Revolution (The French One)

I don’t normally pick up YA books, because frankly, I don’t want to read about depressed teenagers. But when Jen told me about Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (one of her favs of 2010) I couldn’t wait to read it.

The story begins with plenty of teenage angst – which Jen assured me that I could get through. The main character, Andi, is trying to come to terms with a recent tragedy in her life and may not graduate from her prestigious high school.

The tragic event didn’t just result in Andi battling internal guilt, it affected the entire family.  Her mother has become withdrawn and secluded and her re-married father uncommunicative.  Dad decides to take Andi to Paris with him in order for her to focus on her Senior Thesis - a graduation requirement.  He happens to be in Paris working as a world renowned DNA scientist to determine if a jarred heart does indeed belong to Louis-Charles, the son of guillotined King Louis XVI during the French Revolution.

Within the first few days in Paris, Andi discovers in a hidden compartment of an old violin case, a diary belonging to a girl who was a companion to the young dauphin while he lived at Versailles and during his captivity in Paris. The girl, Alexandrine Paradis, recorded her adventures as the French Revolution exploded and gained momentum in 1795.

Revolution takes us on a wonderful journey into present day Paris including hip clubs and parties in the Catacombs.   Through Alexandrine’s diary, Ms. Donnelly masterfully transports us back in time to the Paris of 1795, during the last days of the monarchy and through the Reign of Terror.

At one point Andi time travels back to 1795 and I thought “oh no, this isn’t going to be good” but I was pleasantly surprised. The time travel was done exceptionally well and describes a vivid picture of life during 1795.   If you think rotting teeth, stench and lice are glamorous then the Court of Versailles was for you.  During this exciting adventure she is immediately connected to someone who is very important to her current research. (I can’t give away the details.)  When she introduces this person to her ipod and the music of Led Zepplin and RadioHead, I laughed because that would be so cool! I would love to go back to different places in history, but only knowing that I could return to the present.

Unfortunately, time travel is not realistic, but who cares?  I felt like I was transported – I couldn’t put this book down.  Revolution is a fun novel.  Not only does Ms. Donnelly treat us to an important part of French history, she adds plenty of teenage drama and musical variety for everyone to enjoy.

The Blood of Flowers

I mentioned The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani a few months ago in a general review about audio books.  This is the first book that I have listened to that I’ve wanted to read as well.  I had to find out if the printed word did the story equal justice as the spoken word.  Happily, I was not disappointed.

The story takes place around 1620 in Iran and is told by a young, un-named, girl in her teens.  She lives happily as an only child in a small village with her parents. She dreams of the day she’ll be married with her own family.  Right away, we learn that this girl loves weaving carpets and has been creating her own designs and colors since a very young age.

Unfortunately, tragedy strikes.  The girl and her mother are suddenly left without the male of their happy household.  Without any relatives in their village, mother and daughter are forced to make the journey to her father’s half-brother’s home in the capital city of Isfahan.  Upon entering the city, they can not believe their eyes:

As we walked into the square, I noticed that most of the buildings were tiled in the purest colors of sun and sky.  The dome of the Friday mosque looked all turquoise from afar, but up closer I could see it was enlivened with swirling vines in yellow and white.  Garlands of white and turquoise blossomed on the dome of the Shah’s lemon-colored mosque.  The arched gateways to the mosques sprouted a profusion of tiled white flowers that looked like stars sparkling in the blue of twighlight.  Every surface of every building glittered with ornament. It was as if a master goldsmith had selected yellow topaz, and the purest of diamonds, and arranged them into an infinity of shimmering patterns that radiated color and light.

They believe their luck has changed when they find their uncle who is a famous carpet maker for the Shah.  The uncle’s wife however, isn’t so thrilled to have two extra mouths to feed and puts them to work immediately as new servants in her home.  Mother and daughter are thankful to have at least shelter and food.

The uncle finds himself torn as the girl wishes to learn all she can about carpet making.  She reminds him of himself when he was young, but she is a girl and therefore forbidden from this sort of work.  Little by little, he gives in and allows her to help him with the designs and construction.  Again, she feels her luck has changed twice when one wealthy man commissions a carpet where her design is chosen and one of the shah’s women commissions her work.

Unfortunately, life in 17th century Iran was not easy for a young strong-willed girl and her luck changes again for the worst.  After a few unfortunate incidences she is encouraged by the uncle’s wife to enter into a temporary “sigeh” with a wealthy man. This is a renewable marriage contract for three months at a time during which she will visit her ‘husband’ at night when he calls for her.  She and her mother are given a reasonable sum of money for this sigeh but it ruins her chances of finding a proper husband.

I can’t divulge the turn of events which ultimately force daughter and mother to leave the uncle’s home.   They find themselves begging and almost dying in the streets, until the girl is able to begin carpet making again.  She proves to everyone that although she prayed and always gave thanks to Allah for her good fortunes, she ultimately was in charge of her own fate.

The Blood of Flowers is one book that I will keep on my shelf forever and re-read many times.  Ms. Amirrezvani brings to us the most colorful and beautiful book I have ever listened to or read.  The entire story is filled with descriptions like this:

Although my pattern was based on leaves, the long, tapered shapes that crisscrossed the rug also looked like feathers. They made me think of the lightness of birds and the coolness of wind.

In many cases, flowery words like this would seem almost corny, but in The Blood of Flowers, Ms. Amirrezvani’s detailed analogies work extremely well.  In addition to her colorful descriptions, we are exposed to many Persian words.  I have studied several languages and Persian is one of the most lyrical and beautiful languages I have ever heard, which adds even more beauty to this story.

The love between the mother and daughter also touches my heart. The mother refers to her daughter throughout the story as “joy of my joys” “light of my heart” and “daughter whose face I love” among many others. This emotion from mother to daughter is expressed so clearly throughout the story that I have begun using these loving phrases with my daughter.

At the heart of the beautiful writing and colorful images we read an inspiring story of an amazingly strong girl.  She is sassy, independent and opinionated, definitely not the type of a girl that her culture would embrace. While she is excited and worried about finding a husband throughout the story, survival becomes her main goal and she thinks independently and without fear to make the best possible life for her mother, herself and the other women she encounters.

After being thrown out of the house from her “real”  blood related kin, and during her struggle to survive in the slums, she befriends another woman and her family.  One night she surveys the scene and concludes:

Even though we weren’t family, Alekeh and Davood behaved if we were. Although we crowded them terribly, they had never told us we were not welcome. They shared everything they had and praised us for everything we gave. This, was truly my family, for they loved us and helped us through difficulties without complaint.

