by Edwin Hill
This book has been getting a lot of promotion. It is supposed to be about a Librarian who works to track missing people down.
The woman is a Librarian but she is on leave because she and her boyfriend have become the care givers for her boyfriends niece as the child's mother (the librarian's friend) has run away.
The Librarian, Hester, loves the child but resents that she has become the babysitter and has to give up her job.
She is contacted by a woman whose brother has been missing for years. The woman says she wants to tell her brother that she plans to sell the family's lake cottage and wants to share the proceeds with him. The woman gives Hester postcards that she has received over the years from various cities in the U.S., they all have quotes on them which Hester figures out pertain to movies.
She learns that the woman's brother and a young foster boy he befriended ran away together.
The story then switches to the woman's brother and his friend. It turns out they are living in the city as Hester. The woman's borther keeps trying to make himself rich by hooking up with rich women but things keep going wrong. His friend, Gabe, supports them both by being a programmer. Every time they move the brother insists they change names. He adopts the identity of dead people.
Hester manages to track the men down because of a photo on the latest postcard.
At this time the brother is trying to woo a socialite. He thinks he is finally going to make it big with her and have a good life. However, one day the brother's cover is blown when a good friend of his lover recognizes him as a boy who used to clean and look after her family's lakehouse. He of course kills her and sets up an army veteran for the crime.
As the story progresses we find that the brother and Gabe originally left around the time a body was found near their house. They murdered that person and have subsequently killed other people
As the story nears its conclusion the brother has told Gabe to kill Hester but she has been kind to him and he thinks he loves her so he kidnaps her instead. While he is kidnapping her, unbeknownst to Gabe, the brother is kidanpping the niece.
The story ends at the brother's home. Gabe ends up killing the brother and is arrested for all the murders. Hester realizes that the Sister never really wanted to contact her brother she actually wanted him dead so she could inherit all the money from the Lakehouse.
The book was tense. From the very beginning we knew that the brother was evil and dangerous. Things were tied together well at the end. I just don't know why the author bothered to give Hester a career as a Librarian, while it is hyped in the writeups for the books it had no role in the book.
Sunday, 7 October 2018
Thursday, 20 September 2018
Washington Black
by Esi Edugyan
This book just made the shortlist for the Mann Booker this year and the longlist for the Giller Prize.
I have to say I wonder why? It was okay but I didn't find it all that engaging or special.
It is the story of a slave, Washington Black, in Barbados. When the story starts he is about 6 years old and is already being worked hard on the plantation. He is being looked after by a woman called Big Kit.
One day the brother of the Plantation owner arrives and takes Wash on as his valet, cook and to assist him with his scientific enquiries including plans for building a hot air balloon. The boys life is a lot easier in this role than it was before.
The cousin of the two brothers arrives to tell them that he has come from England to tell them that their father has died in the Arctic where he was conducting scientific experiments. The youngest brother is very upset by this. One day the cousin and Wash are with the youngest brother as he is doing a test on his balloon. The cousin asks Wash to fetch some sandwich's near the balloon. There is an explosion and Wash's face is badly burned.
Shortly after this the cousin kills himself and the younger brother feels that Wash will be accused of murder (why???). He takes Wash with him and they head off in the balloon crashing on a ship in the ocean during the storm. The storm takes them to New England where the brother tells Wash that he could get to freedom via the underground railroad. Wash says he wants to stay with him. They find a poster announcing a bounty on Wash's head so they leave quicky for the arctic where they find out that the Father is not dead after all. One day the younger brother walks off in the snow and despite searches he is not found again. It is assumed that he perished.
Wash doesn't know what to do but sticks around until the father dies. He then heads to Nova Scotia where he makes a living doing odd jobs. He meets a young lady, an aspiring artist and her scientist father who sees Wash's artisitic talent and asks him to illustrate his next book. Tish then encounters a bounty hunter who had been seeking him. He is told that the older brother has died so he thinks he is free. However the bounty hunter attacks him as Wash destroyed his reputation by getting away from him. Wash stabs him in the face and escapes.
