Elsewhere, Home is a collection of short stories by one of my favorite African authors, Leila Aboulela, Aboulela writes with experience about Muslim immigrants from Sudan and Egypt living abroad in Scotland and London and the challenges that they face, the longing for home which never really goes away. Beautifully realized, these are stories that will help bridge the gap between very different cultures. A great read that couldn’t be more timely.
Light From Other Stars by Erika Swyler is a wonderful novel about a young girl growing up in a small Florida town, watching Space Shuttles launch and determined to go into space herself one day. Both her parents are scientists and her father is working on an invention that will have ramifications for the whole town. Traveling back in forth in time and space, Swyler has crafted a fantastic story about the relationship between parents and their children, the responsibility…
Less by Andrew Sean Greer is the story of Arthur Less, a failing writer about to turn fifty, whose boyfriend of nine years is getting married someone else. To avoid the humiliation of the wedding, Arthur pieces together a round the world book tour in order to be out of the country when it takes place. Written with sharp wit, I found this book hilarious, wise and surprisingly moving. Even through all his mistakes and missteps, it was impossible not…
Clever Girl by Tessa Hadley tells the story of Stella, an ordinary Englishwoman whose life unfolds in snapshots in the novel, moving from the 60’s to present day. Nothing extraordinary happens here, however it is Hadley’s writing that elevates the ordinary to the extraordinary, deftly describing the ways in which Stella relates to the world and everyone around her. A subtle, yet beautiful book.
Severance by Ling Ma is a post-apocalyptic novel set in NYC in the very near future. Candice Chen is so committed to the routine of her workday, she barely notices when Shen Fever sweeps the city and she is eventually left to survive alone.Ma writes in a wonderfully satirical voice about the end of the world and her place in what is left of it. A funny, insightful and slightly eerie look at a path that is all too easily…
26a is a semi-autobiographical novel by British author Diana Evans. In an attic room in London, two identical twins grow up together, sharing everything, and avoiding the unhappiness of their parents below. On a trip to Nigeria to visit their Mother’s family, unexpected events lead to the first secrets between them, and their lives begin to slowly drift apart. Beautifully written, Evans is a master of using language in new and creative ways. Poetic, full of humor, tragedy, and also…
The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar revisits characters from her earlier novel A Space Between Us. Umrigar is one of my favorite Indian authors. Here she writes about the least visible of all people, a low caste illiterate woman who lives in a slum in Mumbai, and another who is homeless, both struggling to scrape by and hold on to their dignity. The sights and sounds of Mumbai come alive, and the characters are so real I could not…
Lost Children Archive by Mexican author Valeria Luiselli is one of the most extraordinary books I’ve read in years. The characters remain unnamed, simply Ma, Pa, the boy, the girl. Told in alternating voices and filled with quotations, documents, polaroids, poems, musical references, the story becomes an incantation, a migration, a conversation with the past. The family takes a road trip, searching for lost immigrant children, searching for their place in the world. They record sounds, language, birdsong, whispers of…
The Dragonfly Sea by Kenyan author Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor is historical fiction based on the little known fact of Chinese sailors being shipwrecked on the small island of Pate on Kenya’s eastern seaboard some 600 years ago. It is a coming of age story of Ayaana, a small girl growing up outcast and fatherless on Pate until she claims a sailor Muhidin, as her father. When dignitaries from China come to Pate and do DNA testing, Ayaana, now 21 is…
The Island of Sea Women is the latest historical fiction by Lisa See. This time she focuses on the little known Korean Island of Jeju where the women are the providers and the men stay home with the children. As soon as they are old enough, girls learn to dive from their mothers and grandmothers, harvesting riches from the sea. The book follows two best friends through decades of colonialism, war, marriage, children and into modern times. See highlights the…