Margitte's Reviews

 Purchase links: Ocean books, Wheelers 

Genres: Biography, historical fiction, family 
Format: Paperback, 330 pages 
Publishing date: March 22nd 2013 by Oceanbooks 
ISBN 9781272159 
Edition language: English 

Malcolm lost everything in life when his mom died and his dad abandoned him at the train station. As trauma after trauma manifested in this young boy's life, his brain closed off the section when his memories became too much to handle. As a result he became more quiet and eventually stop speaking altogether. He had to endure terrible odds to survive, but had the presence of mind to know what was actually happening with- and around him. He was admitted to the Seacliff Asylum, which later would be named Seacliff Mental Hospital. It was also known as the Loony Bin or Booby Hatch, where "Malcolm gleaned that mad people shouldn’t speak. It only caused trouble and more work. They should sit and be quiet. Quietly mad. They lived in a world full of silent people in The Building – that’s what the hospital was called.

He suffered and witnessed the aftermath of experimental treatments, including the embarrassing concept of Eugenics, on people and at one point decided to take control of his own destiny by hiding his medicines in his pocket seams and not drinking it in the hope of improving his memory, which were constantly destroyed by The Treatment. With all The Treatments they had to endure through the years, and all the medicines fed to them to calm them all down, the 'inmates' lost their mind altogether. A little voice in him encouraged him to fight back his own silent way.


Seacliff Lunatic Asylum 

The book is not only a commemoration of the historical building, Seacliff Lunatic Asylum in New Zealand, but also a detailed description of the lives and characters who graced it with their presence as either the 'rejects' of society, or the staff who worked there for many years. The characters are so endearing, I almost felt like going to them and say "I am so sorry society treated you this way". 

The story winds through the historical facts with ease and a gripping tale is introduced to the reader. The tale is very well written. 

This book reminds me of the movie "One flew over the Cuckoo's nest" , which also had me laughing and crying. Eventually Malcolm's spirit would triumph and in his case it became a celebration, after confirmation, of hope which never died:

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." --(Movie quote from: The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - Andy Defresne (Tim Robbins)

What an amazing story!

Susan Tarr has been writing for 25 years. The author started writing when she lived in Kenya, far away from home, writing letters to her mom about her daily life and adventurous experiences in this African mileu. She decided to turn it into a book.

The stories in "SEACLIFF: A Regular Boy Within" have been blended from recollections of what probably did happen during the book's setting. She worked in Mental Health, Govenrnment Printing, Education Board and Social Welfare before sailing to Kenya, where she raised her family. While she always has a book or two on the go, she is also busy proofreading for others. Her favorite genres for writing are historical fiction and romantic comedies.

She draws her characters and inspiration from personal experience and other peoples’ anecdotal stories. Her characters take on a life of their own, becoming larger than life. Various stories in this historical fictional taleSeacliff , have been blended from recollections of what probably did happen during the book’s setting. To protect those people still living, changes were made where necessary, but the the dates, places, and names are otherwise correct.

It's brainy and brawny; a cod drill on the grill 

Grand Bank, southeast coast of Newfoundland Canada. This is the little part of heaven where RCMP Sergeant Winston Windflower, his girlfriend, Sheila Hillier, his sidekick , the incessant chattering Corporal Eddie Tizzard and his other interesting friends get to spend a quiet uncomplicated life. 

Their days are filled with culinary delights, chess- and card games and generally as little trouble as possible. But that was before a body is discovered on the T and a fortune cookie promises him exciting times ahead. With the cod fish industry going belly up, a few people in town have to find other ways of keeping the peanut-butter cheesecake affordable and on the menu for many, and their conduct promises to give a totally different meaning to the concept of exciting times...

For some people, trouble is their comfort zone, and where there aren't any, they create it in any which way they can. After all, a little bit more trouble can bring a little bit more monetary cushioning in their lives. They are a bunch of characters that would stir the pot considerably for Winston Windlfower: people such as Claude Lapierre; Roger Buffet; and Ernie Daley, the slime bucket, who does not mind the "hoccupational azzards" his aspirations would incur; and the mayor, Francis Tibbo, waddling in on the action, sputtering "What is going on in this community, Sergeant? Dead bodies being found by children as they play on the beach? A well-known community member dragged out of the water? People want answers, I want answers!" His attempt at righteous indignation came across as shrill and fatuous. Francis Fatuous. It fits indeed.

