Category: HF Reading Challenge

Book Review: Song by Michelle Jana Chan

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Song Cover ImageAbout the Book

Song is just a boy when he sets out from Lishui village in China. Brimming with courage and ambition, he leaves behind his impoverished broken family hoping he’ll make his fortune and return home. Chasing tales of sugarcane, rubber and gold, Song embarks upon a perilous voyage across the globe to the British colony of Guiana, but once there he discovers riches are not so easy to come by and he is forced into labouring as an indentured plantation worker.

This is only the beginning of Song’s remarkable life, but as he finds himself between places and between peoples, and increasingly aware that the circumstances of birth carry more weight than accomplishments or good deeds, Song fears he may live as an outsider forever.

This beautifully written and evocative story spans nearly half a century and half the globe, and though it is set in another century, Song’s story of emigration and the quest for an opportunity to improve his life is timeless.

Format: Hardcover, ebook (464 pp.)    Publisher: Unbound
Published: 28th June 2018                      Genre: Historical Fiction

Pre-order/Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Song on Goodreads

My Review

I was supposed to have been publishing my review of Song as part of the recent blog tour but due to a mix-up over dates (largely my fault) I wasn’t able to do this.  I’m rectifying that omission now.

Arriving in Guiana, nine-year old Song finds little evidence of the easy fortunes to be made that enticed him to risk his life to travel there.  Instead he finds only punishing labour, harsh cruelty and an existence akin to slavery on a sugarcane plantation.  By a stroke of good fortune, Song is taken under the wing of Father Holmes who teaches him to read and write and introduces Song to the love of books and reading.  Not everyone agrees with Father Holmes’ decision to educate a ‘houseboy’ but Father Holmes robustly defends his actions.  “Reading changes everything.  Writing will give him a step up.  Whatever Song chooses to do in life he’ll do it better with a pen or book in his hand.” (Who could disagree with that?)  Together Song and Father Holmes form a close bond, sharing a mutual interest in documenting the native birds of Guiana.

A trip ‘upriver’ with Father Holmes gives Song a possible new direction in life. However, it’s one that is not without danger.  When a shocking act of betrayal and violence occurs, it results in a desperate act that will haunt Song for years afterwards.  It also illustrates the lure of gold which, like a fever, infects the so-called ‘pork-knockers’ who set out to make their fortunes.

As Song sets out to achieve the life objectives he has set himself, he faces discrimination and injustice.  This reader certainly gave a little cheer as Song begins to fight back against the forces of the “old boys’ network” he finds ranged against him. However, along the way, he is forced to make difficult and at times questionable moral choices.

Song is clever, resourceful and mindful of the advice he receives from the influential figures in his life: Father Holmes (a wonderful warm and humane character); his shipmate on the terrible voyage to Guiana, Li Bai; and mining engineer, Mr Leigh.  He also benefits from the wisdom of several women – Jingy, Josie, Amalia – with their ability to read a situation.

I’m always drawn to descriptions of food in books and there are some great ones in Song that really bring to life the atmosphere of Georgetown.  ‘There were baked chicken legs in molasses; chicken wings in forest honey; bass with onion and ginger; cauldrons of pepper pot; rice coloured with strands of saffron; blackened barbecue pork; potato and pea curry with turmeric, and dozen dishes of stewed okra and fried tomatoes.’

A repeated theme of the book is the importance of living a life that is ‘a story worth telling’.  Song’s life is definitely a story worth telling.   Song is a wonderful tale of survival, friendship, courage and triumph over adversity.  It also has at its heart a tender and heart-warming love story.   Michelle, you had me in tears at the end.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Unbound, and Random Things Tours, in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Compelling, emotional, uplifting

Try something similar…The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (read my review here)

Michelle Chan Author PictureAbout the Author

Michelle Jana Chan is an award-winning journalist and travel editor of Vanity Fair. She’s also contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveller, presenter of the BBC’s Global Guide and a writer for the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and Travel & Leisure. Michelle has been named the Travel Media Awards’ Travel Writer of the Year. She was a Morehead-Cain scholar at the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Throwback Thursday: Grace by Paul Lynch

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ThrowbackThursday

Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme created by Renee at It’s Book Talk.  It’s designed as an opportunity to share old favourites as well as books that we’ve finally got around to reading that were published over a year ago.

