Postcards From Nam by Uyen Nicole Duong

I requested Postcards From Nam by Uyen Nicole Duong through the Amazon Vine programme a couple of weeks ago.

Synopsis (from Amazon)  Mimi is a successful young Vietnamese immigrant practicing law in Washington, D.C. when the postcards begin to arrive. Postmarked from Thailand, each hand-drawn card is beautifully rendered and signed simply “Nam.” Mimi doesn’t recognize the name, but Nam obviously knows her well, spurring her to launch what will become a decade-long quest to find him. As her search progresses, long-repressed memories begin to bubble to the surface: her childhood in 1970s Vietnam in a small alley in pre-Communist Saigon. Back then, Nam was her best friend, a gifted artist who dreamed of someday sending his work around the globe. But when the children were separated by war, their lives diverged onto different paths: one to freedom and opportunity, the other to tragedy and pain. Now Mimi must uncover Nam’s story from the ensuing years, including his harrowing escape by boat from his ravaged homeland. Throughout her search, she clings to the hope that, despite the distance between them, the friends can share solace in the artwork that has reunited them




I chose this book from the Amazon Vine newsletter, the premise of the story really appealed to me, and I've not read many novels set around Vietnam before - so was interested to learn a little more.  This is a novella really at just 100 pages long, but every one of the pages contain words that really touch the heart.

Mimi is a succesful lawyer based in America, she is a Vietnamese immigrant who has americanised both her name and her lifestyle.   Mimi's family were lucky enough to be able to leave their home in South Vietnam just before the North took over.   Other family members and friends were not so lucky though, and Mimi has distanced herself from the memories of her past.   Then, out of the blue, postcards begin to arrive.  Beautifully, hand drawn postcards that are personal to Mimi, and to her past.  Who is sending them, and why?  What do they mean?

After speaking with her family, it becomes clear to Mimi that these cards are being sent by Nam.  Nam was a childhood neighbour back in Vietnam and Mimi has heard nothing from him for years.   Determined to find out more about the cards and about Nam, Mimi tracks down refugees and learns through them, of Nam's ordeals over the past years.  He has suffered dreadfully, yet still he remembers her.

There are some haunting passages in this short novel, the terrors suffered by Nam over the years are harsh, yet his love for Mimi never dies and his art work iives on.

This is a beautifully crafted story.


Uyen Nicole Duong was born in 1959 in Hoi An and grew up in Saigon.  Her family fled Vietnam on April 30 1975.  She is a professor at the University of Denver and has also written a novel called Daughters of the River Huong. 

A Competition Win - ProCook Pans from www.hot-dinners.com

People have probably gathered that I like food!   Eating it, cooking it and reading about it.  I'm a sucker for restaurant reviews too - even places that I'm never likely to visit.  I'd love to be a food critic!

 I got an email from www.hot-dinners.com a couple of weeks ago - I'd won a competition on their website.  My prize arrived today - a set of ProCook Gourmet Steel Pans.  I'm really thrilled as my saucepans are ancient and really need replacing.  So, now I have some lovely shiny new pans - and Costa and Nero have a new box to play in!  What is it with cats and boxes?  

Nero

Costa

As soon as I unpacked the pans, put all the stuffing in the empty box, Nero jumped in and stayed there for a while.  As soon as he got out, of course, Costa had to have a go too.  My two daft cats never cease to make me smile! I'm really thrilled as my saucepans are ancient and really need replacing.

Angel Delight Ice Cream

I'm a real 70s girl, and still look back on polyester flares and Bay City Rollers tartan scarves with great fondness.  Oh, and the food - the delights of Vesta Curry and the wonder of Crispy Pancakes - we really thought we were at the very height of culinary excellence.   I still have a fondness for Angel Delight, which was a great, and very rare treat in our house when I was a kid.   I can't resist that butterscotch / synthetic flavour at all, and every now and then I'll make a big bowlful and remember the 'good old days'!
So, when I saw that Angel Delight were giving away free packets of their new ice cream mix - well, I just had to apply through their Facebook page - and hurrah, my free sample popped through the letterbox a couple of days ago.  I'm strangely excited by this and am looking forward to mixing and freezing and tasting!
I'll report back when I've sampled it.

Q&A with Ali Knight ~ Book Giveaway

I recently read and reviewed Ali Knight's novel Wink Murder - my review can be found here.  

Wink Murder was released in hardback by Hodder and Stoughton in April 2011 and the paperback is due for release in November this year.

Wink Murder is Ali's first novel and has already been sold in ten other countries.  Ali was previously a journalist, writing for major newspapers including The Guardian.

