Books Set in North America (New York, New York) and England

By Any Other Name, by Jodi Picoult (2024)

By Any Other Name is a dual-timeline historical novel.  It follows the historical poet, Emilia Bassano, who may have secretly written plays that were published under William Shakespeare's name, and the fictional Melina Green, who lives in the present.  Chapters alternate between Emilia and Melina.  The novel focuses on sexism, racism, and authorship, but it seems a bit heavy-handed.  In the 16th-century, playwrights often collaborated and shared ideas.  Most of the playwrights were male, but it was an established community of writers.  Scholars have long argued that plays published under Shakespeare's name were not actually written by him.  Emilia may have written or contributed to much of Shakespeare's better known plays.  Emilia's story is the more interesting story than that of the fictional Melina.

Melina strives to write a play, but has suffered from numerous obstacles and rejections.  Her latest play was about Emilia.  Knowing that there are virtually no females playwrights whose work is performed, Andre, Melina's male friend, submitted her play in a contest under the name Mel Green.  When her play is submitted, Melina tries to hid behind Andre.  Will her play be accepted if the world thinks it was written by a man?  Is it more important that Melina's play is performed than she get credit for it?

This book was not a page-turner for me, but it was interested.  I did find the modern-day portion of the story to be a bit far-fetched.

3 Stars

Read:  August 14, 2026

Books Set in North America: Kentucky

Horse, by Geraldine Brooks (2022)

Read:  June 14, 2026

3.5 stars

Books Set in Europe; France

The Paris Agent, by Kelly Rimmer (2023)

This novel follows two female British Special Operatives Executive (SOE) spies whose lives will be determined by a double agent in their midst.  This novel is loosely based on the women who served in the SOE during World War II.

Read: September 27, 2025

3.5 stars

Books Set in North America, Carville, Louisiana United States

The Second Life of Miriella West, by Amanda Skenandore (2021)

Read: March 22, 2025

3 Stars

Books Set in North America, United States, Georgia

The Twelve-Mile Straight, by Eleanor Henderson (2017)

Read: September 14, 2024

4 Stars

Books Set in Asia: Tehran, Iran

The Lion Women of Tehran, by Marjan Kamali (2024)

Read: September 3, 2024

5 Stars

Books Set in Asia: Jaipur, India

The Henna Artist, by Alka Joshi (2020)

 

At age 17, Lakshmi Shastri left her abusive husband and set off to fend for herself.  She had been forced into an arranged marriage at age 15.  As was the custom, she moved into her husband’s home.  She had a loving relationship with her mother-in-law who taught her traditional herbal medicine.  Her husband, however, beat her often, thus, she felt she had to leave him to save her life.

 

Thirteen years later, she was living in Jaipur, a city in northern India, where she was a successful henna artist.  Life was good.  She cast herself as a young widow and set up business as a henna artist.  She had learned the trade while living in Agra with “pleasure” women.  In Jaipur, she had many high-caste clients and was earning enough money to build herself a home.  Her intricate designs provided her with top dollar fees.  She had visions of contacting her parents and having them live with her.

 

The husband of one of her clients had many mistresses.  Lakshmi supplemented her income selling him and others herbal sachets that would make babies disappear.

 

One day, out of the blue, her estranged husband appeared at her doorstep with a young girl in tow.  Shortly after Lakshmi left her husband, her parents had another child, Radha.  Lakshmi had no idea that she had a younger sister, who had been deemed the Bad Luck Girl in her hometown.  These unexpected visitors have the potential to turn Laskhmi’s life upside down.

 

I enjoyed this book.  It showed a small slice of life in India in the 1950s and the struggles a woman had while trying to live on her own.  The novel’s ending, however, was a bit too pat.  Everything was all resolved in an amicable way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I first read this book in 2021.  I re-read it in August 2024 after going to a talk by the author, Alka Joshi.  The author was very gracious and gave us insight in life in India post-independence.  The author's mother was in an arranged marriage and had no say in how her life would be.  Lakshmi, main character of this book, had choices.  The novel was deliberately set in 1955 because that was the first year that women could legally obtain a divorce.  I re-read this book with fresh eyes.  I liked it as much the second time as I did the first time.

 

Read:  February 6, 2021

Read: August 27, 2024

 

4 Stars

Books Set in North America, Cuba

Hotel Cuba, by Aaron Hamburger

Read: July 26, 2024

3.5 Stars

Books Set in Europe and Asia; Poland and Israel

Once We Were Home, by Jennifer Rosner (2023)

Read: July 15, 2024

4 Stars

Books Set in Asia and North America: China, Taiwan and the United States

Peach Blossom Spring, by Melissa Fu (2022)

 

This novel of China spans from 1938 to roughly 2000 and follows three generations of the Dao family.  This is a novel of survival and strength throughout many adversities.  The novel begins with Meilin, a young widow with a young son, Renshu.  Meilin’s husband, Xiaowen, had gone missing in the second Sino-Japanese War between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan as a part of World War II.  Longwei, Xiaowen’s older brother, returned and promised to take care of Meilin and Renshu.  Because of the War, Meilin must constantly be on the move to stay away from the fighting.  Her most precious treasure is a scroll with a long, painted narrative.  She takes out the scroll and reads the stories to her son.  Ultimately, Meilin and Renshu escape to Taiwan and are befriended by another young mother with young children.  There are references to the political disputes between mainland China and Taiwan ~ which adds to Meilin’s worries.

