Together Tea by Marjan Kamali (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Mina is in business school and only fantasizing about being able to pursue art, just as a good Iranian-American girl should be.  Her mother, Darya, is looking for a husband for Mina, as a good Iranian-American mother should be doing.  They are each struggling with their identities after growing up in Iran and having lived through the Iranian Revolution in the 70’s.  The family had fled Iran in fear at that dark time, but particularly Darya had held on to the idea that the Revolution would be a temporary state and they’d return one day to their home.  When they were still there 15 years later, it almost felt like a shock that they were actually Americans at this point.  After the most recent disastrous attempt at a matchmaking, Mina finally reaches a turning point in her life and suddenly, she needs to return to her roots.  And suddenly at that point, Darya decides she needs to go with her.  The two of them don their hair coverings and the traditional covering for their whole bodies, and fly home to visit their family and friends Iran.  What they learn there changes their lives.

This book gave the reader a great understanding of the turmoil and trauma that occurred in Iran in the 70’s when the Islamic fundamentalists gained control over what was a very colorful, even progressive culture.  The institutionalized suppression particularly of women is very apparent in this story, where women who very clearly are smart and work in professional capacities cannot even go out by themselves and are kept closeted.

Unfortunately, I think the actual writing in the book is weak.  The story is never surprising and remains entirely predictable.  Analogies are tired and trite and there is no poetry in the words here even where the author is trying to portray the cultural beauty that is suppressed.  It is unfortunate because the idea of the book is great – it is just never taken to where it should’ve gone.  A disappointing rendition of a good idea…

 

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

I’ve been hearing about this book for awhile now… some have said, “Nah, don’t bother” and others have said, “You must read this!”  So I finally read it to see what the fuss was about…  And I’m actually somewhere in between on this one.

The story is an historical fictional account of the orphan trains, the trains that ferried hundreds of orphans under the care of the Children’s Aid Society in NYC to the midwest, to find homes for them.  The children were taken by a few adults who would stop at various train stations and would show the children on a stage, like an auction, and people would come to take them in.  Many were given good homes and an education, but probably many more were used as free labor on farms and in private homes, mistreated and misused.

This particular story is about Molly, who is a foster child who is sentenced to do community service working for an elderly woman, Vivian, helping her to clean out her attic.  As the two delve into the boxes in the attic, Vivian shares her memories of what lies in them and divulges her experiences, through flashbacks, of being an orphan and where her orphan train led her.  The two come to form a close friendship based on their shared experiences.

I think the value of this book does not lie in the quality of the writing, which is only fair,  or even in the character development, which I think is unexpectedly flat.   While Vivian’s story is interesting, it is told in a very clinical, detached way that did not fully engage me; and Molly, who started out as a really interesting character, remained superficial.

The value of the book is really the description of the orphan trains themselves.  I think it is important to know about this dark spot in our history.  The Children’s Aid Society does some extraordinary work with children in foster care today, but its roots are tainted by this cold history.

FOOTNOTE:  If you want to learn about the orphan trains, another book to read is The Chaperone by Liane Moriarty.  It gives slightly less detail about the trains, but it is a beautifully written story that is sure to completely engage you!

Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

I was supposed to love this book!  I was embarrassed that I hadn’t read it yet…

I did not love this book.

This story is about a girl, Lily, raised in China during the 19th century, who is pledged to be the “lautong” of a girl of higher social standing, Snow Flower.  A lautong is a sort of soul sister, to whom a friendship is pledged that transcends any other commitment, including marriage, and is to last their entire lives.  The story takes the reader through the girls’ very difficult lives together, as they experience the excruciating pain of foot-binding, the preparation of their dowries for marriage, and their experience as married women of differing statuses.

What I did not like about this book was that it was unrelentingly depressing.  Just when you think it can’t get any sadder, worse tragedy strikes.  There is a constantly nagging foreboding throughout the book which makes it just onerous to read.   I also felt as though the main character, also the narrator, was not very likeable, which made it more of a chore to read about her plight.

