Showing posts with label chick-lit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chick-lit. Show all posts

The Swallows of Kabul, by Yasmina Khadra and The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul, by Deborah Rodriguez.


Available from Amazon
 Both books I’m going to review share many similarities. They are set in Kabul, Afghanistan under the brutal rule of the Taliban. Yet the first is poetic and dark, told from the POV of locals caught up in events they neither understand nor have any control over. The second is told from the POV of a strong American woman living and working in Kabul, where every day could end in death.

The Swallows of Kabul, Yasmina Khadra. (Translated from the French).

I love this book. It is written with relentless poetic passion right from the first sentence:

"In the middle of nowhere, a whirlwind spins like a sorceress flinging out her skirts in a macabre dance; yet not even this hysteria serves to blow the dust off the calcified palm trees thrust against the sky like beseeching arms."

Set in Kabul under the brutal rule of the Taliban, this is an extraordinary novel. It takes readers into the lives of two couples. Mohsen comes from a family of wealthy shopkeepers whom the Taliban have destroyed; Zunaira, his beautiful wife, once a brilliant teacher, is now no longer allowed to leave her home without her mahram (male relative) or without donning the full chadari (burqa) which she refuses to do until events dictate she must. Then there is Atiq, a prison keeper who has secretly adopted the Taliban ideology and struggles to align these beliefs with his faith. His wife Musarrat is now dying of sickness and despair.

Mohsen wanders aimlessly throughout much of the book, as there isn't a lot to do under the Taliban, where Kabul is as silent as an unscreamed scream - no music, no theatre, no kite flying, no school, no laughing. During one of his wanders, Mohsen is drawn into the hysteria of an execution and to his shame he joins in the stone throwing, believing his stone is the one responsible for killing a desperate woman. This incident  is the catalyst that propels all four people to their destinies. 

There are many unforgettable scenes in this book, but there is one that I'll never forget and it has to do with the executions and women in burqas. What a twist! What a dazzling novel!

Certainly an adult novel. It is a horror story with the Taliban the blood-lusty demons. I wouldn’t encourage the squeamish or young people to read it.


Available Now: Random House RRP $32.95
The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul is the first novel from Deborah Rodriguez. She has lived and worked in Afghanistan for five years, so this novel has a veracity only possible with local knowledge.

It’s not chick-lit exactly; the settings are far too grim, but it is still a book for the girls. It is rich in culture, replete with fabulous detail about Kabul life (especially how life is for women), with the ever-present dangers of suicide bombers and the often terryifying life lived under the iron fist of the Taliban. But, really, it is the story of five very different women who find themselves living in Kabul, one of the most dangerous places on earth.
Sunny in name and sunny in nature is the brave American heroine, owner of the coffee shop. She ends up in Kabul to escape her boring life in the States and to follow the man who might be the love of her life. She falls in love with the city, the culture and the people, but there’s no escaping Kabul is a  place where danger is a constant. Sunny works hard to protect her coffee shop and her customers.
All of the female characters in the novel are strong, with a powerful story. Yasmina is Afghani, a young woman torn from her family to pay a debt (a common enough occurrence still in Afghanistan) and is abandoned, injured, on the streets of Kabul. Pregnant and widowed, her life is in danger until rescued by Sunny.
Isabel is a journalist from the UK, visiting Kabul in search of that Pulitzer Prize career-making story. But in following her story she endangers her own life and the lives of those around her, with tragic consequences.
Candace is a character who takes centre stage when she sashays onto the scene. A wealthy American, she is causing a scandal by leaving her diplomat husband and taking up (surprise, surprise) with her Afghan lover. She is besotted with Wakil, but there is more to him than his do-gooder ways.
Halajan is my favourite character. She is the oldest of the women, an Afghan born and raised in Kabul. She harks back to a kinder life before Taliban rule. She longs for the freedom women once had and rebels in small ways every day, closely scrutinized by her disapproving, zealous son. Her biggest rebellion – a hidden love affair – could end in disaster.
The coffee shop is the stage where these five women play out their lives. Here they all feel at home, they discover love, experience betrayal while relishing each other. The well-crafted characters are bold yet vulnerable to the effects of day to day life, like all of us. But the day to day details of life in Kabul are a little more complex than the everyday, but the intimate worries of women remain the same the world over.
The male characters were fabulous too. Ahmet is Halajan’s son – a devout Muslim who cannot understand or tolerate, his mother’s small rebellions. Hadi, the cook at the coffee shop, a quietly spoken, loyal father figure of a man, looks out for all five women. And Jack, the enigmatic American who might be more important to Sunny than she realises. Sunny's mysterious boyfriend is not even worth a mention, and I think this is deliberate on Rodriguez's part.
You’ll love this book. Who could not? It’s one of those books I was sorry to finish but I had to keep reading, rushing to the inevitable, shocking series of climaxes.

L'Aussie's Verdict for both books: 9/10



Saturday, January 28, 2012 | Labels: , | 2 Comments  

Watching Willow Watts, by Talli Roland.




