The Summary

Lillian Carter, age 21, lost her mother to the Spanish flu in 1919, and it has been eight months since then. Since then, her life has fallen apart totally. Lillian was one of the most sought-after painters' models in New York City for the previous six years under the name Angelica. Statues of her likeness may be found on famous structures like the Brooklyn Bridge and the Plaza Hotel. The job has dried up and a brewing scandal have left a mourning Lillian completely without a safe haven. However, with her mother gone, she is alone and desperate. Therefore, Lillian seizes the chance when she discovers a job opening at the Frick mansion a building that, strangely, bears her own face. She is drawn into a complex web of romantic liaisons, stolen jewels, and family drama that is so deep that the stakes may be life or death the longer she serves as a private secretary to the imperious and demanding Helen Frick, the daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick.

Nearly fifty years later, within the walls of the former Frick mansion, now transformed into one of New York City's most stunning museums, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own opportunity to build her career and with it, earn the money she needs to support her family back home. However, after being fired from the Vogue photo shoot at the Frick Collection with a charming intern and aspiring art curator named Joshua, she stumbles upon a series of hidden messages in the gallery. These messages could help Veronica with her money problems as well as finally shed light on a long-simmering murder in the infamous Frick family.

My Review

My very first Fiona Davis book! Honestly, I was immediately drawn to the book's cover. The lovely Magnolia Palace on the book's cover relates to the Frick Collection in New York City, a peculiar but stunning location that serves as the setting for the most of the story.

Two separate historical fiction stories, a light romance, and an intriguing murder mystery are all featured in this literary gem. The first stream moves through 1919 effortlessly, but the second stream, which moves through 1966 gradually, reads like two books combined.

Lillian, a female form model for artists at the time, loses her mother to the Spanish flu in 1919, and it is later discovered that she had a significant role in the death of her landlord's wife. By mistake, she agrees to work as Helen Frick's personal secretary. Helen Frick's father is the owner of the estate that would eventually house the Frick Museum. In the second timeline, aspiring model Veronica Weber is trapped within the Frick Museum after being left behind after a photo shoot there in 1966, during a harsh blizzard.

The thing I like best about reading historical fiction is that I always learn something new, even if it's often hard for me to believe because it really does happen. This book made me intrigued about the Frick Museum in general and Audrey Munson, who is partly based on Lillian's character, which led me to explore Google for more information. incredibly fascinating things.

I was surprised by how many specifics there were in the Frick family history. I became totally absorbed in both timelines and was captivated by both tales. Despite my limited knowledge of art, the explanations in this book allowed me to picture the statues and paintings.

Although the story may have begun slowly, it quickly gathered up steam and entered the thriller subgenre, where it improved in both intrigue and readability. The finale was really satisfying, and the characters were incredibly believable. by fusing fictional characters that were both inspired by and connected to actual events with historically accurate details.

Overall, I thought it was a really good book and would suggest it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery and is interested in history or one of New York's most famous families and buildings!

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.

The Summary

Six young girls vanished in Chloe Davis' tiny Louisiana village when she was twelve years old. By the end of the summer, Chloe and the rest of her family were left to deal with the truth and the fallout when her own father admitted to the crimes and was sentenced to life in prison.

Chloe is a psychotherapist in Baton Rouge and preparing for her wedding twenty years later. She has a tenuous hold of the happiness she has worked so hard to obtain, yet she occasionally feels just as powerless over her life as the problematic teenagers she treats. Therefore, that horrible summer suddenly comes flooding back as one local teen girl vanishes, followed by another. Is Chloe ready to reveal a killer for the second time in her life, or is she neurotic and seeing parallels from her past that aren't actually there?

My Review

This book is amazing! If I don't get sidetracked from my work, I can probably read it in a day. I was engaged and felt a feeling of plausibility since it had a decent blend of expected and unpredictable components. I felt pretty anxious the rest of the time I was reading this.

The entire story is portrayed through our MC Chloe's perspective, cutting between the present and the past to show glimpses of her happy family before they tragically disintegrated. She makes the perfect flawed, unreliable narrator who is unsure of whom to believe because she utilizes alcohol and prescription drugs to address her anxieties. Chloe Davis, a psychologist, is concealing a very sinister secret from both her patients and the bulk of the world.

I found each character to be quite intriguing. They were all incredibly fascinating, and they all had something to hide. Despite the fact that I felt some of them were brought in unexpected places or seemingly out of nowhere. I could still argue that they all had a purpose, whether it was to confuse us or to reveal more about Chloe's past, traits, and worries.

Although Chloe's emotions repeat themselves frequently and the tempo is a little off, overall the writing flows well, and the Louisiana setting of the story is evocative and well described. Even so, the tension and suspense are masterfully crafted, and even though I had my doubts about who the murderer was, it didn't stop me from enjoying the plot's many twists and turns.

It is clear that this type of psychological thriller focuses a great emphasis on the psychological. There are a few negatives, but nothing that will stop you from enjoying yourself. What a terrific debut!

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.

