Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner, 2015

The story of two sisters separated during the Blitz, Secrets of a Charmed Life transports the reader to 1940 London where the Luftwaffe, German Airforce, starts relentlessly bombing London on September 7.

The bombing continues in London for months, killing over 40,000 civilians, almost half of London.

Emmeline and Julia Downtree are half-sisters, who share the same mother Annie Downtree, a house maid, but different fathers.  A scandalous situation in the 1940s.

Emmy imagines a better life for herself and sees her love and talent for sketching wedding dresses as the key to proving her worth and making her mother proud.

Somewhat resentful of her mother, who had Emmy when she was 16, Emmy serves more as a mother to Julia.

When Emmy and Julia are evacuated to the countryside as part of London's program to send all children to the safety of the countryside, Emmy sees her dream of becoming an apprentice to a West End costume designer so that she can learn to turn her sketches into actual wedding dresses slipping away from her.

Emmy and Julia are fortunate to find a caring home with sisters Charlotte and Rose in Thistle House in the Cotswald.

Due to Emmeline's ambition and tenacity in achieving her dream though, she returns to London with Julia before the skies fall with bombs. The sisters are separated and Emmeline, still a child at fifteen, assumes a new identity as part of the aftermath of the Blitz so that she can search for her missing sister.

Evacuating London's children to the countryside reminds me of the Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline where orphans from New York City were sent to the midwest on trains to be adopted.  Some orphans found loving homes, while others were used as cheap labor.

Secrets of a Charmed Life is filled with insightful quotes, including:
- "Fear is not only a leaden foe, but a liar as well.  It was not as bad as I thought it would be..."
- "When you are hungry for something, you often do not use your  best judgment."

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, 2012

With one of the central characters being a quadriplegic, Me Before You is not exactly an uplifting story that provides the best escape from the crazy months of newborn motherhood.

The story is touching and entertaining though. 

Louisa Clark is a local girl who has never left her small tourist home town in England and settles into a rhythm, if not a rut, with her family and boyfriend.

Overshadowed by her intelligent and younger sister Katrina, Louisa has never been deemed as someone with a future outside of small town life. 

When the cafe that she has worked at for years closes and she is made redundant, Louisa must find another position. 

With limited options given her lack of education and experience, she accepts a position with the wealthy Traynor family, caring for Will Traynor, a former London financial wiz.

Despite their vastly different social backgrounds, experiences and outlook on life, Louisa and Will strike up a friendship as they both struggle with their pasts and attempt to work out their futures.

The Rocks by Peter Nichols, 2015

The novel takes place in Mallorca and centers around Gerald Rutledge and Lulu Davenport.

The short-lived marriage between Gerald and Lulu serves as the framework of misunderstandings throughout the years, not only between Gerald and Lulu, but also between their respective children, Aegina and Luc.

Capturing the spirit of the ex-pat world and filled with dubious characters who round out the English ex-pat community who inhabit the island, The Rocks kept my interest while caring for a newborn baby.

It transported me to another way of living, providing a nice respite from the stress, anxiety and hard work of caring for a newborn.

The story unfolds in the present and goes back through the decades. 

Gerald is a former Navy officer who becomes enthralled with Homer's Odyssey and decides to sail the route detailed in the story.  During his travels, he meets Lulu, who ends up becoming the proprietress of The Rocks, a Mallorcan inn.

Although the estranged Gerald and Lulu no longer communicate with each other, the relationship between Aegina and Luc begins as children who share the same group of friends on the small island.

They are sent to London and Paris respectively to attend school and reconnect during their summers back in Mallorca.  One summer, they embark on a adventure to Morroco to purchase shirts for Aegina to re-sell in London.  The trip ends in assumptions and unresolved misunderstandings that ends the relationship, echoing what happened between Gerald and Lulu decades earlier.

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt, 2002

Having read Donna Tartt's Pulitzer Prize wining The Goldfinch and hearing her referenced as a serious literary talent even before her 2014 coup, I was curious to read more Tartt novels.

Similar to The Goldfinch, The Little Friend revolves around a child.  Harriet Cleve Dufresnes is the younger sister of Robin Cleve, who was found hanged in his own backyard when he was only nine. 

Robin's death plunges their mother Charlotte into a state of guilt and depression and with their father in Nashville, ostensibly for his career, Harriet and her older sister Allison grow up in the shadow of Robin's death. 

