To my delight, the author J.H. Gelernter opened The Montevideo Brief with a performance of Beethoven's Third Symphony. I find a seat, next to an Englishman, near the back of the Grand Festival Hall of the Palace Lobkowitz in Vienna. As the performance begins, I am guided phrase by phrase through the drama of each movement. For the next two-hundred pages I follow the Englishman, Thomas Grey, on his missions of secrecy protecting the British Empire from the advances of Spain. Off sailing the Atlantic from Britain to Brazil, with many exciting conflicts on and between shores, the adventure held me in its grip. Thanks to the author's great use of historical detail, I felt I had a taste of living in the early eighteen hundreds.

With a powerful command of English, Eleanor Shearer led me into the world of slavery in Barbados in 1834 when England withdrew from trading in slaves. Freedom did not come to the field hands of the Caribbean plantations. They were now designated as apprentices and legally bound for six more years of labor.
Rachel ran. She ran in search of freedom, a reality unknown to this woman, forty years a slave. A journey in search of the children, torn from her arms, sold to other plantations, became the hope that kept her moving. The fear of being recognized and sent back to Barbados was always greater than the struggle to stay alive.
River Sing Me Home is based on the historic realities of what happened after the English Emancipation of slaves. Eleanor Shearer is a woman of Caribbean heritage, and a master's degree student who studied the phenomenon of mothers seeking to bring their families together. Her creative use of language plus her deep connection to her peoples' need for freedom, kept me tied closely to every word.

In the novel New York, My Village the author, Uwem Akpan, follows the experiences of a young Black African adult adjusting to life and work in New York City. Ekong Otis Udousoro, a citizen of Nigeria, had been a university lecturer of literature and managing editor of a book company in his home country before receiving a scholarship to study publishing in NYC.
Ekong's journey begins with the challenge of satisfying the unending demands of red tape needed to get out of Nigeria and into the US. Redundant documents, unreliable references and demeaning interviews question his worthiness, diminishing his desire to accept the scholarship.
The author's creative use of first-person narrative transforms each detail of Ekong's life into a conflict. The bedbug infested apartment, his need to share food, the loneliness of working in a white-world and the wall of hate between Black Africans and American Blacks; each encounter reveals Ekong's real world experience.

Captivated by Sara Seager's skill and courage as she guides the reader through the challenges of her life, I felt the excitement of entering a new adventure. From the ten-year old girl who fell in love with the stars to the world-renowned astrophysicist in search of life supporting planets beyond earth, Sara maintained a commitment to her quest.

In addition to sharing the challenges of gaining knowledge and respect in her chosen scientific field, Sara also shares the parallel venture of becoming a woman, wife and mother. Love of nature drew her into remote regions. Love of husband and children added the stress of time demands. Companionship with women sustained her through tragedy. Her voice is open and strong, revealing the pain as well as the joy, as she turns the pages of her story.

One summer day in 1929 seven-year old Hetty and her older brother, Karl, sit on a lakeside jetty watching Karl's friend, Walter, swimming toward them. Ignoring her brother's warning, Hetty leans over the edge and lands in deep water. Unable to swim, screaming for help, she slips beneath the surface. Walter's strong strokes draw her to shore, forming a life-long bond.

The next time we meet Hetty she is eleven years old and just entering gymnasium. One by one classmates and friends enter the story, along with the subtle changes taking place in their lives and their country. These children of Leipzig, Germany, struggle with the hatred being taught, changes in their parent's attitudes and cruelty they see on the street.

Louise Fein skillfully weaves the threads of Nazi prejudice and dehumanization into the thought patterns of questioning, testing, teenagers. These young people, being trained to Salute Hitler and follow his goal of creating an Aryan pure race, at the same time have strong bonds of love and friendship with the very people they are supposed to hate. Their story unfolds through powerful examples of humanness overcoming fear and poignant relationships of selfless love.

With power and poetry, Nguyen Phan Que Mai guided me onto lands and into cultures I had never before experienced. Her power was wielded by an excellent use of English, her second language. Poetry flowed from her Grandmother's songs and stories. The lives of three generations, revealed through the voices of grandmother and granddaughter, unfold in the turmoil of never-ending war. Her fresh imagery reflects a constant dependence on the earth for survival, passed down through generations of farmers.

Nguyen Phan invited me in to meet her people, to experience their joy, suffer their pain and understand their struggle to keep the dream of cultural survival alive. Wave after wave of community reorganization swept families caught in the currents of violence and cruelty from north to south and back again. The story covers time and events from 1930 to 1980 but not in chronological order. The time changes are clearly designated and further reflect the total disruption of life that took place, during the twentieth century, in Vietnam.

Anne Enright uses words like an artist works with water colors. Flowing shades and blending tones paint a portrait of Kathrine O'Dell, coming-of-age during the 1960s, in the throes of Irish theater and politics. She creates the existence of a woman whose life on stage or before cameras completely overshadows her physical awareness. This duel-reality is revealed through the eyes of her daughter, Norah FitzMaurcice, whose life is blended into her mother's fantasies; an element of the same painting.
I found myself immersed in the human struggles encountered between roles and realities, applause and rejection. Time flows in and out like the tide, enriching the complexities and depth of an actor's life and a daughter's search for self.

With clarity and courage, Neffertiti Austin, shares her journey from single, educated, independent Black woman to adoptive motherhood. Her goal to raise a black boy in a secure and steady home germinated from being raised by her grandparents following her parent's separation. The decision to legally adopt from outside her community drew strong disapproval from her family. Neffertiti's memoir provides an informative and emotional guide for women who follow her path. Her successful creation of a loving home sets the bar high for all adoptive mothers.