Let's Bust a Recap : The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife

The second book chosen for our book club to read this year was this 2024 debut by Australian author Anna Johnston: The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife. 

And what a gem! I loved this hilarious, heartfelt novel from the first word to the last. Johnston did not miss a single step in her debut, and I've already put her upcoming release on my amazon wishlist and requested that my library buy a copy even though it's not coming out till August. 

In the first chapter, we learn that 82 year old Fred has just been evicted from his home and is taking a walk along the river to find a little snatch of peace while he tries to figure out what he's going to do. In an insane turn of events that involves his uncanny doppelgänger floating away down the river, Fred finds himself being loaded into a van and taken to a nursing home where he's fed the best meal he's had in months and tucked away into a warm bed. Despite his earnest attempts to correct the mistake, Fred can't seem to make anyone believe that he isn't Bernard Greer and decides maybe it won't be so bad to "borrow" this stranger's life since he won't be needing it any more. 

While you might think you'd have to suspend disbelief to such a degree that this story couldn't possibly be enjoyable, I think Johnston actually pulls it off. She does such a wonderful job of spinning a yarn that seems like it could—believe it or not—be plausible despite how absurd it sounds on the surface. Frederick Fife is a kinder, sunnier Ove who, instead of being adopted by the people around him against his will, adopts all the people around him himself to create his new found family. I loved it so much. 

Another surprising element of The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife that endeared me even more to this sweet novel was that I saw myself in Fred. I mentioned in one of my recent reviews that it's hard to find a novel where the protagonist is childless and content. In The Borrowed Life, Fred and his late wife very much wanted to have children but were unable to grow their family. While this was one of the harder elements of this narrative to read about (and let me just give a trigger warning for miscarriage), I felt such a kinship with this character who kept a sunny outlook and had such a beautiful and fulfilling marriage with his partner. I didn't expect the story I'd see myself in to be that of a lonely male octogenarian, but I'm so glad I found it.

Finally, I have to continue my applause for Johnston's brilliant debut by saying that I didn't see the twists coming. I certainly haven't read every book on the planet, but The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife felt wholly original and fresh to me, and I stayed up way past my bedtime finishing this one. 

Two enthusiastic thumbs up from this reader, and I'm so looking forward to Anna Johnston's sophomore novel—coming in August!

Let's Bust a Recap : What Alice Forgot

Well I finally got around to reading What Alice Forgot. This is my second Liane Moriarty, but the first book that piqued my interest in her. Since reading The Hypnotist's Love Story a couple years ago, I have actually accumulated all her books for my home library, and I was determined to put What Alice Forgot on my 2023 book list after stating I would for sure get to it in 2021 after I so thoroughly enjoyed The Hypnotist's Love Story.

Ha. Good one, Hannah.

What Alice Forgot opens with our protagonist waking up on the floor of a gym after falling off her bike in spin class. But wait, why is she even in a gym? She's 29 and can't be bothered to work out. Her husband is madly in love with her and they're about to have their first child together. 

Not so. We, the readers, quickly learn along with Alice that not only is it no longer 1998, but Alice is in the process of divorcing her husband, the father of their three children. Alice can't remember the last ten years of her life and she certainly can't reconcile this new reality that her husband wants nothing to do with her and her sister is acting like she is a major burden with the way Alice feels about them. From here, Moriarty weaves together this narrative of Alice's amnesia with her sister Elisabeth's journal entries about Alice's strange injury and their childhood neighbor/adopted grandmother Frannie's letters to Phil about it as well. The result is an unputdownable and unforgettable story of remembering what's most important in life and how to cherish and protect the relationships that mean the most. 

I loved it. I laughed at Alice's reactions to the three children she couldn't remember, and Moriarty managed to make me feel, right along with Alice, that I didn't want to know how such a lovely marriage could have fallen apart...but needing to know: how could it?? My heart hurt for Elisabeth as she navigated her infertility and tentatively stepped back into her sister's life when Alice needed her. And I couldn't get enough of Frannie's letters to Phil. Who is Phil? I thought the way Moriarty twisted the stories of these three women together and their responses to the different losses in their lives was beautiful. Her writing pulled me in and I couldn't stop turning the pages until I reached the conclusion. 

Admittedly, the closer I got to that conclusion, the more stressed out I became about how it was all going to end, but Moriarty stuck the landing and I promptly took the book to my mother and told her to read it too. What Alice Forgot is certainly not Great Literature, but it's the perfect beach read and, if you're anything like me, the story will stay with you long after you turn the last page. 

