SKB Recommends (#1): Novels to transport you …

The following is a selection of novels that are guaranteed to transport you to far off places (and some not so far off places) and entertain you with laughter, tears, suspense, and awe. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have.

1. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa (General Fiction)

Set in modern-day Japan, this is the story of a woman hired to be the housekeeper for a retired professor of mathematics, who suffers from a unique condition – due to brain damage caused by an accident, “the Professor” has a memory that lasts only eighty minutes. The story centers around the interactions between the Professor, the housekeeper, and the housekeeper’s son, Root as the professor shares the beauty of mathematical equations with them. This story is rich with quirky characters, beautiful language, and emotion.

2. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (General Fiction)

This novel, set in Gabarone, Botswana, is one in a series about the Mma Precious Ramotswe who features as the stories’ protagonist and main detective. The episodic novels are as much about the adventures and foibles of different characters as they are about solving mysteries. Each book in the series follows on from the previous book. This first book is one I enjoyed the most because from the first page, the writing forces you to slow down and lose yourself in the unhurried world of Gabarone and Mma Ramotswe’s adventures. This is not one to read quickly, but to savor and enjoy. There’s also an amazing HBO series of these novels, but I recommend that you read the books before watching the series.

3. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (General Fiction)

Set in nineteenth century China the story is told by an eighty year old Lily, who reminisces about her life and friendship with her best friend Snow Flower. In rural Hunan province, Lily and her best friend Snow Flower are a laotong pairwhose relationship is more close than a husband and wife’s. Lily’s aunt describes a laotong match this way: “‘A laotong relationship is made by choice for the purpose of emotional companionship and eternal fidelity. A marriage is not made by choice and has only one purpose — to have sons.’” The two girls experience the painful process of foot-binding at the same time, and write letters to one another on a fan with Nü Shu, a secret phonetic form of ‘women’s writing.’ In addition to the language itself, the young women learn Nü Shu songs and stories. Both friends are born under the sign of the Horse, but they are quite different. Lily is practical, her feet firmly set on the ground, while Snow Flower attempts to fly over the constrictions of women’s lives in the 19th century in order to be free. Their lives differ as well. Although Lily comes from a family of relatively low station, her feet are considered beautiful and play a role in her marriage into the most powerful family in the region. Lily is later known as Lady Lu, the region’s most influential woman and a mother to four healthy children (three sons and one daughter). Although Snow Flower comes from a formerly prosperous family, she is not so fortunate. She marries a butcher, culturally considered the lowest of professions, and has a miserable life filled with children dying and beatings at the hand of her husband. An absolutely beautiful story written with an elegant touch, this novel made me laugh, cry out in pain, sob in despair, and ultimately smile in understanding and acceptance. Read the book before you watch the film!

4. The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One) by Patrick Rothfuss (Fantasy)

The story begins in the backwater town of Newarre, introducing the innkeeper Kote and his assistant Bast. The Inn is sparsely used, and widespread troubles from an ongoing war have further reduced travelers passing through the small town. It is revealed that Kote is actually the legendary hero Kvothe in hiding. Kvothe has a reputation as an unequaled swordfighter, magician and musician, who among other things is rumored to have killed a king and is somehow responsible for the war. His assistant and student Bast is a prince from the mystical Fae, magical creatures of great beauty but vulnerable to iron. Kvothe saves Chronicler, a travelling scribe, from spider-like creatures called Scrael. Chronicler recognizes him as Kvothe and asks to record his story. Kvothe initially refuses but eventually gives in, to tell the truth about the events that made him a legend. He tells Chronicler that this will take three days (corresponding to the planned trilogy of novels). I fell in love with the liquid, elegant, poetic language of this story – it is beautiful to read. The story is well developed and the sequel is a must read, as well!

5. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin (Chick-Lit)

The novel centers around the protagonist and narrator, Rachel White, a thirty-year-old single woman who is a consummate good-girl. She and Darcy Rhone have been best friends since childhood, and hard-working Rachel is often in the shadow of flashy, sometimes selfish Darcy. Then, after a night of drinking on Rachel’s thirtieth birthday, she sleeps with Darcy’s fiance, Dex. After this turns into an affair, Rachel explores the meaning of friendship, true love, and ethics. I’m not a huge fan of ‘Chick-Lit’, but this is one that I did enjoy immensely. While it’s a quick read, the questions posed by the story are interesting and thought provoking. Make sure to read the book first before checking out the film!

Review: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Summary (from Goodreads):

Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life.

Now Tony is in middle age. He’s had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He’s certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer’s letter is about to prove.

Review:

This is a novel that I have no strong feelings about, either way. It was okay, meaning that it was quite readable, which meant it was easy to finish. However, I did find Tony a bit annoying – arrogant and self-centered – and less than trustworthy. Which brings me to the question I had when I finished the last page – was any of this story true?

Review: Dona Nicanora’s Hat Shop by Kirstan Hawkins

Summary (from Goodreads):

Dona Nicanora is a woman led by her dreams. She imagines adventures far beyond her small, swampy South American village, and ideally quite far away from her relentless family and neighbours. It’s quite simple: what she needs is the love of a good man, and a shop full of her own beautifully handcrafted hats. But Nicanora’s life is never quite straightforward. And from the day an entirely silent stranger arrives in Villa de la Virgen, strange happenings occur, and Dona Nicanora’s world is turned on its head.

Here is a bittersweet tale of hopes frustrated and fulfilled, with an irresistible love story at its heart.

Review:

So, when I picked up this book, I was expecting there to be more about Dona Nicanora’s Hat Shop, as the title suggested, but instead what I found was a cast of colorful characters that were quirky, eccentric, lovable, and down-right crazy (that I could not help falling in love with, and that I cheered for), and a bitter-sweet story about family relationships, friendship, political incompetency, loss, and love.

Hawkins’ strength is her ability to place the reader in the time and place of the story so vividly that as I read the novel, Dona Nicanora’s house, the Plaza, Don Bosco’s Barber Shop, and the clinic became a part of my life, making me feel as if I were a part of their lives, the way they had become a part of mine.

No part of this story was dull or stagnant — it was engaging and totally worth the read, even if the end did leave me with a tear in my eye, and a lump in my throat.

Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Summary (Goodreads):

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women – mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends – view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.

Review:

This has been the ‘it’ book to read in the past year and a half, it’ll become the ‘it’ book again as the film version of the novel releases later this year. And with most ‘it’ books, I found myself struggling to read it in one go. It took two tries, and three months for me to finish this, and it has to do with the fact that I kept comparing it to the great novel by Harper Lee (one of my all time favourites!), To Kill a Mockingbird, that deals with race, segregation, and the triumph of great men like Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson.

So, about this novel … the characters are interesting — check; the setting is vivid — check; the plot is intriguing (especially the close calls where Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny are almost caught) — check. According to this, I should have found the novel fascinating and be raving about it, but I didn’t. I’m not quite certain what the reason is … maybe it’s Skeeter, Hilly, and Elizabeth (they annoyed me a lot), maybe it’s because I kept comparing it to TKM and thinking that this is an amateurish attempt at what Lee did so well so many years ago, maybe …

But whatever the reason, I did connect to this – Aibileen and Minny.  It’s Aibileen and Minny’s stories that really touched me because it is they that struggle and fight for their lives and those they love on a daily basis. These are the same reasons I love Scout, Calpurnia, and Arthur (Boo) Radley from the other novel. And, I love that ultimately Stockett gives Aibileen and Minny a voice and a hope, which after all the turmoil is a relief (at one point I couldn’t deal with the fear, anger, and nervousness for the characters – which is what Stockett wants us to feel – to put us in their shoes).

So, finally, this is a good novel with a great message, good, fully developed characters, and the ability for the reader to lose themselves in Jackson, Mississippi, and in the lives of these extraordinary women. I hope the film does justice to the novel, and if you haven’t read this, yet, please do … but try not to make any connections to other novels until you finish reading the last line.