Gaijin

 

By Sarah Z. Sleeper

Running Wild Press     2020

244 pages     

Here is a brief summary of Gaijin by Sarah Z. Sleeper.

The Japanese word gaijin means "unwelcome foreigner." It's not profanity, but is sometimes a slur directed at non-Japanese people in Japan.

Lucy is a budding journalist at Northwestern University and she's obsessed with an exotic new student, Owen Ota, who becomes her romantic interest and her sensei. When he disappears without explanation, she's devastated and sets out to find him. On her three-month quest across Japan and Okinawa, she finds only snippets of the elegant culture Owen had described. Instead she faces anti-U.S. protests, menacing street thugs and sexist treatment, and she winds up at the base of Mt. Fuji, in the terrifying Suicide Forest. Will she ever find Owen? Will she be driven back to the U.S.? Gaijin is a coming-of-age story about a woman who solves a heartbreaking mystery that has altered the trajectory of her life.

 When we think of Japan, we often think of grace and beauty, and Sleeper has represented that culture in a very poetic way. Gaijin is a coming of age story, perfectly appropriate for the adult reader as well as the young adult audience. Lucy is naïve as she sets out to Japan to find Owen, whom she considers to be her true love. She muses, “I clung to the notion that my dreams of the person and the place would match the reality.” As she begins her journey, she concedes, “I didn’t put it together then, the folly of searching for someone who didn’t want to be found, moving to a country I didn’t understand.” It is all a romantic dream. Luckily she has found a job and some fellow employees to aid her in her search—including Owen’s brother Hisashi.

 She discovers things about Owen that she wishes she had not known, including the idea that he might have committed suicide in the Aokigahara Forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. It is sometimes called the “suicide forest” because thousands of Japanese people go there to commit suicide every year. Luckily, he is still alive, but to tell more would be to spoil the plot. I first read about the suicide forest in the book The Three by Sarah Lotz.

The reader comes to a deeper understanding of the difference between realism and idealism when reading Gaijin. The plot is slender, but it enhances our understanding of a young woman who has a dream that she is unable to fulfill. Many of us have dreams that are unrealistic, and we come to admire how Lucy grows toward a more realistic understanding of herself as well as her understanding of Owen.

Gaijin is author Sarah Sleeper’s first novel after a career as a journalist. Here is her website. Like many writers, art imitates life, and she worked at a magazine in Okinawa, much like Lucy in the book. She says that she based her novel on the four years she spent in Japan, and on the challenges she faced in that country, including racism, sexism, and xenophobia.

 This is a lovely little book, a quick but satisfying read.

 

 

 

 

The Lager Queen of Minnesota

By J. Ryan Stradal

Pamela Dorman Books     2019

349 pages     Literary

Another great book this month! I can’t believe my good fortune. The Lager Queen of Minnesota is the second book by Stradal I have read and reviewed. The other was Kitchens of the Great Midwest. As much good luck as a Minnesota girl could ask. The first book was about Minnesota cuisine while The Lager Queen is about beer—Midwest traditional breweries, and how they morphed into the craft beer culture. But if you are saying, “Why would I read that? I don’t want to read about beer,” have no fear; it is as much about women’s fortitude and women’s audacity as it is about beer.

You need to know that I know very little about beer, so I was very impressed by the women that form the main characters in the book. Helen is a farmer’s daughter who as a 15-year-old has her first sip of beer and discovers that she wants to learn how to brew beer. She sets out to become a brewer, majors in Chemistry in college, and then marries into a brewing family. Her sister, Edith, chooses a more traditional path and becomes estranged from Helen when their father dies and Helen inherits the farm. Edith’s life is full of challenges, but that woman can bake pies—the third best pies in Minnesota, by the way--and discovers late in life that she can also brew beer. Diana is Edith’s granddaughter, and without knowing Helen, discovers her own passion for beer and becomes a brew master at age 19. How she got to that point is one of the serendipitous moments in the novel.

I was impressed by how much Stradal knew about beer making. And how quickly Edith and her other friends learned how to make beer. This subplot was one of my favorites of the book. This group of grandmas learned to produce several varieties of beer, which are named for them and became popular across the region. One of the more endearing aspects of the book.

I, of course, was thrilled with all the Minnesota references. On page three, when describing the three best pie makers in Minnesota, the author mentions Betty’s Pies in Two Harbors as first on the list. It was at that point I knew I would love this book as much as I loved Kitchens of the Great Midwest. We have eaten at Betty’s Pies many times, and by the way, they also make great pasties (another Minnesota treat). In a list of Minnesota breweries, he lists Fitgers, which was owned by the Beerhalter family in Duluth. (One of my childhood friends was Barbara Beerhalter.) Surprisingly, the list also mentioned Bell’s, the biggest brewery in Kalamazoo. I found myself underlining all the references I knew, and when I pass the book along to my sister, she will love those references as well.

However, you don’t have to be from Minnesota to love The Lager Queen of Minnesota. It is the perfect summer read for this pandemic summer. It is good-spirited and funny, light but meaningful reading. The Washington Post reviewer says, “The zingers don’t disguise Stradal’s fundamentally optimistic view of human nature, a belief that people can change and virtue can be rewarded, at least sometimes.”

The New York Times reviewer had this to say, “Serendipity may not bubble up in real life as often as it does in Stradal’s world, but who cares? Other readers can nitpick all they want about what’s realistic and what’s not. I willingly suspended disbelief, shotgunning the whole optimistic, meticulously researched story in one satisfying gulp. And when I arrived at my destination, you better believe I had a cold beer. Or two.”

When our book club met last night, we had the great good fortune to Zoom in with J. Ryan Stradal, the author of The Lager Queen. It was without a doubt one of the best meetings we could possibly have had. Stradal is a charming man—“Minnesota nice,” one of the book club members said. We had an in depth discussion about the book, the characters, the influence of his mother, his writing philosophy, and his future endeavors. We learned a bit about the women brewers that he met when doing his research, about his baby son, and about what he was cooking for supper. He indicated that he likes having his books reflect a Midwestern voice and a Midwestern consciousness.

I know you will love The Lager Queen of Minnesota as much as I did. Be sure to have your favorite brew with you as your read. It will be on my list of the best of 2020.

J. Ryan Stradal’s website

The Party Upstairs

By Lee Conell

Penguin Press     2020

320 pages     Literary

Sometimes, I am astounded with the way art imitates life, and vice versa. Such is the case with The Party Upstairs by Lee Conell. It captures the plight of today’s young adults and their parents with a spot-on look at a day in the life of a young Manhattan woman, Ruby and her father, Martin. Ruby is a young liberal arts college graduate who has returned home to live with her parents following a breakup with her boyfriend and an inability to find a well-paying job to pay off her massive college debt.

Martin is the super of an Upper West Side co-op building, close to the Natural History Museum. Like most fathers, he worries constantly about his daughter, even as he has to deal with the mountain of service requests from the building’s residents. He has a real sense of his place in the world and the class disparities that run rampant in a place like Upper West Side Manhattan. He feels a close connection to Lily, a deceased resident who was like a grandmother to Ruby, and Martin’s dearest friend. She continues to guide him in his heart and memory.

Ruby has no real plan for her life, except that she loves dioramas—not a lucrative job choice. She sees her life as a series of dioramas, played out in the apartments of the co-op, particularly in conjunction with her life-long friend, Caroline, who grew up in the penthouse while Ruby grew up in the basement. As a child, she never had a sense of their differences, but now, coming home, she sees life and class disparities rather more clearly. It is like her dioramas, “lovingly crafted, deeply illusory, a lifelike depiction of something already extinct.”

So on this day with Ruby at home for the first time in a long time, Martin goes about his duties worrying about Ruby. She has an interview in the afternoon at the Natural History Museum and is going to Caroline’s penthouse party in the evening. The day begins with an argument between Martin and his daughter, and it  goes downhill for both of them. What the reader views is a lifetime history within one building on one day. As the Kirkus reviewer says, “Conell’s debut perfectly captures the co-op’s ecosystem and the way class informs every interaction, reaction, and relationship inside it.”

This is a remarkable novel, at times poignant, at times very funny, but always relevant and reasonable. It is even more empathetic during these uncertain times, when many young adults have had to return home without jobs, with loads of debt, and no place to live. I was struck by the NY Times News Service article, Welcome to the Museums of Past Selves, in today’s paper (July 19, 2020).  The subtitle reads, “When the pandemic derailed their plans and independence, many young people moved back to their childhood bedrooms, where they have discovered old anxieties and new insights.” This is precisely what has happened to Ruby and Martin in Manhattan, and it happened to my son’s family in Chicago. Having spent the year as empty-nesters, they have had all three children return to them.

The Party Upstairs is the debut novel of Lee Conell. It received several starred reviews and was named “best of summer” on several lists. Here is her website. Read this book; you will love it. And then wait with baited breath for her next book to arrive.

Act of Murder

By John Bishop MD

Mantid Press     2019

280 pages     Mystery

The Shortlist

Here is the synopsis of the first book in the Doc Brady mystery series.

“Doc Brady became an orthopedic surgeon to avoid being surrounded by death. But now it’s everywhere around him. One spring day in 1994 Houston, Dr. Jim Bob Brady witnesses his neighbor’s ten-year-old son killed by a hit-and-run driver. An accident, or an act of murder? After the death, Brady enlists the help of his twenty-year-old son J.J. and his wife Mary Louise in chasing down clues that take them deeper and deeper into a Houston he never imagined existed. In the process, they discover a macabre conspiracy stretching from the ivory towers of the largest teaching hospital in Texas, to the upper reaches of Houston’s legal community, to the shores of Galveston.

Doc Brady soon realizes that the old adage remains true: The love of money is the root of all evil.”

The Kirkus reviewer notes: "With a marked absence of gore, graphic violence, or offensive language, this novel gives reader an intriguing puzzle to solve yet not an overly complicated one, opening his readership to a young adult audience as well. An engrossing and satisfying mystery with a humble Texas physician/sleuth at its heart." 

I like the idea that this might be a great adult book for enthusiastic young adult mystery readers. One of my grandsons began avidly reading mysteries about age 12. This series would have been great for him. But, as I read the first few chapters of Act of Murder, I soon discovered that it was great for me as well!

John Bishop's website. Here is a good interview with the author.

The Kindle version of Act of Murder is free on Amazon right now. Be sure to look at the review of Act of Deception which follows this review.

Act of Deception

By John Bishop MD

Mantid Press   2020

267 pages     Mystery

The Shortlist

John Bishop has mastered the art of the attention-grabbing first chapter in a mystery novel. The first book in the series, Act of Murder, begins with a horrific hit-and-run murder, and now Act of Deception begins with a malpractice lawsuit.

“I considered my life that morning. I, Dr. James Robert Brady, who had done my best to be a compassionate and dedicated orthopedic surgeon for the past seventeen years, was being sued for medical malpractice. I was not a neophyte when it came to lawsuits. I had been sued twice before, not an unusual occurrence in a city of four million people, with far too many law school graduates sitting in their quiet offices with nothing to do. The other two suits were quite minor and did not linger but were dismissed rather quickly, meaning over a year-or-two period. The current lawsuit, the cause of my awakening before five with the sweats and intense gastrointestinal distress, had not been dismissed.”

The Kirkus reviewer liked the authentic-sounding dialogue and engaging plot, but they particularly liked the courtroom scene that caps the climax of the book.

The Doc Brady series had two excellent things going for it: it takes place in Houston, another great place to visit in a mystery-reading journey, and it  features a kindhearted doctor full of integrity as the sleuth. Bishop entertains his reader with some unique insights that could only come from a practicing physician as he also reveals his own compassion and dedication to his field.

John Bishop’s website. Here is a good interview with the author.

