Tag: B.C. author

Colleen Van Niekerk’s — A conspiracy of mothers *****

Yolanda is haunted by the violent past she left behind in apartheid South Africa, but when she hears her mother calling her back, she knows she must return to Cape Town and face the daughter she abandoned twenty years ago. At her mother’s house, she learns of her mother’s disappearance and soon finds out that her daughter, Ingrid has discovered the secrets her family kept hidden from her since birth. Ingrid is furious and leaves Cape Town to meet a father, Stefan, she was told was dead. But she’s unaware of the violence stirred up by the coming elections, and the white hatred against the black majority who will take over the government. When Yolanda uncovers the danger Ingrid faces, she knows she must save her daughter before she reaches Stefan’s house. Will she arrive there in time?

Lozano Gilabert’s — Voices from the dead *****

If you don’t have time to read a 500 page novel, Voices from the dead is perfect for someone with a busy life. It’s a collection of short stories that keep getting better and better with each tale. From cyber ghosts to conversations with people who turn out to be ghosts, these stories shine with surprise endings.

Janie Chang’s — The Library of Legends *****

With the invasion of the Japanese into China in 1937, students at Minghua University leave their campus and escape on foot inland. Each student carries an original volume of the Library of Legends — a 500 year old collection of Chinese myths. Among them is Lian who learns from a letter that her mother is headed to Shanghai, but it is safer for her to stay with her professors and students. They walk mostly at night to avoid being spotted by enemy aircraft and while she walks, Shao and Sparrow befriend her. When they start out, it seems like a adventure, but soon they encounter starving refugees, Japanese bomber planes and death.

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Anita Rau Badami’s — The hero’s walk *****

What happens when you lose the most precious person in your life — a daughter? This is the agonizing dilemma Sripathi, living in India, finds himself in when he learns of his daughter and husband’s death in Canada. Soon their daughter, Nandana arrives and Sripathi has to come to terms with his loss.

Tell it to the trees is equally as good, but Hero’s Walk is Badami’s champion for pulling at the heart strings.