Category: book-review

Book Review

book-review, Family Drama, read around the world, romance

Lucinda Riley’s The Sun Sister

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Some times life can overwhelm you, and you just want to escape. That is the best time to pick up a good book and dive on in. Last week I took the opportunity to do that with the sixth book in Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters series, The Sun Sister.

As a reminder, this series is centered around a family of adopted daughters – six in total, that are named for the Seven Sisters constellation. Each is brought to their adoptive father’s home in Geneva but none ask for information on where they have come from. After Pa mysteriously dies and the body is whisked away, there remains some questions about what has happened. Coordinates are left for where they were born, as well as a quote to start them on their quest. The sister’s stories are all explored in each book. In this book, Electra is the focus. The sixth sister, she is a famous model, who is drowning herself in vodka and sleeping pills. After a breakup with Mitch, a rock star that she thought was “the one,” Electra has been using alcohol and pills to face each day, quieting the voices in her head. She had run away from her boarding schools, and was expelled from others. She had moved to Paris at 16 and was discovered at the café she was working as a waitress at. From that time, she had been on the road constantly. One evening Mitch told her she he was going to announce his engagement to another woman, and all Electra’s belongings that had been at his house were returned via moving van. It is in these boxes that the final letter from Pa and the coordinates are found. Electra finds out she has a grandmother. Electra downed at least one bottle of vodka and an unknown number of sleeping pills, and her assistant found her and helps her survive what could have been a fatal mistake. After this, Electra agrees to enter a rehab center recommended by her sister.

As the story progresses, we learn a story from her Grandmother, Stella. Cecily, a woman in 1930s New York society, is abandoned by her fiancé, and suffers the humiliation of being overlooked as the former future husband introduces a new woman as his new fiancé weeks after the breakup. In order to remove herself from the snubs that were happening daily, she chooses to travel to Kenya with her godmother, Kiki. Upon the insistence of her mother, Cecily goes via England, to stay with her mother’s best friend. While there she is romanced by the heir to the earldom, who disappears before she leaves. When Cecily and Kiki finally arrive in Kenya, Cecily is overwhelmed by how beautiful the country is. As she meets people and makes friends, and ends up marrying Bill. As their story progresses, you see glimpses of “Out of Africa” on the love and beauty of Kenya, misunderstanding and forgiveness.

As both stories are unravelled, the stark reality of race relations is examined. It is revealed that Electra is black, and that has kept her felling different and outside always. These themes were more serious than the other sister’s, so I was much more wrapped up in the story here, both for Cecily and for Electra.

I started the series last year, not realizing that I was going to catch up and overtake the author in the books being finished. This one was published in October – and now I probably have to wait two years to finish this series. It will be hard but I have no choice.

book-review, Family Drama, Indigenous American, literature

There, There a story of a place that doesn’t exist anymore

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Years ago I had been a participant in a program on diversity. During this program we were asked to create a spectrum of I am no sure what. I do, however remember that the facilitator stated that the Natives and the Jews should be together since we were both parts of tribes. At the time, I remember it was intriguing, but I didn’t explore it much.

As I listen to There There I am struck by the sad similarities and differences between our tribes. The book is made up of twelve separate stories that are tangentially collected. Early on we meet Jackie Red Feather and her sister Opal Victoria Viola Bear Shield. Their mother, recently battered by one of the girl’s father’s, takes the girls to join other Natives taking over Alcatraz. This reminds me of the Jews that fled Jerusalem after the first and second temples were destroyed. They fled to a fortress also to keep their way of life alive. Ultimately both fail to gain their demands, but they came together to build a community, which at the core of each is the most important part.

Other stories are added, where Natives are spoken down to, not heard, not given opportunities. They are herded together, but they don’t believe it can be that bad, people are not that evil. Both the Jews and the Natives were wrong in that belief, as they both face massacres in scale and scope that truly underline how evil exists in the world.

One character, Dene, earns a grant to capture the stories of Natives – who they are, what it means to be Native, and how they came to be there. This is also something that the Jews have done since the end of World War 2, bearing witness and sharing.

One way that is not similar is the susceptibility of Natives to addiction. Tobacco, alcohol, and drugs are devastating to these people. The number of children born addicted is disproportionately high versus the US population. One section shares the speech of a suicide prevention specialist that was especially compelling. It is that just telling them to stop doing it does not address the real problem. That was hopelessness. If there was hope, there would not be as many choosing to check out.

