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43rd out of 64 books
—
7 voters
Tigers in Red Weather
Summer seemed to arrive at that moment, with its mysterious mixture of salt, cold flesh and fuel.
Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing sultry summer heat, sunbleached boat docks, and midnight gin parties on Martha's Vineyard in a glorious old family estate known as Tiger House. In the days following the end of the Second World War, the world seems to offer its...more
Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing sultry summer heat, sunbleached boat docks, and midnight gin parties on Martha's Vineyard in a glorious old family estate known as Tiger House. In the days following the end of the Second World War, the world seems to offer its...more
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
July 17th 2012
by Bond Street Books
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I really wanted to like this book. The book jacket compares its contents to the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Patricia Highsmith, two writers whom I adore (and a mash-up made in heaven). I also live in Cambridge and pass many of the same streets as the book's protagonists.
However, I found most of the plot tedious and boring. The first four parts of the novel (told by Nick, Daisy, Helena, and Hughes) are mostly one-dimesional character sketches with flat dialogue and banal prose (Really, h...more
However, I found most of the plot tedious and boring. The first four parts of the novel (told by Nick, Daisy, Helena, and Hughes) are mostly one-dimesional character sketches with flat dialogue and banal prose (Really, h...more
Wow...what a debut! Somehow this book manages to exist as both beach-read and book-club material. The plot is riveting, which makes the book hard to put down, but it is the superb character portraits that kept me reading long into the night. The narrative technique used is very effective, and the author succeeds in creating multi-dimensional and fascinating characters whose inner lives are revealed in tiny bits until the picture is complete. Each of the five sections is narrated by a different c...more
Tigers in Red Weather is a great beach read - intriguing, fast paced, dramatic. I liked that each section was narrated by a different character over the 20 or so years that the story took place so they filled in missing information from the other characters' narratives. The novel started off strong and ended strong but there was a lag in the middle (specifically in Hughes section). I also felt like I wish some of the characters had been developed more (Avery) or less attention had been devoted t...more
My Bookgeeks review of Tigers in Red Weather can be found here:
http://www.nudgemenow.com/article/tig...
http://www.nudgemenow.com/article/tig...
This story, which jumps around time periods ranging from 1945 to 1969, follows Nick and her cousin Helena, their husbands, children Daisy and Ed, and a variety of other Martha's Vineyard residents. It has everything: murder, secrets, betrayal, regret, longing and lust. It is a great summer read about hot summer nights, gin drunk from jelly jars, and sneaking around in the shadows. This debut novel by Herman Melville's great great great granddaughter is told from 5 different perspectives. The sto...more
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I am not actually sure how to rate this book because I am not sure I would recommend it to anyone. It is the story of two cousins Nick and Helena, their husbands and the children Daisy and Ed. It starts of in 1945, right after the war, when Nick's husband returns and Helena goes off to marry Avery. It quickly becomes apparent that their marriages aren't what they thought they would be.
All the characters are greatly flawed, Helena and her husband have money problems and she is a pill popping alc...more
All the characters are greatly flawed, Helena and her husband have money problems and she is a pill popping alc...more
Book Description: Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing sultry summer heat, sunbleached boat docks, and midnight gin parties on Martha's Vineyard in a glorious old family estate known as Tiger House. In the days following the end of the Second World War, the world seems to offer itself up, and the two women are on the cusp of their 'real lives': Helena is off to Hollywood and a new marriage, while Nick is heading for a reunion with her own young husband, Hughes, about to return from...more
Featured in lots of reading lists recently, the title of this book won me over, although the blurb about a family and their Tiger House, a glorious old family estate on the island of Martha’s Vineyard didn’t seem particularly striking.
The Tigers are clearly very comfortably off; cousins Nick and Helena are both attractive and choose to marry men who they find very appealing. On the surface then, it is difficult to empathise with their wild struggles against their partners, lifestyle and each oth...more
The Tigers are clearly very comfortably off; cousins Nick and Helena are both attractive and choose to marry men who they find very appealing. On the surface then, it is difficult to empathise with their wild struggles against their partners, lifestyle and each oth...more
2.5 stars. This was a different one and I have a lot of different feelings about it.
This intriguing story starts at the end of WWII and is written in 5 sections each of which re-canvas the same rough 20 years from 5 different perspectives. Each segment reveals more about what's really going on for these people living privileged lives in Martha's Vineyard.
The writing is sultry and sensual and overall really well done. There's two times when the style shifts and feels awkward and that's with the t...more
This intriguing story starts at the end of WWII and is written in 5 sections each of which re-canvas the same rough 20 years from 5 different perspectives. Each segment reveals more about what's really going on for these people living privileged lives in Martha's Vineyard.
