urbanmoms.ca Book Club

The Secret Life of Bees

I read this book in 2 days. Forty-eight wonderful hours of characters to fall in love with. I adore this type of book - character driven but with a point. This book is not without its heartbreak. The Secret Life of Bees takes place in South Carolina in 1964 during the heart of the Civil Rights movement. The novel centres around Lily Owens, whose life was forever changed by the tragic death of her mother. Lily is haunted by these memories and when her surrogate mother, a spirited black woman named Rosaleen, insults three racists Lily decides they need to escape together once and for all.

The journey that follows is one built on the love of mothers and daughters and the powerful relationship created with a group of unlikely women that become Lily's stand-in mothers. This is an inspiring story about one little girl's need for love, forgiveness, and acceptance where the politically charged times act as a backdrop to the more personal evolution taking place in the character of Lily.

This book is a definite must read especially because the movie version comes out on October 17th. I can't wait to see it! Check out the trailer here:

This review was written by Jen.

The Wise Woman

Can you think of anything more wonderful than opening up your mailbox and finding books inside? Neither can I. So, as I said last week, I was thrilled to get a package with a number of books from the really nice folks at Simon & Schuster Canada this summer.

The first book from this package was Philippa Gregory's The Wise Woman. This book was originally published following her Wideacre trilogy (which I haven't personally read yet), and is her first novel set in Tudor England. As the publisher puts it, Gregory takes the reader "on a journey to the outer reaches of passion, where magic and female power meet." Which is true.

The protagonist is a young woman named Alys who has entered a convent basically to find the girlhood she never had, but is quickly ousted when the local lord (Hugo) and his gang destroy the nunnery during Henry VIII's destruction of England's monasteries. Desperate, Alys returns to live with her stepmother Morach, the strange and nebulously dangerous local wise woman. Life with Morach is hard, cold and emotionally empty, and Alys constantly yearns for her old life in the convent and the Mother Superior she loved there. But she knows she can never go back - Mother Superior and all Alys's sisters perished in the fire set by Hugo and his men. Even more, it can be dangerous for former nuns in Henry VIII's England, so Alys must hide her true identity. Balancing on a knife-edge of peril, Alys must choose between loyalty to her vocation as a nun, and survival in the equally dangerous life Morach offers - as a wise woman.

Unexpectedly Alys is summoned to the castle as the old lord's scribe, where her life takes a 180 degree turn. After fighting his many advances, Alys eventually falls in love with the convent-burning Lord Hugo, who is inconveniently already married to Catherine. And this is where we enter the "outer reaches of passion, where magic and female power meet." Alys first enlists Morach and her magic to turn Hugo's passion back to his wife Catherine, but then finds that her magic -- at first so successful -- has taken on a life of its own, and will pursue its own ends, regardless of her intentions.

I was initially skeptical about this book - it didn't feature any of the famous characters we've all come to know and love through The Other Boleyn Girl and the many other great reads that she has written set in Tudor England. But Gregory does manage to deliver some of the magic we've come to expect from her other Tudor-era works, although I will freely admit that she at first strained the limits of my credulity with her use of magic in The Wise Woman, and then just went ahead and smashed through them altogether.

In the end, I did enjoy the book, although there were a few chapters towards the end that I'd rather she hadn't written, truth be told. In hindsight, The Wise Woman is a bit reminiscent of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in the sense that, like Frankenstein, Alys uses powers far beyond her ken to give life to creatures over whom she has no control, and with disastrous consequences. And Gregory is always a master of character: Alys is no pure protagonist, and Morach is never 100% villain. Even as the plot takes ever more unbelievable turns, the characters blossom and expose their deeper layers and their true humanity, which for me is entirely redeeming.

In short: I wouldn't hesitate to recommend The Wise Woman, but don't forget to bring your imagination along for the ride.

This review was written by Kath.

If You Liked the Other Boleyn Girl...

Okay, I'll admit it. I loved The Other Boleyn Girl (you can read my original review of this title here). In short, I thought it was a compelling and well-crafted narrative that brought to life one of English history's most interesting, tragic and misunderstood personages in Anne Boleyn, through the eyes of her sister, Mary.

But I'm not here to write (again) about Philippa Gregory's first (and, in my opinion best) historical novel about Tudor England.

