Naomi’s Gift by Martha Hall Kelly; Ash Wednesday by Paula McLain; Landing by Olivia Hawker; We are Bone and Earth by Esi Edugyan; A Wild Rose by Fiona Davis; Alison’s Conviction by Thomas Keneally; Mother Swamp by Jesmyn Ward – Classic Book Review

Per usual, here are my reviews for each short story in the collection. Overall, this collection at times moved me and made me do more research on certain events brought up which is why my reading this week was slow (for me).

Naomi’s Gift by Martha Hall Kelly (5 stars)-Phenomenal. You can figure out where Kelly is taking you, but I honestly was shocked at the the whole Holocaust camp for women/mothers/children. I keep thinking that there is nothing that could shock me at that point in time, but there still is. It just makes me even more sickened and upset that we have too many people doing the whole “I am just asking questions” crap about how the Holocaust must be or could be inaccurate. Too many records people. It’s accurate and terrible we did these to our fellow human beings. Back to the story. We follow a 30 year old woman in the 1970s whose mother dies and she finds out her history is not what she thought/imagined. The ending leaves on a bit of hope. Just a bit though. I can guess what could have happened for her to be where she ended up.

Ash Wednesday by Paula McClain (5 stars)-Phenomenal. Also WTF! I thought the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was a moral hazard and terrible and finding out this real world event of a school catching on fire in Ohio (look up Collinwood, Ohio) in the 1900s and how way too many people in the know realized this was something that should have been addressed. I honestly cried at the end of this story. McClain has us following the janitor at the time who was blamed for this by the residents (though the man also lost 3 of his own children). I got nothing.

Landing by Oliva Hawker (5 stars)-I loved this point in time focusing on an engineer (fictional) who is in charge of helping with the first rocket to space/astronauts landing on the moon. He really learns though that his job may be to make sure things are unbreakable, he didn’t think through that same care of his new marriage. I loved this one.

We Are Bone and Earth by Esi Edugyan (5 stars)-Well we had to get back to some bleakness I think. This story focuses on the slave trade in the 1700s. We follow a young girl who was carried away due to her ability for languages who still hunts/searches for her brother who was taken by the Ahosi. I don’t know what to say. This story is bleak. I think once again the author tries to instill some hope, but I can’t imagine she got the happily ever after she wanted/needed.

A Wild Rose by Fiona Davis (4 stars)-This story follows a character named Gloria Banderas who is performing at Carnegie Hall during the 1960s I think. Gloria has a hand injury though which causes her to cancel a performance and she ends up befriending someone (Adrienne) who lives above the theater. The same day, she befriends one of the many free-spirited artists inhabiting the warren of apartments above the theater. I just thought this one was kind of boring compared to the stories before it. The authors’ note was good though.

Alison’s Conviction by Thomas Keneally (3 stars)-We follow a young autistic girl named Alison in this one. COVID is mentioned a few times so I think our point of time in this one is 2020 or later. I ultimately didn’t like there was a resolution on this one. If you read the story see if you agree.

Mother Swamp by Jesmyn Ward (3.5 stars)-This short story follows Afice, who is the last of her family who have managed to survive being enslaved/hungry/etc. She’s 17 and leaves the Louisiana swamp to follow her “ancestors”. This should have been a longer story. It just read as unfinished to me. It didn’t help this was one of the shorter stories in the collection. Another reviewer pointed out you have to read the author’s note on the end to more fully get enmeshed in this story and I agree.