WHEN THE ABRICOTS Bloom by Gina Wilkinson

Kensington Books

Publishing Date February 2, 2021

Historical Novel

NetGalley arc

5.5

About

At night, in Huda's fragrant garden, a breeze sweeps in from the desert encircling Baghdad, rustling the leaves of her apricot trees and carrying warning of visitors at her gate. Huda, a secretary at the Australian embassy, lives in fear of the mukhabarat--the secret police who watch and listen for any scrap of information that can be used against America and its allies. They have ordered her to befriend Ally Wilson, the deputy ambassador's wife. Huda has no wish to be an informant, but fears for her teenaged son, who may be forced to join a deadly militia. Nor does she know that Ally has dangerous secrets of her own.

Huda's former friend, Rania, enjoyed a privileged upbringing as the daughter of a sheikh. Now her family's wealth is gone, and Rania too is battling to keep her child safe and a roof over their heads. As the women's lives intersect, their hidden pasts spill into the present. Facing possible betrayal at every turn, all three must trust in a fragile, newfound loyalty, even as they discover how much they are willing to sacrifice to protect their families.

My thoughts coming close to publishing date

THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS by Isabel Wilkerson

 

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Now available

About

The Warmth of Other Suns shows how hope can get people through the most intense situations, but action is required to make them something more than a dream. These actions will likely involve sacrifices – but they may not be in vain. Individual hopes can collectively change history.

A must read

Pulitzer Prize-winning 

ABIGAIL by Magda Szabó

 

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Hungarian Literature

fiction

Synopsis

Abigail, the story of a headstrong teenager growing up during World War II, is the most beloved of Magda Szabó’s books in her native Hungary. Gina is the only child of a general, a widower who has long been happy to spoil his bright and willful daughter. Gina is devastated when the general tells her that he must go away on a mission and that he will be sending her to boarding school in the country. She is even more aghast at the grim religious institution to which she soon finds herself consigned. She fights with her fellow students, she rebels against her teachers, finds herself completely ostracized, and runs away. Caught and brought back, there is nothing for Gina to do except entrust her fate to the legendary Abigail, as the classical statue of a woman with an urn that stands on the school’s grounds has come to be called. If you’re in trouble, it’s said, leave a message with Abigail and help will be on the way. And for Gina, who is in much deeper trouble than she could possibly suspect, a life-changing adventure is only beginning.

THE ELIGHTENMENT OF THE GREENGAGE TREE byShokoofeh Azar

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4/5

My copy

About

 Set in Iran in the decade following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, this moving, richly imagined novel is narrated by the ghost of Bahar, a 13-year-old girl whose family is compelled to flee their home in Tehran for a new life in a small village, hoping in this way to preserve both their intellectual freedom and their lives. But they soon find themselves caught up in the post-revolutionary chaos that sweeps across the country, a madness that affects both living and dead, old and young.

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree speaks of the power of imagination when confronted with cruelty, and of our human need to make sense of the world through the ritual of storytelling. Through her unforgettable characters and glittering magical realist style, Azar weaves a timely and timeless story that juxtaposes the beauty of an ancient, vibrant culture with the brutality of an oppressive political regime.

THE DEATH OF VIVEK by Akwaeke Emezi

 

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3.5/5

Penguin Riverhead

Now available

If you are looking for a "whodunit" novel, this book fits the format.

If you are looking to read an intelligent, cohesive novel with sexually fluid characters, this isn't the book.

Just a few words, I loved Freshwater, I waited with anticipation for The Death of Vivek Oji. Halfway through the novel a thought occured, perhaps the author was under pressure to write another novel. 

I continued reading still hoping to find the depth the author gave her characters in Freshwater.

Poor Vivek...dead before we open the first chapter, missing from the novel except the very few pages allowed to him. What we find are teenagers having sex, lots of graphic sex, and when not having sex, they discuss Vivek, before he died, after he died.

Vivek, could have been a great character, with much insight into his life, his choices...oh well.

I came to the end disappointed, the end was predictable, the hints were there throughout the novel.

Still I will read her next novel, I know the author has the talent to write a novel worthy of Freshwater.