From the Bascove illustration on its cover to its haunting last line, Valerie Martin's "Alexandra" will hold you in thrall like a witch's spell. Martin's plots are so devious she simply cannot be outguessed. All you can do is hang on for dear life as her story careers exhilaratingly through its endless thrilling surprises and shocking revelations. After reading this novel I was unable to read another book for nearly a week. Everytime I tried "Alexandra" kept intruding between me and the new story. I couldn't get it out of my head, and neither will you be able to. Valerie Martin's imagination ought to be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms as both a dangerous implement and an addictive substance. Do yourself a favor and get hooked.

Couldn't put it down -- Calling Valeria Martin "the female Faulkner" doesn't do her justice... a tour de force to be able to write a sexually charged novel from the male perspective... Gave me much insight into my own dark feelings of sexuality. No coincidence that her most famous work, "Mary Reilly", is based on "The Strange Tale of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde," by Robert Louis Stevenson. He wrote, "All men have thoughts which would shame Hell." Martin explores this familiar-but-taboo terrain, uniting us all in the humanity of our deepest desires. This book grows on you, and you will be haunted by it if you're at all fascinated by the mystical nature of sexuality!

Sexy, absorbing and insightful, Valerie Martin's novel The Great Divorce (following her acclaimed Mary Reilly), explores the struggle for power between men and women, nature and civilization, in three mesmerizing tales of very different women whose lives are unraveling.

Ellen Clayton, the vet at the New Orleans Zoo, tries to hold on after her faithless husband of 20 years leaves her for his young secretary. Camille, lonely and depressed, looks after the big cats at the zoo and fantasizes about relationships with sexually and emotionally abusive men.

Juxtaposed with the contemporary stories of Ellen and Camille is the gothic tale of Elisabeth Boyer, the Catwoman, a Creole beauty in antebellum New Orleans who was hanged for murdering her sadistic husband.

Martin fuses these stories of betrayal into a compelling narrative about human nature, passion and animal instinct, evoking the New Orleans of both centuries with equal clarity.

Imaginative and profound, The Great Divorce is a great read that tackles important issues without sentimentality. Despite the inherent sadness and futility that Ellen, Camille and Elisabeth confront, the novel offers a note of hope. 'I think,' Ellen tells her daughter when a young jaguar at the zoo survives an illness, 'this time we win.'

Why isn't Valerie Martin better known? Her work is absolutely dazzling. "The Great Divorce" manages to sustain a level of enjoyably creepy menace from first page to last. It weaves together the stories of three couples, all of whom end up parted in different ways. Each of these stories symbolizes the conflict between man and nature, and each gives us a preview of a different resolution to that conflict. We can part from nature amicably, we can kill it with our indifference to it, or we can be killed by its vengeance against us. This may sound heavy-handed in my telling of it, but it is far from heavy-handed in Martin's telling. The book is a work of gothic fiction, of horror fiction, of historical fiction, as well as a penetrating study of the way we live today. Martin evokes the steamy milieu of pre-Civil War New Orleans as beautifully and as convincingly as she evokes the Crescent City of today. Her language is sinuous and seductive. It has the sleek, sudden power of a jungle cat. And her storytelling skills are masterful. It is shameful that this beautiful book is already out of print. Do yourself a favor and find a used copy. You won't regret it.

This book is such an excellent biography of Ricky! I found out so much about him, like his somewhat troubled family life, and his group Menudo. It was the best Ricky book I have read so far and I highly recommend it!

This book was read in four days, I absolutely devoured it! I found it extremely moving at times and also quite terrifying at others. It is soberly written, unsentimental in its portrayal of human relationships and Mary is an unforgettable character in all her devotion, humility and pride. All that lacked, perhaps, was a deeper description of Mary`s relationship with Edward Hyde. In that aspect, the movie beats the novel.

