Road Ends by Mary Lawson. ****

The third by Mary Lawson, takes place in the fictional town of Struan in Northern Ontario- I find myself thinking Charlton. A very quick read, took me two days, and I enjoyed it although I thought it ended rather abruptly.

The story is based in the late 60's and is told by three members of a family- Megan, who holds things together in the upkeep of the house, but who leaves to go to England to work, Tom, her oldest brother, whose friend Rob has just committed suicide, and their father Edward, who spends all of his time at home in his study researching cities of the world he has never visited.

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

Finally, a novel read from beginning to end! 

This Anne Morrow Lindbergh's story of her life with Charles Lindbergh, and what a difficult life she had with him, as I imagine life with a super-hero or a genius must be. Her life was given over completely to him, all decisions were made by him, she was " his crew". She learned to fly, and became his navigator. After their first child was murdered, she gave birth to five more, none of whom had any kind of a relationship with him, and indeed they almost seemed frightened by him. He had a home built for them a long way from any neighbours, so they would be safe, but they just ended up being lonely, for he was away most of the time, often not telling them where he was.

This is a story of marriage, of loss and of finally finding ones self, as Anne did. It was well- written and a pleasure to read.

An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine

The description of this novel appealed to me- a Lebanese woman of 72 who has lived alone for many years, is estranged from her family, is mostly ignored by her neighbours, and who translates a novel every year from English into Arabic, but instead of seeking to publish it, stacks it in a room in her apartment. There are 33 of these translated books in her apartment.

Instead, I found this book a bit too cerebral for me! So I skimmed through large portions of it, and it probably doesn't even deserve a "read" heading. 

Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman ***

The story of Huguette Clark, one of the richest women in America who spent the last 14 years of her life in a hospital, leaving behind two huge mansions which to this day are kept up, priceless jewellery, paintings, etc. She died at the age of 104, leaving millions of dollars to her nurse, and nothing to her family members. She was a divorcee who never had children, and a recluse for over 50 years.