by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
This book is on a lot best seller, recommended reading lists.
It is the story about a family of siblings who had been expecting to receive a small inheritance when the youngest of them reached 40. However, most of the money has been spent by their mother to bail their brother out of an embarrassing accident. He was a successful business person, having sold a dot com company but was a philanderer. He leaves a party with a young waitress and they get in an accident and the young girl loses one of her feet. The man had forgotten to pay his car insurance. The mother has paid off the medical bills for the girl and paid her off too.
The other family members are furious and want to meet with there brother to get his agreement to pay them back. He has gone through a very costly divorce after the accident and his former wife got everything including probably some money from the "nest" also. He agrees to come back with a plan to repay them but doesn't
The other family members are not wealthy. One sister has an expensive house and wants to send her twin daughters to college. She was counting on the nest to be able to do this. Another sister had the potential to be a great author but hasn't succeeded and works at a magazine. Another brother, a homosexual, owns a not very successful antiques business and has borrowed against his and his spouses beach house to keep afloat.
At first I didn't think I was going to feel sorry or like any of the characters but over time as you get to know them and as they come to realize they will never get the money they wanted back (their brother has skipped out of the country with a nest egg of his own he had in an offshore account) you see them start to analyze and adjust their lives. The man has also left behind a baby from a relationship he rekindled after his marriage breakup. One of the sisters actually has contact with the injured girl and helps her get in touch with agencies that can help her with future prosthetics etc. as she has spent/given away most of her award to family, etc. For the most part the characters are probably happier at the end of the book than they were at the beginning. We don't know the fate of the brother who caused all the problems, he is hiding, alone, on a tropical island. I thought it was an interesting story.
Thursday, 5 May 2016
The Hero's Walk
by Anita Rau Badami
This was one of the books that were part of Canada Reads 2016.
I have to say I was a bit disappointed by the book. It was read as part of the theme of change on CR and I expected some heroic behaviour but didn't see much of either in the book.
The story is about an Indian family whose life is disrupted when they are notified that their daughter and her husband, from whom they were estranged, were killed in a car accident leaving behind a young daughter. Their daughter had asked them to be the child's guardian and they had reluctantly agreed to do so. Now they have to go and retrieve the little girl.
The family consists of the father who disowned his daughter when she decided to marry a man in Canada, where she was studying, rather than her Indian fiancee, chosen by the family. The father feels she has dishonoured them and refuses to hold the wedding in India or have anything to do with her. His wife is sad about the situation but doesn't stand up to her husband about this. She treasures the letters her daughter has sent her. The family has a son living at home who isn't working and seems to be devoting his energy to activism. The father is frustrated by his "laziness" as the family could really use the additional money if the son was working. The house has fallen into disrepair and the father is contemplating selling it to settle debts. The household also includes the man's mother and his sister. The mother is a selfish woman, totally focussed on her needs and entirely disregards any one else's needs or wishes. She wants her daughter to stay with her and look after her, she keeps turning down every potential suitor who comes along.
The little girl is overwhelmed when she arrives in India, the different culture, living with people she doesn't know, the nagging great grandmother, food she isn't used to. She is so shocked by all the change that she does not speak. The girl's grandmother tries to be friendly to her as does the son but she keeps to herself. The great grandmother, the mean person that she is, steals a jacket (the mother's jacket) that the little girl has been treasuring as a memory of her mother.
The father gets ill and eventually takes early retirement from his job, his sister has a crush on a man next door (from a family her family considers criminal and beneath them).
Things finally come to a head when the little girl disappears. She is lured away by a crazy woman who lost her daughter years ago. When the little girl is found she finally starts to speak, the son announces that he has a job in a nonprofit in another city, the sister accepts a marriage proposal from the neighbour and the great grandmother dies. It seems like things did fall into place and a somewhat happy resolution but not through any intentional heroic effort on anyone's part. I suspect the father and mother did change and regret their past behaviour but killing off the great grandmother was a convenient way to dispose of her.
I can't say that I cared for any of the characters in this book, except perhaps for the poor sister.
