The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, by Jeffrey Toobin (2008)
Who knew that a book about the Supreme Court Justices could be such a page turner? Jeffrey Toobin has created a fascinate book about the William Rehnquits Court.
Toobin first describes a brief history of the Earl Warren and Warren Burger Courts and the beginning of the civil rights movement in the United States. During this period on American history, the federal government played an expansive role in forming the country. With the election of Ronald Reagan, conservative ideas began to the move to restrict the reach of the federal reach.
In writing this book, Toobin interviewed some of the Supreme Court Justices (although he never names which ones provided him with the inside scoop), and many of their clerks over the years. The result is a remarkable insight into the inner workings of the Court, along with the petty scrabbles and grudges the Justices harbor.
The Justices in the Rehnquist Court served together for 9 years (from 1994 through 2004), which is the longest period without a change in the history of the nine-justice Court. In addition to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the other Justices were Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Clarence Thomas.
Toobin describes how some of the advances made in the previous Court are being eroded. He provides careful detail of how such cases and issues as abortion civil rights, affirmative action and the separation of church and state are discussed and changed. Toobin describes how the individual philosophies and prejudices come into play in drafting the Court’s decisions.
The book is terribly revealing and anyone who thinks that the Court’s decisions are made altruistically will be in for a shock. The reader learns such tidbits as how Clarence Thomas selects his law clerks, and how David Souter was devastated following the Bush v. Gore, so much so that he nearly resigned from the Court. The reason given for his remaining on the Court was due to his reluctance to forgo his full retirement if he left early. Toobin take a look into the philosophy and background of each Justice in turn.
The Nine also contains a fascinating account of the nomination process of John Roberts and Samuel Alito, who replaced William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O’Connor, respectively.
The book makes for interesting reading. Although many landmark cases are discussed, the reader does not need to have a legal background to realize the impact the Court has on American life. The Nine should be a “must read” for all Americans.
Read: July 29, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Books Set in Europe: France
Sarah's Key, by Tatiana deRosnay (2007).
Sarah’s Key is two stories in one. One thread of the novel depicts the treatment of Jews by the French during the Holocaust; the other depicts the destruction of a marriage between an American woman and her French husband.
Sarah Starzynski was a 10-year old Jewish girl when the French police arrested her and her family during the Velodrome d’Hiver (known as Vel d’Hiv) on July 16, and 17, 1942. In 2002, middle aged Julia Jarmond is writing a story to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Vel d’Hiv.
Each chapter is very short and, for the most part, switches between Sarah’s story and that of Julia. Sarah is know as the “girl” for most of her story. Not giving people names was a way to depersonalize an individual. That was certainly how the Nazi’s treated the Jews.
When the French police knocked on her family’s door, Sarah’s younger brother crawled into his favorite hiding place, the cupboard, and Sarah locked him in with a promise that she would come for him soon. Little did she realize that she will not be able to return. Instead, she and her parents were brought to the Vel d’Hiv, where they were imprisoned with thousands of other Jews before being transported to concentration camps.
Sarah and another young girl named Rachel were able to escape. The ultimately came to the home of an elderly couple, Jules and Genevieve Dufaure, who took them in and cared for them. (Rachel became ill and died.) Sarah insisted on returning to Paris to find her brother. Against their better judgment, the couple brought her to her former home, which was now occupied by a French family. When Sarah opened the cupboard, all that remained was her brother’s corpse. The Dufaure’s took in Sarah and raised her as their grandchild.
Sixty years later, Julia and her husband move into the apartment that once belonged to his grandmother. As Julia begins her research on the Vel d’Hiv, she comes to realize that the apartment her husband’s family had moved into in July 1942, was one that had recently belonged to a deported Jewish family that had been a target of the Vel d’Hiv.
She persists in her inquiry about the source of her family’s apartment, but her husband is very blasé about the matter. Finally, her father-in-law confesses that he remembered the day when Sarah came an opened the cupboard to find her dead brother. It is a secret that his family had kept for years.
This is the turning point of the novel and we no longer see Sarah’s story from her perspective. The novel turns to Julia and her quest to find Sarah.
