February was tough month, and between the freezing cold and multiple snowstorms we had plenty of time to stay inside and read good books. I read several in February.
I’ve read every book Tayari Jones has written, including her last novel An American Marriage, which I and many others felt was tremendous. Her new novel Kin may be her best yet.
Vernice and Annie both lost their mothers as babies. Vernice’s mother was murdered by her father and Annie’s mother abandoned her at birth. Both girls were raised by their aunts and were best friends all the way through high school.
Vernice prepared to attend college, something not many people, especially Black women in 1950’s and ‘60s Louisiana, did. Her tight knit community rallied around her, raising money and providing clothing.
Feeling out of place surrounded by wealthier people, Vernice did her best to fit in, helped by her roommate who became her best friend. Her future was bright.
Annie was obsessed with finding the mother who left her and instead of college, she and her boyfriend ran away to Tennessee to find the woman. With no money or prospects, Annie and her boyfriend end up in dead end jobs.
While their lives diverge, Annie and Vernice stay connected through the years, and when Annie needs her most, Vernice is there for her. It’s a beautiful story of friendship and how losing your mother as a young child affects your entire life. Kin is Oprah’s Book Club choice this month and has already received much well-deserved praise, including mine.
Sadeqa Johnson writes wonderful historical fiction and her newest Keeper of Lost Children tells a largely unknown story set after WWII. Following the war, American soldiers were sent to occupied Germany.
Ethel is the wife of an Black American officer stationed in Germany. Wanting to have a baby and discovering that she is unable, Ethel is despondent. One day she comes upon a orphanage run by nuns. Most of the children there have been left by their mothers who were shunned because they had babies whose fathers were Black American soldiers.
Ethel decides to find adoptive families for these children back in the United States. She creates a program for this, and she and her husband even adopt several children.
Ozzie is a Black soldier in Germany who falls in love with a German woman. Flash forward to 1965 and Sophie is headed to a prestigious boarding school on scholarship. This is an opportunity to make something of herself and get away from her parents who treat her as a farmhand.
Keeper of Lost Children threads together these three stories to create a fascinating tale based on a real program that brought babies to the United States for adoption. I highly recommend it.
If you are missing the Olympics, Layne Fargo’s novel The Favorites will take you back there. Kat is young girl who dreams of becoming an gold medal Olympic ice dancer like her idol Sheila Lin.
Kat’s boyfriend Heath does not have the same dream, but because he loves Kat he wants her to be happy. They become a team, and after winning competitions in the Midwest, they work their way to Los Angeles to train with Sheila Lin.
Lin’s twins, Bella and Garrett, are destined to become gold medal winners like their mother. Soon it becomes clear that Kat and Heath may be the only ones who stand between Bella and Garrett becoming Olympic champs.
The story is told by Kat, and interspersed are comments from people participating in a documentary about Kat and Heath. We watch them over the years as Kat’s ambition pushes them to great heights, and eventually low lows.
If you think hockey is a rough sport, wait until you read about these cutthroat people involved in ice dancing. The Favorites is a real page-turner.
Anna Quindlen writes heartfelt novels and her latest More Than Enough is beautiful. Polly is a high school teacher who longs to have a child with her loving husband as they struggle with infertility.
Her best friends from book club give her an ancestry DNA test as a joke, but when she takes it, she discovers a connection with someone she doesn’t know. When she meets the person she connected with, they are both confused and surprised.
As Polly becomes more involved with her new family member she looks for answers. Her father has dementia who lives in a memory care center, and the scenes between them are lovely. Her mother is a highly respected judge with whom Polly has a challenging relationship.
The characters are so well-drawn, and I would love to know more about Polly’s brother. Their relationship is so realistic, as is Polly’s relationships with her friends in book club. Anna Quindlen’s novels always touch my heart.
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