Back When We Were Grownups

I am new to Anne Tyler and this novel, Back When We Were Grownups certainly didn't impress me.

Rebecca, the 53 year old protagonist seems to be going through a mid-life crises. There are just too many characters in the book that are all undeveloped and I didn't even particularly like Rebecca. I kept waiting for something to draw me in, but by that time the book had ended.

Everyone recommends reading Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by the same author, so maybe I will give her another chance.

Dreams of Joy

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See is the much awaited follow up to Shanghai Girls. This is the kind of historical fiction that I love. However, with such high expectaions for this book, based on how much I loved See's earlier novels, I was a little disappointed.

We continue the story of sisters Pearl and May that we met in Shanghai Girls. Now their daughter/niece Joy has run away to China during Mao's Great Leap Forward, and Pearl, who is very frightened for Joy's safety, follows and tries to find her.

The problem I had with this book is that I didn't entirely believe Joy's character. It seemed far too easy for her to enter China and find her father and start her life there, then, again too suddenly, things went desperately wrong. 

It was sobering to learn some of the truths of what went on in the countryside during Mao's Great Leap Forward, when an estimated 45 million people starved to death. I love that See's books are so well researched and I learn so much about the times reading them, however it is her capacity to tell a great story that makes her such a great writer.

For me, Dreams of Joy fell short in comparison to her earlier novels. If you've read Shanghai Girls, you will surely want to read this book. See remains one of my favorite writers, I just don't think this is her best novel.

The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel

The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley is a mildly fascinating novel about the Chinese princess Eastern Jewel. I think I would have enjoyed the novel more if it hadn't been billed as historical fiction. Although Easten Jewel is an historical figure, most of this story seems to be made up.

Her life story is nonetheless intriguing. She was a strong woman of Chinese birth, cousin of the last Emperor, raised in Japan, sent to Mongolia, and later became a spy for the Japanese during WWII. She was a great beauty who often dressed as a man, smoked opium, flew planes, had many lovers, and betrayed most of the people she came in contact with.

In this novel, she isn't very likeable, and this made it hard to truly care about her. I suspect the true Eastern Jewel was a much more interesting and even likable person than the character Lindley has written.

Known as the "Eastern Mata Hari" and the "Joan of Arc of Manchuria" she deserves a better biographer than Lindley to tell her tale. However, since this was not meant to be a biography, it is still an interesting read.

Under the Mercy Trees

I picked up Under the Mercy Trees by Heather Newton in the library, not knowing what to expect, and  was pleasantly surprised by this debut novel.

This is a character driven novel, centering on the siblings of a missing man in rural North Carolina. When Leon Owenby is discovered missing, his brother Martin returns from a depressing life in NYC to a rather depressing life back in his hometown, to help look for him.

This could have been a grim novel, yet Newton magically weaves the stories of all these broken family members together in a way that makes us care deeply about them. I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next, and I found myself pulling for Martin until the end.

Newton plumbs the depths of family relationships with great skill and insight. An impressive debut.

The Summer Without Men

The Summer Without Men by Siri Hustvedt attracted me first by its title. Then I came to enjoy it for its fresh writing and poetic narrative.

Poet Mia Fredricksen is fresh out of the hospital after a breakdown caused by the departure of her husband of 30 years for a younger woman, referred to as "The Pause." She spends the summer back in her hometown with her mother and 5 elderly women, as well a a group of 7 young pre-teen girls enrolled in her poetry class. All these women, young and old and without men, make for a very interesting summer indeed.

The novel is carried along by Hustvedt's writing style which is witty, intelligent, humorous, and unique. An unexpected joy to read.

Shanghai Girls

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See is a novel about two sisters, Pearl and May growning up in Shanghai 'the Paris of Asia' in the 30's, and how their lives dramatically change as war comes to China and they are forced to flee to the United States. They endure many, many hardships through the years, at home and abroad, yet always manage to keep their bond.

I read this novel 2 years ago when it first came out, but wanted to re-read it as the sequal-Dreams of Joy-has just been published, and is the next book on my reading list. I feel more caught up in Pearl and May's story than I did the first time around, and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

See is a brilliant writer and storyteller, and she has written some of the best historical fiction based in China that I have ever read.  I mentioned her at the beginning of this blog, and I highly recommend all of her novels.

The Good Earth

After reading Pearl of China about the life of Pearl S. Buck, I felt compelled to re-read Buck's classic The Good Earth.

Understanding this book in the context of when it was written  and by whom, it is truly remarkable. This novel, published in 1931, was written by a white American woman, in the first person voice of a Chinese male peasant.  Nobody was writing or reading about the lives of Chinese peasants then, or for many decades to come. The fact that Buck could do this so effortlessly is nothing less than astonishing. For this, she won the Pulitzer Prize, and she continued to write numerous novels set in China for the rest of her life.

The quality of the writing is simple and conveys life as it was for the peasant farmer Wang Lung and his family. Through hard work and belief in the richness of the land, he rose above his meager beginnings to great wealth, however he never lost his connection to the land. The treatment of women at the time, even by other women, is difficult to read about. Buck is not trying to make things better than they were, but rather paint a true picture.

There are a lot of people running 'hither and thither' throughout the book, along with a lot of other outdated language, but this is what I quite enjoyed about the book. A very worthwhile read in the midst of my fascination with historical fiction set in China.

Pearl of China

Pearl of China by Anchee Min is historical fiction about the life of Pearl S. Buck. I knew very little about Pearl S. Buck before reading this novel, and I found it fascinating. It is the fictionalized account of Pearl's life, growing up in a small Chinese village with her best friend Willow. Willow's character is created by Min from many different freindships Pearl had throughout her life.

I found the first half of the novel superb, especially the relationship between the 2 girls and the life of Pearl's missionary family in China at the time. Later, once the women are separated, and Willow goes through so many hardships in old age when she refuses to denounce her friend, the novel loses some of its earlier appeal.

However, it was a such a fascinating read, it has made me want to re-read The Good Earth (which I read about 20 years ago) and many other novels by Pearl S. Buck that I have never read before. After being denounced for so long during Mao's Cultural Revolution, and being denied a visa to ever return home, Pearl S. Buck is finally celebrated in China.

Anyone interested in historical fiction set in China will love this book.

The Three Weissmans of Westport

Aside from the silly name, I actually quite liked Cathleen Schine's novel The Three Weissmans of Westport. Once I stopped trying to compare it to Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility, I realized I was enjoying it as a clever, insightful and well written novel in it's own right.

A 75 year old divorcee (who refers to herself as a widow) and her 2 grown daughters, all without men, share a run down cottage in Westport together, in their newly reduced circumstances. What ensues is sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking. Yet at other times, I found it to be not entirely believable and I was disappointed by some loose ties at the end.

All in all, the writing was better than most, and I found myself staying up late to find out what would happen next. Not a bad choice for a summer read.