Bitch. There, I said it. Florence Gordon is a bitch. Doesn’t seem to care about anyone but herself. And yet…
Living life on her own terms. Fighting the good fight. Finding a life that fills her soul. Is she happy? Is she really fulfilled? What about those around her?
Relationships misunderstood. Unconditional love?
For all her chasing windmills - what legacy will she leave? How will she be remembered?
Mom. Grandma. Narcissist. Feminist. Writer. Grump. Bitch.
I have loved all of the books in this series. It feels like a well loved tv show. You look forward to seeing what adventures the characters get into week to week. The same is true of the Country Club Murders. Except…
I don’t know if it’s me, or the political climate at this point in time. I found the characters to be pretentious…privileged. I never really saw them that way before. Sure they have money. Sure they have domestic help. Sure they all belong to the Country Club. All of this I could take in stride as I read. But now, today, it feels different.
Ellison and Anarchy solve the murder (with some help from the mob) and retire to their McMansion, then dine out at the Country Club and wait for the next body to drop.
London. Strike one.
Fall-down drunk. Strike two.
Good Samaritan? Strike three
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good murder mystery. Broken characters. “Perfect” characters. Jealousy. Missed potential. Sex. Overly helpful characters. Creepy characters. Married, cheating characters.
Who killed her?
How do you put the pieces back together with no memory of what happened? What if part of your black-out evening is plastered all over social media? Who do you trust? The mystery man? The police? Your friends? The twist in the end was jaw dropping.
Now we know who killed her.
Ok, here’s what I was feeling while reading this: Anxious, foreboding, heavy.
Here’s what I had to tell myself so I could finish the book: this is a history lesson.
And here is a novel that shared some of the same history: Mother. Daughter. Traitor. Spy. - Susan Elia MacNeal.
These are the pieces that jumped out at me, that I felt compelled to save:
”…organized cells would take advantage of that chaos to seize power, to discard election results, and to install their preferred leader. An American Hitler.” (119)
”…you have got to appeal to their emotions, not their reason. The avenues to reason are closed to us.” -Hitler in Mein Kampf (131)
”…the foundation of a strong and functioning democracy, after all, is an informed citizenry.” (215)
”…The evidence will show that they intended to abolish freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom from arrest without cause, and all other civil liberties guaranteed us by the constitution.” (274)
“…liberate the world from the poison of democracy, with its degenerating doctrine of liberty and equality.” (287)
“…the Nazi game plan aimed to disunite the United States by tearing at the weakest political and cultural seams in American society: the divide between haves and have-nots, fear and hatred of immigrants, white supremacist race hate, and antisemitism.” (287)
My thoughts now? Anxious, foreboding, heavy.
What do I continue to tell myself? This is a history lesson; one that we are watching unfold before our eyes in real time.
Is there another text that could be a playbook for facism and the MAGA regime? “Mein Kampf” -Adolf Hitler
On a side note - this book is well researched and well written. If you are a history buff and like pre-World War II histories both Maddow’s book and MacNeal’s book are excellent. Although, I don’t recommend reading “Prequel” as a means to falling asleep…
Twists. Turns. Sex. Assassins. Children.
If you’re looking for a series, (26 in total) with a lot of intrigue, then this series is for you. If you’re looking for a stand alone mystery, then this novel works too. I can’t say that I loved this book. I didn’t hate it either. It was ok.
Dead husband. CIA spies. Husband stand-in. Love. Twist. Turn. Gratuitous sex. What about the children? Again, it was ok.
Either I’m becoming a prude, or there are parts of the storyline that I felt could have been addressed differently. The cover is cool. As I said, the story itself was ok.
