Review: Phantoms (by Christian Kiefer)

My Rating: 4 stars

This was an interesting read about a period of history that I was familiar with, but told from a perspective that I found to be unique and different from what I expected. The story is told from the point of view of John Frazier, who has just returned to Placer County, California from service in Vietnam and finds himself haunted by what he did and saw while deployed there. He crashes at his grandmother's house while trying to overcome a drug addiction, which is made more difficult given the "phantoms" of his past that seem to constantly follow him. While working at a local gas station, he is unexpectedly reunited with a distant relative — his aunt Evelyn Wilson — who asks him to drive her to Oakland to see a friend. It is there that John becomes a reluctant witness to an encounter between Evelyn and her former tenant Kimiko Takahashi, and subsequently becomes ensnared in the mystery of what happened to the Takahashi's son Ray. John finds out that the Takahashi and Wilson families used to be close, but during the onset of World War II, the Takahashis were sent to an internment camp, along with all the other Japanese-Americans in the country. Several years later, Ray returned to Placer County after having served in the war, but discovered that he was no longer welcome in the place where he grew up — the only place he had ever considered home. What happened after that does not become known until nearly three decades later, when John unwittingly learns the truth and must decide how to reckon with it.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the things I thought most interesting about this book was the unique narrative structure, where the person telling the story (and from his own first person point of view too) didn't even have anything to do with the main story arc. In essence, he was a "stranger" drawn into a reckoning between two families, and, on a larger scale, a reckoning with the country's past actions toward an entire race. Both wars — Vietnam and WWII — serve mostly as backdrops, with the focus primarily on the aftermath of those wars and the impact from the atrocities that occurred. The writing was lyrical and poignant, though admittedly, there were also moments where it did veer somewhat toward the abstract, which made those parts a bit hard to follow. Having said that, this was overall well-written and well-told — a book that I feel is a necessary read given it's historical context and its timely connection to recent societal issues. Reckoning with the past is not always easy — more so a past as complicated as this one — yet it is an important step to understanding and learning from what happened so as to prevent something similar from ever happening again.

Review: The Downstairs Girl (by Stacey Lee)

My Rating: 5 stars

Reading Stacey Lee's YA novel The Downstairs Girl was truly a delightful experience – one that I honestly was not expecting.  As I've mentioned before, I don't read much YA because I'm not the target audience for the genre and, as such, I feel like it would be harder for me to appreciate the story and/or the characters.  With the last few YA novels I've read though, I've been pleasantly surprised with how much I've enjoyed them.   As an avid reader, one of the things I always hope for in any reading experience is the possibility of encountering a book that will resonate with me in ways I wasn't expecting.  With Lee's book, this is exactly what happened – so much so that even now, a few days after finishing the book, I am still thinking about the characters and longing to revisit with them again.  

 

The year is 1890 in Atlanta, Georgia.  17-year-old Jo Kuan works as a milliner's apprentice making hats for society's wealthy elite.  Though the pay is meager, it's a job that Jo is good at and is grateful to have given that she is a girl who, by necessity, has lived in the shadows all her life.   Abandoned by her parents when she was a baby, Jo was taken in and raised by the elderly Old Gin, who works as a caretaker on the estate of one of the wealthiest families in Atlanta.  Jo and Old Gin live quietly in a dilapidated basement that used to be a hideout for abolitionists – a basement located underneath a print shop owned by the Bell family, who have no idea that the space (or the Kuans) exist.  When Jo is fired from her job unexpectedly (due to her being "too opinionated" according to her employer Mrs. English, though the real reason is because Jo is Chinese), she has no choice but to return to the Payne estate and work as a house maid for the family's cruel daughter Caroline (who hates Jo with a passion).  One night, through a pipe in the basement, Jo overhears a conversation between the Bells and their son Nathan that inspires her to start an advice column in their newspaper, using the pseudonym "Miss Sweetie."  The column, which focuses on addressing society's ills from the female perspective, becomes wildly popular, but also garners backlash from those uncomfortable with society's fixed notions being challenged.  When Jo discovers a letter that provides clues to her past and who her parents are, she must decide whether to remain hidden or risk coming out of the shadows.

