Lit List Short Reviews: Deus Ex by Miles Watson; Echoes in the Dark by P.L. McMillan; Healthy Fashion: The Deeper Truth by Alyssa Couture

 Lit List Short Reviews: Deus Ex by Miles Watson; Echoes in the Dark by P.L. McMillan; Healthy Fashion: The Deeper Truth by Alyssa Couture

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Deus Ex by Miles Watson

Miles Watson, the current master of short fiction, is at it again. This time, he crafted a short story that reads like  a Greek Tragedy. It is about Magnus Antonius Magnus, a dictator that has conquered the world. Now he faces the inevitable rebellion and regime change as forces conspire against him.

Normally, I am a huge fan of expanding a work. In this case, letting us know how Magnus became a leader, what happened with the previous regime that he wanted toppled, and how Magnus became paranoiac against his competitors and former allies. There is enough of a potential backstory to make a three part novel series. 

It would be great but that's not what the story is about. It's not about Magnus' rise or what he did to become a dictator. It's about his fall. It's about the leader who realizes too late that they won but lost their soul. In fact, one doesn't have to read the entire story of Magnus' life to know what happened. We just have to read the biographies of real life dictators. They all had the exact same trajectories.

Speaking of dictators, it is nice that Magnus is based on the old Roman Imperial Leaders and not anyone specifically current or more like he is a composite of all of them. It's too easy to point at a leader from another country or political party or any following and say "This is him." It's much harder to say "In similar circumstances and mindset, that could be me." Anyone with even the best of intentions could later use them for selfish and malicious purposes and counter the ideals that they once held, becoming the thing that they despise. 

Then once that happens, they can see it all come crashing down around them.

Echoes in the Dark by P.L. McMillan

P.L. McMillan's Echoes in the Dark is a short 16 page horror anthology. It's like a nightmare. It gives you short scary fragments that you remember and those are usually the most memorable parts of the dream. You remember the scariest parts.

There are only four stories. They are:

 "Family Roots"-This is about that reclusive family that everyone in a small town spreads rumors about. Weird things happen like enemies ending up missing or dead, family members who might be a little too close to each other, and a history of suspicion and magic surrounding them.

In this case the family in question are the O'Mearas. In the 60's the mayor challenged them abd was later found dead of a heart attack. In the 80's five mem corners matriarch Molly O'Meara, a few days later all five fell in a two foot deep river and drowned.

 Mallory Shaw, the narrator, goes on a date with Mitch O'Meara. When her father protests their relationship by going on a shooting rampage, Mallory has to make an important decision over whose side she is on.

This a powerful story with a twist ending that shows that sometimes those who spread rumors can be just as monstrous as those they accuse. Sometimes family isn't always who you were born into,,it can be who you feel closest to.

"Unseen Cost" This is a very brief story about Kyle, a formerly visually impaired young man going through a surgery to give him sight. Throughout his life, his best friend ,Alex has been there to encourage him and now she is there during his surgery.

This story reveals the cost that comes with regaining ones senses. Sometimes they have to face the world the way everyone else does.  They may not like the world in which they are exposed to and are forced to accept as normal.

"Affirmations" -This story shows that affirmations and positive words have power of their own as sometimes they strengthen anembolden the person on the receiving end. But sometimes those ends are not always comforting.

Mary is unhappily married to Bob, an alcoholic. The chalkboard has messages like "You can do it," "Your life matters " and "Hello witch." Bob certainly did not do it as his abuse shows. He could care less about her feelings. Mary didn't do it. The words just…appear. But they are filled with strength and courage that help her stand up to Bob's cruelty.

Things become terrifying when she takes the words to a darker conclusion. It shows when someone is backed in the corner, they will do anything to get out.

"Warm"- The last story is a flash fiction, only a paragraph long about a man investigating a woman's grave

It's uncertain what is actually going on. But the setting description gives a creepy atmosphere. You just know something terrible happened or is about to happen.

