Longbourn by Jo Baker

This book is Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of the servants at the family home, Longbourn.  Unfortunately it has been so many years since I read the original that I cannot confirm or deny the author's assertion that "where the two books overlap, the events of this novel are mapped directly onto Jane Austen's.  When a meal is served in Pride and Prejudice, it has been prepared in Longbourn.  When the Bennet girls enter a ball in Austen's novel, the leave the carriage waiting in this one."  That being said, this was still an extremely enjoyable read.

I must first give credit to Baker's writing style.  Based on her vocabulary, syntax and general structure, it would be easy to believe this was written in 1813 rather than 2013.  Though old fashioned, the language flows smoothly making this book easy to read, unlike some historical novels. It is written from the perspective of Sarah, a house maid in the Bennet home.  She came to the home as a young child after she was orphaned when the rest of her family died of typhus.  There she was taken under the wing of Mrs. Hill, the housekeeper/cook and her husband, the butler.  The only other staff member at the start of the book is Polly, another orphan who has recently come into the household.

The lives of the staff are thrown into disarray when Mr. Bennet abruptly agrees to hire James as a footman.  Sarah finds it odd that Mr. Bennet and Mr. Hill are so quick to accept the quiet though industrious young man.  As it is the time of the Napoleonic wars when most able bodied men are fighting, she is suspicious of his motives in coming to work for them.  Her suspicions are not helped by the fact that James is immediately attracted to her, but tries to bury that attraction by pointedly ignoring her.

As the book progresses we learn of James' history, and gain some insights into the horrors of the Napoleonic wars.  At the same time we see more of Mrs. Hill's history with Mr. Bennet as well as the nature of her marriage to Mr. Hill.  Throughout this we catch glimpses of the Bennet sisters', as seen from the eyes of their servants - and, in particular, we are witness to the vast disparity in their lives.

Like in Pride and Prejudice, the main couple eventually overcomes their personality differences and ends up together and the novel concludes with a "happily ever after" chapter that updates us on where the characters ended up within a couple of years of the main action.

Though not likely to become a historical masterpiece like the original, I think this book is a worthwhile read and it has prompted me to pick up Pride and Prejudice again.

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

As usual, I loved Allende's work.  Set in the United States, this book contains less magical realism than her South American set works, though some does make its way in toward the end of the book.  The best part of this novel were the wonderful, strong female characters.

Irina Bazili is a young care worker who takes a job in Lark House, an eccentric San Francisco nursing home.  There she meets Alma, an 80ish woman from a wealthy society family who has checked herself into the home despite the reservations of her family.  Most of the residents are aging hippies with little or no money of their own.  Alma hires Irina as her personal secretary and Irina sets out to learn about Alma's fascinating past.  She is particularly curious about weekly letters and gardenias that she receives.

Alma's grandson, Seth, takes an interest in Irina and together they piece together Alma's decades long hidden love affair with a Japanese gardener, Ichimei.  Alma and Ichimei were childhood friends when his father worked as her family's private gardener.  This was disrupted by the abrupt internment of all Japanese residents during World War II.  Through flashbacks we follow Ichimei's time in the internment camp as well as learn how Alma's parents were killed in the Holocaust after they had sent her abroad to live with her aunt and uncle.

We also learn about Alma's deep friendship and ultimate marriage to her cousin Nathaniel.  While I had guessed some of Nathaniel's secrets, others were surprising as they were revealed over time.  And we learn about Irina's own very horrific past as she slowly opens herself up to Seth's love.

There were several other interesting characters at Lark House.  I particularly liked Dr. Cathy, a relatively young resident who is in the home following a debilitating accident, but continues to practice medicine on the residents, and the flamboyant Lenny whose past interactions with Alma are eventually revealed and most interesting.  I was less enamoured with Alma's brother Samuel and found the couple of chapters about him a bit distracting.

This is not a book of tremendous action, but the examination of people, their pasts and their  relationships makes the book a very worthwhile read.

