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A couple of book reviews...
First, Wednesday Sisters, which my mom recommended to me with the comment that it really captured how it was to be a woman in the late sixties, early seventies: trying to work out how one felt about the women's movement, the anti-war movement, interracial marriage...
Which makes the book sound like a polemic, which it isn't at all. It's the story of five more-or-less ordinary young mothers who meet in the park and discuss books they like - books they'd like to write - who begin a writer's group, discuss the issues of the day, have interpersonal crises...
It gives a seamless impression of time and place - I was honestly surprised to realize that the author would only have been a child during the time period she wrote about - and, given that it isn't heavy on traditional plot, it's surprisingly gripping. I read it in two days. I occasionally got the husbands confused, as they aren't on stage too much, but the women are quite well drawn. The book as a whole is warm, funny, occasionally sad; I wouldn't call it great, but definitely worth reading.
Second, Alphabet of Dreams, by Susan Fletcher, who also wrote the Dragon's Milk books (which seem to be her most popular) and Shadow Spinner (which is my favorite). I had high hopes, which were tragically dashed...
Alphabet of Dreams is set in ancient Persia in 1 BC, and centers around Mitra and her little brother Babak, who are the children of a Persian prince but are now living hand to mouth in the slums of a big city... until Babak starts having prophetic dreams, which brings them to the attention of one of the Magi, who takes them along on a journey toward a great star that is shining in the west, above the land of Israel...
You can probably guess where this is going. An eleven-year-old, maybe not, but it doesn't really matter, because this plot is not really the point of book. The story centers on Mitra and Babak - whose characterizations suffer a bit from "telling rather than showing" - and especially on Mitra's coming of age, which is...
( Spoilers )
First, Wednesday Sisters, which my mom recommended to me with the comment that it really captured how it was to be a woman in the late sixties, early seventies: trying to work out how one felt about the women's movement, the anti-war movement, interracial marriage...
Which makes the book sound like a polemic, which it isn't at all. It's the story of five more-or-less ordinary young mothers who meet in the park and discuss books they like - books they'd like to write - who begin a writer's group, discuss the issues of the day, have interpersonal crises...
It gives a seamless impression of time and place - I was honestly surprised to realize that the author would only have been a child during the time period she wrote about - and, given that it isn't heavy on traditional plot, it's surprisingly gripping. I read it in two days. I occasionally got the husbands confused, as they aren't on stage too much, but the women are quite well drawn. The book as a whole is warm, funny, occasionally sad; I wouldn't call it great, but definitely worth reading.
Second, Alphabet of Dreams, by Susan Fletcher, who also wrote the Dragon's Milk books (which seem to be her most popular) and Shadow Spinner (which is my favorite). I had high hopes, which were tragically dashed...
Alphabet of Dreams is set in ancient Persia in 1 BC, and centers around Mitra and her little brother Babak, who are the children of a Persian prince but are now living hand to mouth in the slums of a big city... until Babak starts having prophetic dreams, which brings them to the attention of one of the Magi, who takes them along on a journey toward a great star that is shining in the west, above the land of Israel...
You can probably guess where this is going. An eleven-year-old, maybe not, but it doesn't really matter, because this plot is not really the point of book. The story centers on Mitra and Babak - whose characterizations suffer a bit from "telling rather than showing" - and especially on Mitra's coming of age, which is...
( Spoilers )