Today I’m reviewing a book that was on the shortlist for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2018 – Grace by Paul Lynch.   I had intended to read all of the shortlisted books before the winner was announced at the Borders Book Festival in June but I fell two short – this book, and Jennifer Egan’s Manhattan Beach, which I still have to read.

Grace was published in hardback, ebook and audiobook on 11th July 2017 and is now also in paperback.  You can find purchase links below.

GraceAbout the Book

Early one October morning, Grace’s mother snatches her from sleep and brutally cuts off her hair, declaring, ‘You are the strong one now.’ With winter close at hand and Ireland already suffering, Grace is no longer safe at home. And so her mother outfits her in men’s clothing and casts her out. When her younger brother Colly follows after her, the two set off on a remarkable journey in the looming shadow of their country’s darkest hour.

The broken land they pass through reveals untold suffering as well as unexpected beauty. To survive, Grace must become a boy, a bandit, a penitent and, finally, a woman – all the while afflicted by inner voices that arise out of what she has seen and what she has lost.

Format: Hardcover, ebook, paperback (368 pp.)  Publisher: Oneworld Publications Published: 11th July 2017                                           Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  | Hive.co.uk (supporting local UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Grace on Goodreads

My Review

It has taken me quite a few weeks to finish Grace and I’ll admit I did struggle with it at times, finding myself skimming the last few chapters.  There always seemed to be another book that was more demanding of my attention or more in tune with my reading mood.  However, I have now finished it and the book is certainly notable for its lyrical, poetic language, imaginative metaphors and at times impressionistic style (most clearly illustrated in the chapter entitled ‘Crow’ which approaches stream of consciousness).

Some examples of the book’s striking descriptive language:
‘The rain comes yoked to a hooded sun, unfastens and falls like a cloak.’
‘Hedgerows huddle along the road and mutter the breeze like watchers.’
‘Rain suddens heavy and tuneful, makes all the earth sing a blind song of itself.’

And this arresting metaphor, as Grace desperately seeks shelter at cottages she passes on the road:
‘Every ear listening for the sound of coughing, for sickness tramps through the snow and leaves footprints and when it knocks at your door it wants to come in, lean over the fire, take a sup of your soup, lie down on the straw, spread itself out, and bring everybody else into its company.’

The book depicts in harrowing detail the intense suffering of the Irish people during what came to be known as the ‘Great Hunger’ or ‘Great Famine’ between 1845 and 1849 when the potato crop failed in successive years.  Each day became a struggle for food, warmth and shelter and people were forced to steal, beg or worse to find sustenance.  Through Grace’s eyes the reader witnesses the dreadful scenes of starvation, disease and death and the appalling contrast between the rich unaffected by food shortages and the poor of the towns or countryside reduced to destitution.

Grace’s brother, Colly, becomes her ever-present conscience, guiding her thoughts and actions with, at times, remarkable insight and always with impish, black humour.   Grace is a story of courage, despair, suffering, cruelty and resilience.  Towards the end of the book, a seemingly miraculous and life changing act of mercy turns out to mask something baser.  However, the concluding pages of the book suggest there may be hope of something better.

For me, Grace was definitely a book to admire rather than to love.   However, I’m aware that there are many readers who have both admired and loved it.  It certainly merits its Goodreads description as ‘an epic coming-of-age novel and a poetic evocation of the Irish famine as it has never been written.’  Furthermore, I can definitely understand how its lyrical language and the nature of the events it depicts would have attracted the admiration of the judges of The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.  However, I’ll confess that it is my least favourite of all the shortlisted books I’ve read.

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In three words: Lyrical, harrowing, immersive

Try something similar…The Good People by Hannah Kent (read my review here)

About the Author

Paul Lynch is the prizewinning Irish author of two previous novels, Red Sky in Morning and The Black Snow.   Red Sky in Morning was a finalist for France’s Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger (Best Foreign Book Prize).  The Black Snow won the French booksellers’ prize, Prix Libr’a Nous, for Best Foreign Novel.  He lives in Dublin with this wife and daughter.

Connect with Paul

Website  ǀ  Facebook | Twitter  ǀ  Goodreads