I emailed Ms. Amirrezvani to find out if another book would be coming out soon.  She replied that she is halfway through her next novel and that, “Life is short and art is long!” Since The Blood of Flowers took nine years, I may have a few years to wait. That’s ok, when it is released I will be first in line to grab this one.

More Favs of 2010

Everyone else is doing it, so I will too!  My top picks for 2010 – the books I read (but were not necessarily new) in 2010.

In no particular order:

Just Kids by Patti Smith (review)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (review)

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky – Heidi Durrow (review)

The Singer’s Gun –  Emily St. John Mandel (review)

The Blood of Flowers (review coming) – Anita Amirrezvani

Fun Children’s Books for the Entire Family

One of the joys of having a daughter is experiencing all sorts of fun new children’s books as I read to her. I know these books weren’t around when I was a kid.  Three of our favorite books belong to a series called The Doll People by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin. If you have bad dreams about Chuckie, these may not be for you, but if you don’t mind dolls coming alive when humans aren’t around, you (and your child) will love all three and wait anxiously for the fourth.

The Doll People begins by introducing all the characters.   The Doll Family is a Victorian china doll set complete with doll house that was sent from England to the current owner’s great grandma in 1898. One funny thing about this family is that the baby is twice the size of the rest of the family – an obvious mistake in packing, but they love her as she is.

A second doll family, The Funcrafts, arrives into the house and the Doll Family can’t believe how big they are, how well they clean up – they are made of plastic, perfect for their owner’s game “Miami-Beach-A-G-Go” in the bathtub – and how unafraid they are to venture out of the comfort zone of the bedrooms.

During the first book, the girls, Annabelle Doll and Tiffany Funcraft, go on an adventure into the attic to look for Auntie Sarah Doll who has been missing for 50 years. It’s an amazing adventure involving the family cat, climbing up the attic stairs and spiders.

Surprising to my daughter and me, all dolls have the choice to take the Doll Oath when they are made. This involves swearing that they will not move or speak in front of humans and that they will work to protect all of doll kind.

“‘Not all dolls take the oath,” Mama would reply patiently. “The Doll Code of Honor is serious. A lot of resonsibility comes with being a living doll. Many dolls choose to be regular everyday dolls.”"  (I believe Barbie refused to take the oath, so never comes alive.)

In Second book, The Meanest Doll in the World, Tiffany and Anna find their way into a backpack and are taken to school. They end up in another student’s house with “Mean Mimi”, a spoiled rotten princess doll who wants to become the Queen of All Dolls. She constantly jeopardizes all the dolls with her antics. All of them, except Mean Mimi, fear going into “Permanent Doll State.”   This occurs when a human has seen the doll too many times and the doll becomes frozen forever. The action really becomes heated when the G.I. Joe and little green army figures come to life.

Runaway Dolls, the third recently released book, involves the surprise arrival of the original baby that should have come with the Victorian Doll Family. Annabelle and Tiffany are afraid the Doll Family won’t accept this new baby and decide to run away. Once again they find themselves in the “real” world which is full of crazy adventures.

Brian Selznick does a fabulous job of bringing all the dolls to life with his illustrations. At times Mr. Selznick gives us glimpses of the world from the viewpoint of a two inch doll.

We parents are reminded constantly about the importance of reading to our children and when we have choices like The Doll Family series, reading becomes fun for the entire family!

Remainder

My favorite used bookstore is Easton’s Books in Mt. Vernon, WA.   Not only is it the most organized and well stocked used book stores I’ve ever seen, it also happens to be owned by my aunt and brilliant uncle (uncle by marriage, so unfortunately none of those brains could have found their way to me).  So when my uncle handed me Remainder by Tom McCarthy and told me it was the best book he had read in a long time, I became worried. I knew I had to read it – I just hoped I could understand it.

The story begins when the unnamed narrator wakes up in the hospital from a terrible accident of which he has no memory. He does learn that he has won an enormous settlement however, and spends a few weeks figuring out how to use all of this money.

On evening at a party he sees a simple crack in the wall.

I was standing by the sink looking at this crack in the plaster when I had a sudden sense of deja vu….I’d been in a space like this before, a place just like this, looking at the crack, a crack that had jutted and meandered in the same way as the one beside the mirror….Out of the window there’d been roofs with cats on them.  Red roofs, black cats. It had been high up, much higher than I was now: the fifth or sixth or maybe even seventh floor of an old tenement-style building, a large block…….

Believing that this is a memory from his childhood, he has a brilliant idea. Instead of investing his newly acquired fortune feeding poor people or openening schools in thirld world countries,  he will re-create this particular memory to relive at any time he pleases.  He constructs this scene to the minute detail: the perfect building, the cats to put on the red roof, the piano player that makes mistakes, the woman frying liver.  The actors then are ordered to practice over and over until he feels the memory is exactly correct.  At one point during this re-enactment, he is surprised by a tingling sensation in his spine. This tingle is the key to all future re-enactments.

Once in a while the narrator travels outside his re-enactment and discovers other scenes that he wants to re-create.  These aren’t memories, he just feels at the moment when he sees them that he would like to re-create them for his own pleasure.  Again, he painstakingly uses any means necessary to have every small detail at his disposal.

Finally, he is so jazzed by one re-enactment that he doesn’t want it to be fake anymore.  He wants it to be real-life.  This is when my spine tingled – I couldn’t put the book down at this point (but honestly, it was near the end).  And then the story ends without a real conclusion.

This novel was a bit strange to me.  I felt like I was reading an episode of The Twighlight Zone.

The narrator creates these re-enactments to make himself feel “real” he never feels anything until his spine tingles at certain moments during these re-creations.  My guess is that these sensations may have something to do with being a trauma victim – not an area that I’m familiar with.

I did enjoy this book for a couple reasons. First, although this narrator drives me crazy with his Ground Hog Day- like repetetiveness, it was fun to read because Mr. McCarthy is English and uses all sorts of English terminology and phrasing.  I heard the accent while I read.

Second, I find myself still thinking about it which doesn’t happen with every book I read.  What if I suddenly lost my memory?  What would life be like if it was just a series of controlled re-enactments and only at some unknown point I feld “real?” And what makes us feel “real”?

