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>Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:23:00 +0000

Title : Rules of Civility
Author : Amor Towles
Genre : Historical
Pages : 333 (Hardcover)
Publisher : Viking (Penguin Books)
Source : Publisher ARC
Rating : 3.5/5

Katey Kontent and Eve Ross are great friends. They room together and have come to New York city for work – Katey is a legal typist and Eve a marketing assistant. Each of the girls is very different – Katey comes from blue-collar stock and is looking to make her way up in New York City, while Eve comes from money- money she doesn’t want. Both, relatively impoverished, are living modestly :

So together we pinched. We ate every scrap at the boardinghouse breakfast and starved ourselves at lunch. We shared our clothes with the girls on the floor. We cut each other’s hair. On Friday nights, we let boys that we had no intention of kissing buy us drinks, and in exchange for dinner we kissed a few that we had no intention of kissing twice. . .And when we were late with the rent, she (Eve) did her part: She stood at Mrs. Martingale’s door and shed the unsalted tears of the Great Lakes.

It is the start of a new year – 1937. And Katey and Eve start the evening with “a plan of stretching three dollars as far as it would go”. Nursing their drinks in a cheap bar, they meet affluent looking banker Theodore Grey (or Tinker). The three become good friends. While both the girls are attracted to Tinker he seems to be drawn towards Katey. All that changes however with one tragic swoop of fate.

Rules of Civility tells an engrossing, fast-paced tale, punctuated with joy, hurt and pathos. Amor Towles has a way with words, framing his events beautifully and managing to lace even the most benign actions with emotional undercurrents. The details for this historical novel are just right, and the decadent New York of the 30’s and 40′s seems to come alive in the hands of this skilled author. So I will say that this book is an entertaining read, with just enough detail to elicit interest, but it doesn’t quite get beyond that.

This book is told in flash-back, a recounting of memories so to speak; one of the many reasons I thought it unfolded like a black-and-white film. Katey is the narrator, and tells us of events from her view-point. Still she remains an enigma, not letting us into her innermost thoughts. Her character seemed a little indeterminate; she’s the staid, stoic girl, hiding it all behind a shell. She’s feisty and seems very sure of herself – which denoted confidence and contentment. But then she is also a social climber, which seemed to deprecate her better qualities. I didn’t see how all these conflicts could exist in one person, and the book didn’t shed any light on this either, reducing her believability and strength as the main character.Eve and Tinker, the other two protagonists also seemed clichéd. Still, of the three, he was the character who seemed real and relatable.

There is also Anne Grandyn, and the young crème-de-la-crème of New Yorkian society – Wallace, Dicky, and Bitsy. All interesting characters these, they seem a tad removed because they appeared to be made-to-order and glib, and spouted sassy rejoinders to boot. I couldn’t quite feel for them.

While the book has many tumultuous events, they seemed to lack emotional appeal because of their rather taciturn narrator – Katey. You think you know her, but you don’t. You know what she’s going for her but aren’t sure whether to applaud her for the path she’s taking.

I enjoyed the book, but can’t quite deem it superlative.

Cross-posted from here.

>The Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri

admin — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:20:00 +0000

Title : The Track of Sand
Author : Andrea Camilleri
Publisher : Penguin
Genre : Crime / Mystery
Pages : 258
Rating : 4/5

They tell me that Camilleri is the author of best-sellers, but I was skeptical to say the least, since this book is a translation of the Italian original, and I think translations may not quite agree with me. It took a while to get into the book; there were many, many characters all of whom had similar sounding names. But, primarily there’s Inspector Salvo Montalbano, and his officers : Fazio, Gallo, Galluzo and Mimi Augello.

In this book, Montalbano, who lives in a house on the beach finds a dead horse in front of his home. Worse, the horse appears to have been murdered brutally. After making a cursory inspection, when Montalbano goes to get his officers out so they can make a thorough investigation, the carcass disappears.In the next couple of days 2 people file police reports about missing horses – one is a famous equestrian Rachel Esterman, and the second is one of the richest men in Italy Saverio Lo Duca. Then, as Montalbano ponders the mystery, his home is broken into. Not much is taken, so Montalbano realises that this is a warning; (and to put it pun-nily)someone desperately wants him off the horse’s tail . . .

Now, I wasn’t very enthused about Montalbano in the beginning, but the character grew on me as the book progressed, and it progressed pretty quickly because this is a slim volume. Montalbano is 56, and has beautiful women throwing themselves at him. He is also mightily quirky, loves his food and is averse to spending his hard-earned money on as he puts it “a sea of assholes”. LOL, that has a nice ring to it; a sea of assholes.

