My first Henry James read, one of the greats. I have to say after reading The Wings of the Dove, James is obviously brilliant when it comes his grasp of the English language. I’ve never read a book that was both so hard to read, yet so rewarding for its substance. To say James is “wordy” is an understatement, with extremely long sentences that never quite become run-ons, paragraphs that go on for pages, and even his characters often repeat each other to lengthen it further (“You mean she did not wish to see you?” “Yes, she did not wish to see me.”). This novel demands your full attention, you cannot have the tv on in the background, or any distraction around you. Even so, I had to go back and re-read sections often, just because my mind would wander. But at no time did I feel frustrated or bored, James is just that good.

The novel follows a small group of characters in England. Kate Croy is a beautiful young woman, with unfortunately no family fortune to elevate her status, her dad having squandered their money on drugs. She is watched over by her Aunt Maud, who will only let her marry to further her station. However, Kate is secretly in love with Merton Densher, a poor writer, and so far has been rebuffing Aunt Maud’s pick for her, Lord Mark.

Densher goes away to the USA on a writing assignment, and there meets a lovely, young, very wealthy woman named Milly Theale, and her traveling partner Susan Stringham. Susan and Maud are old friends, and when they come to England, the whole group meets up. Here we learn that Milly is ill, in fact dying from some unknown illness, but she doesn’t let on. Somehow Kate suspects it though, and tells Densher to get close to Milly, to woo her even. Lord Mark tries to propose to Milly, but by then she has all ready started to fall for Densher and declines. The group travels on to Venice as a vacation, mostly because Milly wants to experience all of life before her death.

As Milly’s condition worsens, the others start to realize something is up. Kate and Maud return back to England, but before leaving, Kate tells Densher her whole plan. She wants Densher to marry Milly, who would then leave him her fortune upon her death. Densher is shocked, but agrees to go along with the plan despite his misgivings. It goes awry though when Lord Mark comes to visit Milly, and tells her that Kate and Densher have been secretly engaged this whole time. She is heartbroken, meeting Densher once more before he sets back off to England. She dies while he is en voyage.

When he gets back, he confronts Kate. He has received a letter from Milly, written on her deathbed and as yet unread by him, and he wants to know if Kate told Lord Mark of their engagement, as no one else had known. He asks her to confirm or deny, which she refuses, and instead tosses the letter into the fire before he can read it. Densher tells Kate that Milly has still left him a lot of money, but that he cannot accept it because of what he has done. He tells Kate that he will still marry her, if she too refuses the money, however, if she chooses, she can take the money and Densher will leave her. The ending is somewhat cryptic, but Kate does say something along the lines of their lives not turning out as planned, hinting that she will take the money and leave Densher. (Of course, it could also mean that she will marry him and be poor. The joys of interpretation!)

As I said, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, even with it being one of the more challenging books to get through. I’ve quit books that weren’t this hard to read, but James keeps your attention through it all. If you can stick with it, it is a rewarding experience.

Another good one! Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is an extremely well-written novel. Part psychological thriller, part murder mystery, du Maurier’s style captivates the reader with detailed descriptions and fully developed characters, and holds your attention to the last page. This film was later made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock (who also did du Maurier’s short story “The Birds”.)

The novel is told in the first person by a young lady, who we never hear her given name. She is from a poor background and is in the employ of a rich American socialite (or at least, wannabe socialite) when they are visiting Monte Carlo. She is very young, very shy, and very sheltered. In Monte Carlo she meets Maxim de Winter, a wealthy Englishman recently widowed by his wife Rebecca, who drowned at their estate. She quickly falls for his dashing looks and straight-forward nature, and when the American is ready to leave, Maxim asks the young girl to marry him and come with him instead.

