The WITCH On Shortlist for Booker Is Embedded with Magic but Enigmatic all Told

French author Marie Ndiaye's bewitching but ultimately befuddling novel, "The Witch" was on this year's shortlist for the Int'l Booker Prize.  All the women in our heroine Lucie's family tree inherit the gene for witchery.  The gift was inherited by Lucie from her mother whose power outshone Lucie's but whose powers fell short of her granddaughters; Lucie's pre-teen, twin girls.  The telltale sign for when magic has been utilized is the blood tinged, telltale tears that befall after its use.  For Lucie, this power was limited  to an ability to see the past/future or present of an individual she chooses to focus on; a talent to be coveted by covens to be sure.  However, the tween-twins' prowess is potent.  It manifest in flight quite literally.  The girls use their powers to transform into crows and fly far from home, bonding their doting  mother's nest. This follows soon after Lucie's husband flees the family abode with a sizable inheritance that was owed to Lucie.  Lucie uses her tracking skill to find the feckless fiend who found himself a new wife and family.  The men in this bewitching novel are all shady, lazy or secondary at best.  Ndiaye's writing is beguiling, depicting characters with warts and all and her descriptive prose sets the scenes for  the frenetic pace of Paris and for doldrums outside Paris in torpid small towns.  Magic is manifested as an  aside to the ambiguous plot.  There are no predictable paths and the plot meanders with a melancholy atmosphere with dreamlike frustrations.  Lucie's nosey, domineering neighbor is a side character that plays a major unexpected role in her life.  "The Witch" is for readers looking for something out of the ordinary even though the story itself is less than extraordinary.  I was whisked away in a nebulous cloud while looking for meaning in this surrealistic novel that I found unique and utterly mystifying. 

THINGS in NATURE MERELY GROW-Pulitzer Prize Memoir Garnering Sorrow

Yiyun Li's moving autobiography, "Things in Nature Merely Grow" deservedly received this year's Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction.  Do not envy Li of her honor wherein she unfurls the unimaginable pain of both her teenage sons' suicides.  For those who've read Joan Didion's haunting memoir "The Year of Magical Thinking" and found it unforgettable as did I, Li's lyrical prose will resonate with you.  For those who've read Joyce Carol Oates' "A Widow's Story" and were put off by the "TMI"and cool depiction of her husband's corpse as did I, Li's sensitive and thoughtful reflections will have substance.  Both her sons lives, their personae, her life before their untimely deaths and the forever forward life without them is bared.  Li's candor and sensitive relinquishing of her grief are borne bearable and made compelling in her layered telling of her own battle with depression and earlier suicide attempt.  Amid the years the brothers shared and the years when younger brother James lived on without the friendship of his beloved older brother Vincent.  The mundane quotidian of life's essential requirements and Li's chosen distractions: piano practice or lap swimming to mitigate her consuming unease provided her sustenance and succor.  There is snide humor in the cynicism Li finds in platitudes and fatuous fortitudes offered by intended,  benevolent well-wishers.  The unusual and poetic title "Things in Nature Merely Grow" is itself fodder for curiosity and understanding.  "...weeding, weeding, weeding and then one day giving up because weeds are part of nature, too, and things in nature merely grow."  The juxtaposition of merely grow - the burden to comprehend one's loved one's will no longer grow older, experience more or surpass the abyss of misery bears gravitas. "Things in nature merely grow.  There is no suicdeal or angry rose, there is no depressed or rebellious lily.  Plants have but one goal: to live, in order to live they grow when they can."  Li's sobering and contemplative book took me outside my self-contained orbit.  "Sometimes a mother and a child are like two hands placed next to each other: only just touching or else with fingers intertwined.  Then the world turns, and one hand is left, holding on to everything and nothing that is called now and now and now and now."  Li does not sugarcoat or succumb to her moroseness. "Death, particularly suicide, cannot be softened or sugarcoated."   "I don't want an end point to my sorrow.  Thinking about my children is like air, like time.  Thinking about them will end when I reach the end of my life,"  I will carry Miyun's "Things in Nature..." in my psyche for as long as I am sentient.  "No matter how long we get to parent our children, there are only limited numbers of 'I love you' we can say to them.  That too is a fact."  

YESTERYEAR-Prescient Novel with Lots to Say About Today and the Tradwife Way

Caro Claire Burke's debut book, YESTERYEAR is an incredible work of fiction with the depiction of life in the early 19th C as currently interpreted in the 21st C as it's perceived by "tradwives".  Tradwife is the term used to describe today's married women who live under the guise of of a roles wherein women are subservient to men and household roles are clearly designated and subjugated.   Women are to assume   all household and child raising duties.  The view I see of tradwives is skewed to extol only virtues of domesticity and simplicity in lifestyle.  In other words, back to basic cooking/baking by scratch, gardening, homeschooling and home births eschewing medical attention or intervention.  Why this way of life has taken an upsurge in public interest and submission by numerous women to this antiquated, outdated, zealot ideation is worth questioning.  The fanaticism in which our hero Natalie succumbs to romanticized notions of living off the land with a "cowboy" husband makes for a page turning novel with surprising tangents.  We get to understand our heroine Natalie as a young woman in her freshman year at college.  Natalie lived a very sheltered, "religious" upbringing with her single mother and younger sister.  The rather naive Natalie is put off by the drinking and sexual escapades of her roommate and peers.  The classmates at her school are equally put off by Natalie's squeamish behavior. "Amish" style clothing and unshorn hair.  A social pariah, Natalie meets Caleb her sophomore year attending a Quaker like sect of students and the two are smitten with their mutual infatuation.  Both Natalie and Caleb are unbearably vacuous and desirous of admiration.  Burke parodies the abounding absurdities within our self-absorbed society's quest for fame via the internet, fortune derived from being an influencer and the ultimate drive for notoriety; running for top political office. YESTERYEAR's incisive writing brilliantly bends the genres of satire, sci-fi and psychological warfare, creating a cunning world which drives the story full-throttle ahead in search of what's in store.  To read YESTERYEAR again would likely yield additional lambasting of our litigious society, religious fanaticism, feminism and more.  Three cheers for YESTERYEAR which may be the best novel of the year so far and soon to be made into a movie starring Anne Hathaway from Amazon MGM Studios.  

Belle Burden's STRANGERS-Unburdens and Examines the Unexpected End of Her Marriage

STRANGERS is Belle Burden's non-fiction book of the shocking and abrupt end to a 20 year marriage and three children together, leaving her cold and alone at the onset of COVID in 2020.  Burden's book struck a nerve with me along with millions of other readers who are probably wondering what was he {James, her husband} thinking and thinking how fortunate we are the bell didn't ring for me or thee.  It's a clarion call of what not to do to not get financially screwed by your spouse.  Burden tells the reader why she unburdened her heartbreak maintaining it was not as revenge.  "I'd wanted James to  understand what happened after he left, to see the impact, to see me.  But isn't that different from revenge?" Was she airing her dirty laundry? Yes, and rightfully so as it's her's air out. I related to the situation she put herself into (for the most part.). We had no need for a prenup agreement as neither of us were bringing any money or property into the marriage aside from our incomes.  Burden's family lineage is one of notoriety and high society as her beloved maternal grandmother Babe Paley was a wealthy, well-known New York socialite. Prior to her wedding, Burden failed to heed the advice of her attorney and it proved to be a financial travesty.  Despite being an attorney, Burden succumbed to James requests at the behest of her best interests and legal advice.  "I put both our names on the deeds.  I chose not to be involved in our financial life. "  What makes this open book divorce so authentic and empathetic is her graceful navigation of this excruciatingly painful period with a sensibility many of us share.  "I failed to think about what would happen if our marriage ended...I was agreeing to all of it, trusting my husband. I did it for love.  There is nothing shameful about that."  The shared joyful parenting events became gut wrenchingly distressful as the longing to be connected had not abated and the close proximity was very uncomfortable. Many of us in long relationships take comfort in delegating responsibilities we'd rather not take. Burden spoke for me and probably a lot of partners when she stated, "I was spared, for a time, handling it all myself, having to understand it, having to face the reality of my financial life." There's also the shared epiphany, "I could see that the cost for feeling safe was being controlled.  They were two sides of the same coin-protection and control."  It's not accurate to say Burden was just airing her dirty laundry.  I was moved by the loving picture she painted of their courtship, marriage and life together.  This caused me ache for the love she had that was gone.  Following Burden's rebuilding of her life, her strength from despair to self-reliance,  her gratitude for her three children and for her future was a poignant journey I'm glad to have held.  "I had to shift, again, in my understanding of the man I'd been married to. He was not a benign stranger wandering out of my life.  He was an adversary."  Belle Burden was no stranger to immense emotional distress but and no stranger to resilience, wonder and new found fulfillment.  

