Chika Gujarathi

FictionDebut Fiction

Finding hope at the end of the world

Review by Chika Gujarathi

The South Pole, often talked about as that place melting quicker than the ice cubes in our summer drinks, happens to be the location of Ashley Shelby’s debut novel, South Pole Station. Filled with characters that one would expect in a place like this—scientists and researchers—it also has an unexpected menagerie of authors and artists, as well as an interpretive dancer and a climate skeptic who round out this spectacle at the southernmost tip of our planet.

The story starts miles away in Minnesota, where 30-year-old struggling artist Cooper Gosling has been offered a spot at the Amundsen-Scott research station. It’s hard to deny the unique inspiration such a place could evoke, but Cooper’s reasons to be so far from civilization have more to do with the personal trauma of her twin brother’s recent passing.

At the station, Cooper meets other “Polies” with whom she automatically shares the camaraderie of being in one of the strangest places on earth, although she still bears the weight of feeling like a lone castaway. But it’s hard to keep romance and friendships at bay, even in the most scientifically sterile place, and Cooper slowly finds the comfort she’s looking for. Throughout witty, often hilarious scenarios, Shelby expertly weaves in the legitimate political and environmental concerns of climate change faced by the worldwide scientific community today.

Shelby’s exploration of the human spirit continuously digs deeper, ever in search of answers to all of life’s important questions—scientific and otherwise.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The South Pole, often talked about as that place melting quicker than the ice cubes in our summer drinks, happens to be the location of Ashley Shelby’s debut novel, South Pole Station. Filled with characters that one would expect in a place like this—scientists and researchers—it also has an unexpected menagerie of authors and artists, as well as an interpretive dancer and a climate skeptic who round out this spectacle at the southernmost tip of our planet.

FictionDebut FictionComic Fiction

The paradox of choice

Review by Chika Gujarathi

In Katherine Heiny’s debut novel, Standard Deviation, we meet Graham and Audra Cavanaugh, a typical New York couple with a city condo, a kid and a busy social life. Stylish, youngish and always saying outrageous things, Audra is a firecracker who delights and embarrasses all at once. Graham, her much older husband of 12 years, is quieter and more filtered. He loves Audra as she is, but he often finds himself wondering how this marriage of opposites has worked out so well over the years.

In statistics, standard deviation is defined as a measure of how far a number diverges from the group as a whole. The same can be said about Heiny’s novel, as she introduces characters and situations that make Audra and Graham’s relationship appear less and less normal. Among them is Graham’s ex-wife, Elspeth, whom Graham hasn’t talked to in years, but an unexpected run-in rekindles a relationship and leaves him questioning his marriage to Audra. There is also the parenting of Graham and Audra’s 10-year-old son, Matthew, who has Asperger’s syndrome and an obsession with origami. A slew of other interesting and peculiar acquaintances compose a veritable parade through the couple’s living room, adding perspective to their marriage with a bit of comedy mixed in.

Heiny offers a fun read about family dynamics as she sidesteps too much seriousness with quick wit and humorous dialogue.

 

This article was originally published in the June 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In Katherine Heiny’s debut novel, Standard Deviation, we meet Graham and Audra Cavanaugh, a typical New York couple with a city condo, a kid and a busy social life. Stylish, youngish and always saying outrageous things, Audra is a firecracker who delights and embarrasses all at once. Graham, her much older husband of 12 years, is quieter and more filtered. He loves Audra as she is, but he often finds himself wondering how this marriage of opposites has worked out so well over the years.

FictionLiterary FictionDebut Fiction

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

Review by Chika Gujarathi

In Gail Honeyman’s captivating debut novel, we meet Eleanor Oliphant, a 30-year-old single woman working at a downtown design firm in Glasgow, Scotland. This might seem like the perfect setting for a saucy lifestyle, but Eleanor is less Carrie Bradshaw and more Sophia Petrillo of “The Golden Girls.”

From the outside, Eleanor’s regimented and lonely life—which includes sensible, black Velcro shoes and lots of vodka—might be construed as depressing and that of an outcast. But this is where Honeyman proves us wrong. For all her awkwardness and complete lack of friends, Eleanor is anything but sad or apologetic. Eleanor, in fact, is fine, and sometimes even shockingly hilarious in how she perceives the world.

A change is due, however, when two unexpected incidents force Eleanor to mingle with the rest of the population. First, a love interest, in the form of a musician named Johnnie Lomond, jump-starts her fashion and vanity sensibilities. Second, Raymond, the nerdy IT guy at work, pulls her into various social obligations, despite her best efforts to avoid them.

