A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer DuBois

I really enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. First off, the Russian theme. And second....the writing.
I will admit that somewhere near the second third, I lost some momentum, but that was more a result of work than the book itself.
This novel tells the story of Irina, a young woman who is a university lecturer in Massachusetts. She has seen her father die from Huntington’s disease, and genetic testing has told her she is likely to meet the same fate. While cleaning out her father’s study, she finds a letter to a Russian chess champion named Aleksandr Bezetov. Her father wants to know how can you play a game when you know it is lost from the start? Unfortunately, Aleksandr never replied. So Irina, after having broken up with her boyfriend Jonathan, decides to go to St. Petersburg to find Alexandr and the answer to the question.
The journey is not quite what she expected.
The novel deals with Russian politics and is full of philosophical musings on life and death.
I really enjoyed it and feel that the author is someone to watch.

Home by Toni Morrison

This is short book - a novella really - that tells the story of Frank Money, a Korean  War veteran who is suffering from what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But it didn't have a name back then, and it was particularly hard to return home as a black veteran, with racial discrimination still rampant.

Frank's story is told with pathos, but brevity. I had a hard time getting into the main character, actually, but was much more involved in the character of Cee, his sister.

She plays a pivotal role in the book as it opens with the two of them, as children, witnessing a lynching.

What Frank witnesses in Korea is equally disturbing, and he returns home to a psychiatric ward with images that haunt him and remind him of what he has experienced.....he is actually a bit delusional about his war experiences.

This is a short read, and a good one. Morrison's prose is impeccable.

Brother and Sister by Joanna Trollope

Trollope is the author of seventeen novels and I believe this is the first I have read....at least I don't recall reading any others. I enjoyed the book a lot and like her writing which is thoughtful, but easy to read.
The novel tells the story of Nathalie and David, two siblings who were both adopted by the same parents. They are in their mid to late thirties and have never sought to find their birth mother, until now. Nathalie, the mother of a five year old, Polly, who is about to have minor surgery, begins to wonder about her birth mother because the surgery raises questions about her daughter's genetic make-up.
Nathalie and David have a strong bond even though they are not blood related. Their relationship is complex and causes some problems with their spouses; they tend to go to each other for "deep" issues and problems.
As a matter of fact, Nathalie first tells David that she is going to look for her birth mother before even telling her common law husband, Steve.  She even insists that David look for his birth mother, too.
The issues that are raised were very interesting to me and quite compelling. If one is not adopted, it's not a topic that would necessarily cross one's mind. But this novel was quite realistic in dealing with the issues - the loyalties, insecurities, doubt.
It was an engaging read and I am going to read more Trollope novels, I am sure.

"Talking to the Dead" by Helen Dunmore

This was a very interesting book. Dunmore is a great writer. Very literary, but also interesting plots. The story takes place in Cornwall. Nina, an artist and photographer, is called to attend to her sister, Isabelle, who has just had her first child. After a very difficult labor, Isabelle had to have a hysterectomy. She is recuperating, and while there is a full time woman helping her, Richard, Isabel's husband, calls Nina to come and help out and spend time with her sister.
Isabelle is a great friend to two men, gay partners, who spend lots of time at her bedside. This allows Nina to find time alone, and to connect to Richard....in a very illicit manner!
What unfolds is the story of two sisters who are so different, but tied together by a family secret that comes out.
The writing is really quite beautiful. This is my second Dunmore novel and not my last!

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

When I found this skinny book (just under 200 pages) on the "one week shelf" at my local library, I grabbed it because Anne Tyler is a favorite author. And I read it in just a few days. And I enjoyed it, but it was NOT her best work of fiction.
The story is told from the point of view of Aaron, a man recently widowed, and recounts his reaction to his wife's untimely and unexpected death.
She is a physician; he is an editor for his family's vanity press. They meet when he is doing research for a book the firm is publishing. Aaron suffers from a handicap resulting from a childhood virus.  He and Dorothy seem an odd match on first account, but they actually are pretty well suited to each other.
After her death, Aaron tried to remain in their home (where she was killed by a tree falling through the roof!), but eventually has to move in with his sister, Nandina.  He hires a contractor to do the repairs, but never visits the house after moving in with his sister. At least not until she starts dating the contractor, Gil, and Aaron is uneasy in the house with them.
The odd but touching part of the book are the scenes in which Dorothy comes back to visit and chat with Aaron. The reader knows that the conversations that take place between the couple are really just conversations between Aaron and himself, trying to cope with his loss and the unfinished business between the couple.
The story did touch me, even though it was a bit simple and predictable. But I enjoyed the ending - and I won't give it away!

The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard

What I really liked about this book was the writing and way the author, a woman, told the story from the point of view of a group of males. When the novel opens, they are in high school, and they are gawky, awkward, typical teenage boys who talk about, and sometimes, lust over the girls they know. The setting of the book is not well defined, excepting to infer that it's a suburban community, probably upper middle class, since most of the boys go to private school.
The story revolves around the disappearance of one of the girls, Nora Lindell. On Halloween, she simply disappears and never returns home. And the mystery of her is never resolved in the book. But, in a very interesting fashion, several different versions of her disappearnce are told, and as you are reading these, they become very real.
Nora becomes the symbol of the loss of innocence for these young people. Once she is gone, their youth is never the same.  They spend so much time speculating on what happened to Nora, that they never really look at themselves and what they want of their life. The novel jumps back and forth in time and covers the span of about 25 years. At the end, the boys are in their mid forties, with wives and children of their own. But they still have this one tie that binds them: their obsession with Nora Lindell and what became of her.
Although at times there were too many voices in the collective "we" that this novel speaks through, I really enjoyed the writing and look forward to more from this young writer. This was Hannah Pittard's first novel.

Enchantments by Kathryn Harrison

How is it that my last post was so long ago? Did I miss a book? Probably.

Well, I so looked forward to reading Enchantments by Kathryn Harrison. And I did enjoy it but it did not meet my expectations.

Being a Russian major, maybe I knew too much. But I wanted more drama, more intrique, more mystery.

I didn't know that Rasputin had a daughter who lived to emigrate to the united states.  Nor did I know that she became a horseback performer in the US.

Are these things true?