Author: Pamela Simboli

Open now through June 9th, the exhibit focuses on Potter’s love of nature along with her famous rabbits. On display are Potter’s original sketches from Peter Rabbit and Tales of Benjamin Bunny, along with a recreation of her Victorian home. ‘Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature” has been on show in other countries and has now arrived in New York City at the Morgan Library and Museum through June 9th. Also on display is her sketchbook from age 9 and toys that were sold when her books were first published and became popular.

Roxana Robinson’s novel has two people reconnecting after 40 years have past. These college sweethearts broke up and married other people. They meet by chance 40 years later and a new romance begins. Sarah is divorced and living on her own with grown children. Warren is still married with one adult daughter. Early on he announces he will leave his wife and wants a life with Sarah. He hasn’t been happy in his marriage for a long time. The main obstacle is Warren’s daughter and wife who tell Warren he will no longer be a part of the family if he leaves. Warren and Sarah have to decide how far they will go to be together. Robinson’s writing is subtle and piercing. She briefly introduces various characters such as an older single woman who needs help at the opera, a not-so-happily married woman who wishes for her own romantic affair to liven up the cold coals of her own marriage, a mistress who tries to hold on to Warren not minding he is married so long as he doesn’t leave her. These alternatives to how people (mainly women) navigate their lives trying to find happiness reflect on Sarah and Warren as we wonder what their outcome will be. Recommended.

Meredith hasn’t left her house in over 3 years. She lives alone in Scotland with her cat and is approaching 40. Her best friend visits and the good samaritan organization sends someone to check on her once a week. But Meredith has experienced some past trauma that prevents her from walking out her door. For 3 + years. As we learn more about her, we learn she had an unhappy childhood and though she once led a normal life, she hasn’t overcome various traumas that occurred. And maybe she never will. Despite her insular life, Meredith isn’t completely unhappy and leads a quiet, peaceful life. As she reaches out to people both virtually and in person (people who end up on her doorstep, you find yourself cheering for Meredith and hoping she will one day stop counting her days inside and find the courage to walk out the door.

Although it reads like a woman who has recently fallen in love and is obsessed with her new object of desire, the couple have been married over 10 years and have 2 children together. The narrator is consumed with her husband and thinks only of him. She prepares her face and body to be pleasing and ready for when they see each other. Her children are secondary members of her world because her husband is paramount. She surgically dissects the slightest moves to discern if her husband is still in love with her. When he removes his hand from her knee after 2 minutes, she is sure he is going to leave her. We follow her stream of consciousness and there is little dialogue. Viewing the world from the wife’s perspective, we witness her husband as she does: like a god she worships and serves. When the wife is disappointed with his actions displaying less than desire for her, she plots moves to disrupt his world such as hiding his keys to make him late. Her obsession seems over the top and yet very real. Is her husband about to tell her he is leaving her? Is her husband dismayed by her devotion and suffocating? The narrative never breaks until a reveal at the end that surprises. 

By the end of this book I still wasn’t clear on where the author stood regarding the main character, Cole. Was he a twisted predator or a man with unpopular predilections, but harmless? Araminta Hall raises this question as she introduces Cole as a misunderstood husband abandoned by his wife. After she leaves him, Cole moves to a remote village attempting to form a new life as his marriage is ending. He meets another newcomer to the area, Leonora, and believes he may have found a new partner. But Leonora is also keeping secrets. As Cole refuses to let go of the last vestiges of his marriage, a group of young women are walking the coast in protest to violence against women to make a stance and get attention to their cause. When they disappear (or were they murdered?), the plot gets murky and it’s unclear who the main suspect is. Also available on hoopla audio.