by M.G. Vissanji
This is the second book I have read by this author, the first being The Magic of Saida, which I found very captivating.
This book is the story of an Indian man whose family emigrated to Zambia and who has become engaged in unethical financial activities and is being villified for his behaviour.
The book tells the story of the boy's family life as he and his sister make friends with an African boy and two white children. There is racism in Africa, whites are considered top of the heap, then the Asians and lastly of course the blacks. The young man's sister develops affection, which develops into love for the African boy. The young boy really liked the white girl, and is devastated when she and all her family are murdered by black independence rebels.
As the boy grows into adulthood he has an Uncle who it turns out is in favour of the African rebels and is supporting their efforts. The uncles actions likely contribute to the African boys grandfather being imprisoned and dying in prison and the death of the white girl and her family. He doesn't tell anyone about this but it ruins his relationship with his uncle. The boys sister wants to marry the African boy but her parents won't allow it so the young black man tells her he must leave her and eventually goes off to marry another woman. She then marries a man of her parent's choice but carries her love for the black man with her into the future when she and the African man meet again.
While this is going on the young man gets an education and through the help of his African friend lands a good job in the transportation department. Life is good for him but then he is offered a job as the assistant to a key government official. His african friend warns him not to take it but he doesn't listen and eventually gets involved in money laundering for the state.
The story is structured with the main character living in a cottage in nothern Ontario and reviewing his life while he tries to decide if he should return to face his accusers. While many of the people around him, his father, his uncle, his sister, his African friend seem to be very ethical, principaled people, the main characters does not appear to be principled. He seems to present his activities as almost naive, inadvertent.
He does decide to return to admit to guilt in some areas and make restitution but that stirs up concern from the politicians and officials whom his efforts benefitted and his life is endangered.
This was another very complex story, which asks very important questions and where not everything is clearly black and white or good and bad.
Another wonderful story that will stay with me for a long time.
Thursday, 18 April 2013
The Prisoner of Heaven
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
This is the third book in a loosely connected series by this author about and continues the story started in the first book Shadow of the Wind. In this book the son of the bookstore owner is happily married and has a young child, business is not great but things start to pick up. Then, an ominous stranger arrives with a threat.
The book then goes on to describe activities that happened decades before in a prison in the citadel on the hill in Barcelona. One of the prisoners is an author, another is Fermin Romero del Torres. Both of these men are friends of the bookstore owner and his son. Del Torres has been thought to have died in the prison, the story describes the details of his successful escape.
This book was an interesting read, as were the other two, but I have to admit that I got a bit mixed up with the details of the connections between the three books. I think I would have to read all three again to get a better understanding of the story.
This is the third book in a loosely connected series by this author about and continues the story started in the first book Shadow of the Wind. In this book the son of the bookstore owner is happily married and has a young child, business is not great but things start to pick up. Then, an ominous stranger arrives with a threat.
The book then goes on to describe activities that happened decades before in a prison in the citadel on the hill in Barcelona. One of the prisoners is an author, another is Fermin Romero del Torres. Both of these men are friends of the bookstore owner and his son. Del Torres has been thought to have died in the prison, the story describes the details of his successful escape.
This book was an interesting read, as were the other two, but I have to admit that I got a bit mixed up with the details of the connections between the three books. I think I would have to read all three again to get a better understanding of the story.
Sunday, 31 March 2013
Believing the Lie
by Elizabeth George
This is another British mystery, part of a series featuring Inspector Thomas Lynley. He drives an exotic old car, and has a butler, it seems he might now be working for the money...
In this story Lynley is sent on an undercover assigment to investigate a drowning that was deemed an accident by the police and coroners in the Cumbria area of England. Lynley is grieving the death of his wife at the hands of a twelve year old. He has fallen into an affair with his overbearing and controlling boss, and he has an occasional liaison with one of his co-workers. He enlists the help of two of his friends as he goes to investigate the death at the wealthy Fairclough estate.
At the same time as Lynley is there, there is a bumbling, failing, reporter from a scandal rag who is trying to dig up a juicy story on the family.
As Lynley get's to know the family all sorts of dirty secrets start to come out from under the covers. The murdered man had recently abandoned his wife for a homosexual affair, leaving his property to his lover. His wife, a very self-centered, very angry woman, had surrendered her kids to her husband, and doesn't seem to want anything to do with them even after her husband dies The son is particularly disturbed and is engaged in self-destructive behaviour. Another child in the family is a manipulative woman who pretends to be disabled and the prodigal son, an addict, who has returned home and who is trying to convince his father that he can go straight.