Julia becomes obsessed with finding Sarah. She was able to track her down through the Dufaure’s grandsons. As a young woman, Sarah left France and immigrated to the United States. Julia is able to find her family, but learns that Sarah had died many years earlier. Julia tells the Dufaure’s relatives that their ancestors were Righteous Gentiles for their protection and care of young Sarah.
The story’s flaw is when Julia finds herself pregnant at age 45. She thinks her husband will be thrilled with this news, but instead insists that she either abort the fetus or he will leave her. Julia is suddenly confronted how the French perceive Americans. This thread of the story seems to focus on stereotypes that detract from the main theme of active participation by some of the French to the plight of the Jews during the Holocaust.
Sarah’s Key is a beautiful story. It ties a young Jewish girl who lived through the horrors of the Holocaust and a middle-aged gentile researching this horrific past together.
Read: July 27, 2010
Sarah’s Key is two stories in one. One thread of the novel depicts the treatment of Jews by the French during the Holocaust; the other depicts the destruction of a marriage between an American woman and her French husband.
Sarah Starzynski was a 10-year old Jewish girl when the French police arrested her and her family during the Velodrome d’Hiver (known as Vel d’Hiv) on July 16, and 17, 1942. In 2002, middle aged Julia Jarmond is writing a story to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Vel d’Hiv.
Each chapter is very short and, for the most part, switches between Sarah’s story and that of Julia. Sarah is know as the “girl” for most of her story. Not giving people names was a way to depersonalize an individual. That was certainly how the Nazi’s treated the Jews.
When the French police knocked on her family’s door, Sarah’s younger brother crawled into his favorite hiding place, the cupboard, and Sarah locked him in with a promise that she would come for him soon. Little did she realize that she will not be able to return. Instead, she and her parents were brought to the Vel d’Hiv, where they were imprisoned with thousands of other Jews before being transported to concentration camps.
Sarah and another young girl named Rachel were able to escape. The ultimately came to the home of an elderly couple, Jules and Genevieve Dufaure, who took them in and cared for them. (Rachel became ill and died.) Sarah insisted on returning to Paris to find her brother. Against their better judgment, the couple brought her to her former home, which was now occupied by a French family. When Sarah opened the cupboard, all that remained was her brother’s corpse. The Dufaure’s took in Sarah and raised her as their grandchild.
Sixty years later, Julia and her husband move into the apartment that once belonged to his grandmother. As Julia begins her research on the Vel d’Hiv, she comes to realize that the apartment her husband’s family had moved into in July 1942, was one that had recently belonged to a deported Jewish family that had been a target of the Vel d’Hiv.
She persists in her inquiry about the source of her family’s apartment, but her husband is very blasé about the matter. Finally, her father-in-law confesses that he remembered the day when Sarah came an opened the cupboard to find her dead brother. It is a secret that his family had kept for years.
This is the turning point of the novel and we no longer see Sarah’s story from her perspective. The novel turns to Julia and her quest to find Sarah.
Julia becomes obsessed with finding Sarah. She was able to track her down through the Dufaure’s grandsons. As a young woman, Sarah left France and immigrated to the United States. Julia is able to find her family, but learns that Sarah had died many years earlier. Julia tells the Dufaure’s relatives that their ancestors were Righteous Gentiles for their protection and care of young Sarah.
The story’s flaw is when Julia finds herself pregnant at age 45. She thinks her husband will be thrilled with this news, but instead insists that she either abort the fetus or he will leave her. Julia is suddenly confronted how the French perceive Americans. This thread of the story seems to focus on stereotypes that detract from the main theme of active participation by some of the French to the plight of the Jews during the Holocaust.
Sarah’s Key is a beautiful story. It ties a young Jewish girl who lived through the horrors of the Holocaust and a middle-aged gentile researching this horrific past together.
Read: July 27, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Books Set in Europe: Sweden
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (2008)
I have very mixed feelings about this book. It has been on the best seller list and gotten rave reviews, but that doesn’t make it good literature. Larsson creates a very bleak picture of life in Sweden. The dominant theme is abuse of women by men. Interestingly, in Sweden, the book was entitled Men Who Hate Women.