 

The next portion of the novel focuses on Renshu.  He is a good student and is offered a scholarship to study in the United States.  Once in the United States, he is told to “Americanize” his name, and becomes known as Henry Dao.  His struggle is that of an immigrant to the United States.  He falls in love and marries an American woman and together they raise a daughter, Lily.  The final portion of the novel focuses on Lily and her struggles as a mixed-race child.  She is curious about her Chinese culture, but her father pushes her away and is not supportive.

 

Although the author said that the book is fiction, I can help but believe that she drew a great deal of the incidents in the novel from her family background.

 

Read:  May 27, 2024

 

4 Stars

Books Set in Asia, India

The Daughters of Madurai, by Rajasree Variyar (2023)

This novel is about a mother and daughter relationship, but mostly focuses on the mother’s life growing up poor in Madurai, India.  The story takes place in the present (daughter’s story) and in the 1990s (mother’s life).

Janani, the mother was born into a poor family in a lower caste.  After being married young in an arranged marriage, Janani was sent away from her family to live with her husband and his family.  As a new wife, she was basically her new family’s servant.  She lives in a culture that does not value girls.  Her first baby is a girl, which Janani is “allowed” to keep, but her subsequent daughters are taken from her and killed.  Janani struggles with her loss, as well as being trapped in a loveless marriage with a cruel mother-in-law.  It sounds cliché, but as written, Janani’s life comes alive.

Jump to present day, and Janani is married and living in Australia with her husband and children, including Nila, her now-adult daughter.  Janani has never shared her past with her children.  When her father-in-law- is dying, Janani and the family return to India to see him.  The trip sparks memories of the past, which slowly reveals itself.

I found this book somewhat difficult to read due to the names and nicknames of the characters.

Read:  April 1, 2024

3 Stars

Books Set in Europe, Poland

A Meal in Winter, by Hubert, Mingarelli (2012), translated from the French by Sam Taylor

Read: January 26, 2024

4 Stars

Books Set in Europe: England and France

The Armor of Light, by Ken Follett (2023)

The Armor of Light covers the life of villagers in Kingsbridge from 1792 to 1824 during the Napoleonic Wars.  The novel touches upon political events in England and Europe, as well as the beginning of the industrial revolution.

The novel opens when Sally Clitheroe’s husband is killed while working for the Earl.  The Earl is hard-hearted and refused to compensate Sally for her loss.  Sally, known as Sal, and her young son must come to terms with losing their main breadmaker

The mill in the village is known for its clothmaking and the Spinning Jenny is a new invention that slowly is making its way into Kingsbridge.  The mill workers, however, fear that this new contraption will put them all out of work and fight the new technology.  In 1799, the aristocrat’s pass the Combination Act, which makes it a crime for workers to criticize their employers.  If they revolt, they are subject to criminal penalty, including the prospect of hanging.

Meanwhile, the French Revolution has disposed of the monarchy, and English ruling class fears revolution may come to England.  The Napoleonic Wars are erupting in Europe.  The English working class who violate the Combination Act can avoid penalty by joining the army as it fights against Napoleon’s advancements throughout the Continent.

The book is long – over 700 pages, but it is a fast read.  The characters are well developed, and the reader becomes involved in their lives and loves.  This novel by Ken Follett did not disappoint.

Read: January 1, 2024

4.5 Stars

Books Set in North America: United States

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post, by Allison Pataki (2022)

I didn’t know that much about Marjorie Post other than she was the Post cereal heiress and had Mar-a-Largo built as her winter escape.

In this novel, based on her life, the 4-time married and divorced heiress comes across as a wealthy name-dropper more interested in her enormous wealth than her husbands.  She came from humble beginnings, although by the time she was a teenager, her father had established the Postum Cereal Company, and she lived a life on great wealth.  Although she had three daughters, her daughters barely play a role in the novel.

Her first husband, whom she married as a teenager, was Edward Bennett Close.  They divorced after 14 years.  Her second husband was E.F. Hutton, of the stock brokerage firm.  Together they expanded her company which ultimately was renamed General Foods Corporation.

