This month Clare has chosen four writers all from different countries, as she finds it enjoyable to learn about other people’s culture through literature.

The Education of “Little Tree” by Forest Carter – As the title suggests this charming book is written by a Cherokee Native American who remembers his boyhood, an unbelievably rich young life, tender, poignant, loving, warm and filled with love and respect for the Native way of life. Be prepared and have a box of paper hankies next to you! Some of it is sad, some of it is hilarious, some of it is unbelievable, and all of it is charming. 

Light A Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy – This well known Irish writer never ceases to amaze me that she can still produce wonderful books, full of warmth and love that I cannot put down on a yearly basis. Binchy tells the story of Elizabeth White, evacuated from Blitz-torn London, and sent to stay with the boisterous Irish O’Connors. Elizabeth and Aisling O’Connor begin a close friendship, which will survive twenty years. Binchy regales us with a magnificent story of the lives and loves of two women, bound together in friendship.

Consolation by Earl G. Long – Consolation is to be found on a small island in the Caribbean, a place where the villages are blessed with names like Patience and Repose, where riches reside not in property and bank accounts, but in a healthy climate, a comforting landscape, good food, good humour, neighbourliness and daily acts of kindness and friendship. Everybody knows everybody; and everybody likes everybody more or less! This story should ring bells and amuse within the Federation!

The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve – This novel is about love, forgiveness, and paths not followed. The novel travels back through the lives of Linda and Thomas, showing the reader how a single choice can alter lives forever. This novel observes human nature in its rawest form. We are drawn into the lives of these two poets who meet by chance at a poetry reading, or, is it by chance? Divided into three parts, the reader follows the poets from their present day meeting at the poetry festival to their time spent in Africa, and back to their high school years where they first fell in love. Here, as usual, Anita Shreve likes to startle the reader with a strange twist at the end of this absorbing story.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 9:48 pm and is filed under music & arts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.