The prologue of the novel begins with a mystery. An elderly industrialist (whom we later learn is Henrik Vanger) receives a framed pressed flower on his birthday, just as he has received for his birthday for the past 40 years. The recipient is unknown. The flower is a gentle reminder of the gifts his beloved grand-niece, Harriet, had given him before her disappearance and supposed murder in 1966.
The book next shifts to journalist and magazine publisher Mikael Blomkvist. He had just been found guilty of libel. Disgraced, Blomkvist ostensibly removes himself from his magazine and is offered a job by Vanger. Vanger wants Blomkvist to investigate Harriet’s disappearance. The cover story that Blomkvist, however, is a history of the Vanger family. Harriet had disappeared from an island, so Vanger believes there is a limited number of suspects. Indeed, Vanger believes that a family member is responsible for Harriet’s murder.
Blomkvist takes the job because of the carrot Vanger dangles. He promises to deliver the executive who was the target of Blomkvist’s libel suit.
Finally, we meet Lisbeth Salander, the title character ~ Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She is an anti-social young woman with a photographic memory who freelances for a security company. She has amazing computer skills, many of which are illegal, which aid her in her security work. We get brief glimpses of her family life ~ her 48-year old mother is in a nursing home. Lisbeth visits her often, but the mother often confuses Lisbeth with her sister. Lisbeth has no close network of friends, and because she has had bad encounters with the police, she doesn’t seek legal assistance after she was brutally raped by her guardian.
Lisbeth had been initially hired to delve into Blomkvist’s past. Suddenly, the investigation was called off. Later, Blomkvist needs assistance in his Vanger investigation, so Lisbeth is called to assist him discover Harriet’s disappearance.
In a convoluted plot, Harriet’s murder seems to be connected to a number of murders that took place throughout Sweden in the 1950s and 1960s. As family members are interviewed, events lead Blomkvist to believe that maybe there is a copy-cat killer.
This is where the plot begins to unravel. A series of unlikely events occur, and, as if the book were the prelude to a movie script, there is a climatic scene where Blomkvist and the villain come to blows. Fear not, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo comes to Blomkvist’s rescue.
The resolution to the mystery is horrifying and one that came totally from left field. It didn’t fit with the initial portion of the book.
Larsson depicts how cruelly and sadistly the men treat women they encounter. Many women are tortured and raped. Blomkvist, however, isn’t cruel, physically, but has a lot of casual sex with nearly every women he meets. Even though he is more than twice her age, Blomkvist engages in a sexual relationship with Lisbeth, even after he knows how fragile she is emptionally. On wonders what scars his attitude toward such casual sex leaves on both Blomkvist and his women.
Once the Vanger mystery has been solved, Larsson turns to Blomkvist’s revenge on the executive who bested him in the libel suit. At this point in the novel, the plot totally falls flat. The reader doesn’t really care about the outcome. Lisbeth has virtually disappeared.
Although the book kept my attention, in the end, I found it lacking and unsatisfactory.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first book in a trilogy by Larsson. After reading this novel, I am not ready to run out and read the rest in this series.
Read: July 27, 2010
I have very mixed feelings about this book. It has been on the best seller list and gotten rave reviews, but that doesn’t make it good literature. Larsson creates a very bleak picture of life in Sweden. The dominant theme is abuse of women by men. Interestingly, in Sweden, the book was entitled Men Who Hate Women.
The prologue of the novel begins with a mystery. An elderly industrialist (whom we later learn is Henrik Vanger) receives a framed pressed flower on his birthday, just as he has received for his birthday for the past 40 years. The recipient is unknown. The flower is a gentle reminder of the gifts his beloved grand-niece, Harriet, had given him before her disappearance and supposed murder in 1966.
The book next shifts to journalist and magazine publisher Mikael Blomkvist. He had just been found guilty of libel. Disgraced, Blomkvist ostensibly removes himself from his magazine and is offered a job by Vanger. Vanger wants Blomkvist to investigate Harriet’s disappearance. The cover story that Blomkvist, however, is a history of the Vanger family. Harriet had disappeared from an island, so Vanger believes there is a limited number of suspects. Indeed, Vanger believes that a family member is responsible for Harriet’s murder.
Blomkvist takes the job because of the carrot Vanger dangles. He promises to deliver the executive who was the target of Blomkvist’s libel suit.
Finally, we meet Lisbeth Salander, the title character ~ Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She is an anti-social young woman with a photographic memory who freelances for a security company. She has amazing computer skills, many of which are illegal, which aid her in her security work. We get brief glimpses of her family life ~ her 48-year old mother is in a nursing home. Lisbeth visits her often, but the mother often confuses Lisbeth with her sister. Lisbeth has no close network of friends, and because she has had bad encounters with the police, she doesn’t seek legal assistance after she was brutally raped by her guardian.
Lisbeth had been initially hired to delve into Blomkvist’s past. Suddenly, the investigation was called off. Later, Blomkvist needs assistance in his Vanger investigation, so Lisbeth is called to assist him discover Harriet’s disappearance.
In a convoluted plot, Harriet’s murder seems to be connected to a number of murders that took place throughout Sweden in the 1950s and 1960s. As family members are interviewed, events lead Blomkvist to believe that maybe there is a copy-cat killer.
This is where the plot begins to unravel. A series of unlikely events occur, and, as if the book were the prelude to a movie script, there is a climatic scene where Blomkvist and the villain come to blows. Fear not, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo comes to Blomkvist’s rescue.
The resolution to the mystery is horrifying and one that came totally from left field. It didn’t fit with the initial portion of the book.
Larsson depicts how cruelly and sadistly the men treat women they encounter. Many women are tortured and raped. Blomkvist, however, isn’t cruel, physically, but has a lot of casual sex with nearly every women he meets. Even though he is more than twice her age, Blomkvist engages in a sexual relationship with Lisbeth, even after he knows how fragile she is emptionally. On wonders what scars his attitude toward such casual sex leaves on both Blomkvist and his women.
Once the Vanger mystery has been solved, Larsson turns to Blomkvist’s revenge on the executive who bested him in the libel suit. At this point in the novel, the plot totally falls flat. The reader doesn’t really care about the outcome. Lisbeth has virtually disappeared.
Although the book kept my attention, in the end, I found it lacking and unsatisfactory.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first book in a trilogy by Larsson. After reading this novel, I am not ready to run out and read the rest in this series.
Read: July 27, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Books Set in Ottoman Turkey: Constaninople
Tears of Pearl by Tasha Alexander (2009)
I picked up Tears of Pearl at my local library because I was intrigued by the cover, which showed a skyline of Istanbul and the Hagia Sophia. I didn’t realized when I picked up the book that it is actually the third in a mystery series about Lady Emily Ashton. The fictitious Lady Emily was an adventurous young women living in the late 1800s, who, when she travels, finds herself involved in mysteries. The author makes references to things that happened in the previous three novels, which is a bit distracting.
In Tears of Pearl, Emily and Colin take the Orient Express to Constantinople (as it was called in 1892) for their honeymoon trip. Colin was a close friend of Emily’s first husband, who apparently died under mysterious circumstances in the previous novel in the series. There are hints that Colin may have been involved in the death of the first husband, but they lead no where.
While on the train, they meet Sir Richard, an elderly British diplomat stationed in Constantinople. He had been married to a local woman and tells Emily and Colin the tragic tale of how his wife murdered and his young daughter was abducted over 20 years ago. He had tattooed his daughter’s neck, as was the custom of his late wife’s community. Later, after an event at the Topkapi Palace, one of the women in the sultan’s harem is found murdered.
As luck would have it, the dead woman has a tattoo on her neck and is the long lost daughter of Sir Richard. Since only women (and the court eunuchs) are allowed in the harem, Emily takes charge and is permitted to question the women in the harem. Emily and her husband enter into a contest to see which of them will be able to find the murderer. In the course of their adventure, a few more bodies turn up. Other events seem point to Sir Richard as the villain.
The author provides many details of the harem as it existed near the end of the Ottoman Empire. It was clearly well researched and the author compares and contrasts freedoms and restrictions of British society women and the women of the harem.
Tears of Pearl is an adult version of the Nancy Drew mystery stories that I read as a pre-teen. It is a light-hearted novel without a great deal of suspense. Although I enjoyed the book, I have no interest in reading the previous books in the series.
Read: July 24, 2009
I picked up Tears of Pearl at my local library because I was intrigued by the cover, which showed a skyline of Istanbul and the Hagia Sophia. I didn’t realized when I picked up the book that it is actually the third in a mystery series about Lady Emily Ashton. The fictitious Lady Emily was an adventurous young women living in the late 1800s, who, when she travels, finds herself involved in mysteries. The author makes references to things that happened in the previous three novels, which is a bit distracting.
In Tears of Pearl, Emily and Colin take the Orient Express to Constantinople (as it was called in 1892) for their honeymoon trip. Colin was a close friend of Emily’s first husband, who apparently died under mysterious circumstances in the previous novel in the series. There are hints that Colin may have been involved in the death of the first husband, but they lead no where.
While on the train, they meet Sir Richard, an elderly British diplomat stationed in Constantinople. He had been married to a local woman and tells Emily and Colin the tragic tale of how his wife murdered and his young daughter was abducted over 20 years ago. He had tattooed his daughter’s neck, as was the custom of his late wife’s community. Later, after an event at the Topkapi Palace, one of the women in the sultan’s harem is found murdered.
As luck would have it, the dead woman has a tattoo on her neck and is the long lost daughter of Sir Richard. Since only women (and the court eunuchs) are allowed in the harem, Emily takes charge and is permitted to question the women in the harem. Emily and her husband enter into a contest to see which of them will be able to find the murderer. In the course of their adventure, a few more bodies turn up. Other events seem point to Sir Richard as the villain.
The author provides many details of the harem as it existed near the end of the Ottoman Empire. It was clearly well researched and the author compares and contrasts freedoms and restrictions of British society women and the women of the harem.
Tears of Pearl is an adult version of the Nancy Drew mystery stories that I read as a pre-teen. It is a light-hearted novel without a great deal of suspense. Although I enjoyed the book, I have no interest in reading the previous books in the series.
Read: July 24, 2009
Monday, July 19, 2010
Books Set in Europe: England
The Monster in the Box, by Ruth Rendell (2009)
I find Ruth Randell’s writings to be either very, very good, or not so good. This mystery novel was not so good.
The Monster in the Box is in her Inspector Wexford series. (Maybe I am just not a fan of this Inspector.). Early in his career, Inspector Wexford was investigating the murder of a woman who’s husband was ultimately convicted of the crime. At the time of the investigation, Wexford recalled seeing a man on the street wearing a scarf to cover his birthmark. Wexford was convinced the man had something to do with the murder, but being a novice police officer, he kept his thoughts to himself.
Fast forward to the twilight of Wexford’s career, while investigating another murder, he once again runs into the mysterious Eric Targo. Now, however, he has had his birthmark removed, but he still lingers around murder scenes. Until now, Wexford has had nothing to link Targo to numerous unsolved murders around the country.
Wexford’s partner is Mike Burden, whose young wife, Jenny, contacted Hannah Goldsmith, a police officer the department’s liaison officer for various immigrant groups. Jenny, who is a teacher, is concerned that 16-year old Tamima Rahman is being denied a higher education because of her Moslem, Pakistani family’s customs. She is concerned that Tamima will not be able to continue seeing her boyfriend and that Tamima’s family will either force her into an arranged marriage, or will kill her. (Rendell quaintly refers to the Rahman family as “Asian.” Perhaps that is a British thing.) The author seems to use this family to explore Moslem-British prejudices.
Rendell goes off on tangents that are unrelated to the main theme of the book. Wexford thinks back on an old fiancée, how he broke off the engagement, was best man at a near-stranger’s wedding, and the nearly career-killing encounter with a woman who tried to frame him for rape. I found these side stories distracting to the mystery, which already had too many tangents
Finally, about half-way through the book, a crime is committed. Wexford’s gardener his murdered and Targo is the main suspect. As Wexford begins to gather evidence, Targo has gone missing. Finally, Wexford has a reason to delve into Targo’s past. He seeks out Targo’s former wives to build his case. Ultimately, Rendell ties both Targo’s story with Tamima’s.
I was left unsatisfied by the ending. What was it that made Targo the man that he was? Was Tamima’s life really in danger and was she forced into the path she chose? I didn’t care enough about the characters to ponder these questions.
Read: July 19, 2010
I find Ruth Randell’s writings to be either very, very good, or not so good. This mystery novel was not so good.
The Monster in the Box is in her Inspector Wexford series. (Maybe I am just not a fan of this Inspector.). Early in his career, Inspector Wexford was investigating the murder of a woman who’s husband was ultimately convicted of the crime. At the time of the investigation, Wexford recalled seeing a man on the street wearing a scarf to cover his birthmark. Wexford was convinced the man had something to do with the murder, but being a novice police officer, he kept his thoughts to himself.
Fast forward to the twilight of Wexford’s career, while investigating another murder, he once again runs into the mysterious Eric Targo. Now, however, he has had his birthmark removed, but he still lingers around murder scenes. Until now, Wexford has had nothing to link Targo to numerous unsolved murders around the country.
Wexford’s partner is Mike Burden, whose young wife, Jenny, contacted Hannah Goldsmith, a police officer the department’s liaison officer for various immigrant groups. Jenny, who is a teacher, is concerned that 16-year old Tamima Rahman is being denied a higher education because of her Moslem, Pakistani family’s customs. She is concerned that Tamima will not be able to continue seeing her boyfriend and that Tamima’s family will either force her into an arranged marriage, or will kill her. (Rendell quaintly refers to the Rahman family as “Asian.” Perhaps that is a British thing.) The author seems to use this family to explore Moslem-British prejudices.
Rendell goes off on tangents that are unrelated to the main theme of the book. Wexford thinks back on an old fiancée, how he broke off the engagement, was best man at a near-stranger’s wedding, and the nearly career-killing encounter with a woman who tried to frame him for rape. I found these side stories distracting to the mystery, which already had too many tangents
Finally, about half-way through the book, a crime is committed. Wexford’s gardener his murdered and Targo is the main suspect. As Wexford begins to gather evidence, Targo has gone missing. Finally, Wexford has a reason to delve into Targo’s past. He seeks out Targo’s former wives to build his case. Ultimately, Rendell ties both Targo’s story with Tamima’s.
I was left unsatisfied by the ending. What was it that made Targo the man that he was? Was Tamima’s life really in danger and was she forced into the path she chose? I didn’t care enough about the characters to ponder these questions.
Read: July 19, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Books Set in Asia: Malaysia
The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka (2002)
It has been a long time since I have read a book that I could really get involved in. The Rice Mother was one such book and what a treat!
The novel follows the family and generations of Lakshmi. Each chapter is written in the voice of a different family member, so get a picture of the family through the different eyes, and experience the same event through the experiences of various characters. Maniacka had done this to perfection.
Lakshmi was born in 1916. At age 14, young Lakshmi, the matriarch of the novel, is married off to an ostensibly wealthy widow. She leaves her mother and homeland of Ceylon for Malaysia. Once she arrives in her new country, she realizes that she was duped into marrying a man without the great wealth she had been led to believe. He is a lowly clerk with no aspirations to improve his station in life. Within a few short years, she finds herself the mother of six children. Her first borns are the twins, Lakshmnan and his sister, Mohini. They are soon followed by Sevenese, Anna, Jeyan and Lalita. Lakshmi devotes her life to building a better life for her children.
Mohini is beautiful, and Lakshmi pins all her hopes on her beautiful daughter. During World War II, the Japanese invade Malaysia. Overnight, girls are dressed as boys to keep them from being raped by the Japanese soldiers. Lakshmi hides Mohini in a secret room under their house because she fears that Mohini's beauty cannot be hidden in boy's clothing. For three years, Mohini is kept hidden from view. Then, when the end of the war is in sight, Mohini is accidently exposed when the Japanese soldiers storm the house. She was taken away by the soldiers and never seen again. Although her fate was never known, the family knew that she was likely brutally raped and murdered.
Mohini's disappearance and death cast a pall over the family for generations. Lakshmnan feels responsible for his twin sister's death. His relationship with his mother, Lakshmi, is also soured after Mohini's death. Lakshmnan becomes a compulsive gambler. He marries a cruel, bitter woman, who gives him three children. His wife, Rani, pits her children against each other. Their middle child, Dimple marries the mysterious and wealthy Luke. Rani sees a meal ticket. Lakshmnan, however, realizes that Dimple is in for bad fortune.
Dimple begins to take an interest in her family's history and begins recording the stories as told by each family member. She encourages her grandmother, her aunts and uncles to share their memories on cassette tapes. Her life with Luke begins to erode, after she learns that he has a mistress. He introduces her to opium. Her daughter, Nisha, was a very young girl when her mother died. Luke then created an entirely new life for her, erasing her memories of her mother's family.
Only after Luke dies, does Nisha come in contact with her mother's family again. Before he died, Luke gave Nisha the key to the cassettes that Dimple had so carefully preserved. The tapes help Nisha come to terms with the sorrowful legacy of her family, and her past. Learning of her family's experiences and histories enables her to come to terms with her own fears and depression.
The Rice Mother is the debut novel of Rani Manicka. I eagerly await her next offerings.
Read: July 9, 2010
It has been a long time since I have read a book that I could really get involved in. The Rice Mother was one such book and what a treat!
The novel follows the family and generations of Lakshmi. Each chapter is written in the voice of a different family member, so get a picture of the family through the different eyes, and experience the same event through the experiences of various characters. Maniacka had done this to perfection.
Lakshmi was born in 1916. At age 14, young Lakshmi, the matriarch of the novel, is married off to an ostensibly wealthy widow. She leaves her mother and homeland of Ceylon for Malaysia. Once she arrives in her new country, she realizes that she was duped into marrying a man without the great wealth she had been led to believe. He is a lowly clerk with no aspirations to improve his station in life. Within a few short years, she finds herself the mother of six children. Her first borns are the twins, Lakshmnan and his sister, Mohini. They are soon followed by Sevenese, Anna, Jeyan and Lalita. Lakshmi devotes her life to building a better life for her children.
Mohini is beautiful, and Lakshmi pins all her hopes on her beautiful daughter. During World War II, the Japanese invade Malaysia. Overnight, girls are dressed as boys to keep them from being raped by the Japanese soldiers. Lakshmi hides Mohini in a secret room under their house because she fears that Mohini's beauty cannot be hidden in boy's clothing. For three years, Mohini is kept hidden from view. Then, when the end of the war is in sight, Mohini is accidently exposed when the Japanese soldiers storm the house. She was taken away by the soldiers and never seen again. Although her fate was never known, the family knew that she was likely brutally raped and murdered.
Mohini's disappearance and death cast a pall over the family for generations. Lakshmnan feels responsible for his twin sister's death. His relationship with his mother, Lakshmi, is also soured after Mohini's death. Lakshmnan becomes a compulsive gambler. He marries a cruel, bitter woman, who gives him three children. His wife, Rani, pits her children against each other. Their middle child, Dimple marries the mysterious and wealthy Luke. Rani sees a meal ticket. Lakshmnan, however, realizes that Dimple is in for bad fortune.
Dimple begins to take an interest in her family's history and begins recording the stories as told by each family member. She encourages her grandmother, her aunts and uncles to share their memories on cassette tapes. Her life with Luke begins to erode, after she learns that he has a mistress. He introduces her to opium. Her daughter, Nisha, was a very young girl when her mother died. Luke then created an entirely new life for her, erasing her memories of her mother's family.
Only after Luke dies, does Nisha come in contact with her mother's family again. Before he died, Luke gave Nisha the key to the cassettes that Dimple had so carefully preserved. The tapes help Nisha come to terms with the sorrowful legacy of her family, and her past. Learning of her family's experiences and histories enables her to come to terms with her own fears and depression.
The Rice Mother is the debut novel of Rani Manicka. I eagerly await her next offerings.
Read: July 9, 2010
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