Salvo also doesn’t quite get socializing :

“The prospect of the dinner, the people whose conversation he would have to listen to, the muck that would likely be served and that he would have to swallow even if it made him puke . . .”

and has a wry sense of humor, which comes through in some interesting descriptions :

“He looked to be at least ninety-nine years old and, indeed, was leaning on a sort of shepherd’s crook to keep from collapsing. . . .Armando grabbed the near-weightless bag with one hand, but still it made him list to that side”

Montalbano is also quick-thinking and wily, and the reason why I would read the other books in the series. The events in this book move fast, and the almost benign mystery of two missing horses turns into something more sinister as Montalbano gets deeper into his investigation. The translation has some peculiar turns of phrase (eg. setting fire to a cigarette) but the flavor of the original book and it’s feisty people comes through even in this.

I quite enjoyed “The track of sand”. Recommended.

Cross-posted from here.

>Q: A Novel by Evan Mandery

admin — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:01:00 +0000

Title – Q: A Novel
Author : Evan Mandery
Release Date : Aug 23, 2011
Genre : Contemporary Fiction
Publisher : Harper Collins
Pages : 368
Rating : 4.5/5
Source : NetGalley/Publisher ARC

If you knew what your future had in store would you change the present to make it better ? Quite the question, isn’t it ? Evan Mandery weaves his novel around just such a premise. The blurb about this book seemed really enticing : a man is informed of future not-so-pleasant events in his life, and is advised to make different decisions to avoid them. Will he follow this advice and will this indeed make him happier ?

The main protagonist remains unnamed, only know as I (he is the narrator). I, a writer and a professor, is in love with Q (Quentina Elizabeth Deveril). Q is the love of his life, filled with radiance and grace and supremely sure and confident of herself. The fly in the ointment ? Q’s arrogant father John Deveril to whom Q is devoted, as he is to her. It’s a small irritant though since I and Q are soul-mates and are shortly engaged. The marriage is coming soon. However right before the impending marriage, I is visited by a future version of himself, a saddened man. I-60, as we call him (he is I at 60 years of age) tells him that for the sake of happiness in the future, I must do the hardest thing possible now – he must not marry Q . . .

This is quite a spectacular book, and I do not use that word often. The writing is detailed and precise and vivid. The characters are well-sketched and strong, and the story is whimsical and real all at the same time. The descriptions are wonderful – so much so that I can almost see what I is seeing :

I am disappointed by how I, the older I, that is, look. I do not look terrible, but I do not look spectacular either. I m particularly dismayed that my body proves susceptible to some ravages of age from which I thought I would be immune. . . I do not consider myself extraordinarily vain. I look at myself in the mirror when I shave or after I get back from the gym, but I do not spend all that much time examining the vessel in which I reside. Still, I know myself well enough. What is most disturbing about this future version of me is that it is obvious, at least to me, that I am deeply and profoundly sad.

Mandery projects I’s feelings beautifully – what I thinks and feels is clear to us, and we stumble along with him seeking happiness and trying to avoid the pitfalls that pepper his life. He seems like the average Joe, except that he is given the gift of foresight – knowing what will happen down the road, should he continue down the path he already is on. Is it really a gift or a curse ?

Other characters in this book are built up via I’s narration. We know of Q because I is so in love with her, and she is the best thing that has happened to him. There is no one quite like her. So when he is asked to leave her, we fear devastating heart-break. Q’s parents, John and Joan, also important cogs in the wheel, are well-sketched.

This book worked for me chiefly because of the fluid writing. It sounds corny, but the writing was almost magical. I loved the way Mandery groups words together, setting them so that each one seems perfect in it’s place. I am truly enamored.

I and Q are two great characters, and you wish for their happiness together. I is a good man – a little unsure, a little wishy-washy and impractical; the philosophical professor plodding along in life. Then of course there is the time travel, which I’m a sucker for. Time travel in the book is not really explained – it just is. Future versions of I visit him because time-travel is possible in their time, although they profess to have no knowledge of the physics of the thing. Plus this is a love story, not one filled with fluffy, flaky notions of love, but one grounded in real sentiment, and of meeting and letting go of that one person, who you know is made for you.

A wonderful book, I highly recommend Q: A Novel.

P.S. : This book is also known by a slightly different title – Q: A (Timeless) Love Story.

Cross-posted from here.

>One of our Thursdays is Missing

admin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:59:00 +0000

>Book : One of our Thursdays is missing
Author : Jasper Fforde
Genre : Sci-fi, Fantasy
Publisher : Viking
Rating : 3.5/5

“One of our Thursdays is missing” is the sixth book of the Thursday Next series. I read the first and adored it; it seemed like the perfect mix of literary sci-fi, fantasy (or suspension of belief if you prefer that), and a nice twist on the good vs. bad plotline. If this is your first introduction to the Next series, I’ll tell you now that you should be reading this stuff in order. Jumping in at the 6th book might be a bewildering experience because Fforde offers no explanations or back-story – either you’re in it or you’re not.

