Review: The God of the Woods (by Liz Moore)

 My Rating: 5 stars

With summer in full swing, I’ve been trying to catch up on all the reading I had planned to do, which, admittedly, has not been easy given the many other obligations that I’ve been trying to juggle as well.  Having said that, I’m working through my stack slowly but surely, prioritizing the “must-reads” by favorite authors that I’ve been looking forward to for months.  One of those favorite authors is Liz Moore, whose 2 previous works Long Bright River (2020) and The Unseen World (2016) I had read and loved.  Moore’s newest novel, The God of the Woods, is her most ambitious novel to date and absolutely a brilliantly written masterpiece!

 

This intricately crafted, multi-layered story weaves together several complex threads, told from the perspectives of multiple complicated (and often morally ambiguous) characters, to create a wonderfully nuanced narrative that I honestly could not put down (despite clocking in at nearly 500 pages, I flew through this one in two sittings).  The story begins with a mystery – the disappearance of teenager Barbara Van Laar from a family run summer camp in the Adirondack Mountains (in New York) – but when it is revealed that another Van Laar child had also disappeared from the same family compound 14 years ago (Barbara’s older brother Bear), the possible connection between the two cases leads to a riveting exploration of family dynamics and much, much more.  This is truly a wide-reaching novel that covers many themes and social issues, including family and marriage struggles, parent/child relationships, class disparities and the implications of these differences on the rich vs the poor, gender discrimination, land conservation vs exploitation of nature, coming of age, identity and belonging, abuse and neglect vs caretaking and found family, inequalities within the criminal justice system, etc.  At the same time, there are also historical elements that Moore incorporated into the narrative that aren’t readily apparent without reading the Author’s Note (which I highly recommend). 

 

There is so much to unpack with this story, yet at the same time, it’s not the overly complex type of story where you have to read it several times to understand what it’s trying to say. In addition to the mystery / suspense element being superbly done (at multiple points when I thought I had figured out the ending, turns out I was completely wrong), the atmospheric nature of the writing (to the point that I felt transported back to a different time and place) gave this a historical fiction feel, while the extensive coverage of various contemporary social issues also made the story and characters highly relatable. 

 

One of the things I love about Moore (in addition to her knack for creating memorable characters that I can’t help stop thinking about) is her ability to take a subject that I’m usually not too keen on reading about (i.e. drug addiction/opioid crisis, computer science and technology, environmentalism) and craft such an emotionally compelling story around it that it piques my interest and I find myself wanting to read/learn more about the subject.

 

This brilliant, genre-defying novel is the perfect summer read and one that I highly, highly recommend.  If this is your first-time reading Moore’s novels, this is a great place to start, but definitely go back and read her previous novels as well, if you can (I myself still have to read her first 2 novels, which are on my list to get to at some point).  I can’t wait for what Moore decides to write next – hopefully we’ll hear something soon!

 

Received ARC from Riverhead Books via NetGalley.

Review: Shiner (by Amy Jo Burns)

My Rating: 5 stars

I had actually received an ARC of this book over a year ago and even though, at that time, I had every intention of reading it, life unfortunately got in the way and that was that.  It wasn't until recently, when one of my book clubs chose this for our monthly read, that I remembered about the ARC, so I went and dug it up.  I will admit that the slow pace of the story in the beginning turned me off a bit initially, as did the characters, several of whom I found annoying at first with the way they behaved.  What drew me in though was the beautiful, immersive writing — almost lyrical in its cadence — and as soon as I started to understand what the author, Amy Jo Burns, was trying to do with the story, I became fully engaged in the lives of these characters, several of whom I grew to love by the end of the story.  

Though much of the narrative revolves around Briar Bird, the snake handling preacher who rules the mountaintop with his 'White Eye' legend, the heart and soul of the story are actually the "women who give this mountain its splendor" but who get nothing in return — women like Ruby (Briar's wife), Ivy (Ruby's best friend), and Wren (Briar and Ruby's teenage daughter).  I love the strong female characters in this story, all of whom have no choice but to forge their own path of survival in a land of men whose power often went unchecked and unchallenged.  This is also a story about the complexities of human relationships and how messy and convoluted they can become.

Structure-wise, the narrative is divided into 4 main sections, each told from the perspective of one of the main characters: Wren (the snake handler's daughter), Ivy (the fearless best friend), Flynn (the moonshiner).  Through these segments, we gradually gain insight into the lives of these characters: their triumphs and tragedies, their joys and their heartbreaks, their strengths and their fragilities.  Having said that, I thought it was interesting how central of a role Briar played as the instigator of nearly every negative incident, yet we get to hear from every other character except him — whether this was done deliberately or inadvertently, I don't know, but I feel it was a brilliant move nonetheless, as it gives voice to those who are expected to stay hidden: the wives and daughters living in the mountains of Appalachia, isolated from the outside world, not necessarily by their own choice.

