Review: The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto

Paperback, 208 pages

Published May 3rd 2011 by Melville House (first published 2005)

ISBN: 1933633778 (ISBN13: 9781933633770)

Chihiro, a young 30-something Japanese woman, is still feeling the loss of her mother but her feelings are ambivalent; part of her is saddened at her loss yet another part of her is relieved she can now escape the confines of a small town and move to Tokyo pursuing her career as a graphic artist.

In this character driven book, Chihiro, narrates the story of her relationship with Nakajima, a young man living across from her. She finds herself watching him through her window into his apartment and becomes somewhat  infatuated or at least curious and this eventually leads to a relationship.  I'm not sure if it was just propinquity or a real attraction but to me these two characters felt like immature, wounded souls, always on the outside looking in, and that was part of their attraction to each other.

      ". . . .what I felt for him wasn't exactly love, it was closer to a sense of surprise, even shock. And so I just kept watching him, unable to get completely involved." 

Yoshimoto does have a talent for getting to the heart of emotions, particularly those of loneliness and loss. Although our childhood does not entirely shape us as adults, it does have a profound effect;one of the issues Yoshimoto explores.

. . ."for years now I had been thinking only of myself, struggling to get my own way, pressing relentlessly forward, my gaze trained on an ideal future--I'd been focused exclusively on putting as much distance between me and my hometown, steadfastly refusing to put down roots. But Nakajima was so intense he had rolled right over me, and now he was dragging me along with him. " 

Through Chihiro's narrative and internal dialog, the reader can certainly empathize with her feelings.


Both Chihiro and Nakajima have lingering emotional baggage resulting from their childhoods. Chihiro is willing to talk about her relationship with her unmarried parents but Nakajima will not open up about his past saying it was just too painful. All Chihiro knows is he misses his mother intensely and that "something" happened in the past that was very traumatizing. 

When Nakajima wants to take Chihiro to the lake to visit old friends from childhood who he hasn't seen in over ten years, Chihiro feels that their relationship is making progress but her hopes that he will reveal more of his past once she has met his friends does not come to fruition. It takes more than that to get Nakajima to open up. In sparse prose, Yoshimoto hints at something so dire in the past that it has traumatized Nakajima to a great extent. The reader is not privy to what  this is until the last quarter of the book. When it was revealed, it felt anticlimactic to me. 

For some reason, even though I felt Yoshimoto's writing was beautiful, almost dreamlike at times, I still could not get deeply involved in the story to the point where I felt compelled to keep turning the pages. My interest would lag after 30-35  pages and I would have to put the book down. In a way I guess I felt as ambivalent as Chihiro; part of the time I was captured by the author's writing and at other times, I just lost interest.

This was my first experience with the author's works and while my rating is not over the top, neither is it derogatory so I would give her writing another try. Maybe the next time, I would be more prepared for her style. 3***

Disclosure: A review e-galley (192 pages on my Nook) was provided free of charge from Net Galley.

Review and Giveaway: Casting About by Terri DuLong

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Kensington; Original edition (October 26, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758232055
ISBN-13: 978-0758232052

1. Title of book: Casting About by Terri Dulong
2. Words to describe book: family relationships
3. Characters you met or setting:

• Cedar Key: a small island off coast of north west Florida
• Monica Brooks: recently married to Adam, a single father who unexpectedly gets custody of his 8 year old daughter, Clarissa Jo. Monica is happily running the yarn shop business after her mother re-married and went to France but now becoming a step-mom full time is a little worrying. Unfortunately, Monica feels insecure about her maternal capabilities but she finds out it's a learn as you go process.
• Sybile: Monica's late grandmother who makes her presence known in some very interesting ways. Although she has not appeared in any ghostly form, Monica has smelled her gardenia scent at certain times. When Clarissa Jo had some difficulties adjusting, Sybile's presence  greatly helped her. This little bit of paranormal aspect lent some unexpected spice to the story.

4. Things you liked or didn't like:

•  I really liked the characters in this story, they were down to earth and realistic. They could be your neighbors, friends or family members.
• The feeling of kinship in a small town island atmosphere was a great addition to the story. All the peripheral characters felt like old friends.
• I liked the way DuLong showed the growth in Monica's character and how she coped with her new role.
• Although Casting About is the sequel to Spinning Forward, it can be read as a stand along novel. However, Spinning Forward is such a wonderful book that I just loved, I hope you will read that first and get a better idea of what happened to Monica's mother and how she came to live on Cedar Key and start her own unique knitting shop. (Review style patterned after Show Me 5 Saturday.)

5. Stars or less for your rating: 4****

 Disclosure: A review copy of Casting About was provided by the author, Terri DuLong. Thanks so much, Terri, for another enjoyable visit with our friends on Cedar Key.

To celebrate tomorrow's release of her new book, Casting About, Terri DuLong is allowing me to give away a copy of her book. Open to US & Canada.

 Bonus entries available :

+2 for old followers - remind me how you follow and under what name

+3 for new followers thru GFC

+3 for posting about and linking to drawing or tweeting. Please, please please, DO NOT leave 3 separate comments saying you tweeted or that you are a follower! :)
Be sure to leave an e-mail contact.
 Deadline is Nov 5th at 5 PM. Good luck!

