Women Books

What delicious writing. Profound in its simplicity, it rises from the page as naturally as wildflowers, never calling attention to itself, yet it cannot be overlooked. The opening chapter is gripping, but it was chapter two, which changes POV characters and begins with the lovely line; "Those whom God wishes to punish for the sin of selfishness, he first makes lonely then curses with long life," where I fell into the rhythm. I wanted more, and happily, I got it, in prose of such smoothness I felt the very talented - and very modest - hand of a remarkable writer. I heard about The Secret Ever Keeps from a friend who said it was special. I couldn't agree more. My recommendation: read this book.

An exhilarating experience from the word go, The Secret Ever Keeps is partly an adventure and partly romance. Whatever its genre, this novel worked me like magic. Very luscious. Loved it, well worth the five stars.

A friend told me about this one, but Art Tirrell's The Secret Ever Keeps still surprised me. Keeping things simple, it's too darn good to be a first novel. There is a sureness to the writing, and even though the complex plot shifts between the modern and Prohibition eras, there's never a false note. The supporting characters are wonderful, particularly Char, Sheik, and Estelle. All this is delivered in a way that never allows the narrative tension to lapse for an instant. Before, I'd never heard of him. Now, if you ask me, Art Tirrell is the best new writer of adventure fiction to come along in years.

This romantic adventure has it all: shady characters, star-crossed lovers, and a well-described, interesting setting. It's protagonist, Jake Eastland, is a fascinating character unlike the stereotypes that inhabit most novels these days.

What really sets the book apart, though, is Tirrell's use of his knowledge of Lake Ontario to put it someplace besides New York, L.A., or Hong Kong. He obviously knows the water and it's mysteries and draws on that to make the story come alive.

Add in the cross-generational relationship with Jake's granddaughter and some treasure hunters, and you have a unique, fun read.

In The Secret Ever Keeps, Art Tirrell weaves a rich story of bitter family rivalry, Depression Era wheeling and dealing, and thrilling underwater treasure hunt. Set on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, the novel shifts effortlessly between the present and the 1930s. Jake Eastland, a hard-nosed billionaire nearing the end of his life, attempts to make amends for his unscrupulous dealings in the past by reaching out to his sole living relative, a young woman who is unaware she even has a living grandfather. As they get to know each other, their disparate pasts arise to haunt them.

Tirrell's depiction of their slow-growing relationship is delicate and moving, but it is the suspenseful plot that keeps one flipping the pages. Tirrell quite simply writes the best underwater scenes I have ever read. He takes the reader down into the depths, and no matter how unfamiliar one is with this eerie, potentially deadly setting, one feels one knows exactly what it would be like to dive into the bowels of a sunken ship, to get one's line snagged or air cut off, to be caught and whipped away by a sudden current. Suffice it to say, you'll be breathless, until the secrets and ancient treasures are revealed.

The Secret Ever Keeps is a terrific debut novel for Tirrell. I know he has another in the works and can't wait till it hits the shelves.

Author Terrell T. Garren's dramatic story of war crimes in Western North Carolina is a captivating, dynamic true story of what happened to his own family members during the American Civil War. What an adventure! This book will capture the reader as if the reader is there, in person, living in the community, experiencing the events as they are happening. How intriguing to have the photos of the leading characters! The secret kept by the author's great-grandmother for one hundred forty years is now known and the historical facts leading up to the event are told in this epic story of war, war crimes and, romance on the homefront. This story left me with deeper empathy for the suffering of not only the troops but, of the women left alone to suffer on the homefront the crimes of the Civil War. I will never forget this moving story of "The Secret of War".

I found it difficult to put this book down. I've read a number of histories and historical novels about the civil war. This one was more personal as it followed members of a family through their war experiences and tragedies.

War is ugly. Up close and personal it is an abomination. Observing its impact on the Russell and Youngblood families and how the war brought out the best in some and the absolute worst in others, was a sad reminder of the horrors and atrocities being commited in wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Sudan.

At least at the end of the Civil War for these two families, honor was restored to some degree and healing could occur.

I don't know when a first chapter (can be read on Amazon website) has "grabbed" me like this one. As a lady who normally avoids war stories, I found this one extremely interesting, and very relevant to our current war in the Middle East. This book will keep you thinking about the situations involved long after you've finished reading it.

The Secret of War is an indelible and pivotal contribution to our understanding ot this most disturbing passage in American History. Against a backdrop of beautiful Western North Carolina mountains, we learn of a grim and silent history that has often been ignored.

Without taking either Union or Confederate side, Garren lays before us a spread of heart-touching and terrifying events. He shines a bright light on the fact that war begins and continues with power-hungry men on both sides who do not realize the full ramifications of their actions.

Through the story of Delia Youngblood, Garren gives a voice to women everywhere who have for too long fallen silent victims of the senselessness of war. That voice says: "Look at this. It will destroy us, even as we are destroying ourselves."

I read the book about a week ago, and I am still thinking of Delia. For the spirit of women and men, past and present, I am glad that her story has finally been told.

The Secret of War
Terrell T. Garren

I once believed historical fiction was a corrupted form of non-fiction. Thanks to Terrell Garren, "The Secret of War" has changed my mind. Mr. Garren has written an absorbing, completely engaging book, from start to finish. As Mr. Garren said, when he graciously visited our book club to discuss his book, "fiction can be used to tell a greater truth." Amen to that.
In July, 1861, Joseph Youngblood, a reserved, yet love-struck young man from a German immigrant family, left his beautiful western North Carolina farm and the woman he loved, to fight for states' rights against Mr. Lincoln's invading Union Army.
What this cost Joseph, his family, his fianc?, Delia Russell, and that region of western North Carolina, is the subject of Mr. Garren's book. Based on a true story, this is a magnificent and poignant study of Mr. Garren's family history. "The Secret of War" is an apt title; not only because of the "dirty little secret" that we rarely hear about - the brutality that faces the families who are left behind in war, but also his own family's secret that was kept for generations. The story was told, finally, to Mr. Garren by an 85-year-old great aunt three days before she died. This quest to unearth his family's history was an obvious labor of love and an exploration that consumed Mr. Garren's life for 15 years. The more he dug, the more he found.
Mr. Garren delivers us to this time in our young nation's history, carefully relating the struggle of his family, and tries to make sense of Delia Russell Youngblood's (Mr. Garren's great, great grandmother) daemons caused by a disastrous, ludicrous set of steps that led to her mental and physical breakdown. I won't give it away here, but the anger one feels for uncaring, unsympathetic, and violent characters while Delia is left, with the help of two very old, loyal slaves, to manage the homestead without safe, secure help, is just one of the ways Mr. Garren's story consumes you.
Western North Carolina's economy was, like most of the South's at that time, agrarian and rural. Yes, slavery was entrenched in this part of America. Some small farmers may have owned one or two slaves, yet it was the large, "corporate" farmers, who owned and contracted the most slaves. This was big business for these select few, mostly leading Southern politicians who were the slave owners.
The 19th century was also a time when honor and dueling among men were not only an integral part of upper class society, but also encouraged. Fight or light were the only options. This historical detail was, according to the author, one area usually not covered by historians as to one of the reasons for the War Between the States. When Mr. Lincoln's troops invaded the South, it was an act of dishonor to all Southern men. There was no choice but to fight the North's obvious disrespect. States' rights were a convenient excuse to protect the economic machine known as slavery.
Fort Sumter, and its aftermath, were just means to an end for the wealthy Southern slave and largest landowners used to protect their wealth and position. Thus, honor was the South's talisman for the Civil War. The Fort Sumter bombing and the Union Army invasion became a rallying cry for the Southern elite, who often bought their way into commissions and jobs away from the actual fighting or could afford to pay someone else to fight for them.
The young men like Joseph Youngblood and his brothers, who did not own slaves, were caught up in that rallying cry for states' rights, and ultimately went to fight the Union Army bravely and without reservation.
"The Secret of War" cuts back and forth between Joseph's constant struggle to survive and return to his beloved Delia; and Delia and the events surrounding the Union's Army advance on Asheville, North Carolina and surrounding area. However, the most crucial detail is the horrific loss of the Southern men. An entire generation was lost. Mr. Garren has meticulously set forth the numbers of soldiers lost in Western North Carolina - 25% or 27,486 of the men died in service. The number of soldiers who were permanently maimed, who lost limbs, etc. is staggering. The young, independent farmers - an entire generation -were either killed or maimed and unable to support their families.
Mr. Garren has delivered a stellar work of historical fiction. He helps us relive this awful time in our history and to understand the despair and ultimate loss. We live in the hearts and minds of his characters soaking up the descriptions of the land and the tragedies. We are forced to acknowledge the criminal element, (a historical reference often forgotten) and the men, like Delia's father, who pushed for war to support their own economic means; not necessarily for the good of their community.
There is no question that Mr. Garren gets it. War is hell and our country lost more men in the Civil War, than all of our other wars combined. The nation lost a part of its soul that was tied to the land. It was the beginning of the end of the family farm and homestead. We will never fully comprehend the result of the exodus from this part of the country to find ways to support families devastated by the war.
"The Secret of War" folds us into all the secrets of war and we are better informed. Unfortunately, this information has not taught us anything because of our obvious inability as a nation to learn from our mistakes.

