My Brilliant Friend

One down, three to go in the Neapolitan novels from this enigmatic author.  Loved this book, love the characters, love the writing.....but I have a few other books to read before I continue with this saga

The Book of Unknown Americans by Christina Henriquez

I really enjoyed this book and it was very timely, given the political climate here now, with Donald Trump wanting to send all illegal immigrants home.

In this book, however, the immigrants are here legally, but they are still not really considered Americans and live lives that are extremely difficult.

“We’re the unknown Americans,” says a character, “the ones no one even wants to know, because they’ve been told they’re supposed to be scared of us and because maybe if they did take the time to get to know us, they might realize that we’re not that bad, maybe even that we’re a lot like them.”

Here's a shortened version of the synopsis, from Wikipedia:

Alma Rivera, her husband Arturo, and daughter, Maribel, emigrate from Pátzcuaro, Mexico to Delaware on a visa Arturo obtained through work. Though the couple had a rich life in Mexico, they emigrated in order to send their daughter Maribel to a special needs school after she sustained a head injury. The family find it difficult to adjust as they know no English and Arturo's work picking mushrooms, which was the only work he could obtain legally, is monotonous and degrading. Their lives become easier when they meet the Toro family, who occupies the same tenement building as they do. The Toro parents are immigrants from Panama who have become legal citizens but struggle to get by on one meager income. Celia Toro and Alma Rivera become fast friends. Meanwhile, Mayor Toro develops a crush on Maribel and, after she is sexually assaulted by Garett Miller, a boy at Mayor's school, Mayor becomes protective of her.

The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos

This was a good short read, not a great book.
Here is the description from the Library website:

A novel about friendship, family, second chances, and the redemptive power of love.
In all her life, Eustacia "Taisy" Cleary has given her heart to only three men: her first love, Ben Ransom; her twin brother, Marcus; and Wilson Cleary--professor, inventor, philanderer, self-made millionaire, brilliant man, breathtaking jerk: her father.
Seventeen years ago, Wilson ditched his first family for Caroline, a beautiful young sculptor. In all that time, Taisy's family has seen Wilson, Caroline, and their daughter, Willow, only once.
Why then, is Wilson calling Taisy now, inviting her for an extended visit, encouraging her to meet her pretty sister--a teenager who views her with jealousy, mistrust, and grudging admiration? Why, now, does Wilson want Taisy to help him write his memoir?
Told in alternating voices--Taisy's strong, unsparing observations and Willow's naive, heartbreakingly earnest yearnings.

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

Beautifully written, elegant and melancholy story. It's almost a short story rather than a novel.

I can't say it any better than the Claire Messud in her NYTimes Book Review:  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/books/review/elizabeth-strouts-my-name-is-lucy-barton.html?_r=0

Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

From Jewish Book Council:

Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams is a historical romance—with more emphasis on the history. In the setting of early Nazi Germany, the book delves into how someone’s fame, fortune, and forbidden passion can influence relationships. The story alternates between the late 1930s and mid 1960s, flashing back to reveal a mystery of regret and intrigue, keeping readers guessing at what happened until the very end of the book.

 I liked the book despite its sometimes far-fetched plot twists and turns, but I was engaged and eager to find out what would happen in the end. I think I may try other books by Beatriz Williams.

The Past by Tessa Hadley

I really loved this book and want to read more by the author. I am going to seek out her other work.

"The Past. It is the story of a family and a three-week summer holiday in the house they have inherited, beneath whose affable surface run deep currents of tension. Hadley specialises in bright, brittle, defensive women with unsatisfactory love lives and a knack for self‑sabotage.....Here she has created a Chekhovian trio of sisters who love and resent one another. Alice, the middle one, is 46, flighty, forgetful and romantic; Fran, a teacher, is practical and decisive and a mother of two young children, Ivy and Arthur; Harriet, the eldest, is independent-minded and shy, a former revolutionary in retreat from the fray. They are later joined by their brother, Roland, a pop philosopher on his third marriage, in a new white suit. Pilar, the latest wife, is one of two family outsiders, the other being Kasim, moody son of Alice’s ex-boyfriend, who takes an instant shine to Molly, Roland’s teenage daughter."

The Japanese Lover by Isabelle Allende

For me, book started out strong.....I was captivated and enjoyed every page. Somewhere in the middle, my interest lagged a little but at the end I was absorbed again.  The problem I had was with the focus  of the book. Who is the main character? At the beginning, I thought for sure, Irina, the young girl who goes to work at Lark House. She is mysterious and has a past that we only learn about as the book unfolds.  Actually, all of the characters unfold like that.  It keeps the reader interested and curious.  But when Irina nearly disappears in the novel, and the focus becomes just Alma,  I got a little unfocused myself. But Allende does bounce back and forth and Irina's story unwinds as she gets to know Alma's grandson, Seth.
I lost track of who some of the characters were and who they were related to....I think that was the problem with me, but in the end, it all came together for me and I found myself really liking the book, the story, the writing and the characters. A good read!
There is so much history conveyed in this story....Japanese Internment Camps, WWII, Concentration Camps, the French Resistance, Israel's early days, even the AIDS crisis...almost a little too much, but that is the time frame of this family saga.