Shriver writes impeccable novels about contemporary issues: the obesity epidemic (Big Brother), health care costs (So Much For That), and a mass killing (We Need To Talk About Kevin) and others (Double Fault is a favourite of mine). In this novel, she describes the near future (2029 and beyond) after the financial collapse of America. Her focus is on 4 generations in a family, so the psychological aftermath is even more chilling. This is an excellent read and very relevant post-2008 financial collapse; what if things had progressed downhill even more dramatically .
Category: Female author
Mexican Hooker #1: And My Other Roles Since the Revolution by Carmen Aguirre
Aguirre previously wrote “Something Fierce“, about her revolutionary life in South America after the Chilean coup that killed Allende’s socialist revolution. Something Fierce won the CBC Canada Reads competition in 2012. This new book travels back and forth in time between South America and Vancouver, so both before and after her first book. But the central focus of this book is on the aftermath of a brutal and horrific sexual assault in Vancouver when she was 13 years-old. Her rape was a violent and degrading act of power and aggression, not a sexual act per se. I had the privilege of seeing Aguirre act in an ATP play in September 2013. What I learned from this book is that she had attended a parole hearing for her rapist during the run of this play (he was being held in Bowden Prison). This is an extremely powerful and at times profoundly disturbing book and is not for the faint-hearted, but Aguirre eloquently outlines her path to forgiveness (of herself) and reconciliation.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26067164-mexican-hooker-1
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
Simonson wrote the delightful “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand“, and this book, only her second, is even better. The story takes place in an English village (Rye, in Sussex) before WWI, with all the snobbery and vicious gossip that characterized Downton Abbey. The description of the limited role of women is particularly well-told in this pre-suffragette era. The book ends with a graphic description of the horrors of trench warfare; belligerent and ignorant troop commanders are particularly odious. This is an excellent read.
The Excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton
Hamilton is a great writer (A Map Of The World, The Book Of Ruth, etc.). This new book is a very fine addition to her list of novels, a book about complex family relationships but mainly a coming-of-age story about a young girl who doesn’t want to grow up. Consequently, at times her behaviour is wildly erratic, both frustrating and endearing. Highly recommended.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26031214-the-excellent-lombards
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Butler’s imaginative novel, written in 1979, uses time travel to explore two very different times and places: 1976 LA and Maryland in the early 1800s. Specifically, an African-American woman is transported multiple times to a time and place of slavery. The book explores how behaviour is influenced by context, of how a modern woman is required (or coerced) to take actions that enable slavery because of complex relationships and situations. This book has strong and compelling story-telling.
The House Of The Spirits by Isabel Allende
This was Allende’s first novel, published in 1982, and it represents outstanding story telling. The characters are all so vivid: the mercurial Esteban with his legendary temper; three generations of strong women – Clara (a delightful clairvoyant), Blanca and Alba. The story, of course, shows the evolution of the Chilean tragedy; the last 100 pages gives a brutal account of the coup with all the violence, lies and deceit. A great read.
Wild Rose by Sharon Butala
Butala
writes wonderfully about the beauty of Saskatchewan, especially her descriptions of the grasslands flowing in the wind (e.g. Perfection of the Morning). This book describes the adventures of a French-Canadian newly-wed couple as they travel west from Quebec to homestead in Saskatchewan in the early 1880s. Butala’s description of the isolation and hardship of homesteading is beautifully written and compelling; the bitter cold of winter is especially evocative. The core of the book is a story of resilience for a headstrong young woman, Sophie. This is a great read. (As an aside, Butala has recently relocated to Calgary).
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25842762-wild-rose
Birdie by Tracey Lindberg
This is a really excellent FIRST novel that was undersold in the recent Canada Reads competition. At its heart, this is a book about sisterhood among disparate characters. It is a gritty story with graphic instances of abuse that understandably produces attachment disorder. The story is non-linear with reality and dissociative dream-like states; Bernice wills herself to disappear at one point. This is an excellent book that everyone should read.
H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald
Most of you know that I rarely read non-fiction, but this book was a very rewarding excursion into the world of non-fiction literature. MacDonald has written a really excellent book with three interacting themes: (i) the human emotion of grief precipitated by the the death of her father, with a detailed description of her emotional paralysis; (ii) an intense human-bird relationship because she decides to train a goshawk as a coping mechanism; and (iii) an examination of the author TH White who had a tortured life and wrote a book about training a goshawk in the 1930s. (TH White wrote the exceptional novel called The Once And Future King, a book that I rank in the top-ten books that I have read in my entire life). MacDonald’s book is wonderfully introspective about both the psychology of humans and birds, and the physiology of birds in relation to flight. A section of the book about the shared responsibility of hunting and killing is truly remarkable. This is a great read.
What David Read 