Wash suggests that the scientist collect live specimens to take back to England not just dead ones. He starts figuring out a way to preserve them.... the start of an acquariaum design?? They leave for England and Wash goes to visit the Mother of the two brothers. She tells him that her young son visited her two years ago so Wash knows he did not die. Wash learns that papers from the plantation have been brought to England. He checks the registers and learns that the black woman who looked after him as a child was his mother and she has died. He is shocked and relieved by this news. He eventually learns that the young brother has moved to Morocco. He and the young woman, who has become his lover go to Morocco where they find the brother.
Wash has always wondered about who he was, what he was, was he of any value. Learning of his mother fills in part of his identity. He finds out that the young brother did like him, wasn't just using him. He also finds out that the young brother carries a lot of guilt over the death of the cousin. He an his brother had bullied the cousin.... perhaps this was why the cousin told them the lie about their father's death.
As the book ends Wash seems to have a sense of who he is and he plans to go back to England to insist he be recognized for his work designing the acquarium tanks, etc.
It was an interesting tale, perhaps it seemed like a Forest Gump/too tall tale. But obviously others think highly of it.
Quote from The Guardian
"This is, in fact, less a book about the effects of slavery and more about the burden, responsibility and the guilt of personal freedom in a time of slavery. “What does it feel like, Kit? Free?” Washington asks Big Kit, a female fellow slave who is, for a time, his protector.
She tells him that it is a matter of being able to “go wherever it is you wanting.” He heads towards this goal for free movement, experiencing both the privilege and the guilt from the gradations of freedom afforded him."
This book just made the shortlist for the Mann Booker this year and the longlist for the Giller Prize.
I have to say I wonder why? It was okay but I didn't find it all that engaging or special.
It is the story of a slave, Washington Black, in Barbados. When the story starts he is about 6 years old and is already being worked hard on the plantation. He is being looked after by a woman called Big Kit.
One day the brother of the Plantation owner arrives and takes Wash on as his valet, cook and to assist him with his scientific enquiries including plans for building a hot air balloon. The boys life is a lot easier in this role than it was before.
The cousin of the two brothers arrives to tell them that he has come from England to tell them that their father has died in the Arctic where he was conducting scientific experiments. The youngest brother is very upset by this. One day the cousin and Wash are with the youngest brother as he is doing a test on his balloon. The cousin asks Wash to fetch some sandwich's near the balloon. There is an explosion and Wash's face is badly burned.
Shortly after this the cousin kills himself and the younger brother feels that Wash will be accused of murder (why???). He takes Wash with him and they head off in the balloon crashing on a ship in the ocean during the storm. The storm takes them to New England where the brother tells Wash that he could get to freedom via the underground railroad. Wash says he wants to stay with him. They find a poster announcing a bounty on Wash's head so they leave quicky for the arctic where they find out that the Father is not dead after all. One day the younger brother walks off in the snow and despite searches he is not found again. It is assumed that he perished.
Wash doesn't know what to do but sticks around until the father dies. He then heads to Nova Scotia where he makes a living doing odd jobs. He meets a young lady, an aspiring artist and her scientist father who sees Wash's artisitic talent and asks him to illustrate his next book. Tish then encounters a bounty hunter who had been seeking him. He is told that the older brother has died so he thinks he is free. However the bounty hunter attacks him as Wash destroyed his reputation by getting away from him. Wash stabs him in the face and escapes.
Wash suggests that the scientist collect live specimens to take back to England not just dead ones. He starts figuring out a way to preserve them.... the start of an acquariaum design?? They leave for England and Wash goes to visit the Mother of the two brothers. She tells him that her young son visited her two years ago so Wash knows he did not die. Wash learns that papers from the plantation have been brought to England. He checks the registers and learns that the black woman who looked after him as a child was his mother and she has died. He is shocked and relieved by this news. He eventually learns that the young brother has moved to Morocco. He and the young woman, who has become his lover go to Morocco where they find the brother.
Wash has always wondered about who he was, what he was, was he of any value. Learning of his mother fills in part of his identity. He finds out that the young brother did like him, wasn't just using him. He also finds out that the young brother carries a lot of guilt over the death of the cousin. He an his brother had bullied the cousin.... perhaps this was why the cousin told them the lie about their father's death.
As the book ends Wash seems to have a sense of who he is and he plans to go back to England to insist he be recognized for his work designing the acquarium tanks, etc.