Even though I wouldn’t have chosen Remainder on my own, it’s one of those books that forced me to think outside of the box. And once in a while, that’s a good thing.

After writing this I learned BGB reviewed it in the past.  I’m glad Tim liked it because I would classify Remainder as a guy’s book so definitely check out Tim’s review too.

Book Store Travels

On a recent visit to Denver, I was lucky enough to be staying in the hip area called LODO (Lower Downtown). On a tip from BGB I decided to make a trip to the Tattered Cover Book Store with my daughter and her friend.

When I asked various Denverites about this store, everyone knew all about it and said it was their bookstore “du choix”.  Tattered Cover has three locations: the historical LODO neighborhood, Highlands Ranch and Colfax Avenue in the historic Lowenstein Theater.

Upon entering, my daughter said “it smells.”  I had to explain that yes, it ‘smells’  – like an old building with creaky wooden floors and lots and lots of books.  I told her to inhale deeply since she doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to experience this great “book” scent.  I didn’t have much time to linger through the store but I could have spent hours there.   My two six year old girls and I spent all of our time in the Children’s Section.   Thank goodness these girls are starting to read chapter books because we never could have chosen a single book from the fabulous selection of children’s books.  I could have even sat down in the comfortable chairs of this section for hours reading the picture books.

The beginning chapter books consisted of “only” four shelves but still took quite a bit of time. I can only imagine that the Young Adult Section would have been impossible for these girls.

Since I can never leave a bookstore without a bag in my hand  – each girl chose a book and we even bought some for a couple of friends.  After our purchase, we visited the coffee shop, grabbed some water and cookies and strolled back to our homebase (a truly fantastic 4,000 square foot remodeled warehouse/loft).

As we walked on this beautiful Fall day, we all remarked that this is a really ‘cool’ neighborhood.  We smelled some delicious Thai food coming from one of the many restaurants along the way, sat on some very colorful benches and tested out the bikes they have for rent.

If you make it to Denver – the LODO is the place to go and don’t forget The Tattered Cover.

J’adore Paris

A few years ago I discovered Ruth Reichl, former New York Times Food Critic, and three of her books:   Comfort me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table, Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the Table and Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, all three of which masterfully combine funny real-life anecdotes with amazing recipes.  I recently found a similar book to add to my collection:  The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz.

Pastry chef Mr. Lebovitz left everything behind in San Francisco to start fresh in the city of many, many people’s dreams:  Paris.   He tells humorous stories of his adventures as his life unfolds in the City of Lights.  At times I laughed out loud.  Because I lived in Paris for a glorious spell in the 80′s, his experiences brought back memories for me.  Some things never change though, the French can upgrade their toilet paper but they are still French.

One afternoon while sitting around in his sweats and a t-shirt, with uncombed hair, Mr. Lebovitz has an epiphany about his attitude in his new home of Paris.  The trash needs to be emptied.   The elevator is three steps from his front door and the trash bin is exactly five steps from the elevator in the basement.  In America, people go shopping in their pajamas so who would care about what to wear to take out the trash?  This American realizes he cares.

“I extracted myself from the sofa, shaved, changed into a pair of real pants, tucked in a clean wrinkle-free shirt and slipped on a pair of shoes and socks before heading toward the door with my little plastic sac for the poubelle.  God forbid I should run into someone from my building while wearing my Sunday worst.  And that, mes amis, was when I realized I had become Parisian.”

The French can be hard to get to know. Not famous for being overly friendly, if you are determined you can find a way to get past that stoic exterior.  Mr. Lebovitz spent five years shopping at the same store with the same clerk before he managed to earn a smile from her - of course his brownies helped.

Learning your way around a new city can always be a challenge, being in a different country where the language is new could also cause frustration.  Mr. Libovitz attacks his challenges with humor and never forgets that he chose to live there.  After five years he sums it up:

“Parisians have a reputation for being difficult, and sometimes kindness seems to be a priceless commodity, doled out parsimoniously to the lucky few. Yet I’ve managed to survive any wrath I’ve invoked with my special brand of American optimism (and brownies).  I’m also grateful that I’m probably treated better than someone who moved to America would be, not speaking a word of the native language, trying to get by in a foreign land.”

Personally, I’m not a great dessert chef, but Mr. Lebovitz’s recipes appear simple to make, yet elegant. I can’t wait to try many of them (especially the chocolate cake).

Mr. Libovitz has a casual writing style that is easy to read and lucky for me he throws in plenty of French words.  He has a fun blog where you can check him out daily www.davidlebovitz.com.

I would definitely recommend you pick up The Sweet Life in Paris, tout de suite, if you appreciate the French, like to laugh and enjoy desserts.

It was supposed to be funny

Reading the comments on the cover of I’m Down (“hilarious” “laugh-out-loud”) including the picture of a young white girl with a big afro by Mishna Wolff, it would appear this book could be a natural extension of my Chelsea Handler summer reading material since I love to laugh. Not so. In fact, I found this memoir to be a bit unsettling.

I’m Down is about Ms. Wolff, a white girl growing up in the proverbial black ‘hood of Seattle. She does not fit into the neighborhood as completely as her father would like. He wants her to be “down” – to act like all the other kids on their block. To please him, she tries her best. At one point she does enjoy some success with ‘capping (public insults similar to “yo moma” jokes). She feels almost accepted by the kids in the neighborhood – but is suddenly moved to a more academic school where the population consists of smart, rich, white kids. She finds she is not a natural fit there either. Ms.Wolff can not believe that these white, presumably privileged kids are not happy either. She is introduced to a world of depression and cutting by girls who are also crying for acceptance and love from their parents.

At first glance, I was a bit insulted regarding the race issue. Normally I’m not the most politically correct person but reading that her dad wants her to be more “black” made my blood boil. Ms. Wolff claims that her father thinks he’s black because he has permed his hair into an afro, doesn’t have a job, begins but never finishes construction projects on the house and plays a lot of poker with the other unemployed men who live nearby. Is this being black? Or is this being economically disadvantaged (a.k.a. “poor”) in an urban neighborhood? It’s curious to me because my husband is black (I am not) and no one in his family acts like the people in this book. If you don’t go deeper into the book, then it’s just more of the same stereotypical trash that never seems to end.

