The Bastard of Istanbul - Elif Shafak

"In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her

country’s violent past in a vivid and colourful tale set in both Turkey and the United States. At its centre is the “bastard” of the title, Asya, a nineteen-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family who all live together in an extended household in Istanbul: Zehila, the zestful, headstrong youngest sister who runs a tattoo parlour and is Asya’s mother; Banu, who has newly discovered herself as a clairvoyant; Cevriye, a widowed high school teacher; and Feride, a hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. Their one estranged brother lives in Arizona with his wife and her Armenian daughter, Armanoush. When Armanoush secretly flies to Istanbul in search of her identity, she finds the Kazanci sisters and becomes fast friends with Asya. A secret is uncovered that links the two families and ties them to the 1915 Armenian deportations and massacres. Full of vigorous, unforgettable female characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is a bold, powerful tale."

I really loved the first two third's of this book. The prose is stunning. The descriptions of Istanbul, while sparse, where rich and beautiful. The dialogue was snappy and fun, and there where just some sentences that made me stop and re-read them a few times. 

 

For example, “The past lives within the present, and our ancestors breathe through our children.” and  

“Imagination was a dangerously captivating magic for those compelled to be realistic in life, and words could be poisonous for those destined always to be silenced.”

The characters were intriguing and are certainly the driving point of the story: the Aunties, each with their particularity but still had that tolerance and love that made them able to live together. 

Asya, the nihilistic bastard impressed me with her realistic teenage anger that wasn't diminished or written off as childish. I resonated with her refusal to accept the past as part of her, her wish to leave a big blank spot behind and stay in that moment with nothing to be charged for. I related to her deep and instilled anger that seems to radiate from her and her refusal to accept the world as it is.  

On the other hand is Armanoush, living with her ancestor's memories and history tied up to her present, half Armenian half American, deciding to find her roots by taking a trip to Istanbul. The city of her ancestors and their old enemies. She believes that returning there would help her find herself in between her mother's hate for Armenian culture and her father's Armenian origins.

I was surprised by, but really enjoyed the magical realism of this story. Auntie Banu's djinni were a great inclusion and where incredibly important in the plot. 

Now, onto the things that I didn't enjoy. The writing in this one was great, as I said before, but the story felt a little flat for me. It was both too much and too little. There was a lot of extraneous material as it seemed like the author was in love with this Turkish family and wanted to tell us all about them. There could have been more focus on the relationship of the characters, the Armenian genocide and the Turkish nationalisation vs Ottoman state. 

In the last third of the book, it felt like the author has taken a step back from the characters and all of the emotion left the story. It devolved to telling not showing. The great reveal as well was just so contrived and the coincidence was just... no,no. I don't like such contrived story lines that beat you over the head with the moral of the story, it becomes too didactic. The reveal of who was Asya's father, was horrifying. I am not sure why Shafak made that decision and I am not sure I can stand by it. That coupled with Asya's seeming acceptance of it by calling him "Baba" just didn't sit well with me and didn't fit with her character up till now. 

There where also a lot of story-lines left open. What happened with Asya and the Cartoonist? Who was "The Baron" that Armanoush had an online crush on? Where the Kazanci men freed from the curse? Did Banu give Armanoush the brooch? 

Overall worth a read from an introduction into the Armenian/ Turk conflict, beautiful atmosphere, great characters and lovely writing. 

Age Rating 16+. There is a rape scene,incest, mentions of heavy domestic violence, mentions and brief descriptions of genocide. 

The Birds Have Also Gone - Yaşar Kemal

"There is an ancient Turkish tradition that promises the person who

frees a small bird a place in paradise. Three boys set up a business of catching birds to enable people to free them, but city people are now sceptical and tragedy lies in wait for the boys."

Only about 150 pages, this was a short but impactful read. The second of my books set in Istanbul, it gave a brilliant yet ephemeral look into the culture. The writing style and descriptive passages are stunning, even if some of the content was brutal and thought provoking. I was disturbed by the tradition of freeing birds, captured for only this reason, that would then be released by a well meaning if deluded person only to be caught again. Trapped in this horrible cycle of capture and release.  