The writing is sultry and sensual and overall really well done. There's two times when the style shifts and feels awkward and that's with the t...more
Narrated consecutively by five different characters: the beautiful forceful Nick, her daughter Daisy, downtrodden cousin Helena, handsome husband Nick and Helena's trouble son Ed, Klaussman effortlessly evokes the life of the glamorous top echelon of East Coast American society. Tiger House is the island holiday home of Nick and her ancestors. Their yacht bobs at the end of the dock, days are spent playing tennis, nights at the club drinking martinis. We move back and forth through time as event...more
There is a part of you that, when reading Klaussmann’s upcoming novel, wants to believe that this is just another book about the lifestyles of the New England summer home set. And why not? Those old money families that work in the city but escape to their homes on the coast to rub shoulders with “their kind” have been portrayed in countless books that chronicle their playboy lifestyles. The momentary and literary escape from our own reality is refreshing.
But all throughout Tigers in Red Weather,...more
But all throughout Tigers in Red Weather,...more
This book created a buzz when it was first released in the UK and on the basis of the reviews I decided to read it. Set near Chappaquidick in Mass. in the USA it follows the fortunes of Nick and Helena, two cousins whose family built Tiger House, the summer residence near the beach. The reader sees the two first just at the close of WWII, each of them waiting for their husbands, about to embark on new lifes; Helena out to Hollywood and Nick to her husband down in Florida where he's just been dem...more
I am not actually sure how to rate this book because I am not sure I would recommend it to anyone. It is the story of two cousins Nick and Helena, their husbands and the children Daisy and Ed. It starts of in 1945, right after the war, when Nick's husband returns and Helena goes off to marry Avery. It quickly becomes apparent that their marriages aren't what they thought they would be. The women take their kids to their family house on Martha's Vineyard in the summers to recapture the happiness...more
I adored this novel, which I finished just this morning. Set just after World War II and ending in the late sixties, Tigers in Red Weather tells the tale of two marriages, the children from those marriages and the inescapable and often smothering bond of family.
The alluring, provocative Nick has always been stronger and brasher than her more wallflower cousin, Helena. Nick marries her soldier love and expects her life to be perfect, but once he comes back from the war, their relationship has ch...more
The alluring, provocative Nick has always been stronger and brasher than her more wallflower cousin, Helena. Nick marries her soldier love and expects her life to be perfect, but once he comes back from the war, their relationship has ch...more
Although this is classified as a mystery, in many ways it is really much more. This first novel by Liza Klaussmann is much more than a beach read despite the cover. The book takes place from the optimistic end of WWII in 1946 to 1964 when things have not gone so well. The book opens with two well off young women, Nick and Helena, lazing about in their slips on a warm summer day talking about their new lives. The war is finally over, Nick will be joining her husband, Hughes as he finishes up his...more
Silly me, I scanned the reviews of this book and came away with the impression it would be a light beach read about a pair of cousins after World War II, their children, a little bit historical fiction and family drama and intergenerational perspective, something similar to J. Courtney Sullivan's Maine.
I was wrong.
Nick and Helena are two cousins, close in age, who go their separate ways after World War II comes to a close. Nick to be reunited with her husband Hughes, who is distant after his re...more
I was wrong.
Nick and Helena are two cousins, close in age, who go their separate ways after World War II comes to a close. Nick to be reunited with her husband Hughes, who is distant after his re...more
This was an interesting one. The book follows two cousins from the end of WWII through the 1960's and is told in multiple chapters-long chunks from the vantage point of each of the cousins, one of their husbands and their children. While it was a bit slow to start for me, I became more engaged the further I got into the story (and the further the story got away from the 1940's). One of the strengths of the book is the author's choice to tell the story from the different viewpoints of the charact...more
The press release says
...more
Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing sultry summer heat, sunbleached boat docks, and midnight gin parties on Martha's Vineyard in a glorious old family estate known as Tiger House. In the days following the end of the Second World War, the world seems to offer itself up, and the two women are on the cusp of their 'real lives': Helena is off to Hollywood and a new marriage, while Nick is heading for a reunion with her own young husband, Hughes, about to return
Aug 15, 2012
Susan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
historical-fiction
I purchased the hardcover of this book based on a friend's glowing review, thinking I'd pass it along to my mom after I read it. I'm so glad I didn't wait for the paperback or read the e-book because I know this book will get lots of mileage among my mom's friends after she reads it. It's just the kind of book you want to pass around and discuss after reading! It would be a great book club read (if only I had a book club...)
This is a story of family dynamics and relationships spanning a couple...more
This is a story of family dynamics and relationships spanning a couple...more
Aug 06, 2012
Michelle Cristiani
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
straight-up-novels
Maybe I spend too much time here on goodreads, but as I read a book I imagine how I will rate it, and what my review will sound like. My rating of this story - about a family on Martha's Vineyard and the secrets they disclose over a few decades - ranged from 1-4 stars at any given time, and I settled on 2 just because goodreads calls that 'it was ok,' and that's pretty much how I feel about it. It kept me guessing (plus) but left me with a lot of question marks upon finishing (minus).
There aren'...more
There aren'...more
http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...
