Let the waterworks begin! {The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman}

Crocodile tears? I couldn't get suckered into this one. Sorry.

Synopsis of The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman: After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss. The Light Between Oceans is exquisite and unforgettable, a deeply moving novel.

My two cents

I've had this on my radar since it got such rave reviews from the blogging community when in 2012 it won a Goodreads People's Choice Award (Historical Fiction). Then I found out that a readalong was happening so I was able to snag a copy of the book (courtesy of the publisher). Besides, the movie is out now (see trailer here) so I obviously must read book before watching movie.

Love ...

I'd pinpoint this as the book's saving grace: the setting in a lesser-known area in Australia and about life in a difficult environment - how many books depict life in a lighthouse? As I was reading this, I was under the impression that the setting was real; Stedman admits that Janus Rock is fictitious (see interview here):

[...] But the region where the Great Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet is real, and the climate, weather and the landscape are more or less as I’ve described them. I wrote some of the book there: It’s a very beautiful, if sometimes fierce, part of the world. 

Promising: the themes of parenthood and of a moral dilemma of two parents, similar to the Biblical "split the baby" paradox. This was tackled quite in depth and brought forth the stronger characters - Hannah and Tom (I have reservations about him though, more later).

If you've read this and loved it, so be it. I'm not in the "love camp" so please don't read any further if you did (I'm serious). Because here's what I hated about this book.

Hate ...

I picked this up with great expectations (like all books, right?). But this isn't at all what I was expecting; it was a bit of a letdown, to be honest.  I actually sped-read about half of this because I wanted to get through it quickly and painlessly. This review has languished because I wanted to give it a chance!

I thought I'd be moved by the tragedy of the story and wowed by the literary quality of the writing. The below may sound cryptic but it is spoiler-free. So here's what I thought:

• It's generally predictable. Actually, scratch that: it's predictable. 
• The drama felt forced and even verged on melodramatic. So much emoting. If you cry at the drop of a hat, then you may love it. It'll tug at all your heartstrings. It didn't tug on mine because I was uneasy and I actually felt I was being emotionally manipulated ... and why did this all take so long? The drama was so drawn out that halfway is all that I could manage sanely.
• The characters, oh my. Don't get me started. Isabel, who I so wanted to like because of her heartbreak and her pain, was just a grating character to me. Her desperation verged on the melodramatic. Meanwhile, Tom, who I warmed up to immediately, annoyed me when he acted totally out of character during a pivotal moment. Talk about a cop-out. 
• There are niggly things, coincidences, and turns of events that seemed too easily to fall together that I was in a constant state of disbelief.
• The writing had its lovely moments, I concede, but when combined with the above, the metaphors and flowery writing merely grated on me.

All in all, this felt like a big yawn for me.

P.S. The film will be a no go for me. I suspend judgment on the movie but I fear that it'll be in the mold of Nicholas Sparks, whose books and movies annoy me no end (*shudder).

Verdict: 

Loved the setting, the promise of the themes of parenthood ... but I did not get suckered into the melodramatics of this predictable tale. I'd say pass.

If you're interested in the readalong, check out this link: Goodreads Readalong.

Love or hate camp? Tell me!

*I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher for review consideration.

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Open the door to horror. Sarah has the key. {Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay}

Open the door to horror. Sarah has the key.

About Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay: Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.

Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

My two cents

The book opens with the compelling image of Sarah, a girl with a key, the key she had locked up her little brother with in the closet when the police suddenly came to their door and took away their family from the life they had known. Little did she know that she would hang on to this key - and her promise to return to free her brother -  as an excruciating burden throughout her entire life.

"Sarahs key movie poster 300x400"
by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

This belongs among my horrific reads as it is about remembering a dark time in history wherein French police became complicit to Nazi Germany when it mass-arrested Jews on July 16, 1942. The Vélodrome d'Hiver (in English: Winter Velodrome), a bicycle stadium, was the site of where victims were confined in horribly crowded conditions (hence the name "Vel' d'Hiv Roundup"). Among the over 13,000 Jews arrested were more than 4,000 children. Victims were then transported to Auschwitz where they were murdered.

This book provides an interesting link between past and present, with two storylines that converge in the present. Sarah Starzynski's story humanizes the ordeal of an innocent. In the present-day, American expat Julia Jarmond unearths Sarah's story, and in the process is so shaken by this child's ordeal that it affects her own life in ways she could never have imagined.

Translated from the French, this book has also been made into a movie, which I will definitely try to watch.

What I liked

“And so I write this for you, My Sarah. With the hope that one day, when you’re old enough, this story that lives with me, will live with you as well. When a story is told, it is not forgotten. It becomes something else, a memory of who we were; the hope of what we can become.” - Sarah's Key 

 This is a book about remembrance. I learn so much history through stories and this novel is a powerful way of raising awareness about this event during the Holocaust. While fictionalized, it brings to sharp focus how the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup went unacknowledged by the French government and the public in general for decades, and how in 1995 Jacques Chirac issued a public apology. I not only learned some rather controversial history, I got a substantial and highly emotional read as well.

Uh-oh

While I was totally engrossed and anticipated learning more about Sarah, I had a difficult time getting into Julia's storyline. I found that towards the end of the book that her personal problems took away from Sarah's. Or maybe I just felt they were measly in comparison.

Verdict:

A worthwhile novel that sheds light on a lesser-known piece of France's history in relation to the Holocaust. Well researched, humanized, and relevant reading. Highly recommended. 

