What do you think?
Rate this book
The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster
The physics-bending charm of The Time Traveler's Wife meets the curious mischief of The Eyre Affair in this debut novel
Annabelle Aster doesn't bow to convention—not even that of space and time—which makes the 1890s Kansas wheat field that has appeared in her modern-day San Francisco garden easy to accept. Even more exciting is Elsbeth, the truculent schoolmarm who sends Annie letters through the mysterious brass mailbox perched on the picket fence that now divides their two worlds. In this unconventional and enchanting tale, Annie and her new neighbor must solve the mystery of what connects them before one of them is convicted of a murder that has yet to happen…and somehow already did.
Annabelle Aster doesn't bow to convention—not even that of space and time—which makes the 1890s Kansas wheat field that has appeared in her modern-day San Francisco garden easy to accept. Even more exciting is Elsbeth, the truculent schoolmarm who sends Annie letters through the mysterious brass mailbox perched on the picket fence that now divides their two worlds. In this unconventional and enchanting tale, Annie and her new neighbor must solve the mystery of what connects them before one of them is convicted of a murder that has yet to happen…and somehow already did.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 4, 2015
389 people are currently reading
4086 people want to read
About the author
Scott Wilbanks
1 book108 followersThey say, “Write what you know.” Who ‘they’ may be still remains a mystery, but I took the advice to heart when I wrote a book about five misfits who found themselves walking a path I trod daily, seeking understanding in an indifferent world, but more on that later.
With my life constantly pushed and pulled by a pair of opposing bugaboos—ADD and drive—I surprised myself by graduating summa cum laude from The University of Oklahoma while also garnering a handful of titles in the sport of gymnastics.
Life-changing accidents, lost loves, and an unremarkable career path followed, that is until a lawsuit and Mike changed everything. The lawsuit motivated me to step away from my career. Mike added the extra push, convincing me to take a leap of faith, and move to the country of his birth, New Zealand, while also encouraging me to “see where this writing will take me.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 583 reviews
February 22, 2016
Well, I do love my own book! :)
November 6, 2015
Full review, first posted on www.fantasyliterature.com:
In May 1895, Elsbeth Grundy, a crotchety widow living in a cabin on the Kansas plains, sees a purple and gold-painted Victorian home that has unexpectedly appeared in her wheat fields. Elsbeth determinedly stalks over to the home to demand an explanation of this irksome addition to her back forty, but every time she goes to knock on the door, she’s immediately displaced back to the gate around the home. Incensed, she leaves a letter in the mailbox, threatening to use her shotgun to deal with this unwanted trespass.
In May 1995, Annabelle Aster, a young woman in her late twenties who loves Jane Austen and dresses in Victorian-style clothing, takes a break from cleaning her beloved San Francisco Victorian home. She steps into her back yard and is completely bewildered by the sight of a cabin and a large field of wheat, neither of which, as far as she is aware, have any business being in downtown San Francisco. Like Elsbeth, Annie is knocked on her rear several yards away when she tries to knock on the cabin door. She glances in the mailbox, finds Elsbeth’s grouchy letter dated 1895, and cheerfully responds, delighted with the mystery of their unexpected connection across time and space. A red door in Annie’s home, marked with mysterious symbols, and originally owned by David Abbott, a magician who lived in Kansas City in the late 1800s, seems to be the fulcrum of the time warp between Annie and Elsbeth.
As Annie and Elsbeth develop their unusual pen pal relationship, Annie’s best friend Christian deals with the loss of much of his memory due to an accident in his past, and with his concern for Annie’s health, based on her paleness, her frequent nosebleeds, and his discovery of her correspondence with the California Pacific Medical Center. Christian is also dealing with his own issues, including hallucinations, a stutter and painful social awkwardness. Meanwhile, Cap’n, a gifted pickpocket in 1895 Kansas City who leads the local sandlot gang, sees a murder and realizes that she will be the next target of the menacing Mr. Culler and his hatchet man, Danyer.
These various threads start to come together as Annie reads some news clippings in the original store file about the red door, and realizes that the magician, David Abbott, will be murdered in three days’ time for Elsbeth. Annie entreats Elsbeth to go to Kansas City and save Abbott, but as things start to go terribly wrong, Annie realizes that she needs to find a way to travel to the past and try to set things right. Past starts to connect to present, and the characters find that when they act to try to change events based on their knowledge of the future, their actions are already part of the immutable past, a development that’s reminiscent of Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler's Wife.
Scott Wilbanks has created some very appealing characters in this time travel fantasy. All of the main characters ― Annie, Elsbeth, Christian, Cap’n and others ― are quirky misfits in one way or another, but they are sympathetically drawn (with the notable exception of Mr. Culler and his henchman Danyers, about whose characters the less said, the better). It’s heartwarming as these lonely people begin to fill the holes in each other’s lives.
The main problem with The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is that there are too many elements that compete for attention and too many ingredients to this stew. A magical door that opens to different time periods and places is all well and good. But then adding visions of magic-wielding Cherokees, hallucinations of angels, a serial killer, a potentially fatal illness, issues related to homosexuality (including bullying, family mistreatment, and a resulting stutter and debilitating shyness), a whirlwind romance, addiction, and extreme psychosis, and the plot started to fray and lack coherence, particularly with some internal inconsistencies that weren’t satisfactorily explained.
These various plot elements do, for the most part, ultimately tie together in some way. On one level this helped to connect the plot, but at the same time the connections ― including multiple characters discovering pre-existing relationships to each other throughout the entire novel ― often strain believability. Along with too many diverse pieces to the plot, there were simply too many coincidences. Annie suggests that there is some agency looking over them and helping them to find each other; the magician David Abbott suspects that the red door is inhabited by an intelligence that guides the characters’ fates. But for me, ultimately the center couldn’t hold and things kind of fell apart, although it was still a reasonably enjoyable read with charming characters and an intriguing time travel plot.
Scott Wilbanks’ writing style is engaging, with some nice touches of humor. The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is his debut novel, and he shows good potential as an author; I think he just tried to include too much in what is essentially a light fantasy novel. Focusing on fewer elements, and exploring them more deeply, would have resulted in a better novel. Despite its flaws, I would still recommend this fanciful novel to fans of light time travel fantasies with elements of romance.
Free ebook provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a review. Thank you!
In May 1895, Elsbeth Grundy, a crotchety widow living in a cabin on the Kansas plains, sees a purple and gold-painted Victorian home that has unexpectedly appeared in her wheat fields. Elsbeth determinedly stalks over to the home to demand an explanation of this irksome addition to her back forty, but every time she goes to knock on the door, she’s immediately displaced back to the gate around the home. Incensed, she leaves a letter in the mailbox, threatening to use her shotgun to deal with this unwanted trespass.
In May 1995, Annabelle Aster, a young woman in her late twenties who loves Jane Austen and dresses in Victorian-style clothing, takes a break from cleaning her beloved San Francisco Victorian home. She steps into her back yard and is completely bewildered by the sight of a cabin and a large field of wheat, neither of which, as far as she is aware, have any business being in downtown San Francisco. Like Elsbeth, Annie is knocked on her rear several yards away when she tries to knock on the cabin door. She glances in the mailbox, finds Elsbeth’s grouchy letter dated 1895, and cheerfully responds, delighted with the mystery of their unexpected connection across time and space. A red door in Annie’s home, marked with mysterious symbols, and originally owned by David Abbott, a magician who lived in Kansas City in the late 1800s, seems to be the fulcrum of the time warp between Annie and Elsbeth.
As Annie and Elsbeth develop their unusual pen pal relationship, Annie’s best friend Christian deals with the loss of much of his memory due to an accident in his past, and with his concern for Annie’s health, based on her paleness, her frequent nosebleeds, and his discovery of her correspondence with the California Pacific Medical Center. Christian is also dealing with his own issues, including hallucinations, a stutter and painful social awkwardness. Meanwhile, Cap’n, a gifted pickpocket in 1895 Kansas City who leads the local sandlot gang, sees a murder and realizes that she will be the next target of the menacing Mr. Culler and his hatchet man, Danyer.