This was one of the books that were part of Canada Reads 2016.
I have to say I was a bit disappointed by the book. It was read as part of the theme of change on CR and I expected some heroic behaviour but didn't see much of either in the book.
The story is about an Indian family whose life is disrupted when they are notified that their daughter and her husband, from whom they were estranged, were killed in a car accident leaving behind a young daughter. Their daughter had asked them to be the child's guardian and they had reluctantly agreed to do so. Now they have to go and retrieve the little girl.
The family consists of the father who disowned his daughter when she decided to marry a man in Canada, where she was studying, rather than her Indian fiancee, chosen by the family. The father feels she has dishonoured them and refuses to hold the wedding in India or have anything to do with her. His wife is sad about the situation but doesn't stand up to her husband about this. She treasures the letters her daughter has sent her. The family has a son living at home who isn't working and seems to be devoting his energy to activism. The father is frustrated by his "laziness" as the family could really use the additional money if the son was working. The house has fallen into disrepair and the father is contemplating selling it to settle debts. The household also includes the man's mother and his sister. The mother is a selfish woman, totally focussed on her needs and entirely disregards any one else's needs or wishes. She wants her daughter to stay with her and look after her, she keeps turning down every potential suitor who comes along.
The little girl is overwhelmed when she arrives in India, the different culture, living with people she doesn't know, the nagging great grandmother, food she isn't used to. She is so shocked by all the change that she does not speak. The girl's grandmother tries to be friendly to her as does the son but she keeps to herself. The great grandmother, the mean person that she is, steals a jacket (the mother's jacket) that the little girl has been treasuring as a memory of her mother.
The father gets ill and eventually takes early retirement from his job, his sister has a crush on a man next door (from a family her family considers criminal and beneath them).
Things finally come to a head when the little girl disappears. She is lured away by a crazy woman who lost her daughter years ago. When the little girl is found she finally starts to speak, the son announces that he has a job in a nonprofit in another city, the sister accepts a marriage proposal from the neighbour and the great grandmother dies. It seems like things did fall into place and a somewhat happy resolution but not through any intentional heroic effort on anyone's part. I suspect the father and mother did change and regret their past behaviour but killing off the great grandmother was a convenient way to dispose of her.
I can't say that I cared for any of the characters in this book, except perhaps for the poor sister.
Thursday, 24 March 2016
Medicine Walk
by Richard Wagamese
Wow! What an incredible book. This was one of the most beautifully written books I have read in a long time.
The author is from Kamloops.
The story is about a young native man who doesn't do well in school. He is teased for being a native and a loner. He is living on a farm with an older man. He really likes the hard work of the farm life and enjoys going out into nature to wander or to hunt. He has learned how to read the signs of nature and survive in the wild.
Occasionally his father shows up on the farm, or asks the boy to come to visit him in the town in which he is living. These are always traumatic events for the boy as his father is most often drunk. One time the boy goes to visit his father and he is drunk and has a woman in his room. They are so drunk they don't even remember the boy is in the room and have sex in front of him. He is disappointed and disgusted by his father's behaviour. He does of course wonder why his father abandoned him.
Then one day his father tells him that he is dying and he wants the boy to take him out into the woods to die. The boy reluctantly agrees. He doesn't like his father or feel he owes him anything but he agrees to do it.
As they travel in the woods his father finally tells the boy his life story. How he lived with his mother but had to leave her when he and a friend attacked her boyfriend who was beating her. Then the father and his best friend signed up to fight in the Korean war. His friend gets wounded and the boy's father kills him to put him out of his misery. The father is devastated by what he did and takes to drinking. He wanders around doing work when he can find it just to feed his alcohol habit.
Then one day he meets a beautiful indian woman. Later he is called to the farm where she is living with a man and asked to install a section of fence. He and the woman fall in love. The man she is living with is furious at the betrayal and they are chased off. The father then stays sober for a while but when the woman gets pregnant he starts drinking again and he isn't there when she goes into labour. He does get her to hospital but she dies in childbirth. The father knows he cannot look after the boy and takes him to the farmer the woman was living with. That man agrees to raise the child.
