The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

This book was nothing like I expected! When I read the teaser for it I thought it sounded like a good mystery--a granddaughter seeking clues in the death of her grandfather. Once I began reading I did not find it a mystery but more of a family history. Still I did enjoy reading the book.
As a child I too used to spend time with my grandfather. Unfortunately he died when I was almost five but I really loved the time I spent with him. I see the author as also loving the time she spent with her grandfather and wanting to share his life with others. It took me a while to figure out where she was going with the story though until I realized where her story was set. Although never addressed by name, only towns, I realized it was taking place in the former Yugoslavia.  Then it began to make more sense.

 As part of one grad class I read a lot of books and stories set in this part of the world. Myth plays more of a role in modern Eastern Europe than it seems to do here in the US but it is important to recognize the symbolism of each myth.  Her grandfather’s love of the tiger is symbolic of the struggles of the land. These are strong people who overcome many adversities. The tiger is left to starve in the zoo, begins to eat his own legs, escapes, and finds solace in a deaf mute woman who needs his strength to help her survive an abusive husband.  The grandfather is orphaned as a child, lives with an unemotional grandmother, finds friendship with a person who cannot speak or hear him and retreats to The Jungle Book for his spiritual nourishment.  Later he meets and marries a woman (Muslim) and moves across the border to keep his family safe. 

 The deathless man is also a central character.  He says he has been forbidden to die and shows up at various times throughout the book.  At first meeting I thought he was the devil with whom the grandfather had made a deal representative of the Devil and Daniel Webster.  Later I came to believe he was more like the angel of death—there to help the dead cross over but not there to steal their souls.  When the grandfather’s belongings are retrieved the Jungle Book is not there. Since that was his “Bible”, he no longer needed it. It was also part of the deal with the deathless man that he would have the book upon his death.   

The one person I found most confusing was Natalia.  She is obviously a modern woman, a doctor in her own right, fiercely independent and willing to take chances—going off with another female doctor to help sick children, standing up to the men in the vineyard about child labor, driving across the border alone to retrieve her grandfather’s belongings and of course, following the old man up the hill after he retrieved the “heart”.  Still, I was never certain she fully got the relationships of the people about whom she wrote. Yes, she loved her grandfather.  Did she understand his relationship with the deathless man or the tiger’s wife?  Maybe?

While I am happy I read the book it did leave me with questions.  What purpose did the bear man serve?  Was he representative of groups that moved through the country during the wars?  The apothecary—was he there to promote religious tolerance or the show that the people were adaptable?  When the deathless man helped people cross over was that truly a death experience or was it too symbolic of the ways borders were drawn regardless of allegiances to towns, to people? 

I look forward to reading the interpretations of the rest of you about this book.  The symbolism I saw here may be totally different from you found.  Please comment so we can have a good discussion! 

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

What if one day you realized you did not remember the last ten years of your life?  Would you be happy, sad, scared, indifferent?  Alice fell off her bike in Spin Class (a good reason not to try that!) and hit her head.  She lost ten years.  While trying to recover she learns that her life had become much different than she imagined.  She did not remember her children, her friends, the development dispute she was having with a neighbor, nor did she remember that she and her husband had separated and she was seeing another man!  Awkward to say the least.  Terrifying for most of us.

At first I thought this was a strange premise for a book but was almost immediately hooked by the suspense of the concept.  Would Alice revert to her 1998 self?  Why had she and Nick split?  Who was Gina?  Would Dominick win Alice's heart?  Since I get most of my exercise jumping to conclusions, here is what I thought:  Alice needed to reconcile her two selves into a person she could like again. The fall gave her the perfect opportunity to do so.  However, Nick must have had an affair with Gina since she is in the back of her memory in an apparently unpleasant location. Nick swears he was not the one who had an affair--did Alice and Gina have one?  I even spent some time trying to wonder if Elisabeth was an alter ego instead of Alice's sister! For a brief moment I thought Dominick was Nick's proper name! Was Frannie actually her mother and not Barb? (I think I have been watching too much TV!)

Liana Moriarty has three plot lines running simultaneously through this book and they all work.  Elisabeth is trying desperately to have a child and communicates with her therapist via journaling. Frannie writes letters to a dead finance until Mr. Mustache (Xavier) woos her back from her grief into a loving, living relationship. And Alice--she has to decide who she will be--1998 Alice who was laid back and fun loving, looking forward to the birth of her first child, or 2008 uptight, caffeine driven, exercise pumped Alice.  Each plot is drawn to an appropriate ending which I will forego detailing here since all may not have read the book yet!

I think the author was wanting the reader to look deep into our souls and determine if we are happy with our lives as we live them today.  If not, how do we become the person we want to be and not the person we are?  What parts of our lives would we keep?  Would we end a long term relationship that had become difficult in favor of something easier? Would we give up on a life long dream because the physical and emotional drain it was taking? Would we be afraid to take a risk on love and life simply because of loyalties to loves lost?  How we answer those questions will be as different as each of us.  Liane Moriarty answers these in her fashion while leaving us to ponder our own.  I enjoyed this book!

