A Mid Century Modern Jane Eyre

The Flight of Gemma Hardy
by Margot Livesey

Meet Gemma Hardy, an orphan living with and hated by her aunt and three cousins.  Her parents died when she was very small and her beloved uncle recently perished in a skating accident.  Life is not easy and when given the opportunity Gemma jumps at the chance to escape her life and leaves for school. While there is she is treated as a servent but keeps to her lessons and dreams of university.  When the school closes she finds employment as an au pair for a young girl whose guardian is a mystery.  Does this sound familiar?  Livesey's retelling of Jane Eyre is a solid and engaging story which takes place in the late 1960's on the Orkney Islands and Iceland.  The story follows the plot of the orignal closely, though it is less dark and *spoiler alert* there is not a crazed wife in the attic.  An engaging read, perfect for escaping the summer heat!  Check out The Flight of Gemma Hardy today!

Case Histories

                                       Case Histories 

by Kate Atkinson

A detective novel that bridges the gap between mystery and literary fiction, Case Histories is an intricately woven tale of three cold cases.  The first pages share a glimpse of the seemingly unconnected stories; a missing child, a father’s search for his daughter’s murderer, a young mother's anger and her reach for an ax. Jackson Brodie, the central character rather reluctantly sets to find out what really happened and along the way the reader discovers the connections between these three cases.

A beautifully written story, Atkinson does a remarkable job at keeping the reader engaged all the way through until the very end.

*Check out Case Histories from the library today!