The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar

This is the second of Umrigar`s books I have read and it had no less of a powerful effect than the first one, although they were totally different stories and set in entirely different countries.
When Ellie and Franks son Benny dies unexpectedly, their lives as one would imagine fall to pieces and in an attempt to help them grieve and rebuild, the Company Frank works for sends them to India, a country so vastly different to America that the culture shock alone is enough to set them on separate paths.
The narrative which is fast flowing and beautifully written takes you into the heart of a small village where nothing be it food, expectations and language are on a page that deviates as it is revealed through the eyes of each of its characters. Umrigar has a remarkably deft touch when it comes to drawing her characters and developing them, she takes them way back which backlights the story and gives it depth and you their prior story, she then brings them into the present, it is all so well linked that it flows, there is no jarring, no what happened here? It is a book that's centrifugal force is love,misunderstanding, secrets, lies, anger, resentment, manipulation and the corrosive power of unresolved grief, it can be very gritty in parts. The book deals very well with the unmasking of peoples prejudice, be American/Indian or Indian/Indian. Umrigar rises to the challenge of dealing with the implications of blame be it unspoken or spoken and shows how grief can really lead you down the path of destruction and havoc should you let it, at every major juncture her characters are called upon to make choices and to deal with the often unfair hand they are dealt.
We really see the power of the adage Blood is thicker than Water, she shows that powerful bonds and connections are not always  easily visible, neither are they readily breakable, love is a powerful force and it often works in ways that are not understood.
The powerful question that we would rather not hear is posed..Can wealth and privilege give you the right to trample down and overrule those who are less fortunate.. is it our right to replace a dead child with a living child who is attached to you but not biologically linked, can we assume that we know what is right, what is best? How well do we really know anyone? If we have power, how do we use it?
Love in its many forms is a keynote of this book and it resonates throughout. I liked all of the characters bar one that Umrigar peopled this book with, especially powerful was Frank whose unravelling takes the reader down  a totally unexpected path the consequences of which turn out to be a huge surprise.
This was a marvellous read and all of Umrigar`s Books are available through the Auckland Library System and through special order at Unity Books and other Indies, except for her latest they are all soft covers and cost $28, they are worth every cent.

I will be reading The Space Between Us and The World We Found(which is released here mid Feb in Trade PBK) but I am having a little breather and will be reading Alix and Nicky by Virgina Rounding and Stephen Davis` biography of Carly Simon.. Make Room in a Broken Heart.

Newspaper Titan by Amanda Smith/ Those Magnificient Medills by Megan McKinney

Two books on the exact same topic, one a massive tome, the other a wee bit smaller but both pack their punch. Imagine my surprise when I got my copy of the NY Times Book Review and there on the front cover was one book I`d just finished with a second book that I was half way through side by side,It won`t happen often so I will make the most of it.
Amanda Smiths book at nearly 600 pages is by far the bigger of the two, it is by any means a rather excellent achievement, researched, detailed, illustrated, noted and highly readable if a little wordy it tells the story of the life of Eleanor Medill Patterson who ended her life as one of the most powerful and highly disliked woman of her times, the first chief editor and publisher of a major daily newspaper she was born into newspaper royalty with all the gifting that that entailed and yet hers and her families lives were entwined.

Alcohol,misery, depression and dissipation on a scale that belies all the were both given and worked for, happiness and good relationships were not theirs, bitter rivalries, jealousy, infighting and attention seeking and gossiping meant that each generation suffered and repeated the behaviour of the preceding generation, intelligence was applied to money making and not to thinking in the Medill/Patterson/McCormick family.
The Medill/Pattersons flourished in a time when Newspapers and Print
Journalism were king, they hesitated not at all to express their feelings and views, especially when it came to politics, it appears that the only person they thought worse than Hitler was Franklin D.Roosevelt. The thought that people might be offended, hurt, ruined or disadvantaged by their words appears never to have entered their heads, their arrogance was stupendous and so was their ignorance. They were however very well connected and so as one door shut, they simply went in another!
The Daily News, The Washington Times-Herald and Newsday all had the imprint of this rollicking family imprinted on them and so did the School of Journalism for many decades to come, although their papers did not long out live them.
While this book is at times overwritten, it is fair, even handed and never looses the opportunity for humour, while a huge read it never wallowed in heaviness.


