Short Stories Books

When the realization of being adopted finally dissolves into normalcy, it becomes continual struggle with self-esteem and identity problems for Zora Bridgeforth, a twenty-nine year old trying to bridge the many gaps in her life. This is Zora's Cry, a good story from Tia McCollors that has both poignancy and a sense of belonging for those sympathetic to a character on a mission. Oftentimes happenstance and Providence are much more than willing accomplices where destiny has defined a presence. Zora finds this out while in search of for her deceased mother's bridal veil, coming across a letter revealing the circumstances surrounding her adoption status. Needless to say, this is unwelcome news to Zora as she vows to find her biological family and in the process confront issues that are necessary for her stability.

As her journey unfolds she gets involved with the annals of a sisterhood that promotes discipleship, thus meeting the acquaintances of three other women sympathetic to her plight. Meet Paula, Monet, and Belinda, if you will. As it is with all situations when women come together, real truths and intimacies are revealed through testimonial revelation and common causes are amalgamated into one. Thus, is the bonding attributes of true friendship...and through it, Zora manages to overcome much more the emotional issues she faced.

I liked the fact that the author truly gave readers a chance to discover what it means to have the means to circle the wagons to confront issues on a spiritual tip, complete with the recipients gaining value from it. The book moves along with a pace that forces you to want to know how Zora ends up taking advantage of her newfound friends' camaraderie. In the process, the author gains my respect for writing a story with a storyline that give meaning to setting to play a defining role in writing without being complacent. I think too, that there will undoubtedly be readers that can identify with characters that benefit from lessons derived from persevering once a mission is at stake for clarity. I rate this book four stars out of five, and feel that Zora's Cry can be heard over the din that is apropos when looking for a soothing read. Thank you Tia for writing from a perspective that is fresh, original and full of imagery! This truly is an inspirational read for men and women who respect how friendship and the love of God can propel priorities for practical use in life.

There aren't a lot of good christian fiction books on the market and one I find one I want people to read it. This book brought tears to my eyes. I don't want to give away the story but its great for any women's ministry group that would like to do something different. Read the book and then discuss the questions in the back or make up your own questions. Great for young women wanting values for keeping pure until marriage.

Four women with very different problems end up attending P.O.W.E.R meetings, Purpose Oriented Women Equipped and Righteous. They're not sure they want to be there, and at first they are reluctant to open up and share.
There's Zora Bridgeforth who recently lost her parents in a tragic accident, just a few months before the date of her wedding. While going through their papers, Zora discoveres that the people she called Mother and Dad were not really her birth parents. She was adopted. She's still trying to work through her grief and now she has been hit with this.

Monet Sullivan, Zora's best friend, is helping plan for the wedding. Monet is single, and hasn't had much success playing the love game. Tired of being disappointed in her relationships with the opposite sex, she's ready to give up, but God has a plan.

Paula Manns married for status and money and it turned to ashes in her hands. Her husband is seldome home, he's gambling away their money and she suspects he's having an affair.

And then there's Belinda, whose mother has cancer. She and her husband, Thomas, have just adopted a six month old daughter, Hannah, and Belinda is the primary caretaker for her mother. She's stressed to the max, with no relief in sight.

Zora's Cry is a heartwarming, touching story about four women struggling to make sense of their lives. It's a tribute to the strong bonds of sisterhood, and as the four women strive to overcome the roadblocks in their journey to God, we learn from their situations. When Belinda is overwhelmed by the changes in her life, she complains to God about being taken by surprise. He replies, "You may be caught off guard, but I never am."
No, He's not, and that's one of life's greatest blessings. Tia McCollors characters are realistic and well developed. I thorougly enjoyed reading Zora's Cry, and I'm happy to recommend it.

Power,and Faith and God, These women share there stories with each other and with the power, and faith and God they learn to handle what ever was put in there paths. These was some praying sisters and these are the sisters I would want in my life.I had gave this book a 3 but by the time I was finish it made me thing about things in my life.We all need a power group in our chruchs. Goodreading

this was my first time reading this authors work and it was a blessing to see how we as woman can be there for each other and help with the walk this story was easy to read and the character are people we all know that may be stuggling with diffcultes in life and have no one to share them with i will read her first book keep using your talent

Aces High is a high class, and high up restaurant catering to the Aces, the Wild Card victims with powers. It is expensive and snooty, run by one of their own, a man named Hiram Worchester, who has the ability to control weight.

The Aces have two serious problems in this book, and the stories all relate to these somehow, the menace of the alien Swarm, and the crazy black magic style power use of the Astronomer, a geeky crazed black magician type.

The other memorable nasty, Demise, with his death gaze and regeneration abilities, also is introduced in "If Looks Could Kill".

Wild Cards 02 : 01 Pennies from Hell - Lewis Shiner
Wild Cards 02 : 02 Jube: One - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 03 Unto the Sixth Generation: Prologue - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 04 Jube: Two - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 05 Ashes to Ashes - Roger Zelazny
Wild Cards 02 : 06 Unto the Sixth Generation: Part One - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 07 Unto the Sixth Generation: Part Two - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 08 Jube: Three - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 09 If Looks Could Kill - Walton Simons
Wild Cards 02 : 10 Jube: Four - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 11 Unto the Sixth Generation: Epilogue - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 12 Winter's Chill - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 13 Jube: Five - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 14 Relative Difficulties - Melinda M. Snodgrass
Wild Cards 02 : 15 With a Little Help From His Friends - Victor Milán
Wild Cards 02 : 16 Jube: Six - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 17 By Lost Ways - Pat Cadigan
Wild Cards 02 : 18 Mr. Koyama's Comet - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 19 Half Past Dead - John J. Miller
Wild Cards 02 : 20 Jube: Seven - George R. R. Martin



Fortunato meets a nice girl to go along with his geisha collection, but his pursuit of the Masons through rare coins has terrible consequences.

5 out of 5


Walrus boy ain't what he seems.

4 out of 5


An ally makes a desperate teleportation attempt to warn Jube of the Swarm.

4 out of 5


The death of his alien ally and the loss of the singularity shifter and a garbled message of warning distracts Jube from the xmas cheer.

4 out of 5


The death of his alien ally and the loss of the singularity shifter and a garbled message of warning distracts Jube from the xmas cheer.

4 out of 5


Jube hires Croyd to find the alien corpse, and anything with it. Devil John biffo.

4 out of 5


Modular Man made, Swarm invade.

4 out of 5


Singularity shifting. Don't try and mind-control androids.

3.5 out of 5


When Jube realises his ally meant the Swarm, he knows he needs the power of the Singularity Shifter rather more urgently.