Hesitant at first, Eleanor eventually finds these interactions to be comforting and full of hope. But old demons are hard to shake, and Eleanor crashes hard into her old ways as she suddenly decides that joy and friendships are not things she deserves.

Honeyman includes some horrific details that make up Eleanor’s past, but somehow they never feel burdening or despairing. Ultimately, this is a feel-good story that will make readers laugh and cheer for Eleanor as she learns that the past doesn’t dictate the future, and that happiness can be hers. This is a must-read for those who love characters with quirks.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Gail Honeyman, author of the 2017 breakout debut, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.

This article was originally published in the May 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In Gail Honeyman’s captivating debut novel, we meet Eleanor Oliphant, a 30-year-old single woman working at a downtown design firm in Glasgow, Scotland. This might seem like the perfect setting for a saucy lifestyle, but Eleanor is less Carrie Bradshaw and more Sophia Petrillo of…
FictionLiterary Fiction

A breakdown and a breakthrough

Review by Chika Gujarathi

In Sara Baume’s second novel, A Line Made by Walking, we meet Frankie on the cusp of turning 26, seemingly posed for a conventional coming-of-age story—until she’s unable to swallow, hear or pull herself up off the old carpet.

Frankie, determined if nothing else, hopes to regain her footing and find some artistic inspiration by moving into her grandma’s vacant house in the Irish countryside. Solitary among the green pastures, roaming cows and plenty of dead wild things, Frankie reflects on her life and takes stock of exactly why happiness has eluded her so far.

Throughout her reverie, readers meet Frankie at different ages and phases of life, always surrounded by the loving company of family, friends and a creative community. And in each scenario, she is hopelessly incapable of dwelling in that comfort and that sense of belonging. Artists often hold a divergent view of the same world we share, and Baume takes full advantage of this ethos, using Frankie’s reflections and wavering mental health as a way to keep us guessing whether her perpetual suffering and experiments are a form of art in itself.

There is no denying that A Line Made by Walking is full of sadness and pain, but with captivating writing, a vivid rural landscape and frequent references to famous works of art, Baume creates a layered experience that leaves the reader nurtured and restored. For artists and lovers of art, this will be an extra-special treat.

 

RELATED CONTENT: Read a Q&A with Sara Baume for A Line Made by Walking.

This article was originally published in the April 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In Sara Baume’s second novel, A Line Made by Walking, we meet Frankie on the cusp of turning 26, seemingly posed for a conventional coming-of-age story—until she’s unable to swallow, hear or pull herself up off the old carpet.

FictionLiterary FictionDebut Fiction

A father and son confront the specter of home

Review by Chika Gujarathi

A lawyer by profession, Phillip Lewis has spent his life and career in North Carolina, and a keen sense of familiarity is the first thing the reader notices as his debut novel, The Barrowfields, opens in the tiny Appalachian mountain town of Old Buckram.

The year is 1939 when Henry Aster is born in this inconsequential place, and he realizes it as such as soon as he teaches himself to read at a very young age. All the books in Old Buckram aren’t enough to contain Henry’s curiosity, and he awaits the day he can leave and make himself into a great writer.

Henry does leave and Henry does write, but his vow never to return home is broken when his mother takes ill. With a pregnant wife and a law degree, Henry moves back to Old Buckram and buys the hauntingly big house on the hill where the irony of his life, his law career and most importantly his unfinished book slowly start to consume him.

Growing up in the meantime is Henry’s son, also called Henry. In awe of his father and his biggest fan, Henry grows up loving all the same things—classical music, piano, books. And just like his father, he too is unable to stray far from the demons he wants to escape.

The Barrowfields is part coming-of-age story, part homecoming and part exploration of unfulfilled dreams. The setting seems both nostalgically old-fashioned and richly immediate. Lewis writes with warmth, depth and honesty about the regrets of fathers and sons and the inexorable pull of home.

A lawyer by profession, Phillip Lewis has spent his life and career in North Carolina, and a keen sense of familiarity is the first thing the reader notices as his debut novel, The Barrowfields, opens in the tiny Appalachian mountain town of Old Buckram.

