Reviews

1970's Bronzeville was in many ways like every other neighborhood during that time. Three young girls playing, gossiping and dreaming about their futures in this historic south side neighborhood, all third-generation daughters of the Great Migration, growing up in the shadows of Chicago's skyscrapers. One of them, the author, goes on to college, marriage, and a successful career as a journalist. These essays began during her time as a writer for the Chicago Tribune as a way to help her work through the heartbreak and despair she felt.

Her sister Kim and her best friend Dawn take divergent paths that sadly end in death for one, and prison time for the other. In writing about these experiences, Dawn Turner tries to understand the haunting question of what happened in between their innocent childhood, and the broken pieces of adulthood? This riveting memoir celebrates friendship and sisterhood as it delves into race, class, environment, addiction, resiliency and forgiveness.

"Dear Friend" starts the first of 50 or so letters in this intimate and intriguing book. These letters are written by the author, Edmund De Waal, to the now deceased Comte Moïse de Camondo, a neighbor of the authors family. The Count, an avid collector of art and objects in France in the early part of the 20th Century, lived in a wealthy, fashionable area of Paris where he and others felt removed from rising anti-semitism in Europe at this time.

After his son dies in WWI he turns his spectacular home and collection into the Musée Nissim de Camondo. The opulent mansion is brimming with gilded 18th-century French furniture, Sèvres porcelain, rare wines and books. The author uses this epistolary book to lovingly describe the details of each room, and the meticulous care taken to preserve each piece.

Even with this magnificent gift to France, and his sons sacrifice, he felt the cultural disdain for his family from those who saw them as not "truly French". The Count died before the horrors of WWII ravaged his adopted country and his beloved family. The book tells his history in a way that honors the remarkable contributions the Count made to France, but also the memories and grief that cast long painful shadows. The Musée Nissim de Camondo is still in Paris, and stands as a testimonial of love from a father to his son. I loved reading about these remarkable families, and look forward to researching more history about them.

Finding inspiration from a stack of letters written by her grandfather, Louise Erdrich gives us another stellar novel based in her Native American culture. The title character Thomas Wazhashk is a night watchman at a factory where the women of the Turtle Mountain clan make parts used by the Defense Department as well as Bulova watches.

Like her grandfather, Thomas takes it upon himself to write letters to the US Government to fight a "Termination" bill in Congress that would eliminate all tribes, forcing them to assimilate. He is a hard worker who prides himself on his penmanship and work ethic. A dedicated husband and father he finds himself taking the cause of his people all the way to the Capitol. The Washington Post points out that " Erdrich's career has been an act of resistance against racism" and this book is no exception.

The story also revolves around Pixie, a factory worker with dreams of her own, struggling to put food on her families table. Hunger and shame are a part of her life as she and her Mother keep her violent father from drinking her meager earnings. The nightmare making headlines of missing Native American women plays a role in the book as Pixie goes in search of her older sister.

There are many more rich characters and stories told in this remarkable novel. The author reads the audiobook, giving it another sublime layer of depth of character, and strong sense of place and history. The Night Watchman being awarded The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for 2021 is no surprise. It is moving and inspiring. In her final words she writes "If you should be of the conviction that we are powerless to change...let this book give you heart"

What is there not to like about a book where a horse, a dog, a raven, a rat and one young boy find refuge and companionship with each? Add the City of Light and renowned author Jane Smiley and you are all set.

Perestroika, Paras for short, a young curious racehorse finding her stall door open, scoops up her trainers purse full of winnings and embarks on an adventure that lands her in the Champs de Mar in Paris. She meets Frida the elegant street dog, who navigates the market to find them food. Along with Raoul the raven, and a couple of mallard ducks, they discuss life, ownership, freedom and world problems. Not sure what her future holds, and unclear if she wants to return to the track, Paras spends her days and nights exploring, and reminiscing about her beloved trainers and the racing life. Eventually she befriends Etienne, an 8 year old living with his aging great grandmother in an ancient mansion. Etienne loves Paras and his friends, as well as Curt, the rat who comes out of his hiding place in search of love. The curious, hungry and cold animals find refuge in the old home. With ingenuity, and the generosity of kind shop owners, they all manage to keep their whereabouts a secret as they survive the snowy winter.

I loved this well written and heartwarming book. Through these interesting characters, Smiley reminds us that although "life is a chancey business", all creatures great and small seek the same things; love, freedom, and a sense of belonging. 

