04 Saturday Nov 2023
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction
Tags
19th century, African American women, Ashley (Enslaved person in South Carolina), family relationships, memory, mothers and daughters, South Carolina, Southern states, women slaves
19 Friday May 2023
Tags
COVID-19 (Disease)|, Iceland, Japan, man-woman relationships, memory, older men, pandemics, restaurateurs, Reykjavík, women
Kristofer is forced to close his successful restaurant in Iceland due to Covid and suddenly decides to go to Japan after receiving a message from a woman he hadn’t heard from since the 60’s. Both a gut-wrenching love story and a mystery, I was riveted to the last page.
“The gratifying ending is hopeful. [Touch] adds up to an affecting story about the sway one’s past can hold on the present.” — Publishers Weekly
“Olafsson’s treatment of the vast cultural chasm between Icelander Kristófer, and Miko…brings suspense and heartache to the reader.” — Library Journal
“Delicate, absorbing…Touch is weighted with questions about love, memory, and intergenerational trauma–reaching a denouement as satisfying as it is moving.” — Vogue
12 Wednesday Sep 2018
Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction
Tags
1960’s, families, grief, guilt, Holocaust survivors, memory, New York, restaurateurs
The New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us creates a vivid portrait of a husband devastated by a grief he cannot name, a frustrated wife struggling to compete with a ghost she cannot banish, and a daughter sensitive to the pain of both her own family and another lost before she was born. This book tugged at so many emotions for me. I couldn’t wait to read the next chapter.
“This exquisitely crafted and compassionate novel offers a lesson in honesty, regardless of how difficult the truth may be. It will offer plenty of discussion for book groups.” (Library Journal (starred review))
“(Blum) takes on the difficult task of rendering generational trauma visible, and does it with such humor and empathy, you can’t help but be swept along for the ride.” (Village Voice)
“Blum avoids the sap of happy endings and easy resolutions in this perfect encapsulation of the changing times and turbulence of mid- and late-20th-century America.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review)
21 Friday Aug 2015
Posted in Fiction
The author, once again, in this his last novel, returns to the fictional small town of Holt, Colorado, the setting for all of his fiction (Plainsong, Eventide, and Benediction).
Haruf, who passed away in November 2014, has written a bittersweet but buoyant novel about a widow and a widower who find each other and in the process find an antidote to loneliness.
Despite the author’s spare style, Haruf packs as much action, character development and emotion in 179 pages as many authors do in books twice or three times as long.
The review in Library Journal states that “this novel resonates beyond the pages … don’t miss this exceptional work from a literary voice now stilled.”
“A fine and poignant novel that demonstrates that our desire to love and to be loved does not dissolve with age. . . . The story speeds along, almost as if it’s a page-turning mystery.” —Joseph Peschel, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
29 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in Fiction
An intriguing read by a Canadian first time author who confronts with deep compassion the struggles of big families in the wilderness whose number one strength is self reliance. It touches on the rivalries and comaraderie between spouses and friends via spare description and crisp, concise conversation.
“Drawing on wisdom and whimsy of astonishing grace and maturity, Hooper has written an irresistibly enchanting debut novel that explores mysteries of love old and new, the loyalty of animals and dependency of humans, the horrors of war and perils of loneliness, and the tenacity of time and fragility of memory.” – Booklist Starred Review
“Debut novelist Hooper’s spare, evocative prose dips in and out of reality and travels between past and present…This is a quietly powerful story whose dreamlike quality lingers long after the last page is turned.” – Library Journal Starred Review
05 Wednesday Nov 2014
Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction
Tags
Alzheimer's, art treasures in war, Hermitage Museum, memory, Seige 1941-44, St. Petersburg (Russia), World War II
The author of this novel offers a poignant but marvelous glimpse into the life of Marina Buriakov, a former docent at the Hermitage Art Museum in Leningrad during World War II, whose mind is now slipping into the shadows of Alzheimer’s.
“Dean writes with passion and compelling drama about a grotesque chapter of World War II.” (People)
“Elegant and poetic, the rare kind of book that you want to keep but you have to share.” (Isabel Allende, New York Times bestselling author of Zorro)
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