The characters of the boys are equally as unpin down-able as the rest of the story. They are, like many others in the book, disturbed by the fact people no longer want to buy the birds and partake. They take this failing to signify the moral failings of the modern Istanbul and the lack of faith in it's people. They also seem to feel pity for the many tiny beautiful birds they stuff into cages far to small for them, killing many birds everyday. Whether this pity is real or just a selling tactic though is truly hard to make out. The boys don't seem to understand how horrible their actions are, and put all of the blame for the birds captures and deaths at the door of the people who won't buy the birds freedom. 

This was my first Kemal and it did not disappoint. The book is so many things in one: a celebration of a great city, half reality and more than half myth; a lament for passing traditions and a disappearing way of life; a bewildered exclamation against the ravages of modernity, which has brought in its wake so much grief to so many. 

Above all else, this is an environmental story, and the author marvels at the gifts of nature so prodigiously showered on the Bosphorus, so cruelly treated by ambivalent and blinkered custom. The ending is truly shocking - but could it really have been any other way?

Age Rating 14+. Deeply moving, quite shocking and sad. 

Istanbul: Memories and the City - Orhan Pamuk

"A shimmering evocation, by turns intimate and panoramic, of one of the world’s great cities, by its foremost writer. Orhan Pamuk was born in Istanbul and still lives in the family apartment building where his mother first held him in her arms. His portrait of his city is thus also a self-portrait, refracted by memory and the melancholy–or–hüzün–that all Istanbullus share: the sadness that comes of living amid the ruins of a lost empire. With cinematic fluidity, Pamuk moves from his glamorous, unhappy parents to the gorgeous, decrepit mansions overlooking the Bosphorus; from the dawning of his self-consciousness to the writers and painters–both Turkish and foreign–who would shape his consciousness of his city. Like Joyce’s Dublin and Borges’ Buenos Aires, Pamuk’s Istanbul is a triumphant encounter of place and sensibility, beautifully written and immensely moving."

Because of my trip to Istanbul, I decided to read 4 books set there to get the vibe of the city I was to be visiting. 

This was the first on my list. It was unfortunately a disappointment. Pamuk spends a lifetime sitting indoors bemoaning an Istanbul which, he says, doesn't exist anymore. How he can remain isolated in a busy city year after year says more about him, his non-Turkish background, wealthier heritage, self-centred habits, etc. than it probably does about Istanbul.

We're left to slog through four hundred pages of angsty ennui which is purport to represent the zeitgeist of a city that mourns the days it stood at the centre of the world and a divided identity, but in fact does little more than chronicle the thin complaints of a wealthy man who never manages to move out of his mother's house. It would be fine if melancholy simply pervaded Pamuk's memoirs as he spun tales of his youth, but there are almost no tales told here, just endless, smothering atmosphere. 

I can't speak, obviously, for the Istanbul of his youth, but the Istanbul I have experienced is far from the black and white melancholy suffused landscape that Pamuk conjured up. Rather than a melancholy of a city, I think Pamuk writes about the melancholy and claustrophobia of a deeply dysfunctional family and his own deep bouts of depression. To layers those feelings and impressions over an entire city feels unfair and awfully self - centred. 

One positive of this book is that it did give me a good idea of where all the different neighbourhoods of Istanbul are, and helped me navigate a surprising amount. I would be interested to read more from this author, I think his prose, writing style and talent for creating atmosphere would be brilliant in fiction. 

Age Rating 14+ Deeply dysfunctional family, depression and sex. 

Beneath the Rising - Premee Mohamed

" A coming-of-age story about two kids in the middle of a war of eldritch horrors from outside spacetime…

Nick Prasad and Joanna “Johnny” Chambers have been friends since childhood. She’s rich, white, and a genius; he’s poor, brown, and secretly in love with her.

But when Johnny invents a clean reactor that could eliminate fossil fuels and change the world, she awakens the primal, evil Ancient Ones set on subjugating humanity.

From the oldest library in the world to the ruins of Nineveh, hunted at every turn, they need to trust each other completely to survive…"

This is an alternate history, cosmic horror, globe-travelling adventure Science fiction that's primarily a study of the relationship between two young people: Joanna "Johnny" Chambers who is a 17-year old super-genius who has single handedly rewritten the history of the early 2000s with her amazing inventions and discoveries and her best and only friend, Nick Prassad, an ordinary Canadian teenager.

When Johnny invents a new shoebox reactor that seems to generate free energy she also opens a gate into our universe for creatures of cosmic horror known as "Them", to flood in a true Lovecraftian manner. They want Johnny and her invention so that they can enslave humanity and take over the world. So Johnny and Nick go on the run to try and stop them. Pretty basic plot. 

