Adrienne CeltRezensionen

Interesting. Unusual. Weird. A bit nostalgic at the end. Full of possibility, maybe?

Our main character, Bertie, makes a significant choice that I don't quite understand why she would, which drives the thrust of the tale.

Set against a dystopian version of our world, which makes an interesting landscape to set the novel against. Also gives an excuse for throwing in every modern day, fear-mongering trope such as anti-Americanism, anti-oil, "gender studies", environmentalism, and more. Does do a nice play on the perceived morality of tech companies while they are just making money like everyone else, which was intriguing to see.

Overall enjoyable, but not super enthralling. Great if you like the mind-bending aspect of potential outcomes of time loops. And Bernie is a sweet character one can root for while following her story.

As I began this book, I realized that I'm not really the demographic to read about a BFF trip to Paris during the end of their (fictional) world. Yet I appreciated that one of the strongest parts of End of the World House is pointing the reader to how most people go on with their lives, making minor adjustments, as our world disintegrates. Likewise in the novel, Bertie and Kate figure – well, what can we do about all that? – and decide to preface Kate's imminent move to Los Angeles, away from best friend Bertie, with a Paris jaunt. If the norm, it still seems callous and clueless, but then again, what am I doing about climate change and BPAs and an ocean full of plastic and . . . . So I read on.

When Bertie and Kate get an opportunity to skip the line and be let into the Louvre before anyone else, they jump on it, and that's when the novel turns sideways. The rest of Adrienne Celt's book, full of time loops and new characters, offers a couple of answers to the end-of-the-world question. Kate accepts one answer; Bertie chooses another, though Berte's “choice” is a flaw in the narrative, for me. She is hedged into it. And that's not good on several levels. Confusing characterizations in the two long-time friends' loyalty and love for each other add to the wobbly nature of the second half of the novel.

While the book blurb calls this book comedic, I disagree. It is such an intriguing premise, though. Not the catalyst of BFFs run off to Paris. One that to avoid spoilers I can't reveal here. See for yourselves.

I received an advance copy of this book from Simon and Schuster via NetGalley. This is an honest review.

This is a nontraditional tale of mothers and daughters across generations, with a little magic and a curse tossed in for good measure. At the center of the story is Lulu and her newborn daughter Kara; before she became a mother, Lulu was an internationally famous singer but now she fears her voice is gone. The novel places Lulu's fears and experience within the context of a family curse of mothers giving birth to daughters who then ellipse them. It's an interesting story, but it just didn't really speak to me and I struggle to finish the book, despite it being relatively short.

Lulu is an opera singer, and a new mother, and a lover of stories. Particularly the fairy tale-like stories her Polish grandmother would tell about her own mother. But the stories are troubling, too, as they include a deal made with the devil for the birth of a daughter, and a curse that may have been passed down through the family, mother to daughter.

It's a beautifully written novel, with smooth, lovely prose, and it does some interesting things in weaving Lulu's real life with the fantasy of her stories. I'm also rather impressed, because opera and babies are two things I have very, very little interest in, and it actually managed to make me feel a connection to both.

I will admit, though, that at some point I started to feel just a little impatient with it, as Lulu's own story felt like it ought to be going somewhere but seemed not to actually be progressing at all. But the ending, while it perhaps didn't entirely satisfy that feeling, did work for me in its own quiet way.

This book is pretty much like my Roomba, which I'm not getting rid of, but it doesn't quite get the whole job done !

The Daughters has lots to offer and sometimes it delivers, but sometimes it goes astray or dead-ends. Thats the price you pay for the ease of the rest !

Based on what I read here , I'd read a new version of "through the looking glass" by Celt or just abt anything else she has a go at - this one felt a bit pieced together from assignments or writing group short stories - some of it was incongruous and could have been kept back for another character's story.

First of all, let me say this: I simply loved Ms. Celt's rather poetic prose! Her turn of a phrase is quite unique. One marvels... Secondly, what amazing timing! Uncanny, really: I was 2/3 into the detailed biography of Vera Nabokov (by Stacy Schiff), when, at a prompt from a friend, I picked up "Invitation to a Bonfire" and gave it preference, it being a library book. I am a big fan of Nabokov and was curious how the Nabokov couple would be portrayed in this work of fiction. Well, many things were changed, of course; out of the names, only Vera's name stayed the same and Nabokov himself was made into a science fiction writer. The author did take liberties with depicting that portion of the Nabokovs' life, but that's her right, it's a novel. And yet, apart from an unexpected turn of events in the engaging plot (involving the third person in this triangle), certain glimpses into the characters of Vera and Vladimir Nabokov rang true (that's where the biography I was reading came in handy!), and the main theme - Vera's influence in her husband's career - was prominently displayed, even though it was given a certain twist... A very satisfying, absorbing read - both in substance and expression!

My review for bookpage http://bookpage.com/reviews/22722-adrienne-celt-invitation-to-bonfire#.WzOzm02Ww...

This was total fun. 1930s, boarding school, mean girls, Russian émigrés (including Vladimir and Vera Nabokov stand-ins), literature (including a mysterious missing manuscript), the politics of entitlement vs. deprivation, murder plots, and some really enjoyable writing—super smart but not heavy. Recommended to anyone who likes any of the above. Thanks to #NetGalley for the e-galley.

And just for the hell of it, I pulled Nabokov's Invitation to a Beheading off my shelf, because a home library is the best thing ever when it actually replicates the kind of free association you'd use a real library for.½

The revolution and following turmoil made an orphan of Zoya Andropova. Therefore, she like so many other kids comes to the USA as an orphan and is welcomed in a New Jersey boarding school. She never belongs even though she quickly acquires the language and gets good marks. After her schooling, she can stay on the premises and work in the newly built greenhouse where she fully immerses in her work with the plants. Neither does she have friends, nor a lover. It is just her work and the love for literature that keep her going. There is one author she has worshipped for years, Leo Orlov, another Russian émigré whose works she devours. When Leo comes to teach at the boarding school, Zoya seems close to happiness, but even though Leo returns her love, there is one person in the way of their luck: Vera, his wife.

Adrienne Celt’s second novel “Invitation to a Bonfire” is set in a complicated time and therefore offers several layers of narration. The book can be read against the background of Russian-American confrontation and distrust. It is also a coming-of-age novel of a girl who struggles in her new surroundings. The story provides a good example of group dynamics, of exclusion and bullying, of rich vs. poor. It clearly also broaches the issue of being forced to leave your country, forced to leave behind everything from your family, to your belongings and even your language. And, after all, it is a story about love and being loved and about what people are willing to do for the one they have fallen for.

With such an abundance of topics, it is hard to find a beginning. Let’s start with the protagonist. It really liked Zoya, she is a decent and modest character, she humbly accepts her status in the new school and avoids attracting attention. Even though the other girls play tricks on her, she remains loyal and keeps quiet. She can endure a lot and does not expect life to be fair. After what happened to her family, she knows that justice is not something you can rely on in this world. This is a truth she has accepted and thus, she can follow her ideals.

When she falls under the spell of Leo, you want to shout at her to run, far far away from this man and his wife. You can see that nothing good can come from this relationship – but: what else could she do than immediately fall in love? He is the first to see her, to show her affection and to love her. Her free will is gone and the is easy to manipulate.

The story is not fast paced, actually the love story comes at quite a late point in the novel considering its relevance. What made the narration really lively was the fact that Leo’s letters to his wife and other documents were integrated which allowed you a glimpse at a later point and thus added to the underlying suspense. The author has cleverly constructed the novel and her writing is adorably poetic and multi-layered, is starts with the first sentences which immediately drag you into the novel and don’t let you out before the finishing dot:

“Let me begin by saying I did not think it would end this way. No—let me begin by saying I will burn this diary shortly.”

At fifteen, Zoya Andropov was sent to an orphanage where she cross-stitched portraits of Party members, her stomach growling from hunger. Her parents, who were on "the right side" of the Russian revolution, had died soon after "the new and glorious union of our country," like everyone else she knew.

Then in 1928, she was one of 200 USSR orphans chosen to be sent to America, ending up at the small, elite, Donne School.

Impoverished and alien, she is bullied and manipulated by the rich American girls. After graduation, now Zoe, she stayed on to work in the greenhouse, victimized still by the schoolgirls.

When her favorite writer, Lev Orlov, is hired by the school, Zoe is thrilled. With him is his imperious wife, Vera, who Zoe saw once at a Young Pioneers meeting when they were girls. The wealthy Vera was then "whisked off to Paris" where she met Lev Orlov. After reading the manuscript of his first novel she claimed to have burned it as unworthy of his potential genius. Their relationship is parasitic.

Lev is a philanderer and Zoe becomes one of his conquests. Lev relies on Vera's judgment to organize his entire life and work but he resents her as much as he needs her. He hatches a plan for Zoe to murder Vera.

Invitation to a Bonfire is mesmerizing and it is disturbing. We are taken to Moscow and the bonfires of typewriters using Old Slavonic, a time when a child's belief in the Soviet State was stronger than familial love. Coming from the ashes of the Revolution are Zoya, Vera, and Lev, struggling with alliances and the nature of love, manipulating and testing each other.

The bulk of the novel is Zoe's diary from 1931 in which she shares her childhood back story and her love affair with Lev. Interspersed are Lev's letters to Vera and documents from the Donne school and an Oral History of Vera with interviews with people who had interacted with her.

There are plot twists that surprise, with a quick wrap up ending. Perhaps too quick after such a long set up.

The characters Vera and Lev are inspired by Nabokov and his wife Vera, and I read the style is inspired by Nabokov's novels. Which made me wish I had read Nabokov in the last century; I read his books in the 1970s.

The book recalled to mind other addictive and disturbing reads, like The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith or Nabokov's Lolita. Unhealthy characters are always interesting and compelling.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The daughters by Celt_ Adrienne
Story follows one of the daughters, Greta and her musical career in Chicago and over in Poland where the family originated from.
The sisters all seem to have a curse placed on their daughters from birth.
Like how the story goes back in time to when the curse originated.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

Because I'm careful in selecting my reads and am not shy about not finishing a book I don't find interesting, it is rare that I give only one or two stars to a book I've finished. This one got two stars. It was pleasant reading but when I was done I shrugged my shoulders and said "So what?" By tomorrow I won't remember what it was about and by this time next week I'll have forgotten that I read it.

Library book.