I'm here to tell you about a book I discovered quite by accident: Nefertiti, by Michelle Moran. I picked it up in the Calgary airport, just before a nine-hour flight to London, knowing I'd need something good to read on the plane (and a good thing, too, since I still had 7 hours to kill after watching the movie version of The Other Boleyn Girl!)

Nefertiti is the story of two sisters from a powerful political family with close ties to the throne. One sister becomes queen, and the younger sister must then serve her interests and those of her family, seemingly at the expense of her own happiness. But political turmoil boils just below the surface, and danger lurks behind every pillar in the royal palace.

Clearly, there are a lot of parallels between the story of Nefertiti and her younger sister Mutnojmet and that of Anne and Mary Boleyn. Right down to the failure to bear a male heir, it's remarkable how the theme plays out; this time in ancient Egypt. At first, I'll admit, I did find it a bit uncanny: the strong-willed and  beautiful sister trampling heartlessly over the hopes and dreams of her younger sister in her single-minded quest to sexually dominate the king. It just seemed like it had been done before.

But I quickly became engrossed in the story and came to know and love the sisters, and realized that the uncanny similarities are not in the telling of the stories by Gregory or Moran, but rather in the stories themselves. Both writers do justice to the compelling tales of the remarkable historical figures of Anne Boleyn and Nefertiti and their younger sisters, expertly drawing our attention to the impossible situation of women in any age when men can hold our very lives in their often fickle hands.

If you're a fan of historical fiction; if you enjoyed The Other Boleyn Girl, then pick up Nefertiti. You won't be disappointed!

This review was written by Kath.

A Must Read - The Book of Negroes

I read this 486 page novel in less than a week. Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes (Someone Knows My Name in the US) is a compelling, character driven historical fiction that is nearly impossible to put down. This book is a must read.

Although the book is fiction it is full of historical facts that educate and enlighten the reader. The strong main character, Aminata, and the heart-wrenching tale of her life as a slave make The Book of Negroes one of my favourite books this summer. I was hooked after reading the opening passages.

The book criss-crosses the ocean and many continents. It begins before Aminata's capture as a young, happy child in Africa. It includes the details of her African heritage, religion, education (her father taught her to read and write, her mother taught her midwifery), and community which are illustrated through stories of her interactions with her parents and other villagers.

After witnessing horrendous tragedy at the hands of African slavers, Aminata is coffled and begins her torturous journey through the African interior before arriving exhausted at the coastal slave port. Meena's (Aminata) 11-year-old self describes her experience through frightened and innocent eyes. The character's  youth and naivety enable the reader to see the inhumanity and horror of her experience from a personal perspective instead of merely as historical fact. Meena suffers many hardships throughout her life but it is the reader's strong relationship to this individual character that make this journey distinctly personal.

This award winning novel is compelling, well written, and the character of Aminata is one I will never forget. I highly recommended The Book of Negroes.

Lawrence Hill is a Canadian author whose writing is strongly influenced by his experience as the son of political activist parents.  For more on Lawrence Hill and his writing visit his website at www.lawrencehill.com.

This review was written by Jen.

Things Go Flying

Hey! Check this out! This Life is taking on a new focus and I am becoming the Literary Mom for urbanmoms.ca. I am so honoured and psyched to combine the three things that make my life worth living...my family, reading and writing...into one happening spot.  For my inaugural blog on the new site, I want to share a great discovery with you


Things Go Flying

The first thing I loved about this book is the title.  It reminds me of my life.  Everything around me seems to be flying...time, the growth of my step-kids and the Gaffer, food out of the fridge, money out of my wallet, the frizzies on the side of ponytail, me...in an effort to get myself and everyone else where we need to be and when. So when I was asked to attend the launch of neophyte novelist Shari Lapena for her book, Things Go Flying, I was thrilled. Look, there are even pictures of me...and me and the author.

The second thing I loved about the book was the teaser on the back of the cover. "Harold Walker, desperately average, is in the throes of a mid-life depression. His wife, Audrey clings to an illusory sense of control - over their home, their teenaged sons, Dylan and John, and her own explosive secret." I felt like both characters, desperately average and fully clinging to an illusory sense of control...I have no explosive secret...but if anyone ever challenges my illusion that I've got everything under control, I may just fold up like an old seventies bridge chair.