Science Fiction & FantasyFictionHistorical FictionFantasy

A high-brow British historical with a dose of magic

Review by Chika Gujarathi

Vic James’ debut novel, Gilded Cage, is set in Britain in a time where grand estates, class, pedigree, and money separate those with power and influence from those without. To assume that this is a story about some bygone era would be a mistake, however. In fact, where we start is far in the future, where the British society as we know it today has been replaced by a republic ruled by the Skilled. The Skilled, also called the Equals, are aristocrats with a mysterious natural gift of magic inherited only through pure breeding. But unlike the banished mutants of superhero films, the Skilled have managed to rise and rule with their wizardry. Being governed are the commoners, who are doomed in more ways than one, but the biggest blow is slavedays—a required 10-year sentence of back-breaking work. Choose to start young and it destroys you forever; choose to start old and you might never make it out alive. James’ saga starts as the Hadleys, a family of five from Manchester, are assigned to spend their slavedays at the Kyneston estate of the most powerful Skilled family, the Jardines. The Hadleys feel lucky for being assigned to a beautiful estate rather than a Dickensian workhouse—until they realize that teenage Luke was not invited. Instead, he is sent to one of the worse slavetowns, Millbrook. But, amongst its cruelty and oppression he finds the courage to be part of a revolution.  Luke isn’t the only rebel however: The Jardines too have an heir who has a secret plot to remake the world. Alongside the political drama also lies a budding love story between Abi Hadley and Jenner Jardine.

For those who can barely get enough of the British dramas like “Downton Abbey” or the magical worlds of J.K. Rowling, Gilded Cage reads like a perfect amalgamation of the two worlds. In this debut, James has successfully created anticipation for what’s to come. A great book to start your new series obsession.

Vic James’ debut novel, Gilded Cage, is set in Britain in a time where grand estates, class, pedigree, and money separate those with power and influence from those without. To assume that this is a story about some bygone era would be a mistake, however. In fact, where we start is far in the future, where the British society as we know it today has been replaced by a republic ruled by the Skilled. The Skilled, also called the Equals, are aristocrats with a mysterious natural gift of magic inherited only through pure breeding. But unlike the banished mutants of superhero films, the Skilled have managed to rise and rule with their wizardry.

FictionPopular Fiction

What makes a family?

Review by Chika Gujarathi

Kavya and Rishi Reddy, successful Indian-American immigrants living in a charming Berkeley bungalow, have the sort of life that Checo and Soli are hoping for as they set out to cross the border from Mexico. Yet Checo and Soli, teenagers with little more than uncompromising determination and invincible spirit, have the one thing that Kavya and Rishi do not. Ignacio El Viento Castro Valdez, conceived somewhere in the deserts of Mexico, is the lucky boy that unites the two couples’ stories.  

Just when Soli thinks she might make it in America, she gets caught and put in immigration detention with a likely outcome of deportation back to Mexico. As a U.S. citizen born after Soli’s arrival, her 1-year-old son, Ignacio, enters the foster care system and is placed with Kavya and Rishi, who are unable to have a biological child. Like any good parents, the Reddys take on their new role wholeheartedly, forgetting that Ignacio is someone else’s child. 

At its core, Shanthi Sekaran’s compassionate second novel is a spectacular saga of motherhood and the choices we make to achieve it. Supporting the main cast are side characters who lend intriguing perspectives born of their own culture and belief systems: the Cassidys, who employ Soli; Uma, Kavya’s traditionally minded mother; and Silvia, the cousin who takes Soli in. 

Lucky Boy resonates, raising important questions about our society and our responsibility to those who seek the American dream, even as it forces you to ask, “What would I do?” This is a multidimensional story with lots of emotion, humor and love, and it will appeal to parents and non-parents alike. Like M.L. Stedman in The Light Between Oceans, Sekaran presents a complex moral dilemma that leaves readers incapable of choosing sides. Lucky Boy is a must-read.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Kavya and Rishi Reddy, successful Indian-American immigrants living in a charming Berkeley bungalow, have the sort of life that Checo and Soli are hoping for as they set out to cross the border from Mexico. Yet Checo and Soli, teenagers with little more than uncompromising determination and invincible spirit, have the one thing that Kavya and Rishi do not. Ignacio El Viento Castro Valdez, conceived somewhere in the deserts of Mexico, is the lucky boy that unites the two couples’ stories.
FictionHistorical Fiction

The love story behind the Eiffel Tower

Review by Chika Gujarathi

Paris, a city unequivocally associated with romance, is front and center in Beatrice Colin’s latest novel, To Capture What We Cannot Keep, an unlikely love story involving the Eiffel Tower’s real-life engineer, Émile Nouguier, and a 30-year-old Scots widow.

We begin on a cold and rainy morning in February of 1887, inside a hot air balloon. Caitriona Wallace, known as Cait, is chaperoning the unconventional Arrol siblings as they tour Europe on their rich uncle’s dime. Émile and Cait’s chance meeting seems more awkward than electric, but leaves behind a spark.