Seeing Through the Lies is a treasure trove of insights and resources for women of all ages. Written with the wisdom of a grandmother and wit reminiscent of Erma Bombeck, Vonda Skelton invites the reader to explore the many lies that tempt and entrap women over a lifetime; and skillfully unmasks the greatest Masquerader for who he is. This enlightening guidebook with Bible study prompts inspires us to lower our masks and walk in the light of Christ with new vision.

I thought my masks were secure, after all I'd carried them with me for years. When I sat down to read Vonda's book, I thought I knew my masks well enough and had no intention of removing these comfortable friends. Well, Vonda's honesty, vulnerability, and wisdom and wit got behind my hidden self. Little by little she pried them loose. I learned a lot in reading this book and will recommend it to my girlfriends because I'm more convinced than ever we are more beautiful (without our masks) than we allow ourselves to believe.

This book was very helpful and enjoyable. I liked her format of talking about a different Lie for each chapter and then did the section on Unmasking with truth backed up with Bible references. Her stories were touching and funny and she came across as very, very real. I feel like I could just go up and strike up a conversation with her. I still think of the story where she jumps off of a tree or something with a rope tied around her waist as a youngster. I was super glad to hear she's not the ultimate housekeeper and doesn't have "it all together." I struggle with this area of my life and realized that we don't have to be the jack of all trades as women in our households. If she can accomplish all she has without too much guilt over letting her husband do most of the housekeeping, then I guess I can forgive myself a bit too. Her book gave great insight into the woman's mind with tendencies to believe perceptions put out there by the world and let me know that I am not alone not as a woman and certainly not as a beloved child of God.

Vonda writes beautifully an in such a way that you can see the story unfold! She makes the pratical applicable and helps the reader understand how they can apply her truths to their lives! loved it!
Tamra Nashman, author, 'Shoes For The Spirit, Encouragements'

This book had an immediate impact on me! The author truly makes us aware of how effective Satan's lies are in our daily walk. Loved her humorious, nitty-gritty realities. So refreshing and so inspiring!
Could hardly put it down!
Annetta Dellinger, Plain City, OH

An entertaining and cute astrology book for teens. Easy to understand and has fun facts about each of the signs. It also has some info about each rising sign, which if you don't know it, you can't figure it out from the book (it comes out wrong), but it is easy to find out on the internet. It even has a little about Chinese astrology and numerology. A great starter for teens and pre-teens who are interested in astrology.

If you're into the stars, you've gotta read this book! I don't know if the author's a witch or something, but she really knows what I'm like, inside and out! I lent this book to my g-friend who knew absolutely zero about astrology and now she doesn't want to give it back to me! Help!!! Lots of books are kind of a drag...like a school assignment. But this one's fun to read. And the writer said that Libra and Leo are a match made in heaven. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

If you're into the stars, you've gotta read this book! I don't know if the author's a witch or something, but she really knows what I'm like, inside and out! I lent this book to my g-friend who knew absolutely zero about astrology and now she doesn't want to give it back to me! Help!!! Lots of books are kind of a drag...like a school assignment. But this one's fun to read. And the writer said that Libra and Leo are a match made in heaven. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

My friend bought this book and I love it! She and I spend HOURS looking at it and stand amazed that our signs, in some ways, match us perfectly! We have a great time!

I got this book for my birthday and think it is totally great! I'm learning about astrology & it's cool! My friends and me read it at lunch & use it to figure out which boys we're good with. I really recommend this book and think it's great.

it was high voltage and moving.

give it a try.


it was reasonably priced.

motivation enough.

give it a try!!

Sexy in 6: Sculpt Your Body with the 6 Minute Quick-Blast Workout

This book makes it easy for a busy mom to get fit at home, without having to join a gym or buy expensive equipment.

The DVD is fantastic too - what a great idea to include it in a book about exercise. I found the personal stories of other women who were on Tracey's program extremely motivating as well.

In all, this is the best book I've read about women and fitness. It's a simple and easy to follow guide that will give you results quickly. And it can be worked into the busiest mom's schedule!

Tracey's program is easy to follow once you master it. I spent the weekend reading and studying and then started on Monday morning. I noticed a difference in my abs by the next Saturday. I have been a life long runner, so I dismissed the 6 minute thing as for novices only. It's a [...] kicker, as a matter of fact. She writes like she's your confidante and friend, and I really enjoyed it. If you're committed, then I suggest you buy her DVD's and do the work outs along with them. The time flies and in 6 minute segments, you'll be dripping sweat. This is a great change in work out regimins.

Tracey Mallett's 6 Minute Quick Blast Method is the perfect answer to the fitness needs of a busy person. With 3 kids under the age of 6 (including 3 year old twins) and a full-time work schedule, I have very limited time for exercise, but with the minimal time required for this program I been able to fit regular exercise back into my life and have seen dramatic results in just a few short weeks.

The 6 Minute Quick Blast Method is fantastic. With a lot of variety in the exercises and options to customize the workout based on what you feel like doing that day (e.g., focus on upper body, more on abs, more on lower body, or more total body), you never get bored with it. I would even venture to say...it is fun! The best part is you can break it up and just do 6 minutes at a time, so there's no excuse for why you can't fit it into a hectic day. The exercises are tough enough that you feel like you are really accomplishing results, but they don't leave you exhausted and sore - things that would make you not want to do it again the next day.

Following Tracey's guidelines in her book and the two videos have helped me accomplish great results in less than 30 minutes each day. Before this, I thought I had to work out for an hour a day to get results, and always ended up quitting any program I started as I just couldn't commit to that kind of time each day. Thanks to Tracey's program, I now have a solution to an exercise routine that I can commit to for the long term, as I know I can find the short amount of time to stick with it day after day.

Tracey's book brilliantly shares her years of expertise and experience in health, nutrition, and fitness. This is clearly a program written by a woman for woman. Tracey understands all those bulges and jiggles that many woman are self conscious about and has designed exercises to target those areas. The exercises are designed to work out several muscle groups at a time, so you get more bang for your buck! A very quick and efficient way to work out and GET results.
The 6 minute segments can be broken up throughout the day. No excuse not to squeeze in a quick blast here and there!
The food program is very easy to follow. It doesn't require unusual ingredients, just simple shopping and prep. It is easy to stick to because it doesn't eliminate any food groups. It is all about portion control and timing.
I participated in Team Mallet and Tracey's Sexy in 6 worked for me! In just six weeks I lost 4% body fat and several inches which means I replaced fat with muscle! Once you see the results, you'll be motivated to adopt this healthy life style forever! Let's face it, who doesn't want to look like Tracey!

After reading books like Heart of Darkness, and Benito Cereno, Shadow Patriots was happily read. I loved the character Lizzie, her strength and personality was humerous. I also enjoyed how this book was fictional, yet didn't stretch the truth very far.

After being able to hear Robson speak at my school, I was overjoyed to be given the opprotunity to read her novel. Not long after reading the book I became enthralled and unable to put the book down. Every second of the book was fascinating. The way Robson wraps the historical figures in with her fictional plot is remarkable. As far as I know the book is historically accurate and has all the great names in American history such as George Washington, Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamiliton, and much much more. The main character Kate Darby is truely unique and sensational. She tears down the stereotype of a damsel in distress and proves that women can do whatever they put their minds do. Incredible Novel and quick read.

I read this book in my 11th grade English class not too long ago and it was so much more than I expected. The way the historical figures are mixed in with fictional characters makes it so interesting, and the mixing is so well done, you find yourself wondering who is made-up and who is not. On more than one occasion, I found myself unable to put the book down late at night. When I finished reading, I looked into some of the historical figures in the book, and Ms. Robson was very accurate with her information. All in all, this book makes history come alive!

This book was absolutely incredible for its detail. I loved reading the description of how life was in the time period. Robson's little tidbits-perfectly placed throughout the story- were so fascinating and knowing they were true added to the story. Robson made me feel as though I were there in the war and knew all the characters. It was not a typical book about the Revolution. It was captivating; I could not put it down. Its plot kept getting better and better with each page, and the ending, although sad, was perfect. The book was suprising and entertaing from the first to the last word.

Kate and Lizzie were characters I adored. Kate's bravery to help her brother, and Lizzie's devotion to Seth were fantastic attributions to each character and helped me identify with them. While reading, I didn't feel as though I was learning about history, which is a perfect way for historical fiction book to be written.

If you have interest in revolutionary times in USA this is a must read. The role that Quakers played in the war was very interesting to me. You will not be sorry you bought it.

Another delightful outing with vineyard manager Nikki Sands. Nikki has her hands full juggling two dashing suitors, but when a big-time chef is shot at the winery and spa, she takes on a new challenge: find the killer before she becomes the next victim. Lovable characters, steady pacing, and secretive suspects will keep you guessing until the end.

I absolutely adore this series, but this is my favorite of the three. Once again Ms. Scott blends up a delicious concoction of mystery, romance and culinary delights. There are two big questions in this who dunnit. Who dunnit and who will Nikki pick to be her man.

The chef of the new restaurant on the vineyard, Georges Debussey meets his demise while bathing at the new Malveaux spa. Instead of r&r, he winds up DEAD with a bullet to the head. Nikki Sands once again goes to work solving the crime. She's also got her plate full when it comes to the men in her life. Nikki has some love life decisions to make with two eligible bachelors. Filled with good looking men, plenty of murderous mystery and one charming heroine made a night out of it for me. A little Syrah and Ms. Scott's third installent and I was completely content.

I loved this book and I love the series. But this was the best book so far. I did not want to put it down. I did not want it to end. The author had me from beginning to end. I am not a wine drinker but I think I might pour myself a glass of wine and put my feet up and read the next one that comes out. I hope the next one comes out soon, for I am dying to see if Nikki ends up with Derek or Andres. My vote is for Derek. Nikki will never be happy with anyone until she gets her feet wet with Derek first!

The new restaurant, Georges on the Vineyard, is about to open in the new boutique hotel and spa at Malveaux Estates. It features star chef Georges Debussey. He is well-known for his cuisine as well as his lack of couth.

Georges goes for a Syrah bath splash at the spa to relax before the restaurant grand opening. When he doesn't return, Simon and Marco get Nikki to find out what's wrong. She finds him dead from a gunshot.

Detective Robinson rubs Nikki the wrong way when he tells her to not play Nancy Drew. She sets out to investigate on the sly.

During all this, Andres asks her to go to Spain with him. Nikki is upset most with the way he asks. And she isn't sure what she should do. And then there's Derek.

Nikki finds herself in danger along the way. Can she figure out who the killer is before someone else dies?

I really like this series. Nikki is such a fun character. The sexual tension created between Nikki, Andres, and Derek really adds to the storyline, but I do hope she makes a decision soon. When I first met Simon and Marco, I found them to be obnoxious, but now I really enjoy them. They add to the story and help Nikki along the way.

The Napa Valley setting really adds to the story as well. It seems so serene in the midst of the murder investigation. I would love to spend a week at the new hotel at Malveaux Estates.

Whether you like wine or not, give this series a try. I recommend reading them in order, but you don't have to. I highly recommend this book and the complete series.

Sensual bath treatments, facials, massages . . . mouth-watering Italian food. The atmosphere is fabulous. The book takes place in California grape-growing country, with a winery, an elegant hotel, an Italian restaurant, and a spa. The book also has recipes for that wonderful Italian food.

Nikki finds a body and she is determined to find out who the killer is. The adventures she goes on in order to solve the mystery are fun and interesting, but also tense and edgy. Once she starts going on these adventures, the book was hard to put down.

Nikki is the main character, and I love her. I also love the character of Alyssa, even though she is not a main character. I think she adds a lot to the book.

The solving of the mystery was clever. It had a nice twist.

I can't wait to make the Margherita Pizza. It sounds like the most scrumptous thing ever.

Don't you just hate that term? Well, I do too, but it applies to this book, in the sense that that is what you find yourself saying over and over again as you read. A non stop, can't put it down great read! I warn you, don't start this book unless you have the time to devote to doing just that. If you don't set the time aside, you will go crazy with suspense!

Very suspenseful, exciting, and thoroughly enjoyable. And the pacing...wow, eight pages into the book the main character has lost her husband and unborn child, and then watched a little girl get kidnapped...and that kind of tension is sustained until the end! You've got a vicious villain, a sympathetic heroine, and plenty of genuine thrills...don't miss it!

