morsie reads

Thursday, July 17, 2008

travel reads

Summer reading is often synonymous with travel or vacation reading. I haven't been posting much lately because I've been busy (why is it that summer ends up being the busiest time of year?). I had a bit of a trip last week so I thought I'd post about the books I decided to bring with me.

Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters
~ Audiobook read by Barbara Rosenblat

Banned forever from the eastern end of the Valley of the Kings, eminent Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson's desperate attempt to regain digging rights backfires— and his dream of unearthing the tomb of the little-known king Tutankhamon is dashed. Now Emerson, his archaeologist wife, Amelia Peabody, and their family must watch from the sidelines as Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter discover the greatest Egyptian treasure of all time.
But the Emersons' own less impressive excavations are interrupted when father and son Ramses are lured into a trap by a strange group of villains ominously demanding answers to a question neither man comprehends. And it will fall to the ever-intrepid Amelia to protect her endangered family— and perhaps her nemesis as well— from a devastating truth hidden uncomfortably close to home... and from a nefarious plot that threatens the peace of the entire region.

I needed an audiobook since I knew I'd be doing a good deal of driving. Browsing the discount bookstore, I came up with Tomb of the Golden Bird, Elizabeth Peters' 18th Amelia Peabody Mystery. it was sufficiently long (14 hours) and unabridged. I knew that it was a recent installment in a series, but had no idea how many books were in the series. Luckily for me, the book does stand on its own and readers can follow the action without needing to know the backstories of all the various characters.

I didn't find the novel particularly suspenseful, but the story (and how it relates to the actual discovery of King Tut's tomb) was interesting. The story gets bogged down in the details, I think. Amelia Peabody is an interesting character as are many of the individuals in her sphere. It is Peters' gift for characterization that makes the novel engaging. Additionally, the reader, Barbara Rosenblat, does a wonderful job rendering the individual characters with very distinctive voices for many of the main characters.

Carnevale by M R Lovric

1782: the 13-year old daughter of a Venetian merchant family is lured naked from her bath by a stray cat and finds herself in the arms of Casanova. Twenty-five years later, her renown as a painter is eclipsed only by her reputation as his last lover. Then a young poet named Byron enters her life.

I'd previously read Lovric's The Floating Book, which I really enjoyed. I love historical fiction and I love Venice. I also love art historical ficiton, but for some reason I just could not get into Carnevale. I gave the book until page 100 and then I decided that I should let it go and try again at some other point.

Casanova is undoubtedly interesting, but there's only so much that I want to hear about him in a story about someone else. Cecilia is an interesting character, but her story definitely gets bogged down in the narration of Casanova's personal history. I might have stuck with it, but the glimpse we get of Byron at the very beginning of the novel did nothing to whet my appetite for the rest of the novel.

Labels: audio, historical fiction, informal reviews

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

My Name is Red

My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

At once a fiendishly devious mystery, a beguiling love story, and a brilliant symposium on the power of art, My Name is Red is a transporting tale set amid the splendor and religious intrigue of sixteenth-century Istanbul, from one of the most prominent contemporary Turkish writers.

The Sultan has commissioned a cadre of the most acclaimed artists in the land to create a great book celebrating the glories of his realm. Their task: to illuminate the work in the European style. But because figurative art can be deemed an affront to Islam, this commission is a dangerous proposition indeed. The ruling elite therefore mustn't know the full scope or nature of the project, and panic erupts when one of the chosen miniaturists disappears. The only clue to the mystery — or crime? — lies in the half-finished illuminations themselves. Part fantasy and part philosophical puzzle, My Name is Red is a kaleidoscopic journey to the intersection of art, religion, love, sex, and power.

My Name is Red has been sitting on Mt. TBR since Tuesday, August 29, 2006. I've really wanted to read it so my train-travel weekend (8.5 hours down, 8 hours back) seemed like a perfect opportunity. So, into my bag, I threw it and The Floating Brothel (which I never even got around to starting).

I enjoyed My Name is Red, but I have to say that it was not the right selection at all for this trip. My overtired brain just couldn't fully appreciate the novel with its detailed storyline and all Pamuk's interesting narrative devices. I slogged through it, a chapter to two at a time, never getting into a real groove with my reading even when I had a huge chunk of time to devote to it. I have to say that My Name is Red is definitely a book that I'll want to reread. I know that I'll have a completely different experience reading it next time and that I'll enjoy it more being able to immerse myself completely in the story and its complexities.

