7 reads with defiant joy
The theme we (still) need in 2021
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
A sweet friend sent me her copy of this book to read because she loved it so much. I picked it up, read the first chapter, and then had to put it back down for several weeks before I could return to Adunni’s story. I’m very glad I eventually did. While this novel about a teenage girl in a rural Nigerian village doesn’t let up after its wrenching beginning, the journey is ultimately a hopeful one, and weeks after reading it, I find myself thinking of Adunni’s stubborn joy and resilience as she continues to picture a better life for herself and ways she can give to other people despite a world that tells her that she has nothing to offer. How many of us would keep singing and looking for ways to connect with others in need while enduring injustice and abuse? While it wasn’t the easiest book to pick up, The Girl with the Louding Voice proved to be hard to put down; it’s a read that balances the character-focused richness of literary fiction and the “let me read just one chapter” pull of an action-adventure story.
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
An American Marriage is a story about racial injustice; the everyday fears that black men live with and the complex expectations that black women face; and the universal heartbreak of lost potential. Given all that, I didn’t expect it to be such a joyous read, but the beautiful, vibrant writing made this character-driven novel a page-turner despite its tough themes. The story is written in first person but with changing perspectives, so you experience three different characters and the full complexity and heart-wrenching gray of the situation they face. I love this approach because it lets you live inside the head of each of the key characters while also getting to see them from the outside. This choice by the author feels deliberate and thoughtful and allows Roy, Celestial and Andre to come to life on the page. For fans of Brit Bennett and Ann Patchett.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
What would you trade to live forever? To escape a desperate fate, Addie makes a deal with the devil and is gifted/cursed with an eternal youth where no one remembers her. This book spans 300 years of Addie’s existence, yet it’s a quiet and intimate non-linear telling, offering scenes from Addie’s centuries-long fight to bend the edges of the curse and be remembered like shifting images in a kaleidoscope. The fantastical elements may be the hook, but Addie is ultimately a story about human resilience, our capacity to hope, to endure, to live with defiant joy. For fans of Erin Morgenstern and Alix E. Harrow.
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
One of my all-time-favorite reads, The Blue Castle is a book to reach for if you need a sweet, thoughtful, funny escape from everyday reality. It’s a more obscure read from the author of Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon. On her 29th birthday, Valancy Stirling has given up on life. She has 29 “drabbed, snubbed” years of life lived and nothing to look forward to except enduring more family dinners where she’s constantly reminded that she’s the ugly duckling and old maid of the clan. But everything changes when Valancy gets a fateful note from her doctor and decides that if she only has one year to live, she’s going to do whatever she wants.
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
When Bel Canto begins, it doesn’t feel as if it’s shaping up to be a character-driven story that explores the human experience. It starts with a bang: Terrorists infiltrate a party thrown in honor of a powerful Japanese businessman. Their goal is to capture the president of the unnamed South American country where the story takes place. He skipped the party because it was at the same time as an evening broadcast of his favorite soap opera. The hostage crisis starts as pandemonium, but when it drags out longer than the captors or the captured ever expected, their lives begin intertwining in surprising, funny, tender, dangerous ways. I loved so many things about this book. It’s told with high drama yet somehow, it’s also ultimately a quiet, intimate story.
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club is a retelling of the “Twelve Dancing Princesses” fairytale that takes you into a 1920s world. The twelve sisters, in this version, are stunning flappers who captivate the men in each speakeasy crowd while never giving out their real names. Locked away from the world by their father, the sisters escape at night to forget their fate through dancing. This read has the right balance of gorgeous prose and intriguing story; while the setup has rich, visual descriptions that draw you into the tragedy and poetry of the sisters’ world, it doesn’t linger in the dance hall too long, giving these characters time to develop and grow – and eventually reclaim their destiny. For fans of Sharon Shinn and Emily St. John Mandel.
Hold Still by Nina LaCour
Young adult literature is, in a way, the book world’s open secret because it’s marketed to teens, but the genre has so many incredible, diverse, talented authors that adults who still read YA know you’re missing out if you never pick it up. Hold Still was Nina LaCour’s debut novel and a quiet, moving introduction to a beautiful new voice in YA. Caitlin, the book’s protagonist, is trying to navigate high school, new friends, and first love – while also recovering from the loss of her best friend to suicide. Caitlin starts piecing together Ingrid’s life from her journal entries as she tries to understand what happened. As someone who has experienced depression, I found this book and its sweet quiet story both devastating and deeply healing to read. It’s about the aftermath of loss, what it looks like when the flood overwhelms someone who’s struggling, but it’s also an incredibly hopeful little book, a testament of resilience and a reminder that each of us belongs here.