3.5 out of 5


Astronomer hires Demise eyes.

4.5 out of 5


Jube enlists the transparent infobroker.

3 out of 5


Punks find Shifter.

2.5 out of 5


Girl shy Turtle.

4.5 out of 5


Astronomer, Swarm, Takisians all prove to be a little overwhelming.

3 out of 5


Captain Trips drops back in, as Tachyon's relatives show bad timing, capture them, Turtle, and others.

5 out of 5


Tachyon and Trips vs Takisians and Swarm for the fate of the world.

5 out of 5


On the Mason trail.

3 out of 5


Astronomer has hostages and Shakhti machine, but the Aces rally for a raid.

4 out of 5


Swarm sighting.

3 out of 5


Yeoman finds the Singularity Shifter while taking out Egrets. When Tachyon learns of this, he has a plan to take the fight to the Swarm.

5 out of 5


Jube tells Red about some aliens and decides his allegiances are local.

3.5 out of 5

This is the second book in the Wildcards series. This book focuses on the lives of many of the aces of the wildcards universe, with the main unifying plot of the stories being the threat of an alien invasion.

Aces High is a more focused book, dealing with a smaller group of aces and returning to them more often rather than the sampler that the first book was. Many of the favorites return; Fortunato, Dr. Tachyon, The Great and Powerful Turtle, but there are some really nasty villians that appear in this book, as well. The villians are not nice people, so be warned, but they are interesting characters. The leader is pretty much evil to the core, but his hirelings are much more human, each with their own motivations which are explained pretty well in the book. They aren't all evil; many are just looking to get ahead and backing the team that they think will win. Well, and perhaps are a bit more accepting of the "win at any cost" mentality.

I can't think of a story I didn't enjoy in this book, either. All were well written, and were tied together well. I think my favorite story may have been the exploits of Modular Man, but Captain Tripps is a very interesting character as well. I hope to see more of them in future books.

So far, it seems that these books should be read in order, so if you skip Wildcards 1 and start here, you may be lost. Just a word of warning, since I know the books can be hard to find.
I recommend this book to all Wildcards fans and any superhero fan that has not read this series yet is doing themselves a disservice.

A great installment in the Wild Cards universe. An alien swarm is headed on a collision course with earth and the Aces must unite to fight the impending doom of the world. However, "the Astronomer" - a super-villain- is trying to stop the heroes, and employs any devious methods to reach his ends... There are new characters presented such as Demise - who can look in your eyes forcing you to relive his death, and thus die yourself...and Jube, the walrus-like newspaper salesman with bad taste in jokes and equally bad fashion sense... who knows what motives he has?

This is a great story, and I can't help but think that the wild cards would make an excellent series on the sci-fi channel.
I look forward to the next episode!

Relic113

The continuing short story collection set in the shared world as introduced in 'Wild Cards,' this is the continuing stories of those Aces and Jokers (and sometimes plain old natural humans) in the fallout of the genetic Wild Card virus. We're in the eighties now, and a new menace looms on the horizon - a dark alien organism is on its way, and the Swarm Mother sends terrible creatures down to attack earth in many places - and who else can stop them but the super-powered Aces?

The nice thing is the story-arc merely starts with the swarm assault, and from there, the weaving in of new and old characters is superb. We revisit some of the best characters from the first volume (The Great and Powerful Turtle is my favourite so far), and the story of the Swarm Mother certainly doesn't end in that single attack. This is solid stuff, and very well organized to say that it's a shared world.

Now I've ordered book three in with the last of my online gift certificates, and hope it arrives soon! Nothing quite like a new literary addiction.

'Nathan

Over a dozen years ago I received the first two Wild Cards books as a birthday present. I read the first one, enjoyed it, but wasn't so sure about the series. But I already had the second one, so I might as well give it a shot, right? What a difference a second chance made.

Wild Cards Volume 2 (Aces High) is, for me, where the Wild Cards series really began. Unlike the first book, which is a series of introductory and mostly unconnected plots, this one features several central plotlines as the storylines all begin to converge. An alien race known as the Swarm is heading for Earth. The Astronomer, leader of the Masons, is preparing for his own conquest. And when one of your greatest defenders is a pimp whose powers only activate when he engages in tantric sex, well, you're in big trouble.

There's so much great stuff in this book it's hard to leave any of it out. Lewis Shiner's "Pennies from Heaven" establishes the Astronomer as a real threat, setting the stage for both this and the next book. Walter Jon Williams's "Unto the Sixth Generation" is one of the cornerstones of the book, both introducing the Swarm into the Wild Cards universe, as well as Williams's robotic hero Modular Man. Several other stories introduce new, very-long-running characters; Walton Simons's "If Looks Could Kill" brings aboard the very dangerous James Spector (aka Demise). "By Lost Ways" has Pat Cadigan bring aboard Jane Dow, the Water Lily who really would be happy to just slink into the background and whose story is more important than one might think at first... Last but not least, George R.R. Martin's "Jube" story twists and turns its way through the book, uniting the short stories almost effortlessly.

Old favorites still abound, of course. Roger Zelazny's "Ashes to Ashes" is a hysterical romp through Jokertown as the ever-unpredictable Croyd tries to go on a simple seek-and-locate mission with predictably disastrous results. George R.R. Martin's "Winter's Chill" has Tom Tudbury discover that being an Ace doesn't make your life great at all; in fact, sometimes it can downright ruin it. Melinda M. Snodgrass and Victor Milan coordinate their stories "Relative Difficulties" and "With A Little Help From His Friends" as Dr. Tachyon and Dr. Trips have to join forces (not once but twice) to deal with Tachyon's not-very-happy relations. John J. Miller's "Half Past Dead" is both an epilogue to the Swarm story as well as continuing the story of Yeoman.

There are very, very few books in the Wild Cards series where every single story hits a home run, but this is one of them (the next book, Jokers Wild, also manages to do this). If you were on the fence after the first book, trust me--this is the one you definitely can't miss.

If your thinking that this is another sister-girlfriend book,
let me be the first to tell you, Not!
All I Need is full of unexpected twists and turns that three friends experience in life.
With busy shedules they have to find time to catch up with
each other.
Each woman feels that their friend has a better life. But ahh, if they could only walk in each others shoes.
Jacquie Bamberg Moore is a Welcomed newcomer

"ALL I NEED" was an excellent read. It kept me glued to the book from beginning to end. I hated to put the book down! Anyone who has Close friends should read this. I would love to read a sequel. I really identified with this book. In fact, I bought the book for my closest girlfriend. It was great!

