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Reviews by Ann W. (New York, NY)

The Mystery Writer: A Novel
by Sulari Gentill

Wonderful, delightful mystery (12/18/2023)

Great read, peopled by wonderfully inventive characters. Delightful to discover yet another twist as well as novel protagonists. Addictive and engrossing.

The Critic's Daughter: A Memoir
by Priscilla Gilman

Nostalgia and then so (1/3/2023)

Wonderful book. Great essays about her life, her father and others. Read it between finishing Barbara Kingsolver's last book. Had to stop to reread several Dickens short pieces and of course, my penultimate choices, Great Expectations, then David Copperfield and Bleak House.

Of Women and Salt
by Gabriela Garcia

First person: Plural (12/27/2020)

Well crafted stories, cinematic framework. Collective voices, with misdirection. Cuban female perspectives begin in slavery in colonial Cuban and continue to present.

The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II
by Katherine Sharp Landdeck

Left out again (1/9/2020)

I just finished reading Dovey Johnson Roundtree's Mighty Justice, an incredible book by an amazing woman. In 1943, she challenged racial discrimination in the WAAC and went on to challenge for racial justice until her death at 105 years of age in 2018.
Now, Landdeck's book …more

Red Letter Days
by Sarah-Jane Stratford

Fear and Loathing (10/9/2019)

This was a great read, engaging and pulled me into Phoebe, Joan and Hannah's lives. Based on historical events that I remember well, the HUAC hearing and Red Scare that destroyed the lives of so many people. Stratford deftly narrates the ethical quandaries faced by all. To …more

Beirut Hellfire Society
by Rawi Hage

Wisdom...you know nothing (6/4/2019)

Beirut Hellfire Society is a profound, beautiful and discomforting. Pavlov, the undertaker's son learned well. Pavlov's harrowing tale haunts, compels the reader. Conditioned by culture, religion, folktales, we travel with him and those he meets in war-torn Beirut and …more

D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II
by Sarah Rose

Fascinating Intense Read (3/26/2019)

Rose's book was fascinating account of female courage, daring and organization. Her research was intensive and exhaustive, codes, aliases, operating covers, techniques used by these women. She provided a refreshing commentary about role of patriarchy, prejudice interacted, …more

The Affairs of the Falcóns
by Melissa Rivero

Struggle to succeed. (11/24/2018)

What a timely novel as Central Americas make their way to the US border! Ana Falcon and her family are undocumented, living in Brooklyn. The falcon is a bird of prey who soars above all the obstacles in her path. Ana’s struggles with her own personal history, that of her …more

So Much Life Left Over
by Louis de Bernieres

The empires that could not stand (7/24/2018)

This novel irritated and annoyed me as a reader. I completed it as some of the characters were intriguing. Apparently, De Bernieres has used his characters in other novels so there are back stories. War does many things. However, in the first chapter, De Bernieres write …more

The Family Tabor
by Cherise Wolas

All is vanity (4/12/2018)

I am beginning my essay about The Family Tabor, a novel by Cherise Wolas with an excerpt of the diary written by my paternal grandmother, Annie Weinstein. She put the date, 1898 and a quote "All is Vanity". She began, "Determined in 1891 to keep a diary but put it off until …more I should have something worth writing. I thought of it again in 1894 yet I still decided to wait. Then in 1898 I resolved firmly to start it right then and there and ended by starting it to-day September seventh, 1898. " I was born September 30th, 1879 in Lebau, Russia, now Latvia. Libau, founded in 1625, was until 1914 one of the main ports of the Russian empire.

"My parents were comfortably possessed of this world's goods and so I had no sufferings on that account. I remember very little about Russia as I was about five when I left Russia, for the "Eldorado of the West" the United States. In New York things were very different and from our passage across the Atlantic dates my memory. I remember that my mother and sister were very ill but as I have always been hardy the voyage had very little effect on me. Our first residence in N.Y. was in 61 East Broadway and I remember it was quite a nice street. But here we were very poor and a little later moved to rooms a little cheaper and nicer in 5 Eldridge Street from there we opened a little store at 199? Bryant St. There, as though we were not poor enough we were robbed of almost everything we had. Then to 68 Bayard later to 54 Division where my father fell ill and we almost despaired of his life but Thank God he recovered. From there to 44 Allen St. again to 105 Allen St. and then to 83-1/2 Division where our fortunes turned…

My maternal grandmother was from Bialystok, my grandfather from Kiev. Reading Wolas' novel, I was transported back into my own family history as well as that of the Tabor family. Each of her characters resonated with someone I know. Roma, a child psychologist, is someone I know well as I am a forensic child psychologist. Her daughters, Phoebe, a lawyer and Camille, the anthropologist. My family includes lawyers, economists and others. They become comfortable companions with their brother Simon and his family on this tale of atonement and redemption. We discover the hidden truths, the layers covered on and move forward.