These various threads start to come together as Annie reads some news clippings in the original store file about the red door, and realizes that the magician, David Abbott, will be murdered in three days’ time for Elsbeth. Annie entreats Elsbeth to go to Kansas City and save Abbott, but as things start to go terribly wrong, Annie realizes that she needs to find a way to travel to the past and try to set things right. Past starts to connect to present, and the characters find that when they act to try to change events based on their knowledge of the future, their actions are already part of the immutable past, a development that’s reminiscent of Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler's Wife.
Scott Wilbanks has created some very appealing characters in this time travel fantasy. All of the main characters ― Annie, Elsbeth, Christian, Cap’n and others ― are quirky misfits in one way or another, but they are sympathetically drawn (with the notable exception of Mr. Culler and his henchman Danyers, about whose characters the less said, the better). It’s heartwarming as these lonely people begin to fill the holes in each other’s lives.
The main problem with The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is that there are too many elements that compete for attention and too many ingredients to this stew. A magical door that opens to different time periods and places is all well and good. But then adding visions of magic-wielding Cherokees, hallucinations of angels, a serial killer, a potentially fatal illness, issues related to homosexuality (including bullying, family mistreatment, and a resulting stutter and debilitating shyness), a whirlwind romance, addiction, and extreme psychosis, and the plot started to fray and lack coherence, particularly with some internal inconsistencies that weren’t satisfactorily explained.
These various plot elements do, for the most part, ultimately tie together in some way. On one level this helped to connect the plot, but at the same time the connections ― including multiple characters discovering pre-existing relationships to each other throughout the entire novel ― often strain believability. Along with too many diverse pieces to the plot, there were simply too many coincidences. Annie suggests that there is some agency looking over them and helping them to find each other; the magician David Abbott suspects that the red door is inhabited by an intelligence that guides the characters’ fates. But for me, ultimately the center couldn’t hold and things kind of fell apart, although it was still a reasonably enjoyable read with charming characters and an intriguing time travel plot.
Scott Wilbanks’ writing style is engaging, with some nice touches of humor. The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is his debut novel, and he shows good potential as an author; I think he just tried to include too much in what is essentially a light fantasy novel. Focusing on fewer elements, and exploring them more deeply, would have resulted in a better novel. Despite its flaws, I would still recommend this fanciful novel to fans of light time travel fantasies with elements of romance.
Free ebook provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a review. Thank you!
August 21, 2015
3.5 This is a romp, a fast paced mad-cap adventure story with some utterly enjoyable characters. I kept asking myself how I would feel if I woke up one morning and looked out my bedroom window and instead of my garden and flowers I saw a cornfield. Would probably think my medication was getting to me. But, that is what happens here to Annie.. Besides that there is a mysterious door, (and no this is not The Lion, The witch and the wardrobe) a magician, a delightful young man who stutters unless he speaks profanity, a book store owner who has his own mysterious happenings and a murder mystery.
Love Annie's character, she is a pure delight. Fate and time, what do they mean? The elasticity of time and time travel, in this novel this is key. So alot of fun, not to be taken sensibly, but a good book to read for something a little different and lighter. Do be warned coincidences abound, people that you meet may not be who they appear to be.
ARC from NetGalley.
Love Annie's character, she is a pure delight. Fate and time, what do they mean? The elasticity of time and time travel, in this novel this is key. So alot of fun, not to be taken sensibly, but a good book to read for something a little different and lighter. Do be warned coincidences abound, people that you meet may not be who they appear to be.
ARC from NetGalley.
September 13, 2015
4 1/2 STARS
I finished this magical book last week and my mind keeps going back to the characters and story line.
The characters were so endearing to me. They are quirky, flawed, and carrying their baggage in their own way. Like a slowly opening flower, their story and depth of character come out petal by petal. I could tell early on that their stories would come to be interconnected in special ways.
One day Annabelle Aster looks out her back door in modern San Francisco and sees what turns out to be 1890's Kansas in her backyard. Elsbeth looks from her 1890's Kansas and sees Annabelle's house on her beloved acreage. Neither can enter each other's world or encounter each other, but they start to share letters through a mailbox between their worlds.
Thus begins a murder mystery that spans the century and brings together several characters. Fate and time are almost characters as well and are integral to the story and themes.
Annabelle with her determined and quirky personality has always felt more at home in her 1800's vintage clothing and simple life. She has health issues she is dealing with secretly and on her own.
I loved her best friend Christian. He is wounded inside and so tentative to live his life and befriend others. Annie coaxed him into a friendship that he clings to, but still holds back his true self. He stutters and is painfully shy, always worried that he is unlovable.
The writing was captivating and descriptive without being purple prose. Rather than bogging down the story, the writing made me feel, smell, taste, hear, and see what was happening. When Annie travels back in time there are villains and friends to meet. However, the story isn't just about the time travel or murder mystery. It's about the strength that comes from good family and friendship - about how they can help us as we journey with our baggage. How they can make the burden lighter or even help us finally lay it down and let it go. It's about the dark in us as well as the the good.
It took a bit of time to get used to the way the story was told. I had to go back a couple of times to clear up something I didn't catch the first time around. This didn't matter to me because the plot was just intricate and well done.
The author's note at the end of the book made me want to get to know him. He tells you how the characters came to be, and who or what inspired him to write each character. I'm very much looking forward to more from Scott Wilbanks.
Thank you Netgalley for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
I finished this magical book last week and my mind keeps going back to the characters and story line.
The characters were so endearing to me. They are quirky, flawed, and carrying their baggage in their own way. Like a slowly opening flower, their story and depth of character come out petal by petal. I could tell early on that their stories would come to be interconnected in special ways.
One day Annabelle Aster looks out her back door in modern San Francisco and sees what turns out to be 1890's Kansas in her backyard. Elsbeth looks from her 1890's Kansas and sees Annabelle's house on her beloved acreage. Neither can enter each other's world or encounter each other, but they start to share letters through a mailbox between their worlds.
Thus begins a murder mystery that spans the century and brings together several characters. Fate and time are almost characters as well and are integral to the story and themes.
Annabelle with her determined and quirky personality has always felt more at home in her 1800's vintage clothing and simple life. She has health issues she is dealing with secretly and on her own.
I loved her best friend Christian. He is wounded inside and so tentative to live his life and befriend others. Annie coaxed him into a friendship that he clings to, but still holds back his true self. He stutters and is painfully shy, always worried that he is unlovable.
The writing was captivating and descriptive without being purple prose. Rather than bogging down the story, the writing made me feel, smell, taste, hear, and see what was happening. When Annie travels back in time there are villains and friends to meet. However, the story isn't just about the time travel or murder mystery. It's about the strength that comes from good family and friendship - about how they can help us as we journey with our baggage. How they can make the burden lighter or even help us finally lay it down and let it go. It's about the dark in us as well as the the good.
It took a bit of time to get used to the way the story was told. I had to go back a couple of times to clear up something I didn't catch the first time around. This didn't matter to me because the plot was just intricate and well done.
The author's note at the end of the book made me want to get to know him. He tells you how the characters came to be, and who or what inspired him to write each character. I'm very much looking forward to more from Scott Wilbanks.
Thank you Netgalley for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 20, 2015
Read on the WondrousBooks blog.
What happened with this book is simple: It didn't tickle my fancy. I can't pinpoint the exact reason for it and because of that I'd assume that it was not so much as one thing, as it was all of the little things that I didn't particularly like.
The good part of The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is that it has a good idea behind it. Who doesn't love time travel, paradoxes and magic?
Unless - after the author gets his great idea, he or she fails to deliver. Because that happened for me. I don't even know in what order to list things, there was just so much going on in this book.
#1: There was so much going on in this book. In just 400 pages the author managed to use a Jane-Austen-wannabe character, a gay best friend, a magical door to the past, a grumpy old widow, a magician, an aggressive mafioso, Pippi the pickpocket, using knowledge to become rich in the future, using knowledge to be badass in the past, not one, but two love stories, an accident in the present, a murder in the past, Cherokee shamans, time paradoxes, a long list of mental and physical diseases, family drama, and many more which I'm probably forgetting, because, and I'm saying this for the third time, too much is happening in this book. And as a result I kept forgetting characters and story-lines because they were replaced by other equally as important characters and events.
