This novel, which could be classified as fantasy, folk tale or fairy tale, is, according to one review, based on a Senegalese folk tale and set in Barbados/the Caribbean. Our unnamed storyteller describes a world featuring deserts, pastures, villages and towns, and most importantly, djombi. Djombi are undying spirits, capable of taking on different forms — human, insect, animal — influencing events, and changing memories. Redemption in Indigo is the story of a djombi suffering from burn out and a human who must teach him […]
Our Shame and Dishonor
Sometimes things disappear and there’s no getting them back. This first novel from Julie Otsuka deals with the period of time that follows her second novel. The Buddha in the Attic told the story of the Japanese American experience from arrival in California at the turn of the century until the forced deportation of Japanese Americans to internment camps during WWII. When the Emperor Was Divine tells the story of one family, from the days just preceding their departure from California to a camp in […]
Pointillism in the Form of a Novel
Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic is extraordinary. I’ve read nothing quite like it. It’s a novel that reads like a short history (130 pages) and a free-form poem. The characters are not particular individuals, but rather the Japanese American community and white America. The time frame is from the turn of the century until 1943, when Japanese Americans were rounded up and sent to internment camps. In all my years as a reader, I can think of only two novels made me truly […]
Dissection of Dysfunction
Paula Fox’s 1976 novel examines one family’s intense and contentious relations with each other. While the hurt, anger and divisions have been years in the making, all it takes is one dinner together and its aftermath for the reader to gather the depth of the discord and the underlying reasons for the dysfunction. The Maldonada family, as one might guess from the name, is both Spanish and “given toward evil” — a very poor translation of what I think that name means. Evil is too […]
Obsession
If you are looking for a gritty British detective/mystery novel for the weekend, Fiona Barton’s The Widow is a fine choice. Set in the years 2006-2010, the plot involves Internet chat rooms, child porn and a missing toddler named Bella Elliott. Our main characters are Detective Bob Sparkes, who is obsessed with finding Bella, journalist Kate Waters, who is obsessed with getting the scoop, Glen Taylor, who is obsessed with child porn, and his wife Jean, who tries her best to protect her husband and […]
Feminist Witch
This surprising gem of a book, which happens to have been the very first “Book of the Month Club” selection (1926), came to my attention through the delightful New York Times “By the Book” series. Every week, an author or other famous person is interviewed about their favorite books and authors, their least favorite, etc. About a month ago, Helen Macdonald (author of H is for Hawk) was the subject and she mentioned Lolly Willowes as a favorite book. Having never heard of it, I […]
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