At second glance however, race isn’t the real issue. The issue is acceptance and love. I was reminded of my childhood and the difficulties I encountered trying to ‘fit in’ being the fat kid from divorced parents that no one wanted to hang around. Whether racial, socio-economical, educational or even appearance, most children experience similar challenges. Unfortunately for Ms. Wolff, she didn’t have parents to whom she could trun to sort all of this out. My heart broke for Ms. Wolff and her endless effort to please her father. Ms. Wolff overhears her father’s girlfriends commenting on her new classmates:

They are not gifted unless gifted is another word for bad……….That girl is no more gifted than any of my kids and she’s disrespectful, thinking she knows more than grown folks.” Her dad then replies “ But even before she went there [to the school] Mishna thought she was better than everyone. She’s just snotty like her mother.

Ms. Wolff (and I) cringed at her father’s response. She aches for her father’s acceptance and love but she never measures up to “his” world. Even during her parents’ divorce, she was hoping the judge would ask her who she liked better so she could say:

Mom. Not because I liked her better, but because I knew I was cool enough for Mom. And I felt that not being quite good enough for Dad might cause problems down the road – like I’d cramp his style and maybe he’d decide to leave me at a party.

Although she felt cool enough for her mom, her mom is emotionally absent. She left the family to take care of her own personal issues. Later Ms. Wolff does move in with her, but it’s because she feels she causes too many problems in her dad’s new family with his new wife, not because her mother gives her any emotional support or positive guidance.

The story ends with hope that everything will eventually work out. When I Googled Ms. Wolff, I found that she had dropped out of high school at 16. I can only hope that by writing the memoir and speaking about her life she can understand the reasons for her father’s behavior and break that emotional abusive cycle with her future children.

All in all, a decent collection of childhood experiences – just don’t expect to laugh.

My grandma’s kind of book

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs tells of a group of women, each with a considerable amount of emotional baggage, who come together to knit on Friday nights.  For example, the main character, and owner of the knitting shop, Georgia Walker, is still upset with the man that left her pregnant with their daughter – eight years ago.  She can’t seem to let it go and then one day he unexpectantly walks into her shop.  There are minutes (certainly pages) spent on her pining away for this man in the form of unconvincing anger.  After two CDs I hit a wall:  I could no longer listen.  I just wasn’t in the proper frame of mind to listen to a bunch of whiney women with issues – I can certainly find that in real life.  This just wasn’t my kind of story and after reading The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel (my review), I have raised my standards – Ms. Mandel has such a unique talent of expressing so much without being maddingly literal that now I cannot seem to handle an author spoon feeding me the obvious.

My grandma, however, did enjoy The Friday Night Knitting Club.    She knits so she could understand the knitting references and she does not get out much, so the women in this book are not people she comes in contact with in her life.

Eight years ago at the age of 80, my grandma found she had an extraordinary amount of free time and picked up her first novel.  No kidding.  I am so proud of her and thrilled that she has taken up this most wondrous hobby.  She realizes, as do I that stories are like gifts; mini-other-worlds in which we can immerse ourselves for a healthy escape.  I have been sending her books that I believe will resonate with her and she will enjoy.   Knowing they probably wouldn’t be my first pick to read makes doing this a bit of a challenge.  In her vast reading experience she has enjoyed Joshilyn Jackson and Sandra Dallas and doesn’t care for Nicholas Sparks or Nora Roberts (the latter two being the first choice of her friends).

I would like to throw this out to the BGB readers and ask for recommendations to pass along to my grandma for her future reading exploits.  If anyone out there has any ideas from yourself or your relatives that you feel fall in this category, I would love to know them.  We thank you!

Light Hilarious Summer Reading

The idea of ‘summertime’ reading always sounds so romantic to me: lying on a beach or next to a pool, drink on the table and book in hand for some undisturbed reading. Fat chance. For me, summer is when my kid, who is normally in school, is with me almost 24/7 and “needs” me every ten minutes. Thus, my summertime reading must be a book that I can pick up and put down without missing a beat. I have found a few such books by Chelsea Handler.

Normally, I would not have picked up a book called Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang but listening to my sister laugh uncontrollably while reading, I decided she shouldn’t have all the fun.  After finishing Bang Bang, I glided through her two others: My Horzontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands and Are You There Vodka?, It’s Me Chelsea.

If you are a member of the Moral Majority or if you take pride in always being politically correct, then you probably won’t find these books as funny as I did. There is a lot of alcohol, drugs and sleeping around and I have no problem laughing at her mishaps (whether they are true or not, I don’t care.)

My Horzontal Life was my favorite of the three and of course none of it can be quoted here. The book delivers exactly what the title suggests, supposedly her experiences with many one-night stands as well as with men she did actually date. What I really admire most about Ms. Handler is her ability to create elaborate lies – on the spot! While working as a waitress, she sees a man with whom she just spent the night walk in with his wife. Chelsea becomes her own twin sister, Kelsey, and proceeds to make up several stories about her “loose” twin, Chelsea. He’s pretty ‘smart’ too, he says “wow, you look just like her” and she responds, “that’s usually what happens with twins.”

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang was written after she became famous with her E! late-night show and she reminisces more about growing up with her nutcase family. We all need a retired, widowed father who dates the 22 year old Jamaican cleaning women to keep us laughing.

Next up, Are you there Vodka, It’s Me Chelsea? My 6-year old daughter promptly informed me that Vodka is a drink and thus the title makes no sense. Once again, this book is loaded with short stories of Ms. Handler’s supposed life. At one moment, someone emails her a picture of their dog in front of Niagara Falls. She confesses that pictures of people’s children are ok by themselves, but a pet? She has a great response that I may try:

“I clicked reply and sent a picture of my cleaning lady. Standing next to the toilet, alone. I attached a message that read, “’Not interested? Me neither.’”

Certainly this is not high-brow, award-winning literature, but once in a while it’s just fun to laugh.

The 19th Wife

Ever since I was willing to convert for Donny Osmond, the Mormon faith has had a hold on me.  Donny never called, so I never converted, but this didn’t hinder my interest in the Latter Day Saints.  The 19^th Wife by David Ebershoff focuses on the most fascinating (but very short) part of the Mormon church  – the polygamy.

The main story is about a young man, Jordan, who returns to a Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints community (the “Firsts”) after reading that his mother has been arrested for shooting her husband, his father.  Even as his 19th wife, she claims that she really loves her husband and swears that she didn’t do it.  Even though he had been literally thrown onto the street years ago, he belives her and wants to help her.  Throughout the story, Jordan temporarily gives up his life to solve this murder mystery.