If true friendship is valuable to you, read this book! You will not only relate, but I'm pretty sure you will identify with one of the characters. It takes you on a drama filled journey of three sister friends who are unique in their lifestyles, personalities, and principles. While Umi, an educated business diva struggles with balancing her business matters and personal affairs, Randi, the can't say no to sex diva, gets herself into some hot water trying to juggle her multiple male relationships. On the other hand, Michelle the educated, stay at home diva has the privilege of making sure the home front is comfy for her husband and daughter, not knowing that her life is about to take a major turn.   
In the midst of managing their own life drama's, their friendship will not only be tested, but pushed to a new level.

"All I Need," is a wonderfully written novel. Michelle, Randi and Umi are three long-time friends, who have built a strong sister based relationship. These three women are very different and unique in themselves, but they share in their love for one another. Michelle is a housewife and who has spent years wrapped into being a wife and mother. Michelle starts looking at her friends lives and begin feeling emptiness inside, when suddenly a horrifying incident strikes and changes her life instantly. Randi who is a researcher for a major newspaper gets wrapped up in raging hormones, which backfires on her. Umi has an advertisement career and she feels high in the clouds. Umi only wanting an elite prestigious man, soon finds out that a man with money doesn't always bring happiness.

Jacquie is definitely on my list of great storytellers. This novel will have you laughing and crying, oooohing and awwwhing, happy and even outraged. The characterization is so vivid, you feel as though you know each one of them. You will feel their pain and share in their happiness as you walk through their lives with them. I suggest everyone pick up a copy of this wonderful novel. With writing skills like this and the ability to grab her audience at the very beginning and hold them so until the end, Jacquie Bamberg Moore will be in the Literary Arena for a long time to come.

This novel is about the friendship of Randi Michelle and Omi. Each one has something different to offer their long time friendship. Omi is the career women in the group - who finds out not all kings come with shining armour. Michelle is happy being a wife and mother until tragedy strikes sending her in the arms of a tabboo relationship - Randi bored with being a researcher for the New York Times seeks her satisfication in the office but not doing office work. All three of these women show us what it means to be a true friend and how to rise above the bad. This book is a must read for everyone looking to strengthen their relationship with someone close to them.

I have never written a review before, but I can't overstate how powerful these stories are. Each of them made me think about the meaning of identity, of family history. I took the book out of the library, and was so moved by it that I had to go buy it -- I need this book on my own bookshelf! Read it -- but be prepared to stay up late to grab every bit of it!

I have my own family history that is very similar to some of the stories...They touch you very deeply on so many levels. You will not be able to put this book down!

In Awake in the Dark, Nayman has taken a tragic subject and crafted from it stories that are at once painful and full of light and compassion. It is a journey through the Uncanny in the truest sense. Nayman manages not only to make the familiar strange - a lamp can be a corpse, a wall can be a coffin - but going a step further she makes the strange familiar - strangers can be siblings, a Nazi can be one's mother.

Though each story is about a different character, the stories thematically weave in and out of one another and build a fabric. Each character's moment of unmasking or reclaiming a part of their identity seems to be another step in the last character's process of self-discovery. The only other book I've read in which the sense of deep shared history is so tangible is Marquez' 100 Years of Solitude. This feeling of connectedness makes each vignette better than the last and emphasizes one of the overarching themes of the book: redemption through sharing and owning one's history.

Awake in the Dark is piercing, poignant and strikingly original and I highly recommend it.

Tales of terrible times, told economically and without appealling to tears - and this dry, rough way of telling episodes that happened gives them more impact. I really liked it.

This book will not leave you indifferent. It will stir very strong emotions deep inside you and will send a shock wave through your being. Populated with extremely powerful images, these stories will stay with you forever. The elegant language and masterful use of suspense contribute equally to the power of these stories.

The literary voice of the ninteen-twenties' "Jazz Age," F. Scott Fitzgerald was out of step with the grimmer thirties. Facing his wife's insanity, increasing alcoholism, and his own obsolesence as a writer, the stories collected here show Fitzgerald facing his demons in bracingly honest prose. If "Crazy Sunday" and the other tales of the adventures of Pat Hobby, down-and-out screenwriter, feel a bit like autobiographical wallow, and "Family In The Wind," about a doctor in the midst of a country tornado, is an interesting if uncharacteristic journey into Steinbeck country, it's the title story of the collection that's worth the price of admission.
Charlie Wales is an ex-broker, returned to Paris after all the good times have gone, with only the goal of regaining custody of his daughter after the death of his wife. A thinly veiled take on Fitzgerald's own troubled relations with daughter Scottie after wife Zelda's madness, it's at once a suspenseful, moving, and lyrical story. All his powers are at work here, as if he knew this was his last shot at literary immortality, and he was just about right.

I bought this volume of stories simply to get a copy of Fitzgerald's "May Day" which I'd read in one of my college texts and then could not find for years. I have always felt that "May Day" would make a superb film--and the screenwriter could lift most of the dialogue right out of the story. It is that good and simple and dramatic. Actually every one of the stories in this collection is first rate. Here is Fitzgerald, only in his 20's, writing of American aspirations before, during and after World War I. And no one wrote about this subject better than he did. The characters are rich and complex, all of them dissatisfied with the bones that life has thrown them, all of them desiring what others have. The reader sees their foibles and loves them anyway. These are not perfect people. They are real people in a time of trouble--fighting, most of them, simply to stay afloat in a world changing faster than anyone would have thought possible. I cannot recommend these brilliant stories highly enough. There is also a brief life and appreciation of Fitzgerald in this lovely Scribner edition.

The Book of Revelations in the New Testament is the most likely source from which F. Scott Fitzgerald draws his "Babylon Revisited". In Revelations, Babylon the Great (also an ancient Near Eastern city of materialism and sexual excess) is the `mother of whores' and the source of all evil in the Roman Empire. She is said to have been defeated by God and judged for her excessive sin. Upon her destruction, the saints rejoice while the merchants and hedonistic pleasure seekers morn. Symbolism abounds in this revision of the timeless tale and the choice of Fitzgerald's title could not be more appropriate.

Charlie himself is the regeneration of Babylon. During the economic boom of the 20's, Charlie and his wife lived life to its fullest and most shallow degree. They partied until sunup. They squandered wealth. We even get the impression that there was a significant amount of infidelity existing on both sides. As with Babylon, Charlie is punished: The stock market crash in 1929 liberates him of a fortune, "his child [is] taken from his control, [and] his wife escaped to a grave in Vermont."

As with Babylon, Charlie's fall had its rejoicers and mourners. Marion, his wife's bereaved sister, saw Charlie's fall as an opportunity to gain control of his child, and with sincere intentions rid her family of the sinner. Though she doesn't expressly rejoice in her brother-in-laws demise, she does blame him for her sister's death and understands why his life has turned out askew. Duncan and Lorraine, on the other hand, mourned the loss of their sinister partner in indulgence.

