 In “The Peach Seed,” author Anita Gail Jones wonderfully and lovingly immerses readers in the world of Fletcher Dukes and his family, their ancestors, their scars and their triumphs. This is a multigenerational story that explores the roots of a Georgia family’s tradition and how their children ultimately carry the weight of personal matters like family secrets, along with broader social and political matters such as the America’s Civil Rights Movement and the impacts of enslavement.
The story opens in 2012, with a seemingly routine scenario for the 70-something widower, Fletcher, as he and his older sister, Olga are grocery shopping at the Piggly Wiggly ( love the specific southern references like this). It doesn’t take long before this mundane task morphs into something much more as Fletcher notices an old flame, the love of his life, Altovise Benson in one of the store aisles. Back in the day, Fletcher and Altovise were hand-in-hand for sit-ins and marches, but their plan to take their relationship to the next level was interrupted when the police turned a peaceful protest violent. Separated initially by arrest and imprisonment taking them to different towns, they would eventually be released, but their relationship never the same. Soon after, Altovise rejects Fletcher’s marriage proposal, leading to what would be a separation spanning over 50 years. Before their inevitable break, Fletcher carves Altovise a monkey from a peach seed, embellished with diamond eyes. We learn this is a tradition hailing back from an undiscovered Dukes ancestor who was sold into slavery who carved the first one—the Peach Seed Monkey -that forms the talismanic tradition. It became the rite of passage that each generation of Dukes men gifts to his son upon entering his teen years. Fletcher giving one to Altovise, creates a break in a tradition that irrevocably shapes the lives of future generations including Fletcher’s daughters and his grandson, Bo-D. Through carefully crafted flashbacks, we learn about Fletcher’s history with Altovise, their Civil Rights activism and the Dukes’ patriarch, Malik who was captured from Senegal and sold into slaver in the 1800s. Most of the book focuses on the current family and their contemporary issues such as Bo D’s struggle with addiction, and Olga’s discovery of Siman, a male relative who was put up for adoption soon after his birth in Michigan. While the different generations, characters, locations and periods portrayed in the novel, in addition to its varied themes may seem like a lot to navigate, Ms. Jones intertwines it all with aplomb. She wisely places the greater emphasis on the modern stories and characters, treading lighter with Malik’s story. Throughout, not only is there never the feeling of being overwhelmed, but more so “The Peach Seed” is wholly engaging with fully drawn characters easy to invest in. Keeping in mind, that among the noteworthy characters, not least of which is the area of South Georgia itself. Wether the narrative takes you to in Africa, Michigan or Georgia, there is an unflinching and admirable sense of place as highlighted in the passage below, the opening of chapter one. Albany. A southern city running on country fuel. Divided east to west by the Flint River, this corner of southwest Georgia is graced with majestic pecan groves and wildflower carpets buffered by blue skies; a region where flip sides coalesce, modern and antebellum, old growth and Johnny-come-lately. A place of long, deep pain, still refusing forgiveness; and yet propelled by joys and triumphs. In many ways, even in 2012, life here was the same as it was fifty years ago: a patchwork of citizens-from farmers and businesspeople to college students-going about their days as any other, separate and unequal. Although “The Peach Seed” is its own unique story, it laudably follows in the tradition of recent literary fiction gems such as Jesmyn Ward’s “Sing, Unburied, Sing” and Yaa Gyasi’s “Homegoing”. Those titles are shorter than that of the little over 400 pages of this new novel, but even at its hefty page count, “The Peach Seed” is a deeply satisfying read, and may even leave many wanting more. Either way, more is what we want and expect to see from this impressive debut novelist, Anita Gail Jones. Title; The Peach Seed Author: Anita Gail Jones Publisher: Henry Holt/Macmillan Page Count: 448 Release Date: Aug. 1, 2023
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 Photo of author- credit - New York Times