After their honeymoon around Europe, they return to his family home, Manderley, on the coast of England. There the new Mrs de Winter realizes how popular Rebecca was. The staff still does things the way Rebecca wanted, and see the new bride as an interloper, at least to her eyes. Manderley was completed renovated by Rebecca during her time there, and there is evidence of her everywhere. Mrs de Winter realizes Maxim misses Rebecca too, especially when the two visit Rebecca’s favorite little cove where she would stay in a cottage and sail off the beach (where she was drowned). The staff, in particular the sharp-tongued Mrs Danvers, does not make life easy for Mrs de Winter. Maxim grows distant over time, adding fuel to his wife’s nervous nature.

It all comes to a head when Mrs Danvers suggests a costume ball, the kind that Rebecca used to throw. All of the county is excited, as Rebecca always threw the best parties. With Mrs Danvers help, Mrs de Winter decides to dress up as a distant relative of Maxim’s, whose portrait hangs in the hall. When she reveals herself, the family is aghast and Maxim is furious. Turns out that was Rebecca’s costume at her last ball, of which Mrs Danvers was obviously well aware. Mrs de Winter returns to her room in tears, fearful that Maxim will now leave her for good. She changes and comes down to the ball, but Maxim never speaks to her and she spends the night alone.

The next day, Mrs de Winter awakes dreading what will happen, but is interrupted with news that a boat has hit rocks in the cove and they are rescuing the crew. When a diver goes down to see what caused the grounding, they discover Rebecca’s boat, and not only that, but a body inside the cabin still. People wonder who the body could be (Maxim had identified a woman’s body as Rebecca when it was found months after her death, washed up on another shore), but Maxim takes his wife aside and admits that the body found now will be that of Rebecca’s. We find now that Rebecca is not who everyone thought she was. She was cold and uncaring, nice to people’s faces but demeaning behind their backs. She was running around on her husband, and only Maxim knew of her true nature. One night he went to her cottage to confront her, and when she said she was pregnant by another man, he shot and killed her, stuffing her body in the cabin of her boat and sinking it.

An inquest is held, where the jury decides that Rebecca’s death was suicide. Her cousin Jack refuses to believe this, and pulls the magistrate up to present evidence that Rebecca was going to leave Maxim for him, as proof that Rebecca was murdered to hide her secret lifestyle. They hunt down the doctor she saw the day she died, where everyone learns that she was not pregnant, but instead had cancer and would have died painfully within months. The police now agree with the suicide determination, while Maxim believes she only lied about the pregnancy to get him to kill her and end her pain, getting one last hand above him in the end. On the way home from London that night, Maxim and his wife see that the beloved Manderley mansion is burning.

I really enjoyed this book from cover to cover. The several big reveals (Rebecca’s costume at the ball, Maxim’s murder of her) had me gasping out loud. Du Maurier’s narrative style truly paints the picture of Mrs de Winter’s thoughts, fears, and aspirations, and also the changes in her way of thinking from young girl that knows nothing, to stong woman standing by her husband in the end. A page-turner I just didn’t want to put down!

X-Men Apocalypse is the newest Fox-distributed Marvel movie. After the the last “reboot” of Days of Future Past, the X-Men team have to band together again to face off against a new world-destroying mutant.

Apocalypse is a very old, very powerful mutant. His powers are that he can enhance other mutant’s powers, and also transfer his conciousness to new bodies. If he transfers to a mutant’s body, he absorbs their powers as well. He last reigned as a god in ancient Egypt, with four followers (the four horsemen of Apocalypse, yes a bit of cheese there), but was defeated and has been in hibernation since. Brought back now, he is set to find new followers and reshape the world.

This film is full of action and has some good moments, but is also a bit hokey at times, to the point you almost have to wonder if the writers were purposefly corny or if they just want the viewer to take everything they are shoveling with a straight face. After Days of Future Past (which I thought was great), this one is a bit of a letdown, and it just doesn’t reach the heights that Disney’s Marvel movies are so consistently hitting. And the (*SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT*) obligatory Wolverine cameos, when he isn’t a character in the movie, are starting to get old. I don’t see Iron Man showing up in every Disney Marvel film…  Worth a viewing for die-hards and even casuals, but no lasting brilliance unfortunately.