This story is complete with all of the historic reference and symbolism that has come to define F. Scott Fitzgerald. What a fantastic, unbelievably creative writer. It's amazing how timeless his writings are, and "Babylon Revisited" is the perfect example of that fact. It really makes you think about your own life.

The king of the 1920's Lit World wrote short stories for big money in Scribner's Magazine, Collier's, Esquire, and Saturday Evening Post. His first novel made him famous, This Side of Paradise, but his subsequent novels including The Great Gatsby sold meagerly. Zelda and Scott went through dough like drunken sailors, so Scott wrote short stories for a quick buck. This group of stories is among his best and though some or all were written commercially, Scott's talent was so huge that they rival his chief competitor's: Hemingway, Parker, Anderson, and Larder in charm and precision.

Above all, Fitzgerald is charming. The drunken rich boys of May Day are close to the authors experience and poignantly revealing. Scott was the son of a failed businessman. His mother's family was well to do and Scott associated with rich beauties that seemed always just beyond a snow covered golf course as in Winter Dreams. His experience with his future wife, Zelda Sear, an Alabama debutante is cloaked in fantasy in Ice Palace. Surely newlyweds are surprised to find they have married strangers. In that there is no secret, but Fitzgerald gives his bride a hysterical nightmare in a St Paul carnival ice maze. The reader loves Sally Carrol and is genuinely caught up in her dilemma of Minnesota in-laws and a suddenly stern husband.

Fitzgerald was a dreamer and The Diamond As Big As the Ritz is a parable about a family so rich, and so self-centered in their luxuries, they murder their guests less the secret of the their wealth be known. In an era where a million dollars could buy a country, Fitzgerald's fascination with success and the rich permeates his work.

F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of our greatest writers. He is best known today for his many wonderful novels, especially The Great Gatsby. As time has passed, his marvelous magazine stories have faded from sight . . . even though those were more widely read than his novels when they were written.

In Babylon Revisited: And Other Stories you will deepen your understanding of the novels . . . and of their author in these often semi-autobiographical tales. The best stories have as much impact as any of the novels in a spare exposition that adds to their power.

Each story deals with the same general theme: We live on hope which is based on illusions about reality. When faced with reality, we happily escape into new hopes based on different illusions. We are sort of like Peter Pan: We don't want to grow up.

The theme comes across with startling persuasiveness as Fitzgerald unpeels the many forms of hopeful illusions that will seem familiar to every reader.

The stories build chronologically across the backdrop of the United States after World War I in the 20's and 30's. That shift in authorship times also inadvertently adds the drama of seeing how the psychology of the young and educated changed as American went from mindless boom to seemingly unending bust.

Fitzgerald has a rich imagination to makes his world open up for readers so that you can feel both the physical sensations and the emotions of the characters . . . and become the characters while you are reading.

The stories themselves have that delightful quality of exaggeration that makes his points indelible.

The Ice Palace explores a Southern beauty's pursuit of an advantageous marriage in the frozen tundra of Minnesota in winter. May Day recounts the pursuit of pleasure and accomplishment by those of various social classes and beliefs. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz is a wild tale of a mythical place and the consequences of unlimited wealth. Winter Dreams deals with the painful consequences of acting on the illusions of romantic love. Absolution is an amazing story about how we can carelessly end up being untrue to God and ourselves. The Rich Boy considers how being rich and powerful can get in the way of being close to others. The Freshest Boy looks at being an awkward teenage boy and how he came to make peace with the world. Babylon Revisited shows how our mistakes can come home to roost after we believe we are invulnerable. Crazy Sunday is an astonishing look at the psychology of how we connect to one another through others. The Long Way Out is about a woman who suffers from a mental collapse and is now ready to return to her husband . . . when fate steps in.

My favorite stories in the book are May Day, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, The Freshest Boy, Babylon Revisited and Crazy Sunday.

If you haven't read these stories before, you have a great treat ahead of you. If you can find a copy of George Guidall's narration for Recorded Books, your pleasure will be even greater.

When I began reading this book,I anticipated a telling of the nazi shadow engulfing the Jews of Austria in the style of-say- Primo Levi, or even Zweigs recollections in his 'World of Yesterday' autobiography. But Appelfelds style is unique. Yes, the nazi shadow is coming to engulf.As readers we know what their fate will be. But Appelfeld tells the story from the universal human perspective where we evade reality and interpret everything the way we want it to be, not as it actually is.

Jews are gathered in Badenheim for their annual vacation. The 'sanitation' department has ordered all Jews to register. The residents know they will be going to Poland.Dr Pappenheim talks of the new opportunities; how it is essential people return to their own country of origin. (The atmosphere of evading reality is heightened as nobody asks 'Why?') Langmann is angry. He is Austrian. Why should he be uprooted over a mistake? Peter the pastry shop owner blames it all on Pappenheim for bringing decadence to the town with his art festivals.(Again, no one asks what has this got to do with their situation-even though Peters accusation is a common myth espoused by the nazis.) Fussholdt carries on writing his major critiques on jewish philosophers and culture whom he dispises despite his own judaism.

Throughout, there are no Cassandra characters. Only quickly appeased comments (They took my house is somehow turned into an understandable action by the residents.)Even at the end, Pappenheim is convinced they cannot have far to travel when 40 filthy cattle trucks arrive at the station to take them to Poland; its all ok.



This book is a mere 148 pages and must be read in one sitting to gain the full effect. It transcends the era and the crime it portrays, it tells you of mans fatal flaw in disbelieving the evil that can occur. Trusting to decency and reason to quell brutality. You know that these people know, but even as a reader, you would feel uneasy in trying to break the truth to them.



Appelfeld has a unique way of writing and a message for both his own people and all of mankind. This was an honour to read.

Badenheim is a quiet, idyllic holiday town in Eastern Europe. The 'leader' of the town, Dr Pappenheim, is busy preparing for the annual festival, writing letters and sending telegrams to beg and plead for musicians and artists from Vienna.

While the preparations are under way, the Sanitation Department begins quietly undertaking a rigorous inspection of each and every house and shop in Badenheim. Among the many questions asked is how many and who of the residents are Jewish. The vacationers and locals alike think nothing of the questions, nonchalantly confirming or denying their religion, and returning to their food, their wine, their entertainment. Here and there, a few people discuss the increasing powers of the Sanitation Department - they have just recently closed the Post Office - but nobody seems to mind. Badenheim is quiet and peaceful, and that is how they like it.