Strap in and get ready for this one, which definitely lives up to its early buzz in the book industry! Author Rebecca F. Kuang steps away from her established genre of fantasy to deliver a beguiling lit fic story of diversity, racism, cultural appropriation and plagiarism. The book focuses on a first-person account of June Hayward, a young white writer with aspirations to be majorly successful novelists. After one book that earned her no attention and dismal little sales, she becomes obsessively jealous of her former college classmate, Athena, a hugely successful, talented and popular Asian author. An unfortunate situation gives way to an opportunity for June to steal from Athena's not-yet-submitted manuscript and pawn off as her own. Even to her own surprise, she quickly lands a better agent and bidding war ensues for “her masterpiece,” The Last Front, a fictionalization about a little-known period in Chinese history. June and her agent decide to go with a hot-shot independent (white) publisher that will give her the attention she and her book deserve. Throughout the publishing process, staffers raise concerns of public perception to a non-Asian author tackling her topic and characters and request authentication, which June refuses to comply with. Since she is a young writer with the most sought-after manuscript, the issue is not pressed. Instead they compromise by deciding to tweak her name, giving it an Asian flare, Juniper Song. From that point on, she and her editor, Daniella widdle down at the story’s original strength and truth. Let the whitewashing begin as the below excerpt displays. Reading should be an enjoyable experience, not a chore. We soften the language. We take out all to “Chinks” and “Coolies.” “Perhaps you mean this as subversive, writes Daniella in the comments, but in this day and age, there’s no need for such discriminatory language. We don’t want to trigger readers.” We also soften some of the white characters. No, it’s no as bad as you think. Athena’s original text is almost embarrassingly biased; the French and British soldiers are cartoonishly racist… instead we switch one of the white bullies to a Chinese character, and one of the more vocal Chinese laborers to a sympathetic white farmer. This adds the complexity, the humanistic nuance that perhaps Athena was too close to the project to see. Juniper’s book strikes publishing gold and changes the trajectory of her career and life, at first for the better, then not so much. She will not only deal with the realities of online scrutiny and cancel culture, but eventually will have to grapple with her own deciept and inner demons. Will this bring her the fame and fortune that has "unfairly" eluded her? Since she researched some of the story and added to the manuscript, isn't it hers? Can only BIPOC writers tell BIPOC stories? Hasn't she been the victim of reverse discrimination? Readers will see how the answers to all of these questions/issues and more get explored in this page-turning thriller. Readers of all races and ages will be just as surprised and enthralled as they are entertained. Yellowface successfully joins ranks with clever dark comedy novels, like Interior Chinatown and Hell of a Book, that brilliantly have their stories deliver poignant messages of racism while allowing the readers laugh-out-loud moments throughout. The only thing that could have made this book even better, allowing for a full circle publishing situation, is if it had been published by Macmillan. Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang will be released on May 23, 2023 by Harpercollins Books  All This Could Be Different debut novel by Sarah Thankam Mathews. This National Book Award nominee is a unique slice of life chronicling a young immigrant building a career and social life for herself in Wisconsin. Sneha is introspective, often quiet and torn between pursuing a career that would interest her versus what is just handed to her. As the first in her family to go to college and a first generation immigrant, she experiences a lot of self-imposed pressure for her job, money and lifestyle. She wants the respect of her boss and her parents' approval while securing enough funds to support her Midwest lifestyle and to contribute to their life back in India. Her thankless, low paying office job and her growing acceptance of preferring women over men, make it hard to keep up with appearances and enjoy the life she has fallen into. Sneha grows to appreciate her select few friends, a group of fun and fascinating millennials she attracts along the way between college and work. They help her be honest with what she truly wants, find her footing, and teach her how to stick up for herself in challenging situations. While seemingly nothing not much happens in this subtle All This Could Be Different, so much is going on with the protagonist and the story. It ultimately is a subtle, warm and dazzling saga of queer love, friendship, work, and precarity in twenty-first century America. It is both witty and wildly moving, leaving an indelible mark on every readers heart while showcasing Thankam Mathews as a refreshing new talent and a necessary literary voice.  It's been a long time since a book has moved me to actual tears, but Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin has done just that. It did so not because it is overly romantic or remotely sappy, but rather because it is wonderfully written, with two main characters that are fully drawn and utterly engaging. Sam and Sadie meet as pre-teens while he is in the hospital and she, unbeknownst to him, is accumulating volunteer hours for a program through her synagogue. Although coming from very different worlds, a friendship is born, lost and re-born, spanning several decades, including when the two reunite in Cambridge, MA while in college.
