There were a few absentees at the mid July meeting, but then quality often trumps quantity (except if you're 'The Donald'). But Kathy and Megan came up trumps, with their reviews of the evening, the books and the recipe for the popular cake.
Thanks to Megan for her review of the evening
Kathy’s book ‘Rattled’ didn’t really pique anyone’s interest other than why she had chosen it! It was really a bit like reading someone’s diary - sometimes amusing, sometimes thoughtful but really not that enlightening. Kathy’s report really summed it up well (see below).
The highlight of the evening was hearing of Kathy’s life experiences - teenage pregnancy, moving to California with her best friend to protect her ’change of shape’ from becoming general knowledge to her family and work colleagues. Subsequently meeting her later to be husband. Her whirlwind romance, engagement, wedding, honeymoon then settling in Australia were riveting listening. Kathy’s memoirs would certainly be a wonderful read - can’t wait for the publication!!!
So when we came to review Garden of Broken Dreams it was probably a little underwhelming!
There was no reason for the choice of book other than I was looking for another title which had been suggested - couldn’t find that one and saw this. As we’ve never reviewed a book about Haiti I thought we’d give it a go!
Some found it a bit hard to get going but with perseverance thought it was worth the read. A real eye opener with regard to the living conditions, poverty, corruption, lack of employment and general malaise of the male population. As Cherrie noted “A story of brave and/or self sufficient women!” We we’re all dismayed and appalled at the bullying & abuse given to the daughters (the Idea being to make them resilient and able to make a living for themselves - following in their mother’s footsteps).
There were times in the narrative where you were unsure what was real and what was imagination- talking about your two selves and your other half.
I expected there to be an emphasis on Voodoo (generally Haiti is well known for its superstitions and black magic) however there was no mention. The characters were semi-religious (Catholic) but this also was not really part of the story although I’m sure religion is an important part of to some of these people.
The earthquake really did happen and it’s devastating consequences hard to fathom. The earthquake in 2010 killed over 200,000 people and the one in this book whilst not having the same number of deaths still resulted in nationwide destruction. How they could manage to rebuild a country with such a lack of infra-structure is hard to imagine. It certainly wasn’t a happy book and perhaps not appealing to some - I thought it was worth the read but probably too long. The characters generally not very appealing but interesting!
Megan's overview of 'Garden of Broken Dreams', by Francesca Momplaisir
This is the second book by Francesca Momplaisir who was Haitian born, a multilingual literature scholar and writer of fiction and poetry in both English & her native Haitian Kreyal.
She holds undergraduate & graduate degrees in English & Comparative Literature from Colombia, Oxford and N Y Universities. She earned a doctorate in African literature and is a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to travel to Ghana to research cultural retention and memory of the Trans Atlantic slave trade. She lives in the New York metro area.
The story begins with Genevieve driving her eldest son, Miles, to New Jersey to visit Bright, her estranged husband & father of Miles & Yves and a US District Attorney. Miles is in trouble at school once again - he struggles with the disparity between the treatment of the privileged white boys and
Black boys like himself. The same infractions and misdemeanours by white & black boys are handled quite differently- little punishment for the whites but police line ups, friskings & interrogations with a gun trained on them for the blacks. Miles is becoming more rebellious & sullen and is possibly heading for disaster - Genevieve decides to take him on a visit to Haiti to understand where he’s come from and what opportunities he has been given in America compared to what his life would have been in Haiti.
Bright is not happy with the proposed trip and blames Genevieve for her lack of parenting skills - she is actually a qualified psychiatrist earning a good living - bright has on many occasions threatened to take both boys away from Genevieve although neither of them particularly like their father and know of his many indiscretions & questionable life.
Both Genevieve’s grandmother O’Lady and mother Ma despise Bright and warned her against marrying Him as they knew him to be unreliable and ‘no good’ - they consider women to be the stronger sex and that there is no need for a man to help them be successful. Thankfully they did adore Genevieve’s two sons even though they weren’t girls! They formed a very close bond.
The arrival at Haiti Airport is expected to be a huge cultural shock for Miles - no air conditioning, beggars everywhere and certainly no preferential treatment to go to the head of the queue just because you are American!
They are met by Mimi, cousin & close friend of Genevieve, in her much loved truck which Genevieve had provided for her 9 years ago. This is just one of many gifts and financial help Genevieve has provided to family members over the years.