All roads lead to the Big Pow Wow in Oakland. This is a trial for the Indian Center – if it goes well, they will do more. Its an opportunity to dance, to learn from the big drums, to be with your people, and to try for big prize money. It is also where the White parts of the Natives, illustrated by the White 3d printed guns, does random destruction and irreparable damage to those in attendance.

As all tragedies do, it tears some apart, while bringing others together. Either way, none are the same. They are all just trying to survive and honor who they are and where they came from.

book-review, memoir, Non-Fiction, read around the world

Jerusalem – the heart in four chambers

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Jerusalem Drawn and Quartered by Sarah Tuttle-Singer was a memoir I was very much drawn to read.  The premise of the book was to live for one year within the walls of the old city, time spent in each one of the quarters.  I was excited to read the stories about how each section was, the differences and the similarities. 
What the book ended up being, however, was a woman that is still processing traumas.  From the onset of reading the book, you learn of the author’s love of Israel, how she came as a teen and how she fell in love with the place.  Her mother had done the same thing, and had passed on this love of the country. 
You are then plunged into half stories and innuendo on her mother’s death, a possible sexual assault, a stoning, an abusive relationship, and a divorce and another sexual assault.  The story telling of this is all in the backdrop of explaining the different parts of Jerusalem, friends and acquaintances.  She spends 3 days at a time in the old city, so she can be with her children the other days near the kibbutz they live on with their father.  She is not a resident in any quarter, but a short time visitor.  She is always looking for the rooftop, echoing a story of her grandmother’s first time in Israel and being caught kissing someone on a roof before being sent to Chicago.  There are sparks of conversations and insights that I wish the author would have explored more:  
  • The person who’s fiancé was born in the old city, but left in 1967 to be with his father in Jordan, and cannot get a visa to come back, so the fiancé needed to chose between the person she loved or the city she loved.
  • The Muslim family that invited her in one night when she was out near dark and it was not safe. This matriarch, with a girl and boy just like the author’s, was never fully developed.  We never learn of the ways of the family, just the fact that both mothers wanted their children to go out and save the environment together.  The common ground between the two were only explored on the surface. 
  • The Arab man that sat with her over coffee to tell her that his family fled in 1948 to stay safe from the war. They came back when it was done and someone else was in their house.  They want their house back. 
  • The Muslim tailor that gave the author’s daughter her first Jewish Star necklace, the taxi driver that thanked her for making friends with Arabs and apologized for all the terror that had been done on behalf of his people (which the author reciprocated). 

All of these were mentioned, but not examined in anything more than the observation that these things happen. 

A major part of the story is her processing her mother’s death, an abusive relationship, a possible assault, a stoning and more.  I have tried my best to see if these are to be metaphors for the city of Jerusalem, but I am just not convinced these are.  The loss of innocence, the spilling of blood, the abuse of those you love – while there may be some similarities, they remain too vague to be real, in my opinion.  That is why I am so unsure about what the point of the book was.  To me it was more of an exercise to see if she could be strong for herself and her children, while putting herself in danger with stupid decisions (really – why on earth would I feel this woman is strong because someone followed her to a hotel and she yelled at him, when earlier she just stood and took it when someone undressed her when she didn’t want it at a different one?)  She kept relaying both sides of herself – again not sure if was supposed to be metaphor for the city or not, but it made me not like her.

After reading the book, I want even more to understand the differences between the quarters.  Why they are there, what motivates them, and what commonalities or assumptions that everyone has – so we can break down barriers toward a real peace. 
In this time of forgiveness and atonement, I was hoping for more.
book-review, books, literature, Middle Eastern, read around the world, reading

Chronicle of a last summer

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As the summer of 2019 draws to an end, there is much in the world that has not changed in the last 30 years, and yet there is also much that has changed.  One place where this is most evident is in the Middle East.  Conflicts there go back millenniums.  In the cradle of civilization – Egypt – there is a long history of rulers and those that overthrow them.  The monuments built to honor these rulers are a never ending source of fascination and discovery.

Modern Egypt, however, has had its own struggles.  Since the British came to install a monarchy there have been struggles between those in power and those that are not.  If you have not read The Palace Walk by Mahfouz, you truly need to.  His descriptions of the household take me back to those that Henry James wrote in his novels – with the position of the shades helping to illustrate the manners of those that inhabit the home.

