Diana Stevan
Award-winning YA and children's author Shari Green's latest novel, Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams, is one that will appeal to adults as well. Her protagonist, Helena, a young music student, lets us know from the beginning what occupies her mind: “I've not been raised to speak of dreams–nor to dream at all.” And shortly after, she says “I'm not the only dreamer.” Her community is full of them.
It's 1989, in Leipsig, in the German Democratic Republic, before the wall separating East Germany from West Germany comes down. Green captures the times beautifully, both the heartache and the tension of those dreaming of the freedom to travel outside their borders. The title, Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams, speaks to the prayer meetings the citizens attend, a place of warmth, hope, and song, a place where they can share their frustrations and hopes for a better future.
Having been to the Ukrainian Socialist Republic in 1988, when Gorbachev was the Russian leader, I witnessed the fear people had about speaking openly against the government. Green, in her elegant and dynamic verse, shows the challenges Helena, her family and friends face living in a system where anyone can be an informant. Highly recommended.
Though a short tale, this story about a 11 year old Jewish boy in Germany just before WWII breaks out, is beautifully written and leaves the reader with much to think about, especially at this time, when Israel and Gaza are at war. Anti-Semitism is on the rise, or maybe it's just more exposed now, like it was during Hitler's time. There are many published stories about the horrors Jews faced during the Holocaust. We need them, to remind us of not only what happened, but to stop another holocaust from happening again. Allan Hudson's short story is one of them.
In this engaging psychological thriller, S.M. Freedman deftly takes us inside a funadmentalist Mormon community in British Columbia, where girls are preyed upon by the elder males in charge and boys are left wanting.
When Grace DeRoche finds herself in an untenable situation, she decides to escape the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by two powerful males. She convinces others to escape with her. But her departure and collaboration with the police have consequences. To avoid jail, some of her family and others loyal to the community's extreme religious beliefs commit suicide. Overcome with grief and guilt, Grace is left to pick up the pieces of her life. She's further challenged because she's developed multiple personalities to cope with any new threat in her life. When she discovers that a few Mormons who escaped with her have died mysteriously, she wonders if she's next, or is she somehow culpable for their deaths.
The power of faith and community to support or destroy is the heart of this wonderful novel. A highly recommended read.
Ghosts in a Photograph: a chronicle by Myrna Kostash, delights and inspires with her exploration of family lore through the old photographs her Ukrainian Canadian grandparents and parents have left behind. The author approaches her subject like a sleuth, leaving no stone unturned. Through remembered conversations, a tape of her mother speaking to a university student, visits to the land her grandparents emigrated from, and extensive research into their past, Kostash determines who is who in the photos and what they did during their time on earth. Given the turmoil in Ukraine today and its tortured history, it makes for fascinating reading.
As I read Ghosts in a Paragraph, I recalled the family album I viewed after my mother's death. With her passing, there was no one left who could answer the new questions I had about her family and life in the old country and Canada. This is a familiar problem, one many readers can relate to. Such is life, with its challenges of work and family obligations, that we wait too long to ask. And then when we have the time, or maybe I should say, when we have the interest, there's no one left to ask.
Kostash doesn't let the absence of family deter her from her quest. The author goes to great lengths to gather what information she can, and she goes even further by analyzing the nuggets she manages to dig up. She compares oral history with fact through detailed research and consultation with history professors. And in doing so, the author uncovers various truths that show how stories are handed down, and how they can be coloured by memory and emotion. It all depends on who is telling the story and to whom.
Politics raises its head more than a few times in this book, and given the current war in Ukraine, how could it not? Curious about one relative's murder, Kostash unearths more about this nasty business, one that pits the resistance against what is perceived to be the Soviet enemy. And what the author also deftly portrays is how difficult it is for immigrants to leave the politics of their forefathers' homeland behind when they immigrate.
