Cuba

Rating:
Summary: waste of my time!
Review: After reading the great reviews that Cuba was given, I thought I might give it a shot...i'm a true 'chick lit' lover. I was thoroughly disappointed! The story, drags on and on in a lackluster way. I found myself skimming through the pages just to get through them. I thought for sure there was something I was missing and that the story had to get better; I wasn't missing anything and it never got any better. It was unrealistic, boring and I couldn't wait for it to end...This was my first Emily Barr book, I'm afraid to judge on the first one, but I'd have to say I don't plan on reading anymore of her stuff anytime soon...

Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Read
Review: Cuba, like most of her novels, starts of slow. As a matter of fact half way through the book I was wondering why I was reading it. The characters seemed to be transparent and left little to the imagination. The mom, crazy girl and slut all seemed to fill their niches rather well. But, towards the end of the book you start to see all of the driving factors. The history that lay beneath each is reviled slowly and you begin to understand every motion. I would recommend this book and ask that readers give it a chance past the first half.

Rating:
Summary: Good chick lit--with some unexpected suspense mixed in!
Review: Maggie is a lonely girl. She recently parted with her boyfriend of 6 years, her parents live in France, and her sister lives a couple hours away and is about to have a baby. Maggie has many secrets. She tells people that she works for Amex (American Express) but she actually has a job that she is ashamed of. There are things in her past that need to be kept private. She doesn't get close to anyone.

While buying baby monitors for her sisters soon-to-come baby, she notices that they pick up on the frequency of her neighbors' monitors. From then on, it's like a fun soap opera she never knew existed. Libby and David also live in the building with their baby Charlie, and David wants to take a sabbatical off work and move to Cuba to learn Spanish.

Libby, who had a life as a lawyer before she met David is not happy, but does it anyway. Maggie realizes that she can't let go of the psuedo-friends who don't know her...yet. She also picks up and moves to Cuba, while gently trying to invade their lives.

At first, I started to think, this is a lonely, sad, girl. I did feel sorry for her, though she seemed slightly pathetic. She obviously has problems, and they eventually come to a head in Cuba. Will they befriend her? Even if they find out the horrible truths from her past?

Emily Barr writes as someone who has been on a lot of adventures to exotic locales and keeps you interested throughout. I definitely recommend reading Cuba.

Rating:
Summary: intrigue in an exotic locale
Review: Maggie is living a very unhappy existence in Brighton, working as a stripper but lying to everyone that she works at American Express. Her sister Emma is about to give birth so Maggie buys her a pair of baby monitors. When testing them, she realizes she can pick up conversations from the couple next door via their baby monitors, and thus she becomes fixated and fascinated by them.

Maggie moved to Brighton to escape her past, and when she hears the couple next door making plans to study in Cuba, she decides that she also will got to the island and be their friend. She will have a whole new life and be so happy.

Maggie has something in her past, involving her now-absent sister Grace. When and how Grace left is a mystery throughout the book but you know that it has a lot to do with Maggie's depressed state of mind. Also involved is Jasmin, a schoolfriend of Maggie's whom she hasn't seen in 10 years who suddenly walks back into her life. Turns out that Jasmin is not so innocent when it comes to hurting Maggie either.

However, just who is the villain here is not that straightforward. The book alternates between telling Maggie's tale and then the perspective Libby (the wife and young mother from next door.) Throughout it all, the author paints a wonderful vivid depiction of Cuba and how it is faring under Castro. Definitely a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Great chick-lit
Review: Yuppies David and Libby argue whether they should go on sabbatical and travel along with their newborn for a year or so. Bored playing house mother though she loves her child, Libby wants to say yes to David's pleadings, but wonders if that is a good idea for their baby. As they debate the issue of travels with Charlie, their new neighbor lonely Maggie hears everything through the paper thin walls. She becomes excited especially when the couple next door decides to go to CUBA.

Maggie decides to join her new best friend Libby and her lover David in Havana though neither of the couple is aware of their new roles in their thirty year old neighbor's life. In Havana, Maggie sets in motion a plan to accomplish her agenda starting with babysitting little Charlie.

Emily Barr takes her usual theme (see BACKPACK and BAGGAGE) of a young couple on the road in environs that neither one is prepared for as recriminations fling back and forth threatening relationships. Though somewhat by the numbers, the story line avoids going too deep into a melodramatic stalking plot by emphasizing the characters starting with Maggie's mental state and the flaws of the yuppie couple that jeopardizes their marriage. Fans of on the road and readers of psychological suspense (except travel agents) will appreciate Ms. Barr's skills of placing everyday people in extraordinary scenarios that test their mettle.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Great chick-lit
Review: Yuppies David and Libby argue whether they should go on sabbatical and travel along with their newborn for a year or so. Bored playing house mother though she loves her child, Libby wants to say yes to David's pleadings, but wonders if that is a good idea for their baby. As they debate the issue of travels with Charlie, their new neighbor lonely Maggie hears everything through the paper thin walls. She becomes excited especially when the couple next door decides to go to CUBA.

Maggie decides to join her new best friend Libby and her lover David in Havana though neither of the couple is aware of their new roles in their thirty year old neighbor's life. In Havana, Maggie sets in motion a plan to accomplish her agenda starting with babysitting little Charlie.

Emily Barr takes her usual theme (see BACKPACK and BAGGAGE) of a young couple on the road in environs that neither one is prepared for as recriminations fling back and forth threatening relationships. Though somewhat by the numbers, the story line avoids going too deep into a melodramatic stalking plot by emphasizing the characters starting with Maggie's mental state and the flaws of the yuppie couple that jeopardizes their marriage. Fans of on the road and readers of psychological suspense (except travel agents) will appreciate Ms. Barr's skills of placing everyday people in extraordinary scenarios that test their mettle.

Harriet Klausner