Must Read Book: The Invention of Wings: Review

dear readers,

Sorry I have been absent for awhile but I have been doing a LOT of reading so I have many reviews for you all! I love history and American history from inception to the 1960s is my passion.  Along with factual reading I enjoy historical fiction.  It is a way to put yourself in the time through interesting characters...

(I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).

THE INVENTION OF WINGS
Written by Sue Monk Kidd
genre: literature, historical fiction, african-american history, women's history

4 STARS 

Sue Monk Kidd wrote The Invention of Wings because of her interest in the Grimke sisters and the time they lived in. In the novel we hear from Sarah Grimke and her maid, Hetty "Handful" Grimke.  

Sarah Grimke is the middle child of a wealthy lawyer with a household of house and field slaves.  We meet Sarah at a young age when her ideals and moral code is cemented.  As a child she wanted to be a jurist like her father and brother but is told that she is a woman and therefore will be a wife.  She meets a charming man with whom she thinks she can be the "wife" with.  When her heart is broken she forgoes society and her reputation as she fights for the rights for women and African-Americans with her youngest sister, Angelina.

Hetty's mother is also a slave has become Mrs. Grimke's seamstress when she  shows talent.  Hetty sits at her mother's feet learning about sewing, her family history and wanting to be free.  Sarah is uncomfortable with Hetty being a slave and tries to free her when Hetty is given to her on her birthday.  When she is told no Sarah goes against the law to teach her to read and write.  Hetty taking on her mother's word joins the cause to free herself.

I loved Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees and was pleased to see that she was writing another novel set in the South. Before I started this novel I did not know that this story was based on real historical figures.  The author does tell in the Afterwards why she wrote this story and how much is historical fact and how much is historical.  I love that the novel alternates between Sarah and Hetty as it gives us the aspect of both "slaves" and "slaveholders" in the early nineteenth century.  The writing is brilliant and the subject matter is so interesting.  I found myself looking up the Grimke sisters and seeing what was written about them.  This is one novel that will leave you still thinking about it months later. 

I will have a few more reviews on historical fiction set in the United States for you!

love, 
kris

More Great Canadian Fiction!

dear readers,

It has been a rainy day in Vancouver, BC and I have been feeling a bit under the weather so it has been a great day to read :) I continued to enjoy Alice Munro: My Best Stories (also called Alice Munro's Best: Selected Stories) - some stories were new to me and some were like revisiting old friends...

Alice Munro: My Best Stories
written by Alice Munro
genre: short stories, fiction, canadian literature


5 STARS 

This collection of short fiction includes her works from the 1970s to present day. All of the stories have been published before in other volumes. This collection also has an introduction written by another Canadian author, Margaret Atwood.

As the title states these are Alice Munro's best short fiction.  The Canadian author recently won the Pulitizer for her writing and hopefully this will increase her readership and gain more fans.  I have been reading Munro since I was in my early teens and have been in love with her work for years.  She has the ability to take a story and that most authors would need a novel to tell and condense it to size of a novella.  She is able to pack so much into them without it being overwhelming.  A great collection to introduce or revisit Munro.

Alice Munro: My Best was published October 2009.

Off to choose my next read :)

love,
kris 

Lauren B. Davis Novels Reviewed

dear readers,

Lauren B. Davis has been on my TBR (to be read) list since 2005 after picking up The Stubborn Season on sale at the local bookstore.  The cover drew me in and the depression era storyline sounded intriguing.  Sadly it took me eight years to read Davis and that has been my loss for sure.  For our November book club selection we decided to try Davis's Our Daily Bread - published in 2011.  I started this novel knowing only that it has been described as "backwoods noir".  And, the result...

OUR DAILY BREAD
written by Lauren B. Davis
genre: canadian literature, literary fiction, noir, suspense

4.5 STARS


Inspired by true events - In Davis's haunting story we meet Albert Erskine, a smart 21 year old who sells weed to make money.  He and his family are shunned by the town of Gideon and are called the "Mountain People".  Living among his clan Albert has seen and been through many horrors and it has caused him to become more frustrated and angry.

Soon Albert becomes a mentor to a young boy in town names Bobby Evans.  Bobby and his family also do not fit in among the religious town people.  His father, Tom is well-liked but is ridiculed for his younger wife's unfaithfulness.  Ivy, his sister, is brilliant but bullied by girls in her class.  Her only friend is Dorothy, the 60-something widow who owns the antique shop.  Dorothy sees the righteousness attitude in her peers and tries to stay away from them.  

As we get to know these characters that are considered the "others" in Gideon Davis also shows what can happen when we let some people int our life.

After dinner one night I sat down to start Our Daily Bread, hoping that I could finish the novel in the next few days, in time for my book cub meeting.  The next time I came up for air was when the novel finished.  The way Davis grabs you from the beginning with her characters and plot is amazing.  Even if you cannot relate to the characters personally you can empathize and feel for them.  These are not good or bad people but normal people with every day flaws.  I found myself attached to all the characters - loving and hating them or their actions.