I did appreciate learning about the Chinese customs and traditions that are described in the story.  It was painful to learn about the nightmare of footbinding and how women were only valued based on the men they birthed.  Girls are described as worthless and a burden on their families, when they were the ones to do all the work to maintain the households.  The marital traditions are extremely colorful and interesting, however.

I know this is book is a favorite of many… but not mine.

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Wow.  I am a little speechless from this book.  It’s funny, too, because I started this book awhile ago and put it aside.  It felt very dense and I wasn’t sure it was worth the “work” of reading it.  Needless to say, I am glad I returned to it as it very quickly became not work but almost a driving force and kept me up to all hours of the night (luckily it’s vacation time!), needing to find out what happened next.

This is the story of the Dreyfus Affair, which if you are not acquainted with it, is the frightening, true story of a Jew, Alfred Dreyfus, who served in the French army in the late 1800’s who was accused and convicted of treason and punished in an absurdly inhuman way.  This historical fictional version of this dark episode in French history, is told from the perspective of a Colonel, Georges Picquart, in the army who was assigned to be the head of intelligence for France and who uncovers the true traitor.  The story is a brutal, gradual revelation of a top-level cover-up of a shabby investigation with the unsurprising victim a Jew.  Because of the persistence of this lonely officer, the case is reopened in spite of all the efforts of his superiors to suppress his work.

Here is another story of French anti-semitism, something that is echoed today.  Reading this leads one to wonder if anything has actually changed since the turn of the last century…

China Dolls by Lisa See (migrated from bookblogger)

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Three Asian girls — Helen, Grace and Ruby — seeking to reinvent themselves, meet as they each are auditioning for a dance club in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1938.  They instantly develop a friendship, a new experience for each of them.  The story follows them through the second world war, during which the paranoia over the Japanese, as well as each of their own secrets/ghosts, almost tear them apart.

Lisa See creates a heart-wrenching experience for the reader – each character is so lovingly portrayed and it is easy for the reader to be drawn in.  She also creates a real experience of the time in our history, the impact of a cruel war and its resultant prejudices on each of its individual citizens.

I heartily recommend this book – a definite “must read,” especially for those of us obsessed with historical fiction!

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler (Migrated from bookblogger)

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Isabelle, an elderly white woman, has befriended her hairdresser, a younger black woman named Dorrie.  They have fallen into a comfortable routine, a weekly visit by Dorrie to Isabelle’s home, for Dorrie to fix Isabelle’s hair and truly to check in on her.  But even Dorrie is surprised when Isabelle asks Dorrie to accompany her on a mysterious journey to Isabelle’s hometown for a funeral. Dorrie embraces this opportunity to take a brief hiatus from her own family troubles, and she drops everything to help out Isabelle, Through their journey, they each share their own stories and the two come to understand each other in a deeper, almost mother/daughter way that truly tugged at my heart.

The story, almost prophetic in its timing, is about race and racism and in its tender way shows how while many things have changed over the years, many things have unfortunately remained the same in terms of black-white relations.  The women in this story defy the stereotypes and are so beautifully and realistically depicted that you can’t help falling in love with them both.  It is just remarkable to me that this is this author’s debut novel — I can’t wait to read her next!

My favorite part is the ending.  Not only is there a build up of suspense and a definite twist, but the author also finishes the novel.  All the pieces are wrapped up neatly in an incredibly satisfying, albeit sad, way.  It’s really a beautiful story.

Highly, highly recommend this book – and can’t wait to discuss it in our book club!

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (migrated from bookblogger)

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Eilis, a young woman who lives with her mother and sister, has a good head for math and dreams of being a bookkeeper, but cannot seem to find a job in her home town in Ireland.  When an Irish priest from Brooklyn, NY comes to visit the town, he notices Eilis and promises to take her under his wing and help her get to Brooklyn where there are more opportunities.  Eilis struggles with the different culture and the absence of her family, but in many ways she is very successful.  When she is confronted with a serious trauma in her family, her newfound confidence is tested and she must prove herself once again.

