The Right Book at the Right Time

Title: Silver Sparrow

Author:  Tayari Jones

Publisher: Chapel Hill, N.C. 2011

 Summary: What would it be like to grow up knowing that you were meant to be kept a secret?  Dana Lynn Yarboro, one of the sisters starring in Tayari Jones’ third novel, struggles with this very thing every day.  Her father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist, and Dana and her mother Gwen are his “second” and “secret” family, a fact of which they are painfully aware.  His “first” wife and daughter, Laverne and Chaurisse, have his last name and almost of his attention and time – and they know nothing about Dana and Gwen.  James goes to great lengths to keep it that way.  So when Dana and Chaurisse meet by accident at a science fair, things get very complicated.

The first half of the novel is narrated by Dana, and the second half by Chaurisse, and both of their stories are beautifully told.   Jones does a great job portraying the complex relationships between the two families and revealing the motivations behind the web of lives they have spun.  It’s fascinating to follow them as their lives slowly interconnect, and to see how the girls’ meeting changes everyone involved.  I love the way the author builds the momentum in the story in spite of the change of narrator half-way through.  I especially liked the fact that Chaurisse’s half of the novel picks up where Dana’s left off, and wasn’t just a retelling of the same story from a different perspective.  Atlanta in the 1980’s is so wonderfully described it becomes a character itself.   All of the people in Silver Sparrow are drawn with voices that are unique and will remain with me for a long time.

If you like this, try this: “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison,  “The Untelling” or “Leaving Atlanta” by Tayari Jones

Recommended by: Mary, Branch Reference

A second look:

Set against the backdrop of 1980’s Atlanta, Silver Sparrow perfectly captures the dichotomy of family relationships. The reader will be torn, much like James, between the two families. Dana and her mother Gwen are smart, gorgeous, vibrant women while Chaurisse and her mother Laverne are plain, hard-working, and honest. Like their father, the reader will fall in love with both girls and their mothers, often forgetting that they are two scales perfectly balanced before disaster inevitably strikes.

When a chance meeting at a science fair piques Dana’s interest in Chaurisse, it is only a matter of time until their worlds collide and, ultimately, shatter.  As much as the reader feels they know each character, there is no predicting their actions when loyalties run deep- and the reader most likely will not know where their own loyalties lie.  Sad, intense, and eye-opening Silver Sparrow should not be missed.

Recommended by: LB, Technical Services Assistant

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Title: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb

 Author: Melanie Benjamin

 Publisher:Random House, July 2011

Summary: This is a fictionalized memoir of Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump, who was known to her friends and family as “Vinnie” but known to the rest of the world as Mrs. Tom Thumb.
 A terrific historical novel, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MRS. TOM THUMB takes the reader from Vinnie’s childhood, through her career, and beyond. Born a normal size baby, Vinnie’s parents didn’t realize until she was almost two years old that she wasn’t growing like their other children had. Like her sister Minnie, born 8 years later, she was perfectly healthy except for her size. With an overprotective mother and a distant father, the sisters seemed destined for a lonely, sheltered life. Vinnie, however, decided early on that “never would I allow my size to define me. Instead, I would define it.” This determination led her to P.T. Barnum, Charles Stratton, and the world stage. Traveling to Europe, dining with royalty, attending parties with the Astors and Vanderbilts, all became commonplace for Lavinia and Charles. What a grand life! Or was it? Things aren’t always what they seem, especially in show business.This engaging novel will enlighten and entertain a great many people.

 Who Might Like This?: Fans of historical fiction.

 Recommended by: Sue B, Circulation Coordinator

Does this look like a book you’d like to read? Visit our catalog here, where you can check availability and place a hold.

Titles: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen and The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry 

Summary: It was sheer coincidence that I read these two novels back to back, so I thought it would be nice to review them together.  The two stories have a lot in common and share many similar themes, but each one evokes a completely different (and wonderful!) reading experience.   

Garden Spells is a delightful story about two half-sisters, Claire and Sydney, their magical garden, and life in the small town of Bascom, North Carolina.   The Waverly women have always had mysterious gifts, but they’ve not always embraced them.  Claire’s magic comes through the herbs and spices she uses from the famous Waverly garden, while Cousin Evanelle intuits exactly what item people will need the most and gives it to them.  Sydney spent most of her life running away from her gifts, but finds herself returning to Bascom with her daughter when her boyfriend becomes abusive.  As the bond between Claire and Sydney grows, so does their appreciation of their unusual talents.  This book was a pleasure to read, the perfect summer novel. 

If Garden Spells is the perfect summer novel, then The Lace Reader is its perfect cold weather counterpart – it’s a bit darker, but still a fantastic read.  We meet another family with mystical powers, the Whitneys of Salem, Massachusetts.  The Whitney women can read your future in patterns of the Ipswich lace that they help to make, which leads some people to believe they are witches.  Towner Whitney thought she’d left all of that behind when she moved to California, but she’s called back home when her beloved Aunt Eva goes missing.  Her return to the family home sets off a series of events that are a more than a little unsettling.  There are some fascinating people and places in this novel.  I particularly loved reading about Salem and Yellow Dog Island, a fictional island of the coast of Massachusetts that’s inhabited by hundreds of wild Golden Retrievers. 

By the way, The Lace Reader is one of the books that created a buzz at this year’s Book Expo America.  It’s being published in hardcover this month, but we happened to have a previously-published paperback edition on our shelves – and I’m so glad we did! 

Who will like these books?:  Any fan of Alice Hoffman and Laura Esquivel. 

If you like these try: Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman; The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen.

Recommended by: Mary, Reference Librarian

Title:  The Memory of Water

Author:  Karen White

Summary:  The Memory of Water is a story of family bonds that bend but never break. Marnie Maitland and her sister Diana have not seen each other in 10 years. Not since Marnie went off to college in Arizona and didn’t come back. Growing up, the two girls relied on each other after their father left them and their mother started suffering from bouts of mania and depression. Now Marnie is back in South Carolina. Back to her childhood home on the ocean at the request of Diana’s ex-husband Quinn. Quinn is hoping that Marnie can help his son Gil recover from the trauma he suffered in a sailing accident with Diana. Gil hasn’t spoken a word since the accident and Diana refuses to tell anyone what really happened. Diana blames the Maitland curse that their mother told them about over and over again when they were children. It turns out that the Maitland curse is bi-polar disorder, and Diana is struggling with it also.

What Quinn doesn’t realize is that Marnie has stayed away from South Carolina for a very good reason. Once an accomplished sailor, Marnie is now terrified of the water. You see, Diana’s recent sailing accident was not her first. Sixteen years ago Marnie and Diana nearly drowned in a sailing accident that claimed the life of their mother. Marnie cannot remember everything about the accident, just that afterwards, Diana’s love for her turned to hate. Marnie must uncover the truth about both accidents if she can ever help Gil, and heal herself.

Recommended by: Sue, Circulation Coordinator