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Vanessa, an artist, is holed up on a small Scottish island, sometimes accessible by land depending on the tides. After her death, Becker, a curator, goes there to round up some of her pieces that were promised to the foundation he works for. There he encounters fierce, ugly Grace, Vanessa’s intermittent companion during her last years. She’s withholding and secretive but also very lonely so he ends up making a number of visits. There are many twisted relationship threads. For instance, Becker’s wife was once engaged to wealthy Sebastian who runs the foundation with his autocratic mother in their mansion. The motivations, undercurrents, and secrets of the characters are revealed in sinister twists and turns. Such dark material shot through with shifting coastal light, and the intensity of art.
The title refers to the primary foodstuff available in this devastated, plague-ridden country where poisonous algal bloom has killed the fish and polluted the air. The unnamed protagonist has not moved inland as mandated and supports herself by tending Mauro, a child with a gross eating disorder. Her ex-husband Max is in the wing of the hospital for chronic cases and she still feels an attached to him, another reason to stay put. I know this sounds awful (which it is) but the
book is so beautifully written that I was willing to hang out with her as she tended her charge lovingly, scrambled for nourishment, and explored the paradox of making a life under such severe duress. The author is from Uruguay.
Meet the Blue sisters. There’s Avery, who came through rough times, is now a successful lawyer, living in London with her wife. Then Bonnie, once a boxer but now a bouncer in an LA bar. The third, Lucky, is a model based in Paris, who parties hard. The fourth sister, Nicky, died from an overdose of pain meds which she’d been taking for a chronic condition, and this fractured the sisters’ already complicated relationship. Now they’re facing the loss of the NYC apartment where they were raised, and they converge to see if they can save it. A very bumpy ride, as expected, with issues of addiction to complicate matters. There’s warmth and wit as well as family dysfunction here which makes for an engrossing read.
Fern and her mother live on an isolated ranch in a small community dedicated to ecologically pure living where their leader, Dr. Ben, makes strict rules. Fern has lived there for 6 of her 12years and has a best friend, Meadowlark. All of the sudden her mother, who’s been acting strange, spirits them far away to the California coast and Fern is devastated. She remembers their rootless existence prior to life on the ranch. The outside world seems terrifying, full of the apparent dangers Dr. Ben railed against. Some good folks in town lead her into gratifying activities and it ends well-whew! This is a book for kids, it’s profound and subtle and a very gratifying read whatever your age.
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