Another excellent novel of historical fiction by Ms. Allende. Emilia is born in San Francisco in 1886 after her Irish mother was abandoned after a brief affair with a Chilean aristocrat. She grows up to become a strong self-sufficient young woman and an independent thinker. She begins to write pulp fiction and then turns to journalism, all using a male pen name. In 1891, she travels to Chile and becomes embroiled in a brutal civil war. Her war experiences are truly harrowing; overall, this novel is spellbinding.
Category: Location / Setting
The Tiger And The Cosmonaut – Eddy Boudel
This Giller short-listed story is set in a remote area of the Sunshine Coast in BC. Three adult children return to their hometown when their father goes missing. Is this an early stage of dementia, or something else? The siblings must also confront the mystery of a missing brother from more than 20 years ago. This is an emotional story of identity in the face of secrets. There is also underlying violence and meanness that is unsettling, both in the past and now in the present. Overall, an unforgettable tale of survival and unspoken love.
Lullabies For Little Criminals – Heather O’Neill
This is Ms. O’Neill’s first novel, written almost 20 years ago and winner of Canada Reads in 2007. Baby is a 12-13-year-old girl living in Montreal with her single father Jules who is entirely irresponsible. Thus, O’Neill captures the exuberance of youth, with some breathtaking bad choices and the absolute lack of a moral compass. This is really a story of a life on the street, completely without self pity. Be advised: this is a gritty story with danger and extreme cruelties, and some sickening realities of feral children and their reckless decisions. A must read.
The Homemade God – Rachel Joyce
Ms. Joyce is an exquisite writer, and this book is one of her best (along with The Music Shop). Four siblings travel to Italy because of the unexpected death of their father. At the Lake villa, they also meet the much younger woman their father has married recently. This is a relationship story, about fragile familial bonds, the paralysis of grief, about beauty and pain. The writing is beautiful and very evocative, so be warned: tears will emerge. Overall, this is a moving, insightful and imaginative story with a brilliant ending. Highly recommended.
Valentine in Montreal – Heather O’Neill
This exquisite story was created first as weekly installments in the Montreal Gazette. Valentine was orphaned at age 7 and raised by her grandmother in an apartment connected to the Montreal Metro system. Now age 24, she works at a Berri-UQAM depanneur. A chance encounter with her doppelganger leads to an adventure with the Russian mafia, a composer and a ballet dancer, and even a musical cricket, and there are stops at Metro stations. O’Neill’s fabulous prose creates a fable-like atmosphere, with beautiful illustrations by daughter Arizona.
The Paris Express – Emma Donoghue
In 1895, the Paris Express train begins a 7-hour trip to Paris. Donoghue writes with impeccable detail about the operation of the train but also about the passengers in first- second- and third-class carriages separated by wealth and status. What if an anarchist with a bomb is one of the passengers? Is this train rushing to a catastrophe? So the story shifts from historical fiction to become a thriller. Thus, a story that is impossible to stop reading – highly recommended.
People Of The Book – Geraldine Brooks
In 1996, an Australian rare book conservator travels to Bosnia to inspect the Sarajevo Haggadah, a 500-year-old book with illuminated Hebrew text. The history of the book is presented as historical fiction: creation in Spain in the late 15th century, rebinding in Vienna in 1844, and preservation from Nazis in World War II. Importantly, there are critical roles for Muslims and Catholics in the history of this book. Mysteries are revealed, with a backdrop of contemporary intrigue. Overall, very entertaining.
A Table For Two – Amor Towles
Towles is a great writer of novels (A Gentleman in Moscow, The Lincoln Highway). This book features his shorter fiction. First, there are six short stories set in contemporary New York: art in the Metropolitan Museum, dining at Balthazar, music at Carnegie Hall – what’s not to love! These stories feature brief encounters and the delicate mechanics of compromise in a marriage. And second, the book contains a novella set in 1938 Los Angeles featuring Eve from Rules of Civility in a noirish role, in a classic crime caper. Towles writing is stylish and compelling, as always.
In Winter I Get Up At Night – Jane Urquhart
Ms. Urquhart is a Canadian literary treasure and this book is one of her best. In the 1920s, the McConnell family travels from Ontario to the Northern Great Plains (aka Saskatchewan). Emer is a young girl whose life is transformed by a catastrophic injury and slow hospital convalescence separated from her family. What follows are transcendent images and memories revealed in a looping non-linear narrative, in other words, the mind of a child with confused imaginations and an adult’s poignant nostalgia. Emer has a profound and moving life – a must read book in my opinion.
What David Read 