The Accidental Book Club

Title:  The Accidental Book Club

Author:  Jennifer Scott

Publication Information:  Berkley. May 6, 2014. 368 pages.

ISBN:  0451418824 / 978-0451418821

Book Source:  I read this book as a selection of a local book club.

Opening Sentence:  "Jean Vison dumped a fistful of chopped roasted red peppers into a pan of macaroni and cheese, and stirred, hoping doing so would make her dish pass as 'gourmet.'"

Favorite Quote:  "God. How was that possible? How was it possible that they'd lived an entire lifetime together and had never gotten around to jotting up to Wyoming for a long weekend? What had they been doing with the time instead? ... Pointless chores, or weekends spent in silence over some silly disagreement or running children to birthday parties of kids they didn't even know. Why did they choose those things? Why did they construct a life of tedium, always putting off wishes and dreams for another day that ultimately would not come?"

The Accidental Book Club was a monthly read for our book club. Our member who selected it said she chose it for the title, the description, and the role a (or really our specific one) book club plays in our lives. I completely and whole heartedly agree!

This book club, likes ours, discusses books, of course. However, the conversation ventures so much further into the lives of each member. The group of women provide support, wisdom, experience, friendship, laughter, and a shoulder to cry on.

Jean, Loretta, Dorothy, May, Mitzi, and Janet are such a group. Each is at a different stage of her life and dealing with their own unique issues. Loss of a spouse. Illness of a child. Divorce. Dating. Troubled grandchild. Yet, somehow, this group comes together to provide each what even their own family perhaps does not. They becomes a family of their own choosing.

The premise of the book resonates as I am fortunate enough to have a supportive sisterhood such as this one. The emotional support in it resonates. 

However, the characters themselves and the situations I find less real. Some things such as the author visit are over the top. Some things such as the turnaround of a troubled teen seem to easily resolved. In addition, some of the character's inability to speak up for themselves was frustrating (think doormat!).

Although the book is based around the club, ultimately, it is mostly Jean's story. It is about her daughter's alcoholism and disintegrating marriage. It is about the two adults in the relationship - Laura and Curt - and their inability to parent or even care for their own daughter.

In the middle of all of these women with their angst, Bailey, the angry, acting-out, seeking-attention ends up my favorite character. That is perhaps because she is the one who evolves the most during the course of the book. Her change from a surly troubled teen into a seemingly happier, sunnier teenager is dramatic and   somewhat contrived. Nevertheless, it is the evolution of a character that keeps the interest in the story. It makes her perhaps the most developed of the character (not that that is saying much in this case).

Books with "book" or anything "booklike" in the title always draw me in. I might have picked this book up even if not the choice of my book club. It was a quick and easy read and "okay." Knowing what meaning being in a book club has for me, I expected and hoped for more.

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

Nowhere Girl

Title:  Nowhere Girl

Author:  Cheryl Diamond

Publication Information:  Algonquin  Books . 2021. 320 pages.

ISBN:  1616208201 / 978-1616208202

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley and a publisher's blog tour free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "My first near-death experience occurs at the age of four, when the brakes fail, with my dad at the wheel, sending us hurtling down the Himalayas."

Favorite Quote:  "I've noticed people often complain about the monotony of life. How sometimes very day is just like the last and they all blend together. Do they know how lucky they are? But maybe that's the problem with a smooth pleasant routine, you begin taking it for granted."

***** BLOG TOUR *****

Review

Cheryl Diamond, born (I think) with the name Harbhajan Khalsa Nanak, becomes a New York City model at age sixteen. She publishes her first novel at age twenty-one. She has since published a second novel and this memoir. She currently lives in Luxembourg. Before, however, comes an entire lifetime, filled with more than most people live in their entire lifetimes. "By the age of nine, I will have lived in more than a dozen countries, on five continents under six assumed identities. I'll know how a document is forged, how to withstand an interrogation, and most important, how to disappear."

Her family - parents, brother, sister, and her - is on the run. The first half of the book is country to country, identity to identity, and life to life. Parts are a child's adventure. Many more parts are sudden goodbyes, no friendships, and constant new beginnings. Some other parts get even more harrowing with abuse, interrogation, and escape.

The question that is not addressed until almost the middle of the book is why? Why is this family on the run? What and who are the running from? The events described make the first part of the book so very sad, but the constant question of why lingers. When finally answered, it is not quite as I expect, but it provides the needed context. I think I would have preferred the context earlier if only to shift the focus from that question to the actual events. Given the current structure of the book, the question of why looms over the entire first half of the book, overshadowing some of the events themselves.

The answer to the "why" seems to be the fulcrum of the book. Before comes the childhood, such as it is. After, although still a child, the book jumps to the emergence into adulthood. What stands out throughout the book is the fractured relationships of this family. I am still not entirely sure of why the fractures exist and why they loom larger and larger. How and why does abuse and violence find its way into this family? How is it allowed to remain? The fact that the constant moves and no past and no future leaves them nobody but each other. That kind of the dependence perhaps leads to many things. This is one family member's perspective; part of me is left wondering what story would show from a different perspective.

