Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulnessby Alexandra Fuller
Honestly, I picked this up from the library because I was intrigued by the title. This is the memoir Alexandra wrote about her mother Nicola, living in Africa in the middle of the century. I'll let Indie Bound sum it up
"A story of survival and madness, love and war, loyalty and forgiveness, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is an intimate exploration of the author's family. In the end we find Nicola and Tim at a coffee table under their Tree of Forgetfulness on the banana and fish farm where they plan to spend their final days. In local custom, the Tree of Forgetfulness is where villagers meet to resolve disputes and it is here that the Fullers at last find an African kind of peace. Following the ghosts and dreams of memory, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is Alexandra Fuller at her very best."
It didn't draw me in immediately, but by the end I felt like I just wanted to be friends with her crazy mom to hear about their lives in Africa from her personally.
The Lacuna
by Barbara Kingsolver
My obsession continues. In this novel she writes about Harrison W. Shepard, an author growing up in the midst of the war and Red Scare in Mexico and the States. Most of it is written from his perspective in journal form, with newspaper clippings thrown in. At one point the Shepard even works for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo and Lev Trotsky. I wasn't completely enthralled from the beginning but Kingsolver pulls through and I read the last 200 pages in 2 days over the Thanksgiving weekend.
I'm out of her non-fiction to read now I think so I'm going to have to find some of her essays and fiction to read now.
1 comment:
Really? Did you like it? I just couldn't get into it that much, although she did make me research Diego Rivera and Frieda Khalo for a while, and that was interesting. Check out some of the Frieda Khalo self portraits.
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