Books Set in Asia; Pegu

The Jewel Trader of Pegu, by Jeffrey Hantover (2008)

 

In the late 1500s, Abraham, a young, widowed Jewish trader, traveled from the ghetto of Venice to seek jewels in Southeast Asia to send back to his uncle in Italy.  He traveled to Pegu, a kingdom in Burma, where he encounters a way of life vastly different from the one in which he grew up.  The novel is written mostly in letter form that Abraham sends to his cousin in Venice.  Abraham describes the lush jungle of Pegu and the people and the customs, as well as his struggles with keeping up his religious practices.

 

He found that the local people are tolerant of foreigners, and he resides in a house that had previously been occupied by another Italian trader.  Abraham is not the only European in Pegu.  Jesuit priest have come to convert the Buddhist to Christianity.  The Jesuits treat Abraham with scorn, but the local population he encounters are tolerant, although somewhat mystified by Abraham’s religious practices.

 

Abraham is fascinated by some of the local customs but is horrified to learn that it is a practice for foreigners to sleep with a bride-to-be on her wedding day, before sleeping with her husband.  Abraham at first resists this honor, but ultimately succumbs to this practice, although not without his coming to grips with his moral dilemma.

 

Young Mya entered the town to marry, but first was given to Abraham.  The next morning, her groom failed to come for her.  He had overindulged the night before and died, leaving Mya a widow.  Abraham allows her to stay in his house, and soon falls in love with her.

 

Abraham works with Win, a local broker, and as they become friends, they discuss their religious and cultural differences.  They respect each other’s differences and form a strong bond, which will help them both during the pending uprising.  Abraham realizes that, as a Jew, he has far more freedom in Pegu than he had in Italy, despite the cruelty of the Peguian king.

 

Pegu and a rival kingdom begin a violent war.  Abraham realizes that he must depart, but not without Mya, whom he as entered into a common-law marriage.  She is pregnant, so he doesn’t want to return to Italy until after the birth of their child.  They depart for deep into the country.  On the journey, Abraham becomes ill and dies, leaving a young, pregnant wife in the care of Win.

 

I enjoyed this novel.  The author provided vivid descriptions of the country as it existed so many years ago.

 

Read:  November 21, 2021

 

4 Stars

Books Set in North America, United States, New York, New York

The Hours Count, by Jillian Cantor (2015)

This novel imagines a friendship between Ethel Rosenberg and (fictional) Mildred Stein.  Ethel and Julius (Julie) Rosenberg and the Steins are two young couples living an high-rise in Knickerbocker Village in the Lower East Side, New York in the 1940s.  The Rosenbergs are a loving couple with 2 young sons.  The Steins, on the other hand, are in a loveless marriage with a young autistic son.

Ed Stein was an immigrant from Russia.  He and Millie married mostly because it was time and Ed needed an American wife.  When it becomes clear that their son, David, is not “normal” and is unable to communicate with anyone, Ed loses interest in him and is continually pestering Millie for another child.

At this period in history, Russians are looked upon with suspicion and communism is becoming a dirty word.  At a party of fellow communist at the Rosenberg’s apartment, Millie meets Dr. Jake Gold, who claims he is friends with the Rosenberg’s, although Ethel later denies known him.  Jake Gold is a psychologist and tells Millie that he can help her son.  Soon Millie and David are meeting Dr. Gold on a regular basis.  David takes a liking to Dr. Gold, and Millie finds herself falling in love with him.

Millie takes a trip with David, ostensibly to visit the Rosenberg’s in the Catskills, with a brief stop to be with Jake Gold.  They have a one-night stand, and Millie becomes pregnant.  Things Jake tells her, however, that Millie knows are not true.  Still, she continues to long for him, as her own marriage begins to crumble.  Can she trust Jake even though she knows he doesn’t always tell her the truth?  [Spoiler:  Jake Gold is actually an FBI agent who was investigating Soviet spies.]

Soon it becomes apparent that the FBI is on the lookout for “atomic” spies, and suspicion falls on Ed Stein, who disappears from the family, and the Rosenbergs.  The novel begins on the day Ethel Rosenberg is to be executed.  Millie believes that Ethel is innocent and claims to have proof that will exonerate her.

I found this book to be annoying.  It started off well, but Millie’s pining for Jake didn’t ring true.  Furthermore, the author changed the names of the Rosenberg’s children for no apparent reason.  Although there is a kernel of truth in the novel (the Rosenberg’s were tried, found guilty of espionage and executed), the fictional story of Millie’s life and longing for Jake got in the way of the story.

Read:  November 11, 2021

2 Stars

Books Set in North America; United States, Hollywood, California and New York, New York

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2017)

 

Seventy-nine-year-old Evelyn Hugo, a former Hollywood star, is determined to tell the world her life story only if young-and-coming writer Monique Grant writes the book.  Monique is a relatively unknown magazine writer and her boss reluctantly agrees to allow Monique to work with Hugo for an exclusive in the magazine.  Monique agrees to meet daily with Evelyn as Evelyn recounts her true life story.

 

Evelyn Hugo grew up as Evelyn Herrera in Hell’s Kitchen but was determined to become an actress.  Her first husband, Ernie Diaz, whom she married as a young teen, was her vehicle out of Hell’s Kitchen.  Ernie was a former neighbor with dreams of Hollywood, so Evelyn hitched a ride with him to realize her dreams.  The marriage was short-lived, but Evelyn quickly learned to trade her sexuality to climb the ladder into the movies.  Her life becomes a fabric of lies.  Her next husband is her co-star, Don Adler, who soon becomes physically abusive.  When he leaves her, he takes steps to ruin her career.  After a couple of years, Evelyn remakes herself making avant-garde films in Europe.  Her star rises again along with another marriage, and another, and another.

 

As Evelyn marries and divorces, it is apparent that her marriages are all shams.  She marries because the studio wants her to, she marries to cover-up her true feelings and sexuality, she marries for show.  Early in her career, Evelyn met a young starlet, Celia St. James, whom she mentors, then falls in love with.  As I read this novel, I couldn’t help thinking of some of the movie stars from this era who had multiple marriages and wonder how much of this novel rings true to the causes behind their marriages.

 

We know very little about Monique other than she is of mixed race – her father, who died when she was 7, was black and her mother is white.  Spoiler: near the end of the book, we learn just why Evelyn selected Monique to write her life story.  Monique’s father was the love of one of Evelyn’s husband.

This novel portrays a very jaundiced view of Hollywood in the 1950s and ‘60s.  It kept my interest, however.

 

Read: November 9, 2021

 

4 Stars