Sunday Salon, The Outcast

I'm somewhat confused today... thought it was Sunday, it's only Saturday.
Don't tell my kids, they'll put me on a list for a Nursing Home.

 This past week I've been reading   The Outcast, by Sadie Jones, beautifully written, heart wrenching story of a young man struggling with life.   I think the most ridiculous thing/feeling someone could have said to this young man was that "he was loved too much as a young child" is there such a thing.  Can you love your child too much. I'm so glad we've come out of that stiff parenting style.  I can't identify with Lewis, I don't think I've ever felt unloved, and what a horrible feeling that must be.

From Publishers Weekly....Set in post WWII suburban London, this superb debut novel charts the downward spiral and tortured redemption of a young man shattered by loss. The war is over, and Lewis Aldridge is getting used to having his father, Gilbert, back in the house. Things hum along splendidly until Lewis's mother drowns, casting the 10-year-old into deep isolation. Lewis is ignored by grief-stricken Gilbert, who remarries a year after the death, and Lewis's sadness festers during his adolescence until he boils over and torches a church. After serving two years in prison, Lewis returns home seeking redemption and forgiveness, only to find himself ostracized. The town's most prominent family, the Carmichaels, poses particular danger: terrifying, abusive patriarch Dicky (who is also Gilbert's boss) wants to humiliate him; beautiful 21-year-old Tamsin possesses an insidious coquettishness; and patient, innocent Kit—not quite 16 years old—confounds him with her youthful affection. Mutual distrust between Lewis and the locals grows, but Kit may be able to save Lewis. Jones's prose is fluid, and Lewis's suffering comes across as achingly real.

It's Monday what are you reading?...

It's Monday what are you reading? Sheila at Book Journey hosts this weekly event where we celebrate what we are reading for the week as well as books completed the previous week.

Finished reading Garden Spells, what a good story.  Sarah Addison Allen deals with a very serious issue here, and underlying current in her novels, from my readers point of view. All handled with the everyday adventures of a magical family.  Good reading.

I recieved (Amazon.ca delivered) They left us Everything.  If you read my blog you know I'm dealing with the estate of a relative and finding it an increasingly a more challengeing affair, both physically and emotionally, as in I fly off the handle frequently at persons I'm married to, so this book will give me support? Maybe I'll just forget about the dirt in the house and sit down and read, it'll be a slow reading week this week, as I'm "spring cleaning" my own abode.

 They Left us Everything, is a heartfelt, funny memoir about what parents leave behind. 

The Afterlife of Stars...

I just finished this book, a little unusual.  I chose it based on the review by Shonna, of Canadian Bookworm.  I'd never read anything about the Hungarian Revolution.  In the end I felt this was a book about brothers, family and the  weight of loss and turmoil.  I particularly like the way the elder brother Attila referred to his brother Robert,  and he often tells him he can grow up to be the "singing nun".  Very humorous, in the midst of terror.  In essence the  book is told from the point of view of an eight year old Jewish boy, whose family is fleeing the Hungarian revolution.  A series of unfortunate events unfold and some strange occurrences. 

from the book cover:
 In the waning months of 1956, while Russian tanks roll into the public squares of Budapest to crush the Hungarian Revolution, brothers Robert and Attila Beck flee with their family to the Paris townhouse of their great-aunt Hermina. As they travel through minefields both real and imagined, Robert and Attila grapple with sibling rivalry, family secrets, and incalculable loss to arrive at a place they thought they’d lost forever: home.
 
In beautifully crafted writing that burns with intensity and humour, Joseph Kertes explores displacement and uncertainty in a dark time from the perspective of two boys filled with wonder at the world around them.

Sunday Salon...The Lanugage of Flowers and The light Between the Oceans

I don't know if this is random or if I'm like the "Sugar Queen" and books find me, but... I finished reading the Language of flowers last week in preparation for my luncheon.

Well both books were heartbreaking stories of children, lost children.  I actually had to stop reading a couple of times to regain my composure, not good to cry on public transit.

While I like to read around the world these two books took me to San Francisco, and Australia.  Had to keep reminding myself that Australian Christmas are warm.

Both books very good stories, would recommend them both, great books.  And you'll look at flowers in a whole new way.

Up next... maybe a visit with Flavia.