Tag: book-reviews

books, read around the world, reading

If you want to make God laugh by Bianca Marais

k4books

Please be aware – there are spoilers in this review/

This book is about how three women’s plans for life were altered beyond recognition and how they coped with this. Told in first person, chapters switch back and forth between narrators. Zodwa is a seventeen-year-old black village girl who is trying to abort her pregnancy as she lives in a squatter camp outside Johannesburg with her mother. Ruth is a rich socialite, watching her marriage disintegrate. Delilah is a former nun working in an orphanage in Ziarre. All three women are tied to each other in the early days of post-apartheid rule in South Africa.

Sisters Ruth and Delilah come back to their childhood home, broken and forlorn, not knowing the other was returning. One day a baby arrives on the porch, and Ruth wants to take him in as her own. Ruth, however, is a white woman living in the middle of an Afrikaner’s society – with them wanting to purchase her property to complete a compound for trophy hunting. Ruth is not cowed by the thugs trying to scare her off, but there are challenges to her unconscious bias from the values her parents instilled.

Delilah, her younger sister, left her home at 18 to be a nun. She left in disgrace, but her family doesn’t know it is because she gave birth to a son and was forced to abandon him. She has spent her life caring for orphans to assuage her guilt.

Zodwa was on the cusp of a new life, looking to build for herself the fortune her brother had made to lead the way out of poverty before he disappeared. She was to follow in his glorified path, but is no longer able to now that she is pregnant. 

Each of these women were shaped by violence inflicted upon them by men. Rape lead to two completed pregnancies and some abortions. But when a child was desired, it was unattainable. The men in power that preyed upon young women were just one more source of shame in South Africa. These women, however, ultimately forgave themselves and found a way to build lives together. While nothing is perfect, it is important to know that these women were strong and never backed down from a fight – be it physical intimidation to sell out and abandon a baby, societal pressure to abandon people with HIV/AIDS, and spiritually holding corrupted priests accountable for abuses against innocent women.

books, reading

Call your Daughter Home by Deb Spera

k4books

It’s 1924 in Branchville, South Carolina.

We are introduced to three strong, but very different women. Gertrude, a white woman beaten by her husband, living in a swamp with her four daughters in severe poverty. After a brutal beating that she wants to hide but can’t – her face is bruised and her eye is swollen shut – her daughter’s raging fever leads her make the difficult decision to save her children, and come to town to ask for a job from Annie Coles,.  

Annie, the matriarch of a former plantation family, runs a financially successful sewing circle, offers Gertrude employment and a place to rent in town. When told she was to start in 4 days time, she turns to Retta, a first generation freed slave that works for Annie, to help the child with a fever. Agreeing to do so, Retta brings possible disaster on her community – a black woman taking charge of a sick white child that may die of hunger under her care is not safe. These women come to each other’s rescue – Annie saved Gertrude by offering a job, Retta saves Gertrude’s daughter’s life, and Gertrude protects Annie, and the town, from Annie’s husband.

While these women were from different social classes and races, the understanding of doing what is right for your children is universal. Helping each other survive is the human condition.   

book-review, books, Family Drama, reading

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

k4books

A migrant family from Nova Scotia picks berries in Maine each summer. These regular workers come and set up house, welcoming the same migrant families to the farm with them to share the labor. The families are full of love and joy as they gather each year together. One summer, however, things take a bad turn. The two youngest – Joe and Ruthie, 8 and 4 respectively – are out one afternoon. Joe leaves Ruthie sitting on a rock in the sunshine not far from the house, and she disappears. The family is distraught, and spends days, and then years searching for her. They only stop returning each summer after Charlie is killed. While neither of these tragedies is their fault, they are blamed because they are Indian.

Norma grows up in a home stifled by an overprotective mother. Norma was the miracle child after many miscarriages. She spent her life under constant watch of her mother, never allowed to be out of her sight. Photos of her before the age of 5 don’t exist, and Norma was told they were lost in a fire. Her Aunt June provides a respite from this stifling love. Norma was plagued by nightmares as a child – the smell of open fires and potatoes, a mother that is not her mother, and more. She is told they are her imagination. She even names her doll Ruthie and has an imaginary friend named Joe.

Told in alternating voices of these two people as they reflect on what had been real, what had been hidden in plain sight, and the agony of not putting things together are heard from both. The regrets of things not understood, things being ignored, or things being kept from them, shaped their lives.

Anger and sadness – two sides of a single coin. Anger consumes Joe, the last person to see Ruthie before she disappeared, as he runs from his family, himself, and his sadness for decades. Sadness consumes Norma, the person that chooses to be by herself because she can’t accept joy of building a family when she feels there is something missing, and the anger at being lied to by all she thought she loved. By facing themselves, forgiving others, and allowing others to help, both are given the gift they were both looking for – love.

book-review, books, Non-Fiction, reading

Fever in the heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan

k4books

This is a true story. The actions happened one hundred years ago.

