The Unsettled A novel by Ayana Mathis

 Book Excerpt:

"From the best-selling author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, a searing multi-generational novel—set in the 1980s in racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia and in the tiny town of Bonaparte, Alabama—about a mother fighting for her sanity and survival

"[A] powerful book.” —Marilynne Robinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gilead

From the moment Ava Carson and her ten-year-old son, Toussaint, arrive at the Glenn Avenue family shelter in Philadelphia in 1985, Ava is already plotting a way out. She is repulsed by the shelter's squalid conditions: their cockroach-infested room, the barely edible food, and the shifty night security guard. She is determined to rescue her son from the perils and indignities of that place and to save herself from the complicated past that led them there.

Ava has been estranged from her own mother, Dutchess since she left her Alabama home as a young woman barely out of her teens. Although their estrangement and the thousand miles between them, mother and daughter are deeply entwined, Ava can't forgive her sharp-tongue, larger-than-life mother whose intractability and bouts of debilitating despair brought young Ava to the outer reaches of neglect and hunger.

Ava wants to love her son differently, better. But when Toussaint’s father, Cass, reappears, she is swept off course by his charisma and the intoxicating power of his radical vision to destroy systems of racial injustice and bring about a bold new way of communal living. 

Meanwhile, in Alabama, Dutchess struggles to keep Bonaparte, once a beacon of Black freedom and self-determination, in the hands of its last five Black residents—families whose lives have been rooted in this stretch of land for generations—and away from rapidly encroaching white developers. She fights against the erasure of Bonaparte's venerable history and the loss of the land itself, which she has so arduously preserved as Ava's inheritance.

As Ava becomes more enmeshed with Cass, Toussaint senses the danger simmering all around him—his well-intentioned but erratic mother, the intense, volatile figure of his father who drives his fledgling Philadelphia community toward ever-increasing violence and instability. He begins to dream of Dutchess and Bonaparte, his home and birthright if only he can find his way there. 

Brilliant, explosive, vitally important new work from one of America’s most fiercely talented storytellers.

Title: The Unsettled
Author: Ayana Mathis
Publisher: Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
'The Unsettled' by Ayana Mathis

My Sentiments:

'The Unsettled' was quite an engaging powerful epic and pulsing read that the reader will have to keep up with all that will be going on in this story. "A searing multi-generational novel set in the 1980s in racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia and in the tiny town of Bonaparte, Alabama...about a mother [Ava Carson and her ten-year-old son, Toussaint] fighting for her sanity and survival." Be ready for a story about racism and misogyny.

We find Ava trying to make a better life for her son, but we also see the disruption of her dreams with characters coming in and out making it impossible for her dreams. What will happen when Ava's first love Cass and the three move on attempting to find a place to settle? You, the reader will have to pick up this read to see how that comes out.

The author gives us a read that is told through 'dual POV's, third person around Ava's lie, and first-person through her mother, Dutchess.' This was a good read if you can keep up with what is going on with who, 'especially with the main characters are all complex and believable as are the situations in which they find themselves and from which they may or may not be able to extricate themselves.'

Be ready for quite a heavy read with some of the topics that are covered in the read of multiple generations and themes that deal with the contrasts of 'mother/daughter, mother /son, and man/woman all giving us a story of family trauma of these unsettled lives.'

Thank you to Net Gallery for a free e-copy of this novel.

Happiness Falls A Novel by Angie Kim

 Book Excerpt:

"When a father goes missing, his family’s desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another in this thrilling page-turner, a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis from the award-winning author of Miracle Creek.

Longlisted for the New American Voices Award • “This is a story with so many twists and turns I was riveted through the last page.”—Jodi Picoult

“A brilliant, satisfying, compassionate mystery that is as much about language and storytelling as it is about a missing father. I loved this book.”—Gabrielle Zevin, author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“I fell in love with the fascinating, brilliant family at the center of this riveting book.”—Ann Napolitano, author of Hello Beautiful

“We didn’t call the police right away.” Those are the electric first words of this extraordinary novel about a biracial Korean American family in Virginia whose lives are upended when their beloved father and husband go missing.