IF it HAPPENS, IT HAPPENS-What Happens that Makes Adopting so Arduous

Emily Baglien, TV producer, adoptee and adoption advocate, does not have advice for new parents (except for others to stop offering advice to soon-to-be parents). She does have her own inimitable journal on the six months+, patience testing process intrinsic with adoption.  Firstly, let me offer my appreciation and admiration to Emily and her husband, Tim and all those who adopt, foster or provide social services for children and adults enmeshed in the trials and tribulations of adopting.  Let me take a measured step back and address a lot of the frustrating, red-tape hoops and waiting game involved in bringing a child into their forever home. Emily, herself an adoptee at two months, has the loving support of her mom and her birth mom to whom she leaned on for support during the numerous times she and Tim were throttled in their dedicated pursuit to adopt an infant, Orsett; a name they sagaciously changed to Theodore. This brings up one of my main questions to the childless couple.  Why was little mention made of any communication between Tim and the "troubled" birth father.  The birth father is Tim's brother.   The birth father is now the uncle and the uncle/aunt are now his parents.  (Tim did say he didn't like his brother who had fathered five other children.)  I'm curious if there was any direct communication between Tim and this brother at any point.  Why didn't the offer to foster come earlier (closer to "Teddy's" birth) to subvert the baby from being fostered by a non-family related couple which also belabored the already lengthy adoption process?  My second question for Emily is simply why she and Tim became so determined to adopt when it seemed the possibility of conceiving their own child was viable.  I ask this because adoption is an ultimate, selfless, life long commitment. Learning why some individuals choose this route I feel is warranted.  Getting back to Emily's candid, warm-hearted, jovial journal, I commend her for sharing she  her thoughts and experiences for what they went through and for writing such a delightful and insightful account of their experiences intwined in the social service system overseeing children's welfares prior to formalizing an adoption.  It's reassuring to know there are numerous safety and welfare checks that must be abided to help insure the safety of infants/children in need of caring families.  Still, it's distressing to realize that the system is so overblown it keeps children and those wanting to provide homes for them embroiled in a waiting game that is shameful.  Getting to know Emily through her journal I believe "Teddy", Tim and Emily are the family that was meant to happen.  I recommend Emily Bagalien's "If it Happens, it Happens" for anyone who is thinking of adopting, knows someone who is adopting a child, or anyone that has a family - i.e. this is for everyone.  To paraphrase Teddy's mom, "I'm guiding this mission, not just as a producer, a coordinator, or an adoptee.  I'm at the helm of this rock as a mom."  You've got this EMILY!  You rock!