Room by Emma Donoghue

I began this book thinking what the heck is going on here and how am I ever going to get through a book that ignores descriptive articles like the!  I guess I have lost touch with my inner five year old!  By page 57 I was getting into the book and had already figured out a few items--like her nursing the five year old and the fact that she was being unable to leave her room. I don't recall realizing she was a captive until much later. I assumed prison and wondered how she was able to keep the child with her.

This reminds me of the Jaycee Dugard story except that her story must be even worse.  I like how Ma has taught Jack life's lessons as best she can given the conditions. The creativity of the two is amazing--using egg shells to make animals, measuring things using a makeshift ruler and other such inventive items makes one realize that the human mind and spirit can really overcome most everything. Even Ma's knowledge that Room was getting too small for the two of them and the plot to escape is amazing. 

Introduction to Outside proved difficult for both Jack and Ma.  Ma had a knowledge base from which to work but seemed to have a more difficult time than Jack. I think this is because she was finally able to "crash" after the seven year ordeal and needed her own time to heal.  Jack had to learn new items like interacting with others.  I found it interesting that Leo, who had no children of his own, seemed more suited to help Jack than Grandma and definitely Grandpa! Steppa stepped up!

Returning to Room was both cathartic and rueful for Jack. Ma did not want to return but needed to help Jack, and in doing so maybe helped herself heal as well.  Jack needed to see Room as it was now that he had seen Outside.  It was not exactly as he remembered (secure, small and safe) but he still needed to say goodbye before moving on. Ma needed to face her fears by facing the demons that lingered in Room.  Hopefully both go on to live normal lives but as they discussed at the Clinic, Jack would probably have an easier time (being plastic and five) than Ma who has missed seven years of her life and will still have to face Old Nick in court. 

While I am sure this is not based on the lives of any of the many who have endured such hardships in the past, it does seem the author wants the reader to accept that this is unfortunately, not the exception. Many people exist every day in captivity and survive. The human spirit is strong and while each case is different, survival is the key and we can all learn from what others have endured.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

I just finished this book and I am frustrated. How dare she leave the story unfinished! What happens to Dr. Swenson, to Easter, is she pregnant, does Anders readjust to life in Minnesota, and does Marina ever get together with Mr. Fox? These are all questions I have and am frustrated that I do not have answers. I think there must be a sequel to this.

I thought a book about a corporate person going off to the Amazon in search of answers to questions about the death of a colleague, about the use of funds for medical research, about so many things sounded like a Michael Crichton story that it piqued my interest. I started reading it a few pages at a time while I slaved away on the treadmill at the gym and then yesterday found I couldn't wait to finish it. I read some more last night, more today at the gym and then had to finish it this afternoon instead of stretching it out to keep me from being bored at the gym.

Dr Swenson is an interesting character who is committed to her research, a tough teacher and the ultimate professional. She is Marina's professor. I was not surprised when she continued this instruction in the jungle after reading about how Marina listened so intently to her lectures at Johns Hopkins. The consummate researcher, I was still a bit surprised when I found out she was pregnant at age 73. I don't know if it is a statement about the eternal search for the fountain youth or not, but I liked that Patchett has her question the wisdom of having a child so late in life when one lacks the ability to care for it. Dr. Swenson points out that the Lakashi give their babies over to the younger women to raise, not trying to accomplish that themselves at advanced ages.

Marina proved to be a very in depth character. Her nightmares regarding her father ceased once she grew in her own confidence. I think they were more related to her tragic accident early in her career than the Lariam. Fighting that anaconda alone would give me nightmares for centuries and the thought of being in a jungle where you did not know what was crawling about is no place I want to be at this stage in my life. Still, she fell into the experience with an open, albeit torn, mindset that enables her to grow as a person and a professional.

Easter is the quite interesting. I think the author must have included him as a means not only for Marina to develop to her full potential but also to give Dr Swenson a gentler side. He enabled Marina to grow in ways she never dreamed possible: fighting to save a young person, helping him overcome his own fears, teaching him as he teaches her about life in the jungle. Was he actually returned to his parents or was he sacrificed to get Anders out of his captivity? Would he have understood the abandonment? Did he return as Dr Swenson said he would?

Many other questions are left to my imagination to be answered. Here is how I prefer to do it! Marina returns to the Amazon, marries Milton. She then takes over the research and life among the Lakashi from Dr. Swenson. Anders and Karen travel with their sons to the area to visit and to show his family where he died and was reborn. Mr. Fox loses out all around for not being willing to commit. Easter does return to the village and lives with Marina and Milton. Their continued research finds a drug that will reverse, partially, the damage done to his ears and he is able to learn to speak a bit--enough to communicate with the researchers.

Another good book selection. I think it only appropriate that I finished the book drinking a wonderful glass of Willowcroft Cold Steel Chardonay!

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

I can not remember the last time I sat down and read a book in two days--at least not recently.  I loved this book.  I would have read it faster if there had been more hours in the day and I didn't have a life! 