Still, here’s a primer : Thursday Next is our intrepid SpecOps officer, SpecOps being a special unit given to investigating crimes of the Book World. The Book World is a sort of alternate universe where “written” characters play out their book-roles. Thursday has the special ability to be able to travel in and out of Book World, but she actually belongs to the “Real World” – i.e.; the one which you and I inhabit. In this 6th installment of the Next Series, Book World is being remade from the Great Library Book World to a Geographic Book World. Written Thursday lives on Fiction Island, and Fforde has a nice little map in the beginning of this book to help the navigational details sit in your head. This is what written Thursday sees when she awakens inside the Remade BookWorld :

“Unlike the RealWorld, which is conveniently located on the outside of a sphere, the new BookWorld was anchored on the inside of a sphere, thus ensuring that the horizons worked in the opposite way to those in RealWorld. . . .I noticed too that we were not alone. Stuck on the inside of the sphere were hundreds of other islands very similar to our own, and each a haven for a category of literature within.”

In “One of our Thursdays is missing” RealWorld Thursday has disappeared, and “written” Thursday (i.e.; the one from Book World) is trying to find her. So there are actually two Thursdays and one of them is missing – hence the title. Racy Novel and Women’s Fiction, two neighboring genres in the Book World seem to be unable to get along with each other, chiefly because of the trouble Racy Novel’s leader Speedy Muffler has been causing. Muffler’s dissatisfaction stems from the fact that Racy Novel has been declared a member of the Axis of Unreadable along with “Celebrity Bio” and “Misery Memoirs”. When he threatens to hurl a dirty bomb into Women’s Fiction, Peace Talks are initiated, and Next is to lead them. When she disappears with just a week to go for the Talks, “written” Thursday suspects abduction or worse.

Unlike the first book “The Eyre Affair” where RealWorld Thursday traveled into Book World to battle a fictional enemy Acheron Hades, this time around written Thursday must travel to find the genuine article, a process which involves being shot across by a cannon and processed by many Textual Sieves, to land into the RealWorld – “a brutal and beautiful place, run for the most part on passion, fads, incentives, and , mathemantics” and visited most often for things beginning with c : cooking, copulation, Caravaggio, coastlines and chocolate.

It all starts when the JAID (Jurisfiction Accident Investigation Department) calls upon written Thursday to find out why a novel, which was traveling across the BookWorld sky, has broken up and scattered it’s graphemes right into a scene from another book. Aiding her in the investigation, is Thursday’s clockwork butler Sprockett, who displays emotion with a mechanical arrow – it can point to Worried, Thinking, Doubtful, Peeved etc. Not aiding her are the Men in Plaid (MiP) – a seemingly corruptible version of the Jurisfiction Police.

While I’ve got to say that Jasper Fforde displays an amazing creative skill, with lots of detail thrown in, this novel didn’t work for me as “The Eyre Affair” did. The plot is rather thin, and characters not well developed enough to hold interest. Fforde’s writing is humorous but the focus is, from what I could see, on word-play; this book is way too punny for it’s own good. I didn’t get much of a “feeling” for Written Thursday, who is the main protagonist here. Yes, she is modeled on the RealWorld Thursday, and strives to prove herself as capable her as her inspiration. She also suffers from angst and worry and pines for companionship and Next’s RealWorld husband and kids. But other than these facts I know little about Written Thursday, and I can’t root for her like I would like to.

Fforde ffans will probably like this, but newbies prepare for much literary wordsmithing.

Cross-posted from here.

>Heartstone by C.J.Sansom

admin — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 23:25:00 +0000

Title : Heartstone
Author : C.J. Sansom
Publisher : Viking Adult
Genre : Historical fiction/ mystery
Pages : 626 (Hardcover)
Published : Jan 24, 2011
Rating : 4.5/5

Heartstone is the 5th book in C.J.Sansom’s Matthew Shardlake series. In it, Sansom’s hunchbacked lawyer hero takes on another intriguing case. The time is of Catherine Parr’s reign on the throne as Consort of Henry VIII. Five other wives having being done away with (marriages either annulled and/or wives beheaded) Queen Catherine is a just but careful woman. Ever loyal to her servants, the Queen has one of her old maids come to her to ask for justice for her son Michael, who has committed suicide in extenuating circumstances. Before his death Michael has accused one Sir Nicholas Hobbey of grievous wrongs against one of his (Michael’s) former pupils Hugh Curteys. Hugh, after his parents’ death, is now the ward of Sir Hobbey.

After the Queen requests his help in the case, Shardlake journeys to Sir Hobbey’s home Hoyland Priory. Also on Shardlake’s mind is the matter of Ellen Fettiplace, a woman in the Bedlam (insane asylum). Shardlake has befriended Ellen, who looks to be sane, but will not divulge any details on how or why she came to be in the Bedlam. Her traumatic past is a secret which no one around her is willing to reveal, but which, Shardlake is convinced, is the key to setting her free from her fears. As Hoyland Priory is near Rolfswood, Ellen’s native village, Shardlake resolves to find out as much as he can about Ellen’s past.

