Book Bites | Sophie Keetch, Kristin Hannah, Kate Collins

Morgan is My Name 

Sophie Keetch, Magpie Books

***** (5 stars)

Sophie Keetch does a stellar job with this feminist retelling of the story of Morgan le Fay, a powerful sorceress in Arthurian legend. She’s not the first author to create an origin story for the half-sister-turned-enemy of King Arthur, but this book forms the first of a new trilogy that tells young Morgan’s story from her perspective. It’s part tender love story, part twisted family drama, part bildungsroman as it lays the groundwork for a complex character far removed from what she’s made out to be later in life. From the first page, the book reads beautifully as it paints a story that is perfect for a small screen adaptation. Fans of feminist fantasy will love it. — Sanet Oberholzer

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Another Life

Kristin Hannah, Pan Macmillan

*** (3 stars)

Angie and her husband have tried to have children. Due to grieving and the pressures of trying, they decide it’s best to divorce. She leaves her house in Seattle, her high-paying job, and moves back home to West End in Washington State. Angie decides to help with the failing family restaurant. Her two sisters and mother are formidable women, not easily swayed by Angie’s plans but they get on board eventually and then it’s all loud Italian dinners, garlic and tomato aromas, and wine. The drama comes when Angie meets 17-year-old Lauren, whose mother is a bitter  alcoholic, who leaves it up to the teen to fend for the two of them. Angie offers Lauren a job at the restaurant. When Lauren’s mother abandons her to go off with her new loser boyfriend, Lauren moves in with Angie. One can see the emotional twists coming and even though it’s not Hannah’s best book, it’s an easy read with pretty scenery and people who are mostly nice and wholesome. — Jennifer Platt

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A Good House For Children

Kate Collins, Serpent’s Tail

***

When Orla’s husband, Nick, suggests they move out of their city apartment for a house in the Dorset cliffs, she agrees it will be a good move for the family. As they settle into the mansion, Orla encounters a series of disturbing events. Her son, Sam, makes an imaginary friend who Orla doesn’t trust. Enter Lydia. Four decades earlier she is in the same house as a live-in nanny. She too feels the presence of influential forces in the house. And Like Orla, she fears for the safety of the children in her home. Both women have to use their instincts and work through their doubts in this gothic tale that will keep you hooked from page one. — Jessica Levitt

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