Review: The Gendarme by Mark Mustian

Hardcover: 304 pages

Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam (September 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399156348
ISBN-13: 978-0399156342

Told from Emmet's (Ahmet's) perspective, the story alternates between 1990 in the USA and Turkey during the WWI time frame. Now that 92 year old Emmet Conn, born Ahmet Khan, is old and sick his dreams start to haunt him. Seeming like fleeting memories, wispy and hazy as smoke, hard to grab onto, he is not sure if they are  just dreams or real memories. Sometimes the images are most disturbing. He likens it to a continuing story told in pieces.

"For me the past is so dominant. Memory receding, obscuring-discovering something new is like finding hidden treasure."

He dreams of being a gendarme in the Turkish military responsible for moving groups of Armenian deportees across the desert to Syria. Araxie, a young girl in the group, attracts his attention; she is so arresting with eyes of two different colors. Copying some of the other gendarmes, he takes her from the group one night with the intention of raping her but when she looks at him and simply asks him why, his better instincts take over and he then becomes her protector. She returns the favor one night alerting Ahmet when another jealous gendarme, Mustafa, was set to attack him.

The trek is arduous with many dangers and deaths occurring daily. The deportees are dispirited, starving, dehydrated and sick with dysentery. On the march, Ahmet  thanks Araxie for saving him but she is unresponsive, almost delirious from sickness and just barely managing to put one foot in front of the other.

The author puts the reader right inside Ahmet's head and the exquisite writing makes it plain to see what Ahmet sees and feel what he feels.

"During other periods I question myself, wondering why I am here, why I covet her and not others. She is haggard now, the bones visible in her thin shoulders, her arms rigid and stick-like. she smells like rotten meat. The eyes that had so beguiled me before squint now against glare and sand, her lips swollen, her face burned by the sun. Still, I worry, I plot. I dream. I will not let her die."

In the present day, Emmet, is being treated for a brain tumor and the story tells of how his dreams and memories of the past come back to affect the present. He ruminates about his past life and wonders how things could have been different. When his neighbor visits him in the hospital, she tells him she doesn't know that much about him. Emmet tries to tell her.

" I am from Turkey. I fought in the war. I was injured, then rescued. An immigrant. A father. I cannot tell her, though of before, of what I know now, of what I remember. That I was a gendarme, a . . . . murderer. That this is my shame."

This powerfully written book is so emotionally moving, it embodies the indominability of the human spirit and the power of forgiveness. The Gendarme evoked such vivid images, I felt as if I were watching Emmet's dreams and memories on a movie screen. This is just the briefest of synopses trying not to include any spoilers, but I hope it at least piqued your interest and you will get a chance to read Emmet's narrative yourself. Although some of the incidents in the book are disturbing, I got so caught up in this story, I could not put the book down. 5*****

Disclosure: A review (arc) copy of the book was provided by Putnam/Amy Einhorn Books through SA.

Review: How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (August 5, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399156372
ISBN-13: 978-0399156373

After fifty years of marriage, Shoko Morgan, strongly feels the pangs of homesickness for her native country of Japan. Her heart is not only diseased but heavy with the secrets she has kept from her children and the estrangement from her brother, Taro, all these many years.

When her doctor tells her she cannot travel to Japan, she convinces her daughter, Sue, and granddaughter, Helena, to go in her stead. Shoko wants them to seek out her brother, Taro, to try to heal the rift between them. Not an easy task since he has hated Americans since his childhood during WWII. He blames every American for the bombing of Nagasaki.

While making plans for the trip, Shoko reminisces about her childhood, her marriage to the American G.I., Charlie, and her difficulties assimilating into the US lifestyle. It was as if Shoko was a dear friend and she was telling me her story and how she felt it was her duty to marry well and never bring shame to her family. I could sense her wistful sadness and at times an intense loneliness as a young wife and mother, struggling to understand her new culture.

The second half of the story is told from Sue and Helena's perspectives and wraps the tale up very neatly. I wasn't as enthralled with Sue as Shoko, but I could empathize with her apathy at her dead end job, the difficulties of being a single parent and her longing to do something more meaningful with her life. Helena was a delightful character and I would love to see her story set in Japan continued in a sequel.

This is probably the best debut novel I have read this year. The story of Shoko and her family, particularly Shoko, captured my heart completely and kept me glued to the pages until the end. Dilloway has mastered the fine art of storytelling; exploring themes of family, duty and forgiveness, while giving the reader endearing characters that vividly come to life. I certainly hope to see more from this talented writer.

Dilloway's influence for the story was her own Japanese mother's experience and the book her father gave to her mother titled, The American Way of Housekeeping. 5*****

Disclosure: A review copy of the book was received from Putnam through LT early reviewer program.

Review: An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor

This is the fourth book in the Irish Country series. I haven't read the previous three so I wasn't sure what to expect. The story starts out in Ballybucklebo in Ireland during 1964. It's Christmas day and Kinky Kincaid, housekeeper/cook to Dr.O'Reilly and Dr. Laverty is getting ready to cook dinner. A group of young children had been carolling outside and Kinky invites them in for hot drinks and a snack. While they are eating, she tells them a story of how she got the "sight" complete with banshees, faeries and the St. Stephen's Day ghost.

Those children must have had the patience of Job. The story rambled on and on for 105 pages at which point I was ready to give up. The author would have done more justice to the book by making this section a lot shorter with less rambling and more realistic. Honestly, what 8-11 year old uses the word suppurate?