Émile’s prestige and promising career is a stark contrast to Cait, whose gender, age and marital status point toward a grim and choiceless future. But love is not always reasonable—something Colin proves over and over again as Émile and Cait’s secret relationship advances.

Colin ably brings to life a time before the iron lattice of the Eiffel Tower became an iconic part of the Parisian landscape. To Capture What We Cannot Keep is part history lesson and part thrilling love story, leading to an ending full of depth, promise and hope.

 

This article was originally published in the December 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Paris, a city unequivocally associated with romance, is front and center in Beatrice Colin’s latest novel, To Capture What We Cannot Keep, an unlikely love story involving the Eiffel Tower’s real-life engineer, Émile Nouguier, and a 30-year-old Scots widow.
Fiction

Musical mayhem

Review by Chika Gujarathi

For the readers who are familiar with the previous works of Francine Prose, her latest novel, Mister Monkey, might come as a surprise. Inspired by Prose’s own experience of sitting through a fiasco-ridden children’s musical, Mister Monkey tells the tale of an off-off-off Broadway show that has outlived its fame, and it’s the funniest work Prose has published since 2011’s My New American Life.

Like the famous children’s character Curious George, Mister Monkey is a pet chimp living in the city. But unlike George, who always manages to get out of trouble with his charm, in this musical, Mister Monkey is accused of stealing a wallet and is put on trial for larceny. 

Sad and funny at the same time, this outlandish storyline is enriched by an assortment of narratives told by the people involved with the musical, each giving their own perspective on the production: Margot, the Yale drama school graduate who is coming to grips with the fact that her career has been reduced to playing a lawyer defending a monkey in a failed musical; Adam, the 12-year-old playing the monkey onstage, who can’t seem to separate his adolescent emotions from his stage life; and Ms. Sonya, the Xanax-popping teacher of young Edward, who goes to see the musical with his dying grandfather. Then there is Ray himself, who wrote the Mister Monkey children’s book that inspired the play as a way to get over PTSD after his deployment.

With each narrative, Prose reveals a new connection between strangers, turning a seemingly silly story into a profound example of the human psyche. What’s more, her wit and dark humor make this a serious page-turner. Mister Monkey is nothing short of a delight.

 

This article was originally published in the November 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

For the readers who are familiar with the previous works of Francine Prose, her latest novel, Mister Monkey, might come as a surprise. Inspired by Prose’s own experience of sitting through a fiasco-ridden children’s musical, Mister Monkey tells the tale of an off-off-off Broadway show that has outlived its fame, and it’s the funniest work Prose has published since 2011’s My New American Life.
FictionDebut Fiction

The Wangs vs. the World

Review by Chika Gujarathi

Charles Wang pops another aspirin and thinks of all the ways America has failed him. The country may have made the no-name immigrant into a cosmetics billionaire and given him a designer Bel-Air mansion that even Martha Stewart covets, but when the markets crashed, so did his empire. Now that he thinks about it, Charles is also angry at the Japanese for invading China and at the Communists for taking his family’s ancestral lands. Clearly, the world has screwed with the Wangs long enough!

With this exaggerated tirade, Jade Chang begins her hysterical debut novel, The Wangs vs. the World, which is set soon after the financial crisis of the last decade. Too vain to believe that it’s all over, Charles has one last scheme to return glory to the family. The first step is a cross-country drive from Los Angeles to New York to gather up the Wang clan, before returning to China to somehow reclaim their lost land.

Embarking on this epic road trip in a borrowed station wagon are Charles; his second wife, Barbra; and two of his children, Andrew, a wannabe comedian, and Grace, a teen fashion blogger, each gathered up from an expensive school Charles can no longer afford. Their collective hope lies in upstate New York with Saina, Charles’ oldest daughter, who escaped the financial catastrophe but has plenty of personal struggles.

Though the Wangs are poor and desperate, they never lose humor or hope. The zany scheme to reclaim the family riches takes a backseat to the family relationships, including loving, supportive and playful moments between the siblings. Charles, too, evolves from a failed businessman to a loving father who is willing to do anything to make sure his children are taken care of. Readers will be cheering for these underdogs.

