Cutting for Stone

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 'Born in Africa, living in exile in America, then returning at last to Africa' - that, in a nutshell, is the story of Marion Stone - the central character in this sweeping novel written by Abraham Verghese. Spanning 3 continents and almost the entire 20th century, 'Cutting for Stone' is an engrossing, enthralling read - highly recommended!

Marion and Shiva Stone are conjoined twins - born to Sister Mary Joseph Praise, an Indian Carmelite nun and Dr. Thomas Stone, a British surgeon, an unlikely pair if ever there was one! Their birth at the Mission 'Missing' Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia brings tragedy - Sister Mary's death, and the subsequent disappearance of the grief-struck Dr. Stone, leaves the twins orphaned. They are subsequently raised by Dr. Hema and Dr. Ghosh, and indeed the entire staff of Missing Hospital!

Though separated surgically at birth, the twins share a deep bond, communicating almost telepathically, their identities closely intertwined. They have a shared passion for medicine, nurtured by their foster parents, learning hands-on at Missing - but as they grow older, their paths start to diverge. Things come to a head in their teens - their childhood playmate, Genet, becomes a bone of contention. Marion, who is in love with Genet and wants to marry her, feels betrayed when Shiva casually sleeps with her. The rift that is caused lasts for most of their adult lives. Marion enrolls in medical school, while Shiva chooses to train with Hema, forgoing formal medical training - developing into the world's leading expert in the field of birth-related fistulas.

It is Genet, once again, who causes the next upheaval in Marion's life. She joins the Eritrean Liberation Movement, and when Marion's name comes up as one of her closest friends, he has to flee overnight to avoid arrest, not knowing if he will see his family or his Ethiopia ever again! He heads to New York, where he joins the Our Lady of Perpetual Succour hospital as a resident surgeon. The book heads to a stunning conclusion through a set of unexpected reunions and painful reconciliations - Marion and Dr. Stone, Dr. Stone and Hema, Marion and Genet, and of course, Marion and Shiva! For a final reunion, Marion heads back to Missing and Ethiopia, and life comes full circle!

Abraham Verghese is a physician, and his love of medicine and surgery shines forcefully through the novel. There is plenty of operating room drama - Grey's Anatomy, anyone? Practicing medicine in a country like Ethiopia is hard - the anguish and frustration of the doctors of Missing when they are unable to save a patient is very palpable. Using antiquated equipment, outdated diagnostic tools and sheer common sense, these doctors are fighting against superstition, malnutrition and plain ignorance! Although, the medical jargon does end up being a bit much - there were times when I was thinking - OK, too much information, I really did not need to know that! Especially the whole thing about fistulas - I could not get through that fast enough! For anyone not in the medical profession the very visceral images of the surgeons performing their different procedures would be just a little disturbing!

What I really loved was the Ethiopian backdrop - before I read this book I guess I thought that Ethiopia was one of those poor impoverished African countries -  and I was really surprised to learn about its rich history! Yes, we all know that Africa is the 'Cradle of Civilization' - but I did not know that Ethiopia is actually where it all started! Ethiopia has also been one of the longest monarchies in history, and except for a short 6 years when Mussolini invaded, has never been colonized or occupied by a foreign power! I also did not know that Ethiopia is one of the founding members of the United Nations, and its last emperor Haile Selassie was named Time magazine's 'Man of the Year' in 1935! True, the last few decades have not been kind - droughts, famines, civil wars and revolutions - but the picture of Ethiopia painted in this book, though far from idyllic, has certainly piqued my interest!

Very faint but distinctly unique is the the thread of India that runs through the book - binding the characters together! Hema and Ghosh are both from Chennai, and so is Sister Mary Joseph - Dr. Thomas Stone, too, has been raised in Chennai! References to the Mylapore Temple and San Thome Cathedral literally transported me back in time - almost like unexpectedly running into an old friend! Also very familiar are the Indian student doctors in New York - Marion's colleagues and friends. The angst of students living on a shoe-string budget, the struggle of surviving in a foreign country, the bitter realization that no matter what 'once a foreigner, always a foreigner', and finally, the joy of finding a little piece of heaven in the most unlikely places - it did cut a little close to the bone!

When Marion first travels to New York, it was like I was once again on my first flight to Chicago! Stepping off the plane into the huge airport, an immense number of cars waiting outside, and yet not even a single honk! Our noisy tropical cities are no match to the deafening silence of America - seriously, the silence and the long trail of red taillights on the freeway, these were my first impressions of America - much like Marion's. His delight when he finds authentic Ethiopian food in the heart of New York and meets other fellow Ethiopians who, like him, are longing for a taste of home! Certainly brought back bitter sweet memories of the those first few years away from home!

