Books to remember.
I wanted to take a break from posting about the writing journey and process and instead celebrate books written by other authors. Books to remember, books that have sat on the shelves of my bookcases for years, with stories that have inspired me, made me laugh out loud and cry ugly tears. Where I’ve held the book in my hands, long after the last page has been turned, sad and wanting to start all over again. If these are the kind of books you love, then I hope I have something to whet your appetite here;
FICTION
A little life by Tanya Yanagihara published 2015
This story follows the lives of four classmates from Massachusetts who move to New York together, broke but ambitious and their journey through the decades, with Jude at the centre. Jude is brilliant, enigmatic and mysterious, with a past riddled with childhood trauma and it is a story of how his friends, his brothers devote themselves to protecting him, even before they find out the horrific truth. Ultimately this novel is about the families we are born into and the ones we make for ourselves. Spoiler alert : Read ‘A Little Life’ only when you are feeling emotionally resilient, because this book will take you on a rollercoaster like no other. It’s a big book with a big heart and heart-wrenching plot twists, which will haunt you long after you’ve finished it.
God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy published 1997
This epic book set in India between 1969 and 1993, is the tale of twin’s Esthappen and Rahel. Born in Kerala, into a maddening, eccentric and loving family, when their English cousin, Sophie Mol, and her mother, Margaret Kochamma, come to see them one day over Christmas, all their lives change forever and the twins learn that Things Can Change in a Day. This is a story about the injustice of the caste system and love. Love between siblings, between parents and their children, and lovers. It is also a story of loss, separation, and revenge; a gut-wrenching, beautiful and original piece of work, with Arundhati Roy pulling you back and forth in a non-linear timeline, so you have to work just that little bit harder to keep up.
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
Three women by Lisa Taddeo published 2019
This book follows the lives of three women; Lina; Maggie; and Sloane and their tales of love in all its glory and messiness. While each story is very different, this book is about love in all its nuances; desire, infatuation, heartbreak, denial, destruction and the ways it can let you down. These are also true stories with the author and journalist Lisa Taddeo having followed and interviewed this women over 8 years, even moving to their towns to get under the skin of their lives. There is so much on these pages that I connected with, that made me reflect on my own love stories and Lisa is a beautiful writer; honest, raw and sympathetic.
The tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris published 2019
This is a true life story with some imaginings, of the horrors of Auschwitz and the journey of Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, into and out of hell over three years from 1942 to 1945. It follows his fate, as he becomes the concentration camp’s tattooist, responsible for marking serial numbers onto the arms of millions of incoming prisoners. Deprived of their names, identities and liberities, these prisoners become just a serial number on a roll sheet at the mercy of cruel, sadistic Nazis. It is not a job Lale can bear to do, but it is a job he must do, to survive. It is in the midst of doing this job that he falls in love at first sight with Gita, a trembling and scared eighteen year-old girl, whose arm he is tattooing a number on to. During the most depraved inhuman time in living memory, the love story of Lale and Gita is born and while this is a painful horrifying read, in the end it is a story about survival, hope and the power and triumph of love.
An abbreviated life by Ariel Leve published 2015
This is the shocking, honest and brave memoir by Ariel Leve of growing up without boundaries, of living in the shadow of her mother, a celebrated poet in New York who is also a narcissistic socialite. A mother who dominates and traumatises her only child with her selfishness, her rages and love based on conditions, in the absence of Ariel’s beloved father who lives in Asia. The book explores the consequences of a psychologically harrowing childhood built on an unsafe love, as Ariel’s tries to heal from her past and separate herself from her mother.
There are so many more books that I could wax lyrical about, but I’ll save that for another post, enjoy.
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