It was an interesting tale, perhaps it seemed like a Forest Gump/too tall tale. But obviously others think highly of it.
Quote from The Guardian
"This is, in fact, less a book about the effects of slavery and more about the burden, responsibility and the guilt of personal freedom in a time of slavery. “What does it feel like, Kit? Free?” Washington asks Big Kit, a female fellow slave who is, for a time, his protector.
She tells him that it is a matter of being able to “go wherever it is you wanting.” He heads towards this goal for free movement, experiencing both the privilege and the guilt from the gradations of freedom afforded him."
Sunday, 16 September 2018
In Our Mad and Furious City
by Guy Gunaratne
This is the third Booker longlist nominee I have read this year. It was in two words.... brilliant and gut wrenching.
I was grabbed by the language right in the first few pages.
It is a book that in part is also set in two times (the 1970's? and the present). The book is about the racial/religious tensions in the past and in the present. It was a difficult book to read because of the things that happened it it. But at the same time the author was brilliant as he built up the tension to the "explosive" ending. The language was incredible, the interactions between the characters very powerful. While parts of the book her very negative and angry the book did seem to offer some hope for those who choose love over hate.
There are several characters in the book. Each chapter is written from the point of view of one character so that in some cases you get separate chapters covering the same incident from different character's perspectives.
The story displays increasing tension among blacks and Muslims in London and the impact it has on the young men and the reaction of the whites and others who aren't directl involved in the conflict but are impacted by it.
The stories from the past include a young black who comes to London from some tropical country so that he can save enough money so he can bring the woman he loves to England. At one point he gets tied up in partying with his buddies and later gets involved in some of the black unrest... but he decides to leave London before things get really serious. He does bring his lover to England and in the present he is ill (incapacitated) living with his wife and son. His son likes to run and box... he runs to get control of tension and this anger. He longs to be an olympic athlete.
The second story from the past is a young woman, daughter in an IRA family, who is sent to London to escape the violence in Ireland. She married but her husband left her with their child, a son. The woman's son is aware that there is tension between the white's, blacks and the Muslims but he just wants to hang out with the guys, play soccer, and write rap songs. He doesn't understand why there has to be the tension between the groups. The athlete encourages him to pursue his dreams and even gets him and intro to a record exec.
The third story is about two Muslim brothers. Their father was the Imam. When he died the new Imam adopted the family. The boys don't like the new Iman or the aggression he is breeding in young men in the Mosque. The older brother marries but his marriage doesn't last as his wife finds out he has pornographic and pedophic material on his computer. The man's family is devastated by this news but the young man is more upset when the Iman tells the older brother that he is not responsible for what is has done... he has been corrupted by the evil i London. The young brother confronts his brother and tells him he MUST accept responsibility. The older brother's response is to burn down the Mosque.
Not surprisingly, the Muslims assume the blacks set the fire and tension escalates, there are marches and demonstrations. They young brother of the Muslim man gets trampled during one of the demonstrations and dies.
The son of the woman is devastated by his friends death but his Mother, with whom he had not had a good relationship lately, tells him she is there for him and encourages him to follow his dream.
This was a powerful, brilliant book. You really got to see and feel what the various characters were feeling and experiencing. One of the most powerful parts of the books occurs when the black man who came to England to make his fortune sees some letters scrawled on a wall, KBW. It feels like a punch to the gut when he is told that stands for Keep Britain White. He cannot understand why blacks are despised by the Brits. He feels he is working hard and not causing any trouble.
I think this book would be worthy of the Booker award,
This is the third Booker longlist nominee I have read this year. It was in two words.... brilliant and gut wrenching.
I was grabbed by the language right in the first few pages.
It is a book that in part is also set in two times (the 1970's? and the present). The book is about the racial/religious tensions in the past and in the present. It was a difficult book to read because of the things that happened it it. But at the same time the author was brilliant as he built up the tension to the "explosive" ending. The language was incredible, the interactions between the characters very powerful. While parts of the book her very negative and angry the book did seem to offer some hope for those who choose love over hate.
There are several characters in the book. Each chapter is written from the point of view of one character so that in some cases you get separate chapters covering the same incident from different character's perspectives.