 

This article was originally published in the October 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Charles Wang pops another aspirin and thinks of all the ways America has failed him. The country may have made the no-name immigrant into a cosmetics billionaire and given him a designer Bel-Air mansion that even Martha Stewart covets, but when the markets crashed, so…
FictionLiterary Fiction

Finding a home in a book club

Review by Chika Gujarathi

Readers who have ever turned to a book to get out of a slump are going to love Ann Hood’s The Book That Matters Most. The story begins on a festive December night in downtown Providence where Ava, a middle-aged French professor, is feeling anything but festive after discovering her husband’s infidelity. Like a film reel, memories of her once perfect life keep running in her head and no number of martinis can push the stop button. Miles away in Paris, Ava’s daughter, Maggie, is going through a crisis of her own after a failed attempt at writing a novel. Both women are desperate for something to pull them out of their misery.

Ava meets her savior in the form of a book club headed by her librarian friend, Cate, where each member must choose the book that matters most to her for the club to read. Hesitant at first about fitting in and even making the grave mistake of Netflixing her first book, Ava soon finds the comfort she is looking for in the books and the club members.  

With Maggie, on the other hand, Hood takes us on a roller coaster ride through drug addiction, poor choices in men and her desperation to write. She finds a lifeline in a tiny bookstore run by a mysterious and stoic American expat. 

Getting lost and then being found would in itself make for a wonderful story, but Hood adds another layer of complexity, linking the parallel journeys of mother and daughter in an unexpected way. The Book That Matters Most is an engrossing tale that reminds us of the power of the written word to comfort the soul.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Behind the Book feature by Ann Hood on The Book That Matters Most.
 

This article was originally published in the August 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Readers who have ever turned to a book to get out of a slump are going to love Ann Hood’s The Book That Matters Most.

FictionPopular Fiction

A Sicilian serenade

Review by Chika Gujarathi

British writer Catherine Banner’s first novel for adults, The House at the Edge of Night, takes place on the imaginary Italian island of Castellamare, off the coast of Sicily. Amedeo Esposito, the island’s only doctor, finds himself jobless after being suspected of sleeping with il conte’s wife. To support his own wife and their newborn child, Amedeo takes over a café bar perched high on the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean. Among the bougainvillea, serenaded by the crashing waves, this house at the “edge of night” becomes the place generations of Espositos and other islanders gather to gossip, pray, lament and face the changing times. 

The novel begins in 1914 and spans almost a century. Life on the island is increasingly influenced by the two world wars, tourism, politics and other world events. In fact, so fine-tuned are the historic events within the story that one almost forgets that Castellamare doesn’t actually exist. Just like the characters, the reader is torn between the romance of island life and the world beyond. This magical novel is a fantastic Italian escape with just the right dose of drama, love and hope. If possible, enjoy with a glass of limoncello.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

British writer Catherine Banner’s first novel for adults, The House at the Edge of Night, takes place on the imaginary Italian island of Castellamare, off the coast of Sicily. Amedeo Esposito, the island’s only doctor, finds himself jobless after being suspected of sleeping with il conte’s wife. To support his own wife and their newborn child, Amedeo takes over a café bar perched high on the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean. Among the bougainvillea, serenaded by the crashing waves, this house at the “edge of night” becomes the place generations of Espositos and other islanders gather to gossip, pray, lament and face the changing times.
FictionComing of Age

A touching ode to life on the farm

Review by Chika Gujarathi

Mary Frances Lombard—known as Frankie—has found her paradise. The 400 acres of the Lombard apple orchard are where she plans to be for the rest of her life. Like her father, she will quiet the wind and “outwit a storm”; she will make hay; she will grow apples; she will marry her brother William and together “carry on the business” forever.

In this way, Jane Hamilton (The Book of Ruth) introduces us to the fierce child narrator of her latest work, The Excellent Lombards. Frankie’s fantasy is silly, we know that. Nevertheless, Hamilton uses exaggerated, territorial and overly emotional kid-logic to great effect to make sure the reader is on Frankie’s side, and feeling her pain, even if it is with a chuckle. We follow her over the years, as reality slowly creeps into the black-and-white world inside the boundaries of the orchard. We see various grown-up experiences and tragedies—running a business, keeping peace in the family, even the 9/11 terrorist attacks—all through the self-centeredness of a child’s perspective, making them tender and often funny.

If, like me, you occasionally suffer from the affliction of wanting to live on a farm, then The Excellent Lombards is for you. But even if you don’t share that fantasy, this coming-of-age story is captivating and passionate, taking us back to being a child and believing in one thing wholeheartedly. Simply put, this is a book you won’t be able to put down.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Mary Frances Lombard—known as Frankie—has found her paradise. The 400 acres of the Lombard apple orchard are where she plans to be for the rest of her life. Like her father, she will quiet the wind and “outwit a storm”; she will make hay; she will grow apples; she will marry her brother William and together “carry on the business” forever.

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