The boy has thus learned why is father is so haunted and he learns who his mother was and why he is being raised by the farmer.
When the father dies the boy buries him in the hills and hopes his father is at peace. He returns to the farm a more knowledgeable and probably less angry young man.
This was a sad story but a very powerful and beautifully written story. The author has a subtle, gentle, very vivid way of telling the story. It was an incredible tale, well told. The father had a lot of hurt in his life and chose to drown himself/kill himself with booze. The boy was obviously very hurt at being abandoned by his father and with no knowledge of his mother. However, he chose a way of peace and caring and this probably brought him the peace he sought.
I had had the book for a while and had planned to read it several times. I am so glad I finally got to do it.
Wow! What an incredible book. This was one of the most beautifully written books I have read in a long time.
The author is from Kamloops.
The story is about a young native man who doesn't do well in school. He is teased for being a native and a loner. He is living on a farm with an older man. He really likes the hard work of the farm life and enjoys going out into nature to wander or to hunt. He has learned how to read the signs of nature and survive in the wild.
Occasionally his father shows up on the farm, or asks the boy to come to visit him in the town in which he is living. These are always traumatic events for the boy as his father is most often drunk. One time the boy goes to visit his father and he is drunk and has a woman in his room. They are so drunk they don't even remember the boy is in the room and have sex in front of him. He is disappointed and disgusted by his father's behaviour. He does of course wonder why his father abandoned him.
Then one day his father tells him that he is dying and he wants the boy to take him out into the woods to die. The boy reluctantly agrees. He doesn't like his father or feel he owes him anything but he agrees to do it.
As they travel in the woods his father finally tells the boy his life story. How he lived with his mother but had to leave her when he and a friend attacked her boyfriend who was beating her. Then the father and his best friend signed up to fight in the Korean war. His friend gets wounded and the boy's father kills him to put him out of his misery. The father is devastated by what he did and takes to drinking. He wanders around doing work when he can find it just to feed his alcohol habit.
Then one day he meets a beautiful indian woman. Later he is called to the farm where she is living with a man and asked to install a section of fence. He and the woman fall in love. The man she is living with is furious at the betrayal and they are chased off. The father then stays sober for a while but when the woman gets pregnant he starts drinking again and he isn't there when she goes into labour. He does get her to hospital but she dies in childbirth. The father knows he cannot look after the boy and takes him to the farmer the woman was living with. That man agrees to raise the child.
The boy has thus learned why is father is so haunted and he learns who his mother was and why he is being raised by the farmer.
When the father dies the boy buries him in the hills and hopes his father is at peace. He returns to the farm a more knowledgeable and probably less angry young man.
This was a sad story but a very powerful and beautifully written story. The author has a subtle, gentle, very vivid way of telling the story. It was an incredible tale, well told. The father had a lot of hurt in his life and chose to drown himself/kill himself with booze. The boy was obviously very hurt at being abandoned by his father and with no knowledge of his mother. However, he chose a way of peace and caring and this probably brought him the peace he sought.
I had had the book for a while and had planned to read it several times. I am so glad I finally got to do it.
Saturday, 19 December 2015
Even Dogs in the Wild
by Ian Rankin
This is the latest Rankin book.
It sees Rebus return to work in a temporary capacity. He has been brought in because a gangster Rebus had tried to jail previously now seems to have had his life threatened (a shot was aimed at him in his house). He has received a threatening letter also. Interestingly a London lawyer has been murdered and has received the same letter. How could the two be connected.
While Rebus, Clark and Malcolm Fox are trying to work on these crimes (who would have thought Fox would willingly be working with Rebus??) there is a team from Headquarters working on tracking the activities of a major crime boss who seems to be seeking an associate who ran off with some of their drugs. The two investigations seem to be tripping over each other.
Rebus uses his skills/history to be able to talk to the threatened gangster and another young man who longs to take over the territory. They seem to be united in trying to keep the third criminal out of their territory, or are they making overtures to work with the third guy to push one of the others out.
Then the son of the third gangster is killed and it is feared an all out turf war will occur.
