Sunday May 1st, 2011 Endings and Beginnings

April 29th saw the final day of Mary J L Black Library in its Brock Street location and I must admit that I felt a little sad to see the old girl close. Having started with the library at Mary J almost 21 years ago, the shuttering of the doors made me think of endings as well as new beginnings. A number of recent books on the shelves as well as a few on order, deal with endings and the transformation that can come about when a chance is given to the new.

Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance by Lloyd Jones

This is a dual novel chronicling two love stories, the first set in New Zealand during the final days of the Second World War. Argentinean Paul Schmidt is rescued by a young woman named Louise from a gang of thugs who are planning to kill him because of his German sounding name. During their time together, Paul teaches Louise to Tango and the two fall in love. Though Paul ends up returning to Buenos Aires and both move on with their separate lives. Lionel, a university student working for Paul, falls for Rosa, Paul’s older and married granddaughter. The parallels in their relationship grow when Rosa teaches Lionel the Tango. The novel is a beautiful interplay of images and emotions.

Wit’s End by Karen Joy Fowler

Fowler creates a story within a story when Rima Lanisell visits her estranged godmother, Addison Early. Addison is a wildly successful but completely private mystery author, who has written about Rima and her recently deceased father, Bim by turning them into characters in her crime novels. Weeding through correspondence from fans both online and in letters, Rima discovers information about her family and her past that Addison has woven throughout her books.

Between Summer’s Longing and Winter’s End: The Story of a Crime by Leif G. Persson

The first novel in a trilogy for fans of dark, Nordic crime novels popularized by Steig Larsson and Henning Mankell begins with the suicide of a young American student in Sweden and winds its way into a conspiracy about the unsolved assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. This novel is an intense ride, part thriller, part police procedural and part a probe of the psychology of the dark soul.

The End of Everything: A Novel by Megan Abbott

Lizzie Hood and Evie Verver were as inseparable as only thirteen-year old girls can be, swapping clothes, sharing secrets and having sleepovers. A long summer stretches before them and life could not be more wonderful. Then one afternoon Evie disappears, the only clue being the maroon sedan that Lizzie had spotted following the girls earlier that day. As time passes, and panic spreads through town, everyone turns to Lizzie for answers. Haunted by dreams, Lizzie begins to pursue the truth on her own only to find a world of secrets and lies.

The Queen of New Beginnings by Erica James

Alice is an expert in personal reinvention, so when she meets Clayton she immediately understands why he wants to shrug off his past. As their unlikely friendship develops into more, Alice believes that she is finally ready to settle down, until she discovers that Clayton is not all he seems. The novel uses both wit and pathos to delve into the emotional lives of her characters in a believable way.

Lori Kauzlarick, Public Services Assistant