Healthy Fashion The Deeper Truth by Alyssa Couture

Alyssa Couture 's Healthy Fashion: The Deeper Truth proves that if you are what you eat, then you are also what you wear. A person's clothing style can and should reflect their commitment to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. It is an interesting concept and shows that the paths to holistic wellness don't always begin and end with diet and exercise.

The first part of the book discusses how fashion should be beneficial to the body, mind, emotion, and spirit. Mostly she encourages wearing plant based fabrics and naturals materials such as cotton, hemp, linen and so on. Encouraging plant based manufacturing welcomes textile manufacturers from around the world and creates a greener industry that protects rather than pollutes the environment.

This type of fashion gives back to the Earth what is taken from it by encouraging biomimicking or adapting to nature. 

Mentally, universal fashion encourages diversity and understanding and erases racism, prejudice, class, and hierarchy in fashion. Couture suggests adapting and changing fashion trends to encourage more diversity and thought into clothing rather than just appealing to wealthy buyers who encourage conformity. More archetypes reflecting personality, and less stereotypes reflecting societal expectations, she writes. (For instance someone with an innocent outlook may want to wear bright cheerful colors or a Sage personality wearing thoughtful colors.)

"Fabrics are like crystals," Couture writes. Like crystals, fashion is a reflection of a person's emotions. (Of course is it emotions that reflect the clothes or the other way around is the question. When a person is depressed, do they want to wear bright yellow or red?) Since fashion can be a form of visual art with its attention to color,ntextile, and style, it stands to reason that fashion could be a form of art therapy. Some of this therapy includes wearing clothing that invokes good memories, personal connections, and comfort. 

Spiritual fashion is not religion, Couture says. Instead it is wearing clothing that exudes a positive energy. Synthetics for example could exude more negative energy because of their mass production, and their form of holding too tightly to the skin and not allowing air to come inside. The clothes that are more spiritual wear allow for breathability, and are less restrictive in movement and size. In some ways, they reflect the individual wearer and not force the wearer to conform to a specific size and body type to fit the clothes. One of the ways to be more spiritually centered is to wear galactic inspired fashion and accessories, such as celestial and prismatic prints or galactic codes that reflect sacred geometry. It helps the wearer connect to a more universal level that goes beyond Earth and into the universe or metaverse.

Understanding what fashions help the body, mind, emotion and spirit shows that clothes really do make the person. They might make them whole.

New Book Alert: The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis; Predictable, But Sweet and Romantic Novel About The Desire To Give Happy Endings

 

New Book Alert: The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis; Predictable, But Sweet and Romantic Novel About  The Desire To Give Happy Endings

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis is one of those types of novels with twists that you can see a mile away. The surprise revelations can be spotted in the next country with how predictable they are, especially if you have read a lot of these types of books that tell two stories: one historical and one modern. It won't be a big surprise that the two characters from different eras have a lot in common, or that the modern character learns a valuable lesson from the older character, or even (shocker), that the two stories of two complete strangers are actually connected. Despite or even because of its predictability, The Keeper of Happy Endings makes the Reader love the characters and want to see them get their happy endings after experiencing such hardship as war, abandonment, loss, abuse, and death.

The plot focuses on two women. The first protagonist is Aurora "Rory" Grant, a

young woman from the 1980's who is anxious about her fiance, Hux, a doctor who had been reported missing in South Sudan. The worry is intensified by the verbal abuse that she experiences from her mother, Camilla, a wealthy snobbish woman with extremely high standards that Rory feels that she can never achieve. Feeling lost and disenchanted, Rory decides to open a gallery and maybe display her own textile art. She has even spotted a lovely old building that would be perfect.

The building is owned by the second protagonist, Soline Roussel. In the present, Soline is an elderly recluse. As we learn about Rory's present, we also learn about Soline's past. She was one of a family of dressmakers, whose specialty lay in wedding gowns. The Roussels acquired quite a reputation as being almost magical with their talent. It was said that a bride who wore a Roussel wedding gown was destined to have a happy ending. 