This is the type of book that is difficult to read due to its subject matter, yet at the same time, it's also an absolutely necessary and worthy read.  With its themes of doing the best with the little you have, finding strength in the face of desperation and suffering, survival through sheer determination and grit, the overall tone of the story is melancholic and despondent, yet also hopeful, especially with Wren's coming of age story and her will to survive in spite of the fates her mother and Ivy suffered.

This is a debut that I highly recommend, one that perhaps takes a little patience to read, but definitely worth the effort.  I look forward to reading more from this author.

Received ARC from Riverhead Books via Edelweiss.

Review: Long Bright River (by Liz Moore)

My Rating: 4.5 stars

I chose Liz Moore's Long Bright River as my very first read of 2020 and I am happy to say that it was an excellent choice!  This story, about two sisters who were extremely close during their childhood but ended up on grossly divergent paths, reads like a thriller at first, but as the events in the story unfold and the characters evolve, it becomes apparent that this is no ordinary suspense novel.  In fact, I would actually classify this more as literary fiction than suspense / thriller, as the "disappearance" of one of the sisters serves as a catalyst with which the author does a deep dive into various societal issues — most specifically, opioid addiction and it's impact on individuals as well as their families.  

In the Philadelphia neighborhood of Kensington, where every street corner bears the scars of a town in the throes of an opioid epidemic, Mickey Fitzpatrick patrols the streets of the 24th district on her regular police beat.  On her patrols, sometimes she crosses paths with her sister Kacey, who has been gripped in the vise of opioid addiction since her teenage years and now permanently lives on the streets.  The two of them are no longer on speaking terms, yet the underlying concern and worry that the once inseparable siblings have for each other, still occasionally rises to the surface. When a string of murders takes place in the district, with each victim seeming to fit Kacey's profile — a young woman living on the streets and engaged in prostitution in order to support her drug addiction — Mickey is immediately alarmed when she discovers that her sister has suddenly (and coincidentally) disappeared.   From that moment, Mickey's singular goal becomes finding the person responsible for the murders — and possibly her sister's disappearance — a goal bordering on obsession that threatens to upend the life that Mickey worked so hard to build.

This is a beautifully written story, atmospheric and realistically rendered, with flawed characters whose actions and choices put them in morally ambiguous territory. Ultimately, in addition to being a story about the dangers of addiction, it is also about the bonds of family and ties between sisters that are hard to break even through betrayal and heartbreak.

At times heart wrenching, yet ultimately hopeful, this is a timely novel that I feel everyone needs to read.  Though this book clocked in at nearly 500 pages, don't be put off by the length, as this was fast-paced enough and the story engaging enough that the time reading this actually flies by.   When planning your reading at the start of this new year, definitely add this "must-read" novel to your list!

Received ARC from Riverhead Books via Edelweiss.

Review: Five-Carat Soul (by James McBride)

My rating: 3.5 stars

When it comes to fiction books, I tend to prefer novels over short story collections, as I like being able to spend a good amount of time getting to know a character(s) and immersing myself into their story.  With short stories, especially ones that feature different characters in each story, this becomes a bit of a challenge – it usually takes a bit more effort and concentration on my part to really get into the stories and hopefully connect with the characters.  While I would say that overall, I liked almost all of the stories in James McBride’s latest short story collection Five-Carat Soul, there were a few that really stood out to me and that I enjoyed reading more than others.  My favorites were definitely the first story about the railroad box car set as well as the series of stories about the Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band.

The author James McBride is a wonderful storyteller and obviously one with heart as well.  All of the stories in this collection explored different facets of the human condition in a way that was both fascinating and poignant, with well-timed doses of humor throughout (where appropriate of course).  Some of the stories were also fun and imaginative, such as the one where the main characters are zoo animals, with the story narrated primarily by a lion (McBride stated in his Author’s Note that he wrote this particular story after taking his nephews on a trip to the zoo).  There was also a pretty significant historical aspect to the stories, as several of them revolve around important figures and/or events from American history, such as the Civil War and General Robert E Lee, Abraham Lincoln and his famous Emancipation Proclamation, World War II military history, etc. -- some of the stories were also spiritual in nature while others were more philosophical and metaphorical.  For me though, I enjoyed the “historical” stories the most, as I’m somewhat of a history buff for one, and two, I wasn’t really in the mood for anything too deep or too philosophical at the moment, as I already had a few things going on in my personal life that over-exerted my brain power a bit too much, so in a way, I resented a little having to ponder too deeply with some of the stories.  Perhaps if I re-read these stories later on during a different period of my life, I may be able to connect with them a little better.

One of the things that sets McBride’s stories apart from other short story collections is his brilliant use of different, distinctive voices for each story.  I’ve read short story collections in the past where it was often difficult to distinguish the narrative voice from one story to another and at times, it caused confusion for me.  With McBride’s stories, this was never an issue because each of his narrators had a voice that was uniquely their own; not only that -- the writing style was also very different from one story to another, to the point that, at times, it was easy to forget that each story was written by the same author. 