Time passes. The impresario, Dr Pappenheim, is still writing letters, but he senses that they are going off into the void, never to return. A few - very few - letters are still allowed into Badenheim, but for the most part, the Sanitation Department has closed off the city. Guards are posted to deny entry or exit to any man, woman or child of Jewish descent. It happens so slowly that nobody really notices, but at one stage, almost all of the non-Jewish people have gone, and of the tiny trickle of visitors allowed into Badenheim, every person is a Jew.

There is a quiet horror to Badenheim 1939. Throughout this very short book, it seems as though with each page, the oppression and terror of World War II is approaching the Jewish people of Badenheim, but they never see it. With every freedom slowly being denied - the shops are closed, the gates are sealed, outside communication is forbidden - the reader is left to wonder if this time, if this time when the Sanitation Department closes the pastry shop, say, will they understand? But they never do. Everything happens over such a long period of time, and so quietly, that nobody really seems to realise when they are suddenly trapped, except for a few minor characters who are slowly going mad, the cracks in the calm facade they have wrapped themselves in widening with every minute.

This book is most effective because we know what happened to the Jews post-1939. We know where they are going, and what will likely happen to them. The Sanitation Department assures them that they will be transplanted to Poland, and everything will be fine. They believe because they have to believe. Towards the end of the novel, the razor wire, the guns, the dogs all make an appearance. To ignore what is happening is suicidal, and yet they do. After all, how could a race of people imagine that they would be persecuted in such a terrifying manner? Surely, their minds would shied away from such horrible information, from the mere idea that a man - a country - wanted to eradicate six million of them? And yet, that is what happened, and that is how the novel ends, a perfect, bleak, dark ending that is all the more horrifying for how completely reasonable every single tiny little step leading up to their incarceration inside a derelict train, headed, presumably, for Auschwitz.

Badenheim 1939 is a powerful book because it shows how easy it is to accept something unacceptable, if it is presented in small, reasonable, easily palatable pieces. None of these characters are overly bad, or good - they are absolutely normal. They squabble, they argue, they love, they laugh, they sing, they cry. In fact, throughout the entire novel, nothing untoward happens to any of them - except for the encroaching holocaust.

Badenheim is a an Austrian resort town whose denizens are almost all Jewish. This short novel describes the reactions of the residents of the town as preparations are made to deport them ' to the East'. It describes the gradual series of changes in which the town is slowly closed down, and its residents denied their privileges and enjoyments. A number of characters stories are highlighted including the Impressario Pappenheim who has for years organized the Music and Dramatic Festivals in the town.The story of a half - Jewish waitress who identifies with the Jews and who injures herself in desperation is also told. Also an assimilated writer who mocks Herzl and Buber and worships the satiricial Karl Kraus is despicted. Most of these characters are living in the delusion that they are about to be deported from Austria to go to a better life in the East, in Poland. Appelfeld is a master of depicting these small games people play with themselves, these small self- deceptions which keep them from facing a horrible truth.
In the end the town closes down and the residents and vacationers of Badehnheim are taken away. When four old dirty trains hook up with them they still refuse to see the reality. And the concluding thought of escape is that they must be going 'on a short journey since the cars are so dirty'.
Assimilated Jews, often self- hating but even more often painfully human in clinging to delusions of their own normalcy and safety are the subject of this work. It is all prelude to the Disaster and Destruction the Shoah which is to destroy them all.

Aharon Appelfeld, one of Israel's greatest writers, has had only a handful of his 40 books translated into English. It's too bad. Then again, it's too bad Appelfeld didn't write "Badenheim 1939" under the pen name "Albert Camus" --- if he had, this 148-page novel would be taught alongside "The Stranger" and regarded, rightly, as a modern classic.

Appelfeld is a very unlikely writer. But then, it's remarkable that he's alive. Born in Romania in 1932, he was a quiet boy, an only child. He was just 8 when the Nazis shot his mother and deported him and his father to a concentration camp in the Ukraine, at which point they were separated for twenty years. Aharon escaped to Russia, where he was a shepherd. In 1944, at 12, he joined the Russian Army. When the war ended, he made his way to Italy and, finally, to Palestine. He spoke so many languages he couldn't express himself in any. And he had only a year or two of schooling. But he managed to enroll in college in Jerusalem and, soon after, to begin writing stories in Hebrew.

Appelfeld has one great subject: understanding what happened to his people. "I'm dealing with a civilization that has been killed," he has said. "How to represent it in the most honorable way --- not to equalize it, not to exaggerate, but to find the right proportion to represent it, in human terms." What kept him from depression, bitterness, suicide? "I've never been an angry person. This is what saved me."

"Badenheim 1939" --- the first of Appelfeld's books to be translated from Hebrew to English --- is a modest, precise, even-handed tale. As it should be; this is a simple story, of a single season in a resort town favored by Jews. As the novel begins, Spring has arrived. So have the musicians. And the first tourists.

Dr. Pappenheim is the local impresario; he's all bustle. Expect to see him at the Post Office, sending telegrams and opening letters. But this season is unlike all others. For one thing, the Sanitation Department has increased powers --- it's now authorized to undertake "independent investigations." For reasons not made clear, these investigations include the construction of fences and rolls of barbed wire. Appliances appear, "suggestive of preparations for a public celebration." The visitors to the resort expect "fun and games."

And, indeed, the office of the Sanitation Department is starting to look like a travel agency, thanks to the new signs: "The air in Poland is fresher" and "Get to know the Slavic Culture" and "Labor is our Life." There's plenty of time to think about those signs; walks are now forbidden, guests must stay on the grounds of the hotel. It's a nice break in a dull day when the Sanitation Department puts maps on Poland on sale.

The Post Office closes. Just as well. No mail is arriving --- and who knows if letters are getting out? But more people suddenly show up, all of them Jews. Here for the Music Festival? Apparently not.

And now it's Fall. The cakes of summer are no more. Ditto cigarettes. Lunch is barley soup and dry bread. Concern? Bad dreams? Of course. But no one can really believe that what is happening is more than an inconvenience. At worst, a mistake.

At last a train appears at the station. An engine with four filthy freight cars. The last paragraph shows how the worst thing you can imagine can be sold to you as something else. How easily you and yours can be lost. And, in one of the greatest sentences ever to end a book, how you can go to your doom still believing it's all going to be okay.

A beautifully crafted, chilling novel that casts its shadow forward to 21st century America. One is reminded of Hannah Arendt, "the banality of evil." A must read, which I would like to see included in high school history programs.

