House On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet by Jamie Ford

House on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-- 4 Stars

I picked this book up a few years ago and read so far into it then became distracted and left the book on the shelf for some time. I'm glad that it was recommended that I pick it up again. Such a lovely story, so many emotions in one book! Love, joy, anger, confusion, pain and back to joy again.

We meet Henry, a Chinese boy in Seattle. He falls in love with a girl, Keiko. This is out of the question for several reasons not the least of which her being Japanese and Pearl Harbour is not a distant memory. Henry and Keiko are friends, no matter what his family and the government say. So when the government takes the Japanese people and ships them inland to "interment camps", they continue their friendship, for a time anyway.

Fast forward forty years, Henry is now a widower and his son is at university. Life has been kind to him for the most part, but its also given him pain. His wife has died of cancer and the past has come back to haunt him. An old hotel is being refurbished, the contractors have found a stash of items dating back to those terrible days of 1944 when America was at war with Japan, a time when innocent families put their precious belongings in the basement to save them from looters. Henry recognizes a parasol from his long lost Keiko.

And thus the story begins. Mr Ford writes a wonderful story in which he goes between Henry's past in 1944 and his present in 1986. A part of American history that most people either don't know or don't mention, the interment camps. People, second generation American citizens, were packed up and shipped off to camps around the country, treated as little more then cattle. There were some at the time that viewed them as mistreated human beings, convicted without a court hearing, without justice. Some went home again, most relocated to other areas, never returning to their homes again and starting over.

I couldn't put my book down and had to finish last night, in spite of the raging head ache. I was left with a feeling of having completed a wonderful tale of more then joy and pain, bit one of hope... always hope.

Snow Flower And The Secret Fan By Lisa See

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan -- 3 Stars

This novel is one of pain and love, two things most common to all women. We follow Lily and her laotong, old same, Snow Flower. The two girls are matched much like a marriage and will be friends for their lives with a deeper love then a man and a woman. They endure foot binding, a custom to make a girl's feet very small and thus shows her strength and obedience. A woman's worth is only secure when she produces a son, but with a laotong you are worth much more.

We follow these two women through their lives, through their joys and pains, triumphs and sorrows. We listen to Lily as she tells their story and it is full of so much, yet not enough.

Lisa See has trouble making me care about the characters. I almost tossed the book aside but pushed myself to the end. I was afraid to miss something, the way other people have raved about the title. I was glad that I did. Without giving anything up, the final chapters were perfect. All the turmoil finally comes to a head and we see true redemption and true friendship. More then that, we are shown how strong women truly can be, and are.

While there are several things in this novel that I disagree with, I understand that they are all parts of ancient Chinese culture. Arranged marriages are never a guarantee of a happy lifetime. Foot binding is simply barbaric and telling your daughter she is worthless is horrifying. While I realize these are all parts of a culture, it doesn't mean that I agree with it.

Honestly, my biggest problem with this book is the characters! Lily is pathetically selfish and is given much, so much that she becomes a "holier then thou" type. Her redemption at the end is a case of too little too late. And yet... the memories of my own past came flooding back. All the times I should have done something, could have done something and didn't. I cried at the end though I'm not sure if I was weeping over the book or myself. 

The Innocent Man by John Grisham

The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town  --5 Stars

I'm not sure if it is completely possible to be enthralled with a book but infuriated by it as well. If this is indeed possible then I am in those shoes. In 1983, a lovely young woman was found brutally murdered in her apartment in Ada, Oklahoma. The police and prosecutor knew who committed the crime, they just had to prove it... by whatever means necessary. The prosecutor didn't care that he actually needed evidence to convict, the confessions heard by jailed prisoners would be plenty. Give him an attorney who didn't defend and his fate was sealed with prison bars.

Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz were innocent of the murder of Debbie Carter, as they stated throughout the "investigation". The entire thing was not merely injustice but a severe miscarriage! I was appalled that no one seemed to notice that the confessions, so called, were illegal; the prosecution failed to convince beyond a reasonable doubt that either man was even seen with the victim prior to her death, let alone in her apartment; the defense missed that Mr Williamson was obviously not competent enough to stand trial.