The Winter Sea weaves the lives of Carrie McClelland so closely with the life of the other main character Sophia Paterson that I can imagine they are actually one person.  She challenges me to believe in DNA memories and a continual stream of consciousness across not one but multiple generations and centuries.  We all experience periods of deja vu but she makes them come alive.  I loved the way she drew parallels with the life of the 1700 Sophia and her own modern life. 

Writing good historical fiction is a challenge as someone might check the facts and find that it is just that, fiction.  When books are made into movies, this often is the case--so little of the history remains and the fiction takes over.  Reading the notes Ms Kearsley includes at the end of the book, I was happy to see she had kept as close to history as possible. Having never travelled to Scotland I felt like I knew the locale she described.  I could almost smell the sea air.  I also found it interesting that the village carries the same name as a street in our community.  Our own Rosses Point Ct. street is named after an area in Ireland and now Cruden Bay seems to be tied to Scotland.

I must confess that I agreed with Jane, her agent in the novel, that the ending had to change. I did not see the change coming until Colonel Graeme showed up. It was a delightful and very appropriate ending for Sophia but I will not discuss that further in case some have not finished the book.  I also liked the way the author brought the entire story into a neatly wrapped conclusion.  This is one book I look forward to discussing!

The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama

Two brothers at the beginning of WWII in Japan--this is the focus of the novel.  They are orphans being raised by their grandparents and are very different from one another.  One, Hiroshi, wants to grow up to be a sumo wrestler, the other, Kenji wants to be an artist.  One is strong, the other a "ghost".  As the story progresses one finds out that neither is weak and strength is often deeper than they thought. 

WWII arrives in Japan. While there is not a lot of detail about battles or even war, Tsukiyami does let us know that those who survived the dropping of the bombs suffered immensely. The Japanese people also suffered. We Americans so often think of Japanese involvement in WWII as that of enemy only but these characters endured starvation, deprivation, loss of loved ones, and struggles like so many others of this time.  Like those of our nation, the main characters were impacted for the rest of their lives by the war.  Also like others, they went on to live lives filled with triumphs and with despairs.  Hiroshi becomes the sumo master he dreamed of but sees little else fulfilled.  Kenji becomes the Noh mask artist but also suffers great loss.  Through it all, the brothers have the love and support of the grandparents whose wisdom guides them until the end.

The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Set in England during the Plague this book introduces us to another strong woman who lost her husband, her children and many friends during the Plague.  It also gives insight into the way people viewed the plague, how to cure it, how to treat it and how to deal with those they believed to be responsbible for it. It also showed how women were treated in a variety of stations of life.  Whether they were married off to older men, cast aside by those who believed them to be unworthy, tried as witches or esteemed for the healing they could do the women were able to endure the hardships of life and still maintain their humanity. 

I was surprised at the end of the book to find that the relationship between the Minister and his wife (Michael and Elinor Mompellion) was not even close to what I thought it had been.  This man of God who did so much for others was unable to forgive his wife for loving another prior to their marriage.  I found his treatment of her cruel and can not even imagine how they lived together as they did without animosity.  I was not surprised that Anna left England but was surprised that she essentially ended up as part of a harem.  Still, each decision was hers to make and hers to live. She was a very strong woman!

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

This was a difficult book for me to wrap my head around at first as Brooks alternates between England and New England during the early years of WWII.  Once I was able to figure out the connection between the two female main characters I enjoyed the rest of the book.  I think I envied Frankie Bard for her eyewitness to history as a reporter for Edward R Murrow.  I wondered at her ability to survive the Blitz, to travel through Europe searching for and collecting stories of the displaced and to eventually make her way to Massachusetts to deliver a letter written to a woman whose husband left for England to help out prior to the US entry into the war. He left because he and his wife had listened to one of Frankie's stories and wanted to help. 

In the US Iris James is the postmistress of Franklin Massachusetts, a fictional town full of interesting characters waiting for the US to enter WWII. She is a by the book type of woman who takes her job very seriously but when it comes time to deliver the one letter that would change Emma Fitch's life forever she chose to hold onto it instead.  This act delayed the agony Emma would have endured until her child could be born.

The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill

This selection moved us post revolution Laos in SE Asia.  I must admit I had never considered how communist countries determined who filled what positions and I imagine the main character, Dr. Siri Paiboun felt much the same when he found himself the new coroner of the country.  The author did an excellent job of showing the challenging work conditions Dr. Paiboun had to endure in solving the mystery of death of a public official's wife.  Cotterill also gives some insight into the relations between Vietnam and Laos in this period.  It only goes to show that intellect and determination will win out over corrupt governments.

Monkeewrench by P J Tracy

Monkeewrench introduced the group to a series of stories set in Minnesota, specifically Minneapolis and its surrounding areas. The authors combine murder, mayhem and technology into a suspensful novel.  It was an easy read that through a few surprises my way.

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

We enjoyed the White Queen so much we moved directly into the Red Queen and came to know Margaret Beaufort of the House of York. While she was introduced in The White Queen, I developed a greater sense of her strength in this movel.

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

Our first book selection introduced us to the War of the Roses with the House of Lancaster. Elizabeth Woodville is a very strong willed woman who sets about protecting her family and changing the history of England.