book-review, books, Historical Fiction, literature, reading

The Women by Kristin Hannah

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At one time the US was filled with pride and unwavering belief in the government. When asked what would you do for your country, boys signed up to be part of the military with pride – theirs, their families, and the country’s. Then came that awful day in November when President Kennedy was shot.

Fear of communism spreading in Asia lead the US to begin its offensive in Vietnam, a place few knew where to find on a map. In the early days of the conflict Frances Grace (Frankie) McGrath attends her brother Fin’s going away party that his parents were holding before he shipped out. A recent graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy, Fin and his buddy Rye were being honored by Connor McGrath, a father that took military honor to heart, and posted pictures of them on his “heroes” wall in his study. Frankie, a newly graduated nurse, signs up with the Army Medical Corp to be near her brother, but before she leaves, the family learns that Fin is killed in action. 

From her first day “in country” we see Frankie grow into a new person. The horrors she and her fellow nurses (and best friends) Ethel and Barb live through are as real and haunting as foot soldiers and pilots experienced. We see how Frankie opens herself up to being in the world. Throughout her time there she struggles with her belief in who she is, what she is able to be, and becomes a top-rated surgical nurse, a great friend, and more.

When finally returning after 2 tours in Vietnam, Frankie is spit upon and called a baby killer by strangers in the streets. She realizes her parents not only will not put her picture on the wall of heroes, but that they told their friends she had been studying abroad in Florence.

Women who served in Vietnam had an especially difficult time getting support when they returned; they were being told there were no women in Vietnam, or that they didn’t see actual combat. When reaching out for help, the VA shunned these women. When the men were starting to get help, there was still no where for these women to turn. The betrayal of the country, as well as the personal betrayals Frankie faced, add salt to the wound. Frankie finds help from the most surprising places.

A truly important story to tell, Kristin Hannah acknowledges that this took her decades to complete. She has done well by the women of Vietnam, being true to the horrors that impacted their lives both while they served, and for the decades since.  

Could this be a metaphor for the country? We went to Vietnam not knowing what we were supposed to do or who we were, and came back knowing less, only to struggle with what reality had dealt us. But in the end, battered and worn, we stand face to face again with who our true self is? Or could the relationships that Frankie have mirror the country? She was lied to, but wanted to believe so desperately. She struggled against what it meant about who she was. Did the country and Frankie keep themselves believing past the time they should have? Did the pain of betrayal bring the country to the brink? All are parallels I see clearly here. Ultimately, when the country faces itself years later, wiser about what happened, did we find our true selves again? Did Frankie? The question is left open.

books, reading

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis

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Another gem of a story that uses real life as a foundation.

Set within the famed art collecting Frick family, this is a story of differences – between those who inspire art versus those that appreciate it, between those with means and those without – and how they support and sometimes improve each other.

The tale is told from the view of two models, decades apart. First, a muse of the early 20th century known as Angelica. While modeling was considered sordid at that time, Angelica was always accompanied by her mother and believed herself to be a muse. She helped artists bring their vision to life. She began modeling to make sure that she and her mother were able to survive.

Veronica, a model in the 1960s, is also modeling to help her family survive, but times are different. Muses are no longer heard, and models are not valued except as ornaments. When speaking her mind, she is thrown out of the modeling job. 

As you hear each tale, interwoven expertly, we witness the cruel manner women are viewed and judged for their beauty, or lack of it, the lengths people go protect what they feel is important, without learning the whole story, and how cruel love can be at times.

Throughout you learn about the Frick family, its famed art collection and library, as well as the spirit that helped build it, all through a mystery that keeps you guessing.  There are murders, thefts, and intrigues throughout, to keep you guessing who you can trust. There is even a scavenger hunt – leading to a hidden treasure – just as the story is a treasure hunt leading us to the truth. 

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

A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam

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What would you do to be with your children?

This is the central question that Rehana Haque is faced with when widowed in East Pakistan.

The story opens with Rehana, freshly widowed, losing custody of her children to her brother and sister-in-law, who take them thousands of miles away from her. We learn that she will need more money to persuade the courts that she can care for them on her own.

Fast forward, we join a gathering of the 10th celebration of the children’s return to their mother. The children, son Sohail and daughter Maya are now university students. Rehana was able to get her children back, even though she never remarried. She was able to build a small home behind her large one, and rented the bigger home to a Hindi family. She built a community of women around her, and was comfortable and caring to others.   

The world around them is also changing. The elected Bengali official Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is arrested and barred from taking office by West Pakistani Punjabi and Pathans. A massacre was led by the West Pakistani to decimate the Bengali community they looked down on. Scores are forced to flee. This is when Rehana’s tenants allow their religious community onto the property to be safe from the massacre. Rehana – a non-Bengali originally from India – unhesitatingly opened her arms, and her limited resources, to make sure these refugees are feed.  