#2: The I'm-just-like-a-Jane-Austen-character cliche. You're not. Enough with this already. Austen died, write your own characters, lazy writers. Or don't write at all. I'm having deja vu. In the last two months I've read at least three books where there is a character who's oh-so-special, speaks like a Jane Austen character and dresses as one and is damn proud about that and the fact that is a total outsider. I think literature is creating all the wrong ideals for little girls. You are not a bad person if you have friends, so authors, stop making it seem so. Please and thank you!
#3: Since there has been so much new literature about America in the past, an idea: why don't you for once honor the native culture of North America by skipping the dreary and hard to like hardened Americans and go a step back to the times of the Native Americans next time you write about time travel or simply about the past. It is highly insulting that entire cultures where wiped-out and everyone who writes about the past acts like the continent of North America came to exist after it was colonized.
After reading just two books set in the 18th and 19th century America, it has become quite the burden for me. I find their lack of culture and abundance of foul language, poverty and cold demeanor almost repulsive. I don't think I'll be returning to any American literature from or set in the times before the 20th century.
#4: Unworthy villains. I'm going to keep this spoiler free, so I'll just mention that aside from one tidbit about Mr Culler, he was a really bad antagonist. He failed completely to live up to his name and the way all the rest of the characters described him. I found him laughable at some points and until the middle of the book I was expecting the real enemy to show up. Instead we were left with this puppet, who couldn't off even an old lady. Sorry if I'm not buying it.
What happened with this book is simple: It didn't tickle my fancy. I can't pinpoint the exact reason for it and because of that I'd assume that it was not so much as one thing, as it was all of the little things that I didn't particularly like.
The good part of The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is that it has a good idea behind it. Who doesn't love time travel, paradoxes and magic?
Unless - after the author gets his great idea, he or she fails to deliver. Because that happened for me. I don't even know in what order to list things, there was just so much going on in this book.
#1: There was so much going on in this book. In just 400 pages the author managed to use a Jane-Austen-wannabe character, a gay best friend, a magical door to the past, a grumpy old widow, a magician, an aggressive mafioso, Pippi the pickpocket, using knowledge to become rich in the future, using knowledge to be badass in the past, not one, but two love stories, an accident in the present, a murder in the past, Cherokee shamans, time paradoxes, a long list of mental and physical diseases, family drama, and many more which I'm probably forgetting, because, and I'm saying this for the third time, too much is happening in this book. And as a result I kept forgetting characters and story-lines because they were replaced by other equally as important characters and events.
#2: The I'm-just-like-a-Jane-Austen-character cliche. You're not. Enough with this already. Austen died, write your own characters, lazy writers. Or don't write at all. I'm having deja vu. In the last two months I've read at least three books where there is a character who's oh-so-special, speaks like a Jane Austen character and dresses as one and is damn proud about that and the fact that is a total outsider. I think literature is creating all the wrong ideals for little girls. You are not a bad person if you have friends, so authors, stop making it seem so. Please and thank you!
#3: Since there has been so much new literature about America in the past, an idea: why don't you for once honor the native culture of North America by skipping the dreary and hard to like hardened Americans and go a step back to the times of the Native Americans next time you write about time travel or simply about the past. It is highly insulting that entire cultures where wiped-out and everyone who writes about the past acts like the continent of North America came to exist after it was colonized.
After reading just two books set in the 18th and 19th century America, it has become quite the burden for me. I find their lack of culture and abundance of foul language, poverty and cold demeanor almost repulsive. I don't think I'll be returning to any American literature from or set in the times before the 20th century.
#4: Unworthy villains. I'm going to keep this spoiler free, so I'll just mention that aside from one tidbit about Mr Culler, he was a really bad antagonist. He failed completely to live up to his name and the way all the rest of the characters described him. I found him laughable at some points and until the middle of the book I was expecting the real enemy to show up. Instead we were left with this puppet, who couldn't off even an old lady. Sorry if I'm not buying it.
August 19, 2015
There are a lot of readers out there who find a certain kind of story that they like and they want to stick to it. That's all fine and good but that has never been me. If I read something, I'm looking for a completely different story the next time. The more original a story is, the better. The synopsis of "The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster" sounded interesting to me and definitely off the beaten path, but when I opened this book, I was blown away by how unforgettable the storyline was. This book is perfect for those who are looking for a book that's fully engaging and will stick with you for very long time!
Reading a lot of historical fiction, I'm very used to the trope of letters connecting the present to the past. In the case of Annie, she finds that she can send letters back to a 1890s farmhouse in the middle of Kansas and that Elsbeth can send letters to her from 1890s Kansas to present-day San Francisco. This book uses many magical realism to make Annie and Elsbeth's worlds feel like something that could actually happen. Magical realism continues to be one of my favorite additions to any book and this book has it in spades!
Not only is the story wholly original but the characters are really interesting as well. Annie is incredibly quirky and incredibly smart. She has always felt like an outsider but feeling like an outsider has made her more open to the idea of things not always being the way that they seem originally. Some of the secondary characters also made this book memorable. The author does a great job of using detail in order to make the characters jump off of the page.
There's so many twists and turns in this book and it really kept me on my toes. Every page added a little bit something new to the mystery of what was going on with Annie and Elsbeth's mailboxes. Although that is the main arc, the author had a great way of adding other details and issues to make the characters feel like real people with real lives. This is an incredibly inventive story and I know that I will be thinking about the story for a long time. Although I won't be looking for another book just like this one as I don't like to read the same thing twice, but this book what gives me hope that there are other original stories out there just waiting to be found!
Reading a lot of historical fiction, I'm very used to the trope of letters connecting the present to the past. In the case of Annie, she finds that she can send letters back to a 1890s farmhouse in the middle of Kansas and that Elsbeth can send letters to her from 1890s Kansas to present-day San Francisco. This book uses many magical realism to make Annie and Elsbeth's worlds feel like something that could actually happen. Magical realism continues to be one of my favorite additions to any book and this book has it in spades!
Not only is the story wholly original but the characters are really interesting as well. Annie is incredibly quirky and incredibly smart. She has always felt like an outsider but feeling like an outsider has made her more open to the idea of things not always being the way that they seem originally. Some of the secondary characters also made this book memorable. The author does a great job of using detail in order to make the characters jump off of the page.
There's so many twists and turns in this book and it really kept me on my toes. Every page added a little bit something new to the mystery of what was going on with Annie and Elsbeth's mailboxes. Although that is the main arc, the author had a great way of adding other details and issues to make the characters feel like real people with real lives. This is an incredibly inventive story and I know that I will be thinking about the story for a long time. Although I won't be looking for another book just like this one as I don't like to read the same thing twice, but this book what gives me hope that there are other original stories out there just waiting to be found!
April 14, 2015
I was lucky enough to get an ARC/be asked to blurb this one...my thoughts:
Readers will adore this heartfelt, one-of-a-kind debut and the charming, quirky characters tramping through its pages. Written in sly, quick-witted prose and filled with soul, THE LEMONCHOLY LIFE OF ANNIE ASTER will have you thinking, smiling, and wondering if you can find your own magic door.
Readers will adore this heartfelt, one-of-a-kind debut and the charming, quirky characters tramping through its pages. Written in sly, quick-witted prose and filled with soul, THE LEMONCHOLY LIFE OF ANNIE ASTER will have you thinking, smiling, and wondering if you can find your own magic door.
March 24, 2015
To say that THE LEMONCHOLY LIFE OF ANNIE ASTER is a whip-sharp, zany adventure is an undeniable truth, but what made the ride so all-encompassing for me are Wilbanks’ thoroughly unique characters. Christian, a handsome, awkward stutterer with a heart of gold and an angel on his shoulder, elevated every page on which he appeared (which is many). I want an entire novel of Cap’n and her gang - the tough, little pickpocket who knew “every hidey-hole” in the city. Brazen yet conservative Annie with a mischievous streak. Curmudgeonly Elsbeth, the scribe of the first letter in the mysterious, magical mailbox.