Rebus, Clark and Fox solve the crimes much to the chagrin of the HQ team. It turns out there might be a cop imbedded in the criminal gang. They are not sure who he is, and also wonder if they might be dealing with a cop who has turned to the dark side.
This was a good book. It provides great character development. It was interesting, perhaps puzzling to find that from going to investigate and try to take Rebus down Fox now willingly works with Rebus and vice versa. I am not sure either of them would so readily adapt to this new relationship.
This is the latest Rankin book.
It sees Rebus return to work in a temporary capacity. He has been brought in because a gangster Rebus had tried to jail previously now seems to have had his life threatened (a shot was aimed at him in his house). He has received a threatening letter also. Interestingly a London lawyer has been murdered and has received the same letter. How could the two be connected.
While Rebus, Clark and Malcolm Fox are trying to work on these crimes (who would have thought Fox would willingly be working with Rebus??) there is a team from Headquarters working on tracking the activities of a major crime boss who seems to be seeking an associate who ran off with some of their drugs. The two investigations seem to be tripping over each other.
Rebus uses his skills/history to be able to talk to the threatened gangster and another young man who longs to take over the territory. They seem to be united in trying to keep the third criminal out of their territory, or are they making overtures to work with the third guy to push one of the others out.
Then the son of the third gangster is killed and it is feared an all out turf war will occur.
Rebus, Clark and Fox solve the crimes much to the chagrin of the HQ team. It turns out there might be a cop imbedded in the criminal gang. They are not sure who he is, and also wonder if they might be dealing with a cop who has turned to the dark side.
This was a good book. It provides great character development. It was interesting, perhaps puzzling to find that from going to investigate and try to take Rebus down Fox now willingly works with Rebus and vice versa. I am not sure either of them would so readily adapt to this new relationship.
An Unmarked Grave
by Charles Todd
This is the fourth Bess Crawford Mystery about a young woman who is working as a nurse during WWI.
Bess is at a field station near the front in France. Many wounded are being treated but also the infamous flu is also decimating the soldiers and the staff. Bess is summoned to a storage area where the dead are being held until they can be transported for burial. The young man who supervises this area points out that one of the bodies has not died of wounds nor of the flu but appears to have a broken neck.
Bess recognizes him as a young man, an officer, she knew and sets off to tell the Matron about this suspicious death. However, before she can do so she falls seriously ill to the flu and ends up being returned to England to recuperate. She thinks she might have dreamed of the death but then hears that the young man who summoned her was found hanged. It is assumed he committed suicide.
Bess confides in her father and the family friend Simon and they try to investigate from their end (as intelligence officers). She returns to France to try to find out more but before she can do so she is attacked. The camp thinks all women are in danger. Her father arranges to have a young American who had joined the Canadian army come to her location and be an unofficial guard for her. Suddenly she receives orders to go to a new medical location. She travels to another city awaiting the transfer vehicle but it never arrives. When she reports to a nursing station the head nurse accuses her of partying on the town and missing her transport. She prepares paperwork to return her to England in disgrace.
Bess meets the families of the two dead men and it confirms her feeling that the one man did not commit suicide. She also meets the family of the other man but cannot figure out who would want to murder him. Could it be because he refused to share anything from the family estate because she tran away with an actor? Bess learns that a letter was sent to the Officer's wife by an Official, who does not appear to exist. Bess is shocked to learn that the nurse who so unceremoniously returned her to England has also died/been murdered in mysterious circumstances.
Bess returns to England and is attacked on the ship by a man in a British uniform.
It turns out that the murderer is really out to get revenge on Bess and her family because her father did not promote him.
This was by far the best of the books. The others have been okay. This was kept my interest more, perhaps because the crime actually involved the main character.
Bess
This is the fourth Bess Crawford Mystery about a young woman who is working as a nurse during WWI.
Bess is at a field station near the front in France. Many wounded are being treated but also the infamous flu is also decimating the soldiers and the staff. Bess is summoned to a storage area where the dead are being held until they can be transported for burial. The young man who supervises this area points out that one of the bodies has not died of wounds nor of the flu but appears to have a broken neck.