The third book in the series, Act of Revenge, comes out in September. A review for Act of Murder, the first book in the series, follows this review.

Fire and Vengeance

By Robert McCaw

Oceanview     2020

336 pages     Mystery

Chief Inspector Koa Kāne is called to a horrific scene. An elementary school built just the previous year on the site of an inactive volcano vent on the island of Hawaii has exploded, killing and injuring everyone in the school. As they investigate, he and his junior detective Piki discover that the contractors, architect, and others involved knew that the construction was dangerously and inadequately built, but they had proceeded anyway. Then, to add to the mystery, the contractor and architect are both murdered. What is going on here?

In my review of McCaw’s second Koa Kāne mystery, Off the Grid, I complained that McCaw spent way too much time bringing the reader up to date on Kāne’s backstory and the plot line of the first book, Death of a Messenger. I think that the author has done a much better job this time of reminding the reader about Koa’s pursuit for justice, laced, as it is, with his guilt and his past. We face this specifically when he does what he can for his imprisoned brother who has a brain tumor. All of this is a complicated mess that he has to face and attempt to solve.

We are continually reminded of the role greed, corruption, and government interference have in public works as Kāne plods his way through the case. Kāne is a genuinely good man, and the reader is constantly reminded of his integrity—even as he faces his greatest guilty secret. The final lines of the book do not give away any of the plot, but speak to the man’s integrity. “He would never escape the guilt he felt for what he had done, but in the tangled world of human behavior, his guilt had once again driven him to find justice, not just for the keiki (children) and kumu (staff) of KonaWili (the elementary school) but for his brother, mother, family, and kupuna, his ancestors."

The other major thing I like about this series is the setting. Lots of illusions to Hawaiian culture, food, sites, as well as information about the volcanoes that continue to threaten the islands. Fire and Vengeance is a compulsive, satisfying adventure.

Here is Robert McCaw’s website.  His life story is as fascinating as his novels.

The Guest List

By Lucy Foley

William Morrow     2020

320 pages     Thriller

“And then the lights go out.”

WoW! How I loved The Guest List by Lucy Foley. It has everything that one yearns for in a psychological thriller—interesting characters, a creepy setting, plot twists and turns, and suspense. It took me nearly to the end of the book to figure out who was going to be murdered, and most surprisingly, the murderer.

The setting is an island off the coast of Ireland that has been converted into a special events venue. It has been chosen to be the wedding site for a powerhouse digital magazine editor (apparently the perfect woman) and a handsome, reality TV superstar (also perfect). The guests arrive by ferry boat, and as they arrive, the story develops. The wedding planners have created the perfect setting for the perfect wedding. What could go wrong? Well, just like in Agatha Christie novels, with bated breath, we know that something terrible can and will happen.

I was particularly enamored with the way Foley set up the novel. The chapters are divided by narrators, but she has drawn the characters so skillfully, the reader can keep distinct the huge panoply of characters and personalities. One of my complaints in many novels with a lot of characters is that the reader needs to keep a list to help remember the characters. Didn’t have to do it this time. The Crime by the Book reviewer says that The Guest List “is a delicious blend of classic crime setup and wicked, sometimes truly nasty, characters with a dramatic bent.” Among the characters are a group of men that went to boarding school with the bridegroom. Not much good can come from this reunion or these men. Other characters are more deserving of your sympathy, including the wife of the bride’s best friend, and the bride’s sister.

As the mystery develops and the plot thickens, the reader realizes that the terrible storm attacking the island, as well as the island itself, are terrific plot devices—almost as good as the murder itself. By the end of the novel, I was totally creeped out by the bluffs, the bogs, the caves, the cold, the rain, and the darkness. One character says, “Everything seems changed on this island. It’s as though the place is doing it, that we’ve been brought here for a reason.” And quite apparently, they were “brought here for a reason.”

I don’t want to disclose too much of the plot. Suffice it to say that it is nearly perfectly constructed. It is classic murder mystery at its best. The Guest List is on many best of the summer lists. And oh, the cleverness of it all. Very impressive.