However, the happy endings did not cover the Roussels themselves. Soline's mother had a  mysterious lover who disappeared before she realized that she was pregnant. Her grandmother was deserted by her husband after the birth of her second daughter. That daughter, Soline's aunt, became widowed when her husband died in a car accident during their honeymoon. The Roussel women put their pain and grief into their beautiful intricate designs earning the nicknames of "The Dress Witches." 

Soline also succumbs to the Roussel Family Curse of being unlucky in love. In 1943, shattered by her mother's death, her discovery of Edher father's identity, and the French Occupation by the Nazis, Soline falls in love with Anson Purcell, an American Red Cross medic. The romance begins sweetly enough but let's just say that things don't end well between them. 

The Keeper of Happy Endings is a lovely story which intertwines past and present like the threads that make a Roussel wedding gown. LIke with many of these stories, Rory and Soline's stories are paralleled. Both are talented artists with textiles and fabric. Both have missing lovers due to war. Both have to live up to their family's immense expectations. The difference between the two women is how they handle those similarities. 

Rory is a lot more passive than Soline. Though highly talented, Rory lacks self esteem to display her art. Hux gives her the suggestion to open the gallery and her friendship with Soline gives her the confidence to display her art. Until these influences, Rory never believed in her talent. 

However with Rory's mother, it is easy to see where Rory gets her insecurities from. Camilla micromanages Rory's entire schedule and commands that they meet for regular luncheons. The lunches usually consist of Camilla telling Rory everything that she feels that she is doing wrong, which from what I can tell, is everything that Rory is doing. She is constantly picking at Rory finding different ways to undermine her daughter's self esteem and unfortunately because Rory is still in close proximity to her mother, she is forced to listen. 

Anyone who has lived with a narcissistic verbally abusive parent will understand exactly what Rory is going through. That pain lasts into adulthood and many, like Rory, often accept it. Sometimes it takes an outside agent to break that cycle of abuse and dependency and lucky for Rory, Soline is that outside agent.

In contrast to Rory's passivity, Soline is much more active. While her family already established their reputation as makers of dressing gowns, Soline's addition of bows to the gowns makes the company her own. She becomes just as well known in her own right in New England as her family is in France.

During the war, she volunteers at a hospital and becomes an ally to the French Resistance showing that she can be resourceful in times of great stress. She also has the strength to leave France when her business dries up and the Nazis are on the lookout for Resistors.

Some of the best passages that show Soline's more active character is when she arrives in the United States and like Rory finds herself in a potentially abusive situation. She stands her ground against her abuser and befriends a family member, even making some lovely designs to get back into the business. When Soline finds herself in a troubling situation, rather than accept it like Rory, Soline stands up for herself and leaves. Slowly, she retains her reputation in the states as a prominent designer. Hearing this story gives Rory the confidence to act upon her own life and take charge of it. Like the gowns that her family designs in the hopes that the bride will have a happy ending, Soline almost acts like a fairy godmother by becoming the catalyst for Rory to get hers.

As I said, the plot twists and revelations are somewhat predictable but their placement in the book is well executed. Usually, the revelations are at the end where the characters are gob smacked and strengthened by this deeper bond. Sometimes there is an epilogue that serves as a "Where Are They Now?" Moment to show how the characters reflected and evolved because of the deeper connections.

In Keeper of Happy Endings, the revelations occur towards the middle so there is more to be done. There are still hurt feelings. Characters say that they aren't ready for such a confrontation and still spend several chapters estranged. These characters' worlds are rocked by such news and Davis realizes that one chapter is not going to change that.

What actually stands out is how this news affects Rory. Far from the passive wallflower that she was before, she is compelled to act and fix what went wrong in the past. This news, along with Soline's friendship, propel Rory to bring about not only her happy ending but everyone else's as well.

Yes  The Keeper of Happy Endings is predictable. But it is also sweet, romantic, and filled with lovable characters that you root for. Yes you do want to see, and are glad when they finally get, their happy ending.

