Kali Fajardo-Anstine: Woman of Light, One World/Penguin Random House Usa, 9780525511328, hardback

Kali Fajardo-Anstine's short stories "Sabrina & Corina" made it to the finals  of the National Book Award and where a true discovery  for me. I knew she would be someone to watch, her writing  is exceptional. 

But i really fell in love with her latest book, "Women of Light".  The novel just tugged at my heart with all the betrayal, heartbreak and injustice that befell  Luz Lopez, the main character, and generations of her mixed Native American and Latino family. The story switches between the voices of her anchestors beginning in 1868, following her Native American grandfather Pidre and her grandmother Simodecca and finishes in 1934 Denver, Colorado. 

All the characters are strong and stuck in my head whenever I stoped reading but Luz, who has the gift of seeing like her aunt Marie Josefina and her grandmother Simodecca,  shines particularly as does her brother Diego and her aunt Marie Josefina. The novel reminded me of Julia Alvarez's or Louise Erdrich's storytelling but Fajardo-Anstine has her very own distinct voice.  "Women of Light" is one of my favourite books of the year so far and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next...

Cassandra Leah Quave: The Plant Hunter, A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines. Penguin Books USA, 9781984879134, paperback 

Found Dr. Cassandra Quaves enlightening book " The Plant Hunter" at one of the airport bookshops in Austin. I have always been interested in the medicinal healing power of plants, something i remember as a kid from my mother and grandmother who would  consult their herbal knowledge before using pills.  So naturally i was drawn to Quaves very personal story in the search of natural compounds who might be helpful in keeping multi resistant  bacteria at bay. 

Her life story is an extraordinary one.

Born with a birth defect and living with a prothetic leg, having undergone multiple surgeries herself, nothing stops her during her field research to find healers with ancient knowledge in the Amazon, Italy, Kosovo, even as a young mother, or her tireless effort to apply for grants to fund her research projects. For someone who is not a science wiz , I had a hard time occasionally staying focused when she goes into scientific explanations. Her personal story however is exceptional, an example of willpower, perseverance, never giving up and raising three children with her husband Marco while plunging herself fully into her mission. Perhaps a bit too detailed at times for myself but all in all a fascinating memoir, i hope she is succesfull in her quest. The world needs scientists and mentors like her. Nothing was ever achieved if you do not think outside the box. 

 Joanna Moorhead: The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington, 9780349008790, paperback, Virago/ Little Brown UK

The first time I came across Leonora Carrington was during a fascinating art exhibition here in Frankfurt about women painters in Surrealism called " Fantastische Frauen". 

Leonora Carrington's  paintings stood out for me, very detailed, vivid and full of fantasy. I became interested in her life which was colorful, independent, hard and extraordinary to put it mildly, always staying true to her core beliefs.

I belief books always find you; recently I stumbled across her biography by journalist Joanna Moorhead who is also her cousin.  Her book is a detailed portrait of this headstrong artist who came from an extremely priviliged English upper class background which she chucked to live life on her terms.

She is best know for her intense love relationship with the painter Max Ernst in  1930  Paris causing her to be estranged from her family. This was the crucial start of her path as a painter and writer but she and Ernst struggled as many artists do financially.

Leaving her well known Surrealist artist friends behind, she and Ernst eventually fled to the French countryside and she continued via Portugal to New York when the Nazis invaded France. Leonoara had many lovers after Ernst and eventually married a Mexican settling in Mexico City where she spent the longest period of her adult life,  had a family and became a famous, much adored artist.  

Moorhead does an excellent job  writing objectively about her  aunt but still manages to weave in her personal feelings and experiences with Leonora who became a huge influence in her own life and a friend.

If you enjoy biographies about extraordinary lives and female artists , this is a great one, loved it and learned so much.

Garry Disher: The way it is now, 9781800811386, Viper/Serpent's Tail UK, hardback

Garry Disher's stand alone novels, always set in Australia, are just as excellent has his Hirschhausen series,  i am a huge fan of his writing. In " The way it is now" Charlie Deravain, a cop on disciplinary leave,  returns to the coastal town  where he and his brother Liam  grew up before his parents separated. Charlie's mother Rose disappeared shortly after his parents marriage fell apart but was never found.   His father Rhys always had the shadow of accusation for being responsible for her possible death hanging over him. With lots of free time on his hands Charlie starts to reopen the case on his own, ruffling more than a few feathers amongst his former police officers until two skeltons are found.  Disher is excellent at describing the noir undercurrents in family dynamics which makes this such an excellent read,  thoroughly enjoyed it. 

William Boyd: The Romantic - The Real Life of Cashel Greville Ross, Viking, 9780241542033, large format paperback , publication date: October 6, 2022

William Boyd is one of my favorite authors and thanks to an early netgalley by Viking, i was able to enjoy the upcoming " The Romantic".  

I absolutely loved this book, Boyd is back to what he does best, writing a fictional biography about a human life, in this case Cashel Greville Ross, born 1799, died 1882,  which seems so real that you have to stop yourself hitting Google search.  And what an incredibly colorful, roller coaster life Cashel had, from orphan to diplomat, from England, Ceylon, Italy , Amerika back to Europe and of course there is a love story at the center of the novel. I devoured the 464 pages quickly and felt at times, given the century the novel is set in,  as if  reading a classic. Wholeheartedly recommend this fabulous story by a master storyteller.

Cara Hunter: Hope to die, 9780241990162, Penguin Books UK, paperback

Holiday reading No 2, mysteries. Over the years, I have become a fan of Cara Hunter's cleverly constructed mysteries and have recommended her to friends looking for new English crime writing. 

"Hope to die", her latest is brilliantly plotted, loved it . Adam Fawley, DI and his team of Oxford detectives are called to a remote manor house where an apparent burglar was shot. Right from the beginning the story the owners tell has holes and Fawley discovers that they have changed their name after their daughter was sentenced to a long prison term for killing her baby. It takes 411 pages until this dark case is solved and I kept turning the pages fast. What I like about Hunter's writing is the utterly realistic and plausible  way Fawley's team operates and go about their cases. Thumbs up from me !!

 Kristin Harmel: The Book of Lost Names, Welbeck publishing, 9781982151553, paperback, read the ebook

(German edition: Das Buch der verschollenen Namen, Droemere Knaur)

Holiday reading ,  escapism book no. 1, recommended by a friend.

I love books with historical background and "The book of lost names" was no exception.  Inspired and based on true life events of forgers working in the underground French resistance in the 1940ties  risking their lives by producing false passports for hundreds of  Jewish children or anyone who needed a new identity to flee being sent to Nazi concentration camps, Harmel tells the story of Eva Traube who is able to escape from Paris with her mother, a Polish Jew, to the mountain village of Aurignon after her father was rounded up by Nazis. 

 In Aurignon Pere Clement uses his church to provide a set up for forger Remy who is soon joined by Eva who has been recruited  to the cause and becomes one of their best forgers. The story is mostly set in the 1940ties but also has a current timeline where the book of Epitres et Evangiles plays an important role. It is a great story about never giving up even if the odds are terrible, a bit smaltzy towards the end but I  found it moving and engrossing. The author  provides interesting historical data towards the end.