It is there that they discover their shared passion for gaming, playing and designing them, and as such, they decide to collaborate on the creation of one. Ichigo was truly a labor of love that took most of their Junior year. Throughout the year, their friendship deepened although initially they did not divulge the deep emotions making up their lives. For Sam, in addition to being partially disabled, that meant withholding exactly when and how he loss his mother and why he had spent much of his youth being raised by his grandparents in LA. For Sadie, it was the current situation of being in an ill-advised and unhealthy relationship with her married professor. Helping to navigate their friendship while keeping up with classes and building a great game, was Sam’s affluent, but always affable and positive roommate, Marks. Although he knows nothing about gaming except playing them, Marks is Sam and Sadie's biggest fan. He was there for them both- buying meals, diffusing arguments, encouraging creativity, and underwriting the project. He was their rock and the glue that made them stick throughout that challenging year and then some. The three would garner so much success with that first game, they would go on to develop other games, enlisting the help of an entire staff, first in Cambridge, then back to LA. Author Gabrielle Zevin brilliantly explores the fragility of love and friendship, identity and disability. She does so through the vivid prose, stinging dialogue, and with the backdrop of the imaginative world of gaming. It's important to note, that you do not have to be into gaming at all in order to appreciate this story. As much as I was fully drawn into the characters and their individual and collective journeys, I even more so appreciated Zevin’s writing, plot development and witnessing her obvious personal growth as a writer. She quietly and solidly enter the indie bookstore scene in 2014 with the sweet and effective novel, The Storied Life ofA.J. Fikry, then in 2017 she showed her range with the socially relevant, yet often hilarious book, Young Jane Young. But Tomorrow takes her to a whole other level, or as Publisher’s Weekly puts it, “A-one-of-a-kind achievement.”  photo by Magdalena Frigo
Nightgcrawling by Leila Mottley is not only a truly stunning debut novel from a very young author, accomplished beyond her years, but it is an vital story giving voice to the voiceless. The book’s protagonist, seventeen-year-old Kiara, who like her slightly older brother, Marcus, has dropped out of school and is barely scraping by to keep a roof over their heads in the absense of both their parents. Adversely impacted by death and prison, Marcus can’t seem to do anything but futily pursue a dream of a career in music. While this may spark joy and hope for Marcus, it does not help pay the rent or put food on the table. As such and while also trying to take care of a neighbor’s little boy who is neglected by his mother, Kiara bumps into perpetual unemployment which leads her to become a streetwalker to make ends meet. She’s ashamed by the path she has gone down. And knows she has to let her brother know. I think maybe today is the day I’ve been waiting for. The Day when Marcus decides he will straighten his. Spine and learn how to hold up a little of this life again. The day he’ll put his head in my lap and. Let me cradle him. Or he might even hold my hand, ask me why there are bruises tracing my chest. Some days it feels like I’m stuck between mother and chld. Some days it feels like I’m nowhere. I’ve got something tosay to him. I promised myself I would and I don’t remember most things mama taught us, but she always said we stick to our word. Not just mama. This whole city knows the one thing. You don’t do is break a promise. Just like you don’t take the last piece of chicken without asking every person old enough to your mamma if they it first. Unfortunately, Marcus doesn’t come through and Kiara’s streetwalking lands her in turning tricks among a corrupt group within the Oakland Police Dept. While Nightcrawling at times is an emotionally tough literary journey given its premise, it is also a novel I found myself fully engrossed with and finishing it relatively quickly. The fact that it can be emotionally challenging is large part credited to Mottley’s writing prowess. The first-person narrative effectively has you immersed in Kiara’s sad, destitue world, but also her strength and protective, mother-like quality that leads her to do anything to maintain the semblance of family with Marcus and Trevor. Although Kiara is the same age as the novel’s author at the time it was written (yep, Mottley is was only seventeen!), this is not based on her life. In fact, Kiara is a fictionalized character, but her story represents real events that were in the news in 2015. These events involving young Black women and the Oakland police served as inspiration, as mentioned in the Author’s Notes at the end of the book. Here is a sample: In 2015, when I was a young teenager in Oakland, a story broke describing how members of the Oakland Police Department, and several. Other police departments in the Bay Area, had participated in the sexual exploitation of ayoung woman and attempted to cover it up. This case developed over months and years and, even as the news cycle moved. on, I continued to wonder about this event, about this girl, and about the other girls who did not receive headlines, but nonetheless experienced the cruelty of what. Policing can do to a person’s body, mind and spirit … The stories of black women, and queer and trans folks, are not often represented in the narratives of violence we see protested, writtenabout, and amplified in most movements, but that does not erase their existence. Nightcrawling will prove to be one of the best books of 2022 for it’s rawness and intensity, yet undeniable poignancy, as well as marking the unearthing of a dazzling new and necessary voice in the world of fiction from Oakland Youth Poet Laureate (2018), Leila Mottley.  Revival Season - While Revival Season by Monica West is a quick read, it is not necessarily an easy read. That is not to say it isn’t a well-executed, contemporary debut novel, because it is, but the subject matter about an abusive Southern Baptist preacher, is intense and heart-wrenching at times. The story’s main character, 15-year-old Miriam is the daughter of one of the South’s most prominent Black evangelists. As such, at the start of every summer, she and her family load up the family car and spend several weeks on the road, going from church to church for her father’s healing services. During this one fateful summer, Miriam sees her passionate preacher father in a different light as she observes his temper targeted towards not only herself and her mother, but congregants. Maybe even doubling vexing is hearing her father accused of abusing a young girl.
During that same revival season, Miriam learns that she may actually have the gift of healing her father may only be faking. Out of fear of her father’s jealousy, as well as his staunch belief that women cannot heal or have leadership positions in the church, she uses her “gift” sparingly and on the down low. With all the tumult of this particular season, Miriam’s belief in her father and religion is shaken to its core. Every few minutes, I caught Ma shooting glances at Papa. De he at all resemble the man she had married sixteen years ago? The way the story went, she was seventeen. When a. cocky, twenty-year-old boxer turned preacher came to her town as the Faith Healer of Midland. She gave her life to Jesus on the spot and married Papa six weeks later. We had lived under the canopy of that belief my whole life, eating and drinking faith in God first and Papa second, never questioning Papa’s healing abilities, the same way we never questioned the existence of the sun, even when it was hidden behind clouds. Our belief left no directives about what to do if our faith in Papa faltered. The story of Revival Season is simple, yet somewhat unique in its exploration of a young girl’s faith in the face of an abusive father and a life-altering decision. It is both interesting and laudable that although a Black family is at the center of this story, race and racism are not. It is themes of man versus religion, and women versus a dominant man that is universal that West chooses to navigate. As a writer, her style is pared down and straight forward, maybe at first glance, even a bit underwhelming, with little to no lush, lyrical or memorable lines, per se. There is no especially strong sense of place although the spaces the family inhabits are screaming for atmospheric descriptions. That said, with a debut such as this, West undeniably shows signs of an emerging talent to keep an eye on. Publisher: Simon & Schuster  The Archer - If you’re looking for a novel that offers escapism, with a healthy dose of reality; family drama, with poetic lyricism, look no further than The Archer by Shruti Swamy. Taking place in 1960s- 1970s Bombay, it presents the idea and dilemma of independent womanhood, motherhood and artistic endeavors coexisting. When the protagonist, Vidya as a young girl, observes her mother and a class of women performing a native dance, she is vexed. She is determined to not only learn it, but perfect it. The pursuit of it means more than marriage, becoming a mother or her eventual college studies. It takes on even more meaning once she loses her mother while still only in high school. Of course her desire to be consumed by her art runs contrary