The Phoenix Crown

Title:  The Phoenix Crown

Author:  Kate Quinn & Janie Chang

Publication Information:  William Morrow Paperbacks. 2024. 400 pages.

ISBN:  0063304732 / 978-0063304734

Rating:   ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "'A rose by any other name,' someone quote, and Alice Eastwood was hard-pressed not to roll her eyes."

Favorite Quote:  "Well, maybe she was tired of being good. Maybe she wanted to play the game for once, and play it for all she could get."

On Wednesday, April 18, 1906, Northern California including the San Francisco bay area was hit by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake. In the aftermath of the earthquake, massive fires broke out all over the city and lasted for days. Over eighty percent of the city was destroyed, and over 3,000 people died.

This story begins about 2 weeks before the earthquake.

Four women:

• Suling - a young woman in the city's Chinatown trying to avoid a forced marriage.
• Gemma - an opera singer looking for her friend and a new start.
• Nelli - Gemma's friend who seems to have disappeared.
• Alice Eastwood - a botanist. This character is based on an actual historical figure. The real Alice Eastwood was a botanist and is credited with saving part of the plant collection of the California Academy of Sciences during the 1906 earthquake and the ensuing fires. Nothing much survived beyond what she saved. 

One man - Henry Thornton.

One legendary artifact - The Phoenix Crown, an antique from Beijing's summer palace. The phoenix crown actually are called fengguan, and they historically are "hats" or crowns worn by Chinese brides and noblewomen. 

These lives meet and intersect. Plans are made. Alliances are forged. Betrayals happen. There is an incidental love story. It seems there for the sake of being there, not central to the main story of the book.

Then, the earthquake happens, and Henry Thornton disappears along with the crowns.

Five years later, in 1911, the crown reappears. The mystery and the dresire for revenge, retribution, and more brings these characters to a finale crash.

The story introduces each characters and their backstory. It takes a while for the connections to form and for the reader to see the threads come together. The historical setting - the city before, during, and after the earthquake - really comes to life. I can "see" it and feel as though I am walking those streets. 

This book is part historical fiction and part thriller and mystery. The history give the book its vivid color. The female characters draw attention to the challenges faced by women at that time and in that place. The mystery and the chase give the book its pace. The pace definitely picks up more later in the book as the story fast forwards five years. 

Overall, a fun read. This is my first book by these authors. I will likely look for more.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Redwood Court

Title:  Redwood Court

Author:  Délana R. A. Dameron

Publication Information:  The Dial Press. 2024. 304 pages.

ISBN:  0593447026 / 978-0593447024

Rating:   ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "My grandpa Teeta says I am the second and last daughter of Rhina, who is the only daughter of Weesie, who was the first daughter of Lady, who is the secret daughter of Big Sis, who was born to Sarah, who came from Esra, the adopted daughter of Ruth (who adopted her because Esra was a salve and was sold without her mama, but the story was Esra's mama had thirteen children depending on who asked and depending on if you counted those unborn or born dead)"

Favorite Quote:  "... the future and the joy and risk and pain are worth it if our generation experience a greater freedom than we're allotted."

Redwood Court is a story of a time and a place. Redwood Court is literally that - a cul-de-sac in an all-Black working-class suburb of Columbia, South Carolina. The main character is Mika as she grows up in the 1990s surrounded by family and their stories. The stories trace the history and reality of any family - the love, the loss, the joy, and the drama. Through this particular family, the book also portrays the history of being black in America, particularly in the American South. The fact that the reader sees these through the eyes of a child growing up in the 90s adds an additional layer as she navigates her childhood and also create an interesting perspective of the history embedded in the adult stories. As an adult reader, I read between the lines of what Mika sees to the deeper concepts that lie beyond.

The story is of history and community, much more character driven than plot driven. The place - Redwood Court - is as much a character in the book as the people. The history and the communitiy feels authentic. Redwood Court comes to life. I can see it full of real people, love, laughter, tears, conversations on the porch, and community coming together. The stories and the characters cover multiple generations and the history - spoken and unspoken - that surrounds them. It picks up on the everyday details of life, that help create a painting of this family and community. 

Being character and history driven, the story is a slow and quiet one. While that may be the goal, that also keeps it from engaging me emotionally. Sometimes it is too quiet and too focused on time and place. I want more story. Perhaps, I want more focus on any of the myriad story lines rather than having them all seem to fade into the bigger picture. I want more of an anchor in a character's story. The fact that the story also jumps back and forth in time makes this more of a challenge as well. Being time and place driven, the book also just ends. There is not truly a conclusion because the point is not a plot to be concluded.

That being said, I am glad I read it. It made me think and reflect on American history and on the bonds of family and community. It made me walk through my own memories of the "Redwood Courts" of our family history and all the stories they hold.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Book of Fire

Title:  The Book of Fire

Author:  Christy Lefteri

Publication Information:  Ballantine Books. 2024. 336 pages.

ISBN:  0593497279 / 978-0593497272

Rating:   ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "This morning, I met the man who started the fire."

Favorite Quote:  "There is something about stories that allows us to process the present. We listen to tales of tribulations overcome so that we might imagine we can survive ours. Children listen to the same fairy tale time and time again because there is a puzzle in their hearts that they unknowingly need to solve."

A small Greek village. An idyllic life. A fire. Life forever altered. An opportunity for retribution. A fateful, life altering decision. Life beyond with its challenges, its guilt, and its hope.

The book tells the story through Irini's eyes and, more importantly, the story of her thoughts. They meander through life before the fire, the fire, her decisions, and her coming to terms with that decision. Through Irini, the author offers commentary on global issues - climate change, global warming, the impact of development on the environment and the communities surrounding the development, and more. "We live in a world where we can have anything we want, and some people have learned not to accept no for an answer. Consequences mean nothing - they've probably never had to really face any. I am of a different generation, and you have a good, sensible head on your shoulders, but Mr. Monk... Well, what can I say? All greed and no kindness. Unfortunately, that gets you somewhere."

Pain and grief are the central themes of Irini's thoughts. Tasso's hands are burned, which causes physical pain and the emotional pain of being deprived of his artistic passion and livelihood. Tasso's father is missing. Chiara has significant burns, and, as we learn well into the book, is unable to walk without crutches. A child, whose name means Joy, is anything but joyful. Irini's pain comes not just from the suffering of her family but from the decision she makes when she meets the man responsible for the fire. The book is a tragic one. "Things are never as simple as they seem, always remember that in life. It is dangerous to see things in black and white, even  - and maybe especially - during troubled times... Each side hates the other because of memories and traumas on both sides, some are ready and some are imagined, and these become national narratives. They demonize each other. The 'other' is always to blame and it fuels people and groups and governments with fire. This never leads to any good on this earth."

Because of the perspective, the book has the feel of a personal journal - an individual's musings as they try to process their own thoughts and emotions and to puzzle through and understand the situations they find themselves. The challenge of this perspective is that we process iteratively - thinking about something, stepping away from it, thinking again, often over and over again. Irini does the same. As a result, the book appears to repeat itself at times. It makes sense given the set up but presents a challenge as a reader because the pacing becomes very slow. I feel the emotion of the story but walk away, wanting more.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.