I loved this memoir about the relationship between the author, Sheila Kohler, and her older sister, Maxine. It’s so beautifully written, with such soul and intensity, it was impossible for me to put it down even though I knew tragedy was lodged in its heart.

The tragedy comes from what took place thirty-eight years ago, when Maxine was thirty-nine, and her husband, Carl, drove them off of a deserted road in Johannesburg, injuring himself and killing Maxine. Kohler, who knew of the abuse her sister had experienced atCarl’s hands, is convinced her sister’s death was not an accident. This book is Kohler’s tribute to Maxine and her way of setting the record straight about her sister’s life and death.

Kohler describes the relationship between herself and her sister beautifully and meticulously, alternating between their childhood and their adult years, describing their largely absent father and impulsive mother. Also beautifully described are the places where the two women lived,

I had never read anything by Karen Joy Fowler before reading We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and I’m not even sure how I came across it, but I ended up downloading it onto my iPad and I’m so glad I did. (By the way, I’m about half and half when it comes to paper books and e-books. I like e-books for travel and prefer them for night reading, but I still really love the good old feel of paper.) Anyway, I loved this book. I think Fowler is an amazing writer. I was hooked from the beginning – the characters (dysfunctional family, but with reason), the plot, the writing style, which is beautiful, and the way the book made me take a different view of the world around me. There’s a big reveal fairly early on – a moment when I uttered an audible, “Oh!” And from that point on, I couldn’t help asking myself (every few pages), how did she do this? It’s a Pen/Faulkner Award winner. No surprise to me.

I loved this novel by Delia Ephron. It’s a page-turner about two couples (and the child of one of the couples) on vacation together in Italy and Sicily, Siracusa being a town in Siciliy. It’s about deceit, betrayal, past and current relationships, and how life can come undone quickly. Ephron tells the story by alternating narrators among the four adults and it’s fascinating to see how each one views the events that take place. For the most part, these are characters you love to hate, making the tale even more delicious. You’ll remember it long after you read the last page.