This Strange Eventful History: A Novel
by Claire Messud
Evocative and poignant (4/21/2024)
In this beautifully written multigenerational saga--covering the years from 1940 to 2010--Claire Messud uses multiple viewpoints to explore how various social and political forces shape the lives of a family--based on her own family--and how the stories we tell ourselves influence how we interpret the world. It is a novel full of empathy, but it is also a heartbreaking novel about how isolated we are from each other, and how little we really know about how the world feels to others, including those we love the most in the world. It is not a quick read, but it does an extraordinary job of illuminating the importance of family and connection.
Devil Makes Three: A Novel
by Ben Fountain
Love in Times of Turmoil (9/22/2023)
Haiti is a place of contradictions. Full of beauty and culturally rich, it has also been hit, time and again, by political turmoil and humanitarian crises. Its prominent place in the news recently makes this deeply humane book, set in 1991 after the overthrow of President Aristide, even more timely and interesting. Reminiscent of the best of Graham Greene's work, Fondant writes deftly about both the characters who are white Americans as well as those from a prominent, wealthy Haitian family. It is a tense, compelling novel. If you are at all interested in Haiti and what happens when we lose sight of other people's humanity and inherent worth, this book is for you.
This Other Eden: A Novel
by Paul Harding
Heartbreaking and luminous (1/13/2023)
Set in the 1910s, This Other Eden is about a mixed race community forced to leave a small island off the coast of Maine that their families have lived on for more than 100 years. By showing how great harm can come from good intentions, Harding transforms historical events into a fable about a unique community that is destroyed in a heartbreaking way. It is an empathic tale that explores what constitutes a family and what makes a life worth living. This remarkable, understated, luminous novel is well worth reading. Given the issues he explores, it would make an outstanding book club selection.
Dinosaurs: A Novel
by Lydia Millet
Life-affirming (9/16/2022)
In this gentle novel, Lydia Millet uses deceptively simple prose to explore the psychological intricacies of a wealthy, 45-year-old white man, uncomfortable with his privilege, who is trying to do good in the world. This seemingly quiet novel is actually a powerful and moving exploration of ordinary human cruelty, all the different forms love can take, and the importance of human relationships. It would make an excellent book club selection.
Exiles: Aaron Falk Mystery #3
by Jane Harper
Come for the mystery, stay for the moving portrayal of a community (8/10/2022)
While there is a mystery (or two) in this entertaining novel, it is really an exploration of community, guilt, and how relationships with others shape and change us. Jane Harper's South Australian wine country is an important character, and Aaron Falk is, as always, someone I am happy to follow around while he figures things out. The middle of the book was a little slow, but the incredibly moving ending makes up for it. Highly recommended for fans of character driven mysteries.
On a Night of a Thousand Stars
by Andrea Yaryura Clark
Love in the Time of Terror (2/11/2022)
On a Night of a Thousand Stars starts off extraordinarily strong. The equanimity of a wealthy family from Argentina, currently living a life of privilege in the United States, is disrupted when an old family friend suggests that the family's past contains a secret. Andrea Yaryura Clark successfully uses this mystery to create an interesting story with great narrative drive. Unfortunately, the overall novel is uneven in spots, and a love triangle makes the middle a bit soggy. Nevertheless, it is, overall, an interesting look at both Argentina's Dirty War of the 1970s and its aftermath.
Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey
by Florence Williams
When Rivers Aren't Enough (11/23/2021)
In Heartbreak, Williams tackles a complex and difficult subject. When her husband leaves their 25-year-old marriage, Williams is heartbroken. As a nature advocate and science writer, she sets out to discover why she is so devastated—it was a sufficient marriage, one she calls ambivalent, but not a good one—and what is happening to her body. Ultimately this exploration of romantic loss and grief is about the importance of the mind-body connection and the power of story. Highly recommended for anyone interested in genomics or seeking ways to understand why breakups can be so hard on us.
Blind Man's Bluff: A Memoir
by James Tate Hill
The grief of non-acceptance (8/3/2021)
James Tate Hill's moving memoir is an excellent case study of what happens when we refuse to accept things as they are and when we are overly invested in other people's opinions. Hill is a problem solver with a sense of humor, but by trying to hide the severity of his vision loss he makes his life much more difficult and isolated than it needs to be. Written with compassion for his younger self, Hill helps the reader fully appreciate the difficulties of living with vision loss and the way technology and friends can help us overcome our limitations.
A Theater for Dreamers
by Polly Samson
Watching the dreamers dream (3/19/2021)
Recently, we watched the perfect pandemic television show, "The Durrells in Corfu." Although "A Theater for Dreamers" is set decades later and on the Greek island of Hydra rather than Corfu, it had the same memorizing quality. Samson uses the adventures of a fictional young woman, Erica to write about a group of real people — Charmian Clift, George Johnson, Axel Jensen, Marianne Ihlen, and Leonard Cohen —who are all trying to create art. Samson mixtures the fictional with the factual—which is both fascinating and, occasionally, jarring—in order to explore the role of the muse and how it affects women's own creativity. Sometimes meandering, this beautifully written novel pays homage to a group of damaged, but brilliant artists.