Ann Eliza Young, coincidentally the 19^th Wife of Brigham Young who succeeded Joseph Smith, also tells her story in this novel.  Ann caused quite a commotion when she divorced Brigham in the 1890’s.  In addition to writing a book about life as a plural wife, she went on a national speaking tour to raise awareness with hopes that Congress would make polygomy illegal.

Alternating between Ann and Jordan’s narrative, we read chapters from many other characters – Ann’s sons, mother, brother, father and scholars from various time periods who are researching Ann.  Get the picture? While I admire Mr. Ebershhoff’s talent to write from many points of view, it took me a long time to figure out what was going on.  There didn’t seem to be much flow to the alternating stories and I always wondered what was fact and what was fiction.

A very important part of the book is in the back where Mr. Ebershoff explains the fact/fiction issue.  I should have read this first and I encourage any future readers to do the same.  Despite my confusion, I forged ahead and enjoyed The 19th Wife enough to conduct further research to get my facts straight about the history of the Latter Day Saints.

The Singer’s Gun

Although I haven’t read Emily St. John Mandel’s first book, Last Night in Montreal, it received rave reviews here on BGB, and I was excited to receive her second book The Singer’s Gun- I’m glad I moved it to the top of my stack.

The story begins with the end actually.  The death of two people.  Ms. Mandel takes us into the past and back to the present many times before we realize what really happened with these two people.

Main character Anton Waker’s family is full of criminals.  His parents steal antiques to resell in their store and see nothing wrong with it.  Even from an early age Anton isn’t comfortable with this way of life and when he asks his father if the goods are stolen, his dad justifies it:

“…sometimes regular channels aren’t open to you, and then you have to improvise.  Find your own way out…You have to make things happen for yourself.”

As an adult, Anton and his cousin Aria start their own business of selling social security cards and passports to illegal immigrants.  After 9/11, those uneasy feelings creep back:

“How would a terrorist get into the country?” [Alton asks his mother...]

“Well he’d come in on a tourist visa, I imagine.”

“Or he’d get a friend in the country to come to me and Aria and get him a passport, and then he’d enter as an American citizen.  Or if he were already here on his tourist visa, he’d buy a Social Security card directly from us and use it to get a job…..”

His father shrugged.

Anton has dreamed most of his life for an office job, so he quits the business with Aria and goes ‘legit’ by falsifying his Harvard credentials and landing a middle management position.  His father asks Anton what qualifies him for his job:

“Well, the same thing that qualified me to sell Social Security cards to illegal aliens, actually.  A certain veneer of confidence combined with sheer recklessness.”

When the company starts conducting background checks, Anton is in big trouble.  Although he isn’t fired, he is demoted to a basement office with no responsibilities while his ex-secretary is sent by the State Department to spy on him. Soon to be married, he figures he has nothing to loose by staying in the basement and collecting the paycheck.

Just prior to the wedding, Aria uses blackmail to convince Anton to help her “one last time”.  Coincidentally, this final transaction is to take place during the honeymoon on a remote Italian island.  As one can imagine, this “one last time” goes terribly wrong and we’re back to the “beginning” so to speak.

Ms. Mandel throughout the novel makes us think about crime – how much if any is ok?  Why is a little crime ok, but breaking the law on a daily basis isn’t?  What kind of person is someone like Anton that he “thinks” he is legitimate even though he has falsified his credentials to land a good job?   He is uncomfortable with helping Aria one last time, but he does it.  Is it really for the money?  Operating an illegal business doesn’t bother his parents or his cousin.

The Singer’s Gun is full of suspense and tension.  Despite moving back and forth through time, Ms. Mandel’s style flows – I was never confused.  I found myself wondering who would play each role in the movie version.  The twists and turns never let me down and I even enjoyed the dialog – I found a sick humor in all the madness.  I mean, who ARE these people?

I’m happy that my friend gave me The Singer’s Gun, but you shouldn’t wait for a friend, go read it on your own!

A Shout-Out for Audio Books

I listen to almost as many books as I read.  I haven’t seen much about audio books on BGB, so I thought a “shout out” was in order – to include some of my favorites, of course.

I have just finished listening to The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson (one of the top 25 books all Georgians should read and like Ms. Jackson’s other novel that she narrates, Between Georgia, it was a great “listen.”  Ms. Jackson’s southern twang is perfect for all of the animated characters in her novels and there is no doubt about interpretation.  Having read so many books about poor black people in the south, it is quite uplifting to experience Ms. Jackson’s stories involving poor white people in the south!  Ms. Jackson’s comical characters make me chuckle long after having finished listening.  Whether they are older sisters who have lived together and never married to an actress married to a gay man, Ms. Jackson brings her characters to life.  In addition, Ms. Jackson herself is very cool, she has attended a couple book club meetings of a friend of mine here in Atlanta.

I have never actually read a single book by Michael Connelly but I know for a fact that listening to his books involving main character Horacio Bosch has prevented me from exploding into road rage as I sit in eight lanes of bumper to bumper traffic. Mr. Connelly was a reporter for the crime beat section of the L.A. Times and writes some very entertaining police murder mysteries.  Fortunately, the voice of Bosch has only had a couple different narrators which makes the books more addicting.

That said, the narrators can make or break a novel. I listened to 11 cds of On Beauty by Zadie Smith and am still confused by the actual plot, but who cares?  The narrator had such a sexy voice I couldn’t stop listening.

A few other novels, however, stand out as being original and captivating stories, combined with the perfect narrator. Amy Tan reads parts or all of her books. In fact, The Kitchen God’s Wife was my very first audio book back in the early 90′s.  Similar to Shanghai Girls that I reviewed here, Ms. Tan’s Asian-American voice transports me directly into every single one of her stories.

I have listened to all of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novels and although he is probably best known for Remains of the Day, his novel Never Let Me Go was so disturbingly addicting that I still think about it.  This story is about people who are cloned to be organ donors for “real” people and it comes as a surprise to many of the administrators that the donors have feelings just like their soon to be hosts.    The soft spoken English woman is an ideal choice as the narrator for this haunting novel.

One other novel I still think about often is The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvhani .  The storyline of ancient Persian royalty and a poor girl who become a carpet maker for the king combined with an Iranian-American narrator blew me away.  The Persian language is very melodic and the narrator sings through this novel.  I am going to read The Blood of Flowers and write a more detailed review soon.

