Books Set in the United States: Vermont

Secrets of Eden, by Chris Bohjalian (2010)

Another novel about domestic violence.  This book was much better than The Hurricane Sisters, however.

The novel follows the alleged murder-suicide of Alice and George Hayward from four different perspectives.

4 Stars

Read:  June 28, 2014

Books set in Asia: Afghanstan

The Pearl the Broke Its Shell, by Nadia Hashimi (2014)

5 stars

Read: June 25, 2014. 

Books Set in the United States

The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap, by Matt Taibbi (2014)

This is a scary political book that describes how banks and big corporations can literally get away with crime, while the average American citizen is in jeopardy of losing his rights.  The poorer one is, the less rights are available.

Three Stars

Read:  June 14, 2014

Books Set in the United States: South Carolina

The Hurricane Sisters, by Dorothy Benton Frank (2014)

This was a rather heavy handed novel about domestic violence.

3 Stars

Read: June 12, 2014

Books Set in the United States: Maine

The Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline (2013)

This is a fascinating novel about the Orphan Trains that came about during the 1920s and 1930s in the United States.  Young children were placed on trains and sent to the mid-West where they were placed in foster homes.  Often the new foster parents wanted only an extra helping hand to work around the house or farm.

This novel was about the friendship of a 90-year old woman who had once been such an orphan and a young, troubled girl who was bouncing from foster home to foster home in Maine.

I enjoyed the book, but it fell apart at the end.

4 stars

Read: June 7, 2014