The Illegal by Lawrence Hill

After the success of The Book of Negroes I wondered whether Lawrence Hill's novel would disappoint.  So first I went to hear him speak about it - and was very intrigued by the excerpt he read so decided to take the chance.  And I was not disappointed at all.  Though not as powerful as the prior novel, this book is still very well written, interesting and, in particular, introduces some very intriguing characters.

The protagonist is Keita, a boy born on the fictional island of Zantoroland.  The poor island is known for its autocratic government and its marathon runners.  As a boy, Keita doesn't do well in school (unlike his sister Charity) so runs and dreams of getting to the Olympics one day.  However, after Charity heads to Harvard for university and a bloody coup which has tragic results for both his parents, Keita is not sure that will happen.  That is until he is taken under the wing of a rather corrupt coach who takes him out of the country to run.  He first fails in the Boston marathon, where he also fails to make contact with Charity, and then is taken to the fictional, Freedom State.

Freedom State, in contrast to Zantoroland, is one of the wealthiest nations on earth.  However, it has a very strict anti-refugee policy and apartheid like policies against its black residents (very broadly defined), many of whom live in the slum AfricTown on the outskirts of the capital.  In Freedom State Keita escapes his corrupt manager and moves underground to try to win races and use the winnings to figure out what has happened to his sister.

Though he encounters many corrupt people in Freedom State - like the "madam", Lulu DiStefano, who owns most of the shanty housing in AfricTown and the President himself, others are far more sympathetic and realize Keita could become a contributing member of the country if given the chance.

My favourite was the elderly Ivernia Beech.  She is fighting her own battles against her son who wants to declare her incompetent so he can gain control of her significant assets.  But Ivernia is far from incompetent and uses her wits not only to protect her freedom, but to assist Keita's efforts in obtaining his own.  I also liked John, the gifted young boy from AfricTown who attends the most prestigious school in the country on scholarship.  As part of a prize for an award winning essay, he is given the freedom to film a documentary about life in Freedom State, and particularly in AfricTown.  Under the guise of filming the documentary he gains access to many places including Lulu's brothel and the office of the Minister of Citizenship where he helps uncover some of the corruption in Freedom Town's government.  He is assisted by Viola Hill, a wheelchair bound journalist who is trying desperately to escape her past in AfricTown and her job covering only sporting events.  With John's help she gets her break unearthing and reporting on corruption.  Keita's final supporter is a female member of Freedom Town's police force who, while running a race against him, develops a romantic interest in him and manages to protect him from more zealous members of the police force.

At times the book reads like a mystery as we work with the characters to unravel the complex corruption scheme.  But it is also serves as a good hard look at how unfair a strict refugee policy can be - in some ways Hill was just lucky that worldwide refugee policies became good news right around when his book was published.  Whether you see the book only as a good thriller or as a larger political statement, you will love the characters and will want to keep reading to figure out how they eventually fare.

Five Novels I read on winter break

Two-Gun and Sun by June Hutton

This is another author I met at the Vancouver Jewish Book Festival and decided to read her book.  It was very well researched - there was a tremendous amount of detail about life in a small mining town in 1922 and the descriptions were very vivid.  However, I found that the flow made this book take longer to read than it should have - for some reason it just didn't really grab me.

The premise of the story is interesting - Lila, a young, single woman arrives in a frontier mining town to try to resurrect her dead uncle's newspaper.  In order to do so she must hire the only man capable of helping her revive the press - a Chinese printer from the forbidden settlement of Lousetown.  Although, or perhaps because, he is "forbidden" she is immediately captivated by him and spends so much time with him that rumours spread rapidly through the town.