Her third husband was Joseph E Davies.  He was a lawyer and diplomat who served as Ambassador to represent the United States in the Soviet Union after Stalin came into power.  It was during this period that Post acquired scads of Russian art, including works by Fabergé.  He was later sent to Belgium and Luxembourg during World War II.  In the novel, Marjorie is portrayed more concerned about her art and money than her husband being near the War front.

After the War, Marjorie spends millions of dollars building a home to showcase all her art.  She loves to throw parties and have people fawn over her.  She is also very proud of her jewelry, which the book references on every other page.  Although Marjorie is considered a philanthropist, the novel doesn’t focus as much on her philanthropic efforts as it does her spending habits on homes, jewelry, and art.

If the real-life Marjorie Post is anything like the Marjorie portrayed in this novel, she really wasn’t the type of person I would want as a friend.

I had previously read Sisi: Empress on Her Own, also by Allison Pataki.  That novel was about Empress Elizabeth of Austria-Hungary, wife of Franz Joseph I of Austria.  I loved that novel and looked forward to reading about Marjorie Post.  It didn’t live up to my expectations.

Read:  September 20, 2023

2 Stars

Books Set in North America; California and Oregon

Small World, by Jonathan Evison (2022)

 

This novel starts out with a train crash in the winter somewhere in Oregon en route to Seattle.  Walter Bergen is on his final run as engineer before his retirement.  After the crash, we meet several of the passengers, who come from all walks of life and backgrounds.  Not only do we meet them, but we are introduced to their ancestors and their struggles to make a life in America.

 

The novel switches from the present day to the 1850s where we learn of the immigrant experience of several families.  Walter Bergen descended from an Irish family who fled Ireland during the potato famine.  There is Jenny Chen, whose ancestor Wu Chen, came from China in the 1850s and began life in California panning for gold.  He acquired a small stash of gold, which he turned into thriving grocery business.  Malik Flowers is a young basketball with dreams of being drafted by the NBA.  He is descended from a run-away slave.  Laila, whose ancestors were Native Americans, hopped on the train to escape from an abusive husband.

 

I enjoyed reading about the backgrounds of all of these characters.

 

Read:  September 13, 2023

 

4 Stars

Books Set in Europe: Rome, Italy

Eternal, by Lisa Scottoline (2021)

This novel is about Italy during World War II, Fascism and the treatment of Jews.

Although the novel was historically correct, I didn't care for the characters.  (It even addresses Syndrome K, which was how Catholic doctors saved a number of Jews by convincing the Nazis that the Jews were infected with a highly contagious disease called Syndrome K).

The plot revolved around three teenagers:  Sandro, Marco and Elisabetta.  They have been friends from childhood.  The two boys vie for Elisabetta, who professes to love them both.  Marco and Elizabetta are both Catholic; Sandro is Jewish.  Sandro's father initially supported Mussolini, until Germany invaded Italy and Jews were forced into the Ghetto, then the camps.

The story line with Sandro, Marco, and Elisabetta didn't ring true.

Read:  September 3, 2023

3 Stars

Books Set in Asia and North America: Pakistan, Iraq, and San Francisco, California

The Bad Muslim Discount, by Syed M Masood (2021)

This novel follows two Muslim families who immigrated to the San Francisco from Islamic countries.  Anvar Faris’ family left Karachi, Pakistan in the mid-1990s when fundamentalism begins to take over their country.  Safwa, a young girl living in war-torn Baghdad, Iraq, illegally escapes with her father to the United States.

 

Anvar’s mother is a deeply devout Muslim, but his father is more laid-back.  Anvar’s mother and older brother easily settle into California and into its Muslim community.  His father, however, finds the community a bit more difficult.  All is well until 9-11.  Anvar’s brother is the “good” Muslim in the family.  He goes to mosque, prays five times a day, doesn’t smoke or drink and becomes engaged to a women chosen by his parents.  Anvar, however, it the “bad” Muslim.  He drinks, sleeps with women and goes to mosque only when his mother insists.

 

In college, Anvar meets and falls in love with Zuha Shah.  Although they part ways, Anvar never stops loving her.  He isn’t as religious as Zuha and settles for being a “bad” Muslim.

 

Meanwhile, Safwa is living with an abusive father and confined to her house in Baghdad.  Her father then was abducted by Americans during the Iraq War, and she was left along with her brother who was dying of a terminal illness.  As the war drew closer to her home, she was forced to flee to Basra.  Ultimately her father was released, and they were reunited.  His abuse, however, continued.  Enter Oais, an evil villager.  He offers Safwa and her father an opportunity to escape to the United States, but at a terrible price.

 

Safwa and her father begin a new life with new names in San Francisco.  Safwa is now known as Azza.  As it happens, they live in the same apartment building as Anvar.  The landlord has a tender heart and gives people in need what he calls a “good Muslim discount” on the rent.  Anvar and Azza begin a relationship, but from her perspective, it is a way to escape the violence inflicted upon her by her father.

