What we read in May
East Berlin, 1986, Katharina falls deeply in lust with Hans, a married man more than a generation her senior. Their affair is all consuming, quickly becoming the focal point of both their lives. Both are academics, artistic, lovers of music, active in politics, trapped behind the wall of communism. The sharp juxtaposition between East and West are felt sharply when Katharina, rare visa in hand, visits family in the West, shops festooned in mark down stickers, footpaths littered with the detritus of capitalism. But as the fall of the wall approaches in 1989, Katharina and Hans' relationship also cracks and falters. Kairos is a sublimely written novel that situates the reader deep in East Berlin, with cafes, shops and ephemera central to the narrative.
Eastbound by Maylis de Kerengal
A young Russian conscript and a young French woman meet by chance on a train, eastbound across the vast Russian countryside. Not sharing a language the two find solace in each other, a brief respite from uncertain futures. Eastbound is a stunningly beautiful novella, perhaps made all the more impactful for its brevity. A passage about the special place Lake Baikal holds for Russians is especially poignant.
The fourth and final entry into Smith's delicate yet epic Seasonal Quartet is Summer. Characters from Autumn, Winter and Spring collide in the early (northern hemisphere) summer of 2020. 13 year old Robert Greenlaw has been radicalised, his sister Sacha's climate change induced anxiety is peaking and their step mother has become a selective mute. Meanwhile, Daniel Gluck, the central character from Autumn is now 104 years old, remembering the summer he and his father were interred on the Isle of Man in World War II due to their German heritage and we also hear the story of Daniel's sister Hannah, working in the French resistance, through letters each sibling wrote but never sent. Smith's quartet is connected not just through these characters, but through underappreciated female artists, through Shakespeare plays, Dickens, politics and current events, words and language and themes of internment and social inequity. How Smith manages to weave all these elements so skillfully into an already fully realised narrative is the sign of a true genius author whom I much admire. This is a brilliant series of works.
When I open the shop by romesh dissanayake
A young man, nursing the grief of losing his mother, opens a noodle shop in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Obsessing over julienning carrots, he recreates his mother's cherished salad, a dish that speaks of his mixed heritage and the ache of loss. Themes of ethnicity, belonging, community and the food that connects us make this gentle coming of age novel a powerful and warm hearted read. dissanayake is an author and poet to watch.
Therese Thorn exists as a business owner, a wife to Trevor, an older man, a dutiful stepmother to his adult children and as the perfect hostess. And somewhere, deep down, she exists as Teresa, the woman from small town New Zealand. Therese and Trevor's are shunted off the rails by revelations of dirty dealings in his property development company, setting Therese on a course to rediscover who she really is. Enter Claire, the Thorn's downstairs neighbour. Claire seems to know who she is and where she's going, and in Claire's apartment, Therese finds a new kind of self. Lioness is so darkly funny - scenes of Therese scoffing petrol station pies are unique Kiwi, and several chapters devoted to the family's summer holiday in the Sounds are so sharply real and very, very bitingly funny. This is a novel that will leave you gasping.
Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson
Music and dancing are the melody and beat of Stephens' life. Spiritual music at church, frenetic dancing through the night n grimy basements across the city and music school next year, everything in his world revolves around music. But when his plans for a music degree fall over, Stephen must find new meaning in his life. A pulsating, vivid and rich coming of age story of family, home and the unexpected beauty of a detoured path.
Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan
Kick the Latch is snippets of a life lived in the ramshackle, dank and dangerous world of the American racetrack, proving a story doesn't need length to be impactful. Through transcribed interviews with Sonia, horse mad since childhood, who has lived her life in the stables, backrooms and caravans of the professional racing circuit, working as a trainer and a groom in the darkness and long hours of this brutal sport, Scanlan captures a unique voice in American life.
The Bone Tree by Airana Ngarewa
Two brothers isolated from their whānau and living remotely in the North Island are cast adrift after the deaths of their parents. Kauri, determined to protect his younger brother Black, sets off to the city to find their history. Kauri and Black are unforgettable young protagonists who will live with you long after the book finishes. Kauri is determined they will survive despite a society that doesn't see them, and struggles to break the generational cycle of abuse and poverty that he sees in his parents. Despite the harsh realities, the novel weaves in lyrical beauty and an enduring message of love and gives voice to those on society's fringes, raised in poverty and distrustful of the system. This unflinching portrayal asks a critical question: how do we best protect the ones we hold dearest?
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
Cosy fantasy is having its day in the sunny and rightly so. In a darkening world, we need all the light and magic we can get. Fans of Legends and Lattes and the works of Martha Wells and Becky Chambers will love this sweet yet powerful story of a woman whose magic works through her baking. When she is suspected of murder, she must leave the cosy confines of the bakery for the darker world, and in doing so, find herself.