The beauty of this book is the writing, which is uniquely simple, calm and straight-forward.  There is little description, but everything is depicted clearly enough to visualize it all.  There are certainly facts to the story but it is also filled with the thoughts and conjecture that Eilis has.  It is a pure and intelligent writing style that is easy to read and flows smoothly.

The story is also valuable as a history lesson.  It is the immigrant experience of a lone newcomer to a foreign land where everything is different, from the foods to the clothing styles, to the basic customs and it is an adjustment at each and every step.  Even as Eilis has support from the priest who sponsored her, she still has to cope with the judgement of those around her and she struggles with this.  It is really the story of all Americans, as most of us have been or come from immigrants, no matter how many generations ago.

Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan (migrated from bookblogger)

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This is a fictionized biography of Robert Louis Stevenson told through the life story of his wife, Fanny.  Louis and Fanny meet after Fanny has brought her family away from America to Europe to start a new life away from her philandering first husband.  They begin a very difficult and romantic life together, he overcoming his poor health and she overcoming her own personal tragedy.  They travel the world in search of climate that supports his health and it is clear that their experiences shape Louis’s writings.

The writing in this story is excellent, if a bit long.  It also appears to be well-researched, based on a number of books about the lives of both Louis and Fanny, as well as from their journals and the writings of their family members.  There are a number of colorful characters, but none more so than Louis himself.  He is both gregarious and private, both warm-hearted and self-indulgent — a true artist in every sense of the word.  Fanny’s character is a bit sadder, as she sacrifices a great deal to be the caretaker and the loving wife of such a great man.  (I wonder how they would fare if they were alive a century later, as Fanny seems to have suffered loneliness because of how independent she was for the time in which she lived.)

All in all, it makes for an appealing novel from which I felt I learned a great deal.

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

This is the story of a painting with a past.  The Girl You Left Behind is this painting, a portrait of Sophie by her husband, who has been sent to fight for France during the first World War.  While he is away, Sophie is living with her sister, Helene, helping her run a small hotel in a tiny town outside Paris.  This town is now occupied by the Germans who are using the hotel for their nightly fare.

Fast forward to the current day and this same painting is owned by Liv, who lost her husband only four years ago and is still immobilized by this loss.  The only thing keeping her going is the hope and strength in the eyes of the woman in the portrait.  Circumstances call into question the origin of the painting and if Liv can be the rightful owner of this precious portrait. The only thing that can help Liv is to solve the mystery of the history of this painting and the actual events in the lives of the people surrounding it.

While this story is hard to read because of all the sadness – a story about war cannot be otherwise — but it is also hard to put down because the main characters are so inspiring in their sense of hope and strength.  It is also so well-written that you cannot help getting personally invested in both stories, especially as they are sewn together.

I highly recommend this book, especially for those who love historical fiction as I do!

 

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

This story very insidiously burrows its way under your skin and you cannot shake it off until you reach the end.  There is an eeriness about each character and a tension that is so taught that it grips your heart as you read through.  At the same time, you cannot help but feel a tenderness for each of the characters and it paints each in a human light, that is neither good nor bad, but very, very human.

It is the story of two main characters who are unconnected and wind their way toward each other in a most circuitous way.  One is Marie-Laure, the young, blind daughter of the locksmith for the natural history museum of Paris, just before the German occupation of WWII.  The second is a young German orphan named Werner, who is mesmerized by radios and sees his curiosity and natural ability in engineering as his ticket out of his small, mining village.  The story bounces back and forth between the two, and keeps the reader absolutely on the edge of her seat.  It is almost impossible to put down, actually.

While this is yet another book about WWII, it is a very different perspective on it.  There is very little about the treatment of Jews; rather, the focus is mainly on the effect of the German occupation of France.  In addition, there is also the struggle between the ideas of bad and good, and the idea that  “bad” can be defined as not doing good.  Werner, in particular, struggles with this in a vivid way.

This is a heart-wrenching story but a beautifully written one that I would heartily recommend!