Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin, translated from a 2018 French publication, is a delicately developing mysterious story about people who are a little offbeat but emerge as complex and interesting characters. The principal character, Violette Toussaint, is introduced to us as “the cemetery lady.” She works as the keeper of a cemetery in …
Continue reading Two special novels for Indian summer reading
Jack Rennie, Chairman and CEO of Pacer Systems, Inc, was a genial and successful businessman in Massachusetts who found his purpose in life not infinitely expanding his corporate interests but in educating the workforce necessary to grow the state’s economy. During the 1980’s, he became increasingly distressed that young people were leaving school inadequately prepared …
Continue reading VOTERS SHOULD FLUNK THE NOVEMBER MCAS REFERENDUM
Tuesday night's debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President (and convicted felon) Donald Trump put a smile on the face of anyone who has ever felt degraded or dismissed as weak, inconsequential or otherwise put down by a bully. Harris was "presidential." Not only did she stand up to Trump verbally, but she …
The nights are cool, but the days are warm enough to still qualify as summer. So here are two novels to tempt you. Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon is an historically inspired and riveting novel about Martha Ballard, a smart and hardy woman who, as a real-life midwife and medical professional, delivered nearly a thousand …
Continue reading More fiction to stretch the last days of summer
Marjorie Arons-Barron 