This book co-written by Rosey Dow & Andrew Snaden is great!
Action is the key word.....CIA agent Jonathan Corrigan finds his life turned upside down when he gets involved with Laura McIvor and her family. Her father is accused of selling missile systems to other world powers and planting a virus in them. Now everyone is after Laura as they think she has the code to fix the missile systems and every world power wants to be the one is charge. Now Jonathan is trying to keep Laura alive and in his arms. Both are learning to come to terms with God in all the life threatening ordeals they find themselves in.

You won't be disappointed with this book.

What is a betrayal? It is when someone pretends to be a friend to another and uses the information against him/her as an enemy.
This is what happened to Laura throughout this book. The reader is introduced to Jonathan Corrigan, a CIA opperative, at the beginning who was using Laura to find out information about her father. Her brilliant computer genius father was handing over information to the enemy. When Jonathan gets to know Laura better, he doesn't like betraying her trust but must. He felt dirty. When Laura's parents went to prison, Jon helped Laura to changd identities and began a new life. She started up in Seattle area. Because she couldn't list all of her education to get a job, she had to begin temporary work. She was very discouraged when she was called in to fix an emergency on a big computer system. Word spread that she was good at fixing programing problems. Her business grew, as did curiousity about who she was. Nearly everyone who came in contact with her betrayed her one way or another. All but her Christian boss and the Christian community at large. Even Jonathan has deep regrets of what his actions had done to her two years before. He hopes he can know that she forgives him his duplicity. She is the only woman that he could become serious about. Jon and Laura come together again after she is rescued.
The rescue seemed a bit weak when compared to how Dee Henderson woule have handled it. This was the weakest point for me with theis book On the whole this was one book that was difficult to put down. I look forward to more works by these authors.

The other reviewers have given a good summary of the book but I wanted to add that they are right. The cover of the book got my attention and then I read the reviews. I started the book and oh my goodness, you are constantly wondering what will happen. I highly recommend this book it you like romance, suspense and just plain good writing. But like the others have said, set aside some time because it is hard to put down! It's a keeper.

This book co-written by Rosey Dow & Andrew Snaden is great!Action is the key word.....CIA agent Jonathan Corrigan found himself in a fix when he got involved with Laura McIvor and her family. Her father is accused of selling missile systems to other world powers and planting a virus in them. Now everyone is after Laura as they think she has the code to fix the missile systems and every world power wants to be the one is charge. Now Jonathan is trying to keep Laura alive and in his arms.

Betrayed is first rate suspense fiction, with just enough romance to appeal to the ladies, but not enough to discourage the men-folk!

Other reviews recapped the story, and the back cover copy is a great teaser. Time flies when reading the gripping, fast-paced story...you'll have to be careful you don't stay up too late trying to find out what happens next.

Plot twists and turns, believable dialogue and action sequences, visual humor, real characters, and a story of faith in action that's not preachy. What more can you want?!

Get one for your library, and make a gift of one to that friend or relative who loves to read as much as you do.

I can't wait for their next one!

Hi Huda,

I was really honoured to know you in person and seat with you in acafe in Damascus last summer. Actually what amazed me is your humble character and your imaginative mind. You have the potential and the capacity to be a great writer known worldwide. I promise you will have a very brilliant future. Keep writing and God may bless you.

The character Marc (or, Marco) drifts through Orfali's stories, bringing hope and compassion to often hopeless or brutal situations. Orfali is the real Marc, in that she gives a devastatingly honest view of life's cruelty, yet brings optimism to that view. However, she does so without giving easy, contrived solutions. She also does so with charming characters and believable dialogue.

Her poems range from depictions of her Syrian homeland to scenes from treasured myths and legends. My favorite of the poems is "Flip, Flop." The narrator of that poem forces us to consider the results of violence, who is to blame for it, and who can help stop it; yet the poem also manages to surprise the reader. For that matter, Orfali's work is a constant surprise.

Blue Fire is one of the most wonderful story books I've ever read. It deals with all aspects of our lives. I certainlly beneffited from the medical information. This new way of handlind illness and death is certainly interesting. death is just a "flight unto the sun", a new beginning. I wish the author good luck in future writing. I hope she will be more optimistic in her future writing.

Blue Fire is one of the most wonderful story books I've ever read. It deals with all aspects of our lives. I certainlly beneffited from the medical information. This new way of handlind illness and death is certainly interesting. death is just a "flight unto the sun", a new beginning. I wish the author good luck in future writing. I hope she will be more optimistic in her future writing.

Excellent Work. Orfali is a great storyteller. HOLLYWOOD-take a look at this book! What wonderful movies it could make! I highly recommend Blue Fire to anyone looking for a good story. I hope to see more from Orfali.

I finished "Breaking Even" by Alejandro Grattan Dominguez last night.
Rather than comment on the author's literary genius, which would take me a page or two, allow me to sum it up:

This book should be required reading in every High School in the USA. Too many kids have been abandoned. The book should at least be in every High School and Public Library

The one single message that screams out in this book, is this:
"YOU'RE NOT MISSING ANYTHING IN LIFE BY NOT HAVING YOUR PARENT AROUND. HE OR SHE MISSED OUT ON YOUR LIFE!
YOU DID NOT LOSE. HE OR SHE DID!

I did not realize that myself, until 20 years after not seeing my father, I was talking to my Aunt one night. It dawned on me: I've had a hell of a ball, done some really fun and fascinating things, met great people all over the USA and Mexico and he didn't get a chance to share in that. So, who's the loser??? ha ha ha You snooze, you lose.
Now, I'm sitting here laughing!!
It is a great book Alejandro! Perfect for today's millions of abandoned kids, whatever their age.
This story should be made into a movie and given out free at all video rental stores in the USA. There are too many abandoned kids, in one form or the other, and NO ONE is helping them to understand the cure for their self loss. Alejandro does that. His book is a cure for an EXTREMELY EMOTIONAL CANCER OF AMERICAN SOCIETY.
Thank you!! Mr. Dominguez. I was crying....and now I am LAUGHING!!

In every boy's life there is a crucial point where he teeters on the brink of manhood. It's at this time, when the boy-man is most vulnerable that he needs a role model to guide him past the final pitfalls of adolescence into the responsibilities of adulthood.

Breaking Even, Alejandro Grattan's brilliantly crafted coming-of-age novel begins with 18-year-old Val leaving his small West Texas town in search of his role model, a father who left years before and who Val discovers is very much alive even though his mother, Lupe has always told him his father had died a hero's death.

Apart from the mystery of his father, Val has other issues. His mother is Mexican and Val's mixed racial heritage fixes him firmly near the bottom of the social pecking order in their small town and gives him an identity problem. He dislikes his life working in his mother's roadside diner and dreams of going to Hollywood to work in the movies. His confusion causes him to refuse advice from those who most care for him. To top it off his girlfriend Bonnie is pregnant. His immaturity ensures he only grapples with twinges of conscience, never with real issues.