The arrest leads to students – including Maya and Sohail – joining the revolution. Sohail sees his mother’s love and undying devotion to him and requests her help for the rebels. She allows them to bring ammunition and people to stay and train in her yard. She gathers her friends to make blankets from silk saris for the rebels. She does all she can, without real thought to her safety, but always for her children’s. After a detonation that severely injured a rebel general, Sohail brings him to his mother for safety. Soon after, Maya is sent to Calcutta to write press releases for the movement and help at refugee camps.

As Rehana helps the general heal from his wounds, she finds herself attracted to him. She opens herself and shares her secrets of how far she has gone to protect her children. At this time, Sohail again asks his mother for intervention to gain the release of a man that married the girl Sohail loved. Rehana, unable to deny her child anything, goes to her brother and requests help. The tortured man she brings home, however, sickens her to what had been done to people. She flees to go to Maya. While there she ministers to those in the refugee camps, especially her former tenant’s wife.

Through all Rehana’s actions, she has been finding her voice, her desires, and her own strength. While this is a tale of a woman alone standing for herself, she also represents the spirit of Bangladesh. As the country is starting out, they too need to learn of their voice and strength. What both Rehana and Bangladesh will do for their children is almost anything. It is that love and understanding by everyone – those that sacrifice and those that are sacrificed – that brings about independence.  

books, reading

Today a woman went mad in the Supermarket by Hilma Wolitzer

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This is a collection of essays that were written for magazines from late 1960s through the COVID pandemic. Each is a raw glimpse into a life that is extraordinary because of its ordinariness. 

The first story finds a young pregnant woman full of hope and expectations of the next chapter of her life encountering a distraught and overwhelmed mother with two small children blocking her aisle at the supermarket. As the pregnant woman tries to help, she sees through the terror of the mother the stark reality of being overwhelmed by children and how hard and lonely motherhood is. The expectant mother leaves far less sure of herself and the assumptions she made about what life would be after the baby is born.

The additional stories cover other areas of facing reality that was unexpected and now needed to be endured. The stories are told in monotone – underscoring the numbness at the center character of each story as they move through the motions of living. Each story covers a different time in the life of the seemingly same person – even if not explicitly stated. The sameness of this, to me, makes this universal for all people to live through these experiences.

The last story, a heartbreaking reality for so many during the COVID pandemic, brings the collection to a close with the reality that life is fragile, and no matter how much you try, our end is lonely and final.

Well written, full of raw emotion, this is an indictment of the assumptions we make of what life should be versus what life really is.

book-review, books, humor, memoir, reading

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

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Jenny Lawson’s take on life is a one I am in awe of. Despite crippling anxiety and depression, as well as a host of physical ailments, Jenny’s approach to life is not like what many of us have been taught. Her stream of consciousness, ADD topic jumping, and battles with medical insurance actually makes total sense. And the stories she shares will bring you to tears as you laugh so hard you may just fall off your seat!

As always, Jenny brings her sense of humor to some dark subjects, bringing humanity to a disease that is not seen or widely understood – even by those that are in its grip. Her explanations of what she goes through should help more people have empathy for what people who have these illnesses go through. You may find yourself remembering when you felt like this but didn’t understand what you were going through. This deeply personal journey of life, with all its wacky tangents and challenges, gives hope to everyone that we can live a better life by surrounding ourselves with people who care, understanding and accepting yourself for your strengths and your challenges, and laughing your way through it all.

If you haven’t read any of her books, you should absolutely get one as soon as you can!   

book-review, books, Family Drama, reading

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

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I enjoyed this book. How can you not when it starts of with a sarcastic octopus, who ultimately has the best lines in the entire book?  And I promise – no spoilers.

First we meet Marcellus – on day 1299 of his captivity. He is a giant Pacific octopus, exceptionally bright, bored, and aware his life span is coming to an end.

Next, we meet Tova, a 70 year old widow, who works evenings cleaning the Sowell Bay Aquarium each night where Marcellus lives. She has been working there since the death of her husband a few years earlier. She has been keeping herself busy, however, since the mysterious death of her 18 year old son decades before. Being busy helps her move forward in life.

Last, we meet Cameron. A 30 year old man that acts like a teenage boy. He has never taken responsibility or life too seriously, and can never catch a break to get ahead. Unemployed, Cameron awaits his friend while collecting the belongings that were thrown off a balcony while he was being thrown out of his girlfriend’s apartment.

These three beings will leave imprints on each other’s lives that will be remarkable.

As Tova and Marcellus are beginning to face the realities of where they are in life, they begin to have empathy toward each other. A simple act of kindness from Tova, who found Marcellus on the floor in the breakroom tangled in electrical cords, saved Marcellus’ life by getting him free. They become connected by this act, both physically and emotionally. Tova’s hand was entwined in the tentacles when freeing the cords. Suction marks remained after as proof of her being touched by someone or something else.

When Cameron receives a box from his Aunt of belongings from the mother that abandoned him when he was 9, Cameron believes he has found the identity of his unknown father. He leaves to find him and collect on 30 years of child support. When his luggage goes missing it is as if everything that tied him to what he was also went away.