When the kids leave, Kinky sits down for a bit of lunch and begins to reminisce about how she came to work for the doctors. This is when the story became very interesting. The time frame was during Kinky's mid to late teens and chronicles her school years, her desire to become a teacher and how she met her future husband, Paudeen Kincaid. It's also a most wonderful tale of the O'Hanlon family life. Kinky's sister Fidelma was as interesting a character as Kinky. Taylor managed to mentally transport me to Ireland and be part of the story.

This last two thirds of the book redeemed the whole thing for me. Once I got past the first section I was hesitant to put it down. Taylor includes a 20 page glossary at the end of the book with words that are used in the book. Also woven into the story, which I liked a lot, is how the unfamiliar Irish words are to be pronounced. I found these features to be most helpful. If the other three books are as good as the last part of this one, I will be willing to try another one. 3.5***

Review: The Girl From Junchow by Kate Furnivall

From the back cover:China, 1929. For years Lydia Ivanova believed her father was killed by the Bolsheviks. But when she learns he is imprisoned in Stalin-controlled Russia, the fiery girl is willing to leave everything behind-even her Chinese lover, Chang An Lo.

With her half brother, Alexei, Lydia sets out on a dangerous journey. Tension grows between the two as Alexei's search for his past threatens Lydia's quest to find her father and forge a new future for herself. But when Alexei abruptly disappears, Lydia is left alone, penniless in soviet Russia. As she continues her search for information, Lydia finds herself caught up in a perilous entanglement with a Russian officer.

But Chang An Lo has not forgotten Lydia. He knows things about her father that she does not. And while he races to protect her, she is prepared to risk treacherous consequences to discover the truth.

Once again Furnivall managed to captivate me with her story of Lydia Ivanova. This story picks up where The Russian Concubine left off as Lydia, her half brother Alexei and Lydia's Cossack friend Popkov board the train from Junchow to Russia in search of her father, Jens. Lydia has not seen her father since she was five years old but what memories she has of him are loving ones. To think that he is still in a labor camp in Siberia is heartbreaking to her.

Being a stubborn willed seventeen year old, Lydia sometimes acts before she thinks. Fortunately for her she has the intrepid Popkov, a great bear of a man, to watch out for her. It's a good thing too as he manages to get Lydia out of some very dangerously sticky situations. Although Alexei secretly thinks their father could not possibly have survived the brutal labor camps, he travels with Lydia in the off chance Jens is still alive and that they could possibly rescue him. Alexei manages to get into his own sticky situation, namely getting involved in the Russian mafia through no wish of his own.

Meanwhile back in China, Chang An Lo, Lydia's Chinese lover, has become more embroiled in the Communist Party moving up through the ranks. Chang manages to get a committee sent to Russia to view the new factories being built by the reigning Stalinist regime. Chang is a member of the committee and against all odds, he hooks up with Lydia no matter what the danger and tries to help her rescue her father.

At one point in the story while searching for Jens, Chang An Lo and Lydia have been separated under extremely horrifying circumstances. Chang agonizes over not being able to find her again. Furnivall shows us his emotion in the following gorgeous and passionate writing.

"Chang would not give up. He'd find her. Or die. There was no middle path. He called her name without ceasing,but the flames swallowed his words. The smoke suffocated life. He could feel it dying in his own lungs, and his fear for Lydia tore his heart into pieces.

He called out. He roared her name into the fire and the flames roared back at him, their laughter in every crackle and explosion that they spat in his face. He could see nothing beyond the inferno towering around him whichever direction he turned, and quite suddenly he realized he was looking with the wrong sense. Eyes could lie and confuse and panic. So he closed them. He stood totally still and exhaled the poisons from his lungs.

He listened for her again. But this time he listened with his heart."

Want another sample? To see a brief synopsis of The Russian Concubine and my Tuesday Teaser from the book, see this post. I just love Furnivall's writing. She manages to get me invested in the characters' lives so completely that it is almost hard to believe it is all fiction and to come back to the real world. Combined with beautiful writing, the addition of interesting, multi-faceted characters, heart stopping moments, and an historical overview of Russia during early 1930 made this book very difficult to put down. The ending leads me to believe there will be a sequel. If so, I will be eagerly anticipating it. 5*****

Disclosure: A copy of the book was borrowed from the county library system. Thanks to my tax dollars!

Teaser Tuesday: The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to :
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser"sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser.
4. Please avoid spoilers!

This week's teaser is from The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall.
From the author's web site: "The Russian Concubine
is a sweeping epic love-story. Exiled from Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, the beautiful and fiery Lydia and her aristocratic mother have taken refuge in Junchow, China, in 1928. On the edge of destitution, Lydia uses her wits to survive and resorts to stealing.

She is saved from certain death by a young Chinese Communist, Chang An Lo, and together they are thrust into clashes with savage triads. Lydia and Chang fall in love and are swept up in a fight against prejudice and shame. Forced to face opium-running, betrayal and kidnap, their compelling attraction to each other is tested to the limits in this story of love and loss, secrets and lies."

I'm a little more than half way into this book and it is very hard to put it down. Furnivall is a fantastic writer that puts you right into the moment and the scene.