However, what was very interesting to me while reading this book was the dynamics displayed between the two characters. Joanna is the pretty, genius,ridiculously wealthy and slightly psychopathic girl Nick has loved for most of his life, after a violent incident brought the two together. Nick and his family are well below Johnny on the economic scale, and by putting us in his head for the whole book, the author gives us a chance to reflect on the “hero”, as well as the myriad ways in which Nick’s and Johnny’s very different experiences affect them as they suffer threats and attacks, and how the fear and anxiety of their situation exacerbates their differences and their feelings for each other. The racial aspect, the references to race, colonialism, and privilege are not incidental, and were a great addition into a Lovecraft inspire Sci-Fi, someone who was so racist and expressed so much racism through his works. 

While there are many otherworldly horrors present, it’s the many problems that lie at the heart of their relationship, as well as the very real economic and racial issues between them that affected me the most about this story. I struggled to feel anything but irritation for Johnny, and her often blithe approach, her unthinking dismissal to so much that someone without her options, or skin colour, has to live in the world. However she is a very interesting character, she came across as slightly inhuman. Cold, calculating and deeply unfeeling, but at the same time vulnerable and trying desperately to do good. Nick, while supposed to be the "normal" friend was equally interesting, the mixture of love and hate he felt for Johnny, the anger, the claustrophobic closeness of the friends. 

I also need to mention the writing. I really enjoyed it, it got under your skin and made you feel unclean and claustrophobic. 

This is imaginative and fun in parts, the banter was great, there where some dated pop culture references that where a bit weird but didn't ruin the book. However, it was a tad long and dragged in points, and something just didn't hit right with me. The ending disappointed me and the two characters, while interesting felt slightly separated from the reader. 

Age Rating 13+. Could easily be read, enjoyed and understood by a younger audience.

The Kingdom of Copper (#2)- S.A. Chakraborty

"Nahri’s life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabad and quickly discovered she would need all her instincts to survive there.

Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of the battle that saw Dara slain at Prince Ali’s hand, Nahri must forge a new path for herself, without the protection of the guardian who stole her heart or the counsel of the prince she considered a friend. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she’s been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her family and one misstep will doom her tribe.

Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the marid, the unpredictable water spirits, have gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.

And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad's towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It’s a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city’s gates . . . and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve."

Just a stunning, stunning series! I am loving it more with each instalment. I read City of Brass and while I had some problems with it, I really enjoyed it. One of my main issues with it was that it read very much like a YA novel at times, and while I do love YA novels, it made the characters seem childish at times that didn't mesh with the high stakes plot. 

However, with this novel taking place five years after the end of the first, and with the stakes having been tremendously raised, there was no time for being juvenile here. This change in tones is seen throughout the book, through the more gritty writing, matured characterisation and the deep exploration of personal loyalties and morals. 

This is the book where the characters fully come into themselves and are able to really develop, especially Dara. While I don't particularly like him as a person, his character is so interesting. Here we get to read from Dara's point of view for the first time and it was fascinating to see the world, war and all that was happening through his eyes. His contradicting beliefs and inner conflict when it came to both his and Manizheh's actions definitely added depth to his character and I loved every moment. 

Also, Ali! He has grown so much! While I liked him in book one, his chapters were a bit on the boring and long-winded side, but that was part of his personality in a way. In this book, we get to see some action and way more emotion out of him and it was so wonderful. He was coming into his own as a person. Stepping out of his brother's and father's shadows and becoming his own person with his own beliefs and morals. 

All the other characters were fabulous too. I really enjoyed all the minor characters, they feel too well fleshed out to be called minor, and their arcs. Muthandhir, Zaynab, Jamshid,and many others. I think that that is my main love of this series. No character feels extraneous. They all give us a different and valid insight into the politics, morals and society so you find yourself as confused and conflicted as the main characters. 

Now, the perfect segway into politics. I really enjoyed them in book one although they oftentimes felt overwhelming. This book, with a better handle on what was up, had just the right amount of intrigue, family drama and city politics. There was no one right side. Everyone is standing in a morally grey area, doing what they need for what they believe is right. Everyone believes themselves justified in their cruel actions and their hatred. Everyone was equally wrong, and yet, in a way, I could completely see and understand where each of them was coming from. Each had valid points and each group is shown to be equally at fault and equally innocent. It was an amazingly nuanced portrayal that mirrors modern day real-life racism, nationalism and tribalism experienced all over the world. To manage such a complex system in a book this big is certainly a talent that Chakraborty has clearly mastered. 

