Nevermore: The Lost Boy, Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Ordeal by Hunger

 

Reported by Rita

Nevermore 8-5-25

The Lost Boy by Thomas Wolfe
A captivating and poignant retelling of an episode from Wolfe's childhood. The story of Wolfe's brother Grover and his trip to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair is told from four perspectives, each articulating the sentiments of a different family member.

A real page-turner. This immersive novella puts the reader inside the story. - PP 4 stars

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

I enjoyed this book. It was interesting and enjoyable. - NH 5 stars


Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party by George R. Stewart
The tragedy of the Donner Party constitutes one of the most amazing stories of the American West. In 1846, eighty-seven people — men, women, and children — set out for California, persuaded to attempt a new overland route. After struggling across the desert, losing many oxen, and nearly dying of thirst, they reached the very summit of the Sierras, only to be trapped by blinding snow and bitter storms. Many perished; some survived by resorting to cannibalism; all were subjected to unbearable suffering. Incorporating the diaries of the survivors and other contemporary documents, George R. Stewart wrote the definitive history of that ill-fated band of pioneers. Ordeal by The Story of the Donner Party is an astonishing account of what human beings may endure and achieve in the final press of circumstance.

It is a very matter-of-fact telling of the Donner Party. I liked it. - FE 5 stars



Other Books Mentioned

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly
Cats in Art: From Prehistoric to Neo-Pop Masterpieces by Alix Paré
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst
The Grandes Dames by Stephen Birmingham
The Swiss Family Robinson / Robinson Crusoe by Johann David Wyss
Chasing the Dime (Harry Bosch Universe, #12) by Michael Connelly
Abandoned Southern Virginia: The South Begins by Liz Roll
The Women by Kristin Hannah
In the Distance by Hernan Diaz
The Penguin Lessons by Tom Michell
The Pirate's Wife: The Remarkable True Story of Sarah Kidd by Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos
Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser
Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia



New Books:

The Book Censor's Library by Bothayna Al-Essa
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Cults: Inside the World's Most Notorious Groups and Understanding the People Who Joined Them by Max Cutler
The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage that Made an American Icon by Laurie Gwen Shapiro
Nature of the Appalachian Trail: Your Guide to Wildlife, Plants, and Geology by Leonard M. Adkins
Absolution (Southern Reach, #4) by Jeff VanderMeer
House of Frost and Feathers by Lauren Wiesebron
The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce

Nevermore: JFK, Beloved Poison, Donner Party, Fatal, Watcher, Silva

 Reported by Kristin

Our first Nevermore reader was moved by the story of peace-seeking President Kennedy in To Move the World: JFK’s Quest for Peace by Jeffrey D. Sachs.  In communications with Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev, JFK sought to reduce the threat of catastrophic war.  The two world leaders wrote letter back and forth about how to achieve the goal of peace, and those letters were revealed decades later.  JFK had served in the military during World War II, and did not trust that military forces would not lose control if there was an escalation of the Cold War.  Our reader found this a detailed history of cooler heads prevailing, however briefly, in a potentially dangerous time.

A different although rather dangerous time to be alive was described in Beloved Poison by E. S. Thomson.  Following her father into the family business, Jem Flockhart dresses as a man in order to serve as an apothecary in a dismal 1850’s London hospital.  Although a murder mystery, the main force moving the storyline forward is the richly described setting.  Our reader said that the descriptions of the filth in the town and the medical treatments were just horrifying.

Continuing in fiction, our next reader enjoyed some lighter fare with The Messenger by Daniel Silva.  Israeli art restorer and spymaster Gabriel Allon is in the thick of things again.  In this installment, jihadists make an attempt on the Pope Paul VII’s life.  Allon attempts to plant art expert Sarah Bancroft into a Saudi organization in order to have someone on the inside.  Serious as the fictional events may be, our reader enjoyed the story as “mind bubblegum,” that is, not mentally taxing.

The Watcher by Ross Armstrong features Lily, a young woman who seemingly is watching birds, but actually does much more neighbor watching instead.  When an elderly neighbor is found dead, Lily cannot resist becoming involved, perhaps to her own detriment.  Our reader didn’t necessarily like the book, as it was difficult to know what Lily was actually observing and what may have been happening only in her own mind.

Turning back to non-fiction, our next reader read The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny by Michael Wallis.  A thorough history of the ill-fated pioneers, this volume lists every name and tells who they were and what happened to them.  With a lot of detail and emphasis on the idea that God had brought them to that land and it was their destiny to go west, this was a book that our reader appreciated for its historic detail.

Finally, Fatal by John Lescroart is a tale of San Francisco Bay area attorneys who seem to have it all—beautiful homes, wine tastings in Napa, perfect spouses—except that after a one night stand, someone ends up dead.  Our reader found this to be a compelling book that could be read in a day.  Also, although this is a standalone novel, our reader believed that it was very open ended, perhaps leaving room for a sequel.

Nevermore: Donner Party, Lost Lake, Skylight, Villages, and Mysteries!