Wilbanks’ writing was a treat to read - every sentence is artful and showcases his unique and vivid voice.
The comparison to THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE is apropos because in the same way as with Niffenegger’s brilliant, bestselling tome, I had to partially give myself over to Wilbanks’ handling of the timeline. It allowed me to both be conceptually challenged, a sensation I enjoy, and to lose myself in the layered storyworld of his novel. My faith paid off as it all came together in unforeseen and gratifying ways. There is so much to this book that I could read it several more times, each time picking up more of Wilbanks’ inventive construct.
This novel has it all – danger, stakes, friendship, family, and the perfect measure of romance.
***review based on an ARC posted with permission from publisher***
Wilbanks’ writing was a treat to read - every sentence is artful and showcases his unique and vivid voice.
The comparison to THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE is apropos because in the same way as with Niffenegger’s brilliant, bestselling tome, I had to partially give myself over to Wilbanks’ handling of the timeline. It allowed me to both be conceptually challenged, a sensation I enjoy, and to lose myself in the layered storyworld of his novel. My faith paid off as it all came together in unforeseen and gratifying ways. There is so much to this book that I could read it several more times, each time picking up more of Wilbanks’ inventive construct.
This novel has it all – danger, stakes, friendship, family, and the perfect measure of romance.
***review based on an ARC posted with permission from publisher***
August 2, 2015
The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster starts with the eponymous Annie Aster opening her door, recently installed in her 1995 kitchen, and finding herself in an 1895 Kansas wheatfield. She promptly begins a pen-pal relationship with her spunky 1895 neighbor. As the story develops, Annie and her friend Christian begin to explore the history of the door, attempt to stop a murder, and find themselves dragged into a time-hopping adventure.
I really, really wish I could have liked this book. I’m sorry, Lemoncholy Life; despite your beguiling title, it just wasn’t meant to be. I do hope you find your perfect readers, and I’ve no doubt you will. But sadly, I won't be among them.
At heart, I think I suffered from style dissonance. The book has a slow start, and I had to keep taking breaks because I can only take so much saccharine before my teeth start to hurt. The author tries quite hard to do a Jane-Austen-style narrator, and perhaps he just tries a little too hard. I began to have premonitions on the very first page, when “Lemoncholy” is defined. I’m of the opinion that when one explains a joke, it dies. On the other hand, I also strongly believe that the magical system in a story must be explainable. In this case, the door’s supernatural powers and mysterious limits effectively defy explanation; both exist for plot convenience, and I can attest that thinking about them too hard or expecting an explanation will only lead to frustration. I’m mostly a mystery reader, so unexplained coincidences, conundrums, and contradictions drive me nuts. In this case, I compiled a whole list. Conveniently, most of my complaints are pretty spoilery, so I won’t bore you with them in plaintext. Suffice it to say that carelessness with factual accuracy and internal consistency soured me a bit on Lemoncholy Life.
My favourite character was easily Elsbeth, the spunky Victorian woman who starts the story by threatening to shoot Annie for invading her corn field. I didn’t really dislike any of the rest, but I never felt particularly involved in most of their conflicts either. Many of the characters’ personality traits depend upon Informed Attributes provided by the narrator in trademark amused omniscient fashion, and because the characters themselves seemed to fall into well-defined tropes. Perhaps the only character who really escapes this is Christian, who is, not incidentally, probably my other favourite character. Christian is recovering from some unexplained tragedy (a common motif in the book) which has left him with a terrible shyness, an inability to talk without stuttering, and a tendency to walk and read at the same time. Christian is complex and interesting, all the more so for his lack of self-knowledge. While I liked the slower-moving romance, there’s also an egregious bit of InstaLove that got on my nerves. The plot itself is rather unevenly paced; at the beginning, it’s very slow-moving and quite cute, but at some point, an impressive amount of violence is introduced. Due to the time travel aspect, we keep seeing the same events over and over, and since they’ve been predetermined from the first, I had trouble forcing my attention back on the plot.
I really regret being unable to enjoy this book to the full. The whimsical title, the time travel, the spunky Victorian characters... it should have been a perfect fit, and simply wasn't. I wish future readers better luck with finding the sweetness in Lemoncholy Life.
~~ I received an advanced reader copy of this ebook through NetGalley from the publisher, Sourcebook Landmarks, in exchange for my honest review.~~
I really, really wish I could have liked this book. I’m sorry, Lemoncholy Life; despite your beguiling title, it just wasn’t meant to be. I do hope you find your perfect readers, and I’ve no doubt you will. But sadly, I won't be among them.
At heart, I think I suffered from style dissonance. The book has a slow start, and I had to keep taking breaks because I can only take so much saccharine before my teeth start to hurt. The author tries quite hard to do a Jane-Austen-style narrator, and perhaps he just tries a little too hard. I began to have premonitions on the very first page, when “Lemoncholy” is defined. I’m of the opinion that when one explains a joke, it dies. On the other hand, I also strongly believe that the magical system in a story must be explainable. In this case, the door’s supernatural powers and mysterious limits effectively defy explanation; both exist for plot convenience, and I can attest that thinking about them too hard or expecting an explanation will only lead to frustration. I’m mostly a mystery reader, so unexplained coincidences, conundrums, and contradictions drive me nuts. In this case, I compiled a whole list. Conveniently, most of my complaints are pretty spoilery, so I won’t bore you with them in plaintext. Suffice it to say that carelessness with factual accuracy and internal consistency soured me a bit on Lemoncholy Life.
My favourite character was easily Elsbeth, the spunky Victorian woman who starts the story by threatening to shoot Annie for invading her corn field. I didn’t really dislike any of the rest, but I never felt particularly involved in most of their conflicts either. Many of the characters’ personality traits depend upon Informed Attributes provided by the narrator in trademark amused omniscient fashion, and because the characters themselves seemed to fall into well-defined tropes. Perhaps the only character who really escapes this is Christian, who is, not incidentally, probably my other favourite character. Christian is recovering from some unexplained tragedy (a common motif in the book) which has left him with a terrible shyness, an inability to talk without stuttering, and a tendency to walk and read at the same time. Christian is complex and interesting, all the more so for his lack of self-knowledge. While I liked the slower-moving romance, there’s also an egregious bit of InstaLove that got on my nerves. The plot itself is rather unevenly paced; at the beginning, it’s very slow-moving and quite cute, but at some point, an impressive amount of violence is introduced. Due to the time travel aspect, we keep seeing the same events over and over, and since they’ve been predetermined from the first, I had trouble forcing my attention back on the plot.
I really regret being unable to enjoy this book to the full. The whimsical title, the time travel, the spunky Victorian characters... it should have been a perfect fit, and simply wasn't. I wish future readers better luck with finding the sweetness in Lemoncholy Life.
~~ I received an advanced reader copy of this ebook through NetGalley from the publisher, Sourcebook Landmarks, in exchange for my honest review.~~
August 11, 2015
I just finished this book about an hour ago, and I feel a bit scrambled in the heart and mind right now. I blame this wholly on Scott Wilbanks. His debut novel, this one here you’re reading about and trying to decide whether to pony up the cash to buy, is brilliant. I’ll give you some reasons why you absolutely must read it now.
The Language
It seems so often when I read contemporary works these days that writers have forgotten the poetry and flow of language. The grand and beautiful topography of a story created through the words an author chooses goes a long way to enhance the reading experience, especially in a book like this.
In my opinion, the language was another character in the story and it was fabulous. Whimsical, eloquent, full of humor and cheek and a voice all its own.
Writers have so often lately become utilitarian in the telling of their stories. This author will never be accused of that crime. His mastery shines vividly from the first sentence to the last.
The Characters
Indeed a motley crew of misfits and all the better for that reason. Each has been wounded by the world in their own particular and special fashion. They are unique and yet, in a way, represent all those souls who share their distinct sort of pain. They live and breathe on those pages, but they will also live and breathe in your heart after you’ve finished tagging along with them in their story.