In his mission, Shardlake is aided by his able assistant and friend Barak And aid he will need, from Barak, and from the Queen, because enemies spring out of the woodwork, trying to dissuade Shardlake from pursuing his quest for the truth.

This is the first book I’ve read of the series, and am happy to report that it can be read stand-alone. This was also my first introduction to Shardlake and the writing of C.J.Sansom and I’m pleased with both. Serjeant Matthew Shardlake is a very likeable hero. Bent of body but strong of mind, Shardlake will go to great lengths to see justice done. His resolve will be tested severely though when he is faced with open hostility and physical harm from his powerful enemies.

Sansom has great skill of description and detail, and weaves together an intricate and engrossing mystery. The book deals with an expansive canvas but Sansom writes so beautifully that the story progresses fluidly – a near-perfect mix of drama, action and characterization. Set as it is in Tudor times, Sansom succeeds in depicting the historical setting with believable detail, something which adds greatly to the pleasure of the book.

A first rate mystery novel with an astounding twist to the tale, “Heartstone” is a must-read for all lovers of historical fiction and mystery. Though this is a large book, 626 pages of small font (Hardcover), it is well worth the time. I didn’t notice the pages fly by, and I’m hoping you won’t either.

Book Giveaway : Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:10:00 +0000

Geraldine Brooks is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March and The New York Times bestseller, People of the Book. Her fourth and newest novel is CALEB’S CROSSING (Viking; On sale, May 3, 2011). Thanks to the publisher, I’ll be giving away 2 galleys of the book. To be considered for the give-away, please email me or leave a comment here or at the Review Room. You must be a US/Canada resident to be eligible.

Note : Galleys are paperback editions of the book, used for proof-reading/reviewing before the actual book is released in the market. Galleys cannot be bought or sold.

Here’s more on the book and the author :

CALEB’S CROSSING is inspired by the life of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College in 1665. Brooks first learned about him during her time as a Radcliffe fellow at Harvard in 2006. Caleb was from the Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans who lived on Martha’s Vineyard and this year Tiffany Smalley will become the second Vineyard Wampanoag to graduate from Harvard. There is little official information on Caleb’s life and Brooks’s novel is an informed imagining of what he might have gone through.

What makes this novel truly special is its narrator, Bethia Mayfield. Bethia is the strong-willed daughter of a preacher who lives in the settlement of Great Harbor on Martha’s Vineyard. She struggles with the restrictions placed on her—namely, that she is denied the education freely given to her brother. Bethia finds respite in the wild landscape of her home and it is while clamming one day that she meets Caleb, the son of a local chieftain. They form a secret friendship that, in time, leads to Caleb coming to live with the Mayfields. Bethia’s father eagerly takes Caleb under his wing, determined not only to convert him to Christianity, but also to groom him for matriculation to Cambridge and eventually, Harvard.

The harsh realities of life for both women and Native Americans are fully confronted in CALEB’S CROSSING. It is a story of difficult friendships, cultural transitions, and facing injustices.

Q&A with Geraldine Brooks, author of

CALEB’S CROSSING

Caleb Cheeshahteamauk is an extraordinary figure in Native American history. How did you first discover him? What was involved in learning more about his life?

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head/Aquinnah are proud custodians of their history, and it was in materials prepared by the Tribe that I first learned of its illustrious young scholar. To find out more about him I talked with tribal members, read translations of early documents in the Wopanaak language, then delved into the archives of Harvard and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, especially the correspondence between colonial leaders and benefactors in England who donated substantial funds for the education and conversion to Christianity of Indians in the 17th century. There are also writings by members of the Mayhew family, who were prominent missionaries and magistrates on the island, and John Cotton, Jr., who came here as a missionary and kept a detailed journal.

There is little documentation on Caleb’s actual life. What parts of his life did you imagine? Do you feel you know him better after writing this book, or is he still a mystery?

The facts about Caleb are sadly scant. We know he was the son of a minor sachem from the part of the Vineyard now known as West Chop, and that he left the island to attend prep school, successfully completed the rigorous course of study at Harvard and was living with Thomas Danforth, a noted jurist and colonial leader, when disease claimed his life. Everything else about him in my novel is imagined. The real young man—what he thought and felt—remains an enigma.

Bethia Mayfield is truly a woman ahead of her time. If she were alive today, what would she be doing? What would her life be like with no restrictions?

There were more than a few 17th century women like Bethia, who thirsted for education and for a voice in a society that demanded their silence. You can find some of them being dragged to the meeting house to confess their “sins” or defending their unconventional views in court. If Bethia was alive today she would probably be president of Harvard or Brown, Princeton or UPenn.

The novel is told through Bethia’s point of view. What is the advantage to telling this story through her eyes? How would the book be different if Caleb were the narrator?

