Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Four star review for The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson

 

A woman’s body has been found in the waters of the Venice Beach area in southern California and it brings together the woman’s mother Barb and a pregnant woman Tessa who lives in a bungalow along the canal. Earlier, Tessa’s toddler son Jasper seemed to recognize the dead woman in a café. This story has many twists and turns until we finally learn why the woman died. The story is intriguing and the novel is well-written from both Barb’s and Tessa’s POV. Those two characters were the best developed while a few others only served a peripheral purpose. Good read for those who like twisty plots.

 

Tuesday Book Review

Five-star review for The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

When seven-year-old Elaheh’s father dies, she and her mother move to a poorer part of Tehran and she is befriended by Homa on her first day at her new school. The friendship of Ellie and Homa has its ups and downs over the years. It’s set against decades of unrest in their country from the 1950s through 2022. Reading this during the current events in Iran was surreal. The story is very well written, and I came to care about both girls as they each grew into women whose childhood dreams were never achieved. Their lives took unexpected turns. I had a hard time tearing myself away from their stories and especially Homa’s fight for the rights of women in Iran. Highly recommended.