Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. So we asked them, and all Denver Post readers, to share their mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email bellis@denverpost.com. – Barbara Ellis
“The First Gentleman,” by Bill Clinton and James Patterson (Little, Brown and Company, 2025)
The third collaborative novel by this duo is definitely a page-turner. The president’s husband is on trial for murder, while she simultaneously orchestrates a grand congressional coalition behind closed doors to save major entitlement programs for future generations. While a young investigative team scrambles to uncover the truth, bodies continue to fall left and right. My only nit to pick: Patterson should have wielded a heavy editorial pencil on Clinton’s wonky, everything-including-the-kitchen-sink presidential address. Aspirational, perhaps, but jarring against the rest of the novel. — 2 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
“Hamnet,” by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press, 2020)
Although titled for Shakespeare’s son, this novel’s protagonist is Agnes, Shakespeare’s wife and Hamnet’s mother. An unconventional woman for the end of the 16th century, Agnes is bright and quick and competent: she fairly dances off the pages. O’Farrell’s words skip lightly on some pages, then pace with anxiety, then finally trudge along despairingly. Her writing can be luminous or tenebrous as the mood requires. One section is the most apt depiction of sorrow that I’ve ever read. The final scene is, I believe, as close to perfect as possible. (The novel has been made into a film, coming out in November, starring Paul Mescal.) — 4 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker
“Careless People: A Cautious Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism,” by Sarah Wynn-Williams (Flatiron Books)
Author: Sarah Wynn-Williams
Pages: 382
Publisher: Flatiron
The author presciently realizes the potential for Facebook as a political force and doggedly pursues a job there, eventually landing as the Facebook director of global public policy. That seat at the table provides her unique access to observe the strategic decisions by and the personal proclivities of Facebook’s C-suite of players. Quickly jaded, she nonetheless soldiers on, thinking she can effect change from within. This is also the story of Facebook’s coming of age politically. Small wonder that the social media giant sought to block its publication. — 3 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
“Britt-Marie Was Here,” by Fredrik Backman (Atria, 2017)
Praise be, there are fiction writers who can capture the bodies and souls of completely normal individuals, their uniqueness, charms, highs and lows. Backman is one of the rarities. Britt-Marie, struggling to make a living after splitting from her self-centered, cheating husband, heads out to a tiny, isolated town where she somehow lands a job managing a dying recreation center peopled by underprivileged kids. She cultivates her unique gifts for developing a diverse group of townspeople into a cohesive, mutually supportive crew. Somehow, Britt-Marie gains her sense of self and becomes a curious, energetic, self-directed adult, ready to cultivate her own way in the wide world. — 4 stars (out of 4); Bonnie McCune, Denver (bonniemccune.com)
“All Our Shimmering Skies,” by Trent Dalton (Harper, 2021)
This novel, set in Australia at the outset of World War II, is gut-wrenching. Molly Hook, “the gravedigger’s daughter,” is on a quest to reverse the curse on her family that turns their hearts to stone. Molly’s mother leaves her, assuring her that she will have signs from the sky. That promise begins with a gold-panning bowl with an etched map and continues when Molly and her friend Greta are joined in their walkabout by a Japanese pilot and then a baby. This fable includes abuse and hatred, darkness, magic, love. It is a roller-coaster ride. — 3 stars (out of 4); Jo Calhoun, Denver
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