I wanted the novel to be about crossings between cultures. So as Caleb is drawn into the English world, I wanted to create an English character who would be equally drawn to and compelled by his world. I prefer to write with a female narrator when I can, and I wanted to explore issues of marginalization in gender as well as race.

Much of the book is set on Martha’s Vineyard, which is also your home. Did you already know about the island’s early history, or did you do additional research?

I was always intrigued by what brought English settlers to the island so early in the colonial period…they settled here in the 1640s. Living on an island is inconvenient enough even today; what prompted the Mayhews and their followers to put seven miles of treacherous ocean currents between them and the other English—to choose to live in a tiny settlement surrounded by some three thousand Wampanoags? The answer was unexpected and led me into a deeper exploration of island history

You bring Harvard College to life in vivid, often unpleasant detail. What surprised you most about this prestigious university’s beginnings?

For one thing, I hadn’t been aware Harvard was founded so early. The English had barely landed before they started building a college. And the Indian College—a substantial building—went up not long after, signifying an attitude of mind that alas did not prevail for very long. It was fun to learn how very different early Harvard was from the well endowed institution of today. Life was hand to mouth, all conversation was in Latin, the boys (only boys) were often quite young when they matriculated. But the course of study was surprisingly broad and rigorous—a true exploration of liberal arts, languages, and literature that went far beyond my stereotype of what Puritans might have considered fit subjects for scholarship.

As with your previous books, you’ve managed to capture the voice of the period. You get the idiom, dialect, and cadence of the language of the day on paper. How did you do your research?

I find the best way to get a feel for language and period is to read first person accounts—journals, letters, court transcripts. Eventually you start to hear voices in your head: patterns of speech, a different manner of thinking. My son once said, Mom talks to ghosts. And in a way I do.

May 2011, Tiffany Smalley will follow in Caleb’s footsteps and become only the second Vineyard Wampanoag to graduate from Harvard. Do you know if this will be celebrated?

In May Tiffany Smalley will become the first Vineyard Wampanoag since Caleb to receive an undergrad degree from Harvard College. (Others have received advanced degrees from the university’s Kennedy school etc.) I’m not sure what Harvard has decided to do at this year’s commencement, but I am hoping they will use the occasion to honor Caleb’s fellow Wampanoag classmate, Joel Iacoomis, who completed the work for his degree but was murdered before he could attended the 1665 commencement ceremony.

>Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris

admin — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:43:00 +0000

Title : Finding Nouf
Author : Zoe Ferraris
Genre : Mystery/Suspense/Cultural
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages : 305
Rating : 4/5

Finding Nouf is about the disappearance of a 16 year old girl. Nouf ash-Shrawi, the daughter of a wealthy and influential family, was by all accounts surrounded by comforts and led a happy life. Also she was to be married in three days. Her sudden disappearance leads to much speculation and efforts are made to find her. Did she run away ? Was she kidnapped ? And most importantly – is she still alive ?

This might have been a run-of-the-mill mystery, except for the fact that it is situated in contemporary Saudi Arabia and gives us an insight into its culture. The main protagonist is Nayir al-Sharqi, a devout Muslim bachelor. Nayir is a desert guide who has often worked for the Shrawis. Also Othman the youngest Shrawi son is a good friend of Nayir’s. When asked by them to look into Nouf’s disappearance, Nayir leads a search into the desert. Nouf’s body is found (although not by Nayir) in a desert “wadi”.

The second sleuth in this novel is Katya Hijazi, Othman’s very educated fiancée. Katya works in the medical examiner’s office. Once Nouf’s body is found and the post-mortem report reveals oddities, Nayir and Katya, a very unlikely team, work in tandem to find Nouf’s killer.

The story is told from Nayir’s point-of-view. Nayir is a pious Muslim, who has a difficult time even looking at a woman’s uncovered face. In accordance with Muslim Law Nayir keeps his distance from females in the physical world, and in his mental one. Although uncomfortable with females in general, and educated outspoken women in particular, Nayir also feels unease at the oppressive rules of society. When faced with the prospect of working with Katya, who is not the average Saudi-Arabian woman, although she covers her face, a hermit-like Nayir is hesitant and almost hostile. Under Katya’s influence, however slight, will Nayir be forced to open his mind ?

This was a very interesting book because of the well-told mystery, and the nicely-crafted characters and setting. Ferraris writes enticingly, drawing you into her world. Also she manages to keep up the pace, and deliver quite a few twists and turns to the mystery. What made this book worthwhile though is the look-see into the minds of the characters, and their thoughts as they pertain to women living and attempting to work in a society bound by Muslim law.

A great read, this one is highly recommended.

>The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

admin — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 21:33:00 +0000

>Title : The blood of flowers
Author : Anita Amirrezvani
Pages : 384
Publisher : Little, Brown and Company
Rating : 4/5

This book tells the story of a 14 year old young woman in 17th century Persia (now Iran) who, after her father’s death, is forced to seek support from her uncle. Her mother and she (and she remains nameless), then travel to the city of Isfahan to shelter at Gostaham’s house. As destitute relatives they are the lowest of the low, and treated as such by his wife, Gordiyeh, and family members. Gostaham, a master carpet weaver himself, is kinder, and impressed by the heroine’s artistic talent is persuaded to teach her carpet weaving, despite the fact that women are not taught the skill.