Through a series of bad decisions, followed up by the genuine kindness of strangers, Cameron buys a crappy camper, makes some friends, and gets a job at the aquarium. As the lives and tales of the people he meets calm him, Cameron takes responsibilities seriously, and is even taught by Tova that every job you do is a job that is worth being done well.

As the end draws near for Marcellus – typical lifespan is 3-5 years or 1095 – 1825 days, Tova and Cameron learn from Marcellus how to take care of oneself and ones friends as that time draws near. It is with Marcellus’ help that Tova and Cameron learn lifechanging information, and why Tova made sure that Marcellus’ end was not in captivity.

As each person meets their next steps in life, it is the strength they received from each other that helps them move forward.

book-review, books, essays, humor, memoir, reading

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

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As I listened to this book in my car, I was awed by the insight that was being shared. So much of her story resonated with my experiences in life. I was 25% of the way through the library download when I deliberately turned my car around and went to buy my own copy of this book to have the ability to go through each essay as I need in my life.

Glennon Doyle was a woman that spoke of good Christian roles and beliefs. After enduring years of pain, self hatred and destruction she finally found herself by letting go of conventions that were forced upon her by society that she had internalized. Regardless of how someone feels about the LGBTQ+ community, Glennon brings raw honesty of questioning everything, especially your own beliefs, to make sure you are true to yourself.

Though she has been excommunicated from her former religion for marrying a woman, Glennon is living a kind and generous life that she believes that everyone should live. Her essay on helping someone in need “right now” and then seeking to fix the issue at the source was inspiring. Her drive to help others, to hear others, and to share her truest self is a lesson in bravery and heroism. She has opened her life to others without fear of what the constructed society she lives in says.

I believe I will be returning to this book at times when I need strength.

book-review, books, Family Drama, literature, reading

The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick

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The premise of this book is a bit of a stretch, but somehow it works. Olivia (Liv) Green is a 42 year old wife and mother that works as a cleaner. Her sons are almost grown, with one at University and the other getting ready to head off also. Her husband is constantly being summoned by his sister to talk about their family’s business, which he won’t discuss with Liv.

We see Liv at her jobs – one as a commercial cleaner being left to pick up after people that look through her, one where the parents expect her to care for their kids as well as cleaning for the same cost, and one with her favorite author of all time.

On a Friday she wishes the reclusive author, Essie Starling, a pleasant weekend, only to be informed the following week by a solicitor that Essie is dead and left instructions for Liv to finish her last book and that she can’t tell anyone for 6 months that Essie is dead. As Liv takes on the task, she finds self confidence to stand up for herself against everyone that underestimated her abilities – including herself.

As she works to complete the book in a faithful way for the character – her favorite – to complete the 20th and final book of the series, she digs deep into Essie’s past for inspiration. What she finds shakes her to the core, but also provides her strength to create a new path for herself.   

books, reading

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

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James McBride has impeccable timing, befitting an accomplished jazz musician. His latest book, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, is just like a jazz composition. Each story within it has its own pace, its own focal point, and its own heart, but the soul of all is the same, just like a great improve jazz session. 

You begin with the police asking questions about bones found in a well on Chicken Hill, the poor section of Pottsville, Pennsylvania where Jews and African Americans live together in a marginalized neighborhood. You meet Moshe, a Romanian immigrant and Chona, born in America but marked with a limp from polio. You hear the story of building a dance hall, initially for the Jews of the town, but the expansion of this to provide entertainment for the African Americans also. You meet Nat, Moshe’s right hand with a history of his own, and his wife Addie. You meet their nephew Dodo, who lost both his hearing and his mother because their oven exploded. You meet Big Soap, an Italian immigrant, Fatty, Paper, Bernice, who all grew up in Pottsville, and you hear all their stories. And through this is the friendship of “the best dancer in the world” who was the only Jew left on Chicken Hill when the police came to ask those questions – like the fiddler on the roof.

While each of these stories seems to be separate, all the players you meet are put together for the ultimate coda. Despite the hardships you face because of where you are born, who your family is, your skins color or your religion, your humanity and compassion for others is what will keep life moving forward toward a happy and fulfilling future.  

books, reading

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

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Losing a parent is not easy. The things we cling to that help us keep their memories alive are all different – and different places are specific to these memories too.

This memoir is a review of that pain, and the history of the relationship between a Korean mother and a half Korean American child, Michelle Zauner. This identity was something that needed to be explored as a way to honor her mother’s homeland and her mother. As is so often true, we can find part of our heritage in the foods that are served, and the complicated relationship of what the foods represents.

Michelle is able to come to Eugene, Oregon to help take care of her mother after she is diagnosed with cancer. As Michelle tries to make up for being a “difficult” child, the roles are reversed of caregiver. Michelle begins to see that the foods served to her, the goals set for her, and the items sent to her were all rooted in a fierce love. As Michelle continues to work through the pain that will last as long as she lives, this is an open and honest step toward healing.