Once you pick up this book, you won't be able to put it down until you've read it cover to cover. Ms. Delisi maintains the suspense from first page to last. Excellent!

I finished this book in 2 sittings; I found it riveting and touching without being the least bit maudlin or far-fetched. The heroine, Marie, still subjected to the torturous memories of her past, has the chance to make a difference in the life of a young child; her determined actions force the plot to move as rapid and dangerously as whitewater and simultaneously flood hope into her own life and that of an interested young police officer. Quite good!

Reserve this one for an otherwise quiet evening!

If you're looking for a fast-paced read that will engage your heart as much as your mind, then Elizabeth Delisi's Since All Is Passing is the book for you! Marie is a heroine to cry for, cheer for, and bite your nails to the quick for. Rebecca, the little girl whose kidnapping hurtles the story into overdrive, seizes your heart and won't let go. As for the kidnapper, he is terrible in the very banality of his villainy. Unlike so many of the overblown and poorly motivated bad guys that appear in thrillers today, this monster is both understandable and all too human. And that makes him all the more terrifying.

Since All Is Passing is an exciting and emotionally-satisfying read.

This book was very good. I liked just about all the characters in the book. Jenna the main character had a way of taking you off, i fealt realy bad for her in some parts of the story. The only thing that i dident quite like about the book was that after a "story" it then told you the truth behind it... It was sometimes a bit difficutlt to udnerstand or get through... But it was intersting... Now if only i can get a coppy of White Jenna to spur my minde a bit more....

I read the book about a year ago and still remember it in detail. A wonderful read!

This book was really cool. I liked the simpleness of it. I liked how she got to the point and didn't describe everylast detail. I also liked Pynt. She was my favorite character. She was mischivious, yet she had a loyal quality to her.

"Sister Light, Sister Dark" and its sequel, "White Jenna," hold places of honor on my bookshelves.

The story is about Jenna, a thrice-orphaned girl of the Dales (a fictional region) being raised by followers of Great Alta, the Goddess. These women--mostly unwanted daughters of local peasants--train for years to call up their "dark sisters." Jenna, who was born with completely white hair, may be the Anna foretold in prophecy.

Stuff happens.

Interspersed among the actual narrative chapters are ballads and myths of the Dales, as well as a pretentious contemporary historian's interpretation of the events of the story. Through his impeccable application of scientific method to historical research, he manages to get just about everything completely wrong. It's hilarious.

The third volume in this trilogy, "The One-Armed Queen," was a disappointment to me. While it was a good book in its own right, to me it didn't feel related to the other two--it worked on its own, but it was not part of the series. It concerns Jenna's one-armed adopted daughter Scillia, who seemed much less interesting than Jenna. Oh, well.

I highly recommend the first two books.

One of the best reprints produced by Starscape books has been the reissue of Jane Yolen's Alta trilogy, the first of which is "Sister Light, Sister Dark." While it takes awhile to get going, this unique and imaginative fantasy book introduces us to a fantasy story that's both familiar and innovative.

Jenna was orphaned three times: Her mother died in childbirth, the midwife died while taking her away, and the warrior woman who adopted her was also killed. She's taken in collectively by the follows of Great Alta, a benevolent goddess. They're somewhat Amazonian -- there are no men in their "hames," they are warriors, farmers, priestesses, and everything else that they need to be.

But Jenna is different from the rest. There's a prophecy that a white-haired child who lost three mothers is the Anna, a savior who will change everything. Events are set into motion when Jenna and her friend Pynt encounter teenage prince Carum in the woods, who is being hunted by a vicious warrior. Killing the warrior and saving Carum leads to destruction for Jenna's home and family...

Jane Yolen crafts a wonderful, believable place in the Dales. Not only is it very detailed and plausible-sounding, but she also sprinkles it with songs and historical studies. While the Alta series is often labelled "feminist fantasy," there's no preaching or two-dimensional male characters. Yolen simply shows us Jenna and Pynt operating on the same level as Carum, and leaves it at that.

Her writing is earthy and has plenty of detail without bogging itself down. The concept of "dark sisters" (sort of a nighttime-only spiritual twin) is an unusual and well-crafted one. The only problem is that it takes quite some time for the plot to get moving, and it's a jolt when it finally does; we go from no action to all-action in an instant.

