The title of this North Korean memoir drew me in right away, and is in fact true. She really had seven names, finally giving herself a new name when she reached freedom. The journey Hyeonseo takes is amazing, and a candid look at life in a communist country.

Hyeonseo began her life as Kim Ji-hae, born in North Korea; a place that every countryman knew was the best country in the world. From the very start, her life was full of bad circumstances and the harsh realities of North Korean life. School was a means to educate children in the ways of the Great Leader, Kim Il-sung and his son the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il. But Hyeonseo was also very good at languages and this became an asset to her later in her life. As a young person she loved her mother and aunts and uncles and her brother very much. But times in North Korea became too harsh when famine struck in the 1990's. At the age of 17 she decided to walk across the frozen river to China, just for a few days, to see what it was like there.

That short, but cold walk proved to be the start of a 12 year journey. Once in China, staying with an aunt and uncle, she began to see that all people didn't starve, or work in black markets, or get arrested for minor infractions in political policy. She saw a world of fun and opportunity, and her stay lasted a month. By then, her mother and brother had been threatened and were being watched, and Hyeonseo could not return. The rest of the story is her long, difficult journey to find a better home, one that she could enjoy with her family close-by. 

What struck me the most about Hyeonseo and her story was her utter devotion to her family and her real love of her country, despite its flaws. She often thought of her choice to go to China as a mistake because she missed her family so intensely. Also, the hard work that she had to do, not only to make a living and survive, but also to have enough money to basically buy her family's safety, was amazing to me. The way she educated herself and taught herself new languages was extraordinary.

I recommend The Girl with Seven Names as a truly inspiring story of courage and intelligence that taught me a lot about being thankful for where I live. I will enjoy discussing it with our Valley Book Club in September!

 

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

I found myself at home one weekend having finished one book and without another from the library. So, I went to my basement and found this little gem on my shelf of books purchased from our Friends of the Elgin Library. It is heart-wrenching story of family, race, coming-of-age, and parents struggling with it all.

Marilyn and James Lee have a good life in the 1970's despite some blatant racism due to the fact that Marilyn is white and James is Chinese-American. They come to accept this as normal and try to raise their two children the best they can, despite struggles. Marilyn struggles with her choice to leave her path to medical school when she becomes pregnant. When their children, Lydia and Nathan, are very young, Marilyn decides to leave for months, not telling them where she has gone. This leaves a lasting mark on their family upon her return, especially for Lydia who tries to be everything her mother wants, which includes focusing her entire life on being a doctor. James struggles with his job dissatisfaction and the fact that Marilyn is struggling. And it turns out that Nathan is the real scientist in the family, and when he leaves to go to an Ivy League school, Lydia has a hard time handling it. It is this last struggle of Lydia's that will again change the family forever. 

You know how we all think to ourselves, "I never knew anyone else ever felt this way?" There were so many family issues in this novel that hit home to me in that way. But we all have a lot in common. What mother hasn't wanted "more" for her children than she has? What mother hasn't looked at another kind of life and longed for it for a moment? What man hasn't felt helpless in a family of female emotions? What child hasn't felt like they were second best? This wonderful author of Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng, has woven all this into a slim book that will stick with me for a long time.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Many people say the sign of a truly good book is one that you never really forget. It stays with you for a long time. I am here to tell you that this one will stay with you for life. Here is a quote from the back cover. Ann Patchett couldn't be more right.

In this new, epic novel, a woman named Lydia and her son Luca must flee their home in Acapulco after a drug cartel slaughters the rest of her whole family as the two hide in a bathroom. They take only what they can carry and all the money they have and run. Lydia decides that if they remain in Mexico, they will surely be killed, so she and Luca try to figure out how to get to America, el norte. Lydia, amid her overwhelming grief and fear, decides to take the route of a migrant. This is a dangerous path filled with jumping on and off trains, walking for endless miles, fearing apprehension and jail, taking food and shelter in migrant camps, and finally using a coyote to cross the desert and the line to the U.S. where they hope to lose themselves forever.

This is a tale of grief and hardship but also undying love and devotion, not just between mother and son, but also between the myriad of characters who are also migrants fleeing for their own desperate reasons. In the midst of grief for their own family, Lydia and Luca still manage to find another kind of family to cling to. The writing and characters are so fluid and so real that they will stay with you, making you look at your own life, your country, and the politics that can hinder humanity. Make sure you pick up this book. You will have it forever in your mind and heart. Thank you, Jeanine Cummins.

The Order by Daniel Silva

This new addition to the Gabriel Allon series does not disappoint. As with the others, it is filled with thrills, intrigue, wonderful characters, and of course. . . The Pope!

In this 20th book in the series featuring Allon, an Israeli intelligence officer and art restorer (in his spare time), we begin with a tragedy in Rome. Gabriel's beloved friend, Pope Paul VII, has died a seemingly ordinary death. However his secretary and confidant, Luigi Donati, has suspicions about the pontiff's death because of a few clues, one being a letter that has disappeared from the Pope's bedroom. Donati asks Gabriel's help in solving the mystery just as Gabriel is trying to have some much needed down time with his family. What has happened to the letter and what was in it? No one seems to know! Do we get to attend another conclave to choose another Pope in this one? Yes! Is there a surprise during the conclave? Yes! Is Gabriel actually going to get a vacation? Not really!Does the deceased Pope have a secret? Of course! Is there a rare book involved in the intrigue? Yes, and that's the best!

Don't miss all these beautiful twists and turns in a page-turner series like no other. Read The Order and fall in love with Rome and Gabriel Allon all over again.