Synopsis:In 1948 Najin and Calvin Cho, with their young daughter Miran, travel from South Korea to the United States in search of new opportunities. Wary of the challenges ahead, Najin and Calvin make the difficult decision to leave their other daughter, Inja, behind with their extended family; soon, they hope, they will return to her.
But then war breaks out in Korea, and there is no end in sight to the separation. Miran grows up in prosperous American suburbia, under the shadow of the daughter left behind, as Inja grapples in her war-torn land with ties to a family she doesn’t remember. Najin and Calvin desperately seek a reunion with Inja, but are the bonds of love strong enough to reconnect their family over distance, time and war? And as deep family secrets are revealed, will everything they long for be upended?
Told through the alternating perspectives of the distanced sisters, and inspired by a true story, The Kinship of Secrets explores the cruelty of war, the power of hope, and what it means to be a sister.
Hello and Merry Christmas to you and your family! I have been ignoring my blog for quite some days and decided to write a post commemorating this blog’s first Christmas.
Synopsis:Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ’80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
Review: I picked up this book because I was given an ARC by the publisher. Although I have seen it making rounds on Instagram, I wouldn’t have picked it up anytime soon.
The title “The Seven husbands …” makes you wonder that this book is entirely about the love life of a Hollywood actress but it so isn’t.
The book starts with Monique Grant, an ambitious journalist, who is sent to interview a famous ex-actress Evelyn Hugo. It should be a normal interview but it isn’t for a number of reasons:
One, Evelyn specifically requested Monique ;
Two, when Monique went to meet with Evelyn, she confessed that there isn’t going to be an interview afterall!
LET ME EXPLAIN:
Evelyn doesn’t want to do a “tell-all” interview, she wants Monique to write her biography which she has to publish after Evelyn’s death. Day after day, Evelyn unravels all the secrets and lies and finally, she reveals the real love of her life. The questions are : Did she love any of her seven husbands? Or, did she love someone else? Why did she specifically request Monique Grant?
Let’s talk about the things I loved and didn’t :
I loved Evelyn Hugo. She is such a flawed character and is totally aware of it. When you will read about the struggles she had to go through, I’m sure that you will fall in love with Evelyn as well.
I loved the pace of the story and the surprise ending.
Overall, I loved reading this book. It has everything -from old Hollywood stories to topics like sexism, racism; drama and a heartbreaking reveal.
Verdict: 5 out of 5 stars
Author: Connect with Author Taylor Jenkins Reid on Goodreads.
Synopsis:Ronojoy’s mother dies alone in the Ashram she had abruptly retreated to twenty-eight years ago, leaving him – then only twelve- to fend for the emotional needs of himself and his six-year-old brother.
When the cremation rites are complete, Ronojoy is handed a letter from his mother that is not so much a farewell as a confession. As before, it is left to him to decide whether to share the disturbing contents with his brother, whom he has always sought to protect.
Thus, begins another tumultuous cycle in the lives of the two brothers who already carry deep scars from their childhood; their fragile minds ever at risk of succumbing to the dark.
Written in spare, stark prose, Dark Circles deftly weaves past and present, offering tantalizing glimpses of bottled truths buried deep in the recesses of repressed memory; brilliantly exposing the dark undercurrents that swirl under the seemingly placid lives of families.
Synopsis:An addictively suspenseful new novel set in the glamorous world of the New York Hamptons, about secrets that refuse to remain buried and consequences that cannot be escaped.
After a whirlwind romance, a young woman returns to the opulent, secluded mansion of her new fiancé Max Winter – a wealthy senator and recent widower – and a life of luxury she’s never known. But all is not as it appears at the Asherley estate. The house is steeped in the memory of Max’s beautiful first wife Rebekah, who haunts the young woman’s imagination and feeds her uncertainties, while his very alive teenage daughter Dani makes her life a living hell.
As the soon-to-be second Mrs. Winter grows more in love with Max, and more afraid of Dani, she is drawn deeper into the family’s dark secrets – the kind of secrets that could kill her, too.
Book Rambler 