The story displays increasing tension among blacks and Muslims in London and the impact it has on the young men and the reaction of the whites and others who aren't directl involved in the conflict but are impacted by it.
The stories from the past include a young black who comes to London from some tropical country so that he can save enough money so he can bring the woman he loves to England. At one point he gets tied up in partying with his buddies and later gets involved in some of the black unrest... but he decides to leave London before things get really serious. He does bring his lover to England and in the present he is ill (incapacitated) living with his wife and son. His son likes to run and box... he runs to get control of tension and this anger. He longs to be an olympic athlete.
The second story from the past is a young woman, daughter in an IRA family, who is sent to London to escape the violence in Ireland. She married but her husband left her with their child, a son. The woman's son is aware that there is tension between the white's, blacks and the Muslims but he just wants to hang out with the guys, play soccer, and write rap songs. He doesn't understand why there has to be the tension between the groups. The athlete encourages him to pursue his dreams and even gets him and intro to a record exec.
The third story is about two Muslim brothers. Their father was the Imam. When he died the new Imam adopted the family. The boys don't like the new Iman or the aggression he is breeding in young men in the Mosque. The older brother marries but his marriage doesn't last as his wife finds out he has pornographic and pedophic material on his computer. The man's family is devastated by this news but the young man is more upset when the Iman tells the older brother that he is not responsible for what is has done... he has been corrupted by the evil i London. The young brother confronts his brother and tells him he MUST accept responsibility. The older brother's response is to burn down the Mosque.
Not surprisingly, the Muslims assume the blacks set the fire and tension escalates, there are marches and demonstrations. They young brother of the Muslim man gets trampled during one of the demonstrations and dies.
The son of the woman is devastated by his friends death but his Mother, with whom he had not had a good relationship lately, tells him she is there for him and encourages him to follow his dream.
This was a powerful, brilliant book. You really got to see and feel what the various characters were feeling and experiencing. One of the most powerful parts of the books occurs when the black man who came to England to make his fortune sees some letters scrawled on a wall, KBW. It feels like a punch to the gut when he is told that stands for Keep Britain White. He cannot understand why blacks are despised by the Brits. He feels he is working hard and not causing any trouble.
I think this book would be worthy of the Booker award,
From a Low and Quiet Sea
by Donal Ryan
This is the second of the 2018 Booker longlist of books that I have read. I have read Warlight by Michael Ondaatje which is also nominated.... it was okay. Not as good as some of his other books in my opinion.
The Ryan book is about three men: a Syrian doctor who is convinced to try to leave by his wife. They are tricked by the people they pay money to, they had been promised a safe boat. The actual boat is a dump, not seaworthy and when a storm occurs the Doctor's wife and daughter drown in the hold of the ship. The Doctor ends up in a refugee camp but keeps getting rejected by countries because all he can do is talk about the trip and his insistence that his wife and daughter are still alive.
The second man is a successful business man who, while he has rejected the church, seems to want to confess all the bad and unethical things he has done in his life.
The third story is about a mother, grandfather and young man. The young man and grandfather don't get along well. The young man is working at a senior's home helping to keep an eye on residents and occasionally serving as a driver taking them to appointments or to visit their family. One day the young man takes some of the residents out in a new bus the home has purchased. Along the way the bus malfunctions but he is able to get it to limp to a repair shop. He calls the home and gets someone to bring the old bus owned by the home and he delivers his people. Later he goes to pick them up and is on his way back to the home when one of the ladies comments that one of the gents is missing.
The young man realizes he must have left the man on the first bus. When he gets to the bus the man is dead.
As the story ends we find the Syrian doctor visiting the boy's mother (romantic attachment), that his grandfather had, in the past, had his reputation ruined by the dead man because he would not agree to sell his land to a developer. So, all three stories are connected.
It was an okay story, interesting the way he connected the three lives. However, I didn't find it brilliant or unique in any way. I wonder why it got nominated for the Booker.
This is the second of the 2018 Booker longlist of books that I have read. I have read Warlight by Michael Ondaatje which is also nominated.... it was okay. Not as good as some of his other books in my opinion.
