I am feeling much better and want to thank everyone who wished me well. I didn’t actually read as much as I expected to during my illness – it seemed like as soon as I would pick up a book, I would get a few pages in and my eyes would start drooping. So I just listened to my body and slept a lot. I got back to work and had a lot of catching up to do, plus we are busy planning our summer programs, so March has not presented me with a lot of reading time. I have been dipping into Great Expectations every so often for the past couple of weeks as well as a few other books, but there are two that I’ve managed to finish:
I chose Dalia Sofer’s The Septembers of Shiraz as one of my Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge selections, since the title contains one of my favorite kinds of wine. I had seen the book on the shelf in the library and the title intrigued me. Reading the jacket flap, the description reminded me of Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoir, Persepolis.
Set in post-revolutionary Iran, Sofer’s novel tells the story of Isaac Amin, an Iranian Jew who is taken from his business and placed in a prison among other men whose connections, lifestyle, or beliefs have somehow offended the new regime. While Isaac languishes in jail, facing interrogations, torture and possible death, his wife and daughter are left to wonder what became of him and if their lives are also in danger. At the same time, their son is attending school in New York City, dealing with the feelings of isolation and loneliness being separated from his family and culture. The Septembers of Shiraz is a chilling, harrowing account of one family’s experience living in an atmosphere of terror, but also a moving examination of the concept of home.
The Spirit of Sweetgrass by Nicole Seitz was the March selection for my church book club. I first heard about this book while on a spiritual retreat last fall, where several people recommended it, and so I was pleased that it was chosen as a book club pick. Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina is the home of Essie Mae, an elderly, spunky woman from the Gullah culture. A widow with a daughter she doesn’t understand and a grandson she dotes upon, Essie Mae weaves baskets from the local sweetgrass, commiserating with the spirit of her dead husband, Daddy Jim, who comes to visit her in her basket shack. She also involves herself in the lives of those whom she loves, so that even Heaven cannot separate her from her earthly cares. Told with humor and a kindhearted sensibility, this was a thoughtful, entertaining story, even when it strained credibility and my own beliefs. I came away from this book with two things: a desire to visit Charleston and the Gullah region of South Carolina; and to read Nicole Seitz’s second novel, Trouble the Water.
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