Running for My Life

Finished January 5

Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games by Lopez Lomong with Mark Tabb

This autobiography takes us from Lopepe's (Lopez's) kidnapping from his parents at an outdoor church service near his Sudanese home when he was six years old to his life at the time of publication (2012). When the rebels attacked the church congregation, his mother held him close, but the chose him anyway and threw him in the back of a truck with other children. By luck, none of his siblings had come with him and his parents that day. His brother planned to take them to a later service. Three older boys who said they knew his older brother took him under their wing and protected him as best they could on the truck journey and in camp once they arrived. 

While the older boys were soon forced to train as soldiers, the younger ones like Lopez remained in their tent prison all the time. The older boys planned an escape during the night and took him with them. Lopez was already known as a fast runner, and this escape was a real test of both his swiftness and his endurance. The boys made it to the Kenyan border and were taken into a refugee camp, and Lopez never knew the exact identity or what became of his saviours. In camp, Lopez attended classes and ran the perimeter of the camp to earn his right to play football (soccer) and to keep himself busy. He grew to a leadership position in his group and ensured fairness and responsibility for the members. They gathered and shared food and made sure it lasted. 

There was always a dream among the boys to find a life in the West. At one point, Lopez was lucky enough to get to see Michael Johnson run in the Olympics on a staff member's television and this became his dream. When he was sixteen, he was chosen for adoption in the United States and found his new family. Lopez had blocked thoughts of his family from the beginning of his time in the camp, convincing himself that they were dead so that he would be able to move on. This was how he came to be eligible for adoption. 

It took him some time to get used to his new life and we see him go through adjusting to having dependable access to food, to having a bedroom to himself, to learn about electricity and running water that was part of his new home. He called his adoptive parents Mom and Dad right away though and trusted them completely. 

As they soon realized his running skills, he was connected with a coach, and his new parents sought out other boys from the camp who had settled nearby and ensured he had contact with them. They ensured he had academic support to catch up with his schooling, and that he plan for the future. 

When it came to light that his family in Sudan was still alive, they encouraged contact and he has since worked to create a charitable foundation that helps his old community. 

As we see his drive and his empathy, we find a young man that has not only fulfilled his own dreams, but also helps other fulfill theirs. 

Storm Child

Finished June 23

Storm Child by Michael Robotham

This novel is part of the series that features psychologist Cyrus Haven, who often works with the police. Evie Cormac is a young woman who Cyrus fostered and then gave a home to once she reached adulthood. She was found hiding in a hidden space when she was a child, with her captors and abusers uncaught. Evie knows parts of her past, but has not recovered all her memories. 

When she and Cyrus are on vacation at a beach and the bodies of migrant refugees begin washing ashore, Evie has a traumatic response. When she connects with the one teenage boy who survived, and learns of the deliberate ramming of the ship he was on, she becomes engaged with his story. 

Cyrus becomes part of the police investigation, but the police don't realize the reach of the people who are behind this event. When Evie becomes determined to push her own boundaries and dig into her own memories to find the truth, she may also put herself and Cyrus in danger. 

Joining them is a female lawyer, who is a bit of a rebel herself. She works for an organization who help refugees, and has had contact with at least one of the women on the boat that sunk. As she uses her contacts and skills to help, she comes closer to the truth, as well as to Cyrus and Evie. 

This is a topical story in more than one way, and I found myself needing to know what happened to those involved. It had some surprising events that led to a range of emotions as the plot unfolded. 

Moving and very well plotted, this book is a great read. 

Sea Prayer

Finished May 8

Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini, illustrated by Dan Williams

This short book shows a father reassuring his son Marwan as they wait for a boat to take them to what they hope is a better life. It has memories of the past, of better times in their homeland, and of hope for the future.

It also shows a father speaking words of comfort to his son that he isn't entirely sure of himself. 

The memories of a times in nature, watching trees and animals and listening to everyday sounds, and of Homs, a bustling city with its mosque and souk and people going about their day. 

All of that is in the past, changed through the bombs that fell and forced them to flee.

The illustrations work so well here. They have a watercolour feel to them, with light colours of blues, greens, yellows, and reds in nature, and the more muted yet still colourful city scenes. When the book reaches the point where things change, with protests, sieges, bombs, and worse, the colours disappear. The pictures are shades of grey, with only occasional hints of colour, and as the scenes show people leaving for other places they shift to sepia. The sea at the end is a dark sea, greens and blues, and the people still without colour. 

This book was inspired by the death of young Alan Kurdi, and so many other refugees that died trying to reach safety. The author's proceeds of the book go to the UN Refugee Agency and the Khaled Hosseini Foundation, with goes to refugee relief efforts.

This is a moving book, best read slowly, taking in the words and pictures and sitting with them. 

Birds on Wishbone Street

Finished October 6

Birds on Wishbone Street by Suzanne Del Rizzo

This picture book is another lovely creation of Suzanne Del Rizzo. Her books are illustrated with her mixed media creations including a lot of polymer clay elements. This 3D effect really makes the pictures special and lively.

Here we have Moe (Maureen) who father immigrated to North America from Ireland. She is friends with many of the more recent immigrants on her street, who have come from a variety of places around the world. The most recent addition is Sami and his family who have come from Syria. Meo delivers a gift to Sami with winter mitts, hot cocoa and a feather. This is especially apt as Sami is a bird lover. He has a treasured pair of binoculars to watch to the birds and his box of treasures contains other bird-related items. When a female cardinal is found downed after a snowstorm, the children work with a local vet to ensure that she doesn't have injuries they can't see, and Moe learns that Sami had pigeons back home and can look after the cardinal until she is well enough to go back to her mate. 

This is a story of friendship, caring, and community told through one experience. A lovely story that will find a treasured place in many homes. 

What Strange Paradise

Finished October 18 

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad

This book grabbed me and didn't let go. It's a short novel and a real page-turner. It starts with a scene on a beach on a Greek island, where bodies of refugees have washed ashore. Among them is a young boy, Amir, but he isn't dead, and when he rises, and sees people coming for him, he runs.

Following that scene, the story alternates with what led the boy to this place and what happens after he runs. In the before sequences, we see him and his family fleeing their home country of Syria and coming to Egypt, hoping to be accepted by a western country, and we see how he comes to be on a boat crossing the Mediterranean Sea and what happens on that boat. In the after sequences, we see him being found by a teenaged girl, and assisted. Vänna has a difficult home life and something about the boy and his vulnerability puts her in protective mode. As the two try to elude the soldiers looking for the boy, they make their way across the island, hoping for a way out. 

The characters of Amir and Vänna are well drawn, and you see their thoughts and their struggles, from Amir's uncertainty about his family's future and his confusion on the ship to Vänna's dissatisfaction with her life and her worry about Amir. The book is fast-moving and intense with some twists and surprises along the way. Highly recommended.

Victory Colony, 1950

Finished January 3

Victory Colony, 1950 by Bhaswati Ghosh

This historical novel is set in Calcutta, India shortly after Partition. It follows two young people whose lives interact. One of them is Amala, who arrived in the city with her younger brother Kartik as a refugee from East Bengal. They have few possessions and no money, and when Amala looks for food on their arrival, Kartik goes missing. Faced with the threat of police, Amala agrees to join a group of refugees being taken to the Gariahata Refugee Relief Centre. The group of young men that volunteers at the Centre and helps organize the supplies needed includes the second main character, Manas Dutta. Manas is from a good family and near the end of his studies. His father raised him to be considerate of others and encouraged his participation in the larger world. Although his father has passed away, his influence is still strongly felt by Manas. 

Manas lives with his mother and his grandfather in a large, stately home, with a small number of servants who come in for their daily work. But it is a far cry from the situation at the refugee centre, where the housing is temporary, food supplies are limited, as are other amenities. 

As we see Amala grow in confidence, moving through her grief to help others around her, organizing the women in ways to make themselves not only useful but to find ways to bring in some much-needed money, we see her inner strength and goodness. She is a smart woman, who learns quickly and wants to help those around her get ahead as well.

Manas too grows here from a schoolboy doing good deeds, to a man who becomes self-sufficient and starts his life independent of his elders. He is smart as well, and a good organizer and planner, who thinks of trying to make life better for everyone in his world.

I enjoyed see both of these characters grow, both in themselves and in their regard for each other and those that shared their world. I enjoyed Manas' grandfather as well as he came out of his shell of privilege and took the time to learn more about his grandson's friends.

I also learned a lot of Indian phrases and terminology that were conveyed seamlessly here, without the need for a glossary. The author reaches back into her own heritage to create a world I would be interested in following further. A very enjoyable read.

Invisible Murder

Finished November 8

Invisible Murder by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis, translated by Tara Chace

I've read the third book in this series and decided to go back are read an earlier one. This is book two. Most of the book takes place in Denmark with the Red Cross nurse Nina Borg, but the story really starts in Hungary, with a young man, Sándor who finds his life upended. He is a law student at university, but he has a secret. His mother is a gypsy, and he started his life growing up with her and his younger siblings, but during a time they were in a children's home, he was taken away by his biological father, given a new last name, and has lived his life in mainstream Hungarian society. When his younger brother Tamás asks a favour, he gets drawn into a situation beyond his control. He cares about his brother, but with his life also in tatters, he feels he has no choice but to follow his brother to Denmark and see if he can help.

Nina is sometimes helping with outreach to groups in need outside of her day job, but she's promised her husband Morten not to do it when he's away working on the rigs. Her relationship with her teenage daughter Ida is a fraught one, with the girl wanting little to do with her. Anton, at eight, is still a joyful child. 

There is also an older man, Skou-Larsen, who is worried about how his wife handles finances, and wants to try to put safeguards in place for after he dies. But there are limitations on what he can do, even though she appears to have fallen for a vacation property scam and lost a big chunk of money. He is also curious about the mosque being build near their home. As a former municipal employee with the building department, he is always curious about permits and details of new developments and worries about whether this one is all it says it is. 

We also see a man, Soren, who is part of PET, the terrorism side of the police force as they hear of a young Hungarian man who has been on some suspicious websites and now appears to be headed his way. His focus on similar online activity at a local university focuses on a young Muslim man who seems to have something to hide.

There is lots going on here, and as Nina gets drawn in to help with a mysterious illness affecting some gypsies squatting in an abandoned gas station, she finds herself in more trouble than she expected, and when Ida gets involved she begins to fear for their lives.

I really enjoy this series, with so many issues in a book. There is racism and religious prejudice, fear of others, domestic abuse, human trafficking, relics of the Soviet times, and so much more.

When Stars Are Scattered

Finished May 23
When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

This children's graphic novel for older kids tells the story of Omar and his younger brother Hassan. The two are refugees from Somalia. Omar was with his father in the fields of their farm when some men came to talk to his father and he saw his father killed. He knew his mother was coming with the lunch for them, and ran to meet her. She had Hassan with her, and she left the two, telling them to go home and she would come back for them. But she never did. One of their older female neighbours took the two young boys with the rest of the people fleeing the village, and the boys eventually made it to the refugee camp in Kenya that they are living in as the book begins.
They were both malnourished and ill, but have recovered. They live in a hut across from the hut of an older woman, Futuma, who has been assigned to be their foster mother. Hassan is developmentally disabled in an undefined way. He is a mostly cheerful and friendly boy, who has had occasional seizures, and who only speaks one word: Hooyo. It is not until near the end of the book that you understand the significance of this one word.
Omar is very protective of his brother, who can be the target of others, and here he gradually finds himself able to leave Hassan with Fatuma during the day and go to school with his friends. He hopes at first to return to his farm, and eventually sets his sights on a different, more possible future. The support of his best friend, Fatuma, teachers, and social workers help him to find a way forward and a new life for himself.
This is a good book to show the realities of life in a refugee camp and the barriers that must be overcome to make it out of the camp to a more hopeful future.

Tears of Salt

Finished October 19
Tears of Salt: A Doctor's Story of the Refugee Crisis by Pietro Bartolo and Lidia Tilotta, translated by Chenxin Jiang

This is the memoir of Pietro Bartolo, a man who grew up on the Italian island of Lampedusa, and returned there as a doctor. His career there has been marked by the enormous flood of refugees arriving from Africa, many in dire physical condition.
The story jumps around from his personal life, growing up, going to school on the mainland, working as a doctor, stories of meeting his wife who is also a doctor, dealing with the huge numbers of refugees arriving on the island, struggling for support for the work he does, working in his field of obstetrics as well as whatever is needed by the local people and refugees, acting as a coroner and doing autopsies on the refugees who don't survive their flight to freedom and a better life.
I learned many things about the situation there, adding to the knowledge I had from news stories.
The book does not move in a linear fashion, but moves around in time back and forth. Bartolo is obviously hugely affected by the stories he witnesses, but also aware that he is only there for a brief moment in these people's lives, and he doesn't know much of their stories before or after their passage through his island.