However one day, the heroine, young and impetuous, damages an expensive carpet, and incurs her uncle’s wrath. Her conniving aunt then forces her into a sigheh, a 3 month renewable marriage contract, renewable at the pleasure of the man. As dishonorable as the sigheh is, she is forced to take it, knowing full well that at the end of the 3 month term, she might be poor, desperate and considered “tainted goods”- a very dismal situation for an unattached young woman in a strongly patriarchal society. The future looks bleak indeed . . .

Ms. Amirrezvani has a way with words. This book is very descriptive; it sketches out not only the characters, but also describes the craft of carpet making in great detail. Interestingly told, and carrying it with it the tumult of well placed “hooks” (lots of ups and downs), “Blood of flowers” is also engaging because it is a well-developed story, with adequate emphasis to the setting, history and culture which shape the story. The author’s gentle prose describes each person’s particular situations and quandaries, leaving it to the reader to make up his/her mind about the good and the evil in the characters.

This is a story told from the female point of view, so it does describe a woman’s life, whether it be the miserable existence of the heroine and her mother, living at the mercy of their fickle benefactors, or the relatively privileged life of Gordiyeh who has a wealthy husband. Each one of the women has very little will and volition of her own; they are swayed by society’s norms and customs, and must be led by constructs that place a high value on a woman’s perceived honor (and dishonor). In that context, what I really liked about the book, is that it creates a heroine with spine and character. Born into a society where women must be attached to a man to demand any respect or acknowledgement, the fatherless heroine is not cowed into submission, but is always looking to gain her independence. You might say that it is the circumstance that decide our actions; one does what one must to survive. While that is true, this story is engaging because it shows the mental and philosophical growth of the heroine, from a young and un-thoughtful girl, to a mature and shrewd woman able to pick her very own path from limited choices.

This book seemed to finish rather quickly, since I read it in one sitting. A lovely read, this is highly recommended.

Also cross-posted here.

>Empire Falls by Richard Russo

admin — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 23:50:00 +0000

>Title : Empire Falls
Author : Richard Russo
Rating : 4/5

It’s been a while since I read this novel, but I still remember it as being one told with great sympathetic skill. Let me explain that. Most “contemporary” novels deal with day-to-day life and present issues. There are husbands and wives, and parents and children, their lives fraught with complexity and hidden motivations and the plain old drudgery of not losing the battle. Generally I can do without such stories. However, told as Mr. Russo tells it, sketched with such an astute eye for detail, and compassion, a story such as this comes alive. And he is sympathetic, not just of the good characters but of the bad ones too, fleshing them out with kindness and patience. There many characters, so it is a broad canvas, but the reader come to know each of them quite well.

Empire Falls is about a little town of the same name, where our lead protagonist Miles Roby is manager and cook of the Empire Grill. The Empire Grill is owned by Francine Whiting, a rich woman who doesn’t quite like Miles. Miles is about to be divorced from Janine, and has a teenage daughter Tick. Then there is David, Miles’s brother, and Max, his father. Miles is quite a likeable character along with his daughter Tick. He is amiable to most people (even the nasty ones) and has tons of patience. The butt of snarky jokes, and the not-so-subtle put-downs of his patrons, even he realizes that he is on the losing end.

Along with the main story which hinges around a Miles who is trying to make do with whatever life throws at him, there are several sub-plots which focus by turns on his daughter, his wife, his brother, the bullying Police Chief and his son, and their problems. The entire cast floats around their little, dying town and the Empire Grill, which is how we are introduced to them.

This book is about anguish, about perceived past sins which, when they accumulate, make people meaner. Mrs. Whiting the aging wealthy owner of the Empire Grill is at the crux of it. At the receiving end is Miles, who is tethered to the Grill in the hopes that it will one day be his. You know that Miles would rather be anywhere but in Empire Falls. He tried to get away when he was younger, but family ties (and Mrs. Whiting) brought him back, for what was presumably an year. That year changed into a lifetime. Miles is still stuck at a dead-end job, in a decrepit eatery, with very little hopes of getting out. His first love escaped him, and he is about to be divorced from his second. But bound by “duty” and his propensity for doing the right thing, will Miles ever escape his fate?

“Empire Falls is engaging (I could not put it down) and makes you successfully root for Miles and his loved ones. A lovely book, to be savored, this one is highly recommended.

Also cross-posted here.

Free Book Giveaway : The Shadow Woman

admin — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:03:00 +0000

Here’s a chance to win this book by noted Swedish writer Ake Edwardson ! Free !

The book releases September 28th, 2010. To enter the giveaway, check out details here.