As Kostash delves into her family's past and the hardships her extended family faced in their newly adopted land, she uncovers more of Canada's ugly history—how indigenous inhabitants were forced off their land in Saskatchewan and Alberta to make room for white settlers, like Kostash's grandparents (and other) immigrants, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The author has written about Ukrainian settlers before in All of Baba's Children, but in this book, she underlines the plight of the people they displaced. It's a good way to end this book, as it's a question Canadians are grappling with today. Truth and reconciliation. How we address the past and our role in it as descendants of white settlers or of people who were on this land before them. I'm not sure the author had this in mind when she began to write her chronicle. But it seems to me these are the ghosts Kostash is suggesting we address.
i've always been interested in reincarnation, and Barbara Graham has given me much to think about in her story about a boy dealing with night terrors and his parents who are at a loss as to how to help him. The author defty manages to convey the mystery at the core of her novel–why is Jonah having these frightening dreams and an over-the-top fear of fireworks. The novel has been labelled a thriller, but I didn't feel any danger until near the end. Instead, I became engrossed in the family drama and the other characters who became impacted by Jonah's strange stories and behaviour. Stories that became less strange as the novel progressed. A compelling read. Highly recommended.
This is the second novel I've read by Nina Romano. She doesn't disappoint. Her novels are well researched and her characters are well drawn. The story starts with a shocking scene, which I won't divulge, but it's one that haunts Cayo Bradley throughout his life, and affects his relationships with those who care deeply about him. Raised by the Apaches, he's a complicated man, who falls in love with Darby McPhee, a spirited young woman, who has dreams of her own, ones that come in conflict with Cayo's. An entertaining read and highly recommended.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. One of my YA author friends recommended this book to me because of my interests. It's historical fiction and covers the late 1930s in pre-WWII in Germany. I found the characters engaging. Katya, a young woman, whose family had been traumatized in the Soviet union, is a maid/housekeeper for a well-to-do German family. Her relationship with the young men in the house and a Jewish girl shows the challenges many faced when Hitler began implementing his policies. The author does an excellent job in showing us those times, when patriotism and fear of seeming unpatriotic influenced so many youth and their parents. There's also a love story that underlines the horrors of what was going on. Highly recommended.
I will read anything by this extraordinary author. Her characters are always compelling. This novel is about a family of four, in which each member finds it difficult to find the solace they crave in a highly dysfunctional family. When Samuel Tyne inherits his uncle's house, he quits his job and moves his family to a town in Alberta. The fact he doesn't properly grieve for his uncle creates problems for himself with his neighbours. Samuel's dreams as well as his guilt and fear of dealing with his family through the various stages of his life are revealed beautifully in this well-written novel.
The prose is astonishing. The author has a remarkable ability to weave many stories together to make a point about what we are doing to nature and how we are overlooking what nature can give us and how it can save us from a climate catastrophe. As a lover of nature and someone very concerned about our climate emergency, I found this story spoke to all of my concerns. It portrayed various individuals who independently found some solace in nature and acted out of that love. It's a book I hope to get a chance to re-read.
I don't typically read children's books but I took a workshop from Mahtab Narsimhan this past year and was curious about her writing style. I was impressed by her ability to keep me engaged chapter after chapter.
Avi, a young boy with an allergy to wasps, encounters an astrologer who tells him “I see grave danger in your aura.” And so the suspense begins. What will happen to Avi? Is the astrologer right? Following this opening, we find Avi in one danger after the other. What he believes to be true is challenged every step of the way. What I found particularly intriguing was a look into Indian culture, particularly the smells, food, and its caste system. Highly recommended.
This is a book that I know I will read again. A story about jazz musicians in Berlin and Paris during WWII. The author brilliantly captures the fear and horror of what is taking place, but also the protagonist's need to express himself no matter what if going on around him. Esi Edugyan's prose surprises and delights with her novel use of language which shows the intimacy between the characters during a horrific period in the world's history. This is a jewel of a book. Highly recommended
A fascinating account of what lies in our forests, how trees cooperate, how they endure in relationship to the plants and fungi in their midst. The author has received some criticism of this account but then again, there are always naysayers. With our forests depleting around the globe, this book gives a good argument as to why we need to protect these natural giants.