to her father’s, her husband’s and societal expectations. Can Vidya have it all? Does she want it all or is her life’s ambition singular? Although this is Samy’s debut novel, it is not her first publication. Her recently published collection of stories, A House is a Body, was dubbed by Kiese Laymon as “one of the greatest short story collections of the 2020s.” Given that, along with the The Archer’s original premise, it is no surprise that this is an impressive and wholly engaging debut from a unique writing talent who will only get better and better with each project. Publisher: Algonquin Books, an imprint of Workman Press A Knock at Midnight by debut writer/lawyer Brittany K. Barnett is a compelling memoir of justice, determination and freedom. The small-town Georgia native was in the midst of a successful career in finance in 2011, and headed to an even more lucrative one in corporate law when she came along the story of Sharanda Jones. Sharanda was a single mother who received a life sentence without parole for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense. The situation resonated with Brittany who herself was the daughter of a single mom, addicted to drugs, and constantly in and out of jail through little fault of her own but an untreated addiction. Although criminal justice law was not in Brittany’s wheelhouse at the time, she was determined learn what she needed in hopes of garnering Sharanda a second chance at life, along with family friends and former neighbors who had been unfairly impacted by a flawed justice system. I dug into the history of federal drug legislation, trying to find justification for the clearly inequitable 100-to-1 crack-to-powder ratio. Surely there had to be some legislative. History that explained lawmakers’ rationale. … What little legislative history there was suggested that legislators justified penalties a hundred times harsher for crack cocaine for reasons unsubstantiated at the time … In the months leading up to the 1986 elections, more than one thousand articles appeared in major news outlets around the country focused on the devastation wrought by crack cocaine. The articles played on age-old racist white fears of Black criminality, ignoring the fact that white Americans used cocaine at higher rates than Black Americans. Somewhere in between law school and Brittany’s mom’s legal and drug addiction struggles, her mother persevered, overcoming her habit (not while in prison) and released from the clutches of a failed system. It took several years, but thanks to Brittany’s persistence and Sharanda’s hopeful nature, the single mom who thought she’d never hug her kids again, let alone experience their life milestones as twenty-something-year-old women, her story too ends on an inspiring note. A Knock at Midnight is no ordinary book. It impressively weaves together elements of memoir, prison drama, and courtroom suspense, and it does so in a very approachable, accessible way for readers of all ages. Publisher: Crown, an imprint of Random House Revival Season - While Revival Season by Monica West is a quick read, it is not necessarily an easy read. That is not to say it isn’t a well-executed, contemporary debut novel, because it is, but the subject matter about an abusive Southern Baptist preacher, is intense and heart-wrenching at times. The story’s main character, 15-year-old Miriam is the daughter of one of the South’s most prominent Black evangelists. As such, at the start of every summer, she and her family load up the family car and spend several weeks on the road, going from church to church for her father’s healing services. During this one fateful summer, Miriam sees her passionate preacher father in a different light as she observes his temper targeted towards not only herself and her mother, but congregants. Maybe even doubling vexing is hearing her father accused of abusing a young girl. During that same revival season, Miriam learns that she may actually have the gift of healing her father may only be faking. Out of fear of her father’s jealousy, as well as his staunch belief that women cannot heal or have leadership positions in the church, she uses her “gift” sparingly and on the down low. With all the tumult of this particular season, Miriam’s belief in her father and religion is shaken to its core. The story of Revival Season is simple, yet somewhat unique in its exploration of a young girl’s faith in the face of an abusive father and a life-altering decision. It is both interesting and laudable that although a Black family is at the center of this story, race and racism are not. As a writer, her style is pared down and straight forward, maybe at first glance, even a bit underwhelming, with little to no lush, lyrical or memorable lines, per se. That said, with