The Review Broads Bros + Paws

Astray Author: Emma Donoghue After Room, Donoghue’s bestseller about an abused woman and her child, Astray follows a very different path. Donoghue writes vignettes based on 1800 and 1900 newspaper articles, mostly just mentions, of a tragic circumstance. She creates a panorama of characters for each news article and portrays a fictional version of the characters involved, presenting the life and time of the characters beautifully. Very different from her fiction novels, Astray reminds us of ... continue reading...

In the Bag: A Novel Author: Kate Klise Boy meets girl.  Man meets woman.  Simple, yes?  Yet In the Bag takes a set of single parents with two quirky teenagers and sets out to mix it up – successfully.  Sassy and sweet, internet ready Webb Nelson and audacious Coco Sprinkle manage to get their parents into a swirl of fun. Nelson Quinn travels to Spain to set up a gallery exhibit – that’s what he does.  He decides to take along 17 year old Webb, as he usually does to acquaint Webb with ... continue reading...

Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox Author: Lois Banner The good, the bad and the ugly sums up this rather academic treatise of Marilyn Monroe’s chaotic life.  I felt ambivalent about this biography.  The feminist slant thrown against a chronology that skips back and forth, and the fact that Banner claims that Marilyn Monroe was a feminist before her time felt false to me.  However, the factual dissertation of Marilyn’s life is well done and interesting. I don’t believe that we should ... continue reading...