Learn more:

• *Vel d'Hiv on Wikipedia
• Days of Shame on Bonjour Paris
• Tatiana de Rosnay's Website

Vel' d'Hiv Memorial at the site of the now-demolished velodrome. Photo by Leonieke Aalders (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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Of nudists, family secrets, and complicated lives. {Whistling Women by Kelly Romo}

Of nudists, family secrets, and complicated lives.

Synopsis of Whistling Women by Kelly Romo: A buried secret keeps two sisters apart. Life went terribly wrong for Addie Bates in San Diego, and she’s been running from dark memories ever since. For fifteen years, the Sleepy Valley Nudist Colony has provided a safe haven for Addie to hide from the crime she committed. But when the residents pack up to go on exhibit at the 1935 world’s fair in San Diego, Addie returns and must face the thrilling yet terrifying prospect of reuniting with her estranged sister, Wavey.

Addie isn’t the only one interested in a reunion. When her niece, Rumor, discovers she has an aunt, Rumor is determined to bring her family together. But it’s not so easy when the women are forced to confront family secrets, past and present.

Set against the backdrop of the 1935 world’s fair, Whistling Women explores the complex relationships between sisters, the sacrifices required to protect family, and the devastating consequences of a single impulsive act.

My two cents

A whistling woman and a crowing hen always come to a bad end. - Proverb

That opening proverb sounds so dire, but this book proves it true yet is anything but.

This was a first for me on two fronts -- I've never read anything involving a nudist colony nor of the world's fair. And while I thought this would be more heavily a historical fiction piece, I got a rather complicated family story too!

This book was extremely engaging, from plot to setting, it felt like a world fair of sorts! The first part was a fascinating look into life in a nudist colony -- of the philosophy of the people behind it, the general lifestyle and activities, and of Addie's decision to join the group and to rebuild her life. The remainder of the book focused on the revelation of what Addie had done and how events (and people) conspired to a satisfying ending.

This is told in alternating voices of two innocents: Addie, the wayward sister and of Rumor, her niece.

The heart of this book is undoubtedly its characters. Addie was an interesting study since throughout the book since she is painted as the greatest thing since sliced bread ... if but for the secret that had estranged her from her sister Wavey. Wavey, meanwhile, was a much more complicated character; her unpredictable and sorry life a manifestation of many a sad turn of events. Rumor was the clincher; sassy, rash and hardheaded, she is larger than life in contrast to her darling, meeker older sister Mary.

Uh ohs

I enjoyed the entire book despite its length. However, there are a few niggly things that didn't sit right with me:

• The backdrop of the world's fairs got me pretty excited but there was little in the book except for the minimal descriptions in relation to the expo of the nudist colony. 
• The nudist colony spin felt too obvious and convenient an allegory for freedom. This is even voiced out -- I thought it would have been better to leave that well alone.
• There were some times that this started feeling chick-lit-ish and melodramatic to me, not necessarily a bad thing since it makes for extremely easy reading. 
• I was slightly irked by the name Rumor. In getting to know Wavey, I felt that this was quite against her character, and despite her desire to keep all things on the lowdown, naming your child Rumor was bound to raise a few eyebrows. 

Verdict: Get to know the Bateman family, where secrets abound and unravel and where happy endings aren't to be ruled out. An enjoyable historical fiction that will give you a peek into nudist colonies and world fairs.

About Kelly Romo

Kelly A. Romo currently lives in Oregon with her three children where she teaches writing, literature, and social studies. She loves the outdoors; hiking, kayaking, and camping. Kelly grew up in California running around with all her thrill-seeking cousins and siblings; jumping off cliffs into the Colorado River, exploring caves on the beaches of Mexico, riding dirt bikes, water skiing, and snow skiing.

Connect with Kelly: Website | Facebook | Twitter



I received a copy of this book from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in order to participate in this tour with an honest review. Don't forget to check out the rest of the tour here. 

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Paperback: 414 pages 

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (November 17, 2015)

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The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

Poetic justice for picture brides. 

Synopsis of The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka: Julie Otsuka’s long-awaited follow-up to When the Emperor Was Divine is a tour de force of economy and precision, a novel that tells the story of a group of young women brought from Japan to San Francisco as “picture brides” nearly a century ago.

In eight incantatory sections, The Buddha in the Attic traces the picture brides’ extraordinary lives, from their arduous journey by boat, where they exchange photographs of their husbands, imagining uncertain futures in an unknown land; to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; to their backbreaking work picking fruit in the fields and scrubbing the floors of white women; to their struggles to master a new language and a new culture; to their experiences in childbirth, and then as mothers, raising children who will ultimately reject their heritage and their history; to the deracinating arrival of war.

My two cents

I have now read this book twice. The first time, I was in too much of a daze to write a coherent review. The second time merely confirmed what I knew about this book the first read: this one is special.

Told in the collective voice of Japanese picture brides as they recount the unfolding of their new lives in the US during the early 20th century, the melding of history in an almost poetic treatment is both unusual and enlightening.

I don't know too much about picture brides so I decided to look it up. Picture brides were so named because Japanese and Korean men who had immigrated to the US during the late 1900s decided to take wives and did so by choosing them based on pictures or photos provided by matchmakers. It was a modified practice of the traditional matchmaking wherein family members also had their say. It was basically the then-equivalent of the mail-order bride (source).

The book can be broken down into eight sections, which trace the lives of Japanese picture brides from their arrival up to the war, and hints of the impact on next generations to come:

• Come, Japanese!
• First Night
• Whites
• Babies
• The Children
• Traitors
• Last Day
• A Disappearance

In the author's notes in the back, there is an exhaustive list of references from which Otsuka drew these stories, which when collectively told provide a comprehensive and nuanced account of the struggles and challenges that these women faced and endured.

What I found surprising is that while told in collective, the voice is startlingly personal and intimate.

This entire book is a remembrance of an important piece of Japanese immigration in US history and of acknowledging the horrors of war and racial segregation.

Verdict: This book acknowledges the need to dust off the proverbial Buddha that has been put away in the attic. A remembrance of Japanese immigration to the US in the 1900s, this is the voice of the picture bride. Poetic justice indeed.

Uh oh 

The use of the collective "we" throughout has an almost hypnotic effect on the reader; I personally felt it was an interesting treatment. However, it does have a tedium to it and can potentially bore.

Extra

My love for the cover can't be expressed properly - it's such a beautiful cover for a beautifully written homage.

Interesting reading:

• Wikipedia: Picture Brides
• Desho encyclopedia: Picture Brides
• Wikipedia: Issei

Book Depository

The Determined Heart by Antoinette May + #Giveaway #RIPX

Portents and monsters, romance and heartache.

About The Determined Heart by Antoinette May: The daughter of political philosopher William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley had an unconventional childhood populated with the most talented and eccentric personalities of the time. After losing her mother at an early age, she finds herself in constant conflict with a resentful stepmother and a jealous stepsister. When she meets the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, she falls deeply in love, and they elope with disastrous consequences. Soon she finds herself destitute and embroiled in a torturous love triangle as Percy takes Mary’s stepsister as a lover. Over the next several years, Mary struggles to write while she and Percy face ostracism, constant debt, and the heartbreaking deaths of three children. Ultimately, she achieves great acclaim for Frankenstein, but at what cost?

My two cents

Portrait of Mary Shelley by Richard Rothwell
(read more here.) 

Everyone knows who Frankenstein is - whether it is that popular figure that keeps popping up during Halloween, in cartoons and in movies, or the book that inspired it. But who really knows about Frankenstein's creator,  the young and imaginative young lady of the 1800s by the name of Mary Shelley?

What I liked ...

Great intro material to a popular author. For someone like me who hasn't a clue about Shelley as an author, this novel was a perfect crash course not only of her life but of the times in which she lived. This historical fiction piece chronicles a life spent challenging the status quo - and with plenty of heartache and pain -- eventually resulting in a masterpiece of a literary magnitude that continues to provoke to this day.

What really struck me is how young Mary was exposed to feminism, philosophy, and controversial literature by virtue of her parent's own ideals. It's also quite amazing how she constantly was challenging society in the way that she lived her life and consequently in her writing. Writing Frankenstein in and of itself was impressive, but to write it age 21 during a time when women authors were only just breaking into the field as well as have such a profound impact on literature today is even moreso mindblowing.

Her short life was of great success and was also quite tragic. While she had a strong connection to her mother, Mary lost her at a young age. She loved and married a cad (sorry Bysshe, you didn't fool me for a second), had a selfish and conniving stepsister who also became Bysshe's mistress, and lost many children.

Engaging and easy-to-read. The beginning really hooked me with its portents of greatness and doom. Overall, this book was an easy read and the action kept me going. However, I was mainly waiting for the Frankenstein concept to come to life. However at times it felt romance-novelish to me - not necessarily a bad thing, but just did not sit quite right with me given that we're looking at a classics author.

Uh-ohs

Portrait of Percy Bysshe Shelley
(from here)

The title. The determined heart? How generic can it be? It has shades of a cheesy romance novel to me.

This is not just about Frankenstein. Maybe I was expecting the creation of Frankenstein to the be-all and end-all of this novel. While it was supposedly the highlight, it lost luster for me and I was a little disappointed. It is a pity - a feel like Frankenstein somehow wasn't given more attention!

Live life fast and leave a beautiful corpse? I had this strange feeling that Mary and Bysshe, as portrayed in this novel, never really grew up. Their lives were lived to the hilt (and extremely tempestuously too) which is why I had a hard time grasping that we're talking about full lifetimes here. Whether it's a function of the short yet packed lives they lived, or the fact that this novel tries to condense their lifetimes into its pages, I felt that the characters never "grew up" or matured. I wanted to like Mary as a character but found her slightly dull despite the exciting life she lived. I found Percy a little more interesting but just too one-dimensional for my liking (a cad is a cad is a cad). Claire Clairmont, Mary's step-sister and Bysshe's mistress, was characterized as having grand ambitions in the beginning but she also never grew up; she simply had an annoying and lingering presence that I felt did not delve too much into the odd symbiotic dynamic that the three of them had.

Verdict: An interesting peek into the life and times of Mary Shelley, creator and author of Frankenstein. It was a so-so read for me and unfortunately didn't make a lasting impression apart from that amazing introduction and unfortunately what I thought was an overly cheesy romantic ending. I'd recommend this to anyone who is clueless about Shelley and wants some good introductory and engaging reading material.

About Antoinette May

Antoinette May is the author of Pilate’s Wife and The Sacred Well and coauthor of the New York Timesbestseller Adventures of a Psychic. An award-winning travel writer specializing in Mexico, May divides her time between Palo Alto and the Sierra foothills.

Find out more on Antoinette May's website.

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I received a copy of this book from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in order to participate in this tour with an honest review. Don't forget to check out the rest of the tour here. 

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This read is part of my RIPX challenge

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

A bloody sun rising. 

About Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi: With her award-winning debut novel, Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was heralded by the Washington Post Book World as the “21st century daughter” of Chinua Achebe. Now, in her masterly, haunting new novel, she recreates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria during the 1960s. 

With effortless grace, celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie illuminates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s. We experience this tumultuous decade alongside five unforgettable characters: Ugwu, a thirteen-year-old houseboy who works for Odenigbo, a university professor full of revolutionary zeal; Olanna, the professor’s beautiful young mistress who has abandoned her life in Lagos for a dusty town and her lover’s charm; and Richard, a shy young Englishman infatuated with Olanna’s willful twin sister Kainene. Half of a Yellow Sun is a tremendously evocative novel of the promise, hope, and disappointment of the Biafran war.

My two cents

When I saw this book's author and read the synopsis, I had a strange compulsion to turn the other way. The tough subject matter, and a time in history I know nothing about intimidated me. I even asked someone I knew what they thought of it - she said that it's one of those books you read but are glad it's over when you finish it. Did I want to be challenged? So much for me turning away; I decided to just go for it. The payoff did come, believe me, but not without feeling the horrors of war.

The story delves into the Biafran War, also known as the Nigerian Civil War. I confess to total ignorance and I had no idea whether Biafra was a country or a state so I ended up reading up on Wikipedia before diving into the book. Here's what I found out:

• Biafra is a state in south-eastern Nigeria and was in existence from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970
• Biafra is a secessionist state. "Secessionist" simply means that a group pulled out from a larger group. In this case, the Igbo people fought for secession from Nigeria because of the economic, cultural and religious tensions amongst the ethnic groups. 

The Biafran war is given a human face through several main characters: middle class academic Odenigbo and his lover-later-wife Olanna, the teenager Ugwu coming from an impoverished family and works for Odenigbo as a houseboy, socialite and businesswoman Kainene and her English lover Richard.

The substories are very different as they are told by different classes and even a foreigner is thrown in for good measure. Odenigbo is a professor at Nsukka University, a brilliant mind, a nationalist and revolutionary at heart. Olanna and Kainene are twin sisters from a politically powerful (and hence moneyed) family; while Olanna is known as the pretty and intellectual one, Kianene is the "ugly one" but a strong and savvy businesswoman. Richard is an Englishman who came to Nigeria to learn more and write about traditional pots that he is rather impassioned about. Lastly, Ugwu is a young teenage boy who finds himself in this circle of middle-class characters, and comes of age during this critical historical time.

Their lives play out flipping from present to past and back, a journey into these characters lives pre-war, war and post-war. You'll read the roles they play in inciting uprisings, the idealism, the passion. You'll find out how cultural differences among ethnic groups drive a wedge between people. You'll see how event the strongest people play each other for influence, and succumb to corruption as a means of survival. You'll see how expats view this melee and how some not only support but feel one with it.

Uh-ohs

One strange thing that the past-present story flipping does is that there are strange holes in the stories.  So scratch your head and wait because your patience will pay off.  The questions will  eventually get answered.

If you think you've read about war, don't bet on it. This is replete with graphic descriptions of violence, rape, brutality, extreme poverty and hunger. There is nothing pretty about war. No matter how much I read about war in general, I always feel slightly sick when reading about the pain, the sorrow and brutality it inflicts on people.

Verdict: This is a realistic portrayal of war set in Nigeria. Don't bring any preconceptions about Africa as stereotypes you may hold about African cultures and politics are unabashedly exposed. Be ready for a gutwrenchingly brutal story of what zealous patriotism can result in for a country and the lives of its peoples. The impacts are lasting and real despite this being a fictionalized retelling.

I am eager to continue challenging myself to read outside my comfort zone. While I cannot say that I "enjoyed" this in a traditional sense, I highly recommend this book and this author. It's an affecting story that sheds light on a critical historical period in the world. 

Villa America by Liza Klaussmann

It was golden nonetheless. 

About Villa America by Liza Klaussmann: A dazzling novel set in the Cap D'Antibes based on the real-life inspirations for Fitzgerald's Tender is The Night.

In this gorgeous, glamorous, and affecting novel, Liza Klaussmann does for Sara and Gerald Murphy what Paula McLain and Michael Cunningham did for Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Woolf in The Paris Wife and The Hours. Villa America was in fact a real house on the French Riviera that Sara and Gerald Murphy built to escape to in the 1920s. Members of a group of expat Americans, they were known for their fabulous parties and for making the Riviera into the glamorous place it is today. Their freewheeling days were filled with champagne and caviar, but these were people who kept secrets and who were, of course, heartbreakingly human.

This is a stunning story about the Lost Generation, about a marriage, about a golden age which could not last.

My two cents

Pablo Picasso's "Femme assise le bras croises"
believed to be a portrait of  Sara Murphy

I adored Klaussmann's debut novel Tigers in Red Weather so I was eager to see what she would come up with next. I'm not surprised that not only was this written beautifully, but she's managed to capture the tremendous sadness and heartbreak of the Lost Generation, the generation which came of age during the First World War. This is peopled, fascinatingly by well-known personalities of the 1920s literary and arts scene, including Sara and Gerald Murphy, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and his wife Zelda, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

This fictionalized story focuses on the Murphys' love affair which inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night, as well as the charmed atmosphere they created and the numerous connections they had made during their heyday on Cap d'Antibes in southern France.