Val's father Frank Cooper is a high stakes poker player in search of his own Holy Grail, the big pot that always seems to be in the next game. When he finds Cooper, Val is at first taken in by his charm and easy manner. However as each flaw is uncovered Val comes to see his father as he really is, an addicted gambler with no dream and no prospect of one. With this realization Val's own sense of responsibility to himself and to others begins to develop. This, in turn allows him to discern right from wrong, and to identify those who really do care for him.

The theme of this book is personal responsibility and Grattan has ensured authentic characters by coloring no one completely black or completely white. All are developed realistically including the minor characters of Floyd, his mother's short-order cook husband and Blue, a washed-up saloon singer and paid escort who travels with Cooper. Though everyone has personal flaws they are redeemed by the responsibilities they assume. Only Cooper is without redemption and therein is the brilliance of the novel. The message is conveyed without preaching.

This is a serious story dealing with serious issues and can be enjoyed at different levels. At one Val's search for his father is a metaphor for the real quest, his identity. On another level the book can be enjoyed as a great story with tightly defined characters who speak incredible lines such as, "The life of the party had gone home leaving Val and Cooper stranded out in the middle of a conversational wilderness."

The author's screen-writing and film directing background is clearly evident in the imagery and visual scenes painted throughout the book. Apart from being a darn good read this novel is noteworthy for the issues addressed, well-rounded characters, colorful images, and biting dialogue.

This heart-warming and enticing story grabbed my full attention. I could hardly put it down. I was captivated by the plot and Val's dedicated search for his father and the challenges that he faced on his journey. Each character contributed to the excitement and the intrigue. I highly recommend this book.

I'm fifteen-years-old. My parents got divorced when I was eleven. I come from three generations of divorced parents. I wondered what the problem was with me, that I couldn't be with my dad. Then I read Alejandro Grattan Dominguez's book "Breaking Even", which was great, and I looked at the situation a lot differently.
I related to Val through most of the book. It made me feel better that it's okay to live without my dad. My dad lives in Phoenix right now and he is giving my mom and I problems that I'm not living with him. I'm not losing anything at all by not having my dad around. I'm having a good life without him. He is the one missing out. So to me, he is a jerk like Frank Cooper in the book.
I really got into the book when Val just walked out on his dad, because that is similar to what I did, and when I did, I felt bad, but inside, I actually didn't.
Now that I have read this book, I feel a lot better and it taught me some things. For instance, how Val left Big Bend, Texas, I left Dover, Delaware. That is where I grew up until I was seven-years-old when we started traveling.
My family in Delaware thinks it's so bad that my brother and I travel. I have fun with my gymnastics, traveling everywhere and seeing interesting things outside of where I grew up. But instead, my family is back in Delaware thinking they're having fun in their toxic waste State.
My situation is similar to Val's family and friends. They didn't want him to go search for his dad or work at his goal to go to California, but it's a lot better than staying in one place all your life. Plus, it's educational to see all the States and different cultures.
My opinion is that "Breaking Even" should be read in all High Schools in the Country because about seventy percent of kids in the U.S. only have one parent. I'm telling all my friends to read it. We're all miserable because of our parent's selfishness. It will help them like it helped me.

This is a coming-of-age story set in the 1950s. Val, an 18-year-old Mexican-American, works in his Mexican mother's cafe, lives for the movies, and dreams about leaving the small West Texas town where he has lived all his life. Having grown up thinking that his Anglo father was dead, he is shocked to learn that he is alive,and there begins the real story.

It is Val's search not only for his father, Cooper (who looks to Val like a Hollywood movie star and is actually a professional high-stakes gambler), but also for his own identity and roots as a Mexican-American man. Team the father and son characters Cooper and Val with Ms. Blue Morgan, a kind-hearted, aging paid companion from Reno, and the story becomes even more deliciously colorful and complicated. A poker game brings these three together in El Paso for their initial meeting, and it leads to a bigger poker game in Reno and the adventure of their lives. They are all coincidentally at turning points and must decide on new courses for their lives. This is more than a coming-of-age story; it is one of coming to terms with one's life and taking responsibility for that life. It is a story of hard questions and decisions. Ultimately, it is a story of liberation from past circumstances and the pursuit of destiny.

Grattan-Dominguez is a fine storyteller with a good sense of dialogue. His portrayals of character and of the authentic Southwest are sure to earn him a growing reputation as a writer.

A brilliantly-written, moving book about the takeover of British-occupied Singapore by the Japanese in WWII.
This story is ingeniously told through masterful writing which is at times poetic, at times cryptic and always beautifully descriptive.
The superbly-drawn characters are utterly human, believable and many-layered. No cliches or stereotypes here.
This novel is political, historical, psychological, and deeply emotional. It seems to transcend time and place.

In the middle of "Breaking the Tongue", Vyvyane Loh repeats Somerset Maugham's warning that:

"'A work of fiction ... is an arrangement which the author makes of his experience with the idiosyncrancies of his own personality.' In other words, if someone messed with him, he'd write him into a story."

It seems that most of the ethnic groups in Singapore must have "messed" with this Malaysian author and she's written them into a mean-spirited parody of life in the island state during the 1940's.

At the center of the action are the Lim's. Father Lim is a sadistic snob, who evicts a homeless family from their temporary shelter in his drainage ditch. Mother Lim is a mentally unstable self-mutilator with the morals and varnished claws of a cat. Junior is a whiny adolescent. Little Sister doesn't have a speaking part, but her Confucian saint of a grandmother makes up for it by reciting large tracts of Sun Tzu at the drop of a hat. The various members of the family detest each other and that is the only part of the book that truly makes sense.

Alert readers will have noticed by now that "Breaking the Tongue" is a farce, not a literal history of Singapore. It didn't take any `courage' to write, just a lot of spleen.

Breaking the Tongue is a courageous, daring and unflinching account of the fall Singapore under Japanese invasion. Weaving the personal with the historical, Loh, has written an absolutely devastating account of the fall of the "the diamond shaped jewel of the Far East." The narrative centers on a young Chinese boy Claude Lim, who has been bought up along with his little sister to be totally British in action and thought - his family can't even speak Chinese. Claude is ashamed, uncomfortable, and quite mortified at his own traditions. His father, Humphrey, a banker, a man born to serve, and his decorative, wife Cynthia spend their time cow towing to the British rulers, and insisting that the family climb as far as they can up the ladder of British acceptance and colonial authority. They crave tradition, ceremony, and aristocracy, and they are forever grateful to the British "for their unfailing leadership, their unflappable disposition." Watching them with an air of authority, and traditional judgment is Grandma Siok, who surreptitiously tries to get Claude to accept his Chinese heritage, while constantly peppering him with advice and excerpts from the ancient Art of War.