Labels: historical fiction, literary fiction

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Year of Wonders

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks

Geraldine Brooks' debut novel (she has since written March and People of the Book) follows two years in the life of a small English village (Eyam, Derbyshire). When an infected bolt of cloth carries the "seeds" of plague to Eyam in 1665, a visionary young minister convinces the villagers to quarantine themselves. In an effort to stop the spread of the contagion, the villagers sacrifice themselves and as the death toll begins to mount mistrust rears its ugly head.

The novel's narrator is a young widow named Anna Frith, one of the plague survivors. Anna is sympathetic and relatable despite the 300+ year time difference between readers and herself. Year of Wonders is the story of her village and its trials, but it is also the tale of her own self-awakening.

Year of Wonders is one of those rare books that is consistently strong throughout. My interest never waned and I probably would have finished it all in one sitting if I didn't make myself go to bed around midnight. I particularly liked the epilogue and how Brooks ties up things with our protagonist (it's unexpected and somewhat unrealistic, but perfect nonetheless). I also loved the afterword. Too often I start afterwords and never finish them because they aren't compelling and can be extremely anticlimatic after the end of a good novel. Brooks' afterword, however, was interesting and relevant and it added to my enjoyment and understanding of the novel.

Labels: historical fiction, informal reviews

Friday, April 11, 2008

The Shadow of the Wind

Fiction this month for the student services blog...

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
(translated from the Spanish by Lucia Graves)

Set in post-Spanish Civil War Barcelona, The Shadow of the Wind is the story of Daniel Sempere, the son of a bookseller. On his first trip to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, Daniel discovers a little-known novel the obscure author Julián Carax. The novel (entitled The Shadow of the Wind) speaks to Daniel in a way that no other book has. He longs to read more by Carax, but it seems that a mysterious man has been collecting all extant copies of Carax's works and burning them.

The more Daniel learns of Carax, the more questions remain unanswered. As parallels begin to emerge between Carax's life and his own, Daniel becomes all the more invested in discovering the secrets of Carax and the mysterious book-burner.

A spellbinding page-turner rife with well-drawn characters, The Shadow of the Wind is part mystery, part tragedy, part romance. It is a book about books and a book about life.

Labels: historical fiction, informal reviews, literature-in-translation

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Sophie and the Rising Sun

Sophie and the Rising Sun by Augusta Trobaugh

Salty Creek is a sleepy Georgia town where everyone knows everyone else's business. Strangers rarely enter their midst. When the mysterious Mr. Oto arrives in the spring of 1939, he immediately becomes the talk of the town.

A quiet, unassuming Japanese man with a secret history of his own, Mr. Oto meets Sophie soon after arriving in Salty Creek and immediately falls in love with her. Sophie, having lost her true love during World War I, spent her youth caring for her mother and maiden aunts. Now that they are gone, she has resigned herself to a lonely, passionless existence. That all begins to change as she finds herself drawn to Mr. Oto.

When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Mr. Oto's newfound life comes under siege and Sophie must decide how much she is willing to risk for a future with the man who has brought such joy into her life.

This was a quick read, but a very good one. There was the potential for the story to get quite dark and menacing and I'm very glad that it did not. I appreciated that is was a simple (and simply beautiful) story of a complex situation in a very complex time.

I liked Trobaugh's writing (I should have expected to with such a wonderfully constructed title) and particularly the dual perspectives of the narrators and what that added to the story.

As much as I liked Sophie and Mr. Oto, I think my favorite characters were Sally and Miss Anne. Sally because of her gumption and her ability both to forgive and to hold others accountable for what they'd done. Miss Anne because the parts not narrated by her revealed the imperfections that made her a full-bodied character (particularly her slight revisions of the story to make herself look better). I think the fact that I didn't completely hate the "bad" character by the book's ending says a good deal about Trobaugh's ability to both create believable characters and to convey nuance.

Labels: general fiction, historical fiction, informal reviews, southern fiction

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Monday, January 21, 2008

An Incomplete Revenge

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear

"There were ghosts in this village--
ghosts who would allow the neighbors no rest" (4).

