Rural Routes, Blog Version

“Americanah A Novel” by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie, Anchor Books, A Division of Random House LLC, New York, 2014

I borrowed this book from one of my children, who picked it up in the U.S. a while back and recommended it to me.

Adichie, who grew up in Nigeria, is the award-winning author of “Half a Yellow Sun” and “Purple Hibiscus”, both of which firmly established her as a brave and gifted writer.

“Americanah” is the story of young lovers Ifemelu and Obinze whose lives move in opposite directions when they depart militarily-ruled Nigeria. Ifemelu heads to America where her education includes lessons in the differences between American and African blacks. Obinze hopes to follow her there, but his hopes are dashed when post 9-11 measures close that option to him.

“If you’re going to write about race, you have to make sure it’s so lyrical and subtle that the reader who doesn’t read between the lines won’t even know it’s about race,” says one character in the book, the sister of Ifemelu’s black American boyfriend.

In a way, she is talking about this very book, which is, at its heart, a love story about two young people who are thrown apart by circumstance and then find their way back to each other. A reader could read the entire book focussing on that love story and let the issue of race form a fuzzy background to that focal point.

But that would be a disservice to the author whose writing is so clear and emotive that the word ‘fuzzy’ in no way applies.

QUICK TAKES:

“Dreamless” – by Jorgen Brekke, Translated by Steven T Murray, Minotaur Books, New York, 2017.

A classic example of Nordic Noir, ordered online from (dare I say it?) Amazon.

“Dreamless” follows where “Where Monsters Dwell” left off, with Chief Inspector Odd Singsaker recovering from his brain surgery and learning to live with the effects on his memory and concentration.

A young singer is found with her voice box removed, while an antique music box is left atop her corpse. The music played by the box is central to the plot, which moves back and forth in time between the present day and the late 1700s.

“Among the Wicked” – by Linda Castillo, Minotaur Books, New York, 2016. Signed copy!

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder long ago left the Amish community in which she was raised. But her familiarity with Amish customs often leads her back to those communities in the search for justice.

In this most recent book, Kate is asked to travel to rural upstate New York and infiltrate a community in which a young girl has died.

KITTENS AT PLAY

For a while, we worried that we would have a surfeit of baby cats on the place. Six female barn cats were giving birth.

Then I worried that none would survive Zipper, the female border collie. Zipper seemed to believe that newborn kittens deserved the same fate as rats – a speedy end to life.

Three kittens survived, one orange and two calico. Now that they are big enough to get around on their own, Zipper leaves them alone. A version perhaps of  ‘survival of the fittest’. Certainly a case of fewer mouths to feed this coming winter.

Watching their playful antics provides much entertainment during these sunny summer days.

JUNE BLOOMS