The Red Garden

I absolutely love history, and there is nothing better than when it ties into my reading. In The Red Garden, Alice Hoffman traces the history of the town of Blackwell Massachusetts from it's founding in 1750 through the present. Although fiction, The Red Garden was incredibly believable. Hoffman ties in real historical facts and events with realistic and likable characters, and it is easy to forget that the stories aren't real.
Each chapter chronicles a different story in a different year, and Hoffman subtly intertwines the stories and characters as time goes on. You hear mention of characters from the previous stories and it is sad to see young girls grow old and magical moments forgotten.
You are able to see how the town grows from it's original four families, as well as the cultural changes of 250 years. From the Civil War, to the World Wars, to the hippie days of Vietnam and the fashions of the 80's, you see the times change in one small town.
The Red Garden was full of captivating stories of love, passion, tragedy, and survival. They were stories of fiercely strong women, and people struggling to discover who they are and who they are meant to be. It was both dark and magical at the same time, and when I wasn't halfway through I already knew that I would miss it.
I think that this book was fantastic. There is at least one story and one character for everyone to relate to. It makes you appreciate history. It makes you believe in fate.

Gone Girl

The main thing to remember about Gone Girl is this: Whatever you think, you are wrong.

I've been hearing about this book for months, and I finally bought in on my post-Christmas book binge. I knew the story line: A woman disappears on her 5 year anniversary. It had to have been the husband. Right?

I got into the story immediately. It switches between present day Nick (husband) and past diary entries from Amy (wife), and what made it so great was that I sided with each character as I was reading their story. I never knew whether or not Nick killed her, even when it sounded like he was blatantly admitting it. He wanted to connect with his wife, but she had changed. She was cold and nagging, and honestly just a big ol' b-word. 

Then I'd read her chapters. And I found her incredibly relatable. I thought that she was laid back and down to earth. Sure, her marriage had it's problems, but she wanted to fix it. She loved Nick and she was willing to fight for him. She was trying. And he was a sexist a-hole. I couldn't pick a side. I was constantly on my toes. 

And everything that you think is wrong. 

This book was fantastic. There is really no other word to describe it. Every time I formed an opinion, every time I thought I could predict what would happen next, I would be proven wrong. 

Gillian Flynn is a genius. Her writing is easy and witty, and even in the midst of a high anxiety, terribly dramatic scene, she could still make me laugh. Every single character became real to me and I couldn't put the book down. 

I cannot say enough about it. My mind is blown. This is a book that I am going to need to recover from, like when I read Gone With The Wind. It is going to take me some time to come out of this story.