Ms. Hen reviews Rebecca

 

Rebecca 

Daphne Du Murier

Harper Collins    

1938

Ms. Hen chose to read this book, because she read recently it is a Halloween book, and she was reminded of how much she liked it. She read REBECCA years ago when she was young, and when she read it again this time, she was impressed that she could read it when she was a child. She saw the original film many years ago as well.

When Ms. Hen started to read REBECCA again, she had a feeling of deja vu. She thought it might have been because she read it before, but as she was reading, she felt as if she had lived the story before. Ms. Hen thought this was spooky.

This novel is about a young woman, who remains nameless, staying in the South of France, working as a companion to an older woman. Her employer recognizes Maxim de Winter, who lives in a grand house called Manderley, and whose wife has died, and invites him to have coffee with them. The young woman is embarrassed at first, but she becomes friends with Maxim when her employer becomes sick. The protagonist falls in love with Maxim, and they get married and leave first for their honeymoon it Italy, and then to Manderley.

They arrive at Manderley, and the young woman is immediately in awe of the house. She realizes she lives in Rebecca's shadow, Maxim's first wife who has drowned near the house. Our character thinks that everyone is looking at her and thinking that she is a pale comparison to Rebecca. She thinks Maxim is still in love with Rebecca. Ms. Danvers, who considers Rebecca the lady of the house, insults and intimidates his new wife. The new Mrs. de Winter does what she can to endure. The mystery of Rebecca's death unfolds, and our protagonist learns the truth of her husband's first marriage and grows from that knowledge.

Ms. Hen thought this was a long novel, but she found she could not put it down. The plot is gripping, the characters are well drawn, everything about the book is as it should be. Ms. Hen learned that REBECCA won an Anthony Award for the Best Novel of the Century. The Anthony Awards are for crime novels. Ms. Hen thinks REBECCA deserved that award. 

There's something about reading a scary book on a rainy, dark day. There were many of those days last week where Ms. Hen lives, so she enjoyed reading this. Today is Halloween, and Ms. Hen is excited to experience the goblins and ghouls and ghosts that might come to visit her. She has her costume, and is ready for the darkness. Happy Halloween from Ms. Hen!

Ms. Hen reviews The Lights of Prague

The Lights of Prague

Nicole Jarvis

Titan Books

2021

Ms. Hen decided to read this book, because she saw it at a bookstore, and liked the cover. She admired the bats flying around in the picture, and even though she bought it in the summer, she decided to save the book until Halloween season when she thought she would enjoy it more.

This novel is about vampires in Prague, called pijavice. A group of lamplighters defend the streets at night from the creatures of the dark. Domek Myska, a lamplighter, works to defend the citizens of Prague from the demons. He finds a wisp, or a creature in a bottle, with ultimate power, and Domek tries to utilize that power for good. 

Domek is acquainted with Ora, a wealthy lady who has secrets. He discovers that she is a pijavica. He get angry she didn't tell him. Domek doesn't know at first that Lady Ora does not want to hurt anyone, only drinks animal blood, and is older than most pijavica in Prague. Together they fight the evil ones, who have the ability to walk in the daylight, and want to take over the city.

Ms. Hen enjoyed the setting of this novel. She liked that it is set right at the end of the nineteenth century, and she could see, hear, and smell the way Prague existed at that time. She could imagine the cobblestone streets, the smell of the rain, and the lamplighters lighting the lamps for the city.

Ms. Hen thought this novel would be scarier, but she found that it wasn't. It is a novel of place and characters. Action happens in this book, but Ms. Hen didn't think that was the most dramatic part. She is fascinated by Ora and Domek, and the society in which they live. She loves the magic, but she wasn't scared by the vampires, but she found them interesting  

This is a nice vampire novel, if there can be such a thing. Ms. Hen thinks that some books are scarier than others, and she does not know what the intent of this book is supposed to be, but she believes that it is a historical novel, with some thriller aspects, and a touch of romance.

Ms. Hen would like to go to Prague someday, and she would like to see the buildings that are described in this novel. She would love to be scared a little more, but real life has been scary lately, so Ms. Hen accepts that. Gas lamps shine in a neighborhood where Ms. Hen wanders around sometimes, and she will think of this novel when she sees the lamps lit up there again.

Gas Lamps, Beacon Hill

 

Ms. Hen reviews Night of the Mannequins

 

Night of the Mannequins

Stephen Graham Jones

Tor.com Books

2020

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she wanted to read a Halloween book that she had never read before. She read about the book, and was interested in a killer mannequin. She loves horror movies and books, but she has to be in the right mood.

The novel is about a group of friends who found a mannequin a couple of years before the present time, and they had dressed it up, and had fun with it. The friends forgot about the mannequin. They decide to play a joke on Shanna, who works at a movie theater. Sawyer and the others put the mannequin in the front row, and they meant to scare the people that work there. But the prank doesn't turn out the way they plan.

Sawyer gets upset when Shanna is killed with her family. He thinks Manny, the mannequin did it, and Sawyer decides to kill his friends to protect their families. He kills Tim, and Danielle with her boyfriend Steve, and JR. This is where the book gets strange.

