Sarah and I met many years ago at the law firm where we both worked. Over time, we became close friends and we discovered our shared love of books. (And those things were surely related, as our shared obsessive love of books definitely bonds us!) So, back in 2012, we decided to start a book club at work, inviting a variety of our other friends at the office to join us. But with everyone working hard, often people either didn't have time to meet to discuss the book, or didn't even get around to reading it, so it was often just the two of us and maybe one or two others. Eventually, we started picking books for just the two of us, which was convenient when we both stopped working there! Since Sarah lives in the city and I live in Westchester, we started meeting for lunch at Grand Central, and would generally pick a book to discuss when we were getting together, and finally gave our book club a name - Grand Central Book Club, or GCBC for short. Sometimes we go months without reading anything together, sometimes we read a bunch of books in a very short period of time. If we pick a book and don't end up meeting in person, we often end up discussing the book over e-mail.
This past month, we read two historical novels, "The Shadow Sister" and "Cocoa Beach," and we had a great back and forth about them over e-mail, which seemed like the perfect basis for a blog! So without further ado, I present to you our conversation!
Jen: So let's start with "The Shadow Sister." I don't know about you, but this was my favorite of the"Seven Sisters" series so far. First of all, the weakest part of the series is the overarching setup that the mysterious Pa Salt adopted these girls from all over the world but not only never said a thing about why, but also never told them the SLIGHTEST thing about himself or what he did for a living. So one of the things this book had going for it is that having covered that in more detail in the first two books, this book mostly dispenses with discussing it except in the barest essentials. Second, I just really enjoyed both plots in the back and forth story - both the story of shy Star separating from CeCe and finding her place in the world, and the story of Flora. And you know I love any novel set in a crumbling English mansion!Sarah: I loved The Shadow Sister. It was definitely my favorite of the series so far. In some ways, I feel these books suffer from being part of the series because they have to deal with the contrived series plot which isn't really that mysterious or interesting to me. That said, both the modern story and the back in time story were very engaging, which is unusual. As soon as I saw that the book involved a crumbling manor house, I thought "Jen is going to love this!" (side note: I still can't believe you haven't read Rebecca, the ORIGINAL crumbling manor house story). I too am a sucker for a crumbling manor house and this one did not disappoint. I thought the whole reunion with her mother at the end was a little trite, and actually the whole end of the book felt a little too neatly tied up in a bow, but the journey to get there kept me reading. My only issue with Lucinda Riley generally is that her books are a little too long. She needs to edit herself more. That said, I'll obviously keep reading.
Jen: Shows you what you know - I have read Rebecca! You lent it to me and I loved it. According to Goodreads I read it in 2012. But I think Shadow Sister, despite the setting, lacks that true gothic element. I feel like to really be gothic, there has to be more of a sense of menace or foreboding?
And I definitely agree that her books run a little long. Also interesting that the clues that the sisters are all given are usually about great grandparents or so. This makes for better narratives for the books, but how on earth would Pa Salt have known about them or had the clues to accompany them? And how did he manage to find all these babies with fascinating backstories anyway?! Maybe I’m overthinking it given that I do really enjoy the books!
What did you think about the appearance of famous people in the book like Beatrix Potter, King Edward VII, etc? I actually started reading about King Edward after because I found him an interesting character and I discovered that Alice Keppel and her daughters were actually real people too! So that was interesting.
Sarah: Totally agree. Gothic novels require creepy things to happen in the present time of the novel. According to Wikipedia, its closer to horror than to mystery - who knew? At any rate, crumbling manor houses are always the best. And Rebecca is obviously one of my favorite books ever. As are all the Kate Morton books, which prominently feature crumbling manor houses. Do you think that should be its own genre?
