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Russ Troutt (291 KP) rated Green Book (2018) in Movies

Jul 2, 2019  
Green Book (2018)
Green Book (2018)
2018 | Drama
9
8.9 (30 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Green Book. It breaks my heart that such a book ever had to be printed, as it was a list of safe places for African-Americans to stay and eat at while vacationing. The movie takes us on the true story road trip of Dr. Don Shirley, a world class pianist, who hires a Tony Lip to be his driver and bodyguard while touring in the south in the early 1960's. The movie drives us through the racial tensions of the time which leads to some tense situations, but we also get plenty of laughs watching the making of a life long friendship between Doc and Tony.
  
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gayga (2127 KP) rated Necessary Lies in Books

Dec 13, 2019  
Necessary Lies
Necessary Lies
Diane Chamberlain | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Strong story (0 more)
A bit cringey in places (0 more)
Wow!
Basically, without going into too much detail about the plot it’s about newly married Jane Forrester becomes a social worker in 1960’s Grace County she encounters families that are poor beyond her comprehension, events occur that will change her and the families lives forever.

It’s slightly depressing but the story is SO good and the ends justifies the means, literally! I don’t know why I seem to review books that end up making me cry, I guess I’m just a big softy. It’s not a romantic story, it’s political for the time. It’s worth reading if just for the ending!
  
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ClareR (5721 KP) rated Lady In The Lake in Books

Jul 30, 2022  
Lady In The Lake
Lady In The Lake
Laura Lippman | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is an engrossing mystery set in 1960’s Baltimore. Madeline Schwartz has left her husband, desperate to make something of her life house and kitchen. After 20 years, she finds herself (mostly) free to make her own decisions and she decides to try and find her dream job - that of a journalist. But this is the 1960’s, and the closest she gets is as a PA at the newspaper.

Addie puts herself in the path of danger in order to solve the deaths of two women: one black, one white. The police are all in in their crusade to find the murderer of the white woman, not so much the black woman. And the newspaper centres around the white woman’s story too.

This book looks at themes of racism, classism, gender discrimination and ageing. Maddie is 37 years old, attractive, yet ageing. She’s looked down on by the men for her gender, and by the women because they think her looks scored her the job. No-one seems to appreciate her capabilities, or even give her the chance to show them.

I loved the chapters from other characters points of view - people Maddie had met in her investigation - and the way that we learn a bit more about her background. I was equally interested to see that the murders were based on real life cases from the same period, and the media coverage was the same as in the story.

An absorbing mystery that I’d recommend!
  
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ClareR (5721 KP) rated Free Love in Books

Mar 2, 2022  
Free Love
Free Love
Tessa Hadley | 2022 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I like nothing better than being the unseen observer of a family (in a book, anyway!), and Free Love gives the reader plenty to be looking at.

Phyllis is a typical 1950’s/ 60’s housewife, but is she happy in her role as a housewife? She says yes, but I’d guess not, because when the son of a friend comes for dinner, Phyllis ends up making a pass at him, and then becomes obsessed - to the point that she finds out where he lives, goes to return a shirt that he had to change out of and ends up in bed with him. Then she just doesn’t go home.

Phyllis discovers the liberating 1960’s right at the end of the decade (1967), and shrugs off the responsibilities of motherhood and of being Roger’s wife. Instead she moves in with Nicky, has sex all the time and does whatever she wants to.

It felt like I was watching a car crash in slow motion. I could empathise with Phyllis’ need for freedom: her previous life in the suburbs was stifled and grey. I felt sad for her 16 year old daughter Colette, who is essentially dumped by her mother and left with a father who isn’t coping. It’s almost as if Colette becomes the adult, and her mother the carefree teenager.

I enjoyed the 1960’s setting and the contrasts of old and new. The whole story is told from a non-judgemental point of view. That’s left up to the reader to decide, and believe me, this really did prove how scarily judgemental I can be! There’s something to be said about a middle-class woman who decides to live in a filthy bedsit, expecting others who live in it to enjoy their freedom as much as she does (with her cushion of inherited money).

The plot twist at the end was a jaw dropper!

I loved this though. It might not sound like it, but I do love to hate my characters (although that’s a harsh word for the characters in this book, I think). If you feel the same way about unlikeable characters, then this could be the book for you too!