The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh is a deeply moving novel whose protagonist is Victoria, a damaged eighteen year old who has just been released from the foster-care system and left to navigate the world alone with no friends, family, home or job prospects. All she has is her knowledge of the Language of Flowers, taught to her by a former foster mother a decade ago.
This novel was so heartbreaking, at times it was hard to read, yet it was totally captivating. Even as Victoria continues to make bad choices, ruining her own chances for happiness, we can't help rooting for her. We feel her scared and tender heart as she cares for the most fragile flowers, gently replanting their roots and nurturing them.
Diffenbaugh is a foster mother herself and writes from her experience. This is an amazing debut, weaving together grief with hope, desperation with redemption, loneliness with family; with the magical language of flowers at the heart of the novel. A great read.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Pack Up the Moon
Pack Up the Moon, by Irish writer Anna McPartlin is a deeply honest, funny, tender novel, full of friendship, grief and one too many drinks.
The story centers around Emma, in her late 20's dealing with a terrible tragedy, and her close knit friends who circle around her, while dealing with their own struggles.
McPartlin was a stand-up comic before becoming a writer, and it shows in her writing. She's funny and doesn't hold anything back.
Although somewhat predictable, I found it to be an engaging novel, with well developed characters and an honest look at dealing with grief.
The story centers around Emma, in her late 20's dealing with a terrible tragedy, and her close knit friends who circle around her, while dealing with their own struggles.
McPartlin was a stand-up comic before becoming a writer, and it shows in her writing. She's funny and doesn't hold anything back.
Although somewhat predictable, I found it to be an engaging novel, with well developed characters and an honest look at dealing with grief.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Breadfruit
Breadfruit by Celestine Vaite is the first novel I've read by a Tahitian writer.
It is the first in a trilogy where we meet Materena Mahi, a Tahitian woman who brings to mind Precious Ramotswe of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
Through Vaite's deceptively simple writing, her characters come alive, and we are given a peek into true Tahitian culture. I found this book funny and thoroughly enjoyable.
It is the first in a trilogy where we meet Materena Mahi, a Tahitian woman who brings to mind Precious Ramotswe of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
Through Vaite's deceptively simple writing, her characters come alive, and we are given a peek into true Tahitian culture. I found this book funny and thoroughly enjoyable.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
Tell the Wolves I'm Home is a novel by Carol Rifka Brunt set in the 80's when AIDS was just being named and feared by all. It is a coming of age story about 14 year old June Elbus and her sister Greta. June is an awkward teenager who is more comfortable pretending she is living in the middle ages, than hanging out with kids her own age.
Her best friend is her Uncle and Godfather, Finn, who is a famous painter. She loves spending time with him in NYC and learning to see the world in a whole new way. When Finn gets sick and eventually dies of AIDS, June's world falls apart, until she is contacted by his boyfriend that she never new he had.
This is a wonderful debut novel. Rifka Brunt takes very sad subject matter and creates a tender and moving story of love, friendship and redemption. A great read.
Her best friend is her Uncle and Godfather, Finn, who is a famous painter. She loves spending time with him in NYC and learning to see the world in a whole new way. When Finn gets sick and eventually dies of AIDS, June's world falls apart, until she is contacted by his boyfriend that she never new he had.
This is a wonderful debut novel. Rifka Brunt takes very sad subject matter and creates a tender and moving story of love, friendship and redemption. A great read.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Love and Other Games of Chance
Love and Other Games of Chance by Lee Siegel started out really good, but soon got tiresome.
We meet Issac Schlossberg, son of a famed sideshow performer. His life is that of an entertainer, magician, circus performer, conjurer; he is in love with an Angel. His travels take him across America, to India, England and beyond, in a giant game of snakes and ladders.
At first I found the story very funny and very interesting. But the sustained frenetic pace of Siegel's writing eventually wore on me and by the end I was very happy to be able to put the book down. Some readers might find this book clever and inventive, but I found reading this novel was quite exhausting.
We meet Issac Schlossberg, son of a famed sideshow performer. His life is that of an entertainer, magician, circus performer, conjurer; he is in love with an Angel. His travels take him across America, to India, England and beyond, in a giant game of snakes and ladders.
At first I found the story very funny and very interesting. But the sustained frenetic pace of Siegel's writing eventually wore on me and by the end I was very happy to be able to put the book down. Some readers might find this book clever and inventive, but I found reading this novel was quite exhausting.
Friday, March 8, 2013
The Lake of Dreams
The Lake of Dreams is the recent novel by Kim Edwards, author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter. In the novel, Lucy Jarrett has been living abroad in Indonesia, and Japan, as far away as she can get from the town she grew up in, Lake of Dreams, where her father died in an accident ten years earlier.
When she returns home to spend time with her mother, after she has been in a minor accident, Lucy is dragged back into the past in more ways than she could have imaginged. She uncovers the story of Rose Jarrett, a long lost and forgotten relative, and while searching for clues about Rose's life, she uncovers answers to her own questions.
I love Edward's writing. She is a born novelist and it is a joy to sink into one of her books. I'm not sure if I liked it quite as much as The Memory Keeper's Daughter, but it's still a great read.
When she returns home to spend time with her mother, after she has been in a minor accident, Lucy is dragged back into the past in more ways than she could have imaginged. She uncovers the story of Rose Jarrett, a long lost and forgotten relative, and while searching for clues about Rose's life, she uncovers answers to her own questions.
I love Edward's writing. She is a born novelist and it is a joy to sink into one of her books. I'm not sure if I liked it quite as much as The Memory Keeper's Daughter, but it's still a great read.
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