The Story
Speaking of Story (yep, that word deserves a capitalization here) - holy twisty mystery Batman! I was dizzy from all twists and turns the plot took, and while I did guess at a couple of the revelations correctly, I was surprised and delighted by all the secret nooks and crannies of this intricate story.
You must fully give yourself over to the story and suspend any disbelief in plausibility because we’re talking about time travel here folks, so know that going in. But man-o-shevitz - what a story! This is one I’ll definitely be giving a second (or third) read.
The Heart
It packs an emotional punch you may not even see coming. There were moments that snuck up on me ninja-like at the end, that left me running for the Puffs Plus. You've been warned.
I’d like to thank the author for pulling me in and touching me so thoroughly through his incredible story. I use the word ‘incredible’ here in the literal sense meaning ‘hard to believe’ - but somehow so very real and true at the same time, as well as its other meaning of ‘extraordinary’ and ‘wondrous’. Which it is.
This is a wild ride, folks, and as the other reviewers have mentioned, it’s got a little bit of everything: time-travel, murder, mystery, love, friendships, family. Everything to wet your literary whistle and quench your thirst for a great story. Expect the unexpected.
This is Scott Wilbank’s debut novel (still shocking to me), but it’s clear this will most definitely not be his last. The author has a rare talent and I’m certain we’ll be seeing much more to come from him in the future. I’ll be waiting.
The Language
It seems so often when I read contemporary works these days that writers have forgotten the poetry and flow of language. The grand and beautiful topography of a story created through the words an author chooses goes a long way to enhance the reading experience, especially in a book like this.
In my opinion, the language was another character in the story and it was fabulous. Whimsical, eloquent, full of humor and cheek and a voice all its own.
Writers have so often lately become utilitarian in the telling of their stories. This author will never be accused of that crime. His mastery shines vividly from the first sentence to the last.
The Characters
Indeed a motley crew of misfits and all the better for that reason. Each has been wounded by the world in their own particular and special fashion. They are unique and yet, in a way, represent all those souls who share their distinct sort of pain. They live and breathe on those pages, but they will also live and breathe in your heart after you’ve finished tagging along with them in their story.
The Story
Speaking of Story (yep, that word deserves a capitalization here) - holy twisty mystery Batman! I was dizzy from all twists and turns the plot took, and while I did guess at a couple of the revelations correctly, I was surprised and delighted by all the secret nooks and crannies of this intricate story.
You must fully give yourself over to the story and suspend any disbelief in plausibility because we’re talking about time travel here folks, so know that going in. But man-o-shevitz - what a story! This is one I’ll definitely be giving a second (or third) read.
The Heart
It packs an emotional punch you may not even see coming. There were moments that snuck up on me ninja-like at the end, that left me running for the Puffs Plus. You've been warned.
I’d like to thank the author for pulling me in and touching me so thoroughly through his incredible story. I use the word ‘incredible’ here in the literal sense meaning ‘hard to believe’ - but somehow so very real and true at the same time, as well as its other meaning of ‘extraordinary’ and ‘wondrous’. Which it is.
This is a wild ride, folks, and as the other reviewers have mentioned, it’s got a little bit of everything: time-travel, murder, mystery, love, friendships, family. Everything to wet your literary whistle and quench your thirst for a great story. Expect the unexpected.
This is Scott Wilbank’s debut novel (still shocking to me), but it’s clear this will most definitely not be his last. The author has a rare talent and I’m certain we’ll be seeing much more to come from him in the future. I’ll be waiting.
August 25, 2015
Beautiful and highly entertaining, The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster not only inspired me to be lemoncholy, it's also one of the best paradox novel I've read in a long time. Bravo Mr. W for writing a time travel piece that isn't boring and snobbish as its Sci-fi counterparts.
April 8, 2015
Absolutely artful characters possessing an honesty and depth the likes of which can be hard to find, compelled me through a mesmerizing and magical plot. The writing is exquisite, reminiscent of how beautiful writing used to be before it was stripped bare by the modern novel, forming scenes that you fall right into and feel as though you are experiencing. With all the twists and threads it is one to take your time with and savor like a fine cup of complex coffee. Each character is developed to the fullest with a skill that likens to Stephen King while the imagination and richness of the story brings to mind The Time Traveler's Wife (and in my opinion blows it away at the same time).
March 24, 2015
I had the privilege of reading an advance copy of this delightful story. Without posting spoilers, I will say that ANNIE ASTER has mystery, fantasy, time travel, and romance - my favorite kind of book. I couldn't put the book down and at the same time, I took my time reading because I didn't want it to end. In a skillfully woven tale, the author took me on a journey of twists and turns, surprises, and unpredictable events, often wondering along with Annie what would happen next. It was a great ride. Hats off to Scott Wilbanks in giving us the gift of this, his debut novel. I can't wait for the next one!
April 27, 2015
What a surprise to read this charming adventure. At first the characters seem quirky, even odd: Annie who dresses in Victorian clothes, Christian who finds it hard to speak without stuttering, and Elsbeth, a lonely old widow from a century ago.
But along with a group of other delightful characters, who travel through a mysterious door and try to solve a murder that may not yet have happened in the past, they come together and support each other against the calculating evil of Mr Culler and his bloodthirsty offsider.
I found the premise of the novel highly original and the characters most engaging. The affirming idea that family is not just limited to those with blood ties and that no matter a persons past, these things can be overcome and what matters is actions in the present and the future.
Also the writing is fresh and at times seems to bounce off the page with the author's obvious joy at putting words together on the page.
There is a lot of life left in these characters, and I look forward to reading where this door may take them in the future (or the past!)
But along with a group of other delightful characters, who travel through a mysterious door and try to solve a murder that may not yet have happened in the past, they come together and support each other against the calculating evil of Mr Culler and his bloodthirsty offsider.
I found the premise of the novel highly original and the characters most engaging. The affirming idea that family is not just limited to those with blood ties and that no matter a persons past, these things can be overcome and what matters is actions in the present and the future.
Also the writing is fresh and at times seems to bounce off the page with the author's obvious joy at putting words together on the page.
There is a lot of life left in these characters, and I look forward to reading where this door may take them in the future (or the past!)
December 2, 2015
This was a fantastic debut and one that stuck with me for weeks afterward. I totally fell in love with Annie and Christian and all the colorful characters that make up Wilbanks' beautifully imagined world. Cannot wait for the next installment in Annie's journey!
August 30, 2015
This is a book for fans of Science Fiction, family sagas, women's fiction, and just plain good storytelling. Scott Wilbanks' debut is wonderful.
August 7, 2015
I really wasn't expecting The Lemoncholy of Annie Aster to be as good as it was. I'd initially requested a review copy based on the gorgeous looking front cover, and intriguing title, but put it on the back burner to read later. However the publisher asked me if I'd like to take part in a 'book tour' for the title and I said that I would. I'm so glad the book leaped to the top of the list as I simply loved its charm and innocence from the outset.
The characterisation in The Lemoncholy of Annie Aster is fabulous. The characters are fabulously-drawn, and so vivid they are easy to picture as real people. I found them and the story totally charming and compelling.
The Lemoncholy of Annie Aster is set in two time frames, the present and the early 1900's. It is a delightful tale about true friendships and finding your place in the world, with magic, time travel, a murder mystery, oh and a romance, or two along the way. The Lemoncholy of Annie Aster had me reading well into the early hours and I just hated to put it down.
The characters are a mixed band of misfits, from Annie, a throw back to the Victorian era with a dress style and lifestyle to match; her best friend Christian an amnesiac with a severe stutter; Elsbeth the widower in Kansas to whom Annie corresponds via time-travel mailboxes; Cap'n, a street-wise urchin, and the dastardly Mr Culler with his psychotic sidekick Mr Danyer.
Annie, gets more excitement and adventure than she ever dreamed imaginable with her impulse purchase of an antique door she installs as her back door. A door with magical properties ... a time travel portal passing through Annie's San Franciscan back yard to a wheat field in Kansas from a century before.
With help from her best friend Christian and some lively compatriots they meet along the way, they endeavour to solve the problematic mysteries which present themselves at practically every turn.
