Archive for the ‘love’ Tag
Louise Erdrich seamlessly weaves together a fast-paced, engaging story of young love, manipulative relationships, the environment and secrets in The Mighty Red.
This novel is rich in well-developed characters beginning with Kismet is a bright, sensitive yet impulsive high school senior with plans to leave her small town in the rural Red River Valley of North Dakota. Her best friend is Hugo, a brilliant home-schooled social outcast is in love with Kismet. Gary is the son of the wealthiest family in town and star quarterback. He’s not an enigma but carries a dark secret, and is also in love with Kismet. He’s desperate to marry her believing that she can help him forget that which haunts him.
Yes, there are adults, but the actions of some are less mature than the teens. Gary’s mother and Kismet’s father have their own (unrelated) agendas, which alternate between the comical and sad. Only Crystal, Kismet’s mother, seems to have a logical take on things, until she briefly doesn’t.
The tragic humor Erdrich interjects throughout the narrative is not limited to the relationships, but also to the over-cultivation of the land, land that once belonged to Native Americans and now makes a lucky few rich through sugarbeet farming. There’s no mistaking the irony that Crystal and Kismet are Ojibwe; with the mother driving the crops to the sugar refinery and Kismet as the farmer’s son object of desire.
As critical as the characters are to the storyline, the land is also a significant element.
The Mighty Red
Four Bookmarks
Harper, 2024
372 pages
Lorrie Moore has multiple threads in her novel I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home, some are easier to digest than others. First, there are letters from a woman to her dead sister written shortly after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. The main plot, though, follows Finn, a middle-aged man fumbling through life.
Finn and Lily have ended a long relationship. She worked as a clown therapist; that is, a therapist dressed as a clown) with a history of threatening suicide. He’s suspended from his teaching job because of his attitude issues. After receiving a call about Lily’s latest attempt, he leaves his brother’s deathbed and drives through the night to be with her.
Here’s where things get strange. Lily is, in fact, dead, but her remains were not placed where she wanted them to be, so she and Finn take a road trip to her desired final resting spot.
Despite the bizarre turn off events, or maybe because of them, Moore’s writing is imbued with humor, poetic phrasing and sharp wit. Her descriptive language is vivid. Interspersed with the road trip are other letters from the woman to her dead sister.
Finn is still in love with Lily and as they make their way from one cemetery to another, her body continues to slowly decay. When Finn needs to stop to rest, they land at an old inn that is almost as decrepit as Lily. The inn is significant, but I’ll avoid a spoiler here.
I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home
Three-and-a-half bookmarks
Random House, 2023
193 pages
Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors, so when she praised Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke I added it to my reading list. I’m glad I did.
A young white local woman is found dead in Lark, a rural East Texas town, a week after a Black man was discovered dead, and questions begin to surface – primarily among the Black community. The man’s death draws little attention, but the second one leads Texas Ranger Darren Mathews to suspect a connection between them.
Darren’s career and marriage are on the rocks. He grew up in the area, but left for college, law school in Chicago and eventually life in Houston to pursue a career in law enforcement. When he first arrives, Darren isn’t officially involved in the murder investigations. Local authorities resist the idea they’re related and resist his presence.
Locke’s fast-paced and timely novel addresses racism and justice that is neither heavy-handed nor underplayed. With the exception of a few stereotypical characters, most are interesting, intelligent and very human rich with strengths and plenty of foibles. Even those whose bigotry is never masked have some (limited) interesting qualities. Ironically, what they all have in common is love.
This may seem contradictory, but the various relationships among those related to the victims as well as Darren’s history with the region reflect unexpected tenderness in an otherwise harsh situation.
Darren’s tenacity, despite his flaws, and the subplot involving a long-ago romance make for an engaging narrative that’s more than a mystery.
Bluebird, Bluebird
Four Bookmarks
Mulholland Books, 2017
303 pages
The Age of Vice is a massive novel about inequity, corruption and loyalty. Despite its hefty size (more than 500) pages, Deepti Kapoor has crafted an epic story that is equal measures mystery and love story – my favorite combination.
Ajay is the manservant of Sunny Wadia, the son of one of the wealthiest and most powerful man in India. Ajay is imprisoned when he’s identified as the driver of the speeding Mercedes that kills five people. The narrative then jumps back 13 years when Ajay is a poor, barely-educated child in a rural area of India. When his father is beaten by the village leaders, Ajay is sold to help pay the family’s debts. He’s sent to a mountain farm where his situation is improved, although he’s still looked down upon for his station in life.