In this month’s Horizon’s challenge to read something from Egypt, I therefore picked Chronicles of a Past Summer by Yasmine El Rashidi. An Egyptian author, this is another book that was translated to English. Although at times I felt that the translation was a bit flat in tone, the story was so compelling that I remained dwelling on this for days.  The story is told by a woman who grows up through the book.  You are never given her name.  At the start she is 6 years old and Sadat had just been murdered.  Her father has disappeared, and her mother sits on the phone talking in foreign languages so she doesn’t understand what is being said.  The girl sits with her mother in front of the TV with 3 channels, all muted.  There is only state run programs, and they are only available for parts of the day.  The power is cut off for at least one hour a day, and the summer has been hotter than she has ever experienced.  She is living in the home her mother grew up in, with her grandmother and aunt (Nesma) living downstairs.  Nesma has downs syndrome and must be cared for. She was hidden away in the house and the family did not speak of her much.  Her grandmother, however, had people streaming in and out of the apartment, which was filled with food, conversation and debates.  This is a metaphor for the country.  While there are people invited in to celebrate all that is good, there remains parts of the country that are closed off to others who must speak the proper language to get what they need or want. It appears that the mother’s family was connected to Sadat, and when the Brotherhood murders him, there is great turmoil in who will take over.  The girl, however, does not ask questions or understands much, and simply goes with the flow of the tide.

After a time we return to the girl, now in college.  The downstairs part of the house has been closed off, as the grandmother and Nesma have died – the old and innocent ways are now gone.  She begins to see things around her. Her cousin Dido meets with her often, speaking of politics and trying to get the girl to write a book about what is happening.  She is not as convinced, since she is still learning what her voice is. They drift apart as he becomes more strident in his protests against the government. He wants the overthrow of President Mubarak.  There is now tv that runs all day long, but there are still cutoffs happening to the power.  There are discussions on how Nasser – the first revolutionary in modern times, was idealistic, but made mistakes by promising to give away things. That sapped the desire to work, and corrupted others into just hustling to not pay for anything.

More time goes, and the girl is now in Graduate School.  She has lost touch with Dido because she was not as passionate about speaking out as he is. Her father returns home with no explanation. She begins to film documentaries. As she spends more time with her father, he begins to explain that the more things change the more they stay the same.  Another leader promising better futures, and the delivery of those promises are not achievable, or can even be detrimental. Anything to move them forward. The power cuts still come, but now for about one hour a day. Dido is in jail and will pay the full price for his dissidence.

In the last section of the book, the girl, now older again, has come to the conclusion that there is a cycle of hope and disillusionment that they are caught up in. It keeps circling and repeating itself. It will not stop if you are silent, nor if you speak. We just keep the record playing until there is a scratch that does not allow for the same thing to continue.  That typically means another revolution is on its way.

 

 

 

 

book-review, books, literature, mystery, reading

Mystery, the old fashion way, with a twist

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I just finished reading The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.  The writing reminded me of Agatha Christie.  To start the book, the central character awakes yelling “Anna” as he hears someone running in the forest and a shot, not knowing who or where he is.  Thus starts the mystery of finding out the answer of who kills Evelyn at 11:00pm that day.  Each day, however, the main character awakes in a different body of a guest at the house.  He has eight days to solve the mystery, or the loop starts again.

Throughout the story’s twists and turns, you learn about the people in the body as well as the person that is jumping between them. In the end, the choices you make based upon who you are, and what you become, are all that is left you.  Memories of what made you can take you in different directions, and you can learn from being forced to make other choices.  We are all a collection of the choices we make.  Once we remain true to our most real self making those choices, we will find out way in life.

 

book-review, books, literature, Middle Eastern, read around the world, reading

There is no place like home

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I have been reading many books that have been translated this year.  I have found that my reactions to the translation can impact the experience of the book.  I find that especially on books translated from middle eastern languages.  With this in mind, I started reading Homesick by Eshkol Nevo.

This book was designed to switch from perspective to perspective, with no indication of the point of view until you read the words.  The characters here represent different sections of Israeli society.  The community that the story is focused on is made up of Jewish immigrants from Kurdistan that settled there after the war of 1948, when the Arabs living there abandoned the village. Moshe and Sima are a couple that struggles with the pressure of being religious Jews.  Yotam lost his older brother in the conflicts, and his parents are lost in grief.  Noa and Avram have travelled around the world in search of themselves.  As each of these families go about struggling through their lives, unaware that they are settled where a village used to be.  Saddiq, who’s family owned the land for centuries under Turkish rule, is now working in the village building a new house.

Throughout this, Avram’s friend is writing him, talking of love, adventure and more. As the story concludes, the community that is built helps define what it means to be home, with all its various meanings.

