Books Set in Asia and Europe, Turkey and London, England

Honor, by Elif Shafak (2011)

The novel opens as Esma, British-Turkish woman, goes to pick up her older brother, Iskender, from prison after serving a term for murdering his mother Pembe.  He was just 16-years-old when he stabbed his mother to death after hearing rumors that his mother was having an affair.  Adem, Pembe's husband, had abandoned the family for another woman, and Iskender felt it was his responsibility to protect the families reputation.

The novel bounces around from the 1940s to 1991, so the family history  slowly peeled back as the events come into focus.  In the 1940s, Pembe and her identical twin sister, Jamila, were born to a poor family in Kurdish Turkey.  Pembe married and ultimately moved to London with her husband and children, hoping for a better life.  Jamila remained in their village.  As a child, she had been abducted, so her virginity was question and she never married.

Life in London, wasn't the golden life as expected.  Does the family adhere to its old traditions, or try to fit into English life?  When Adem moved out, the stage was set for a clash of cultures.  The novel described, in part, the immigrant experience, as well as age-old tradition.  There are a number of twists and turns in this book which make the ending a gift.

Read: July 25, 2026

4 Stars

Books Set in Asia and Europe: Iran and England

The Saffron Kitchen, by Yasmin Crowther (2006)

 

Maryam Mazer was born and raised in a small village in Iran in a wealthy family.  Her father was a general in the Shah’s army.  She grew up in a somewhat traditional family where women were expected to marry a man selected by the father.  When she is 16, her father found a man for her to marry, but Maryam had other ideas.  She dreamt of being a nurse and helping people.

 

Her closest childhood friend was Ali, her father’s servant.  He grew up in a very tiny village and taught himself to read.  In Maryam’s family, he became her father’s confident and secretary, however, he was treated as a servant.

 

When the Iranian Revolution, Maryam found herself in the middle of a family tragedy and was sent to Tehran, and ultimately to London.  Maryam had ventured from her home during rioting in her village.  Ali saw her and brought her to his apartment until it was safe for her to return the next day.  Her father assumed that she had slept with Ali, and thus shamed the family’s name.  He disowned her; but allowed her to go to Tehran to pursue her nursing dreams.  She left, knowing that Ali had been beaten within an inch of his life by here father’s men.

 

In London, she met Edward, who became her devoted husband, and they had a daughter, Sara.  She had what seemed to be a perfect life.  She would occasionally return to Iran to visit family.  When her last living sister died, however, her 12-year-old nephew, Saeed, was sent to London to live with Maryam and Edward.

 

Saeed had difficulty settling life in London.  His presence in Maryam’s household opened the floodgates to her memories of Iran, which she had suppressed for years.  She believed that the only way to face her demons would be to return to Iran and to the tiny village where she had spent many pleasant summers as a child.  Ali was still living there, waiting for her return.

 

The book goes back and forth between Maryam and her grown daughter, Sara.  Sara’s life was only in England, but she knows of her Iranian roots.  The novel slowly peels back the layers of Maryam’s life so that we understand what brought her to London and back to Iran.

 

Read: January 14, 2021

 

4.5 Stars

 

Books Set in Europe and North America: England and Canada

The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding, by Jennifer Robson (2019)

After Heather Mackenzie’s grandmother died in 2016, Heather received a box containing some samples of beautiful embroidery on delicate silk.  The box had only the message “For Heather” with no other explanation.  She realized that she knew virtually nothing of her grandmother’s past, only that she had immigrated to Canada in late 1947 and that her mother had been born a few months later.  The embroidery must contain some clue into her grandmother’s past.

The novel alternates between the present (2016) and post-war England in 1947 with the announcement of the engagement of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Ann Hughes, Heather’s grandmother, was a young woman working an embroiderer for the real-life Norman Hartnell, couturier to the royal family.  She befriends Miriam Dassin, a young French Holocaust survivor, who had worked as an embroiderer in a French fashion house before moving to London.

Both young women are highly skilled.  When the royal family commissions Norman Hartnell to design the wedding dress for Princess Elizabeth, both Ann and Miriam are selected to be a part of the team to embroider and sew the dress.  All the women working on the dress are sworn to secrecy ~ if the press gets wind of the design, they will be fired.

Ann meets the handsome Jeremy, who appears to be a wealthy businessman.  She wonders why he has selected to take her out on dates, knowing that he is out of her class, but decides to go along for the ride.  Heather travels to England hoping to find out about her grandmother’s early life and her grandfather.

The novel gives a lot of historical information about the making of the wedding dress for the future Queen of England, and describes in detail the motifs found on the dress and its train.

I found this to be a fun read.

Read: April 1, 2019

4 Stars

Books Set in Europe and North America: England, Russia and United States

Heads You Win, by Jeffrey Archer (2018)

This novel begins in 1968 when Alexander Karpenko is a 16-year-old living in Leningrad, Russia with his parents.  His father has plans to form a union for dockworkers, but his plans are thwarted when he is assassinated by the KGB.  Alexander suspects that his former friend, Vladimir may have had a hand in the assassination.

