Postcards by E. Annie Proulx

First sentence:

"Even before he got up he knew he was on his way."

Description:

"Postcards is the story of Loyal Blood, a man who spends a lifetime on the run from a crime so terrible it renders him forever incapable of touching a woman. The odyssey begins on a freezing Vermont hillside in 1944 and propels Blood across the American West for forty years. Denied love and unable to settle, he lives a hundred different lives: mining gold, growing beans, hunting fossils, trapping, prospecting for uranium and ranching. His only contact with his past is through a series of postcards he sends home -- not realising that in his absence disaster had befallen his family, and their deep-rooted connection with the land has been severed with devastating consequences." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

When I first read the description, I wasn't sure I would like this book. By the end, as I found myself wanting to know what happens next, I came to love it. Loyal Blood, and his family, don't have an easy life. While they often make both right and wrong decisions, they live their lives authentically. Proulx's descriptions brought me into the scenes, both beautiful and plain. It's a slow read, but well worth it.

Date read: 1/19/2025
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5*/5

ISBN-10: 0006546684
ISBN-13: 9780006546689
Imprint: Flamingo Books
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 1994
# of pages: 340
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Murder in the House by Margaret Truman

First sentence:

"'The chaplain will offer the prayer.'"

Description:

"He died beneath the Statue of Freedom, clutching a 9-mm pistol in his hand. But as dawn rose, the politician would die again--in a hail of rumor and character assassination.

Now one man suspects the shattering truth: that the congressman's suicide was a carefully planned murder. In the heart of the free world, a furious struggle begins: to reclaim a man's innocence, expose a woman's lie, and stop a chilling conspiracy of murder that reaches halfway around the world. . . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this mystery set in Washington, DC and Moscow in the mid 1990s. There were lots of events, both criminal and personal as we learn what happened to Representative Paul Latham and why. One criticism was the late explanation of a character's actions and where they have been. I liked learning what happened to this character, but I wished the explanation happened sooner in the plot. 

Date read: 1/9/2025
Book #: 1
Series: Capital Crimes, #14
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 4*/5

ISBN-10: 0449001725
ISBN-13: 9780449001721
Imprint: Fawcett Crest
Publisher: Ballantine
Year: 1997
# of pages: 344
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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