I do believe that if you commit the crime then you must serve the time for it. But what if you are indeed innocent? Twelve years of legal maneuvering and two men are finally free but forever changed. I know I just gave it away, but the so does the synopsis. Getting to the end is the trial, if you'll forgive the pun.

John Grisham has not before, nor since, delved into the world of true crime or non-fiction. "Writing fiction is just too much fun," he says. His style, though, is clear throughout. The Innocent Man reads almost like a work of fiction. Indeed, I hoped that it was, instead of some cruel imprisonment for two men. This book has been on my shelves for some time and once started, I found it difficult to put down.

The 39 Steps By John Buchan

1 Star--
Oh my.. this marks a first on Quill and Ink, I didn't bother to find a cover and I will not be posting a link for purchase. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was in this novel. First, we find our protagonist, a bored London socialite, bemoaning his life. He is quickly met up with murder and mayhem, outrunning Germans who want to kill him before he tells the authorities of their plans, which will ultimately bring about World War II. The fact this man manages to out run and out smart the German secret service in the moors of Scotland is not even remotely believable. The author realizes that he is pushing the limits of the imagination and cuts out ten days, since the man has to run for three weeks, to speed up the story.

Really, this is one of the worst novels I have ever read and so far the worst of 2012. I am glad that the author didn't write too many books. His lack of talent saddens me.

Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella

Shoeless Joe -5 Stars

"If you build it, he will come." One of the most famous lines in both film and literature. We, as readers, are dropped square in the middle of Iowa with Ray and his family on his small farm. The place is mortgaged to the hilt and he starts to hear an announcer and see visions. He knows what he has to do without being given any specific instructions. Build a ball field, ease an author's pain, going the distance... all in hopes that he can see one person again.

Throughout the story, we are regaled with purity of baseball. I don't care how many players are using steroids, the game always has a purity to it. A stadium always smells like hotdogs, beer, dirt and fresh grass. Baseball is the smell of summer, the feeling of joy that brings even the biggest men back to a small boy if only for a few hours. Dreams are baseball.

Now I am lover of the game. I can't give you statistics or tell who won what series on what year. I always love to watch the game though. Even minor leagues, there's a local minor team in my home town and I can never get enough of there games. Shoeless Joe reminds all of what its like to dream again, even if it seems impossible, we are reminded of simple joys like the sound of ball hitting a bat with a whack and not a ping.

I wish I could put into words how wonderful this novel was. It may go off on a tangent here and there, but its always coming back to baseball. "The one constant in America has been baseball."

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

The Scarlet Pimpernel  -- 5 Stars

A story that caught me from the beginning and did not let me go! I was struck by how wonderful this novel was. The French Revolution, 1792: People are being offered to the guillotine daily, sacrificed in the name of liberty. Aristocrats in particular are being slaughtered; they are called "traitors" simply for being wealthy. One man risks his live to save them, men women and children, from their engagement with Madame La Guillotine. He is called The Scarlet Pimpernel!

He is a cleaver man, who has a small band of his English companions to help him save these poor souls from death. He risks everything to go back to France again and again. No one knows who he his and one man, Chavelin, will do anything to catch him red handed in smuggling people across the Channel. Chavelin employs  woman to find the identity of the Pimpernel. What will she do? Give him up to his enemies and death, or risk her life for his?

I love the mystery that goes throughout the novel, never truly knowing who the Pimpernel is until the final chapters. I was disappointed by another French novel not long ago and was dread to read this one. Oh how glad I am I did! What a wonderful mystery! Full of royal court life, high society and intrigue.

This book is on the challenge to read twelve books that have been on my shelf for a year or more and I believe 1001 Books To Read Before You Die.

Review Request

Just in case anyone was wondering, yes I will do read requests. I was indeed asked to read a title, by the author himself. John Michael Cummings sent me a request, through my Drood review, to read a title called Ugly To Start With, a collection of short stories. I did reply, though rather late, and was unable to reach the author. I will, however, check the title at my local library. If I can find it, the title shall be read and reviewed.

Please, if you, my dear Readers, have any titles you'd like reviewed, please send me a message. Thank you for reading.