As we work our way through the story we find that there are many secrects in the family, some of which are being paid off for their silence.
Both the friend Lynley has brought along with him, and his colleague's actions result in actions they did not anticipate and which they deeply regret.
The mother of the family is the one who had wanted the investigation into the death, hoping to bring up information about the infidelity of her husband, little did she expect how destructive this would be for the majority of her family.
All in all while I found the story interesting with many twists and turns, I found most the characters totally self-absorbed and disagreeable. Because of this I did not enjoy the story and wasn't a engaged in the outcome as I could have been.
This is another British mystery, part of a series featuring Inspector Thomas Lynley. He drives an exotic old car, and has a butler, it seems he might now be working for the money...
In this story Lynley is sent on an undercover assigment to investigate a drowning that was deemed an accident by the police and coroners in the Cumbria area of England. Lynley is grieving the death of his wife at the hands of a twelve year old. He has fallen into an affair with his overbearing and controlling boss, and he has an occasional liaison with one of his co-workers. He enlists the help of two of his friends as he goes to investigate the death at the wealthy Fairclough estate.
At the same time as Lynley is there, there is a bumbling, failing, reporter from a scandal rag who is trying to dig up a juicy story on the family.
As Lynley get's to know the family all sorts of dirty secrets start to come out from under the covers. The murdered man had recently abandoned his wife for a homosexual affair, leaving his property to his lover. His wife, a very self-centered, very angry woman, had surrendered her kids to her husband, and doesn't seem to want anything to do with them even after her husband dies The son is particularly disturbed and is engaged in self-destructive behaviour. Another child in the family is a manipulative woman who pretends to be disabled and the prodigal son, an addict, who has returned home and who is trying to convince his father that he can go straight.
As we work our way through the story we find that there are many secrects in the family, some of which are being paid off for their silence.
Both the friend Lynley has brought along with him, and his colleague's actions result in actions they did not anticipate and which they deeply regret.
The mother of the family is the one who had wanted the investigation into the death, hoping to bring up information about the infidelity of her husband, little did she expect how destructive this would be for the majority of her family.
All in all while I found the story interesting with many twists and turns, I found most the characters totally self-absorbed and disagreeable. Because of this I did not enjoy the story and wasn't a engaged in the outcome as I could have been.
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
A Small Death in the Great Glen
by A.D. Scott
This is the first book in a mystery series set in the Highlands of Scotland, The book was interesting, especially because it is not the police or detectives who solve the crime, but staff at the local newspaper.
As it turns out the local Police Captain is the perpetrator of the crime, the abuse and murder of a small boy.
The Captain tries to pin the crime on a Polish man who jumped ship in the harbour as the only people who can vouch for him are another "Pole" and local travellers (gypsies). The book mentions how difficult the insulate community is finding it having former enemies (Italtians) and other foreigners moving to the town.
When hundreds of Italians arrive for a wedding the sedate Scots are totally overwhelmed by the colour, and noise. There is also distrust of Catholcs and the Catholics don't want to believe that the local priest has anything to do with the murder or any other crimes.
The Editor of the newspaper is haunted by the crime becuause his brother, 10 years his junior, commits suicide. He feels that hsi brother wanted his help prior to killing himself and he hand't noticed that the brother needed his help.
One of the staff, a married woman, who shocks the village because she is married and still working, is a victim of spousal abuse. She is struggling trying to survive her husband, protect her daughters and decide whether she should take the risk of leaving her husband (gaining more scorn from family and the community) or stay in the brutal marriage.
It was an engaging story, I look forward to reading more books in the series.
This is the first book in a mystery series set in the Highlands of Scotland, The book was interesting, especially because it is not the police or detectives who solve the crime, but staff at the local newspaper.
As it turns out the local Police Captain is the perpetrator of the crime, the abuse and murder of a small boy.
The Captain tries to pin the crime on a Polish man who jumped ship in the harbour as the only people who can vouch for him are another "Pole" and local travellers (gypsies). The book mentions how difficult the insulate community is finding it having former enemies (Italtians) and other foreigners moving to the town.
When hundreds of Italians arrive for a wedding the sedate Scots are totally overwhelmed by the colour, and noise. There is also distrust of Catholcs and the Catholics don't want to believe that the local priest has anything to do with the murder or any other crimes.
