Carrie D

A haunting tale of the lingering effects of the Vietnam War for the country of Vietnam and its people. I recently read The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli, which takes place during the Vietnam War, and I found The Beauty of Humanity Movement to be a lovely follow-up. I think my knowledge gained from Soli's novel about Vietnam and the war was helpful and added more meaning to Gibb's work.

The setting truly captured me in this novel. I was carried away to Shanghai and riveted with the descriptions of the place. It's a lovely first novel sure to appeal to fans of multicultural fiction.

"The Stuff That Never Happened" starts off well. I adored the first chapter; it was smart, funny and a good introduction to the character. Then the novel begins flipping back and forth between 2005, when Anabelle and Grant's marriage is floundering with their children now grown, and 1977, when they met. Initially, this alternation helps build suspense and provide an interesting take on the characters. As the novel progresses, however, it starts to fall flat because it becomes more obvious what must happen. The characters begin to fall flat as suspense evaporates.

There are strengths to this novel. Dawson writes conversation quite well, and it is a fast read. I imagine fans of women's fiction will enjoy this thoughtful, but uneven, take on a modern marriage.

Vida's prose enchanted me from the first page. The story follows Yvonne, a widow and history teacher as she takes a trip (alone) to Datca, Turkey. Although Yvonne is a generation older than I am, I instantly connected with her. The complexity and depths Vida managed to explore in only 200 truly astonished me. This book would be ideal for book clubs: it's short enough no one should have trouble finding time to read it, it's filled with rich, luminous prose, and it's deceptively delicate plot and pacing provide ample topics for discussion.

This book is incredibly rich and dense. I thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience, but I found myself taking notes and reading slowly. The time and place were foreign to me, so readers familiar with 1592 Prague may have an easier go. I highly recommend it for literary mystery fans and ambitious, serious readers.