Lost Roses

Finished May 20
Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly, read by Kathleen Gati, Tavia Gilbert, Karissa Vacker, and Catherine Taber

This novel is related to the author's earlier Lilac Girls, but happens in the generation earlier, around the first World War. One of the central characters here, Eliza Ferriday, is the mother of one of the main characters in Lilac Girls, Caroline Ferriday.  The story begins in 1914, with Eliza hosting a close friend that she met years before in Paris, Sofya Streshnavya. Sofya is a cousin of the Romanovs, and is married to an army officer. Her father is attached to the Treasury department of the government. Sofya's mother died a few years ago, and her father remarried, to a woman very conscious of status, class, behaviour, and material wealth. Sofya's younger sister Luba has an innovative and scientific mind and is enormously interested in astronomy. As the story begins, Sofya's baby, Max, arrives early, and in good health. Eliza is already a mother to Caroline, and while she loves her husband and daughter, she also loves to travel, and it has been arranged that she will travel back to Russia with Sofya and her family.
The story then jumps to Russia, with Eliza visiting St. Petersburg and visiting the many sites with her friend. The unrest has already begun though, and an incident during an evening to a gala at the Tsar's palace shows that clearly. Eliza makes it home safely, and Sofya's family soon after decides to go to their nearby country estate. There are already some signs of change there as well, and while the family settles in, there are incidents that arise to show what is happening in the world around them.
There is a woman living near the village by the estate that was once a member of court, but married a local man, since died, and now tells fortunes. She has a teenage daughter Varinka, whom she has taught as well as she can, including French and English, and the family hires Varinka as a nanny for young Max when their foreign nanny leaves.
The story really develops from here, showing the terrible extent of the revolution with some rebels bent on destruction and filled with hate for the upper class, while others recognize the individuals that also did good for the people whose lives intersected with theirs. Sofya's family undergoes many terrible things and she must draw on her underlying strength, and the love of her son, as well as her hope for help from her friend Eliza to survive. Varinka is already in a bad place, with the loss of her father placing her and her mother under the control of her father's former apprentice, and subject to his moods and angry actions. She is young and impressionable and doesn't always follow the guidance of her mother.
Eliza, back in the United States, is filled with worry about her friend, which she begins to put toward assisting other Russian refugees, particularly women and children. But she has issues in her personal life as well, with the health of her husband, the growing rift between her and her daughter, and the expectations of the society world she lives in.
This book has sadness and loss, but also hope. Some of my own family fled the area south of St. Petersburg following the Russian Revolution, so it was interesting to see this view of the times.
While drawing from real people and real events, the author clearly discusses in an afterword the sources for the characters that she has built here, showing the detailed research she has put toward this book.
I look forward to her next one, which goes back farther in the same family, centering on the U.S. Civil War.

Too Young to Escape

Finished October 19
Too Young to Escape: A Vietnamese Girl Waits to be Reunited with Her Family by Van Ho and Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

This children's book tells the story of Van Ho, beginning in May 1981. Van woke up at her usual time of 5:00 a.m. one morning, noticing that most of her family wasn't there. Her mother and older sisters often rose early to get a start on their work, but her older brother Tuan wasn't there either. Only herself and her grandmother Bà Ngoại were there. She closed her eyes again as her grandmother rose, and got up when she left their sleeping quarters. Van had some breathing issues, and took a bitter medicine in the mornings to clear her lungs and help with her breathing. After washing, she went down to the level where her aunt and uncle, owners of the house they lived in, slept and quietly took their slippers in, placing them by the bed, for them when they awoke. Then she continued down to the main floor, where she began her task of spinning fiber for rice bags. She continued as her grandmother returned from the market and began cooking breakfast. As it grew light and she heard the movement of her aunt and uncle in the room above her, she stopped and made a trip to the outhouse, coming in to wash her hands and eat her breakfast. She wrapped the remainder of her portion in a ragged dishtowel and put it in her backpack for school. Then she went back down and dusted the main room, then left for school. Van was 4 years old.
As she soon discovered, her mother and siblings had left in the night, heading by boat for Canada, where Van's father and oldest sister had already found haven as refugees.
Van lived in Ho Chi Minh City for another nearly four years as she waited for her family to send for her. She adjusted, made a friend, and enjoyed the packages that came from Canada for the household. She missed her family, but was young enough, she found them harder to remember as the months went by. When she finally was sent for, she and her grandmother had the proper documents and were able to fly to Toronto to meet up with the rest of the family. But even that was quite an adventure.
This story brings to life the situations and circumstances that the Vietnam refugees fled, and creates some understanding for young readers of the difficulties faced by them.
The day to day reality of life in Vietnam for Van and her grandmother are shown in detail, and the photos included here allow the reader to connect with the young girl.
I remember welcoming Vietnamese refugees in my community years before this time, and still have a small gift that one young girl gave to me as I helped her adjust to her new life, so this story really hit home for me.

A Vicarage in the Blitz

Finished February 22
A Vicarage in the Blitz: The Wartime Letters of Molly Rich 1940-1944 will illustrations by Anthea Craigmyle

This collection of letters was written to Otto a refugee from Austria, who came to live at the vicarage in Chiswick with Molly and her family in early 1939. A little more than a year after arriving, Otto, like many young men from Germany and Austria was interned as an enemy alien. At first Otto was interned in England, but then in Australia, and finally back in England again. Eventually, he was released an joined first the Pioneer Corps, and then the Army and fought in the war.
To Molly, he was like another son, and she corresponded with him in that manner. She tried to keep him focused on the future in a positive way, and used what means she could to find out where he was and advocate for him.
Otto saved the letters and it was only in 1974, after Molly's death that he mentioned them to Anthea, Molly's youngest child. The letters numbered over 600, most of them typed. Only some of them are included in this book. Molly was aware of the censorship of letters during the war and tried to avoid including anything that might cause an issue in that regard, telling Otto of goings on in the household, with friends and neighbours, and general news. As a vicar's wife, Molly was very involved in her community, and housed a number of other war refugees, both domestic and foreign, during the war. She worked for a variety of charitable causes, kept a victory garden, did fire-watching, and worried about her children who were either away at boarding school, or evacuated to the country where Molly's mother lived.
The letters are chatty, with lots of everyday information, war worries, and concern for Otto's wellbeing.
The book includes photographs, a map of Chiswick, and a list of the various people mentioned in the letters, with a little about them, along with wonderful drawings by Anthea related to the letters' content. At the back of the book are two appendices, the first listing incidents in Chiswick caused by enemy actions. The second is a timeline of the war, with events that affected Molly and her family.
Anthea enlisted a friend with editing experience to go through the letters and help decide what to include in this book. Other than correcting spelling, the letters are unaltered.

Hinterland

Finished October 31
Hinterland by Caroline Brothers

As the book opens, Aryan, his little brother Kabir, and a number of other refugees are crossing a river from Turkey to Greece in the middle of the night. Aryan and Kabir are from Afghanistan, fleeing to Iran with their mother when one of their older brothers and their father are killed. Now the two boys are on their own, with a plan to get to London, where they believe people are good and human rights are strong, and they will be able to go to school and have a future. Their mantra as they travel is the recitation of capital cities on their route: Kabul-Tehran-Istanbul-Athens-Rome-Paris-London.
Aryan is protective of Kabir, and has befriended another Afghan refugee Hamid, who seems more knowledgeable. But circumstances soon separate the brothers from Hamid, and they are on their own again.
As they move along their route, sometimes stalling for long periods of time and other times moving quickly, the boys meet people who are helpful and people who take advantage of them. They undergo many difficult situations, but never lose sight of their goal.
The author worked as a journalist and saw many of the places the boys cross through herself, talking to refugees, and those trying to help them, and learning of their stories. Many of those stories inform this book, and the truth of those experiences bring this book to life. You can imagine these boys being real, as so many children are undergoing similar experiences.
The book includes an interview with the author and information for further reading on this subject.
A very captivating and worthwhile read.

Chasing Chaos

Finished March 20
Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid by Jessica Alexander

This memoir covers the years 2000 to 2010, with an epilogue in 2013. Jessica started her career in advertising but found that unsatisfying and switched to work in the humanitarian aid arena in her mid-twenties. It took her some time to find her way in this world, choosing the educational route that provided a base of knowledge that would take her to the senior role she is in by 2013 with the U.N. Her first field job was in Rwanda in 2003, following which she returned to New York. Again back in the field in 2005, she was first in West Darfur in a role involving children and then in North Darfur where she was coordinating a refugee camp. Her next field job, also in 2005, took her to Sri Lanka and Indonesia following the tsunami relief work and evaluating the success of projects. She again returned to New York and then a Fulbright scholarship took her to Sierra Leone in 2006-2007 to study the reintegration into society of the child soldiers there. Back home in New York by 2008, she took a desk job and resumed a more normal life until the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 took her there for six months to monitor the aid there. By 2013 she was still in New York working for the U.N., and teaching at three institutions while pursuing her Ph.D.
Her experiences in each of the countries she worked in was different, depending on her experience, her role, and the state of the country itself. She is very open about her experiences, discussing frustrations, culture shock, and burnout issues. Everyone she meets is human, with skills and flaws. She has changed people's names and identifying information to protect their privacy, which I think makes her more able to discuss the realities of the situations.
This book was enlightening on this field of work, making real the environments, human reactions, and politics involved.

Last Train to Istanbul

Finished August 28

Last Train to Istanbul by Ayşe Kulin, translated by John W. Baker

This historical fiction novel is set before and during World War II. It centers around two Turkish sisters, Sabiha and Selva. They are the daughters of Fazil Reşat Paşa, one of the last Ottoman pashas, educated well, and raised to be enlightened. Sabiha, the oldest, does what is expected of her, marries Macit, a young man of good background who has a promising government job as a member of the general staff working in foreign affairs under President Inõnü. 

Selva is more intelligent, the pride of her father, and knows her own mind. When she falls for a young man from a good family, Rafael Alfandári the problem is that he is Jewish. Both families are opposed, but Selva is determined. Once her family realizes that she won't do what they want, they agree to a civil marriage, but Fazil cuts her out of his life. Feeling ostracized, the young couple decide to start their lives in Paris, But when the Nazis move in, their situation becomes dangerous. They move to Marseilles where Rafo puts his money into a chemist shop where he also works, and Selva gives English and piano lessons. But their situation becomes more difficult, and now they have a child to consider as well, young Fazil, named for his grandfather. 

Back in Turkey, Sabiha is very worried about her sister, trying to get Macit to intervene in some way, pleased when Tarik Arica, the young man from the diplomatic corps she has been tutoring in French gets a posting in Paris, hoping he can do what her husband Macit seems unable to and bring Selva home. The two sisters' stories work together to bring the real history of this time to life. We see the Turkish diplomats in Ankara, Paris, Vichy, and Germany working to save their citizens from all religious backgrounds, looking back at their long history of tolerance, and trying to stay neutral to keep their own country safe. We see the plight of other Jews in France as well, and how some of their histories entwine with those of the Turks. 

A good read that will have your emotions involved with these characters. 

The Burgess Boys

Finished July 28
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

This novel tells us the story of Bob and Jim Burgess and their sister Susan. The story begins when the boys are in their fifties and Susan's teen son Zach does something unthinkable. All three adults grew up in Maine, and while Bob and Jim left, Susan stayed, married, had Zach, divorced, and just tried to do the best she could. But their town started to shrink with all the young people leaving, until it became a haven for refugees from Somalia. Zach, for reasons unclear even to him, has taken a frozen pig's head and rolled it into a building that the Somalis use as a mosque. Zack is ignorant of the meaning of his action to his victims until it becomes a rallying point in the nation for intolerance and hate.
Jim left Maine years ago, becoming well known for his successful defence of a client and going on to a big New York City law firm. Bob has also gone to New York City, but his legal career has taken a different route. Susan calls on Jim to help with Zack's situation, but it is Bob who will come with earnestness, trying to be there for his twin sister despite her feelings toward him.
Jim, Bob, and Susan, are all shaped by their father's death, run over by a car they were in, with Bob, too young to remember, supposedly responsible for moving the gear shift out of park. While this incident had a huge effect on all of them, it is something never talked about. The boys return to Maine to assist their sister brings it back to the surface in ways unexpected, and relationship changing.
This is a book about the impulses of youth, about guilt and tolerance, about how you can never really escape where you came from. A book about a family, and their baggage. A book about growth and community.

