impossible lives of great wells

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells is a 2014 book by Andrew Sean Greer, the author of The Confessions of Max Tivoli, 10 years prior. I liked that earlier, book and I liked this one too, altho perhaps not quite as much. There are some similar themes Greer is exploring here, and the premise of the story is also fantastical.

Greer is again examining love, loss, and longing. And because this also has historical fiction aspects, he is also looking at a woman's place and standing in American society in the various time periods in which the story takes place.

This was a fun ride and Greer has constructed some pretty complex characters, and developed their personalities and interactions in ways that really help us understand how these people feel about each other, and how society, from differing time periods, influence those personalities and interactions.

Suspension of disbelieve is again required for this one, and if you enjoyed Max Tivoli then you'll probably enjoy this one.

body in the fjord

The Body in the Fjord is an installment in the Faith Fairchild mystery series, by Katherine Hall Page. Number 8 of 26, according to the Amazon description. I haven't read any of the others, I picked this book up, along with a handful of others I've read recently, at a library book sale in Dracut, Massachusetts. I haven't written about my reading recently as I've been absorbed in other things that have eaten up some of my spare time.

This mystery doesn't feature Faith Fairchild much, but rather, her employee, Pix Miller, who works with her at the catering business Faith Fairchild runs in the fictional town of Aleford, Massachusetts. Pix's mother, Ursala Rowe, who emigrated to America from Norway, is contacted by an old fried who is missing her granddaughter, Kari. Pix promptly flies off with her mother to Norway, and books passage on the tour of Norway's fjords by cruise ship, where Ursula's friends granddaughter was working when she disappeared, and which is apparently still underway, notwithstanding  a death of one employee and a missing second.

They quickly learn that Kari's fiance was killed in a tragic accident--he fell into a waterfall and was drowned in the fjord below--and Kari hasn't been seen since. 

Pix and her mother Ursula discover all kinds of interesting facts, altho its unclear if any have anything to do with the missing woman. Other people die, swastikas are lit on lawns, the other tour passengers are an odd group, and each of the mother and daughter team attempt to learn more about each of their fellow travelers in order to uncover the mystery of the woman's disappearance.

After a very set of adventures, and meals of interesting, traditional Norwegian food (recipes included) they eventually solve the mystery, altho I'm not sure exactly how. They seems to just stumble upon it, along with a another criminal enterprise, which they also help to put an end to.

This was a funny little story, but I can see how the quaintness of the travel, and the food, including recipes at the back of the book, can be fun for the right audience, and someone clearly buying Katherine Hall Page's books. I just think I will be one of those, based on this read.