Leni Zumas's writing crackles. Her books are sharp, bleak, funny, and possibly dangerous. When her collection of short stories, Farewell Navigator,...
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This is the perfect choice for a book club. The novel examines the timely issue of baby buying (in this case, surrogacy). All the characters make questionable decisions. But the book is never salacious. The story is sweet and quirky, and the characters feel true. Moreover, the narrative grabs you from the first page and pulls you toward the surprising conclusion.
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Lovely, lyrical, and haunting. Laura and her sisters create an imaginary world when their mother slips into schizophrenia. The horrors of the present (a mother who lights fires and fights demons) is contrasted with what could have been. Swallow the Ocean chronicles the end of a charmed marriage and a bitter legal battle over who gets to raise the children. The story is written with tremendous compassion. The only villain is a mysterious disease. When an adult Laura and her sister Sara visit their mother with Sara's children, Laura writes: "My niece and nephew knew she was not quite right. They chatted her up anyway, telling her about dolphins and dinosaurs, about art projects at school. They're troopers, not least because Sara is exactly the kind of mother my mother was when we were small." And in that poignant sentence, we see all that was lost.
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(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Every once in a while, you read a memoir and you feel as if you know the writer. Purge: Rehab Diaries is one such book. The narrator is warm and funny and honest, and most laudably, she avoids simplistic solutions to complicated problems. This story is unflinching. It will break your heart. But it is also empowering--because truth is empowering. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
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(3 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
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Sawadee Reader has commented on (3) products.
How Far Is the Ocean from Here by Amy Shearn
Sawadee Reader, April 5, 2009
This is the perfect choice for a book club. The novel examines the timely issue of baby buying (in this case, surrogacy). All the characters make questionable decisions. But the book is never salacious. The story is sweet and quirky, and the characters feel true. Moreover, the narrative grabs you from the first page and pulls you toward the surprising conclusion.(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Swallow the Ocean: A Memoir by Laura Flynn
Sawadee Reader, April 5, 2009
Lovely, lyrical, and haunting. Laura and her sisters create an imaginary world when their mother slips into schizophrenia. The horrors of the present (a mother who lights fires and fights demons) is contrasted with what could have been. Swallow the Ocean chronicles the end of a charmed marriage and a bitter legal battle over who gets to raise the children. The story is written with tremendous compassion. The only villain is a mysterious disease. When an adult Laura and her sister Sara visit their mother with Sara's children, Laura writes: "My niece and nephew knew she was not quite right. They chatted her up anyway, telling her about dolphins and dinosaurs, about art projects at school. They're troopers, not least because Sara is exactly the kind of mother my mother was when we were small." And in that poignant sentence, we see all that was lost.(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Purge: Rehab Diaries by Nicole Johns
Sawadee Reader, April 5, 2009
Every once in a while, you read a memoir and you feel as if you know the writer. Purge: Rehab Diaries is one such book. The narrator is warm and funny and honest, and most laudably, she avoids simplistic solutions to complicated problems. This story is unflinching. It will break your heart. But it is also empowering--because truth is empowering. I highly recommend this book to everyone.(3 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)