Book review – Page 12 – Finding My Wings

Americanah: An oh, so contemporary novel

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Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Alfred A. Knopf, 2013)
In 40 words or less: A story that gives life to the personal struggles two young people in contemporary Nigeria, America and Britain. Through their eyes issues of immigration, racism and multiculturalism are brought forward. Long but well worth the effort!
Genre: Literary Fiction
Locale: Nigeria, United States, Great Britain
Time: Contemporary
Read this for a meaty story of generations adapting to change and confronting change delayed.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is deservedly a darling of current literary circles. Each of her novels has won numerous awards and her recent book length essay, We Should All be Feminists, which started as a TEDx talk, is considered a seminal work (pun intended) on the topic. Her novel Half of a Yellow Sun, brings to life the devastating Biafran conflict that tore apart Nigeria in the late 1960s.

In Americanah, Adichie introduces Ifemelu and Obinze, bright, loving young Nigerians who must leave their homeland to seek opportunity abroad. While college students, Nigeria is ruled by the military and universities are often closed due to strikes and other disruptions and prospects for success afterwards are few. America post-9/11 is particularly unfriendly to young men from Africa so, despite his love for all things American, Obinze ends up in England. Ifemelu secures a partial graduate school scholarship and joins family in Brooklyn. Soon on her own in Philadelphia, she struggles – making ends meet, understanding American-English and norms, and confronting racism for the first time. Her connection to Obinze is her beacon. At her lowest moment, she cuts off communication, though never relinquishing the connection.

Ifemelu had a keen eye for cultural and political nuances of being an African woman versus an African-American woman in America. Arriving in the US a couple of years before the election of President Obama, her experience is imbued with the changes his candidacy and election brings. Throughout her time in several cities on the east coast, her warmth and wit bring her friends and rich relationships. Initially as a lark, she turns a blog into a forum for discussions on race, politics and people. Eventually leaving school behind, Ifemelu becomes a full-time blogger. After several years she makes the choice to return home.

Obinze’s acclimation to England is more difficult. Without family as a touchpoint and school as a focus, he scrambles to find work without a visa and gets drawn into the British equivalent of the green card marriage scam. Throughout he remains in love with Ifemelu and can’t understand the silence. Forced to return to Nigeria, there he achieves all the outward symbols of a very successful life.

There is a very contemporary feel to this novel. The characters are working to launch their lives in very uncertain times. Without the internet, they’d be unable to maintain and fracture connections. Politics has a role but is not all-pervasive. Religion is only mentioned in passing. This measured attention allows day-to-day life to shine through.

This is a long book, at 588 pages almost twice the length the book groups I work with typically choose. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie not only tells a story but informs the reader as well. Her characters are smart and expressive. Her descriptions of places and situations are vivid, almost as if a movie camera is panning the scene. The novel deals with immigration, multiculturalism, racism and the haves and have-nots. The view of daily life in Nigeria before and after her time in the US is so detailed that you can feel the heat and smell the food. And throughout there is the universal draw of family, both by birth and by choice. Consider the time required to absorb this novel an investment well made.

Weekend reset with Galbraith/Rowling’s ‘Career of Evil’

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Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (Little Brown, 2015)
In 40 words or less: To solve their latest case, private detectives Strike and Robin must face up to people and situations in their pasts. This third mystery written by J.K. Rowling under the pen name Robert Galbraith is a worthy addition to the series.
Genre: Mystery
Locale: London and other locales in Britain
Time: 2011
Read this either as a stand-alone mystery or to follow Strike and Robin as their professional and personal relationships evolve. This isn’t a British cozy, so expect descriptions of violence and aberrant behavior.

On Friday my number came up at the library for the newest mystery by J.K. Rowling, writing as Robert Galbraith. Career of Evil is an apt title. Cormoran Strike is a private detective who learned his trade as military before losing a leg to an IED. With the help of his assistant, Robin Ellacott, he has established his business with a mix of jealous paramours and major criminal cases that have stymied the London police.

When a woman’s leg is delivered to the office, addressed to Robin, Strike immediately puts together a short list of men who would do almost anything to get back at him. As Robin continues to hone her skills, it becomes clear the perp intends to get to Strike by harming Robin. Further complicating everything, Robin’s wedding is approaching and her unsettled relationship with her fiancé is put further to the test.

It is hard to imagine that on a weekend when all eyes were turned to the horror of the attacks in Paris it would be calming to read of fictional crime and mayhem. But it is just that — fiction, and the beauty of a well-written book of whatever genre appeals to you is that it can provide that escape. After the first rush of news on Friday evening, I turned off the TV and took in the news in small bites online or from the newspaper. That freed up plenty of time to read. And so I did.

