Hello,
This week, we check in on our Book Club's discussion of All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle, a heartwarming novel about the efforts of an 82-year-old Jamaican immigrant to the UK to reengage with life after spending years grieving for his wife. I'm a pretty tough audience when it comes to "uplifting" novels but absolutely loved this one--so even if this is the type of book you'd normally take a pass on, give it a look.
In Editor's Choice, we review Natasha Pulley's historical thriller The Half Life of Valery K, about a Soviet biochemist investigating the mysteries of a closed city affected by radiation. Pulley, perhaps best known for her debut, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, pulls off an impressive feat, combining sinister high tension with occasional laugh out loud moments of dry humor that left me rooting for Valery every step of the way. Accompanying the review, our Beyond the Book article explores Pulley's real-life inspiration for the novel, the Kyshtym nuclear disaster of 1957.
We also have 50 advance reader copies of Susanne Pari's novel In the Time of Our History (publishing in January) to give away in a sweepstakes that is open to anyone in the US or Canada. And for members, we have a new issue of The BookBrowse Review.
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With best wishes,
Davina Morgan-Witts
BookBrowse Publisher
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All the Lonely People
by Mike Gayle
From the Jacket:
If you loved A Man Called Ove, then prepare to be delighted as Jamaican immigrant Hubert rediscovers the world he'd turned his back on in this "warm, funny" novel (Good Housekeeping).
From the Discussion:
"I was truly surprised by this book. I initially thought it would be a light read about a crotchety old man who is brought out of his shell and makes new friends because of a neighbor. The book is so much more than that and deeply and poignantly deals with depression, loneliness, isolation, grief, and racism to name a few of the themes in this truly wonderful book. I highly recommend this especially for book clubs. There are so many aspects of life that it addresses and would make for some wonderful discussions." - barbarae
"Hubert was easy to like and very relatable in his desires to simultaneously fly under the radar due to racism but also continue to pursue his dreams. He had learned to internalize his pain and loss over the years. This story is a beautiful tale of how Hubert learns to open his heart and share his reality with people who genuinely care for him. Along his journey, he finds everyone has their own version of loneliness, and the only way to overcome the isolation is to take a risk and keep reaching out to others." - jenniferj
"This is not the kind of book I normally read, but I really enjoyed it and it gave me a lot to think about — about others and about loneliness and how we can help each other. I like that the characters are all different, yet the same because they are human." - cynthiaa
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The Half Life of Valery K
by Natasha Pulley
Review and article by Peggy Kurkowski
Siberia, 1963. Valery Kholkhanov is a gulag prisoner in the far, frozen reaches of the Soviet Union. Imprisoned for several years, the once esteemed biochemist is snatched from this bleak and hopeless existence one morning by a former academic mentor who gives him a chance to serve out his prison term in the mysterious town known only as "City 40." His task: to study the effects of radiation on the local animals and ecosystem. This intriguing premise, rife with foreboding, is the backdrop for an irresistible Cold War thriller in Natasha Pulley's The Half Life of Valery K.
Dr. Resovskaya briefs the scientists about the Lighthouse and why the area was intentionally exposed to radiation by the Soviet government in 1957: to study the effects it might have on an entire ecosystem. Excited for the work but confused by the facility's area radiation maps containing curious and contradictory measurements, Valery sets out into the forests to set up some experiments. When he discovers a hospital-gowned body floating in a nearby marsh, Valery and Shenkov work together to find answers. But as Valery goes deeper down the rabbit hole, memories of a painful past and one monstrous act frustrate his ability to trust even previously close associates. ... continued
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Beyond the Book: The Kyshtym Nuclear Disaster
While Chernobyl may be the first incident that comes to mind when someone thinks about nuclear disasters in the 20th century, this event actually had a precursor in the USSR: the "Kyshtym disaster" of 1957. Basing her novel The Half Life of Valery K on this event, author Natasha Pulley's fictional "City 40" is modeled on Chelyabinsk-40, or as it is known today, Ozersk.
Nestled in the Ural Mountains in the Chelyabinsk Region, Ozersk is home to one of the biggest nuclear facilities in the Russian Federation, the Mayak Production Association. Established in 1948, Mayak played a pivotal role in the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons program, responsible for producing plutonium and tritium, as well as highly enriched uranium. Russian state nuclear regulator and operator Rosatom currently runs it to reprocess spent nuclear fuel.
But on September 29, 1957, an underground tank full of nuclear weapon waste exploded, shooting at least 20 million curies of radiation into the atmosphere and causing radiation sickness as far away as Chelyabinsk (the region's capital city) 60 miles away. ... continued
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For Members: The BookBrowse Review |
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The just-published issue of The BookBrowse Review contains 16 reviews and Beyond the Book articles including Winter Work by Dan Fesperman and Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra, among others. We also bring you a new blog post featuring eight recent books by native authors that we recommend, and a new book giveaway. All this and more inside.
This twice-monthly e-magazine is just one benefit of being a BookBrowse member.
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BookBrowse for Libraries
In addition to individual memberships, we also offer library subscriptions that give patrons full and free access to BookBrowse's premium content. Among the libraries that have subscribed recently are Calcasieu Parish Public Library in Louisiana and Smithtown Library on Long Island, New York.
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In the Time of Our History
by Susanne Pari
From the Jacket:
The prodigal daughter of Iranian immigrants returns to her family home for her sister's One Year – the Persian tradition of marking the first anniversary of someone's death – in an intimate story of identity and duty set in late-1990s San Francisco and New Jersey.
Praise:
"This jewel of a novel is a universal tale that naturally leads to self-reflection and conversations about the changing relationship between mothers and daughters, and the choices we make, good and bad, early in life and late, which determine our identity." - Amy Tan, New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club
"There is so much wisdom and love in this irresistible and assured novel. Susanne Pari understands the complex and flawed thing that is family and carves right into the center of the human heart." - Meg Waite Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Postmistress of Paris
"Beautifully written… I'm still thinking about the women who inhabited these pages, the choices they made, and the love between them." - Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women
About this Sweepstakes
In the Time of Our History will publish in January 2023. We have 50 advance reader copies to share with residents of the US and Canada. Offer ends Sept 12.
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With so many new books published every month, it's difficult to find the standouts, the ones which are really worth your time. This is why hundreds of thousands of readers rely on BookBrowse to do the hard work of sifting though the multitude of titles to find the most promising new books, with a focus on books that entertain, engage and enlighten. |
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BookBrowse Highlights is one of our four free newsletters. We also offer Publishing This Week every Sunday, and Book Club News and Librarian News monthly.
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