Even with the translation, the language is compelling and thought provoking.  I recommended this book.

book-review, books, memoir, Non-Fiction, reading

Odyssey – the epic that keeps teaching us about ourselves

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When I saw a book [An Odyssey:  A father, a son and an epic] about a father taking his son’s college level seminar on the Odyssey, I was intrigued.  Daniel Mendelson’s story, entwined with the epic itself, takes the opportunity to teach us parts of the classic story while mirroring what he is teaching.  The poem tells you what will happen at the beginning, in the first lines of the poem.  That is also done in this story.  As the circles of the poem are wrapped around us, Mendelson does the same, going back and forth in time, as the epic does.  It is so well done, and even though I know what happens, when I got to the end, I burst into sobs – not just tears.  He had made this epic of his life, his own journey to find his father, that I was caught up with him.  As I take the lessons taught in this book, I am thankful for the truth of knowing my parents.  I had time with them when both my sisters were off at college.  During that time we were able to forge a special relationship, able to build more adult relationships.  I pray that I am able to do the same with my children.  They taught me well.

book-review, books, Family Drama, literature, Middle Eastern, read around the world, reading

Does peace have a chance?

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The topic of death is as old as we are. Death can be quite, loud, soft or hard. It is especially hard when it comes in the aftermath of a battle or war.  Eras are defined then by what is said about them when it is all done. The scars are deep, and as always, the artists and writers are the ones that are able to communicate the worlds of before, during and after.  I have explored this before, but I return to this after I read Death is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa.

The plot of the book is simple enough:  a father dies after extracting a promise from his eldest son. That promise is that the son, known as Bolbol, will take his father to be buried in his home town, next to his sister.  In normal times this would not be a large request.  Difficulties abound in Damascus, where Abdel Latif died of old age amid the chaos of the dead from the Syrian civil war.  Bolbol enlists his siblings, Hussein and Fatima to help. From the outset there was reluctance to do this, because it could be fatal to attempt, but they grudgingly come together.  They are forced to take the body from the morgue and transport it via Hussein’s minibus because there was no other way. As the three children come together, we begin to learn their personal stories, as well as the father’s.

There are many ways to interpret the story and the characters.  The body of the idealistic, harsh, and dead father is the death of the ideals of what war was based upon. The condition of the body, and the absurdity that it goes through can only be a statement on the beliefs of any group.  As time wages on, the idealism falls to power grabs and pure greed, with the ideals rotting from within. The same is true of the body – and all that come near are assaulted by the smell, but let it pass.  It is before it begins to decay that the military try to arrest the dead man.

The two brother’s stories were sad in that each tried their own way, and each ended up alone. One went out to find riches and power, and became a glorified runner for a gang.  The other was too afraid to search for riches, so lived his life to keep others away, living in a world of his own making in his mind. Both were trying to be on their own outside the family, but being drawn back in as they got closer to Anabiya.  Their sister, Fatima, was the least drawn out character. Her Aunt Layla wanted to continue to learn, but was promised in marriage instead. She warned them that she would rather set herself on fire than marry, and she did set herself aflame on the roof just before the marriage was to take place. She was buried alone and was a stain on the family’s name. Fatima came on the journey and was mistreated by Hussein, ignored when she fretted over the condition of the body, and ultimately rendered mute by the end of the journey. The statement that this makes on the journey of women is overwhelming. We have gone from being ignored of what we say and having that be a stigma on the family name, to not even being able to speak.  This is underlined in the book that the closer they got to the family home, the more she was asked to cover up.  So much so that Abdel Latif is ultimately not buried next to his sister because others felt she should be forgotten, even when she was not.

The concept of revenge means that the anger is never done – the blood will continue to flow.  Just as the rabid dogs try to get the decaying body, those rabid followers of the ideas will never stop now that they have tasted blood.

As a statement on the possibility of peace, this story is not one that I enjoyed. It was, I believe, an indictment on the state that the Middle East, and other areas of the world. Until the need for revenge and the taste of blood is not needed, this absurdity will continue.

Asian Culture, book-review, books, Family Drama, Historical Fiction, humor, literature, mystery, reading, romance

Catching my writing up with my reading

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The last month has been a flurry of activity for me.  The end of school / start of summer; building a new infrastructure at work / ensuring the work doesn’t get missed; packing, cleaning, sorting, training, and all the jumble that goes with this all.