What happened is abhorrent.

That it happened is unconscionable.

That history may be repeating itself is terrifying.

I even hesitated to write this book review because of fear. But if I learned anything from this book, it is to speak when you need, because no one else will.

This is a book of how men feed on the fears of others to profit for themselves. After reconstruction the South found ways to intimidate the slaves that they had once owned. Even if emancipated, there continued to be groups that believe Blacks were inferior to Whites. Men took to wearing white sheets to imitate ghosts to scare those that are different from them. Thus, the Ku Klux Klan was born. The federal government just after the war was able to dampen this fervor, but after Lincoln was assassinated, pressure from the Southern states to keep the parties together led to an easing of the concerns. Hiram Evans, head of the Klan, looked to expand its influence north. At the same time D.C. Stephenson landed in Indiana. With no real known history, he was able to charm his way into the Klan while finding ways to enrich himself along the way. This money, as well as his charm, led to a huge increase in Klan membership in Indiana – a state that had sent the most men to fight the South in the Civil War. Fear was used openly to prey on “others” to ensure a pure race of “true Americans” – White Protestant Men – who would use this fear to buy politicians, police, store owners, bankers, priests and more to create structural walls to keep these “others” from economic, educational, and social gains. Money helped to hide that D.C. Stephenson, and many others such as Daisy Douglas Barr, helped build this empire of fear. They created a shadow police force that was above the law, and thought of themselves above it too. They were, however, practicing the drinking and debauchery they were deriding in others.

D.C. Stephenson, specifically, threw huge parties flowing with alcohol during Prohibition. Naked women were available to men. People showed up and were photographed in compromising positions that D.C. used against them to get what he wanted. All along, D.C. was assaulting women – something that he had done to a few of them that he married but didn’t tell anyone about. Then one day he decided that Madge Oberholtzer was his next victim. He lured her to his mansion, drugged her, forced her to board a train to Chicago where he brutally assaulted her – not only raping her but biting out chunks of her flesh. She was able to buy poison to kill herself to escape, but decided after she had taken half a dose that she needed to stay alive to make him pay. Her mother’s presence at the Stephenson mansion led to Madge being abruptly taken home, ill and badly beaten. There Madge was able to dictate and correct a testimony of what happened to her. It is through this testimony, and that of the coroner and doctor that treated her, that brought about D.C Stephenson’s indictment.

D.C. was not concerned about losing the murder case brought against him. He had people owing him, all the way up to the governor’s office. What he didn’t count on was that the men of the jury had seen through his charade and were only concerned about the penalty he would pay. If not for these men, D.C. would not have turned on those that did not save him, spilling the whole sordid story – memberships and secrets – to make these men pay for the betrayal. The whole of the plan to land D.C. in the white house would never have come to light otherwise. As he said himself – he would have been a dictator.

What truly scares me of this entirely true story is the comparisons of today: 

D.C. Stephenson, a drifter and con-man, arrives in Indiana. He has tried his hand at a number of enterprises that failed, has left wives and a child along the way. His personal history was ever shifting. He began to peddle hatred – of Blacks, Catholics, Irish, Italian and Jews. Anyone that is not “fully Americanized.” This meant white, protestant, born here – no disabilities or mental challenges allowed. He rises quickly through the ranks of an organization – the Klu Klux Klan – as he enriches himself through cutting deals to take cuts of membership fees, robe costs, bootlegging (during prohibition) and more. He gets people to fear others. He begins to bring politicians, police, and priests into the fold, helping propel a reign of terror in Indiana while giving a group think of “being right”. He claims “I am the law.” After multiple assaults on women, one finally speaks out on the cannibalistic and brutal assault she endured. He is indicted, but his slate of politicians still wins. 

Donald J Trump, a con-man, arrives on reality tv, trying out his latest enterprise by saying he’s so successful. To my recollection there has been an airline, a university, a board game, a vodka, steaks, water, magazines, casinos, winery, and cologne businesses that have failed. He has left wives and children. He has peddled hatred – of outsiders from other countries, people with disabilities, veterans, and women. He talks about bringing back America to those that deserve it – the White Protestant Americans that make up his political base. He has been known to put a price on loyalty to him above anything else. Women have claimed he has slept with them (e.g. Stormy Daniels) or raped them (E Jean Carroll). He has claimed he can shoot someone on Wall Street and get away with it. He is indicted, but he still has the nomination of the Republican party. He has said he would be dictator.

Who will be today’s brave soul that will stand against the fear to do what is right? Only time will tell.

book-review, books, mystery, reading

Thursday Murder Club #1-4 by Richard Osman

k4books

Thursday Murder Club; The man that died twice; The bullet that missed; The last devil to die

Please read this series in order. You lose too much if you don’t. 