This is a first of Mary Reilly's that I've read and if she has more, I definitely want to read it. This is the first "tour de force" novel that I've gotten my hands on and I'm very happy that it built its story around such a cannonical text: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Going along with what literary critics of intertextual texts opine, I did feel very "smart" knowing generally what the storyline was, even while being exposed to the fresh perspective of a marginalized character: Mary. The thematic use of verbal irony really made the novel interesting when she would refer to Hyde not knowing that he is part of Jekyll. I did feel that the book is a long read, even though it is a fairly clear and easy one. I would recommend this novel to those who enjoy Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because, just as the title suggests, it offers another looks at our infamous Jekyll and Hyde tale, and it does a VERY good job of it. If you're big on intertextual texts, this is a must-read. One cannot say that this is an "original" text, simply because it somewhat leaches off of the J&H tale, but what text it really "original" anyhow? I did like the book even if it was assigned reading. It was a pretty good pleasure read. I especially liked how the novel was "adjusted" for the comtemporary reader, with the supplementary storyline of Mary's relationship with her father as one who also consumes a "drink." The afterword (whoever wrote it) was a nice touch.

'Mary Reilly' is a truly well-written novel. It is always consistent with the original Robert Louis Stevenson novella, and yet it offers an exciting new twist to the old tale. Though it seems impossible for there to be mystery in a story which we have all heard countless times, the reader still finds himself on the edge of his seat, wondering what will happen next. Valerie Martin makes you feel as though you ARE Mary, as though you're witnessing the transformation of Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde firsthand. It is an incredible book, and a Must-Read for all Jekyll & Hyde fans.

'Property' relays the life experiences of Manon, the white wife of a Louisiana plantation owner during the time of slavery. Manon is disgusted by her husband but is hardly more sympathetic herself. The book expresses the hypocrisy and evils of slave ownership through Manon's petty distinctions between her vulgar, brutal husband, and her idealized view of her father. Ultimately, there are no hero's of this tale. Each character is uniquely flawed and human, and the beauty of this book is its realistic recreation of the time period without appealing to sentimentality or melodrama.

This is an excellent book, and a very easy read. Like any good depiction of the human grotesque, reading 'Property' feels like watching a car accident, you are disgusted and appalled, yet you can't look away.

If you're looking for a compelling, fast read that gives you a unique perspective of the complicated master-slave relationship, Property is the book for you. I devoured this book in a matter of hours, only to pass it to a friend who did the same. The narrator (and plantation mistress), Manon Gaudet, moves her story along quickly with details of her "terrible" life alongside a dreadful husband and the light-skinned slave, Sarah, he favors. Manon's pouty, snide narrative offers a rarely explored perspective of slavery and a reminder of just what a backwards time in history it was.

This is a beautifully written book; it is spare and elegant. I won't relate the story, as others here have already done so, but I will tell you that this book has stayed with me since I finished it. It is haunting and compelling.

I had to read this book for school and boy what a drag it was! This book is so focused on symbolism that it made me want to puke! If your like good literature stick to the classics.

I wonder this now that I have finished this book. Was this book formed from actual diaries of a poor housemaid secretly in love with her employer, or is this just a creative approach at writing? Don't be misled by the movie - the book is actually fascinating! Some scenes in the movie made absolutely no sense to me, so I had to check out the book. They are almost completely different. There are objects that make them bear resemblance with each other, but you will be very surprised at the difference. The movie was very exaggerated. Be prepared for some very boring chapters as well. For example: when Mary plants the herb garden. It goes on for pages and pages it seems! And her somewhat paranoid mind that actually makes you pause, feeling a little paranoid as well, and wonder "Was Dr. Jekyll's boot really there? Is it a senseless trick of Hyde's?" Umm...what does it matter??? Who on earth would move a shoe...just to be moving it??? Be patient, it gets better. Once it gets going, you can't put it down. You'll wish for more after you've finished. It ends so suddenly that it feels incomplete. A hard to find book, but worth the search. If you wouldn't mind a used copy, try http://www.half.com where I purchased mine. They always have it in stock.

