The Guest Room

The Guest Room Chris Bohjalian 4/5	Published January 2016 First Sentence "Richard Chapman presumed there would be a stripper at his brother Phillip's bachelor party."
Publisher's Description: When Richard Chapman offers to host his younger brother's bachelor party, he expects a certain amount of debauchery. He sends his wife, Kristin, and young daughter off to his mother-in-law's for the weekend, and he opens his Westchester home to his brother's friends and their hired entertainment. What he does not expect is this: bacchanalian drunkenness, a dangerously intimate moment in his guest bedroom, and two naked women stabbing and killing their Russian bodyguards before driving off into the night. In the aftermath, Richard's life rapidly spirals into a nightmare. The police throw him out of his home, now a crime scene; his investment banking firm puts him on indefinite leave; and his wife finds herself unable to forgive him for the moment he shared with a dark-haired girl in the guest room. But the dark-haired girl, Alexandra, faces a much graver danger. In one breathless, violent night, she is free, running to escape the police who will arrest her and the gangsters who will kill her in a heartbeat. A captivating, chilling story about shame and scandal, The Guest Room is a riveting novel from one of our greatest storytellers.
Dear Reader, The premise behind this book is a little disturbing. A private bachelor party gone bad. I’m guessing all men try and tell themselves that the “entertainment” for a bachelor party will be “some girl from Sarah Lawrence or Fordham or NYU with a silly, mellifluous made-up name making a little money for tuition”. It makes them feel better. I wonder how many of these parties actually hire unknown sex slaves, something might seem a little off to them but nobody will stand up and say anything to protest it. I have some personal experience with it. I was hired to be a bartender for a bachelor party a few years ago (no names given) and I really shouldn’t be telling this story… but I think it’s important. The girls hired for the party looked like they were definitely “ON” something, which didn’t seem so “sexy”. On top of that, this was hosted at a “hall” and was more private than a normal strip club visit… so the girls did a show… a little more than stripping. After interacting with one another, I believe there was a little action on the side going on but I can’t be certain (it seemed like it to me but more hush, hush). I don’t know if these girls were slaves? Maybe? I didn’t think about it at the time but after reading this book, It would definitely cross my mind today. The party felt wrong in my gut and after speaking to a few of my guy friends from the party, I wasn’t alone in that feeling. Everyone has that friend who will pressure the others to the “dark” side… so why does society put the pressure to step over the line like this? I love that Bohjalian wrote a book that brings such a common practice into light. This is a story of a typical bachelor party and the guys could be anyone you know… imagine, your friendly middle class neighbor might be attending a sex slave party this weekend! Put it that way and people might do a double take. Another great part of this book was seeing things from the perspective of the girl. It was terribly heartbreaking to follow her life, watching her fall into the wrong hands. I’m still disgusted that this is a practice that completely gets ignored in the media, we don’t hear enough about these terrible circumstances. I’d much rather have my man going to the strip club for a bachelor's party than a private party, especially now knowing what I know. Happy Reading, AmberBug P.S. - NetGalley & Doubleday graciously gave me an advanced copy to read and review, thank you!

Support Shelf Notes! Purchase your copy of this book here:

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands (Review by AmberBug)

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands Chris Bohjalian 4/5	Published 2014 First Sentence "I built an igloo against the cold out of black plastic trash bags filled with wet leaves."
Publisher's Description: A heartbreaking, wildly inventive, and moving novel narrated by a teenage runaway, from the bestselling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless girl living in an igloo made of garbage bags in Burlington. Nearly a year ago, a power plant in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont had a meltdown, and both of Emily's parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge of the plant, and the meltdown may have been his fault—was he drunk when it happened? Thousands of people are forced to leave their homes in the Kingdom; rivers and forests are destroyed; and Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger. So instead of following the social workers and her classmates after the meltdown, Emily takes off on her own for Burlington, where she survives by stealing, sleeping on the floor of a drug dealer's house, inventing a new identity for herself, and befriending a young homeless kid named Cameron. But Emily can't outrun her past, can't escape her grief, can't hide forever-and so she comes up with the only plan that she can.
Dear Reader, I think Arianna gave us an excellent review of this book. I'll try and fill in the gaps but I think that might be hard to do. This was an audiobook for me and I was very captivated by the book in that format. This might not be the case for everyone but I know for myself, I end up having a different experience based on the format of the book I'm reading. I know I've gone on a tangent about this before, so I'll spare you my rant. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is a heartbreaking tale about a girl stuck in the middle of a real life nightmare. I say nightmare because what happens to her is so unimaginable, but at the same time... entirely possible. Her (Emily's) parents work at the local power plant up in Vermont, which isn't that crazy except for when tragedy strikes the town and the power plant has a meltdown. Emily knows in her heart that her parents are dead and that the cause of the meltdown might lay in their hands. During the evacuation of her school, she ends up overhearing kids and adults talking about her parents and giving her strange looks. The reader is forced to follow Emily through all this but at the same time wanting to cover her ears and walk her away from the mess of emotions. Understandably, people are upset and will be talking about what might have caused the accident in the first place, it's only human nature to point fingers, right? In this book, we get to see the wrongness of it all through the eyes of an innocent girl. It's truly heartbreaking. What happens next in the book is somewhat predictable, after Emily hears the inner thoughts of her neighbors and friends, knowing that they blame her family for what has happened, she bolts. I don't think anyone in her position would have done differently. Just when you thought things couldn't get any sadder, they do. We follow Emily on her sad trip between finding her next meal, getting a good nights rest and learning who to trust. The entire time you feel hopeful for her, like she gets this power from within herself to keep going. Along the way, she meets this other homeless kid, much younger, and decides to help him out. These two become a team (with her acting as the parent/older sister) and they try and get by together. The journey they go through is just REALLY hard and sad, this is not a book for the "happy" only reading club. Nope. Read this when you have the right frame of mind, but know that the fuzzy parts make you feel really good and it's worth it. Happy Reading, AmberBug