Anyone else out there have an opinion about audio books?  A favorite you’ve listened to? If you have a horrible commute or can’t read on the bus, it would be worthwhile to investigate the audio book.  You can even check them out from the library!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

I got tired of waiting for all the slow readers at the library and just bought Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.  As I mentioned in Shanghai Girls, Ms. See does her research and sends us into a culture very different from my American life and it continues to fascinate me.

The story begins in a small village in 19th century China with Lily and her perfect feet for binding. The painful tradition of foot binding begins with girls when they are six or seven years old. The most attractive bound feet will lead to a very successful marriage (if the young girl doesn’t die in the process).  Lily’s feet are exquisite. As a daughter of a farmer, her perfect lotus feet will ensure a match to a very respected and wealthy family in a nearby village.

Ms. See spends a lot of time detailing the foot binding process.  Mothers and grandmothers bent the toes of little girls toward the heel and bound them with very strong wrapping so the bones broke to form a lotus shape measuring roughly three to five centimeters.  The young girls were forced to walk on these little feet to ensure that the feet would form correctly while healing. The wrappings were replaced every day during the process.  Having a six year old daughter, I can’t even imagine putting her through such horrific pain. (for more on footbinding).

At the time of the binding, through the work of a matchmaker, Lily becomes a “laotong” sister with Snowflower.  This unique female relationship occurs when two women are found with so many similarities in their lives that they could be the same person – or “same oles” as they are called in Chinese.  They have the same birthdate, born at the same hour, the same number of siblings (one of which has died in this case) and many other identical connections.  The girls begin corresponding to each other by writing on a fan that is sent back and forth.  In this remote area of China women were not taught men’s language so the women developed their own secret language called “nu shu”.  The novel follows the lives of both of these girls  - lives which may have been the same when they were young but become drastically different as they mature.

Unlike Lily’s farming family, Snowflower’s family was once wealthy and respected, but has fallen into poverty due to her father’s opium addiction.  She is not as fortunate in marriage as Lily – Snowflower is matched with a butcher, the least desirable husband for any girl.

Ms. See masterfully takes the reader through the life of each girl – the poor, unlucky Snowflower and Lily, who is successfully married into a respected family.    After several tragic events in each of their lives, one unforgiving misunderstanding occurs between the two “sisters” and leads to unfortunate consequences until one woman tries to make amends as the other lay dying.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan could be analyzed on several levels, including:  the strength of women in an exclusive male dominated world and the metaphor of the foot binding used throughout the novel – as it relates to how the women are “bound” to each other, their families and their traditions.  I, however, am enthralled with the insight into Chinese history and culture.  Customs and traditions are followed without questioning.   Life’s two most important goals are to honor the family and bring boys into the world. (It’s always interesting to me that they seem to forget who actually gives birth to these boys.)

Once again, Ms. See brings us a heartbreaking story entrenched within the history from a remote region of China.

Little Green

Domestic Violence – heavy subject.  I certainly enjoy a good dysfunctional family, but domestic violence makes me very uncomfortable.  Knowing this, I dug into Loretta Stinson’s Little Green anyway and I’m glad I did.  Ms. Stinson, in her first novel, drew me in right away to a world that is completely foreign to me with her tale of young Janie Mareck’s search for herself, family and love.

Janie Mareck is an abandoned 16 year old.  Her mother died and her father remarried. Her father died and his wife wanted nothing to do with Janie, so she dropped out of school and skipped town.  The year is 1976, after the huge explosion of drugs in the 60′s, but apparently they are alive and well, in fact flourishing, in many communities.  Janie finds herself briefly topless dancing in a country bar and when she tries to move on she is brutally raped and beaten by some random dude who picked her up in a van.  She returns to the bar where she is taken in by one of the owners (a good guy) and nursed back to health.

While recovering she gets to know Paul – a handsome, fun, 26 year old guy who seems to treat her well and helps bring her back to life.  Paul has a little (HUGE) problem. He likes to drink a lot of beer, smoke a lot of pot and inject a lot of crank into his veins. When he is really high, which becomes more and more frequent, guess what he does to poor Janie? He never remembers beating her, he apologizes and Janie “knows” that with enough love from her he will change. He says he’ll change, he certainly will with her help.

Janie and Paul go back and forth between “I want to change,  baby” to feeling like he has to escape from Janie.  Right before putting Janie in the hospital with a baseball bat, Janie has pretty much given in:

Janie knew she stayed now because she was afraid to leave.  Paul could easily kill her when he was high and not even remember it later.  There was nowhere to go where he wouldn’t find her. He told her that every time he was wired or drunk.  He whispered in her ear, so close she could taste the crank on him, “If you ever left me I’d find you. I’d kill you before I let you leave me.”  She no longer doubted that they would become one of these TV new reports. It was only a matter of time.

From the hospital however, Janie calls her old friend  (the former owner of the bar) who is clean and living a respectable life with his wife and baby.  Janie is lovingly nursed back to health and with the support, love and strength from these friends, Janie finds the courage to do what is needed for her survival.

I found myself throughout the novel giving advice to Janie and wishing Paul dead! Every other page I hoped he would die.  Not having a lot of personal experience with domestic violence or drug use/abuse, I have read quite a bit about it trying to understand how women are attracted to these men and how they can stay.   Frequently, women go back to their abusers because they are convinced that eventually the men will change, or the abuser threatens to kill them or themselves.

Drugs don’t help this situation at all. Like a lot of addicts, the high is so incredible there is nothing more important.   Every time Paul warmed up that crank and prepared his arm and needle, I cringed, while wishing him dead.  Every time he is high he admits to himself that he could never give it up – not for anyone.

I did find Ms. Stinson’s writing to be a bit choppy. There are a lot of very short sentences that just didn’t seem to flow for me each time I started to read, however, once I got going there was a rhythm to it.  Certainly not a deal breaker in this case.

Little Green is no blissful escape – it is brutal reality for some people, but like Janie I hope they all can find their voice and the strength to survive.

Glorious

Bernice McFadden has a way of getting your attention within the first few pages of her books.  She did it with Sugar (my review) and she has done it again with her latest novel Glorious. The horrors of the rural south are brought to life as Ms. McFadden opens her novel with vivid descriptions of a rape and a lynching.

Ester Bartlett finds herself too close to both of these events and decides that she needs to leave Waycross, Georgia.  She doesn’t know where, just away.  She asks her Aunt Mavis to go with her and Mavis’ reply resonates down through generations of southerners:

Girl, every place the same as here, they just go by different names.  Anyway, I’d rather stay here and deal with the devil I already know.

