unexpected guest

...and some catch-up.

I'm on the last day of my vacation and I finished a few books before I left, and then read three on vacation, so... catch-up. In order of reading, for me more than you, most likely exclusively for me I need to get down my thoughts about:

An Unexpected Guest
You Suck
Friends of the Dusk
The Magician's Tale [UPDATE]*
Astray
Past Tense

The more recent reads will follow on in short order, but now, we're at An Unexpected Guest by Anne Korkeakivi. According to the bio on the book jacket, Korkeakivi has lived in France and Finland, and is now, or was at the time this was written (2012), in Switzerland, married to a UN lawyer. To me, that means writing about the intrigues of diplomatic life is probably not too much of a stretch. It also seems pretty clear that Korkeakivi enjoys food as it is woven lovely into this tale.

This is not a big novel--less than 300 pages--and it moves along pretty quickly, taking place over the span of just a few days in Paris. Clair Moorhouse is an American married to a British diplomat, who discovers that she needs to step up with very little notice, to play host with her husband for a small group of people. Clair spends her time planning the dinner, while all of the other things in her life, and suddenly her past, come swirling into view demanding her attention.

The story revolves around Moorhouse's ability to keep all the balls in the air when it seems certainly that she can't handle one more thing to happen. Life seems to conspire against her success in ways that seem both human and real. Korkeakivi does a job job of knitting those things together, following Moorhouse as she plans, dodges, reevaluates, puts out fires, retools, and moves ahead, making it clear that even though her husband sees his job as critical and complex, his wife's is just as much, and at time more so.

Its always fun to read a book written by someone with a different perspective. Korkeakivi's time overseas hasn't given her the voice of a foreign writer, but an American writer with a European influence is probably a good way to put it. I enjoyed the tension, the intrigue, the dark secrets, and the sumptuous foodie details.



* UPDATE: I found a picture on my phone of this book that I borrowed from the house were were staying in.