From then on, not only the cod tongues gets steamed up, or fried, with scallops on the side, dished out with a rosé sauce made of tomatoes, fresh, cream, black pepper, onions, and some Parmesan cheese. Like the cod and vegetables forming a scrumptious community on the plate, the people of Grand Banks are in for a serious drill on the grill of bad intentions and good guys stepping in to save the day in a thrilling adventure along the beautiful coast lines of Newfoundland. Nothing will ever be the same.

Like the sauce, the story promises to be just as tart and tangy. Exhilaration and drama drives this easy, decent read. It is a fast read, yet slow enough to include a complete image of life in Grand Bank Newfoundland. The detailed scenery, the history, dialects, recipes and many more information in the plot- building ensure that this is undoubtedly a feel-good read.

I recommend this book to the reader who enjoys a good story that would not spread gut and gore all over the ocean floor. It is clean, fresh and perfectly spiced.

Reviewed as member of the Kindle Book Review Team

Lacey's House by Joanne Graham

After reading this book I sat for a while, totally speechless and dumbfounded. It took several minutes, a lot of 'several minutes' actually, to come back to my own life and its immediate demands. Believe me, I almost did it kicking and screaming! 

For a debut novel, this is surely one of the best I have ever read! There is so much I want to, and can, say, but somehow my thoughts just drifted off in a multicolored hot air balloon over the Winscombe skies. There was simply none left for me to write a suitable review with.

Two women, young Rachel Moore and 84-year old Tracey Eleanor Carmichael, ended up living side by side in Apple Lane, Winscombe where Rachel moved into Dove cottage next to Tracey. The address was not only words to suit a chocolate-box address. Lacey's House would open up a journey for both to finally rise above: electric shock treatments; a lobotomy; a cruel life in an orphanage; an unknown mother who valued her alcohol addiction above everything else; a monstrous doctor; an ignorant vicious community; a village outlay in the form of a question mark; a woman talking to the dead at their graves, planting roses there because it was a hated flower for that particular deceased, since in real life her words was forced inside her head for safety reasons; a cat named Peachy. And then there was Charlie...

"That's the funny thing about small village life, reputations often last longer than the person themselves." But perceptions can be forced to change. When "Albert was dead lying on the floor of his house with his blood serving as a cushion for his head", the increasingly embellished tale of a witch, which was told to children in the dark of night, suddenly took a turn that would change lives forever.

Without the truth, fiction is not possible. "This story... this story is different, tantalizing, compelling" Lacey herself said that, which saves me from using the publishing-industry's neologism to sing the praise of this 2012 Luke Bitmead Bursary Award-winning book. Although there's no love lost for sentimentality in the book, the same compassionate message is present as evident in my speechless state of wonder afterwards!

This tale proves a theory: Anything, from an unwanted -ism to an un-addressed emotion, forced underground, takes root and flourish. People sadly and often deny it. And if it is nourished well, deeply loved, it can push up beautiful flowers to face the sun. But to become beautiful, it needs strong roots underground, in the often dark, in the uncompromising toughness of the earth. It is the only way that the perfect flowers can rise above the surface and charm the world. Even well-nourished weeds have beautiful flowers.

This book addresses the wealth and strength of the human spirit in unimaginable ways. The elements used in the book, two vastly opposite life stories, with one common denominator namely the absence of love as children, are not unknown to the world at all, but the combination used in this narrative, makes it stand out way above the average novel in this genre. 

The conclusion is surprising and original. 

In the end it confronts us all, who we are and how we ended up as human beings and what became of us in the aftermath of those choices. It is not how and where we were planted,but how we utilized the nourishment bestowed on us to paint the picture we would ultimately call our chocolate-box address. What a difference attitude can make!

Maura was one of those wallflowers: colorful enough to be sometimes noticeable, but most of the time so inconspicuous as to vanish into the bigger design of life on the wall, unless someone made the effort to take a closer look. Someone like her narcissistic husband, Nick.

Growing up, in school: "I (Maura) had the misfortune of being acceptable but not particular popular. I think, in a way, this is worse than being totally alone and rejected. You can see what you are let in on and what you're excluded from, what you're invited to and what was only for a more select group. You can be part only of some conversations, but listen to others without understanding them fully. You're the one left out when numbers are tight and you have no idea why. So at school I had friends, of a sort, but none that I really trusted or who trusted me, although I longed to be important enough to be taken into someone's confidence."  She would experience the same in her adopted town Dowerby.

