NIGHT MUSIC by Jojo Moyes

This is one clever story. A light read that doesn't tax the brain cells but makes you look forward to picking it up every day. Anyone that can spin a good story around an inanimate object such as a house is in my opinion a good writer. This is not my favourite Jojo Moyes book but I absolutely relished reading it. This story is very well written with realistic but favourable outcomes. Even though it is a 'woman's read', it is devoid of excessive sentiment and sugar and spice. It is filled with tragedy, passionate humanity and triumph of spirit. When a professional violinist is suddenly made a widow her perfect world crumbles around her but what appears to be an end of her idyllic world proves to be the beginning of a new life of self-discovery, newly found awareness of what really matters and a greater love than the one lost. I have read three other books written by Jojo Moyes and would recommend my favourite, Me Before You, and The Girl You Left Behind besides the delightful Night Music which I consider a good read indeed.

THE LOST HOURS by Karen White

This is my first book by Karen White. This was a brilliant story but I found its' narration overly sentimental and Karen's lack of self-restraint as a writer leaving very little to the imagination of the reader. I found the overly sentimental prose irritating which made me want to gallop through the book rather than savor it. Phrases such as 'digging deeper to moist earth, exposing its secrets' and 'the fall of years was like pierced lace over old secrets' complicated the narration unnecessarily and sometimes appeared confusing. I still don't understand what 'pierced lace over old secrets' actually means or how it can be possible.... Situated in the deep south this book is about grief, grief, and more grief interlaced with deep seated secrets which I found more frustrating than intriguing.  From Piper the equestrian, whose dreams of Olympian glory were aborted by her horse who fell on top of her, to her grandmother Annabelle who ended up with Alzheimer's because of her ruined life, to beautiful Helen who went blind at 14 and was considered as punishment to her grandmother who raised her, to Helen's brother, Tucker, whose wife committed suicide and who lived with overwhelming guilt, to their grandmother Lilian, who kept a dark secret and would not talk about her past until days before her death at the age of 90.  Even the oak trees on the Savannah plantation that housed these unfortunate souls grieved for their brothers who were cut down and who 'shout out their grief when the breeze off the river at night stirs them'. Karen White's lack of self-restraint made the characters too accessible and the story, therefore, somewhat predictable. I would have enjoyed this book much, much more if I was allowed to imagine the state of characters' emotions as they were experienced. Feeling like someone is holding your hand leading you through the story describing everything to you in detail because you are not capable of understanding it yourself, does not endear the reader to the writer. I prefer authors who treat their readers with respect acknowledging their ability to read between the words but then again you would have to write in such a way that meaning there can be found. It's an art form.