I don't remember why I decided to read this novel - but I am so very glad that I did! It truly touched my heart, stirring up a deep nostalgia! There's a great deal of general knowledge - mainly about Ethiopia and medicine - don't you love a novel that actually educates you?! And if you have ever been an expat, this book is a must-read - countries may differ, but the experiences are always the same! Happy Reading!

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Kim Edwards' debut novel begins on a wintry March night in 1964 in Lexington, Kentucky. A snowstorm has the city in its grip, and when Norah Henry goes into labor three weeks early, her husband Dr. David Henry is forced to attend to her delivery. Their firstborn, a boy, is perfectly healthy - but his twin sister born moments later is unmistakably a Down's syndrome baby. Convinced that he is protecting his family from a terrible grief, Dr. Henry instructs his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby girl to an institution - and tells Norah that the second child was stillborn. Little does he know that this one impulsive action would have far-reaching consequences for all of them...

Norah is unable to get over the death of her baby daughter. Brimming over with love for her son, Paul, she is nevertheless grieving for her other baby, dreaming of lost things, searching, always searching. David, on the other hand, cannot understand what he thinks is an obsession with the child - he wants her to live in the now, to be there for him and Paul - but he too, is weighed down with his secret. To make matters worse, he finds out that Caroline has the baby, Phoebe, living with her - she could not bring herself to drop Phoebe off at the dank, depressing institution. Instead Caroline moves to Pittsburgh with the baby, determined to start a new life for the both of them.

A whirlwind romance, a deep, enduring love, a solid marriage - on the surface, the Henrys have it all. But the loss of their daughter has changed them forever. David's secret lies like an invisible wall between them. As Paul grows, the couple grows further apart - until they are total strangers to each other. Norah struggles with a drinking problem, and has a number of affairs; David immerses himself in a new hobby - photography. He becomes the 'memory keeper' - but the one memory he would like to obliterate continues to haunt him.

This is a really poignant, heart-wrenching book about the choices we make, the paths we choose. Norah's bewilderment, her frustration and her sense of loss are sharply etched - and while I wanted to give her a good shake and tell her to get a grip, I could also understand why she acts the way she does. It would be easy to dismiss David as a callous, hard-hearted individual - but as in life, nothing is completely black and white in the book. David's past - his younger sister born with a heart defect, her subsequent death, the constant worry and anguish of his parents, his own conflicted feelings for his sister - all this baggage plays a big role in the decision he takes on that fateful night. He genuinely believes that he is sparing his wife and son a lifetime of pain. It is ironical that he is powerless to stop Norah and Paul from drifting away, the very family he tried so hard to protect crumbling away to nothing.

Caroline's choices are a little hard to understand at first. She has been in love with David, and is taking the baby merely her way to stay linked to him, to hold on to him in some way? She does bring up Phoebe as her own, which is no easy feat. The problems of raising a mentally challenged child are very complex, especially when, as Caroline finds out, the child grows into an adult, struggling to find a place in the world. Caroline's struggle to give Phoebe her independence while trying to keep her safe is beautifully portrayed.

What I loved the most about the book is that there is no all loose ends tied up, walk off into the sunset happy ending. Instead the book opens up possibilities of new beginnings. Yes, Norah meets her daughter, and Paul meets his sister - but they are both surprised to find that Phoebe is very happy in her little world, and finding a new mother and brother does not mean that she will abandon the family she already has! They all have to find a way past all the lost years, and the first step for both Norah and Paul would be forgiving David. Their lives could have been different, but what happened, happened - and now, they have to move on!

Incredibly hard to put down, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a spellbinding novel. I would highly recommend it - just make sure you grab that box of tissues before you start! Happy Reading!

The Sandcastle Girls

Before World War II, before Hitler's rabid anti-Semitism, before Auschwitz, before the horrors of the Holocaust - there was the Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About. Next to nothing? I was appalled to read about this genocide that I literally knew nothing about - although the deportation and massacre of about a million and a half Armenian civilians is still officially not known as 'genocide'.

'The Sandcastle Girls' written by Chris Bohjalian is first and foremost the story of the atrocities inflicted on the Armenian population of Turkey by the Pashas of the Young Turk regime. Using the First World War as an excuse, claiming that the Armenians were traitors supporting Russia - the ethnic cleansing commenced. While the men were simply executed, the women and children were 'resettled' in the Syrian desert for their 'protection'. The Germans, needing Turkey as an ally, simply turned a blind eye - besides this destruction was considered to be more of a fallout from the war, a collateral damage rather than the genocide it really was!

