Land by Maggie O'Farrell

Maggie O'Frarrell never ceases to enkindle awe in her lyrical writing.  Page after page leaves the reader with so many memorable sentences that beg to be read over and over again. It is one of the reasons that it takes me so long to finish one of her books. 

Set in Ireland after the Famine, Land is a saga of a family headed by Tomás, a cartographer working for the British Ordinance Survey agency. He is incredibly fastidious and is intent on passing down his expertise to his sone Liam, whom he takes on his expeditions as his apprentice. The opening scenes of the novel set the stage as Tomás drinks from a holy well and suffers an altering of his personality that nears the state of madness.

Through a series of flashbacks that weigh on the present scenes, the reader is informed of Tomás' past, his meeting Phina, his wife, and his passion for the land, which in effect is the main character in the book. As he recovers his senses, he is perplexed and displeased by Liam's desire to enter the priesthood, It seems that Liam was mesmerized by Father Joseph, the priest who attempted an exorcism on Tomás. The other members of the family are introduced - Enda, the indpendent violinist, Rose, the younger daughter who is caregiver and ultimately the one to keep the household going, and Eugene, the son who shows signs of autism.

As the layers of terrain are multifaceted, so is Land. From the story of Brith, an ancient young girl whose story is woven through the fabric of the story to the family's relationship to the peninsula where Tomás builds his cottage, the reader realizes that a map does not accurately reflect the history of the place. The importance of family and how they embody tragedy and resilience are so important to reflect on and contemplate.

O'Farrell's books are not to be read quickly, but rather savored. The readers knows the characters as if they were neighbors and will ultimately shed a tear or two or a hundred.

 

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

One of the featured books from the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures series for 2020-2011, The Water Dancer proved an interesting, albeit at times difficult read. In some respects it is reminiscent of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad, but so different at the same time. 

Set in Virginia in pre-Civil War days, Coates tells the story of Hiram Walker, son of the white owner of the Lockless Plantation. Hiram is one of the "Tasked" (euphemistically the slaves) to the "Quality," the white privileged owners. Gifted with the force of "Conduction," the protagonist of the novel uses it to also aid other Tasked as he becomes a conductor on the Underground Railroad. The first episode of this mysterious gift, which transports a person across a body of water finds him saving himself from drowning in a carriage accident, which also happens to kill his half biological brother,  Maynard Walker. 

Hiram decides that it is time to escape the bonds of the Tasked and so, with Sophia, for whom he has deep feelings, he devises a plan. They will leave the warrens and Thena, a surrogate mother to Hiram, and find their way to freedom. Although it was a brave attempt, he is thwarted by George, a man whom he trusted and they are captured and imprisoned by slave catchers. The scenes of his imprisonment show the harsh reality of slavery and convey one of the main themes of the book - abuse and cruelty. Thanks to Corrine Quinn, another wealthy plantation owner and operative on the Underground Railroad, Hiram is freed and brought into the fold to help people. He has an aptitude of being able to produce papers for those traveling on the railroad, which is developed by Isaiah Fields (Micajah Bland) who becomes his tutor. In time Hiram arrives in Philadelphia and becomes an operative there to help slaves to freedom.  

It is there that he meets Moses, a leader to guide people from slavery. Her real name is Harriet and Coates, not too subtly suggests that she is Harriet Tubman and the two conduct many successful rescues. Among others whom he meets are Raymond and Otha White, operatives in Philadelphia.  He then  learns that Bland has taken on a mission to rescue Otha's wife and children in Alabama. In that mission he is brutally murdered, which touches Hiram deeply.  Concurrently, Hiram's conduction experiences elucidate his past, his relationship with his mother and grandmother and spur him to return to Virginia to rescue Sophia and Thena.

The Water Dancer brings the brutality of slavery to a horrific light through a myriad of characters. Each has a special connection to Hiram and his past and future. As in his interview in the virtual lecture, Coates cannot stress enough the fact that slavery is vile and immoral. He contends that in today's world, not much has changed with the brutality that the dismissal of the value of human life still is rampant. Equally important in the novel is the theme of memory and how it plays into the formation of one's identity and is enhanced by the conduction. 

Coates has a command of prose and at times can almost be lyrical. For me, the magic realism so dominant in the novel was problematic. It is my problem, not the author's as I struggle with most books in which it is a device. It was an interesting book and one that I am glad I was spurred to read. More importantly, I am glad that I was given the opportunity to hear the author speak about it.

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

How wonderful it is to finish a wonderful book and the same night hear an intelligent and articulate author speak about it. I must admit from the initial articles that I had read about the book, I was a little hesitant to dive right in. It seemed that in addition to being a contemporary set novel Exit West involved a bit of fantasy and suspended reality. It was good that I put those thoughts aside. 

Saeed and Nadia are the protagonists in the novel. As Hamid explained at the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures talk, he was certain that Saeed would be the main character, but as the book progressed, that designation really alternated with him. It is up to the reader to determine the status of each. Saeed and Nadia meet at a class in corporate branding in an country and city unnamed in the book It is "the city of their birth."  Their relationship grows amidst the violence and terror that overtakes that city. Nadia is an outwardly strong willed woman who has left her parents' home and lives by herself. Saeed, on the other hand, is an inwardly strong person who is devout and resides with his parents. He vows to be chaste until marriage in spite of Nadia's overtures. They talk of travel and adventure and what the dreams of the future.

