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Every Tuesday Diane from Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where participants share the first paragraph (or a few) of a book they are reading or thinking about reading soon.
With an effort, Patrick walked back to the hired coach and thrust the puppy inside. Then, catching the door frame, he pulled himself up after. "You, my miserable little whelp, are a sad case indeed," he told the cowering creature. "But I think I know someone who will doubtless welcome you."
Posted for The Friday 56, which is hosted by Freda's Voice
This novel is set in decadent Regency England. Elise Rand is the only child of a very wealthy merchant, Bart Rand. Patrick Hamilton is a rich and ambitious merchant. When Bart Rand is accused of murdering a prostitute, Elise goes to Patrick to defend her father. Patrick refuses to do that but agrees on one condition that she will give herself to him. Elise agrees to it.
However, there is more to it. Elise is a reformist. She is not above helping poor girls who have been forced to sell their bodies. She goes out of her way to get medical help for them. She is not from the nobility but she can stand on her own. She believes her father to be innocent although he refuses to reveal the truth. Patrick is not convinced of Bart's innocence. Yet he agrees to fight the case.
In the midst of the case, we find out that many other prostitutes too have been murdered. Now who is the culprit? The novel keeps the suspense alive till the end. This novel is more like victorian suspense then a romance and that suits me fine!
Every Tuesday Diane from Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where participants share the first paragraph (or a few) of a book they are reading or thinking about reading soon.
Anne-Sophronia jolted awake into darkness, a choked sob coming from her throat. She fought a battle with twisted ropes of sheets she finally realized were not restraining, cruel hands. A frantic brush over her arms, and she found them slicked only with sweat. No blood. No cuts and glass shards, only scars. She trailed her shaking fingers over the embossed lattice of fine lines on her wrists and the underside of her forearms. The motion stoked her anger as she emerged from her dreamlike state to wakefulness.
December
This cold has taught me
about the nature of souls.
Although I have known
a long time ago that the body
is meant to be a sieve for
the soul fermenting inside,
I am still surprised by the fog
of breath coming out of my mouth.
So dense. It seems that I am not the only one
who is exhaling in this frozen yard.
Night Fish by Kristine Ong Muslim
Night Fish is a 13-poem chapbook. The poems refer to water, all kinds of water bodies and watery life. Life is compared with the uncertainty of the ocean and how the human mind adapts to it.
A key poem that familiarises the reader to the whole collection is “Heat Stroke”, a condition where moisture is non-existent and grief has triumphed. Heat Stroke is palpable. We can almost touch it----
We ultimately learn to slice impressions,
separate them according to texture.
Smooth-skinned on top. Rusty underneath.
Grit and cruelty crammed in the middle.
Heat presents itself in the form of waves
melting the world away. Squandering nothing.
Alec flinched as Scarlett’s teeth pierced his skin, causing him to jerk his hand back in stunned surprise. He couldn’t believe it. She’d bitten him. He stared at his hand in disbelief. The wretched little brat had actually drawn blood.
Two years later
Lost in thought, Alec Weston idly rubbed his left thumb across the pliant flesh between the thumb and index finger of his right hand, along the four, faint white scars that permanently marred the top of his hand. They were barely visible, unnoticeable to anyone but himself really, but he had developed the unwitting habit of rubbing his thumb over the tiny ridges, most often when he was agitated.
The Hellion and The Heartbreaker by Jennifer McNare
Scarlett McPhearson has four doting brothers and has been spoiled by them. She is as fiery as her red curls. She has always known the Duke of Worthe and secretly vowed to have him since she was 13. Alex is attracted to her but he does not wish to dally with his best friend's sister. Scarlett sets out to seduce him and he makes her no promises.
Set in the Regency period, the novel has good potential. Scarlett offers Alex her love but he is not ready for that. What I liked about the novel the way her brothers stood up for her. They did not berate her for falling in love. They supported her and were always with her.
Every Tuesday Diane from Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where participants share the first paragraph (or a few) of a book they are reading or thinking about reading soon.
