Category: Canadian 5 out of 5s

Ami MacKay’s — The Virgin Cure *****

When Moth escapes the cruel servitude of Mrs Wentworth, she ends up in a brothel where the madam sees her as an innocent prize. Although she is warned of the dangers, she is anxious to escape from the hard life she has endured.

I couldn’t help see a parallel between this story and the skewed belief in some countries that a virgin will cure someone of AIDS.

If you enjoy this book, don’t miss MacKay’s The Birth House which is equally as good.

Kathy Page’s —The story of my face *****

Natalie lives in Finland and researches Envall—the founder of an extremist Protestant sect that she came into contact with thirty years earlier. As a thirteen year old, she had met Barbara whose family was sect followers. This community not only changed her life, but her face.

Rachel Kadish’s—The weight of ink*****

In the 1600s, Ester’s brother accidently burns down their Amsterdam house killing their parents, and the Jewish community is reluctant to take on the two orphans because of their mother’s criticism of their archaic beliefs. Blind Rabbi HaCoen Mendes offers to take them to London where he is to instruct the Jewish community, and Ester’s brother will be his scribe. But her brother has other plans and disappears once they arrive in London. The rabbi then uses Ester as his scribe, and she begins to hunger for more knowledge.

Continue reading →

Kim Echlin’s—Speak, silence*****

Gota, a journalist, leaves Canada and travels to Bosnia in the hope of reconnecting with Kosmos—the man she had a whirlwind romance with in Paris that resulted in a daughter. After a night of lovemaking in Sarajevo with Kosmos, he introduces her to the love of his life—Edina who still pines for her dead husband. On a visit to Edina’s law office, Gota learns of the thousands of files Edina has collected from women who were raped during the Bosnian War. She’s drawn to Edina and the testimony her mother, herself, and her daughter are about to give in The Hague when a trial against Dragic, an officer who in his village, ordered the capture, rape, and torture of Muslim women.

Speak, silence is not an easy read, but the believable characters and court proceedings are an eye opener for those who have never experienced how many men behave in war and what ethnic cleansing really means.