Novels Now

Marriages break up, I wanted to shout. Fathers can abandon their children, children can be left alone. There is  nothing in the vow that is sacred. There is no security – we are each of us alone. – from Looking After Pigeon, page 180 -

Pigeon is five years old – the youngest of three children – when her beloved father abandons them to the care of their eccentric and cold mother, Joan. Joan has named all her children after birds – Dove, Robin and Pigeon.

Still I believe, as I am sure our mother did, that the names we are given as children have much to do with the people we later become. Perhaps we do not really fly. It is done these days only safely aboard commercial airlines, and none of us have migrated far from home. Yet I am certain something of what our mother tried to impart in us at our birth is with us still, and always will be. - from Looking After Pigeon, page 11 -

After Pigeon’s father leaves, Joan packs up her children…with very few of their belongings…and moves to her brother’s home on the New Jersey shore. It is the beginning of summer and a new life for all of them. Each character will deal with their losses and fears differently. Joan will join a cult-like church and find a new lover; Dove (the eldest child) will look for acceptance in the arms of older men; Robin (the eldest boy) will find hope in reading the future in tarot cards; and young Pigeon will look for her father in the kindness of her Uncle Edward, and in the generosity of her mother’s lover Cary. Pigeon longs for an intact family. She misses the love of her father…and she hopes that he will one day return to her. Her habit of constructing paper families from the pictures of catalogs is heartbreaking.

I studied their faces carefully for my game; you could not just choose a person willy-nilly without consideration for their looks and disposition. For I was creating families and I did not take the responsibility lightly. All sons and daughters needed to look like their parents. They required friends of nearly the same age. Grandparents had to be older, of course, though still sprightly, attractive. And they all needed to share similar coloring and size. I had ten families already, had made clothes for them out of construction paper, and even provided them with pets – dogs and cats clipped from a pet supply firm. And although they were only made of the shiny catalogue paper, their lives were as intricate and involved as any real family’s ever were. – from Looking After Pigeon, page 102 -

Looking After Pigeon is narrated by an adult Pigeon who is looking back on that fateful summer when all that she had known and trusted disappeared. She wishes to uncover the truths of her upbringing, to gain an understanding of what happened so that she can move forward in her life and perhaps develop the trust she needs to connect with her significant other.

Maud Carol Markson’s latest novel is a look beneath the surface of a broken family through the eyes of the youngest daughter. Written in honest, simple prose…the book examines the impact of our earliest experiences on the development of our self-esteem, trust and world view. It also looks at our deepest fear – that of being abandoned and left to take care of ourselves. Who among us does not wish to be protected, cared for, and loved unconditionally? For Pigeon, security is wrenched from her suddenly and without explanation. She is often left to her own devices, to wander through the streets or along the beach alone. The adults in Pigeon’s life are mostly absent – either physically or emotionally – and are unreliable. Even Uncle Edward, who obviously loves and cares about Pigeon, is not always available to her.

Looking After Pigeon is a difficult story to read. It is not a terribly positive look at marriage, parenting or the family. And yet it is a thoughtful and intriguing book which continued to spin around in my head after I finished it. Despite its slim size (less than 200 pages), this is a deep book which I read slowly. I grew to care about Pigeon and empathize with what was lacking in her life. I found myself feeling anger toward the adults in her life who had relinquished their responsibilities and left her feeling vulnerable and lonely. Sadly, stories like this are found not only in fiction. Children often find themselves, in real life, alone or abandoned and without adults who make them feel safe. I think it takes courage for an author to tackle subjects like these in fiction. Too often readers want “feel good” novels and shy away from books like Looking After Pigeon.

Markson is a talented writer and Looking After Pigeon is an engrossing literary novel. Despite its serious subject matter, the book ends with a glimmer of hope for Pigeon and leaves the reader with a positive message – that despite flaws in our childhoods, we can choose to move forward and find joy as adults.

Readers who appreciate well-written literary fiction will want to read this book.

Recommended.

Read a guest post by the author here on Caribousmom.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton. Introduction by Ray Bradbury.

Pages: 149
Ages: 13+
First Published: Jul.21, 2009
Genre: graphic novel, science fiction
Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

It was a pleasure to burn.

Reason for Reading: Cybils nominee

Comments: At this point I think it’s fair that no summary of Fahrenheit 451 is needed. I’m a fan of the novel having read it a handful of time plus I’ve seen the 1966 movie a couple of times. Obviously, I was no stranger to the plot when I sat down to read the graphic adaptation. I was very pleased to find a very faithful adaptation to the novel had been rendered. It’s amazing to see a novel transformed with a minimal amount of text and the addition of graphics to tell the same story. Though one hopes an adaptation will never replace the original, this is a beautiful compliment to it.