Jenna is an excellent reluctant lead. Her mixed feelings (she both wants and doesn't want to be the Anna) are quite plausible, as are her strength and gutsiness. She's not some sort of supergirl; she cries, feels pain and loneliness like anyone else. Pynt is a good sidekick, with her mischievous attitude. And Carum is a strong counterpart (and romantic interest) to Jenna.

Since "Sister Light Sister Dark" ends on an unfinished note, readers will want to check out the second volume of the trilogy (also available from Starscape) "White Jenna." A unique epic fantasy.

I was impressed by the courage shown by the women in this novel. I read it as part of my own research on Chernobyl. I have relatives living in the Ukraine and decided to write a mystery story with the Chernobyl disaster as a backdrop Chernobyl Murders. Irene's novel helped me understand the victims in what would eventually become the exclusion zone more deeply.

Irene Zabytko in this book presented the consequences of the worst civilian nuclear disaster in the world in a "humanely-digestible" way.The reader is initially reluctant to start reading this book, but later on , the author makes it more plausible and presents the deeply human feelings of the victims. Excellent work, Ms Zabytko!!

A short book, that can be read in one day, The Sky Unwashed is a highly important book in two respects. Foremost, this is one of the first full pictures we got about what really happened to the residents in the Chernobyl region and Kiev in April, 1986, albeit in fiction, but borne out now in articles and TV documentaries. Secondly, the lyrical beauty and masterful storytelling should elevate this novel to the stature of high literature. It is almost a year since this book came out and I read it, but it still haunts me. There are several themes interwoven and coalescing in the overriding struggle for life versus death's inevitability, the largeness of the nuclear accident, its cataclysmic proportions versus the helplessness of mankind or of the individual, of course another metaphor for the big Soviet Union and the communist ideal versus the individual. Although ironically the political and scientific disasters are of mankind's creation.

The novel plays out in snapshots: We see people working at the factory before the nuclear accident because it looks like a better life or the best alternative; the aftermath of the accident, the government putting people on buses in a hurry, telling them they can go home in a few days, but to leave everything behind; a skin rash or a burn or a breathing problem, just that, a denial of radiation sickness; Marusia and her friends planting a garden.

What can a person do when faced with a moral dilemma over which they seem to have no control and from which there is no escape, where it doesn't matter whether you are a hero or a coward, because you will die anyway? The novel asks this in several ways and on several levels, and the answers are as different as the personalities involved.

The grandmother Marusia, her daughter-in-law Zosia, and two grandchildren crowd the hospital in Kiev, where her son, Zosia's husband, lays dying, people crammed into hallways for weeks fight over blankets and food and toys, the train station is stampeded. Zosia escapes the hospital for awhile to watch a parade, to look at clean streets and flowers, and to try pretend that it's all a bad dream, even while plotting to get her children out of Kiev. Marusia takes a different route. She and other elderly women friends go back to their village and live life on their own terms with the time they have left. This is where the novel really takes its philosophical wing and its song. It is the heart and soul of the book.

As the sky becomes dirty and unnaturally clouded over Chernobyl, a society's vision gradually becomes clear and unclouded. One makes the inevitable connection to the collapse of the Soviet Union a few years later. We will never really know for sure, but the issue of handling nuclear energy safely is one that is relevant to everyone on the planet.

I must admit, I was initially drawn to this book because I myself derive from 100% Ukrainian lineage. As such, Zabytko's subject matter interested me. I thumbed through the book and thought "Hey, I've gotta read this."
The story centers around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of April 26th, 1986. The fallout from this tragedy is said to have been the equivalent of eight Hiroshimas! Yet, as though the tragedy in itself were not bad enough, the government at that time chose to suppress information to the residents of villages surrounding Chernobyl, and to the nation at large. Folks were kept in the dark concerning the actual extent (and far-reaching effects) of the radioactive contamination. As a result, much PREVENTABLE damage was done to people at the time, and even to the children that would be born to those who survived.
The Unwashed Sky focuses on the situation facing the widow Marusia Petrenko, her son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren. By the time they flee their village of Starylis, it is too late. Their lives will never be the same.
Marusia decides to return to Starylis. She is not even aware that it has been declared a "forbidden zone"... all that she knows is that this is her village, the only home she's ever known, and since everything dear has been torn from her, this feeling of "home" may be the only thing she can yet embrace as her own.
She returns, and finds that her only companion is an old mangy cat. She keeps a perpetual fire, hoping that the smoke from her chimney will tell others of her presence. And slowly, some of her old friends do begin to trickle back. One by one, these old women (and one man), drawn by the same sense of a need to belong to their beginnings, return to rebuild their lives.
These tenacious Starylis "babysi" band together and draft a letter of demands that causes the Chernobyl officials to cede to their requests, and admit to certain wrongdoings, however late in the day! (Even then, they grant the women's wishes only because of how good this will look in the newspapers).
Zabytko paints a sensitive, touching picture of this time of loneliness and desolation, of undeserved and unwarranted hardship... a time when even the dirt rejected seed and the water tasted of metal.
I loved the authentic Ukrainian vernacular running through the book... I could hear my own grandmother clearly.
A wonderful testimony of the enduring power of the human spirit and its will to survive... a point made all the more sobering when one considers the non-fictional source of the author's inspiration.
In an interview with Rebecca Brown, Irene Zabytko said: "I hope that anyone who reads it comes away with the feeling that despite the cultural exoticisms, we're still part of one planet, and the endurance of the human spirit persists in all."
I think she succeeds in this.