The Ryan book is about three men: a Syrian doctor who is convinced to try to leave by his wife. They are tricked by the people they pay money to, they had been promised a safe boat. The actual boat is a dump, not seaworthy and when a storm occurs the Doctor's wife and daughter drown in the hold of the ship. The Doctor ends up in a refugee camp but keeps getting rejected by countries because all he can do is talk about the trip and his insistence that his wife and daughter are still alive.
The second man is a successful business man who, while he has rejected the church, seems to want to confess all the bad and unethical things he has done in his life.
The third story is about a mother, grandfather and young man. The young man and grandfather don't get along well. The young man is working at a senior's home helping to keep an eye on residents and occasionally serving as a driver taking them to appointments or to visit their family. One day the young man takes some of the residents out in a new bus the home has purchased. Along the way the bus malfunctions but he is able to get it to limp to a repair shop. He calls the home and gets someone to bring the old bus owned by the home and he delivers his people. Later he goes to pick them up and is on his way back to the home when one of the ladies comments that one of the gents is missing.
The young man realizes he must have left the man on the first bus. When he gets to the bus the man is dead.
As the story ends we find the Syrian doctor visiting the boy's mother (romantic attachment), that his grandfather had, in the past, had his reputation ruined by the dead man because he would not agree to sell his land to a developer. So, all three stories are connected.
It was an okay story, interesting the way he connected the three lives. However, I didn't find it brilliant or unique in any way. I wonder why it got nominated for the Booker.
The Weight of Ink
by Rachel Kadish
This is a fabulous book. One of the best I have read in a long time. It was a long book but I enjoyed it.
The story is set in the 1700's and in the present day. It is about a young jewess who has been sent from Amsterdam to London for her safety. The Inquisition was underway in Amsterdam. Her father was killed because of his faith. Ester and her brother have been sent to live with a rabbi in London. Her brother is supposed to serve as the scribe for the blind Rabbi (he was blinded by Inquisitors). However her brother doesn't want to do this and runs away to the docks where he works as a labourer and is soon killed in a fight. Ester can write so for a time the Rabbi asks her to be her scribe while he awaits another young man to be sent to assist him. The Jewish faith does not think women should be educated so Ester is unusual. She loves being his scribes and reading his books.
The story set in the present. A London Professor, an expert on Jewish history (though) not Jewish is contacted by a former pupil. He and his wife have found a collection of old writings in Hebrew stashed under the staircase of a house they are renovating. The professor is assisted by a young American Jewish scholar. They have a short time to examine the documents and quickly realize they are historically very important. The papers are put up for auction and to the Profs relief her university buys them so she can continue to work on them.
The young scholar is struggling with his current academic thesis so is glad of the opportunity to examine these old documents. He wonders why the professor is so interested in Jewish history. We later learn that she spent some time in Israel and fell in love with a soldier. She leaves him over what I think is a strange reason.... In ancient times the people of Masada killed themselves rather than be captured by the Romans. At least one woman hid away and didn't get killed. This woman is considered a traitor/coward by the Jews. The Prof is shocked to think that her lover would have killed her if they had lived at that time. From a historical perspective we have to ask who would have told the story of Masada if the one woman hadn't survived.
As the prof and her assistant work through the papers they are interested in who the identify of the scribe might be as "he" only signs things with an E. Eventually they find some things written in the spaces between the lines of a copy of a letter that seems to indicate that the scribe was actually a woman! This is a shock.
As they go through the documents they see correspondence between the rabbi and other jews including the outcast philosopher Spinoza.... these letters were actually composed in secret by Ester not the rabbi.
The rabbi wants her to marry but she resists this. However she eventually has to marry after the Rabbi dies. She marries a gay man, who respects her intelligence and allows her to continue her correspondence with philosophers under assumed names.
There was a lot more happening in the book but it was an interesting book about history, Jewish History, questions about what is really true in history, can we believe things that are written down? It also addresses the discrimination against women.
A fascinating book.
This is a fabulous book. One of the best I have read in a long time. It was a long book but I enjoyed it.
The story is set in the 1700's and in the present day. It is about a young jewess who has been sent from Amsterdam to London for her safety. The Inquisition was underway in Amsterdam. Her father was killed because of his faith. Ester and her brother have been sent to live with a rabbi in London. Her brother is supposed to serve as the scribe for the blind Rabbi (he was blinded by Inquisitors). However her brother doesn't want to do this and runs away to the docks where he works as a labourer and is soon killed in a fight. Ester can write so for a time the Rabbi asks her to be her scribe while he awaits another young man to be sent to assist him. The Jewish faith does not think women should be educated so Ester is unusual. She loves being his scribes and reading his books.
The story set in the present. A London Professor, an expert on Jewish history (though) not Jewish is contacted by a former pupil. He and his wife have found a collection of old writings in Hebrew stashed under the staircase of a house they are renovating. The professor is assisted by a young American Jewish scholar. They have a short time to examine the documents and quickly realize they are historically very important. The papers are put up for auction and to the Profs relief her university buys them so she can continue to work on them.
The young scholar is struggling with his current academic thesis so is glad of the opportunity to examine these old documents. He wonders why the professor is so interested in Jewish history. We later learn that she spent some time in Israel and fell in love with a soldier. She leaves him over what I think is a strange reason.... In ancient times the people of Masada killed themselves rather than be captured by the Romans. At least one woman hid away and didn't get killed. This woman is considered a traitor/coward by the Jews. The Prof is shocked to think that her lover would have killed her if they had lived at that time. From a historical perspective we have to ask who would have told the story of Masada if the one woman hadn't survived.
As the prof and her assistant work through the papers they are interested in who the identify of the scribe might be as "he" only signs things with an E. Eventually they find some things written in the spaces between the lines of a copy of a letter that seems to indicate that the scribe was actually a woman! This is a shock.
As they go through the documents they see correspondence between the rabbi and other jews including the outcast philosopher Spinoza.... these letters were actually composed in secret by Ester not the rabbi.
The rabbi wants her to marry but she resists this. However she eventually has to marry after the Rabbi dies. She marries a gay man, who respects her intelligence and allows her to continue her correspondence with philosophers under assumed names.
There was a lot more happening in the book but it was an interesting book about history, Jewish History, questions about what is really true in history, can we believe things that are written down? It also addresses the discrimination against women.
A fascinating book.
Hour of the Fox
by Kurt Palka
This book is by a Canadian author. It is about a Toronto lawyer who is suffering major medical/mental anguish following the death of her son, a young soldier. She keeps thinking she failed him somehow by pursuing her career as a lawyer as well as being a mother. Her relationship with her husband is strained. She is living in a cottage on their property, rather than the family home as she feels closer to her son in the cottage.
As a young woman she got pregnant and was sent away to have the baby, which was put up for adoption. After that she was sent to Paris for schooling.
The woman has a very demanding job and is travelling a lot and working long hours. This helps to keep her mind occupied. One day an old friend from the Maritimes contacts her and asks her to come visit as the woman's son may be in trouble with the law. When the woman, Margaret, arrives she learns that a couple of young people, a boy and girl, have been found murdered on an island that her friend's son is supposed to be keeping an eye on (for absentee owners). There is no evidence that the woman's son had anything to do with it.
One day two well dressed men arrive at Margaret's friends house asking for her son and a friend of his. Later there is evidence of blood from a third person at the crime scene and a dress shoe is found in the water nearby. Police suspect that someone was stabbed and it is their blood on the pier.Margaret gets her friend, who is a nurse, to call hospitals and they find out that a man, similar to one of the men who visited the friend's house, was treated for a bad wound on his arm.
While this is all going on Margaret and her friend have a good relationship with the police, the police tell them about developments and they share what they have found with the police.
As Margaret is trying to help her friend she is also trying to keep up her legal work remotely. She finds that being away from Toronto is helping her be less stressed. She feels bad that the two young people have not been identified and offers to pay for the funeral and church service for them. She gets permission to do so and has them cremated. Then suddenly she learns that the young people are a brother and sister from South America and it looks like they may have been part of a drug smuggling operation.
In the book a wrecked boat of another fisherman is found but his body is never found. It is assumed he was the one who was part of the drug smuggling but the two fancy dress men are not arrested.
By the end the lawyer does seem to be coming to terms with her son's death, partly through spending time with the parents of the two dead kids. The one thing I was puzzled about was while she was so hung up on her dead son she didn't seem to give any thought to the child she gave up for adoption. It seemed like a very loose end.
