Category: Book themes

Birnam Wood – Eleanor Catton

Another great book by this author, set in New Zealand. The first one-third starts slowly as we meet the players. The middle third shows intricate maneuvering: self-mythologizing rebels in a horticultural collective, political and economic rants, jealousy and envy of a scheming super-rich American, debates over the ethics of wealth distribution. And the final third is a cracking adventure as plans go awry, to become an eco-thriller with an abrupt but fitting ending. Obviously the topic is very contemporary – highly recommended.

She also wrote The Luminaries as previously reviewed by David.

Fayne – Ann-Marie MacDonald

Full disclosure: this sweeping sage is long (722 pages) but Ms. MacDonald’s exquisite writing makes the reading very worthwhile. The setting: Fayne, an estate straddling the border between England and Scotland. The time: late 19th century. The main players: Lord Henry Bell and wife Mae, and children Charles and Charlotte. The story is rife with family secrets, with cruelty and cowardice in male-female and father-child relationships. A shifting timeline accentuates the drama: highly recommended. 

PS: A-MM wrote the wonderful Fall On Your Knees a long time ago.

Homecoming – Kate Morton

In 2018, Jess is an almost 40-year-old who returns to Australia because her elderly grandmother Nora has been hospitalized after a serious fall. At Nora’s house, Jess learns about the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959: the death of Nora’s sister-in-law and her three children in South Australia. Is this a murder-suicide by a distraught mother? What are the family lies designed to protect the ones we love? The story becomes an exciting crime drama that is a compelling read.

Lessons In Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus

This is a superb example of a book that is both delightful and meaningful. It is the 1950-60s, so Elizabeth Zott’s career as a graduate student and research chemist is subject to brutal sex discrimination. As a consequence, she eventually becomes the star of a cooking show, Supper At Six. Her motto: cooking is serious science because it is based on chemistry. There are laugh-out-loud sections and shrewd observations about human behaviours: highly recommended.

Junie – Chelene Knight

First, the context: East-end Vancouver from 1933-39, an area called Hogan’s Alley which is home to Black and immigrant communities. At its core, this brilliant book is about complex mother-daughter relationships: Junie and her jazz singer mother Maddie, and Estelle and her mother Faye. As Junie progresses from age 13-19, her artistic talents bloom despite a disquieting reality. Thanks Amy, for this recommendation: highly recommended.

The Fake – Zoe Whittall

Full disclosure – this is a superb relationship book, my favourite genre. Shelby meets Cammie at a grief support group. Shelby is grieving the sudden death of her wife; Cammie is recovering from cancer and many other apparent calamities. Gibson is recently divorced, meets Cammie in a bar and falls in love. But what if Cammie is a lying psychopath, a consummate con person? And what does it say about the psychology of Shelby and Gibson that they can be so profoundly manipulated? Finally, the ending of this book is sublime in its simplicity: highly recommended.

Bad Cree – Jessica Johns

This remarkable debut novel is all about Indigenous women. Mackenzie is a young Cree woman living in Vancouver, but darkness dreams drive her to return to her home on High Prairie, Alberta, in part to confront her unprocessed grief over the death of her older sister. Can spirits visit people in their dreams? Can evil entities feed off the hurt, isolated and grieving? This is both a masterful mystery and horror story that will forever change your appreciation of the phrase “murder of crows”. Highly recommended.

The Orphan Girl – Kurt Palka

Sometimes a sentimental historical novel fits the bill perfectly. The time period is 1944-46. Kate survives a London bomb but then circumstances force her to live with a doctor friend, Claire. Complex issues complicate their lives: a murdered father and the return of Claire’s troubled husband from the war. This story is about friendship, promises, courage and independence. Key details are left unexplained, to make for a very satisfying plot.