The Lovers is a moving tale of a widow's self discovery while on a trip to Turkey, where she honeymooned with her deceased husband. From the first paragraph, I was instantly transported into Yvonne's world--the heat, dust, and the unfamiliar, sometimes bizarre, landscape of Turkey, and the strange and interesting cast of characters she meets during her travels. The book is, at times, odd and almost uncomfortable to read, but in the end I was moved to tears with empathy for Yvonne. As the parent of an adult daughter I felt her pain at missing her child and her sense of being alone in the world.

I enjoyed Vida's previous novel, Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name, more, but I know that The Lovers will haunt me for days to come, with its intense strangeness and the connection of Yvonne's story to aspects of my own life. I enjoy how Vida spins tales set in unfamiliar locations. Reading her books opens our eyes to other cultures--with their different customs, attitudes and behavior--but also reminds us how our struggles as human beings are, indeed, universal.

The Spare Room by Helen Garner, is a hard read at times because of its brutally honest portrayal of the way a last-chance treatment for cancer affects the lives of the patient, Nicola, and her friend Helen, who has agreed to put Nicola up in her house during the weeks of the treatment.

Although their long-term friendship is strong, Nicola's tunnel-vision about the alternative (and questionable) treatment, and her inability to honestly see the way it affects her health and the lives of those around her, tests the women's relationship, and also Nicola's relationship with others.

I liked Garner's easy and intimate writing style, and the humor she injects into the mostly depressing story. One gets the feeling from the book's account of cancer symptoms and the body's reactions to certain treatments that the author must have either cared for a cancer patient herself, or witnessed the affects of the disease on someone close to her. Its details are what are hard to read at times, but they're also integral to the plot and to how the disease and prognosis affects both Nicola and Helen.

Although this wasn't one of the best books I've read recently, I'm glad I did. The Spare Room's plot is small and only covers a short period of time, but its emotional intensity and insight into different personalities lingers.

Helen Tse's "Sweet Mandarin" succeeds most when she is telling the story of her maternal great-grandfather, an enterprising soy sauce producer and entrepreneur in rural China, and his daughter, Lily, Tse's grandmother, who overcame poverty and worked her way up from a servant and nanny in early Hong Kong to a respected restaurateur in Middleton, England. Tse also includes the story of her parents, who also owned and ran several Chinese restaurants, and a little about how she and her two sisters opened their own Chinese restaurant, called Sweet Mandarin. Mostly, though, this is the engaging story of and tribute to Lily Kwok--a strong and confident woman who made a living and supported her children despite rough times, an unreliable husband, and some hard choices.

This book would appeal to both young-adult and adult readers, and would make for interesting book club discussions. Readers learn what life was like in rural China and early Hong Kong, and also a bit about the Chinese immigrant experience in England in the 1950's. A recommended read.