Whoops, didn't see this one.
I recently finished a novella entitled DISQUIET by Julia Leigh. It's quite gothic--almost horror but not quite, and it's one of the best works I've read in ages. It concerns a woman, fresh out of an abusive marriage, and her children finding solace in the manor of her mother. It's creepy and there is a sense of dread and unease everywhere, from the grandmother's habit of leaving chicken legs all over her bedroom floor for her cats and not picking them up to the way the woman continually answers questions about her husband with a simple "He murdered me." It's a short read, probably two to three hours, but it stays with you long after you finish. I still get goosebumps thinking about certain passages.
http://www.amazon.com/Disquiet-Penguin-Original-Julia-Leigh/dp/014311350X/ref=ed_oe_p I'm currently a few chapters into THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, which is engaging if ordinary so far. I want to finish it before the film comes to the dollar theater this Friday, so I'm going to read for two or three hours tonight. For those who don't know, it's about (so far anyway) a fourteen year old girl and her black nanny escaping a group of racists and an abusive father in South Carolina during the Civil Rights era. The girl is on the hunt for the truth behind her mother's background. It's pleasantly written and I can see why it is so popular with book clubs, but none of the characters are clicking with me yet. Perhaps when the "Sisterhood of the Bees" shows up the book will perk up as well.
Next up I'm diving into Austen's PERSUASION which is her only novel heretofore uncracked by me.
Matt, I haven't read either Lisey or Duma yet and I was curious as to whether I have to read one to comprehend the other, or if they are fine standalone. Because, at least in terms of plot, Duma Key seems much more enticing.