***

What I loved 

How existential it feels. When I finished this book, I could only sigh, and very deeply. Live life to the fullest - it's cliche that really rings true. This is a story that reads like Ecclestiastes, underscoring the truth that everything has a time and all good things must come to an end. But at the same time I love the fact that the book celebrates how alive everyone was that you can practically feel the energy behind the characters, particularly the compelling Sara.

Sara and Gerald Murphy. Photo from MOMA.

Real people you can actually relate to. You know how name dropping can really overshadow a good story? Not so here as I found the characters not romanticized as the personalities that we've come to hear about, but as multi-dimensional characters with rather complex backstories. I totally bought into Gerald Murphy's sad moneyed childhood, Sara's socialite upbringing, and their celebrated love story. I also enjoyed how it was depicted that Picasso would look at Sara with admiring eyes and one eventually finds her form many of his paintings (like the one here). And this shed light on the Hemingway partnership depicting a lonely Zelda and an oblivious drunkard Hemingway.

Never mind they were rich and famous, they had pretty interesting lives as people in general. This delves into defining moments in childhood, love and marriage, the joys and sorrows of having children, illness and death.

Interesting fill-in-the-blank in the plot. There is one specific plot line that really surprised me. The storytelling is such that you make your own little deductions as the pages keep turning. I was blindsided but it made total sense in the end, and it is a tragedy that can play itself out in anyone's life. I will let you discover it yourself!

Uh-ohs

If you hate the meandering descriptions of milieu in Anna Karenina, you may find some of the descriptions in this tedious. The laying down of backstories is quite drawn out so if you dislike that level of detail with little action, it can feel like there isn't much happening.

I mentioned there is some deduction involved for a reader. This vagueness is obviously intentional but when you're first reading it, you can either pick up on it, or get seriously annoyed when the puzzle piece eventually falls into place.

There are multiple voices telling the story in first person. I admit that there are times where that makes it confusing, or feel jumpy.


Verdict: Filled with gorgeous descriptions of the coasts of Cap d'Antibes in southern France, art and literary musings of Picasso and Fitzgerald, and a feeling of a being in the inner circle of the charmed Murphys, this existentialist historical fiction tale will be sure to intrigue those of you who are familiar with these real life people or those who love 1920s art and literature.

I already loved Klaussman the first time I read her and I love her even more for this novel. What else will she come up with?

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher for honest review consideration.

History has a way of repeating itself. {The Incarnations by Susan Barker}

History has a way of repeating itself.

About The Incarnations by Susan Barker: Hailed as “China’s Midnight’s Children” (The Independent) this “brilliant, mind-expanding, and wildly original novel” (Chris Cleave) about a Beijing taxi driver whose past incarnations over one thousand years haunt him through searing letters sent by his mysterious soulmate.

Who are you? you must be wondering. I am your soulmate, your old friend, and I have come back to this city of sixteen million in search of you.

So begins the first letter that falls into Wang’s lap as he flips down the visor in his taxi. The letters that follow are filled with the stories of Wang’s previous lives—from escaping a marriage to a spirit bride, to being a slave on the run from Genghis Khan, to living as a fisherman during the Opium Wars, and being a teenager on the Red Guard during the cultural revolution—bound to his mysterious “soulmate,” spanning one thousand years of betrayal and intrigue. As the letters continue to appear seemingly out of thin air, Wang becomes convinced that someone is watching him—someone who claims to have known him for over one thousand years. And with each letter, Wang feels the watcher growing closer and closer…

Seamlessly weaving Chinese folklore, history, and literary classics, The Incarnations is a taut and gripping novel that sheds light on the cyclical nature of history as it hints that the past is never truly settled.

My two cents

Wang's middle-aged humdrum life takes a turn when an anonymous letter is left in his taxi. It claims to be from his "soulmate" and eerily describes his movements ... and Wang's past lives. As more letters follow, each detailing Wang's incarnations, one wonders: should Wang accept this as truth, or more sensibly, chalk this up as the rantings of a lunatic stalker?

The novel alternates between Wang's life story and the letters depicting his past lives.

Snapshots of Wang's life today: A taxi driver's struggle to make ends meet. Time spent with wife Yida and daughter Echo. A strained relationship with his father and his second wife. Revelations of the impacts of the death of his biological mother on his childhood, and finally, an unravelling of family life and the revelation of Wang's relationship with a lover spurned.

Meanwhile, with each letter—told in the voice of someone very close to each incarnation—Wang's five incarnations take the reader on a journey through China's history, and Wang's present and potential future.

***

I was blown away by this novel. I already had high expectations from the onset because of the blurb (how many books can be compared to Midnight's Children?). I also found the author blurb fascinating since Barker is British and Malaysian-Chinese. This novel delivered on so many levels that I'm still in a bit of a daze as I write this.

Intriguing story structure
With a beginning so intriguing, I wondered vaguely where Wang's present-day story would pan out. But what really excited me was when each of the letters came around. What I initially thought would be simply alternating present-day story with incarnation story was turned on its head as the arc of this story played itself out! I found the structure surprising and unpredictable, and definitely befitting of the overall theme of reincarnation.

I loved the mysteriousness of who the letter writer is and I had my ideas about who it could be. I am sure that you'll have a hunch and make some good guesses but it won't take away from the exposition.

Tight short stories within a story, diverse characters
Each letter is a short story in itself, a vignette of a life during a particular time period in China's history. The incarnations include a woman pledged to become a Spirit Bride, a male slave during the rule of Genghis Khan, a fisherman during the Opium Wars, a concubine in The Forbidden City, and a teenage revolutionary during the Cultural Revolution. These incarnations span over a thousand years! There is a lot to learn if you have just a cursory knowledge of China's history and her people.

