Review: Saving Peace by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

Saving Peace by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar
ASIN: B006VIOZ1A










 Saving Peace follows a group of women thirty years from students at  women only Peace University to their middle age.  Siobahn, calculating, in everything she does snags the man and manages to become a local news anchor.  Her ambition wreaks havoc on all her relationships, since she only interacts with people if there is some benefit to her. Mary Ann, the charming southern girl, is the first to marry but sets aside her poetry and writing to be a stay at home mom to her infant, teenage, and adult sons. Putting her dreams aside to focus on her family and her absent husband causes severe depression. Kim overcomes cancer and bulimia to become president of Peace University. Her decision to admit male students to Peace University sparks much criticism and angst amongst students and alumna of the school.

 Saving Peace intertwines the stories of the three women across the years. Although outside of the first couple pages of the books, they didn't really seem like friends.  Over the years they mainly communicate by voice messages and chance meetings.  As the story progresses, I was left to wonder why they bothered. The benefits to continued friendship or even acquaintance seemed minimal.  Not to mention that they didn't seem to have any other friends.  They all are emotional train wrecks. There were also issues with time: the term Bridezilla was thrown around and Golden Girls didn't start until 1985 although the girls were supposed to be watching it together in 1977.  Also one of the character's son had a Game Boy in 1988 even though they weren't released anywhere until 1989.
 

Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar is a South Asian American who has lived in Qatar since 2005. Moving to
the Arabian Desert was fortuitous in many ways since this is where she met her husband, had a baby,
and made the transition from writing as a hobby to a full time passion. She has since published five e-
books including a mom-ior for first time mothers, Mommy But Still Me, a guide for aspiring writers, So
You Want to Sell a Million Copies, a short story collection, Coloured and Other Stories, and a novel
about women’s friendships, Saving Peace. Most recently, From Dunes to Dior, is a collection of essays
related to her experiences as a female South Asian American living in the Arabian Gulf. After she
joined the e-book revolution, she dreams in plotlines. Learn more about her work on her website at
www.mohanalakshmi.com or follow her latest on Twitter: @moha_doha.

Review: Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel by Maria Semple
Publisher: Little, Brown, & Co.
Publication Date: August 14, 2012

Aloof and disinterested in socializing, Bernadette Fox is the object of morbid curiosity from her neighbors and the parents at her daughter's school.  Everything gives her a tizzy fit (cold Seattle people, weird design of intersections in Seattle, Idaho drivers, Canadians, etc.) causing trips outside her house to be major ordeal.  Trying to avoid human interactions and the ensuing anxiety leads Bernadette to basically hand over her life to her secret virtual assistant Manjula in India.

Bernadette's husband Elgin Branch works at Microsoft and is the lead on a major project. He is totally absorbed in the Microsoft culture to the detriment of his relationships with his wife and daughter. Her daughter Bee (short for Balakrishna) is 14 years old and small for her age.  They represent the bulk of her non-Manjula communications.  Despite her anxiety issues and irritability, she is a great mom to Bee.  When Bee requests a trip to Antarctica as a reward for excellent grades, Bernadette agrees to having a family vacation.

Everything starts to go to pot when a neighbor accuses Bernadette of running over her foot.  Removing her blackberry bushes at the same neighbors request just results in a fundraiser ruining mudslide.  Add in some alleged shadiness on the part of Manjula and Bernadette starts to slip even further.  Being recognized by a passerby is the icing on the cake.  Elgin, unaware of all the troubles Bernadette is dealing with, starts to fear for her metal health after several strange incidents.  When he holds an intervention, Bernadette bolts. 

Using the accumulated documents, Bee discovers Bernadette's whereabouts and we finally get to here from the lady herself. Bernadette Fox was a innovative designer; she was incorporating environmentally friendly building techniques before they were a thing.  She is a legend in architectural circles for building The Twenty Mile House plan free and entirely from materials sourced from both the sites and locally.  After the incident, Bernadette runs to Seattle and avoids any mention of the Twenty Mile House.  Elgin thinks once Bee is born that all is past but once he starts paying attention he sees her massive issues for the first time.  Despite Bernadette's issues, her help and support allowed him to be the Microsoft absorbed man he was.

Where'd You Go Bernadette is a great novel.  I totally like this book almost 100%.  The characters were well written and crafted with care- even some of the side plots that seemed superfluous were integrated with the rest of the plot. I was so engrossed: it was totally annoying to have to take breaks for work, dinner, socializing, etc. Maria Semple wrote for one of my favorite shows Arrested Development and now one of my favorite books this year. 