The illustrations are very interesting and match the mood of the story done in a limited palette of colours using a trio of colours plus black for the most part though occasionally going down to 2 colours plus black at times. He uses warm reds, yellows and oranges for the fireman scenes while reverting to cool blues, greens and purples for the rest of the book. It sets a dark, oppressive feeling without the need for a narrative to do so.

I can’t quite give this a rating of 5 as I know Mr. Bradbury’s work can’t be equaled but Tim Hamilton has done an excellent job in bringing the novel to the graphic format in a stunningly faithful rendition.

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli

Pages: 344
First Published: Jul.7, 2009
Genre: graphic novel
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

mmm…oohh.. that’s good…

Summary: The book opens with a man watching, presumably, a pornographic movie, when his building is hit by lightning and catches fire. Such is how we meet Asterios Polyp, 50 year old architect. He grabs a few trinkets and as he rushes out the door we see he has a room full of videos, each one marked with a consecutive day of the week which appear to go on for years back. Through a series of flashbacks we follow Asterios’ past and present as with the cash he takes a bus to however far it will get him, ending up in a hick town where he gets a job as a mechanic and rents a room in the house of his boss.

Comments: The book is a study in self. It is hard for me to review this book critically as I have never studied philosophy and that is the main theme running through this book. The first thing to enter my mind was existentialism and after googling it, I found it fit the situation perfectly in my mind but I also so the opposite happening as well, so another google brought up the term nihilism. The amazing thing about this graphic novel is that the illustrations follow suit in a gripping display a graphic brilliance to fit the atmosphere of the pages.

For characters, the book is sparse. Asterios himself is self-centered and egotistical. His Asian wife is his opposite: warm, tender and loving. Otherwise the book contains a handful of eccentric characters, who while also being wrapped in their own self manage to do so without the know-it-all, “I’m always right”, attitude of Asterios. My favourite character was the garage owner’s wife, Ursula Major a buxom, large, pipe smoking, luxurious blonde woman who follows all the Pagan religions and thinks she is part Indian because she was a Shaman in a past life.

I haven’t read anything by the author before so I didn’t know what to expect and I must admit I thought it was quite weird to begin with but then things started making sense, I started understanding Asterios’ character and I really enjoyed the book in the end. Speaking of the end, it’s quite a shocker too.

I would especially recommend this book to anyone who knows a thing or two about philosophy. You’ll get a whole lot more out of it than I did but nevertheless, I took what I could from it and was pleased with the read.

The Bag of Bones by Vivian French, illustrated by Ross Collins
The Second Tale from the Five Kingdoms

Pages: 248
Ages: 8+
First Published: July 28, 09
Genre: children’s fantasy
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

“Wheeeeee!” The small bat did a double backflip, then a twist, and landed neatly on the branch below.

Reason for Reading: Next in the series. I received a review copy from Candlewick Press.

Summary: The evil witch Truda Hangnail, practitioner of Deep Magic (not permitted in the Five Kingdoms) comes to visit her granddaughter and takes control of the local group of witches shrinking them down to the size of rats. Loobly, one of the witch’s servants, escapes and sets off to get the help of the Ancient Crones. Meanwhile, it is Queen Bluebell’s 80th birthday celebration and since she has no female heirs she will be naming her future successor at the party. But Truda Hangnail has a diabolical plan to crash the party and become the Queen of the Five Kingdoms herself!

Comments: A fun sequel to The Robe of Skulls! Lots of new characters are introduced but all the familiar ones from the first book find there way into this story as well. The bats Marlon and Alf join in on the first page, then the twin brother princes make their appearance, as well as the Ancient Crones. Our heroine (from book one) Gracie Gillypot and Gubble the troll finally make a late appearance halfway through the book.

A quick, easy read with lots of magic and dastardly doings. Truda Hangnail is all badness and as in the first book the bad are bad and the good are good keeping the story a fun romp through a fantasy world. I really enjoyed the new main character, Loobly. She’s outwardly so timid and yet she sticks up for herself every time it counts. Her fondness for rats is amusing as well.

This is one of those books that’s just plain ‘a whole lotta fun’. While the plot may have been predictable (to me) I had a great time getting there. I love these characters. I love the Scottish author’s sense of humour and I love Ross Collins illustrations. Looking at the author’s website, I see a third book has already been published in the UK, called The Heart of Glass. No sign of it on this side of the ocean yet but hopefully it will be a summer 2010 release.

“So cold,” he murmured. “Once she was warm and breathing.”

