sunday. Thank you geranium. I really needed a touch of summer right now.
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More Wordless Wednesday.
The Postmistress
by Sarah Blake
Read by Orlagh Cassidy
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publish Date: February 2010
Format: 9 CDs | 11 Hours
Rating: 4½ of 5
What would happen if someone didn’t deliver a letter?
Back in 1941, before the day of instant communication, such an act was unthinkable. Entire lives could be dramatically altered by such a delay. Marriages that might never happen, job offers never taken and questions gone unanswered for a lifetime. Frankie Bard, a radio journalist who covered World War II and broadcast reports from Europe, posed this question to a group of dinner guests. She then proceeded to tell us the story of an undelivered letter.
It is 1941, the eve of America’s involvement in WWII. Iris James is the postmaster in Franklin, Massachusetts, a position rarely held by woman in that era, and she takes the responsibilities of her job seriously. Emma Trask, a young newly wed whose husband, a doctor, has gone to London to help with the war effort, is frequently at the post office waiting for his letters. At the same time Frankie Bard is in Europe on assignment reporting from the Blitz in London. The novel tells the story of these three women alternating between the two continents.
Even though reports of the bombings in London were reaching America the war was not a reality for most Americans. The author uses Frankie Bard’s radio broadcasts from London and her experiences traveling into Germany and other parts of Europe to demonstrate the contrast between America and Europe. Most Americans felt Roosevelt would never involve their boys in the war. Yes, there were blackouts and fears of a potential attack, but it was not the same intensity as what was happening abroad.
Other reviews have already mentioned this, and I agree, the title The Postmistress does not reflect what the book is about. If you read this book looking for a story about a postmistress you will be disappointed. The delayed letter and Iris James are a small part of the bigger story. The damage done to the people, to future generations and the land they lived in stood out as an overriding theme in this novel. The story is Frankie’s to tell. She wants to tell the story of the people most affected by this war. The Jews who are fleeing Germany, the people in London who have bombs raining down on them daily. She feels no one is listening to her. She records the voices of the people and wants to tell their story.
The book is beautifully written with flowing descriptive prose that brought the story to life. While there may have been a few liberties taken with the period detail (Frankie used a recording device that was not available until after the war) it did not detract from the story for me. I listened to the audio version and was very satisfied with the narration. Orlagh Cassidy has a pleasant voice and did a wonderful job with the various accents and in distinguishing the different characters.
Highly recommended.
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Source: Borrowed audio CDs from the library.
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. This month’s host is Laura @ I’m Booking It.
Last week I received:
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. This was a win from Random House Reader’s Circle.
In the opening pages of Jamie Ford’s stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II.
Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart.
Another familiar North American bird is the Red-winged Blackbird. They are short distance migrants and southern and western populations may not migrate at all. They return to the Chicago area in early March and immediately make their presence known. The male will sit high on trees and shrubs singing all day long. The females are much quieter and not as easily seen.
The male is glossy black with brilliant red and yellow patches on his shoulders. I took this photo last spring at my favorite birding spot. Blackbirds were everywhere and singing so loudly they were drowning out the songs of other birds. This guy was desperately trying to attract the attention of a female sitting in the next tree.
The picture below is the female he was calling to. Females are streaky brown and from a distance can be mistaken for a large sparrow. Often the male and female of the same species can look quite different. She didn’t look very interested in his attention. After about 10 minutes she flew away. He just kept singing.
A few weeks later I came across a pair building a nest in the brush. You will know that’s what they are doing because the female will be carrying large clumps of dried grass in her beak and the male will screech at you, buzz your head and try to attack you.
Hearing the blackbirds is always a welcome sound because for me it means spring has arrived.
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Saturday Snapshots is hosted by Alyce. Head on over to At Home With Books to see more great photos or add your own.
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. This month’s host is Laura @ Library of Clean Reads.
Last week my new books were:
Friendship Bread: A Novel by Darien Gee from the publisher for review.
When Julia meets two newcomers to the small town of Avalon, Illinois, she sparks a connection by offering them her extra bread starter. Widow Madeline Davis is laboring to keep her tea salon afloat while Hannah Wang de Brisay, a famed concert cellist, is at a crossroads, her career and marriage having come to an abrupt end. In the warm kitchen of Madeline’s tea salon, the three women forge a friendship that will change their lives forever.
The Midwife’s Confession by Diane Chamberlain, a win from Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea.
‘I don’t know how to tell you what I did.’ The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind Noelle’s suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle – her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her family – described a woman who embraced life. But they didn’t know everything. Because the unaddressed letter reveals a terrible secret…and a legacy of guilt that changes everything they thought they knew about the woman who delivered their children.
The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady by Elizabeth Stuckey-French from Doubleday for review.
Seventy-seven-year-old Marylou Ahearn is going to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs come hell or high water. In 1953, he gave her a radioactive cocktail without her consent as part of a secret government study that had horrible consequences. Marylou has been plotting her revenge for fifty years. When she accidentally discovers his whereabouts in Florida, her plans finally snap into action.
I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World by Eve Ensler, a win from AtRandom.
In this daring book, internationally acclaimed author and playwright Eve Ensler offers fictional monologues and stories inspired by girls around the globe. Fierce, tender, and smart, I Am an Emotional Creature is a celebration of the authentic voice inside every girl and an inspiring call to action for girls everywhere to speak up, follow their dreams, and become the women they were always meant to be.
Metrophilias by Brendan Connell, from the author for review.
Thirty-six cities. Thirty-six stories of obsession. From ancient Thebes to present day Berlin, these little portraits of humans superimposed on their suburban environment are corroding treats thrown together in a past-modern beaker, landmark tales of love in the metropolis. A round-the-world tour of craving and decadence.
Under My Apple Tree 