The contest is open to all book-lovers with a shipping address in the US or Canada. You can turn in an entry till the end of September after which I will pick a random comment/email, among the correct entries to receive this book. Check back here or at my blog to see if you have won ! The book be shipped to you after the 30^th of September.

Here’s more information on the book :

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Penguin (releases September 28, 2010)

From Amazon :

The second installment of the internationally best selling Erik Winter series

It’s August and the annual Gothenburg Party is in full swing. But this year the bacchanalian blowout is simmering with ethnic discord spurred by nativist gangs. When a woman is found murdered in the park-her identity as inscrutable as the blood-red symbol on the tree above her body-Winter’s search for her missing child leads him from sleek McMansions to the Gothenburg fringes, where “northern suburbs” is code for “outsider” and the past is inescapable-even for Sweden’s youngest chief inspector. Psychologically gripping and socially astute, The Shadow Woman puts this master of Swedish noir on track to build an American audience on par with his international fame.

About the Author

Åke Edwardson has won three Swedish Academy of Crime Writers awards and his work has been translated into more than twenty languages. His novel, Frozen Tracks was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He lives in Gothenburg, Sweden.

>"Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier

admin — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:31:00 +0000

>Title : Girl with a pearl earring
Author : Tracy Chevalier
Genre : Historical fiction
Publisher : Plume
Pages : 256
Rating : 4/5

The Girl with a Pearl Earring is Tracy Chevalier’s second book. In it she tells of a painting by the famous Johannes Vermeer. The subject of the painting and the heroine of the novel is a maid in Vermeer’s household. Forced into this job by penury at home, Griet must serve at the Vermeer homestead. There she develops emotional bonds, some of animosity, such as with Vermeer’s jealous wife and spiteful daughter, and some of limited understanding, such as with Maria Thins, Vermeer’s mother-in-law, whose home it is.

It is made clear to us, the readers, that Griet has strong feelings for Vermeer, although she is actively being courted by the local butcher’s son Pieter. While Griet’s pragmatic family pressurizes her to accept Pieter’s proposal (“the family of a butcher will never go hungry”), our dreamy heroine has other ideas. Vermeer himself is a shadowy figure, lost in his artistic vision, appearing to be indifferent not only to Griet, but also oblivious to anyone’s plight but his own.

Vermeer does come to notice and like Griet however, even granting her “priviliges” such as cleaning his studio and grinding his paints, jobs which cause much tension in the household, since even Vermeer’s wife Catharina is not allowed to do them. However Griet must work her “thing” with the Master out on her own, especially when he decides to paint her. Will she, a lowly maid, be able to realize her heart’s dream ?

This was a very interesting, spare, light read. The plot is well-developed and Chevalier tells it with such simplicity and such nuance that one is drawn in. Unlike her second novel “Remarkable Creatures” which draws it’s drama from real events, “Girl with a Pearl Earring” has a wistfulness which comes from unmet expectations and hopes. Beautifully written and engagingly told, this novel displays Chevalier’s skilled story-telling and great attention to detail.

I’d come across this book, when it first released, but had ignored it believing the subject to not be to my taste. I’ve now read it only after I read and liked Chevalier’s “Remarkable Creatures”, and consider myself richer for it. Highly recommended.

Cross-posted from here.

>Faithful Place by Tana French

admin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:10:00 +0000

Title : Faithful Place
Author : Tana French
Genre : Crime/mystery
Publisher : Viking, Penguin Group
Pages : 400
Release Date : 13 July 2010 (US)
Rating : 4/5

My father once told me that the most important thing every man should know is what he would die for. If you don’t know that, he said, what are you worth ? Nothing. You’re not a man at all. I was thirteen, and he was three quarters of the way into a bottle of Gordon’s finest, but hey, good talk. As far as I recall, he was willing to die a) for Ireland b) for his mother, who had been dead for ten years, and c) to get that bitch Maggie Thatcher.

Meet Frank Mackey, cynical cop extraordinaire, and Tana French’s most recent protagonist. After settling into her niche as a “literary” crime fiction writer with her earlier two novels “In the woods” and “The Likeness”, French returns with her latest book “Faithful Place”. This features yet another character of the Dublin Undercover Squad, her earlier two books having told us about cases with detectives Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox. Acidic cop Francis Mackey is Cassie and Rob’s boss, and this time, he must deal with murder very close to home and heart.

Frank has nerves of steel; he is the one who directs his operatives in the field, knows when to attack, when to withdraw and when to cut his losses. He is the one who never loses his cool. But when a murder occurs in the Liberties, the neighborhood where he was born and brought up and sought to escape at the very earliest opportunity, keeping his emotions in check is a very hard thing to do, especially because the body is of the love of his life – Rosie Daly.

