‘Joan’ by Katherine J. Chen
Reviewed by our own Jenny :)
‘I absolutely, completely and utterly adored this book. It was immersive and richly descriptive from the very beginning, with incredible character development. The book brought Joan of Arc’s short existence to life, humanising her as both a powerful, strong and determined, yet deeply relatable and troubled young woman.
Treated scornfully by her violent and hyper-masculine father since her early childhood, Joan sets out from her small village of Domrémy to make her mark in the world and to defend France against their enemy, the ever-encroaching English.
Facing ridicule and not being taken seriously as a capable warrior as a young woman, Joan is constantly having to prove her mettle and her worth in a world and society crafted and shaped for men to succeed, to rule and to subjugate. Though she is eventually respected and celebrated as France’s saviour in her victorious battles, Joan is quickly cast aside as a disappointment as soon as the first defeat comes.
This was a great read, and one which frustratingly highlights the still very real matter of women always having to do more to be seen as equal to their male counterparts.’
Happy Reading!
‘Carrie Soto is Back’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid, bestselling author of ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’, ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ and ‘Malibu Rising’.
‘Carrie Soto is back! She is the best tennis player in the world, and she knows it. Her 20 Grand Slam titles, a record that seemed safe at the time of retirement, is now up for grabs. So Carrie returns to the tour at the age of 37 with her dad as her coach, and we are led back through her journey from childhood to champion.
Carrie is an interesting person. By no means charming or friendly, she is here to win and yet, somehow, you find yourself cheering for her and her unique story.
The story is linear as we follow the year of the four Grand Slam tournaments, and as a reader you get to spend a lot of time on the courts.
The premise of the book is both timely and interesting – especially with the US Open retirement of Serena Williams happening in real time, and I found myself turning pages quickly and really wondering how Carrie would succeed?
It’s one woman, one claim…game, set, match for this book.
RESERVE YOUR COPY OF CARRIE SOTO IS BACK
‘Foster’ was first published as a short(er) short story in The New Yorker, and later expanded into its more recent published form.
I am a huge fan of the short story form, mainly for its ability to condense into few words, sentences and chapters so much emotion, meaning and relevance. ‘Foster’ is no exception.
It is the story of a young girl (unnamed) sent off to spend the summer in rural Ireland while her mother prepares to give birth to another child she doesn’t particularly want - just another mouth to feed.
The girl spends a few life changing weeks being seen, loved and appreciated. An experience at once frightening and unsettling:
‘…..and wish I was back at home so that all the things I do not understand could be the same as they always are.’
and along the way growing, changing, and realising how she is now,
"….in a spot where I can neither be what I always am nor turn into what I could be".
In just a few short chapters Claire Keegan beautifully expresses sentiments of loss and love, of what might have been but will never be. In a day and age of loud expression, this quiet and layered story also underlines the important distinction between what needs to be said and what truly doesn’t.
Thank you to my wonderful young Irish colleague, Aoife, for the recommendation!
PS ‘Foster’ is now also a film under the title ‘The Quiet Girl’ (An Cailín Ciúin in Irish)
RESERVE YOUR COPY OF FOSTER
Memoirs are tricky. They often come from a place of pain or neglect, a life of struggle or one marred by loneliness and isolation.
So for a memoir to work, there needs to be distance between the author and the driving event, making space for the reader to empathize and relate. If there are too many unresolved issues, and it feels like the author is mid struggle, it makes it difficult for the reader to navigate and relate.
A few favorite memoirs that have succeeded in walking this fine line are ‘The Glass Castle’ by Jeannette Walls, ‘Educated’ by Tara Westover and - as will come as no surprise to readers of this page - almost anything by Edouard Louis!
Another such wonderful memoir is ‘Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, also known as the singer and guitarist of 'Japanese Breakfast’.
Zauner is the daughter of a Korean mother and an American father. After a childhood and youth spent mostly in opposition to her strict mother, she leaves home for college, (mentioning how the distance of this move was probably the saving grace of their relationship).
In her mid twenties as she leaves college her mother is diagnosed with cancer and Zauner spends the next few years taking care of her mother, traveling to Korea, connecting with her Korean culture - through family and food.
‘Crying in H Mart’ is a beautifully written, funny, moving tribute to a fraught mother - daughter relationship, the power of food and food culture, and a wonderful reminder that there is (almost) always hope for repair.
Happy Reading!
PS For Danish readers I would also like to recommend ‘Fruen’ by Malene Raben, also an extremely well written and successful memoir