Bess recognizes him as a young man, an officer, she knew and sets off to tell the Matron about this suspicious death. However, before she can do so she falls seriously ill to the flu and ends up being returned to England to recuperate. She thinks she might have dreamed of the death but then hears that the young man who summoned her was found hanged. It is assumed he committed suicide.
Bess confides in her father and the family friend Simon and they try to investigate from their end (as intelligence officers). She returns to France to try to find out more but before she can do so she is attacked. The camp thinks all women are in danger. Her father arranges to have a young American who had joined the Canadian army come to her location and be an unofficial guard for her. Suddenly she receives orders to go to a new medical location. She travels to another city awaiting the transfer vehicle but it never arrives. When she reports to a nursing station the head nurse accuses her of partying on the town and missing her transport. She prepares paperwork to return her to England in disgrace.
Bess meets the families of the two dead men and it confirms her feeling that the one man did not commit suicide. She also meets the family of the other man but cannot figure out who would want to murder him. Could it be because he refused to share anything from the family estate because she tran away with an actor? Bess learns that a letter was sent to the Officer's wife by an Official, who does not appear to exist. Bess is shocked to learn that the nurse who so unceremoniously returned her to England has also died/been murdered in mysterious circumstances.
Bess returns to England and is attacked on the ship by a man in a British uniform.
It turns out that the murderer is really out to get revenge on Bess and her family because her father did not promote him.
This was by far the best of the books. The others have been okay. This was kept my interest more, perhaps because the crime actually involved the main character.
Bess
Sunday, 22 November 2015
Little Paris Bookshop
by Nina George
What a lovely life affirming book. It was truly uplifting.
The book starts out with a sad old Parisian man being asked to provide some furniture for a woman who has left her husband and who has nothing. He has little left, he has discarded most possessions but opens up a room he had closed off 20+ years before after the love of his life left him.
He finds a table and chair to give to the woman but finds opening the room brings back memories he had been trying to avoid of a woman he had an affair with.
He is now the owner of a floating barge on the seine, a bookshop. He seems to know the right kind of books to give people.
One of his neighbours is a quirky young man who recently wrote a very successful book and who seems to be hiding from his success and fans.
He visits the neighbour he gave the table to and she gives him a letter, an unopened letter that she found in the table. It is from the man's lover. He received it 20 years ago but never had the courage to open it. He has been living in grief and despair since she left him.
He is reluctant to open it but when he does he is devastated to find that his lover's letter tells him she is dying and asking him to come to see her before he dies. Now he feels worse than ever as he has failed her.
He decides to cut his boat free and sail to where his lover lived/was engaged to another man. He also is seeking to find out a who the author is of a book he particulary liked. His young author friend leaps on board as he is leaving, losing his wallet and ID in the leap. The men sail along the rivers of France making money by selling books or bartering books for food and other supplies. They meet another man who is seeking a woman he met years before.
While travelling Monsier Perdu ("lost') sends postcards to his lady neighbour and eventually invites her to join him in southern France. Both his male friends also find romantic attachments.
While the start of the book is sad the book is a touching affirmation of love and life. I really felt energized and inspired by it.
What a lovely life affirming book. It was truly uplifting.
The book starts out with a sad old Parisian man being asked to provide some furniture for a woman who has left her husband and who has nothing. He has little left, he has discarded most possessions but opens up a room he had closed off 20+ years before after the love of his life left him.
He finds a table and chair to give to the woman but finds opening the room brings back memories he had been trying to avoid of a woman he had an affair with.
He is now the owner of a floating barge on the seine, a bookshop. He seems to know the right kind of books to give people.
One of his neighbours is a quirky young man who recently wrote a very successful book and who seems to be hiding from his success and fans.
He visits the neighbour he gave the table to and she gives him a letter, an unopened letter that she found in the table. It is from the man's lover. He received it 20 years ago but never had the courage to open it. He has been living in grief and despair since she left him.