Knowing that their lives are in danger, Alexander and his mother must escape Russia.  Alexander’s uncle has a plan for their escape ~ to hide in a crate intended for a container ship.  Alexander flips a coin, which will determine their destination ~ England or America.

From here, the story takes a turn.  We go back and forth between both alternatives.  One alternative finds Alexander, now known as Sasha, in England.  His mother starts her life as a cook, and ultimately the owner of several restaurants.  Alexander is a stellar student and finds himself at Cambridge University.  Eventually, he enters politics and becomes a member of parliament.

In the other alternative, Alexander, lands in New York City and becomes known as Alex.  Life in New York is more hard-scrabbled.  He quickly becomes a hustler and runs several stalls in a market, before being shipped to Vietnam in the war.  After his stint in the army, he becomes involved in the banking industry.

Both versions of Alexander, however, retain an interest in the political intrigue occurring in his native Russia.  After 30 years, both feel the pull to return.

There is a “surprise” ending, however, all the hints to the ending are scattered throughout the novel and I guessed the end.  Alexander's former childhood friend turned out to be Vladimir Putin.

This was a fun read.  Not high literature, but an easy and enjoyable book.

Read:  March 29, 2019

4 Stars

Books Set in Europe and the United States

The Fortunate Ones, by Ellen Umansky (2017)

This novel travels back in time between the life of young Rose Zimmer, who was a young girl living in Vienna at the beginning of World War II, and the mid-2000s, when she is an old woman living in Los Angeles.  One of her earliest memories is of her mother, who, after suffering a miscarriage, asked that the painting The Bellhop, by Chain Soutine, be brought to her room.

At the time, young Rose thought the painting was ugly and couldn’t understand her mother’s attracting to the painting.  The image of her mother and the painting, however, stayed with her.  By 1939, it was dangerous for Jews living in Austria.  Although her parents couldn’t leave the country, they were able to get their children, Rose and her older brother, out via the Kindertransportto England.

After the War, Rose married and moved to Los Angeles.  The painting, however, was lost.  

Enter Liz Goldstein.  She came from a broken family and lived part time her mother until her death.  Then she moved to Los Angeles to live with her father.  Hanging in his elaborate home was the Soutine.  One night, when Liz’s father was out of town, the teenage Liz decided to take advantage of his absence and threw a wild party in his house.  Come morning, the Soutine was missing.  Liz held herself personally responsible for this loss.

Liz grew up and was living in New York when she learned her father had passed away. She returned to Los Angeles for the funeral, where she met Rose.  Rose was an acquaintance of Liz’s father.  They became friends over the lost Soutine, which each had lost in their own way.  Liz decided to reopen the case of the lost painting and promised to help Rose get restitution for the loss.

The lost painting causes both Rose and Liz to feel guilt over the lost painting and reminisce about their dead parents.  Is there a mystery over the second theft of the painting?

The book started out strong, but lost steam mid-way.  I wanted to know more about Rose’s life after arriving in England. We learn that she and her brother are separated, and get the feeling that she didn’t fit into her new family very well.  This wasn’t well developed, however, and later in the book, we learn that her adopted family took pains to see that she was well educated.  Liz’s relationship with Max, her father’s former business partner fell flat.

This was a quick read, but ultimately, I was left unsatisfied.

Read: September 8, 2018

3 Stars

Books Set in Europe: London, England

The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton (2012)

The Secret Keeper is a mystery with all sorts of twists and turns.  The novel begins when 16-year old Laurel sees her mother, Dorothy, stab a strange man to death at their country estate.  The murder is deemed have been in self-defense, and, with one exception, the family never discusses the matter again.  Laurel, however, her the man address her mother by her first name. Who was this man and what was his relation to her mother?

Laurel has never forgotten the murder.  Now, 50 years later, Dorothy is nearing the end of her life and Laurel hopes to learn of her mother’s past.  Dorothy’s children have gathered around to care for her.  Laurel goes over old photograph albums with her mother and comes across a mysterious photograph taken during London during World War II. She also finds Peter Pan book with an inscription to Dorothy from Vivian.

The story is told between the present (2011) and London in 1941.  We learn early on that Dorothy may have had a checkered past.  Laurel seeks to learn about her mother’s past.  Dorothy lives across the street from the wealthy and beautiful Vivien Jenkins. They both do volunteer work for the War effort.  Dorothy has a vivid imagination and attempts to befriend Vivian.  Dorothy’s boyfriend is Jimmy, a young man from a working class background, making a living as a war photographer.  Although Dorothy loves him, she doesn’t want him to come in contact with the wealthy Vivian.

Somehow, thought, Laurel knows that there is a relationship between her mother, Vivian and Dorothy.

The characters really come alive.  There were twists in this novel that I never saw coming.  It held my interest from page one to the end.

Read: August 21, 2018

5 Stars

Books Set in Europe: London, England

Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger (2009)

5 Stars

Read:  August 7, 2014