The other man she spends time with is the titular character, Two-Gun Cohen, who was an actual gangster in that era.  He is crass, loud, lying, and cheating.  But he agrees to invest in Lila's newspaper and introduce her to Sun Yat-sen who is scheduled to come to town to drum up support for changes in China amongst the community's Chinese members.  Of course, because he is lying and cheating the introduction is never made and the money he invests is stolen.  Nonetheless, Lila makes a go of the first edition of the newspaper and then must decide whether to carry on or move on to the next adventure.

I did like Lila's character - she was bold, and open minded when faced with a town full of bigoted men.  She was not afraid to speak, or write, her mind - sometimes at her peril.  But despite this, as I said, at times the narrative dragged which made this not as an enjoyable read as it could have been.

The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks

June Hutton was in good company this vacation as I found Geraldine Brooks' latest novel was a bit draggy too.  I certainly didn't enjoy it as much as her earlier works.

This book is also a fictionalized account of historical figures (taking it on faith for now that the biblical figures she writes about did in fact exist).  In particular, she examines the life of King David - with all its warts.  It is written from the perspective of his prophet, Natan (frankly I can't remember if he's actually in the bible or a figment of Brooks' imagination).  It flips back and forth from the present when Natan is asked to write a definitive account of David's life to the past episodes in the King's life, beginning with the less than auspicious circumstances surrounding his birth.  When Natan was not present for the events he describes, he relies on fictionalized interviews with David's mother, brother and first wife.

Again this is an incredibly well researched book - which must have involved a great deal of bible study to portray the period so vividly.  And Brooks does not try at all to white wash David's behaviour - while she shows his strength in battle and his love for his family, he also shows his insatiable sexual appetite, his inappropriate relationships (with Yonatan and Batsheva) and his tremendous ego.

But, in the end, the life of David just didn't really interest me that much and I had trouble getting through the book (though I did persist).  Given how much I enjoyed past works, this one was a disappointment.

The Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand

This is a sequel to Hilderbrand's Winter Street, which was released last winter.  It continues to delve into the lives of a Nantucket family - Kelley and his ex-wives Mitzi (who left him last Christmas for the man who had played Santa at their hotel for decades), Margaret (the mother of his three oldest children), and the kids (Patrick who is in jail now for insider trading, his wife Jennifer who dulls the pain with oxy and Ativan, Kevin and Isabelle who have just had a baby for whose christening the family is gathered, Ava who is having trouble choosing between two men and Bart who last Christmas was kidnapped in Afghanistan and is still missing).

This is classic Hilderbrand easy reading and was a perfect antidote to the first two books which were hard to get through.  Though it lacked the depth and the research, and is probably less well written, I could read it in a day and it was a good escape without too much effort.

The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

This is the second novel by the writer of The Lost Daughter.  It is a great study in family dynamic and the impact of breaking away from tradition.

Anil is the eldest son of a respected farming family in a small town in India.  His father and grandfather, significant landowners, served as the arbiter of community disputes and it is expected that Anil will follow in their footsteps - and marry a woman of his parents' choosing.  But Anil's father also plants the seed that he should become a doctor and that is the path Anil chooses.  It eventually takes him to a residency in a large hospital in Dallas where he must contend with the culture shock of both American competitiveness and Southern racism.

Anil experiments with dating a white, Southern woman which starts to unravel when her family meets him.  He also longs for a girl from home who is unacceptable both because she is lower class and because she has run away from a failed marriage.

The narrative wanders back and forth from Dallas to India (where we follow the disastrous marriage of Anil's first love) and we eventually see how Anil is able to pursue his dreams while satisfying those of his family.

The Hole in the Middle by Kate Hilton

Somebody recommended this to me because it is also the first novel written by a former lawyer.  It was classic "chick lit" but quite enjoyable and well written.

It delves into the life of Sophie - she is an almost 40 working mother of two boys who is barely holding everything together.  She is busy at work, and working for an idiot of a boss, she is also struggling to keep on top of her sons - one who is biting everyone at daycare and never manages to get there on time and the other who is in a school demanding her to volunteer and she just doesn't have the time.  She is also concerned about her husband's relationship with his female business partner.