After landing a brief job with a traveling vaudeville group as a personal assistant to a lesbian/exotic dancer (Rain), Easter leaves when she catches Rain in bed with another woman.  She is shattered and jealous.  She continues to North Georgia and becomes a schoolteacher.  This life does not pan out either after an incident with a male student.  On a fluke, Easter finds herself headed to New York City.

When the nose of the train edged across the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania, a young, dark porter appeared and unceremoniously removed the tin sign above the doorway that stated, COLORED.  The car exploded in applause…

It’s 1921 and the Harlem Renaissance is just beginning.  Harlem is the place to be if you’re black and want to make something of yourself.

Easter is working in a beauty salon when Rain waltzes in. They re-ignite their friendship as Rain introduces Easter to the cultural ‘who’s who’ in Harlem.  One Africa-loving white woman, Meredith Tomas, is particularly influential.   Recognizing Easter’s writing talent, Meredith uses her wealth and connections to become Easter’s mentor and begins by getting her short stories published.

Life is exiting and fun for awhile, but when her secret novel is discovered and stolen by Meredith, Easter is accused of plagiarism and is reduced to nothing.  We’re not quite sure what happens to her until 1961 when the story picks up again with Easter working for a white family back in Waycross, Georgia.  She is re-discovered by a local school teacher and word spreads quickly as to who Easter really is.  Finally, after forty years she is awarded the credit she deserves.

In this novel, Easter’s journey is a thrilling ride.  I never really knew where the story was going. This same story mechanism is what made Sugar such a compelling read as well.  Ms. McFadden always keeps the reader guessing.  I would have liked to have known where Easter was during the forty years that were omitted from the novel, but once she arrives back in Waycross, Georgia, the story became its own compelling self again. I couldn’t put the book down.

Glorious gives us a taste of the Harlem Renaissance, a very important moment in black history.  I was introduced to this era years ago in The Autobiography of Malcom X by Alex Hailey (a very enlightening read for this white girl).  This decade of history is often overlooked and deserves more credit for the black entertainers, artists and intellects it produced.  Ms. McFadden introduces many important individuals who invite further research and, fortunately for us, she provides a wonderful list of reference materials in the back of the book.

I truly enjoy Ms. McFadden’s writing.   Words sail past the eyes, reflecting a beautiful style that’s so easy to read and enjoy, while keeping it “real”.  She doesn’t pretend or hide anything during uncomfortable moments.  I hope this novel reaches and touches all audiences, as well as, if not better than Sugar has.

More Just Kids

Tim hasn’t mentioned Just Kids by Patti Smith in about a week, so I’ll do it for him.   There have been many reviews on this book and I’m throwing my hat in the ring as well. Fantastic!  First, be sure and check out Tim’s original review that inspired me to read a book about people that I didn’t know much about and frankly didn’t think I cared anything about.  Patti Smith’s account of her life with Robert Maplethorpe moved me to explore their work. I googled Patti’s music and Maplethorpe’s photography to familiarlize myself with these two amazing artists.

Maybe it was the era or maybe just youth, but both Patti and Robert were incredibly dedicated to their art. They truly believed that some day each of them would make it.  Preferably together. They inspired each other and they completed each other.

“No one sees as we do Patti,” he [Robert] said again.  Whenever he said things like that, for a magical space of time, it was if we were the only two people in the world.

No one can see the future so no one knew who would succeed and who would be dying soon.  But to be in that moment, during that particular time period when everything was new – the drugs, the music and the art.  Certainly it was amazing at the time, but right now it blows our minds because we know what happened.

Just imagine what Patti and Robert saw on a regular basis:

At the table to my left, Janis Joplin was holding court with her band. To my far right were Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane, along with members of Country Joe and the Fish.  At the last table facing the door was Jimi Hendirix, his head lowered, eating with his hat on , acrosss from a blonde. There were musicians everywhere…

Just Kids is one of those books that you don’t want to skim through. You’ll want to read every single word.  Since Patti Smith is a poet, all these magical words probably naturally flow from her.  But I’m sure that if analyzed closer, every single word has a deeper meaning than what is first thought.  I’m not that insightful, but it sounds like a good exercise for a high school English class.

Check out all of Tim’s links to Patti Smith’s interviews. Truly fascinating.

Great recommendation Tim!

Conquering Venus

Conquering Venus by Collin Kelley can be found in another section of the book store (way over on the other side of the African-American author section) – The Gay Literature section. Who knew there was yet another special area in the book store where great literature can be found? Pas moi.  But heck, the story takes place in Paris, France, so how could it go wrong?  This novel doesn’t go wrong at all, due to an intriguing story and fantastic writing.

Aspiring writer, Martin, agrees to help his high school teacher friend, Diane, chaperone a group of her students to Paris.  He doesn’t seem to spend a lot of time doing what was expected of him.  Instead, Martin does spend a lot of time hitting on student David and hanging out with his new French friend Irene.

Meanwhile, Martin continues to be haunted in his dreams about the recent tragic death of his lover, Peter.  Diane has recently suffered a devastating blow in her marriage which ultimately leads her to a life changing conclusion, and David is one big tragedy himself.  David passes his time drinking a lot of alcohol and alternating between returning Martin’s affection and swearing that, no, he’s not gay.

Upon arriving in Paris, walking toward the hotel,  Martin makes eye contact with agoraphobic Irene while she is sitting on her balcony.

He was digging in his backpack for the notebook, walking toward the hotel entrance, when he heard music coming from somewhere above him.  It grew louder as he reached the hotel and Martin recognized it – Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.  Its rising chord section and shimmering strings were almost at their crescendo.  It was coming from the apartment, the one with the balcony full of flowers.  Martin looked up.

Someone was there. The woman from his dream.  He blinked rapidly to clear his eyes of tears, which came with no warning. Maybe it was relief or joy or fear or a mixture of those things.  the woman raised her hand in salutation, as the Adagio reached crescendo.

When they realize they have matching tribal tattoos on their left hands – they feel an instant connection.  Irene has passed the previous 27 years in her apartment reviewing manuscripts and watching the guests in the Bel Air Hotel (where Martin and the group are staying) through binoculars.   Tragedy struck Irene when her husband was “murdered” during the infamous1968 student riots in Paris.