The author, Patricia Sandberg, has done a fabulous job weaving personal anecdotes into the story of Gunnar Mines and the community of Uranium city. As it became the largest Urainium producer in the world, it attracted immigrants from many different nations, making for a rich and diverse community life. As a writer of historical fiction, I was amazed at the amount of research Sandberg did to bring to life what once was in Northern Saskatchewan. Sun Dogs and Yellow Cake is not only a well-researched book of non-fiction, but it's a tale of the resourcefulness of many Canadians in the 1950s to the early 1960s, and how they managed their loves and losses in this remote town. Highly recommended.
What a fabulous collection of short stories! The author surprised me with every one. The love she has for her characters shone through. The one, titled a song for Nettie Johnson, was particularly memorable. Gloria Sawai wrote the scenes between Nettie and her lover so visually that I could see their interactions as if I was watching a film. This is a collection I want to read again.
Excellent overview of what the indigenous people of North America have undergone in their negotiations and treaties with the white settlers. Thomas King uses humour to tell the story. It's a shocking tale and covers so many ‘crimes' that have occurred under the various governments, from the seventeenth century to present day. A worthwhile read for anyone wanting to understand why the native people of North America are still fighting for their rights and the land that is owing to them.
From the beginning, I was struck by the detail of the place and time of this epic love story. The author, Nina Romano, has done her research. As a reader, I was transported back to the nineteenth century in China, where Lian, a healer, falls in love with Giacomo, an Italian sailor. The chance encounter that brought the two together and left them both wanting is at the heart of this novel. Some say opposites attract, but here the odds of them making a life together seem insurmountable. Their cultural differences are further heightened during the Boxer Rebellion, a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising around the end of that century. A beautiful story, brilliantly told. Highly recommended.
I haven't read romance for quite a while, especially a contemporary one. MaryAnn Clarke's story of Kate, a mediator, who's bent on helping a young couple resolve their differences was very well done. She's also dealing with trauma from a number of events in the past, one of which is a love affair that went sour.
When Simon, the ex-lover who she never got over, shows up unexpectedly at the mediation session, her work suddenly becomes much more complicated. There's a lot at stake both professionally and personally. The author did a great job showing Kate's struggles to resolve the fears that were standing in the way of her happiness. She was also masterful in portraying the work of a mediator. Marital conflict is not easy to show on the page and the author does this with aplomb.
Having visited Ukraine in 1988, when it was still part of the Soviet Union, I could relate to what Maria Reva's characters were saying about their government and life under Russian rule. The author has a gift for telling a unique tale with humour and originality. I look forward to reading more of her works.
It's not everyone who can live out their dream. But Bill Arnott, does by embarking on a journey to discover the life of the seafaring Vikings. As a child, Bill was fascinated by their stories. I was similarly fascinated by the details of his journey, as he traced their steps in Gone Viking. I wanted to grab an atlas and follow along.
Not only does the author provide a detailed account of the places he visited, but he also sprinkles in conversations with locals and other travellers, meals he enjoyed, and notable quotes from other writers. He does all of this with panache and humour. His sites were so vividly written, I wanted to pack up my bags and check out these places. Highly recommended for those who love travel, Vikings and a good story.
Nabokov is a master at prose. His character descriptions are vivid, so much so, that I wasn't sure I could finish the book. To read about a child molester's feelings and actions was difficult. Humbert exploits the young Lolita. The author uses humour perhaps to convince the reader this is a story worth puruing. He also shows that his protagonist Humbert was fully aware that what he was doing was wrong. I wondered as I read the story how he managed to get into the mind of his protagonist.
I wanted to read it as the book is considered as a classic and the author a brilliant one.
What an enjoyable read! Mallory, a grieving nurse arrives in Loss Lake, looking for a new beginning. The author, Amber Cowie, describes the small town of Loss Lake and its quirky inhabitants in exquisite detail. She kept me guessing as to what was going to happen next. The story is a curious blend of a thriller, mystery, and romance. Highly recommended.