There is some much rich material in this novel. It bears several readings. Camille studied the Triobriand Islands. It was here that Mead studied teenaged girls and published her findings that adolescent "storm and stress" is not universal and continues to stand the test of time. Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski was Mead's mentor. His ethnography of the Trobriand Islands described the complex institution of the Kula ring, and became foundational for subsequent theories of reciprocity and exchange. His approach and that of this novel was a brand of psychological functionalism emphasizing how social and cultural institutions serve basic human needs. This is a wonderful book, reminiscent of Mann's Buddenbrooks but ultimately more hopeful.

Wolas' ends with Leonard Cohen. "If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game. If you are the healer, it means I'm broken and lame. If thine is the glory, then mine must be the shame. You want it darker. We kill the flame. Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name. Vilified, crucified, in the human frame. A million candles burning for the help that never came. You want it darker. Hineni, hineni. I'm ready, my lord. (less)

Sometimes I Lie
by Alice Feeney

Telling Lies (11/7/2017)

It grabbed me as I read it in one sitting. Prior to picking up Sometimes I Lie, I read The Book of Separation, a compelling and emotionally thoughtful memoir. The reader believes that Mirvis but still has many concerns. It was somewhat humorless and morose.

Forward to …more

Darling Days: A Memoir
by iO Tillett Wright

We are all much more simply human than otherwise, be we happy and successful, contented and detached, miserable and mentally disordered, or whatever. (4/26/2016)

I chose this quote from Harry Stack Sullivan because Io Tillett Wright's memoir is about a young human being struggling with issues of identity, belonging and finding a place in the world for oneself. For Wright, pronouns matter. Even as I write my review, I struggle with …more

The Language of Secrets
by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Staying in Control (11/5/2015)

This was a terrific book. Inspector Khattak is a very captivating and complicated character. As a Moslem man in Canada, he is portrayed with empathy and compassion. His partner, a young Canadian woman who enjoys ice hockey, is also a complex person. The novel is a slow but …more

Jade Dragon Mountain
by Elsa Hart

Jade Dragon Mountain (6/1/2015)

This is a very enjoyable and satisfying historical detective novel. Li Du was delightful. Chinese literature has a long history, both in Chinese and other cultures. Ms. Hart paints a picture of northern China during the Qing (Manchu) dynasty. There are storytellers from …more

He Wanted the Moon: The Madness and Medical Genius of Dr. Perry Baird, and His Daughter's Quest to Know Him
by Mimi Baird with Eve Claxton

Empathy and understanding the impaired mind: "To live without hope is to Cease to live" (2/14/2015)

Dr. Perry Baird, a brilliant, privileged physician, is the subject of his daughter's search for understanding who her father was. This book is a painful read with Dr. Baird's description of the horrors of the treatment of the mentally ill with straight jackets and ice cold …more

The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell
by William Klaber

The rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell, a strange bird (12/24/2014)

This was a fictionalized memoir, a difficult task. William Klaber has uncovered a painful story. I found myself exasperated, irritated, occasionally delighted and enchanted. It was ever-changing. It was not fish nor fowl, historical fiction, reliably, nonfiction. At points …more

City of the Sun
by Juliana Maio

lost and misplaced in time (1/11/2014)

I had a very mixed reaction to this book. The chronology is wrong, even through the author acknowledged some of this in an afterword. Characters are not very interesting. The novel was filled with information, not always relevant to the story. The author alludes to …more

Soy Sauce for Beginners
by Kirstin Chen

coming of age (9/28/2013)

I enjoyed the book because it was well written but not very compelling. Gretchen's struggle is self-absorbed and shallow. It may be typical of a culture where it nuance in not easily expressed. She did not notice others or question her assumptions until the end of the novel. …more

Song of the Spirits: In the Land of the Long White Cloud saga
by Sarah Lark

song of the spirits (7/26/2013)

Excellent and compelling read. It is a historic novel about New Zealand. Initially there is sheep-herding and the vast farms that were developed. Thought the experience of one of the major protagonists, the coal mines are introduced. The author used actual, historical …more

With or Without You: A Memoir
by Domenica Ruta

With or Without You (11/24/2012)

"I see the awakening of consciousness as a series of spaced flashes, with the intervals between them gradually diminishing until bright blocks of perception are formed, affording memory and a slippery hold." Vladimir Nabokov, 'Speak, Memory'. I had been reading this in …more

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Reviews by Ann W. (New York, NY)

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