The question is: which Liane Moriarty book do I pick up next?

Let's Bust a Recap : The Hypnotist's Love Story

Australian author Liane Moriarty has really exploded onto the scene in the last few years. Three of her eight novels have been picked up by production companies to be adapted into television series (in the cases of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers) and a movie (in the case of The Husband's Secret), and Big Little Lies was such a hit it was nominated for sixteen Emmys and took home eight of them. 

I first heard of her while perusing one of Modern Mrs Darcy's posts a few years ago about some of the most unputdownable books she's read. She had included Moriarty's What Alice Forgot in her list, and after reading her little blurb about it, I promptly added it to my wishlist. Naturally, when I came across it at The Book Shelter, I brought it home where it has been sitting on my shelf—ignored—ever since. 

I still haven't read What Alice Forgot, but a few weeks ago when I took a bag of books that I was getting rid of to The Book Shelter, this other title of hers caught my eye. (And by the way, it's the only book I got on that particular jaunt to The Book Shelter and it was free because of the credit I got for the books I traded in, thankyouverymuch.) I started reading it the very next day on a little Galentine's beach trip I took with my mom with the intent that I would check the "last book acquired" box off on The Unread Shelf's 2021 Bingo Card. 

I have since bought two more books by Liane Moriarty. 

The Hypnotist's Love Story was published in 2011 and is about a professional hypnotherapist named Ellen O'Farrell who is at a point in her life where she's ready to get married and settle down. She thinks she may have met The One when he abruptly tells her they need to talk. As Ellen braces for the worst, she is pleasantly surprised when her boyfriend has no interest in breaking up, but informs her that he unfortunately has a very serious stalker. Far from being upset by this, she's actually quite intrigued. She even considers what it would be like to meet her and talk to her.

Little does she know, she already has. 

Muahahahaha! Doesn't that just sound deliciously creepy?

In all seriousness though, when I started The Hypnotist's Love Story, I had my reservations. At the beginning of the novel, Ellen and Patrick are on their fourth date and Ellen is ready to take Patrick home and get into bed with him. Apparently, premarital sex after only knowing someone a very short time has truly become a foregone conclusion in today's society, but not in my world and I was starting to think that I may just need to write off contemporary literature for good. On top of that, all the hippie-dippy hypnotism stuff was a little annoying and seemed heavy-handed at first as well. 

But, Moriarty hooked me with this story. And while she may not have intended it as a commentary on premarital sex and cohabitation, this story clearly portrays the practical and emotional consequences of living with multiple partners before committing to one person for life. 

My absolute favorite aspect of this book was the way Moriarty chose to switch back and forth between the third person point of view in Ellen's case, and the first person point of view in the stalker's case. It was creepy and unconventional and riveting, and I did not want to put the book down. 

The other thing I wasn't expecting was to feel sympathetic toward the stalker. Moriarty gave me that ethically murky tension I love in a good novel. (See also: The Scarlet Letter or Rebecca.) When you can make me root for a character and disagree with that same character's choices to the point where I'm really wrestling internally over that character's behavior, you have made a fan out of me. And Moriarty achieved that effortlessly. 

All this to say, The Hypnotist's Love Story was a highly satisfying read for me and an absolutely perfect choice for a fast-paced beach read. I give it two thumbs up, and I'm certain this will not be the only novel I'll be reading by Liane Moriarty this year. 

The question is: which one should I read next? 

Let's Bust a Recap : The Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans by Australian author M.L. Stedman was first published in 2012, and this will probably be a short post because I don't want to spoil anything. I finished this novel way back on August 16th, but I still feel heartsick over it. 

First of all, after my last 10 minutes of extensive Google research, I could only figure out that the "M" in M.L. Stedman stands for Margot. This was the author's debut novel, and she has managed to maintain a level of anonymity despite the overwhelming success of her novel which sparked a bidding war between publishers and was adapted into a movie in 2016 starring Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, and Rachel Weisz. 

Set on the fictional island of Janus off the western coast of Australia in the 1920s, our main character Tom has just served in World War I and is living the isolated life of a lighthouse keeper on one of the most difficult posts of the time. He meets and marries the vibrant Isabel Graysmark and the novel details the moral conflict they face when a boat washes ashore with a baby after Tom and Isabel have struggled unsuccessfully to grow their family. 

I found the moral and ethical difficulties raised by this story compelling, and, as is often the case in real life, there was no clear or satisfying resolution to the heartbreaking circumstances faced by different characters in the book. If you're looking for a book with a sweet happy ending tied up in a pretty ribbon, this would be the one to avoid. 

