The Immortalist by Chloe Benjamin

Would you want to know the date of your death?  Would it propel you to action or freeze you with fear?  Would you love more generously or isolate yourself from others?  Chloe Benjamin in her novel, The Immortalist, opens these questions and more in her examination of the four Gold siblings.  A slow unwinding of each of their lives reveals the impact of the prophecy given to them by the traveling "seer" when they were just children.  Simon, the youngest, throws caution to the wind and embarks on an all out hedonistic search for physical pleasure and experiences.  Klara, with her fierce determination to succeed as a magician, finds life a precarious balancing act that she does not really want to endure.  Daniel, who becomes an army doctor sacrifices self in his efforts to "save" as many soldiers as he can.  And lastly, Varya the eldest, spends her life in pursuit of longevity enhancements for humanity through her research and studies.  Each of the Gold's probe into the unanswerable questions we all face.  What in our life is destined and what is our choice?  What power does our mind have over our life?  Will we succumb to our own fears or can we succeed against all odds?  Do we need connections with family and friends or do we suffer more for having them?  Readers are left with more questions than answers, and yet there were moments of memorable and thought provoking descriptions of love and family and life.  This is not a "light" read but it was interesting and brought out much to be discussed.

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

Over the last few years we have been given the wonderful gift of great books about WWII driven by female heroines. We met strong women who fought against they evil they faced in the dark world and who enlightened us and inspired us to believer we too could be more than we ever thought possible  Jessica Shattuck tells a female driven story of WWII with a much different perspective.  He novel, The Women in the Castle, is historical fiction but it is grounded in truth.  Shattuck researched her book for seven years, but it really was a  lifetime in the making.  One of her three main female characters, Ania, is based on Shattuck's grandmother who was in reality a Nazi, a true believer in Hitler's youth movement and propaganda.  The other two women who we follow are reflective of "real" Germans also.  Marianne is the owner of the castle and is the strong moral backbone of the resistance population in Gernany and Benita is the poor but beautiful farm girl who just wants to escape her dreadful reality which traps her in a life of poverty.  Over the years, Shattuck realized that the Germans she knew were not able to or willing to answer such basic questions as, "Did you not know what was happening? or Were you not seeing what Hitler was doing?"  Using these three characters with totally different connections to the Nazi regime, we are given a realistic portrayal of what German people really saw and accepted and why they reacted as they did.  This book does not in any way excuse the horrific acts of Hitler and his followers, but it does give a viable explanation of the actions of the everyday Germans.  When we ask ourselves "How could they do that?" Shattuck seems to say "Walk in their shoes before you judge."  This was a really eye opening book.  The storyline was interesting and complicated but truly enlightening.

Small Great Things

Jodi Picoult has adopted as her preferred style the moral dilemma format for her novels. She has tackled many issues from abortion to organ donations.  Picoult clearly sees American racism as a compelling social issue in her novel Small Great Things. She opens this piece acknowledging her position as "white and class privileged." The author realizes she may not be up to the challenges of this issue.  She begins the book by painstakingly revealing her rigorous research both with women of color and skinheads. Despite the many roadblocks, Picoult chooses to make a brave attempt to start a conversation about the very real, very pervasive racism in American society. The story centers around the trial of a black delivery nurse, Ruth, who is accused of deliberately causing the death of the infant son of a white supremist couple who have demanded Ruth never touch their baby while in the hospital nursery.  The courtroom scenes and the introduction of interesting, relatable characters carries this story and makes it compelling.  Unfortunately, by the end of the trial, Picoult's storyline jumps to extremes in order to satisfy her audience or so it seems.   Perhaps the author has tackled too much in her social awareness campaign.  Readers will easily see themes of segregation, the challenges of black ambition, the welfare system and of course, race and the justice system.  There are just too many unlikely plot leaps for this story to remain totally believable.  The novel is flawed but as most of Picoult's work, it opens great discussions.  The author's good intentions must be given credit and surely accomplished most of what she intended.  In a social climate as divided as ours tends to be, any conversation is a good thing.  Maybe good talk is as much as we can hope for.  Let the discussion begin.

Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout has mastered a unique writing form only seen minimally in modern fiction.  In her book Anything is Possible she writes nine linked tales about people in a small town in Illinois.  Nine lives that are entwined by life experiences that reveal misery, heartache, pain and loss.  Nine lives that are broken by miserable marriage, war trauma, and childhood abuse.  Strout laces into each expose a piece from that story's central character's past---a soldier who suffers from PSTD renews a friendship with a former classmate; the retired school janitor tries to help a reclusive, lonely man that he happens upon and recognizes as that sad, lonely boy from his school.  These are small lives that seem of little consequence.  The writer shares the stories unemotionally and unsympathetically.  She often depicts the glaring flaw in many of her characters of continually look for and usually finding someone they can feel superior to no matter how bad their own situation might be.  Juxtaposed to this depressing truth is her quiet reassurance that there is always hope.  Strout shows us people who succeed, people who are kind and helpful and who overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.  The author never tries to hide the fact that this is indeed a sad, hard world.  But like Steinbeck, Strout tells the story of people who, even though trapped by circumstances out of their control, find a way to survive.  This author writes honestly and succinctly but manages to convey deep and meaningful stories  Her characters are real people that we as readers recognize and connect to and maybe even see ourselves in.  Strout's books reveal real life and hopefully will open real discussions that can help all of us see that "anything is possible."

America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray

When you think about what we were taught in elementary school about our country's history, it is easy to see that the facts were "bent" in many cases.  Columbus was not first to America.  The native people did not peacefully give up their land and go to reservations, and slavery was not isolated to the southern states.  Likewise, a most troubling fact is that many of our founding fathers were no pillars of strength and virtue.  So why was our history so distorted in the retelling?  Stephanie Dray in her book America's First Daughter gives a compelling explanation.  In her interpretation, Thomas Jefferson, the father of our Declaration of Independence, was saved the disgrace of his many failings by his devoted, protective daughter, Patsy.  After her mother died when she was only 10 years old, Patsy became the constant companion of her father.  In Dray's telling of the years that Jefferson was both statesman and president his daughter protected his reputation and cleared the path for history by destroying and covering up many of the truths that historians have since uncovered.  Jefferson owned slaves, even though he professed to want freedom for all.  Jefferson's mistress and slave, Sally Hemings, bore him many children but he never acknowledged any of them.  As it later played out during the Civil War, Jefferson's strong adherence to a state's rights philosophy became the core around which the southern states built their fight against the federalist of the North.  Patsy Jefferson, in this historical fiction account and in her determination to protect her father's image, changed what we in later generations learned and believed about this man of history.  The protests we see today over statues and landmarks highlights the problems with this controlled version of history that we were taught.  Much can be learned from an unvarnished retelling of the lives of those we revere.  We should not devalue the work of our country's forefathers, but we cannot ignore the truth of their lives either.  America's First Daughter is a compelling story that forces a deeper contemplation of our country's beginning and those men who were instrumental in its conception.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Louise de Bettignies is not a name that was familial to me nor was the network of female espionage agents she controlled during WWI in Lille, France and Belgium.  The Alice Network as this group was called, supplied British intelligence with valuable information on the German operations in northern France with such speed and accuracy it make a huge impression on the British and the Germans (who worked tirelessly to catch the spies and arrest them.)  Kate Quinn interwove this historical figure with other real life heroes and her fictional characters to create a fascinating and informative novel called The Alice Network.  Quinn's story centers around three people who have been damaged both physically and mentally by war.  Their journey to find answers and revenge is filled with suspense and clandestine adventures.  The bond that the three form is heartwarming and draws readers to these characters willing them to succeed and to find peace and happiness. This is a great read for those who love historical fiction and for those who love stories that tug at your heart.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

   How many times over your lifetime have you thought about what it will take to make you happy or maybe you have thought "if I had (fill in the blanks) it would make my life complete."  Generally this "thing" is not free.  It always seems to take money to get to happiness.  The life of the "haves" always seems better than the "have not's."  So, the question is what are you willing to do, what are you willing to trade, what part of your soul are you willing to give up in order to acquire this key to happiness?  Amor Towles' first novel, Rules of Civility, artfully examines the choices made by people representing all the many variations of the social spectrum.  The main character, Kate, tells of the year 1938 that in essence changed her life as well as the many people she knew and loved.  The story beautifully describes the glamour and glitter of this prewar time in America.  It dramatically reveals the sometimes unintentional results that our choices in life can have.  Towles uses his characters to show us that consequences of chasing after all the "I wants" of life.  The illusive "happiness" that these people sought after revealed the desperate depths that they like all people were willing to go to grab the golden ring.  Towles "Gatzbyesque" tale brilliantly illustrates the pain that we foist on ourselves and others when we fall into the world's trap where happiness equals money.  In the end Kate says she knows that "right choices" are the means by which we "crystalize losses."  Unfortunately, she missed the bigger message that Towles reveals.  All the chasing, all the wanting, is exhausting.  The only true contentment we will find comes when we choose to live in and enjoy the present.  This was a beautifully written, thought provoking story.  As a first novel, Rules of Civility is truly amazing.