Orphan Train

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is historic fiction at its best. Baker Kline tells the story of Irish Catholic immigrant Niamh, later called Vivian, a young girl, orphaned in New York City in 1929 and sent on an "orphan train" to Minnesota to hopefully be adopted by a family there.

Between 1854-1929 orphan trains ran regularly from the East Coast to the Mid-West carrying thousands and thousands of children who we be taken to lives servitude and farm work. Some were lucky enough to end up with kind families who adopted them, but they were far removed from everything and everyone they knew.

Baker Kline has done her research well, even meeting with several 90 year old train riders still alive today. A beautifully written novel that highlights a little known part of American history. Recommended read.

Heart and Soul

Heart and Soul, by Maeve Binchy, author of Minding Frankie and many other novels, is a book about a close knit community in Dublin centered around a new heart clinic that has just opened.

Binchy writes feel good novels, creating characters the reader comes to know and care about, and although there are a few not so happy moments, mostly they are full of happy endings for all concerned.

An enjoyable, if a bit predictable read.

The Rosie Effect

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion is the follow up to The Rosie Project. Don Tillman, the Australian geneticist, with Asperger's syndrome, now living in New York with his wife Rosie, finds out she is pregnant. As he approached the problem of trying to get Rosie to marry him, he now approaches the problem of how to become a good father, very scientifically and with slightly odd methods that land him in trouble with the law.

Both books are laugh out loud funny and hard to put down. However, things keep going from bad to worse for Don in this sequel and I was starting to feel really bad for him and hoping he would catch a break, which he eventually does. I didn't love it quite as much as The Rosie Project, but still a hilarious and worthwhile read.

Pomegranate Soup

Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran is a thin novel set in a small town in Ireland where three Persian sisters open a cafe. Each chapter starts with a different recipe.

The book is mildly interesting and the recipes pleasing, but it is over before the characters are developed enough to really care about any of them.

An entertaining, yet forgettable read. It did give me a craving for pomegranates.

The Ghost Bride

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo is a novel set in 19th century Malaysia, about a Chinese family whose daughter is supposed to marry a recently deceased man. Although not common, this was practiced by some Chinese families at that time.

What follows is a fabulous exploration of Chinese myth, folklore, superstition, and intrigue, as the reader is taken on a journey into the afterlife where a parallel world exists and young Li Lan tries to find her way in this world of ghosts and spirits. Along the way she encounters some fantastic creatures who make it almost impossible for her to return to the human realm.

Choo is a wonderful storyteller. I loved this book, much more than I expected to. A fascinating read.

Light of the Moon

Light of the Moon by Luanne Rice is a very romantic novel set in the French Camargue. Full of white horses, saints, gypsies, full moons, ancient cave paintings, love at first sight and more, the novel is full of mystery and romance as only Rice can write it.

Susannah Connolly is on a journey to France that she promised her late mother she would make. Little did she know it would change her life. There she meets Grey Dempsey, his wounded daughter and the beautiful white horses. As their story unfolds, the reader is transported into another world.

Although this is not my favorite of Rice's novels, her writing  is still beautiful, lyrical. If you are willing to suspend your disbelief that such passionate love at first sight in such a romantic setting actually exists, then you will enjoy this novel.

The Toss of a Lemon

The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan is a family saga tracing four generations of a Southern Indian Brahmin family during the first half of the 20th century. The family is headed by Sivakami, married at ten, widowed at eighteen, and left alone with two small children. She sticks to her conservative Brahmin customs throughout her life, even as her own son and the world around her begin to change and shift away from the caste system.

A fascinating, beautifully written portrait of life in India at a certain time and place that no longer exists. I was transported completely by this complex and captivating story. I could almost hear the music of the veena playing while I was reading. Although this is a work of fiction, there is much truth in the descriptions of India's journey towards independence, and those who held on tightly to the old ways and those who wanted a more modern life. Neither side is judged here, Viswanathan simply shows how centuries of tradition shaped a nation.

A recommended read.