Through a twisting plot involving a bomb, the revelation of hidden secrets, treasures in an attic, dreams and fortune tellers, Martin and Irene become connected in more ways than just the tattoos.  They both have powerful obstacles standing in their way that could cripple many people but with each other’s help they dive in and face them.

Honestly, at first, I had a hard time with the vivid gay sex scenes (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and thought maybe I’d stop reading, but I got over myself and realized they are only part of the story.   The novel is much too complex and Mr. Kelley’s writing too addictive to put the book down.  Mr. Kelley completely develops his characters – I found myself so irritated by Diane that I had to find out what her “deal” was and I kept screaming at Martin that there are plenty of cute gay men – find another one!

Not being gay, I can only imagine the confusion that consumes some gay men when they realize who they are.  Conquering Venus gives us a glimpse into this inner turmoil through several of Mr. Kelley’s characters (some are surprises).

While living in Paris, I didn’t spend much time around Place de la Republique where the story occurs, so I immediately Googled all of the locations in Mr. Kelley’s novel and became extremely nostalgic.  As I’ve said in other posts, there is nothing I enjoy more than a great story that gives me a history lesson of one of my favorite cities.  Mr. Kelley helps me out here with details about the Paris riots in 1968.

I only touch on a portion of what transpires in Conquering Venus – check it out for the rest.  The novel is not only Mr. Kelley’s first (he has published poetry), but also the first in a trilogy.  I am very interested to see what happens next with Martin and Irene. I really hope Martin meets a nice boy sans baggage.

P.S. Amazon says they are about out so if you buy via Amazon you’d better act quickly.

One Amazing Thing

If you read Bel Canto by Ann Patchett then you’ll be familiar with the setting in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s One Amazing Thing.  In an unnamed city (my guess is San Francisco), seven people have waited hours to obtain their Indian visas.  A severe earthquake blocks all exits and they are trapped with no escape.  At first there is the  power struggle between two men as to who will be in charge.  Cameron, who has been in similar situations in the Army, wins.  It helps that Tariq carelessly runs through an open doorway and ends up being briefly buried under plaster fallen from the ceiling.

Uma has been watching everyone for hours, amazed at all the different people who are going to India.  She knows they all must have a story.  To calm everyone and to ignore the reality of the moment, Uma suggests they all share one story from their lives that they’ve never told anyone.

At first, everyone is reluctant to share their secret, but what did they have to lose?  After the first person tells their tale, each of them waits with anticipation to tell their own.  In between each unique story, we return to the cold, dark flooding room where everyone is huddled together on top of two tables in order to stay dry.

Each character represents such different areas of society.  Uma has rebelled against her Indian parents as a teenager. Cameron, the army sargent, is saving the last puff from his inhaler in order to be able to tell his story. Tariq, the newly converted Muslim, is going to India to see the girl he thinks is his girlfriend.  Lily and her grandma Jiang who is ethnic Chinese but raised in India and had to secretly escape to America are returning to their homeland.  The counsulate employees Mangalam and Malathi had just stolen a forbidden kiss as the earthquake hit.  Mr. & Mrs. Pritchett are surprised to learn secrets about each other that they never shared after 30+ years of marriage.

I felt like I was reading several short stories in one novel, each story was simply fascinating on its own and each character could have an entire book dedicated to them.   After telling their story, each of them learns something about themselves.  There is nothing like facing death to make us reflect upon our lives.  Put in the same situation, what story would we share?

My only personal disappointment was the end.  I like to be told what happens.  But since I don’t read the endings first, how would I know?  That said, I really enjoyed all of the different characters coming together to share One Amazing Thing.

Secret Son

What little I know about Morocco is from French history lessons or immigrants I have met in America and France, so I looked forward to reading Secret Son by Morrocan Laila Lalami.

Youssef is a very poor 19 year old student living with his mother in the slums of Casablanca.   His mother had always told him that his father died shortly after he was born and Youssef has an old tattered photo of a man he thinks is his father that he looks at frequently.

As one would guess, the truth is slowly revealed.  Youssef’s father is actually a very prominent, rich businessman who had hired Youssef’s mother to take care of his ailing pregnant wife – 19 years ago.  In order not to bring shame to her family as an unwed, pregnant woman, Youssef’s mother did not return to her village and invented new identities for herself and her son.  After learning the truth, Youssef finds his father and is welcomed into this unknown upperclass world.  Youssef is mesmerized by his father while he is briefly a part of his life.  Doors open for him that he never imagined – the wallet full of money certainly helps.  At the same time he feels guilt about neglecting his friends and and questions his father’s true intentions:

Youssef was ashamed to see he was more like a mistress than a son; he spent hours waiting for a man to show up and was happy only when they were together. What was becoming of him?

While Youssef is frolicking with his new “friends” and wealth, The Party, a fundamentalist Muslim political group, is becoming a strong presence in Youssef’s poor neighborhood.   They succeed in gaining followers, especially young men, by improving buildings, soccer fields and bringing aid to the poorest people in the slums, all in the name of Allah.  Youssef’s mother is not convinced by either Youssef’s father’s intentions or those of The Party and begs Youssef to focus on his studies.  Devastating to Youssef, his father changes his mind about his son and The Party, preaching against excess wealth becomes very attractive.

I really wanted a happy ending!

Secret Son begins with a lie. Throughout the story, Ms. Lalami searches for truth. Interestingly, several times she approaches an event from the perspective of each person involved.  If three people have the same experience, they each can have their own interpretation.  This happens frequently in life, especially right now in the political arena – everyone has their own opinion of an event.  Which perspective, if any, is the actual truth?

I often say, sort of jokingly, that if suicide bombers had jobs they would be too busy to blow things up.  This story of the slums in Casablanca supports my theory.  Ms. Lalami vividly describes a place where it is easy to see how kids are more than happy to sacrifice themselves for Allah. There is nothing else going on. Even for Youssef who in the beginning was hopeful because he was admitted into the university, ultimately becomes depressed and sees nothing postive for his future.

Secret Son explores the contrast between the very rich and very poor of one of the busiest cities in North Africa while searching for the truth.

When Tim reads a book he has a soundtrack playing in his head. When I read a book I think about the food.  My menu for Secret Son would include a tagine of chicken/olives/almonds, couscous, cinnamon scented rice, a romaine, tomato, onion salad with a lot of parsley and mint.  Dessert would be an eclair from the French pastry shop that would surely be located down the street from Youssef’s father’s apartment.