Teaser:

"She lifted her gaze to his and in that second when their eyes fixed on each other, he felt something tangible form between them; a thread, silver and bright and woven by the gods. Shimmering between them, as elusive as a ripple in the river, yet as strong as one of the steel cables that held the new bridge over the Peiho."

Disclosure: A review copy of the book was borrowed from the county library system. Thanks to our tax dollars!

Review: The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha

Nate and Irene Stanley and their two children, Shep and Bliss, move from Illinois to Oregon supposedly for a better work situation for Nate. One day Nate comes home to find their 15 year old son, Shep, gasping his last breath with a bullet wound in his chest. The house is trashed and some valuable items are missing. The general conclusion is Shep interrupted a random robbery. After several weeks, the killer is caught, tried and eventually sent to prison. The story follows the Stanley family and how they cope with the aftermath of such a heartbreaking tragedy.

For a long time after the murder, Irene spirals down into an abyss of depression, finding it increasingly difficult to claw her way out. She has a hard time even dealing with everyday needs and the family dynamics seriously erode. Irene begins to use vodka as a crutch just to get through the day leaving Bliss and Nate to their own devices. Irene's intense hatred of Shep's killer was slowly killing her. She lived for the day he would be executed.

But the wheels of justice grind slowly and after years of feeling half dead herself, on what would be Shep's 27th birthday, Irene has an emotional epiphany. She decides she cannot hold onto the hate any longer. Unbeknownst to her family, she writes a letter to the killer forgiving him and setting off a chain reaction that no one could have ever imagined. When Nate finds out about the years of correspondence, he goes ballistic and he reveals some shocking truths about their son and what really happened on that fateful day. Irene is now determined on a whole new course of action.

This is just the bare bones of the plot. Let me say right off, I could not put this book down. The numerous twists and turns in plot and depth of the characters make this a stellar read. It is so incredibly well written and flows seamlessly from numerous points of view. Every character's thoughts and emotions are perfectly executed. The raw emotion in this book will grab you by the heart and not let go. I think this is one of the best books I have read this year. Highly recommended. 5*****

The Gifts of War by Mackenzie Ford

From the back cover:

"During the Christmas truce of 1914, a German gives a British soldier a photo, and they make a pact. Hal, the British soldier, promises to find his enemy's English girlfriend, Sam, and let her know her fiance is alive and thinking of her. Several weeks later, Hal- now injured- is discharged from the army and goes to Stratford-upon-Avon to fulfill his promise. But things take an unexpected turn when he meets the woman in the photo and falls in love with her himself. As their romance blossoms, Sam shares with Hal her most private confidence. Her newborn son is of German lineage, information that threatens her reputation and her job as schoolteacher. Fearful that he will lose Sam, Hals holds tight to the secret-and the photograph - that brought them together.

Mackenzie Ford sets the story of Hal and Sam's love affair against the broader landscape of England at war and brilliantly captures the era and the fates of men and women caught in the sweep of history. A vivid tale of romance, adventure and intrigue."

My thoughts,: The first two sentences in this book evoked such an image for me.

"It is 2: a.m., raining hard, and the cobblestones on the Boulevard Raspail are glittering like a thousand silver spoons. Vast puddles are forming in the gutters, black as ink."

I love the contrast. A promising beginning to an interesting story. This was a good book and I did enjoy it, BUT, there are things about the whole premise that I found disturbing.

Hal and the German soldier, Wilhelm, made an honor bound pact. Once Hal saw Sam and before he even got to know her, he threw honor out the window and decided he wanted her for himself. Would this really happen in 1914? Would a British soldier or anyone for that matter, in that day and age give their word so lightly and dishonor their solemn agreement for the sake of love or lust at first sight? Somehow, I think not.

So basically we have a budding relationship built on deceit. Not the most auspicious beginning for any future together. Sam made no bones about her love for Wilhelm at the same time as she realized how difficult it would be to have a German fiance. Understandably, anti-German sentiment was high at the time. I found it hard to like Hal as he never gave Sam the opportunity to get to really know him and make her own decision. The reader is privy to his private thoughts with some semblance of a guilty conscience but he does not act on it. Hal just hoped that it will all work out in the end. At several points in the story, he even hoped that Wilhelm would not survive the war.

Once Hal had been released from active duty, he pursued a career in Intelligence at the War Office. Here his talents shone as he quickly made his way up the ladder. I did find this part of the book interesting; a look behind the scenes in the war rooms with the ferreting out of traitors. Hal's commitment to his Intelligence work did endear him to me a little but decisions he made in his personal life still annoyed me.

There were several other concurrent plotlines that I found intriguing. Hal's sister Izzy was a fun character who really came to life on the pages. She was a nurse at the front just when the medical world was learning more about blood types and transfusions. Izzy kept a journal about her war experiences. Supposedly, this was not condoned by the military but Izzy was a woman who knew her own mind and was very outspoken. She was one of the highlights of the story for me. There are some very realistic war tidbits in the story, serving to reinforce the challenges of the time frame.

The back cover touts this as a love story but to me it was very one-sided between Hal and Sam anyway. A lot of it just made me sad to think that the lives of so many people were turned upside down by the futility of war. Overall, I did like the book but the ending was a little bit of a disappointment. Would I still recommend The Gifts of War? Yes, definitely. 3.5 ***

Mackenzie Ford is the nom de plume of a well known and respected historian who lives in London.

