“There must be a place where we will be welcomed as a long-lost sister, not stoned away like an unwanted snake in the garden.”
20 Bookers met inside in the dining room area of the Pinnacle Club thanks to our General Manager, Tim Lawson’s, approval, and in keeping with the majority-rules results of our member poll.
The majority read the novel and liked it with one exception from our resident self-described Pollyanna.
Our reviewer sent me a text saying she was blow drying her hair and the round brush got stuck in her hair…and she didn’t have time to read the book. I’m joking of course…So, I’ll pick up the ball…let’s talk.
We always say that books give us a chance to walk in each other’s shoes. When the Moon is Low makes me more grateful than ever that we live where we do. The author, Nadia Hashimi was born and raised in New York and New Jersey. Her parents were born in Afghanistan, leaving before the Soviet invasion in early 1970s. She graduated from medical school, completing her pediatric training at NYU Bellevue before moving with her husband to Maryland where she followed her passion for stories based on the country of her ancestors. Her literary debut novel, The Pearl that Broke Its Shell, a searing tale of powerlessness, fate, and the freedom to control one’s own fate also received rave reviews. In 2009 the number of displaced persons was under ten million. Now the global number is estimated at eighty million with almost half of the refugees under the age of eighteen. The crisis continues to grow while the world’s sympathies have waned to their plight as in many locales the world has become one of borders and barriers.
The harsh realities of life are detailed in this exquisitely written story of a loving, middle-class family’s once idyllic life in Kabul, Afghanistan collapsing beneath Soviet rockets and later crumbling under the tyranny of the Taliban in a story spanning several decades and two generations. It begins with a prologue in the mother Fereiba’s voice after fleeing their home country anxiously waiting with her two children for her eldest son to return to continue their journey to safety. The story ends with Fereiba, her daughter Samira, and young son, Aziz settling into life in England while the eldest son Saleem is inside a train tunnel with 50 kilometers in his path before emerging on the other side with freedom a possibility and a reunion with his family as the reward. Think walking from Pinnacle to Kaufman with danger and fear leading the way, not to mention losing your balance in front of a speeding train. When the Moon is Low feels like two separate novels in one as the stories alternates voices between Fereiba in a first-person narrative while Saleem’s voice is in third person.
The author describes their beloved home as a “land of widows and widowers, orphans and the missing – missing a right leg, a left hand, a child, or a mother….as if a black hole had opened in the center of the country, sucking in bits and pieces of everyone into its hard belly.. somewhere under the khaki earth is everything we’ve ever lost.” The country is “like a woman too beautiful for her own good. She will never be safe, even from her own people…full of children who inherited the misfortune of a missing childhood.”
Fereiba’s mother died giving her life. Her father remarried and she became the ‘also-ran-child’ in the new family structure. She assumed the role of chief cook and bottlewasher while her stepsisters went to school. Her solace was retreating to her grandfather’s cherished orchard where she developed a behind-the-fence love story with a neighbor boy, resulting in another slap in the face as an arranged marriage was made with her sister and him. She was a free spirit stuck in a propriety society but did find true love within her own arranged marriage, only to become the head of the household after the Taliban killed her husband leaving her with three children. The trials and tribulations of their journey to freedom included falsified passports, sparse food, little money, and a critically ill newborn with the threat of being caught looming with every step. As a mother Fereiba learned her own heart grew, bent, danced, and broke for each of her children.
The second half of the book the narrative switches to her son Saleem’s point of view. He is the man of the house now at fifteen but he’s still a boy developing in a world that is trying to keep him from becoming an adult. His story is more action-packed and violent reminding the reader this refugee family cannot let their guard down for one moment. Thrown in their path are language barriers, unsavory characters, many countries expressing distaste for immigrants, difficulties earning any decent wages, and fear of discovery lurking around every corner. He does discover the plights of other undocumented refugees and bonds with some due to their similar circumstances and the family finds hope and a temporary home with a Turkish family.
In conclusion this is a remarkable portrait of family love, a heartfelt story of courage amidst a world short on compassion. Ms. Hashimi stresses there are no easy answers and no such thing as a truly safe haven.
Our discussion:
The glowing remarks always come with the not so glowing as these critical remarks almost unanimously reflected the reader’s disappointment with the ending as it lacked an emotional payoff not knowing the fates of the characters. It was abrupt as if setting up a sequel. (The book was published in 2015 leaving doubt that a sequel is in the works.) There’s always lots of discussion when it comes to the ending of a book – some prefer all the storylines neatly wrapped up with nothing left in limbo. This author opted to let the reader write their own ending. The majority of our group agreed with the “negative-ending reviews” with a few on the other side of the fence. Several Bookers had personal experiences with the plight of refugees, sharing the heartbreaking trials, tribulations, fears, and desperation of those trying to escape the brutality festering inside their homelands. The toll of things lost – lives, innocence, dignity, safety, keepsakes, and childhoods – was unimaginable to most. Jean Alexander echoed many of our thoughts saying the novel offered both the best and worst of humanity and begging the question…how do we reach out and help…what can we do? We talked about the difficult choices Fereiba was forced to make in order to survive…to stay in Kabul or flee; allowing her eldest to spread his wings into manhood required he act as the head of the household which put him in danger; to take a gravely-ill newborn on a journey that might cost him his life or save his life; to leave one son behind and press on toward London without him. We talked about the classic wicked stepmother, KokoGul, and whether she had any redeeming qualities…if she did, they were hiding in the closet. Superstitions and stigmas attached to Fereiba because her mother died during her birth impacted the arranged marriages for both her and her sister. The family’s life in Turkey inside a loving home seemed a safe harbor the ideal place to put down roots, but they would have been at the mercy of their “hosts” as none had legitimate passports, no means of earning a living, or getting the medical help for the baby. Saleem’s journey was dramatically affected by three girls his own age. He owes Ekin, Roksana, and Mimi a debt he could not repay as his life and that of his family rested in the hands of these “lady-knights in shining armor.” The question came up as to who the elderly gentleman in the refugee camp in Calais was…he claimed to know Saleem’s father, telling him how he changed people’s lives as hundreds of people had water because of him – they were able to survive because of him – he made a difference in their lives and he never knew their names. He also said he knew his mother – he was a friend of her grandfather’s and said, “However tall the mountain, there is a way to the other side.” With this advice – maybe he was a “spirit” of encouragement, hope, and freedom. Water imagery was prominent throughout the novel as in many works of literature, it symbolizes birth and rebirth, cleansing, freedom, and spirituality.
