sarahjgrant
Fraser Valley Regional Library
sarahjgrant's Completed Shelf
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sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Mar 20, 2024
Shakespeare Was A Woman and Other HeresiesShakespeare Was A Woman and Other Heresies, BookHow Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature
by Winkler, ElizabethBook - 2023Book, 2023
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Jan 27, 2024
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Sep 26, 2023
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Aug 17, 2023
Around the World in 80 DaysAround the World in 80 Days, DVDSeason 1
DVD - 2022DVD, 2022
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Jul 14, 2023
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Jun 30, 2023
SweepSweep, BookThe Story of A Girl and Her Monster : A Story
by Auxier, JonathanBook - 2018Book, 2018
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Jun 19, 2023
Godmersham ParkGodmersham Park, BookA Novel of the Austen Family
by Hornby, GillBook - 2022Book, 2022
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Apr 20, 2023
The Banshees of InisherinThe Banshees of Inisherin, DVD
DVD - 2022DVD, 2022
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Mar 26, 2023
Me Before YouMe Before You, DVD
DVD - 2016DVD, 2016
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Mar 26, 2023
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Feb 23, 2023
The Dark QueensThe Dark Queens, BookThe Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World
by Puhak, ShelleyBook - 2022Book, 2022
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Aug 02, 2022
Where the Forest Meets the StarsWhere the Forest Meets the Stars, Book
by Vanderah, GlendyBook - 2019Book, 2019
Added Oct 28, 2021
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Aug 27, 2021
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Aug 17, 2021
Comment:
I’m so grateful for this rich, old-fashioned historical fiction mystery. It restored to me that precious joy of curling up with a good book. Lots of Shakespeare references, especially to Twelfth Night, and the tale echoes some of that play’s themes. A satisfying read, highly recommended.I’m so grateful for this rich, old-fashioned historical fiction mystery. It restored to me that precious joy of curling up with a good book. Lots of Shakespeare references, especially to Twelfth Night, and the tale echoes some of that play’s themes.…
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Jul 08, 2021
Comment:
Excellent motherhood/multigenerational trauma-centred thriller suggests we might examine our cultural assumption of innocent childhood and its consequences.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRueThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Book
by Schwab, VictoriaBook - 2020Book, 2020
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Jun 29, 2021
Comment:
Well-written, fast-paced fantasy-historical fiction/allegory of what it means to choose a life of freedom.
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Jan 27, 2021
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Aug 29, 2020
Comment:
If you're drawn to time bending novels, this one may be worth a try. It is fairly entertaining to read about Oona's leaps back and forth through the different years of her life, and the bittersweet aspects of this are lightly addressed--e.g. how to maintain a long term relationship? how to have friendships when you don't remember anyone because you just leaped in from ten years previous? I was left unsatisfied ultimately though because the novel really just skims along the surface and never reaches into the complexity of this unusual situation. There is no analysis and no reason given for why Oona's life takes this strange pattern. A pleasant, amusing read.If you're drawn to time bending novels, this one may be worth a try. It is fairly entertaining to read about Oona's leaps back and forth through the different years of her life, and the bittersweet aspects of this are lightly addressed--e.g. how to…
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Aug 29, 2020
Comment:
This novel kept my attention from start to finish and I enjoyed how the narrator matured from a young, inexperienced woman throwing herself head over heels into sexual freedom to a woman making somewhat more measured choices for herself. I think the big question I have for any reader of this book is whether Vivian is indeed what Edna says she is...someone playing with other women's toys. The blurb on the cover suggests that Vivian can be good without doing good things all the time--fair enough--but {SPOILER ALERT}….she is of course involved in an emotional affair with a married man right to the end of the novel, so? Isn't she exactly the kind of person Edna said she was? I wondered if the novel is about self-delusion and the folly of thinking we ever really know ourselves, frankly. Beyond that, or maybe inclusive of that, the quick pace of the story is a summer delight. Worth a read!This novel kept my attention from start to finish and I enjoyed how the narrator matured from a young, inexperienced woman throwing herself head over heels into sexual freedom to a woman making somewhat more measured choices for herself. I think…
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Aug 12, 2020
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Jul 26, 2020
Comment:
This is an intriguing novel that adds a very thin veneer of fantasy to Elizabethan England, creating a role in society called the sin-eater--a woman who may speak only to hear others' final confessions and to place the order for the foods these sins correspond with (for example, if the sin of lying is confessed the sin-eater will eat mustard seeds). The Sin-Eater then "eats" the person's sins, allowing the dying person to pass on without burden while she assumes their guilt. The character of the sin-eater is so engagingly drawn, and the novel plays with our immersion in certain ideologies--for example, the sin-eater believes she has become a thing apart, a social pariah, from the moment the sin-eater collar is locked around her throat; however, when she encounters a Jewish man he tells her he does not believe in such things. The possibility that she has not actually become the sickening identity forced upon her, and that she might actually take it off at will is tempting to the sin-eater and believeably takes some time to adjust to. The novel also asserts the roles of economic precarity and social alliance in a person's ability to free themselves from subjugation. A thoughtful, thoroughly engaging page-turner with lots to think about--highly recommended!This is an intriguing novel that adds a very thin veneer of fantasy to Elizabethan England, creating a role in society called the sin-eater--a woman who may speak only to hear others' final confessions and to place the order for the foods these sins…
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Jul 19, 2020
Comment:
This historical fiction of the 17th century witch trials in far northern Norway was so well written it didn't matter that I knew the ending already. The action of the novel focuses intensely on a community of women initially left to their own devices following a devastating storm. A wide range of reaction is articulated, however three women in particular form a kind of triangle of proto-feminist response: Kirsten, who is dismissive of limits defining appropriate female behavior, and instead has a clear plan to bring her community of women to successful subsistence; Maren, the protagonist, who is in awe of Kirsten's freedom and critical of the vindictive mindsets of some of the women but wary of speaking her mind; and eventually Ursa, a woman from a relatively pampered existence in Bergen who is intimately aware of and privately loathes the repression of the Vardo women, herself included, but is bound by marriage to the man sent to rein in the women of Vardo. Refusing to participate in this negotiation of women's rights to govern their own lives is Diina, Maren's indigenous (Sami) sister-in-law who literally doesn't speak more than a few sentences in the book but represents an intriguing thesis--is refusing to participate/speak in the negotiation the only way to retain one's agency? When male order in the form of Ursa's husband Absolom, is empowered to re-impose patriarchal violence on the women of Vardo, the voices of this island of women are put to the test. The choice of complacence, complicity or defiance marks each woman and asks the reader how much power any individual woman can have under patriarchy. A beautifully written, thought-provoking novel--highly recommended!This historical fiction of the 17th century witch trials in far northern Norway was so well written it didn't matter that I knew the ending already. The action of the novel focuses intensely on a community of women initially left to their own…
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added May 01, 2020
Comment:
This is a romantically focused historical fiction set in Italy during WWII. I appreciated the variation in setting and voice as compared with other WWII historical fictions. Angelo, the young Catholic priest, is an appealing and convincingly drawn character. Despite the fine writing and well told tale though, I had a hard time connecting with this novel. Most likely I found Eva, the heroine, kind of annoying to be frank. Some of the most intriguing characters of this novel were its minor ones--Aldo Finzi, Mario, Monsignor O'Flaherty--these characters came across more convincingly as part of the fabric of WWII Rome. If you are keenly interested in WWII historical fiction this is a good read, but if you aren't already an enthusiast, this might not be the place to start.This is a romantically focused historical fiction set in Italy during WWII. I appreciated the variation in setting and voice as compared with other WWII historical fictions. Angelo, the young Catholic priest, is an appealing and convincingly drawn…
sarahjgrant's rating:
Added Apr 18, 2020
Comment:
I read this a month into Covid quarantining and despite the novel's series of miraculous coincidences which would normally have had me tossing the book out the window, I found this romantic WWII historical fiction (mostly) a pleasure to read. Lester tells a good tale, and this one with its combination of fashion history, spies, family mysteries and scandals, and of course, a delicious bite of love story was a treat from beginning to end, as long as you can give up a need for plausibility. A perfect quarantine read for history loving romantics in need of a bit of fantasy.I read this a month into Covid quarantining and despite the novel's series of miraculous coincidences which would normally have had me tossing the book out the window, I found this romantic WWII historical fiction (mostly) a pleasure to read. Lester…
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