What is particularly fascinating to me is that despite the individual stories being able to stand alone, they all play a part in the overall story arc, masterfully done!

Uh-ohs

Wang's incarnations had rather wretched existences and were often in oppressive circumstances. Sex and the politics of sex is a recurring theme. Oh, this can be brutal, graphic reading including sexual violence and physical abuse. There were sections of this that made me feel sick and I had to skim the overtly graphic descriptions of a castration and sadistic sex.

Verdict: A masterful story build around the theme of reincarnation, highlighting the fascinating people of and the brutal history of China. I dare not give too much information about this book as a first time reading of this truly an experience. Highly recommended.

I received and Advance Reader Copy from the publisher for honest review consideration.

A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott

Alcott sprinkles stardust, and well!

About A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker comes a blockbuster novel that takes you behind the scenes of the filming of Gone with the Wind, while turning the spotlight on the passionate romance between its dashing leading man, Clark Gable, and the blithe, free-spirited actress Carole Lombard.

My two cents

Gone with the Wind poster
from Wikipedia

I'm probably one of the very few who hasn't read or watched Gone with the Wind but I was sufficiently intrigued by the premise of this novel.

If you're a Gone with the Wind fan – either the Pulitzer-prize winning book or the Academy-laden movie – I'm sure you'll appreciate this fictionalized insider peek of the filming of the epic Civil War movie. Get into the mind of temperamental yet visionary producer David Selznick. Witness Clark Gable's transformation into the dashing Rhett Butler and the beautiful Vivien Leigh into the much coveted role of Scarlett O'Hara. Then imagine all the busywork involved behind the scenes to create something this epic onscreen ... it's exciting stuff.

Playing out alongside the movie-making are some romances, foremost among them is the one between famous Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. This was intriguing to say the least, as Carole is depicted as a woman quite ahead of her times and her love affair with Clark as being the real deal.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction piece, which tackles a whole range of issues in pre-war Hollywood making for a complex, layered story. There is the difficulty of women breaking into the male-dominated screenwriting industry as shown in Julie Crawford's story. There is the glitz, glitter, the pressures and the superficiality of show business ... and yet there still exists "real people" and true love in this industry of make believe. There is also the politics surrounding how African Americans were being portrayed in movies, and mention of Hattie MacDaniel becoming the first African American to win an Oscar. Then there is the whole layer of impending war that adds a touch of despair.

If you're looking for more fact than fiction, this may disappoint. The storyline goes quite deeply into the the character of country girl Julie Crawford who wants to make it big in Hollywood as a screenwriter. It's this diversionary fluff that makes this appealing to chick lit lovers. I do have to mention that this draws quite heavily from memoirs and research to put together this character.

I think I had my expectations way, way up there. When I think "Gone with the Wind" I think epic, grand and ambitious. I wanted this to blow me away but it is still very much a worthwhile read, and you'll learn so much about old Hollywood!

Verdict: With engaging writing, interesting plots and sub-plots (albeit a little predictable), and a hopeful, star-studded historical fictionalization of the filming of an epic movie, this charming book is a must-read for Gone with the Wind fans.  

I received a copy of this book from the publisher Doubleday for honest review consideration.

The Mask Carver's Son by Alyson Richman

The agonized and solitary life of an artist.

About The Mask Carver's Son by Alyson Richman: 1890. Yamamoto Kiyoki is a Japanese art student, dreaming of studying in Paris with the inspiring and vibrant Impressionist painters.

Yamamoto Ryusei is Kiyoki’s father. Ryusei’s art, carving intricate masks for traditional Japanese theater, has been his refuge from loneliness since the death of his beloved wife, and he is revered as the most inspired artist of his kind. He expects his only son to honor the traditions of his family and his country, not to be seduced by Western ideas of what is beautiful. Ryusei hopes Kiyoki will follow his own distinguished career, creating masks that will become the family’s crowning achievement.

But what is a father to do when his son’s path is not what he had planned? And how can a son honor his father, and yet fulfill his own destiny?

My two cents

This story has so many elements to it that I thought it would become messy -- two settings (Japan and France, look at that cover with the Eiffel Tower and cherry blossoms), a father-son story, an obscure art angle, and a rather long timeline. But what do I know about writing? Nothing obviously, as the author was able to bring all this into a coherent tale that was both enlightening and heartbreaking at the same time.

This book is a peek into the traditional art of Japanese mask carving used in Japanese theatre, which is wrought with spirituality and believed to be a calling. I found this fascinating: how Yamamoto Ryusei found himself as a mask carver and how his entire life revolved around this calling.

The story traces the life of Kiyoki, who was born into Ryusei's mask carving world, bound by association into this profession but whose heart lies elsewhere in the art world - Paris's Impressionism. On the cusp of old and new, Kiyoki has to decide whether he will continue with the Japanese tradition or find his own way and his own passion. This dilemma is all the more heightened because of the entire backstory of his father which depicted how much his father loved his craft, the impact on their community, and the contribution to the Japanese arts scene. On the other hand, I couldn't help but cheer Kiyoki on to find his own path. I agonized with him during his uncertain steps in Paris, his missteps, and his successes.

It is difficult to read about agonized artists, artists who pour everything into their creations at the expense of everything in their lives. But is is a stereotype that continues to ring true and it makes me all the more appreciative of the art that is created and continues to be created in cultures around the world, regardless of time.