As an already married woman with a young daughter, Maura met Kim. She was her first real friend whom she could trust and who changed her outlook on life in many ways. Kim opened up a world of exciting possibilities to her, which she grabbed onto with everything she had. There was just one problem: the Dowerby town did not find comfort in the feisty, free-spirited new journalist in their midst. They did not appreciate Kim's nosy questions about town management and people's private lives, especially not those of the council members. Suddenly there was someone who did not flinch in rocking their safe little wooden boxes in which they flourished on corruption, mismanagement, greed, unfaithfulness, hypocrisy and fraud. Kim knew how to send the wood chips flying everywhere. The only box they would not allow to be shattered was the ancient-old dunking-chair of the Dowerby Fair.

"Everyday Kim said something kind, which I took home with me and thought over, and knew I was lucky." Kim would also expose the poisoned chalice in her life - one that Maura never would have identified on her own and even denied existed. She taught her daughter to become a people-pleaser like herself to safeguard herself.

But then Kim, the person who taught her to re-evaluate her own life, believes, self-image, unexpectedly died. The circumstances in which it happened, necessitated Maura to leave her daughter, as well as husband, and flee her old life to start a new life somewhere else under a different name...

For five years she got away with it, until a journalist tracked her down and forced her to confront her past and face her own truths.

The book does not only charm, engross and pull the reader into the story, it also contains beautiful prose like this: " Even the lipstick-coloured roses that filled most people’s gardens in Dowerby couldn’t cheer up the scenery..."

This is an excellent debut novel. Constant suspense in a fully developed plot. The weather becomes an effective tool, and not a pathetic phallacy, in the fast flowing tale of betrayal, love, intrigue, friendship and justice. A riveting drama.

The novel is based on the lives of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane and highlights the years between 1928 and 1939. A more compelling, fascinating blend of fact and fiction could not have been written by these two remarkable women behind "Little House on the Prairie" and the rest of the books in the Little House Series.

"Sometimes we need to use fiction to tell the truth. Sometimes fiction tells a truer story than facts."

As an editor once said to me: "Do not allow the truth to spoil a good story." And it is true of the Little House Series as being one of the best to ever come out of American literature and became popular in just about the entire world, as well as of this novel.

Ghostwriting is also not a cut and paste reality. Sometimes it is done openly, other times there are excellent editors without whom many books would never have seen the light of day and whom are seldom mentioned, as is still happening to this day. There are also ghostwriters who nowadays claim their piece of the cake.

So if anybody suspected anything at the time, nobody was going to blow the whistle."Readers and librarians and teachers and schoolchildren loved the idea of an author who, as a little girl, had lived an adventurous life on the American prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder was good for business."

Many excellent storytellers are not excellent writers, that we know. This was the case with Laura Ingalls Wilder as well."Mama Bess was an oral storyteller. She could recall dozens of stories about her family's pioneer wanderings, but when she wrote them down, they sounded like...well, they sounded like stories told by your favorite grandmother in front of the fire on a winter's night, without--as George Bye, Rose's agent, had once said --"the benefit of perspective or theater."

This novel, however, is the story behind the story. Of two women both set up to rule the roost,like mother like daughter, and the power struggles that ensued."She(Laura) and I (Rose)were like neighboring states with a long history, with shared and very porous boundaries, she constantly invading, I continually repelling."

If it wasn't for Rose accidentally burning down their house as a little girl, and the fall of the Stock Market in 1929, this duo would never have taken place and the popular series would never have been written.

This novel explains in detail how it came about in a very well-written, compassionate tale.

Rose thought she had a responsibility towards her parents, but in the end, thanks to the actions of John, one of her adoptive sons, she finally learnt the truth behind her own choices : 

"Generocity as a means of controlling is no gift at all. It's a curse."

It was the years of Depression, drought, hardship and hope in which these two women were forced to live and survive together, trying to get small town morals(Laura) married to a cosmopolitan lifestyle(Rose). They looked backwards while trying to move forward. "Slowly, slowly, and little by little, Glory to your lips. It is so." 

It would take eleven years of survival in dire economic conditions and harsh world politics for Rose to grow from a staunch Liberal to Libertarian. "Every American is governed only by the principle of personal responsibility and that his or her most important freedom is the absolute freedom to flourish or fail." 

Rose wrote about herself: " I am now a fundamentalist American. Give me time and I will tell you why individualism, laissez-faire, and the slightly restrained anarchy of capitalism offer the possibilities for the development of the human spirit."

This books is about all of the above, but also about mothers and daughters, of bonding and hardships, politics and war, droughts and endurance. And pride.

Mark Twain: "Don't part with your illusions; when they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live."

It is much much more than just biographical fiction.
I recommend it wholeheartedly. What an absolute thought-provoking, yet delightful, spell-bounding experience!

Thirty Seconds Before Midnight by Helen Beal

It was the first time ever that I seriously thought about the different forms of laughter. I honestly never thought I had it all in me! While reading this book, it went from quaint gigles, tee hee hees, harrah harrah harrah, woo-hoo hoo, snorting, chuckling, bwahaha ha to almost indecent guffaws, snickers, and titters! 

Which form of laughter do you think would you indulge in when you read this:
"...just as the main door to the Big House flew open with an almighty smash, and the man with the stripy hair stood proud on the step, naked as a nectarine. With his hands on his hips, he screamed as though his toenails were being extracted.

Bob dropped the bucket. It tumbled down the Hill, emptying its contents - a delicious assortment of lettuce ends and cucumber starts - in its wake. First his face, weathered like one of Stella's vintage handbags, went a chalky white. Then, as Naked Man, his hair swinging against his gluteus maximus, posed in prayer then like a standing star and then low down like a wheelbarrow, so low that I was sure the tip of his genitalia must have been scraping on the gravel, Bob turned puce. And he stomped off to the feed shed."

But wait, humor and satire are not the same all over the world. What the English, and most of the world who shared a life with the Brits at one point regard as hilariously funny, might be regarded by the Americans as dull and not funny at all. 

Whatever the case might be, this book will touch you in more ways than one. Actually in more ways than you could ever have imagined! 

I cannot help but smile again when trying to introduce the duo, Digby, the parakeet, and dear Herbert, the gigantic land tortoise - who is not the only, but mostly, our main narrator! 

My first impression was that I have been fooled into reading a children's book. Perhaps it was a fairy tale for grown-ups, which had me quite infatuated with the idea, since it worked so well as the story initially unfolded !

Well, as I mentioned, there's Digby, the flying arm of the gossip team, and Herbert the wallflower, a real tortoise though, enclosed in his 'exquisite boredom', observing the lives of their new neighbors at Bestwood. Herbert had a crush on Stella, his human friend. Best friend he ever had! The feeling was mutual! Digby regarded Herbert as his mother but that's another story ...

Perky Herbie (my nickname for Herbert) is bowled over with the voice of Ollie, one of the twins of the new neighbors. Herbie just figured out that Sid and Ollie, with their band, Apollemis, were indeed the incarnation of Apollo and Artemis, with Ollie, no doubt, being Apollo - the God of music and light. He wasn't so sure about Sid, though. But he would go with Sid as the male embodiment of Artemis, lady of wild things, the moon, the dark side. The twins were like the sun and the moon. Truth and chastity. These twins were united by their band called Apollermis. The name was a combination of the two Greek Gods' names. Right then... Ollie was the musician and Sid the party animal.

The previous owners who lived a quiet life at Bestwood, sold the impressive property to the twin's dad Dave, with his new trophy wife Issa, and her three dog-lits. She might have been a mistake in Dave's life since he soon realized that he cannot make her happy, that her discontent with life is permanent...

Herbie felt it "unfair that these humans could have multiple talents, explore multiple uses of themselves and be good at more than just one thing. It was like living several lives in just one - it was gluttonous. A richness that wracked my simple life dedicated to observation with poverty rendered it positively dissatisfying."

I would say that this thought of Herbert, pretty much sums up the fast-flowing story with its surprising twists and turns. 

The turning of events will begin with the famous rock star, Dave Palmer, buying the estate, planning to turn it into a health resort, getting rid of the animals as well. The gatehouse, where the zookeeper, Bob and his daughter Stella reside, would make a perfect recording studio for the twins. Ollie planned his own record label.

The idea will receive creative, ingenious opposition (mostly kicking and scheming)from the existing occupiers, both human and animal alike. It promised to be hilarious in its originality. 

The book addresses life, including animal & human antics with wit and wisdom in an easy-flowing format. All the animals have names and characters like their human counterparts. The story proves that we are somehow, either through blood, or the company we keep, family. 

The story line is original and very well executed. The events are funny, sad, feisty, profound, thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, but definitely grown-up in nature. There is a dignity and depth in all the characters. There is a skillful intermixing of narrators to keep the story flowing. Most of the character development will be done in epistolary style. The initial impression of dealing with a bunch of lunatics, will be balanced out very quickly by the rolling events. 

The characters show respectability and responsibility in their make-up, which renders the story real and utterly believable apart from fairy tale characters Herbert and Digby being their twittering, pondering and philosophical selves. And do not forget the phantom tigress called Kevin...!

Stella would become the catalyst that would force all the human and animal family in her life to address their own truths, hurt and way forward. There is anger, sadness, laughter as well as a state of total disbelief in the situation. There is enough drama to keep the reader absolutely riveted to the unfolding tale. And no, it turned out not to be a fairy tale for grown-ups at all. In fact, I was so totally caught off-guard for what would happen!

I never thought I would enjoy this book this much! Honestly. I have a confession to make! Well yes, I want to pull on a British flag short, jump over the wall into the zoo encampment, take a bow; where the Naked Man's had been punchy, mine will be wide, generous and all inclusive, like Ollie's, and, like him, want to yell: " Hello, I'm Ollie! Ollie Palmer. And it is my absolute pleasure to meet you all!" 

How terribly fast life changed after Ollie's clownish jump!

This story is brilliant. No annoying lose ends will blow into your eyes; no emotion will remain unaddressed. A tragicomedy par excellence! I have been soooo wrong into believing differently!

Five stars! All the way! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a heartwarming, yet soul-wrenching community and family drama. This book will surprise you beyond believe! 

It takes only one descendant to get angry enough to demand access to strictly confidential war records and by doing that opens up a Pandora's box of hurt, prejudice, race discrimination and the stories of the lost children, victims of the Second World War.

Rosie Grey secretly gets a job as a nanny in an affluent London family, Pembleton Crescent 68, taking care of Ella and Bobby, the two children of Jonas Murrey. She starts writing a diary, while her mom, Muriel Wilson, unbeknownst to what her daughter is up to, is also finally piecing her own life story together. The well-written tale takes the reader through the 'underworld', or rather 'under-war' of the casualties of war who were not honored with monuments and national holidays. Their stories were, in fact, stored deeply away in government offices all over the world for too many years. 

All children who are denied their rights to know their parents, have benefited from the work of these courageous, often angry, descendants. They took a stand and won against the higher powers. These people in high offices who determined their lives, never personally witnessed the results of their self-serving decisions. None of us will ever be okay with discrimination against us, why do we expect other people to be happy with it and disallow them a choice in the decisions that will destroy their lives!

Family Likeness is giving these children their voices on so many levels. Apart from enjoying this well-constructed book, a riveting fast moving narrative, it was an emotional ride through the lives of two remarkable women who not only endured much in their lives, but also learnt the power of giving in order to receive. They will change all the lives of the people they meet. They have changed mine as well. 

An excellent read! A beautiful, gripping, compassionate story of family and hope. Finally, a monument to these beautiful innocent children. I strongly recommend this book!

The Salem News editor, John Andrews, is mourning the death if his wife, four years earlier, and lives in the house inherited from his aunt. Along with the house he also inherited a valuable painting that has been the property of his family for several generations. He had to make a promise never to sell it and always keep it hanging in the exact spot. The old woman in it always made him feel uncomfortable, until one day when he discovered something different about her.

The book is well-written, suspenseful and intriguing, casting a new light on the Salem Witch Trials. It is very similar to the Da Vinci Code, which questioned history as we know it. This book also ask the question 'what if?' and present a new theory to the circumstances which lead to the death of the so-called witches. Were they really witches? His own believes would be severely tested. The deeper he gets lured into the events as well as into his family research, the more shocked he becomes as facts from his family's past are revealed. 

This is history with a supernatural twist. It will depend on what you believe is true and what in this world is possible. A relaxing, adventurous mystery. 

It is my second Amish book I read. The first one was James A. Michener's "The Novel". Before as well as after that, I was always interest in the Amish lifestyle, their recipes, quilts, etc. and watched just about all the movies made about the Amish culture. I have treasured this book for a long time, waiting for the opportunity to read it. It was a beautiful, heartwarming, amazing experience. I loved every minute of it.

Their way of life always reminded me of how my grandparents lived before electricity and motor vehicles graced their lives. It is a kind of walk down memory lane, and although it is in a different country, the background and religion was the same.

Lots to ponder in the book. Here is a few quotes I would like to remember:

"My dat says a prideful man thinks everyone is vain, and a deceiver thinks everyone is a liar."

“Would we try to rule as the greedy do?” he asked. “Will we try to grab power over other people’s possessions? What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness?"

"Just remember when you choose a girlfriend, don’t choose so much the girl. Choose the friend."

"Dat says a man who is strong in his heart is gentle in his hands.”


"There was a kind of comfort in knowing that someone else was in control so long as it was someone faithful, someone who cared for his wife as Gott cared for His children. 

"Someone strong enough to be gentle with his wife. Someone who not only would allow his wife to be everything Gott intended her to be, but wanted it so. She had seen the other kind too, in the downcast eyes of women whose husbands ruled with an iron hand that squeezed the dreams out of them. If the right man could complete a woman, the wrong one could crush her."

"There was nothing worth doing in this world that could not be accomplished with common sense, hard work, and the help of a strong family."

It will not be the last one I read. This made my day special indeed.

Michael was eleven years old that night when, green as he could be about the world , he climbed aboard the first and only ship of his life, the Oronsay, sailing for England from Colombo.

Unbeknownst to him, the twenty-one days at sea would become twenty-one years of schooling, molding him into the adult he would one day be, when he joined the cat's table, the least important place to eat on the ship. 

The lessons he picked up from the adult company filled up several pages of his old school exercise books. He still had time to make those notes, amid the adventures in which he and his friends, Ramadhin and Cassius, engaged in on the ship. They witnessed an adult world filled with thieves, adulterers, gamblers, teachers, authority, natural healers, dreamers and schemers. Oh yes, and a shackled, dangerous prisoner. Each one of them becomes important in their lives through either their words or conduct. The ship had lots to offer for three young boys to keep them occupied. So many people, so many stories, so many intrigue. And then there was the ports of call...

Miss Perinetta Lasqueti was one of the guests around the Cat's Table who would become one of the biggest influences in their lives. Their first impression of her manner was that of being like faded wallpaper, but the more they found out about her, the more convinced they became that 'she was more like a box of small foxes at a country fair'. She would become one of the biggest surprises on their life's journey.

Mr. Mazappa - the boisterous, loud pianist would change their newly acquired perspective on old paintings with his approach to the angelic Madonnas in them, saying: "‘The trouble with all those Madonnas is that there is a child that needs to be fed and the mothers are putting forth breasts that look like panino-shaped bladders. No wonder the babies look like disgruntled adults."(p.213 - kindle edition)

Mr. Larry Daniels, the botanist, would teach them much more about his plants than they would ever need to know in their lifetimes. 

Mr. Fonseka, the teacher, had a "serenity that came with the choice of the life he wanted to live. And this serenity and certainty I have seen only among those who have the armour of books close by." 

I wanted to read this book for such a long time now. There was just something about it that told me it would roll me over and tie me down in its prose. It did. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered its popularity on Goodreads. Some books just put themselves where it can be read because it is really that good. It is multifaceted. It is thought-provoking. It is excellent. It is one of those books you cannot walk away from easily. It has all the elements to promise that it will become a classic in time. I want to reread it. I just have to. Period.

After finishing the book, I first read the biographical summary of Christi Watson, since I sensed a slight difference in approach from the other African authors.

It dawned on me why I enjoyed the humor in the book so much. It reminded me of what Alexander Fuller said inCocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness about being English: "In this way, the English part of our identity registers as a void, something lacking that manifests in inherited, stereotypical characteristics: an allergy to sentimentality, a casual ease with profanity, a horror of bad manners, a deep mistrust of humorlessness."

It is present in most British authors I have read, regardless of the seriousness of situations or events, and I love it! It was a delightful addition to this narrative and correspond with the kind of attitude one finds in Africa. It also explains why people can endure so much and survive it all. Laughter is really the essence of survival.

If you are serious about pollution disasters in the world, you have probably read more about events such as the fracking issues in Pavillion, Wyoming, where Louis Meeks asked 'What happened to my water?" and blew the lid on the disastrous consequences of frack-mining that started a huge international protest; or why the cats started to dance in the streets of Minamate(Japan) where an entire community was poisoned with mercury and killed over a period of thirty years; or the aftermath of Chernobyl(Russia), or the tragic story of Hinckley, California which made Erin Brockovich famous.Tiny Sunbirds Far Away will give you a clear example of the devestating effects of oil pollution in Africa on many community's lives. But compared to the serious journalistic reports on similar issues, Christi Watson has written a 'light read' in comparison, thanks to the sense of humor she applies to ordinary people's day-to-day lives.

These different events also offer a conceptually clear and affectively powerful example of the concentration of elements in food chains, the sometimes unexpected interconnectedness of humans and their environment, and the complex interactions of biology and culture. In short, it is a paradigm for teaching ecology and science-society issues.

This is the background of Blessing and her family's story, but without the superior ultra-impressive scientific jargon! 

Actually, her story puts the dots where they belong in a simple, eloquent way. Reading books like "Tiny Sunbirds Far Away"the reader will discover the humor, happiness, intelligence and perseverance of a continent's people under siege by the corrupted government officials, the 'freedom fighters' and the Sibeya Boys.

It is a triangle of interest groups battling each other in Nigeria with the ordinary people somewhere in the scramble. The book explain the complete situation. I would not call it a chic-lit book per se since it is about more serious issues. The tone of the book is light, gentle, dignified.

Blessing is a perfect character to use as protagonist. From the Better Life Executive Homes of Lagos, to a poor village near Warri in the Niger Delta was a culture shock for 12-year-old Blessing and her 14-year-old brother Ezikiel after her mom found her dad lying on top of another woman.

When Blessing first arrived from Lagos, her grandmother introduced Blessing to her new life by saying: "We must row in whatever boat we find ourselves" 

Blessing would attempt the new boat, new destiny, nosing her way in. Yes, even smells draw the line between prosperity, laced with luxury in Lagos on the one hand, and poverty, hardship and chores in Warri on the other. "The air was sweeter inside the house, and bitter at the same time... It confused my nose and took me a long time to stop sniffing." 

When their Lagos driver Zafi was sent away by Alhaji, the young Blessing's Lagos life finally concluded. Her last memory would be particular smells: "He walked away, the driver with no car, like a tortoise with no shell. Zafi took with him the smell of Lagos, of crispy suya, and frangipani flowers."

They will soon have other people in their lives which will play a vital role in her development into a young woman. 

Her grandfather, Alhaji - the village chief who converted from Christianity to Islam; the qualified unemployed engineer who cannot find work at the oil companies; he loved work: yes he could watch it for hours while he made sure the women in his household earned enough for him to uphold his standing in the community! He regarded Marmite as the wonder cure for everything from allergies and skin ailments, to a nutritional wonder supplement and a 'doepa' against serious illnesses."Nigerians do not have allergies" he asserted when he learns about Ezikiel's nutoil allergies and his shaking, wheezing asthma. He was convinced the boy could be cured, like everything else on Allah's earth, with Marmite. He controlled his own fears by rubbing Marmite on his forehead.

Blessing's grandmother will ultimately become her role model with her wisdom, stories and skills. She taught Blessing to become a midwife.

Then there is 22-year-old Celestine, her grandfather's second wife who will become important in Blessing's life. Celestine went to a 'fat house' to be prepared for her wedding by being fed until the fat rattled several seconds when her bottom was slapped. Her breasts were so enormous, it could slap anybody unconscious who surprised her. When she was pushed, her body went one way and her boobs the other. 

Some Nigerian tribes' men, such as Alhaji's, preferred well-roundend women. Grandmother herself was a mountain in her own right. Alhaji needed a second wife to produce a son to him. He desperately needed the offspring to ensure his standing in the community. Twenty-two-year-old Celestine, with her patchy face from whitening cream and her orange-bleached weave, the same color as the Jesus Loves You sticker on the car, complied boisterously with loud laughter, screaming, grunting, and high-pitched clucking noises when Alijah visited her during several consecutive nights. 

Alhaji was not a big man, and he was old, but he sure had guts.
Blessings and Ezikiel had to sing all the Itsekiri songs they have ever learnt in school to grandma on the veranda, and very loudly so, to drown out Celestine's commitment to Operation Offspring every night.

Her crazy spending of the limited family funds, leads to Grandma finding her a job as the official Town Mourner, with often hilarious results.

The story is multi-layered: funny, serious, sad, happy. There is lots of excitement, drama, sometimes suspense. It is a lesson in the importance of family and a confirmation to the African expression 'it takes a village to raise a child'.

I was not impressed with the ending dragging out over a few short chapters at the end, but it was necessary to complete each layer of the narrative.

I will certainly read this kind of book again. I felt immensely happy when it was finished. Happy as in feeling good about life and Africa and how the people deal with the daily challenges, however dire.

"I want my heart to have a voice so I can love you louder" 

This first words in this epistolary memoir took me by total surprise. A father who worked as a grocer in America, wanted his children as well as grandchildren to know how much he loved them and what it took to make their lives better. So he decided to write them his lifestory in the form of a letter. 

This memoir was written by Stephen Jin-Nom, who was born November 27, 1902, in the Dai Waan village in Zhongshan, China. He grew up without a father in his paternal grandfather's house and was encourage by his grandfather to go to America for a proper education. He was the only child and only lived his first eight years of his life with his mother before he was sent away, accompanied by his Little Uncle, to live with Uncle Lee Tay in California. He would not see his mother again for many years.