The book also goes back in time to Sophie's life in college where she meets and falls in love with Will.  Will is back in town and she is struggling with how to deal with that since he broke her heart.  At the time she also met the elderly Lilian (Will's great aunt and their landlady).  She is a fantastic character who remains in Sophie's life - offering her both wisdom and humour.

Some of the descriptive passages at work made me cringe as they were so believable - how often did I sit in meetings chaired by morons who think they know everything and want to railroad everyone into implementing their stupid ideas!  Sophie's angst about her failing juggling act was also very relatable.  While Lilian tried to explain "the hole in the middle" of the title, I'm not really sure I did get that analogy.

There is also a twist at the end which caught me by surprise and I am rarely surprised so that was a bonus.

All in all an enjoyable, easy read and I hope Hilton decides to write another.

His Whole Life by Elizabeth Hay

I can best describe this book as weird.  It's well written, and the characters are interesting, but not much happens even though it takes place over the span of about 5 years.  I shouldn't say not much happens - I guess friends are made, people (and dogs) die and there is a fair bit of travel between New York and Ontario cottage country.  But it all sort of plods along so I didn't feel like much was happening - and then all the sudden a couple of years would pass.

The story centres on Jim, who is about 11 at the start of the book.  He is traveling by car to the family's summer cottage in Ontario with his Canadian mother and American father.  During the car ride Jim wants to know the worst thing his parents ever did - both concoct a scenario but you know you will eventually discover much worse things.  And you also know something is weighing on Jim - and though he never really talks about it eventually you can piece together what happened.

The writing style is also weird though it works.  Perspective can change mid-paragraph - from Jim to his mother, to Lulu, his mother's childhood friend who re-enters her wife, much to the chagrin of Jim's father who already lost his second wife to another woman.

Though not much happens, clearly the point of the book is the relationships - between Jim and his mother, Jim's half brother, Blake, and their mother (who keeps him in the dark about a very important piece of his history which may account for why their connection is somewhat tenuous), between Jim's two parents (this is his mother's second marriage and his father's third - and they both seem to have bad luck in marriages), between Jim, his mother and Lulu, between Lulu and her brother Guy...and the list goes on.

The book also examines the lasting impact parental mistakes can have on their children, especially the rift that is created when a parent prefers (or is perceived to prefer) one child over another.  This happens with Lulu and her brother, Jim and Blake, and Jim's father and his mysterious brother who Jim's mother is dying to meet but only gets to at the very end of the book.  While Jim's mother also says her father clearly preferred her while her mother favoured her brother, she does not seem to continue to suffer as a result - maybe suggesting this balance helped.

I was intrigued enough to keep reading the book, but I wouldn't say I loved it.  I certainly preferred Hay's earlier works.

Only by Blood by Renate Krakauer

This book was a wonderful surprise!  I only heard about it because I met the author at a reception at the Vancouver Jewish Book Festival.  She gave me a synopsis and it sounded like my kind of book so I picked it up right away.  And I was not disappointed.  Krakauer writes clearly and compellingly and, though this is her first novel, her dialogue and descriptive passages are very well crafted.  Though in some way the style is similar, shifting perspectives and time periods in alternating chapters, there is no comparison to the last first novel I reviewed, Matrons and Madams.  Here I never lost track of who the characters were or what had happened in their lives.

The novel spans over sixty years.  It begins in Warsaw in 2005 with Mania who is caring for her aging mother Krystyna.  Mania was an only child who believed her father was killed in the war.  Her mother protected her from poverty in violence during the war and in the post-war communist era.  It then moves back in time to Roza, a woman who escapes a ghetto in Galicia with her infant daughter and leaves her for protection with another Polish woman, Irena.  The story moves back and forth between these two perspectives and when on her deathbed Krystyna asks Mania to "find them and make it right" we know that her search will somehow result in weaving the two stories together.  While I did guess fairly early on how that would happen, the book did not feel unduly predictable.

