Book Review - Darcey Steinke's Sister Golden Hair

Last Spring, I attended the AWP conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The conference included an enormous book fair with over 800 exhibitors. It was both a paradise and completely overwhelming. I brought a large messenger bag, and all three days, I filled it with purchases. It was so heavy, I thought the bag was going to rip! I was most excited for the Tin House Books booth. Tin House is one of my favorite publishers, and now that I live in Portland, I can confirm that it is the very best thing in the city. 

Darcey Steinke's novel, Sister Golden Hair, is from my AWP 2016 haul. I walked up to the Tin House booth and bought every Tin House book that I didn't previously own. Tin House rarely publishes a clunker, so without reading the back covers, I just stacked them up and brought them to the counter. The guy at the booth was gobsmacked, he had never sold so many books to a single buyer. My Tin House love runs deep. I've been traveling and moving, so this is the first chance I've had to dive into my AWP books. It's like Christmas in October!

PLOT - Sister Golden Hair is a coming of age story set in the 1970's in Roanoke, Virginia. Jesse is twelve when her father, a former Christian minister, leaves his church and moves his family to Bent Tree, a dingy apartment complex in Virginia. Her parents both struggle with their new situation, trying to figure out an identity that is different from minister and wife. Her younger brother quickly makes friends in their neighborhood, as Jesse struggles to figure out her place in this new town. 

LIKE- The chapters in Sister Golden Hair are named after characters than play a significant role in Jesse's adolescence. For example, the first chapter is Sandy, named after an adult neighbor who Jesse befriends. Free-spiritied Sandy is completely different from Jesse's parents, an even stronger contrast since this is the first person she really engages with since leaving their Christian church. I liked how naming the chapters structured the novel, because once I figured out the pattern, I could see the significance of these characters shaping Jesse. 

Jesse is awkward, painfully so. Her inner thoughts and outward actions are often cringe-worthy.  I don't think they would be so hard to read, if Steinke hadn't written so truthfully. Teenage years are awkward and uncomfortable, Steinke captures that through Jesse. The worst of it, is when Jesse is attempting to befriend a popular girl, Sheila. The relationship between Jesse and Sheila, reminded me of the teenage girls in American Beauty. The more we learn about Sheila, the more we realize that popularity doesn't make her immune from insecurities and odd behavior. She is desperate to be a Playboy Bunny and practices in a homemade costumes, roping Jesse into her role playing. When Sheila has had enough, rather than asking Jesse to go home, she locks Jesse in her bedroom closet, something that Jesse doesn't protest. Cringe-worthy. 

Steinke rips away the exterior and shows that adolescence is equal opportunity awkward for everyone, even the kid that seems popular. No one is immune. Without exception, all of the kids in this novel are awkward and the adults definitely don't have their lives figured out. Things are messy and complicated. Readers be warned, reading Sister Golden Hair will dredge up some of those uncomfortable memories from your own childhood. Steinke has managed to write a time travel novel!

DISLIKE- Nothing. Steinke is gifted at writing characters and emotions. Sister Golden Hair is not plot heavy, but more of a cruise through Jesse's teen years ,and a look at the influences that can shape a person. 

RECOMMEND- Yes. Sister Golden Hair is a journey back to adolescence, pimples and all. Steinke is a masterful storyteller and in Jesse, she has created a memorable protagonist. On an unrelated/related note, since the current season of American Horror Story is set in Roanoke, it's nice to have an alternate Roanoke story that's not completely terrifying! 

Book Review - Jodi Picoult's Small Great Things

Thank You to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for providing me with an advanced copy of Jodi Picoult's latest novel, Small Great Things, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT - Ruth Jefferson is a highly regarded labor and delivery nurse with over twenty years of experience, and an Ivy League education. She is also a widow, raising her honor student teenage son, after her husband died during active military duty. 

During one of her shifts, Ruth is assigned to the Bauer family: Brittany and Turk have just had a baby boy, Davis. When Ruth meets the Bauer's and attempts to examine Davis, she is met with a cold response and a request to see her supervisor. The problem? Ruth is black and the Bauer's are white supremacists. A note goes on Bauer's file, that the family requests no African-Americans touch their baby. 

A few days later, the hospital staff is strapped and Ruth is left to monitor Davis after a routine circumcision. She was only needed for a few minutes and nothing should have gone wrong, until it did. Davis goes into cardiac arrest under Ruth's watch and shortly after his death, Ruth is arrested. Did her anger towards the Bauers cause her to harm their baby? Or did her hesitation to help Davis, based on the note in his file, hasten his death? A baby is dead, who is to blame?

