Freedom Oliver's past has caught up with her - or at least Nessa Delaney's past has finally found her. When Nessa's husband Mark is shot to death in their home, she is quickly convicted of the crime. Forced to choose between leaving her son and unborn daughter with her horrible in-laws or giving them up completely, she chooses the latter. After two very long years she is released and her brother-in-law is found guilty. Under the Witness Protection Program, Nessa has been Freedom Oliver for nearly twenty years.
In Dear Committee Members, Schumacher puts a delightful twist on the epistolary novel. The story is told completely through LORs (Letters of Recommendation) written by a washed-up professor still teaching in “the wake of the deliberate gutting of the liberal arts, English in particular, in favor of the technological sciences…which the faceless gremlins…have condemned to indigence and ruin.”
The two narrators alternate chapters telling the story of the splinters of their individual families melding into a new one. Eighth-grader Stewart and Ninth-grader Ashley are on their way to becoming step-siblings, with Stewart and his widower dad moving in with Ashley and her divorced mom--though Ashley's recently out-of-the-closet dad is still living in their backyard laneway house. They are a complete contrast of personalities and styles. As Stewart describes:
Sensible young widow Martha Russell is all set to cede her late husband’s estate to his younger brother, until she learns of his past villainy towards the housemaids. As a champion of the weak and the poor, Mrs. Russell decides to cast propriety aside and take matters into her own hands. She looks to her new neighbor Theophilus Mirkwood, banished to the countryside for his spendthrift ways, for his assistance in getting her with child. She does not respect him, he does not understand her. Can mutual esteem grow from such a cold bargain?
If you head over to The Curl Up and Dye, Ruby, Vest, and Vera will freshen up your 'do while you catch up on the latest gossip. Did you hear about LilyAnn Bronte? It looks like she's ready to move on after the loss of her fiance. Is it possible the newcomer to town, T.J. Lachlan has sparked her interest? Or, has she finally noticed the boy next door, Mike Dalton?
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this is the single best movie in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The exploration of friendships and trust was stunningly well done. Friendships betrayed over ideals, history forgotten in new circumstances, and the risk you inherently take in opening your heart to someone—and not a hint of romance to cloud the issue! Combined with brilliant performances, adrenaline-packed action sequences, and world-changing scope, this is just the best MCU movie to date.
“Oh, calamity!” This phrase is used often in response to the various annoyances, surprises and disasters that happen to the parents of the Pirriwee Public School kindergarten class. Something horrible happens during the parent trivia night event at the school, and Moriarty keeps this information secret right up until the end. Each chapter brings the reader another step closer to finding out who was killed and how, and there are plenty of suspects. In fact, there are several characters you will probably wish will be killed in some gruesome way! Big Lit
The America that we know is gone - destroyed by war and a biological disaster. The country is split in two. The dangerous East is full of human survivors riddled by mutation. Lane has always lived in the West, behind a giant wall meant to keep her safe from the feral, mutated creatures of the East. She soon learns that her father is a fetch -- hired to travel into the Feral Zone and retrieve valuable art. When he doesn't return she is forced to go into the feral zone to save him and also finish his mission -- retrieve something of value for a high-ranking official.
What happens when you wake up in the middle of a park, with no memories, surrounded by bodies? If you're Myfanwy (rhymes with Tiffany) Thomas, you find a letter in your pocket written by the person you used to be and take over her life.
This novel reminds me of early LeCarre, which is a good thing, because that is when he did his best work. Philip Mangan, a British journalist working in China, is approached by a man who tells him, "the night heron is hunting." Mangan mentions this encounter to a “friend” who works in the British Embassy. The “friend” then communicates this to his bosses in London who are definitely interested in pursuing contact. Mangan then becomes the