The one issue I had with this book was that some of the stories ended a bit too abruptly, sometimes right in the middle of a significant thought or idea, it seemed, and so it gave me the feeling that the stories were incomplete or that there was perhaps something I missed.  There were a few times where I turned the page expecting to read more but instead it cut to the next story already, which left me feeling a little jilted – not to mention the slight effort in having to shift gears mentally after realizing I would be reading a completely different story.

Overall, I liked this short story collection well enough, but didn’t “love” it like I thought I would.  Again, it could just be me though, since there are quite a few 4 and 5 star reviews for this collection from other readers, so I suggest checking those out as well.  Despite my rating, I would still recommend this collection of stories for its varied and interesting take on different societal issues as well as human behavior.

Received advance reader’s copy from Riverhead Books (Penguin Publishing Group) via Edelweiss

Review: The Lost Letter (by Jillian Cantor)

My Rating:  5 stars

Jillian Cantor's The Lost Letter is an exquisite book!  From the very first page, I was drawn into the story and could not put the book down – I ended up finishing the book in 1 day, which is a first for me given my busy schedule nowadays.   The story is told via a dual narrative in alternating chapters – one narrative takes place in Los Angeles in 1989 and the other in Austria right before and during the Nazi occupation in 1938/1939.  In the present day, Katie Nelson is a thirty-something journalist who finds herself dealing with a sudden divorce just as she is trying to come to terms with having to put her beloved father Ted into a nursing home when he is no longer able to take care of himself due to Alzheimer's.  Ted was an avid stamp collector his entire life and as a child, Katie always accompanied her father to thrift shops and yard sales to search for what he called the "Hope Diamond" of stamps.  When her father leaves his collection in her care prior to entering the memory care facility, Katie decides to take the collection to a stamp dealer to get it appraised in the hopes of helping her father find any "hidden gems" that might be amongst the stamps, but also because she wanted to preserve the happy childhood she had with both her parents (her mother passed away when she was in college).  Together with the stamp dealer Benjamin – a young man with a tragic past of his own – Katie finds an old letter with an unusual stamp dating back to WWII era and thinking that might be the "Hope Diamond" that Ted has been looking for, the two of them set out on a search to trace the origins of the stamp and the letter.

In the second narrative, we are taken back in time to 1938, Austria, which is on the verge of Nazi invasion.  Frederick Faber is a renowned Jewish stamp engraver who takes in a non-Jewish orphan, Kristoff Mueller, as his apprentice.  Kristoff grows attached to the Faber family, who accepts him as one of their own, and he eventually falls in love with the eldest of the Faber sisters, Elena.  When Frederick suddenly disappears after the Nazis occupy Austria, Kristoff takes up his promise to his beloved teacher to watch over the family and continue on with the engraving business as long as he could.  Kristoff is eventually forced to engrave stamps for the German government that has taken over, however at the same time, he also works secretly with Elena and other members of the Austrian resistance to forge papers in the hopes of getting as many people out of the country as possible.  When the work becomes too dangerous, they must eventually figure out a way to save themselves.  Kristoff and Elena's story is one of love and survival in the midst of a brutal war, made especially poignant given the Faber family's Jewish background.

I love the way the author wove the two narratives together, done brilliantly in such a way that both stories converge seamlessly in the latter half of the book, with a surprise that I totally did not see coming.  As a history fanatic, I also love the rich historical context that the author was able to incorporate into both narratives – whether it was the historical background on the war or details about the stamp-making process, it was all presented in a way that was accessible to someone like me who doesn't have the slightest clue about stamp collecting, let alone the actual creation of stamps.  Like Katie at the beginning of the story, I've always looked at stamps as merely a small piece of printed paper with designs on it that is needed to transport mail from one place to another, but don't have much significance outside of that.  Now after reading this book, I can't help but look at stamps differently – maybe not deep thought or analysis but at least wonder about the story behind them.

This was also one of those rare instances where I liked nearly all of the characters in the book.  Whether it was Katie and Benjamin in the first narrative or Kristoff and Elena in the second one, I found myself rooting for all the characters (the main ones as well as side characters) and wishing, hoping, that they would all have good endings, even though I knew that might not be possible due to the story being about WWII and the Holocaust.  Much of the story that took place in Austria was heartbreaking and even though the parts that took place in present day were less so, both stories still moved me emotionally – the ending itself was heart-wrenching, but at the same time, satisfying.

It's not often that I give a 5 star rating, but this book absolutely deserves it!   Structurally, this book combined beautiful storytelling with a well thought-out plot and compelling, likable, well-developed characters – no easy task, especially when the historical elements are added in there (and again woven in seamlessly).  There aren't a whole lot of books out there that are able to move me emotionally these days, but this book definitely did.  In fact, I am still thinking about the story even now and am compelled to go back and re-read certain sections to pick up on some "clues" knowing what I know now – this rarely ever happens with books I read so for that alone, it deserves high marks!  Highly recommended read, especially for those who love well-written historical fiction.

Received advance reader's copy from Riverhead Books via Penguin First-to-Read program.