Mohsin Hamid signing my copy of Exit West

After Saeed's mother is shot by a stray bullet, the two realize that it would be best to leave their native country, even if it means leaving Saeed's father behind. With homage to C.S. Lewis and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the two, with the help of an agent, pass through a black door and find themselves on Mykonos in a refugee camp. They decide to play tourist until Nadia has a fall and they meet up with a nurse who shows them another door. Passing through it brings them to London. The arrive at a mansion that has become home to Nigerians, Guatemalans, Indonesians. Nadia is energized by these migrants, but Saeed seeks out other refugees from his native land. It is apparent to the reader that the once destined to be married couple was experiencing growth in their character that would pull them apart. They work on a construction site as they listen and prepare for the nativists to begin a full scale massacre of the refugees. Their final move brings them to Marin County, California. They are honest with each other about their feelings and beliefs while living in a shantytown. 

Hamid builds the two characters' personalities with an amazing craft. Although both are very strong people, they exhibit that differently. Both characters change throughout the course of the book, but in an expected way, not veering from the deep-set fundamentals that make them individuals.  

Central to the novel is the theme of migration and Hamid explained this in his lecture. "We are all migrants through time," he remarks. And it is the right of people to migrate. When that is impeded, there is sure to be an autocracy. But Hamid is a hopeful person and one. Through their journey Saeed sees it as losing the past, but Nadia as looking to the future. So much more could be written on Exit West. It is one of those books that resonates in your brain as you reflect on what you have read. Definitely, one of the best books I have experienced in a long while.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

The underground railroad was an incredible attempt in our nation's history to help those, who were oppressed and subjugated to horrendous persecution, by providing a secret route of safe homes to freedom. It has been a fascinating subject to me since my elementary school days and then to my college years when historic markers seemed to abound with the sites associated with abolition of slavery. It was even rumored that the Rocky Spring Church,  in which graveyard Sarah Wilson was buried, was a station on the railroad.

Fast forward a couple of hundred years and Colson Whitehead has taken the The Underground Railroad to a new dimension. With homage paid to Gulliver's Travels and 100 Years of Solitude, Whitehead creates a system of tracks, trains, and tunnels that transport slaves to freedom. The reader must suspend the historical notion for the magic realism that details the coming and going of locomotives and trains that can be accessed through trap doors.


Cora lives on the Randall plantation in Georgia. Her mother was a runaway slave and abandoned her when she was young. As a witness to and victim of the owner's brutality, she agrees to an escape plan with Caesar, a young man who gains her trust. The ensuing journey north takes her to diverse stations and states. From a surrealistic environment of "freedom" in South Carolina to hiding in an attic, ala Anne Frank, in North Carolina, the reader routes for her to make it to the north and real freedom. All the while she is chased by the wicked slave catcher, Ridgeway whose intensity in pursuit rivals that of Javret from Les Miserables.

Throughout the novel Whitehead moves beyond the narrative to the unstated comparison of man's journey for freedom and the savage cruelty experienced on the way- the Nazis and the police brutality that the world has witnessed in the last years.  It is a shocking and complacency shaking work that begs to be reread for the sheer poetry of Whitehead's words. On 24 October 2016, it was, indeed, a thrill to hear Colson Whitehead read from and discuss this book and his inspiration for writing it.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Not the usual setting for a book of magic realism, but it works. Based on a Russian fairy tale, The Snow Child, begs the question of what is reality. Jack and Mabel have left their eastern home for the wilderness of Alaska after the stillbirth of their child. They need to start a new life and decide that it will be as different as they can make it. Needing to depend on one another is critical and with those thoughts in mind they opt for a homestead in the Alaskan territory. 

Life is as harsh as the winters and survival is dependent on strong minds, bodies, and good neighbors. One night after a cathartic snowball fight, Jack builds a snowman who is actually a snow girl. The creation is dressed and the two are proud of their craft. The next morning, however, the snow girl has melted and is gone. But is she? From the cabin window, Mabel has a fleeting glimpse of a child outside with the same attributes as the snow girl. Jack also sees her in the woods. How can this happen? As the story progresses the girl does come to life and is known to them as Faina. Mabel makes her clothes, they feed her, and create a life for her. Never sure when she will appear at their door, they long for her company as she seems to create for them the family that they have longed for. 

Adding to the stirring and emotional story is a bit of comic relief provided by their good neighbors, Esther and George Benson and their son Garrett. With the Benson's help, Jack and Mabel plant the land, and learn survival techniques. Esther is a take-charge woman and helps Mabel see what are the important issues in life. As the snow child intertwines herself in the novel and in the lives of the Alaskans, the reader grasps to identify what is really real  Her transforming powers effect all in most mysterious ways.

Ivey's debut novel is beautifully written. The descriptions of Alaska are alluring and enchanting. They are written by an author who is obviously in awe of the splendor of her home stae. In the end it is really up to the reader to decide how real the child is and if the changes that she seemingly brought about would have happened in any event.