The Mountains Sing , a first novel by Vietnamese poet and author Nguyen Phan Que Mai, is a saga about the Tran family, against the backdrop of 20th century Vietnamese history, is told from two perspectives. First is that of grandmother Dieu Lan, telling her family story to her granddaughter Hu’o’ng, nicknamed Guava. Dieu Lan, …
Continue reading A Vietnamese novelist captures troubled history
Every day, the 45th President of the United States finds a new low to which he can drag down the country, whether in eviscerating the rule of law, subverting our international relations, wantonly pandering conflicts of interest, or rapaciously using his presidency for unbridled personal gain. Every day, the headlines pummel us into submission, as …
Kingdom of No Tomorrow by Fabienne Josaphat is a powerful piece of historical fiction told in the third person through the eyes of Nettie Boileau, a Haitian-born young woman whose father had been killed by dictator Papa Doc Duvallier’s thugs, the Tonton Macoute. Her father, a gentle rural doctor, was also a revolutionary. Orphaned at …
Continue reading The Black Panthers humanized in stirring fiction
Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah by Charles King is a delicious mix of history and music, against the backdrop of 18th century England. George Frideric Handel had grown up in Halle, Germany, worked for a while in Italy and moved to England, where he eventually became a citizen. …
Continue reading The story behind the score: Handel and history
Marjorie Arons-Barron 