The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster scared the world witless. We all worried what might happen to us. But what became of those who lived there? It would be a mistake to read Irene Zabytko's The Sky Unwashed as a documentary novel, because, despite its commonplace beginning, it tells its story with characters who come to matter to us for their own sakes, not for what they can tell us about Chernobyl. Even so, Zabytko, a Ukrainian-American born in Chicago, writes from experience as well as imagination, for she has relatives and friends in Chernobyl, has spent time with them there and has taken their stories into herself.

The novel opens with a too-journalistic narrative of a Ukrainian family's dispirited life, pre-disaster, in a village where people seem to be going through the motions of life in a dying culture. Weddings are not celebrated festively so much as mockingly, less cheer than jeer. For young people, working at the nearby Chernobyl plant offers a chance to escape from ancestral poverty. Older ones, even in the gentler Gorbachev times, take a different view. They've lived through Stalin's engineered Ukraine famine; war; oppression. "The old women in babushkas who kept the old ways alive with their icons and litanies ... knew that the hard times never end," the prologue says.

The Petrenko family represents both attitudes. Old Marusia lives with her weak, dull son, whose wife, Zosia, nurses a vital spark that leads her into unhappy affairs in search of vibrant life. We don't like Zosia much at first. Irritable, nasty, she appears selfish despite having two young children. But after Chernobyl blows, her overbearing ill-temper and sharp tongue come in handy when the radiation-poisoned family encounters sneering incompetence at a Kiev hospital. Zosia bribes and browbeats her way to medical treatment for her husband; of course, we fear for those who lack such survival skills.

Yet it's the aged Marusia, with her traditional, lumbering ways, who carries the novel into our hearts. She goes along with the evacuation because there's no choice. When in the ensuing chaos she finds herself alone, though, she realizes that home is the only place to go. Arriving there after a hard journey, "She sank to her knees on the ground, and she made the sign of the cross. She uttered a prayer of thanks to be back on the land where her mother and grandmother had lived."

How Marusia survives in a deserted, radioactive village where the water tastes "like coins" is harrowing and fascinating. It's the center of the novel, much as the primacy of home and religious faith is Marusia's center. Eyes itching and red, body aching strangely, she goes to her church to ring its deafening bells every day. She tills her garden, aids a dying cat. Loneliness tries to crush her spirit. A few other residents return, bringing relief from isolation but also moral dilemmas and the pain of an old wrong that Marusia is now expected to forgive. She leads some villagers to an effective (but not very convincing) showdown with Soviet officials over basic demands. (It should be noted that this is a strong-women novel -- the men all tend to be weak, stupid or dead. Is that necessary to show that women are strong?)

The author resists any temptation to lard her story with lectures on the evils of nuclear power. A lesser writer would have introduced a character whose job was to pontificate instructively on radiation dangers and communist inefficiency (a lethal combination, for sure). Instead, Zabytko concentrates on showing what happens to her characters and how they respond, in their human particularity, to the terrors they face. Incidents affect them, and move us, without any sense of piling-on or wallowing in pathos. There are even mica-glints of humor.

Mainly we're left with astonished pride at human endurance, coupled with anguish and anger at what the novel shows so unflinchingly without preaching: that by accepting dangerous technologies, we risk irreversibly poisoning not only our bodies but also our very ground of being -- land, home, family.