S.M.C.'s Reviews

Michele Norris of NPR’s All Things Considered set out to write a book about “the hidden conversation on race” that was taking place around the country since the election of President Obama. Norris was interested in the continuing phenomenon she felt when interviewing people about what they weren’t saying when race came up; people were being careful and she wanted to know why. Then, when interviewing her own family about race and silence, a family secret was revealed and suddenly Norris’s journey to understanding the complexity of racial legacy became a more immediate and intensely personal story. The Grace of Silence illuminates the ways that silence and revelation are deeply imbedded into how we have racial dialogue. I cannot get the ending words of this memoir out of my head, and nor do I want to. This is a beautiful, telling, and wonderful read. 

Sapphire’s writing has long held a place in my heart. Sharp, taut, brave, and honest, I was overjoyed that she gained an even wider readership when her novel, Push, was made into the movie Precious. Now, 10 years in the making, Sapphire is coming out with Push’s sequel. In The Kid, we are handed the story of Abdul, Precious’ son, and his own journey about how to make it through hardship and come out whole.

Makkai has written a debut novel good enough to put you in a stupor of awe and appreciation. Lucy Hull, a young children’s librarian, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, 10-year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home. Ian is addicted to reading, but needs Lucy’s help to smuggle books past his overbearing mother, who has enrolled Ian in weekly antigay classes with celebrity Pastor Bob. Lucy stumbles into a moral dilemma when she finds Ian camped out in the library with an escape plan and needing her help to carry it out. What follows is a page-turning adventure with heart and depth, questioning how far we should go to rescue someone from their own story, and when we should step back and hope they can survive it and learn for themselves. This book is beautiful, engaging, funny, and heartbreaking (but in a way that works).

Ann Patchett’s new novel is so solely its own. Patchett (best-selling author of Bel Canto) has written a moral adventure story whose beauty lies in the description and well, oddity of its setting. In a narrative abound with deadly snakes, harrowing river rides, and malaria-induced nightmares; State of Wonder describes a world where breathtaking beauty stands side by side with wrenching loss. The story begins with Dr. Marina Singh, a research scientist working at a pharmaceutical company who is sent to Brazil to track down another elusive doctor who is using research with a tribe in the Amazon to create a valuable new drug. What happens upon Singh’s arrival is a tribute to Ann Patchett’s gift of storytelling. There are images in this book that you will never be able to forget; this is a complex tale of adventure, moral tug-of-wars, and incredible, distinctive beauty.