With Strike and Robin I travelled across London, to Scotland, and Yorkshire and beyond. New details were revealed of their backstories and each experienced personal and professional growth. One mark of a successful series is ongoing development within the characters. This informs the storyline and brings the reader back for more. Whichever name you choose for the author of this Cormoran Strike novel, it is well worth a weekend’s read.

Jazz, gangsters and booze in a novel of 1920s Chicago

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The Jazz Palace by Mary Morris (Nan A. Talese – Doubleday, 2015)
In 40 words or less: Chicago in its strength and grit comes to life in this jazz age novel. Figures such as Al Capone and Louis Armstrong add an authentic flavor to the story. If the development of jazz speaks to you, this is your book.
Genre: Fiction
Locale: Chicago
Time: 1915-1927

There is nothing like a real life disaster to capture attention. On the shore of the Chicago River, author Mary Morris introduces two families touched by tragedy in 1915. That summer the S.S. Eastland, an excursion boat chartered to provide factory workers an outing, tipped over, drowning 844 people, about a third of those on board.

Benny Lehrman was out delivering caps from his father’s factory when he came upon the disaster. Guilty over the loss of his youngest brother during a snowstorm, Benny jumped in to try to save others. And here his path crossed the Chimbrova family. Three of the Chimbrova brothers died, their young sisters scarred by what they witnessed and their mother destroyed by the loss.

Chicago was an industrial, cultural and social hub in 1915. It was the center of the railroads, a city of factories with immigrants jostling for jobs and housing, each group protecting its people and territory. At the same time Chicago was drawing African-American musicians from the south as part of the Great Migration. Jazz and the blues had taken root in New Orleans and Biloxi and its stars were taking the train north in search of money, fame and a safer life.

After the end of WWI, the South Side of Chicago became a honky-tonk paradise for the growing African-American community with live musicians and dancing, drinking and brothels. The North side had a similar mix for the white community. Both were under the watchful eye and protection, at a price, of the growing gangster presence which included Al Capone.

Up from the South is Napoleon, a man as physically impressive as he is talented with the trumpet. His music is his life, fine clothes his obsession, and he pushes the envelope in pursuit of both. Despite the risks, he searches out opportunities to play across town and musicians worthy of partnership.

As the oldest child, Benny’s family rests its hopes on him. By making deliveries, rather than working in the factory he has some leeway and can follow his beloved White Sox, mired in scandal. Convinced he has musical talent, his family sends him for him weekly classical piano lessons. Though he does play Beethoven for his mother, Benny is consumed by jazz and dedicates his free time to writing and playing this music, leaving the lessons behind. His pursuit of this passion further alienates him from his family.

It is the Chimbrova sisters and their club, the Jazz Palace, that brings these men together and can tear them apart.

Mary Morris’s The Jazz Palace is a true period piece. She captures the excitement and the grit of Chicago as the jazz age comes in, followed shortly by Prohibition. Her characters reflect the aspirations of working class immigrants and those seeking more freedom from the discrimination of the South. The pull of Lake Michigan and the brutality of the Chicago winters play a role in the novel. All these together paint a portrait of the City of Broad Shoulders during this transformative period.

‘The Muralist’: Historical Fiction and Art Appreciation in One Package

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The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro (Algonquin Books, November 2015)
In 40 words or less: At the cusp of WWII, a young French-American artist pursues her art as her family tries to escape Europe. Seventy-five years later, her great-niece works to solve the mystery of her disappearance and secure her place in the art world.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Locale: New York and France
Time: 1939/40 and 2015
Read this for a gripping story filled with insights into the world of art and the machinations of the US government as the Jews of France sought to escape Nazi Europe.

RELEASE DATE – Tuesday, November 3. The Muralist, B.A. Shapiro’s second novel, brings together a young French-American artist with the luminaries of the fledgling Abstract Expressionist movement. In 1939, when the story begins, many soon-to-be-famous artists were working for the US government as part of the WPA project which commissioned realistic paintings and murals depicting life during the Depression. Alizée Benoit was born in America, leaving to live with relatives in France after the death of her parents when she was twelve. Seven years later she returns to advance her art career, aware that the situation in France for her Jewish family is becoming perilous. Her goal is to find a way to bring them all to the US, whatever it takes.

Alizée’s day job is drawing and painting murals intended for libraries, post offices and other civic buildings in a huge warehouse along with Lee Krasner and other artists. Their free hours are spent painting, drinking and arguing art and politics with Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and others in their group. Separated from his wife, Rothko takes particular interest in Alizée, both personally and professionally. Barely subsisting, the artists are often consumed by self-doubt, alcohol and depression, creating at times a toxic mix.

Seventy-five years later, Danielle Abrams is recasting her life assessing art work for a major auction house. Inspired by brief stories of her great-aunt, Alizée, and the two paintings of hers that survived, Danielle had been a painter before her divorce and held out hope she could solve Alizée’s disappearance in late 1940. When a group of paintings by the likes of Rothko and Pollock appear at work for evaluation with small related squares secreted on the back, Danielle sees hints of Alizée’s style and sets out to find out more.

As Alizée struggles to acquire visas for her family she runs up against nativism and isolationism as typified by Lindbergh and Kennedy, and anti-Semitic and obstructionist policies in the State Department spearheaded by Breckinridge Long. Eleanor Roosevelt’s genuine interest in the WPA art projects serves to bring Alizée a patron and ally. Throughout The Muralist, Alizée is receiving evermore frightening letters from her relatives in France describing the roundups and tightening restrictions on the Jews. Alizée keeps from her artist friends her activities to circumvent US visa restrictions and take down Breckinridge Long.

Danielle comes into her own as she works to establish the hidden squares as Alizée’s. As with many Holocaust survivors, her grandfather chose not to discuss his experiences before resettling in America. In pursuit of her quest, Danielle comes to terms with her family’s experience in France.

Shapiro is emphatic in the afternote that is this a work of fiction weaving in historical figures and situations consistent with the times, taking liberties to serve the story. It doesn’t purport to be a telling of history with fictional characters added.

The beauty of modern historical fiction is the research that authors put into framing the story. While historical accuracy may be sacrificed for the plot, one of the great benefits of these books is whetting the reader’s appetite to discover aspects of history or art which may be relatively unfamiliar. Having read The Muralist I learned that the Abstract Expressionist movement emerged from artists involved in the WPA artist project. (see http://www.theartstory.org/org-wpa.htm) Similarly, while it is now fairly well-known that tens of thousands of visas were unused annually during WWII, the name Breckinridge Long was unfamiliar. Two clicks on the web and his role becomes all too clear.

With this second novel, B.A. Shapiro is setting a high bar for others seeking to inform the reader about art world while telling a complex and well-structured story. It is refreshing to see strong women artists as protagonists, well-drawn and wrestling with their imperfections and moral choices as they pursue their art in a male-dominated field. Her inclusion of historical events and figures moves the plot along and her clear acknowledgement of the liberties she takes with history are most welcome. The Muralist is a fine novel to share with a friend or in a group. Note: The Muralist tops the Indie Next List for November.

‘The Girl You Left Behind’ captures the evocative power of art

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The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes (Penguin Books, 2012)
In 40 words or less: A portrait ties together two young women and their absent husbands. A thought-provoking story of love, art, ownership and restitution.
Genre: Fiction
Locale: France and London
Time: 1916 and Present
Read this for a classic story interwoven with contemporary issues of ownership, morality and the transformative power of art.

Jojo Moyes first made a splash on the US book scene in 2012 with her novel Me Before You. With a longstanding reputation in Great Britain, two additional titles were released here later in 2012, The Girl You Left Behind and its prequel novella, Honeymoon in Paris. Were it not for a book group requesting a discussion on The Girl You Left Behind, I might have missed it. I’m glad I didn’t.

Moyes immediately immerses the reader in the life of Sophie Lefèvre, a young woman struggling with her sister and brother to get by while the Germans occupy their French village in October 1916. Sophie, strong and independent, had lived in Paris, meeting her artist husband, Edouard, there while she was a shopgirl. When he left for the Army, she returned to the village to help her sister whose husband was goners well. The Germans commandeered almost everything, leaving the residents with little to eat and few possessions. The sisters’ inn, stripped of almost all furniture, was required to prepare and serve meals to the troops billeted in the town. While charged with preparing the food, the family, which included a baby and the daughter of a woman taken by the Germans, had to account for every morsel of food served.

The only item of value left in the home was a painting of Sophie by Edouard, an Impressionist. The portrait was imbued with all the love Edouard felt for his wife and served as a promise of their future together. The Kommandant was taken by the painting and was prepared to go to great lengths in the hope of acquiring it. And Sophie would put herself in great peril for the chance to reunite with Edouard.

The story shifts to present-day London where Liv Halston is a young widow, living in the Glass House designed by her late husband David, a renowned architect. Liv is frozen in her grief, the only softness in her life is the portrait David purchased for her while they honeymooned in Paris. A chance meeting with an ex-pat American involved in art restitution sets off a chain of events upending both their lives and demanding that the fate of the Lefèvres be known.

Don’t for a minute think this is merely a story of time-linked romances. Moyes presents the legal and emotional issues associated with art restitution, carefully making the Holocaust a minor player. By doing so the visceral attachment people have to art, as contrasted with its possible market value, is elevated. Moyes is acutely aware that most restitution claims arise from German confiscation of art owned by Jews and brings that into the story as a means of bringing moral gravitas to the debate about ownership and redress.

With carefully constructed plot twists, The Girl You Left Behind held my interest to final page. Moyes’s deft hand in tackling fundamental issues rises well above many popular novels.

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