City of Brick and Shadow
City of Brick and Shadow is original, thoughtful, funny, and asks more questions than it attempts to answer. I loved how Tim Wirkus throws the reader into the Mormon missionaries’ world without much explanation – you pick up on the vocabulary and norms of their lifestyle by osmosis and it’s a different and fascinating approach to a somewhat unfamiliar landscape. Continue reading
The Silent LandAt just under 300 pages, The Silent Land is the book to pick up if you want something you can finish in an evening, on a plane ride or on a day at the beach. It is definitely for you if you were addicted to the TV show, Lost.
The story takes you to the high peaks of the French Pyrenees on a breathtakingly beautiful early morning. Jake and Zoe have the pristine snowy slopes to themselves as they push off on their skis. In the blink of an eye, light hearted sport turns into a terrifying race against the crushing waves of a tumultuous avalanche. Continue reading
The Paris Architect by Charles BelfoureReview by Susan Williams
The Paris Architect follows Lucien, an up-and-coming architect in 1942. In Nazi occupied Paris, a wealthy industrialist offers the architect a lucrative commission to design a secret hiding place for a Jewish client. Initially, Lucien must decide whether or not to risk his own life in an attempt to help save a group that he has little empathy with. He finally decides to undertake the commission. This job leads to many more opportunities for Lucien to devise elaborate hiding places to outwit the German police.
The discovery of one of Lucien’s hiding places leads to tragic consequences. Of course, this makes the book all the more suspenseful. Lucien begins to empathize with the suffering Jews as he never had before.
As a World War II buff, this story kept me riveted to the last page!
This is the author’s first novel; he is himself an architect and historian.
If this isn’t enough to whet your whistle, check out the book trailer for The Paris Architect on youtube.
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About the reviewer: Susan Williams enoys reading, traveling, gardening, my baby granddaughters, and working at Tredyffrin library (since 2001).
