After two friends raved about this book (Hi Barb and Lyndsay!), I thought I should probably hurry up and read it. When Kemal dies, his grandson Orhan discovers that although he has inherited the business, his grandson left his house to a completely unknown woman. Orhan finds himself faced with the dilemma of flying halfway across the world to visit this woman in a nursing home for Armenian elderly. The story flashes between the present, told by Orhan and Seda and Seda's past, as Seda slowly unravels the story of why, exactly, Kemal left her the house. This story gripped me. The fiction part was beautifully interwoven with WWI history and its impact on the country of Turkey--something I knew very little about until now. There is a lot of forgiveness and redemption in this story, along with the understanding that there's always so much more to a situation than what immediately appears.
The Secret Life of Violet Grant
Another past and present novel. This switches back and forth between Vivian Schuyler and her disgraced, never to be seen again aunt Violet Grant. In the early 1900s, Violet moved to Europe to study science, disgraced by her parents after going to school and marrying her professor. Meanwhile in the 1960s, her button pushing niece Vivian receives a mysterious package--Violet's suitcase, which was lost at the onset of WWI. Vivian sets out to find what happened to her aunt, discovering along the way that they're connected by much more than just genetics. I loved the voices in the story, although Vivian could be a bit much sometimes. Violet's story was incredibly endearing.
What are you reading?
5 comments:
Oh reading...this week has had too much drama for me to read. Middle schooler...enough said!!! Still eeking my way through All The Light We Cannot See - I want to read it...I want to read it...I want to find time to just sit and read!!!
Both books you listed sound good - maybe I can get to them one day...along with about 350 others I have on my wish list. LOL! I looked at my Goodreads list the other day, and I'll be dead before I ever get through that ever growing list...
I just finished Kitchens of the Great Midwest. LOVED it. It will make my top 10 list for 2015, I think.
Glad you enjoyed Orhan! I finished 'Inside the O'Brien's' on the weekend. Have you read it? If so... the ending - thoughts?!
I've got Judy Blume's newest on my bedside table but have only read the first few pages. The library has a stack waiting for me to pick up though, so I better get going on it!
Oh Kelli - I have Kitchens of the Great Midwest on my to-read list. Your post makes me excited to get my hands on it! :)
I'm slowly moving my way through a longer book this week (We Are Not Ourselves) but some weeks are like that. Hoping for lots of reading time this holiday weekend!
Thanks for the book recommendations Erin :)
These both sound really good! I read Fan Girl and Elenor & Park by Rainbow Rowell this week. Both were ok reads. Nothing extremely special, but I'd definitely try some more of her work down the road.
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