Dear Edward - Ann Napolitano

A luminous, life-affirming novel about a 12-year-old boy who is the sole survivor of a deadly plane crash

One summer morning, a flight takes off from New York to Los Angeles. There are 192 passengers aboard: among them a young woman taking a pregnancy test in the airplane toilet; a Wall Street millionaire flirting with the air hostess; an injured soldier returning from Afghanistan; and two beleaguered parents moving across the country with their adolescent sons, bickering over who gets the window seat. When the plane suddenly crashes in a field in Colorado, the younger of these boys, 12-year-old Edward Adler, is the sole survivor.

Dear Edward depicts Edward's life in the crash's aftermath as he struggles to make sense of the meaning of his survival, the strangeness of his sudden fame, and find his place in the world without his family. In his new home with his aunt and uncle, the only solace comes from his friendship with the girl next door, Shay. Together Edward and Shay make a startling discovery: hidden in his uncle's garage are sacks of letters from the relatives of the other passengers, addressed to Edward.

As Edward comes of age against the backdrop of sudden tragedy, he must confront some of life's most profound questions: how do we make the most of the time we are given? And what does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?

What did I think?

Oh my!  Once in a while a book comes along that makes your heart ache and Dear Edward is that book for me.  Against the terribly emotional backdrop of a plane crash is a beautiful story filled with love and hope that left me feeling very emotional.  Having gotten to know Edward through the book I was surprised how deeply I felt the loss of his family; it was if I was experiencing some of his own emotions along with him.

The story is told in three timelines: Edward in the aftermath of the crash, the last hours of the crash and back stories of some of the passengers.  All three timelines are equally poignant and often distressing, knowing the conclusion that we are hurtling towards.  It's quite a dilemma when the book is so good that you don't want to put it down, yet knowing that the quicker you read, the sooner you will reach the devastating ending for most of the characters.  Reading the last moments of the flight was so heart-achingly poignant that I still feel emotional thinking about it now.

Ann Napolitano writes so beautifully and rhythmically that the story flows like a piece of music.  Dear Edward not only pulled my heart strings but played them like a violin virtuoso as I experienced a full musical spectrum; from deep mournful doloroso tones, gradually rising through the crescendo, to making my heart sing with joy in the finale.

Stunning, breathtaking and heart-achingly poignant, Dear Edward is absolutely superb and very highly recommended.  

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Turbulence - Bruce McLaren

A young man’s flight of fancy. A series of sensual encounters. An epic journey that will either lead to destruction, enlightenment, or both.

He loves exotic travel and alluring women, preferably together. Embarking on a lifelong journey across the world, a razor-sharp academic delights in highly sensual encounters with the opposite sex. As each experience deepens his philosophy, he experiments on a quest for something more, suffering several hard landings along the way.

But drink, ambition, and tragedy eventually send him down a bumpy path of self-destruction. If he doesn’t moderate his excesses, his original journey will only go in one direction… into a death spiral. Will a determined man learn from his travels or will his hedonistic vision send him crashing down to earth?

Turbulence is a rich and poignant literary novel. If you like sizzling indulgences, intriguing encounters, and anti-heroes with attitude, then you’ll love Bruce McLaren’s extravagant adventure.

What did I think?

I have to admit that I was drawn to this book because of the author sharing his name with a Formula 1 legend and Turbulence does actually have something in common with today’s McLaren – neither of them are very racy!  Despite being described as an erotic novel, Amsterdam Press took a chance on this book and wow, am I glad that they did.  I can totally see the publisher’s quandary; Turbulence does not fit into any one genre and it is difficult to market a book that doesn’t fit into a particular category.  I’m sure this isn’t an isolated incident and I’m so sad that readers could be missing out on some great books so…how about we create a new genre called ‘Unique’.  See, Turbulence fits perfectly there!

Both the author and the ‘nameless’ main character are both archaeologists, which made me wonder whether this was more of a memoir.  As he travels round the world for work, he inevitably meets a beautiful woman on each flight and, more often than not, they end up meeting for sex at their mutual destination.  Bruce McLaren doesn’t go into details, sparing our blushes and leaving most of it to the reader’s imagination.  Although there are a lot of these encounters, by not dwelling on it, you know that this isn’t the main focus of the story.  We are free to discover some of the amazing cities through the eyes of this philosophical man, which I found both educational and fascinating.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I agreed to read Turbulence, but I certainly didn’t expect something so deep, meaningful and thought-provoking.  It was actually really refreshing to read something from a man’s point of view; they’re not as confident as we think, ladies!  It’s a short read at only 194 pages but I found myself pausing after each chapter to savour the sounds and smells of the city we had just virtually visited through the all-encompassing faultless prose of Bruce McLaren.

So pack your passport and pick up a copy of Turbulence; the book that takes you on a virtual tour of the world as you follow one man’s quest to charm the birds out of the sky.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon