Winterland

Winterland starts out in northern Siberia in 1975. Rae Meadows, the author, was fascinated by the Russian gymnasts. The story starts out with a 7 year old girl named Anya. Anya lives with her father after her mother disappeared 3 years ago. He works in a copper mining building. An older woman, Vera, lives in their apartment building. Anya visits Vera every day after school. Before her mother left, Vera was friends with her too.  Anya and her friend love gymnastics. Together they do cartwheels and the splits. Anya's friend is more skilled than she is. When the gymnastics coach comes to their school both girls try out. Anya is selected but her friend is not because her father spoke negatively about the government. In Russia, young gymnasts are useful to promote the country.  The preferences of the gymnast does not matter. Their happiness, education and health do not matter. When Anya injures a tendon in her ankle, the local doctor wants her to keep weight off of it for a month. The gymnastics doctor wants her back to practice in two days and injects her ankle with pain medication. Anya loves gymnastics in the beginning. She enjoys traveling to other parts of Russia to participate in meets. As she ages and the injuries pile up her feelings change. Once she makes it to the Olympics in the 1990's Anya looses her passion for gymnastics. I found it interesting to read about gymnastics training in Russia. There were no Russian gymnasts named Anya but the other gymnasts in the book were read. The only one I had ever heard of was Olga Korbut.

 

 

The Black Snow

The Black Snow is a bleak novel. Bleak with a capital B. Written by Paul Lynch, the story takes place is rural Ireland in 1945. Barnabas is a farmer who emigrated to America, built sky scrapers in New York, married a woman, and bought a farm in his native Ireland with his winnings. One spring day as he is plowing the field with his farm hand, a fire starts in his barn. Despite the help of other farmers, the barn burns to the ground with all 42 cattle and the farm hand. After that everything goes wrong for Barnabas, his wife, and his teen aged son. The local farmers are not much help. To be honest, Barnabas was a bit of a jerk plus they distrust him because he went to America. I enjoyed reading the book but I recommend against reading it if you are having a down day.

 

 

Four Souls

 Revenge is a main theme in Louise Erdrich's book Four Souls. Written in 2004 we learn the story of Fluer Pillager who sets off from the reservation to exact revenge on the lumber baron who took her land and cut down all the trees. The timing is around 1900. She goes to the Twin Cities to get her revenge. Taking a longer range view, she gets a job in his mansion as a launderess. Eventually she works her way into the family. In the end, she does her the land back and goes to live on the reservation again. I loved reading from the Native American perspective. Fluer is a woman to be admired. I would not have the patience to wait for revenge that long.

 

 

The Funeral Cryer

 I picked up The Funeral Cryer at the library today and started reading it and I could not put it down. I read it in one sitting. The author is Wenyan Lu. The story is set in modern times in a small village in northern China. This town is so far north that having a bamboo forest near the village is very unusual because bamboo doesn't grow this far north. The story is told by by a woman who is struggling. She is married to a worthless chap who doesn't work and doesn't even try to work. Jobs are scarce. Her 20 year old daughter left the village to find work in Shanghai. The woman grows vegetables in her back yard and does all the housework. Her husband leaves the house to gamble with his friends. When he is home he is frequently verbally abusive. She gets some work as a funeral cryer. Families hire her to attend the funeral and cry over the casket giving details of the deceased person's accomplishments. The people in the village assume her job brings bad luck so they avoid her. A barber has moved into the town and he starts paying attention to her. This gives her a new confidence. She stops listening to her husband and starts taking pride in her accomplishments. I enjoyed the story because of the plot but also because the descriptions of the pork and chive dumplings and tofu and stir fry sounded so delicious.

 

 

The Wren, The Wren

Anne Enright, the author of The Wren, The Wren, overheard a man telling another person that he was married, his wife became ill, and he left the family. Based on that observation she wrote this family novel. In this case, the man who left was a famous poet. The story starts with Carmel who was a young child when her mother got cancer and her father left. Her life was scarred by his desertion. Now her daughter, Nell, is 22 and just learning about her grandfather and his poetry. The story is set in Ireland which makes it interesting. I enjoyed this story about three generations of women affected by betrayal.

 

 

 

 

The Alternatives

 The Alternatives, written by Caoilinn Hughes is a family novel set in Ireland. The four Flattery sisters were orphaned when the oldest sister was 17. Other family members tried to raise them but the girls rebelled. The oldest sister took over guardianship. Now in their 30's, all the sisters have doctorate degrees. When the oldest sister goes missing from her geology professor job, the other three sisters come together to find her. She didn't want to be found. Spending a couple of weeks together they come to realize their bond is still strong and each one of them is successful in life. I enjoyed this charming story about four sisters.

 

 

Afterlife

Julia Alvarez is the author of the novel called Afterlife. The story is about Antonia who lives in Vermont. She has just retired from teaching English at a local college when her husband suddenly dies. She is trying to get used to handling the house and the yard on her own. Her house is in a semi-rural area. Her neighbor is a dairy farmer who hires undocumented people from Mexico. Antonia has three sisters and they are close. For Antonia's birthday she has agreed to go to Chicago and celebrate with her three sisters. Her troubled oldest sister is driving there from New Hampshire. When she doesn't show up the three sisters notify the police and put up signs along the freeway. On top of that Antonia gets involved in family matters with the farm workers next door. While trying to handle her grief, Antonia doesn't want to get in over her head. How much does she owe to families in crisis? This was an entertaining novel about a woman trying to set healthy boundaries.