One summer, Harriet decides to avenge the death of her brother's murder.  Convinced that the murderer is Danny Ratliff, a classmate of Robin's from the trailer park Ratliff clan, Harriet enlists her best friend Hely Hull to plan her revenge on Danny.

Set in small town Alexandria, MS, the characters are vivid and the story compelling.

The Ratliff clan includes brothers Farish (an unstable, violent criminal), Eugene (a born again evangelist), Danny (a criminal who tries to better himself against the odds), and Curtis (a mentally retarded boy).  The matriarch of the clan is the boys' grandmother, Gum, who constantly discourages and even sabotages attempts to achieve or better oneself, and is resigned to a life of poverty and hardship for her family.

Harriet's worlds revolves around the family's help Ida Rhew, grandmother Edie and her beloved great-aunts Libby, Tat and Adelaide.  The small town characters include the town's car dealership owner Roy Dial and Pemberton, Hely's brother who, although popular and filled with potential, has stayed in town and works as a life guard at the local country club after high school.

The action picks up at the end with Harriet getting closer to exacting her revenge, even without the help of Hely, who has joined the high school band and has outgrown his crush on Harriet.  Harriet powers on and her fearlessness leads her to a deserted water tank.

Disappointingly, the novel ends without the loose ends tied.  We do not find out who killed Robin, nor the fate of Harriet, who has now made an enemy of Danny Ratliff, presumed to have drowned but remains alive.

Love Life by Rob Lowe, 2014

I had read Rob Lowe's initial memoir Stories I Only Tell My Friends and really enjoyed it.  Lowe has had a fascinating life since becoming famous at 15 in Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders.

He is observant, intelligent and a natural story teller.  The same charm is reflected in Love Life, where Lowe talks about his love for acting and producing, his love for family, his love for sobriety, and the other loves of his life.

Despite his fame and socializing with Presidents, movie stars and celebrities of all kinds, Lowe is very relatable.

He is a mature man who no longer cares about fame, partying or what others think of him, but someone who just wants to do good work and make his family proud.

Whether it's coaching his son's team (and thinking like I do, do parents honestly want every kid to have a trophy?) or staring in Behind the Candelabra with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon (just another day of throwing yourself into your work), Lowe finds the humor and offers thoughtful observations and reflections on his experiences. 

The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki, 2015

A fictionalized story of Elisabeth 'Sisi', duchess of Bavaria, The Accidental Empress tells the story of a girl who accompanies her older sister Helene to marry Emperor Franz Joseph, the Hapsburg ruler of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

During the fateful visit where the future bride and groom (and cousins) meet after not seeing each other since they were children, Emperor Franz Joseph falls in love with Sisi and takes her to be his wife and Empress instead of her meek sister.

Only 16 and having grown up in the countryside of Bavaria, Sisi has much to learn at the Austrian court, where she is constantly watched by Princess Sophie, Franz Joseph's controlling mother.

Soon, her idealistic ideas of love and marriage are challenged as political unrest and declarations of war preoccupy Franz Joseph.

With the heavy-handed foreign policy dictated by Sophie of Hapsburg needing no one, countries begin to rebel and the downfall of the Hapsburg empire begins.

Relegated to a figurehead, a pretty Empress whom the people love, Sisi becomes more isolated as Franz refuses to discuss politics with her and her children's upbringing, and even names, are dictated by the domineering Sophie.

Sophie even named Sisi's first daughter after herself.  Pretty cheeky.

Possessing an affinity for the Hungarian people, including the Count Andrassy, as they struggle to be recognized as a separate people within the Hapsburg empire, Sisi advocates for their recognition and the story ends in 1867, when Sisi is 40-years-old and she and Franz are crowned Queen and King of Hungary. 

The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida, 2015

Written in the 2nd person, The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty is a unique novel.

The protagonist, you, remains a mystery.  As your adventures in Morocco unfold, it is clear you are running away from something.

Through happenstance and the simple fact that you are American, you take on aliases, including assuming your niece's name, and end up working for a movie production.

To add to your surreal life in Morocco, you befriend the glamorous star of the movie, and find that your trust is used against you, like so many times before.

Slowly, the story comes out about the strained relationship with your sister, husband and mother and it is apparent that there is nothing left for you home in the States, so you continue your adventures in Morocco, reinventing yourself.

After reading the novel, I discovered that Vida is married to Dave Eggers.  This seems fitting given the eclecticism of her writing.