Verdict: A historical fiction piece that is both heartbreaking and enlightening, bringing to sharp focus the artist life of creation, beauty, and agony. I highly recommend this to those who love the arts, have a soft spot for anything Japanese, or simply want to learn about the obscure and fascinating tradition of Japanese mask carving and theatre.

I won this book in the giveaway for the Travel the World in Books Readathon last September 2014. Thanks, Tanya! 

Madame Picasso by Anne Girard

The woman behind the man.

Synopsis of Madame Picasso by Anne Girard: Novelist Anne Girard brings to life the mesmerizing and untold story of Eva Gouel, the unforgettable woman who stole the heart of the greatest artist of our time.

When Eva Gouel moves to Paris from the countryside, she is full of ambition and dreams of stardom. Though young and inexperienced, she manages to find work as a costumer at the famous Moulin Rouge, and it is here that she first catches the attention of Pablo Picasso, a rising star in the art world. A brilliant but eccentric artist, Picasso sets his sights on Eva, and Eva can't help but be drawn into his web. But what starts as a torrid affair soon evolves into what will become the first great love of Picasso's life.

With sparkling insight and passion, Madame Picasso introduces us to a dazzling heroine, taking us from the salon of Gertrude Stein to the glamorous Moulin Rouge and inside the studio and heart of one of the most enigmatic and iconic artists of the twentieth century.

My two cents

Mention the name Pablo Picasso and practically everyone knows who he is. Mention the name Eva
Gouel and you'll probably get a "Who?" At least that was my reaction.

I naturally gravitated to this book because I wanted to know more about Pablo Picasso. Having seen many of Picasso's nudes, I often wondered who these women were -- of course these women must mean something to him. I was intrigued that his muse and great love of his life would be the focus of this story.

Eva - from the author's website

I liked the rich, detailed peek in the cultural milieu of France during the Belle Époque period (1871 to pre-World War) and of the vibrant arts scene. The novel reimagines Picasso's entry into the French art scene, and the people and places he frequented, including the Moulin Rouge where he first meets Eva.

I also enjoyed getting to know both Picasso and Eva. I guess I was expecting more bells and whistles, more excitement, more passion for the storyline, as if it weren't enough, somehow. But I think this is because the icon of Picasso looms much too large in my mind. The story in itself is a bittersweet one -- the author has filled in the blanks very carefully based on careful research and this is a beautiful love story, in all its glory and tragedy. It just so happens that this is a love story of one of the century's greatest artists and his most beloved.

Verdict: I highly recommend this richly detailed historical fiction novel that conjectures on the little-known love story of Pablo Picasso and Eva Gouel. A non-sensationalised recounting that highlights what it means to love, and to lose someone you love.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher for honest review consideration.

Friday 56 and Book Beginnings 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Anne Girard is a writer and historian with degrees in English literature and clinical psychology. She has spent extensive time in Paris and lives in California with her husband and children.

Visit her official website.

Follow Anne Girard on Facebook.

Juliet's Nurse by Lois Leveen

Spicier and more engaging retelling of one of the greatest love stories

Synopsis of Juliet's Nurse by Lois Leveen: An enthralling new telling of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet"--told from the perspective of Juliet's nurse.

In Verona, a city ravaged by plague and political rivalries, a mother mourning the death of her day-old infant enters the household of the powerful Cappelletti family to become the wet-nurse to their newborn baby. As she serves her beloved Juliet over the next fourteen years, the nurse learns the Cappellettis' darkest secrets. Those secrets--and the nurse's deep personal grief--erupt across five momentous days of love and loss that destroy a daughter, and a family.

By turns sensual, tragic, and comic, "Juliet's Nurse" gives voice to one of literature's most memorable and distinctive characters, a woman who was both insider and outsider among Verona's wealthy ruling class. Exploring the romance and intrigue of interwoven loyalties, rivalries, jealousies, and losses only hinted at in Shakespeare's play, this is a never-before-heard tale of the deepest love in Verona--the love between a grieving woman and the precious child of her heart.

In the tradition of Sarah Dunant, Philippa Gregory, and Geraldine Brooks, "Juliet's Nurse "is a rich prequel that reimagines the world's most cherished tale of love and loss, suffering and survival.

My two cents

When I had to read Romeo and Juliet in school, I didn't exactly enjoy it. I found it difficult to read (and frankly, thought Romeo and Juliet were a bit stupid). But such is the story of Shakespeare's  lovelorn youths.

This book turns everything upside down in so many ways and I absolutely loved it!

Gone is the stuffiness and over-romanticized version by Shakespeare. This is told from a very unlikely source, Juliet's nurse, Angelica. This retelling is coloured by her class perspective, her loving personality, and her own rather tragic life story.

The love story between Romeo and Juliet seems to be an afterthought. Rather this is a poignant relationship between a loving woman and her ward, with an intriguing twist in this all. The story kept me on tenterhooks as to whether the "secret" would actually come to light. (It's a secret, so I can't spoil this whole book for you!)

This main arc alone would've kept me turning the pages at a fast clip. But there was so much more to enjoy: Juliet and Tybalt's tender childhood friendship, Angelica's own love story (and love making!) as well as rather tragic desire for motherhood, the complicated dynamic between classes, and the machinations of the church in Verona, Italy's everyday life during the Renaissance.

This reminded me so much of my first time reading Philippa Gregory's work where she brings dreary history out of the dregs with the sexual escapades, the intrigue and the conspiracies of the noblemen. It's probably not Shakespeare's intent (especially downplaying Romeo who is quite annoying here) but the story retold from the nurse made this so much more interesting for me!

