A Review of Outlander

As soon as I read a few synopses from Outlander, I knew I had to read it. From almost the first page, I found myself delightfully transported to places in Scotland I've visited like the Highlands, Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, and the site of the Battle of Culloden. I could easily hear the Scottish brogue in the characters' dialogue as well. 

One thing is certain, Gabaldon knows how to write romance! The graphically intense love scenes require some acclimation at first but the author's fantastic descriptions pull the reader right in. There are times when the scenes are so vivid and steamy, I felt I was watching more than I was reading. Because of that and the sheer frequency of those scenes, it would be easy to assign it to the genre of gothic romance, but Gabaldon's well-layered period plot and intricate web of characters puts it, in my library anyway, decidedly in historical fiction. 

Some early parts of the story seem less than plausible. Despite her primitive-like experiences as an army nurse on the front lines of WW2, Claire adjusts more quickly to the rough and tumultuous way of life in the 18th c. than seems likely. Also, the comfort level that Claire and Jamie share so early on seems dubious as well, given the circumstances.

One of the most enjoyable and thought-provoking aspects of the novel is the idea of time travel as it links generations from past to present. Who hasn't ever wondered what it would be like to live among their own ancestors or other people they've learned about from history? It is, of course, the rock upon what poor Claire's fate rests, quite literally. 

The novel has a bit of everything, including action, suspense and mystery. I highly recommend and very much looking forward to reading (and watching!) the rest of the series.

The New Jacob and Bella

For all you Twilight fans pining over Jacob Black and still waiting in vain for the installment in which Jacob and Bella do hook up, meet Max & Menna. While Max and Menna are fraternal twins born in a small town in a family without a single hope, the unlikely friendships they forge teach them about things their home life does not. Things like love, acceptance, loyalty and sacrifice.

The first novel by friend and debut novelist Shauna Kelley, Max & Menna is a melancholic coming-of-age story about beating the odds and breaking free from the cycle of generational influence and rural mores that has all the shadow and mystery of Twilight sans the supernatural forces.

Although the first few pages read awkwardly like excerpts from a collegiate creative writing assignment, as the relationship between Max and Menna starts to unfold into a gentle cadence between past and present, Max & Menna quickly develops into the story of me or the story of countless latchkey-like kids who, growing up, were the product of broken homes, abuse or otherwise distracted, derelict parents. We all had a place like the Hill, whether real or imagined, and, like Max and Menna, while there, we rarely spoke of why we fled to it, as if doing so would somehow diminish its sanctuary.

Kelley aptly captures the void one feels — even into adulthood — that results from dysfunction and abandonment. The way the weight of its emptiness latches to the soul like a dense, torrid humidity.

This underlying emotion — clingy desperation, perpetual inadequacy and permanent entrapment — may be lost to readers unfamiliar with nuances of a childhood riddled with alcoholism and abuse. These depressive states are easily vanquished, though, by the feverish intensity between Nick and Menna — the new Jacob and Bella — and, even amid tragedy, the unbreakable bond of friends.

Max & Menna was published by Lucky Press on November 1, 2010! Look for it at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon!