Book Review: The Healing

My friend Julie, who ranks high on the coolness factor, said I must read this book ASAP. Amazingly, I had "go to library" on my to-do list for that day, went to the library, and actually found the book on the shelf! It was a very good library day.

Jonathan O'Dell's The Healing is a can't-put-it-down kind of book. The story flashes between old Granny Satterfield and an orphan girl she inherits, and Granny's life as a slave, first as a pet to the grief-stricken, crazed landowner's wife and then as the plantation's reluctant healer.


Old Granny tells the traumatized orphan girl the story of her life in bits and pieces, hoping to bring healing to her through words and connections. Old Granny was torn from her mother's arms as a newborn at the demand of her mistress, whose own daughter had just died. Mistress dresses the girl, whom she names Granada, in her dead daughter's outfits and keeps her by her side. She doesn't love Granada but needs her as some sort of comfort item or plaything. The mistress also insists on keeping a monkey as a pet, and she becomes a laughingstock of the community, with her slave girl dressed in frills and her pet monkey climbing on her shoulders.

The young Granada, however, is convinced that the mistress sees her as a daughter. She is bewildered and horrified when she is yanked from her comfortable life in the big house to become the new healer's apprentice. The master purchases Polly Shine to cure his slaves of a terrible disease, and Polly immediately sees a kindred spirit in Granada. She insist on having her as a helper, and Granada's life becomes a nightmare. She does learn from Polly, in spite of herself, but her obstinate nature causes more than one disaster.

As Granny narrates her stories to the orphan girl, she finds healing in herself and release from the burden of the poor choices she made during her days as Polly Shine's apprentice.

If you liked such novels as The Help and The Kitchen House, you'll love The Healing! Highly recommended.

Book Review: The Invisible Bridge

Stunning, sweeping, heartbreaking, uplifting: these are the first words that come to mind as I review Julie Orringer's The Invisible Bridge. This novel is simply brilliant, although there is nothing simple about it.

Based on the author's own family story, The Invisible Bridge begins in 1937 with a young and excited Andras Levi, who is on his way from his home in Budapest to study architecture in Paris. The world is wide open before him. He quickly rises to the top of his class, and he falls in love with an older woman with a mysterious past. The reader gets as wrapped up in Andras and Klara as they are, not realizing the incredible danger that surrounds them. Andras and Klara are Jewish, and the war is about to change their lives forever.

The novel takes Andras from Budapest to Paris, back to Budapest and then to the horrors of labor camps. But I don't want to reveal too much, so let me focus on Orringer as a writer. First, there is the  poetry of her writing, the striking images that I had to read over and over:

"He felt the stirring of a new ache, something like homesickness but located deeper in his mind; it was an ache for the time when his heart had been a simple and satisfied thing, small as the green apples that grew in his father's orchard."

"The hills east of Buda had come into their young leaves, insensate to the dead and the grieving. The flowering lindens and plane trees seemed almost obscene to Andras, inappropriate, like girls in transparent lawn dresses at a funeral."

And I was constantly amazed by Orringer's attention to detail—to following each story through to its end. Orringer's characters are so vivid, so multidimensional, I could swear I really know them. And what a tremendous amount of research the author has done as far as the WWII itself. Unbelievable.


I'm really quite astounded by The Invisible Bridge. The last 50 pages or so I read in a doctor's office while waiting for a friend, and I embarrassingly wept now and then. I was slightly numb when I closed the book, stunned by human resiliency as displayed in the character but also stunned by Orringer's ability to craft such a novel.

The Sunday Salon: June and July in Review

Books Read in June and July
The Inquisitor's Key (Jefferson Bass): "So, I loved Body Farm book #1 and found Body Farm book #7 to be tedious and poorly written."
Left Neglected (Lisa Genova): "I loved everything about this novel."
Arranged by Catherine Mackenzie:  "… too much was missing for this to be particularly memorable and engaging for me. Maybe you'll like it more."
Saving Ruth by Zoe Fishman:  "As it is, it's a nice beach read that will take you back to your own coming-of-age days."
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks:  "The novel brings up an array of issues: the European conquest of the New World, the role of religion, gender, race, education, societal and cultural expectations, and even child rearing. Brooks is a beautiful writer and captivating storyteller."
The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen: (Haven't yet reviewed)
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer: (about 50 pages left to read!)

Best Book of the Month(s)
No question: Caleb's Crossing. Left Neglected would come in second.

Added to My Ever-Growing TBR List 
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength by Laurie Helgoe
Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert

Book Review: The Inquisitor's Key

Before I had a chance to read this newest Body Farm novel by Jefferson Bass, I loaned it to an older gentleman—an archeologist— who needed something to read. He devoured it in about one day and absolutely raved about it. I then passed it on to my father, who also was between books. He enjoyed the premise of the book but wasn't crazy about the writing itself.

The real Body Farm is quite close to where I live; you can take a virtual tour of it here with Dr. Bill Bass. I am fascinated by the forensic science presented by writing duo Jefferson Bass. The only other Body Farm book I have read is the first one (there are seven), Carved in Bone, which we read for book club. I really liked Carved in Bone and was excited to have the opportunity to read another one.

Unfortunately, much of the appeal of Carved in Bone was lost for me in The Inquisitor's Key. Carved in Bone was set locally in a neighboring county here in East Tennessee. I loved the characters. But The Inquisitor's Key is set in France and flashes between present day and medieval times in a completely disruptive fashion. I just was annoyed with that whole thing. And the dialogue was rather dreadful. But again, the older gentleman to whom I loaned the book absolutely loved it, stating that it was one of his favorite books ever.

So, I loved Body Farm book #1 and found Body Farm book #7 to be tedious and poorly written. That said, I love the forensic science so much and the character of Dr. Bill Brockton that I will probably read at least another of the novels—but only one that is set in East Tennessee. And I still really, really want to visit the Body Farm!


*FTC Full Disclosure - The publisher sent me a copy of the book, in hopes I would review it.

Book Review: Left Neglected

Lisa Genova's first novel, Still Alice, was terrific. I have been waiting to get my hands on her second, Left Neglected, for quite awhile now and was thrilled to find it on the library shelf. Genova has a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard, so her novels, which deal at one level with complex neurological issues, feel so completely believable. But it isn't just the medicine that's good: Genova is a fantastic writer. She can get spot-on into the heart and soul of her characters.

Left Neglected centers on Sarah Nickerson, who is barely hanging on in her dual roles: as a high-powered business exec who thrives on her job and as a wife/mom with three little ones. Her dreams (done amazingly well!) reflect her inner turmoil and call out warning to her that she is about to crash, but she shoves them aside each morning. One morning, though, she really does crash. While talking on her cell phone on her way to work, she has an accident and ends up with a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The rest of the novel focuses on how Sarah and her family deal with the new Sarah. She suffers from a condition called Left Neglect, which causes the left side of her brain to ignore everything on the left—including her body. Sarah is Type A to the max, so she is determined to get over this condition. She has conquered everything in her life: why can't she conquer this? Ultimately, though, her victory comes in learning to readjust her priorities and reconsider what is really valuable in this life.

I loved everything about this novel. I found reading about Sarah and Bob's pre-accident life so painful yet so well done. It was like the life that Randy and I deliberately decided, early on in our parenthood, not to pursue. Still, I felt these moments if panic thinking: what if we had chosen that life? Yikes. And the sections after the accident were amazing, as Sarah realizes that she has tremendous worth outside of her expertise in her field.

Highly recommended!

Book Review: Arranged

Catherine McKenzie's Arranged explores the possibility of arranged marriages, American-style. Anne Blythe is in her 30s and desperate to get married. She has been in several long-term relationships is crushed knowing that all those men are now settled down and happily married. What is wrong with her?

She finds a business card at her feet one day for a marriage broker and decides to give it a whirl. This is more than eHarmony or other matchmaking websites; this is a thorough, incredibly expensive brokerage service. (How does a woman in her mid-30s who writes for a magazine come up with $10,000 to pay for this, by the way? I do not live in that world.) The story takes off from there when she meets Jack, her guaranteed husband. The book description alerted me that there was a "but..." to their happily-ever-after. I wish I hadn't known that because I never took their relationship seriously, waiting for him to be a serial killer or something.

Does Jack turn out to be a serial killer? Do they live happily ever after? Should you read this book and find out? Well, if you need something to fill the time and happen to come across this is a used book store, sure. The novel isn't throw-against-the-wall annoying. Anne and Jack's story is kind of sweet. But too much was missing for this to be particularly memorable and engaging for me. Maybe you'll like it more.

*FTC Full Disclosure - The publisher sent me a copy of the book, in hopes I would review it.

Book Review: Saving Ruth

Saving Ruth by Zoe Fishman (not to be confused with Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwartz) was a fun coming-of-age novel about a girl who has finished her freshman year in college and returns home for the summer.

Do you remember that feeling? I do. You've been away from home for 9 months, and when you come back, everything has changed. Your world has slipped. You are caught between becoming someone new, and readjusting to who you were.

It occurred to me after reading the novel that I had somewhat of an opposite life as Ruth Wasserman. She is a dark-haired Jewish girl raised in the midst of blond Baptists in the south; I was a blond Protestant raised among scores of dark-haired Italian Catholics in the north. She headed north for college; I headed south. She was a slightly overweight girl who became a skinny girl at college; I was a skinny girl who put on the freshman 10 in college. But those are just accessories to the real story, that of 19-year-old who is finding her place in the world, and being constantly shocked by the revelations that unfold as she goes along.

I liked the novel. It took me back to that place and time quite easily—Fishman does a great job of capturing the thoughts of a 19-year-old. The rest of the characters were rather flat, but this was really all about Ruth, anyway.

I also enjoyed this novel as the parent of two teens because it reminded me about how much our words can affect our kids. In Ruth's eyes, her mom was "always" commenting on her daughter's weight. In her mom's eyes, she made a few comments here and there. This made me think about what I say to my kids regarding their shyness, for example. I don't ever want to make them feel like I don't love them exactly how they are. It's a tricky balance, and so often in comes down to perception.

The book could have had a lot more depth had Fishman revealed other stories that she barely touched upon: the troubled marriage of Ruth's parents, her brother's struggle as an artist, the issue of growing up Jewish in the south. As it is, it's a nice beach read that will take you back to your own coming-of-age days.

*FTC Full Disclosure - The publisher sent me a copy of the book, in hopes I would review it.