The Summary

Marjorie Merriweather Post is now starting another typical evening. She has hosted every president that has been in office. Marjorie was inspired by a few simple commandments while growing up in the humble farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan: always use your judgment, never take anything you achieve for granted, and put in the necessary effort even whether you are considered American royalty or are decked out in imperial jewels. Marjorie had a relentless desire to live, love, and give more than she received. Marjorie Merriweather Post led an extraordinary life that few could have imagined, including crawling through warehouses in Moscow to save the Tsar's treasures, eluding the Nazis in London, serving the Great Depression's homeless, and entertaining the Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Hollywood's biggest stars.

Marjorie's adventure began when she was a small child, gluing cereal boxes in her father's barn. Nobody could have imagined that Marjorie, the General Foods company's heiress and leading lady, would help C. W. Post's Cereal Company expand into the General Foods empire and transform American culture. Marjorie dared to demand more, making history in the process, rather than being willing to remain in her traditional positions as a high-society wife, mother, and hostess. She accumulated millions of dollars before turning thirty, making her the richest woman in the country. However, her incredible legacy was created by her life energy, activism, enthusiasm, and adventurous spirit.

Yet Marjorie's tale was equally characterized by difficulty and upheaval while being full of beauty and grandeur and taking place in the opulent palaces she created like Mar-a-Lago. As a four-time wife, Marjorie looked for her happily-ever-after with the wealthy party boy who was unable to escape his demons, the affable financier whose allure turned into treachery, the duplicitous foreign diplomat, and the bon vivant whose shocking secrets would upend Marjorie and society as a whole. Everything Marjorie accomplished was on a large scale, especially her romantic endeavors.

My Review

It was great to read Pataki's Marjorie Post. I had no idea to whom Marjorie Post was addressing herself. Other than the fact that she had obviously made a name for herself, I had no idea who she was. Every facet of Marjorie's life including her early years, travels, homes, marriages, and offspring was expertly described by the author. But I did pick up a few items that made me feel underwhelmed or disappointed.

I was amazed by both her abilities and her modesty, and she had an interesting life. She grew up in an era when women had no rights. She nevertheless managed to accomplish her goals and speak up. a genuinely inspiring entrepreneur, philanthropist, gracious hostess, and friend who overcame all odds.

Sadly, I won't fancy this book. For the most part, this novel reads more like a biography than a piece of fiction. Despite the fact that it is written in the first person, Marjorie as a person isn't given much of a chance to shine, and every key event is glossed over at such a high level that there aren't really enough details to make anything concrete.

I had expected that the book would focus more on all aspects of her life rather than just her riches, her various homes, and her unhappy marriages. The summary painted her as an interesting person, and those who knew just enough about her to be eager about knowing more recognized potential in the concept. It's a little depressing.

Again, I don't know enough about Marjorie Post to pass an opinion on her. If she truly is a gorgeous person, as this book falsely portrays her to be, I would be much more dissatisfied in this book.

There's no denying Marjorie Post is a fascinating person, and if you're mostly interested in learning about her rich lifestyle and her place in high society during a fascinating moment in American history, you'll probably enjoy this book more than I did.

You might want to look into some of the other biographies that have been done on her if you want to find out more about her legacy as a businessman and philanthropist.

Overall, it doesn't seem all that bad to me. It all depends on your preferences and what you expect from this genre.

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.

The Summary

1965

The Summary

Bird Gardner, 12, and his devoted father, a former linguist who now works as a book shelf in a university library, lead tranquil lives. When he was nine years old, his mother Margaret, a Chinese American poet, disappeared. He is angry because she cared more about her art than about him even though he has no idea what happened to her and only knows that her books have been banned.

Then one day, Bird gets a strange letter in the mail with only a puzzling drawing, and he soon finds himself drawn into a search for her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she instilled in him as a child, through the ranks of a secret society of brave librarians, and ultimately to New York City, where he will discover the truth about what really happened to his mother and what the future holds for him and his sister.

My Review

You are probably already aware that this book is different from other Celeste Ng works if you have read "Little fires everywhere" or "Everything I never told you." I genuinely think that you need to be in the right frame of mind to read this book and emotionally prepare for what you'll encounter.

I wasn't really engrossed in this book the whole time I read it, but I was definitely intrigued. This book may have served in some respects as a means of processing the pain brought on by the catastrophes and injustices that have occurred over the past four years in the United States. The book is heavy.

In Our Missing Hearts, a superbly written, emotional, and current book, the themes of family, love, sacrifice, and racially motivated injustice are all present. It paints a dark, dystopian picture of a nation where injustice, intolerance, and discrimination are accepted in order to uphold social norms, cultural traditions, and economic stability. Families have been split apart by the forcible removal of defenseless children from their homes.

The story itself is quite interesting. The characters you meet along the way really well complete the story. There were many different characters, and each one was vividly detailed. Each of their stories adds to the book's main plot and message.

Unfortunately, it lacked any depth of personality you would have desired and was fairly slow-moving. Yes, everything worked well together, but when I consider the underlying idea of the story, I see that the characters might need a little more nuance and complexity.

When it was all said and done, I was just a bit let down. I'm not trying to be overly negative of this point since, in all honesty, I'm not sure how else she could have ended it. I just think it works. But in contrast to Ng's other two works, I feel that this one just kind of ended rather than having a quick, thrilling conclusion. In a sense, everything and nothing are happening at once.

I can absolutely understand and identify with the disappointment this is causing. However, I did appreciate the beginning of the book and the overall premise, so I'll stick with a neutral rating.

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.