Posts filed under 'Historical Fiction'
For our August discussion book, the South Madison Branch Library read Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama. Set in China in the 1920’s and 30’s, it’s a story of girls who go off to work in the silk factories in order to support their families. The story follows Pei, born to a poor farm family in rural China, who is sent to the factory by her father at age 9. The book details the silk industry, and more intriguingly, the communities and bonds formed among the women who do the silk work. In the background of Pei’s story is the growing unrest between Japan and China, culminating in the outbreak of war.
Our group was small, but there was a great deal of discussion. The group unanimously loved the book and several voiced their hope to find out the rest of Pei’s story in Tsukiyama’s sequel, The Language of Threads. The writing was simple, gentle and quiet yet didn’t always seem to express the depth of the hardships that the women were experiencing. While most liked the writing – one member loved that it was pragmatic instead of flowery – at times it seemed incongruous with what was going on in the story. One member noted that we are generally used to more graphic descriptions of violence and suffering in contemporary writing, so the difference was noticeable.
Everyone agreed that they genuinely liked and cared about the characters. They were surprised by the degree of autonomy and independence the women had during this era, and the kindness they were treated to in the girls’ house where the workers lived. All agreed that although the working conditions were difficult, their treatment at the hands of the house mothers where they lived could have been just as harsh. All of the readers were thrilled to have read about a world they didn’t know existed. One member of the group talked about her travels to poorer areas of the world, where she has observed similar bonding and cooperation among groups of women.
There was debate about the nature of a relationship between Pei and Lin, an older girl who takes Pei under her wing at the silk factory. Most of the readers thought relationship was meant to be sexual, and one did not. It was unclear why, but it seemed that the author was deliberately vague. The book was generally written in less graphic terms than it could have been, so perhaps the author was aiming the book at a wider audience of readers, including teens.
For September, we will read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot as part of the UW’s Go Big Read program. Some of our other branches are holding discussions of Skloot’s book as well. Check out the book discussion calendar for the dates and times.
August 24th, 2010
Lori - South Madison
The longlist for the 2010 Man Booker Prize has recently been announced, and the book world is buzzing over who’s likely to take away the top prize this year. One of the foremost players is David Mitchell, author of previous contenders Cloud Atlas and number9dream. His latest novel, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, is the odds-on favorite to capture the top honor this year, at least among people who actually bet on this sort of thing.
So, is it worth backing at the betting window? Whether it wins the prize or not, Thousand Autumns is a brilliant mix of historical fiction, complicated love story and gripping adventure. At the close of the eighteenth century, idealistic young Jacob de Zoet journeys from his sheltered Zeeland home to win his fortune in the stubbornly insulated world of feudal Japan. Confined to the tiny island of Dejima off of Nagasaki with the rest of the Dutch East Indies Company traders, Jacob is quickly disabused of any notions he had of making an honorable living. With Dutch and Japanese out to win riches at whatever cost (especially if the cost is to the company), Jacob’s task of rooting out fraud puts him in a precarious position. And when he becomes intrigued by Orito Aibagawa, a scarred Japanese midwife studying on Dejima, things become dangerous. In dire circumstances after her father dies, Orito and Jacob get caught up in the sinister plans of the local all-powerful samurai, whose pleasure or ire can shatter the already fragile worlds of Nagasaki’s power players.
It’s hard to say exactly what genre Thousand Autumns fits into. Mitchell’s portrait of feudal Japan immediately transports one into that world, while his story, complete with earthquakes, crime, daring rescues and shipboard life reads like Treasure Island . Yet Mitchell’s styling and complicated characters give it a richness that makes for a read worth savoring. Some of the richness comes at a cost: the story lags a bit at the beginning of Mitchell’s final act, as he goes about introducing a whole new set of characters. But the book quickly picks up again in the final pages, as Japanese and Dutch cultures uneasily face the rapidly changing world that not even oceans can hold back. Regardless of whether Thousand Autumns wins the top prize or not, there’s enough variety and great writing to keep most readers hooked. Whether the judges are convinced or not comes clear soon: the Booker shortlist will be announced in early September, with the winner chosen in October.
August 9th, 2010
Katie H.
I’ve been a big fan of Eileen Dreyer’s mystery/suspense novels for a long time - in fact, I highly recommend With a Vengeance - so when I heard that she was writing a historical romance I was intrigued and ultimately very happy with the new direction.
Barely a Lady is the first in a projected trilogy and was emotional and suspenseful and witty. All good. Which is why I’ve been surprised at the wildly different reactions to the book. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review as did Kirkus and Library Journal with that reviewer saying:
“Vivid descriptions, inventive plotting, beautifully delineated characters, and stunning emotional depth ensure the success of Dreyer’s historical romance debut.”
Great, that lines up with how I felt. But All About Romance rated the novel a ‘C’ and the Dear Author reviewer hated it (and if you read through the comments on this one you’ll find a note from the author with her reaction). The disconnect is why I think this would be a great book to choose if you are part of a romance book group. Books that are universally loved or loathed are hard to discuss for any length of time. Those that fall in the 50/50 range (some loved it, others hated it) are what you need to generate discussion.
So what is it about Dreyer’s new novel that’s striking such dissonant chords? Here’s the story: Olivia Grace was once married to Jack Wyndham, the Earl of Graybush. Their marriage ended in a scandalous divorce after Jack found her in what he thought was a compromising position and threw her out. Five years later Olivia is scraping by as a companion for the three daughters of a socially ambitious woman. They’ve come to Brussels on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo in hopes of snaring husbands for those daughters. As Olivia sits on the sidelines at the ball, her long-time fears are realized when a figure from her past sees her and threatens her hard-won anonymity. Before she can escape, the historic battle happens and Olivia is drawn to help with the wounded. While on the battle field she’s shocked to find her former husband, nearly dead from his injuries and dressed in a French uniform! How did Jack end up in the battle? What’s he doing in the uniform of Britain’s enemy? Important questions that will have no quick answers because when Jack wakes up he has forgotten the recent past and thinks he’s still married to Olivia.
What bothered some reviewers were the elements that have appeared in too many regency historicals over the last ten years: amnesia, aristocratic spies, and what’s known in the romance reading world as the Big Mis (big misunderstanding) to name a few. I totally understand how some readers might shake their heads and sigh at the ‘been there, done that’ feel. But for me the familiar elements were simply there as the backdrop for the deeply felt, emotional relationship that exists between Jack and Olivia. I believed that they loved each other and that Olivia did so much against her will given her stormy past with Jack. So for me a success and one I hope will be repeated when the second book comes out next spring.
July 16th, 2010
Jane J. - Central Library
Last week Kim Ukura wrote an article for 77 Square about summer reading (several MPL staff members - past and present - were quoted, yay us!). They included some reading lists (thrillers, nonfiction and teen reads from MPL staff, yay us squared!) and that got me looking for other summer lists. And how’s this for serendipity? Just as I was looking for those lists, Madison Public tweeted about Oprah’s “Biggest, Best Summer Reading List Ever”. Book number two on that list? The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender which Kylee already reviewed on MADreads (yay us cubed!)
Other summer lists that might interest you:
10 Top Summer Cookbooks from NPR
15 Great Beach Reads from Indie Book Sellers
Entertainment Weekly’s 18 Books We Can’t Wait to Read this Summer
Historical Fiction from NPR
LA Times: 60 Books for 92 Days
Salon’s Nail-Biting Summer Reads
Summer Romances from Salon
If all those lists are overwhelming you, how about starting with the book that’s appearing on most of them. The Passage by Justin Cronin is an “ambitious epic about a virus that nearly destroys the world, and a six-year-old girl who holds the key to bringing it back” according to Amazon which rated it one of the best books of the month for June. I’m already on the waiting list for this one but there are many more that are grabbing my attention. What are you looking forward to this summer?
June 17th, 2010
Jane J. - Central Library
As I mentioned in a former post, I’ve been on a steady diet of teen books in search of this summer’s Teen’s Choice review books. I thought I’d give you a sneak peek at a couple of titles which will be on this year’s list.
Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson is an exceptionally well-researched piece of historical fiction. The teen protagonist, Isabel and her five year-old sister, Ruth, are slaves living in pre-revolutionary New York. They were promised their freedom by their former owner. Upon his death, however, his relatives sell the two girls to a wealthy family in the area who happen to be Loyalists. Isabel, logically stunned by and chafing at her continued enslavement, and worried about her sister, becomes interested in helping the rebel cause when she is promised her freedom in exchange for information. Several things Anderson does so well in this book include giving readers a glimpse of some of the complexities and dangers of revolutionary times, as well as throwing the idea of freedom into high relief. Will this young country-to-be win its freedom from the tyranny of unjust governance? Will Isabel win her and Ruth’s freedom from the tyranny of the unjust system of slavery? While you’re reading, check out the upcoming Juneteenth celebrations.
The ever-popular Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins is also on this year’s Teen’s Choice list. I read this book because it was one that “all the teens are reading” and I felt I should have an idea what it was about. I didn’t expect to like it at all, because I knew that *spoiler here* many characters don’t survive the book. This is futuristic dystopian science fiction, truly at its best. Here’s a brief summary: In a future world 16-year-old Katniss takes her younger sister Prim’s place in the annual Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death. All she hopes to do is survive as long as possible, revolution doesn’t even cross her mind. In this tour-de-force Collins asks many provoking questions. Is compassion a strength or is it a weakness? How can people with few resources resist a government which preys upon its children in order to maintain control? If put in a situation in which your only choices are to kill or to be killed, what would you really do? And is survival in that situation the best thing or is their a way to strive for something better? This is a highly discussable book and would be a great one for a book discussion group. Here’s the link to Suzanne Collins’ interview.
Those are just a couple of the titles we’re reading this year keep an eye on our Teens Choice Awards blog for further news.
May 5th, 2010
Karen - Sequoya
I just finished Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky’s translation of Anna Karenina. The book was wonderful. While I imagine it is easier today to obtain a divorce than in nineteenth century Russia, the emotional turmoil suffered by Anna, as well as Alexei Alexandrovich, her husband, and Vronsky, her lover, still feels very real.
Tolstoy is a master of characterization, and in Anna Karenina this includes not just the trio mentioned above, but also the faithful Darya Alexandrovna, or Dolly, and her husband, Stepan Arkadyich, a party boy with loose morals and many debts, as well as host of other characters. The most notable character in the book, if not Anna, is Konstantin Levin, a landowner with multifarious impulses and much uncertainty about how to live life the right way. He earnestly explores questions of love, faith, and his responsibilities toward others. According to Pevear, Levin is Tolstoy’s “most complete self-portrait.”
This review is brief because it’s hard to summon up the words that would do this great book justice. If you’ve read the book before, it’s probably worth reading again in Pevear and Volokhonsky’s translation. And if you’ve never read it, theirs is the one to choose. By now they’ve created acclaimed translations of many of the Russian classics. Their biographical note from the back flap closes with some information just a little bit delightful, all on its own: “…Pevear, a native of Boston, and Volokhonsky, of St. Petersburg, are married to each other and live in Paris.” Ah, Paris. Just imagine.
April 17th, 2010
Jon - Central Library
“Alice in Wonderland” that is. If you’ve already seen or are planning to see Tim Burton’s new take on this classic children’s story you HAVE to read Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin. Benjamin takes us into the Victorian lives of Professor Charles Dodgson aka Lewis Carroll (his pen name) and the family of Alice Liddell who was his muse for the fanciful tale that delights children to this day. Knowing nothing of the controversy surrounding the relationship between Dodgson and Alice this historical fiction account was very interesting and at times very disturbing. A short footnote describes Benjamin’s intentions in writing this book and although it doesn’t clear up any of the controversy this novel is a fascinating scenario of what DID and also what MAY have happened between Dodgson and his lovely Alice.
The book opens with an elderly Alice Hargreaves, formerly Alice Liddell, reflecting on her life after she’s auctioned off her rare edition of the first copy of Alice in Wonderland to support her now decrepit English country home. Alice’s sheltered life began in Oxford, her father an important figure on campus and her mother running the household. Alice and her sisters went on many day trip excursions with Professor Dodgson and their governess and it is on one of these outings that Dodgson tells Alice and her sisters a story. Alice begs Dodgson to write it down and history is made. But it was when 11-year-old Alice and Dodgon started exchanging letters and having intimate encounters that tongues start flapping. Alice suddenly is forbidden from contact with Dodgson and becomes infatuated with a new man, young prince Leopold. Does Alice marry her prince and end up royalty? Unless you’re a Carroll aficionado or AIW historian you will be in for a surprise. Alice’s life does not turn out as whimisical as Dodgon’s fantasy alter ego was written and in the sad last chapters Alice tries to reconcile the life she dreamed of as a child with the reality of who she has become. The hinted at improprieties with Dodgson are written with respect, but many of the scenes still made me cringe at the idea of a 30-year-old man having such an intimate relationship, emotional or otherwise, with such a young girl.
What was most enjoyable about this book was how expertly Benjamin describes the dress, culture and social structure of this time period. Though Benjamin wrote with excellent description, Alice’s dialogue did however seem a little off at times. This minor fault though should not keep you from exploring what really happened in Alice’s childhood, you will be in for an outstanding Victorian tale.
Late addition to review: Just saw this first edition of the film online and wanted to share.
April 13th, 2010
Katharine - Sequoya
I have many skills that I never use or think about, including cross-stitch, making meringue and yes, folding a flag. It was while reading Sarah Blake’s WWII novel The Postmistress that I got to thinking about many of the things I learned to do as a child that seem very old-school, like writing a formal letter and addressing an envelope, that kids today may never learn. I’m a child of the 70s, but my WWII-era grandparents taught me much of what I know today. So even though I did not live through this time period in history, I feel very close to it.
I love the clothes, the music, the movies, the vernacular and the names. The Postmistress is full of names like Frankie and Marnie and Florence and Iris and Harry and Ed. The dialogue is straight out of Casablanca and the characters are very Bogie and Bacall. And Hepburn and Tracy. With maybe a little Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed thrown in the mix, too.
What’s noteworthy about The Postmistress is that, like The Help, there are multiple characters to follow through the connecting plot. My favorite character is Iris James, the no-nonsense postmaster of Franklin, Massachusetts, but yours may be Frankie Bard, radio reporter or Emma Trask, the romantic newlywed. The story takes the reader from Cape Cod to London during the Blitz and throughout Europe. The characters have varying levels of patriotism and involvement in the war, but the war profoundly affects each of them.
The postal system, truth in reporting and a flag pole also figure prominently into the plot. In fact, there are multiple instances in which flag folding occurs on and off the page (this is where my mind kicked in as I mentally folded the flag on my own). But at the heart of the novel is a letter that connects all three women.
I can’t adequately describe Sarah Blake’s writing or her talent in putting this book together, but I predict that it is not only going to be as popular as The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Help, but that there will be a movie in the works soon. It’s got love and war, heartache and heartbreak, life and death - all the stuff that makes a great novel. Get yourself on the hold list for this one.
April 9th, 2010
Molly - Central
It had been years since I had seen a comic book featuring Sgt. Rock. The DC Comics World War II era heroic icon had lost much of his appeal by the time the Vietnam War was dragging to a close and he had more or less faded into obscurity. But when I saw the new graphic novel Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion by Billy Tucci and read a little about the story I figured it was worth a look. I was right.
Granted, comic book heros are always larger than life, even those like Sgt. Rock and the men of Easy Company. But this particular story introduced me to the real-life heroes of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Comprised of Nisei, Japanese-Americans who fought for their country while many of their families were imprisoned in U.S. based internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war, the 442nd became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history for its size and length of service.
This particular story focuses on “the lost battalion” (actually, there have been several) who, late in 1944, were sent into the Vosges mountains of France in pursuit of the German army and found themselves surrounded and under attack by a superior German force. Running low on water, food and ammunition and exposed to the elements as well as enemy fire, the rescue of the troops becomes urgent and eventually the by-now veteran Nisei troops of the 442nd are tasked with trying to break through to their trapped comrades.
The story is occasionally told in dispatches from a combat journalist named Kilroy who first meets (is rescued by) Sgt. Rock during the D-Day invasion of Omaha Beach. After D-Day, Kilroy teams up with the Nisei to write their story while Rock and his men become part of the trapped/lost battalion. It’s Kilroy who sums up the results of the battle and bitterly notes that all the American units who took part in the fight were heralded in the free press–except for the Japanese Americans who were the first to break through and bore the brunt of the casualties.
It’s an expertly crafted piece of work that Billy Tucci has presented here. All the branches of the armed forces are given their due, occasionally with characters given the names of individuals who were there (and other times in the guise of other characters from DC Comics lineup of war comics characters– anybody else remember “The Haunted Tank?”). The artwork is really terrific with rich details and expressive emotions on the characters. The colors are somewhat muted, but that’s to be expected when most of the action takes place in the cold and rain of a combat zone. And the story, well, it’s a war story and some of us still like to believe in heroes. YMMV but I have to admit there was a moment when my emotions nearly overwhelmed me.
Written more than sixty years after the events, it’s not too surprising that hindsight plays a role in the telling of the story. The general who initially puts the lost battalion in harms way then sacrifices the Nisei troops to effect their rescue is portrayed as a bit of a martinet who seems a little too eager to cultivate relationships with the members of the combat press. One may wonder, too, whether the Nisei troops became so highly decorated (they were eventually known as the Purple Heart Battalion) because their commanding officers were more willing to sacrifice them.
There are several works in the catalog that deal with the 442nd if this volume piques your interest. Included are a couple of feature films. (Go For Broke, the 1950 film featuring Van Johnson, shows the Nisei through Johnson’s eyes. The film doesn’t age well, but is probably very much a product of its time. Only the Brave, released in 2007, shows the story from the Nisei point of view)
By the way, that “Make war no more” in the title of this review was uttered by Sgt. Rock at the end of the book to a reporter. That seemed a little uncharacteristic of the character and the times so I googled it.
March 31st, 2010
Dennis - Central
This old house is run-down. This old house is leaky. This old house is far from town. And this old house sends them screaming ’cause it’s the scariest place around. I’m talking about Hundreds Hall, the big, spooky mansion at the center of Sarah Water’s The Little Stranger.
Have you got a thing for old houses? Manderley? Northanger Abbey? The Castle of Otranto? Hill House? If you dream of polished wood banisters leading up grand central staircases, heirloom tapestries hanging from the windows, hidden corridors and maids in costumes, then Hundreds Hall is just your place. In post World War II England the Ayres estate is beyond crumbling and well on the way to ruin. The family is broke and while still respected in the community, they’re seen as more of a curiosity than anything else. Piece by piece the grounds are being sold off to developers, but the family’s still got the house.
Enter Dr. Faraday, whose mother worked in the nursery at Hundreds when she was a girl. He is called to the house for a medical emergency and befriends the family. Then weird things start to happen. Weird things involving blood and injury and madness. Weird things that culminate in a disturbing ending that I did not see coming. I do not normally predict these things, though, so that is nothing new.
On a scary scale of one to ten, I would rate this book at about six. On my scale, a one is something easy, like the picture book, Where the Wild Things Are, where everything gets resolved and all are safe and sound at the end. A five is anything by Neil Gaiman. OK, to be honest, The Graveyard Book and Coraline are really about a seven on my scale, because they did give me nightmares. Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories and Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House are at ten. The Little Stranger is sufficiently creepy, but it’s not going to give you nightmares, and there’s more to recommend than the horror.
What I enjoyed most about this book had nothing to do with the chillers and thrillers. I liked the house. The details of the flooring and ceiling and wallpaper and ornamental carvings were amazing. And that was just the beginning. There were also chandeliers and fireplaces and fancy chairs. And libraries and billiards rooms and nurseries. And linens and silver trays and aristocratic maid-calling bells. Hundreds Hall is a fantastic setting. If you appreciate a good mansion with a touch of terror, give this book a go.
March 17th, 2010
Molly - Central
Barbara Kingsolver’s first novel in several years, The Lacuna, spans three decades in the life of Harrison Shepard, the son of a United States diplomat and a Mexican mother. Told in the form of diary entries, newspaper articles, letters and a memoir, Harrison’s life unfolds from his teenage years in Mexico to his adulthood in North Carolina.