Kennedy McQuarrie is assigned as Ruth's public defender. Kennedy's instinct is to leave race out of the trial, which is a slap in the face to Ruth. Can Ruth make Kennedy see race through her eyes and lead Kennedy to truly speak on Ruth's behalf?

LIKE- I'm a fan of Picoult, primarily because she writes complex moral dilemma stories, forcing readers to look for different angles. In Small Great Things, the best moral moment isn't when the baby dies, but when the note is first placed in his file. It forces the reader to think, what would you do? Would you stand up for your colleague? What would the repercussions be? No one stands up in the hospital, because it is easier to just keep Ruth separate from the Bauer's. Easy doesn't mean it's right, is one ofthe over arching theme of Small Great Things. 

Picoult creates very strong, memorable characters. Although the story is told from the perspective of many characters ( Kennedy and Turk), Ruth's voice rises above the others. This is her story. What's devastating is watching everything she has worked so hard to obtain; professional achievements, financial security, and her integrity, get stripped away from her; just the idea of these achievements being so fragile and precious. In the afterword, Picoult explains her difficulties and apprehensions in writing about race and that this book is aimed towards white Americans ( I suspect her audience base is primarily middle-aged/middle-class/white women). To that end, yes, I think this book was aimed at a reader like me, as I fit into that demographic.. It's a call to think about our position of privilege and how we should stand with our friends who don't have that privilege. What if all of the white nurses, who count themselves as Ruth's friend, had stood up to the Bauer's request? Certainly the trajectory of the story would have been completely different, but on another level, it would have been a scenario where Ruth would have felt included as a fellow friend and nurse, rather than separate and different. 

DISLIKE- Small Great Things is cliche and obvious. I was never surprised by the direction of the story and even groaned with a few of the twists. In particular, Brittany's ending was extremely groan-worthy. It was unnecessary and detracting. Picoult uses Kennedy it hammer in the themes a little too hard. I found Kennedy a difficult character to connect with, although I think she is supposed to represent most readers, the white liberal who tries to be understanding, but gets a lot wrong. Kennedy starts out assuming more than she listens, which of course is her personal growth trajectory during of the story. 

RECOMMEND- Yes. I didn't feel that Small Great Things was Picoult's strongest book, but I'm sure many would disagree. It's certainly high with emotion and an important topic, especially now in America. As with many of Picoult's novels, Small Great Things, would be an ideal bookclub or classroom pick, lending itself perfectly to group discussions.

Book Review - Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train

PLOT - Rachel Watson is a divorced alcoholic, who pretends to go to work every day on the train, to keep hidden from her roommate that she has lost her job. The train route passes by Rachel's former home, where her ex-husband, Tom, lives with his new wife, Anna, and their baby. Rachel is still in love with Tom, but during her train trips she begins to fantasize about Tom's neighbors, a seemingly perfect young couple who has recently move into the neighborhood. She catches glimpses of them as the train rushes by their home. When the wife, Megan Hipwell, goes missing, Rachel believes that she might have clues to help solve the case. She may have been the last person who saw Megan alive, but on the same day, Rachel blacked out from drinking, making her witness account completely unreliable. Does Rachel hold the key to Megan's disappearance? Will anyone believe her?

LIKE- Hawkins' The Girl on the Train has been a bestselling novel that I keep hearing about and I finally thought that I had better hurry up and read it, before the film version is released this fall. It gained comparisons to Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. Gone Girl it isn't, but The Girl on the Train does have similarities with regard to an incredibly unreliable narrator and the tone of the novel. I didn't anticipate the ending, and although the twist in Gone Girl packed a bigger punch, this story was a solid and enjoyable mystery. 

Rachel is a fascinating character. I can't remember ever reading a novel with female protagonist that is an alcoholic. It makes her not only unreliable to those around her, but also unreliable to herself. Rachel has so many flaws, yet I easily connected to her and rooted for her to succeed. It was an interesting balance. Rachel is also obsessed with her ex-husband and Megan's disappearance, making her actions a little creepy. How can she explain her repeated appearances in a neighborhood in which she no longer lives? Rachel's behavior makes the story a page-turner. 

DISLIKE- There is a very minor character that is thrown in as a red-herring. I felt not just mislead, but tricked, with the unsatisfying resolution of this character's part in the story. I either needed more to make it a true red-herring, or I would have liked to have felt it was obvious that this character could not be the killer. 

RECOMMEND- Yes, if you like a good mystery. I enjoyed The Girl on the Train. Hawkins has written a compelling, quick-paced story, with strong characters. Did I absolutely need to read this before seeing the film version? Probably not. Possibly they will butcher the film adaptation, but this style of book lends itself very well to the cinema. It seems natural to have turned this story into a film. I'm a fan of Emily Blunt and although she is much more beautiful that I ever pictured Rachel, I think is a great choice for the character.