That ending though! I was honestly so stressed for the entire last 20% of this book. The pacing for this book is excellent and the tension only ramps up, without leaving it dull in the middle. I was at the edge of my seat, wondering what the heck was going to go down. So many questions have been answered in this book and now I have even more questions than ever before! I am super excited to see how it's all going to end in Empire of Gold! 

Age Rating 14+. Some adult themes. Reality of war (as much as a fantasy can provide), mass scale violence and hints to sexual violence. 

The Cellist Of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway

"This brilliant novel with universal resonance, set during the 1990s Siege of Sarajevo, tells the story of three people trying to survive in a city rife with the extreme fear of desperate times, and of the sorrowing cellist who plays undaunted in their midst.

One day a shell lands in a bread line and kills twenty-two people as the cellist watches from a window in his flat. He vows to sit in the hollow where the mortar fell and play Albinoni’s Adagio once a day for each of the twenty-two victims. The Adagio had been re-created from a fragment after the only extant score was firebombed in the Dresden Music Library, but the fact that it had been rebuilt by a different composer into something new and worthwhile gives the cellist hope.

Meanwhile, Kenan steels himself for his weekly walk through the dangerous streets to collect water for his family on the other side of town, and Dragan, a man Kenan doesn’t know, tries to make his way towards the source of the free meal he knows is waiting. Both men are almost paralyzed with fear, uncertain when the next shot will land on the bridges or streets they must cross, unwilling to talk to their old friends of what life was once like before divisions were unleashed on their city. Then there is “Arrow,” the pseudonymous name of a gifted female sniper, who is asked to protect the cellist from a hidden shooter who is out to kill him as he plays his memorial to the victims.

In this beautiful and unforgettable novel, Steven Galloway has taken an extraordinary, imaginative leap to create a story that speaks powerfully to the dignity and generosity of the human spirit under extraordinary duress."

The futility and horror of war are felt most acutely and despairingly when the young, the helpless and the innocent, bear the ultimate price. At 4 pm on 26th May 1992, in a war-torn Sarajevo marketplace, a mortar bomb killed 22 people, mostly women, as they queued for bread. In homage to each of those lost souls and in protest against the violence and conflict, an unknown Cellist enters the square at 4 pm each day afterwards for 22 days, to play his cello. He is completely isolated, vulnerable and a high priced target for the attacking snipers.

The narration is told through the eyes of 3 characters as they each navigate the shelled-out city at risk of losing their lives. One is an elderly baker travelling across the city to work and make sure he has bread for his family. Another is a man making the daily routine of fetching fresh water from the brewery. The third character is a female sniper watching and protecting the Cellist from the surrounding buildings of rubble.

A quietly stunning and thoroughly haunting book. The prose is sparse and contains a quiet tension and dread. The character's humanity and quite horror but acceptance are all communicated artfully. Truly wonderful prose. 

The author shows the impact of war on ordinary citizens (as opposed to soldiers), and the role of art in maintaining a sense of hope. This novel is not about the war itself, how it started, or any of the ethnic groups involved. It is about how people struggle to retain their humanity in the midst of death, destruction, and chaos. The author paints a vivid picture of what it would be like to live in a war zone, the drastic changes in the way people interact with each other, and the emotional harm inflicted by living with the threat of imminent death. But the book never becomes preachy or overblown, slips into the bombastic or overtly sentimental. It keeps it's sparse prose and characterisation. 

I must quickly mention that I did find Arrows character a little unbelievable and whenever she appeared she pulled me out the the story a little. Why is she such a good sniper?Why was she learning to shot in the "normal world"? Why is she allowed so much freedom to pick and choose her missions in a time full of strict martial hierarchy? 

Overall a haunting book well worth a read. It certainly sparked an interest in me about the conflict, that I shamefully knew woefully little about. 

Age Rating 15 +. Some realistic description of violence, aftermath of shootings and mortar blasts. 

