Kindred

While I am not a huge fan of science fiction, Kindred by Octavia Butler book stands out as one of my favorite books.

Dana Franklin is a black woman writer who is happily married to a white man. They live in Southern California in 1976, and life is normal until Dana’s 26th birthday. On her birthday, Dana is taken back into the antebellum South where she saves the life of a white child, Rufus Weylin, who is drowning. When the child’s parents see what happens, they beat her and before being shot, she is transported back to the 20th Century.

Over the course of the next fews days, Dana keeps being transported back in time at various stages in Rufus’ life in only those times when he is in danger. It turns out that she travels back to the 20th Century whenever her life is in danger. During one of the visits back in time, Dana subsequently figures out that Rufus Weylin is the father of one of her ancestors who was born as a result of Weylin’s rape of one of his slaves, Alice Greenwood. So in order to make sure that her lineage continues, even though it stems from a rape, Dana has to keep saving Rufus’ life.

As another added wrinkle to the storyline, Dana’s husband finds a way to be transported back with her. In the 20th Century, they are living as husband and wife where they see and feel no effects of racism. In the antebellum South, however, their relationship is forced to be drastically different, and those experiences begin to change the way they see world and each other.

One of the things that made this book a compelling read is that it gave a gripping view of what slavery does to a person mentally and emotionally. At the beginning of the book, Dana has no comprehension as to why people allowed themselves to become enslaved. The sheer brutality of her experiences in living as a slave changes the way she interacts with the other slaves and she becomes more compassionate and helpful. Dana’s enslavement also alters the way she views herself, and she becomes more mentally and emotionally enslaved. Thus, by the end of the book, she is not only trying to free herself physically, she must mentally and emotionally free herself as well.

I am a descendant of slaves. My parents’ home is about 15 minutes from the plantation in Alabama where my ancestors were slaves. My religious faith is the same one of my maternal ancestors’ master, Abraham Ricks, and I go to the church once a year that he built for his slaves for a service. Despite those constant reminders, I feel very removed from my slave ancestory at times. To read the depiction of slavery in Kindred made me more aware that not only is it a physical state, it can be an emotional and mental state as well.

Broken for You

Broken for You, by Stephanie Kallos, takes place in Seattle, Washington. The book centers around two women, Margaret Hughes and Wanda Schultz. Margaret is in her early 70s and, but for her marriage that ended 40 years after the death of her young son, she has spent most of her life in self-inflicted seclusion. Margaret is extremely wealthy and lives in a mansion that is filled with priceless porcelain. After Margaret is diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, she decides to open up her life by taking in borders and in walks Wanda. Wanda came to Seattle in search of her ex-boyfriend who dumped her and moved away. She is convinced that he is in Seattle so she sells her belongings and moves.

As the story develops, it turns out that Margaret’s wealth was accumulated by her father who was a Nazi sympathizer who fenced the porcelian that the Nazis stole from Jews. Because of that, she feels that her life is cursed and that she is not entitled to any happiness. Wanda, whose parents abandoned her when she was young, has abandonment issues of her own, and like Margaret, has built her life behind a wall of seclusion.

As a friendship develops between the two women and other characters begin to enter and change the women’s lives, a parallel story develops between Wanda’s father, who abandoned her when she was 6, and a Holocust survivor, who has a missing piece of porcelian from Margaret’s collection.

While it may seem like too many things are going on at once, the author was able to tell the two stories without getting too mired in detail, and I did not get lost as a reader. I really enjoyed reading this book because it was about healing, letting go of the past, taking chances on getting out of one’s comfort zone, and tearing down walls of seclusion. What could have been a very depressing and sad story, actually became uplifting without being preachy or sappy. Overall, it was a great read.

The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman

I went out and purchased The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman immediately after finishing Goodman’s The Lake of Dead Languages. Like Dead Languages this is a mystery. In the book, Iris Greenfelder is a teacher and struggling writer. Iris’ mother was a famous writer who wrote 2 novels based on Irish folklore of what would have been a trilogy, except that she mysteriously died in a fire when Iris was ten prior to completing the third installment.

Iris has lives the last 30 years believing that her mother betrayed she and her father and that her existence impeded her mother’s ability to finish the third novel.  She struggles with trying to determine whether her mother ever loved her at all.
In the beginning, I actually liked this book better the Dead Languages because it was not as dark, and I was captured Irish by the folklore and mythology that was woven into the plot. I thought that the author did a fantastic job of weaving in the mystery of what happened to Iris’ mother, what her mother was hiding, and what happened to the manuscript. For some reason, the book lost its momentum about halfway through, and I felt that the story become more about Iris’ romonace with an younger, ex-con who was her former student and her conflicting feelings about the relationship.

At the end, the author was able to tie up some lose ends, although done somewhat summarily. I did not feel as if I had wasted my time, and there were parts that I really enjoyed, but I certainly did not have the “wow” factor.

If you are looking for a book to keep you company, it is worth the read, but “The Lake of Dead Languages” was better.

Cold Sassy Tree

Cold Sassy Tree by OLive Ann Burns takes place in the summer of 1908 in Cold Sassy, Georgia. Will Tweedy is 14 years old and is the only grandson of Rucker Blackslee, the town merchant. The book begins that day after the Fourth of July when Rucker Blackslee marries his 34 year old employee, three weeks after his wife’s death. That’s when the real adventure begins for Will and his family.

What I liked about this book is that over the course of the summer, you watch Will grow up, and given the cynicism of the world, it was delightful to read about his adventures, his observations of the world, and the lessons that he learned from his experiences. At the same time, you read about his grandpa growing young again and going against the norms and expectations of the townspeople.

The author did a fantastic job of depicting life in a small town in the South. There were times when I laughed out loud. This is the only book (since I read The Kite Runner) that was so touching I could not help but me openly cry at the end.

The Lake of Dead Languages

In The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman, Jane Hudson returns to her private boarding school, the Heart Lake School for Girls, 20 years after her graduation as a Latin teacher. The last week of her senior year, three students, two of which were her roommates and one was the guy she secretly had a crush on, committed suicide. For the past 20 years, Jane has carried the guilts of their deaths and the truth behind their deaths with her. She shared the truth in her journal which became missing shortly before her graduation. Upon her return, some of her students begin mysteriously dying which appears to be an re-enactment of what happened 20 years ago. As people begin to wonder if Jane’s presence has influenced these events, pages of her missing journal begin to appear.

This was a very dark and gothic book which was full of sexual rites and pagan rituals. In some ways, it reminded me of Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History”, but lacking some of the depth. Nonetheless, it’s a good mystery and I enjoyed it enough to go out and purchase another book by this author.

Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach

This book is another historical fiction. Tulip Fever takes place in 1630s Amsterdam.

Sophia is a women in her early 20s who married a wealthy merchant that is nearly 40 years her senior named Cornelis Sandvoort. Sophia married Cornelis for his money and security, and Cornelis, whose first wife and children are deceased, married Sophia because he wanted a second chance at life. Nonetheless, he and Sophia have been unable to conceive a child. Cornelis hires a young painter, Jan van Loos, to paint a portrait of him and Sophia, and an affair between Jan and Sophia ensues. As the story unfolds, the lies, desire, and deceit gradually escalate.

What I liked about this book is that it is told through the eyes of several different characters, Cornelis, Sophia, Maria (their maid), William (the maid’s boyfriend), Jan, and other spectators who were impacted by this affair. The author did a great job of weaving into the story the tulip mania that was going on in Holland at that time, and the greed that came from it.

It’s a quick and easy read and quite entertaining.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is set in 19th Century China.

Lily gives an account of her lifelong friendship with Snow Flower. At the age of 7, Lily and Snow Flower are paired as laotongs which means “old sames.” A “laotong” relationship is much like a marriage in which women are allowed to stay friends for life, even after marriage. If a girl did not have a laotong, she was only allowed to have a friendship with other women before she was married and after she became a widow. To that end, the relationship that forms between these two women is seen and regarded as being very sacred.

At the time the story takes place, women in China were not allowed to learn how to write. In order to communicate, they developed their own secret code of writing called nu shu. They painted the characters of nu shu on fans, handkerchiefs, etc.

As the story unfolds, Lily recounts her life and friendship with Snow Flower. She looks back on how their friendship began, and she talks about all of the experiences, from the fear and excitement of having a marriage arranged, having one’s foot bound, being sent into a new household, and the transition of becoming wives and mothers. Some of the experiences are memorialized in mu shu on a fan that Lily and Snow Flower exchanged over a course of decades.

In some ways, some of Lily’s and Snow Flower’s experiences were very tragic which made the bond and the beauty of their friendship more powerful and more precious. It was a touching story of female friendship, and I enjoyed reading the book.

The Other Boleyn Girl

The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillip Gregoryis one of my favorite books. I had a difficult time putting it down.

The book is the story of Anne Boleyn as told through the eyes of her younger sister, Mary. Mary comes to King Henry’s of England’s court from France when she is 14 years-old. Although she is married, she catches the eye of King Henry and becomes his mistress for several years. During their affair, she gives birth to two of his children, a girl, Catherine, and notably, a boy named Henry. What made this book so intriguing for me is that I did not know that this was actually true. I always thought that Henry kept getting rid of his wives in order to have a male heir to the throne, but had no idea that he had a son resulting from his affair with his future wife’s younger sister.

The book became really intriguing when the reader discovers that Anne wants the throne, and she is willing to stop at nothing to get it. Besides conspiring against Queen Catherine, Anne supplants her sister and wins King Henry’s heart. The reader will see Anne’s rise to power, the depths at which she is willing to lower herself to keep it, and her subsequent fall. All of this is told through the eyes of Mary, the one who lost the King.

The Other Boleyn Girl

The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillip Gregory is one of my favorite books. I had a difficult time putting it down.

The book is the story of Anne Boleyn told through the eyes of her younger sister, Mary. Mary comes to King Henry of England’s court from France when she is 14 years-old. Although she is married, she catches the eye of King Henry and becomes his mistress for several years. During their affair, she gives birth to two of his children, a girl, Catherine, and a notably, a boy named Henry. What made this book so intriguing for me is that I did not know that this was actually true. I always thought that Henry kept getting rid of his wives in order to have a male heir to the throne, but had no idea that he had a son resulting from his affair with his future wife’s younger sister.

The book became really intriguing when the reader discovers that Anne wants the throne and is willing to stop at nothing to get it. Besides conspiring against Queen Catherine, Anne supplants her sister and wins King Henry’s heart. The reader will see Anne’s rise to power, the depths at which she is willing to lower herself to keep it, and her subsequent fall. All of this is told through the eyes of Mary, the one who lost the king.