In an effort to have a better life Ivy’s parents move from China to America without her, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother until she was 5 years old. Then her parents send for her. White Ivy is her story, as she assimilates into American life but holds on to her grandmother’s teachings. In middle school she falls in love with a wealthy, golden, American boy, is pulled ... Read More...
A Girl is a Body of Water
I came upon Jennifer Makumbi’s novel, A Girl is a Body of Water, in my efforts to further diversify my reading. It’s a multi-generational saga centered around a young Ugandan woman named Kirabo. The novel begins in the 1970s when she’s 12. She lives in a sprawling rural compound with her grandparents and many relatives. Although she is surrounded by family, her parents are not ... Read More...
The Last Story of Mina Lee
Even though her mother is the only family she has, Margot Lee has never felt close to Mina. Margot left L.A. for Seattle for college and never moved back. She would dutifully call regularly, but visited seldom. Now, she’s arrived in Koreatown for a surprise visit, only to find Mina dead. The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim is not a mystery thriller, but a poignant ... Read More...
His Only Wife: A Novel
In a small town in Ghana, Afi Tekple lives in a house with her widowed mother. It’s in a compound owned by her avaricious uncle and his many wives and their children. Afi did not go to university, but she loves to sew and has been studying and working as a seamstress. But is this barely-getting-by life all there is for her? It seems so, until her mother presents her with an ... Read More...
Against the Loveless World
Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa is about Nahr, whose name means “river”, in Arabic. She has been in solitary confinement for 16 years in a cell she calls the Cube somewhere in modern-day Israel. For her, time has no meaning. Her environment is so strictly controlled that she doesn’t know when the shower will run or the toilet will flush. Her window is so small it ... Read More...
The Majesties: A Novel
Sometimes novels that begin with a bang end with a fizzle. That’s not the case with The Majesties, which opens with Gwen, the main narrator, lying in a coma. After being poisoned by her sister, Estella, along with their entire extended family and closest friends. At a lavish banquet honoring their grandfather. Gwen is the only survivor; even Estella is dead. Now, as Gwen’s ... Read More...
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