Category: General Fiction

The Huntress by Kate Quinn (Historical Fiction)

Another powerhouse from Kate Quinn — propulsive (my new favorite word for books like this where one page practically forces you to turn to the next quickly) and intriguing at multiple levels. Parenthetically, I listened to this on audio and cannot stress enough how fantastic the reader (Saskia Maarleveld) was. I generally prefer reading to listening, but I’m fairly certain that her reading made this book significantly better than it would have been without (and that starts from a high rating to begin with!)

Three intertwined timelines racing towards the identification, location, and capture of the Nazi war criminal called die Jagerin — the Huntress. This is the woman who engaged in murder as Nazi sport, including the killing of children in cold blood towards the end of the war. The timelines: 1946 — Jordan — a 17-year old girl who passionately wants to be a photojournalist a la Margaret Bourke-White; 1950 — Ian Graham — world-weary British war correspondent turned Nazi hunter with an almost desperate need to see die Jagerin caught and tried; 1941 — Nina Markova — born in the frozen wastelands of Siberia whose sheer force of will gets her into the legendary (and historically accurate) Night Witches — an all female bomber squad that marked the beginning of Soviet acceptance of women in combat.

The writing is excellent, with perfect pacing. The characters are detailed and completely believable (to me). Tons of little details that make me feel as though I really know these people and made me miss them when the story was over. Plenty of reflection on life for each of the characters — threads of trust, context, truth without sensationalism (always my favorite), what it means to find a community, the importance of friendship and of having a purpose, and how someone can both love another person and be horrified by them at the same time. Additional details about groups as well — attitudes toward the war and the criminals it produced five years later. I really couldn’t stop reading (listening).

My only negatives — it felt just a little too long — especially listening to an audio book; and I had a hard time knowing who die Jagerin was (this is pretty obvious to the reader from the beginning) but I had to watch the characters NOT FIGURE IT OUT FAST ENOUGH FOR ME!

Highly recommended — especially the audio book.

The Girl with the Louding Voice  by Abi Dare (Multicultural Fiction)

14-year old Adunni has grown up rural Nigeria with a drive to be educated that is foiled by her family’s lack of money for school fees and a father who thinks “a girl-child is a wasted waste, a thing with no voice, no dreams, no brain.” Married off at 14 as a third wife with a cruel elder wife and later sold into domestic slavery with a cruel mistress, she somehow never gives up hope — she has dreams of being a teacher and having a real voice — a Louding voice — that people will have to listen to.

The book is easy to read — the unique pidgin english (developed specifically for our fictional protagonist) wasn’t a problem, though I expected it to be. It was consistent and I found I adapted to its rhythm very quickly. There is no faulting the main message — that girls born into cultures where they are not educated, are married off at young ages into often polygamous households, or sold into domestic slavery — are still human, important, and valuable. Who wants to argue with that?

Adunni is a special character. She has real drive and an unquenchable curiosity despite the vicissitudes to which she is subjected. I loved the way she absorbed an education wherever she could find it. She read scraps of books when dusting in the library, she asked questions of everybody (despite receiving beatings for the impudence) and was constantly updating her understanding as a result. However, I did not enjoy reading it, and I’m trying to understand why.

First of all, it’s frustrating to read about such primitive conditions in the modern world with no real path to change. Although not explicitly stated, this story must take place in the Muslim Northern regions of Nigeria. While (civil marriage) polygamy is prohibited federally in Nigeria, polygamy is allowed in the twelve northern, Muslim-majority states as Islamic or customary marriages. And while the literacy rates hover between 80-90% (boys and girls) in the Southern part of Nigeria, the Northern regions show a 20% differential between boys and girls, with the boys at only 50-60% (source statista.com). So what exactly should I be doing with this information about how rural girls in Muslim Nigeria are living? I just find it depressing. The answers in this book are fictional and rely on help for one individual girl that came from a variety outsiders. One tiny drop in a giant bucket and I wasn’t left with the feeling that this kind of help would be easy to find.

Also, despite the fact that the (negative) practices and beliefs described are still in play today, it feels like the book is feeding right into Western stereotypes of Africans — uneducated, primitive, and holding beliefs anathema to our Western ideals of equality for all. And yet, Nigeria has the largest population and strongest economy in Africa, and leads the continent in literature, music, cinema and drama — surely there are other more nuanced worlds and characters who could populate a story. I much prefer the novels of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie where each character is painted with the depth of an individual regardless of his or her identity and background.

So … well-written with an upbeat ending and some appealing characters, but I certainly didn’t feel inspired, nor did I feel like I learned anything new.

The Perfect Passion Company by Alexander McCall Smith

A new offering from Alexander McCall Smith — possibly the beginning of a new series. Katie has taken on management of the Perfect Passion Company — a matchmaking service with the personal touch. She is aided by the knitwear-designing, gorgeous but unavailable, William next door. Together they face a number of difficult-to-place candidates and manage to find matches for all in a typical McCall Smith simplistic, but effective and empathetic, approach to every day human problems (very reminiscent of Mma Ramtoswe’s style in the Number One Ladies Detective series).

I completely enjoyed reading this book with its emphasis on kindness and making a positive difference in people’s lives, though I admit to being slightly more annoyed than usual by some of the principles that inform his characters. Some are kind and empathic but also (IMO) weak, allowing themselves to be taken advantage of and turning the other cheek (they happen to be rich which I guess helps). There is also some not-too-subtle demonizing of the Right with, for example, some (very negative) descriptions of “libertarians” that don’t map to any of the libertarians I’ve ever met. However, as always I loved his ability to see people from different viewpoints and (except for the libertarian) accept people for who they are and acknowledge that they can still find happiness and love despite some very annoying (and pretty humorous) characteristics.

Thank you to Vintage and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on February 13th, 2024.

The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukinaya (Historical Literary Fiction)

A quiet, thoughtful, and utterly absorbing book about a young man from Hong Kong sent to a small, Japanese fishing village to recover from tuberculosis on the eve of the second Sino-Japanese war (Fall, 1937). Twenty-year old Stephen is a student and a painter. The year he spends in Tarumi is told through a set of journal entries which are equal parts descriptive and reflective. There is the distant war, with the radio intoning massive Chinese casualties along side propagandist calls for the enemy to “simply surrender to the kindness of the Japanese army, and all will be well.” There is the slow unraveling of his parent’s marriage as his father’s business interests keep him in Japan. And there is the burgeoning friendship with the older Matsu — caretaker and master gardener — and Sachi — whose life was abruptly shattered when leprosy swept the village decades before. Throughout the year, Stephen — feeling deeply but never loudly or dramatically — is slowly developing his own philosophy of living based on the lessons the world is teaching him.

The writing is exquisite — shifting between culture, character, and the natural (and unnatural) world. There is a recurring theme of beauty — sometimes found in the most unlikely places — and yet, once found, inevitable rather than surprising. Throughout all — war, destruction, disease, grief, and the ever tragic profusion of human contradictions — the focus is always on how to move forward — recognizing the fragility of life and finding your own peace and contentment within it. I liked the way the author made it clear that this was not an easy task. And I loved the fact that throughout this story teeming with essential truths, there was neither a cliche nor a saccharine sentiment to be found anywhere in the pages. Some beautiful descriptions of gardens and natural landscapes along with an artist’s way of engaging with the world as well.

Highly recommended.

Quotes:
“ It’s harder than I imagined, to be alone. I suppose I might get used to it, like an empty canvas, you slowly begin to fill.”

“All over Japan they were celebrating the dead, even as more and more Chinese were being slaughtered. There would be no one left to celebrate them. I looked around at all the smiling faces, at Matsu and Fumiko who moved slowly beside me, and wished that one of them could explain to me what was going to happen.”

“Ever since I had come to Tarumi, I’d seen more deaths than in all of my life in Hong Kong. Everything before me was changing. I knew I would never be able to step back into my comfortable past, Ahead of me lurked the violent prospect of war, perhaps bringing the deaths of people I knew and loved, along with the end of my parent’s marriage. These were the terrors I’d somehow escaped until now. And as I sat among the white deutzia blossoms, I felt a strange sensation of growing pains surge through my body, the dull ache of being pulled in other directions.”

“I’ve tried to capture this ghostly beauty on canvas, but like anything too beautiful, it becomes hard to re-create its reality. There’s something about being too perfect, that, even this, which at times appears stiff, almost boring. I finally gave up after several tries.”

“She wasn’t beautiful, not in the way that Tomoko must’ve been, nor did she have the roughness of Matsu. Her attraction wasn’t in the form of perfect features, but from the deep, wrinkles, age spots, and eyes that have seen much of what life has to offer. Fumiko had a face that had been enriched through time.”

“I was old enough to understand everything he said, but as his mouth softly formed the words, I knew the sense of integrity I had long admired in him had died, and then I was already grieving for its loss.”

“He learns how to do art with the stones in her garden: it was a strange feeling, much different from working with the fluidity of brush and paint, or water and earth. The weight of the stones pulled against each stroke and left a distinct feeling of strength and permanence.”

A Painted House by John Grisham (Historical Fiction — audio book)

Writing: 5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4/5
This book is unlike any other book Grisham has written — no courtrooms, not a lot of official justice, and not a thriller — but I found it utterly enthralling. It drew me into a world I knew nothing about and brought it to full sensory life. At least part of this was due to the audio book reader (David Lansbury) who captured the mood perfectly with his tone, pacing, and wide range of voices. Not every book (IMHO) is improved by listening to it — but this one certainly was.

The story is apparently somewhat autobiographical and takes us through one picking season on an Arkansas Delta cotton farm in 1952. Told from the perspective of seven year old Luke Chandler, the clarity of his reflections as he learns about life, morality, and people during this period is priceless. The family hires itinerant help in the form of ten Mexicans and a family of hill people. As with most farmers of the time, they are in debt from one season to the next, on the edge of ruin with every storm, flood, broken truck, or the transitory nature of picking labor. Luke is part of it all — the picking, the worrying, and the witnessing. He becomes the holder of too many secrets, and we feel the potential bursting and sickness he takes on with the keeping.

I’d forgotten how good Grisham’s writing is because I’m not that interested in legal thrillers but I was rapt throughout. His characters are such real people — each struggling in his or her own way with constant questions of both survival and morality. Making do in a rough world with little in the way of legal support — people have to figure out how to handle their own problems. Bittersweet and poignant, the narrative spans the Korean war, the movies of the day, the newness (and rareness) of television sets, flooding and tornados, farming economics, and the tension between the old ways and new possibilities.

Loved it.

Reunion by Elise Juska (Literary Fiction)

June 2021 — Three friends anticipate a Covid postponed college reunion at the Maine campus. Hope — a stay at home mom with an increasingly distant husband — is desperate to return to what she remembers as her happiest time; Adam looks forward to reconnecting but feels guilt at leaving his perpetually sad wife with the twins in the house that she hasn’t left in a very long time; and NYC based single-mom Polly who doesn’t share her friends fond memories, but is persuaded to attend by her reclusive son who wants to visit a nearby friend.

This character-driven novel explores friendships and personal growth against the backdrop of lock down parenting and recovery alongside some pretty intense environmental anxiety. With every relationship comes inevitable clashes and this story covers quite a few. I particularly “enjoyed” the generational clashes — some familiar and some brand new to me as successive generations bear less and less in common with my own. Well written probes into the evolution of friendships
— what connects people with little in common and what decisions can impact the closeness over time. I really liked that the ending for all of our protagonists had a closure that was more about understanding the nature of their issues, thereby clarifying a path towards closure, rather than any kind of quick solution to the problem itself — because there really are no quick solutions to relationship issues…

One kind of funny (to me) quote as Hope thinks about her teenage daughter Izzy: “Meanwhile, Izzy was skeptical of all things where Hope was concerned. Her Spotify list. Her low-carb bread. Her Facebook posts — too frequent, too obviously curated — why was she even on Facebook? Her overuse of exclamation points. Her leather tote. Sometimes Hope secretly wondered if Izzy had become a vegan primarily to get on her nerves.”

Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on May 11th, 2024.

Mona of the Manor by Armistead Maupin

Writing: 4/5 Characters: 4.5/5 Plot: 3/5

I first read Maupin’s Tales of the City books (the first five) back in the early 80s — a lifetime ago. After a long hiatus, Maupin continued producing additional books, but at a slower pace. Mona of the Manor comes ten years after the last book and my memory for any of these past plots is a little challenged! However, reading this novel was like slipping into a comfy blanket — the same easy and intimate writing style, plenty of familiar (and beloved) characters, and a delightful new locale — Mona’s manor house inherited from her late husband — a fun story on its own. Mona will be a familiar character to Maupin fans — she is the woman who (many, many, novels ago) discovered her long lost father in the form of her landlady — the transformed Anna Madrigal.

Although this is the tenth book in a long series, I think there are enough embedded recaps and hints to make it accessible to new readers. Although written in 2024, it seems to take place in the late 90s when the AIDS epidemic was at its height. Interestingly, in this book, AIDS is referred to as a pandemic, which was not the way I remembered it being referred to at the time but which is obviously correct. Although I lived through it, I admit to having largely forgotten about how horrible it was at the time. I found a thorough timeline here: https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/history/hiv-and-aids-timeline/. While AIDS is not the main point of the story, its continuing destruction has a big impact on our characters and their community.

The book does unsurprisingly include a very clear and outspoken sexual / gender agenda, but primarily the characters are all seeking what most of us seek — love, meaning, and a place in life regardless of their sexually diverse backgrounds. Some positive experiences with the Romani — a group that is rarely portrayed in fiction at all, never mind nicely. Well written and enjoyable — not particularly insightful but perfectly paced, easy to read, and always surprising. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on March 5th, 2024.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (Literary Fiction)

Writing: 4.5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4.5/5

This is a portrait of a dynamically happy, multigenerational family with some serious dysfunctional fractures. As the four incredibly close Padavano sisters grow from childhood to late middle age, we are privy to the interactions, traumas, and healing experienced by everyone in the extended family. Napolitano allows her characters to learn and take risks in relationships and not be stuck doing the wrong thing out of fear or miscommunication. Themes of mental health as well as finding and being true to one’s self permeate the story which explores the impact of death, divorce, and disappointment along with success, love, and belonging on family structures and health. There is a fair amount of drama — it wouldn’t be an Oprah book selection without that — but I was happy to find this was a book about people with problems who actively try to address their own responsibilities in terms of their problems; they are not life long victims or people who continually keep making the same mistakes.

The writing is rich and full of reflection, interaction, and experience. It contains a well structured narrative arc that allows readers to enjoy their intimate time with the family while progressing steadily towards a denouement that works perfectly (although it was both upsetting and surprising to me). I loved the fact that the men in the story had such close friendships and such concern for kindness — nice to see that in male as well as female characters. I really enjoyed the small point made by one character who forgave someone immediately for doing something that was somewhat cruel because she wanted to be able to love that person and couldn’t do so if she felt angry and vindictive. The story includes a nice positive view of therapy and mental health and some great articulation of each individual’s personal discoveries and progress. I found myself thinking that some “solutions” were overly simplistic, but then I really couldn’t defend my own premise. Perhaps they really were core truths rather than sound bites. It was a good feeling.

The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel (Literary Fiction)

Writing: 5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4/5

I enjoyed every minute reading this book. It’s one of those books that you’d turn to rather than most other activities on offer. On the surface (ie the cover) it just looks like a light hearted romantic comedy — which it sort of is — but largely due to the stellar writing it is also a set of lovable and realistic characters, great dialog, and a variety of relationship styles that bear further study.

The stated plot focuses on a baby who lands in the laps of three women — Lauren, a ceramic artist who just got her big break; Melinda, recently dumped after 30 years of marriage and raging for revenge — unfortunately applying said revenge in all the wrong places; and Olivia, the daughter of the bar owner who rents the basement of Lauren’s Greenwich Village brownstone for a song. It’s funny, full of characters who are deeply interesting rather than quirky on the surface, and steeped in New York city culture and habitats. Lots of fun — I can’t remember where I heard about it, but I’ll certainly go back and read some of her other books.

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo (Fiction)

I read / listened to this book simultaneously, going back and forth between the two editions. The audio book really gives you the lilting flavor of the poetic prose, and much of it is read by the author. On the other hand, for some reason, the audio book does NOT read aloud the chapter headings that tell you which family member is narrating. This can be very confusing as it often takes some time before it becomes obvious whose story is being taken up.

The novel tells the stories of the women of a multigenerational Dominican-American family — each with a gift that is not wholly of this world. It begins with one of the sisters — Flor — demanding a wake for herself in three days. Since her gift is predicting the day of someone’s death, her family naturally expects the worst, though Flor won’t answer any questions. The prose is lyrical, moving between present and past and among the three sisters and the two cousins of the next generation.

The story is slow paced and completely sensual — it is a story of sensory experiences and personal feelings, not a story of plot or thought. That was interesting to me because I realized that I personally prefer more thought and a little less feeling and experience, but I can appreciate the flow. The stories center on women — all the men are described from the women’s perspective which is another interesting way of telling of a story.

I enjoyed the story but you do have to be in a patient mood, as the story unfolds slowly with a different sense of time than I’m used to. Read after the caffeine in your system is spent, else you will not be able to settle in to the language the way you should.

Thank you to Ecco and HarperAudio and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on August 1st, 2023