A big thank you to Doubleday and Shelf Awareness for an advance copy of this book.

Review: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

In her latest novel, Lisa See takes the reader to Shanghai where we are introduced to Pearl and May Chin, two sisters who enjoy the "beautiful girl" lifestyle. Every day is devoted to posing for painters, shopping and socializing. All this comes to an abrupt halt when the sisters learn that their father has sold them to strangers from Los Angeles to cover his gambling debts. The two sisters did not want to go to America until the Japanese began to bomb the city of Shanghai. Through much hardship the girls finally make their way to Los Angeles and begin their lives as wives of two brothers.

The sisters have married into a family that is mentally still living the Chinese lifestyle. Pearl and May try their best to adapt but it is not easy at all. How the two sisters deal with all this adversity just shows their strengths even though they were very young women at the time. The relationship between the sisters is what sustains them until the very end when a well kept secret becomes known. Pearl and May persevere and do what is right for them overcoming unspoken feelings of resentment from childhood.

Lisa See is perfect at producing a story that grabs the reader at every turn of the page although one of the events in the end seemed out of character. The descriptions put the reader right into the scene. Some of the best parts of the book are the historical facts woven into the story. The plight of Chinese immigrants is fully explored and gives great depth to the storyline. The book ended quite abruptly as though there is either a sequel planned or the reader is just left hanging. Even so, overall the story was a very easy and enjoyable read.

My criteria for a rating is always how easily I can put the book down and how quickly I want to get back to it. This is a very good story, it grabbed my attention right away but towards the last third I found I could put the book down quite easily. I didn't feel the need to put life on hold and rush back to see what happened. That to me makes the book a 3.5 ***

Review: Tender Graces by Kathryn Magendie

One day just out of the blue, this book showed up in the mail unsolicited. Having other books already scheduled for review or for a tour, I just plopped it on the "when I get to it" pile. Saturday night I finished The Walking People by Mary Beth Keane ( to be reviewed later) and instead of doing what I should, starting the next book in line, I picked up Tender Graces. What a wonderful book this turned out to be! I loved it. A big thank you to Deb Smith at Bell Bridge Books. Here's a little synopsis from the front:

"The death of her troubled mother and memories of her abused grandmother lure a young woman back to the Appalachian hollow where she was born. Virginia Kate Carey, the daughter of a beautiful mountain wild-child and a slick, Shakespeare-quoting salesman, relives her turbulent childhood and the pain of her mother's betrayals. Haunted by ghosts and buried family secrets, Virginia Kate struggles to reconcile three generations of her family's lost innocence. "

The story is told from Virginia Kate's perspective primarily from childhood. What I liked about the book (beside the beautiful writing) the most are the characters, not just one or two, but all of them. I didn't necessarily like all of them personally but the way they were written it was just so easy to picture them. There is quite a cast of characters, too. It was so easy to feel their pain, sense of hopelessness, self doubt, happiness and a host of other emotions. The plot line is also excellent as are the descriptions. Ms. Magendie certainly knows how to make her readers empathize with the characters.

Virginia Kate eventually comes to terms with the past and learns which memories to cling to and which to let go of. It is her journey from childhood to adulthood that is so fascinating; sometimes heartwrenching and sometimes with a little bit of joy. After the death of her mother, Virginia Kate decides, "I'll take my vial of Momma's ashes with me to my mountain and leave her there. I'll wear red lipstick and my hair will blow around like a living thing. I'll say, "Feel that wind, Momma!" And she'll say, "Wheeeeee!" And off we'll go. When I get there, I'll smell the earth, and feel the tickle of leaves under my bare feet and against my face. The wind won't let the tears gather at all. And I'll let Momma dance in the wind as I pour her out. Feeling the release, I let go."

Can't you just picture that so easily in your mind? It's hard to imagine this is a debut novel. I had a very difficult time putting this book down. For anyone who appreciates contemporary fiction, southern literature or family relationship stories, this book is one to read. I think this would also be a perfect selection for book clubs as there are many issues that can be discussed. Highly recommended. 4.5****

About the author: Kathryn Magendie has published short stories and poetry in literary magazines all over the South. She is co-managing Editor of The Rose and Thorn Literary Ezine. Kathryn lives in North Carolina. Kathryn's website can be found at http://www.kathrynmagendie.com/.

About the book: Paperback: 316 pages
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books (April 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982175620
ISBN-13: 978-0982175620

Review : The Local News by Miriam Gershow

Told from the point of view of 15 year old Lydia Pasternak, this is the story of how her family coped with the tragedy of her missing teenaged brother. Danny, Lydia's older brother, was not much of a student but he was the quintessential jock and all around popular teen in high schoolwith everyone wanting to be his friend. At home, the house seemed too small to hold him and all his noise and exuberance. Lydia, on the other hand was very introspective, bookish and more interested in geopolitical news than most teens her age. She had only one friend, David Nelson, who shared the same interests with her. The two of them were considered nerdy outcasts. Danny being among the missing changed Lydia’s life as she knew it. She actually thought his going missing was the most interesting thing he had ever done.

The big change at home was that her mother was so distraught, she let everyday things slide. There was rarely any food in the house and not much else was accomplished. The Pasternak household had previously revolved around Danny and his sports;now it revolved around the nightly news and organizing searches for him.