 

This novel explores faith and geopolitical issues through the eyes of the lens of Muslim Americans.  The author points out that Muslims have been a part of American fabric throughout the history’s country.

 

I loved this novel.

 

Read: August 2, 2023

5 Stars

Books Set in North America: Venice, California United States

Künstlers in Paradise, by Cathleen Schine (2023)

 

Twenty-four-year-old Julian has just lost his job, his roommate, and his New York apartment.  He runs back to his parents, expecting them to bail him out, but they don’t.  They are tired of his expectation of privilege.  So, he sets across the country to stay for a while with his 94-year-old grandmother, Salomea Künstler, who is recovering from a broken wrist.

 

Salomea Künstler was just 11-years-old when she fled with her parents and grandfather from Vienna at the start of World War II in 1939.  Although very young at the time, she was just old enough to know of the horrors of the Holocaust.  While not religious Jews, they were Jews none-the-less, and barely escaped with their lives. Much of her family perished.  She came from a family of musicians, and Los Angeles and Hollywood seemed a logical place for the family to land.

 

Salomea Künstler, known to friends as Mamie, still lives in the family bungalow along the beach in Venice, California.  Just as Julian arrives and begins interviewing for jobs, the world shuts down because of Covid-19.  Julian is now stuck with his grandmother and her aging housekeeper, Agatha.

 

With nothing much to do, Mamie begins to share with Julian the stories of her life.  Mamie has wonderful tales of life in Vienna and America with her beloved grandfather.  In America, her family also rubbed elbows with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars ~ Greta Garbo, Otto Preminger, Thomas Mann …

 

As Mamie is in the twilight of her life, Julian has yet to come into his own.  Being with Mamie and Agatha, however, jolt him into reevaluating what is important to him in the quiet world of the pandemic.

 

This was a delightful story.

 

Read: July 25, 2023

4 Stars

Books Set in North America, Mississippi, United States

The Tilted World, by Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly (2013)

This novel takes place in the fictional town of Hobnob Landing, Mississippi in 1927, during prohibition.  The town is located on the Mississippi River and is protected by levees, which are strained due to the heavy rains and high-water levels.

Young Dixie Clay lives with her husband in the outskirts of town.  She married young and soon found out that her handsome husband was not the man she thought he was.  Soon after their marriage, she discovered that he was a bootlegger with a violent side.  She perfected the recipe, and soon became known as making the best moonshine in the area.  She was able to command high prices for her alcohol, which her husband sells.

When two Federal revenue agents go missing, two more are sent out to find them.  One agent, Teddy Ingersoll, happens upon Dixie Clay and they begin a tentative friendship.  He was unaware that she was making moonshine.

This is set against the background of the great Mississippi flood, which decimated the South.  The town folk are preparing for the inevitable flood, and must decide whether to stay and sandbag the levees or breach the levees so that the City of New Orleans might be spared.

I enjoyed the first part of the book, but the last quarter seem a bit far fetched.

Read:  July 19, 2023

3.5 Stars

Books Set in Europe and North America: Turkey, Spain and New York

Kantika, by Elizabeth Graver (2023)

 

Although billed as a novel, Kantika is tightly based on the life of the author’s grandmother, Rebecca Cohen Baruch Levy.  The book spans from 1907 to 1950.  Rebecca was a young girl born to wealthy Jewish parents in Constantinople.  At the time of her birth, Jews, Muslims and Christians lived in a relative peaceful environment.  She even attended a Catholic school, where she spoke French.  She was also fluent in Ladino and Turkish.  After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the family lost its wealth and Turkey became increasingly hostile to its Jewish citizens.  The family was forced to leave Turkey to seek employment elsewhere.  Her father found a menial job at a synagogue in Barcelona, Spain, where echoes of the Inquisition were still resonating.  They had a very uneasy life in Spain.  Rebecca set up a dress-making business and married one of the few single Jewish men in her community.  It was an unhappy marriage; her husband was basically a good-for-nothing.  He returned to his family home in Turkey, ostensibly to find employment married, and was gone for so long, that Rebecca took their two young sons to be reunited with him.  Once there, she learned that he had died.

 

Rachel ultimately was invited to immigrate to the United States to marry the widower of her best friend.  To meet her potential new husband, she must go through Cuba, but leave her young sons with family back in Spain.  That way, she figured, that if she didn’t like her proposed intended, she could more easily return to Spain.  Upon her second marriage, she also gained a disabled stepdaughter, Luna.  Her husband’s family was content to let Luna be, but Rebecca saw the girl had potential, despite her handicap.

 

Rebecca and her new husband, Sam, set up a life in New York with her two sons, his daughter, and eventually have three children of their own, one of whom was the author’s mother.

 

Kantika is Ladino for song.  This book was a beautiful song.

 

Read:  July 15, 2023

 

4.5 Stars