The Novelist from Berlin by V.S. Alexander

The Novelist from Berlin by V.S. Alexander, 400 p.

"An engrossing novel inspired by the mysterious true story of Irmgard Keun, a female novelist who defied all the rules during Berlin’s volcanic post-WWI years, as a young German writer exiled for her ideas flees her country and her Nazi-supporting husband, fighting for her art, her life, and her child.

1920s Though the world has changed in the wake of the Great War, it is still ruled by men. Even a woman as resourceful and intelligent as Niki Rittenhaus needs alliances in order to survive. Her marriage to Rickard Länger, a movie producer for Berlin’s Passport Pictures, seems convenient for them both. When Rickard succumbs to increasing pressure from the Nazis to make propaganda movies, a horrified Niki turns away from her own film aspirations and instead, begins to write.

Niki’s first novel, The Berlin Woman , is published under a pseudonym to great success. But Niki knows she cannot stay anonymous for long. The Nazis are cementing their power over Germany—and over her husband. Though she succeeds in escaping Rickard, he directs Hitler’s Brownshirts to do the kidnap their daughter. With her books blacklisted, her life in danger, and Europe descending into war, Niki travels to Amsterdam, joins the Dutch Resistance, and then returns to war-torn Berlin determined to claim freedom for herself and her child, and to write her own story at last." --Goodreads blurb

Niki, a woman of many names over her life, finds herself out of her mother's home and trying to make a name for herself. After acting doesn't exactly pan out, she decides to become an author. What she did get from trying to be an actor is a husband and family, and what she got from being a novelist was ire of the Nazis. When her husband makes decision having to do with the Reich that she doesn't agree with, Niki's life turns upside down and she must try to make a life for herself. Does that mean she will never see her daughter again? Will she ever find love again? Will she mend the relationship with her mother and will her friends survive this horrible war? This story had enough plot to pull me through it easily. I enjoyed Niki's voice and a perspective of a woman trying to make her way through life in WWII German and while not being a Nazi Party supporter. The relationships in Niki's life varied from the unwavering best friend to the brusque mother and I enjoyed following her as she navigated those. While I enjoyed the story, I can't necessarily say I enjoyed the writing style. There was little nuance to the story and everything was put very plainly. While this type of writing is sought out by many readers (often their complaint is there's too much "flowery language"), it's not my particular favorite. I would have liked more details of life and environment and just description in general. This was a 3.5 rounded up to a 4-star for me.

 

All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle

All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle, 359 p.

"Life is waiting to happen to Hubert Bird. But first he has to open his front door and let it in. 

In weekly phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Bird paints a picture of the perfect retirement, packed with fun, friendship and fulfilment. But Hubert Bird is lying. The truth is day after day drags by without him seeing a single soul.

Until, that is, he receives some good news - good news that in one way turns out to be the worst news ever, news that will force him out again, into a world he has long since turned his back on. Now Hubert faces a seemingly impossible task: to make his real life resemble his fake life before the truth comes out. Along the way Hubert stumbles across a second chance at love, renews a cherished friendship and finds himself roped into an audacious community scheme that seeks to end loneliness once and for all . . .

Life is certainly beginning to happen to Hubert Bird. But with the originof his earlier isolation always lurking in the shadows will he ever get to live the life he's pretended to have for so long? From bestselling author Mike Gayle, All the Lonely People is by turns a funny and moving meditation on love, race, old age and friendship that will not only charm and uplift, but also remind you of the power of ordinary people to make an extraordinary difference."--Goodreads blurb

I loved this book as was it was very reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite books, A Man Called Ove. Hubert is old, cranky, but yet so loveable. Following him through his life is a wonderful way to spend time, as long as you're okay with feeling every emotion you have!

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant

 

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant   322 pgs. 

"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Red Tent and Day After Night, comes an unforgettable coming-of-age novel about family ties and values, friendship and feminism told through the eyes of a young Jewish woman growing up in Boston in the early twentieth century.

