Summary: The writing in this book was beautiful, but an unbelievable central romance made it an only average read for me.
Late in the 24-hour read-a-thSummary: The writing in this book was beautiful, but an unbelievable central romance made it an only average read for me.
Late in the 24-hour read-a-thon, I was ready for some light, dual-narrative, historical fiction and this fit the bill perfectly. After the death of her grandmother, Marisol visits Cuba to scatter her grandmother's ashes. While there, she learns more about her grandmother Elisa's experience as the daughter of a sugar baron during the revolution against Batista. Elisa's family, having benefited from their connection to Batista, fears the revolutionaries, but Elisa herself has a personal connection to one young revolutionary in particular. In the present day, Marisol finds herself similarly involved with a man whose activities may put him in danger from the new regime.
This book had a few qualities that made me excited about it as soon as I started reading. Cuba and Cuban culture were richly imagined. I could almost believe I was standing on a sea wall, watching the sun set with our protagonists at times. The author also taught me a lot about Cuban history. I like that the story is informed by the author's own life. It makes me hopeful that she's accurately captured the interior lives of her characters. Her descriptions of the way Cuban exiles and people who stayed in Cuba post-Batista feel about their country were particularly moving. I also liked the two main characters. Neither has a lot of agency - a problem I'll talk about more in a minute - but both were admirably willing to have their beliefs challenged.
Now on to the problems that made this only an average read for me. The romance was center-stage in both stories. That's often not my favorite thing in historical fiction. In this case, it was particularly unforgivable because I didn't find either romance convincing. They both felt like insta-love relationships. The women seemed more interested in how passionate the men were for their causes than in who they were personally. I could tell you little about either man except for their political beliefs. As I mentioned above, the women also didn't have much agency in these stories where they're ostensibly our protagonists. They each did take one or two admirable risks for the men they cared about, but they seemed largely free of their own political beliefs. They spend large portions of the story as mere observers of history and/or helpers to the men.
While I find books with passive female protagonists specifically annoying, because of the way they feed into sexist stereotypes, I don't think I'd have loved this had the gender roles been reversed either. The emotional connections simply weren't convincing enough to drive the story and I don't like having a passive protagonist. This book had some real strengths, including the beautiful writing and the informative look at a historical moment I know little about. However, I'd only recommend it if the time period particularly grabs you or if you don't share my narrative preferences. Otherwise, dual-narrative historical fiction is a crowded sub-genre and there's are better examples I'd be happy to recommend.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey...more
This is the story of Milicent Patrick, the designer of the monster in The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Few people have heard of her, because of creThis is the story of Milicent Patrick, the designer of the monster in The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Few people have heard of her, because of credit-stealing efforts of her jealous boss. Author Mallory O'Meara unearths Milicent's story and shares some of her own experiences with sexism in her work in the horror film industry. While memoir plus a topic is a type of nonfiction that often works for me, the blending here was a little rough. In a few places, Mallory's personal experiences gave me a deeper understanding of what Milicent experienced. In others, the story of doing research lined up well with what was being shared about Milicent. However, in most cases, the jumps weren't between points of obvious connection in the two stories, which was jarring.
The footnotes were also hit-or-miss for me. Some were quite successful - really funny or adding extra information I was excited to have. At other times, they were a little too into present-day politics, which pulled me out of the story (despite my general agreement with the author) and unnecessarily dated the book. I enjoyed Milicent's story. The author did some incredible detective work to be able to share with us Milicent's vivid personality. The mesh between that story and her own was simply a bit rough around the edges.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey...more
Summary: An engaging, informative, personal story, enlivened by the author's close involvement in the events she describes.
"Nearly three years ago, joSummary: An engaging, informative, personal story, enlivened by the author's close involvement in the events she describes.
"Nearly three years ago, journalist Lauren Hilgers received an unexpected call. Hello, Lauren! a man shouted in halting Mandarin. We might be seeing you in New York again soon! The voice belonged to Zhuang Liehong, a Chinese man who had been arrested in his home country for leading a string of protests, and whom Hilgers had met the previous year while reporting a story. Despite zero contacts and a shaky grasp of English, Zhuang explained that he and his wife, Little Yan, had a plan to escape from their American tour group and move to Flushing, Queens, to escape persecution back home. A few weeks later, they arrived on Hilgers's doorstep."(source)
To an extent, what I have to say about this book feels like what I have to say about every good work of narrative nonfiction. It had all of the elements I look for - lots of detail, strong characterizations, and an engaging story. However, I think there are a few things the author did particularly well that deserve more description. One of the main strengths of this book was how embedded the author was in the lives of Zhuang and Little Yan. The level of detail she's able to provide is clearly only possible because she was often with them for the events she describes. She's able to give us a close perspective on their personal feelings, even about intimate topics such as how their relationship was strained by immigration-related challenges. Even when Zhuang is overly controlling, the author is able to show his perspective fairly and with empathy, but without justifying his treatment of Little Yan.
The author also did a good job creating a clear story arc here. Everything doesn't become perfect for Zhuang and Little Yan by the end of the book, but they definitely adjust to their new lives over time. Where the story wrapped up felt like a reasonable end point. The combination of Zhuang's background as an activist with his immigration story was handled well too. I was equally invested in both stories. It was clear that the author had managed to speak to many of the people involved in Zhuang's earlier life, when she wasn't present. This provided valuable context and made it easier to understand Zhuang's choices around immigration and establishing a new life.
Of course, another major reason I enjoyed this story was because it showed me a part of life in the US that I knew nothing about. I've been wanting to learn more about the immigration experience. For anyone else also looking to learn, I'd recommend this personal perspective as a great place to start.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey...more
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