Antigone Books

I very much enjoyed this novel about a new and decidedly shaky retirement home set up in India. When Dr. Ravi Kapoor (in England) and his cousin (in India) decide to create this retirement home, Ravi's most unappealing father-in-law is one of its first guests. Was the motivation for creating it simply to remove said father-in-law from England?

What the Marigold Hotel lacks in promised amenities and luxury, it makes up for in new experiences, surprising beauty, and unexpected connections. In a quiet way, the novel investigates questions of loneliness and community, introducing an interesting and entertaining cast of characters along the way. I haven't seen the movie yet, but very much look forward to doing so.

"Underneath the ironies, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a book about remembering--too late, or not too late--how to be alive." --The Times Literary Supplement

Wow! This is a thought-provoking book. The author describes raising her children in what she calls the Chinese Tiger Mother way, in other words, ferociously pressuring her children to do their best. It raises many questions in my mind, about parenting, of course, but also about human potential, which is enormous -- especially when we are pressured. ("Why do you think there are so many Asian prodigies?" she asks.) The author is very frank, and she's well aware that her method will raise hackles -- sometimes they even raise her own. The book is very entertaining, too -- a page turner!

"[A] riveting read... Far from being strident, the book's tone is slightly rueful, frequently self-deprecating and entirely aware of its author's enormities... Chua's story is far more complicated and interesting than what you've heard to date -- and well worth picking up... I guarantee that if you read the book, there'll undoubtedly be places where you'll cringe in recognition, and others where you'll tear up in empathy."--SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

This is an excellent read.  Lee Smith’s writing is beautiful, tough and graceful.

A dusty box discovered in the wreckage of a once prosperous plantation on Agate Hill in North Carolina contains the remnants of an extraordinary life: diaries, letters, poems, newspaper clippings, court records, dolls, and bones.  It's through these treasured mementos that we meet the indomitable Molly Petree.  Raised in those ruins and orphaned by the Civil War, Molly is a refugee who has no interest in self-pity.  Spanning half a century, On Agate Hill follows Molly's passionate and wild journey through childhood, love, betrayal, motherhood, a murder trial -- and back home to Agate Hill under circumstances she never could have imagined.

The McKotches are a dysfunctional New England family struggling toward normalcy in this poignant novel from PEN/Hemingway-winner Jennifer Haigh, who follows the children of resentful, controlling Paulette and distracted, needy Frank.  Even during a childhood in idyllic Cape Cod, there are hints of a rocky future.  When that future arrives, Billy, the most successful of the children, keeps a secret about his sophisticated New York life from almost everyone.  Scott, formerly the uncontrollable brat of the bunch, sees himself in his own troubled son.  Meanwhile, Gwen, the youngest, suffers from a genetic condition that prevents her from developing into womanhood.