Watching Willow Watts
by Talli Roland 
(Goodreads)
For Willow Watts, life has settled into a predictably dull routine: days behind the counter at her father's antique shop and nights watching telly, as the pension-aged residents of Britain's Ugliest Village bed down for yet another early night. But everything changes when a YouTube video of Willow's epically embarrassing Marilyn Monroe impersonation gets millions of hits after a viewer spots Marilyn's ghostly image in a frame. 

Instantly, Willow's town is overrun with fans flocking to see the 'new Marilyn'. Egged on by the villagers -- whose shops and businesses are cashing in -- Willow embraces her new identity, dying her hair platinum and ramming herself full of cakes to achieve Marilyn's legendary curves. 

But when a former flame returns seeking the old Willow, Willow must decide: can she risk her stardom and her village's newfound fortune on love, or is being Marilyn her ticket to happiness?

I adored this fun read by Talli Roland. It is both zany and poignant. I love the bizarre descriptions of English village life as Willow leaves her London career as a florist to return to Belcherton, England’s ugliest village, to care for her recently-widowed father.
The story gets underway with the ghostly image of Marilyn Monroe hovering over a YouTube video of Willow doing a dreadful impersonation of the icon. She is an overnight sensation and on her way to stardom, complete with sleazy agent.
Sleazy agent Jay is just one of a cast of characters beautifully fleshed out by Talli, from her bestie, Paula, her father, her ex-boyfriend, and a loving Texan who arrives on the scene and of course, the eccentric band of locals.
The novel moves along at a frolicking pace, as Willow is both adored and exploited, much as was Marilyn Monroe herself. Amidst all the Marilyn mania, Willow’s goal is always to secretly save her father from bankruptcy in his dusty old antique shop. He confounds her by filling it with tacky Marilyn memorabilia, and confounds her further by actually selling it to the fans who’ve arrived to see the reincarnation of Marilyn. Talli brings the sense of the ridiculous to the story, revealing her ‘inner comedian’.
All jokes aside, what I got from Watching Willow Watts is that individuality is to be treasured. Self acceptance is to be celebrated and happiness lies in being true to oneself.
This is chick lit at its best. Talli Roland has written more than just pure entertainment; she has connected with our hearts, a rare talent. Looking forward to her next novel.



L'Aussie's Verdict: 9/10


Friday, September 09, 2011 | Labels: | 5 Comments  

The Villa Girls, by Nicky Pellegrino


The cover was irresistible so I selected The Villa Girls by Nicky Pellegrino as my latest 'chick-lit' type novel. I found it a light-weight easy page turner geared to escapist romance readers and there's nothing wrong with that. It follows the tried and true recipe which has given Pellegrino a readership niche in a romance novel sub-genre that blends the traditional culture and food of Italy with the promise of an unlikely holiday love affair. Well, how irresistible is that! Worked for me!


I have flicked through Pellegrino novels before but this time the language, appeal and structure lent itself to a younger market but I think there were too many adult themes for it to be graded YA. As a mature adult, I certainly found it interesting, if not challenging. Whilst it lacks the zap, action and feistiness of contemporary ‘chick - lit’ it provides a sincere and pleasurable love story for teens poised and hopeful on the brink of an independent life. It is laced with the excitement of early adventures that include holidays overseas, thinking about future options and of course tentative encounters with the opposite sex (but without any explicit detail).

The themes of The Villa Girls are family unity, loyalty and love seen from several perspectives.

I think the author handled conflict and suspense well to build the tension and plot. I adore the warmth and culture of the two Italian families that carry the storyline and reader along. Meals, recipes and hospitality are an intrinsic part of Italian life and Pellegrino's writing, so it is these colourful descriptive interludes that worked best for me.

Whilst the four villa girls - Rosie, Addolorata, Lou and Toni - are all drawn into the overseas ventures, most of the chapters revolve around the parentless and vulnerable Rosie befriended by Addolorata and the Merlinetti family. Her experiences with them at home in London and at Little Italy, the family restaurant, are charming. Chef and Dad, Beppi Merlinetti is a memorable figure and threatens to run away with the book.

The most rounded character in the novel is Enzo, heir to the Santi Olive Estate in Southern Italy. Chapters backgrounding the traditional rituals undertaken on the estate and his relationship with his Nonna (grandmother) were thoughtfully rendered giving insights into the at times rigid expectations demanded of him. These fuel his desire for escape which ultimately peaks in an unexpected love affair with a holiday visitor, an English photographer.

I wanted a quick, undemanding read when I chose The Villa Girls and it was definitely that. The story didn't disappoint, but I admit the author had me entranced towards the end. My main source of nourishment came from the wonderful array of food presented. The reason for this is that Pellegrino is obviously Italian and returns to Italy from her home in New Zealand on a regular basis.

So pick up The Villa Girls if you love fraught romance, Italian wine and food and family interaction with a difference.

There's a great Q and A with the author here.






L'Aussie's Verdict: 8/10

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 | Labels: , | 3 Comments  

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