I am also not entirely sure of the fate of some of the family members, but perhaps that is the nature of a memoir. This story is not over yet. However, it does leave me wondering about what happens to the others particularly Frank and Chiara. One point of closure is offered. "Your father loved you. That was never a lie. But you outgrew him, Harbhajan. Simple as that. He's a con man, who gave birth to an idealist. And after a certain point, the two just don't go together anymore."

The truth of this memoir is truly stranger than fiction.

About the Author

Cheryl Diamond is now a citizen of Luxembourg and lives between there and Rome. Her behind-the-scenes account of life as a teenage model, Model: A Memoir, was published in 2008. Diamond´s second book, Naked Rome, reveals the Eternal City through the eyes of its most fascinating people.

About the Book

Cheryl Diamond had an outlaw childhood beyond the imaginings of most. By age nine, she had lived in more than a dozen countries on five continents and had assumed six identities as her parents evaded Interpol and other law enforcement agencies. While her family lived on the run, she would learn math on an abacus, train as an Olympic hopeful, practice Sikhism and then celebrate her bat mitzvah, come to terms with the disappearance of her brother, become a successful fashion model, and ultimately watch her unconventional yet close-knit family implode. Diamond’s unforgettable memoir, NOWHERE GIRL: A MEMOIR OF A FUGITIVE CHILDHOOD (Publication Date: June 15, 2021; $27.95), is a harrowing, clear-sighted, and surprisingly humor-filled testament to a childhood lost and an adulthood found. With its page-turning candor about forged passports and midnights escapes, this is, in the end, the searing story of how lies can destroy a family and how truth can set us free.

Diamond, whose acclaimed first book, Model: A Memoir, earned her accolades as “America’s next top author” in The New York Times Style Magazine, begins her story with her earliest memories as a four-year-old in India. Even at that tender age she had been schooled by her complicated and controlling father to never make a mistake, never betray the family, and never become attached to a place or other people. As the family continent-hopped, switched religions, paid for everything in cash, assumed new names time and again—always one step ahead of the law—young Cheryl (then called Bhajan) developed the burning need to achieve and win approval. By twenty-three she had seen so much of the world, but only through a peculiar lens that had somehow become normal. And she was plagued by fundamental questions: Who am I? And how can I find the courage to break away from the people I love most – because escaping is the only way to survive.

“For a long time, I felt that having had such a strange and often traumatic childhood had somehow marked me and made it impossible to be understood or connect with the outside world, to ever have a good life,” Diamond reveals. “It was only when I forced myself to begin to open up, make friends, and talk about what I had survived that I realized how many people had gone through similar challenges. Perhaps not as many, but enough that we genuinely understood each other. I decided to write NOWHERE GIRL because I came to see how many people carry some sort of shame or fear about not fitting in, often never voiced. But the very act of baring our darker side actually brings people closer—rather than the judgment we so fear.”

“An absolutely breathless read,” says Paul Haggis, Academy Award-winning writer/director of Crash, Million Dollar Baby, and Casino Royale. “NOWHERE GIRL is a courageous, heart-breaking, and beautifully written story of a girl doing everything in her power to protect the ones she loves.”

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

The Glass Hotel

Title:  The Glass Hotel

Author:  Emily St. John Mandel

Publication Information:  Knopf. 2020. 320 pages.

ISBN:  0525521143 / 978-0525521143

Book Source:  I read this book based on the author's prior work.

Opening Sentence:  "Begin at the end:  plummeting down the side fo the ship in the storm's wild darkness, breath gone with the shock of falling, my camera flying away through the rain..."

Favorite Quote:  "There's something in it ... It's possible to know you're a criminal, a liar, a man of weak moral character, and yet now know it, in the sense of feeling that your punishment is somehow underserved that despite the cold facts you're deserving of warmth and some kind of special treatment. You can know you're guilty of an enormous crime ... you can know all of this and yet still somehow feel you've been wronged when your judgement arrives."

To some extent, this book is similar to Station Eleven by the author. The story winds through past and present through the many different perspectives - Paul, Vincent, Jonathan Alkaitis, Olivia, and others. Not all the characters are directly connected, or so it seems. The book shifts between narrative styles. Character threads pick and drop sometimes in the middle of a chapter. Just when I think I have figured out who the story is about and where it's going, it shifts.

Yet, Station Eleven still surprising came together as a whole. Unfortunately, that also means this book suffers from the high expectations set by the other.

If I think of each character, his or her story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Put all together and interspersed with each other, the flow is more challenging. This book is much easier to read and understand once I stop envisioning the whole and start seeing each character as a vignette. 

The outcomes of each character's story are not necessarily connected to seemingly main plot line of the book. Some, in fact, seem somewhat random.  That perhaps is my biggest reason for my reaction - the randomness of what happens to the individual characters. It's like a pinball machine. An action sets things in motion, but then the character are buffeted from consequence to consequence.

All the characters have a connection to the hotel, but given that the title and the cover, I expected the hotel to feature a greater role in the book. I am introduced to that beautiful setting, and then it somewhat disappears.

Finally, the characters themselves are somewhat shrouded in the mist that appears on the cover. Perhaps because of the shifting narratives or perhaps by design, the characters are not particularly likable and do not evolve into characters I relate to.

