Uprooted

Uprooted by Naomi Novik had me from the first line: “Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, not matter what stories they tell outside our valley.” There is something about fairy tales that always grabs the imagination regardless of the reader’s age, especially if there is a dragon involved. Novik takes everything I ever liked about fairy tales and combines it into a wonderful story.                                                                                                                                                                                                                Novik brilliantly develops interesting characters and builds a magical world that is both beautiful and terrifying. Agnieszka, the main character, could have easily fallen into the cliché “chosen one” stereotype that is so common in fantasy, but she escapes that horrible fate by being well-developed with strengths and weaknesses. The Dragon in the story is not exactly a dragon, although he might be said to have the personality of one, and the prince is most definitely not Prince Charming. The world Agnieszka inhabits is one of constant danger. The Woods is full of a malignant presence that is constantly taking over land, animals and people and corrupting them. No one knows exactly what this presence is, how long has it been there or why it is doing what is doing. The only clear thing is that is you become corrupted, you will die a horrible death, but not before hurting everyone around you and infecting anyone you touch.

Agnieszka’s town is just on the border with the Woods, and it is under the protection of the wizard known as the Dragon. Every ten years the Dragon takes a maiden to serve him. Agnieszka is terrified of the fast approaching choosing. She knows the dragon will take her best friend Kasia. The Dragon always takes the most talented girl, or the most beautiful, or the bravest; and Kasia is all of those things. No one is more surprised than Agnieszka when the Dragon takes her instead. As happy as she is that her friend is safe, Agnieszka is scared for herself. No one knows what the Dragon does with his maidens, but it can’t be anything good. They all left when their time was done, never to be seen again.

I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys dark fairy tales with a tad of magic, a bunch of danger and a dose of creepiness.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes

By Jamie Ford

Love and Other Consolation Prizes is another lovely historical tale from Jamie Ford, author of The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It is based on the true story of a Chinese boy who was raffled off at the 1909 Seattle's World’s Fair, when the owner of the charity house where he had been living put him forward as the grand prize. 

Ernest is that 12-year-old boy who comes to live at the Tenderloin, a high class brothel, when the flamboyant owner buys out the raffle to ensure she wins. Brought to the Tenderloin as the house boy, Ernest’s new home is a welcome change since arriving in America from China on a boat at the age of 5. He quickly befriends two young girls living at the house, Maisie, the daughter of the brothel’s madam, and Fahn, a maid. Ernest settles in and develops a sense of family and home through their friendship. 

However, things begin to fall apart when the house madam increasingly suffers an illness that jeopardizes the well-being of the house and its residents. 

Fast forward to 1962, and the World’s Fair is once again in Seattle and Ernest is reluctantly remembering his life in Seattle fifty years ago. His grown daughter, a journalist, is digging into the past and asking uncomfortable questions to which Ernest does not want to tell her the answers. Ernest struggles to care for his ailing wife, whose memories threaten to expose family secrets he would rather protect his daughters from. 

This historical story is told in alternating chapters from the present and the past, transporting the reader between each time while dealing with equality, social justice, class issues, and women’s rights of the times, yet also giving us a heartwarming story of enduring love and the importance of family and home.

For other popular reading suggestions check out Richmond Public Library's Web site at www.yourlibrary.ca/goodbooks/. 

The Lost Diaries of Susanna Moodie

The Lost Diaries of Susanna Moodie

Cecily Ross' The Lost Diaries of Susanna Moodie is a fictional and very readable account of the life of Susanna Moodie, a Canadian pioneer and one of Canada's earliest writers.

Lost Diaries begins during Susanna’s youth in 1815 England.  In a home of eight children, including six girls, there is little chance that everyone will receive a dowry.  Only the eldest and most attractive sisters are slated for marriage, but Susanna’s interests lie elsewhere: in writing.

Unlike many girls of the time, the sisters receive some education and are able to immerse themselves in London’s literary scene.  Susanna and several siblings, including

beloved companion Kate and older sister Agnes, become writers.  Despite their lack of means, they are well-regarded in the community and find “patrons” who act as second fathers.  Their writing appears in various publications.

Although Susanna is not wealthy, she is unabashedly class conscious, stating, “I have lived in proximity to the lower classes all my life… They had their place and I had mine.” (p. 155)

Against her own expectations, Susanna meets and falls in love with John Moodie, an ebullient man with a zest for life and a hankering to explore.  Once she and John marry, they decide to move to Canada where land is ripe for the picking.

The move brings Susanna’s progressive lifestyle to a crashing halt.  Canada, it turns out, is little more than dense bush, rocky soil and muddy roads.  Its population is undereducated and does not take kindly to being looked down upon by the likes of Susanna.

So begins several years of “roughing it” and producing many children while John Moodie pursues a host of “get rich quick” schemes that sink the Moodies deeper and deeper into debt.  They endure years of abject poverty – a life that Susanna never imagined.

But despite the drudgery, the Canadian wilderness works its way into Susanna’s heart.  The majestic trees and hidden lakes hold a magic that the Moodies never encountered in England.  The indigenous people are welcoming and knowledgeable. Susanna’s haughtiness diminishes in the face of her new-found life and although she continues to write, she is humbled by her fellow wilderness inhabitants. 