The third thing I loved, was meeting Shari herself, who was so sweet, unassuming and welcoming to a total stranger at her very funky launch in Leslieville, that I just wanted to hide in a corner and start reading right then and there; but, minding my manners, I did wait until I got home.

And then I climbed into bed and thoroughly enjoyed an entertaining ride alongside the Walker family's trials and tribulations which, aside from a deep connection with the after- life and a fairly extreme case of marital infidelity, are not much different than any of those experienced by ourselves, our friends or our neighbours.  Harold's wallowing is frustrating, Audrey's anxiety and how she chooses to cope, very familiar and the troubles of the teens a scary peak into the future or alarming mirror of what is happening right now, depending on the age of our children.

But the seemingly ordinary tale of a nuclear family in Toronto who just happens to be slightly dysfunctional and haunted by ghosts is told with such a light hand and wry humour that the reader cannot resist cheering for a maudlin Harold and hoping that his son John manages to get his act together. Just in case this all sounds too light for your reading taste, there are even some brilliant scenes between Harold and his personal philosopher that examine some of the teachings of Neitzsche and Voltaire.


When you finish reading Things Go Flying, you may feel that Shari was spying in your window during an argument with your husband or peaking at you when you thought you were enjoying a private hand-wringing session in the kitchen with a warm mug of tea or a tall glass of gin. You will chuckle, you will grimace, and you may even cry, but you will not be disappointed that you read Shari's novel.  www.sharilapena.com

PS - Here's a link to a great review in the Globe and Mail.

Book Review: The Other Boleyn Girl

Author: Philippa Gregory
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Reviewed by: Kath

We all know the famous Boleyn girl, don't we? The one who married King Henry VIII after his famous divorce (which led to his rejection of the authority of the Pope in Rome and ultimately the creation of the Anglican Church) and ended rather -- ah, shall we say -- badly? She's famous for saying (as she was being led to the scaffold) "I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck".

I refer, of course, to Anne Boleyn, second and most famous of Henry VIII's six wives, first to be beheaded, and mother of Elizabeth I, arguably one of England's greatest and most famous monarchs.

But what about her sister, Mary? Many wouldn't know that Mary Boleyn (Anne's older sister but portrayed in the novel as her younger sister) was Henry VIII's mistress well before Henry ever set eyes on Anne. Interesting historical fact, no? Two sisters, the same powerful lover...you can see where it might lead...and this is where Philippa Gregory's novel (due to be released in film version in February 2008) takes off.

Through the eyes of Mary, the lesser known of the two sisters, Gregory paints a remarkably vivid picture of the glamourous Tudor court and the inevitable sibling rivalry as Henry's interest in Mary wanes and Anne is manoevred in by The Family to take her place in Henry's bed and, incredibly, on the throne.

Historically accurate enough, Gregory still takes a good deal of creative license (this is historical fiction, after all folks), and the result is a page-turningly vivid yet authentic snapshot of a remarkable family in Europe's most exciting court. In the end, readers will identify with and cheer for Mary who, as a woman in Tudor England, was nothing more than a pawn for her family's political ambitions, yet nonetheless managed to break free of her bondage, follow her heart, and survive where her royal sister did not.

My opinion? I loved this book; read it twice in a row, then ran out and read its (then) sequel: The Queen's Fool (also twice!). Since I first read The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool, Philippa Gregory has written three other books in this loose "series": The Constant Princess (about Katherine of Aragon), The Boleyn Inheritance (about Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, Henry VIII's 3rd and 4th wives, respectively) and The Virgin's Lover (about Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley).

Shoud you read it? Emphatically, yes. I say run, don't walk to get your hands on this book. Due to the impending movie release, copies will be hard to come by at your local library, but I've never felt that buying a book was a waste of money. Even if you're not a re-reader like me, you can give the book to someone else when you're done.

Have you read it? If so, let the rest of us know what you thought! Rate The Other Boleyn Girl below.

About the reviewer: Kath is an urbanmoms.ca staffer and blogger AND an avid reader. Check out her weight loss blog, Losing It right here on urbanmoms.ca, and her brand-spanking-new indie blog, This Is Kat.