“Faithful Place” is quite unalike French’s earlier books, because although she builds up atmosphere, it is of a very “earthy” nature. In “In the woods” and “The Likeness” the story is imbued with eerie, sinister motives and creepy, psychological musings. French’s prose swarms into your head, with her carefully placed red herrings and her surreal, yet sophisticated sounding descriptions of the mind-games people play, in jest and in anger.

“Faithful Place” by comparison isn’t located in your head; it is rather, your regular old hellhole on earth. Tarnished by bad memories of a drunkard, violent father, and an oppressive mother, Frank can’t get away from it fast enough, leaving behind his siblings to bear the brunt. French describes it using much Irish slang, and words like “shite” and “dodgy”, “mammy” and “eejit”, and manages to paint it so that we can palpably feel Frank’s emotions.

The murder, when discovered is already more than twenty years old, but it dredges up long-forgotten animosities and reopens rivalries like fresh flesh wounds. More importantly it forces Frank to return home, and deal with the residual horrors of a traumatic childhood. And when Frank starts nosing around looking for motives, he knows that the killer is probably within hearing distance, watching him and waiting . . .

Like French’s earlier two books, this one is also told in the first person, a technique she seems to have mastered. This is the second time she writes in a male voice, and she has quite the knack for creating and differentiating individual voices and characters. Mackey, just like Rob (In the woods”) or Cassie (The Likeness) is developed very thoroughly, through his personal musings and thought, and we are quite aware of the mental baggage he carries around with himself. He feels true, just like Rob and Cassie did – a true Dubliner, a perceptive cop, a real human being with imperfections.

This book does not start slow – the murder is out there in the first fifteen pages. We are filled in on the background via various conversations, and thoughts, and Frank’s memories. Even though a murder mystery, “Faithful Place” does not deal with the workings of the Undercover Squad; rather it has Frank investigating the crime on a personal level, not as a policeman but as the betrayed lover, and potential perpetrator of the crime itself. The action is mostly in the form of dialog, and conversation between Frank and his family and associates:

She was still gazing at me, worried and bewildered. The moon had come out; in the cold half-light the garden looked pristine and unreal, like some symmetrical suburban limbo. I said. “Nora, tell me something. Do you think I’m a murderer?”

Although I can’t say that this is my favorite book by French (that would be “The Likeness”) this is a strong, tautly spun, suspenseful novel. “Faithful Place” is another very hard-to-put-down read, from an accomplished author.

>"Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:05:00 +0000

>Title : Remarkable Creatures
Author : Tracy Chevalier
Genre : Historical fiction
Pages : 320
Rating : 4/5

A spinster in search of fossils. Sound interesting ? Well, it should, because like it’s title “Remarkable creatures” this book is pretty remarkable too. I haven’t read this author’s previous novel “Girl with a pearl earring”, but when I came across a review of this book, I knew I wanted to read it.

The book is centered around Elizabeth Philpot, one of three sisters who have resigned themselves to the single life, because in the 1800s (the period this book is set in), without a fortune and good looks, a husband is hard to come by. The three move to the coastal city of Lyme Regis when their brother marries. Lyme Regis is special because on it’s beaches are found bits of fossils, known as “curies” (or curiosities). It is thus on the beaches of Lyme Regis, that Elizabeth who is of an inquisitive bent comes to meet Mary Anning, an avid fossil hunter.

Mary comes from a poor household and the sale of her “curies” supplements their meager income. Elizabeth, comparatively well off is not Mary’s social superior, (although she exists on the fringes of genteel poverty) but the two form a bond based on their love for fossils. The book charts their course of life and their thoughts, sometimes alike and sometimes diverging.

The narrative is in the first person, but switches from Elizabeth to Mary – a fact I appreciated very much since it allowed us to hear their innermost thoughts. This book does not have a big problem and it’s resolution, rather much like the sea which sweeps up so many of their precious “curies”, the story ebbs and flows. Mary and Elizabeth remain in Lyme Regis and life and it’s many events flow around them, shaping them and their friendship.

It is thus a rather gentle, not to be mistaken with placid, read. And lest I sound like this was not interesting, I will clarify that for the couple of days that it took me to read this book, I stayed up well past my bedtime to read as much as I could. Ms. Chevalier has that rare knack for writing which, even when describing the most humdrum of events, sucks you in and places you in the middle of the story. Her characters are well-drawn, and her narrative just the right amount of enticing.

I really liked this book (although like seems a simple word) for it’s wealth of emotions, and for the portrayal of Elizabeth and Mary – two women born into a society where a single woman was an aberration – who relied on independent thought. Feminism for the 1800s if you will, but there it is, subtle and in it’s place, without making a to-do of asserting one’s will. Their actions and their thinking is a natural extension of who they are and the circumstances they face, and it is this honesty flowing from Chevalier’s words that make this wonderful book what it is.

P.S. : Interestingly, although Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot are characters in the book they were real fossilists – Mary, the more famous of the two, and Philpot known for her collaboration with Anning.

Review cross-posted from here.