Book Review

 

Cutting for Stone was a fascinating read. Set in Addis Abba, Ethiopia; New York City, and again in Addis Ababa, the story is about twin boys who are orphaned. When their mother, a Catholic nun, dies in childbirth, their father, a surgeon, disappears.

However, it was hard for me to get into the book. After the first part of the story leading up to the twin's birth, and heartbreaking consequences, I put the book down for a couple of weeks. The author had ended the life of a character I liked.

Caution. This 667 page book loaded with medical terms, procedures, and culture does not make a quick read at the beach.

Maybe I was being too judgmental. With four and a half stars on Amazon, I picked it back up.

Glad I did!

The twin boys, Marion and Shiva Stone, have a preternatural connection that I found fascinating. Their lives are peppered with challenges and setbacks. There are tensions from life and death situations around them, and a complex childhood love interest. The twins are exposed to unusual medical conditions that eventually determine their careers as doctors. And political unrest with the changing regimes in Ethiopia heighten the drama.

The key overriding message in the book, is that even if we don't have a wonderful blood-relational family, another human, a group or a village of people can become that missing piece in our lives to support us, validate us and love us.

And we can do the same for others.

Enjoy the read, and do let me know what you think about it after you finish the novel.

Make it a great day,

Judy

Book Review

Give me a satisfying story, with characters I can relate to, throw in some tension, and keep the story line reasonably logical. I love a good story. Make it amusing, and give me surprising situations with a clever resolve at the end, and I'll hurry to buy the book. Absolutely. If it's on an e-reader, and cheaper, I'll buy that. Hey, I'm a bargain hunter.

This book, Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill, (Published 2007 by WW Norton & Company) will make you forget your own life until you put the book down. It's a powerful story that stays with you. I borrowed the book from my neighbor. Actually, she put it in my hands and said I had to read it. So I did.

However, I knew the subject, and wasn't sure I wanted to immerse myself in the evil of slavery. The slavery in the US during the seventeen hundreds.

But the author's writing, and the connection with the main characters, helped me through the brutal parts without diminishing cruelness.

I highly recommend this book. You will get lost in this story. It is gripping, and deeply inspiring.

Winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. "Wonderfully written...populated by vivid characters and rendered in fascinating detail."―Nancy Kline, New York Times Book Review

The synopsis: Stolen from her village in Africa as a child, a young girl, Aminata Diallo walks with other captured people for a month, to the ocean and a slave ship. She endures the crossing on the Atlantic, and arrives in Georgia, sold at auction to a plantation owner. Later she is resold and moved to South Carolina, but escapes during the chaos of the Revolutionary War. In New york City, she works for the British, as a scribe, recording the names of blacks who have served the King. Those who served and could prove their allegiance to England, were told they could live free in Nova Scotia. Find out what happens, and enjoy the build to a brilliant ending.

This historical novel, with beautiful phrases, and characters you will love or love to hate, will capture your heart and mind. I have forgotten many of the stories I've read. This one is unforgettable. I applaud the author, Lawrence Hill, and thank my neighbor.