On the way to his uncle's rented farm, they were on the ferry when it started raining. He was standing on the deck, alone, so very young and homesick at that moment, because he heard his mothers words when she told him back at home about the music in the rain. 
(view spoiler)

He graduated with a degree in economics from Berkley but was unhappy that the words in the American Declaration of Independence - life, liberty and pursuit of happiness - only applied to Caucasian citizens, because discrimination towards everyone else prevented highly qualified immigrants from getting the jobs they were qualified for at American institutions of learning. It was unacceptable to him that John Locke, the English philosopher to whom those words in the Declaration were attributed to, was also a principal investor in the Royal Africa Company involved in the slave trade.

To combat racism, the Chinese immigrants believed firstly that it could be done with education, and secondly, it should be met with impeccable manners, wit and style.
(view spoiler)

He learnt the hard way that the American Dream was a myth. He tore up his American papers and returned to China. 

Despite his uncle's warnings, he was determined to live in a place where doors were not constantly slapped close in his face simply because of where he was born. Although he anticipated some trouble with China being on the brink of a civil war, he never could predict the intensity of the suffering the people would have to endure. He met his wife, Belle, had four children( Amy, Huey, Rudy and Yvonne), worked as a highly respected Air Force comptroller with the rank of a colonel, a banker, as well as a professor teaching economics.

But he never foresaw what he and his nuclear family would have to endure. From the Chinese civil war, the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Second World War, to the Cultural Revolution: his country was turned upside down by warlords, politicians, corruption, fraud, vandalism, poverty, famine, and inhuman acts of violence. He and his family lived a life of constant migration, fleeing the horror of it all and barely surviving. 

When he finally ended up back in the USA working as a grocer, he decided to write his children and grandchildren a letter to tell them how much he loved them and how much he cared.

He passed away on April 25, 1970. This memoir would be co-authored a few decades later by his granddaughter Julianne Lee's husband, Howard Webster, and published as a book.

I was left with many questions, like: how was it possible that this unbelievable kind, compassionate, highly intelligent man, with his family, could endure all these incredible experiences and not break down, while so many millions of people all over the world in much less challenging circumstances could simply not rise above it? What made Stephen Jin-Nom different? 

"Hatred, like a bush fire, ultimately consumes those who propagate it, leaving nothing but scorched, barren earth behind in their hearts. Love, the greatest of reckless endeavors,inspires men to greatness in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds."

It is an incredible tale of hardship, but also kindness; of heartbreak as well as hope; of deep sorrow and intense joy. It is one of the most inspirational stories I have read in a very long time. I highly recommend this book to EVERYONE! In this book, horror is not a book genre for bored people seeking extreme excitement, horror was a real way of life!

I am changed. Undoubtedly. 

I am so bowled over by this story, I do not have the words to write a review, and I really mean it.

Baggage. The human spirit. The amazing gift of forgiveness. And Karma, steering lives without showing itself voluntarily. After all, 'they say the brain is like an ocean - largely unexplored and pretty much doing its own thing. Unpredictable baffling. A force to be reckoned with. Maybe the brain is more like a smartphone. Fast and powerful when new, sluggish when too many apps are up and running. 

David Price thought his life was fairly okay. He did relatively well as an artist, he had a relatively good childhood, he coped well. Until he met Sarah, Claire, and Pete. They knew a secret that David did not. And when he finally got to know it, he felt upended by his own backstory. He would feel like an actor in a role he thought he perfected, but suddenly finds himself flattened or fake by the events - like Jim Carey in The Truman Show when the tip of his boat tears a hole in the painted-on sky.

Before I reached page 100, I was convinced that this book was not for me. The initial pace was slow, due to the detail often too overwhelming, the issues too unsettling, the atmosphere not something I could handle at this moment in my life. But then the pieces of the puzzle started making sense in their color heaps. David, the first person narrator and protagonist, packed them neatly in colored heaps, before the different characters fitted the tale into one magnificent piece of art. The end left me totally speechless, not because it was a surprise(it was that as well), but because of the emotions I was left with. I wanted to laugh and cry. Happy and sad. Blown away by my feelings. 

Endearing. Amazing. Well-written, with nothing I would have loved to change in it. Okay, maybe the end, but that would be for selfish reasons. All the elements blended perfectly. Not even the kite strings were left dangling aimlessly in the wind. It has an understated, powerful message. The question the reader is left with is: how would you have handled it?

A great book - recommended for sure.