The Dream Lover: A Novel of George Sand

by Elizabeth Berg      

      

            Elizabeth Berg’s newest book is a fictionalized story of the life of George Sand. Told in first person narrative, the story documents a woman who was perhaps the most unconventional person in her day.  This is a fabulous book, classic Elizabeth Berg.

            I confess to not knowing anything about George Sand before reading Berg’s novel. Born Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin in 1797 in Paris, her parents were a French lieutenant from the aristocracy and his courtesan lover whom he married. This unusual beginning for the young Aurore, as she was called, was to set the tone for her entire life. While Aurone/Sands did marry and have children, she also left her husband, built a successful career as a writer and sued her husband to get her fortune back. She wore men’s clothing, smoked in public and took multiple lovers without apology. A truly gifted writer, Sands was a woman who was centuries ahead of her time in advocating for women’s rights.

It is Berg’s ability to bring this complicated and unorthodox woman to life that makes this novel shine. This is a huge, luscious novel to be read slowly and savored.  

Victor Hugo said this about George Sands upon her death: “George Sand was an “idea.” She has been released from the flesh, and now is free. She is dead, and now is living.”

In The Dream Lover, Elizabeth Berg has indeed set Sands free and she is once again living.

Scheduled for publication on April 7^th, this is a book to buy, read and then read again.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Night Crew

by Brian Haig

            Just when I had given up on ever seeing Sean Drummond again, Haig returns with a new novel, and it may be his best yet.

            This novel again pairs Lt. Colonel Drummond with his old law school rival, Katherine Carlson. First appearing in Mortal Allies, Carlson and Drummond do not play well together. In The Night Crew they are the co-council of a young female army soldier accused with committing atrocities against Iraqi prisoners in Iraq. To further complicate their defense are pictures of the atrocities. Lots and lots of pictures.

            As they interview the other four defendants in the case, a picture of depravity emerges that Drummond wonders how they can defend against. While Carlson sees this case as a chance to put the Army on trial, Drummond begins to sense there is more to this case. With key witnesses dead and documents suddenly missing, Drummond believes someone is covering up. The question is who, and what.

            Haig’s books are always good, but he has outdone himself with The Night Crew. His characters face moral ambiguities that are all too plausible and real. Well done, Mr. Haig.

            With an expected publication date of March 10^th, this is a book to buy and lose sleep over.  

          Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.