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Tag Archives: death

Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson

04 Wednesday Jan 2023

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in detective, England, Fiction, murder, murder and investigation, mystery, suspense, thriller, Uncategorized

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death, London (England), medical fiction, murder, opioid abuse, patients, physicians, serial murderers, thriller

Returning to practice after a suspension for stealing opioids, a young doctor takes the only job he can find: a post as a physician at the struggling St. Luke’s Hospital in east London…. Drawing on his experiences as a physician, Simon Stephenson takes readers into the dark heart of life as a hospitalist to ask the question: Who are the people we gift the power of life and death, and what does it do to them? (Amazon)

“This timely novel has it all: it’s a chilling literary thriller, an emotional dive into the joys and stresses of our health care workers, and a genre-bending story with a perfect dose of gallows humor. I loved this book.. and never want to visit a hospital again!”—Matthew Sullivan, author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

 “Enjoyable…the novel’s tone shifts from dread to suspense as the narrator turns amateur sleuth when the facts don’t seem to add up.”—Publishers Weekly 

“The witty writing, quirky protagonist, and anecdotal descriptions of real-life medical villains combine to make Sometimes People Die a delightful read. I loved it.”—Kathy Reichs 

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Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

04 Monday Jan 2021

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, Fiction

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brothers, California, death, depressed persons, faith, families, Ghanaians in U.S., grief, mentally ill mothers, psychiatry research, women medical students

Gifty is a PhD candidate in neuroscience at Stanford. She studies addiction and depression in mice, but both exist in her family as well. Gifty is very much a contemporary, forward-looking character—a Ghanaian-American woman who is excelling in science at one of the best schools in the world—but she is also drawn by memories of faith and family in Alabama where she grew up.  Quite different from her first book, Homegoing.  A compelling read.

“Unforgettable… Transcendent Kingdom has an expansive scope that ranges into fresh, relevant territories—much like the title, which suggests a better world beyond the life we inhabit.”—BookPage [starred review]

“Gyasi’s wise second novel pivots toward intimacy… In precise prose, Gyasi creates an ache of recognition, especially for readers knowledgeable about the wreckage of addiction. Still, she leavens this nonlinear novel with sly humor… The author is astute about childhood grandiosity and a pious girl’s deep desire to be good; she conveys in brief strokes the notched, nodding hook of heroin’s oblivion…final chapter that gives readers a taste of hard-won deliverance.”—Kirkus Reviews [starred review]

“Yaa Gyasi’s profoundly moving second novel takes place in the vast, fragile landscape where the mysteries of God and the certainties of science collide. Through deliberate and precise prose, the book becomes an expansive meditation on grief, religion, and family.”—The Boston Globe

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The East End by Jason Allen

08 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction

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death, Hamptons (NY), high school students, mansions, social classes U.S., suspense, unlawful entry

A Hamptons poolside accident that ends the life of a billionaire CEO’s illicit lover is complicated by a lavish weekend vacation and a thrill-seeking hired boy who breaks in and witnesses everything in secret.

“What a delicious pot of trouble Jason Allen has cooked up in this debut novel! He’s a hell of a writer, negotiating deftly the psychological landscape of his of characters as they struggle to make the right decisions under pressure. Every page is filled with wise insights about social class and the human heart.” -Bonnie Jo Campbell, National Book Award finalist and author of Mothers Tell Your Daughters

“An intense, heart-pounding experience from the first page, with brilliant, complex characters more real than people I actually know. I challenge you to put this novel down once you start reading.”- Simon Van Booy, award winning author of The Sadness of Beautiful Things

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Once We Were Sisters: A Memoir by Sheila Kohler

19 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, Travel

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1961-1994, death, sisters, South Africa, travel writing, women authors

On the first page in the first one hundred words, the author has given the reader the end of the story.  But the writing is so fluid and so many intriguing topics are touched on – sisterhood, motherhood, the yearning for the impossible, the regret of unfulfilled relationships, the desire to write it all down and the exotic but troubled location of South Africa during apartheid – that the reader feels compelled to read on to discover the full story.

“A searing and intimate memoir about love turned deadly.” —The BBC

“In this intimate, exquisitely written memoir, the author’s first work of nonfiction, she explores the impenetrable bond that can exist between sisters. . . . In spare, delicate prose, Kohler brings a seasoned novelist’s skills to this deeply moving, compelling memoir.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“It’s fitting that the book is written in the present tense, because [Kohler’s] sister is forever with her. Their relationship changes shape yet lingers, as do the important questions about women and violence.”—Oprah.com (5 Powerful New Memoirs)

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The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

14 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction

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death, psychological fiction, sisters, widows

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A woman reflects on her life, particularly her relationship with her late sister, who died after driving off a bridge. The novel alternates between past and present, and includes a “novel within a novel” that adds to the mystery surrounding the two sisters’ lives. Margaret Atwood is an acclaimed writer, and this is my favorite of her books that I’ve read.

“Absorbing… expertly rendered… Virtuosic storytelling [is] on display.”–The New York Times

“Brilliant… Opulent… Atwood is a poet…. as well as a contriver of fiction, and scarcely a sentence of her quick, dry yet avid prose fails to do useful work, adding to a picture that becomes enormous.”–John Updike, The New Yorker

“Bewitching… A killer novel…. Atwood’s crisp wit and steely realism are reminiscent of Edith Wharton… A wonderfully complex narrative.”
—The Christian Science Monitor

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

04 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, mystery

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Chinese Americans, daughters, death, detective, grief, mystery, Ohio

9780143127550_p0_v2_s118x184

After reading the first three words, the first sentence and the first paragraph, the reader will know what happened to the central character in this book.  But then the question is Why? and then How? and then For What?

Celeste Ng, in her first novel, has gracefully written a poignant and heartbreaking story of family, ethnicity, communication and grief that the reader will be compelled to read in one sitting.

“If we know this story, we haven’t seen it yet in American fiction, not until now… Ng has set two tasks in this novel’s doubled heart—to be exciting, and to tell a story bigger than whatever is behind the crime. She does both by turning the nest of familial resentments into at least four smaller, prickly mysteries full of secrets the family members won’t share… What emerges is a deep, heartfelt portrait of a family struggling with its place in history, and a young woman hoping to be the fulfillment of that struggle. This is, in the end, a novel about the burden of being the first of your kind—a burden you do not always survive.” – Alexander Chee, The New York Times Book Review

“Wonderfully moving…Emotionally precise…A beautifully crafted study of dysfunction and grief…[This book] will resonate with anyone who has ever had a family drama.” – Boston Globe

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