New Book Alert: The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel by Jeanne Mackin; Fun, Juicy, Stylish Novel Explores The Rivalry Between Two Fashion Icons

New Book Alert: The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel by Jeanne Mackin; Fun, Juicy, Stylish Novel Explores The Rivalry Between Two Fashion Icons




By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews


Spoilers: The fashion world in the 1930’s was largely ruled by two women: Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel. The two were different in style, politics, private lives, and temperament. So naturally the two hated one another and fought both verbally and physically. However, Schiaparelli and Chanel were two stylish, grandiose, larger-than-life figures who dominated everyone they came near. When they were together, it was a guarantee that sparks would fly. Jeanne Mackin explores the rivalry between the two fashion mavens in her novel The Last Collection, which is a fun novel that is drenched in juicy gossip, catty bitchiness, and elegant style.

In some ways, The Last Collection reminds me of Feud: Bette and Joan, the miniseries which explored the rivalry between Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and how the two divas argued on the set of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and off the set. In both, the rivalry between two colorful figures are explored as we learn they are more alike than they realize. What was true for Crawford and Davis is also true of Schiaparelli and Chanel at least through Mackin's writing.

Schiaparelli and Chanel are explored as a study in contrasts in the novel. Schiaparelli, called Schiap by her friends, is a warm, charming, eccentric figure. Chanel is more regal, polished, and standoffish. Schiaparelli favors a more whimsical fashion style using bold colors, embellishments such as animal and musical notes on her clothing, and hats shaped like shoes. Chanel’s look is more formal and sedate with dark colored early-era power suits and elegant gowns. Schiaparelli had one bad marriage and dotes on her sometimes exasperated daughter, Gogo. Chanel has no husband or child but plenty of lovers. Schiaparelli is a liberal socialist who loses clients because she refuses to serve people with Nazi ties. Chanel is more conservative and doesn't mind cozying up to German officials sometimes horizontally.

Despite their apparent differences, the two designers are also similar in many respects. They are both flashy characters who walk into a room as though they own everything and everybody inside. They are both strong-willed women of immense creative talent and business sense. They also share the aesthetic ideal that fashion is more than just pretty clothes and accessories. They see fashion as being indicative of someone's personal style that tells the world who that person is. They are also hot-tempered cutthroats who will do just about anything to get the better of each other.


With their extreme egos, overbearing flashiness, and penchant for drama, the two fashion designers go through extreme lengths in their rivalry. Schiaparelli takes great delight in stealing a high priced client from Chanel. Chanel retaliates by greeting Schiaparelli at a formal event with an embrace. Oh yeah and Schiaparelli is in front of some candles and Chanel can't resist leaning her rival ever so slightly closer to them. Well you can guess what happens next. (Reportedly, this incident was true to life.)

They also take verbal swipes at each other particularly after Chanel starts seeing a man with Nazi ties and Schiaparelli accuses her of being a collaborator. When the Designer Duo are together, one has the urge to call a lion tamer or a boxing match referee to force the two back into their corners until the next round.


Chanel and Schiaparelli are two bombastic larger-than-life personalities that dominate the novel so much that they overpower the other characters. To Mackin's credit, she wrote some interesting characters that contrast with them. Lily Sutter, the narrator, is a mousy recent widow visiting her wayward brother, Charlie, in Paris and gets swept up into the duo's fashion world by working for Schiaparelli as a window display designer, companion for Gogo, and a spy between the two fashion houses. In the process, Lily befriends both designers finding tenderness and vulnerabilities behind their facades.


Lily and her friends are well-rounded characters. Charlie is particularly charming as is his mistress, the elegant and married Ania. Lily also has some sweet moments with Otto, a German musician-turned-driver who is the farthest thing from a Nazi. In working closely with Schiaparelli and Chanel and becoming involved with Charlie's love life as well as her own, Lily learns to let go of her grief towards her husband's death and move on. In another novel, these characters would stand out and be the most memorable aspects. However, Chanel and Schiaparelli leave such a bold presence that everything else without them seems like filler. Heck, Willy Wonka would have a hard time standing out among these two.

The Last Collection is a fun stylish tour de force inside the world of fashion in pre-WWII France. Like an elegant gown, it stands out and just asks to be admired.