Winter Garden

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Well, she does it again.

Meredith is struggling.  Her oldest child is on her way to becoming a doctor, and her youngest child is beginning her freshman year of college.  This should be one of the easiest and happiest times of her life; yet, she is having a hard time adjusting to her role as an empty nester.  Her marriage, while strong in its longevity, is in a free-fall as it struggles to survive the inevitable changes experienced when the baby of the family leaves home.  She works overtime at her family’s orchard that was started by her father upon his return from serving in World War II.

Nina is struggling.  She works crazy hours in third world countries as a contracted photographer always looking for the perfect shot that accurately conveys the suffering unknown to many in America.  She is in a relationship, but it’s hardly stable as she finds it hard to commit to the idea of a seemingly boring domestic future that her sister, Meredith, has whole heartedly embraced.

Even though Meredith and Nina are sisters, the similarities between the two are few and far between.  It is hard to find any common ground except for the love and devotion they both feel for their father.  The girls’ childhood has been stained by the harsh words and actions of their mother, a Russian immigrant named Anya whose affection they have been deprived as she keeps them at a safe emotional distance and destroys their perception of love and acceptance through her emotional outbursts and confusing reactions.

To make things worse, their beloved father is terminally ill.  His dying wish is for his daughters to not only reconcile with each other, but also with their mother who seems to be stumbling mentally between reality and fantasy.  Their father insists the only way for all 3 girls to understand each other is for their mother to continue telling them an old Russian fairy tale that she recited to the girls as children complete with dragons, black knights, and other mythical creatures and structures.  Attempting to honor his wishes, Anya agrees to finally tell the conclusion of the Russian fairy tale, except, the girls are beginning to wonder if this story is more fact than fiction.  As Anya tells of unthinkable atrocities, the sisters are brought together to find out the truth about themselves, their father, and their mother whom they discover has secrets as deep as an ocean and as dark as a Russian winter.

  • Why I read this book: Recommendation in a Facebook group
  • Trigger Warnings: violence, tragedy, mild sexual conduct

My thoughts (may contain spoilers)

Goodnight Beautiful

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After moving from New York City to the suburbs, newlyweds Sam and Annie are forced to adjust to their new surroundings.  Sam, a psychiatrist, thinks the stars have aligned in his favor when an opportunity to rent his dream office space quite literally falls into his lap.  The landlord refuses to accept rent payments; instead, Sam pays his rent fees by serving as a handyman completing various home improvement jobs around the old building.  His patients see him regularly and discuss their various life issues.  Unbeknownst to them, someone besides Sam is listening to every word that they say.  Suddenly, Sam disappears without a trace.  Annie, a college professor, insists something horrible has happened.  She believes that Sam has either been injured in a horrible accident…or worse.  Unfortunately, finding others who share her beliefs that Sam is a victim is proving to be quite difficult.  It’s a race against time to find Sam and, just when you think you have it figured out, think again.

  • Why I read it: Recommendation in a Facebook book group
  • Trigger Warnings: violence, infidelity, mental health

My thoughts (may contain spoilers)

Here’s the story: Surviving Marcia and Brady and finding my true voice

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Marcia!  Marcia!  Marcia!  This iconic phrase is forever etched in our minds as well as in television history.  “The Brady Bunch” ran its course decades before my time, but I was fortunate enough to see every episode via Nick at Night reruns.  Like the rest of America, except 30 years later, I was drawn into the fun show about a blended family who solved all of life’s problems in half an hour with a quirky housekeeper who delivered hilarious one liners on cue.  However, as is the case in Hollywood, the drama on screen was no match to the drama unfolding behind the scenes.

Maureen McCormick’s memoir starts with a detailed description of her upbringing as well as her introduction into the ruthless world of acting.  She then describes what led to her fortune as she lands the role of Marcia Brady.  Her life would never be the same.  As she gives her perspective of what the show was about, what was really going on between the characters off screen, and her struggles with adapting to life and growing up as one of the most recognizable faces in America, she describes a downward mental, emotional, and physical spiral that is all too common among child actors.  She is transparent, open, and honest about her struggles with excessive drug use, serious depression, personal family turmoil, and dangerous eating disorders throughout her teenage and young adult years.  The story of the Brady’s ended just as her story was beginning.  She took a lot of different paths, and she made countless wrong turns, but she finally found her happily ever after with her husband and daughter.  By opening herself up to her readers, she makes herself incredibly vulnerable to and authentic with her audience.

  • Why I read it: Pure curiosity (it was on the feature shelf on the library, and I love a good memoir!)
  • Trigger Warnings: Drugs, alcohol, sex, violence, abuse, eating disorders, depression

My thoughts (may contain spoilers)

A Thousand Splendid Suns

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How can such a tragic story be so beautiful?  There were parts of this book that made me sick to my stomach to read.  There were also such beautiful parts of this book that hit me straight in the heart and made me weep.  Unfortunately, a general summary will not do this book justice, but hopefully it will inspire others to read it and engage in discussion.  There are plenty of discussion points throughout the book.

Set between the years 1960-2000, Mariam and Laila are two women living across the street from each other (and then later within the same house) in Afghanistan.  Mariam’s upbringing is heartbreaking, at best.  Her mother is not mentally well and, as she is the product of an illegitimate relationship, Mariam’s father is absent and unavailable.  In an arranged marriage with a man many years her senior (Rasheed), she moves into a house near Kabul and enters a life of one -sided devotion, fear, deprivation, and disappointment.  Her house is down the street from a young girl, Laila, whose childhood best friend is a young boy (Tariq).  As they grow, their relationship grows into a star crossed, teenage love tragedy when disaster strikes the city of Kabul and leaves their homes and street in literal ruins.  With nowhere to turn, Laila is taken as a second wife of Rasheed in hopes of producing a child which is something that Mariam has been unable to provide.  What begins as a relationship filled with jealousy and animosity turns into a deeply devoted friendship and sisterhood between the two women trapped in a destructive marriage with an abusive spouse that is not only legal but ignored by the Afghani government. As the stories of these women unfold, the reader is taken on an emotional roller coaster that keeps them on the edge of their seats anticipating the next twist or turn.  Just when the reader thinks all hope is lost, a glimmer of light in the darkness signals hope and promises of a better future.

  • Why I read it: Recommendation from a Facebook group
  • Trigger warnings: Violence, domestic abuse, infidelity, infertility

My thoughts (may contain spoilers)

These is my words: The diary of Sarah Agnes Prine 1881-1901

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This is an amazing “based on true events” narrative that had me thinking of my childhood playing “Oregon Trail” and/or reading “The Little House on the Prairie.”  If you’re like me and adored the “Dear America” series, this book is for you.  However, before gifting it to a young girl without reading first, please be advised that it includes some events that, while unfortunately realistic and appropriate to the book’s time period, might be confusing/upsetting to a young reader (or older reader, for that matter).

Sarah Prine, the narrator, embodies everything that it took to survive a harsh journey across America’s frontier in hopes of settling in a forever home in the vastly unclaimed western land.  She quickly discovers that her family’s journey is going to be very, very hard.  Even though the land is unclaimed and not recognized by the American government, it is largely inhabited by Native Americans who present a constant threat to all of the characters throughout the book.  Sarah tells her harrowing story of traveling, settling, falling in love, falling out of love, gains, losses, and the importance of keeping a fighter’s spirit through life’s best (and worst) of times during this unique point in America’s history.

  • Trigger warnings- violence, unexpected death, alluding to rape
  • Why I read it- recommendation from a friend

My thoughts (may contain spoilers)