Dear Haiti, Love Alaine

Finished March 30

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite

This teen novel written by two sisters is told by Alaine Beauparlant, a senior in high school, whose parents were both born in Haiti. Her father is a psychiatrist and her mother is a television journalist. They've recently separated and Alaine lives in Miami with her dad while her mom works in Washington doing political news. When her mom has an on air meltdown, Alaine must struggle to understand and deal with the reactions from her fellow students at her private school. 

Alaine is also working on a history project for school and she tries to take her project in a different direction than expected and get back at some of the kids teasing her. It backfires and Alaine is exiled to Haiti to stay with her aunt, the Minister of Tourism there, and her mom who has gone to ground while she determines her next steps. 

As Alaine discovers what is behind her mother's actions, and learns more about the country of her parents, she also learns about the family curse that her mother has never shared with her. Alaine's aunt is also involved with a children's charity and Alaine interns there as part of her remote schoolwork. She also gets to know her mother better, as she comes to term with her mother's medical diagnosis.

There is a lot of Haitian history and culture here, and of course food. 

The book is made up of school reports, texts, emails, articles, transcripts, letters, diaries, and other written material that come together to give a bigger picture of Alaine and her world.

I enjoyed learning more about Haiti, and liked the sassy character of Alaine. This book has a little of everything: romance, drama, mysticism, and humour. 

The Robber of Memories

Finished September 2
The Robber of Memories: A River Journey Through Colombia by Michael Jacobs

Jacobs has long had an interest in Colombia and the Magdalena River, but it was a chance encounter with an again Gabriel Garcia Marquez that pushed him to this journey to follow the Magdalena River from its mouth at Barranquilla to its source at Páramo de las Papas.
The book has another focus as well. Jacobs' father had died following a decline into dementia and his mother, who is Italian, is suffering from advanced Alzheimer's. Marquez also suffered from dementia as he aged. There is a doctor in Colombia, that Jacobs meets up with on his journey, that has worked with a group of people from a specific area suffering from a type of Alzheimer's and identified a gene associated with that type.
And there is the nature of Colombia's political history, where the rebels and paramilitaries have caused a type of memory loss in its citizens, who must survive in this uncertain environment.
Jacobs covers the river's history, the political violence and literary allusions to the river to begin. While a map is provided, I found it more frustrating than useful as it did not include most of the places he visited. This is a continuing frustration I have with books that include maps that don't relate well enough to the contents of the book itself.
He spends a fair bit of time in Barranquilla, where the river ends, beginning his stay with the Hotel El Prado, the country's first tourist hotel, which opened in the 1930s. He makes contact with Juan Alberto Montoya at NAVESCO which moves cargo along the river and from there to Hector Cruz at Naviera Fluvial Colombiana.
Before the actual river journey, he makes a couple of sidetrips. One is to the Boca de Cenizas, a hazardous inlet where the Magdalena reaches the sea. For this, his pilot is Alejandro Henao. Another sidetrip is to Mompox, which is on a disused arm of the river. One his way to Mompox, he stops in La Gloria where he meets the famous Cristian Valencia of Biblioburro. In Mompox, he is a subject of interest, first connecting with Nando, an optician, and from there to a dentist and historian, a poet, and including a visit to the local cemetery.
His river journey begins on a tugboat called the Catalina which is pushing barges upriver destined for Barrancabermeja. He has a new Colombian friend who will be his companion for the journey, Julio Caycedo. The captain of the tugboat is Diomidio Raimundo Rosales, who often calls for the author using "Migueleeto." Other crew include Alfredo, who is in charge of the large tanks on one of the barges, Juan Cano, a young pilot, and the cook Leiva. The tug has trouble near the end in getting much past Gamarra. There is a particular windy part of the river which is difficult earlier as well, the Pinellos, partly because of low water. Honda is as far as most previous travellers get on the river itself. When he leaves the tugboat, he switches to a chalupa, which is a small fast boat.
Along the way, he meets human rights activists, journalists, the afore-mentioned Alzheimer doctor, friendly taxi drivers, hippie hostel owners, accommodating farmers, and yes, FARC members.
An interesting journey, with interesting people along the way.

We Are Not Ourselves

Finished March 27
We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas

This novel begins in 1951, with ten-year-old Eileen Tumulty living in a small apartment in Queens with her parents, and a lodger. Eileen's father was a laborer who had a certain role in the community of giving advice to other men, setting himself up in a local pub every afternoon. Eileen longs to escape this life and studies hard, going on to get her nursing degree, and eventually her masters in nursing. When she meets Ed Leary, a research scientist, she thinks he will go on to great things and give her the upscale life she longs for. But Ed has different values, and his way leads to a limited academic career.
The couple and their son Connell live in a three family house in Jackson Heights, with the owner and his family members occupying the other two units. Even as things improve financially, Eileen feels limited by her surroundings and dreams of a house in a more upscale neighbourhood. Connell is also studious, doing well in school and gaining a scholarship into a better school in the city. He has a couple of friends in the neighbourhood, but feels out of place, constantly searching for an identity of his own.
As Eileen realizes a move to a new home, Ed's difficult behaviour is uncovered to be a health issue, and everything changes for the family. As Ed's health diminishes, Eileen becomes more and more isolated, living her life in a rotation of work, duty, and sleep that leaves her unhappy and unfulfilled. Connell also struggles, unable to support his father in the way Eileen wants, and unable to see what his own future holds for him.
As this tale takes us through these characters lives, up to 2011, we see the struggles, the dreams, and the hearts of them. It is really about these people, looking into what drives them, what frustrates them and what they feel about their world.
I particularly liked Eileen's venture back to her old neighbourhood near the end of the novel, and her enlightenment as a result.

Still Alice

Finished December 26
Still Alice by Lisa Genova

I've had this novel on my shelf for awhile, and am glad I finally got to it. The Alice of the title is Alice Howland, a full professor of psychology at Harvard University, world-renowned expert in linguistics, and mother of three children in their twenties. Her husband is also a professor at Harvard and the two have even written a book together. Alice turns 50 a couple of months into the novel.
As Alice has several issues of forgetfulness and disorientation she begins to worry, and takes herself in for a checkup. As other causes are ruled out, Alice finds she has early onset Alzheimer's, something she never dreamed of. It takes her a while to accept it, and her family also struggles with what this means, not only for her, but also for them. Early onset Alzheimer's has a strong genetic component, and there is a high possibility at least one of her children might have the gene as well.
As the disease progresses, we see how the different family members handle the changes, how it affects Alice's career, and her life. We see her struggle and her plans for the future.
This is a novel that had me silently weeping as I read it, totally involved in the lives of these characters and the reality they were now dealing with.
I know someone with a parent who had early onset Alzheimer's and can't help but wonder if she and her siblings have looked at the genetic possibilities for themselves.