Spring View from my Office

A Lady Cyclist s Guide to Kashgar A Novel by Suzanne Joinson—It is 1923 when Eva and her sister Lizzie, led by a forceful woman named Millicent decide to join a missionary group to Kashgar, a trading center in the western part of China with a mixed population of Muslims, Turks and Chinese. They have no idea what they are getting into. Lizzie is sure that God is guiding them, but Eva is in it to publish a book: A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar. Nothing proceeds as planned.

A woman gives birth by the side of the road and although the three women save the baby, the mother perishes during the birth. They are taken under house arrest and will possibly be charged with murder. But meanwhile Eva takes over the care of the baby. And so begins the tale of three Englishwomen who have no clue about Islam, the Middle East, China or the desert.

Eva narrates this tale as she works on her book, while Lizzie and Millicent fail at their aborted attempts to convert anyone.  

Meanwhile every other chapter reverts to present day London where Frieda returns from her own Middle Eastern sojourn to find that she has been left the contents of an apartment from a woman she has never heard of. And an illegal Yemeni artist is camped out by her door. As they sort through the house together, under the watchful eye of a pet owl, the answer finally begins to take shape. Frieda discovers her long lost mother in her very odd commune.

The writing is fluid and the characters, especially Eva and Frieda are carefully drawn. I found the descriptions of the desert population fascinating as well as the English attitude toward them.

Yellow Face by R F Kuang—The premise is simple, but the aftermath becomes far more complicated. Juniper Song Hayward is an aspiring writer and has indeed published a book, but the book doesn’t sell, and she is once again looking for a new idea. Her friend Athena Liu is a dazzling young author whose book was just sold to Netflix…she has made it! The two decide to celebrate with lots of liquor in Athena’s apartment ending with a pancake eating contest. Athena chokes to death and although June tries to save her, Athena dies, leaving behind a manuscript for a book that no one else has seen.

Well, June has some options after reading it (according to me) she could edit the book (it does need a lot of editing) with Athena’s name on it or publish it as her own. Which do you think she chose? “The Last Front” a novel about conscripted Chinese laborers during WWI becomes a great success and somehow June Hayward becomes Juniper Song, giving the illusion that she is Chinese, which she is not, nor does she claim to be.

What she is though, is an antiheroine, a jealous, narcissistic, almost a sociopath who only thinks about the next step in her career. As narrator of this novel, we get full access to her thoughts, and they aren’t pretty.  

Other writers, especially in the Chinese American community, cannot believe that she wrote this book, suspect that it is Athena’s work and go online to declare it. They can never prove it as June is always one step ahead of them. Can she continue to outrun them, or will the “ghost” of Athena drive her off the edge?

R.F Kuang’s provocative take down of cancel culture, online trolls and racism in publishing is a book that once you start, you must finish.  It is very discussable as well.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin—Eilis (pronounced “I lish”) Lacey a young woman from the small town of Enniscorthy, Ireland where prospects seem dim, is talked into going to the USA by her more sophisticated older sister and Father Flood, who is visiting their small town from Brooklyn, NY. Much to her surprise, she’s given the money for the crossing, a place to live and the real possibility of a job. She’s not sure if she really wants to go but everything is in place, and she boards the ship that will (after much seasickness) land her in the United States. Toibin paints a portrait of post-war life in Brooklyn for a young and innocent Irish immigrant.

Is she happy in Brooklyn? That is questionable but when she gets over her deep homesickness and attends a dance at Father Flood’s Parish, she meets Tony and that takes her life into a new realm. She is really introduced to an American way of life now, including a romance for which she may not be ready. When a family crisis forces her to return to Ireland, she must make a choice. And until the very last page, I was not sure what her choice would be. Will she stay or will she go? Read this quiet, coming of age story and you will not be disappointed.

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck Mutiny and Murder by David Grann—I am always surprised when I read non-fiction and am not only intrigued but educated. David Grann has written just the right kind of social history, filled with intrigue and the truth behind what really happened to British war ships in the 18^th century. Literally, not my cup of tea but I couldn’t put it down.

any1740, a British ship called The Wager set out to find Spanish treasure. By 1742 it is shipwrecked on an island off the coast of Patagonia with 145 men including the much-maligned Captain Cheap. After innumerable problems on the island including near starvation, murder and finally a dispute over the best direction of how to get to civilization which leads to mutiny. John Bulkeley, the ship’s gunner leads most of the men on a smaller boat and Captain Cheap and two other men elect to stay behind. Both sides have an extremely difficult time of it.

That is the very simple plot (of course it’s true though) but the improbable ending keeps the reader gripped in this compelling drama. Grann has done his research, and it shows. He uses the diaries kept by Cheap and Bulkeley, and especially John Byron, 16-year-old midshipman and eventually, grandfather of Lord Byron.

If you enjoy naval history or even you don’t, read The Wager. You won’t be disappointed.

The Day Tripper by James Goodhand—Alex Dean had a very good day with the love of his life, Holly in 1995, looking forward to his certain future at Cambridge, that is until he runs into a childhood friend (well not so much of a friend as a nightmarish memory) is thrown into the Thames and almost drowns. That was his last good day. When he wakes up next, he finds himself in a completely foreign dirty flat remembering little. Apparently, he drank too much the night before, which it seems is a habit. And so it goes. Every day he wakes up in a different year, sometimes in the past and sometimes in the future. He continues to search for Holly and occasionally finds her. But he does find a man that seems to know him and his predicament and gives him some advice: It is the small things in life that can change the big things in life. It takes Alex a long time to come to terms with this, but it is worth waiting for.

For some reason I enjoy time travel books…not grand time travel but always concerning a shift in the universe impacting one person. Replay by Ken Grimwood is one of the first that I’ve read. He dies at 43 and continues to wake up at 18 knowing everything about his future life. Oh, the possibilities!

Please comment if you like these books or even if you don’t. I’ll be here, waiting. And enjoy Spring.