Maisie's latest case brings her and assistant Billy Beale to the village of Heronsdene in Kent. Viscount James Compton, the son of Maisie's benefactress, is interested in purchasing land and a brickworks on behalf of the Compton Corporation, but is concerned by a wave of vandalism in the community. He engages Maisie to help determine whether he can make a clean sale.

When two London boys down in the country to pick hops are falsely accused of theft, the village's problems begin to hit closer to home. As with many of her cases, there is more to the problem than meets the eye. This becomes apparent when Maisie is on hand to witness the villagers' reaction to an arson attack:

"There had been no surprise registered, no shock at a tragedy averted by a hair's breath of time. Instead, she had once again seen the emotion she was becoming familiar with in the course of her work in Heronsdene: fear. And something else: resignation, acceptance. As if the events of the evening were expected" (101).

Maisie must dig deep to uncover the roots of the problem and help heal the village of its ailment.

What I like most about this series is that although the books are mystery novels, they are less page-turning whodunits than well-crafted period pieces that happen to be mysteries. Throughout An Incomplete Revenge, Winspear displays her knowledge of the historical backdrop and social milieu of the interwar years.

Maisie is a charming, full-bodied protagonist. She's enchanting and likeable and real. Winspear's gift for characterization extends even to the non-recurring secondary characters. During the investigation, Maisie crosses paths with B.T. Drummond, a female reporter trying to make it in a man's profession, Alfred Sandermere, a landlord more comfortable with feudalism than modern times, and Beulah Webb, a gypsy matriarch with the gift of sight. Each of these characters adds to the story and Winspear seems to take pains to make them more than just stock characters.

An Incomplete Revenge is the fifth installment in Winspear's award-wining series, following Maisie Dobbs (2003), Birds of a Feather (2004), Pardonable Lies (2005), and Messenger of Truth (2006). While each book does stand on its own, those who pick up An Incomplete Revenge may want to read the earlier books simply to spend a little more time with Maisie and to learn more about her backstory.

Read the full review at Front Street Reviews...

Labels: historical fiction, mystery

Saturday, January 19, 2008

travel reading

With all of that airport time last week I managed to get quite a lot of reading done, much more than I expected on a working trip.

Madame Zee by Pearl Luke

This well-researched novel tells the story of Mabel Rowbotham aka Madame Zee, the mistress of cult leader Brother XII, who founded a utopian community on Vancouver Island in the 1920s.

I found this book fascinating. I knew nothing of Brother XII (or Theosophy for that matter) before picking up Madame Zee (which I'm sure gave me a much different reading experience that for those familiar with the cast of characters). What I liked most about the book is that it focuses primarily on Mabel's life before she joined Brother XII, depicting her as a real person and a sympathetic character. Her life and struggles before joining the cult were in many ways much more interesting than the drama-filled years on Vancouver Island.

Madame Zee is well-crafted (though that's to be expected as Luke won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for her first novel, Burning Ground). Luke's writing is marvelous and the story is compelling - yes, you want to find out what happens, but you also want to soak up each little detail on the way.

Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton

Another lovely piece of fiction, Endymion Spring is the story of a mysterious book discovered in an Oxford library. I don't want to say too much about the plot because half of the joy of reading this book is in following where the story leads you.

I loved the juxtaposition between the present-day and 1450s and how Skelton used the changes to illustrate different aspects of the book. I also liked the historical tie to Gutenberg and Skelton's use of fantastical elements (I'd never heard of the specific type of dragon that appears in the story) and superstitions (like the play on printer's devil).

My only complaint is that things wrapped up a bit too easily in the end, but that's the way with fiction sometimes.

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

I splurged on this book on Monday when I was stuck in JFK. There wasn't a huge book selection in my terminal, but I vaguely remembered hearing something good about The Friday Night Knitting Club so I picked it up.

I thought the book was fine. I liked the story and the various characters in it (some of them make very strange decisions, but I guess that makes them more realistic in some way), but The Friday Night Knitting Club definitely feels like a first novel. It could have been better.

There are some things in the novel that just don't make sense, like the student obsessed with Julia Roberts. It was unnecessary and didn't add anything to the narrative. And, I don't remember Jacob ever giving an explanation of Darwin's name. Not that that's terribly important, but given that Darwin's family was very traditional it seems like a very strange choice for them and because of that an explanation really was in order.