The novel begins in 1929 when Harrison is thirteen and living in Mexico with his mother who has abandoned America in hopes of finding a better husband. Left on his own, Harrison begins reading adventure novels and books on Mexican history while developing a lifelong habit of journal writing. In Mexico Harrison also discovers a small cave - a lacuna - while living on an island off the coast.
After moving to Mexico City, Harrison is put to work in the kitchen and running errands. His life takes an unexpected turn when he’s hired to make plaster for the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera and eventually joins his household. Both Rivera and his wife, artist Frida Kahlo, are committed communists and during Harrison’s years with them open their home to the exiled Russian leader Leon Trotsky. Living in constant fear of assassination by Stalins’ death squads, Trotsky’s time in the household provides a different perspective on the early years of the Russian Revolution.
The second half of the novel shifts to North Carolina where Harrison lives after Trotsky’s death. He finds himself in the surprising position of a heartthrob to million of female readers as the author of historical romances and is later investigated as a possible subversive by the House Un-American Activites Committee. It is during his years back in the United States that the reader learns the identity of the person who’s saved his many journals over the years and makes this story possible.
I especially enjoyed the first part of this book with the descriptions of the Mexican countryside with its many vivid colors as well as the interesting background information on the early years of the Russian Revolution. Harrison’s later years in North Carolina were somewhat disappointing in what was otherwise an entertaining novel from this popular author.
February 24th, 2010
Lesley - Central
The Queen’s throne is in jeopardy. Surrounded by advisors who may or may not be trustworthy, Elizabeth faces rebellion from overseas and rivals within her own court. Faced with constant challenges to her claim to royalty, Elizabeth has to rely on her wits and her special powers to ensure the crown for herself and her sons.
Sons? Philippa Gregory departs from her usual fictional intrigues of the Tudor Court to focus on the Virgin Queen’s great-grandmother: the Yorkist Queen Elizabeth. With The White Queen, Gregory finds particularly fertile ground for her imagination. The widow of a Lancastrian knight, Elizabeth Grey captures the heart of the Yorkist usurper King Edward IV. Married in secret, their marriage is defined by the feuding houses of Lancaster and York, placing Elizabeth and her children in constant danger. Like her other books, Gregory refreshes a well-worn story by bringing to life the women at the center of the upheavals. Rejected by her husband’s family and eager to consolidate her position, Elizabeth and her mother use marriage and a bit of witchcraft to put her family in high places–and insure a generation of enemies. As Elizabeth’s ambition grows, the danger to herself and her children mounts, leading her royal sons to a fate that remains unsolved to this day.
Like her other books, Gregory grounds her fiction in solid research (The White Queen includes a bibliography for further reading). In some ways, that is the problem: Elizabeth’s life was so eventful that plot sometimes gains the advantage over character. However, there’s enough momentum in the plot to keep readers’ interest, and the hope that future books in the trilogy will flesh out intriguing characters that might not get their full due in this installment. The real treat here, like Gregory’s other court novels, is experiencing history through the eyes of England’s powerful and often fiercely ambitious women.
For those who want to explore more about this especially tumultous and addictive period in English history (or need some help sorting out the tangled threads of loyalty), check out some of the fiction or nonfiction titles on the subject. Mystery lovers might try Josephine Tey’s classic The Daughter of Time, while those who like a little romance with their history might pick up Anne Easter Smith’s new trilogy on the era, starting with A Rose for the Crown. Gregory’s next installment, tentatively titled The Red Queen, hits shelves this August.
February 6th, 2010
Katie H.
Previous Posts
For our August discussion book, the South Madison Branch Library read Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama. Set in China in the 1920’s and 30’s, it’s a story of girls who go off to work in the silk factories in order to support their families. The story follows Pei, born to a poor farm family in rural China, who is sent to the factory by her father at age 9. The book details the silk industry, and more intriguingly, the communities and bonds formed among the women who do the silk work. In the background of Pei’s story is the growing unrest between Japan and China, culminating in the outbreak of war.