Whilst letting Miles experience life’s challenges in Haiti and meeting his relatives Genevieve also wants to again approach her cousin (and once close friend) Ateya to discuss her 9 year old daughter T’Louse who Genevieve knows is being abused & bullied by her mother. Genevieve & Ateya were very close as children and spent a lot of time together when ya Genevieve visited Haiti with her mother and grandmother. Ma and O’Lady both offered to take Ateya back to America with them to give her a better life but Ateya’s mother refused. In time, after years of both mental & physical abuse by her mother, Ateya as part of the society she belongs to, has a number of children of her own by different fathers but is pleased when she finally has a daughter after a number of sons. This means she now has her own future settled - a daughter to bully and belittle and know that when she is old enough she will be strong enough to take over all that Ateya has accomplished- this cycle of abuse and expectation is passed down from mother to daughter - the females are considered to be much harder workers and smarter and get things done but live almost as slaves until they inherit what ever business or property their mothers leave them. The boys of these families are allowed to be lazy, aren’t challenged to better themselves and invariably father children who they have no intention of helping to rear.
Ateya is very envious and jealous of Genevieve and their relationship is very strained. She knows T’Louse loves Genevieve and would happily go back to America with her but because her mother refused this opportunity for her when she was a child, she will not allow Genevieve to take her daughter from her even though she knows her life would be so much better.
Genevieve continues to battle with Miles sullenness and lack of interest in Haiti generally all the while hoping that Ateya will show some kindness towards T’Louse and maybe change her mind about letting her go to America.
The rumblings and shakings of the earthquake are hard to fathom at first but the total destruction and devastation all around is totally overwhelming. Genevieve locates Miles under some rubble and realises he is very seriously hurt and will need emergency medical assistance which wouldn’t be available locally. Thankfully Mimi is ok and her truck roadworthy enough to get them to a hospital. Ateya, who only has hearing in one ear (from a blow to the head by her father when she was young) now doesn’t seem to be hearing anything - she is in total shock and disorientated.
Genevieve finds T’Louse’s body and is persuaded by Mimi to leave her as time is very important for them to drive the hundreds of miles to the hospital with Miles hoping to avoid all the aftershocks. Ateya refuses to go with them but just wanders off dazed and confused. Eventually she knows there is someone she should be looking for - this becomes her sole purpose. She manages to save a number of babies and small children she finds by taking them into the plantains where it’s cool and probably safer.
The earthquake has been a catalyst for Ateya who drives herself to keep searching (unaware that her daughter is dead) - she thinks of all that happened in the past, regrets her treatment of T’Louse and knows that she really did love her. She becomes sympathetic to all those suffering around her and offers help where she can (a trait which she never previously showed - always looked out for herself).
Genevieve & Mimi have a nightmare journey to the hospital - witnessing all the death & destruction but totally focussed on saving Miles. Genevieve has time for reflection whilst nursing Miles in the back of the truck - perhaps her life could have been managed better and possibly things were not all Bright’s fault in the marriage breakdown.
Genevieve’s Comments
It has been three days since we’ve been back in New York. Mimi has found a spot among the brush and Trees at the base of the Citadel, where she sleeps in the truck, waiting for the frenzy to die down. For 3 days she listens to planes landing and taking off, the bellow of cruise ship horns announcing their arrivals and departures as they deposit foreign rescuers and ferry the frightened documented ones from this place, that for them is home and not home. Not home when it comes to getting out of the broken country to save their own lives. Mimi is not one of them nor is she a rescuer. She is a trembling misfit, hiding in her pickup until the danger passes.
Ateya is sitting in the grave meant for 2 in the plantain garden with her legs spread open as she digs the soil with earth-stained hands. She has burrowed holes at the base of every tree, searching for what is hers. She has sent her soft self into the yard to hold the children mined from beneath hefty chunks of earth. These are the ones who have not survived - whose skins bear no marks of trauma. Her tender self cradles them, carries them to the grove, lays them there and goes back for another one. For 3 days Ateya performs this ritual - these are acts of contrition that she knows will not bring back what is hers. But it is better than laying both of her selves in the grave dug for 2 and waiting to die.