Support Shelf Notes! Purchase your copy of this book here:

Left: Hardcover - Right: E-Book

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands Chris Bohjalian 4.5 / 5	Published July 8, 2014 First Sentence "I built an igloo against the cold out of black plastic trash bags filled with wet leaves."
Publisher's Description: A heartbreaking, wildly inventive, and moving novel narrated by a teenage runaway, from the bestselling author ofMidwives and The Sandcastle Girls. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless girl living in an igloo made of garbage bags in Burlington. Nearly a year ago, a power plant in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont had a meltdown, and both of Emily's parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge of the plant, and the meltdown may have been his fault—was he drunk when it happened? Thousands of people are forced to leave their homes in the Kingdom; rivers and forests are destroyed; and Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger. So instead of following the social workers and her classmates after the meltdown, Emily takes off on her own for Burlington, where she survives by stealing, sleeping on the floor of a drug dealer's house, inventing a new identity for herself, and befriending a young homeless kid named Cameron. But Emily can't outrun her past, can't escape her grief, can't hide forever-and so she comes up with the only plan that she can.
Dear Reader, Despite my love for his other books, this might be my favorite Bohjalian book yet. I started reading it only a few days ago, and was worried I wouldn't finish it before its release date. But I ate it up! It was so engaging. (I picked up this ARC when attending the Connecticut Library Association's annual conference back in April. Chris Bohjalian spoke in front of a packed room, and I was lucky enough to snag one of two remaining galleys.) This book is the story of Emily, whose parents have supposedly caused a nuclear power plant's meltdown in her hometown. This means that not only is Emily suddenly orphaned, she is also left homeless, with nowhere to turn. On top of all this, and what might have been the most heart-wrenching part for me, Emily also worries that her dog has been abandoned, trapped in the family house, and is starving to death. Being a dog lover, this part especially hit home for me. However, as it is the story of a teenage girl from New England, it really was quite an easy story for me to relate to. Emily Shepard's life sounded much like my own, growing up. (Luckily, though, I did not have to deal with alcoholic parents!) Emily is a very strong, independent character, which I loved. She is constantly uncertain about her future, but manages to take care of herself - and later, also a nine-year-old boy. I use the term "take care of" loosely, as Emily resorts to many unsavory acts in order to survive the cold Burlington, VT winter. But she has such a personality! And despite her insecurities, she really does have a great sense of herself and engages in some wonderful self-reflection throughout the book. She is very self-aware, especially for a sixteen year old. Emily's idol is the poet Emily Dickinson, which I found a really interesting direction for the author to go, particularly since Dickinson is rather "dated" in the eyes of today's youth, I believe. But I like the way the main character was constantly comparing her life to the poet's, and in many ways trying to emulate her famous namesake. She went so far as to adopt the new name "Abby Bliss" when she needed to go incognito: this being the name of Dickinson's best friend. The whole setup worked really well. I wondered at times whether Bohjalian determined the name of his protagonist because of the poet, or whether he linked the poet up with his teenage hero only after she had already come to be. I don't want to give away too much, so I won't talk at length about what actually happens in the story. The book really does a great job at looking both forwards and backwards in time: Emily/Abby explains that she has trouble staying on track and not straying from her linear timeline.  I thought that was a great touch. Bohjalian definitely knows teen girls (although during his talk at the CLA, he mentioned how much he leaned on his own teenage daughter for help with voice and especially slang!), and I would equate his ease with the main character's voice to that of Wally Lamb. Both authors craft such real stories: you almost feel as if you know their characters personally. I will probably be recommending this book highly for the next few months, to anyone who will listen!  Haha. I would caution that it's maybe a little bit adult, as there is mention of drugs, prostitution, and self-mutilation, but a teenager with a good head on his or her shoulders should be fine with the content; there is very little that is explicit, as far as I can recall. Definitely check out this innovative & imaginative story - like me, you may spend half the time wondering what you would do if such a nightmare scenario happened in your hometown! Yours, Arianna

