“My mother read a lot, sighed a lot, and went to bed early. She had been a Maud Gonthier, from Dijon, brought up to expect something better than the provincial restrictions which had stifled her as a girl. She never found it, at least not with my father.”

Incidents in the Rue Laugier
By Anita Brookner
Source: Personal copy

Maud Gonthier’s daughter is clearing out the flat where her mother lived. Nestled in a suitcase she finds a few personal items such as a pink rose kimono she never saw her mother wear and most interestingly a notebook with a few notations: Dames Blanches, La Gaillarderie, Place des Termes. Sang. Edward. Not exactly a diary but what do these things mean? As she herself is trying to comprehend how much she’s turning into her mother what follows is the unrecorded story of Maud.

As a young woman, Maud, wants to be free and move to Paris and escape all forms of control from her mother. She knew her mother had hopes that she would marry well and as such would relish the weeks they would spend during the summer with her aunt in hopes that Maud would meet a suitable match but on their recent visit Maud will meet David Tyler and Edward Harrison and her life will be forever changed.

The three will leave Dijon and go to Paris and in their time in Paris Maud begins a whirlwind affair with David. He’s charming and always has something exciting plan but Edward knows his friend is very cavalier about relationships. He is often a bit jealous of how easy everything seems for David and at the same time it’s like he doesn’t want to share David with anyone else.

Unfortunately when things end, Edward is left to pick up the pieces of the doomed affair and he and Maud decide to make a go of things. The two move to England where Edward can take over a bookshop that was left to him and hopes that they can have a good life together but as years pass both feel like they haven’t lived the lives they were expecting to and are filled with disappointments.

This must sound incredibly sad but I think the writing is fantastic and for such a slim novel it captures the longings of each of the characters so well. Whether exploring relationships between mother and daughters or romantic relationships, I think Brookner always has a way of showing great understanding about characters and their motivations. If you’ve never read Anita Brookner before I’d highly recommend giving her a try.

**This counts for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge

Every month I tell myself to get this post ready first thing but it seems like I am always a bit late. Anyway, I guess it doesn’t matter because it’s not like the books are going to disappear. So yes, I’m back with another post on new releases for the month. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the review copies.

Tears of Amber by Sofia Segovia, translated by Simon Bruni. With war looming dangerously close, Ilse’s school days soon turn to lessons of survival. In the harshness of winter, her family must join the largest exodus in human history to survive. As battle lines are drawn and East Prussia’s borders vanish beneath them, they leave their farm and all they know behind for an uncertain future.

Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg. The brutal murder of a young woman in a rural village in Northern China sends shockwaves all the way to Beijing—but seemingly only Inspector Lu Fei, living in exile in the small town, is interested in justice for the victim.

Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane. Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed have been friends since they were teenagers. Now in their thirties, the four are as close as ever, Thursday night bar trivia is sacred, and Eve is still secretly in love with Ed. Maybe she should have moved on by now, but she can’t stop thinking about what could have been. And she knows Ed still thinks about it, too.

The Guardian of Amsterdam Street by Sergio Schmucler; translated by Jessie Mendez Sayer. Galo has not left his home on Amsterdam Street, not since the day in 1938 when a shocking act of violence split his family apart. His hermitage is made easier by the peculiar design of the street. Playing host to Jewish refugees, Spanish exiles, and Latin American revolutionaries, his home becomes the school at which Galo learns about a world he never sees, and the ideals and terrors that shape history.

Tante Eva by Paula Bomer. East Berlin, a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Eva, a retired nurse, makes it through her day on a combination of stimulants and sleeping pills, wine and brandy. She finds fleeting joy in American jazz and blues records, and occasional visits from her married lover.  Then her American niece, Maggie, arrives in Berlin. Eva is thrilled—Maggie is just the companion she’s been seeking. But happiness begins to slide from Eva’s grasp as Maggie’s own fierce drug addiction reveals itself.

The Whispering Dead by Darcy Coates. Homeless, hunted, and desperate to escape a bitter storm, Keira takes refuge in an abandoned groundskeeper’s cottage. Her new home is tucked away at the edge of a cemetery, surrounded on all sides by gravestones. And in the darkness, she can hear the unquiet dead whispering. The cemetery is alive with faint, spectral shapes, led by a woman who died before her time…and Keira, the only person who can see her, has become her new target.

I’ve heard good reviews about Thief of Souls but I’m also tempted by Just Last Night as it sounds like a good romantic drama. Not sure which one I’ll start with first but would love to hear which one you are most interested in. Have you heard about these titles or read some already?