Only 3 books for the Sunday Salon this week.
Wuhu Diary: The Mystery of My Daughter Lulu
Emily Prager
This book is about Emily Prager, a writer from New York and her adopted Chinese daughter Lulu. Prager was one of the first "western" women to adopt from China in the late 90's. This book catches up with Prager 4 years down the track when Lulu is 5 and taking her first trip to China to visit the town of Wuhu, where she was born and left on a bridge, a possible victim of China's "one child" policy. Wuhu Diary is a strange sort of book. Parts of it detail boring events such as Prager's injury on a running machine, Lulu's ongoing problem with diarrhea and her sweet friendships with the hotel staff. Presumably Prager thinks these events are interesting as they took place in Wuhu. Other parts of the book are blindly deluded - Prager's absolute faith that sweet President Clinton would never have bombed a Chinese Embassy on purpose, and she tells the Chinese people who speak English this often. It is misguided patriotism in the extreme and I was staggered at how much she believed her own viewpoint with no evidence other than her own feelings. I was also stunned whereby Lulu started playing with an obviously poor little boy in the park and Prager said she had to fight her instincts not to tell the child's father that she would take the boy to the USA and educate him. This stunning display of middle class white person syndrome was glossed over by Prager who I believe genuinely thought she could offer the child more than his own father and family and country.
There are many critical reviews of this book on Amazon, and I understand why. At 5 years old, Lulu possibly wasn't ready to know she was found on a bridge and to be dragged to the orphanage to confront her past, but every parent gets to make these decisions for their child so Prager's actions might have been well suited to Lulu. I found the emphasis she placed on Lulu's dreams or her games to be striking and sometimes, reaching. Sometimes a dream about a crocodile or a game with pandas is just that, not some deep seated processing of adoption trauma. Despite its faults, this is an interesting book and Prager's interest in and respect of Chinese culture (althought she is not above racial stereotypes such as "everyone is happy in China and smile all the time" and unlikely scenarios such as "every adult has time to play with Lulu") is obvious, as is her love for her daughter.
Forever Liesl: My Sound of Music Story
Charmian Carr
I love The Sound of Music. It was my favourite film as a child and I have seen it many many times. I very much enjoyed Charmian Carr's (Liesl) book which showcases her own love for the film. She is generous with her memories of making the movie and lavish in her praise for her celluloid brothers and sisters, with whom she still shares close friendships, even 40 years on. I enjoyed reading about her friendship with Christopher Plummer and her enjoyment at being included with the adults at their hotel in Austria (Carr was 21 at the time of filming, a mere 15 years younger than Plumber and about 6 or so years younger than Julie Andrews). Charmian (pronounced Shar-MEE-an), or Charmy as her friends call her, also details her friendships with the real Trapp family and highlights the differences between their real lives and the film. Carr is now an interior decorator, but still makes apparences to support The Sound of Music. Her book is a quick and easy read and highly recommended for hardcore The Sound of Music fans!
An Ice Cold Grave
Charlaine Harris
I came to Charlaine Harris via the hugely successful Sookie Stackhouse series, and I remain firm in my belief that those books are her best work. I have read her Aurora Teagarden series and her Lily Bard series, as well as the series from which this book - An Ice Cold Grace - is the third installment, and Sookie is her best work.
Harper Connelly and her "brother" Tolliver Lang travel the US hiring out Harper's services as someone who can find dead bodies. She came by this skill after being struck by lightning as a child. She is hired by griefstricken families or the local law enforcement. She finds bodies (which give off a "hum" depending on age) and knows how they died. I find the concept to be interesting, but the execution is always a little off. Harper and Tolliver have no sparkle, nothing of the sweet comic edge that some characters in the Sookie Stackhouse series have. This makes it hard to warm to them, and even harder to stick with them. The mystery angle of the book is usually well written, but this one was telegraphed from miles away. Harris is a gifted writer, though, and despite my misgivings about the characters and the storyline, it is still a quite readable book.
I was thrilled that Harper and Tolliver finally got it on, although I'm not sure how you transition from telling everyone that he is your brother to telling everyone he is your lover. Confused much? Harper and Tolliver are no blood relation, and their lawyer parents married when they were teenagers and had two more children. Their parents became drug addicts and Harper and Tolliver raised their two younger siblings until Harper's sister Cameron went missing one day, their parents were in jail or dead (can't remember which) and they embark on this travelling lifestyle. The overall question of the books is "Where is Cameron?" and she is mentioned in every book and I imagine there will be one whole book that focuses on finding Cameron.
In any case, if you're looking for a great vampire story with a mystery edge, go with the Sookie Stackhouse books. If you're looking for a great mystery (all of Harris' books are mysteries, some are just more obvious mysteries than others) then read the Lily Bard or Aurora Teagarden series. Harper Connelly is a very distant fourth in regards to Harris' best work.
And I'm done. Happy Sunday!
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