On the business side
We received a very appreciative thank you note from the Henderson County Performing Arts Center for the donation of $1,325.00 in memory of our own thespian Bernie Crudden.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of Roger Prebis’ death so it’s obviously a very emotional day for Melanie and everyone who loved Roger. As he might say he was a legend in his own mind…but we all know he was a legend in our hearts and continues to be. Huge virtual hugs to you Mel.
Sunshine report: Happy to report Daryl Daniels has finished 3 rounds of chemotherapy with no side affects and her next visit to MD Anderson is October 27th. Feeling fine! However, neither children or her brother are bone marrow matches and the criteria for acceptance includes those under the age of fifty-five if not a relative. Unless a time machine pulls into Pinnacle that eliminates the vast majority of our group so, we’ll just have to loudly cheer on the sidelines for a donor and a successful transplant.
We were delighted to see Rosemary Farmer at Bookers today. WELCOME BACK sweet lady! And Melba graced us with her presence again this month calling her Bookers’ friends a much- needed shot in the arm. We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere!
Thanks to everyone who wrote cards for Virginia Gandy. The basket was full and delivered to her doorstep today.
November 7th is National Indie Author’s Day and the Arlington Public Library contacted me to see if I would consider being a part of the day-long tribute by submitting a three-minute video about my book along with an attached bio and author photo to run during the literary fiction genre segment. It was a lot of fun to do and nerve-wracking at the same time as it was easy to forget who you are and what you wrote when all of a sudden you hear lights, camera, action. There will be no Oscar awarded for best actress in her own role, but the videographer did a wonderful job and my boss in Alabama demanded I share the book trailer link with Bookers:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/960qq02jrprfbfa/Life%20in%20a%20Box.mp4?dl=0
See attachment for the complete list of selected books, their color coding, and brief descriptions.
This allegory fits our world today, speaking to ‘what can we do…how can we help.’
We have a carrot, an egg, a coffee bean and three pots of boiling water. When you put a carrot into boiling water, what happens…it becomes soft and mushy. An egg has a protective shell but when you put it in boiling water, the inside hardens. When you add a coffee bean to boiling water, it doesn’t change it as much as it changes the water around it into something better. Be the coffee bean.
Happy reading,
JoDee
WHITE: LIGHT READ
PINK: MODERATELY CHALLENGING
RED: CHALLENGING
November 17: *(date moved due to scheduled PWC garage sale)
One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow, Olivia Hawken
PINK
A powerful, poetic novel of survival and sacrifice on the American frontier set in Wyoming, 1876. Two families relied on each other exclusively as no other settlers lived within miles of them. When tragedy comes calling, the two women left behind are divided by rage and remorse.
Discussion Leader: Pat Faherty
December 8: The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood
One-hundred and four-year old Ona tells the eleven-year-old unnamed boy who has been helping her out every Saturday morning, “The story of your life never starts at the beginning.” A heartwarming tale of love, loss, and friendship.
PALE PINK
Discussion Leader: Jean Alexander
Annual Christmas party at the home of Bonnie Magee if possible. We’ll revisit the options in November.
January 12, 2021 American Dirt, Jeanine Cummins
RED
Literary novel that reads with the intensity of a suspense tale. Stephen King guarantees you cannot put it down with a perfect balance of terror on one side and love on the other.
February 9: Olive Kitteridge & Olive Again, Elizabeth Strout
The author, described as a master at animating the ordinary, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for Olive Kitteridge featuring an indomitable, compassionate, unpredictable retired schoolteacher in a small coastal town in Maine. Strout weaves a tale in thirteen linked stories, a vibrant exploration of the human soul that will make you laugh, nod in recognition, wince in pain, and shed a tear or two. This is a revisit for Bookers as thirteen reviewers offered their opinions of each story in November 2009. Ms. Strout thought she had put Olive to bed, but the eternal cantankerous character kept begging for more press so Olive, Again was born.
PINKISH-RED
March 9: The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
PINK
A story about the interminable bond between siblings – a brother and a sister who grow up in a fairy tale – huge house, loving father, and caring staff. The only thing missing is their mother who fled the pressure of managing the household when they were young.
April 13: To Be Determined
May 11: People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks
DEEP PINK
An Australia rare-book expert is offered a job of a lifetime – analysis and conservation of a priceless book, one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. As she begins to unlock the book’s mysteries, the reader is ushered into an exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past tracing the book’s journey from its salvation back to its creation.
Summer Read: Clementine, The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill, Sonia Purnell
PINK
A long overdue tribute to the extraordinary woman who was Winston Churchill’s closest confidante, fiercest critic and shrewdest advisor. Later in life he claimed that victory in World War II would have been impossible without the woman who stood by his side for fifty-seven turbulent years.
Discussion Leader: Beverly Dossett
Home of Beverly Dossett – fingers and toes crossed!
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