“Questions of Travel” by Michelle de Kretser (Sri Lanka) Review Members of our Summer Reading Group liked the differences in writing styles and themes of this year’s four shortlisted books finding most of the stories highly enjoyable. “Questions of Travel” has two parallel narratives, one set in Sri Lanka, the other in Australia. With over 500 pages, readers found the book a bit long and … Continue reading Questions of Travel
“The Solemn Lantern Maker” by Merlinda Bobis (Philippines) Favourite Quote Foolish men. Not for a moment do they think of their wives who will be widows or their mothers who will be childless, but about country and integrity, the bigger picture. Always the home is too small. The heroic resides somewhere else. If not the streets, the halls of government, or a war. Would they … Continue reading The Solemn Lantern Maker
“A Golden Age” by Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh) Synopsis Spring, 1971, East Pakistan. Rehana Haque is throwing a party for her beloved children, Sohail and Maya. Her young family is growing up fast, and Rehana wants to remember this day forever. But out on the hot city streets, something violent is brewing. As the civil war develops, a war which will eventually see the birth of … Continue reading A Golden Age
“Burnt Shadows” by Kamila Shamsie (Pakistan) Favourite Extract She walked past the vegetable patches on the slopes a few days ago and saw the earth itself furrowing in mystification: why potatoes where once there were azaleas? What prompted this falling-off of love? How to explain to the earth that it was more functional as a vegetable patch than a flower garden, just as factories were … Continue reading Burnt Shadows
The four shortlisted books for this year’s Summer Reading Group varied greatly in length, style of writing, and author’s experience from the seasoned writer to the relative newcomer. Our summer readers also noticed the recurrent presence in all four books of evil in its many forms! When it came time for voting, the choice for Best Summer Read 2013 was unanimous: “The Devil I Know” … Continue reading Best Summer Read 2013 – The Devil I Know
“The Lake” by Banana Yoshimoto (Japan) Review Mystical and mysterious were some of the words readers used to describe this book that they thoroughly enjoyed. Most were familiar with the author having read other of her books and they liked her writing style, which they found captured the atmosphere well. They were drawn to the two protagonists feeling a mixture of sympathy and interest for … Continue reading The Lake
“The Gaze” by Elif Shafak (Turkey) Review Readers had a difficult time getting into this book finding both the language and the narrative hard to follow. Some didn’t manage to finish it, but those who did were very glad they had persisted, because about a third of the way through they felt that the pieces started to fit together. The main story is told from … Continue reading The Gaze
“Departing at Dawn” by Gloria Lisé (Argentina) Review With its subtitle “A Novel of Argentina’s Dirty War”, readers said they found the story to be completely different from what they had imagined. Instead of getting details of the horrors of a military dictatorship, which is what they had been expecting, readers felt they were given an introspective and interesting look at life in that context from … Continue reading Departing at Dawn
Nicola's Book Club 