The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer

I generally avoid articles, blogs, books and the like that seem to inflame the “mommy wars” where judgments fly fast and loose about others’ parenting choices. Yet I was intrigued by this book’s wry title and decided to dive in.

The book is meant to be a look at the lives of four professional women who chose to leave the world of work behind after the birth of their children. While the characters acknowledge they are fortunate to have such a choice, given that most families have no alternative to a two-working-parent household, I still bristled at their privilege and narrow existence. As a result, I didn’t much like or care about most of the characters. There also wasn’t much happening until about two-thirds of the way through, so if you are looking for a forward-moving, plot-driven book this isn’t for you.

The author also used the practice of including as separate chapters flashbacks to stories about the protagonists’ parents (and in one instance, Nadia Comaneci!) to flesh out how the women came to be who they are. I found it distracting and ineffective.

Did I expect too much from this book, thinking it would provide some insight into and sense of satisfaction with my own work/life/parenting decisions? I think not. In this instance, I was merely looking for characters whose life stories were interesting and possibly relatable. I didn’t find them. - Reviewed by Suzanne

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

A fateful meeting on a Nigerian beach years before sets the tone for this heartbreaking novel by British author Cleave. London magazine editor Sarah and her husband Andrew are having marital problems. Sarah is involved in an affair and feels she must decide if she wants to stay with her husband and young son, Charlie. When a free invitation comes addressed in her name to the magazine she edits, she decides that the trip to the Nigerian coast would be the perfect getaway to save her marriage.

One perfectly normal, sunny afternoon on the coast turns into a nightmare, when two young girls, Little Bee and her sister, suddenly run towards Sarah and Andrew. They are being chased by soldiers who are destroying area villages in their quest for oil. The soldiers give Andrew an ultimatum – chop off a finger and Little Bee’s sister will live. His decision results in everyone’s lives changing forever.

Perfect for book groups, this quiet and stunning novel shows how a “what if this happened to me?” situation changes everything. Frightening, yet also redemptive, the novel alternates narration between Little Bee and Sarah. It is also a novel about the growing friendship, against many odds, between Sarah and Little Bee, especially since Little Bee shows up on Sarah’s doorstep many years later – and also on the day of Andrew’s memorial service. How did she survive and know how to find Sarah? What led Andrew to take his life? All the mysteries are solved by the heart-wrenching end that readers can see slowly building up. Cleave, also the author of the outstanding novel, Incendiary, is definitely a writer to watch. I also found this novel to be very similar to Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones, a review of which can be read at http://www.tcpl.org/sarah/2007/12/74-mister-pip-by-lloyd-jones.html – Reviewed by Sarah

A Very British Gangster

A look at the real life of Gotti-esque Dominic Noonan of Manchester, England. He gets things done for his community members that the police and social service agencies can’t achieve such as reuniting a mother with her baby “stolen” by the grandparents or making sure one neighbor doesn’t feel free to assault another neighbor with a hammer. Of course, Dom doesn’t have to worry about what he can legally do to effect change. He does whatever he thinks will work even though that might include threats of or actual violence.

There are a whole bunch of Noonans, brothers, cousins, godchildren, in Dom’s “security business.” When one of his brothers dies in a motorcycle accident, so many people come to show respect that the police have to spend thousands of pounds on crowd and traffic control. If you liked watching the Sopranos, try this Manchester version of crime family life. - Reviewed by Nancy