Ma and O’Lady are in the kitchen trying to keep quiet whilst preparing the meal. They maintain a vigil to make sure that the boys and I remain inside, where they believe my sons are safe from what they have deemed my recklessness. The boys are in Miles’ room where Yves has slept for 3 nights- Miles forces his fingers to move so that he can play video games with his brother.
Bright is parked outside my building where he has been for the past 3 days, coming in only to use the bathroom. He speaks to no one and no one speaks to him. He tracks the residue of his regret as he walks carefully down the hallway past my bedroom door. He wants me to let him in to apologise, to forgive, to take him into my bed. He leaves and returns to his car to stand guard in case I try to leave with the boys.
I am in bed, resting in the fetal position, with my arms wrapped around myself, my eyes open. I stare at baby girl in the chair by the window. Not a scratch or a bruise on her bare arms visible by moonlight, nor a tear of joy, nor the tight smile of displeasure on her face. Only her unblinking eyes with their bright whites fixed on my face, as if she wants to touch me.
Drowsy from the chamomile tea I close my eyes drifting into sleep. When I open them with a gentle flutter, the girl is kneeling beside my bed, breathing an air of soil and greenery into my face. She unwraps my arms and climbs into the spoon of my body. She wiggles until her form is so snug that I can hear the purr of her breath. Her heart beat is less of a sound but more of a tremor as if it has dispersed itself through her body. She holds my arm which is swung over her and I squeeze to keep her from trembling.
Although I am holding her close, when I look over at the chair she is sitting there watching.
And now to Kathy's take on her book
Rattled by Christine Coppa
I realised quite a few weeks after recommending this book to our group that it was, in fact, the wrong “Rattled”. The one I should have put forward was written by Adelaide author, Ellis Gun – not Christine Coppa.
I was listening to an episode of Radio National’s “The Book Shelf” in early May. Kate Evans and Cassie McCullough opened the show by raving about a book called “Rattled”. I completely missed the author’s name but, in that brief opening prior to reviewing the books for that episode, they both discussed the merits of reading the title.
I feel Ellis Gun’s “Rattled” might have won more favour amongst the group than Christine Coppa’s tome. When I typed the title “Rattled” into Amazon, Coppa’s book was right at the top, so I simply clicked ‘buy’.
As it turns out, both stories are memoirs but with vastly different tales. I personally found Coppa’s writing style easy enough to read, despite finding her somewhat repetitive and trite. Again, personally, I thought the premise of the story – the emotions and reaction to finding oneself pregnant without an available partner – might have featured some new insights. It failed.
Christine Coppa describes herself as a print and digital Lifestyle Journalist with 20 years of experience; a dynamic storyteller; an editorial strategist; and a brand content creator. The New Jersey native is possibly best known for her long-standing blog called “Storked!” in GLAMOUR magazine, outlining her pregnancy, birth and maternal experiences as a single mother.
What I found most touching about the book was the incredibly positive reaction and interaction of her family, particularly her brother, Carlo. He was the epitome of surrogate dad to Jack (JD), before and after the delivery, and was also a perfect stand-in partner to Chrissy. Without question, he was my favourite character in the book.
Other than to say I thought Christine was a very lucky person to have a very deep family connection, I don’t have a lot else to say about the book itself.
Danish Apple and Prune Cake
Ingredients for batter:125gr butter, room temperature
170gr sugar
2 well beaten eggs
100gr ground almonds
80gr self raising flour
125ml milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp boiling water mixed with 1/2 tsp baking powder
Ingredients for topping:
8 sox dessert prunes, coarsely chopped
100gr chopped walnuts or pecans (I used pecans)
2 good Tbsp sugar
2 Granny Smith applies, cored and peeled and thinly sliced
And 3/4 way through cooking:
3 Tbsp sugar mixed with cinnamon
25gr butter cut into dobs
Method:
Cream together with sugar. Add well-beaten eggs, ground almonds, self-raising flour, milk, vanilla and baking powder mixed with boiling water.
Preheat oven to 190C. Pour batter into well-greased or baking paper lined 20cm cake tin. Evenly place chopped prunes on top of batter and then cover with chopped nuts that have been mixed with the 2 Tbsp sugar. Arrange thinly sliced apple pieces over the entire top. Bake for 45 minutes and then carefully, slide rack out and sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar and dot with butter. Slide the cake back into the oven and bake for a further 20-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cake will keep well for least a week in an airtight tin. Serve with whipped cream.
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