The big change at school was that now even Danny’s friends acted more kindly to her and girls who formerly would not give her the time of day, want to be her friend. This gave Lydia a new sense of empowerment and exhilaration. She feels she now has a better understanding of what Danny’s life was like as she discovers she likes to get drunk at parties and not be so in control. She says , “it was nice being stupid, the way it made people take care of me.”

When Lydia’s mother and father hire a new investigator Denis, Lydia begins to have a fascination with the investigation and Denis himself. She develops a crush on him and wants to help him look for Danny. She starts organizing all her mother’s papers and letters sent by people saying they had seen Danny. She even spends a day with the investigator tracking down people’s stories. She feels that the task is more about figuring it out than it was heart wrenching. It’s many months later that they finally find out what happened to Danny. Lydia does not seem to exhibit much grief but she internalized it. For years, she had insomnia and still felt she could feel Danny’s presence in the air. The tragedy certainly changed Lydia and her family and left a void in all of their lives.

This debut novel by Miriam Gershow is extremely well written. Since it is told from Lydia’s perspective, the reader gets an in depth look into how she feels and thinks on a daily basis. Ms. Gershow gives an authentic voice to the life and feelings of all the teenagers in the story. The mother is fleshed out much more deeply than the father. Her feeling of loss is almost palpable. The father is sort of a cardboard character that I didn’t get much from. I think even the P.I., Denis, was more deeply characterized. The end of the book is told as Lydia is back in town for her 10th high school reunion. It deftly showed how Lydia and her mother were changed by the incident and how they grew from it. Lydia has a much better understanding of her mother and finally realizes that grief shared is grief diffused.

The premise of the book reminded me of Song for the Missing by Stewart O’Nan, except that it was written with much more depth of detail and feeling. Although I did enjoy the book, I could easily put it down for later. Therefore I would rate the book as 3 *** Thank you to Shelf Awareness and Spiegel & Grau for an advance copy of this novel.

The author's website can be found here.

Sonata for Miriam by Linda Olsson

In her second novel, Linda Olsson explores the themes of love, loss, choices, and memories from the past. A single decision can change a person's life and the lives of those who come after.Even inaction or silence has repercussions. One morning Adam Anker's daughter, Miriam, had urged him to "Get out, Dad. Have an adventure. It's Saturday!" Little did he know that this simple act would forever impact his world. Adam's thoughts in retrospect: " If I had listened more carefully, would I have been able to hear more? Could I have heard it in the lingering sweetness of the final bars of the music that was playing in the background? Seen it in the light that washed over my daughter's face? In the graceful movement of her hand? Tasted it in the bitter flavors of the coffee?
Should I have known that this scene, in its everyday triviality, would become the shimmering crescendo of the memories on which I now sustain a sort of life?"
When Adam Anker visits the Holocaust Gallery in Auckland Domain Museum, his entire life is changed and a course of action set in motion to come to terms with Adam's past. Adam sees a picture of a man named Adam Lipski which sends his senses reeling. Elusive memories flit in and out of his brain. Lipski, the name he was born with but no longer carries, sends him on a search for family and answers to the past.

This journey takes him to Krakow, Poland and then on to Sweden. In Krakow he tracks down Adam Lipski's sister, Clara, and from her he gets more pieces of the puzzle. These pieces give him a better sense of who he is now and why his childhood was the way it was. This part of his search also introduces him to more key people from the past. These characters are an integral part of the story.

The next leg of the journey takes him to Sweden to meet up again with Miriam's mother, Cecelia, whom he has not seen for almost twenty years. Before Adam arrives in Sweden, the narrative is picked up by Cecelia and told from her perspective, we see many more pieces of the past and how they reflected on her relationship with Adam. In his journey Adam finds much more than he set out to find originally. All the pieces come together to make some semblance of resolution and a feeling of peace. This is but a brief synopsis of Adam's personal journey. The writing in this novel is simply exquisite. The images evoked are so clear. This is one of the most visually descriptive books I have read in a long time and I can't remember a novel where the inner most thoughts and feelings of the characters are so intimately expressed.

Ms. Olssen has a deep understanding of the human emotions and this uncanny ability is ably depicted in her writing. She not only lets us see into the characters' heads, but creates a mood and tone to the novel that is almost haunting. The way Adam's memories are revealed is like looking through a gossamer curtain rippling in the breeze. A little bit is revealed as the curtain moves, even then it is not quite wholly grasped, but fleeting and elusive. A wonderful example of this style of writing taken from the very beginning:

" I can take one individual note out of the music I am trying to write at the moment, and it could belong anywhere. Yet, where it sits, where I have placed it, it follows what came before and leads to what comes after. Without it, the whole would not be as it is. " And

"It applies to music, to art, and to life itself, I think. When you listen to the finished composition, or when you go about living your life, the individual components join to make a whole that can so easily be taken for granted. But it is not until you become aware of the parts that you can begin to understand the miracle. It took me almost a lifetime to start searching for the sounds, the notes that make my life's music. And it required a sacrifice so enormous that it did away with all that had made my life meaningful. But in the total silence that came afterward, I finally heard a first single note, and others slowly followed."

It is extremely easy to see how this novel entranced me from the beginning. When I finished the last page, I could have gone back to the beginning and started to savor the beautiful prose all over again.I think this would make a wonderful book club selection. Highly, highly recommended. 5***** I certainly plan to read her first novel, Astrid and Veronika, published in 2007. Wanda wrote a beautiful review of A&V back in February. To read her thoughts, see here.