How Ajay came to be Sunny’s servant and charged with manslaughter is a circuitous tale of excessive wealth and waste amplified by exploitation. By contrast are Ajay’s strong work ethic and his gradual rise to Sunny’s shadow, something that comes with numerous perks but many strings attached.
Sunny is an addict and womanizer, but falls in love with a journalist. Their relationship is complicated. She’s not what Sunny’s father envisions as the perfect wife for his heir.
Bunty and his brother’s influence span much of the country and little goes unnoticed by either, including how Ajay came to be behind the wheel in the deadly crash.
Kapoor’s characters are vividly depicted as are India’s extremes.
The Age of Vice
Four+ Bookmarks
Riverhead Books, 2023
548 pages
Except for lives lost and residual health issues faced by those infected by COVID-19, the pandemic was, in many ways, positive. It was a time for introspection and, if lucky, being together. This is the starting point for Tom Lake, Ann Patchett’s newest novel.
It’s cherry picking season on the Nelson family orchard in northern Michigan. Due to the pandemic, Lara and Joe Nelson’s young adult daughters are home to help harvest the crop. They plead with their mother to tell the story of her long-ago romance with Duke, a famous actor.
The narrative seamlessly moves between Lara’s descriptions of present-day life and her involvement with Duke. They met doing a summer stock production of Our Town. Duke was beginning his trajectory while Lara awaited release of a movie she was in. However, it, and her role as Emily, was as far as her acting career would go.
Lara does little to embellish the relationship and spares few details regarding the intensity of their short-lived affair; she, via Patchett, tells a good story over the span of several days. She’s happily married to Joe, relishes her life on the farm and being with her daughters. How this evolved is entangled in Duke’s story, which has several (credible) surprises. Fortunately, readers are privy to info Lara does not share with her kids.
Patchett’s writing is engaging from page one and never wavers. Like those in Thornton Wilder’s play, Patchett has created a family of extraordinary characters living conventional lives in unusual times.
Tom Lake
Five Bookmarks
Harper, 2023
309 pages
The unlikely mix of family history, parenting, basketball, Chicago, mental health and love, most of all love, are all elements of Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful.
Much has been written regarding this as homage to Little Women. Yet, the references are brief with themes beyond what Louisa May Alcott addressed. Yes, there are four sisters: Julia, intent on a better life; Sylvie, the librarian with whom she is closest, who dreams of finding her one true love; and twins Cecelia, and Emeline.
Beginning in 1960s, Napolitano’s novel provides perspectives from different characters. William Waters is a sad child neglected by his parents dealing with years-old grief. Basketball courts are the only places he finds a sense of belonging.
His skills and physical growth develop almost simultaneously. By the time he’s in high school, William is 6’7” and good enough to earn a scholarship to Northwestern University. There, he meets Julia the eldest of the Padavano sisters who decides William is the man for her. That is, unlike her father: kind but lacking motivation. Julia has long-range plans for William; he just wants to play ball while he can.
The Padavano family embraces William in ways he never experienced. What follows is a multi-decade narrative addressing depression and belief in the power of love.
When Julia gives birth to their daughter, William despairs he’s an emotionally-distant parent. What ensues is an upheaval in the relationships of all the characters. Napolitano creates such a credible rift; it’s questionable whether repairing the damage is possible.
Hello Beautiful
Four Bookmarks
The Dial Press, 2023
387 pages (includes acknowledgements)
Personal connections through friendship, love and virtual worlds are examined in Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
Sadie Green and Sam Masur meet as 11- and 12-year-olds, respectively, for a short time. The confluence of their lives doesn’t fully occur until a decade later in Cambridge where both are in college; her at MIT, him at Harvard.
The novel spans more than 30 years as Sadie, Sam, Marx (Sam’s roommate and eventual business manager) and others design and develop popular, lucrative video games. They’re the wunderkinds of computer-generated universes.
The games are essential elements of the novel, particularly how their creators conceive the ideas, develop the technology and ultimately promote them. However, it’s the bonds among the characters that have the greatest impact. Each is intelligent, flawed and loveable; each makes significant contributions to the games, although there is often tension as to who merits the attention for their success.
It should come as no surprise this is also a story about love and loss. Sam loves Sadie but is unable to articulate his feelings. Yet, they are close. Marx is like a brother to Sam and initially Sadie is suspicious of him. The evolution of these relationships is what drives the narrative.