THEO of GOLDEN-Too Much of a Good Thing-So Saccharine It's Rubbish

For those who read Allen Levi's novel, "Theo of Golden" and were touched by this warm-hearted tale of countless kindnesses bestowed on the townspeople in Golden by a mysterious, dapper senior, you will not take kindly to what I have to say.  I say - Bah Humbug! Phooey! Yuck! This treacly tale is so excessively sweet and long it become an odious odyssey that never seems to end.  Theo enters Golden unbeknownst to the community.  The townsfolk are mystified by Theo many, magnanimous acts.  His actions serve to draw the locals whom he's interacted with, into an interconnected group.  Theo enters the charming town of Golden unbeknownst to anyone who lives there.  He elects to settle there for an indefinite period and for  indeterminate reasons.  Theo ambles into the local coffee bistro where everyone knows your name and are always glad you came.  Theo is immediately taken aback by the portraitures on the walls.  It just so happens the paintings are for sale.  Perhaps on a whim, Theo choses to buy many of them and give the portraits to the individuals depicted as gifts.  The only caveat, he would like to meet the party in the painting and directly present the painting. This bloated and overly long story is drawn out as we learn about the people's lives in a kismet connection between Theo and person gifted by Theo.  In turn,  a symbiotic relationship ensues between the parties.  To make matters more miraculous and incredulous, a synapses of harmonious happenstances abound amongst those to whom Theo has presented their portrait gifts.  Get my drift?  There's more soul-stirring shifts happening around town ever since Theo decided to make Golden him home.  I fault Theo's saintly like behaviors for being pompous and pretentious.  Theo is quite the connoisseur of art, music, food and wine.  The answers to Theo's own personal history and the reasons why he came to live in Golden are made "heir" apparent posthumously. Theo seemed to have a particular proclivity to getting to know the painter of the portraits.  For those who easily succumb to feel good far-fetched stories, you may revel in this bunk.  Knock ourselves out!  I say Bah Humbug - stay out of Golden at the risk of wasting your valued time sullied in syrupy drivel.  

YOU SAY TOMATO and I SAY SHUT-UP A Real Cut Up of a Couple's Marriage/Gurwitch v Kahn

Annabelle Gurwitch is an actress, activist, author, TV personality, single mother, i.e., a regular Renaissance woman for the 21st C. She is the co-author (with her ex, Jeff Kahn) of "You Say Tomato and I Say Shut Up".  For those who don't recognize a Gershwin tune (shame on you), the title is a clever play on a song about the myriad ways love can go wrong.  Oh, let me count the ways...  or better, read about the fray in the troubled courtship and tumultuous marriage between Annabelle and Jeff.  Jeff is successful TV writer.  He received a Primetime Emmy for ("The Ben Stiller Show") 1993.  This memoir is told by the talented and successful duo, Annable and Jeff about when they met, fell in lust, parted, reunited, fell in love, got married, had a son and after more than a decade of marital banter, parted ways.  Annable and Jeff take us down memory lane from their first meeting at a party.  Jeff was immediately smitten upon seeing Annabelle frying-up latkahs in a LA kitchen for a holiday party.  Annabelle, a self-proclaimed flirt was married at the time to her first husband. Jeff was crushed when he learned this tidbit which wasn't shared by Annabelle. They do tell share intimate details of the same sequence of events in chronological order from their perspective.  Told candidly, with dollops of hilarity flavoring their antics; feelings of jealousy, animosity and mainly, an unflappable amorous attachment. At least that was the slant I eschewed from the dynamic two who seemed fated, dated, married and mated.  Of course their bickering evokes stress and resentment in their relationship.  The relationship is not embattled in direct combat. They're not directly engaged in an escalation of accusations.  Rather, as the reader one hears both sides separately and comparatively.  A lot of their complaints are relatable and oftentimes comical.  Their son was born with severe health issues requiring multiple surgeries. Their alliance was steadfast with one another in support of their son, Ezra (now a healthy teen),  And throughout the stress of their son's health, there was still a sense of humor that was ubiquitous and uplifting. What hope is there if two such like minded, dynamic people can't make it last till "death do us part".  Between the chapters are amusing anecdotal breaks wherein marriage facts are given.  These facts will make you wonder how any couple would ever chose to get married in the first place.  I say, pick up "You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up" and enjoy this rib-tickling, light hearted inside/out look at love and romance.  "I won't dance, don't ask me. And so what, you''re lovely.  But oh, what you do to me."  (J. Kern/O. Hammerstein)