A very sincere thank you to Gabrielle Gantz at Penguin Group for sending me this extraordinary novel and introducing me to this wonderful writer.

About the author (from back cover page):

Linda Olsson was born in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2003, she won the Sunday Star Times Short Story Competition. Linda has lived in Kenya, Singapore, Britain, and Japan before settling in Auckland, New Zealand, where she lives today. Author's web page can be found here.

Review: The Italian Lover by Robert Hellenga

After a huge flood in Florence, Italy, Margot Harrington, ex- patriot book conservator, is hired to repair the convent library in Piazza San Maggiore. While working, she discovers a rare piece of Renaissance Erotica. She then sells the book for the convent and begins an affair with Sando, a married Italian art conservator. Eventually, the book she wrote about her experiences was optioned as a movie but nothing came of it until years later. Esther Klein and her husband Harry were one of the first producers with an interest in the book. After Harry and Esther separate, Esther is desperate to produce a film on her own and so approaches Margot about rights to the book. A deal is struck and movie production begins.

The novel is built around the six main characters involved in this production: Margot, the author of the book to be made into a movie and who wants to also write the screenplay. Margot is somewhat homesick fearing that her real life is waiting for her in Chicago and feels the movie will validate her life. Woody, the man she meets in a club who is also originally from Illinois, agrees to help write the screenplay and with whom Margot ends up having an affair. Miranda Clark, a young actress who is hired to play Margot in the film is looking for her big break from making commercials. Esther, decides to do the movie her way and hires as a director a man named Michael,who is known to be dying with cancer but is still working. Esther feels she can control him better than she could another director. Michael’s wife Beryl goes to Italy while the movie is being made and begins her own drama.

How all these characters interact with each other is most fascinating. They all have their own personal dramas going on, each grappling with some emotional issues . The reader gets the sense that the characters are all missing something in their lives and that they are searching for a resolution as they look into the past and the future. I love character driven stories like this where the point of convergence sets into motion a chain of emotional events. Little did Margot know the movie would take on a life of it’s own, not exactly as she had scripted it. Just like real life, it seems.

Hellenga’s style of writing is magical, evoking many images of Italy. It is easy to imagine the locations, sights, sounds and local people in this story. His descriptive phrases are just wonderful when dealing with the local color and flavor of the surroundings. I felt as if I were right in the scene with all the characters, no matter which person it was. The story encompasses not only the events surrounding making the movie, but very personal stories of love, loss and choices.These story elements are explored during the filming, revealing complex aspects of the characters’ personalities layer by layer. All the subplots and ancillary characters are just as wonderful as the main plot. Overall I thought it was a cohesive story line with very believable characters and excellent dialogue exchanges. Truly, a book to be savored. I really liked it and rated it 4****

A big thank you goes to Hachette Book Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The present time is 1986 in Seattle when we are first introduced to Henry Lee, a recently widowed Chinese American. While he witnesses a press conference at the old Panama Hotel, the simple sight of a koi umbrella discovered in the basement by the new hotel owner, takes him back mentally and emotionally more than 40 years to the 1940’s. Told from his perspective as a man in his mid fifties and flashing back to when he was a boy of twelve, not only is this a coming of age story but it is also a story of the pangs and heartbreak of first love and the enduring essence of friendship. Easily combining a young love story with a war story, Ford weaves a magical tale.

Young Henry Lee was caught between two worlds, his American side and his Chinese side. At home from the age of 12 he was told to only "speak your American" and not the Cantonese that his parents spoke. His father, a proud Chinese Nationalist, wanted his son to become Americanized so he sent him to an all white prep school. Unfortunately, Henry found himself ostracized and taunted due to his Chinese heritage. It didn’t help that his father made him wear an “I am Chinese” button, thinking it would protect his son from the burgeoning anti Japanese feeling after the attack on Pearl Harbor. When a young Japanese girl, Keiko Okabe, began work in the school cafeteria with Henry, he found acceptance for who he was and it is this friendship that was at the heart of the story and what a wonderfully bittersweet story it became.

Right after President Roosevelt signed the executive order for all Japanese to be rounded up and placed in internment camps, a lot of families hurriedly placed belongings in the basement of the old hotel for storage. Keiko and her family were forced to leave their home taking only what they could carry. Henry was heartbroken as he and Keiko had become very attached to each other despite the anti Japanese sentiments belonging to Henry’s father and many others in the community of Chinatown.

Ford moves the story along seamlessly between the years bringing in the age old theme of father-son conflict. Henry and his father had a hard time communicating as has Henry and his son Marty. Another element of the story is Henry’s lifelong compassionate and caring friendship with Sheldon, a member of the Seattle jazz scene. The search for a treasured memory from the jazz era is a key component to help Henry open up communications with his son Marty.

Ford does an admirable job with his heartbreaking look at racial and cultural discrimination in a time of war, while conversely incorporating characters with giving hearts and compassionate natures. Ford writes with a simple clarity and his wonderful descriptions puts readers right into the location. It’s so easy to get into the heads of all the characters, I could feel the fear and sense of helplessness from them and almost hear Henry’s heart beat as he says goodbye to Keiko at the camp. So emotionally charged, it will pull at your heartstrings from beginning to end. I’m sure this short review does not do this book justice, but suffice it to say, I loved almost every character and the book as a whole.The characters I didn't like was solely because they were simply unlikeable in nature. Jamie Ford is a very talented author of whom I am sure we have not heard the last. If you only read one debut novel this year, it should definitely be this one.

