While My Sister Sleeps Do you think about donating your organs? Do you have a will? Does your family know what you would like them to do if you are incapable of making decisions? While My Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delinsky addresses these issues, and more. Robin Snow is a world class runner, in perfect physical shape and in the prime of her life. While training for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team, Robin collapses. A Good Samaritan finds her and begins CPR. But it isn't enough. Robins lapses into a coma with no brain activity. Her family is devastated, with battles lines drawn. Her mother wants to hold on to her for as long as possible and her father wants what her mother wants. But her sister Molly and brother Chris are ready to let go. Molly feels responsible for her collapse. She always helped Robin train, but refused this time.
However, while packing some of Robin's things from the house they shared, she stumbles upon a disc that includes a journal that Robin kept but never shared. The contents will shock each family member, and reveal secrets kept from them. The Robin they thought they knew and the Robin that was, were two different people. Now begins an emotional journey that will involve family, friends and the plant and tree business the Snow family has run for years. All will have to reach inside themselves and see things they might not necessarily like. David Harris the Good Samaritan, comes to the hospital to check on Robin, only to find Kathryn, Robin's mother, blames him for not doing more for her favored daughter. She believes that if he had run faster he could have been of more help. Each time David visits, he becomes increasingly interested in Molly. Thus begins the relationship between David and Molly, and the roadblocks Kathryn puts up to destroy it.
The outcome will not surprise you, and the plot, though not terribly complex, does touch on unpopular topics, ethics, and family dynamics during times of deep emotional stress. Everyone involved tries to cope with the situation the best they can, and live with the decisions made. In a style similar to Jodi Picoult or Kristin Hannah, Delinsky writes a touching story that will keep you entertained. Check out some of her earlier books as the characters have more depth and the story line is usually more complicated. [3-1-09]
The novel "Corner Shop" by Roopa Farooki
begins with the Oscar Wilde quote, "In this world there are only two
tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."
The Khalil family certainly struggles with their goals, how hard should they
work to realize them, and should they enjoy them when they are reached.
The Khalil family has its origins in India. Zaki is the son of a merchant
who hopes that his son will get an education in Paris and return to play a
major role in the family business. Just before Zaki leaves India, he falls
in love with a pregnant widow and marries her in spite of the opposition of
both families. They spend a few years happily as poor students in Paris until
his wife is struck and killed by a car. Zaki and the baby Jinan are living
helplessly in squalor when Zaki's father comes and offers Zaki the chance
to manage and then purchase a corner shop which he owns in London. When Zaki
moves to London he resumes his interest in gambling. As he emerges from a
London casino, he shares a taxicab with a young Frenchwoman named Delphine.
She is from a small French village and has been pursuing a business career.
She is very ambitious and desires all of the things of "the good life."
For a summer they become lovers, but Delphine eventually decides that Zaki
has too little ambition to suit her dreams. Later, even though she is slightly
older, she meets and marries Zaki's son, Jinan. Jinan is a prosperous, conservative
lawyer and provides Delphine with the dream life. When their son is born,
Delphine feels all she now wants out of life is to be a perfect mother with
perfect possessions.
Their son, "Lucky" Luhith has put all his efforts into playing soccer. He is neglecting his homework and ignoring his parents. His dream is that his lucky left foot will score the winning goal for England in the World Cup. He also hopes the beautiful Portia will become his girlfriend.
All the family members achieve a portion of their
dreams, but each one is still left unsatisfied and unsure how much more they
should risk. The choices they make complicate their relationships with each
other, but they agonize about what will make them the happiest. Does living
their dreams make them happy or are they happiest while they are dreaming?
[3-8-09]
Very Valentine "Very Valentine" by Adriani Trigiani is the first volume in a new trilogy about the Roncalli and Angelini families who have been making wedding shoes in Greenwich Village since 1903. Although she was trained and worked as a teacher, Valentine Roncalli has apprenticed herself to her grandmother, Teodora Angelini, to learn the trade at the Angelini Shoe Company. It was founded by Valentine's grandfather and developed into an artesian shop which specialized in wedding shoes. The business has fallen on hard times because a bride who has just spent thousands on a wedding dress is reluctant to spend several thousand more on shoes when she can find something retail. Then a prestigious department store creates a competition. Each window will have a bridal ensemble with different shoe companies having an opportunity to compete. Prada and Manolo Blahnik are there.
Valentine learns that the business is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Her grandmother has concentrated on making beautiful shoes and has just renewed her loans. The interest costs have grown and the only way Valentine's brother sees to get the business out of debt is to sell its place of business. Valentine has been coming to the home above the shop all her life, so that it feels like her home, too. While she is working at the shop, she has moved in with her grandmother, giving an old world feel to the business. Another complication in Valentine's life is meeting the chef, Roman Falconi. He is trying to get his restaurant off to a great start, so neither one has much time to devote to romance. Valentine often sees Roman when she shows up to prep vegetables for him at the restaurant.
The author's website and interviews offer insight about what have inspired both place descriptions and characters. The building which inspired the setting for the Angelini Shoe Company is pictured on her webpage with a great shot of the roof top garden. It is easy to imagine Valentine watering the tomatoes there when she is first spotted in an embarrassing moment by Roman Falconi. When traveling in Italy to order materials, Adriani met a leatherworker who wore his dead wife's wedding ring on a chain around his neck. Although authors are cautioned against putting real characters in novels, this man's real identity is used. Even the dedication page of the novel shows the author's grandfather in his small shoe shop in 1930 Minnesota. [3-22-09]
The Irregulars You may be familiar with Roald Dahl as the author of such great children's books as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" or "James and the Giant Peach", but did you know he was a British spy working in Washington, D.C. before and during WWII? Did you even know there were active British spies in America during this time? The period, the politics, and his activities are detailed in Jennet Conant's book "The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington".
Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Britain was very concerned about America's possible entry into the war. There were a great many isolationists who felt that American should not play a combat role and that there was no reason for American lives to be lost in the support of British imperialism.
Dahl had taken a job with Shell Oil in Africa
before the war began. He promptly enlisted when war was declared, and his
first military role was as an RAF pilot. While he was attempting to ferry
a plane to Greece from Africa, he crash landed the plane since he was completely
unfamiliar with the controls. That crash gave him medical problems, but he
went on to become a combat pilot in Greece. Later, he was having short black
outs so he had to be invalided out of flying. His next posting was the British
Embassy in Washington D. C. He was an assistant air attaché who looked
good in his uniform. Soon his social skills had him circulating through Washington's
parties. As a young, attractive, unattached man, he was a much desired guest.
These parties were the perfect place for Dahl to make contact with people
who knew important things about what was happening in America. Dahl's job
was to influence public opinion and also the attitudes of Washinton's powerful
elite. Quite early in his Washington career he met the Texas multimillionaire
newspaper publisher, Charles Marsh. Dahl became something of a protégé
of Marsh's, frequently staying at his Virginia mansion and meeting with him
regularly at parties. They were able to trade mutually beneficial information.
When the powers that be realized how great Dahl's contacts were, he was invited
to contribute his information to the British Security Coordination. He became
part of a group that included David Ogilvy who later created a legendary advertising
agency and Ian Fleming, the later author of the James Bond novels. Their world
offered plenty of model characters. [3-29-09]
by Helen Davis