**This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.**

Review: The Midwife of Venice by Robrta Rich

The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich
Gallery Books
February 2012
Hannah Levi is a Jewish midwife in 16th century Venice.  Despite segregation of the Jews, her skills are known to all Jews and gentiles.  When a Venetian nobleman shows up in her ghetto, she knows he must be desperate to sidestep Papal Edict to ask a Jewish midwife to save his child.  Hannah would love to refuse his request and avoid any trouble for herself or her people.  However, several months before her husband was captured and was held for ransom.  Helping the Content could give her enough money to pay the ransom.
Of course she agrees to help with so much riding on her decision.  Ransoming Isaac is the most important thing;enough to make her more than willing to disobey both Catholic and Jewish law.
We also find out that Isaac is alive and struggling to his life as a slave.  A man who uses his wits he has difficulty adjusting to the physical labor of his new life.  Dodging all the attempts at forced conversion, he uses his wits to try to better his situation.
There are many twists and turns.  Thwarting laws are only the beginning of Hannah's problems.  Dragged into the intrigues of a Venetian noble family ,she crosses boundaries and makes alliances she never thought she would, sacrificing everything for Isaac.
This was a great debut novel.  Ms. Rich did a great job of building an authentic and historically correct 16th century Venice.  My only issue was the somewhat predictable plot and ending.  A sequel would be interesting since it could go anywhere.
This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie McGill

 
Title The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie McGill
Publisher: Free Press
Published: July 26, 2011
ISBN: 9781451611595
Pages: 240

Ripped from the headlines (the late 19th century ones), The Butterfly Cabinet is based on the death by suffocation of young girl. We learn the background story via the maid Maddie and the lady of the house's narration.  Maddie narrates from her entry in to service of the family and the lady of the house Harriet Ormond narrates from her prison.  As the story unfolds, the web of secrets that cloaked this family tragedy is unwound. In addition, we get an idea of the political turmoil and pandering that contributed to Mrs. Ormond's conviction.


Based on the "facts" as they stand, Mrs. Ormond is irrefutably guilty of excessive cruelty to her children and by extension the death of Charlotte.  In her prison diaries, she details her difficult relationship with her parents and her resultant difficulties with the rearing of her own children.  Harriet details how she bristles at the attitude and actions expected from a woman such as herself.  Striving for self-control, she expects the utmost discipline from every one - servants and her children alike.  Unfortunately, her inability to be flexible leads to her downfall.

Maddie finally has a chance to unburden herself of the secrets that have plagued her for nearly eight decades.  Her story allows us to see the story from the angle of the working class and servants, who are viewed looked down on yet necessary for the class system to continue.  Her seemingly unimportant presence belies the significant part she plays in this family's history for several generations.

The book was a great peek into a past era that still informs the present.  The seemingly unnecessary elements are all wound up at the end to complete the story.  Politics, religion, class system, and culture all collide to create the perfect storm to ring in the end of an era.  Bernie McGill manages to create a suspenseful and detailed story from a mysterious true event from an age gone by.

**This book was provided by the publisher Free Press in exchange for my honest opinion.**

Review: Angela Sloan by James Whorton

 
Title Angela Sloan by James Whorton
Publisher: Free Press
Published: August 2, 2011
ISBN: 9781451624403
Pages: 224

For Angela Sloan, life is a never-ending CIA mission.  Rescued by CIA agent Ray Sloan after her parents' murder during a rebellion in Congo, Angela learns from day one how to start crafting a new identity.  Ray gets assigned to teach at the CIA training academy and spend his spare time training Angela on how to maintain one's cover and how to use others to supply information and goods that further the mission.  Other than Ray's drinking himself into a stupor and refusing to discuss the past, life is going swimmingly until Ray gets involved the Watergate break-in.  First they hide out under new identities at a hotel hoping to avoid repercussions of the event.  When it becomes clear that the situation is even more volatile than he planned for, Ray leaves Angela to the next phase of their mission which is rendezvousing when the coast is clear.
    Angela is left to fend for herself and figure out the rendezvous point while avoiding any agents sent to look for her.  She gets the first kink in her plan when the waitress from the Chinese restaurant she bought her fake ids from sneaks into her car for a free ride.  Starting to feel comradery and responsibility for Betty, Angela circles to reconnect when they part ways.  This leads to her bumping into Marilyn, a CIA agent sent to recover her and Ray.  While running away from Marilyn, the two girls fall in with some hippies who are about everything except peace, love, and sunshine.  Angela has to use all her lessons in spying to reach the rendezvous point while worrying constantly about Ray.
  Having read books from the 70s, the book seemed really 70s with all the agitating and mysterious movements in the background.  This book was somewhat confusing to follow.  There were so many twists regarding every body's identity and Angela's suspicion of every one's intention toward her.  Add in all the confusion about Ray's past and Angela's origin and it can get a bit crowded.  Even though Angela tried to come across as an agent on a mission, a good portion of the book is spent exposing her naivete and the preposterous situation Ray leaves her in.  Once you read the book and see where he's coming from, you understand what he did even if you don't agree with the method.  Some of the characters are really wacky, but I guess it wouldn't be an interesting book if everyone was normal.  Having read books from the 70s, the book seemed really jam packed with the zany characters that always fill stories from the 70s.

**This book was provided by the publisher Free Press in exchange for my honest opinion.**