As for my favourite character I would find it difficult to choose between Annie, Elsbeth and Christian as they were all equally endearing and compelling in their own right. I loved them all for their unique and peculiar traits: Annie for her vulnerability but no messing strength of character and drive, Elsbeth for her initial feistiness who then transforms into a caring motherly figure, and Christian for his sensitivity. He is perhaps the most complex character. Fiercely loyal to his friends he also a loner and lacks confidence in himself and is torn about what he should do regarding his personal relationships. Christian is definitely a character I'd like to know more about.
There are a number of supporting characters and so much going on that I had to, at times, give it my full attention or lose track of the relationships and events occurring due to the complexity of the story line.
The Lemonscholy Life of Annie Aster is a delightful, feel-good, heart-warming tale. Thoroughly entertaining, and enchanting, it is the perfect Summer read.
I look forward to seeing what Scott Wilbanks comes up with next. Another instalment of Annie Aster perhaps, but whatever it is I'm sure it'll be another gem I'll not want to miss.
Disclaimer: A complimentary copy of The Lemoncholy of Annie Aster was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest unbiased review.
The characterisation in The Lemoncholy of Annie Aster is fabulous. The characters are fabulously-drawn, and so vivid they are easy to picture as real people. I found them and the story totally charming and compelling.
The Lemoncholy of Annie Aster is set in two time frames, the present and the early 1900's. It is a delightful tale about true friendships and finding your place in the world, with magic, time travel, a murder mystery, oh and a romance, or two along the way. The Lemoncholy of Annie Aster had me reading well into the early hours and I just hated to put it down.
The characters are a mixed band of misfits, from Annie, a throw back to the Victorian era with a dress style and lifestyle to match; her best friend Christian an amnesiac with a severe stutter; Elsbeth the widower in Kansas to whom Annie corresponds via time-travel mailboxes; Cap'n, a street-wise urchin, and the dastardly Mr Culler with his psychotic sidekick Mr Danyer.
Annie, gets more excitement and adventure than she ever dreamed imaginable with her impulse purchase of an antique door she installs as her back door. A door with magical properties ... a time travel portal passing through Annie's San Franciscan back yard to a wheat field in Kansas from a century before.
With help from her best friend Christian and some lively compatriots they meet along the way, they endeavour to solve the problematic mysteries which present themselves at practically every turn.
As for my favourite character I would find it difficult to choose between Annie, Elsbeth and Christian as they were all equally endearing and compelling in their own right. I loved them all for their unique and peculiar traits: Annie for her vulnerability but no messing strength of character and drive, Elsbeth for her initial feistiness who then transforms into a caring motherly figure, and Christian for his sensitivity. He is perhaps the most complex character. Fiercely loyal to his friends he also a loner and lacks confidence in himself and is torn about what he should do regarding his personal relationships. Christian is definitely a character I'd like to know more about.
There are a number of supporting characters and so much going on that I had to, at times, give it my full attention or lose track of the relationships and events occurring due to the complexity of the story line.
The Lemonscholy Life of Annie Aster is a delightful, feel-good, heart-warming tale. Thoroughly entertaining, and enchanting, it is the perfect Summer read.
I look forward to seeing what Scott Wilbanks comes up with next. Another instalment of Annie Aster perhaps, but whatever it is I'm sure it'll be another gem I'll not want to miss.
Disclaimer: A complimentary copy of The Lemoncholy of Annie Aster was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest unbiased review.
September 17, 2015
When you open a door you always expect it to lead you somewhere. When Annie opens her red door I was as surprised as Annie to discover exactly where this door led.
It was fate or happenstance or whatever name you may choose to use to explain Annie’s discovery of the red door in the antiquities shop. She saw it and knew this door absolutely had to be the new back door to her house. She had no way of knowing that she and this intricately carved door already had a history – but she was sure about to find out. Annie’s house was in modern day San Francisco and the door opened to 1890’s Kansas … to a wheat field that separated her home from that of a slightly bitter old woman. What could it possibly mean that the door put these women in each other’s circle? Through letters and with the help of some really good friends these two women were about to find out.
Mr. Wilbanks has given his readers all the elements necessary to keep them turning the pages – suspense, magic, a little time travel, some secrets, a budding romance and a villian bound and determined to make sure it all goes sideways for Annie and her friends and straight in his favor. With the exception of the definitely dastardly villain there was not one character in this book I didn’t fall in love with as I read. Each had quirks, habits, secrets and personalities that were easy to like. Each was a bit of a “misfit” until they came together, then it seemed as if they each had a special place and purpose in their little group. The mystery was light with a satisfying dash of twists and turns that kept me on my toes trying to figure out what was going to happen next. The adventure moved along at a nice crisp pace. When I turned the last page I was a little sad to be leaving Annie’s world but was quite satisfied that everything and everyone were going to be okay. What more could I ask for?
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy a nice mystery and can suspend plausibility for a little while in order to enjoy a good, well-written story.
* I received this ebook at no charge via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review *
It was fate or happenstance or whatever name you may choose to use to explain Annie’s discovery of the red door in the antiquities shop. She saw it and knew this door absolutely had to be the new back door to her house. She had no way of knowing that she and this intricately carved door already had a history – but she was sure about to find out. Annie’s house was in modern day San Francisco and the door opened to 1890’s Kansas … to a wheat field that separated her home from that of a slightly bitter old woman. What could it possibly mean that the door put these women in each other’s circle? Through letters and with the help of some really good friends these two women were about to find out.
Mr. Wilbanks has given his readers all the elements necessary to keep them turning the pages – suspense, magic, a little time travel, some secrets, a budding romance and a villian bound and determined to make sure it all goes sideways for Annie and her friends and straight in his favor. With the exception of the definitely dastardly villain there was not one character in this book I didn’t fall in love with as I read. Each had quirks, habits, secrets and personalities that were easy to like. Each was a bit of a “misfit” until they came together, then it seemed as if they each had a special place and purpose in their little group. The mystery was light with a satisfying dash of twists and turns that kept me on my toes trying to figure out what was going to happen next. The adventure moved along at a nice crisp pace. When I turned the last page I was a little sad to be leaving Annie’s world but was quite satisfied that everything and everyone were going to be okay. What more could I ask for?
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy a nice mystery and can suspend plausibility for a little while in order to enjoy a good, well-written story.
* I received this ebook at no charge via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review *
September 1, 2015
Annabelle Aster is kind of a woman-out-of-her-time. She may live in San Francisco in 1995 but she dresses in vintage clothes, takes tea and not just the drink but the whole British tea-time ritual, and she lives in a big aubergine (don’t call it purple) Victorian house. Then she installs a particularly ugly red door with interesting carvings on the back of her house and her whole life is transformed. When she walks through the door, instead of her garden, she discovers a small farmhouse amid a Kansas wheat field. There is also a mailbox. When she receives a letter from her new neighbour, it begins an adventure that will take her half way across the country and one hundred years back in time.
The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is the debut novel by Scott Wilbanks and what a fun tale it is. It is chock full of misfit characters who, although perhaps somewhat idealized, are extremely likeable. There is also time travel, an interesting mystery, a metaphorically moustache-twirling villain and his equally evil although less loquacious sidekick, and the kind of story that sucks you in right from the first page and keeps you curled up reading late into the night – the perfect anytime read when you want something light but satisfying.
The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is the debut novel by Scott Wilbanks and what a fun tale it is. It is chock full of misfit characters who, although perhaps somewhat idealized, are extremely likeable. There is also time travel, an interesting mystery, a metaphorically moustache-twirling villain and his equally evil although less loquacious sidekick, and the kind of story that sucks you in right from the first page and keeps you curled up reading late into the night – the perfect anytime read when you want something light but satisfying.
November 6, 2016
Favorite book of the year so far!
Do you like a bit of a murder mystery? This book has it.
Do you like time travel? This book has it.
Do you like romance? This book has it.
Do you like suspense? This book has it.
Do you like quirky, loveable characters? This book has it in spades!
Is there anything Scott Wilbanks can't do? I think not.
Do you like a bit of a murder mystery? This book has it.
Do you like time travel? This book has it.
Do you like romance? This book has it.
Do you like suspense? This book has it.
Do you like quirky, loveable characters? This book has it in spades!
Is there anything Scott Wilbanks can't do? I think not.
November 4, 2015
I picked this up on a whim at Chapters. So glad that I did! I loved it.
December 2, 2015
Annabelle “Annie” Aster is, by choice, a most singular young lady. Or, “a sincere woman in every particular” as she wrote of her hopeful self when she was 12 years old, in an attempt to mimic her favorite author, Jane Austen. By the time Annie was “twentysomething”- specifically, by May 17, 1995 – she is “undeniably lovely, a fragile beauty, possessing a face that looked as though it had been lifted from a cameo.” Still, it has to be mentioned that Annie is, well, a bit strange – but in a totally charming and often disarming way.
Annie lives on her own in her childhood home at the western edge of the Mission District in urban San Francisco. Her adoptive parents had died two years earlier, and a somewhat eccentric godmother, who had been a huge influence on Annie as a child, was a distant but still beloved memory. Annie loves all things Victorian, often affecting that era in her personal style, bearing and speech. And she adores Victorian clothing. Oh, she has plenty of conventional clothes; it’s not like she is completely off her nut, but a visit to a café or a walk in the park might have her “looking like a ghost from anther age.”
However, Annie is not a shrinking violet by any means. She is vivacious, direct, self-sufficient and completely fine with the fact that some might find her eccentric. Although life has not been particularly kind to her (besides not knowing either of her parents and losing her adoptive loved ones, she also suffers from a chronic health condition that she hides from others and which keeps her somewhat reclusive), she refuses to give in to despair, or sink into melancholy.
In fact, her life instead is brim full of lemoncholy, which means unassailable, or, as author Scott Wilbanks defines it: “The habitual state in which one makes the best of a bad situation.”
So when Annie awakens one day to find a beautiful rose garden in her normally normal back yard, full of blossoms of every conceivable hue and form, she is delighted. When she wades through the frothy flowers to the fence around her property, and sees in the distance a solitary cabin beyond a dusty wheat field, she barely is thrown by the fact that there are no cabins nor any dusty wheat fields in urban San Francisco. Nor is she overly concerned by the sign a ways down the road that says, “Pawnee County, Kansas. Pop. 673," or that when she tries to access the cabin, she is magically redeposited somewhat unceremoniously (if not terribly violently) back into her newly established rose garden backyard.
But while the Kansas cabin seems unavailable to her for whatever reason, what Annie can access is the antique brass letter box perched on the gatepost of her garden fence, which seems to be a line of demarcation between the two properties. Within the brass box she finds a parched-looking envelope containing a somewhat terse handwritten letter from someone who identifies herself as Elsbeth Grundy, demanding an explanation for why a fancy house with an abundant rose garden has appeared in her wheat field, when there never was one there before. The letter is dated May 17, 1895.
A hundred years in the past. To the day.
So what does Annie do? Scream? Faint? Throw a fit or decide to ignore all that has been happening? Not Annie! Instead, she pens a delightful and somewhat saucy reply to her new neighbor. And thus begins a rollicking tale full of bending time, multiple mysteries, magic shows, lots of pick-pocketing, and a curious antique door that seems to hold the key to the overlapping of the two worlds.
"The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster" is also full of captivating, unforgettable characters. Besides exuberant Annie and cantankerous Elsbeth, we find the likes of a wise-beyond-her-years street urchin in pigtails, known only by the nickname Cap’n; steadfast Christian, Annie’s sweet and incredibly shy true blue best friend who just happens to see angels; Edmond, the personable young man possessing all the confidence that Christian seems to lack, yet who harbors a secret that has kept him a loner for many years; and the sinister, up-to-no-good, fearsome businessman, Mr. Culler, and his vicious hatchet man, Danyer.
To even try to truncate the action of "The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster" into a succinct, sound byte-ish few sentences would be incredibly foolish, were it even possible (spoilers or no spoilers). Let me just say that author Scott Wilbanks lets no moss grow under the feet of the characters in this, his debut novel – how could he, with two time periods to contend with, multiple mysteries (not all of which are contingent on the space/time bubble thingy), and – oh yes – murder? I forgot to mention murder before, didn’t I? Well, there is murder involved, too, or at least an attempt at stopping a murder.
And as the action unfolds, so do the burgeoning relationships within and across the time/space anomaly. We start to realize that what at first seemed arbitrary instead may have had some kind of binding purpose – but what purpose, and to what end? Trying to keep up with the whys and wherefores of the story as it unfolds is not advised: this is a book where the reader should just sit back and enjoy the ride; and Mr. Wilbanks is a very entertaining driver. (Just make sure you have your seatbelts securing fastened and that you’re holding on to your hat with both hands, especially during the final chapters!)
And even though I admittedly haven’t said much about what transpires in "The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster", two things are certain. That you will not have read anything quite like it ever before. And when you do read it, that you are going to have a heckuva lot of fun along the way.
Annie lives on her own in her childhood home at the western edge of the Mission District in urban San Francisco. Her adoptive parents had died two years earlier, and a somewhat eccentric godmother, who had been a huge influence on Annie as a child, was a distant but still beloved memory. Annie loves all things Victorian, often affecting that era in her personal style, bearing and speech. And she adores Victorian clothing. Oh, she has plenty of conventional clothes; it’s not like she is completely off her nut, but a visit to a café or a walk in the park might have her “looking like a ghost from anther age.”
However, Annie is not a shrinking violet by any means. She is vivacious, direct, self-sufficient and completely fine with the fact that some might find her eccentric. Although life has not been particularly kind to her (besides not knowing either of her parents and losing her adoptive loved ones, she also suffers from a chronic health condition that she hides from others and which keeps her somewhat reclusive), she refuses to give in to despair, or sink into melancholy.
In fact, her life instead is brim full of lemoncholy, which means unassailable, or, as author Scott Wilbanks defines it: “The habitual state in which one makes the best of a bad situation.”
So when Annie awakens one day to find a beautiful rose garden in her normally normal back yard, full of blossoms of every conceivable hue and form, she is delighted. When she wades through the frothy flowers to the fence around her property, and sees in the distance a solitary cabin beyond a dusty wheat field, she barely is thrown by the fact that there are no cabins nor any dusty wheat fields in urban San Francisco. Nor is she overly concerned by the sign a ways down the road that says, “Pawnee County, Kansas. Pop. 673," or that when she tries to access the cabin, she is magically redeposited somewhat unceremoniously (if not terribly violently) back into her newly established rose garden backyard.
But while the Kansas cabin seems unavailable to her for whatever reason, what Annie can access is the antique brass letter box perched on the gatepost of her garden fence, which seems to be a line of demarcation between the two properties. Within the brass box she finds a parched-looking envelope containing a somewhat terse handwritten letter from someone who identifies herself as Elsbeth Grundy, demanding an explanation for why a fancy house with an abundant rose garden has appeared in her wheat field, when there never was one there before. The letter is dated May 17, 1895.
A hundred years in the past. To the day.
So what does Annie do? Scream? Faint? Throw a fit or decide to ignore all that has been happening? Not Annie! Instead, she pens a delightful and somewhat saucy reply to her new neighbor. And thus begins a rollicking tale full of bending time, multiple mysteries, magic shows, lots of pick-pocketing, and a curious antique door that seems to hold the key to the overlapping of the two worlds.
"The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster" is also full of captivating, unforgettable characters. Besides exuberant Annie and cantankerous Elsbeth, we find the likes of a wise-beyond-her-years street urchin in pigtails, known only by the nickname Cap’n; steadfast Christian, Annie’s sweet and incredibly shy true blue best friend who just happens to see angels; Edmond, the personable young man possessing all the confidence that Christian seems to lack, yet who harbors a secret that has kept him a loner for many years; and the sinister, up-to-no-good, fearsome businessman, Mr. Culler, and his vicious hatchet man, Danyer.
