BOOK REVIEW: Tigers in Red Weather, Liza Klaussmann

It takes a lot for me to have a strong reaction to a  novel, a lot.  That's not to say I don't adore them. I do, and I think there-in lies the problem: I expect far too much of them.  They promise such great tales and yet they end up leaving me hoping for so much more: waiting for a story I was hoping would be told but that never quite materialises from my expectations of it.

Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann was the opposite . I was attracted to the cover simply on the basis that it would be a bit of a trashy read that I could pick up intermittently over the holidays.  I knew as soon as I read the first chapter, however , that it wouldn't be.  There was an immediate elegance to it; the pages were filled with cocktails, jazz, beautiful people and money, and yet with it also an unnerving mennace.

The story - in essence the tale of two women, their families and the effect that war, desire, men and children had had on their lives - is set (mostly) on the north east coast of the US and follows their lives through post war America.  The heat of the summer acts as a sutlry, suffocating backdrop and as each one of the novel's four narrators tell their tale there is a sense of individuals heading towards some devastating climax.  It reminded me somehow of Gatsby: it resonates with some kind of damaged paradise of what was once possible and leaves you all too starkly aware of the anguish of reality.

If you re looking for a gripping read this debut-novel is a must.  Subtle, tense and a thrilling page turner.

Tigers in Red Weather* is available on Amazon.