Books Set in Europe: Bavaria, Germany

The Poisoned Pilgrim, by Oliver Pötzsch (2013)

This is the fourth book in the delightful Hangman's Daughter series, a series of historical fiction/suspense novels following Jakob Kuisl, his daughter, Magdalena and her "bathhouse" doctor, Simon Fronwieser.

The novel is set in 1666 in Bavaria.  Magdalena and her husband leave their home town of Schongau to participate in a religious festival and pilgrimage in nearby Andechs.  Almost as soon as they arrive in Andechs, two monks are found dead under mysterious circumstances.  Simon examines the bodies and discovers that one of the victim's, who ostensibly drown, was probably a victim of murder.  When Jokob learns that his old friend, Brother Johannes is arrested, joins his daughter to investigate the events occurring in the pilgrimage town.

Two of the monks are experimenting with the phenomenon of lightening and electricity, while the rest of the town considers this witchcraft.  There are several plot threads in this novel, which make for a very suspenseful and exciting mystery.

From the first book in the series, The Hangman's Daughter, we learned that hangmen and their families are disrespected.  The hangmen, however, are also learned men in medicines, so are a necessary component of the medieval villages.

The author is from the Bavaria and there was a hangman in his family's history.  This makes the novel really come alive.

5 Stars

This is the fourth book in the Hangman's Daughter series.

Read:  December 28, 2017

5 Stars

Books Set in the United States: New York State

The Guest Room, by Chris Bohjalian (2016)

This novel is about sex trafficking.  It is a timely topic as several organizations that I belong to have begun to advocate for stronger legislation to prevent the selling of young girls.

The novel begins when Richard Chapman agrees to host a bachelor party for his wild younger brother in his (Richard's) home.  The brother, Philip, has his friends arrange for a stripper to be the "talent" at the party.  Two girls and their guards show up for the party.  At the end of the night, the guards are dead and the strippers are gone.

The story primarily follows Alexandra, one of the strippers.  We learn that she is Armenian and as a young girl had dreams of becoming a ballerina.  When she is 15 years old, her mother dies.  Her mother's boss convinces her grandmother that Alexandra should go to Moscow for ballet training.  She leaves her grandmother and goes to Moscow with big dreams.  That first night, however, she is brutally raped and threatened that if she tries to leave, her grandmother will be harmed.

She and other girls like her are trained to be "courtesans", but are kept in virtual slavery.  Alexandra is sent to America with the promise that she can be free after working for only 2 or 3 years.  Hence, her being sent to the bachelor party.

The novel goes back and forth between Alexandra and the aftermath of the murders at the party.  It depicts a fairly accurate picture of the sex slave industry.  Chris Bohjalian is an excellent writer.

Read: December 22, 2017

4.5 Stars

Books Set in Asia: Israel

Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service, by Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal (2012)

This book describes some of the operational details of the Mossad.  Most of the missions are ones that have already been highly publicized, such as the capture of Adolph Eichmann in Argentina and the capture and murder of Eli Cohen in Syria.  

Mildly interesting, but I have read other books about  the Mossad that are better.

Read:  December 20, 2017

3 Stars

Books Set in the United States: South Carolina

Bastard Out of Carolina, by Dorothy Allison (1992)

This novel is largely autobiographical.  It is narrated by Bone Boatwright.  Her real name is Ruth Anne, but when she was born, her uncle announced that she was "no bigger than a knucklebone", and the name stuck.  Bone was the illegitimated daughter of Anney, a young sixteen year-old.  She was born when being illegitimate carried a stigma.  Her biological was never in the picture.

A few years later, Anney married Lyle Parsons, but when he was killed in a freak accident, she found herself a widow at 19 with two babies.  While working in a diner, she met Glen Waddell.  Glen was the black sheep of his family.  His sibling were all successful lawyers and doctors, but Glen could barely keep a job.  Anney fell in love with him anyway and he became her second husband.

At first Glen seemed to be gentle, but he soon showed his dark side, especially to Bone, whom he terrorized.  She was subject to sexual and physical abuse, but felt she could not confide in anyone in her loving extended family.

This was not an easy topic to read, but I did like the writing style.

Read:  December 18, 2017

4 Stars

Books Set in Asia: China

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa See (2017)

This novel follows Li-Yan, a young girl of the Akha people, one of the 55 ethnic minorities of China. The Akha people live in a remote part of southern China and make their living through the farming of tea.  The novel delves into the customs of the Akha people.

Li-Yan falls in love with San-pa, a young man from a neighboring community.  Her parents are not keen on San-pa, claiming that he is lazy and a bad match.  Li-Yan is studious and has an opportunity to become the first in her village to attend college.  San-pa ostensibly leaves the community to earn money so that he and Li-Yan can marry.

After he leaves, Li-Yan finds herself pregnant.  A baby out of marriage, however, is considered a "human reject" in the Akha tradition, and must be killed.  Li-Yan and her mother, however, buck this tradition and the baby is dropped off at an orphanage, along with a tea cake, in a neighboring city.

Later, when San-pa returns to marry Li-Yan, they return together to the orphanage to reclaim their child.  They learn, however, that the baby was adopted by an American couple.

The novel then follows Li-Yan and her yearning for her lost daughter.  Li-Yan ultimately becomes a successful tea merchant.  We also get snippets of the daughter's struggle living in California with white parents.

I enjoyed this novel and, having recently returned from an extended trip to China, was intrigued to read about much of the descriptions of China to be exactly as I experienced.  I gave this novel 4 stars because at a certain point the thread of the story became a bit too far-fetched.

Read:  December 10, 2017

4 Stars

Books Set in Europe: Germany

Stones from the River, by Ursula Hegi (1994)

This is a novel about a small town in Germany in the years leading up to World War II, the war and its aftermath.  We follow Trudi Montag who has dwarfism, who feels left out and longs to be tall.  She has a talent for eliciting peoples' secrets and of knowing what will happen to people in the future.

Her mother was mentally ill and died when she was four.  Leo, her father, raises her.  He runs a pay library and Trudi works there with him.  From her position in the library, she gets to know all about the other townspeople.

As events lead up to the War, she sees how people react to Hitler.  Some immediately become followers, others are silently supporters and there are those in the opposition, or who are just silent.

Things change after Kristallnacht.  The townspeople become fearful and watch as their neighbors, for the Jews, then those who protest, are taken away.  Trudi is aware that her dwarfism could trigger her disappearance.  She and her father, however, opt to hide Jews who are trying to escape.

What is interesting about this book is the fact that the author ties in the aftermath of the war and people's reaction.  This is the first novel that I have read where this subject matter was addressed.

I read this book because it was on my mother's reading list.  I thought of her all the time I was reading this book.

Read:  December 5, 2017

5 Stars