Freedom Highway by Rhiannon Giddens
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Freedom Highway, Grammy Award–winner and 2017 Grammy nominee Rhiannon Giddens’ follow-up to her...
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ClareR (5726 KP) rated The Switch in Books
Jul 18, 2020
Instead, this is the story of two Eileens: 79 year old Eileen and her granddaughter Leena who is 29. They are both at times of great change in their lives. They’ve both just experienced the death of Leena’s sister, and Eileen’s husband has left her for a younger woman.
When Leena comes home for a visit, she realises that Eileen has been casing the men in the village with a mind to dating one. There isn’t a great choice. After a look on a dating website, she realises that the choice of men in their 70’s is far greater in London, so Leena creates an account on the dating website for her Grandma, and they swap lives for 8 weeks - the length of time that Leena’s boss has given her as a holiday, to try and recover from the loss of her sister.
I adored this book. Need I say more? OK, I suppose I should.
I loved how Eileen was treated as an adult with real feelings and sexual urges. She may be 79, but she isn’t some sexless old biddy, treated like a child. As much as we don’t necessarily like to think of our mothers/ grandmothers having sex , it’s highly likely that they do, and why not?
I loved how the death of Leena’s sister was treated. The long, slow process of grieving, and how it doesn’t just switch off, that there are no rules.
Leena’s love life is very entertaining too, and I was rooting for one particular character throughout.
So in conclusion, just do yourself a favour and go and buy this book. It’s ace. Beth O’Leary writes wonderful stories it would seem, about wonderful, quirky, normal people. I’ll be waiting and ready to read whatever she puts out there next, of that I’m sure!
"All Jacob Finch Bonnner had ever wanted to be was a writer."
THE PLOT starts off slowly, but then takes off, becoming a compulsively readable thriller. It's incredibly ominous and creepy and peppered with reading and writer references. If you love to read, or write, there's a whole meta layer to this book. (Not to mention, we get pieces of Jake's "stolen" novel within our novel as well.) Slowly everything untangles: Jacob's plot, Evan's life, and more.
"Evan Parker had been entirely correct: the worst writer on the planet could not mess up a plot like this."
The book builds on, year by year, as Jacob moves from his struggling writer days to a successful and famous novelist. I had an inkling of some of what happened, but enjoyed reading to see if I was right. Jake isn't exactly a sympathetic character, but he's fascinating, and the book certainly makes you think.
It's best to go into THE PLOT blind, so I don't want to reveal too much. But I stayed up late to finish it, because it's quite captivating--and different. I certainly recommend it. 4 stars.
ClareR (5726 KP) rated The Prophets in Books
Jan 5, 2021
The story centres around the slaves on the Elizabeth Plantation (also known as ‘Empty’ to the slaves), and in particular, Samuel and Isaiah. They are betrayed by the other slaves, as if by revealing their love, it will make their lives safer. Of course this is not the case, as we see when we read the chapters centred around some of the other slaves. We learn about the inhumane treatment of the slaves by their immoral white owners (or toubabs, as they are called by their black slaves). I felt that the white people in this book had a mad, mentally unhinged quality about them: after all, how else could you reconcile treating human beings worse than animals?
I found the chapters written from the African people’s perspective, as they were free then captured and imprisoned, so interesting. It made them even more real to me. These were real people (as opposed to the animals that they were seen as by the slavers) with families, traditions, lives, loves and beliefs. The scenes on board the slave ships were harrowing.
It has taken me over a week to tackle this review. This book really affected me deeply, and there were many times that I had to put the book down and walk away. Then, I would feel guilty that I had the luxury of doing just that, unlike the slaves who lived every moment of their lives as some white mans possession to do with as he saw fit.
I can’t believe that this is a debut novel. The writing is beautiful, even in the most horrific moments. The magical elements add a suggestion of hope and the indomitable spirit of these people. And the ending is just perfection. I’m sure that this book will win awards - it SHOULD win - and I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity to read it.
Many thanks to the publisher for granting me access to this book via NetGalley. It has been a privilege to read it.
Kristy H (1252 KP) Aug 3, 2020