Nick Derringer and her cousin Helena grew up spending their summers at their family beach house in Martha's Vineyard, dubbed Tiger House. During the Second World War, the pair toughed it out together, using ration books to buy food and painting lines onto the backs of each other's legs when they couldn't get nylons. When the war ended Nick resumed her married life as her husband Hughes returned from war. Her normal, boring, married life. Nick was convinced...more
Nick Derringer and her cousin Helena grew up spending their summers at their family beach house in Martha's Vineyard, dubbed Tiger House. During the Second World War, the pair toughed it out together, using ration books to buy food and painting lines onto the backs of each other's legs when they couldn't get nylons. When the war ended Nick resumed her married life as her husband Hughes returned from war. Her normal, boring, married life. Nick was convinced...more
Like Wish You Were Here by Stewart O'Nan, which I posted about earlier this month (see post), Tigers in Red Weather concerns itself with an extended family and their interpersonal relationships using time spent together at a summer cottage (this time on Martha's Vineyard) as a catalyst. The novel is also told variously from the perspectives of the individual family members, but Tigers in Red Weather has a series of first-person narrators rather than one third person omniscient.
While Wish You We...more
While Wish You We...more
The title of this book did not give me much of an indication of what would be between the covers. I was very pleasantly surprised to find an author who is able to portray her characters with such realism and unpredictability. The story line jumps back and forth in time, from 1959 to the late 60's, but that flows pretty well. Nick (female) seems to be the main character, but this novel is told from five different points of view. Somehow, to me, she seemed to be the strongest one. They all were ve...more
I picked this book up partly because of the good reviews but also out of a petty desire to see if the author had gotten her location details right (I live on the Vineyard). I soon realized that the book was so intimately about the family that very little of the world around it mattered much, and that with one trivial exception (she wrote "Vineyard Haven lighthouse" instead of "West Chop light") the smattering of local details were correct. I couldn't really judge the feeling of the society becau...more
In 1986, long before the existence of Ipods and MP3s, the cassette was king. In Liza Klaussmann's latest mind-bender we're transported back to this time and indoctrinated into the adamant cult of the tape trader. This popular music sharing method was the primary vehicle for listeners to gain access to up and coming acts in a world pre-dating the internet. Klaussmann's protagonist Roman Pridgen, is a man with his finger on the very pulse of this craze, often taking pride in being amongst the firs...more
Looking to read something completely different? Try Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann. This novel is sure to surprise and in never quite what the reader expects it to be. The novel opens by introducing readers to cousins Nick and Helena when they are young twenty-something brides at the end of World War II. Nick, not exactly beautiful but with a lust for life and excitement is set to travel to Florida to meet her husband Hughes, who has been serving in the Navy. Helena, more beautiful but...more
Jul 15, 2012
Jackie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
work-review-related-reading
This is a tale of a family, a Martha's Vineyard society kind of family, starting with the end of WWII and moving on through the late 60s. The first third of the book is dominated by Nick, a controlling young woman who has married who she was supposed to marry, and hasn't had a happy day since. She does what she must while yearning for other things (and other men), and produces the required child, Daisy. Then a murder in the the community shakes things up, for everyone.
Next we hear from Helena, N...more
Next we hear from Helena, N...more
Aug 17, 2012
Heidi
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2012,
courtesy-of-publisher
I found it quite difficult to rate this book, as my opinion of it changed continuously throughout the course of reading it. Told from the viewpoint of five different characters, and switching back and forth in time from 1945 to 1969, this novel explores the intricacies of human relationships and their consequences.
The story opens with a narrative told in the third person from the viewpoint of Nick, a strong independent young woman who is looking forward to her husband Hughes returning to her fro...more
The story opens with a narrative told in the third person from the viewpoint of Nick, a strong independent young woman who is looking forward to her husband Hughes returning to her fro...more
It's a good and fast read, one step above a beach read. I have a couple comments.
The first half of the book I was sure this was going to end up being a 4 star but somehow, Klaussman decided to decelerate the plot halfway through. The first 3 characters' chapters were very much building momentum and it really propelled me forward but then on the 4th chapter I found myself losing interest... I really think she should have done the order differently, to create that sense of build up that I enjoyed...more
The first half of the book I was sure this was going to end up being a 4 star but somehow, Klaussman decided to decelerate the plot halfway through. The first 3 characters' chapters were very much building momentum and it really propelled me forward but then on the 4th chapter I found myself losing interest... I really think she should have done the order differently, to create that sense of build up that I enjoyed...more
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Liza Klaussmann worked as a journalist for the New York Times for over a decade. She received a BA in Creative Writing from Barnard College, where she was awarded the Howard M. Teichman Prize for Prose. She lived in Paris for ten years and she recently completed with distinction an MA in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, in London, where she lives. She is the great-great-great granddaughter of H...more
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“I could get drunk just smelling you,' he whispered in her ear. 'You always smell like home.”
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