Addie Baum is The Boston Girl, born in 1900 to immigrant parents who were unprepared for and suspicious of America and its effect on their three daughters. Growing up in the North End, then a teeming multicultural neighborhood, Addie's intelligence and curiosity take her to a world her parents can't imagine - a world of short skirts, movies, celebrity culture and new opportunities for women. Addie wants to finish high school and dreams of going to college. She wants a career and to find true love."  (Source: Goodreads)

 85 year old Addie Baum  is asked, "How did you get to be the woman you are today?" by her granddaughter. The spry octogenerian goes back to the beginning:  Boston, 1900. Addie is the child of Russian immigrants of the Jewish faith.  Her story touches upon some of the highlights of the early 20th century: The Great War and The Spanish Flu, to name a couple. The story is sad in parts, but the narrator never dwells too long on the tragic. She keeps the pace moving by going on to the next event. I thought it was poignant and often humorous. 

An Echo of Murder by Anne Perry

An Echo of Murder: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry --- 286 pages

In this 23rd novel in Perry's Victorian murder mystery series featuring Commander William Monk of the Thames River Police and his wife Hester, Monk must solve a series of brutal, ritualistic murders targeting Hungarian immigrants in London.

A respectable middle-aged Hungarian immigrant is found murdered in his office in a warehouse on the Thames River in the Shadwell area of London. When Monk is summoned to investigate, he finds a gruesome, blood-spattered scene: seventeen candles dipped in the blood of the victim, and horrific wounds but no sign that the victim put up any resistance to his attacker. Monk wonders: did some deed committed in the past finally catch up with him; or could this be the work of an unbalanced mind? Or the result of local resentment and prejudice against foreigners?

An immigrant who is well known in the tight-knit Hungarian community offers to assist Monk and his men by translating for them as they interview those less fluent in English. Monk accepts the help grudgingly, as he suspects the translator hopes to further his own agenda by helping the police with their inquiries.

Suspicion falls on another recent arrival in the community: a doctor fallen upon hard times, who is known to Monk's wife as a colleague tending the wounded and dying during the Crimean War. Himself desperately wounded and left for dead on the battlefield, Fitz has only recently found his way home to England. He speaks fluent Hungarian from the years he spent there after the war. But his own wounds of body and mind have left him struggling with nightmares and blackouts, his nerves in shambles.

Three additional deaths, all identical with the first, has the community on the point of panic. When Fitz is found covered in blood, wandering dazed in the streets, Monk is forced to arrest him to prevent a mob from hanging him on the spot. And Monk cannot be sure Fitz did not commit the murders unless he can prove that someone else did.

Click HERE to read the review from Publisher's Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, 262 pages

I listened to Brooklyn as a playaway.  I saw the movie, which was very good and really wanted to read the book.  The audio was a great alternative when the book was checked out.  It was beautifully read with the Irish accents. Brooklyn follows young Irish immigrant Eilis Lacey as she makes her way from Ireland to Brooklyn in the 1950s for chance of a better life.  When she finds herself torn between her family in Ireland and her new life and love in Brooklyn, she is faced with a most difficult choice.

Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri

Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri, 352 pages

Everything Jhumpa Lahiri writes is beautiful and well-written, with images that stick with you.  Her stories center upon Bengali-Americans, family, life, love and death.  This particular collection of stories is no different, but they are all fairly depressing. I liked this as an audiobook because it can be nice to hear names pronounced that I would normally mangle when reading to myself.

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani pg 784

The Shoemaker's Wife  by Adriana Trigiani  pg  784

This beautiful story is inspired by Trigiana's own family history.  The story starts in the Italian Alps where Ciro, a strong mountain boy, meets Enza, the oldest daughter of a large village family.  When a situation arises in the Ciro's tiny village, he is forced to hide in America.  Disaster also comes to to Enza's family and she also must go to America to help provide for her family.  Fate intervenes, Ciro and Enza are reunited in New York City, but it is too late.  Over time the star crossed lovers meet again and the power of their love changes both their lives.  They marry and move to Minnesota, have one son, and have a happy married life, which ends too soon.

Bend, Not Break, by Ping Fu

Bend, Not Break, by Ping Fu, 288 pages

Ping Fu's memoir spans from her life in China to her professional career as a naturalized American.  All I knew of Ping Fu was that she is a fairly successful entrepreneur with a computer software company.  What I did not realize was that growing up in China, she was a victim of the Cultural Revolution.  Furthermore, she was exiled from her birth country for writing an article that exposed the national secret of female infanticide.  She then moved to America, where even though she did not know what fractions were and had literally no money, she became a computer science major, started her own 3D imaging software company, and is widely recognized as an immigrant success story.  It's a pretty interesting read, even if the businesswoman-angle doesn't sound appealing.