Crow Lake
By Mary Lawson

What a wonderful story about family, growing up, and coming to grips with who you are. Mary Lawson takes us to Canada and into the family of Kate, the narrator, a young woman who keeps the people who are most important to her at arm's length. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn about the tragic events of her childhood that have caused this particular psychological quirk.

After her parents' accidental deaths, Kate and her younger sister Bo are raised by their much older (10 years) brothers, Matt and Luke. Luke gives up a chance to attend college so that the girls are not put in foster care, while Matt finishes school and works at part-time jobs so there is some money. The house may not be clean, but the girls feel loved and safe. Other members of the community keep an eye on the parentless family, bringing in food and offering jobs to the boys.

Another family—one in which there is physical and emotional abuse—serves as a counterpoint to Kate's. Matt and Luke work at the family's farm and see up close what kind of awful man the father is. However, because of their youth, they are unable to do anything to help alleviate the situation. We know that this situation will not end well.

Several themes are woven throughout the novel: the importance of family, the journey toward adulthood, the discovery of self, the importance of education. These universal themes make the book resonate with readers of all kinds, one of the reasons it was selected to be part of Today's Book Club.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
By Elizabeth Gilbert

This memoir is one of the most sensuous books I have read in a long, long time. It appealed to every one of my senses so much that I could close my eyes and imagine I was there with Elizabeth as she journeyed around the world in order to find herself.

When Elizabeth was 31, she found herself in the midst of a personal and emotional crisis—anxious, depressed, and miserable in an eight-year marriage. She wanted out, and, not knowing what else to do, she began to pray, opening a conversation with God that continues today. She decided she needed out of her marriage and time to discover what she really wanted from life, so she began a year of travel and rest and searching that took her to Italy, India, and Bali.

Dividing her year into thirds, Elizabeth starts in Italy, where she indulges her body with great food. This description alone of pizza in Naples makes me salivate:

After gaining weight (how could she not?) and learning to communicate in Italian, Elizabeth went off to India to practice yoga in an ashram, where she hoped to develop her spiritual self. Because I am a novice yoga practitioner, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of Elizabeth's attempt at meditation. I, too, have voices in my head that won't be stilled. However, she does find peace when she is able to let go, detach, and actually become the prayer she voices.

Finally, she travels to the beautiful island of Bali, where she finds friends and a lover—a suitable ending for her journey. If I were younger and unfettered by responsibilities, I might be tempted to follow Elizabeth's example and travel far away for long periods. However, since I can't, I'll enjoy every word of her account and imagine I am with her in these wonderful places.

Mistress of the Art of Death
By Ariana Franklin

Get ready to meet the 12th-century Kay Scarpetta, a young woman named Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar, summoned to England from Salerno, Italy, by none other than Henry II himself. A murderer is loose in Cambridge, killing four young Christian children in horrible fashion. But, rather than try to find the murderous fiend, the people of Cambridge blame the Jews who live there, ultimately hanging and tearing apart one Jewish merchant and his wife. Henry's concern is that because the Jews have been unable to ply their trades, they have also been unable to pay their taxes—and this is taxing Henry.

As the novel unfolds, Adelia and her two assistants, Mansur the Saracen and Simon the Jew (a renowned investigator), begin to uncover clues about the murderer’s identity. Coming to their aid are Prior Geoffrey and Sir Rowley, the king's tax collector. The finger seems to point at someone who has been on the Crusades, but any number of people in the town fit that description. As Adelia and her assistants close in on the killer, things get more dangerous for the investigators, one of them paying with his life.

Adelia is a wonderful protagonist, a woman who was far ahead of her time in education and ambition. She has never considered the possibility of marriage and children, knowing that her devotion to finding the truth about those who have died will be an obstacle to what was considered a normal life for a woman. However, her time in Cambridge makes her think about the what-ifs of love and family.

I really enjoyed reading this medieval mystery. The characters are clearly drawn, and the plot clicks right along. There is plenty of historical detail, too, making it all seem very realistic. If you like Kay Scarpetta mysteries, you'll find this one a good read also.