The school year is wrapping up! My kids will be out in just a few days, and I'm already fretting over how I will keep them entertained all summer (though I love having them home with me). I'm sure we'll make many trips to the pool and library. The library has a children's summer reading challenge that kicks off soon. Kids who participate and turn in their challenge cards get to attend a special party when they go back to school in August. Fun!
A vivid novel of Charles Baudelaire and his lover Jeanne Duval, the Haitian cabaret singer who inspired his most famous and controversial poems, set in nineteenth-century Paris. For readers who have been drawn to The Paris Wife, Black Venus captures the artistic scene in the great French city decades earlier, when the likes of Dumas and Balzac argued literature in the cafes of the Left Bank. Among the bohemians, the young Charles Baudelaire stood out—dressed impeccably thanks to an inheritance that was quickly vanishing. Still at work on the poems that he hoped would make his name, he spent his nights enjoying the alcohol, opium, and women who filled the seedy streets of the city. One woman would catch his eye—a beautiful Haitian cabaret singer named Jeanne Duval. Their lives would remain forever intertwined thereafter, and their romance would inspire his most infamous poems—leading to the banning of his masterwork, Les Fleurs du Mal, and a scandalous public trial for obscenity. James MacManus's Black Venus re-creates the classic Parisian literary world in vivid detail, complete with not just an affecting portrait of the famous poet but also his often misunderstood, much-maligned muse.
SOURCE: I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookTrib for participating in the author's blog tour. My Thoughts: BLACK VENUS is a fictional account of the volatile relationship between French poet Charles Baudelaire and his muse, Jeanne Duval. Duval was his greatest joy, yet also the cause of much pain and grief in life. She was the daughter of a French plantation owner and Hatian slave, who made her way to Paris in the mid-1800s. Baudelaire first became infatuated with her while she was working as a cabaret singer, soon becoming his inspiration for his most famous and controversial work, Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil). This was a well-researched book, and I enjoyed how it presented a vivid account of life in Paris during that time. I loved stepping back into the world of bohemian artists and writers of the time, and seeing the social and political unrest that influenced their work. I thought that Baudelaire's obsenity trial and its outcome was particularly interesting, and also the fate of his publisher who believed in him. In life, Baudelaire and Duval were troubled souls, and that came through in the book. However, the characters in the book fell a bit flat for me, and I never felt the strong, passionate connection that was supposedly between them. Something was missing. Since I'm a character-driven reader, I had a difficult time getting into the story because of that. Still, I liked journeying back to the streets of turbulent 19th century Paris - Paris itself was my favorite character in this book - with its beauty, cruelty, and vivacity. 3-stars. About the Author: James MacManus, who was born in London, began his career with The Guardian first as a reporter in the London office and then as a foreign correspondent in France, Africa and the Middle East. Following a position on the diplomatic staff of the Daily Telegraph in London, he joined The Times, eventually rising to Managing Editor then Managing Director of The Times Literary Supplement. In 2006 his first screenplay became the major motion picture, The Children of Huang Shi, and in 2010 his critically acclaimed first novel, Language of the Sea, made its debut.
It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather and once the finest home in Walls of Water, North Carolina—has stood for years as a monument to misfortune and scandal. Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite Paxton Osgood—has restored the house to its former glory, with plans to turn it into a top-flight inn. But when a skeleton is found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, long-kept secrets come to light, accompanied by a spate of strange occurrences throughout the town. Thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the passions and betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover the truths that have transcended time to touch the hearts of the living.
SOURCE: I borrowed this book from the library. My (Very Quick) Thoughts: THE PEACH KEEPER was an "impulse borrow" from the library, and I ended up loving it! It was a captivating story about the power of friendship, with a touch of mystery and magical realism mixed in. (A little romance, too.) Not only is this book about friendship, it's about unlikely friendships and how they can change everything, especially when pasts are entwined by dark secrets. Sarah Addison Allen is a darn good storyteller, and I can't wait to read everything else she's written. I was sad during the last few chapters of this book because I didn't want the story to end! I got pretty attached to the characters and didn't want to leave them behind. *sigh* I listened to the audio version of this book, narrated by Karen White, and I was very pleased. Her pacing was good, and the inflection in her speech held my attention. I think she nailed the characters' voices, particularly Paxton and her grandmother Agatha. I can't imagine them sounding any other way!
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