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40x40

Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Lights out Liverpool (Pearl Street #1) in Books

Feb 26, 2023  
LO
Lights out Liverpool (Pearl Street #1)
Maureen Lee | 2023
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
22 of 235
Book
Lights out Liverpool (Pearl Street #1)
By Maureen Lee
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The folk of one small Liverpool street cope with the first year of World War II. They find the war affects each of them in a different way. One woman worries about her twin sons who are called up, another is liberated from a loveless marriage, whilst Jessica Fleming's life is changed irrevocably.

I love a good saga! This one kind of hit home with the start of WW2 and in comparison to what we are dealing with now and it’s quite frightening to think of what they were facing and the loss that was felt. It was a little heartwarming to read and have a break from my usual reads.
  
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Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated An American Marriage in Books

May 10, 2018  
An American Marriage
An American Marriage
Tayari Jones | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.9 (12 Ratings)
Book Rating
Roy and Celestial have been married for almost two years when their relationship takes a hit no one could ever anticipate. As they are in rural Louisiana visiting Roy's family, he is wrongly accused of a crime he didn't commit. Sentenced to twelve years in a Louisiana prison, the time they have spent married will be much shorter than the time they are about to spend apart. Will they both be able to survive the predicament they are in? With Celestial in Atlanta trying to continue to live her life and Roy in Louisiana, writing letters back and forth and having sporadic visits, will their marriage survive?

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I enjoyed this book from start to finish. One of the best books I have read so far this year. This has also been selected as an Oprah Book Club Selection.

Can you imagine what you would do if one night you and your husband were asleep in a hotel bed, enjoying some time away from home visiting family. When all of a sudden, your door is ripped open and you both are snatched out of bed. Your husband is being charged for a crime he couldn't have committed. An earlier act of kindness, now turned into something it is not. Then he is tried for the crime and convicted and has to spend twelve years behind bars. How will your marriage survive this? Are you going to pick up the life you have built in one state to move to another and be closer to him, even though you can only see him once a week? Will you continue to live your life and make that journey? Or will you leave him to his own devices in jail, there is nothing more you can do for him and the wait is just too much to bear? What would you do?

Celestial, has not had an easy life. On the outside, her life looks pretty incredible, with parents who had made something for themselves and live in a wealthy part of Atlanta. Roy, though he didn't come from much, had graduated from college and proven himself in the professional world. This is the type of couple you always would think, nothing like this could happen to them. But things like this happen every day. Hundreds of men and women are in prison now for crimes they did not commit.

A heart breaking and compelling story about love, marriage, and life and how we all try our best to survive it one day at a time.
  
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Bookapotamus (289 KP) rated An American Marriage in Books

May 25, 2018  
An American Marriage
An American Marriage
Tayari Jones | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.9 (12 Ratings)
Book Rating
I'm not even sure where to start with this book. The entire time I was reading, I had to keep going back and re-reading sentences because the words were so beautiful. I wanted to savor Tayari Jones' writing and not forget one word. I found myself reading out loud so I could hear her words.

If this book was found in the poetry section of my local bookstore, I would believe it.

“Marriage is like grafting a limb onto a tree trunk,” Celestial reflects. “You have the limb, freshly sliced, dripping sap, and smelling of springtime, and then you have the mother tree stripped of her protective bark, gouged and ready to receive this new addition. ... In my marriage, I never determined which of us was rootstock and which the grafted branch.”

And the story is just the cherry on top of the words. Celestial and Roy, barely out of the newlywed phase when Roy is sent to prison. It's a heartbreaking story, of separation, as well as togetherness, between this married couple, but in a grander scheme a critique on America and unequal treatment of its citizens. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, but I felt for them, probably more than I've ever felt for any character in a novel. I felt for them in my soul.

It's not a activism story. It's a love story. About the American dream and how just like a spouse, your country can fail you - no matter how hard you work for your dreams.

It's poignant, and thoughtful, and written like a painting. I am so glad I read this book. For several different reasons. And I'm excited to read what Tayari Jones paints next.