The Good Lord Bird / James McBride

This historical novel tells the story of abolitionist John Brown, a character already so over-the-top in every way that his persona might threaten to devour any novel that was written about him. James McBride avoids this problem by enlisting a once-removed narrator in the person of Henry “Onion” Shackleford, also known as Henrietta after John Brown mistakes him for a girl and subsequently dresses him as one. It’s a ruse that serves him well, as girls could more easily blend into the background and watch the unfolding action without taking part in the major skirmishes. The story follows John Brown from the days of his Kansas anti-slavery raids, to his fund-raising lectures out east, visits with such notables as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, and finally the long-awaited, but doomed raid on the armory at Harper’s Ferry.

The characters here are the strength of the book. Some of the wild west portions (especially the part in the brothel) reminded me of Larry McMurtry or Cormac McCarthy. Onion was almost comical in his demeanor and observations, which gave the story a more light-hearted feel. But since this is history, and the ending is known to most if not all Americans, the novel ends on a grave note. There's gotta be a movie coming.

2013 National Book Award for Fiction

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And the Mountains Echoed / Khaled Hosseini

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The mysterious figure of Bertha Mason provides much of the tension in Jane Eyre , but what does the reader really know about her? Rochester provides some details of her past, but is his account reliable? Caribbean author Jean Rhys attempted to tell the story of Rochester's insane (and perhaps misunderstood) wife in her 1966 novel Wide Sargasso Sea . It's a sort of prequel to Jane Eyre . I'm afraid Rochester doesn't come out looking good, though we always knew he had a bit of a wild side with his continental dalliances. Anyway, there's a lot of interesting backstory about Bertha's origins in Jamaica, her real name, the tragic circumstances of her upbringing, and how she was established at Thornfield Hall. Gosh, if Jane had only known all these details about Rochester, she might have taken St. John up on his offer of marriage. All in all, Wide Sargasso Sea is pretty credible, but I missed Charlotte Bronte's flowery language, and of course th...

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