Citadel - Kate Mosse

Welcome back resident guest blogger Julia! Today, Julia shares her thoughts on Kate Mosse's latest book - Citadel.

"Citadel is the third novel in a trilogy of historical adventures.  The story takes place in 1942 - 1944, during the German occupation of France.  Ms. Mosse brings to life the beautiful landscape of southern France, contrasted with the horrors of the Nazi occupation.  The heroine of the book, Sandrine Vidal, is a young woman working for the resistance with a secret group of women, including her older sister.  

 

There is also another story within the book.  A young monk in the 4th century travels across France to place a document in a safe place.  Ms. Mosse takes the reader back to the 4th century for small glimpses into the monk’s travels throughout the novel. 

 

As the story unfolds, the reader learns there are several people trying to find the Codex, the hidden document.  They believe the Codex will reveal a secret so powerful it will change the course of the war.  There is an element of fantasy and magic surrounding the Codex, which is contrasted with the very real horrors of this time.  

 

The best parts of the novel are the glimpses provided into what it was like to live in German-occupied France.  Ms. Mosses brings the reader right into the warm and beautiful landscape, contrasted with the fear and brutality of the Nazi occupiers.   She brings to life the daily struggles of the citizens - neighbours informing on neighbours, multiple check points to travel within the town, endless paperwork, and constant fear. 

 

There are a lot of characters in the story, and I sometimes found it hard to keep straight.  It was, however, refreshing to read about the women who worked in the resistance movement and the risks they took to save their country.  The pictures painted of their lives are very vivid, real, and sometimes frightening.  

 

This book is rich in characters, stories, and action.   This review is but a glimpse into the complexity of the novel.  

 

I have not read the previous two books in this series, Labyrinth and Sepulchre, but this book certainly can stand on its own.  However, I now plan on reading the first two books! "

 

As always, thanks Julia for your thoughtful review!

 

You can keep up with Kate Mosse on Twitter.

Resident Guest Blogger Julia returns!

We haven't heard from resident guest blogger Julia in awhile, but she's back today with two great reviews!  The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick DeWitt and Hand Me Down World by Lloyd Jones.

"I joined the 50 Book Challenge this year, and I am almost there! #45 and #46 were The Sisters Brothers, and Hand Me Down World, respectively.

Both books are about a person on a journey, although the journeys are taken by very different people and for different reasons. I read The Sisters Brothers on my iPad, and loved being able to highlight and make notes along the way. Hand Me Down World was a good, old-fashioned paper book.

First, the Sisters Brothers. To quote from the book: “Here was the picture of moral negligence”. This tale of two hapless brothers, Charlie and Eli, making their way across the American Wild West in the mid-1800s, leaving murder and mayhem in their wake, is indeed a story of two men who appear to have no morals. They are called “serial killers” and need only invoke their names to bring fear to the people around them. The narrator, Eli tells the story and indeed the reader comes to understand some of his motivation and why things turn out as they do for him. Charlie is clearly the leader, Eli the follower. Yet in some ways Eli is the more thoughtful and perhaps wise brother.

The book is full of quirky characters, including a prospector named Hermann Warm and a horse named Tub. There is bloody, gory mindless killing for sure, but the reader has some sympathy when Eli tells Warm about their childhood. Eli has a poetic streak in him, which makes the telling of the story colourful and always entertaining. For example, when they come upon a fellow reduced to brewing dirt for coffee, Eli says “It would seem to me that the solitude of working in the wilds is not healthy for any man.” Indeed. This is story about two desperados, but with a twist. Not your “normal” cowboy story for sure! Read an excerpt.

The other book about travels, Hand Me Down World, is equally as complex and blurs the lines between good and evil, black and white. This is the story of a black woman (and her colour is important to the story) working in a resort hotel, who gets involved with a guest, and has his baby. This is not a romance novel, so the story does not end happily there. The man confiscates the baby and flees home to Berlin, Germany.

The story is about the woman, and for most of the story we think her name is Ines, travelling to Germany, finding the baby, and then doing what she must to see the little boy, as he is by then. The story is told through the eyes of all the people she comes in contact with through the journey, both to and within Berlin. The Blind Man, The French Man, The Truck Driver. Finally we hear her heartbreaking story, and then the story of the wife of the man.

Again, this woman does some not very nice things to achieve her goals. We sympathize with her, but we do not always like her. As with The Sisters Brothers, the reader is forced to look at humanity from many different sides. Everyone has a story that makes them who they are and makes them do the things they do.

If you read Jones’ book, Mr. Pip, you will know he writes about the dark side of humanity. The story of a woman searching for her child is of one of our most basic instincts, but this story is combined with other human emotions and actions, some lovely and some not so.

I loved both of these books and would recommend them to anyone who likes reading books with complex characters!" Read an excerpt.

As always, thanks Julia for such thoughtful,  well written reviews!

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett is a novel I've heard nothing but good things about, but haven't read yet. Resident guest blogger Julia has - and it's one she is passionate about! After this review, I have to read it. Thanks for lending me your copy Julia!

"I told Luanne I would write a review of The Help for her blog, because I absolutely loved this book. When I finished it, I did not want to start another book because I didn’t want to let go of these characters. I wanted to keep them with me for just a little bit longer.


However, I find I am having trouble describing all the emotions this book arouses. Let’s start with a description of the plot. The book is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960’s. A time when the light was shining on long-held beliefs and practices like segregation, and “northerners” were coming to Jackson to try to show them another way to do things. As with all great social change, there are still people living their lives, and trying to figure out where they fit in their changing society. This book is the story of three women living in Jackson: two maids, Aibileen and Minny, and one privileged white women, Skeeter. As the world around them starts to show the people of Jackson a different way of doing things, Skeeter starts to question her friends, and most particular Miss Hilly, the chair of the Junior League. Skeeter hatches a plan that she hopes will launch her career as a writer. She plans on writing a book about the experiences of black maids, and Skeeter and Aibileen manage to convince a number of the maids to tell their stories to Skeeter.

From the first page of the book the reader is wrapped in the language and accents of the three women whose stories become intermingled. Stockett moves easily from the accents of Minny and Aibileen, to that of Skeeter and the other white women. There are some touchingly funny moments in the book, as we learn about the relationships the maids have with the children they care for, who eventually become their bosses. Not to give anything way, just know that “toilets” are discussed several times throughout the book.

When we read about Jackson, Mississippi in 1960 it is hard to believe that the world was like that, just 50 years ago. The maids were not allowed to eat at a table with white people. If a maid was out in town during work hours, they had to be dressed accordingly (in their white maid uniform). Slavery had been abolished, but little else seemingly had changed.

There has been criticism of this book – some saying this is just another book by a white woman trying to explain the black experience. I think the important message from the book is about women and their relationships. How situations can throw people together to form unlikely friendships and support systems. Stockett has written a book about great change in the southern states, in an entertaining, personal, and intelligent manner.

I repeat what I said at the beginning; I love this book and have no hesitation recommending it!

Read an excerpt of The Help.  The movie version of The Help will be released in August 2011.
 
What a great review! As always, thanks Julia!

Secret Daughter - Shilpi Somaya Gowda

I'm thrilled to welcome resident guest blogger Julia back to A Bookworm's World (We hope to see more of her in 2011!) A Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda is a book I've heard lots of good things about and Julia's review confirms it. Another book for my TBR list!

"Apparently international bestseller, Secret Daughter, has been made such a hit, in part, by the fact that Canadians loved this book. I count myself as one of those admirers.

First, the story. Secret Daughter is about a woman, Kavita, from a small village in India who takes her second daughter to an orphanage, after her first daughter is taken away at birth and murdered by her husband’s family. Across the ocean, in California, a young couple, Somer and Krishnan, are faced with the fact that they will not be able to have children of their own. The husband is from India, and his mother helps to facilitate an adoption from an orphanage in India. Of course, the baby they adopt is the one given up by Kavita.
From there, the novel switches back and forth between the two families. We read about the struggle of living in India, and the forever pain that Kavita has at losing her daughter. In California, Somer is living with a different kind of pain as her teenage daughter begins to demand answers about her real family, and yearns to learn more about India, a country and culture that are foreign to Somer.
Eventually the novel switches to focus on Asha, the daughter. She travels to India and spends time with her grandmother, learning to love her native country.
This book has so many thought-provoking themes. We read about India, seen through the eyes of different people. The smells, the sounds, the food, are all brought to life in vivid detail. There are stories about finding your self – both literally, as Asha tries to discover her roots, and also for Somer as she tries to rediscover the person she once was.

For me, the theme in this book that touched me the most was the story of moms and hope and love. The main characters tell their stories of what it means to be a mom – Somer, Kavita, Krisnan’s mother (Dadima). But there are also the stories of the mothers that Asha meets in the Dubai slums. The book is a reminder that families come in many different forms, are constituted out of the most unlikely relationships. They endure in large part because of the deep love we, as mothers, have for our children.

So, give yourself a little gift, curl up before the fire on a snowy afternoon this winter and read Secret Daughter. I promise you it will enrich your understanding of your own family."

Read an excerpt of Secret Daughter. This would be a great selection for a book club as well - Gowda has provided a set of discussion questions.

A great review - thanks Julia! Also reviewed by Mystica, who also gave it a resounding thumbs up. And also just chosen as a certified 'Savvy Read' by Harper Collins Canada.

Those Who Save Us - Jenna Blum

Julia - our resident guest blogger is back!

Jenna Blum’s first novel, Those Who Save Us, is a powerful story within a story set both in Second World War II Germany, and in modern day Minnesota.

The story is of a German History professor, Trudy, who becomes obsessed with learning the truth of her mother’s experience in Nazi Germany. Anna, Trudy’s mother, won’t talk about her life in Germany and Trudy harbours a misguided belief about who her father is based on one surviving photo from that time; that of Trudy, her mother, and a Nazi officer, the Obersturmfuhrer of Buchenwald.

Ms. Blum gradually reveals the truth about Anna’s life in Germany. This is a story of a mother’s fierce love and what she will do to protect her daughter, set against the grim reality of the effort needed to survive in a harsh and unforgiving time. It is also a story of the shame that carries people throughout their lives, and how it is so easy to misjudge those around us.

This is one of those books that stays with you. I think about it even weeks after finishing the last page. It is a compelling story, but also has something to teach us as citizens of the world. Although it is definitely not a happy story, the underlying theme of a mother’s love makes you want to continue reading, even through the more difficult passages.

This is a good book club book. A reader’s guide is available at the back of the book, or online.

Until next time,

Luanne’s Guest Blogger,

Julia