The Daughter of Heaven - Nigel Cawthorne

"She was taken to the palace as a concubine for the Emperor. Using her skill in the bedroom, she seduced her way to the throne of the most powerful empire in the world. She executed her enemies without mercy, and even murdered her own children for political gain. She set up her own imperial harem made up of young men. She elected herself a living god and held a ruthless reign of terror for over fifty years. Yet in the end, it was sex that led to her downfall. In this sensational true story, bestselling author Nigel Cawthorne reveals the dark and dramatic story of the only woman ever to rule China; Wu Chao, concubine, manipulator, politician, murderer, Emperor. From her instruction in the art of love by palace officials, to her eventual sticky end, this book opens a window into the colourful world of Tang Dynasty China."

Daughter of Heaven starts off with a confusing medley of names and titles in a huge rush of Chinese history. I found the overall work jarring and that it seemed to take liberties in identifying what should and shouldn't be taken as historical fact.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The subject is absolutely fascinating: Wu Chao was a commoner in 7th century China and became the only female emperor China has ever had. This time in history was bloody with not only countries, but families all fighting for power and positions. Within the families there were power plays and hostilities; some committing suicide while others were sent into exile. With all of this being such an important and tumultuous time in China's history, I was excited where the author would take this.

In truth, I had a difficult time getting through. There is a lack of organisation throughout the book as it wanders from one topic to another, seemingly unaware of the main focus of the narrative for awhile before coming back to its senses and getting back on track. There are many tangents, and the author seems to have the need to follow every one of them. That being said however, it is quite obvious that the research for this book is extensive and includes a lot of outer history and is very detailed. The amount of outer history may be the reason the author became so sidetracked, and he could have very easily done without it.

The work intersperses the overarching tale of Wu ZeTian with lengthy and unappealing descriptions of architecture and geography. While sometimes helpful in history books, these felt unnecessarily detailed and were only tangentially related to the overall topic. Additionally, the variations in the transliteration of Chinese names, including the addition of accent marks not found in Chinese standard pinyin, make it confusing for readers who are at all familiar with Mandarin. The book is lengthy and convoluted by the constant introducing and immediate executing of multitudinous characters  without any kind of introduction or explanation of how they fit into the larger narrative. 

Several long sections are dedicated to describing works surrounding sexual pleasure that don't particularly add to the tale beyond shock and awe value. There was quite an uncomfortably strong focus on matters of sex, murder, and other such things that made this feel much less like a decent historical novel of any sort. Instead, it feels like it just carries on the centuries-long tradition of painting high-powered women in imperial China, or anywhere or that matter, as all being part of the same basic mould as nothing but fierce, conniving power-hungry souls with a large sexually deviant streak. It lacked any try to humanise or understand the women and her great economic leaps and ability to rule are quickly skipped over. Certain sensational details may make this book interesting to some and there where certainly some interesting points that I learnt. But as a quality source on the life of a genuinely fascinating woman, I found this to be a very, very heavy disappointment.

Overall, I felt the topic was not presented well and that the author had an automatic bias concerning the Empress Wu from the very beginning - her as a historical character and Tang Dynasty China were not approached, in my opinion, with respect or unbiased objectivity. 

Age Rating 15+. As said in the review, there is a heavy focus on sex, violence and murder. 

Spud - John van de Ruit

"It’s 1990. Apartheid is crumbling. Nelson Mandela has just been released from prison. And Spud Milton—thirteen-year-old, prepubescent choirboy extraordinaire—is about to start his first year at an elite boys-only boarding school in South Africa. Cursed with embarrassingly dysfunctional parents, a senile granny named Wombat, and a wild obsession for Julia Roberts, Spud has his hands full trying to adapt to his new home.

Armed with only his wits and his diary, Spud takes readers of all ages on a rowdy boarding school romp full of illegal midnight swims, raging hormones, and catastrophic holidays that will leave the entire family in total hysterics and thirsty for more."

OMG this is a wonderful book. It had me rolling around on the floor laughing at times. As a South African there is so much that reminded me of home, there is much that hasn't changed despite the change in times. It really captured the wacky spirit of modern South Africa. 

Written in a Diary format that doesn't usually appeal to me, it was actually handled very well and I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style. I don't know if the humour will be funny to non-South African's but I truly found it hysterical. 

While there isn't actually much to do with the political climate in South Africa at the time in the book, there are mentions of it. For example while the prepping the father does might sound stupid and exaggerated, it is however exactly what many white South Africans did at the time. I think Spud's obliviousness is incredibly accurate for many of the white children going through this huge change, they had no idea what was going on and many didn't even know what Apartheid was. 