At a peaceful retirement village in Kent, England, four friends meet Thursdays to solve cold case murders in the puzzle room. As these four friends work to solve these murders they make friends with two police officers, and many other friends, new and old, that help them solve the murders.  Through the course of these books, you learn of each of these senior’s strengths, and how each fill needs in the overall group. It is through the lived experiences that they are able to accept themselves for what and when they can help the others achieve the group’s goals. They learn to rely upon each other to help open themselves up to the world they are facing, including challenges of aging and identity.

Joyce, narrator to her diary in between the chapters that helps the story move forward, or stay confused, is a former nurse who is the glue that keeps everyone together with her chattering, baking and sunny disposition, but she is struggling to maintain a connection with her adult daughter.  Elizabeth, a former spy, takes control of each situation due to her experience in the thick of surviving life, but when it comes to saving her husband from dementia, she is out of her element. Ibrahim is a retired psychiatrist, with an analytical mind and a protective demeanor, who the group relies upon for a cool head and clear insights.  Ron, a former union leader, is a staunch Ham football supporter and a bit rough around the edges. His heart is shown when Ibrahim is hurt when he refuses to allow Ibrahim to be alone in the hospital.  Add in two Kent detectives, a news caster, a makeup artist, a Polish handyman, a teacher, a KGB operative, a drug dealer, an art forger and a diamond thief and a couple of dead bodies and you have a series of mix ups and intrigue that will keep you and the pensioners on their toes.

The story keeps building upon itself, so the characters are revealed over the arc of the stories, thus the need to read them in order. I am looking forward to seeing where else the group can go, but I am satisfied with the current ending. The last installment showed how the core four friends are understanding of each other and have helped each person be where they needed to be to survive. The gentleness of which they care for each other was so real that I wept.  If the story follows only a few, I would be afraid the charm of the group would be sacrificed.

Spend the time getting to know these pensioners – you will not regret it.

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

The redhead by the side of the road by Anne Tyler

k4books

This is the story of Micah, a fortyish year-old man that lives in a basement apartment where he is the super, runs a free-lance computer tech business, and lives a regimented and predictable life. We see how Micah is in need of this structure, but yet his dreams and his visualizations tell you otherwise. When he is running each morning without his glasses, he believes that the fire-hydrant is a redhead child and that there are other objects that resemble people also. Then there is the dream of a baby being left at a store in an actual dream.

When a teenage boy shows up on his doorstep asking if Micah is his father, however, what Micah thinks is normal is turned on its head. He begins to examine his life, and his choices, that have left him alone (his girlfriend Cass of three years had just left him) and unhappy. This awakening, something that Anne Tyler writes about in such beautiful language, is how the book ends.

Similar themes as in most of Tylers books, this is yet another example of how living a small life comes at a cost. 

book-review, books, Family Drama, reading

Herring Cove Road Trilogy by Michael Kroft

k4books

On Herring Cove Road: Mr Rosen and the 43lb anxiety

Still on Herring Cove Road: Hickory, Dickory Death

Off Herring Cove Road: The trouble with being Blue

This is a series that is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. In the first book you meet Ruth and Avriel Rosen. An older couple that has retired and recently moved to a new home on Herring Cove Road. In the first book you first meet Dewey Dixon, a ten year old boy that lives next door to the Rosen’s. Being unwelcome as Jews by the father, Mr. Rosen is a bit offended when addressed as Mr. Jew by the young child. Ruth, however, befriends Dewey’s mother Lisa, who is horrified to hear her son call them this, as she didn’t know her bigoted husband had impacted her son this way. Dewey, however, just thought it was their last name. 

As the friendship between the two families grow, Lisa and Dewey come to rely on the Rosen’s. Through death, poverty, drugs, and kidnapping, a family of choice emerges. They take care of each other, and put all on the line to ensure the safety, physical and mental, are taken care of for all. 

Over three books you see the back stories of these people, how they became who they are, and how they learn to rely upon each other. With the first book being my favorite, the other books give a satisfying if not joyful conclusion to the story. There is also a prequel in the series but I did not read that.

A fun and gentle story of how we all rely on each other; how we just need to be open to allowing others to help.

