book reviews

Summary: In the 1920s the Osage Indians became enormously wealthy from oil drilling on their reservation. Then, one by one, were systematically murdered so their wealth could be quietly stolen.

Thoughts: Whether Indians in America or Aborigines in Australia, white people killing natives to obtain wealth seems to be a nasty trend. The vicious murders which were ignored, or even contributed to, by law officials and those in authority were appalling. A few greedy individuals plotted a scheme over many years to systematically kill whole families of Osage. Some were eventually brought to trial, after years of dedicated chasing down of the culprits, and without today’s technology and forensics. Kudos to those few who persevered and brought some of those responsible to justice. An amazing story, but one which should never have had to be told.

Summary: Girls who worked in the radium factories during the 1920s were exposed daily to the radium dust which, they were told, was harmless, even beneficial to their health. When they started experiencing major health issues no-one related their cancers to the radium.

Thoughts: These personal, true stories are horrific. The book is not an easy read, but the story is so mesmerising in its awfulness you can’t help but persevere. The absolute denial by the factory owners that radium could not be responsible for any health issues was either arrogance or ignorance. The corporate lies and cover-ups, one hopes, were not deliberate. It’s scary to think how little they knew back then about the effects of toxic substances like radium. Or asbestos. Or tobacco. Or whatever today’s equivalent is – GM foods? Artificial additives? Sugar? Worth reading, and worth thinking about whether what you eat or put on your skin could possibly be the cause of that niggling cough, or sore back, or skin rash.

Summary: On the surface, this is “just” a story about a boy named Santiago and his journey of self-discovery and the meaning of life from his homeland in Andalusia (Spain) to Egypt and the pyramids and back. Reading deeper, there are some significant life lessons we all could take from this book.

Thoughts: This book was recommended by a friend of mine. I had initially though it was just another story book about a character going through their (fictional or non-fictional) travels in life. Upon reading the book, it became very obvious that this book and Santiago’s story was brim full of very pertinent life metaphors. I became so engrossed in the story, I couldn’t put the book down. It’s wasn’t just the entertaining and compelling storytelling. I drew so much relatable content from this book and its metaphors that it got me to re-evaluate how I see the world (and myself). This book is strongly recommended. It is no wonder it became a world best seller when released in 1988.

Summary:  A happy, well-loved teenager disappears one day, never to be found.   Her devastated parents divorce, her sister withdraws.  Ten years later, her mother starts a relationship with a lovely man, whose young daughter bears a striking resemblance to the missing teenager.  Co-incidence, or something more sinister?

Thoughts:  The author herself admitted the original manuscript was ‘bizarre’.  I’d love to read the original, before it was edited into the happy-ever-after story it then became.  Creepy and odd, yes, but in this day and age, unfortunately believable.  Mostly.  Don’t read the blurb or any reviews – go into it cold and you’ll find it much more enjoyable.  A shame the ending was rather predictable.

Summary:  The true story of how an English social worker discovered how thousands of British children had been ‘exported’ to distant lands, often without the consent or knowledge of their parents, and the suffering those children endured for decades, being undocumented, feeling unwanted and often abused by those who were supposed to care for them.

Thoughts:  Unbelievable!  Not in the sense that the story isn’t true, but unbelievable that the British, Australian, Canadian and other seemingly ‘progressive’ governments and charities could arrogantly and uncaringly decide that stealing children and shipping them off to somewhere on the other side of the world was an acceptable way to populate these countries.  The sheer egotism and disdain of the governments involved was hideous.  Even when the stories were coming to light, with evidence, they all wiped their hands of the issue and decided it was nothing to do with them.  Margaret’s perseverance and continued battle to bring justice to those affected makes her worthy of much more than the belated Order of Australia.  The fact that the British and Australian governments finally apologised, formally, is such an anti-climax.  What a horror story – made more so because it actually happened.  Thank goodness for people like Margaret – otherwise these poor souls would never have discovered their identity, background, and in some heart-warming cases, living relatives.

Summary:  The story of Portia de Rossi (Ellen deGeneres’ wife) during the time before she met Ellen.  The story details her transition from a teenager in Australia to acting on one of America’s most popular shows, ‘Ally McBeal’.  Her onscreen person was far from the body-conscious, anorexic, bulimic, distressed young woman who battled daily with food, exercise, and trying to maintain the perfect image.

Thoughts:  This just goes to show you can’t always believe what you see/hear/read.  Someone who’s life seemed perfect – attractive, rich, famous – was actually experiencing a horrific eating disorder.  Her honesty is jarring – if someone so successful can feel so negative about herself, what hope do us ordinary folk have.  Her rigid self-control is admirable, albeit for the wrong reasons, but the how and why she ended up almost dying from self-inflicted starvation makes for scary reading, especially as the perceived ‘perfect’ body image for young girls continues to permeate the media.

Summary:  Women around the world fall asleep and become shrouded in a cocoon.  Breaking the cocoon or waking them up results in brutal violence.  While the women sleep they exist in an alternative world with no men.  Meanwhile, in the ‘real world’ men are not coping as well as they expect with the absence of their female companions or colleagues.

Thoughts:  The latest offering from Stephen King (written with his son, Owen King) could have been half the length.  Lots of repetition and unnecessary tangents.  Not as creepy or horrific as some of his other work – thank goodness.  I scared myself silly with one of his books years ago and wasn’t able to pick up another for a long time.  Women existing without men is an interesting idea, and while some of the ideas were explored quite well, others were handled in a trite and generic way.  Not sure the ending was worth the wait, but it was an easy read (albeit endlessly long) and resulted in some interesting discussions with friends afterwards along the lines of “what would you do if…..”.  King fans should  give it a try, otherwise, I’d prefer a Scandi murder mystery.

Summary:  Robert Langdon is invited by a billionaire friend to hear a major announcement which will change the face of science forever.  Before the announcement can be made, the friend is killed by an unknown assassin.  What follows is the usual race against time to find the killer and unlock the computer code so the announcement can be released to the world.

Thoughts:  Despite the formulaic story (all the action occurs over one night, religion is portrayed as the root of all evil, Robert Langdon solves all mysteries, with the help of the beautiful intelligent female), it’s a rollicking good read.  I had trouble putting it down, even though some parts dragged on interminably and needed a good edit.  There is always a small grain of something which lodges in the brain after finishing Dan Brown’s books and makes you think, and wonder, and worry.  Are we really headed for the sort of future he predicts?  It’s very possible, but I hope not.

Summary: Ifemelu and Obinze are childhood sweethearts in Nigeria, who dream about a life in America. Ifemelu obtains a visa and moves, expecting Obinze to follow, but his visa application is denied, and he ends up living illegally in the UK. Many years later, both are successful, have new lives, and are back in Nigeria, where they reconnect.
Thoughts: Beautifully written, but heavily weighed with racism and how a black person finds living in a white society. I’m sure the experiences will relate to some, but the story and the experiences of both characters were interesting and I enjoyed the book so much I’ll read her other novels.

Summary:  Explores the life of a mother and her two grown daughters over the course of a day, with flashbacks to explain how they reached the point they’re at.

Thoughts:  Thank you to one of my fellow book club colleagues who mentioned a few years ago that Georgia Blain was her favourite author.  This stuck in my mind, so when I saw the book on the library shelf recently, I picked it up, purely on her recommendation.  I’m now going to read all Georgia’s other books.  Her writing is simple, but beautiful.  Her characters are real, to the point where, despite the brevity of the book, I came to know them and care about them.  Not necessarily like them, but I was disappointed when the book ended.  I wanted more.  Definitely the sign of a great writer.