Deacon King Kong by James McBride

 Meet Sportcoat, Miss Izi, Deems, Hot Sausage, Sister Gee, Pots, Elephant, Hettie, Cheese, Ants, Soup, and many more characters in this delightful novel situated in the 1969 era of the projects in the Bronx. James McBride (author of The Color of Water) tells the story of a community of different races, religions, and skin colors, and how this particular community both fought with each other and supported each other through both benign and bizarre situations. The community rallied together regardless of gangsters and cops to maintain a sense of equilibrium, all the while enduring the drastic and inevitable changes that any community experiences.

McBride dispenses with political correctness as he describes the characters who live in community, artfully weaving a story that includes violence, humor, loyalty, dreams, justice, and a smidgen of romance to warm the heart.

Review by Harriet Engle

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Did you ever wonder what happened to Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah of Old Testament times? Ms. Diamant goes beyond the slaughter of the men of Shechem  and weaves the “rest of the story” of the life of Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob, a daughter who lived obscurely in the shadows of her father and brothers. Before she writes that part of the story, she also describes, in beautiful and compassionate detail, the lives of the women who occupy the Red Tent.

Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah are the four wives of Jacob. They have 12 sons, direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and one daughter, born to Leah. The custom of the day was for the women to congregate in the Red Tent during their days of menstruation. It was an honor and a much-anticipated time when a young girl becomes a woman and may stay in the Red Tent once every month. In a patriarchal culture, the Red Tent signified the “women-only” place to get away from the rigors of caring for the men.

According to Ms. Diamant, Dinah’s life does not end with the slaughter of the men of Shechem. She courageously and beautifully continues on to lead a productive and revered life, in spite of the murderous knee-jerk reaction of her crazy and either/or minded brothers. Dinah’s story is a tribute to the women of that culture.

Review by Harriet Engle

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Lydia and Luca, mother and son, hide in the bathroom of their Acapulco home as they listen to the gunfire in their backyard.  Their entire family – husband/father, mother/grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins – lies dead, slaughtered by members of a powerful drug cartel. Why? Because Lydia’s husband, a journalist, dared to write about the evils of the newest drug cartel in Mexico, led by a powerful man known as The Owl.

Lydia owns and operates a small bookstore in Acapulco, catering to tourists. Lydia befriends and entertains in her bookstore a charming man who relates to her love of books. Little does she know that this man is The Owl. After her family is murdered, she realizes the depths of this man’s cruelty and violence and knows, beyond any doubts, that she and Luca will also be killed. She exercises her only option: flee to the United States.

This story, although fiction, could in reality be true in many cases. Ms. Cummins details the dangers and horrors of Lydia’s and Luca’s journey, the fears of being traced, caught, and murdered by the cartel, and also the distrust and amazement as she relates to others seeking asylum. It chronicles the perils of living in a cartel-run country and the perils of attempting to leave a cartel-run country.

Review by Harriet Engle