eyes.2c Reviews

A Shadowed Fate (Claire Clairmont Mystery #2)   by Marty Ambrose         I must admit to being more and more taken with Ambrose's tribute to the seemingly infamous Claire Clairmont, stepsister to Mary Shelley, and the propositional mystery surrounding Allegra Byron, Claire and Lord Byron's daughter, said to have died from typhus in the convent Byron had placed her in. The question becomes for Claire, did Allegra die or was this all a ruse to protect her from Byron's enemies? Ambrose gives a genuine voice to Claire's life, presenting Claire in a more gracious light than others have. The story is loaded with unknown threats for Claire and her traveling companions as she searches for the truth about Allegra. Made more so by the restrained yet menacing undercurrents. I was much struck by the thoughtful reflections from the eighty year old Claire, particularly after having visited the convent at Ravenna. "There are so many unknowns when it comes to how fate ...

The Sun and Other Stars: A Novel by Brigid Pasulka  Life in an Italian village like San Benedetto has inoculated Etto against joining the chatter about leaving, against being a 'big talker in a long line.' It seems that those who do talk the talk or walk the talk either never leave or can't help but eventually return. Hence Etto's reluctance to contemplate sketching big dreams. This is one of the truths that this 22 year old contemplates. There are as we discover other reasons. Revolving around soccer or calcio as it known in Italy, 'The Sun and Other Stars' is a tale of the experience of being lost, of disassociation after loss. And of finding yourself, of returning to life, of letting the small things and larger things of life, of rediscovered and new loves, warm you and restore you as surely as the sun does bringing warmth into your very bones. A story of hope, beautifully crafted by Pasulka.       How Etto, and subsequently his papa find life again aft...