Hieroglyphics
by Jill McCorkle
Memories of love and destruction (6/15/2020)
Hieroglyphics is a multi-layered novel full of empathy and powered by a desire to understand what happens when parental ties are damaged prematurely. It is an exploration of how we make sense of our lives when there has been a major disruption in them and the role forgiveness plays in finding peace. Although it has an unusual structure—four characters take turn telling their own story in their own way—the strands come together in a satisfying way. It is a slow-moving book, but patience with it pays off.
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
by Erik Larson
Churchill and the Blitz (2/1/2020)
It is easy to forget that the outcome of World War Two wasn't inevitable and that the United States wasn't particularly eager to become involved. Larson has written a gripping, well-researched book which humanizes historical figures who have become—in some cases, with good reason—larger than life characters. By weaving together the personal with the political and historical, Larson is able to give us an idea of what it would be like to live in a country that was being bombed on a regular basis for months on end, and how Churchill sought to save it. It is a compelling and enlightening book. Highly recommended.
The Shadow King: A Novel
by Maaza Mengiste
Women in war (7/12/2019)
A lyrical, riveting book about mythology and war. Mengiste brings Ethiopian history to life. She effectively uses multiple voices to tell the story of women who are not only caregivers but also fighters during the Italian invasion of 1935. The beauty of the writing effectively illuminates the horror of war in a profound way. While the overall structure is intriguing and effective, I wanted more historical context. I ended up looking things up online which, sometimes, took me out of the story.
Beirut Hellfire Society
by Rawi Hage
The absurdity of life during a senseless war (5/26/2019)
A riotous, profane, sensual, philosophical examination of the absurdity of life during a senseless war. This examination of violence and how people respond to death—by either turning towards life or trying to protect themselves against it—contains a great deal of pathos and dark humor. The main character, Pavlov, is driven by a sense of obligation to care for those who in the face of great disapproval and danger continue to live their lives as they choose. It is a marvelous ride, and Hage's writing hits hard, but it isn't for anyone who is easily offended or upset by casual violence and sex.
Ellie and the Harpmaker
by Hazel Prior
The magic of music and love (4/2/2019)
A lovely fairytale about the power of love and music, and the things we do to protect ourselves and the people we love. Although it started off a little slowly, soon enough the story of Dan and Ellie became captivating and the ending brought tears. Told in alternating voices, the novel does a fabulous job of showing us how the world looks and feels to two interesting and unique individuals. Highly recommended to anyone looking for a bit of brightness and hope.
The Travelling Cat Chronicles
by Hiro Arikawa, Philip Gabriel
Love and devotion (5/7/2018)
A beautifully written, moving book about love and death. Narrated by a wise and sassy stray cat who is taken in by a kind-hearted man, it is also a story of friendship and devotion. Although the ending caused a cascade of tears, it wasn't for the usual reason pet stories bring on tears. The writing is vivid and the translation is seamless. Highly recommended.
Meet Me at the Museum
by Anne Youngson
Love in the time of grief (4/2/2018)
What a delightful book. It is moving—it brought me to tears more than once—beautifully written, and insightful. Anne Youngson's insights into human nature, love, what makes life meaningful, and the importance of family are remarkable. I turned down more than one page so that I could go back and reread something wise one character had written to another. Highly recommended. (It would make a fabulous book club book.)
The Milk Lady of Bangalore: An Unexpected Adventure
by Shoba Narayan
Milk, cows, and cow patties (12/13/2017)
In the beginning, I thought this book was about how the author adjusted returning to India with its rather unusual customs after spending close to 20 years in New York City. Then I thought perhaps it is about a kind of friendship that developed between a wealthy woman and a woman who lives in the slums and sells milk for a living. Then I thought maybe it was more about the role cows play in Indian culture. Although The Milk Lady of Bangalore is clearly written and very entertaining in parts, Narayan doesn't ever seem to decide what she is writing about which, for me, meant that the book never fully captured my imagination as I didn't come to any type of better understanding of the people or the place that she was writing about.
As Bright as Heaven
by Susan Meissner
Love in the time of social upheaval (10/29/2017)
The early 20th century was a fascinating time full of unique challenges and social change. Susan Meissner has written a well-researched and easy to read novel about a family who moves to Philadelphia just before the outbreak of the Spanish Flu. Telling the story from multiple perspectives, Meissner is able to explore a number of interesting social questions and historical trends. This is both a virtue and a failing. It deepens the historical perspective, but at the cost of more fully realized characters. At times, particularly in the beginning when the main characters were children, I sometimes found it difficult to keep them straight. The ending ties everything up beautifully and things are resolved in a rather fairy tale-like way which is satisfying albeit unrealistic. Even so, for lovers of historical fiction, I would highly recommend this novel.
Wonder Valley
by Ivy Pochoda
Finding a way to be in the world (6/26/2017)
A compelling novel about family and friends and moral responsibility and the role of drugs and alcohol play in some people's lives. Although a number of the characters live morally problematic lives, Pochoda portrays them with a compassion and empathy that enabled me to understand the reasons why they might make the choices they did. It is not written chronologically, but it was still (most of the time) clear where in time the characters were. Vividly written, it is a great psychological novel.
My Last Lament
by James William Brown
Love in the time of terror (3/12/2017)
Set during a difficult time in Greece's history, Brown's engrossing novel explores important questions about love, family, and what happens to our relationships and sense of self during times of strife and terror. It is about resilience and what kind of power individuals retain even when they are essential powerless. Aliki's tale is full of humor and pathos, regret and understanding. Highly recommended.
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