I was still enthralled by Mania's search for her mother's estranged sisters who she believes hold the key to "finding them".  I was also always interested in Roza and her husband and infant's struggle to survive during the war, immigration to Canada and desperate efforts to raise their daughter as a true Canadian, and while doing so completely shielding her from her traumatic past.  Many of the characters were very sympathetic as well.  Of course I could sympathize with Mania and Rosa, but I also loved their husbands, Witold and Marek, Krystyna's elderly uncle Feliks and Irena.  I felt less sympathy for Roza's daughter, Helen, who seemed somewhat ungrateful for her parents' sacrifices, but I suppose it was understandable given they never shared their stories with her.

While this was yet another Holocaust story, it was interesting to read about a lesser known ghetto and part of Poland (Galicia which was later given to Ukraine by the Soviets).  I obviously knew the suffering was widespread, but this was just a slightly different angle.  It also dealt with the suffering imposed on the Poles in this part of the world - I felt it was even handed in showing that suffering while also showing their complicity in the Nazi campaign against the Jews.

All in all, I really recommend this book - the author is to be commended for an impressive first novel.

Matrons and Madams by Sharon Johnston

Even before I read it, I sort of figured that Johnston found a publisher for her first novel because she's the Governor General's wife.  And after reading it, I'm certain that's the case.  Don't get me wrong, she has an interesting story to tell, but I didn't think the writing was fantastic (though not terrible either).

Apparently the story is loosely based on that of Johnston's grandmother (I think the Matron in the title, rather than the Madam).  The story spans about 20 years from just before World War I until the mid-thirties.  It focuses on two main characters.  Clara Durling, a nurse, is widowed when her husband dies in the war.  Shortly after that her son dies of influenza.  Needing a fresh start she and her daughter Ivy immigrate to Canada where, on the recommendation of a Canadian doctor she worked with during the war, Clara becomes the new superintendent of the Lethbridge Hospital.

Lily is a teacher born in Nova Scotia to an unwed mother who was shipped to Canada by her embarrassed relations.  Just before Lily's birth, her mother falls in love with and marries a pharmacist who Lily adores and who treats her as his own daughter.  After teacher's college Lily weds a miner and they immigrate to Lethbridge for his job.  Lily is unable to find a steady teaching job and when she falls upon hard times she decides to run a brothel to support herself and her young son, Teddy.

The book jacket talks about how the two women collaborate to establish the first venereal disease clinic in Alberta, and they do, but really this is a small part of the book.  Far more time is spent on the women and their love relationships as well as their relationship to each other.  I liked some of the male characters, especially the doctor, Barnaby, who was wounded in the war so must abandon surgery for psychiatry.  I found Lily's husband Ed a bit hard to take - he was an immature, hothead.  Johnston explains why in his back story but I still had a hard time sympathizing with him.

I probably had the most trouble with Clara.  Her character was not consistently developed in my view.  She could be compassionate at times (like when she befriends an unwed mother on the ship from England to Canada), but also rude and downright dictatorial in dealing not only with her employees, but also her daughter.  I get that she had a hard life but the sorrow did not seem to explain the inconsistent behaviour.  I also found her relationship with the mayor downright strange.

My other criticism of the writing is that there were too many coincidences.  I know Canada may have been small at the time, but I still found it far-fetched how often the paths of various characters crossed.  Along the same lines there were too many minor characters mentioned by name and then not developed sufficiently to be memorable so I often had to flip back to remind myself who was who.  Finally, I think Johnston tried to fit too many incidents into the book so that lots happened but not a lot of the events were described in depth.  I might have preferred fewer, well developed occurrences.

Despite the above criticisms, the book was an easy read and was fairly entertaining.  It also examined an era in Canadian history that I didn't know a lot about so that was interesting.  So I wouldn't say you should avoid this book.  But I would say Johnston is probably lucky to have connections which helped her get published.