The Book Club: A long-awaited Eowyn Ivey novel, “Dinners With Ruth” and more

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 inquired them and all Denver Post readers to share their mini-reviews with you Have any to offer Email bellis denverpost com A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner Penguin Group A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner Penguin Group A golden scarf with cascades of marigolds is the fabric that loosely ties Clara and Taryn two young women who witness two of the greatest tragedies New York has ever seen Clara barely escapes the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and years later Taryn is unexpectedly detained on her way to meet her husband in the World Exchange Center on Both women lose someone they love Clara a nurse retreats to Ellis Island to care for the multiple sick immigrants who arrive each day one of them gifts her his late wife s beautiful scarf A large number of years later Taryn discovers the scarf while trying to piece her own life back together for the sake of her daughter who was born after her husband died on Both women seek to understand their losses and find love again working through their guilt at having survived by mere chance while their loved ones perished stars out of Karen Goldie Hartman Westminster The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollingsworth Bloomsbury A coming-of-age as well as a coming-out story set in Thatcher s England of the s This is also a novel of class and manners with a not-so-subtle nod to Henry James Hollingsworth beautifully captures the freshness wondrous amazement and constant yearnings of first love But the protagonist is simultaneously fully human as his stated pursuit of beauty confronts and conflicts with his lived pursuit of power and wealth Winner of the Booker Prize and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction stars out of Kathleen Lance Denver Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey Random House One of my favorite books is Ivey s To the Bright Edge of the World She hasn t published in a scant years so I was excited for this new work which once again features elements of magical realism in this scenario an animal-bridegroom fable set in contemporary Alaska The tale is tender and brutal and absorbing enough to keep me reading Even if you don t care for the fairy tale you may find you like the characters and appreciate the Alaskan setting The descriptions are exceptionally vivid I could practically smell the wildflowers and hear the mosquitos After the fantasy-heavy middle section the last part of the story was more realistic The adult Emaleen was a logical extension of the character as a child and her story arc was satisfying stars out of Neva Gronert Parker Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami First Vintage International Dinners with Ruth A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg Simon Schuster I thought this would be about Ruth and Nina and their friendship While there are anecdotes about it the subtitle tells us what this book is really about all manner and forms of friendship with examples drawn from Totenberg s own life And we should all take the time to reflect on and appreciate our own friendships stars out of Kathleen Lance Denver Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami First Vintage International A glowing iridescent collection of seven short stories this volume trots out all the qualities for which Murakami is praised Every sentence holds truths about human relationships without going overboard with hyperbole or falsehood Set in Japan every character is as familiar as your next-door neighbor This doesn t mean it lacks in excitement or mystery Murakami s work plays with mystical realism In particular stories the reader wonders how the men and the women ever get together hardly a new question in literature In Drive My Car an older musician must use the services of a driver to maintain his career but where did he find such a perfect one In An Independent Organ a professional is abandoned by his lover and starves himself to death because women can lie with a clear conscience In Samsa in Love Gregor wakes up naked in an abandoned house when a hunchbacked female locksmith arrives to fix the lock Strange Yes but related in a matter-of-fact manner Superb stars out of Bonnie McCune Denver bonniemccune com