morsecode's Reviews (14)

More magical realism than historical fantasy. I thought this was really well done. 

I put all the book Persephone has in their “cheerful” set on my wishlist in advance of the holidays. I was given this one and I’m so glad because I loved it.       When I described the book to my spouse, he said “so like Midsomer Murders without the murders”.

Layered and complicated. An excellent dark mystery with both a police detective and some not-cosy amateur/retiree sleuthing.  One think I didn’t really like is the detective’s schtick about always needing people to confirm that yes, he was right and I think that will be a recurring thing in the series. 

This is the kind of book that I should have loved. I’m very interested in the subject matter and have a professional interest in research. The author/narrator began to grate on me. I didn’t mind that she writes so much about herself. That’s neither here nor there. I hated how oblivious she kept showing herself to be (oops, cousin, no wonder you don’t want to talk about this, I forgot your father was murdered at Auschwitz; oh no, I can’t read the records in the German archives that I traveled to Germany to see because they are written in German).  She also contradicts herself a few times within the narrative and, most frustrating of all, doesn’t follow through (or explain the choice not to) on tracking the other stolen paintings or investigating more deeply why her family received such comparably good treatment. 

I had this as an e-audio from the library and hadn’t paid attention to its length so I was surprised at how short it was.  The ending seemed really abrupt to me, but if i stepped back, I could see why it ended the way it did. I think I would have appreciated it more as a well-crafted piece if I’d been aware of how things  were progressing in relation to its total length (like if I was reading a physical copy or had a progress bar).  I loved how the title was explained and how it ended up being a theme. 

I only had the audio for 7 days and I ran out of time. I was going to try to finish it, but it’s still 19 weeks out from being available to me again and I wasn’t enjoying it enough to invest one of my four e-library holds on it for so long. 

I liked this book and I’ll probably read the sequel, but I feel like I already know what two of the big reveals are going to be. 

This book is primarily about a family of individuals from Cameroon, two of whom have overstayed their visas, trying to make a life in the United States in and around the 2008 financial crisis (inner lives and histories of the two parents plus how they navigate interpersonal relationships, work/school, the legal system,  and cultural differences).  Their challenges are juxtaposed with that of the family of the Lehman Brothers executive for whom both parents work at one time or another.  I thought it was excellent.

The main characters (the four parents) are shown in all their unvarnished glory, as is America both the lead up to and the immediate aftermath of the collapse.  

I loved this book. I really just wish it was longer.  I would have loved if there were more customers for the Book Walker.

I hadn’t read the synopsis so I didn’t know what to expect from this book, but I enjoyed it. It’s dark and there were some bits I probably would have skimmed over if I was reading rather than listening to an audiobook, but it somehow ends up being a bit hopeful.