Where is my village? Where do I live? I live on this train. I used to live in one place and I will live in another but now I live in this perfect place between the past and the future, the known and the unknown, the bad and the good. – from A Disobedient Girl, page 128 -

Sri Lanka is located in Southern Asia, an island which lies in the Indian Ocean south of India. The war between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists began in 1983 and the resulting ethnic conflict has contributed to thousands of deaths. Despite a cease-fire negotiated by Norway in 2002 between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), renewed violence occurred in 2006. It is against this political backdrop, spanning a 30 year period, that Ru Freeman’s debut novel unfolds.

A Disobedient Girl begins as two parallel stories. Biso, a mother of three who is fleeing her abusive husband, envisions a future of hope and new beginnings but her journey quickly becomes disastrous. As one unpredictable event after another occurs, Biso must make decisions which will have a lasting impact on those closest to her.

Such bliss is not meant to last. In my husband’s house, my children were my real gifts: the older ones had turned fear over and over in my stomach until it molted into rage, and perhaps it was that rage, that sudden fearlessness in me, that had caught Siri’s eye and brought me my youngest, the second daughter, who finally gave wings to my feet. Wings. Or rails. I am grateful for this chance, for the future, for the train that is carrying us there, its carriages full of strangers, kind to one another, kinder than anyone had been to me in my husband’s village. I am grateful for its spaces, which fill up and release people, empty of fear. – from A Disobedient Girl, page 123 -

Latha (a servant girl) and  her mistress Thara (the daughter of high caste parents) grow up together as friends. But when Latha makes a fateful decision to seek revenge against Thara’s mother, the girls’ friendship and Latha’s future is threatened. Latha is sent to a convent, then two years later returns to Thara’s home where she must deal with her own personal desires and the hope for a better future despite the limitations of class and prejudice.

Latha froze. There is was again: a proper servant. That was all they had expected of her. Despite her education, regardless of it, and her looks, she was supposed to be no more, no less. Servant. – from A Disobedient Girl, page 324 -

The novel is narrated in alternating viewpoints: first through the third person limited point of view of Latha over a 30 year span of time; and then through the first person point of view of Biso over the course of a few days. This unique technique is effective in building tension and setting the stage for a surprising twist at the end.

A Disobedient Girl examines the destructive power of secrets, betrayal, loss, and domestic violence, and the power of love to overcome tragedy. Sri Lanka is not only a source, but a destination country for the trafficking of men and women for the purposes of involuntary servitude and commercial sexual exploitation…and in Freeman’s debut novel, this aspect of Sri Lanka is revealed through the eyes of her characters who experience these dangers first hand.

Ru Freeman’s writing is stunning, beautifully crafted and powerful. She carefully reveals her characters’ desires, motivations and flaws…and in so doing, draws the reader into their stories. I found myself marking passage after passage of this extraordinary novel. One passage reads:

All my children grab my body, pressing close to me, screaming with fake terror. I listen to the echoes of other children’s voices from compartments to either side of ours. These shrieks that I have heard each time we pass through a tunnel lift my spirits. They are the sounds of childhood and innocence. When we are out of the tunnel and my children let go of me, I feel unmoored. - from A Disobedient Girl, page 123 -

Indeed, I felt unmoored at times while reading A Disobedient Girl – transported to another time and place, experiencing things which most Americans can only imagine, and feeling moved and haunted by the book’s characters…who although fictional, could be almost any woman living under such circumstances. Freeman does not spare her readers from the raw emotions of fear, anger, or desperation. But, she also allows for the hope of redemption and salvation.

Like the train which Biso boards, A Disobedient Girl moves relentlessly forward towards its heartbreaking, yet hopeful conclusion.  When I turned the final page I felt awed by the power of the human spirit which is able to survive the worst of tragedies; and the strength of people to continue on in the face of loss and overwhelming odds.

Readers who love literary fiction and who want to be wowed by a writer’s talent, should look no further.

Highly recommended.

Read a guest post by Ru Freeman here on Caribousmom.

Sacred Hearts
By Sarah Dunant
Completed August 15, 2009

The third novel in her Italian Renaissance series, Sarah Dunant transported her readers into the everyday lives of nuns in her latest book, Sacred Hearts. Set in a convent in Northern Italy, Dunant continued her pristine historical writing through strong characters and women’s quests to find freedom during a repressed era.

The story centered on a young novice, Serafina, who entered the convent against her will. During 16th century Italy, the price of dowries was exorbinantly high, and families with more than one daughter often had to choose which one would get married. Serafina’s sister was chosen for marriage, leaving the young woman to become a “bride of Christ,” including a smaller dowry that was given to the convent. Serafina was an accomplished singer and had a lover “on the outside,” and was heartbroken to be confined to a convent.

Serafina disrupted the everyday lives of the convent - ranging in emotions from hysterics to depression - and her advocate was Suora Zuana, the convent’s healer. Suora Zuana took the young novice under her wing, attempting to show her that nuns had more rights inside the convent than outside.

As in her past books, Dunant created unforgettable characters - ones that taught us more about the history than the plot itself. One of the more fascinating characters was the convent’s abbess, Madonna Chiara. The abbess was incredibly savvy, despite her near-lifelong seclusion, and her astute handling of convent politics made her that more interesting. Her adversary was Suora Umiliana - the novice mistress who disagreed with Madonna Chiara’s leadership of the convent. And in the middle was Suora Zuana, whose healing included the body and soul.

While I enjoyed the characters, there were times when the plot of Sacred Hearts dragged, and I became less interested in the “main” story of Serafina and more interested in the political chess game between Madonna Chiara and Suora Umiliana. I wished Dunant made this conflict more central to the story. Sacred Hearts, in my opinion, is the weakest of the three Italian Renaissance stories because of this plot issue. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad book. It just means its predecessors (The Birth of Venus and In The Company of the Courtesan) had a stronger mixture of characters, plots and historical framework. Lovers of historical fiction, especially of the Italian Renaissance, should find all of Dunant’s books to be compelling and explorative reads. ( )

Pages: 341
Ages: 10+
First Published: Jul. 7, 2009
Genre: YA, historical fantasy
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

Marco Polo glared at the menacing knight standing at the other end of his family’s trophy room.

Reason for Reading: An historical fantasy featuring Marco Polo is an ideal theme to tickle my fancy. 

Comments: 16yo Marco Polo’s father, Niccolo, has been kidnapped on his last exploration and through a rather round about way Marco, along with his best friend Amelio (son of the family servant), journey to Constantinople, where they will start a rescue mission. Traveling across Asia, through the desert, into the Unknown Lands where Marco is being followed by the minions of a sorcerer who has harnessed so much evil power that he may no longer be human. These are then the early unrecorded adventures of Marco Polo.

This was a riveting read and caught me from the first chapter. Very well written, the language and dialogue flow naturally and I often enjoyed scenes simply because of the writing. Impressive for a first novel. Sometimes books create pictures in your mind as you read, and for me this was such a one. Best described as an Indiana Jones-type plot we have adventure after adventure all over the Asian continent, from small market towns to travel across the burning desert to the courts of Kublai Khan. Swordplay abounds wherever they are. Throw in the magical element of the East, sorcerers, the reverence of dragons, the elementals, and we have a plot that doesn’t stop. I really enjoyed the mixture of historical content, the Asian aspects with the fantasy elements.

With the book being plot driven this does cause characterization to suffer. Most characters are not fully realized except for Marco, whom I felt had a well developed character. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the other characters but just wanted to know more about them and care for them more. While the book is wrapped up nicely and seems to be a stand-alone, there is a feel to it that this may be the first in a series. Amazon seems to think is labeling it as “The Adventures of Marco Polo” but I can find no official information. Guess, we’ll just have to wait and see! If another book does come out, will I read it? You betcha!

As many believe, there is a place above and a place below.

The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine

Pages: 210
First Published: Jul. 7, 2009
Genre: literary fiction
Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

I have a break now.

Reason for Reading: Honestly, I simply felt compelled to read this, even though it’s not my usual type of reading. I do however enjoy books written in diary format, books with an Indian viewpoint and books written from a child’s point of view.
Comments: This is a heart wrenching book to read. Set in modern India, the story of a nine-year-old girl who is sold by her loving father into prostitution (to pay off his debts) and her presented to us in the first person through her diaries. We are given her story from her present timeline at the age of fifteen as well as from her past as she tells how she came to be in her present circumstances, until past meets present and we only can go forward with her.

This book is going to be a hard read for some people. A child prostitute leads a brutal life and the author leaves no stone unturned nor holds back on any details. Yet, Batuk, the main character, is many things. She is a victim, she is a part of her world, she is a survivor, she is an innocent child, she can be devious, she can experience pure child-like joy and she experiences terror no child should ever have. She is a character that the reader feels both great outrage and compassion for and also admires for her own strength and spirit.

One thing that really struck me as I read was how amazingly real the voice of the fifteen-year-old girl is, while realizing that the book is written by a man. For a man to project this teen’s feminine multi-layered personality so beautifully is a sign of a brilliant author. I look forward to his next novel.