The other thing I didn't particularly like about the book was the pattern in the back. I know that the author and publishers were following along with what's been done with a lot of knitting fiction and I don't have a problem with that, I just think they made a poor choice in pattern. Who needs a super basic scarf pattern? It would have made much more sense to include the pattern for the sweater that all the club ladies were knitting at one point because that is much more connected to the story.

Labels: fantasy, general fiction, historical fiction, informal reviews, YA fiction

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Last Cavalier

Here's a peek at a review that appeared in Library Journal this month. It should have appeared earlier, but the book got lost in the mail and the review got lost in cyberspace.

Dumas's final novel, The Last Cavalier: Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-Hermine in the Age of Napoleon, was discovered by scholar Claude Schopp around 1990. It was originally published in installments from January to November 1869 in Le Moniteur Universel, a French newspaper in publication between 1789 and 1901. Set in the Age of Napoleon, the novel is historically situated between The Companions of Jehu (which actually begins the story of The Last Cavalier's protagonist) and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Its protagonist is Hector, the young Comte de Sainte-Hermine, who must abandon the woman he loves to avenge the deaths of his father and older brothers for the Royalist cause. Following Hector from France to Burma, the story is vintage Dumas. Though it is incomplete (the scene in progress is completed by Schopp), there is enough adventure and intrigue to satisfy the most demanding reader. In addition, this translation includes an informative essay by Schopp on the history and discovery of the lost novel as well as an appendix containing the first three chapters of another episode.

Read the review at Library Journal or Barnes and Noble under "editorial reviews".

Labels: historical fiction

Sunday, December 30, 2007

some recent reading

I really and truly and trying to get back into blogging regularly. As I mentioned in my last post, I'll be posting my lists of books read in 2007 at the beginning of the new year, in the meantime I thought I'd share a bit of what I have been reading lately.

A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber
My mom picked up this book from the take-a-book-leave-a-book shelf at a hotel she stayed out while on vacation in Hawaii. It is the sequel to A Shop on Blossom Street, a book I read and enjoyed before I started knitting. These books are really feel-good reads; things always seem to turn out OK in the end. And, sometimes that's exactly the kind of book you need to read. I have to say that I liked this book even more than the first and I am sure it is because I am a knitter now. The narrative focuses on four women who are all involved in a beginner sock knitting class (I started my first sock only 2 days ago - it's going really well, though I think it'll end up pretty baggy). I found Courtney, the teenager, particularly sympathetic and how she was able to deal with her weight problem inspired me to be better about exercising myself.

How I Fell in Love with a Librarian and Lived to Tell about It by Rhett Ellis
Russell and I happened across this book and were intrigued by the title. Russell read it quite a while ago and was not impressed, but he made me hold on to it to read for myself anyway. I picked it up at one point and gave up pretty quickly, but my second attempt was successful. I didn't really care for the book though. I think the author was trying a little too hard to be quirky and I really disliked the ending: the main characters live happily-ever-after, but there is no real resolution to the issue that was keeping them apart.

Maisie Dobbs mysteries by Jacqueline Winspear
I read and reviewed the 4th book in the series, Messenger of Truth (see review), last year and am finally catching up on the earlier episodes in the series in preparation for book 5. This month I've read Maisie Dobbs and Birds of a Feather, and I'm currently reading Pardonable Lies. I really like Maisie as a character (even though her rise from servitude seems a bit implausible) and her adventures in psychological crime-solving. Winspear does a good job of incorporating period detail and through the novels I've learned a good deal about WWI and post-war Britain.

The Silent Raga by Ameen Merchant
I picked up this debut novel last summer at BookExpo Canada. It tells the story of two sisters and the event that splits their family in two. I liked how Merchant juggles the past and present and keeps the reader guessing about exactly how certain things came to pass until close to the end. I also appreciated how he incorporated aspects of South Indian music into the narrative especially since it is such a big part of Janaki's life and character. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, but I will say that the proper Brahmin family disapproving of the marriage of the older sister hit a bit too close to home for me.

Zorro by Isabel Allende
I listened to the unabridged audio version, read by Blair Brown (audio books are great for knitting). I love Allende's writing and young Zorro's story was compelling, though listening to the audio it did seem at times like the book was going on endlessly.