This was an easy read, I finished it in one day, that doesn't happen very often. It was an okay book but not terribly deep or complicated.
This book is by a Canadian author. It is about a Toronto lawyer who is suffering major medical/mental anguish following the death of her son, a young soldier. She keeps thinking she failed him somehow by pursuing her career as a lawyer as well as being a mother. Her relationship with her husband is strained. She is living in a cottage on their property, rather than the family home as she feels closer to her son in the cottage.
As a young woman she got pregnant and was sent away to have the baby, which was put up for adoption. After that she was sent to Paris for schooling.
The woman has a very demanding job and is travelling a lot and working long hours. This helps to keep her mind occupied. One day an old friend from the Maritimes contacts her and asks her to come visit as the woman's son may be in trouble with the law. When the woman, Margaret, arrives she learns that a couple of young people, a boy and girl, have been found murdered on an island that her friend's son is supposed to be keeping an eye on (for absentee owners). There is no evidence that the woman's son had anything to do with it.
One day two well dressed men arrive at Margaret's friends house asking for her son and a friend of his. Later there is evidence of blood from a third person at the crime scene and a dress shoe is found in the water nearby. Police suspect that someone was stabbed and it is their blood on the pier.Margaret gets her friend, who is a nurse, to call hospitals and they find out that a man, similar to one of the men who visited the friend's house, was treated for a bad wound on his arm.
While this is all going on Margaret and her friend have a good relationship with the police, the police tell them about developments and they share what they have found with the police.
As Margaret is trying to help her friend she is also trying to keep up her legal work remotely. She finds that being away from Toronto is helping her be less stressed. She feels bad that the two young people have not been identified and offers to pay for the funeral and church service for them. She gets permission to do so and has them cremated. Then suddenly she learns that the young people are a brother and sister from South America and it looks like they may have been part of a drug smuggling operation.
In the book a wrecked boat of another fisherman is found but his body is never found. It is assumed he was the one who was part of the drug smuggling but the two fancy dress men are not arrested.
By the end the lawyer does seem to be coming to terms with her son's death, partly through spending time with the parents of the two dead kids. The one thing I was puzzled about was while she was so hung up on her dead son she didn't seem to give any thought to the child she gave up for adoption. It seemed like a very loose end.
This was an easy read, I finished it in one day, that doesn't happen very often. It was an okay book but not terribly deep or complicated.
Friday, 24 August 2018
An Ocean of Minutes
by Thea Lim
This is another book that has been getting a lot of hype this year.
It is the story of a young couple Polly and Frank. In the early 1980's a flu pandemic is spreading around the world. Frank gets the flu and will die unless he gets the right medicine. Polly is told she can save his life if she agrees to take a time machine and work for a company for a number of years in the future. Frank doesn't want her to do it but Polly agrees. She and Frank agree that they will try to reconnect again in the future at a specific hotel. They will try to reconnect by being at that location every Saturday in Sept.
Polly is told that she will be sent to 1995 but she is actually sent to 1998. She finds the future very distopian, much of the infrastructure is gone. She is sent to live in a rundown building and given a job as an upholsterers assistant. Conditions are tough and food is scarce.They are refurbishing furntiure for new resorts in this dystopian world. Polly tries to get word to her aunt and Frank about the fact that she was sent to a different year. She tries to find out if her aunt or Frank are still alive but gets no news. She finds that the hotel she had planned as a rendez vous location is no longer there but is actually a port. When she goes there on a Saturday it is thought that she is trying to escape so she gets into trouble. She finds that the US has been divided south from north and that it is very difficult to get to the less devastated north.
At one point her supervisor asks her to steal a package from an office, she does this. The package contains the high school year book for the high school Elvis Presley attended. Her supervisor feels it will be valuable to the rich people who still exist in the world. For some reason, perhaps to avoid consequences for his poor productivity and lack of results, her supervisor turns Polly in for stealing the yearbook. She is demoted and sent to a job where she cuts down plates to make tiles. She lives in a crowded dorm with living conditions even worse than her previous accommodation.
Then one day, the concierge of her former building asks her to marry him as he will get economic benefits from being married and for her pretending to be pregnant. He tells her they won't have to have sex. She doesn't want to go along with it but then he tells her that he has found contact information for Frank. She does marry him but eventually abandons him when he attempts to have sex with her, his plans for a false pregnancy have collapsed and he has lost all his money.
