The precipitating event of this novel set in Kenya, ranging from the late 1890s to the end of empire in 1960 was the building of the railroad from Mombasa to the shore of Lake Victoria. The railroad the British built with Indian and native labor was called the Lunatic Express and is the subject–and title–of one of my favorite books. References to Charles Miller's book turn up from...
I spotted this 2004 book by a favorite British author of mine at Jen and Brooke's house. As you might guess from the title, it is a mystery, a category that doesn't do it justice. I suspect it belonged to Brooke ("I like fiction that begins with a murder and ends with an arrest.") It does begin with three deaths, described in the first three chapters as Case History No. 1, No. 2...
I must begin by saying this is the best book I will read this year. The book is a mixture of historical fact and fanciful fiction. The event at its core is the death of Lincoln's son Willie at age 11 in 1862; this tragedy for the Lincolns makes it a tough read for parents of young children. The method used to convey the historical facts is unique in my experience as a reader. Those...
A word that came to mind as I finished this book is kaleidoscope. I'm hoping that thinking and writing about the book will take me to an explanation for that word rising to the surface. At the outset we learn that six tenants and the landlord who live in a formerly grand old house turned into apartments perish one night when it goes up in flames. What the author tells about the lives or one...
"Pale Horse, Pale Rider" is the name of the collection of three novellas as well as the name of the third one. The phrase, from the Book of Revelation (King James version) is "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given to them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger...
Cora, the main character of this book, is the granddaughter of Ajarry, born in Africa, sold multiple times until she lands at a cotton plantation in Georgia. In this way the story begins with the horror of those brought from Africa. Ajarry died in the cotton field. Liberty was reserved for other people, for the citizens of the City of Pennsylvania bustling a thousand miles to the north. Since the...
Just at the time Miss Garnet came to the end of her teaching career, her friend and housemate Harriet died. With that loss, Miss Garnet came to realize how much she would miss the more lively Harriet and she impulsively (for a change), decided to live in Venice for six months. In the beautiful Venice she has experiences she never expected, makes friends of all ages, and discovers emotions she...
Commonwealth begins with a christening party crashed by a man who brought a large bottle of gin because he didn't have a present. This momentous party ended marriages and a priest's career. In the next chapter the father of the christened baby is being attended as he has chemo by Franny, the woman that baby became. The lives of the four children of the gin-bearing man (Bert Cousins)...
Having loved a previous book of short stories by the Israeli writer Etgar Keret, I read this one. I found the previous collection to be fantastical, like Kafka, but more whimsical and occasionally quite sweet. While also fantastical, this one is darker in tone and more disturbing. In the title story the bus driver's ideology motivates him not to open the door to bus riders who arrive...
My friend Molly recommended a book by Alice Hoffman she was reading and as a result I read this one, based on NYT reviews and a quick look in the library at several choices. Though I've read some books characterized by magical realism (Murray Bail's Eucalyptus comes to mind), this one leans heavily toward the magical rather than the realism side. Hoffman is a good storyteller and...