The Editor of the newspaper is haunted by the crime becuause his brother, 10 years his junior, commits suicide. He feels that hsi brother wanted his help prior to killing himself and he hand't noticed that the brother needed his help.
One of the staff, a married woman, who shocks the village because she is married and still working, is a victim of spousal abuse. She is struggling trying to survive her husband, protect her daughters and decide whether she should take the risk of leaving her husband (gaining more scorn from family and the community) or stay in the brutal marriage.
It was an engaging story, I look forward to reading more books in the series.
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
The Imposter Bride
by Nancy Richler,
A young Jewish girl arrives in Montreal to meet the man she is to marry. Unexplicably, he decides he cannot marry her. However, his brother asks her to marry him and they do get married.
There are two strangers at the wedding, a woman and her daughter. The woman is there to see if the woman, with the same name as her cousin, is her cousin. She isn't
The young Jewish woman is very reclusive, even though her husband dotes on her. She tolerates but isn't warm to her mother in law. The young Jewish woman has a daughter, and the disappears when the child is only three months. No one knows where she went, but both the strange woman and the mother in law know that she had taken on a false identity.
The focus of the story is the woman's daughter. She struggels to come to terms with why her mother would have abandoned her. At times she tries to find out where her mother is, but she is not aware that her mother is an imposter. She receives packages from her mother occasionally with a stone in them, the location and the temperature at the location - very puzzling and bizarre.
Eventually the girl finds out the truth. Her grandmother leaves her a note telling her a bit of her mother's history and her real name, when she dies. The girl eventually finds her mother's address and goes to visit her once but it comes to nothing, The girl returns the diary of the girl her mother pretended to be and a raw diamond to a Jewish museum in Palestine.
The book was interesting, but the ending was anticlimatic.
A young Jewish girl arrives in Montreal to meet the man she is to marry. Unexplicably, he decides he cannot marry her. However, his brother asks her to marry him and they do get married.
There are two strangers at the wedding, a woman and her daughter. The woman is there to see if the woman, with the same name as her cousin, is her cousin. She isn't
The young Jewish woman is very reclusive, even though her husband dotes on her. She tolerates but isn't warm to her mother in law. The young Jewish woman has a daughter, and the disappears when the child is only three months. No one knows where she went, but both the strange woman and the mother in law know that she had taken on a false identity.
The focus of the story is the woman's daughter. She struggels to come to terms with why her mother would have abandoned her. At times she tries to find out where her mother is, but she is not aware that her mother is an imposter. She receives packages from her mother occasionally with a stone in them, the location and the temperature at the location - very puzzling and bizarre.
Eventually the girl finds out the truth. Her grandmother leaves her a note telling her a bit of her mother's history and her real name, when she dies. The girl eventually finds her mother's address and goes to visit her once but it comes to nothing, The girl returns the diary of the girl her mother pretended to be and a raw diamond to a Jewish museum in Palestine.
The book was interesting, but the ending was anticlimatic.
Friday, 22 March 2013
The Garden of Evening Mists
by Tan Twan Eng
This book takes place in Malaya. It is about a woman who was a prisoner in a Japanese labour camp and who is trying to come to terms with what happened to her and the death of her sister in the camp.
When the story starts the woman is retiring from her position as a judge because of her health -- she has been diagnosed with a degenerative brain disorder. She has returned to a garden she helped build many years before.
The woman is the sole survivor of the camp she was imprisoned in. One of the Japanese officials took her out of the camp just prior to the mine and all the prisoners being destroyed. She was saved because she worked as a translator and also because she ratted on the other prisoners. She tried to help her sister by giving her food scraps-- her sister was one of the women servicing the military personnel. Her sister had tried to kill herself but was told if she did that they would put her sister (the main character) into the brothel in her place, so the sister stays and suffers the indignities.
The main character obviously hates the Japanese after what they did to her, beat her, chopped off two of her fingers and raped and murdered her sister. However, she decides to build a Japanese garden to honour her sisters memory. She goes to a man, who was formerly a gardener to the Japanese Emperor who has been exiled, or exiled himself to Malaya. He refuses to build the garden but agrees to teach her how to build a garden and she becomes his apprentice, and eventually his lover. One night the Japanese man goes for a walk into the forest, which he knows very well, but does not return. He is never found our heard from again.
While the woman is learning to be a gardener there are communist "terrorists" attacking people in the area. The woman helps some of them to surrender and is also attacked and almost killed by others.