You are not overthinking it! I have had the same thought - did he fully research each baby's lineage before deciding whether to adopt her? Or did he happen to luckily adopt a bunch of glamorous babies and then do the research after? Maybe she should write a book where one of the babies is not interesting at all - at least then she wouldn't have an issue with the length! I think it makes it kind of fun that there are real, historical figures in the books, but I don't think it's always necessary. King Edward was necessary because he is supposedly [one of the character's] father, but Beatrix Potter felt superfluous. I don't have an issue with adding famous people to the book, but it shouldn't feel forced.
Jen:
If "crumbling manor house" is a genre, you can count me in!
Now let's talk about "Cocoa Beach." Ugh, what a disappointment! I didn't realize until I started it that it was a sequel to "A Certain Age," which right off the bat made me skeptical when I realized it, because that was my least favorite Beatriz Williams book - until this one! I had trouble remembering the connections to both "A Certain Age" and "Wicked City" even though I read both of those about a year ago, which made some aspects of the book kind of frustrating/confusing. And this book was confusing enough on its own! Plus the last quarter or so really went off the rails in my opinion, with one preposterous plot turn after another. What a bummer. But you know I'll keep reading her books anyway!
Sarah: Cocoa Beach was a disaster. The main character was so unlikable and confusing. On the one hand, she's supposed to be some tough broad that doesn't take any nonsense from men. And then on the other hand, her knees keep buckling every time the slightest thing happens. On top of that, the plot was extremely confusing and totally contrived. What I like about historical fiction (even of the girly variety) is that you get a real sense of the time and place. This story felt unrealistic and gave me no sense of the world beyond the main plot line.
Since we read The Shadow Sister first, I found myself comparing the two books since both partially took place during WW1. The Shadow Sister was much more satisfying and realistic in that respect.
Jen: I agree Virginia was not a compelling character. And unlike some of Beatriz Williams' other books, we didn’t get a second POV character so we were stuck with her the whole time. Which in some ways made the story more confusing since the back and forth chapters were just 5 years apart and dealing with the same characters. It really was a disappointment. And given the epilogue clearly there is going to be a sequel. I really hope she gets back on track!
Side note - notice there are so many more WWII novels than WWI novels? I think maybe World War 1 (at least the warfront aspect of it) just doesn’t make for great fiction since trench warfare was just so horrible and pointless and practically everyone died, all so the front could just move a few hundred yards back and forth. Harder to understand the motives behind it as well.
Sarah: WWII had a clear "bad guy". That's why its more compelling to write about. I think WWI was a little less obvious. Trench warfare is depressing and gory, not as good for story telling.
Jen: If anyone hasn’t previously read Lucinda Riley and/or Beatriz Williams, what’s your favorite book by each of them? My favorite Lucinda Riley is definitely “The Midnight Rose,” which is also the first one we read together! Unlike “The Shadow Sister,” it’s also a stand-alone so does not require commitment to reading a whole series!
For Beatriz Williams, my favorite so far is “The Secret Life of Violet Grant” which is also the only one of hers to make my top 10 list so far. You lent it to me, of course, so thank you!
Sarah: My favorite Lucinda Riley is also The Midnight Rose - that's what started us wanting to read her other books! Of the Storm Sisters books, the Shadow Sister has been my favorite so far.
My favorite Beatriz Williams is also Secret Life of Violet Grant. I would say A Hundred Summers was a close second. Her more recent books just haven't been as good. Not sure if that is because she feels pressure to churn them out or maybe she's run out of good ideas. Either way, I'm sure I'll keep reading them since I have an unnatural obsession with reading every book by an author I like.
Jen: I have a soft spot for “A Hundred Summers” too, which was the first Beatriz Williams I read (for my other book club!) and which introduces the omnipresent fictional Schuyler family. Though no Schuylers make an appearance in Cocoa Beach which might be a first!
And you know I share your obsession with working my way through authors’ oeuvres, at least for some authors. And Lucinda Riley and Beatriz Williams are definitely both on that list.
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And for anyone curious as to what we're reading next, we have decided on "Red Sparrow" by Jason Matthews in light of the upcoming movie adaptation, and "War Brides" by Helen Bryan. So perhaps you'll see a future post on one or both of those books.
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