The only thing that disappoints me some is the ambiguous ending. The only thing that stops me from giving a 5* rating. We are left to sort things out for ourselves and decide what happened. It ends in such a way that one can assume that it ended a certain way but if your not happy with that there is plenty of ambiguity to perceive your own ending. I prefer my books to tell me how it ends.

There is a lot of graphic s*xual detail, though none of it is gratuitous. It is necessary for such a story to show what really goes on in this world. This is a book that will open your eyes to something that you may not wish to have opened to you but how can you *not* go on without knowing these truths about your world.

Undone by Karin Slaughter
Special Agent Will Trent, Book 3

Pages: 436
First Published: Jul. 14, 2009
Genre: thriller, mystery
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

They had been married forty years to the day and Judith still felt she didn’t know everything about her husband.

Reason for Reading: Karin Slaughter had a new book out!

Comments: A victim of unspeakable torture is found on the highway as she is hit by a car. Convinced she must have escaped from somewhere close by Special Agent Will Trent relentlessly searches until a second, dead, victim is found. An all available manpower hunt continues looking for the crime scene when Will unearths a hidden cellar dugout in the forest floor, a horror room of unimaginable violence. Agent Will Trent and his partner Faith Mitchell plow ahead through local police territory looking for information to make this a case for the GBI. It is in the hospital that they first meet the attending ER physician, Dr. Sara Linton, who works on the first woman who was hit by the car. Soon enough, two more woman are reported missing and time is running out.

Karin Slaughter is back in top splendid form. This is an incredibly crafted novel. What an amazing crime, one of the most unique crimes I’ve ever read in a thriller. She combines a lot of typical serial killer elements with some very unusual aspects and themes that create a downright creepy case. Karin gives her fans everything they’ve come to expect from her: a gruesome intriguing crime, a difficult to solve mystery (I had my eye on the wrong person the whole way through!), a page-turner, read late into the night book that you wish you could just inhale. Splendid.

The only thing I didn’t like is the direction the main characters’ personal lives are taking. Reading the series in order, you find the personal lives of Will and Faith are a little soap opera going on in the background and I’m just not pleased with the direction each of them seems to be headed. Guess, I’ll have to wait for the next book! Sara’s character is nicely wrapped up from the dangling ending of her last appearance in Beyond Reach and I’m pleased with the author’s resolution with this character although I’m rather annoyed with some of her Grant County opinions, which also leads me into my last statement. I still want more Grant County, Ms. Slaughter! I like Lena Adams (better than Sara to tell you the truth) and want to know what’s happened with her and the rest of the folks at the Grant County Police Station.

Karin Slaughter is at her best with Undone. No fan is going to be disappointed with this one.

If you haven’t read Karin Slaughter. Please do read her books in order. This one book is both a sequel to Will Trent Book 2, Fractured and Grant County Book 6, Beyond Reach. Plus Sara, introduced as a character in this book, was one of the major characters in all the Grant County books to date. Also both Will Trent and his boss Amanda (can’t find the last name right now) both first made appearances in Grant County books before moving onto their own series. You will get much more enjoyment if you read her books in the order in which they were written.

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella, 435 pages

Kinsella is getting better and better. I enjoyed her Shopaholic series, but Becky could be a little ridiculous, amusing but silly. I’ve enjoyed her stand alones even more - Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me? and now Twenties Girl may be the best of them.

This is a ghost story of sorts, as Lara Lington discovers her 105 year old great-aunt Sadie appears to her at her funeral. Sadie wants to find her missing necklace before she will be at rest, and Lara must deal with Sadie and her demands. Lara is a twenty-something Londoner, in over her head with a fledgling business, started with her best mate who has taken off, leaving Lara to try and operate in the business world.

There are boys - good and bad, rich family members and a bit of a mystery with the necklace. I had a great romp with Lara as she learns to make friends with her great aunt, finds the right guy and rights a family wrong. Sadie was quite the chick, remembering her fun days as a girl in the 1920s and making Lara relive some of her glory days. Sadie provides some very funny situations, as only Lara can see and hear her and Sadie can be rather demanding at times. Sadie makes Lara ask out a guy so she can go dancing with him, then snuggles up, with Lara to the guy. There is great potential for a funny movie here.

I laughed out loud, I was touched by the bitter sweet ending, and was charmed by the love story. Kinsella is really hitting her stride as I find each new character a bit more realistic. The book is fun, and light, and predictable in the way that makes it fun to read, because I want it to turn out the way it does. I don’t read a lot of chick lit, but I have to think Kinsella is the master.

released July 21 in Canada

4.5/5