Day After Night - Anita Diamant

This is the latest from the author of The Red Tent and Good Harbor. While countless books have been written about the Holocaust, people being taken to concentration camps or fighting for survival within those camps, Diamant's story takes place in an internment camp for Jewish immigrants. The people in the camp managed to escape Nazi Germany only to find themselves detained behind barbed wire by a British army refusing them entry into Palestine. In 1945, more than 200 of the detainees were rescued by a special operations unit of a Jewish underground militia organization in Palestine. With this true event as a backdrop, Diamant tells the story of four young women in the camp. Each one has a different story of survival - and the price they paid for their own lives. They each live with secrets and nightmares, unsure of who to trust, and forgetful of how to love. They carry guilt and shame with them for atrocities they themselves did not commit. But, they work together to relearn how to live their lives in a new camp and later in a new country. Like any work about this period in history, Day After Night was a difficult read for me. It is filled with so much seemingly avoidable sadness, but at the same time, is a reminder of the strength of the human spirit, and the desire to live on even when faced with the worst the world has to offer.

That Old Cape Magic - Richard Russo

When I think of Richard Russo, I think of a wonderful storyteller who creates loveable, though not always entirely likeable, protagonists. Though his Empire Falls had enough literary weight to merit a Pulitzer, I remember it for its fabulously engaging plot. The same with Bridge of Sighs. So, when my mom told me that his latest, That Old Cape Magic, was a "quick read" that I would finish in "an hour," I knew she was exaggerating, but I also knew it meant that this would not be Russo at his finest (at least where I was concerned). As in many of his other books, including the funny Straight Man, Russo sets his characters up in the world of academia. Main character, Jack Griffin, is headed to the Cape for a wedding in which his daughter is a bridesmaid. He has decided to go on ahead of his wife, who stays behind at campus to work. A little concerned about what this means for his marriage, Jack is determined to improve upon the summers he always spent on the Cape with his bickering and snobby intellectual parents. But, he finds it hard to escape his past, as he takes his father's ashes along to scatter, and his mother insists on calling him at all the wrong moments to make him feel guilty or ashamed of his actions. The book then jumps a year ahead, with Jack returning yet again to the Cape, this time for another wedding, and in quite a different position vis-a-vis his family. Throughout the novel, Jack struggles with his inner demons - the paths he should have taken, but have been long foreclosed, the things he should have said, the people he should have loved. While Jack as an individual character is classic Russo, in terms of his contradictory nature and his apparent inability to find happiness in his own skin, the story itself lacked Russo's usual complexity. The book flap warned that this book is unlike anything Russo has ever written. And it was right. The plot was vague, and the direction aimless. Sadly, it was just missing That Old Russo Magic.

Pictures at an Exhibition - Sara Houghteling

For awhile, I was reading quite a number of books about art theft, art fraud, and art stolen during the Holocaust (including Noah Charney's The Art Thief, and Edward Dolnick's books The Forger's Spell and The Rescue Artist). So, I was a little reluctant to pick this one up, even though it is written by the fiance of my friend Daniel (and author of The Piano Tuner). But, I'm glad I did. Pictures at an Exhibition takes place in Paris, and chronicles a young man's quest to recover his father's paintings which were looted by the Nazis during WWII. While the book is fiction, Houghteling's background in art history comes through in her historical detail and meticulous descriptions of the missing art. The writing is beautiful, and I often found myself so lost in passages, almost to the detriment of the overall story. I was impressed with how seamlessly the story turned from the art museums and auction houses, to the main character's world of medicine, while all the while incorporating a love story and the mystery of the lost paintings. Pictures at an Exhibition is suspenseful and filled with family secrets, while at the same time written so beautifully as to be its own work of art.