Inspector Gamache leaves the comfort of Three Pines for Paris in this gripping new addition to Louise Penny's popular mystery series. On their first night in Paris, after gathering for a family dinner with his godfather Stephen Horowitz, Gamache witnesses a terrible hit and run. The police investigate it as an accident, but Gamache and his family suspect differently. Paris comes alive as Armand, Jean-Guy Beauvoir and even his wife Reine-Marie track down clues to this tangled mystery. Eventually the mystery hits close to home as Armand's son Daniel,  his godfather Stephen, and the entire family gets wound up in the web of deceit and lies. Who to trust? is the question Armand struggles with, and, is the Devil really here as Stephen foretells? 

Louise Penny continues to entertain with this latest novel. Her books are captivating, and enjoyable and always filled with great character development and an intimate sense of place. I love to read them and love them even more in audio. You don't need to read them in order, but it does make the experience even more enjoyable.

Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout  is a sequel to her successful novel Olive Kitteridge, which was written a decade ago, and was made into a 4 part TV series

You don’t need to have read Olive Kitteridge, to enjoy Olive Again, but it will help to have a familiarity with this cranky unforgettable character

Olive, who lives in a coastal town in Maine is now in her 70’s and is a widow. Grief has not softened the edges, she is still stubborn, opinionated, salty and gossipy. Finding herself lonely after the death of her husband, Olive strikes up an unlikely relationship with Jack Kennison, a retired Harvard professor whom she and her husband once mocked as arrogant. They share a prickly connection as they both regret alienating their children and many friends along the way.

Like Olive Kitteridge, this novel is made up of 13 somewhat connected short stories. Olive plays a role in most of them, as do several characters from Strouts novels The Burgess Boys and Amy and Isabelle.

Elizabeth Strout brilliantly weaves these stories together with themes of loneliness, regret, faith, class division and family ties. There is a richness and a raw humanness to each of them. The underlying theme within them is resilience.

Olive is THE most complex character I have ever come across. Strout is a master at showing the subtleties of characters , and their innermost thoughts.

Olive will surprise you, confuse you, and she might even anger you, but she will also inspire you.. Through it all, somehow you can’t help but root for her! All the credit goes to Elizabeth Strout for creating yet another well written novel. I have enjoyed all of her books, and this one was well worth the wait. I hope you enjoy it.

A touching often painful story of a young boy “Shuggie” growing up in the bleak, coal covered public housing of  Glasgow, Scotland in the 1980’s. His beloved mother is haunted by unfulfilled dreams of glamour and soaks her disappointments in alcohol. His mostly absent father and older siblings walk out, leaving Shuggie to navigate the burden. He has his own societal struggles of not being a “normal” boy as he navigates his yearnings and desires.

This is a raw epic tale of a working class family, their struggles with love, devotion, poverty, addiction and sexuality. The Winner of the Booker Prize and first time novelist Douglas Stuart tells a rich, somewhat autobiographical, unforgettable story that will stay with you for a long time.

I’ve just met Duchess Goldblat and we’ve already cried together. And yes laughed together too. This is a memoir by the anonymous author of the @duchessgoldblat twitter account. I felt as if I was sitting at a table having drinks with anonymous as she carefully unfolds her path to the successful creation of Duchess. Finding herself bereft of her marriage, home, family and job, she reaches out into the twitterverse with her heart open wide, giving love and support to those like her in desperate need of both. Her clever humor resonates with thousands and she finds herself piecing her life back together. She answers her followers, many of them celebrities, with integrity and honesty, and forms true lifelong friendships. I was deeply moved by the simple humanity of this memoir, especially at this moment in time when we are in need of kind voices. Words do matter. One of my favorite books of 2020.

Seventeen year old Noel Crowe arrives in Faha Ireland on the eve of the county getting electricity for the first time. Unstoppable rains, and a stranger looking for a lost love, help to set the tone for this touching coming of age story. Noel is sent to live with his grandparents after he unexpectedly leaves his seminary studies.  Narrated by Noel who is now in his 70's, the story hearkens back to a simpler time in the mid 1950's, and small communities who can all feel the winds of change. The story is a tender written beautiful tale of life, love, longings and growth.

May Attaway is turning 40 and has realized her life might be lacking. As a gardener at a local university, she finds herself more comfortable with trees than people. Living with her father in her childhood home, May starts to wonder how she got to such a place of separateness. “I don’t have a daughter and I don’t know if I ever will. But if I do we will not carry this sadness forward. I’m tired of holding it.”

An unexpected reward of time off has May deciding she will spend the time reconnecting with those who knew her at a different time as she begins to cobble together the pieces. Thinking about a reverse Odyssey “What if Penelope had left?” or a friendless Beowulf, May packs Emily Post’s book on etiquette, a suitcase she has named Grendel and heads out. Each visit reflects on her past, as well as the observation that life is generally complicated.

In Rules for Visiting, Jessica Francis Kane gives us a thoughtful and touching story, and a character you will find yourself rooting for.