Throughout, however, I have been reading.  I haven’t made the time to write, but I have been reading.  Seven books since my last post.  Here they are, with some context and reactions, in order of my favorites (please note, however, I would recommend any of these):

The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda.  The story follows the eldest son of a farmer who becomes the first in his family to attend college.   Anil understands he is to become a doctor, and spends his youth working toward this.  As he begins his residency in Dallas, Texas, he is torn between the old world and the new. Anil needs to find his way in both medicine and in his family as his worldview has changed.  Alongside this is the story of his childhood pal Leena, travelling the road to marriage as was expected.  Again, expectations are not reality.  At times a bit slow, but fascinating at the same time.

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict: Starting with the stage debut of Hedy Kiesler, a Jewish girl in Austria is courted and won over by a powerful arms dealer that will protect her and her family from Nazi persecution. As Hedy learns of her husband’s true nature, she flees to England, and then Hollywood.  There she becomes Hedy Lamarr, screen star.  Tormented by what she had witnessed in her husband’s home, she develops and patents new technology to help the war effort. This technology, was rejected by the Navy, but the patent was classified as top secret. The technology, no longer classified, is the basis of how all cell phone technology we use currently is based.  To think what we owe this woman, yet she was never able to see what her work has led to. She just believed she was not able to help anyone with her knowledge.

Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin: A college co-ed has an affair with the Florida congressman she has an internship with, and ends up in all the papers as “the other woman.” Her mother has not had contact with her in years. Over ten years later, Jane Young, an event planner in Maine, decides to run for mayor. This single mom has secrets that her daughter discovers, as she flees to Florida to find the answers.

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy:  A black family watches as Detroit disintegrates, just as the family does. Being from Detroit, I knew of all the places that were referenced, and the history of what helped the city’s fall.  The roles of the family members, the real focus of the book, are shown by different parts and times in the city’s history.

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny.  I admit I selected this one because of the title – I am a nerd at heart.  The deviation tracked within the book, however, is not what you would expect.  The protagonist, Graham, is examining the differences between his first and second wives – two polar opposite personalities that he loved dearly at some point in his life.  Interesting view of what we need and what we want at different points in our lives.

Call me by your name by Andre Aciman: A seventeen year old boy’s journey on discovery of himself and his sexuality. The openness of the language and passion can be overwhelming at times in its intensity. The typical first love flaws, but more connectedness than expected.

The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley: The second in the series, this follows Ali to discover her love and her birth family in Greece and Norway.

book-review, books, literature, Middle Eastern, read around the world, reading

Humanity seen through A Woman in Jerusalem by A.B. Yehoshua

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A woman is killed in Jerusalem by a terrorist attack.

No one comes forward that someone was missing.

A paystub was found, and a journalist contacted the business owner to question his humanity.

The owner – in his 80s, became enraged that his humanity was questioned. He demands his Human Resource Manager find out who she was.

He is told to cancel on taking care of his daughter, as promised to his ex-wife that night.  The Office Manager is sent instead.

The HR Manager goes to his office, demanding his secretary come back to the office to help find the paperwork on the person. She is forced to bring her baby, which the HR Manager cares for while she searches.

The personnel file is found. The HR Manager had written notes. She was an electrical engineer in her home country but wanted to work. She was brought on as a cleaner who requested the night shift for extra pay.

Was the task done? No.  Off they march to the bakery to speak with the supervisor.

Turns out that after being accused by the secretary and questioned by the HR Manager, the initial story of her being fired but mistakenly left on the payroll was found untrue. The supervisor admits that he had lusted for this woman, who was too smart and beautiful to be near him or in this type of job. He sent her home while still being paid, so he didn’t have to be tempted by her. Thus no one realized she had not come to work, because she was not expected

When the HR Manager reports to the Owner all this, it appears that he has been told everything. He then asks the HR Manager to take the woman back to her son and mother in the old country to be buried. The trials that they go through, including almost poisoning himself to death, get him to the woman’s home town, only to be questioned why the woman had not been buried in Jerusalem where she had moved to.

The parallels to the Israeli society here are too obvious to miss.  One woman unclaimed meant no one had any humanity. When investigating, they find that she was not the woman they thought she was – not just a cleaning woman but a mother, daughter, lover, and engineer.  She may not have been Jewish, but the orthodox family that gave her housing also gave her a Hebrew name. And through all of these twists, it appears the old man seems to be aware of all these pieces as the HR Manager just discovers it.

The humanity of Israeli society is being questioned daily, both internally and in the press.  Every person, be them Jewish or not, has a reason for wanting to be “going home” to Jerusalem, as the woman’s mother states.  To assume that they would not want to die there and stay is foolhardy. We each need to cleanse ourselves fully to realize this folly – our humanity must always guide us and cannot just be apologized away. Until there is a way found back for all, we should all be questioning our humanity/