As the story proceeds we find the main character trying to write about her life, before she forgets how to write and speak. She has some art that he created, including a tatoo mural he created on her back. Although she had been reluctant to do so previously, she decides to share share the pictures with a Japanese historian.
This was a fascinating, very powerful story about pain, forgiveness, letting go, memory. I will certainly want to read it again in the future. The language was beautiful, the story so engaging I couldn't put it down.
This book takes place in Malaya. It is about a woman who was a prisoner in a Japanese labour camp and who is trying to come to terms with what happened to her and the death of her sister in the camp.
When the story starts the woman is retiring from her position as a judge because of her health -- she has been diagnosed with a degenerative brain disorder. She has returned to a garden she helped build many years before.
The woman is the sole survivor of the camp she was imprisoned in. One of the Japanese officials took her out of the camp just prior to the mine and all the prisoners being destroyed. She was saved because she worked as a translator and also because she ratted on the other prisoners. She tried to help her sister by giving her food scraps-- her sister was one of the women servicing the military personnel. Her sister had tried to kill herself but was told if she did that they would put her sister (the main character) into the brothel in her place, so the sister stays and suffers the indignities.
The main character obviously hates the Japanese after what they did to her, beat her, chopped off two of her fingers and raped and murdered her sister. However, she decides to build a Japanese garden to honour her sisters memory. She goes to a man, who was formerly a gardener to the Japanese Emperor who has been exiled, or exiled himself to Malaya. He refuses to build the garden but agrees to teach her how to build a garden and she becomes his apprentice, and eventually his lover. One night the Japanese man goes for a walk into the forest, which he knows very well, but does not return. He is never found our heard from again.
While the woman is learning to be a gardener there are communist "terrorists" attacking people in the area. The woman helps some of them to surrender and is also attacked and almost killed by others.
As the story proceeds we find the main character trying to write about her life, before she forgets how to write and speak. She has some art that he created, including a tatoo mural he created on her back. Although she had been reluctant to do so previously, she decides to share share the pictures with a Japanese historian.
This was a fascinating, very powerful story about pain, forgiveness, letting go, memory. I will certainly want to read it again in the future. The language was beautiful, the story so engaging I couldn't put it down.
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Except the Dying
by Maureen Jennings
I enjoy the Murdoch Mysteries series on TV so thought that I would check out one of the books.
The TV series has adapted the book very faithfully. Most of the key characters are as described in the book.
This story starts with the discovery of a young woman found dead, and naked in the snow. Murdoch is disgusted that someone would steal the clothes from a corpse. The police interview people in the vicinity but have no leads to the girl's identity nor the perpetrators of the crime. They put a drawing of the woman in the newspaper and two people come forward to identify the girl, her employer (whose home she was running from) and a local alderman. The autopsy determines that the girl was strangled had opium in her body and that she was pregnant.
As Murdoch interviews people near the scene of a crime he meets two women (prostitutes) and a baker who live in a rooming house nearby. Murdoch is sure that the women are hiding something and his suspicions are confirmed when one of the two women is found murdered on the outskirts of the city.
Murdoch manages to save the second girl from the murderer, with assistance of the baker and his dogs.
Murdoch finds the perpetrator of the crimes but it was not the people he originally suspected (the girl's employer, his son, the butler).
It was an enjoyable and easy read, the author does a good job of portraying life in 1890's Toronto.
I enjoy the Murdoch Mysteries series on TV so thought that I would check out one of the books.
The TV series has adapted the book very faithfully. Most of the key characters are as described in the book.
This story starts with the discovery of a young woman found dead, and naked in the snow. Murdoch is disgusted that someone would steal the clothes from a corpse. The police interview people in the vicinity but have no leads to the girl's identity nor the perpetrators of the crime. They put a drawing of the woman in the newspaper and two people come forward to identify the girl, her employer (whose home she was running from) and a local alderman. The autopsy determines that the girl was strangled had opium in her body and that she was pregnant.
As Murdoch interviews people near the scene of a crime he meets two women (prostitutes) and a baker who live in a rooming house nearby. Murdoch is sure that the women are hiding something and his suspicions are confirmed when one of the two women is found murdered on the outskirts of the city.
Murdoch manages to save the second girl from the murderer, with assistance of the baker and his dogs.
Murdoch finds the perpetrator of the crimes but it was not the people he originally suspected (the girl's employer, his son, the butler).
It was an enjoyable and easy read, the author does a good job of portraying life in 1890's Toronto.
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