Book Reviews
Publication: June 22, 2023; Knopf
Genre: women's fiction, contemporary drama, romance, LBGTQ
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Rachel Incident, a novel about early twenty-somethings in Cork, Ireland gave me a look at the Irish Republic, its people, and its history regarding abortion rights and its fight for women's reproductive rights.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Rachel Incident, a novel about early twenty-somethings in Cork, Ireland gave me a look at the Irish Republic, its people, and its history regarding abortion rights and its fight for women's reproductive rights.
I also loved the story the novel tells of young Rachel and her love for two men, both named James, who play an important part in her life.
The feelings that Rachel has for both Jameses leads her into rocky relationships with her college lit teacher and his wife. All these people interact to make for a compelling story of love in many different manifestations.
Funny, heart warming, amazing characters lead us on a merry dance in this novel of manners, friendships, and some tragedy. The comedy and the drama and even damaging hypocrisy also makes this a thoughtfully unusual book.
The feelings that Rachel has for both Jameses leads her into rocky relationships with her college lit teacher and his wife. All these people interact to make for a compelling story of love in many different manifestations.
Funny, heart warming, amazing characters lead us on a merry dance in this novel of manners, friendships, and some tragedy. The comedy and the drama and even damaging hypocrisy also makes this a thoughtfully unusual book.
Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So
Published August 3, 2021; Ecco
Genre: short stories, immigrant fiction, Cambodian fiction
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
These short stories describe the lives of young Cambodian Americans at home, school, work - their checquered lives, many on the lower income level, their families surviving as relatively recent immigrants and refugees from the Cambodian Civil War and the Khmer Rouge in the mid 1970s, a war called the Cambodian Genocide.
This war and their family history are still alive among these families, as they try to find their way in a new country, sometimes worried about the past finding its way into their present and future. The stories are set in a community in California.
Many of them are heart breaking as the children carry the scars of the past and continue to feel the effects of the sufferings of their parents and families during what they refer to as the Genocide in Cambodia. Adapting to a new country is an added complication for the families and their children growing up American.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
These short stories describe the lives of young Cambodian Americans at home, school, work - their checquered lives, many on the lower income level, their families surviving as relatively recent immigrants and refugees from the Cambodian Civil War and the Khmer Rouge in the mid 1970s, a war called the Cambodian Genocide.
This war and their family history are still alive among these families, as they try to find their way in a new country, sometimes worried about the past finding its way into their present and future. The stories are set in a community in California.
Many of them are heart breaking as the children carry the scars of the past and continue to feel the effects of the sufferings of their parents and families during what they refer to as the Genocide in Cambodia. Adapting to a new country is an added complication for the families and their children growing up American.
I found the stories revealing and necessary for us to understand what some immigrant families face and carry with them in their new country and new home.
What are you reading this week?
Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday
