The Book Circle Book Reviews
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Gin,Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue by Christine Higdon
“Gin,Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue” is the second book written by Christine Higdon of Mimico. It is set on the West Coast, in the heyday of 1920s Vancouver. The book follows the trials and tribulations of the strong-hearted and strong-willed McKenzie sisters and has themes of family, abortion, prohibition and life in the gay community. It a turbulent family saga set during a turbulent era and has been called a tender and memorable look at love, loss, and sisterhood. It stimulated a lively discussion and stirred up lots of family memories to share.
Review by Julie Kinkaid
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
With her eighth novel, O’Farrell brilliantly turns to historical fiction to confront a parent’s worst nightmare: the death of a child. Set in Stratford, England, in the late 16th century, Hamnet imagines the emotional, domestic and artistic repercussions after the world’s most famous (though never named) playwright and his wife lose their only son, 11-year-old Hamnet, to the bubonic plaque in 1596. Four years later, the boy’s father transposes his grief into his masterpiece – titled with a common variant of his son’s name – in which the father dies and the son lives to avenge him.
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn is a memoir about a couple who lose everything and embark on a 630 mile trek along the UK’s South West Coast Path. Their journey is one of healing, resilience, and finding unexpected kindness in the face of adversity. A narrative of two people dragging themselves from the depths of despair along some of the most dramatic landscapes in the country, looking for a solution to their problems and ultimately finding themselves.
Review submitted – Ruby Benoy.
Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright
Canadian Richard B. Write’s novel, Clara Callan, earned him a Giller, a Governor General’s and Trillium Award. Set in the 1930’s depression era, it follows the story of two sisters and their life changing experiences on the Eve of World II. Our comments largely centered around the following.
1. The novel is written in ‘epistolary’ form (it is all correspondence and journal entries). There was much discussion whether this was the best way to understand the relationship between the sisters and to also understand their emotional reactions to the events that impact their lives.
2. Most were surprised that a male author had so much insight into the inner workings of the female mind. Most said that if they hadn’t known that the author was a man, they would have assumed it was a woman. Wright commented on this in an interview when asked about this: “I have always found women more interesting than men. They talk more about things that interest me. There is not so much about golf and bowling as there is about feelings”.
Review by Penny Prazak
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
“The Dictionary of Lost Words is a delightful, lyrical, and deeply thought provoking celebration of words and the power of language to shape the world” – Penguin Random House
Based on real events, this story of the compilation of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, explores how words take on different meanings for men and women. The novel imagines how the lack of women’s influence affected the outcome of the original edition. It also covers the themes of love, loss, feminism and friendship. This book generated a lively and interesting discussion, with lots of laughs along the way.
Review submitted by Judy DeMone
What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad
“This extraordinary book carries a message, not of a trite and clichéd hope, but of a greater universal humanism, the terrifying idea that, ultimately, there are no special distinctions among us, that in fact we are all very much in the same boat.” – New York Times
Much can be read into this Giller prize winning book, a story about a boy refugee washed up on shore and a local girl who befriends him. The book generated a lot of discussion on the nature of humans and our capacity to care for and understand each other. A thought-provoking read and discussion.
Review submitted by Penny Prazak
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
Review submitted by Flo Williams
Our group met at Flo Williams’ home to share our ideas about the chosen book for the month, Left Neglected by Lisa Genova. It is written in the first person by a 37 year-old super achiever who handles a demanding career as well as her family of three small children. When frantically rushing from work to her son’s soccer game, she is distracted by her cell phone and has a car accident. She suffers a brain injury that steals her awareness of everything on her left side. Her life is irrevocably changed, and she has to learn how to pay attention to the people and parts of her life that matter most.
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Charlotte McConaghy is an Australian author and screenwriter and this is her second adult novel. McConaughey says she has a great interest in nature and fierce women and this is evident in Once There Were Wolves. The setting is northern Scotland where a group are attempting to reintroduce wolves to the Scottish Highlands in order to rewild the landscape and bring a forest back to life. At the same time they must convince the locals of the benefits of the program. This is also a romantic mystery with a murder to solve and intrigue from the past to discover. The Book Circle were divided in their reviews ranging from
“couldn’t put it down” to “I was just confused”. We enjoyed learning about wolf packs, about rewilding, and about Mirror Touch Synesthesia. We also agreed on the skill of the writer in creating clear and beautiful descriptions of the forest and of emotions, both sinister and beautiful. Overall, the novel provided material for a good discussion and our rating out of five averaged a four.