Mia, the irreverent, hyper-analytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything—which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.

What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance. Full of shocking twists and fascinating questions of love, language, and human connection, Happiness Falls is a mystery, a family drama, and a novel of profound philosophical inquiry. With all the powerful storytelling she brought to her award-winning debut, Miracle Creek, Angie Kim turns the missing-person story into something wholly original, creating an indelible tale of a family who must go to remarkable lengths to truly understand one another."

Title: Happiness Falls
Author: Angie Kim
Publisher: Random House, Hogarth
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"Happiness Falls" by Angie Kim

My Sentiments:

"Happiness Fall" is quite a story about Asian Culture that features 'happiness, autism, communication, trust, and linguistics' in a mystery story, This author gives the ready a story about a family after the father/husband goes missing at the park with his nonverbal son Eugene who was 14 years old and diagnosed with Autism and Angelman syndrome, who came home bloodied and dirty. What happened to the father? There will be many parts to this story that one will have to keep up with so you will get the full understanding of the way the POV is taking place and being told in the second person by Mia, a 20-year-old biracial Korean American...her father Adam Parson as she looks back on what had expired. The story is a mystery...what happened to the father is loaded with many secrets dealing with plenty of perceptions and assumptions. Will this family be able to find out what has happened to the father as they protect Eugene from what is happening? To get these answers and more, pick up this read and see how well this author brings it out to the reader.

Thank you to Net Gallery for the read and my giving my honest opinion of the novel.

Late Bloomers A Novel by Deepa Varadarajan

 Book Excerpt:

"An Indian American family is turned upside down when the parents split up thirty-six years into their arranged marriage in this witty, big-hearted debut.

"Equal parts funny and heartbreaking, Late Bloomers is a charming story about starting over, stumbling, and finding yourself at any age."—Jennifer Close, author of Marrying the Ketchups.

"I have a soft spot for underdogs. And late bloomers. You've told me many things about yourself, so let me tell you something about me."

After thirty-six years of a dutiful but unhappy arranged marriage, recently divorced Suresh and Lata Raman find themselves starting new paths in life. Suresh is trying to navigate the world of online dating on a website that caters to Indians and is striking out at every turn—until he meets a mysterious, devastatingly attractive younger woman who seems to be smitten with him. Lata enjoys her newfound independence, but she's caught off guard when a professor in his early sixties starts flirting with her.  

Meanwhile, Suresh and Lata's daughter, Priya, think her father's online pursuits are distasteful even as she embarks upon a clandestine affair of her own. And their son, Nikesh, pretends at a seemingly perfect marriage with his law-firm colleague and their young son but hides the truth of his relationship. Over the course of three weeks in August, the whole family will uncover one another's secrets, confront the limits of love and loyalty, and explore life's second chances. 

Charming, funny, and moving, Late Bloomers introduces a delightful new voice in fiction with the story of four individuals trying to understand how to be happy in their own lives—and as a family."

Title: Late Bloomers
Author: Deepa Varadarajan
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"Late Bl"omers" by Deepa Varadarajan

My Sentiments:

'Late Bloomers' was an intriguing story of an Indian American family of a divorced couple [Suresh & Lata] after 36 years of an arranged marriage, with a grown daughter [Priya] and son [Nikesh]. What had happened with this arranged marriage that, after so many years, they decided to call it quits? This couple had problems, and their grown son and daughter also had some issues. Be ready for a family of lots of drama and complicated dynamics that will keep one turning the pages to see what is coming next for this family. One of their biggest problems was the secrets that the son & daughter kept from their parents.

Be ready for a story told in four voices... Lata, Suresh, Priya, and Nikesh make the story enduring in many ways giving the reader a heartwarming storyline about this Indian family and also forgiveness, courage, along with its bravery. It was indeed engaging to see how the parents and adult children could adjust to this new life ahead of them by starting over.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC of Late Bloomers!