She is part of the wonderful Sky Arts Streets Galleries campaign, you can find out more about the campaign here

Ali has been kind enough to answer some questions about her writing and reading habits:

What are you reading at the moment?   I tend to read several books at once as I'm easily distracted.  At the moment it's Hanging Hill by Mo Hayder, Shantaram by Gregory Roberts and The Sick Rose by Erin Kelly.  I love thrillers.


Do you read reviews of your novels?  Do you take them seriously?   I always read reviews - good, bad and indifferent.  I think it's the least you can do, particularly if someone has made the effort to post on Amazon or Good Reads.  I'm not offended if someone gives a bad review, you need a tough skin to be a writer, you come up against a lot of nos, particularly at the beginning of a writing career, and you have to take the downs to get the ups.


How long does it take to write a novel?  It takes me about 10 months to write a book, but I'm spending four long mornings a week doing it.  I so admire writers who have to fit in writing at the end of a long day doing another job.

Ali Knight

Do you have any writing rituals?   I have so many!  They act as ways to force me to my desk.  A big cup of coffee, always the same start time: 8.30am, always after a glance through my emails.  Four days a week without fail, all through the year.


What was your favourite childhood book?   Charlotte's Web made a big impression on me.  I read it recently with my seven year old son, and seeing him enjoy it made me realise the joy of how a good book is timeless.  Also the first line "Daddy, where are you going with that axe?" could be straight out of a thriller - perfection.


Name one book that made you laugh?    Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Love Pray.  I love football and I used to live in Italy.  Her description of Italian football fans and what they talk about is one of the funniest things I've ever read.


Name one book that made you cry?   Sister by Rosamund Lupton.  The first third of that novel is a huge weepathon - brilliant.  The ability to make a reader cry is an absolute sign of writing success.  Testament of Youth by Vera Britten I read as a teenager.  It still sums up the tragedy of war for me better than anything.


Which fictional character would you like to meet?   James Bond.  Though maybe Jack Reacher could shove him aside.


Which book would you give to your best friend as a present?   One Day by David Nicholls.


Are you inspired by any particular author or book?   There are far too many to list properly.  I like women who wrote great books when they weren't supposed to do that kind of thing; Jane Austen, the Brontes, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker.  I include Martina Cole here.  I believe she is their modern day equivalent.


What is your guilty pleasure read?  I never feel guilty about reading.  But Jackie Collins takes some beating if I'm on a sun lounger ............


Who are your favourite authors?  This is very difficult.  I love Ruth Rendell.  I think A Fatal Inversion is a wonderful book.  James Ellroy - the way he combines crime with American history is beautiful.


What book have you re-read?   Pride and Prejudice.  I never tire of this book.  There's just something about it that makes it seem fresh every time you open it.


What book have you given up on?   There are many books I can't get into, let alone finish.  I'm a big believer in hooking someone in from the first paragraph.  Midnight's Children is a particular problem for me, as is White Teeth - sorry Zadie!


I'd like to say a huge thank you to Ali for answering my questions.  Her answers have certainly added a few books to my wishlist, and I have to agree about White Teeth - I so wanted to like that book, but it has remained unfinished for me too!


I've decided to give away my proof copy of Ali's Wink Murder - it's in great condition, I've read it very carefully.  So, if you'd like to be in with a chance of winning my copy, just leave me a comment at the bottom of this article.  I'll choose a winner on 15th September. 


Good Luck!

The Secrets Between Us by Louise Douglas

This is my second book choice from the Transworld Book Group Reading Challenge.

I am a big fan of Louise Douglas and her first two books are some of my favourite reads.

The Secrets Between Us strays a little from the path of her earlier books, in that it is more of a thriller, with some really dark moments that are quite unsettling to read and left me feeling a little spooked more than once.

The lead character Sarah, is a damaged young woman.  She had recently lost a child and ended a long-term relationship.

Whilst spending a couple of weeks in the sunshine of Sicily with her sister May, she meets Alex and his small son Jamie.  

Alex is mysterious, dark and brooding.  Jamie is innocent, sweet, vulnerable - and motherless. Genevieve; Alex's wife and Jamie's mother has gone missing.

Sarah is soon immersed in Alex and Jamie's world.  She leaves Manchester to move in with them.

I'm part of the Transworld Book Group

Sarah finds herself in the midst of a small village, where everyone knows everyone's business and everyone loves Genevieve.  Sarah finds herself torn between wanting to protect and care for Jamie, wanting to be Alex's lover and also wanting to find out just what happened to Gene.   She feels Gene's presence in the house, she knows that the stories just dont add up, but she wants to trust Alex.