Black Experience, book-review, books, literature, reading

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

k4books

This is a story told from many perspectives. Structured as notes for an article that will become a book, you hear from participants leading up to and after the fateful day when someone was killed during a concert – James “Jimmy” Shelton III, the drummer, the author of this book’s father. Through the interviews and research of the main players in the band we meet Neville “Nev” Charles, a white man from England – a decent musician but not spectacular. We also meet Opal, a black woman aware of her place in the world of 1970s America. Both are seeking a shot at something more. These two meet when Nev and his record label’s owner seek out a complementary voice at open mic nights across the mid-west. Sparks fly in the creative process. Opal & Nev start off imbalanced in power – Nev was the writer of the songs and Opal was to be featured – and Opal is aware she needs to bring something more. She does with her voice, her looks, and her anger. Nev and Opal begin to make some cutting=edge punk (not a term yet in the music world) music. During the studio sessions to record, however, Opal begins a relationship with the only other black person in the room – Jimmy Shelton, a gifted drummer respected in the industry. The duo, however, could not really find a following. In a desperate, move the record label decides to put on a showcase of the artists they have, anchored by a band that had hits but were racist, self-important, and part of an infamous motorcycle gang. During that concert tensions between races erupted and Jimmy is killed.

S. Sunny Shelton, the editor of a major music magazine and author of the book at the center of this story, has been chasing the participants to better understand why her father died that night. What she comes to learn through the process, however, is that she was focusing on the wrong thing. What was it that made Opal – the black woman that challenged the norms – the focus of the speculation for having started the riot anyway? What was she trying to say? Who was trying to stop her from saying it? And what is the cost you will pay for ensuring you are true to your own voice?

As the layers are pealed back, we see that the real culprits – those white people that instigated the riot and those that perpetrated the murder – avoid paying the price that the black people pay – literally and figuratively. As history begins to repeat itself during the much anticipated reunion of the duo, the truth of the deception is faced. The source of the “truth” is from a racist man that started the whole terrible thing. Assuming deniability because of stereotypes you hold – can keep you from the truth and from finding justice.

A powerfully written story, unveiled in a slow and meaningful way. This has been replaying in my mind since I finished it. I am looking forward to reading more by this author, as the pacing and underlying messages were brilliantly planned and executed.

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

Absolution by Alice McDermott

k4books

Wonderful language and understanding of the role of women in the 1960s, the life of ex-pats in Saigon, and reflections on these events as time has passed.

A newly wed couple arrives in Saigon where wife Tricia and husband Peter begin their tour there. Devote Catholics, they are hoping to make Vietnam a better place – safe from communism. Tricia is painfully shy, from a working class family, who always feels a bit out of her element in the world. Charlene is a powerhouse organizer, who senses this timidity, immediately selects Tricia as the next person to help out with projects to do good in the world. These schemes are challenged by many throughout the community of Saigon, and in fact are referred to as a cabal by Charlene’s husband Kent.

The dual definition of this – not simply a group or club but also contrived schemes of a group of persons secretly united in a plot – that shows the duality of much of the story. Much of the book is exploring the motivation behind helping others. The women of the story believe they are there to help lesser nation, usually because their husband thought this. As with their husbands, however, their efforts to help create a different mess.

At its core, the book asks questions of these women that we ask of our country – does a good deed help those receiving it or those that are bestowing it? Is altruism real? What cost did the children of the countries of Vietnam and of the United States pay? How did we all allow ourselves to be led by others so easily?  

Black Experience, book-review, books, literature, reading

James by Percival Everett

k4books

If you are unfamiliar with Percival Everett’s work, it will help you to understand that he focuses on the use of language before you start this book. This is the story started by Huckleberry Finn, but from with Jim as the protagonist. To believe this is simply a retelling of the Mark Twain tale is to enter the book from the wrong standpoint. In the original telling Jim is made a simpleton, with Huck saving him. In this telling, the story is about an intelligent man in terrible circumstances helping a boy survive an adventure of his own making while staying focused on the pursuit of justice for a family born in servitude.

Language – its acquisition and its use – is a symbol of expected intelligence. This novel shows it as another protection to survive. By using language to fool the white people into a false sense of safety and superiority allows for the slaves to build a rich life together under the noses of those that believe themselves better. When there is treasure found with Huck it is the books that Jim clings to. His simple request for a pencil, however, to write his story leads to tragedy for the man who brought him the pencil. As Jim puts his story down on paper, you see how much the pencil, and his ability to use this language, is dangerous. From the beginning of Jim’s “adventure” you see him switch between the poverty of language expected of a slave to the breadth of language when posing as a white man in blackface, never knowing how to speak to stay “safe”. The brutality in the book shown to those of color is jarring and explicit. The lengths taken to keep slaves in fear are extreme. Throughout Jim’s adventure, however, we begin to see him emerging from the fear and desire to simply survive into an angry man in search for true justice and action.

The structure of the book is itself part of the telling. You begin with the lyrics to derogatory songs made to make fun of the slaves, with more songs interspersed between the story. This is James’ journal of his feelings and thoughts. And the ending you learn of the structure further in the book, and upon reflection it makes perfect sense.

This book, in my opinion, needs to have multiple readings. I personally read it the first time, but have heard that the audio version highlights the language changes even more. The message is multi-layered and deserves many revisits to learn more about the time, and ourselves.