The writing was beautiful. Her descriptions of rugged Australia were breathtaking, and her accounts of lighthouses and their keepers were well-researched and interesting. The historical implications of post-WWI life and human sentiment was also well-depicted. My biggest bone to pick with this book was the author's inconsistency between past and present tense. She would switch randomly and unexpectedly for no apparent reason. It was just enough to really annoy me, but not enough to make me stop reading. 

Based on internet reviews I've read of this novel, it seems to be a love it or hate it kind of a book. While I would hardly classify my feelings for this book as "love" (the content was personally and morally difficult), I found it compelling, well-written (excepting the whole past/present tense issue I mentioned above), and worth the read. 

And....that's it. I'm not sure how to wrap this up. Have you read this book or seen the movie? 

Let's Bust a Recap : I Am the Messenger

I Am the Messenger was not even on my radar. But it caught my eye the other day at Barnes & Noble  when I saw that it was by Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief. I picked it up because I was so impressed with The Book Thief when I read it a couple years back, and the plot of I Am the Messenger sounded intriguing. 

In this 2002 novel by Australian author Markus Zusak, we meet Ed Kennedy, underage cabbie and hopeless loser. When he accidentally stops a bank robbery one day, he gets singled out to become the Messenger. Aces start arriving with nebulous assignments on them, and Ed has to start growing up.

Well as it turns out, the historical context of The Book Thief seems to be what set it up for success. I did not appreciate I Am the Messenger nearly as much. While Zusak did write with the same unconventional, slightly disturbing style that came off so well with Death being the narrator in The Book Thief, the plot of I Am the Messenger was not as gripping and the conclusion turned out to be just as nebulous as Ed's assignments throughout the story. Hardly satisfying for all the buildup. 

I liked the way the book was cleverly divided into five parts, the first four parts being the four aces with chapters from ace to king and the fifth part being the Joker. I liked Ed's coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. I liked how Ed's character developed while completing his mysterious assignments. I liked the general mystery throughout the story.

I didn't like the unnecessary profanity. I didn't like the casual attitude all the characters had about sex and the sometimes graphic way it was described in the novel.  I didn't like that the mystery was sort of weakly wrapped up in a way that was more disappointing than fulfilling. 

All in all it was a pretty fun and entertaining read though not one I'll be likely to revisit. The pros and cons ended up weighing in pretty even making it a somewhat mediocre book, in my opinion. If you ever read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts, particularly about the ending. I think if the ending had been stronger, I'd be able to forgive some of the other things I didn't care for throughout the story. 

Have you read any of Zusak's work? Apparently, he has written five books with a sixth set to be released later this year. What do you think of him?

Let's Bust a Recap : The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. What a cold, grey, hard book. Set during World War II. Narrated by Death. 

Yeah. What else can I even say? 

Because the narrator is Death himself, I was immediately intrigued. And you know what? Zusak's writing made me believe that Death was really telling the story. It was compelling, unconventional, and a bit disturbing. After the first few pages, I thought he surely wouldn't be able to keep up that unorthodox style of writing throughout the entirety of the novel, but he did. Markus Zusak definitely has a gift.

In The Book Thief, we learn that Liesel Meminger is a girl that Death has seen three times, and although Death, as he informs us, tries hard not to take notice of "the survivors", for some reason, Liesel Meminger grabs his attention, and after his third encounter with her, he takes her discarded journal and learns her story. In The Book Thief, he tells that story.

When we first meet Liesel, she is almost 10 years old. As Death concludes his account, she is 14 years old, half a woman. And then there is an epilogue allowing us to catch a brief glimpse of what the rest of her life was like. Between the prologue and epilogue, The Book Thief is divided into 10 parts, each made up of several chapters.

Obviously, this was a fictional account of a made-up person, but because it was set during the very real historical event of World War II, it was difficult to read, especially toward the end. There was nothing imaginary about the Führer, the fear, the helplessness, the absolute cruelty toward and extermination of the Jewish people. What a devastating time in our not-so-distant past.

I would highly recommend this book. While it does contain some difficult content and there is a bit of coarse language throughout (though I think even the language was appropriate to the story and not at all gratuitous), it was well-written and gripping. Definitely worth your time. When I posted my book list at the beginning of this year, I had a friend comment that The Book Thief is one of the best modern classics she has read in a while. And I absolutely agree.

Have you read The Book Thief? What is the best book you have read lately?