The story, even if it was not based on true events, still lingers in my mind and i think about it time to time.  It was a book we all liked in my book club and it provided us with a great conversation. I recommend this novel to everyone who appreciates a good novel.  



My book club and I enjoyed this novel so much and were greatly impressed with Lauren B. Davis's writing we selected The Empty Room as our December pick.  We have read multiple books by an author in our book club but never back to back...

THE EMPTY ROOM
written by Lauren B. Davis
genre: canadian literature, literary fiction

4 STARS

Colleen wakes up hungover and only has flashes of the night before. As the day progresses her alcoholism comes to the forefront. Colleen thinks back of her family and how drinking and other drugs were the ruination of many of her relatives. Drinking themselves to suicide, accidents,etc. As people bring her drinking to her attention this only causes Colleen to get defensive and retreat. At the end of the day will Colleen admit her problem and seek help? 

I was impressed with the way Davis was able to make Colleen's life and alcoholism work within a day. We were able to see Colleen's past through flashbacks and interactions with her mother, father and lovers. I like that the chapters were broken up into smaller sections so that the flashbacks were able to flow better. While Colleen is not an overly sympathetic character you still want to follow her story and want her to get sober. The secondary characters help the tension in the story and give Colleen further dimension. I am sold on Davis's novels!


In 2014 I am looking forward to finally reading The Stubborn Season!

love, 

kris 

For more information on Lauren and her books visit her at:
http://laurenbdavis.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Laurenbdaviswriter

Gruber on Woolf: Review

dear readers,

I have always been fascinated with Virginia Woolf's life and writing.

(I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).

VIRGINIA WOOLF: The Will to Create as a Woman 

Written by Ruth Gruber
genre: biography, literature, history

4 STARS 

REISSUED (First written in 1935 and reissued in 2005)

Ruth Gruber the youngest PhD student to receive her degree takes a look at Virginia Woolf and her analyzes her writing.  The first part of the book is the Introduction written by the author.  She explains why she wrote this book, on meeting the author she writes about, corresponding with her and Gruber's own academia history.  There are also copies of the original letters she discusses in the book.  The next part of the book is Gruber's dissertation on Virgina Woolf's writing and her beliefs.  One of the major points is that Woolf writes from a feminine voice in a time where everyone else used masculinity.  The last part of the book is the reason Gruber reissued her book and those who were instrumental in making that happen.

I choose to read this book because Virginia Woolf as a writer, person and someone suffering from mental illness has always fascinated me.  Usually, you see biographies that take some time to analyze her writing as based on her life.  Gruber in this book takes the time to look at the voice from which Woolf writes.  Gruber outlines how Woolf in most of her writings if not all has a distinct feminine voice. I was a little lost at what the referred to at first but having read Mrs. Dalloway I was able to follow Gruber's examples.  I would not recommend this book to everyone as it is not one of those pass along books.  Anyone who is a fan of English lit, author's writing background or of Woolf will appreciate Gruber's work.



More on Ruth Gruber: 

BIOGRAPHY

Ruth Gruber is an award-winning Jewish American journalist, photographer, and humanitarian. Born in Brooklyn in 1911, she became the youngest PhD in the world and went on to author nineteen books, including the National Jewish Book Award–winning biography Raquela (1978). She also wrote several memoirs documenting her astonishing experiences, among them Ahead of Time (1991), Inside of Time (2002), and Haven (1983), which documents her role in the rescue of one thousand refugees from Europe and their safe transport to America. Gruber lives in New York City.

Books

• Witness: One of the Great Correspondents of the Twentieth Century Tells Her Story Schocken (2007) 
• Virginia Woolf: The Will To Create As A Woman, 2005
• Inside of Time: My Journey from Alaska to Israel, 2002, 2004
• Exodus 1947: The Ship That Launched the Nation, 1999 2007
• Ahead of Time: My Early Years As a Foreign Correspondent, 1991, 2001
• Rescue: The Exodus of the Ethiopian Jews, 1987
• Haven: The Dramatic Story of 1000 World War II Refugees and How They Came to America, 1983, 2000
• Raquela: A Woman of Israel, 1978, 1985, 1993, 2000
• They Came to Stay (coauthor: Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky), 1976
• Die Bauern-Passion Von Waal (coauthors: Ursula Zeidler, Gerhard Eberts), 1976
• Felisa Rincon De Gautier: The Mayor of San Juan, 1972
• Puerto Rico: island of promise
• Israel on the seventh day, 1968
• Israel today: Land of many nations, 1958
• Israel without tears, 1950
• Destination Palestine: The story of the Haganah ship Exodus 1947, 1948
• I Went To The Soviet Union, 1944
• I Went to the Soviet Arctic, 1939, 1991

For more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Gruber

love,
kris