Support Shelf Notes! Purchase your copy of Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands here:

Skeletons at the Feast

Skeletons at the Feast Chris Bohjalian 4 / 5	Published 2008 First Sentence "The girl--a young woman, really, eighteen, hair the color of corn silk--had been hearing the murmur of artillery fire for two days now."
Publisher's Description: In January 1945, in the waning months of World War II, a small group of people begin the longest journey of their lives: an attempt to cross the remnants of the Third Reich, from Warsaw to the Rhine if necessary, to reach the British and American lines. Among the group is eighteen-year-old Anna Emmerich, the daughter of Prussian aristocrats. There is her lover, Callum Finella, a twenty-year-old Scottish prisoner of war who was brought from the stalag to her family’s farm as forced labor. And there is a twenty-six-year-old Wehrmacht corporal, who the pair know as Manfred–who is, in reality, Uri Singer, a Jew from Germany who managed to escape a train bound for Auschwitz. As they work their way west, they encounter a countryside ravaged by war. Their flight will test both Anna’s and Callum’s love, as well as their friendship with Manfred–assuming any of them even survive.  Perhaps not since The English Patient has a novel so deftly captured both the power and poignancy of romance and the terror and tragedy of war. Skillfully portraying the flesh and blood of history, Chris Bohjalian has crafted a rich tapestry that puts a face on one of the twentieth century’s greatest tragedies–while creating, perhaps, a masterpiece that will haunt readers for generations.
Dear Reader, Yet again, this was an audiobook I stumbled across on my library's Overdrive site.  I had read some Chris Bohjalian before (and enjoyed it - Trans-Sister Radio - he's so good at making you think, and look at issues from all sides), and my sister is a big fan of his as well, so given the description, I figured I'd give this one a shot.  I was surprised to read on Goodreads that many people were shocked and disgusted by the graphic nature of this novel, but I did not find it to be sensational - just very real.  Granted, I don't know what actually went on during WWII, as I was lucky enough not to witness it, but from the accounts which I've heard before, the atrocities which Bohjalian describes are truly disturbing but not unrealistic.  He didn't want to shock people, just tell the story. The book begins by following several different people in various wartime situations: Cecile, who is a concentration camp prisoner; Callum, who is a Scottish POW in Germany; Anna, a young German girl who grew up on a beet farm which belonged at different times to Germany and to Poland; and Uri, who is a Jewish German who escaped the trains and lives his life on the run, taking on various personas (Nazi soldier, Russian soldier, or simply melting out of sight) as need be, in order to survive. I found it fascinating to read WWII from the German-citizen side, which is something you don't hear a lot about.  The reader got to watch the Germans start off as strong Hitler supporters (the dictator brought Anna's farm, which had been part of the annexation of Poland, back into Germany, and thus was a hero to many citizens in the east), and then as they began to recognize what was going on.  There were definitely atrocities on both sides of the war, too many to count - and there were good people who had morals no matter what, and bad people who took advantage of their power.  The book explored all sides of the war and of its effects on the people - it was particularly interesting to hear about the long march west that many German citizens made, as they fled from the invading Russians in the last few months of the war.  Their journeys were perilous: most suffered awfully, many died.  This was another aspect of the war I'd not encountered much of before now, so it was good to read about and get yet another perspective on the awful, worldwide conflict. One of the parts that stuck out for me was when the Emmerich family stopped at a family friend's house during their difficult trek east.  They came across women who were certain they were safe from harm, and who lived in an insulated little bubble that had thus far managed to escape the war entirely.  I found that part to be touching and terrifying at once.  Those poor, proud women - to think what must have happened to them once the Emmerichs left and the Russians arrived. I am glad I read this, and I would recommend it, despite that there were some parts that made me gasp in horror as I listened to the narrator read them.  Oh, and one last thing I think I should add: this is the narrator who read one of my favorite books from 2013, The Orchardist.  I think he is a wonderful reader, and having him "come back" for this book might have made me enjoy it even more than I would have otherwise.  I think perhaps he can make any book sound very well-written, even more than they already are! Happy reading, Arianna P.S. I had read before but forgotten that this was a work of fiction but based on real diaries kept from the war.  Wow.

Support ShelfNotes! Purchase your copy of Skeletons at the Feast here: