Books Set in the United States: North Carolina

The Perfect Son, by Barbara Claypole White (2015)

This is a novel about a young teen-aged boy with Tourette's Syndrome.  He is the only child of Felix and Ella Fitxwilliam.  Felix is the child of a brutal father who terrorized him as a child.  He vows to be different from his father, but has a perfectionist personality disorder.  He has left childrearing to his wife.

When Ella suffers a heart attack at age 47, the same age that her mother was when she died of a heart attack, Felix's life, as well as that of his son, Harry, is turned upside down.  Suddenly, Felix must cope with dealing with his son.  Harry is a straight-A student and Felix wants him to attend Harvard.  Harry has other ideas, however, but has difficulty communicating with his distant father.

This book was well written until the ending, when it seemed to fall apart.

4 Stars

Read:  November 29, 2015

Books Set in Asia: Syria

The Sandcastle Girls, by Chris Bohjalian (2012)

This novel tells of the Armenian genocide during World War I as told through the eyes of a young American woman, Elizabeth, who went to Syria in 1915 intent on assisting in the hospitals.  There she meets a young widow, Arman, who is Armenian engineer.  He lost his wife and baby daughter in the slaughter.  Elizabeth writes of conditions in Aleppo where many of the Armenian refugees pass through.  Arman joins the British Army and experiences the horrors of the war in Gallipoli.

Interspersed throughout the novel is the adult granddaughter of Elizabeth and Arman who becomes interested in her family history and tracks down her grandmother's writings.

Read: November 26, 2015

5 Stars

Books Set in the United States: Tennessee

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II, by Denise Kiernan (2013)

Read: November 14, 2015

4 Stars

Books Set in the United States: Alabama

Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee (2015)


Read: November 7, 2015

2 Stars