Spud as a character was lovably ordinary. Not standing out at anything, he is oblivious and has no real formed character yet. He is on a journey of self discovery. Themes of belonging, madness, love and friendship grace the pages throughout the book, and all the while, you will laugh with the boys and their ordeals going through an entire year being together in boarding school.

The last section does take an unexpectedly serious and sad turn. I am not sure that is was necessary or realistic but it made me sad none the less. I was shocked at times during this books for the content that van de Ruit was happy to introduce. For example - the realistic, yet absolutely horrifying hazing, awkward homoerotic subtext, the disgusting suggestion of a student-teacher relationship, drunk teachers, etc. All expressed with very raw and crude language. While I did find myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion, and found the setting [South Africa] and time period [1990] to be intellectually interesting and close to home, there was a lot to be found in this novel that made me uncomfortable.

Age Rating, for the above reasons, should be around 15+. 

The Seamstress - Frances de Pontes Peebles

"As seamstresses, the young sisters Emília and Luzia dos Santos know how to cut, how to mend, and how to conceal. These are useful skills in the lawless backcountry of Brazil, where ruthless land barons called "colonels" feud with bands of outlaw cangaceiros, trapping innocent residents in the cross fire.

Emília, whose knowledge of the world comes from fashion magazines and romance novels, dreams of falling in love with a gentleman and escaping to a big city. Luzia also longs to escape their little town, where residents view her with suspicion and pity. Scarred by a childhood accident that left her with a deformed arm, the quick-tempered Luzia finds her escape in sewing and in secret prayers to the saints she believes once saved her life.

But when Luzia is abducted by a group of cangaceiros led by the infamous Hawk, the sisters' quiet lives diverge in ways they never imagined. Emília stumbles into marriage with Degas Coelho, the son of a doctor whose wealth is rivaled only by his political power.

In Recife, Emília must hide any connection to her increasingly notorious sister. As she learns to navigate the treacherous waters of Brazilian high society, Emília sees the country split apart after a bitter presidential election. Political feuds extend to the countryside, where Luzia and the Hawk are forced to make unexpected alliances and endure betrayals that threaten to break the cangaceiros apart. But Luzia will overcome time and distance to entrust her sister with a great secret—one Emília vows to keep. And when Luzia's life is threatened, Emília will risk everything to save her."

Hi Guys, really sorry there has been a long gap between reviews. The whole Corona thing threw me for a loop. But we will now be back to normal regular reviews. 

This book is well-written if overly long, tending toward a slight bloat of historical fact. Though the story is interesting even compelling, it's also dark, tragic, and contains a lot of gruesome, brutal violence.

The story and the characters, especially the two sisters, but other side characters too, where highly interesting. I wanted to know more about them and fully understand what they where going through, their motives and backstories. But despite the incredibly long nature of this book, here is a strange and unexplainable distance between the characters and the readers. I didn't feel like I knew any of them, even after the book had ended. I found it difficult to really connect with the characters.

I wasn't especially fond of Emilia or Luzia and I think part of that came from the split perspective nature of the book, wherein it switched from Luzia to Emilia and back again. I felt as though every time I was just warming up to one of them, the book split and went to the other and by the time I returned to the first I had also returned to a state of not caring. So in the end it didn't really matter what happened to them in my mind. I was also a bit frustrated we didn't get to learn more about some of the secondary characters like Antonio and Degas. However, ultimately, the biggest problem I had with this book was the there was really almost no action after Luzia's "life change" (to keep it spoiler free) in the early first quarter/third of the book. I kept on going, hoping something would happen to hold my interest or endear the characters to me but I just never got there.

I really enjoyed the setting of 1920's, 30's Brazil. It is something I am not knowledgeable about at all and was excited to learn more about. You do get a very good idea and feel for the time and place. I would say that was my favourite point of the book. I was truly impressed by the knowledge of the history and culture of 1920's/1930's era Brazil that the author presented. 

A quick note about the writing style, I enjoyed it but didn't find it anything to write home about. There where a few sentences and phrases that really stood out but most of the time it was pretty basic. Just an overly long book. Would have been better, with more emotional punch, if the word count had been reduced. 

Age Rating 14+. Some quite brutal violence, marital rape, threat of sexual assault.