The title reflects the endless loop of many video games while also referencing a soliloquy from Macbeth on the inevitability of death:
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time” (Act V, scene 5)
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Four Bookmarks
Alfred A. Knopf, 2022
401 pages, includes notes and acknowledgements
Zorrie is the title character in Laird Hunt’s novel about a woman whose life is defined by loss, love and the tenacity to keep moving forward.
Following the death of her parents, Zorrie lives with a joyless aunt until the age of 21 when she leaves her hometown in rural Indiana to find her place in the world. She’s undaunted traveling alone and sleeping under the stars. She gets to Illinois where she eventually finds employment at a radium factory painting the numbers on clock faces. The townspeople call the young women who work there “ghost girls” thanks to the radioactive material that makes them glow – something that is haunting. Although she makes enduring friendships with other young women, Zorri makes her way back to Indiana.
This is a terse novel with little embellishment, much like Zorri’s life. Despite this, the descriptions of the community, farms and hardscrabble existence of Zorri and her neighbors are vivid. She’s a no-nonsense, kind and hardworking person.
Soon after returning to Indiana, she marries Harold, the son of the older couple with a spare room to let. Hunt’s adroit narrative leaves the reader as surprised as Zorri by the depth of her relationship with Harold.
The depression, World War II and other events of the mid-20th century impact Zorri’s life in profound ways. Still, her resiliency and Hunt’s ability to highlight beauty among mundane daily routines make for an engaging novel. Zorri may not articulate appreciation for what she has, but it’s evident nonetheless.
Zorri
Almost-four bookmarks
Bloomsbury Books, 2021
161 pages
The best books are those you don’t want to pick up because once you do, you don’t want to put them down. It’s a conundrum. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is one such book. It’s a love story (on many levels) wrapped in science, specifically chemistry.
Elizabeth Zott is not a woman to be dismissed. Even after her post-graduate education is derailed due to sexual assault, she’s relentless in her pursuit of science.
Well ahead of her time in the late 1950s early ‘60s, she refuses to let her gender restrict her dreams, nor does she allow her good looks to dictate how’s she’s perceived. She’s exceptionally intelligent with a strong sense of self and a desire to be a chemist in the male-dominated scientific community.
She’s hired at a research lab where she meets Calvin Evans, a socially-awkward but distinguished scientist. A relationship based on mutual respect, desire and, ultimately, love flourishes despite the ill-will of their colleagues.
Garmus deftly illustrates the sexism and hypocrisy of the era. Yet, this is not a male-bashing narrative. When circumstances change, Elizabeth finds another way – round-about though it is – to pursue a career in chemistry: she hosts a television cooking show where she takes an unusual approach. Instead of identifying ingredients by their common names, she uses scientific terminology (ie., sodium chloride vs salt). Surprisingly, the program is a hit.
Humor and tragedy are incorporated in equal measures with several endearing characters the reader would love to spend more time with.
Lessons in Chemistry
Five Bookmarks
Doubleday, 2022
390 pages (includes acknowledgements)
Fight Night by Miriam Toews may sound like a mob meet up, which is true if you consider nine-year-old Swiv, her mother Mooshie and grandmother Elvira to be a gang. They do, indeed, fight. Not each other, but the past and world around them.
Swiv is clever and funny, but she’s just a kid – still in single digits. She’s been suspended from school (for fighting), so Elvira creates an innovative educational curriculum. This includes subjects, among others, such as letter writing, life sciences and “Ancient History,” about Elvira’s childhood.
Swiv and her grandmother are close. They spend their days together in close proximity where Swiv is largely a caregiver to the older woman. Still, Elvira is wise and joyful. She has a love of life that endears her to everyone she meets, much to Swiv’s dismay.
Mooshie is in the trimester of her pregnancy. She’s an actress with a Toronto theatre troupe and is portrayed as a woman on the edge. Swiv’s father is absent, something Elvira eventually explains to Swiv. Among the writing assignments for Swiv is to pen a letter to him keeping him up to date on her life. Mooshie and Elvira are also tasked with writing letters: theirs to the unborn child.
Toews portrays the small family as determined and prepared to face their demons. The deaths of Swiv’s aunt and grandfather by suicide nearly paralyzed Mooshie emotionally. This leaves Elvira to keep the family together, despite her failing health. Consequently, Swiv grows up far too fast.
Fight Night
Three-and-a-half Bookmarks
Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021
251 pages
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