The Magnificent Medills loses nothing in its smaller telling of the tale and it fairly buzzes along, telling the tale from a somewhat more social point of view than the Smith book and with a longer range focus in that it goes far more into the life of Alicia Patterson, who was the last of this family to truly wield journalistic power and who founded the most successful post WWII newspaper in America..Newsday. It does however cover all the major points that Smiths book does and so nothing is lost if you can only say read McKinneys book, except perhaps some of the ghastly detail of this families lives which made them no Saints of Virtue. One certainly comes away realising that no amount of money or power can bring you health and happiness and it can be very hard to beat the genetic components of our makeup especially if it is entwined around addiction, although some members of the family did triumph, it was a very small number indeed and the price was horrendous.
I enjoyed both books, but to be honest I do favour Amanda Smiths book which I think will go down as the definitive account of this legendary American family.
Amanda Smiths book is available through The Auckland Library System. I bought my own copy of the Magnificent Medills via Unity Books and in hardback it only cost me a few dollars more than a trade paperback.

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

Set in the deep South of America, this beautifully written and obviously well researched novel is narrated by its two main characters Belle and Lavinia.

It explores the issues of slavery and indenture, colour, love, truth, lies, loyalty and secrets and the at times horrifying power that Plantation Owners held over the lives of others. The language that Kathleen Grissom uses even when the characters are in the depths of despair is so vivid, so moving, that you feel as though you are there with them, treading in their footsteps, sharing their pain, their hardships, deep sorrows and lilting joys, wonderful friendships and you surely understand why some people went mad. There are parts of this book that are not particularly pleasant and characters that are so complex and devise that simply ticking the like/hate box isn't a possibility. Conversely you find yourself wanting a spoonful of the food that comes from the Kitchen House because gee it smells good.

The bonds of Family and Love no matter how strained, divisive and improbable are richly explored and so are the consequences of power, especially that whiled by Plantation Owners be it good, be it bad. The squelching of the Human Spirit or the nurturing of it is explored and as all good novels in this genre should do you actually want to know more, to visit a Plantation or an associated Historical Society would be Divine, I have made notes from her sources in case the possibility ever arises.

All in all this first novel is superb and her next is eagerly anticipated.

Oprah by Kitty Kelley

Kitty Kelley is the Mistress of the slash and burn biography, she leaves no stone unturned in her always vigorous pursuit of her subjects truth. She takes no prisoners and gives no heed to any warning that her subject would prefer the truth to remain covered up. Her books are always massive in volume, sparky, witty and cutting in prose. In the case of Oprah, Kitty starts with her sometimes disputed paternity and goes on to paint a vivid portrait of a woman who always wanted to be admired, who even by her detractors would have to be called hardworking and dedicated even if her causes are often shrouded in controversy. Oprah has a wonderful talent for charm, smarm and gladhanding, yet for all of those attributes you could equally say that she is disingenuous and Kelley does...after all her engagement to Stedman has gone on for so many years you give up counting and why leave Stedman at home and go camping with Gail?Her loyalty could also be questioned, she was whippet smart in dumping Hillary Clinton whose favour she had curried for years in favour of Barack Obama when she felt it prudent to do so, she is rather powerful media wise and uses this without hindrance to benefit her favourites, if she likes you or thinks the public likes you, she will be mighty helpful..may even let you jump on her couch! Unlike one of her couch jumpers she didn't even attempt to have the book banned although Kelley was Persona Non Grata with many American T.V shows, they didn't want to irritate Oprah and therein lies her greatest power.
Oprah Winfrey is as this book so clearly points out a mix of good and bad and no one weather liking or lumping her could dispute that there is any one in our modern age who has done more to promote reading than she has done through her book club, the depth and breadth of her selections really is amazing, check out her book club picks on her website, it was Oprah who really introduced me to fiction and for that I will always be grateful. An excellent, well written book that never slackens its pace. Bravo Kitty!!