Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

 

"To Lexie, the world seemed nearly perfect, and her fantasies were her real life with all the colours dialed up."

There is a reason some books are best sellers. They are easy to read and hit a nerve with the prevailing zeitgeist. That could possibly be the most pretentious sentence I've written here in a while and that would seem inappropriate. At the centre of this novel is the question of who provides a better life, someone with money, or less opportunities due to their ethnicity, lack of finesse with English and 'otherness'. Ultimately this is a novel concerned with 'otherness' - a feeling of isolation from the picture perfect life that the tailored streets of the Shaker Heights community suggest. If you've watched the mini-series this becomes even more about race when they cast Kerry Washington as Mia.

Shaker Heights reminded me of growing up in the suburbs, where to be anything but the accepted norm was to be frowned upon. Fitting in meant wearing the right clothes, looking the same, sharing the same views, all of which seemed to be a kind of prison to me. Izzy is vexed by the fact she doesn't subscribe to her well to do family's status quo. New arrivals Mia and her daughter Pearl, go from living in a car to finding a home at the rental property owned by Elena. As their daughters shift allegiances, ambitious Pearl enthralled by Elena's lifestyle and artistic Izzy mesmerised by Mia's creativity, their lives are shaken by another struggle between two mothers.

This was chosen for our book club and it really is a great choice because there is so much thematically to discuss. While that can sometimes labour the pace of a novel, this one really hits all the marks.

5 out of 5 families are like icebergs, you only see the top.

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

 

“You still waste time with those things, Lenù? We are flying over a ball of fire. The part that has cooled floats on lava. On that part we construct buildings, the bridges, and the streets, and every so often the lava comes out of Vesuvius or causes an earthquake that destroys everything. There are microbes everywhere that make us sick and die.”

This is one is a really slow burn. I'd heard nothing but rave reviews which kept me reading and eventually that tenacity paid off. I kept thinking this was a book that would appeal more to my mother due to its detailed descriptions of minutiae, much like the way she describes every detail of her day. Perhaps what turned me off so much to begin with was the fact that I just didn't like the two protagonists. Lila and Elena were not characters I could particularly warm to in their infancy. Perhaps that was because they brought up uncomfortable memories of how cruel children can be to each other, and the unpleasant recollections of a childhood full of bullying. 

Yet dear reader I read on. Now, as you might guess by the lack of reviews of late, I finished this quite some months ago. Life has thrown some curve balls, and stress has possibly played tricks with my memory. I know that upon finishing the last few pages I immediately ordered the other novels in the Neapolitan novels which suggests my ultimate appraisal as a positive one. 

5 out 5 a childhood friendship is a complicated one.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

"She murmured, We could always blame the stars. I beg your pardon, Doctor? That's what influenza means, she said. Influenza delle stelle—the influence of the stars. Medieval Italians thought the illness proved that the heavens were governing their fates, that people were quite literally star-crossed. I pictured that, the celestial bodies trying to fly us like upsidedown kites. Or perhaps just yanking on us for their obscure amusement.”

 I had no idea what this was about when I started reading it, which was incidentally in the middle of the pandemic lockdown. Set in an influenza maternity ward during the Spanish flu,  this tale combines two of my least favourite topics: gory childbirth and hospitals. The last few months I've spent more time visiting hospitals of different varieties then I'd ever care to. So reading this was hard going. That being said, it is fantastically written - I mean does Emma Donoghue ever disappoint? In my opinion, never!

This is a love story, a story of hardship and unprecedented times, much like we're experiencing today. The highs are so acutely felt, precisely because the surrounding circumstances are so dire.

Perhaps not the upbeat solution to trying times, but a fabulous read nonetheless.

 5 out of 5 glimmers of hope amid despair shine all the brighter.

The Yield by Tara June Winch

 

“The ancestors taught me all the things I wasn’t taught at the Boys’ Home:  they taught me men’s business they taught me where to find food, the names and uses of all the plants and animals”

I'm afraid I've been so busy that my blogging has really taken a backseat to life, family dramas and work deadlines. I finished reading this fantastic novel way back in August and I can hardly believe its already November. My memory might be a little fuzzy and yet I recall this was a rather intriguing read and well deserving of its Miles Franklin Award.

The multiple story lines drift in and out much like a song connecting the generations. August's story is the one that drew me in the most, possibly as it is set in the present. Her homecoming for her grandfather's funeral will dredge up feelings long buried and uncover the secrets of Prosperous. Meanwhile, you'll be swept up in the history of a place and its people, that will have you rapidly turning pages.

5 out of 5 family histories are always complicated.

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

 

“Oh, how I regret not having worn a bikini for the entire year I was twenty-six. If anyone young is reading this, go, right this minute, put on a bikini, and don't take it off until you're thirty-four.”

Nora Ephron's short story collection is just non stop delight in my opinion. The creator of When Harry Met Sally and author of Heartburn was a phenomenal writer and these short stories showcase her ability to capture the strange and often hilarious aspects of a woman's life. It is tragic that she died in 2012 and isn't around to write more entertaining treatises.

The trials and tribulations of removing unwanted hair, the youth affirming properties of hair dye, the utility of an unattractive handbag and the dramas of parenthood and ageing, are all delivered with wit and humour and with a voice that is utterly compelling. First published in 2006, these delightful essays don't get old.

5 out of 5 - pass me the moisturiser.