This is a skillfully woven, suspenseful story that really does keep you turning the pages very quickly.

I did have a sneaky suspicion towards the end that I knew 'who dunnit', and I was right, but this really didn't spoil the story for me.  

The characters are well crafted, the setting is excellent and the tension is at times quite stifling.

An excellent third novel from an accomplished author.

Roseanne ~ Sjowall & Wahloo - A Killer Reads Review

I was recently invited to take part in the Killer Reads Review Panel, and was sent a copy of Roseanna for review.  Killer Reads open up their Killer Read Reviews to two guest panellists a month.

If you would like the opportunity to be part of the scheme, sign up to their newsletter here.

Roseanna was written in 1965 by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, a husband and wife team from Sweden.  Sjowall and Wahloo sat down and planned a ten part series featuring Detective Martin Beck,  they wrote alternative chapters once their children were in bed each night.

This is a fairly straight forward murder mystery and begins with the discovery of a young woman's body, dredged up from Lake Vattern, in a small Swedish town.   After a medical examination it becomes clear that this is a case of murder - the woman was strangled and sexually assaulted.  Detective Martin Beck is drafted in the help the local police force.

Martin Beck is a somewhat gloomy character, he says little, but thinks a lot.  It is difficult for the reader to get into his mindset, he is aloof but not unfriendly.  He has a difficult relationship with his wife and children, preferring to spend what little free time he has either doing puzzles or sitting alone.

This is not a fast-paced thriller, but a story that slowly works it's way through the police investigation.
Fans of modern-day crime stories may be frustrated by the speed of Martin Beck's detecting, it often takes him an hour just to get a telephone connection to America.  This is 1960s Sweden, long before the days of internet, mobile phones and faxes, and although the story can never really be classed as 'thrilling' it is a complex and intelligent look at how police procedures of that era.

On the whole, I enjoyed this story but my main criticism would be around the dialogue which often felt quite formal and unemotional - I'm not sure if this is down to the translation, or the style of the authors.

www.killerreads.com

I also got increasingly irritated by the use of Martin Beck's full name throughout the story.  Most of the other characters, certainly the other police officers were referred to by their surnames only.  I'm not sure why the lead character needed to be referred to by his full name - and why so often?

Martin Beck reminds me a little of a Swedish Inspector Banks - from Peter Robinson's Yorkshire detective series.  He's quiet and studious, smokes too much, over thinks things and struggles with relationships.

I'm not sure that I will rush to read the other nine books in the series, but acknowledge that Martin Beck was most definitely the inspiration for modern-day crime authors such as Henning Mankell and Jonathan Franzen.

North Of Ithaka by Eleni Gage

I love Greece!   I love the people, the food, the weather, the way of life, the history.  

I also really enjoy reading books that are set in Greece, whether fiction or fact.

I've read quite a lot of stories about people buying a property in Greece and on the whole they are entertaining reads.  

North Of Ithaka by Eleni Gage however, is much much more than just the story of the renovation of an old house.  
Eleni Gage is the daughter of writer Nicholas Gage.

His most famous book; Eleni is the story of his mother who was murdered during the Greek Civil War.

Eleni was adapted for film in 1985 - John Malkovitch played the role of Nick Gage.

Eleni Gage returned to the small village of Lia in Northern Greece with the intention of rebuilding her murdered Grandmother's house.

This is the house in which she was keep prisoner and the house from which she made her final journey.  

Eleni's father and his sisters have all since settled in America and the house is now  uninhabitable.  Eleni was determined that she would restore it to its former glory - much to the dismay of her aunts who were convinced that something evil would happen to her if she dared to disturb the house with such sad memories.

North Of Ithaka is Eleni's story, and it is wonderfully written.  It's part memoir and part history and makes compelling and fascinating reading.  

Eleni Gage

Eleni was welcomed into the bosom of village life, probably because her family was well-known in the area, but the warmth and kindness of her neighbours is overwhelming - as is the frustration and irritation that Eleni felt as she encountered some of the difficulties in getting anyone in Greece to work quickly or to a timescale.

This story is so much more than the account of how the house was rebuilt.  Such insight into the lives of the villagers, their customs and their beliefs add so much to the whole reading experience.
I read Nicholas Gage's Eleni some years ago, but have never seen the film.  I intend to change that very soon.
Anyone who loves Greece, is interested in recent history and enjoys travel and food will love this book.