 

This is one of those books that proves, once again, that we shouldn't judge a book purely by its genre.  I know this book is largely categorized as YA, but to be honest, it really doesn't read like a typical YA novel.  In addition to the story being very well-written, with endearing yet realistically-drawn characters, I also thought the historical and cultural elements of the story were really well done – most impressive though, was how the author, Stacey Lee, was able to so seamlessly weave in complex social commentary about race, class, privilege, identity, etc., which actually made this an unexpectedly timely read despite its setting in the 19^th century.  Reading about society's prejudices back in the 1890s and the discrimination that people of color faced during that time, it both frustrates and saddens me to be reminded, once again, that, even though our society and our country as a whole have both a come a long way, many of the attitudes and biases haven't changed all that much.  With that said, I am heartened by the increasing presence of books like this one in society nowadays — books that don't hold back in terms of bringing important issues to the forefront and helping to initiate necessary conversations about social justice and the need for change in our society.  I absolutely love the fact that the main protagonist in this story is a young Chinese woman who defies the typical gender and cultural stereotype — a woman who is smart and feisty, opinionated, yet kind and compassionate, and most admirable of all, bravely rises above her circumstances and stands up for her beliefs, even in the face of society's harsh criticisms and prejudices.  I also love how all the main characters — the most well-drawn and endearing characters — were either Chinese (Jo and Old Gin) or Black (Noemi and Robby).

Thinking back to my own childhood, growing up as a Chinese girl in a city as supposedly diverse as Los Angeles, it was nearly impossible to find books with Asian supporting characters in them, let alone Chinese characters (and female ones at that).   I remember back then, the only way for me to read fiction books with characters in them who looked like me, was to have relatives buy books in Hong Kong and send them to me here.  I wish there had been books like this back then that do a way better job of educating youths about diversity and acceptance than school textbooks; that would've been way more helpful for a Chinese girl like me — one of only 3 Asian faces in the entire school — to actually stand up for myself, rather than constantly shrink into the shadows, stay quiet, keep my head down, and draw as little attention to myself as possible; that would’ve helped me navigate the contradictions of my identity and understand that it didn't matter whether we were born here or grew up here, by virtue of our "foreign" faces, this will never truly be our home and we will never truly belong — but yet we must strive to make our situation more tolerable, if only for survival's sake.   

There were so many scenes in the book that I was able to relate to;  that had me nodding my head in agreement at how true to life many of Jo's and Old Gin's experiences were; that had me both laughing and crying at various moments throughout the story.  For me, one of the most heartbreaking scenes was that last segregated streetcar scene near the end of the book, which powerfully summed up what the Chinese experience has been for many of us in America. 

There is a lot to unpack with this book and it's impossible for me to do justice to it in such a brief review.  I definitely recommend taking the time to read this one — if anything, for its glimpse into history and culture.  Yes, this is ultimately a triumphant story and perhaps even a predictable one in terms of plot, but it is an absolutely worthwhile read — one that I'm sure will continue to stay with me for a long time!

Review: Resistance Women (by Jennifer Chiaverini)

My Rating: 4 stars

 

One of the reasons why I love reading historical fiction is because it gives me a chance to learn about people, places, cultures, time periods, etc. that I may not otherwise have known about.  It is also an opportunity for me to better understand aspects of history and the important role we, as human beings, play in shaping and directing the trajectory of this world in which we live.

Even though Jennifer Chiaverini’s latest historical novel Resistance Women is set in a time period that most bibliophiles like me who read a lot of WWII-themed novels are probably very familiar with, the story she tells about American graduate student Mildred Fish Harnack and the many brave women who were part of her Rote Kapelle (Red Orchestra) resistance cell in Germany during Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s, is not one that I had heard of prior to reading this book.  Spanning a time period from 1929 all the way through the end of the war, this is an epic tale told in meticulous detail, through the eyes of 4 women who bear witness to Germany’s transformation from a thriving intellectual and cultural hub to an oppressive, violent, and much-feared Nazi regime.  In addition to Mildred and Greta, the other 2 perspectives that formed the core narrative were that of Martha Dodd, the lively and vivacious daughter of the U.S. Ambassador, as well as Jewish literature student Sara Weitz (a fictional character based on other Jewish women within the Rote Kapelle network).   

