Queen Anne Books

I picked up this little book not quite knowing what to expect, but Last Night at the Lobster is proof that great things come in small packages. O'Nan's account of one night in a working class life made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. Manny DeLeon is manager of a past-its-prime Red Lobster in a rundown Connecticut mall. Tonight is the restaurant's last night -- they're closing down due to poor numbers -- and to make matters more difficult, it's snowing hard and a blizzard is in the forecast. They're low on supplies, half the staff didn't show up for work, and worst of all, Manny is dealing with an uncomfortable post-affair tension with Jacqui, one of the Lobster's waitresses. But Manny has a good heart and he's doing his best to rally his dejected staff and make a memorable dining experience for the few souls who brave the weather and choose Red Lobster for dinner tonight.

There are so many wonderful things about this book that I don't know where to begin describing them. The first-rate writing, the gritty characters, the complex relationships between the Red Lobster staff members, Manny's earnest work philosophy. O'Nan's story is sharp and vivid, and made me feel as if I was there, sitting in a booth, waiting for my all-you-can-eat popcorn shrimp. Last Night at the Lobster is a small book with a huge heart! ~Hilary

I haven't been able to stop thinking and talking about King, Kaiser, Tsar: Three Royal Cousins who Led the World to War. This recent nonfiction book by Catrine Clay delves into the private lives of the royal families leading up to World War I, and it does so with depth and insight that make history come alive.

Clay clearly had access to royal diaries and personal correspondence and jumped right in with both feet. Excerpts from the private writings of the royals reveal character and political intrigue worthy of a political thriller, but Clay also includes meaty history of the role of monarchy in Europe.

I had never even realized that King George V of England ("Georgie" in the book), Kaiser Wilhelm II ("Willy") and Tsar Nicholas II ("Nicky") were cousins before this book caught my eye. Even with the aid of a simplified family tree at the beginning of the book, royal intermarriages can be confusing, but Clay makes Queen Victoria and her children Bertie and Vicky (who would become King of England and Empress of Prussia), the princesses Alexandra and Minnie from Denmark who became Queen of England and Empress of Russia, and the other nobility directly involved so vivid that the intertwining family trees and competing loyalties make sense.

Tsar Nicholas II married Alexandra, a favorite granddaughter of Queen Victoria who was raised in Hesse (a small German state) and England. I had never thought to wonder what language multilingual royal couples like this would use at home and in their private letters to one another. It turns out Nicky and Alix corresponded in English, their common language. Fascinating details like the tender letters between Russia's imperial "Wify" and "Huzzy" contrasted with the descriptions of court grandeur and political maneuvering make this an extremely readable and revelatory history. ~Tegan

This is not a Christmas book. It may be red and it may be a new release in December, but it’s not for most gift giving. It is a fictional account of the life of Mata Hari (born Margaretha Zelle), the infamous World War I spy and exotic dancer. It is beautifully told both by Margaretha and a third person narrator. It follows her from losing her parents to moving to Java with her abusive husband, to raising her children and then returning to Europe to become a dancer and professional mistress, just a step above a prostitute, really. The descriptions are vivid and the characters so believable, it all feels true even though I know it can’t all be true. I looked up information about Mata Hari (I won’t give too much away here), but I still felt complete sympathy for her as she awaits her fate in prison.

Any book about Mata Hari would also have to be sexy and this book does that so well. Sex in novels, I think, is absolutely the most difficult thing to pull off. So often the descriptions become overly mechanical or pornographic, trying for too much accuracy or titillation, but the author here really manages to make the few sex scenes telling and interesting and just plain sexy.

So, I recommend this book if you need a little escape from sweet holiday stories, from cloying diamond commercials, from insincere well-wishes, if you’re in the mood for just great literary story-telling, and I suppose if there is someone on your list who needs a little sexy… ~Lillian