The Miniaturist (Jessie Burton)

The Miniaturist is another exquisite piece of literature that had me checking Wikipedia, googling Dutch names and tracing streets and squares on Google Maps to learn and read more about the historical aspects of the story and the city in which it is set.

I spent a few days in Amsterdam last July and stayed in a hotel in the area of Nella's house. Her descriptions of the canals, the Dam, the Stadhuis (now an upmarket shopping centre) and the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie - the United East India Company) created many moments of nostalgia and a yearning to visit the city again and learn more.

One reviewer has likened this book to an edition of Downton Abbey but this cheapens the story and the characters and demeans what Burton has achieved to the level of nonsensical TV soap opera. 

This story is so much more than this. It's a rich story that saddens and surprises the reader at every turn, and I dearly hope there is a sequel that takes us into Nella's later life.

Mornings in Jenin (Susan Abulhawa)

I love historical fiction and stories about real people, events and points in time, past and present. More than one story has prompted me to go to history books and find out more about the events woven into the book.

I've read a lot of stories set during the Russian revolution and during the two World Wars including many stories about Polish, Czech and German Jews as well as books about the migration of the Irish, the skirmishes of the ancient Scots and the times of English Kings and Queens. Much of what I know about China started with books such as The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and Wild Swans by Jung Chang.

And while there are libraries full of stories and accounts about the plight of the Jewish people throughout history, stories about the experiences of the Palestinians from the time of the Ottoman Empire and the implementation of the British Mandate are few and far between.

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa starts to fill this gap.
This heart wrenching story traces an extended family from the end of World War 2 through to 2003.

As soon as I read the last word I went running for the history books (and Google) to read all I could about Jenin, a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. How this idyllic ancient village became a major administrative centre and a refugee camp for 30 000+ Palestinians makes for some eye opening reading. I've always been a little puzzled about Israel's modern history and how it unfolded. Mornings in Jenin tells the other side of the story.

From: http://looklex.com/e.o/jenin.htm

It's easy to be ever so judgemental when watching the news about the latest atrocity somewhere in the world. I will never watch or read news about the activities of Israel and its borders in quite the same way.

Dreams of Joy (Lisa See)

In my early twenties I read The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. The story traces the lives of four mothers, four daughters, and four families whose histories mesh and shift depending on who is 'saying' the stories. The stories of unspeakable loss and hope grab you in to the last page; and since then I've been hooked. Hooked on Amy Tan's books and hooked on reading as much as possible about this strange and foreign country full of strong and resourceful people. 

I've been a fan of Lisa See for many years. Her stories are rich, yet accessible;  heartbreakingly sad but uplifting; and at the end I never want to read the last page and close the book on the characters with whom I have become so entranced with and whose lives I've become entrenched in - I always want to know more about them and their trials and tribulations. So when I read the story of May and Pearl in Shanghai Girls I was so glad that I could pick up Dreams of Joy  and submerse myself in their world after leaving China and making their way to mainland United States.

Dreams of Joy is about 'mother love'—the love Pearl feels for Joy; that Joy feels for her mother; that Joy experiences with the birth of her own daughter; and the on-going struggle between Pearl and May over who is Joy’s true mother. The story highlights all the secrets, disappointments, fear, and overwhelming love for a child that all mothers feel. Pearl asks the questions that are on every mother's lips - 'What tactic do we, as mothers, use with our children when we know they’re going to make, or have already made, a terrible mistake?  We accept blame.' And then we have to 'hide [our] sadness, anger, and grief.'

Dreams of Joy is a torrid read from anyone's perspective - Chinese or non-Chinese. When Joy abandons her mother and goes to the People's Republic of China to live in a commune I felt enormous rage that this could happen - and I realised the rage was the result of the unspeakable loss, desolation and grief a mother must feel when their child chooses to 'run away' as a course of action, chooses a different life for themselves - a life that totally denounces family history and all a family stands for.

Dreams of Joy also highlights how a not too distant time in Chinese history has shaped the people who live there and of those who migrated. In true historical novel style we catch more than a glimpse into 1957 Chinese life - including the food that was eaten, the clothes that were worn, the effect of the family and village structures of the time on social development, the social graces expected and the tyranny endured by the common people.

Even though I have read many novels about China in Mao's time, I'm never bored or feel I've 'read it all' before. It's the people, the characters, their emotions and the incredible journeys they make through their lives, both metaphorically and in miles that keep me going back for more.

The Colour of Tea (Hannah Tunnicliffe)

-->

It’s been a little while since I’ve blogged - mainly because it has become one of those tasks I tell myself I'll get to...and never do!

Two friends had this advice: 'blog every day...blog to educate and not to market something'; and 'read less, blog more'. I can't bear the thought of reading less but I will make time to blog more. And blog everyday??? I'd have to read more...

The Colour of Tea is Hannah Tunnicliffe's (debut novel. I'm always drawn to books set in places I've travelled to - in this case, Macau.