It is the story of Elizabeth Endicott, daughter of respected Boston banker, Silas Endicott, who travels to Aleppo in Syria as part of an aid mission. From her sheltered world, she is suddenly plunged into a hot dusty inferno of slaughter, starvation and disease. Tending to the deportees in Aleppo, who are waiting to be transported to the 'resettlement camps', Elizabeth befriends Nevart and Hatoun. She eventually offers them a home with her in the American compound, saving them from a certain death in the desert camps. She also meets and falls deeply in love with Armen Petrosian, an Armenian engineer employed by the German army to help build railroads. Armen has lost most of his family already, and is in Aleppo in a desperate bid to find his wife and daughter among the the deportees.

Skipping ahead 2 generations, it is the story of Laura Petrosian, who is writing about her grandparents' extraordinary history. Through letters that they wrote to each other, and Elizabeth's journals, she traces her Armenian ancestry - and what starts of as a good idea for a book, quickly evolves into a deeply personal journey to document a moment in history that has been all but forgotten by the rest of the world. The book moves fluidly between 1915 and present day, between Elizabeth and Laura, - but the Armenian genocide is a constant presence throughout.

This is the kind of book that I would stay awake all night to read. Of course, it is very clear that Elizabeth and Armen do build a life for themselves, far away from the horrors of war - but how they get there is what makes the book so good. The fictional characters blend seamlessly into the true history. The descriptions of the deportees, of the horrors they have to face, the grisly war scenes are really graphic - I was desperately hoping for this book to end on a positive note. And it is a bitter sweet ending of sorts when Laura meets Hatoun's granddaughter - proof that life goes on, come what may!!

Defending Jacob

'Defending Jacob' - the 2012 thriller by William Landay is hard to button-hole. On the surface, it appears to be a regular legal thriller, along the lines of John Grisham - but a little deeper, and it is a family drama, fraught with deep human emotion.

Andrew Barber has been been Assistant District Attorney in Newton County for over 2 decades. He leads a normal, suburban life with his wife, Laurie, and 14 year old son, Jacob. Until the day the body of a young boy is discovered in neighboring Cold Spring Park - Ben Rifkin is Jacob's classmate and has been fatally stabbed in the chest. The horrific crime sends shock waves through the community, and threatens to rip apart the Barber family - as Jacob is the prime accused in the case!

Andrew believes with all his heart in Jacob's innocence - what parent wouldn't? - even when confronted with damning evidence. A knife in Jacob's dresser drawer, a fingerprint on the victim's coat, an online story with details of the murder - none of it seems to matter to the former ADA! But Andrew, too, is hiding a dangerous secret - a secret which he has kept from his wife, a secret which would be the confirmation of Jacob's guilt. Andrew comes from a long line of extremely violent men - his great-grandfather and grand father had both done time, and his father is currently serving a life sentence for murder. Has Jacob inherited this treacherous 'murder gene', or is he truly innocent?

What makes this book so disquieting is the Barber family dynamic before and after the storm that breaks over them. Right after the murder, in fact at the wake of Ben Rifkin, we are introduced to Andrew and Laurie as a couple in love with each other even after years of marriage. After Jacob's arrest, Laurie starts to fall to pieces, and when Andrew's secret is revealed, I could empathize as she questions the very foundation of her marriage. While Andrew staunchly defends his son, Laurie explores the 'what if', and struggles to come to terms with her culpability as the parent of a child who might have committed a vicious crime. It seems to be a certainty that whether Jacob is guilty or not, whether he is convicted or not - the Barber family will never be the same again.

As a parent, Jacob seems to be like your worst nightmare come true. What if, just, what if despite all your best efforts to bring up a normal, well-balanced person, you end up with a child - as Jacob's psychiatrist puts it very insensitively indeed - who has a heart 2 sizes small? As babies, as toddlers - parents are attuned to every emotion, every thought a child has. As they grow older, what secrets will they keep from us? How many things did you hide from your parents? Innocent things, silly secrets - that can be laughed at in retrospect, but where do you draw the line, and how do you know when your child crosses it? As parents, we are doomed to be responsible for all the mistakes that our offspring may make - and it is very hard to be dispassionate when Laurie searches for answers to her son's behavior.

The 'murder gene' theory also compelled me to think - if artistic talent, simple habits can be inherited and passed down over generations, is it really that implausible to believe that a predilection to bad behavior could also be hard-wired for some people? But is this genetic theory really an adequate defense against heinous crimes such as murder? The question finally merges with the age-old debate of Nature vs. Nurture, and once again, the burden of responsibility of the parents.

The climax of the book is startling, but, at the same time not totally unexpected. The question of Jacob's guilt is left wide open - you can choose to believe in his innocence or not. Either way, the book will make you question how well you know your own child. Definitely a must-read, but not for those faint of heart! Happy Reading!!