To even try to truncate the action of "The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster" into a succinct, sound byte-ish few sentences would be incredibly foolish, were it even possible (spoilers or no spoilers). Let me just say that author Scott Wilbanks lets no moss grow under the feet of the characters in this, his debut novel – how could he, with two time periods to contend with, multiple mysteries (not all of which are contingent on the space/time bubble thingy), and – oh yes – murder? I forgot to mention murder before, didn’t I? Well, there is murder involved, too, or at least an attempt at stopping a murder.
And as the action unfolds, so do the burgeoning relationships within and across the time/space anomaly. We start to realize that what at first seemed arbitrary instead may have had some kind of binding purpose – but what purpose, and to what end? Trying to keep up with the whys and wherefores of the story as it unfolds is not advised: this is a book where the reader should just sit back and enjoy the ride; and Mr. Wilbanks is a very entertaining driver. (Just make sure you have your seatbelts securing fastened and that you’re holding on to your hat with both hands, especially during the final chapters!)
And even though I admittedly haven’t said much about what transpires in "The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster", two things are certain. That you will not have read anything quite like it ever before. And when you do read it, that you are going to have a heckuva lot of fun along the way.
October 19, 2015
From writing my own manuscripts and reviewing books, I learned early on that some authors are writers, while others are storytellers. And after reading the first page of Scott’s work, it was clear that he is the latter. His creation of a world that’s partly based in San Francisco during the mid-nineties and simultaneously in Kansas, a century earlier, flows seamlessly. As a literally-minded gal, I can get lost easily in complex plot, so adding a time-travel element could have been the kiss of death regarding my ability to fall into the story, but that doesn’t even almost happen with THE LEMONCHOLY LIFE. I was sucked in from the very beginning and rode the cresting wave of tension right to the very end.
Like most things that are extraordinary, in order to truly enjoy THE LEMONCHOLY LIFE, you must invest in the process and give yourself over to the rhythmic beat of the prose. Scott's not just a storyteller, you see, he's a "proser," meaning that the way Scott delivers his story is just as important as the story itself. Okay, so "proser" may not actually be a word, but you know what I mean. Haha! Don’t shy away from the effort, though. It’s more than worth it.
Because yes, his characters are truly original; layered, flawed, deeply feeling characters who immediately feel like real people. And yes, the plot is like driving through a mountain range—extreme highs and lows, sometimes on the same page. But the part that really sets Scott apart is his ability to see beneath the surface and bring that depth to life. It’s the unusual, often ignored aspects of the real world that Scott is a master of revealing, and he does so in his own, beautifully-crafted way. Add that to his extensive vocabulary which produces the most perfect words for any situation, and you’ve got a tale that is unlike anything you’ve read before.
So if you can carve out a chunk of time to acquaint yourself with THE LEMONCHOLY LIFE OF ANNIE ASTER, you’ll be privy to a tale about the triumph of the human spirit and friendship, with a healthy dollop of mystery, just in case you needed another reason to pick up a copy. Because, you know, murder makes every story better. Ha!
Like most things that are extraordinary, in order to truly enjoy THE LEMONCHOLY LIFE, you must invest in the process and give yourself over to the rhythmic beat of the prose. Scott's not just a storyteller, you see, he's a "proser," meaning that the way Scott delivers his story is just as important as the story itself. Okay, so "proser" may not actually be a word, but you know what I mean. Haha! Don’t shy away from the effort, though. It’s more than worth it.
Because yes, his characters are truly original; layered, flawed, deeply feeling characters who immediately feel like real people. And yes, the plot is like driving through a mountain range—extreme highs and lows, sometimes on the same page. But the part that really sets Scott apart is his ability to see beneath the surface and bring that depth to life. It’s the unusual, often ignored aspects of the real world that Scott is a master of revealing, and he does so in his own, beautifully-crafted way. Add that to his extensive vocabulary which produces the most perfect words for any situation, and you’ve got a tale that is unlike anything you’ve read before.
So if you can carve out a chunk of time to acquaint yourself with THE LEMONCHOLY LIFE OF ANNIE ASTER, you’ll be privy to a tale about the triumph of the human spirit and friendship, with a healthy dollop of mystery, just in case you needed another reason to pick up a copy. Because, you know, murder makes every story better. Ha!
June 6, 2015
There is an adventure waiting at every door!
Annabelle Aster doesn’t bow to convention—not even that of space and time—which makes the 1890s Kansas wheat field that has appeared in her modern-day San Francisco garden easy to accept. Even more peculiar is Elsbeth, the truculent schoolmarm who sends Annie letters through the mysterious brass mailbox perched on the picket fence that now divides their two worlds.
Annie and Elsbeth’s search for an explanation to the hiccup in the universe linking their homes leads to an unsettling discovery—and potential disaster for both of them. Together they must solve the mystery of what connects them before one of them is convicted of a murder that has yet to happen…and yet somehow already did.
Charming characters, time travel, mysteries, adventure, twists and turns that will make you gasp with surprise and turn the pages with anticipation! I highly recommend 'The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster' by Scott Wilbanks with a publication date of August 2015.
I received a free ARC of this book via NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
2015 Book Challenge: 31/75 Books
Annabelle Aster doesn’t bow to convention—not even that of space and time—which makes the 1890s Kansas wheat field that has appeared in her modern-day San Francisco garden easy to accept. Even more peculiar is Elsbeth, the truculent schoolmarm who sends Annie letters through the mysterious brass mailbox perched on the picket fence that now divides their two worlds.
Annie and Elsbeth’s search for an explanation to the hiccup in the universe linking their homes leads to an unsettling discovery—and potential disaster for both of them. Together they must solve the mystery of what connects them before one of them is convicted of a murder that has yet to happen…and yet somehow already did.
Charming characters, time travel, mysteries, adventure, twists and turns that will make you gasp with surprise and turn the pages with anticipation! I highly recommend 'The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster' by Scott Wilbanks with a publication date of August 2015.
I received a free ARC of this book via NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
2015 Book Challenge: 31/75 Books
October 21, 2015
This book is a wonderfully written, multilayered story. The characters are well developed and interesting. I enjoyed Mr. Wilbanks's writing style. The pace and construction kept me hooked so I didn't worry about when or how other aspects would come together. I did find myself flipping back at times to double check details because I got a little lost, but that didn't detract terribly from the overall story. I recommend this for some good fall reading; I think it's a fantastic read to curl up with on a rainy day. Make yourself some tea and dive in.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
November 15, 2015
Great story that reminded me of pieces of several other very good books that I've read along the way, but still manages to hold its own. A few small issues in the plot (one seemingly unnecessary plot piece and one that was handled a bit awkwardly) that kept me from giving it a full five stars, but still a very good read. This one kept me up until 2am just so I could finish it. Cover to cover in one sitting. Obviously it did quite well at holding my attention. I look forward to reading his future works.
July 30, 2016
Welcome to the world of Annie Aster where not everything is as it seems. Annie isn't as she seems either. A house appears in her fields and she's getting letters from a woman a century ago. Go back in time to figure out the mystery of the magic door, how Annie and Elsbeth are intertwined and meet some other great characters a long the way.
I was very fortunate to FaceTime with this author and also hear the story about how the book came to be, who he modeled the characters after and what drives him as an author. Great fantasy read!
I was very fortunate to FaceTime with this author and also hear the story about how the book came to be, who he modeled the characters after and what drives him as an author. Great fantasy read!
July 31, 2016
What a delightful book! Scott Wilbanks does a spectacular job of world building and the reader becomes immersed. The characters leap into your imagination and take hold. His descriptions anchor you to the page making you want to read "just a little bit longer." (past your your bedtime, past the time you need to leave to get them from school, wait... do they actually NEED dinner.) Nicely done, I completely enjoyed it.
July 26, 2016
Wow...what a unique and different book. There's most likely at least one character you will be able to relate to, at least a little bit. Scott's writing and language is so lyrical making this such an enjoyable read. If you are looking for an entertaining story that stands out from the crowd, this is it! And reading about Scott himself is as intriguing as his book!!!
September 11, 2015
What a true joy this book is to read! A unique, engaging tale filled with memorable characters and brilliant writing! Scott Wilbanks is a treasure. Can't wait for more of his beautiful voice!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 583 reviews