Review submitted by Julie Kinkaid
Wish You Were Here – By Jodi Picoult
In her novel Wish You Were Here, Jodi Picoult writes unflinchingly about COVID-19, sparing no details about the deaths, the few instances of people recovering from being intubated and the fallout from that intubation. This book is thoughtful and life-affirming.
The main character, Diana O’Toole, followed her parents into the arts field. Her mother’s chosen field photojournalism, caused her to travel the world instead of spending time with her husband and daughter. In response, Diana has ensured her career, the business of art, will allow her a successful and comfortable lifestyle while doing what she loves.
Diana has carefully plotted her lifetime goals: marriage by the age of thirty, house and children to follow, travel to specific places, retirement. She and her boyfriend, Finn, a surgery resident, are on track to fulfill their joint expectations. COVID-19 raises its ugly head in March 2020, right before they are to leave for two weeks in the Galápagos Islands. Finn breaks the news that he can’t leave as his hospital is overwhelmed with patients infected with the virus, but he tells Diana that she should go without him.
So Diana heads to the Galápagos, and she’s the only tourist who chooses to stay on Isabela Island after the pandemic shuts everything down. Her “vacation” becomes extended as the travel restrictions make it impossible for her to return home. And during those months, she has a lot of time to think about her parents, her estrangement from her mother, her career choices and her life plan.
There is a huge plot twist halfway through the book. It is a complete surprise and makes us reconsider Diana’s experiences in the Galápagos and how they have changed her. Through Picoult’s eyes and those of her characters, we see a version of the reality that was and still is COVID-19. Through Finn’s anguished narrative, Picoult depicts the horror and depression medical professionals endured during the worst of the pandemic.
Review submitted by Rosemarie Gage.
Book Reviewed: em – Author Kim Thúy
Written in her distinctively minimalist prose, the Vietnamese-Quebecker’s fourth novel, recently longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, is her first to directly confront the Vietnam War, humanized here through the story of two orphans who lead parallel lives despite their separation through Operation Babylift, the mass evacuation of thousands of GI-fathered children during the fall of Saigon. Says Kirkus Reviews “A brief moving meditation on the nature of truth, memory, humanity, and violence: a powerful work of art”.
In the midst of war, an ordinary miracle: an abandoned baby tenderly cared for by a young boy living on the streets of Saigon. The boy is Louis, the child of a long-gone American soldier. Louis calls the baby em Hồng, em meaning “little sister,” or “beloved.” Even though her cradle is nothing more than a cardboard box, em Hồng’s life holds every possibility.
Through the linked destinies of a family of characters, the novel takes its inspiration from historical events, including Operation Babylift, which evacuated thousands of biracial orphans from Saigon in April 1975, and the remarkable growth of the nail salon industry, dominated by Vietnamese expatriates all over the world. From the rubber plantations of Indochina to the massacre at My Lai, Kim Thúy sifts through the layers of pain and trauma in stories we thought we knew, revealing transcendent moments of grace, and the invincibility of the human spirit.
Review submitted by Judy DeMone.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Inequality is a central theme to Lessons in Chemistry. It is about women’s lives, careers, and struggle for empowerment in the late 50s and early 60s. Elizabeth Zott is an average 1960s woman. She’s a chemist and works as the only woman on a team of men at the Hastings research facility. Her doctoral candidacy was rescinded after her advisor, Dr. Meyers, sexually assaulted her and she stabbed him with a pencil.
At Hastings, she meets Calvin Evans a fellow scientist, a renowned chemist, when she steals beakers from his lab. Calvin initially mistakes her for a secretary. This leads to romantic meeting of the minds. Elizabeth lives with Calvin but she will not marry him.
Like science, life is unpredictable. A few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself a single mother and the reluctant star of a TV cooking show, Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) is revolutionary. She combines her love and knowledge of chemistry to teach her audience, mainly women, how to cook but she isn’t just teaching women how to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Some of the other characters are quirky and lovable. The dog, Six Thirty, yes, that’s his name, outdoes Lassie. He has some important things to think about and is a great judge of character. He had me laughing out loud. Precocious Mad (Madelaine), Elizabeth’s daughter, has been raised to ask questions, demand the truth, and learns resilience from her mother. Harriet, the tough and practical neighbour across the street, and Walter, Elizabeth’s producer, who has her back, are heartwarming characters.
Women are still confronting misogyny, experiencing sexism, as well as sexual harassment, sometimes for simply daring to step outside of the box that society puts them in. Women like Elizabeth in the sixties were paving the way for women today, demanding more and still fighting for equality.