Lost Diaries tells of a journey from old world to new, but is also the journey of a human soul. Susanna experiences the birthing pains of a new country, and discovers her true identity along the way.

Too Fat Too Slutty Too Loud

by Anne Helen Petersen

Written by Anne Helen Petersen, a columnist for Buzzfeed, Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud looks at current women in our society who break the mold of what people consider socially acceptable womanly behaviour.  Using ten women as examples of controversial people who are too much, Petersen analyzes some key characteristics that break the mold of what society accepts in womanhood and why.  Be it too shrill, too fat, too gross, or too loud, each chapter focused on qualities that are up for discussion in today’s societal expectations.  

I found it interesting that the author looked at different types of women from mainstream media so that more than just one generation or type of person could understand her references. From Serena Williams for being too strong, to Madonna for being too old, to Kim Kardashian for being too pregnant,  all the women who are looked at appeal to different people giving the book a wider scope of interest for pop culture enthusiasts.  Beyond the pop culture appeal, there is also strong analysis of our current culture that makes this book a lot more than just a fluffy book about our favourite celebs.  By delving into why we love, hate, or love to hate different faces in our media stream, Petersen gives the reader a chance to reflect on our own biases and opinions on the societal roles people are supposed to play. 

Interesting, humorous, and thought provoking, Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud presents information in a very readable way that manages to provide information and insight without being preachy or forceful.  I enjoyed the book immensely, and was eager to read what the next too characteristic was going to focus on and which prominent female figure would be used as an example for that quality.  

Circe

Circe by Madeline Miller is a marvellous read. When I saw this book about Circe from the Odyssey, I couldn’t resist. I was one of those kids that grew up reading mythology. Greek mythology was a particular favourite, in part because my name appears in one of those myths and in part because I just found them fascinating.

Miller has a gift for storytelling and is a masterful writer. In the Odyssey, Homer writes Circe as a beautiful evil witch that transforms Odysseus’ men into swine and then she enthralls Odysseus so that he stays with her until his men beg him to continue their journey home.  Miller’s approach is quite different.

When Circe is born, nothing much is expected from her; she is not powerful like her father, the Titan sun god Helios, nor is she dazzlingly beautiful like her mother, an Oceanic nymph. She is told her voice is thin and unpleasant to hear. She grows up mostly ignored by everyone around her, and at times she is noticed, she is bullied and belittled even by those closest to her. When she discovers her powers and dares to question the gods, she is exiled to a small island as punishment.   

It is on this island that Circe gets the chance to grow and to eventually become herself. Visitors came and go, they influence Circe and Circe influences the world outside the island through them. During this exile she experiences the good, the bad and the ugly of mortals, develops her powers, and becomes a mother. Being a mother doesn’t come easy for Circe—nothing ever has—, but a loving mother she does become. To protect her child she will do the unthinkable and confront one of the most powerful Olympian gods. 

This book is a beautifully written character study, perfect for those that enjoy character development over action packed plots. Miller brings characters from myth to life in all their greatness and pettiness. She expertly captures the reader’s attention and doesn’t let go until the last line of the last page. I can’t recommend this book enough as a must read.

Evicted

 

By Matthew Desmond

Although Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond introduces us to a number of families living on the edge of poverty in Milwaukee, the stories he tells us can be true of any city. Whether we are reading about Arleen, the single mother, Scott, the caring nurse with a drug addiction, Lamar who looks after the neighbourhood kids or Vanetta, a young woman with an upcoming first offence trial, they are all connected by their housing situation. 

One of their connections is a common landlord, either Sherrena, a

former teacher turned real estate investor or Tobin, owner of a Milwaukee trailer park with a questionable reputation.

Each of these families lives in one of the buildings or trailers owned by Sherrena or Tobin, and each struggles to pay the rent on their meager income. For example, 88 percent of Arleen’s income goes towards rent, leaving little left over for anything else like food, clothing, transportation, heat, or medication for her son’s asthma.  Each of the families we meet is in a similar situation which leaves little wiggle room for anything. 

These individuals live in fear of eviction. A person with an eviction on their rental record can find it difficult to impossible to find other housing of any kind. Despite being evicted for failure to pay rent, any complaint to the housing board, too many calls to 9-1-1, too many people in a unit, can all lead to an eviction.  Each of these reasons serves to perpetuate the unsafe living conditions of the tenancies. Eviction is so common that the landlords plan their vacations to ensure they are back in town by the first of the month, as rent collection is a face to face affair, as most tenants don’t have bank accounts and eviction notices are handed out in person. 

Reading these non-fiction accounts, we can see how a lack of stable, safe housing overshadows the lives of these families, making it near to impossible to find a job, attend school, or care for one’s children. This Pulitzer Prize winner is not necessarily a happy story, but it is one that needs to be told. 

For other popular reading suggestions check out Richmond Public Library's Web site at www.yourlibrary.ca/goodbooks/.