Some books are moving, some books are funny, some make your stomach turn. Today I bring to you a book that will do all that and more – Lucia Etxebarria’s Un Milagro En Equilibrio (A Miracle in Equilibrium).
First of all – a disclaimer – I am not a mother, only a daughter, so if any of you mothers out there disagree with me on anything – that’s OK. The book’s narrative is quite simple – Eva, a successful yet self-doubting writer, gives birth to a baby girl. She then sits down to write a memoir in which she describes her life before motherhood to her daughter, so as to someday let her know who her mother is, without embellishing the gory stuff.
This is a book that is so real and speaks so much to women of my generation, it sometimes hurts. The brutally frank discussion of the fight to become independent, of the difficulty of leaving your past (and childhood) behind, the ways in which we think of ourselves as feminist, liberated women but sometimes behave like we know nothing about it, and many many more issues are at the heart of what every young career woman out in the dating pool is going through.
The book also offers a poignant look into one of the most complex relationships in nature – the relationship between a mother and her daughter. As one of two sisters growing up with a single mother, this is one subject I can never get enough of, and Etxbarria jumps into it feet first.
All in all, a very refreshing and recommended book, sparing you nothing but still keeping it readable and not too scary. Have fun!
I am leaving you with a song about one of the most (if not the most) iconic mothers – The Beatles’ ” Lady Madonna”:
Well, some of my story-hoarding friends may find this hard to believe or even offensive, but to me there is nothing like a good detective story. A lower art, some may say, but I beg to differ – a good detective story is a masterpiece of the imagination and the mind. They are smart books, but to my taste – not geekish. A true pleasure.
In this art form the British definitely set the tone, and today I will discuss three of my all time favorites. I provide no specific recommendations – anything by these authors is definitely worth reading.
The father of all detectives. The mesmerizing story lines, the enigmatic, charismatic character of Sherlock Holmes and the comic and emotional relief the character of Dr. Watson brings to the stories combine into a thrilling, challenging and highly enjoyable series of books and stories. Holmes’ powers of deduction and his encyclopedic knowledge in various scientific and cultural realms is fascinating.
Ms. Christie lived in a man’s world but managed to express her extraordinary talent, introducing two of the most unlikely but shrewd detectives – the flamboyant (and probably gay) Hercule Poirot and the seemingly frail old spinster, Miss Marple. These two exhibit a surprising acute perception of minute details in the ongoings around them, making for many books that have a fantastic mixture of a sensitively described social scene, a humorous take on that same scene and the detectives themselves, and great suspense.
Don’t you just adore a man that is both a hard-working, no-nonsense police officer and a sensitive, tortured poet? This author is much more modern than the previous two, and her books reflect that in the more complex, full characters she presents and in letting us into the lives of both victims, murderers and the people who investigate the crimes. Apart from being wonderfully and thoughtfully written, these books offer a wonderful mixture of great detective work and pure old good story telling.
Do you have more recommendations for great detective books?
Some people (mostly men) wrongly refer to Jane Austen books as ‘chic books’. Although there is nothing wrong with chic books (I confess to having a soft spot for Little Women and Jane Eyre, hard-core chic books), treating Jane Austen books as such degrades the work of a great artist, focusing on form rather than substance.
It is undeniably true that each and every one of her books features a young heroine going through some sort of journey or crisis on the way to finding the man she will eventually marry and setting out to the horizon on the exciting life of a married woman. BUT where other people see only the romance, I see sharp and poignant social criticism of the situation of women in society at the time and the mechanisms ensuring things will not change, including inheritance laws, unavailability of education for women and the most effective tool of all – pressures from other women. Though her books are comic, to me they have a rebellious streak which echoes in my heart, as unfortunately we girls are not done fighting for our rights yet.
Yes, yes, I know, you all adore Emma. I’m sorry – to me she seems like a not very bright spoiled brat. Of all Austen’s heroines, only Catherine Morland is more stupid than Emma, and is therefore my least favorite. I like the more sensible Austen girls – Lizzie Bennet and Elinor Dashwood, and Lizzie is my all time favorite.
In a scene that explains in the best way why I love Lizzie so much, Mr. Darcy – the man most women in the country would kill to marry – proposes to Lizzie in the rudest possible way, explaining that although she is clearly quite beneath his class and could in no way be considered a good match for him, he finds himself inexplicably attached to her. In a response that always makes me go: “Go Lizzie! Go Lizzie!” she makes the socially suicidal and courageous act of throwing him the hell out. FANTASTIC.
I do recommend each and every one of Miss Austen’s books. They provide a look into the difficult lives of young women in a different era.
I leave you with a clip from the fantastic 1995 BBC mini-series adaptation of Pride and Prejudice(Attention:Addictive!)
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