Reported by Ambrea

This week in Nevermore, our readers explored many interesting books, drifting from journeys on the Oregon Trail with the Donner Party to some excellent fiction by Karin Fossum and Sarah Addison Allen.  Our readers even visited Russell County with Come Saturday by Doris Music and Lisbon, Portugal, with Skylight by José Saramago.

The adventures started with Lisa Unger’s Black Out.  Annie Powers is happy:  she has a wonderful house in an idyllic Florida suburb, she has a husband who loves her and a daughter she loves unconditionally—and life seems wonderful.  Until her past comes back to haunt her.  Besieged by memories she had buried and haunted by a name that she abandoned, Annie must put together the pieces of her past to save herself and her daughter.  Our reader said that Unger’s novel was “unbelievable,” an exceptional novel that she couldn’t put aside.

Our reader also volunteered Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen, which weaves together the stories of Eby Pim, Kate and Devin Pheris, and others who congregate at Lost Lake, “looking for something that they weren’t sure they needed in the first place:  love, closure, a second chance, peace, a mystery solved, a heart mended.”  It involves mother and daughter relationships, as well as the redeeming qualities of love, which our reader said she really enjoyed.

Another reader had an interesting selection of reading material:  Across the Plains in the Donner Party by Virginia Reed Murphy and Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern.  As expected, Across the Plains follows the tragic expedition of the Donner-Reed Party.  After setting out for California, the Donner-Reed Party became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and spent the entire winter of 1846-1847 trapped without adequate supplies.  Starved and desperate, members resorted to cannibalism to survive—only 48 of the original 87 members survived.  Our reader said she was “in awe of the people who survived,” and she was amazed at the ability of pioneer travelers to actually meet on the trail and reconnect with other people.

In Sh*t My Dad Says, Justin Halpern has been dumped by his longtime girlfriend and forced to return home with his seventy-three-year-old father.  Sam Halpern, who Halpern describes as being “like Socrates, but angrier, and with worse hair,” is a man without a filter.  He isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind—and, luckily, Halpern had the foresight to record the best of his father’s wisdom.  Sh*t My Dad Says is uproariously funny, according to our reader, and it was an absolute joy to read.  It comes highly recommended from our Nevermore group this week.

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf followed next, unfolding a brand new story in Holt, Colorado.  Addie Moore and her neighbor, Louise Waters, have lived alone for many years, now in reconnecting as neighbors—as friends—they brave new adventures in their small town.  According to our Nevermore reader, it rings true of real life.  “You kind of get sucked in [to their lives],” he said.  “You think it goes one way, but it doesn’t.”  Our Souls at Night explores the depth and breadth of human relationships, chronicling senior realities with a gentle comforting that’s enjoyable.  Our reader definitely recommended reading Haruf’s novel.

Likewise, he was impressed by Karen Fossum’s Indian Bride.  Fourth in the Inspector Konrad Sejer mysteries, Indian Bride starts with a marriage—Gunder Jomann, a renowned bachelor in his hometown of Elvestad, visits India for two weeks and returns with a wife—and a murder.  On the day Jomann’s new wife is set to arrive, a woman is found on the outskirts of town and Inspector Sejer must uncover the culprit among the seeming good people of Elvestad.  One reader said, “It was quite good, I thought,” and he was satisfied with how Fossum wrapped things up; however, another reader in our Nevermore group didn’t hold the same opinion.  She felt that Fossum left her dangling with a dissatisfying cliffhanger.

One of our readers also tried to read Villages by John Updike.  Chronicling the life of Owen MacKenzie from his birth in rural Pennsylvania to his retirement in Haskells Crossing, Massachusetts, Villages is a story about one man’s lifelong education and his relationships.  Unfortunately, for our reader, John Updike’s novel was a grave disappointment.  As she reported, it was “awful, absolutely awful.”

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, likewise, didn’t fare so well for another reader.  Sharp Objects chronicles reporter Camille Preaker’s toughest assignment—her return to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls—and her renewed (and rocky) relationship with her estranged family.  For our Nevermore reader, Flynn’s novel was a study in several generations of very damaged, very disillusioned individuals, which intrigued her, but she thought Flynn seemed to put an emphasis on shock value rather than content.

By comparison, José Saramago’s Skylight performed well.  Skylight is series of intertwined stories—Silvestre and Mariana, an elderly couple who have been happily married for a number of years; Abel, a young nomad who has recently found a home; Adriana, a young woman who loves Beethoven; Carmen and Emilio, an unhappy couple who long to lead separate lives; Lidia, a former prostitute turned mistress—that overlap to weave a tapestry of life and relationships in one apartment in Lisbon, Portugal.  Our reader said Saramago’s writing reminded her of Alexander McCall Smith, but the story made her think of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.  Although Skylight seemed to end with a cliffhanger, our reader was glad that she “got to live in Portugal for a little while.”

Last, another of our readers picked up Come Saturday by Doris Musick.  Set in the rural mountains of Russell County during the Great Depression, Come Saturday details the extraordinary events of one Saturday morning at the local mill—and how it changed the county.  Our reader said it was really interesting to slip into the lives of these people, to learn something new about Russell County.  While our reader did say it was an interesting book, she said it would probably be even more fascinating for readers with ties to the area.