We travelled to Macau to experience the Portuguese side of Chinese life - Portuguese tarts, the façade and ruins of the cathedral of St Paul, the traditional style of pavement used for pedestrian areas in Portugal and Brazil. What we weren't prepared for was the busy streets, the casinos dominated the skyline (and sending uninvited text messages exhorting us to visit their caverns); the buses tearing around the corners and belching exhaust fumes; the kitsch everywhere; and the sheer Chinese-ness of it.

The Colour of Tea is a story about Grace opening a cafe that becomes a meeting place for Macanese women - Grace explores Macanese food, her relationship with her mother and husband, and the mashing of cultures in this small outpost on the western side of the Pearl River Delta - all against a backdrop of gorgeous sounding, mouthwateringly delicious macarons. Unfortunately there are no recipes in the book but the tale makes you want to rush off and learn how to cook a Provencal lavender with a sweet fig butter cream macaron.

Still Alice

It's been a long time between blogs - but not a long time between reads! I read all the time and think about what I could write about what I'm reading but my fingers never make it to the keyboard.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova was a recommendation from a friend. I was a bit dubious at first as it is a story about dementia and being a little squeamish, I'm not mad on books about illnesses and disease and disfigurement. Give me a gory crime novel in technicolour detail any day. However, I value her opinion, and like me, she reads A LOT!


Alice, the main character, is proud of the life she has worked so hard to build. She is a Harvard professor, with a successful husband and three grown children. At first when Alice begins to grow forgetful she just dismisses it, but when she gets lost in her own neighbourhood she realises that something is terribly wrong. She finds herself in the rapid and terrifying downward spiral of Alzheimer’s disease. She is only 50 years old.

I was 49 when I read this story and I've noticed that lately I regularly forget people's names, what I'm doing, why I'm searching in the fridge and what was on the shopping list I just wrote but left on the kitchen bench!

I actually love my memory...the things I remember even astound me sometimes. So when I can't remember something I think I should be able to, I fly into a panic. I have told a friend of mine to make sure she rescues me if I turn up to a staff meeting and sit there expecting someone else to run it! (You have to read the book to understand the significance of this.)


Still Alice, despite it's topic, was a wonderful story. Lisa Genova has a gift of getting into the heads of her characters, relating from the inside out what it's like to suffer from a debilitating disease. By reading this book I gained an understanding of those affected by early-onset Alzheimer’s and remained moved and inspired long after I had finished reading it. So moved that I recommended it to my Book Club.


Their reactions were a bit like my initial ones - and most didn't read the book. But the ones who did loved it. So again, despite it's topic I'd highly recommend it.

Me Before You (JoJo Moyes)

I began this book with some trepidation - in the author's own words 'stories about quadriplegics are not easy' (http://www.jojomoyes.com/blog/).  I've told a few people about this book, and when I've tried to describe the plot without giving it all away I've received some incredulous looks related to questioning why I would be recommending it! But something about it caught me and said 'Read me!'

It is one of those books that's hard to put down and when you've finished you can't stop thinking about it. The end is heartbreaking and so, so final - one you know is going to happen but wish wouldn't - any other ending would have been trite and unbelievable.

This story stayed with me for days and strayed into my waking thoughts often. As I read it I 'forgot' Will was quadriplegic and badly damaged. I felt an infinity for Lou, even though in real life her disorganisation and refusal to take responsibility would have driven me crazy!

None of the characters in this book are 'nice' - they are however, very real with all the foibles of human nature and as such I loved them, disliked them, wanted to shake them and scream at them but in the end understood them and realised they could not have been portrayed in any other way.

Me Before You is a romantic read but it's not for romantics. JoJo Moyes is a masterful story teller and I'm tempted to read more of her books.

Leaving Home (Jodie Picoult)

The day Maddie left for uni is the saddest day of my life to date. I know there will be sadder days to come but this one was a killer.

For more than 17 years she had been my (almost) constant companion. Her little hand in mine is a feeling I will never forget.

Then suddenly she was 17, finishing school, driving and going off to uni - only two hours away; but that didn't lessen the chasm in between.

That week people whose children had left seemed to be everywhere - everyone was commiserating and checking I was okay. Childhood friends reiterated their stories on Facebook; my cousin, David, told me after dropping his daughter at uni he had cried all the way home; and even Mum and Dad worried about how I was fairing. This was most surprising of all as I had always thought that us kids leaving home had been a huge relief - I know they missed us but it had never occurred to me they had been sad about it. Even my brother, who most famously announced to his kids when they were younger that the 'first one to leave home could have a free suitcase' rang to see how things were going!

And then on Kindle appeared Jodie Picoult's short pieces - Leaving Home. It is a letter she wrote to her son when he left for college many miles away. It was a letter I could have written myself.

The whole point of parenting, and parenting well, is getting your child to the point where they can forge their own lives. It's a tough gig but there isn't a more rewarding one. Leaving Home is a must read for all parents - and probably one that should be read while your child is still holding your hand.