a debut such as this, West undeniably shows signs of an emerging talent to keep an eye on. Publisher: Simon & Schuster A Knock at Midnight by debut writer/lawyer Brittany K. Barnett is a compelling memoir of justice, determination and freedom. The small-town Georgia native was in the midst of a successful career in finance in 2011, and headed to an even more lucrative one in corporate law when she came along the story of Sharanda Jones. Sharanda was a single mother who received a life sentence without parole for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense. The situation resonated with Brittany who herself was the daughter of a single mom, addicted to drugs, and constantly in and out of jail through little fault of her own but an untreated addiction. Although criminal justice law was not in Brittany’s wheelhouse at the time, she was determined learn what she needed in hopes of garnering Sharanda a second chance at life, along with family friends and former neighbors who had been unfairly impacted by a flawed justice system. I dug into the history of federal drug legislation, trying to find justification for the clearly inequitable 100-to-1 crack-to-powder ratio. Surely there had to be some legislative. History that explained lawmakers’ rationale. … What little legislative history there was suggested that legislators justified penalties a hundred times harsher for crack cocaine for reasons unsubstantiated at the time … In the months leading up to the 1986 elections, more than one thousand articles appeared in major news outlets around the country focused on the devastation wrought by crack cocaine. The articles played on age-old racist white fears of Black criminality, ignoring the fact that white Americans used cocaine at higher rates than Black Americans. Somewhere in between law school and Brittany’s mom’s legal and drug addiction struggles, her mother persevered, overcoming her habit (not while in prison) and released from the clutches of a failed system. It took several years, but thanks to Brittany’s persistence and Sharanda’s hopeful nature, the single mom who thought she’d never hug her kids again, let alone experience their life milestones as twenty-something-year-old women, her story too ends on an inspiring note. A Knock at Midnight is no ordinary book. It impressively weaves together elements of memoir, prison drama, and courtroom suspense, and it does so in a very approachable, accessible way for readers of all ages. Publisher: Crown, an imprint of Random House The Archer - If you’re looking for a novel that offers escapism, with a healthy dose of reality; family drama, with poetic lyricism, look no further than The Archer by Shruti Swamy. Taking place in 1960s- 1970s Bombay, it presents the idea and dilemma of independent womanhood, motherhood and artistic endeavors coexisting. When the protagonist, Vidya as a young girl, observes her mother and a class of women performing a native dance, she is vexed. She is determined to not only learn it, but perfect it. The pursuit of it means more than marriage, becoming a mother or her eventual college studies. It takes on even more meaning once she loses her mother while still only in high school. Of course her desire to be consumed by her art runs contrary to her father’s, her husband’s and societal expectations. Can Vidya have it all? Does she want it all or is her life’s ambition singular? Although this is Samy’s debut novel, it is not her first publication. Her recently published collection of stories, A House is a Body, was dubbed by Kiese Laymon as “one of the greatest short story collections of the 2020s.” Given that, along with the The Archer’s original premise, it is no surprise that this is an impressive and wholly engaging debut from a unique writing talent who will only get better and better with each project. Publisher: Algonquin Books, an imprint of Workman Press Revival Season - While Revival Season by Monica West is a quick read, it is not necessarily an easy read. That is not to say it isn’t a well-executed, contemporary debut novel, because it is, but the subject matter about an abusive Southern Baptist preacher, is intense and heart-wrenching at times. The story’s main character, 15-year-old Miriam is the daughter of one of the South’s most prominent Black evangelists. As such, at the start of every summer, she and her family load up the family car and spend several weeks on the road, going from church to church for her father’s healing services. During this one fateful summer, Miriam sees her passionate preacher father in a different light as she observes his temper targeted towards not only herself and her mother, but congregants. Maybe even doubling vexing is hearing her father accused of abusing a young girl. During that same revival season, Miriam learns that she may actually have the gift of healing her father may only be faking. Out of fear of her father’s jealousy, as well as his staunch belief that women cannot heal or have leadership positions in the church, she uses her “gift” sparingly and on the down low. With all the tumult of this particular season, Miriam’s belief in her father and religion is shaken to its core. The story of Revival Season is simple, yet somewhat unique in its exploration of a young girl’s faith in the face of an abusive father and a life-altering decision. It is both interesting and laudable that although a Black family is at the center of this story, race and racism are not. As a writer, her style is pared down and straight forward, maybe at first glance, even a bit underwhelming, with little to no lush, lyrical or memorable lines, per se. That said, with a debut such as this, West undeniably shows signs of an emerging talent to keep an eye on. Publisher: Simon & Schuster  Ripple Effect deftly mixes writing genres of literary fiction and mystery, leaving readers to wonder where author Cathy Rath has been all this time, and will this be the first of many or a possible series. Ripple Effect by newcomer, Cathy Rath, is a fresh and truly engaging take on family dynamics and family secrets. It is as much a suspense plot-driven narrative as it is a character-driven one that make for a story with a lot of heart and undeniable intrigue. The protagonist, Jeannie Glazer, was three years old in 1952 when her father dies in a car accident on a trip to Atlanta. Sixteen years later, as a college freshman, she is arrested during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. She is released hours later when a sergeant announces that her bail was paid by her “pop” and tosses her an envelope of cash. Stunned and suspicious, Jeannie tells no one, convinced somebody is watching her. Determined to find answers, her search closes in on an even darker secret about her father’s tragic death two decades earlier.
Although Jeannie garners most of the novel's character focus, there are several others that are key to the story and mystery. Some are within the Glazer family, others are pivotal supporting cast of characters., but all that should be, are fully drawn and interesting. Also interesting and admirable is that the novel crosses over two to three time periods, which in the hands of a lesser writer could be tricky, even problematic, but Rath navigates it all with aplomb. It is especially appreciative that the character names and dates as demarkation of each chapter. The reader is quickly drawn into the point of view and the year/decade. All that, and coming in at just under 300 pages, Ripple Effect is one of the most readable books you and your book group should dive into this year.  Infinite Country by Patricia Engel is what American Dirt by Jeanine Commins should have been, or at least what the latter fancied itself to be. Where Cummins’ novel about a mother and son on the run from the Cartel in Mexico succeeded in delivering up an undeniable absorbing suspense thriller, it received warranted criticism for promoting falsehoods, often labeled “stereotypical” and “appropriative.” Engle’s story about a Colombian family fractured by deportation, and the young female protagonist initially running from school, her family and her inner demons, feels authentic and compassionate. It deftly combines political narratives with human struggles.
The story begins with 15-year-old Talia breaking free from a nun-managed reform school in the Colombian mountains. Talia, a young, but tortured soul is more than capable on her own. She’s tough, and a force to be reckoned with as she forges her way back to Bogotá where she had been raised by her father and grandmother in Colombia. From there, she is determined to catch a flight and reunite with her mother and siblings in the United States, her place of birth. but raised by her father and grandmother in Colombia. Along the way from the school to her home, readers are taken along not only Talia’s rigorous trek and the people she encounters, but through the backstory of her young life and her family’s. Though Talia’s journey drives the novel’s narrative and rhythm of short, brisk chapters, Infinite Country’s is less about Talia’s journey and need to reunite with her family than expected from the story’s start. Instead, as the novel richly unfolds, one realizes its focus is on her and her parent’s choices and unfortunate circumstances, as well as the cruel immigration policies that led to their initial separation. It is those themes that Engel explores and excels. The writing is lyrical and captivating, and the messages are necessary and urgent. |
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