He is reluctant to open it but when he does he is devastated to find that his lover's letter tells him she is dying and asking him to come to see her before he dies. Now he feels worse than ever as he has failed her.
He decides to cut his boat free and sail to where his lover lived/was engaged to another man. He also is seeking to find out a who the author is of a book he particulary liked. His young author friend leaps on board as he is leaving, losing his wallet and ID in the leap. The men sail along the rivers of France making money by selling books or bartering books for food and other supplies. They meet another man who is seeking a woman he met years before.
While travelling Monsier Perdu ("lost') sends postcards to his lady neighbour and eventually invites her to join him in southern France. Both his male friends also find romantic attachments.
While the start of the book is sad the book is a touching affirmation of love and life. I really felt energized and inspired by it.
Monday, 16 November 2015
Circling the Sun
Paula McLain
I read a previous book by this author, the Paris Wife. I think I enjoyed that one.
I did not enjoy this book. I forced myself to finish it. I did not enjoy the story and had no sympathy for the main character, Beryl Markham.
Beryl's father brought the family to Kenya in 1904. His wife hated it and went back to England with the son, leaving the daughter and father behind. A psychologist would have a field day with this, leaving your daughter but taking your son...
Beryl's father struggles to build a farm and a horse training business and is not successful. He brings a woman to the farm, a housekeeper/lover. Beryl learns horse training from her father. When her father sells the farm with plans to move to South Africa Beryl decides to marry a local farmer. She is only 16. They don't really know each other and the marriage is a disaster.
She eventually leaves her husband on the pretext of getting training to be a professional horse trainer. She has an affair with a black man. Her behaviour and her affair cause a scandal and she fights with her husband but he won't give her a divorce.
The book portrays lives of the rich/party scene in Kenya. Beryl meets Karen Blixen who is married but having an affair with a man who takes rich people on game hunts, Denys Finch Hutton. Beryl has an affair with him and gets pregnant, she aborts the baby.
She later is a kept woman, then goes on to remarry and have a disabled son whom she leaves in England with her husband and his family.
This woman seemed to have a sad life but you have to wonder how much she brought on herself with her wilfulness. I would have liked to have heard other people's impressions of her in addition to the author's sympathetic tone.
The book drones on over the first few years of her life and then covers her aviation career and the rest of her life in 50 pages. It was like the author herself had enough and wanted to get the book over with.
This book is a best seller but I can't say I agree with its popularity. I guess it is the appeal of the strongly independent woman.
I read a previous book by this author, the Paris Wife. I think I enjoyed that one.
I did not enjoy this book. I forced myself to finish it. I did not enjoy the story and had no sympathy for the main character, Beryl Markham.
Beryl's father brought the family to Kenya in 1904. His wife hated it and went back to England with the son, leaving the daughter and father behind. A psychologist would have a field day with this, leaving your daughter but taking your son...
Beryl's father struggles to build a farm and a horse training business and is not successful. He brings a woman to the farm, a housekeeper/lover. Beryl learns horse training from her father. When her father sells the farm with plans to move to South Africa Beryl decides to marry a local farmer. She is only 16. They don't really know each other and the marriage is a disaster.
She eventually leaves her husband on the pretext of getting training to be a professional horse trainer. She has an affair with a black man. Her behaviour and her affair cause a scandal and she fights with her husband but he won't give her a divorce.
The book portrays lives of the rich/party scene in Kenya. Beryl meets Karen Blixen who is married but having an affair with a man who takes rich people on game hunts, Denys Finch Hutton. Beryl has an affair with him and gets pregnant, she aborts the baby.
She later is a kept woman, then goes on to remarry and have a disabled son whom she leaves in England with her husband and his family.
This woman seemed to have a sad life but you have to wonder how much she brought on herself with her wilfulness. I would have liked to have heard other people's impressions of her in addition to the author's sympathetic tone.
The book drones on over the first few years of her life and then covers her aviation career and the rest of her life in 50 pages. It was like the author herself had enough and wanted to get the book over with.
This book is a best seller but I can't say I agree with its popularity. I guess it is the appeal of the strongly independent woman.
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