A sincere thank you to Mr. Ford and his publicists Diana Franco and Lisa Barnes from Random house for an advance copy of this absolutely delightful book.

Author info here

For another opinon see Caite's review

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Random Wonder

Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Set in the early sixties in Jackson, Mississippi, The Help is an incredible debut novel told from the point of view of three different narrators: Aibileen, a single black woman in her fifties is a domestic for a young family with one child: Minny is a younger married woman with a houseful of kids, an abusive husband and a very sharp tongue that has lost her many a job. Skeeter Phelan, a white,single recent graduate from Ole Miss still residing with her parents, is the only woman in her sorority sisters' bridge club who has a dream to do something with her life. Skeeter wants to become a writer and manages to interest a publisher in a possible book about black domestics and their relationship to their white employers.

In a dichotomous society and a time of increasing racial tensions, this was a dangerous thing to do, both for Skeeter and for the maids. Racing against a seemingly impossible deadline, Skeeter, Aibileen, Minny and 10 other maids manage to secretly write the book that eventually causes a social brouhaha while changing the lives of all involved. Although they had some fears and doubts at times, these courageous women were but a small beginning catalyst in the fight for civil rights.

This book made me run the gamut of emotions; from mad to sad to glad. It made me mad to see how the white women treated the black women as if they were invisible and unfeeling. At one point in the book, Aibileen tells Skeeter that she had commented that black people attend too much church and that comment had stuck with Aibileen. Skeeter wondered what else she had said ,"never suspecting the help was listening or cared". They expected their maids to do all the housework and cooking while paying them next to nothing. It seems ludicrous that while the maids were entrusted with the most important job of virtually raising their employers' children, they were not even allowed to use their employers' bathrooms. It made me sad to see how they were treated as if they had no human feelings at all and how they were supposed to be grateful, never complain or feel any indignity at their treatment.

The book also made me glad because Skeeter, one of the kindest of the white women, managed to put one of her own sorority sisters in her place. She also came to understand they were all sisters under the skin and to get an idea of what the domestics had to put up with in their lives. Aibileen tried to give the white children she raised a sense of respect for themselves and other people at the same time that she gave them a lot of love.

Ms. Stockett does a wonderful job giving voice to all her characters bringing them, their surroundings and their feelings so vividly to life. The social tensions of the times are also very well done. I found it extremely easy to visualize every scenario in the book and deeply empathized with the characters. It's heartrending, poignant and uplifting all at the same time.

The Help is one book I found really easy to become immersed in and hard to put down. Ms. Stockett is a very talented writer and I am sure this is an auspicious beginning to her career. Be sure to read her, Too Little Too Late thoughts at the end of the book after the acknowledgements. It will give you a sense of the influences in how and why she came to write the book . Highly recommended. 5*

Review: The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee

It is so hard to believe that this is a debut novel. I found it wonderfully written and I was drawn in immediately. The story starts out in 1952 as we are introduced to Claire Pendleton, recent arrival in Hong Kong with her much older husband, Martin. Claire has been hired by the socially prominent Chen family to teach Locket Chen the piano. When the Chen family invites Claire and her husband to a party, she meets Will Truesdale, the Chen chauffer.The Chen family and Will Truesdale figure prominently in this novel from the beginning to the end.

The story then goes back and forth from 1941 to 1953 as the characters are introduced in preparation for war with the Japanese. With the use of flashback mode and differing points of view, we see the growth in the characters and how the war deeply affected them all. Will’s importance is slowly revealed when the reader is taken back to 1941 and the beginning of his passionate affair with Trudy Liang, a young, spoiled Eurasion. Trudy has numerous connections with the Hong Kong community and has a tremendous emotional impact on Will.

Written with exquisite detail as to location, the reader can immerse themselves into the environs of Hong Kong. It is easy to visualize the center with its European, classical style building and yet, not far away, the local market with its narrow alley ways and frenetic activity amid smoky stalls and clamorous noise. I felt like I was walking with Claire as she became familiar with her new home. With Lee's seamless segueing between decades, the character development is tremendous. The characters are so well fleshed out as to emotion and vulnerability, the reader will feel as if they are real. Their emotions and feelings just seem to leap off the page.

Lee unfolds each complex layer bit by bit without missing a beat. When the lives of all the characters come to a point of convergence, the past haunts the present in the many intertwined relationships. Alliances forged during the war will have long reaching consequences long after the war is over. People who had high positions now are brought to new lows, the war being the great equalizer. It all comes down to a matter of survival and the lengths people will go to cope with the horrors and atrocities of war.

There are so many elements in the telling of this story: romance, loyalty, betrayal, secrets, history along with social commentary. The peripheral characters were easily woven into the story with their own interesting sub plots. The surprising twists at the end only add to the enjoyment of this novel. The progression of the story is orderly with no superfluous details and with a wonderful overall plot, this book is sure to be a success. I absolutely loved it. 5*****

Thank you Ms. Lee for sending me an advance copy of your book.

Becky and Mary also reviewed this book if you would like another opinion