Labels: 2007, audio, general fiction, historical fiction, indian lit, women's fiction

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

The Blacksmith's Daughter

The Blacksmith's Daughter by Suzanne Adair

Suzanne Adair follows up her award-winning debut with another, subtler, high-stakes adventure tale.

Set against the backdrop of the American Revolution, The Blacksmith's Daughter is the story of seventeen-year-old Betsy Sheridan, a neutral who can’t help getting involved in rebel intrigues. Happily married to a successful cobbler, Betsey is pregnant with her first child when her seemingly-perfect life starts to fall apart.

Her uncle and both her parents are on the run after being incorrectly labeled as rebel spies. Betsey is implicated in their activities when her uncle drops by to assure her of their safety. With British officers of her case, Betsey discovers that her husband has been keeping secrets from her and, though posing as a loyalist, is involved in a rebel spy ring. When her house is first vandalized and then burned to the ground, Betsey realizes how tenuous her safety in Camden is. Knowing that she must do whatever it takes to keep her unborn child safe, Betsey is determined to leave town. Torn between a desire to reunite with her parents and her duty to her husband, it seems like there are no simple decisions in this time of war.

Filled with adventure, romance, and abundant historical detail, The Blacksmith's Daughter is a page-turner. What sets it apart from most historical thrillers, however, is its cast of substantive characters. Protagonist Betsey is sympathetic, if a bit impetuous. The secondary characters--from the villainous Lieutenant Fairfax to minor actor Josiah Carter--are all carefully drawn and fully realized. Additionally Adair puts her novel in context with a historical afterword and bibliography.

While The Blacksmith’s Daughter follows Adair’s first novel, Paper Woman, it does stand on its own. Paper Woman takes place immediately before the action of The Blacksmith's Daughter, but it focuses on Betsy’s mother Sophie Barton, who is only a minor character in The Blacksmith's Daughter. The novels are also written in such a way that if readers encounter the second novel first, they can go back and enjoy Paper Woman without fear of knowing too much about the plot of the first novel.

Suzanne Adair is a colonial and Revolutionary War reenactor. Her first novel, Paper Woman, won the 2007 Patrick D. Smith Literature Award, given by the Florida Historical Society.

Read my review at Front Street Reviews...

Labels: 2007, historical fiction, reviews

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Labyrinth

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

I have to admit that I started this one without the faintest idea what it was about (beyond "three secrets, two women, one grail," which couldn't be ignored on the front cover; I didn't read the back cover text). Obviously I knew something about it when I added it to my wishlist (right after it was first published), but since then I'd managed to forget whatever it is that I knew. Kate Mosse was one of the co-founders of the Orange Prize and, honestly, I'd give her a try just because of that.

Set both in modern day France and 13th century Languedoc, Labyrinth is a historical thriller revolving around the mystery of the Grail. What sets it apart from the other bestsellers with which it will be inevitably grouped is Mosse's understanding and evident love of the area in which the story is set (as well as her writing).

The one thing that was a bit annoying about the book was that (justifiably for plot reasons) Mosse holds out on explaining what the Cathar's truly believed until fairly late in the narrative. This probably wouldn't be a problem for readers familiar with the period, but for me I had a hard time understanding the justification for the crusade (which is the backdrop of the historical part of the novel) without knowing the extent of the heresy.

In any case, Labyrinth may be the best kind of historical fiction, the kind that makes you want to learn more about the period in which it was set. I'm actually kind of interested in reading Greg Mosse's Secrets of the Labyrinth despite the fact that I don't particularly care for spin-off books. Though I'll probably just see if Russell has anything on the period kicking around in his book collection.

Though this is really only tangentially related, I have to say that reading this book (in which the city of Carcassonne features prominently) made me want to break out Carcassonne, a fantastic euro board game...

Labels: historical fiction, informal reviews, thriller

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

book clubbing in August

I simply can not believe that it is almost the end of August. Where has this summer gone?

In any case, we had another book club meeting today during which we discussed Arthur Phillips' The Egyptologist.

Set in primarily in 1920s Boston and Egypt, The Egyptologist is the tale of a fanatical Egyptologist searching for the tomb of an apocryphal pharaoh against the backdrop of Howard Carter's famous exploits in the Valley of the Kings.