Ms. Hen was expecting a book about a killer mannequin that goes on a spree, murdering the town. But the story didn't turn out that way. It's about Sawyer killing his friends, and even though it's funny, it's a very, very dark type of humor. Ms. Hen prepared herself for it. This book might not be for everyone, but Ms. Hen appreciates dark humor when it's done well.

Sawyer is a strange character, and he has ideas that Manny is stealing things, " ' Mim lost a whole chicken,' my mom said then, like the most delicious neighborhood gossip, and I kind of heard it on delay, clawing up out of my own head, back to the dinner table." Ms. Hen likes that Sawyer thinks that Manny stole the chicken. Ms. Hen doesn't think mannequins eat chickens, but she does think that Sawyer imagines things.

This novel is great to read during Halloween. Even though it's not as scary as Ms. Hen would have liked, it's gross and bloody, which is almost as good. Ms. Hen enjoys some humor blended with her blood and guts, she thinks it's important to laugh as much as we can, because life is hard enough, and if we don't laugh, we could end up crying.

Ms. Hen reviews No Gods, No Monsters

 

No Gods, No Monsters

Cadwell Turnbull

Blackstone Publishing

2021

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she read THE LESSON by the same author a couple of years ago and loved it. She was haunted by the stories of aliens landing in the Virgin Islands, and she was curious to see what the next tale by this author would bring. She was not disappointed. The combination of politics and sci-fi merges well as in the previous novel.

This novel is about monsters, in various forms, in different locations. A rift occurs when they are revealed. Laina, who lives with her husband, Ridley, discovers her brother, Lincoln, has been murdered. She receives a video that shows her brother being shot, and he turns into an animal when he dies. After this happens, Laina is visited by Rebecca, who says she was a friend of Lincoln's. The video gets sent to the news, and everyone finds out about the monsters that dwell beside us.

A man who teaches about bees searches out a secret society, and regrets it. Another man in St. Thomas possesses the ability to go to other dimensions where his brother still lives. Packs of wolves prowl the streets. A protest occurs in Boston, demanding monster rights, which goes wrong. A young boy desires to be good, to right the wrongs he has done. 

This novel is about prejudice of different types, about people who are not like us, and creatures who are not people, those who possess magic. The protest at the end of the novel is similar to the Black Lives Matter protests that occurred in Boston not long ago. Ms. Hen was near the protests when they happened, but none of them were as dangerous as this. This is an important commentary about what prejudice and racism can do to a society. If there are monsters, of course people would be afraid. If anything is different, people could be scared. But it's necessary to fight the fear of difference, and embrace those who are not like us, even magical creatures.

Ms. Hen admires this novel, but it seems like too many characters live inside these pages, and sometimes it's difficult to keep track of who's who. We jump from the Boston area, to Virginia, to St. Thomas, and places where the monsters live. Ms. Hen thinks it would be best to try to read this fast, to keep track of the characters. Ms. Hen admires the diversity of the characters, and thinks more can be said about them. She understand this novel is going to be a series of books, and she's excited to read the next one.

Ms. Hen loves Halloween, and thinks this is a wonderful Halloween book to add to her favorites. It's scary enough, with monsters and excitement and danger. She likes werewolves and people who perform magic. Halloween is special to Ms. Hen, and she tries to unearth new Halloween books every year, and this year's crop is turning up as spicy as she'd hoped... 

Ms. Hen reviews Daddy

 

Daddy

Emma Cline

Random House 

2020

Ms. Hen decided to read this collection of short stories because she saw a photo of it along with another book she liked, MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION, and she had read that book and liked it, and learned this is similar. Both books are about characters on the edge, people who live in the dregs of society, those who are not quite right. Ms. Hen likes to read about characters who are messed up in some way, because it makes her feel better about her life (sometimes.) 

These stories are about characters who are twisted, and all of them have to do with fathers in one way or another. The first story, "What You Can Do with a General," is about a family getting together for Christmas, and the chaos that ensues. The story "Los Angeles," is about a young woman trying to become an actress, who decides to sell her underwear to men for extra cash, and the thrill of doing so. A young woman hides from the press after having an affair with an actor she was working for in "The Nanny."

"Northeast Regional," is a story of a man who is going to pick up his son in boarding school after the boy performs an act of violence. "Marion," is about two tween girls who take naked pictures of each other, and destroy their friendship. "A/S/L" is about two women in rehab, and their dysfunctonal situations.

Ms. Hen thinks the characters in these stories are bad, and have no redeeming qualities. She wonders what it's like to be so bad. She enjoys reading about characters like this because she doesn't think she could ever be this way. Good people are not interesting in fiction; it's the evil ones that spice things up. Not all these characters are evil, but some of them have their own agenda, and will not change.

Some chickens appear in one of the stories. In "Arcadia," a couple lives on a farm with the woman's brother. She goes to junior college, and is pregnant, "Hedy had taken his car to school, so Peter drove Otto's truck out to the trailers, the passenger seat full of cartons of eggs from the chickens." Peter is giving eggs to the workers on the farm, as a gesture of goodwill, or of appeasement. They have extra eggs.

Ms. Hen likes to read books that make her cringe sometimes, because life isn't always beautiful. People can be screwed up, but they have the option of changing, but at times they can't. Ms. Hen would like to change and become a better hen. She's not like the misfits in these stories, or so she likes to think. Some people might think otherwise, but Ms. Hen knows the truth.