England, 1840
When he finished reading, the paper fell lightly from his fingers and settled onto his lap. He sat immobile for several long minutes, his mind reeling in complete and absolute shock. This was insanity. He picked up the discarded letter and read it once again, shaking his head in outrage and disbelief. He had been abducted to impregnate a woman. That was it. No reason why, and no explanation as to why he in particular had been chosen, was given. If he failed to cooperate, made any attempt to escape or tried to discover the identity of his captor or the woman, his sister, currently held at an undisclosed location would be killed.
Dreaming of You by Jennifer McNare
Melody Settrington is married to Charles Cavendish, the elderly Earl of Edgington. He is impotent and wants an heir at any cost and he can go to any length to achieve that. He chooses Gavin Montrose, son of the wealthy Duke of Rutherford, to be the father. Gavin is kidnapped and is forced to abide by Cavendish or his younger sister would be harmed. He has to perform in utter darkness without seeing the woman's face. And he won't have any contact with his own child.
Melody is as reluctant as Gavin but she too has no choice, or her family will be destitute and her brother will die without the care needed for his special illness. As soon as Melody gets pregnant, Gavin is released. And then they meet after some years...
Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.
I'm on Air France, destined for Los Angeles. Fleeing Aziz, my husband of twenty years, the man I married when I was fifteen. The only lover I've ever known. He believes that I will return to him. I will not. Why? Because I can't resist his drunken eyes, velvet words, and persuasive hands that know where to press softly and where to stroke hard, where to linger and where to slither away, where to cup and hold and warm.
And I won't return because I can't free myself from Parvaneh.
Title: Scent of Butterflies
Author: Dora Levy Mossanen
ISBN: 9781402284434
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark/2014
Pages: 282
It is 1999. Soraya is a wealthy Jewish Iranian, with blond hair and green eyes. She has left behind her husband in Iran and flown to Los Angeles. Unknown to Aziz, she does not intend to return to him. She thinks her best friend, Parvaneh and Aziz are lovers. She had seen them together in intimate position.
Aziz thinks she is visiting US on a photographic assignment and would be back soon. We see Soraya musing about her life in Iran in the post Shah era. Her love and obsession for Aziz, so much so that she has been on the pill all these time as she does not want to share her husband with anyone not even their children.
Soraya buys a mansion in Bel Air which has a huge garden in the back. She is into collecting butterflies and growing exotic plants. When she is not thinking about her husband, she is thinking about plants and insects. Her best friend, Parvaneh's name means "butterfly" and Soraya thinks only of revenge, and punishment for Parveneh.
When Aziz and Parveneh visit her, she comes to know about a hidden truth which totally breaks the thread for all her relationships. Soraya is not a likable character. She is unstable and obsessive. When Aziz discovers about her being on the pill, it breaks him apart. She had always gone to all kinds of fertility clinic for him.
Musing Mondays asks you to muse about something related to reading/books each week…...
I am going to muse about another book of poetry this week.
Blue Collar Eulogies by Michael Meyerhofer
In this book of poetry, Meyerhofer has taken everyday observations and connected those in a very compelling way. One is taken by surprise by the turnings in his poetry. His poems seem to jump from one thought to another without that disjointed awkwardness. The poems speak of his experiences and he is not squeamish about the raw feelings or emotions.
The language and tone are simply amazing and right from the beginning to the end, the reader is never ever let down. The nuances are so well brought out that one is left with the feeling of wanting more and more of his poetry.
Meyerhofer has covered a whole range of topics and the depth is retained throughout. For example, take the following......
"The Crayon Not Taken."
On the way to your grandmother's,
you told them about the stupid boy in class
who forgot what color pumpkins were,
and because you always played by the rules,
now you are wealthy and married.
I, on the other hand, have lived
in the back seat of a '99 Cavalier in late July
when heat melts the life from the seeds
and, because it has no place else to go,
it wrestles through the soil for air.
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Hank Pualoa leaped in the air and spiked the volleyball into a waiting two-hand block. He watched it spin out of bounds toward the picnic tables.
"Side out! Over here, hon!" Hank called from the makeshift court staked out with towels and sneakers in the grass.
Malia stopped the ball with her bare foot, and her husband loped over to retrieve it. But as he reached for it, she pressed down harder to get his attention. He snatched the ball out from under her foot and defiantly stood eye to eye with her, his craggy face brick-red from playing hard under the afternoon sun. She scowled. "Hank, we gotta go."
"Your timing's lousy, Malia." He tucked the ball under one arm. "We're only behind by one point."
"It's never a good time for you. If you're not winning big you're desperate to get even. Believe me, it's time to quit."
Cry Ohana by Larry and Rosemary Mild
Hank Pualoa's wife dies in an accident, which is result of Hank's drunk driving. His two kids survive but Hank is so ashamed that he leaves his children with their grand mother and disappears from their lives. His brother Big John has always taken care of the kids. Now his son Kekoa is 12 and daughter Leilani is 16.
Big John's partner, Red Murphy has been stealing from the company and Big John has just discovered the loss. When Big John confronts Red, Red murders Big John. Kekoa is a witness. Red Murphy has seen him so Kekoa runs away from from home to escape Red. He finds work doing odd jobs and longs to see his sister and grand mother. Meanwhile their grandmother too dies and Leilani is sent to live with another family where Read Murphy can keep an eye on her.
Survival of Kekoa depends on his wit. The story is action packed and the reader is kept guessing about Hank' whereabouts in all this. I like the way the authors dealt with Hawaiian customs and dialects. We might not approve of Hank's running away but Kekoa more than makes up for it. He is smart and outwits Red Murphy at every step.
Last I said: “We need people,” and I modeled faces and hands, lips, teeth, and tongues. I dressed them and wigged them and breathed into their lungs.
And I looked at the people and I looked at the animals and I looked at the land. And I saw they were good.
The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen
Ten-year-old Judith McPherson is a young believer. She has constructed a miniature of the "promised Land" in her room from scraps. Her father is devout and they believe in simple living. Judith follows her father's teachings unquestioningly.
The rubbish for her translates into The Land Of Decoration. She sees divinity everywhere. She has problems in school in the form of bullies and her father's job is affected by a strike in the factory where he works. Judith tries to change the happenings by making changes to her constructions. It looks like as God is on her side. But all this goes out of hand. Suddenly she cannot control what is going on.
A motherless Judith thinks her father does not love her. Mainly because her mother died while giving birth to her. When something happens and her father almost resorts to violence, Judith's world is rocked. Her father is no longer a believer and Judith wants him to be one.
Judith is the narrator. The book is tough to read but I liked the girl's point of view. The negative characters makes the story plausible. And it deals well with the issue of father's love for his daughter even though she might think he does not love her. For all his toughness, her father loves and cares for her as only a father can.
All that I have I carry on me.
Or: All that is mine I carry with me.
I carried all I had, but it wasn't mine. Everything either came from someone else or wasn't what it was supposed to be. The gramophone box served as a pigskin suitcase. The light overcoat came from my father. The fancy coat with the velvet collar from my grandfather. The knickers from Uncle Edwin. The leather gaiters came from our neighbor Herr Carp, the green woolen gloves from Aunt Fini. Only the burgundy silk scarf and the toilet kit belonged to me, present from the previous Christmas.
I must mention here that Herta Müller is a German-Romanian novelist, poet, essayist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1987, she immigrated to Berlin after suffering repeated threats for refusing to cooperate with Ceaușescu's secret police.
MY REVIEW:
Title: The Hunger Angel
Author: Herta Müller
ISBN: 97808505093018
Publisher: Metropolita Books/2014
Pages: 285
The novel is narrated in the voice of Leo Auberg, a 17-year-old. He is discovering the "forbidding pleasure" of being a gay. He meets men in park pavilions and in the Neptune Baths. If discovered it would land him in prison or a penal colony. But he is sent to a labour camp because his name is in the list as he is of German origin. He is almost glad to be in the list. Before they come to take him away, Leo turns a gramophone case into a suitcase and fills it with after shave, socks, burgundy silk scarf, a poetry book and a book by Faust. What he gets from his grandmother are five words: "I know you'll come back."
Survival is not easy when all one can think about hunger, all the time. The equation is 1 shovel load=1 gram of bread. The anger, anguish and dejection takes over him. He dreams of escape but that is only an illusion. Even when he is free after five years, he is still trapped in the labour camp. One is with Leo yet cannot fathom the depth of despair.
Kati, another inmate of the labour camp is of feeble mind. She does not understand authority or punishment. She is happy in her own world because she does not understand this world. Her portrayal is so touching. Her presence in the camp shouldn't have happened but someone substituted her name for another.
Reading The Hunger Angel, I learnt much about forced-labour camps. I wasn't aware of the fact that Romanians with a German origin were deported to Soviet labour camps. Thousands died in those camps. Herta Müller says in the afterword that “the deportations were a taboo subject because they recalled Romania’s fascist past.” But she refused to keep quiet about it. She spoke with former deportees and connected with the poet Oskar Pastior who had spent years in a Soviet forced-labour camp. He died but Müller continued with her work from the notes she had made and The Hunger Angel happened. A must read for those who want a slice of history and aren't into easy read.
“You should have told me you were with child.”
He tugged her thick, honey blond braid until she looked at him again. “I could have gotten leave sooner, maybe even more than once.”
“Grandma?” Evan asked, grabbing her attention.
Elle shook her head, the tears beginning to cascade down her tired face.
“When?” he asked.
Elle reached for his hand. “Last night…right in Grampa’s lap.”
“In the rockin’ chair?” he asked, his voice cracking.
Elle nodded again.
Evan’s eyes filled. “Where else?” he said.
"But for now it would wait till tomorrow's funeral. We'd bury Stephen in peace, without a father, the way he was born."
~~~~Page 185
Title: Murder in the Ashram
Author: Kathleen McCaul
ISBN: 9780749953638
Publisher: Piatkus/2011
Pages: 320
Stephen Newby's body is found in River Yamuna. His best friend and flatmate, Ruby Jones cannot understand the reasons. She goes sleuthing on her own to find out. As the title suggest, it is supposed to be murder mystery, which should keep the reader in tenterhooks. But no such thing happens. Ruby Jones, who aspires to be an international news journalist, is not interesting enough. Her musings do not do anything for the suspense element which should have been there.
As ashrams go, this shows the dark side of a well known one. Stephen and Ruby were regulars there, both in love with a wannabe Guru, Rani. Stephen was in search for his unknown father. The reader can make out, who is his father right from the beginning.
I live in Delhi, and the geographical descriptions left much to be desired. There are major discrepancies. Wazirabad bridge is no where near Dakshinpuri. Mckaul did not do much research in that arena. This fact alone made me want to shout!!
One can read it as a travelogue if one is so interested, but I say don't waste your time. I am not going to pick any other book by this author. EVER. Unless you pay me million dollars!
"They say Man's first tool was a hammer,
which makes sense since I can't
imagine apes working a protractor,
much like a sextant under the wet stars."
~~Page 7, The Trouble with Hammers
Real Courage is a chapbook and the poetry in there is very very different, with many layers. At one place, it might seem very simple and next line completely surprises us.
Ode To Dogs (Page 22)
I am tired of hearing about dogs
used as metaphors for the uncivilized.
Imagine a world in which humans
possessed at least twenty times
as many olfactory receptors,
able to distinguish the tang of cancer
rising musk-like from the bedsheets
next to a smoldering ash tray,
able to detect that one drop of blood
in every five quarts of water,
to know what you did last night
no matter how many times
you soap-scrubbed the evidence.
It does not take savagery
but more love than we can muster
to lick the hand you've sniffed,
to love despite the perfume of sins
we wear each day like a halo.
This well depicts who is uncivilized.
About Michael Meyerhofer: Michael Meyerhofer's third book, Damnatio Memoriae, won the Brick Road Poetry Book Contest. His previous books are Leaving Iowa (winner of the Liam Rector First Book Award) and Blue Collar Eulogies (Steel Toe Books, finalist for the Grub Street Book Prize).
He has also published five chapbooks: Pure Elysium (winner of the Palettes and Quills Chapbook Contest), The Clay-Shaper's Husband(winner of the Codhill Press Chapbook Award), Real Courage (winner of the Terminus Magazine and Jeanne Duval Editions Poetry Chapbook Prize), The Right Madness of Beggars (winner of the Uccelli Press 3rd Annual Chapbook Competition), and Cardboard Urn (winner of the Copperdome Chapbook Contest).
Title: Borderlands
Author: Brian McGilloway
