I want to try and write about my reading wrap-ups here again. To that end, here are the books I finished in September.
Ghost Cities by Siang Lu
Ghost Cities has been on my shelves since the year it was published but I kept putting it off {story of my life!}. However, after it won the Miles Franklin award in June, I realised I needed to prioritise it. It’s a book I was worried would be too clever for me and maybe on some levels, it was while also being entertaining at other points. It alternates between a contemporary reality and an historical one. Set partly in Sydney, partly in China, we have our protagonist, Xiang who is a translator by profession but relies on Google translate because he doesn’t actually speak Mandarin. He is found out and subsequently fired. He goes viral on the internet as #BadChinese and catches the eye of Baby Bao, a director who believes in making movies with blatant mistakes. He convinces Xiang to join him in China to an abandoned city, Port Man Tou where he is filming his latest movie which is 27-hours long. In the historical section, is a jealous emperor who is doing everything he can to ensure no one takes his place. Overall, this book is a satirical novel about people, about the sense of importance we all feel, about present day China and maybe much more I may have not really figured out! Interestingly, I saw Siang Lu in conversation soon after I finished the book and he mentioned being inspired by Paradise Lost {which I haven’t read but might give you more context if you have!}
Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan
I am late to the party reading this amazing book and I’m so glad I finally picked it up! Brotherless Night is set in the 80s in Sri Lanka at the start of the Civil War with the final chapter around the end of it. It follows Sashi and her brothers and is a captivating story and exploration of Sri Lanka’s history. The Tamil Tigers seeking to overthrow the Sinhalese-dominated government & create their own independent state due to ongoing discrimination & persecution, recruit young Tamil men. Some of Sashi’s brothers, and a close family friend, K, are part of that. What follows is a life that is equal parts normal (studying for exams) and equal parts volatile (seeing family members killed or kidnapped).
While the Tamils have a cause, at some point, they start to turn against their own if they don’t abide by what they want. To me, this was reminiscent of the IRA in Northern Ireland. Despite the violence, there is beauty in Ganeshananthan’s prose. Sashi is a compelling character as is the professor she admires.
The story is compelling, beautiful & sad & left me in tears & with goosebumps and one that I will recommend to all.
When Sleeping Women Wake by Emma Pei Yin
Emma Pei Yin’s debut novel is set before & during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. It follows three women – Mingzhu, her daughter Qiang, and their maid, Biyu who over the years, is like a sister to Mingzhu. When we meet Mingzhu, she is in an unhappy marriage, sharing her husband with his preferred second wife who has borne him a son. Qiang is smart and intelligent, just as Mingzhu wants her to be. And then, the Japanese occupy Hong Kong & Mingzhu is separated from her family. We follow their separate storyline’s, their bravery, the rebel groups during the war right till the aftermath.
This book was amazing & I inhaled it over a couple of days. It is a part of history I didn’t know much about {thanks, Indian history!} and I was captivated not just by the characters but also by the movements by the locals against the Japanese. It was intriguing, heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once.
Pei Yin has developed wonderful characters. The three main women are strong & their character arcs have been beautifully developed. The secondary characters too are interesting. Both Hiroshi Nakamura and Sato, Japanese characters with shades of grey draw you in. Qiang’s tutor, the British Henry Beaumont is also very likeable as is their gardener Ah-Long. All in all, a fantastic and captivating read, one that opens your eyes to atrocities you may not have known of, and also, the power of women.
Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
I almost thought of writing an entire post about this book and I still might but here’s what you need to know: the author worked at Facebook and exposes some of the toxic culture and greed by its founders and execs in this book. I will try and post a longer post on this book, but in a nutshell, you have to wonder if we are divided as a society today thanks to Facebook’s involvement and lack of accountability particularly in the form of hate speech and fake news.
Reading this book, I felt rage and despair at the state of the world and the fact that some of those mentioned in the book are still running the show at Facebook or in other higher powered jobs. It’s hard to not feel disheartened.
The Clock Winder by Anne Tyler
I continue my year with Anne Tyler and September’s read was one of her books from 1972. The Clock Winder follows the Emerson family. Recently widowed Mrs Emerson has taken to firing the help. A young girl Elizabeth, happens to see her struggling and helps with moving some furniture. Elizabeth finds herself a job & a place to stay in the run down house. She’s the new handyman. As Elizabeth gets sucked into the lives of the Emersons – adult children who only occasionally visit – tragedy strikes. The question is, is Elizabeth manipulating them or is she being subject to their erratic behaviours.
I didn’t love this one as much as some of Tyler’s other works but I once again appreciated her characters, the chaos, the imperfections & just how much every single one of them is flawed but also probably just looking to be loved and connected. As always, an astute observer of the human condition, Tyler is compassionate towards her characters and makes you root for them.
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
Another backlist book from my shelves from the author of The Bee Sting which I read and loved in 2023. In the first chapter, fourteen-year-old Skippy dies after challenging his friend to a doughnut eating race. What follows is the background – we learn about Skippy and his friends at the prestigious Seabrook College for Boys in Dublin. We learn about their lives, their loves, adolescent hormones, mistakes, first love, and also abusing prescription drugs.
Murray opens this world to you and you cannot help but be captivated and appalled all at once. The book is funny, sad, wise and moving. The characters are fantastic. From Skippy to his roommate and friend, Ruprecht, to the school psycho Carl, the hot girl Lori from the school next door, the teacher Howard {the Coward}, and Skippy’s little group of friends/acquaintances. For a 650 plus page book, I was hooked and could not put it down. I think Paul Murray is now an auto-buy author for me.
What have you read in September? And if you’ve read any of these, share your thoughts with me!
