The latest work by Richard Russo is described as stories-not short stories,  yet not long enough to be novellas.  These “medium to long stories” define Russo at his most poignant with little of his usual laugh-out-loud humor.  Each has main characters who must face life’s disappointments and take a good look at themselves and their relationships.  However,  each vignette ends with a positive, uplifting epiphany.

I have always enjoyed Russo, and,  for me, Trajectory is just one more example of what an accomplished,  versatile writer he is.

The author who wrote a A Man Called  Ove writes a completely different work of fiction this time.  Beartown is a small,dying village in Sweden.  Factories,  schools and shops are closing, and many in the community are leaving for larger and more prosperous cities.  The junior hockey team is practically the only reason for excitement in Beartown.  Made up of a group of remarkable heterogeneous young men,  the team may be on its way to a national championship.  However, when the star of the team gets into trouble,  the townspeople are deeply divided about what should be done.

Backman writes an engaging story that keeps the reader yearning to know more.  Beartown has a lot of characters, and it takes a while to differentiate some of them, but stick with it.  You will be rewarded.

If you enjoyed My Name Is Lucy Barton, but were left wanting to know more about Lucy, her family and the community she grew up in, please read Anything is Possible.  Strout’s sixth novel is really short stories that are connected by locale,characters and themes.  Most of the vignettes take place in rural Illinois-Lucy Barton territory.  And although each story could stand alone, part of the joy of reading them is to discover how they were interrelated.

Anything Is Possible is a quick read, but to truly do it justice, readers should stop and savor  about each chapter.

Finally, a new book by Anita Shreve!  It is 1947 in Maine.  After a rainy spring and a very dry summer, coastal Maine experiences a raging fire.  Grace Holland manages to save her own life as well as her two young children,  but her home and all of her belongings are destroyed and her husband has disappeared.  As a result of the fire and with the help of several women, including her mother, Grace goes from being a “typical”  1940’s housewife to becoming an independent,resourceful young woman.

Like most of Shreve’s novels, The Stars Are Fire is easy to get into with good character development and a plot that keeps moving along.  Despite a rather hard to believe conclusion, I found this a very enjoyable read.

Edgar, for most of the novel, is a wise and sensitive eight year old albino.  Lucy is his mother who is a red-headed widow who enjoys beer and the company of men.  They live in Florence’s home, the mother of Edgar’s deceased father.  Lucy has no inclination to be a warm, caring mother until her son is abducted and his whereabouts are unknown.

I really liked this book.  Lodato created a tension that made me want to keep reading.  He also had some beautiful, lyrical passages,especially when describing things seen through Edgar’s eyes.  Edgar & Lucy is not a comfy,feel good book, yet I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Like Hamid’s, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Exit West is a work of few words but many interpretations.  Saeed and Nadia live a in Middle Eastern country that is becoming more dangerous every day.  When life becomes unsafe and unbearable, they decide to leave “through the black door” to a safer country.  Each time the pair migrates, hordes leave with them and settle in a foreign, overpopulated land.  With each migration, Saeed and Nadia’s relationship becomes weaker and less satisfying.

Hamid has written a timely work that describes the plight of immigrants and the countries they are allowed to enter.  A good read with lots to think about.

Li-Yan is a young Chinese girl who lives in a remote village that farms tea.  Her people are far removed from modern society, quite primitive with superstitious laws.  The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane follows Li-Yan’s life from her humble beginnings to her success as a tea shop owner and purveyor.  The novel also follows the life of her daughter who is adopted by an American couple.

Sometimes See told me more about the different types of teas and their gathering and fermenting processes than I cared to know about.  However, I found descriptions of Li-Yan’s culture and beliefs fascinating.

 

Som

From the author of The Reader, comes another novel about a complex and mysterious woman.  Irene has three men in love with her.  Gundlach, her wealthy husband has commissioned a painting of her nude descending a staircase,  Schwind, the soon to be famous artist who authored the painting and becomes Irene’s lover, and the nameless narrator, a young lawyer who has been brought in to settle a dispute between Irene’s husband and lover.  The painting and Irene soon disappear, but the work of art surfaces many years later in a gallery.  Each of the three men track down Irene, and meet again on a remote Australian island.

The Woman on the Stairs is more than a love “rectangle.”  It is a novel about the ownership of art, how the past shapes the present and the future, and life lived avoiding emotional relationships.

 

 

Ill Will is the story of a dysfunctional family and a series of murders that have certain ritualistic similarities.  Dustin Tillman is a psychologist whose parents, aunt and uncle are murdered one summer night when he is thirteen.  He has an adopted older brother, Russell, who is found guilty of the murders based on Dustin’s and his cousin Kate’s testimony.  Thirty years later, Russell is released after DNA evidence finds him not guilty.  Mix in a drug addict son and a wife dying of cancer and you have the Tillman family.

This novel was just too disjointed and weird for me.  There wasn’t a sane character in it, and I didn’t empathize with any of them.  For me, this was not a who done it, but rather a who cares?

Faith Frankel’s life has suddenly changed.  She’s moved back to her hometown in Massachusetts from New York City,  bought a small home with a mysterious history, started a new job at her alma mater, and is thinking about breaking up with her unreliable fiance.  In typical Lipman fashion, Faith’s problems are never taken too seriously and her friends, co-workers and family members engage in witty repartee.   For those who want a “Spring Break” read that is fun, easy and “happily ever after,” One Turpentine Lane might be just the thing.