The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow is a beautiful historical fantasy novel.

January Scaller lives in a mansion filled with rare and old things like an over crowded museum. Her father works for Mr. Locke by traveling all over collecting artifacts. Mr. Locke has raised January in his absence with a string of tutors.

In a trunk in one of the rooms, January found a book. She is not sure who left it, but she thinks it may have been a gift to her. It is a kind of biography of a woman and the man who is trying to find her. A woman who seems to be able to travel to elsewhere.

Once when January was younger, she traveled with Mr. Locke to the middle of the country. There she found a door that seems to call out to her to be opened. When she opened it, the place on the other side seemed like elsewhere. Maybe another world. When she told Mr. Locke, he had the door burned.

Now she remember that door. One she sometimes thought she made up. If the woman in the book could find these doors, maybe January can, too.

Harrow has written a beautiful fantasy novel. It is set in the early 1900s and deals with class, race and more within the story of January Scaller. It is a book of wonder, sadness and courage. After reading this, I will read anything Harrow writes!

Harrow, Alix E. (2019). The Ten Thousand Doors of January. New York: Redhook.

Strangers and Cousins

Strangers and Cousins by Leah Hager Cohen is about a family coming together for a wedding - and so much more.

In Rundle Junction, New York (a fictional town) in the Catskills, Benita and Walter are preparing to have hordes descend upon their family home for their daughter's wedding. Benita is the fifth generation of her family to live in her house - which was once also a general store and post office.

The first to arrive is her great aunt Glad, picked up from her retirement home by Walter. She is 94 years old and lives as much in her memories as she does in the present. Through her we learn of the history of Rundle Junction and the famous pageant of 1927.

Clem their artistic, passionate eldest daughter will not let them help with any wedding preparations. They have no idea what to expect as her friends arrive all week long for the ceremony.

Told through many wonderful, and some annoying, characters this is the story of both family and society. Both the ghosts of the past and the present changes reveal the character of the town and people in general. The sections from the youngest son's point of view are rich and lush as he imagines his way through the jungles of the back yards.

Leah Hager Cohen includes some that other authors would ignore. She is really a master of story telling. This book was a surprise and a delight.

Cohen, Leah Hager. (2019). Strangers and Cousins. New York: Riverhead Books.

The Last Woman in the Forest

The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets is murder mystery in which the main character reaches out to a detective because she has questions about her boyfriend.

Marian Engstrom works with the National Parks on studies. She began her first job in the frozen oils sands of northern Alberta. Working with rescue dogs to study endangered wildlife, Marian falls for her trainer, Tate.

Between studies, employees stay at The Den in Colorado. Training dogs who are on breaks as well, keeping them in top form from the next job. Tate is on another assignment and Marian is at The Den when she hears of his death.

Something does not sit right with Marian and she reaches out to a retired forensic profiler, Nick. Not about Tate's death, but about something he told her that does not add up. Tate says he found one of the victims of the Stillwater Killer, a man who is believed to have killed four women and left them in the wilderness.

Combining a fascinating career in wildlife studies with a brutal serial killer mystery, Les Becquest has written another novel in which the outdoors plays a main roll. Her books are an interesting combination of thriller/suspense and the psychology of both killers and their victims. This is a haunting novel of hope and fear.

Les Becquets, Diane. (2019). The Last Woman in the Forest. New York: Berkley.