The one theme that appears to repeat is the power that money conveys and the extent to which people will go to acquire and retain that power. "Money is its own country." Ultimately, that money and its source have its own ramification in these character's stories. As the book description states, the "plot" of the book is about a Ponzi scheme.

However, plot is a bit of a stretch as this book does not follow that plot line really. It is inferred from the events leading up to the collapse of the scheme and about the ramifications for different people. If
the Ponzi scheme is like a rock dropped in a pond, the "plot" of this book is all about the ripples - perhaps concentric, perhaps not connected, eventually subsiding back into the quiet of the pond.

Based on how much I enjoyed Station Eleven, I am puzzled by this book but still look forward to seeing what Emily St. John Mandel writes next.

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

The Giver of Stars

Title:  The Giver of Stars

Author:  Jojo Moyes

Publication Information:  Pamela Dorman Books. 2019. 400 pages.

ISBN:  0399562486 / 978-0399562488

Book Source:  I read this book based on having enjoyed previous books by the author.

Opening Sentence:  "Listen."

Favorite Quote:  "There is always a way out of a situation. Might be ugly. Might leave you feeling like the earth has gone and shifted under your feet. But you are never trapped, Alice. You hear me. There is always a way around."

The Giver of Stars combines the history of the Pack Horse Library Project with a story of strong women coming together to build each other up and support each other. From 1935 until 1943, this Works Progress Administration program hired "book women" to travel by horse or mule through the Appalachians delivering books and other available reading materials to remote homes and schoolhouses.

The Giver of Stars is about a group of such librarians. This is a group of women that otherwise would most definitely not be in the same social circle and might never even have crossed paths. Different reasons bring them to be librarians. What unites them is the realization that despite all their differences, they are the same in their worries and in terms of the role of women in society.

The story begins somewhat in the middle with an assault. No names and no details are given - a prologue. The book then truly begins with the arrival of a new bride. She comes to this small Kentucky town from England. The reality she encounters is not what she envisions. The Pack Horse Library Project gives her an outlet. From this perspective, she sees the role of women in this community, the racial divisions, the prejudice, the poverty, and the hardships. She also discovers a group of women, who in their own way are creating change.

The story focuses on these elements of this Kentucky town and eventually winds its way back to the original assault. Where it goes subsequently is unexpected and in a direction different than I expect. The library project becomes the background, and this group of women standing up for each other becomes the story. I somewhat wish that the story had remained that of the quiet suffering and resilience of this community rather than the melodramatic turn that it takes.

Aside from the story and my review, here is an interesting side note of this book. Kim Michele Richardson's book The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek was published on May 7, 2019. The Giver of Stars has a publication date of October 8, 2019. Both are set in the Pack Horse Library Project. Both of these books are the stories of the book women in eastern Kentucky. Kim Michele Richardson was born and raised in Kentucky. Jojo Moyes is said to have spent time there researching.

Upon the release of this book, Kim Michele Richardson raised a concern about the alleged plagiarism of her work. Based on the articles I have read, the accusation was denied. Ms. Richardson's publisher declined to pursue the matter. Where does the truth lie? Perhaps, we will never know, but a literary scandal was too interesting not to mention. Read both and decide for yourself. For me, Kim Michele Richardson's is the more unique and more memorable book. The Giver of Stars is a book about a strong sisterhood that grows out of need, but I feel that that story has been told before in different ways in different books.

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

A Hero Born

Title:  A Hero Born
Series:  Legends of the Condor Heroes, Book 1

Author:  Jin Yong (author). Anna Holmwood (translator).

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2019. 416 pages.

ISBN:  1250220602 / 978-1250220608

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

Opening Sentence:  "It begins with a storyteller, with news from the north, a tale of crushing defeat and humiliation, a great Chinese Empire in tatters and fleeing north."

Favorite Quote:  "There are always those who claims good reputations falsely."

Wuxia stories are a genre of fiction about martial artists in ancient China. Think adventure, fantasy, heroes, villains, and lots and lots of martial arts. A Hero Born is one volume of a wuxia trilogy. The trilogy first appeared as a serial in the Hong Kong Commercial Daily between 1957 and 1959. The trilogy is comprised of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. Interestingly, the translated title references the condor, no species of which is native to China. This book is the English translation of the first volume.

The story begins in a time of war in the 1200s. Two sworn brothers make a pact that their soon to be born children will either live as sworn siblings or a married couple. Unfortunate events ensue. One dies, and the other disappears. The wives and the unborn babies also are thrown in different directions. The main story follows of the children - Guo Jing. It follow his upbringing in Mongolia and his training by some legends of martial arts. Of course, eventually, the paths of the two children cross. Some of the connections between the fate of the fathers and the outcome of the children are drawn. The book ends on a cliffhanger as is to be expected.

The beginning of this book is challenging for many reasons. The language, and hence the names are unfamiliar. A lot of characters are introduced, and for a while, it is difficult to follow their relationships and story threads. A lot of description of battles and martial arts is provided. As someone who has no knowledge of martial arts, the descriptions are hard to envision. The words, particularly the names of the martial arts moves, do not necessarily create a picture for me. I almost give up on the book.

However, I am glad to have persevered. After a bit, the characters settle into a cohesive image. The names are still a challenge, but an understanding of the relationships and the development of the characters makes that a minor point. A central plot and the main character emerge from this panorama of the world of martial arts. I invest in the characters and want to see where the story goes. At this point, there are the heroes and the villains. There are also those on whom the jury is still out. Good or evil... only time will tell. The book continues with a mix of a human story, a political story, and the mystery of beliefs and legends.

What connects is the human story. Wives who seek to keep the legacy of their husbands safe. Mothers who see the future of their children as nothing of what they imagined. Young men born in hardship and those born in wealth. The relationship between teacher and student. The losses of war. Young people on the cusp to discovering love. Those seeking revenge and those seeking redemption.

I am sorry when the volume comes to an end because I want to know what happens next. I am looking forward to volume two and three hopefully to be translated.

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

The Lost Book of Adana Moreau

Title:  The Lost Book of Adana Moreau

Author:  Michael Zapata

Publication Information:  Hanover Square Press. 2020. 272 pages.

ISBN:  1335010122 / 978-1335010124

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

Opening Sentence:  "His father was a pirate."

Favorite Quote:  "...literature was a memory of a memory of a memory."

I love books about books. The premise of an undiscovered manuscript is even better. The cover adds a mystery and movement. The post-hurricane Katrina New Orleans adds a setting full of life, struggle, emotion, and the triumph of human spirit.

I so wanted to love this book. I did so love the beginning portion of the book. The story of the pirate, the little boy, and a mother writing stories in the 1920s captured me entirely. It is an emotional and fanciful tale, and I want to know more.

Then, the story turns and jumps decades. I follow along. A grandfather passes away. A grandson is attempting to tie up the loose ends of his grandfather's legacy. An undeliverable package sends on a chase to find the history and the intended recipient. The journey brings him to a town struggling to survive and recover after a disaster. The idea is not as fanciful as the beginning, but nevertheless has the making of a powerful story. I want to follow along.

The main setting becomes New Orleans, a fascinating city at any time filled with its own folklore and culture. It should add to the magical feel of the book. The timing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina adds a disaster the likes of which this generation had never witnesses. Both the destruction and the resilience of the city were remarkable and powerful images. I want to see how the the magic of the city, the story, and the reality of the hurricane balance.

The manuscript at the heart of this tale is a science fiction story. That genre adds another element entirely to the narrative. The book description references the possibility of parallel worlds, and that seems to lend itself to the science fiction genre. Again, I want to know more.

The issue is that I get lost. The book introduces many characters and vignettes telling their stories. The book jumps locations and timelines. The book includes many references, some of which I know and some are more obscure. I don't know to research a reference if I don't at least have an inkling that it is a reference.

So, unfortunately, this reading experience becomes frustrating. I want to love this book, but I find myself walking away from it again and again. It has all the elements of a story I would have loved, but perhaps I was simply not the right reader for it. "... maybe the world would be better if it adapted to the whims of the children rather than the other way around. If streets, she said, followed the patterns and logic of children then there would never be such a thing as getting lost, there would be a certain madness, yes, but it would be a lovely madness, one capable of multiple dimensions." Perhaps, I was simply not the reader capable of following the dimensions of this story.

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

Akin

Title:  Akin

Author:  Emma Donoghue

Publication Information:  Little, Brown and Company. 2019. 352 pages.

ISBN:  0316491993 / 978-0316491990

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

Opening Sentence:  "An old man packing his bags."

Favorite Quote:  "Every childhood had its own unspoken rules, he reminded himself, and at the time they seemed unbreakable, perpetual."

I absolutely loved Room by Emma Donoghue. Even though I read it years ago, it still stands out as a memorable story. Since then, I have read Wonder which had an equally strong premise but not quite the intensity and believability. So, when a new book by Emma Donoghue comes out, I look to recapture the intensity and lasting impact of the original.

Both Room and Wonder have a single unifying focus that carries through the story. The focus of Akin is a less clear. The book centers on two characters. Noah Selvaggio is a widower. He is retired. He is also on his way from New York City to Nice on a hunt for his own past and for his mother's story. Michael is eleven years old. He has just the only stability in his life. His mother is incarcerated. He is in need of a caretaker. Noah is his closest available relative. So, they become an unlikely pair.

My first issue is that the entire premise seems highly unlikely. The idea of social services placing a child with a little known relative with no investigation and only one meeting seems counter to how social services works to protect the interest of a child. Further, the idea that social services would then allow this individual to take the child internationally is even more unlikely. Unfortunately, this lack of initial credibility serves as the beginning of the book.

Putting that aside, I am still willing to follow the story and see where it goes. It has the potential to be touching and sweet. That tone is not what the book achieves. Throughout, it seems as though the book is following two stories - Noah and Michael as an unlikely pair and Noah's search for his mother's past. The two stories never really come together in a cohesive whole for me. Throughout, I feel as though I am trying to hold on to two threads.

Noah's mother story leads to a tale of World War II and the resistance. Unfortunately, so much of the book is about the research for the story than the story itself. The tale might be interesting; research the tale is not.

Sadly, the most memorable parts of Noah and Michael's story are the stereotypical depiction of Michael and overabundant profanity. Yes, adolescents can be mouthy and abrupt. However, not all the time. Also, no parent (or parent-like) figure would tolerate such behavior all the time.

I find myself skimming through to see if the characters or the story evolves throughout the book. Sadly, I find that it does not. I keep reading for the story to ring true, and it does not. I am disappointed.

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

This Tender Land

Title:  This Tender Land

Author:  William Kent Krueger

Publication Information:  Atria Books. 2019. 464 pages.

ISBN:  1476749299 / 978-1476749297

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

Opening Sentence:  "In the beginning, after he labored over the heavens and the earth, the light and the dark, the land and sea and all living things the dwell therein, after he created man and woman and before he reseted, I believe God gave us one final gift."

Favorite Quote:  "Of all that we're asked to give others in this life, the most difficult to offer may be forgiveness."

The story of "this tender land" is not tender and not really about the land. It is about children - four orphans - in the harshest and more dire of circumstances. Odie, Albert, Mose, and Emmy. This is an epic story of one summer that seems to extend so far beyond the time period it covers. For its horrific events, the story has at the same time an almost idyllic and philosophical feel.

To some extent, the name of the book is misleading although it is included in the text of the book itself. "I love this land, the work. Never was a churchgoer. God all penned up under a roof? I don't think so. Ask me, God's right here. In the dirt, the rain, the sky, the trees, the apples, the stars in the cottonwoods. In you and me, too. It's all connected and it's all God. Sure this is hard word, but it's good work because it's a part of what connects us to this land, Buck. This beautiful, tender land." Despite this inclusion, this book is not really about the land or the challenge and opportunity it presents.

This book is about the people of the land - the kind and the cruel. The story begins at the Lincoln School in Minnesota in 1932. The Lincoln School is a residential school with the primary stated purpose of assimilating Native Americans into the European American way of life. Children were removed from their homes and placed in this residential facility, often without the permission of the families. For some, it was a mission to guide the "salvation" of these children. The government provided funding based on the number of children. So, for many, it was a money making enterprise.

Odie and Albert are not of native American descent but end up as orphans at this school. The reason why is part of the story. Mose is a Native American who has been rendered mute because of someone's brutality. His acceptance and growth into his heritage is part of the story. Emmy is a young girl whose mother works at the school and lives nearby. Her gifts are a part of the story.

This "school" is more a jail-like environment where the children are nothing but workers to be used and abused. The story goes that certain events happen and the brutality gets so severe that Odie, Albert, and Mose run away from the Lincoln School. Circumstances force them into bringing Emmy along. In their wake is destruction from a storm, blackmail, and a death. They do find certain helpers who set them on their way.

Over the course of the summer, the four travel down the river. They have a destination in mind and the idea that family might be waiting at the other end. Along the way, they encounter both more horrors and more helpers. More deaths, evangelists, thieves, the law, and the outlaws. An element of magical realism is also introduced. Somehow, no matter how bad the circumstances, the book maintains a bit of idealism. Perhaps, as the book suggests, it is because the main characters are children. "Our eyes perceive so dimly, and our brains are so easily confused. Far better, I believe, to be like children and open ourselves to every beautiful possibility, for there is nothing our hearts can imagine that is not so."

Perhaps, it is because the narrator is actually Odie much much later in life relating the story of this one summer. "'And you've already been given a gift.' 'What gift?' 'You're a storyteller. You can create the world in any way your heart imagines.'" Perhaps, the gift of time and storytelling dims the sad and horrific parts. "Everything that's been done to us we carry forever. Most of us do our damnedest to hold on to the good and forget the rest. But somewhere to hold on to the good and forget the rest. But somewhere in the vault of our hearts, in a place our brains can't or won't touch, the worst is stored, and the only sure key to it is in our dreams."

No matter what, the result is a philosophical, haunting tale of the dark history of the treatment of Native Americans and at the same time of the resilience of children and the joy of creating a family.

"But I believe if you tell a story, it's like sending a nightingale into the air with the hope that its song will never be forgotten." This is story I will long remember.

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

The Henna Artist

Title:  The Henna Artist

Author:  Alka Joshi

Publication Information:  MIRA. 2020. 368 pages.

ISBN:  0778309452 / 978-0778309451

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley and the Harlequin Trade Publishing 2020 Spring Reads Blog Tour free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Her feet step lightly on the hard earth, calloused soles insensible to the tiny pebbles and caked mud along the riverbank."

Favorite Quote:  "In India, individual shame did not exist. Humiliation spread, as easily as oil on wax paper, to the entire family, even to distant cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews. The rumormongers made sure of that."

Henna is a memory of my childhood - the smell, the color, the sisterhood, and the recipes from getting the most vibrant color. This book takes that art form and puts in the context of 1950s India. To understand this book requires some understanding of that time in the Indian subcontinent. The British Raj had just ended in 1947. The British Crown ruled the subcontinent from 1858 to 1947. Then came independence and the creation of the countries of India, Pakistan, and eventually Bangladesh. Culturally, the British left their mark on the countries, the government, and particularly on the lifestyles of the rich.

To further understand the book requires an understanding of the concept of an independent, enterprising woman in that time and place. The women were often the unspoken matriarchs in what was essentially a male-dominated society. The women wielded power but subtly. So, the idea of a woman make her own way is an even stronger one.

In this context is the story of Lakshmi Shashtri. She is a child bride at fifteen. She escapes an abusive marriage and runs. With support and the right introductions, she establishes herself as a henna artist although her gift also lies in an understanding of herbal medicines and their impact. She navigates the social pitfalls of caste, culture, political changes, and the moods and peculiarities of her rich clients. She is known for her henna artistry and more secretly for her medicinal cures for everything from headaches, heartaches to unwanted pregnancies. Through her work, she is close to achieving her goal of a home for herself and her parents.

The story takes a turn when a sister she knew nothing about arrives on her doorstep. Things get complicated and threaten to destroy everything Lakshmi has worked for. Or perhaps bring her to a direction and life she has never dreamed of.

The characters and the setting in the pink city of Jaipur are vibrant. However, to me, they do not match the history of the time. The leaving of the British Raj was a dramatic and traumatic change as was the partition of India and Pakistan. These events broke up families and friendships and caused huge numbers of people to move as they transitioned from one country to the other. It was a time of strife and uncertainty. That history does not reflect in this book.

Perhaps, you could say the history is not relevant as the book is more narrowly focused on the story of one woman and on highlighting the role of women. It does that through the various female characters. The mother plotting advantageous marriages for their children. The wealthy socialite who understands her dominance over her community. The poor nanny who is left without a voice and without options. The wife who dreams of being a mother, a role that is still deemed needed to complete a woman. And, of course, the sisters Lakshmi and Radha. Both are rebels in their own way. Lakshmi takes the road of working within the system but creating her own path. Radha is the impetuous one. The story itself is not unexpected, but the women bring it to life.

A strong debut. I look forward to reading more from Alka Joshi.

The Henna Artist
Blog Tour

Author: Alka Joshi

ISBN: 0778309452 / 978-0778309451

Publication Date: 03/03/2020

Author Bio:

Alka Joshi is a graduate of Stanford University and received her M.F.A. from the California College of the Arts. She has worked as an advertising copywriter, a marketing consultant, and an illustrator. Alka was born in India, in the state of Rajasthan. Her family came to the United States when she was nine, and she now lives on California's Monterey Peninsula with her husband and two misbehaving pups. The Henna Artist is her first novel. Visit her website and blog

Buy Links: 

Harlequin 

Indiebound

Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

Books-A-Million

Target

Walmart

Google

Social Links:

Author Website: https://thehennaartist.com/

TWITTER:

FB: @alkajoshi2019

Insta: @thealkajoshi

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18257842.Alka_Joshi

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

The Doll Factory

Title:  The Doll Factory

Author:  Elizabeth Macneal

Publication Information:  Atria/Emily Bestler Books. 2019. 368 pages.

ISBN:  198210676X / 978-1982106768

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

Opening Sentence:  "Silas is sitting at his desk, a stuffed turtle dove in his palm."

Favorite Quote:  "She has always been taught to button her passions, not to shout, to respect the opinions of men. Her emotions have always simmered more than they should, and now they boil over. She could suffocate in her anger."

The Doll Factory is a book about obsession. It is about the 1850s London exhibition. It is about twins. One is born beautiful, but, to her mind, finds her beauty destroyed by illness. The other is born with a birth anomaly but learns to see the beauty in herself. It is about an artists who helps a woman recognize her beauty. It is about a collector of oddities who creates an obsession from a chance meeting.

The book is atmospheric and dark. Unfortunately, aspects of it are just sad and unpleasant - a young child killed in an accident, mice killed and stuffed, a two-headed dog, a child whose business is collecting dead things and who is saving for a set of teeth, another child briefly mentioned who is a prostitute, and murder. For some of these reasons, I am not the reader for this book. I appreciate the history. I can even appreciate the Gothic darkness. Graphic depictions of violence, however, are just not for me.

Beyond a point, the book is also a very slow read. Iris is finding her independence. Iris's sister is wallowing is self-pity and resentment. Louis the artist is falling in love but dealing with baggage of his own. The obsession of Silas the collector is growing day by day. These facts are established early on. The characters and the plot line seem to repeat throughout the book until close to the end when Silas's obsession finally translates into action. Even the "action" beyond that point seems to repeat onto the ultimate ending.

Interestingly, the "action" when it comes is reminiscent of a typically abduction and escape thriller. With the 1850s setting, with the connection to the art world, and with the dark setup of an obsessive evil villain who likes to kill and stuff his prizes, I expect something a little more unusual. I appreciate the fact of a woman finding her voice and finding her courage. However, given the buildup, I expect a  more unexpected twist and definitely one more macabre and suited to the atmosphere of the book. What set ups as a Victorian, Gothic thriller ends up in a much more modern ending.

Perhaps, the most interesting aspect of the book for me was learning about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), a group of English artists who considered themselves as rebels to and reformers of what was considered "good" art. That is not the focus of the book, but there are enough glimmers to send me on the search for the history. In that the book accomplishes its goal as historical fiction.

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

Campusland

Title:  Campusland

Author:  Scott Johnston

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2019. 336 pages.

ISBN:  1250222370 / 978-1250222374

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

Opening Sentence:  "Devon University is an American private research university located in the New England town of Havenport."

Favorite Quote:  "The college campus, Milton thought, was a man's perfect place, a walled garden where beauty and youth came together in pursuit of the truth."

An elite Ivy-like university. Check. A college professor on a tenure track. Check. A first-year who feels that college stands in the way of the important person she is destined to be. Check. A group of activists who seek a cause and who seek to shake the establishment but all without disturbing their own comfortable lives. Check. A group of the entitled who feel that their pedigree puts them above the rest. Check. A university president who revels in his authority and wishes to be liked. Check. A diversity official. Check. A scandal in which truth seems to fall by the way side as everyone seeks to further their own agenda. Check.

Campusland checks all the stereotype boxes in the life of an elite university. It then takes these characters through a satirical journey that picks up on life as I can envision it happening on a college campus. Put all together, it creates an extreme picture that might make you say that this could not happen. Except that some of it does. The events of this book can individually be found on many a campus. The author creates a cohesive story out of a composite of reality. He does it in a way that is entertaining and funny while at the same time serious as a commentary on the state of our eduction system.

The story goes as follows. Eph Russell teaches English literature. His particular specialty is the 19th century. His family is from Alabama. He is a graduate of Samford University, and, well, if that sounds like Stanford when said quickly, so be it. It is a misconception he does not clear up and perhaps even encourages. In other words, he has reinvented himself in an image he deems suitable to the elite school at which he seeks tenure.

Lulu Harris is a first year, but, to her, a university is a waste of her time. She deems herself an influencer and dreams of being in a place like New York City making her mark. All of this happens while living off of her rich father's money, of course. She attempts to enter the elite within this elite environment. When that fails, she goes the opposite direction and reinvents herself as the victim and as a cause that the campus can rally behind.

That victim story involves Eph Russell, a supposed evening encounter, and inappropriate advances. In one move, she ruins a man's career and reputation and catapults herself to social media fame.

Does it end well for either one? Does the truth come out? Read and find out because unfortunately influencing the outcome is an entire university campus with different factions, each with their own agenda. Let's just say the climax is an extreme. The author paints a vivid and memorable picture of the event that culminates this story! It has me laughing and, at the same time, shaking my head that such absurdity is possible.

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

We Are All Good People Here

Title:  We Are All Good People Here

Author:  Susan Rebecca White

Publication Information:  Atria Books. 2019. 304 pages.

ISBN:  1451608918 / 978-1451608915

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

Opening Sentence:  "Daniella's father steered the Dodge Pioneer up the serpentine drive of Belmont College, home to more than five hundred girls renowned for their Beauty and Brains, or at least that was what the boosterish tour guide who had shown Daniella around the previous spring had claimed."

Favorite Quote:  "What a seductive belief - that one can start fresh simply by jettisoning one's history, that one can leave all that is  painful or unsavory behind."

The "here" of We are All Good People Here begins in 1962 in Roanoke, Virginia at an all girls' school. Two young women - Eva Whalen and Daniella Gold - from different places and different backgrounds become roommates at Belmont College. They form a friendship that will last a lifetime even though life will take them and their friendship in many different directions.

Their friendship begins with the issue of segregation and racial equality and equity and an attempt to help. Unfortunately, that attempt goes very, very wrong. It sets them on the paths of their lives. From there, the book traces their lives through the next thirty years of American history. Through their eyes and their choices, the book traces the major movements of that history - segregation, equal rights, women's rights, free love, and so many more. At times, the two women find themselves standing together, and at times, their different philosophies drive them apart and down different paths.

It is as if there is a checklist of the major historical notes, and the book attempts to hit them all. In that, it is as if the book becomes a survey of the history with box after box checked off. The story of the women becomes the vehicle for the history rather than the history becoming a background for the story. The history is there, but the story doesn't quite come together. I find myself skimming through the historical context to see how the story develops.

Reader beware:  One chapter I wish I had skipped involves graphic sexual conduct and the torture and mutilation of a cat. Why is it there? I have no idea, and I wish it was not.

One random interesting note:  I love when books I read connect to each other. Eve Whalen is from Atlanta. As an introduction to Daniella, Eve describes her connection to "Atlantans returning from a European art tour. Upon takeoff in Paris, the plane had caught fire." This very specific piece of history is the subject of Visible Empire.

The ending of the book leaves me wondering for it focuses on only one of the two women and only on her perspective while most of the book has actually been focused on the actions of the other. In addition, a book of a friendship that lasts thirty years appears to end in a judgement. "It's just that she frustrates me endlessly. Her life has offered her so many opportunities, so many second chances - second chances no person of color would ever get, by the way. Yet she continues to bury herself again and again in the dogma of whoever has captured her attention at the moment."

I am left wondering why.

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

The Chelsea Girls

Title:  The Chelsea Girls

Author:  Fiona Davis

Publication Information:  Dutton. 2019. 368 pages.

ISBN:  1524744581 / 978-1524744588

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

Opening Sentence:  "In the dead of night, during the dreary month of March, the Chelsea Hotel is a quiet place."

Favorite Quote:  "And many of you bought the lies ... You didn't question them. You didn't fight back. You let this happen ... This is how a society is corrupted, from the inside out. We must make a promise to not ever let this happen again. We must promise to be vigilant against our own worst tendencies. Only by doing so will our country sustain its ideals of freedom."

Fiona Davis's books to date follow a similar structure and style. Two women. Two time periods. One city. One beautiful old building. A book that tells both stories in alternating sections, winding them closer and closer together until by the end, all the connections are revealed, and the stories find a path forward. The locations are typically in New York City - the Barbizon Hotel, the Dakota, and the Grand Central Terminal. The previous three books have featured two women each linked by their connection to the location of the book. Along with the story of the women is a history of the location, which I find fascinating.

The Chelsea Girls is similar to some extent. There are two women. There are two time periods, if only briefly. The story structure, however, ends up completely different from the first three books I have read by Fiona Davis.

The two women are Hazel and Maxine. They meet during the war, as performers in a USO troop. The form a friendship that spans a lifetime but is not always a friendship. "How tenuous the line is between friends and enemies in a world at war." Their story is not just about their friendship but about their careers and about the history that they live through.

The story begins with a prologue in March of 1967. It begins at the end as an unnamed woman contemplates the end of her life. From there, the book goes back to 1945 and chronologically tells the story of these two women in the intervening 2 decades.

The location of the name is the Chelsea Hotel, originally built in 1880s. It was once a haven for artists of all types with residents ranging from authors like Mark Twain and Jack Kerouac to musicians such as the Grateful Dead and Madonna to many others throughout the visual and performing arts communities. Unlike Fiona Davis's other books, the location is not central to the story. It is fitting given that the main characters are performers, but it is not the story.

More than the location, this book is about the history of the time period. In particular, this is a book about the threat of communism and the McCarthy era. It is about the targeting of the art community by the McCarthy hearings, and it is about the truth and lies behind the accusations of those investigations.

The disappointing aspect of this book is that it differs so from the previous Fiona Davis books. I suppose that is a fallacy of my own expectations. I have loved learning about the architecture and history of the buildings, and that is missing from this book.

Interestingly, the book leaves me with questions about the ending as well. First is a minor point. One misunderstanding between the two friends is the result of the supposed actions of the Chelsea Hotel manager at the time. These actions seems to be diametrically opposite to the the descriptions of him throughout the book. It leaves a jarring note.

Second, the entire book seems more focused on the journey of one of the women, and yet the ending seems more about the other. It makes me wish I knew more of her story throughout. It leaves me a little disconnected.

I suppose that is my overall reaction to the book. I enjoyed reading about the McCarthy era. I wish I had learned more about the building. The characters and the story itself seems a little distant and seems to miss the emotional connection.

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

Make Me a City

Title:  Make Me a City

Author:  Jonathan Carr

Publication Information:  Henry Holt and Co. 2019. 448 pages.

ISBN:  1250294010 / 978-1250294012

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

Opening Sentence:  "In the beginning was a game of chess, and on the outcome of that game would hinge the destiny of Chicago."

Favorite Quote:  "Historical events are never as simple as they may look. Nobody acts alone and nothing happens in isolation. And not much occurs as a consequence of reason and good sense. And I believe it is in the cluster of small events, and in the lives of those who, in more traditional studies of the past, have been consigned to footnotes, from where we can retrieve our history."

The city in question is Chicago, a city I love and a city I have lived in. So, an opportunity to read a fictionalized history sounds intriguing. Given the length, I am picturing something in the style of James Michener or Edward Rutherford. I am envisioning a cohesive story through the years, perhaps even centuries, that depicts a history and also tells a cohesive story.

That, to me, is not what this book ultimately delivers. The book covers a century of history through a multitude of characters and a multitude of plot lines. It appears to be not a composite story of the city, but rather a collection of narratives of some major but mostly minor characters who lived in the city. Some of their stories intersect, but they never quite all come together. A visual of family trees and lineages might perhaps have help.

The characters appear at different times in the book, which means at corresponding different times and stages of their lives and the at different points in the history of the city. Ultimately, it proves a challenge to follow and to read. Too many people and too many events to keep track of. In addition, by the time I am interested in the characters and plot of one chapter, the chapter ends, and the next continues on a different path. By the time the original return, I have lost both the interest and the thread of the story.

After a while, I stop trying to follow a cohesive plot and start treating each chapter as an episodic short story or vignette. That interpretation seems to lend itself to this book. It is easier to read as a collection of history told through different media - book excerpts, newspaper articles, correspondence, and narratives. That means it is not quite the epic novel I expect. Despite that attempt, unfortunately, the book still remains a challenge to get through.

The use of journals and people's writings as one medium for conveying the story introduces the challenge of language to the reading as well. Some of these are the narratives of individuals with limited literacy skills. The attempt to make them "authentic" means that the language itself is at times hard to read.

In a nutshell, I love the city. I love the idea of telling the story of the city. The end result is just a bit scattered for me to quite get the story and even more to invest in it. I still intrigued enough to look forward to seeing what this debut author writes next.

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