The Girl with No Shadow - Joanne Harris

I read Joanne Harris's popular novel Chocolat and saw the movie based on it so long ago that I can barely remember what it was about - other than a chocolate shop in France. But, I do recall enjoying it and finding it quite magical. So, while at Denver's famous Tattered Cover bookstore (www.tatteredcover.com) with Sara recently, I was excited to discover this sequel. The Girl with No Shadow opens with Vianne and Anouk (of Chocolat fame) in a new city under new identities, Yanne and Annie. Yanne is struggling to keep her new chocolaterie afloat. She is dating her landlord, a successful businessman who wants to marry her, but has no love for Anouk or Yanne's reticent four-year old, Rosette. Anouk, now almost a teenager, is having issues herself, trying to fit into school but knowing that there is a strange power within her yearning to break free. Suddenly, the wind blows Zozie into their lives. A stranger with no apparent history, Zozie ingratiates herself into their lives, bringing prosperity, but at a price. Harris tells her story from the alternating perspective of Yanne, Anouk, and Zozie (a device I am slowly becoming so tired of). We see Zozie's scheming, and the mesmerizing effect it is having on everyone, particularly Anouk. It's clear to the reader from the outset that if Zozie has her way, things will not end well, but throughout the novel it does not become entirely clear why Zozie has chosen Yanne's life to destroy. I enjoyed the magic aspect - reminding me fondly of Alice Hoffman's books - but in the end, my dislike for Zozie was so strong that I could hardly bring myself to read the climax, but I'm glad that I did - and the return of Roux (Yanne's ex-flame) brought hope to an otherwise bleak story. The book takes place during the Christmas holiday season, so this is a perfect time of year to read it. It made me hungry for big cups of hot chocolate, and convinced me to go back and reread Chocolat.

Goldengrove - Francine Prose

Goldengrove opens with the death of 13-year old Nico's older sister. Nearby when the death occurred, Nico carries with her a tremendous amount of guilt, and the feeling that it should have been her - the less talented and loved daughter. While her father seeks refuge in his quiet little bookstore, and her mother turns to a friend dispensing questionable advice, Nico wonders what will keep her family together after such a significant tragedy. In the hopes of finding answers, Nico befriends her sister's boyfriend, Aaron - the only person who seems to understand the tremendous weight of what has happened. As a young woman coming into her own, Nico is confused by her feelings of loss, and her strong attachment to Aaron. There is a sense of danger and impropriety from the first pages of this novel, and Prose carries the tension through to the end. I did not find anything particularly different or enlightening in Prose's telling of family tragedy, but focusing the narrative on Nico's coming of age, was compelling.

Mountains Beyond Mountains - Tracy Kidder

This is Greg Mortensen's Three Cups of Tea set in Haiti. I've never read Tracy Kidder before, but have heard that he is the master of the non-fiction narrative. Here, Kidder tells the story of Dr. Paul Farmer - a Harvard educated doctor driven by the need to make the world a better and safe place for everyone. He devotes his life to eradicating TB and bringing world-class medical care to a desperately improverished town in Haiti. Like all people of this undaunted and perservering ilk, Farmer is full of pithy sayings - most of the "never say never" variety. Kidder does a wonderful job chronicling Farmer's life story - how he came to be in Haiti, and how he has earned the respect and admiration of the people he serves. But, I was glad to see that Kidder did not ignore the impact that Farmer's choices have made on his own personal life. Farmer's desire to put the needs of an entire community before his own, often it seems, prevented him recognizing the needs of his own family and friends. At times Kidder's thorough discussion of the medical and political morass encompassing Farmer's work was a bit tedious. But, overall this was a truly inspirational story about the difference one man has made by dedicating his own life to change, and encouraging so many others to do the same.

Nocturnes - Kazuo Ishiguro

Kazuo Ishiguro's novels are among my favorites. He has a way of playing with memory and reality that really sticks with me. So, I was quite excited when his collection of short stories came out. While each of the five stories features different characters, they all feature music as an important centerpiece. For each of the main characters, music is a way to find meaning in a world in which they would otherwise be lost or alone. For some this brings comfort, for others a sense of torment. While Ishiguro's writing is as beautiful as ever, I felt that the short story form just did not highlight his talents the way his novels have. With each of his novels, I always had a sense of impending doom and building anticipation. The short stories, on the other hand, carried with them more of a feeling of resignation. There wasn't enough time to come to uderstand the complexities of the characters or to care about their conflicts. I did not have the same feelings of affection and wonder that I usually get from his books. Instead, I was left with a bit of disappointment - and hope that another novel is yet to come.