Claude's life changes forever when he encounters Ling-Li, an elusive young Chinese nurse, who is acting as a spy for the British, and the stately Jack Winchester, a disparate traveler who has fallen maddeningly in love with the sites, sounds and smells of this colonial outpost. Jack and Claude form a formidable friendship, which is further cemented when Jack becomes sick, and Claude, on the eve of the Japanese invasion, with the "bombs falling and the claxons wailing" has to get urgent medical attention for him. When Jack and Claude stay to help Ling-Li with the sick, and war torn in a local medical center, both are led inadvertently into a web of intrigue, stratagems and safeguarded secrets. When the British and Australian forces crumble, so does Claude - "he loosens his hold on the world and falls." Finally, beleaguered by treachery and facing the horrors of torture he is forced to "grow up" and "face a lie of existence he cannot deny."

Loh paints a portrait of a colony undergoing enormous upheavals. On the brink of multi-ethnic unrest, Indians, Malays, the Fifth Columnists and the Chinese are all vying for political superiority and are all intent on furthering their own agendas. This is a newly forming world where everything else is coming into being or disintegrating into fragments, transitions and struggle. Racism is also rife as the occupying British laud it over the native Chinese, employing them as servants and restricting them to particular areas. "It's like sorting rice - white-not white."

The final part of the novel details the horrors of the Japanese invasion and the retreat of the mighty Britannia. The invasion leaves a landscape of battered fields, blackened villages, a setting fetid with corpses. In Singapore there are burning death houses, the disbelieving are maimed, the air is singed, and the Harbour is bombed and torched. Claude runs from a world "distinguished only by shades of charcoal and light." Breaking the Tongue seduces us through beautiful, stark and uncompromising language. There is a grace and simplicity of voice in the narrative that is impossible not to like. This is a gorgeous, ambitious, larger-than-life story - a real literary and artistic achievement. Mike Leonard April 04

An American reader confronted with a passage of Chinese characters might think: "Well, this is Chinese text so if it were read aloud it would come out as Chinese." This however is completely false. The tens of thousands of incredibly complex Chinese characters are ideograms, they represent not sounds but meanings such as man, flower or war. As a matter of fact, there are many Chinese languages such as Mandarin, Cantonese or Hokkien. All of these spoken languages sound entirely different but they are all written in the same set of Chinese characters. A long time ago the Japanese also adopted Chinese characters to write their language which is of course completely different from Chinese. The practical Japanese use an alphabetic script as well, so in practice a passage of Japanese writng might consist of a mixture of Chinese ideograms and alphabetic symbols. It is clear therefore that if you were erudite enough you could write any language including English in Chinese characters. Conversely, if you were to read aloud a passage of Chinese text you could do so in any language including English. Chinese text in other words is sound-independent, language-independent or as we might say tongue-independent.

In this book, near the end, the English text is occasionally replaced by passages of Chinese characters which are of course incomprehensible to the average American reader. This does not mean that the author has switched from English to Chinese but only that she has abandoned (or broken) the tongue. This is one meaning of the book's title, but only the metaphorical meaning.

There is a literal meaning as well. At the end of the book, the main character Claude Lim cuts out (or breaks) his own tongue. This operation is described in very clinical detail reminding us of the fact that the somewhat intimidatingly brilliant author is in fact a practicing physician who writes Nobel Prize quality novels in her spare time. The reason Claude cuts out his tongue is that he is an "English educated" Singaporean Chinese which meant in the colonial pre-war period that he was taught only English and could not speak a word of Chinese. After the Japanese conquest in 1942 and related personal events, Claude rejected his English education and wished to revert to his Chinese heritage. Since he could speak only English he accomplished this by cutting out his tongue ao that he could no longer speak any language but make only grunting sounds.

The reader may be pleased to hear that in modern independent Singapore Claude Lim's linguistic dilemma can no longer occur. English is now the primary language of education for all Singaporeans but each ethnic group is also taught their "mother tongue" whether it be Malay, Tamil (a southern Indian language) or (Mandarin) Chinese. So there are four official languages in Singapore and every Singaporean of normal intelligence is at least bilingual.

Well, it has taken me the space of a longish Amazon review and I have managed to explain only the title. To explain the body of the book as well is obviously beyond the scope here. But perhaps you can see what I mean when I describe this book as of Nobel Prize quality. I do not mean that Vyvyane Loh will receive the Prize in the near future since the Swedish Academy will not award it for a first novel. What I mean is that there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that she will receive the Nobel eventually. This book has the literary quality and the depth that would be expected. It is also has the exotic setting that is evidently much liked in Stockholm. So congratulations Vyvyane, a great literary future for you is assured.

In BREAKING THE TONGUE Vyvyane Loh successfully brings to life the myriad of cultures and languages resulting in a rich tapestry of colors and flavors of Singapore, situated at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. The days of the British Empire are numbered as the Japanese threaten to invade Singapore in the days leading up to Second World War. Within the unstable economic and political landscape is Claude Lim, a young Chinese boy who was raised to only speak the language and admire the mannerisms of England. His parents taught him that the Chinese along with other non-whites are barbarians; the British are much more civilized and cultured. There is little uncertainty that the British will succeed in protecting Singapore from the Japanese menace.

Despite their initial beliefs the Japanese experience minimal difficulties advancing south through Malaysia towards Singapore. After his family flees to the relative safety of the countryside Claude is left behind to resume his studies. However, shortly after their departure the routines of everyday life are interrupted when the bombings begin and war becomes more apparent. Claude along with Brit Jack and Chinese Ling-li who strive to survive day by day while running a defunct medical clinic. They dodge bombs and the chaos of the streets to buy food and run the injured to the hospital without knowing when or if any type of normalcy will return to Singapore.

One of this novel's strengths is the manner in which Loh highlights and exposes the issues of cultural identity and belonging. There is Claude who is a devout Anglophile and who has essentially turned his back on his cultural identity, Jack who is British but is interested in the peoples of Singapore, and Ling-li who is strong pro-China. These three divergent individuals bunker down and explore their own cultural identity. Throughout the course of this book Claude slowly realizes that all his father taught him is not necessarily true. He begins to regret not knowing the various Chinese dialects and opens his eyes to the futility of his parent's choices.

BREAKING THE TONGUE is a book that is well worth seeking out and reading. It is filled with mystery, intrigue, and action and there's much to enjoy.