Verdict: Alternately funny, heartbreaking, and tender, richly layered and wonderfully researched, it puts one of the most beloved love stories in a totally new light. I loved everything about this classical retelling.

If you like Philippa Gregory or are just curious about how Romeo and Juliet can become spicier and even better reading, get a copy.

I received an advanced reader copy from Goodreads First Reads.

Gutenberg's Apprentice by Alix Christie

The suspense, thrill, the secrecy of the printed word!

About Gutenberg’s Apprentice by Alix Christie: An enthralling literary debut that evokes one of the most momentous events in history, the birth of printing in medieval Germany—a story of invention, intrigue, and betrayal.

Youthful, ambitious Peter Schoeffer is on the verge of professional success as a scribe in Paris when his foster father, the wealthy merchant and bookseller Johann Fust, summons him home to corruption- riddled, feud-plagued Mainz to meet “a most amazing man.”

Johann Gutenberg, a driven and caustic inventor, has devised a revolutionary—and, to some, blasphemous—method of bookmaking: a machine he calls a printing press. Fust is financing Gutenberg’s workshop, and he orders Peter to become Gutenberg’s apprentice. Resentful at having to abandon a prestigious career as a scribe, Peter begins his education in the “darkest art.”

As his skill grows, so too does his admiration for Gutenberg and his dedication to their daring venture: printing copies of the Holy Bible. But when outside forces align against them, Peter finds himself torn between two father figures—the generous Fust and the brilliant, mercurial Gutenberg, who inspires Peter to achieve his own mastery.

Caught between the genius and the merchant, the old ways and the new, Peter and the men he admires must work together to prevail against overwhelming obstacles in a battle that will change history . . . and irrevocably transform them all.

My two cents

"Books everywhere .. Imagine how the world would look if anyone could buy one."

And so that has come to pass. I know little about Gutenberg other than the commonplace knowledge that he invented the printing press. Being a bibliophile, I naturally have a love affair with the printed word, so why not read this book about Gutenberg?

This read more like a suspense-thriller to me than historical fiction! In this day of instant-everything, who could have ever imagined that printing a book (and the Bible at the that!) would demand much innovation, expense, time, and so much secrecy? It's mind-boggling, it's humbling, and we should be so lucky to be benefiting from an invention that has such a lasting impact on humanity.

The breadth and depth of this novel is quite ambitious and I found each facet fascinating.

First, the personalities: the egocentric and explosive Gutenberg, the longsuffering and painstaking scribe Peter Schoeffer, the good-willed financier and Schoeffer's father-figure Johann Fust -- and don't forget the women in their lives. Then there are the lesser characters who make up the crew that did all the dirty work. Their lives so entwined in this venture and so entwined in this group.

Second is that this highlights the five critical years of trial-and-error of developing the printing process. The author is a letterpress printer and this novel lovingly describes the nuts-and-bolts (literally) of book printing. While some may find the detail a bit much, I devoured it: I loved hearing about things that make up printing -- the script behind the type, the individual letters that were individually shaped, the painstaking job of typesetting, and the backbreaking work of pressing metal to vellum or paper.

Third, I thought this was an especially intriguing piece because of the details of medieval politicking and machinations. Taking place in Mainz, Germany, I was fascinated with the shroud of secrecy that surrounded this new process, the buying off of guilds to protect this secret, and moreso the profound influence of the church with the very idea a process like printing would be viewed as as heretical.

***

I got pretty hooked on this novel and found it highly informative, engaging, and extremely readable. I loved how the layout of the book celebrates the beauty of old typography in each of its opening chapter pages.

Verdict: I recommend this to anyone who loves their printed books or those who love a good meaty historical fiction read. Find out in this homage to the famed Gutenberg, the lesser known Schoeffer and Fust, and all the people involved in this fictional recounting of how the Gutenberg Bible, and consequently all books, were birthed into this world.

About Alix Christie

Alix Christie was born in California, spent her childhood summers in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, and has lived in Paris, San Francisco, and Berlin. She has been a widely published journalist for thirty years, with work featured in the Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, Salon, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Her short fiction has been published by Southwest Review and Other Voices. A letterpress printer since her youth, Alix Christie currently lives in London, where she reviews books and the arts for The Economist.

Connect with her through her website, Facebook, or follow her on Twitter.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in order to participate in this tour. Don't forget to check out the rest of the tour here. 

Hardcover: 416 pages, Publisher: Harper (September 23, 2014)

A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

Defy stereotypes, defy conventions, defy YA.

Synopsis of A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller: Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist—a nearly impossible dream for a girl.

After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse—or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?

My two cents

This was a win over on Goodreads some time back and for some reason it got buried in my piles and didn't get read right away.  Interestingly, I put my name in for it because of its synopsis—Vicki's character appealed, a young woman who defied stereotypes and conventions of the time: Posing in the buff in the 1900s! Daring to be a "serious" artist during a time when this was the domain of men! Getting involved in the suffragette movement!

Maybe the ball gown should've tipped me off that this is YA ... not that it even matters; this book is extremely well written and researched young adult historical fiction. I urge particularly teens to read it. It's got a great storyline with a spunky heroine, a coming-of-age arch, and the details of this era are an eyeopener into the world that was off limits to women, if not for the efforts of the suffragettes.

Verdict: Young girls will not only be inspired by the story of Vicky, but also more cognizant of the fact that the world has been shaped by women like her who have dared to defy convention.  Read, learn, be inspired! Highly recommended young adult reading!

I won an ARC on Goodreads First Reads.