Over the years, I’ve read plenty of books about this particular historical period, but this one is unique in that it tells the story not just from the Jewish perspective, but also from that of anti-fascist Germans who were intent on saving their beloved country from total ruin at the hands of a madman.  This was a fascinating and insightful read that was absolutely well-researched and well-written (I’m blown away by the extensive amount of research that Chiaverini did and how she was able to incorporate all of it into the story so seamlessly).   At nearly 600 pages, also given the subject matter, this was not an easy read by any means, especially the sections that mentioned the horrors and atrocities of what took place during that time – however with that said, being able to learn about these courageous women and getting to hear their inspiring, powerful stories, definitely made this well worth the effort. 

One quick footnote – I also noticed the political “comparison” that many of the other readers mentioned in their reviews and while I admit that it did frustrate me a bit at first because I felt it took some of the focus away from what the story was supposed to be about (namely the resistance women who sacrificed their lives to fight against evil), I eventually decided to ignore it and absorb myself in the women’s powerful stories instead. 

Received complimentary copy from publisher (William Morrow) via Book Browse.

Review: Such a Fun Age (by Kiley Reid)

My Rating: 4 stars

 

I actually finished this book a few days ago but held off on writing the review because I was busy, for one (the past week has been chaotic for me both at home and at work), and two, I needed some time to gather my thoughts and figure out how best to approach this one.  It’s not often that I come across a book that, on the surface, reads like a simple, straight-forward story where a few dozen pages in, I feel like the plot is going to head in a predictable direction, but then things get turned completely upside down and by the time I finish reading, I realize that the story is much more layered and complex than I initially thought.

The story is told from the viewpoints of the 2 main characters:  Emira Tucker and Alix Chamberlain.  Emira is a 25-year-old African American woman who is college-educated but still trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life, so she takes up part-time babysitting for Alix and Peter Chamberlain, a privileged white family living in an affluent neighborhood in Philadelphia.  One night, Alix calls up Emira with a favor – to take her two-year-old daughter Briar to the neighborhood grocery store for a bit while she and her husband deal with an emergency at home.   While walking around the grocery store with Briar, Emira is suddenly confronted by a security guard who accuses her of kidnapping Briar and threatens to have her detained.  Amidst the verbal back-and-forth between Emira and the security guard, a handful of onlookers gather and a young man records the entire incident on his phone.  Thought the misunderstanding is cleared up fairly quickly, Emira is humiliated, upset, and visibly shaken.  When Alix finds out about the incident, she is outraged and determined to make things right.  From there, a series of events is set into motion that threatens to upend both Emira’s and Alix’s lives forever.

This is a book I found very readable, one that pulled me in from the first page and kept me engaged, even during some of the “slower” parts where nothing much seemed to happen.  The story was well-written, timely, and relatable, with characters that were not just well-developed, but also portrayed in a way that was realistic yet respectful and empathetic.  This type of balance is not easy to achieve, especially with a story like this one that has a “social commentary” bent to it in its exploration of topics such as race, privilege, class, etc.  I appreciated the fact that the author Kiley Reid took a completely different approach from most of the books out there that address racism and bias – she took the story in a non-traditional direction that was totally not what I expected, but in a good way.  I also liked how, despite the serious and oftentimes contentious subject matter that Reid deals with here, it’s not done in a heavy-handed way, and most important of all (to me at least), there is no “preachiness” to the story in that it doesn’t attempt to steer the reader in one direction or another.  Life is complicated, as are the various relationships that make up the landscape of our lives, and more often than not, the lines between right and wrong can become blurred and not easily distinguishable – this is a story that reflects these complexities but does so in a way that is subtle and therefore is more effective in its message.

This is a book I definitely recommend, one that everyone should read, especially given the state of affairs in our country currently, and with the issues of race versus privilege being at the forefront of so many discussions nowadays.   For me personally, this book gave me much to think about – I only wish I had read this one more slowly, as there were some nuances that I feel deserved some pause to reflect upon.  This book definitely deserves the buzz it has been getting so far and by the looks of it, with the many angles that can be explored and discussed, this will likely be a hot-button read for many book clubs in the coming year as well!

Received ARC from G.P. Putnam’s Sons via Edelweiss.