Later Polly finds that she has been released from her contract. It turns out her"husband" felt guilty for what he did to her and has paid to get her released. He has bought her a ticket so that she can join her boyfriend. She gets to "America" and is shocked to learn that her boyfriend married and has a daughter. He married a rich woman and has become very wealthy. Her boyfriend and his wife are now separated. Her boyfriend takes her to live with her aunt but he does not come to visit her. He bought the aunt a condo out of loyalty to her aunt and Polly.
After everything she went through for him she is shocked that he abandoned her by marrying another woman and his very cool reaction to her. He finally does come to see her and tells her he stayed away because he was ashamed. He says he had tried to find her in the past. It seems like they will rekindle their relationship.
I found the book disappointing, I thought it was plodding. I think that Frank got off too easy. I am not sure I would be as forgiving as Polly is.
While the book did have an interesting premise, the dystopian world etc. was not all that interesting. Despite everything she was going through Polly seemed to maintain her commitment to her boyfriend and aunt, it is surprising that her boyfriend, with his much easier life, couldn't have lived up to his commitment to wait for her.
This is another book that has been getting a lot of hype this year.
It is the story of a young couple Polly and Frank. In the early 1980's a flu pandemic is spreading around the world. Frank gets the flu and will die unless he gets the right medicine. Polly is told she can save his life if she agrees to take a time machine and work for a company for a number of years in the future. Frank doesn't want her to do it but Polly agrees. She and Frank agree that they will try to reconnect again in the future at a specific hotel. They will try to reconnect by being at that location every Saturday in Sept.
Polly is told that she will be sent to 1995 but she is actually sent to 1998. She finds the future very distopian, much of the infrastructure is gone. She is sent to live in a rundown building and given a job as an upholsterers assistant. Conditions are tough and food is scarce.They are refurbishing furntiure for new resorts in this dystopian world. Polly tries to get word to her aunt and Frank about the fact that she was sent to a different year. She tries to find out if her aunt or Frank are still alive but gets no news. She finds that the hotel she had planned as a rendez vous location is no longer there but is actually a port. When she goes there on a Saturday it is thought that she is trying to escape so she gets into trouble. She finds that the US has been divided south from north and that it is very difficult to get to the less devastated north.
At one point her supervisor asks her to steal a package from an office, she does this. The package contains the high school year book for the high school Elvis Presley attended. Her supervisor feels it will be valuable to the rich people who still exist in the world. For some reason, perhaps to avoid consequences for his poor productivity and lack of results, her supervisor turns Polly in for stealing the yearbook. She is demoted and sent to a job where she cuts down plates to make tiles. She lives in a crowded dorm with living conditions even worse than her previous accommodation.
Then one day, the concierge of her former building asks her to marry him as he will get economic benefits from being married and for her pretending to be pregnant. He tells her they won't have to have sex. She doesn't want to go along with it but then he tells her that he has found contact information for Frank. She does marry him but eventually abandons him when he attempts to have sex with her, his plans for a false pregnancy have collapsed and he has lost all his money.
Later Polly finds that she has been released from her contract. It turns out her"husband" felt guilty for what he did to her and has paid to get her released. He has bought her a ticket so that she can join her boyfriend. She gets to "America" and is shocked to learn that her boyfriend married and has a daughter. He married a rich woman and has become very wealthy. Her boyfriend and his wife are now separated. Her boyfriend takes her to live with her aunt but he does not come to visit her. He bought the aunt a condo out of loyalty to her aunt and Polly.
After everything she went through for him she is shocked that he abandoned her by marrying another woman and his very cool reaction to her. He finally does come to see her and tells her he stayed away because he was ashamed. He says he had tried to find her in the past. It seems like they will rekindle their relationship.
I found the book disappointing, I thought it was plodding. I think that Frank got off too easy. I am not sure I would be as forgiving as Polly is.
While the book did have an interesting premise, the dystopian world etc. was not all that interesting. Despite everything she was going through Polly seemed to maintain her commitment to her boyfriend and aunt, it is surprising that her boyfriend, with his much easier life, couldn't have lived up to his commitment to wait for her.
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