I came to The Egyptologist warily. I liked the concept behind the novel, but I was expecting not to like it because I had a lot of trouble his first novel, Prague (I started it on four different occasions, but never managed to get through it, which is very rare for me). I am, however, happy to report that I did enjoy The Egyptologist though I did end up rushing through it since a huge ARC arrived along with a very short deadline.

In any case, we all liked the book though we were a bit confounded by it. Half of us who'd finished it (myself included) had figured out the "mystery" early on, but we did not think that detracted from the book. We loved the combination of unreliable narrators and experience of hearing various versions of the same story and having to sort out the "truth" for ourselves.

I'd definitely recommend this one and I know exactly who I'm going to pass my copy to next.

Labels: 2007, book club, historical fiction, mystery

Monday, July 02, 2007

The Chess Machine

Penguin is publishing a really wonderful piece of historical fiction this month, The Chess Machine by Robert Löhr. My review appeared in the May 1 edition of Library Journal.

Journalist Robert Löhr takes the inspiration for his debut novel from one of the most successful hoaxes of all time: the Mechanical Turk, a chess-playing automaton created by Austro-Hungarian Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen in 1770. Although the book is well-researched, Löhr's story focuses on the Turk's early years, of which very little is known. He weaves a fictional back-story for the Turk's relatively well-documented later life. The novel is peopled with historical personages like von Kempelen and Empress Marie Theresia as well as completely fictitious characters like the Turk's first operator, dwarf Tibor, Kempelen's assistant Jakob, a Jewish lothario, courtesan-turned-domestic-spy Elise, and the ill-fated Baroness Jesenák, all of whom are well-executed and sympathetic. Löhr's vision of 18th century Europe seems authentic and the inclusion of a murder-and-revenge plot gives the story a satisfying momentum. Translated by award-winning translator Anthea Bell, this novel is highly recommended for readers of historical fiction.

Labels: 2007, historical fiction, library journal, reviews

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

The Blood of Flowers

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

Unabridged audio book, read by Shohreh Aghdashloo

After the unexpected death of her father, a fourteen-year-old village girl is forced to sell the carpet intended to finance her dowry. Faced with the very real threat of starvation, the girl and her mother travel to the city of Isfahan where they are taken into the home of their only living relative, a carpet-maker to the shah. Though she was the best knotter in her village, the girl realizes that she has much to learn. She prevails upon her uncle, who sees in her echoes of himself as a young man, to teach her his craft.

Completely reliant on the goodwill of the uncle and his wife, the girl and her mother are treated as servants. Much to her chagrin, both the girl's carpets and her virginity are used as bargaining chips and traded against future commissions. When the girl fails to see the precariousness of her situation and makes one too many costly mistakes, the damage is irreparable and she must finally take responsibility for her own fate and that of her mother.

The Blood of Flowers is a novel to be savored. Amirrezvani’s writing is sensual and her seventeenth century Persia vividly realized. She blends traditional Iranian folktales seamlessly into a first-person narrative, which is peppered with details on the art and business of carpet-making. The novel’s unnamed protagonist is naïve and headstrong, but eminently likeable. Despite making any number of impetuous and ill-advised decisions, readers can't help but sympathize with her.

Unlike many historical debuts, The Blood of Flowers' narrative is well-balanced: while the historical detail is integral to the plot, it never threatens to overwhelm the story itself.

Actress Shohreh Aghdashloo’s narration never detracts from Amirrezvani’s finely-wrought novel. In fact, her accent imbues the text with authenticity and her voice has a mesmeric quality that draws listeners completely into the story.

The audio version (a sample clip is available on the publisher's webpage) also includes an interview with the author, in which Amirrezvani answers a number of questions about the novel, her background, and her writing process. Of particular interest is the segment about Amirrezvani's decision to not to name her protagonist.
Read my review at Armchair Interviews...

This fabulous novel is on the suggested reading list for the Hidden Treasures read-and-review contest. Pick up a copy to read this summer!

Labels: audio reviews, historical fiction

: Name: karen!; Location: Buffalo, New York, United States

Books have been a lifelong passion for me. I studied comparative literature as an undergraduate and worked as an apprentice to a rare book conservator while I was in graduate school. You can see my reviews in Library Journal and on a number of review sites here on the web.

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Note: my library is a work in progress--what's in there now is just a drop in the bucket...