I read this so long after it first came out that it was hard to get the image of Julia Roberts and John Malkovich from the film out of my head (two actors I loathe). But it is a great tribute to Valerie Martin's crisp writing that you soon forget it was ever a film, much less who starred in it, and are caught up in the quietly creepy spell she weaves as a housemaid in Victorian London slowly discovers the truth about her Master, Mr. Jekyll, and his strange, brutish assistant, Mr. Hyde. Martin wisely allows the story to unfold slowly, and she brilliantly ups the ante with the threat of impending violence and its ultimate tragic ending. Her portrait of Mary Reilly, an abused housemaid who finds solace and kinship in her strange master, is poignant, richly detailed, and gorgeously written. Forget the film, read this remarkable book and treat yourself to first-rate story telling and writing.

Valerie Martin's world is a strange one. I have read Italian Fever and Alexandra and I have wanted to read Love: Short Stories for a long time. In my opinion, this is Martin's best work.

The stories in this book are beautiful and disturbing at the same time. Each story has magical realism, which adds beauty and surrealism. Sea Lovers is my favorite story. The mermaid in Sea Lovers is definitely not like the one in the movie Splash. Also, you have to read it a few times in order to grasp its meaning. Valerie Martin is an incredible writer. I marvel at her ability to write such stories. This is a great piece of literature and I highly recommend it.

I was looking for a detailed map in the form of a book, with a complete street index. This book has maps on the fold-out covers, a scant 28 pages of text-only sightseeing guidebook material, and a street index. It's more guide than map.

Check out "The Paris Mapguide" by Middleditch for the best maps I've found. Get the Michelin Green Guide for Paris if you want guidebook material (where to stay, what to see) with detailed area maps. For France, look at Michelin or Lonely Planet guides.

Bon Voyage!

Lets Go Map Guides are very good. They are concise, lightweight, and an easy size to store in a coat pocket. You will probably need an additional more detailed map though. But their maps are useful and the Metro Map (subway system) is indispensable. The recommendations on places to stay or restaurants is hit or miss. I would use some other guide book for that.

As soon as I got this book, I took out the inner pages, and just used the cover. The Metro and city maps printed on it proved indispensible. The plastic coated cover made it last through jacket pockets, jean pockets and rush hour Metro human sardines. You *need* a good portable map, and I found this one to be the one for me!

In the introduction, the author tells the story of St. Francis in chronological order, and this is the part of the book that makes the most sense. Several reviewers have stated that this book is written in reverse chronological order, but it is not. Major sections of the book are in reverse order, but confusingly, the chapters within each major section are in chronological order. Adding to the confusion is that the first major section of the book is supposedly about the death of Francis, but it is actually only about his last days. His death does not occur until the next to last chapter of the book, and is followed in the final chapter by the earliest scene we are to see: when Francis encounters a leper in the road. If you think my review is confusing, just wait until you read the book. Is the author trying to say that the sequence of events is unimportant? In the case of Francis, who started off as the son of a wealthy merchant and ended up barefoot and penniless by choice, the sequence of events would seem to be all-important. Readers should know that the scenes from the life of Francis focus almost entirely on the physical: what he wore, where and how much he bled, how doctors branded him with hot irons, etc. Seldom if ever are we given any understanding of his inner life or spiritual motivations.

I was prepared to dislike this book, although for the life of me I can't quite remember why. Perhaps it's because I distrust fictional accounts of Christian saints, particularly when they're written by nonbelievers. But I was quite mistaken in this case. Martin's "biography" of St. Francis is a wonderfully beautiful series of sketches. She takes scenes from his life--those related by the two earliest biographies by Thomas of Celano, but also later accounts such as Bonaventure's--and imaginatively weaves them into a cinematic-like skein that offers glimpses of the man Francis. So the reviewer who carps about her chronological lapses really misses the point. Martin doesn't intend to offer a straightforward account of the saint's life so much as a string of meditations that take their starting point from specific events in his life. Along the way she offers prose that is breathtaking in its beauty. Here's an example, taken from Martin's description of Francis early encounter with a leper--the episode that he himself, in his Testament, describes as his "conversion." Francis has just kissed the leper's hand: "His ears are filled with the sound of wind, and he can feel the wind chilling his face, a cold, harsh wind blowing toward him from the future, blowing away everything that has come before this moment, which he has longed for and dreaded, as if he thought he might not live through it. He reaches up, clinging to the leper's tunic, for the wind is so strong, so cold, he fears he cannot stand against it. . . . The two men clutch each other, their faces pressed close together, their arms entwined. The sun beats down, the air is hot and still, yet they appear to be caught in a whirlwind. Their clothes whip about; their hair stands on end; they hold on to each other for dear life."