Ru

Finished July 9
Ru by Kim Thúy

This was the winner of the Governor General's Award for Fiction and is drawn from the author's own experiences in Vietnam as a child, fleeing as one of the boat people, making a new life in Montreal, and returning to Vietnam as an adult. It is written in very short segments, some only a couple of sentences, some a few pages. It jumps back and forth in time between various points in childhood and adulthood. It is strong with memories, evoking a situation, a feeling, an encounter.
It is a very different book, hard to define, and leaving one with a feeling of being somewhere else. The reader is drawn into the thoughts and feelings of the narrator through the wonderful language used to bring these scenes to life. This is a book describing love, in all its many forms. And it is a book showing the lengths people will go to for survival, for a chance to live.

The Postmistress

Finished October 21
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake, read by Orlagh Cassidy

This novel jumps back and forth between London, England and the small Cape Cod town of Franklin, Massachusetts in the months before the United States entered World War II. In London, we have American journalist Frankie Bard, first giving war commentary on the radio to folks back home, and later travelling into Germany and German-occupied France to gather the story of refugees.
In Franklin, we have Iris James, the postmistress, a strong, upright woman who has recently fallen in love with an older man, Harry. She knows that Harry is the man for her and takes the step of getting a doctor's certificate proving her virginity, a document that means a lot to her and she believes will mean a lot to Harry too. Iris is a watcher, watching the people of the town, their comings and goings, and caring about them. Harry is also a watcher, but he is watching for threats from outside, specifically for German u-boats. Every day, he goes up in the town hall and watches the ocean.
New to town is Emma, the doctor's new wife. Emma has led a life filled with loss, with both her mother and older brother dying in the influenza pandemic when she was a child. Her relationship with Will gives her a home and the love she has craved. They are very close, but Will feels the need to prove himself as a result of his late father's reputation in town. As a new doctor, when he loses a patient, he takes it personally and struggles with the guilt he feels around it. The need to make penance for this drives him away from his home and Emma toward danger in a move that sets him down a new path.
Also, in Franklin a more minor character, Otto, has a role. Otto rooms with Harry and works for him in the local garage, and has an obvious German accent. The townspeople make assumptions about him and treat him as a threat to them, imported from the war overseas.
As we see these stories evolve, and eventually come together in a way that brings all these lives to a meeting place, we see the effect of the war and people's choices on others.
A wonderful story, with strong characters and interesting storylines. Seeing war through different eyes with focus on the home front and the refugees results in a very engaging read.

Cities of Refuge

Finished July 9
Cities of Refuge by Michael Helm

This novel is set in Toronto, and the title alludes to the various cities that exist for different people. Kim is a woman in her late twenties who has rejected the life of academic historian her father planned for her. She works a night security shift at the ROM and volunteers at GROUND, an organization that assists refugees. One night on her way to work, Kim is attacked and the attacker isn't identified or caught. She deals with this trauma by gradually venturing out into the night again, by writing about a man she imagines to be her attacker, and in trying to dredge any information from her memory of the attack to assist in identification. Kim's mother is ill and gradually failing and Kim moves back in with her and her stepfather to assist.
Her father Harold won't let go of this and is sure her work with GROUND has exposed her to the attack. He digs deeper into the world of refugee assistance, but continues to hide some of his own past from his daughter. The past connects with present in his head and logic begins to fail him.
In the world of refugees and those helping him, we meet the young man Rodrigo, a refugee from Colombia living in Canada illegally picking up casual labour, trying to stay out of trouble. He is living with Rosemary, a woman compelled by her faith and sense of right to help those refugees who have failed the government's criteria. Also helping is Father André whose feels assisting refugees and others in need is part of his mission.
As these world's gradually come together we see how each views the city around them in different ways.
Wonderfully written, with complex characters, this book has many layers and stories that reach back into the past.

Room for All of Us

Finished November 24
Room for All of Us by Adrienne Clarkson
Clarkson gathers stories of Canadians who have brought something from another culture to make Canada a richer country in its people and outlook. From Ismaili Canadians, through Holocaust survivors, from Vietnamese boat people to Tamils, from Vietnam War deserters to Chilean refugees, she looks at people who came to this country with nothing or very little. These people haven't forgotten their past, but they have become Canadians and are looking to the future and how they can make Canada even better. This is an interesting look at an issue that reappears in our country time and again, how we accept immigrants including refugees, and what difference they make to the country.
The people she has chosen have not only done well for themselves, but also have done well for the country. The book makes the argument to continue our past practice of welcoming newcomers and continuing to make Canada a country where the identity of a Canadian is a positive, sharing, community-building one, that helps its poorest citizens become productive members of the community.
Inspiring and a call to look at our immigration practices.