I just finished Salvation: Scenes from the Life of St. Francis and found it to be a provacative read. Martin is a captivating writer, who handles a potentially biased topic with journalistic objectivity. But still, she manages to relay the deep emotion that surrounded and continues to surround St. Francis and his life. What I appreciated most about Martin's writing was that it gave small pictures of St. Francis, some which showed clearly his holiness and devotion to Christ, others that made you wonder if he was a complete lunatic.

For those of us who have studied the life of Christ, we find an interesting parallel. CS Lewis once said that Christ was either the Savior of the world or a raging lunatic. Too often, people shy away from the uncomfortable when they approach such topics. Because of that, people miss out on the complexity of the people. Too many people think Christ floated 3 inches off the ground and acted like he was stoned most of the time. They don't talk about anger, despair, humor and the like. They often make the same mistakes regarding saints.

Martin shows here that St. Francis was a man who took a radical stand in his faith. Who knows...maybe he was holy AND insane!

Well...reviewers for Amazon seemed to love or hate this novel, for the most part. I feel rather indifferent about it. Truthfully, I would probably never have finished it if I had actual work to do at my job!

Lucy Stark is a writer's assistant whose employer, writing abroad, suddenly turns up dead. She is left the task of putting his affairs in order and looking for the rest of a manuscript he has been working on. What starts out as a possible murder mystery quickly devolves into simply a diary of an American's time spent in Italy, replete with art appreciation, affairs and lots of cappucino consumption.

This novel didn't seem to follow its initial intentions or promises, although when the end finally comes, everything is wrapped up to some satisfaction. Had the book simply been to detail an American's experience abroad and what she learned about herself along the way, I would have understood how to read it. As it is, it seems the author did a little of this, a little of that, but I cannot complain about the quality of the language and the flow of the writing. My main feeling is that this book did not AFFECT me, the way I feel a good novel should. I probably won't think about it again.

I have just completed "Italian Fever" by Valerie Martin and enjoyed it tremendously. Lucy Stark goes to Italy to tidy up the affairs of a minor writer who died in an accident. While there she meets some intriguing characters, has an affair, learns more about the kind of person she really is, and is memsmerized by the beauty of Italy and the art of its famous painters and sculptors. Her descriptions are portrayed in succinct yet beautiful prose which engrosses the reader's attention. I especially loved her reaction and description of Piero della Francesca's fresco, The Resurection, which she comments on to her Italian escort while on a business trip. This novel has romance, self-revelation, mystery, ghosts, and the flavor of Italy all rolled into one. I heartily recommend it to any reader of quality fiction.

Having read Love: Short Stories, I couldn't imagine better writing from Valerie Martin. Boy, was I wrong! Italian Fever is one of the best pieces of modern literature I have ever read! The novel is a mixture of romance, mystery and gothic magic realism.

In Italian Fever, Lucy Stark is the assistant of an untalented author. But after the author dies in an accident, Stark goes to Italy to sort out some of her former boss's problems. Having experienced culture, beauty and art in Italy, Stark finds it difficult not to be mesmerized with the place. She, however, gets more than what she bargains for.

What I love most about this novel is Martin's description of Rome. It felt as though I was there, experiencing the art and culture in the story. This is literature at its finest! I can't recommend this novel enough!