Review: New Boy (Hogarth Shakespeare) by Tracy Chevalier

"O felt her presence behind him like a fire at his back.”

Arriving at his fourth school in six years, diplomat’s son Osei Kokote—“O” for short—knows he needs an ally if he is to survive his first day, so he is lucky to hit it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But one boy, used to holding sway in the world of the school­yard, can’t stand to witness the budding relationship. When Ian decides to destroy the friendship between the black boy and the golden girl, the school and its key players—teachers and pupils alike—will never be the same again.

The tragedy of Othello is vividly transposed to a 1970s suburban Washington school, where kids fall in and out of love with each other before lunchtime, and practice a casual racism picked up from their parents and teachers. The world of preadolescents is as passionate and intense, if not more so, as that of adults. Drawing us into the lives and emotions of four eleven-year-olds—Osei, Dee, Ian and his reluctant girlfriend Mimi—Tracy Chevalier’s powerful drama of friends torn apart by love and jealousy, bullying and betrayal, is as moving as it is enthralling. It is an unfor­gettable novel.

 Kindle Edition, 208 pages

Published May 16th 2017

by Knopf Canada

***

I knew nothing about this book going in, not about Othello and that it’s part of a series, though each works as a stand-alone. It’s the author that drew me in, I’ve read some of her previous books and liked them.

New Boy takes place in the 1970s during a normal day at school for a group of 10/11-year-olds. But there is nothing normal about it. Again I was treated to great writing, a very fast-moving plot and a look at racism, friendship, and bullying (plus other social issues).  However, my problem with the issues here and the feel of the story were more in line with 16 years old, the strong sexual tensions didn’t match the ages nor the time period. 

So for me I struggled with that aspect a lot. Also, the new boy is Osei shortened to O and that distracted me because at times he’d be Osei and other times O, just disrupted my flow.

All in all an interesting and quick read.

Review: At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier

From internationally bestselling author Tracy Chevalier, a riveting drama of a pioneer family on the American frontier

1838: James and Sadie Goodenough have settled where their wagon got stuck – in the muddy, stagnant swamps of northwest Ohio. They and their five children work relentlessly to tame their patch of land, buying saplings from a local tree man known as John Appleseed so they can cultivate the fifty apple trees required to stake their claim on the property. But the orchard they plant sows the seeds of a long battle. James loves the apples, reminders of an easier life back in Connecticut; while Sadie prefers the applejack they make, an alcoholic refuge from brutal frontier life.

1853: Their youngest child Robert is wandering through Gold Rush California. Restless and haunted by the broken family he left behind, he has made his way alone across the country. In the redwood and giant sequoia groves he finds some solace, collecting seeds for a naturalist who sells plants from the new world to the gardeners of England. But you can run only so far, even in America, and when Robert’s past makes an unexpected appearance he must decide whether to strike out again or stake his own claim to a home at last.

Chevalier tells a fierce, beautifully crafted story in At the Edge of the Orchard, her most graceful and richly imagined work yet.

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published March 15th 2016 by Viking

ebook via publisher (through netgalley)

****

At the Edge of the Orchard is a book about trees, sound exciting?  It's about one man's obsession with apple trees and how another's livelihood shapes who he becomes.

All James Goodenough wanted was to work the land and a provide a home for his family, they traveled a long distance and just needed 50 producing apples trees.  It doesn't sound like much, but when the land was unyielding and a wife unsupportive it was not an easy life for James.  Wife Sadie was an interesting character, as much as she was abusive, unhelpful and just downright nasty the writer made me feel sorry for her.  

With one horrific incident the story jumps ahead 15 years to their son Robert, who was only 8 when this incident occurred.  He is clear across the country now as his story slowly unfolds.

I really enjoyed reading this book.  The first part I found rather intense and heartbreaking, the struggles this family endured and how they dealt with each other was sad.  The story slowed down in intensity for the last half but still kept my interest as I wanted to know what had happened.

There are real historical figures in this book, Johnny Appleseed, William Lobb, Billie Lapham and even the fiesty Dody Bienenstock, most that I was unfamiliar with but interesting enough.  There was also the giant trees of the west coast, which are a sight to see.  I loved the authors notes which finished this book off nicely.  Big thanks to the publisher for granting me a copy for review purposed (via netgalley).

Other books I have reviewed by Tracy Chevalier

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Tracy Chevalier transports readers to a bygone time and place in this richly imagined portrait of the young woman who inspired one of Vermeer's most celebrated paintings. 

History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous novel about artistic vision and sensual awakening. Girl with a Pearl Earring tells the story of sixteen-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius...even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil.

Paperback, 233 pages

Published 2001 by Plume (first published 1999)

This isn't a big book, just 233 pages long and another audio (from Audible) version for me.

I was totally captivated by this book.  The reader did a wonderful job and brought Griet's story to life. Told in first person it was like sitting down with Griet and her telling me her story.

Even though I was born in Canada, my roots are from the Netherlands.  I've been to Delft and have some lovely pieces in my home.  So reading about it in this book just brought back memories and stories from long ago.

Watching Griet grow up in the Vermeer household, I could feel her pain in leaving her family behind.  The struggles in the Vermeer household were vivid and I couldn't help but feel her heart ache in some of the struggles that she went through.  The details in the life of not just the artist but a serving girl and the affect both had on Vermeer's family was very interesting. 

“He saw things in a way that others did not, 

so that a city I had lived in all my life seemed a different place,

 so that a woman became beautiful with the light on her face.”

This is my second book by Tracy Chevalier, The Last Runaway, was my first.  Definitely an author that I will be reading more of.

This book will appeal to lovers of historical fiction involving art and a little of Dutch history.

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

New York Times bestselling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier makes her first fictional foray into the American past in The Last Runaway, bringing to life the Underground Railroad and illuminating the principles, passions and realities that fueled this extraordinary freedom movement.

In New York Times bestselling author Tracy Chevalier’s newest historical saga, she introduces Honor Bright, a modest English Quaker who moves to Ohio in 1850, only to find herself alienated and alone in a strange land. Sick from the moment she leaves England, and fleeing personal disappointment, she is forced by family tragedy to rely on strangers in a harsh, unfamiliar landscape.

Nineteenth-century America is practical, precarious, and unsentimental, and scarred by the continuing injustice of slavery. In her new home Honor discovers that principles count for little, even within a religious community meant to be committed to human equality.

However, drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom, Honor befriends two surprising women who embody the remarkable power of defiance. Eventually she must decide if she too can act on what she believes in, whatever the personal costs.

A powerful journey brimming with color and drama, The Last Runaway is Tracy Chevalier’s vivid engagement with an iconic part of American history.

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published January 8th 2013 by E.P. Dutton

I am new to Tracy Chevalier and this was an impulse purchase.  Just look at the cover, I love it and of course,  the summary drew me in also.  Being a quilter and  my interest in history, well this book was just calling my name.

The story was enjoyable, it was interesting to learn more about the Quakers and the Underground Railroad, the role that quilts and other little items played, as well as the treatment of women, their rights, or lack of.  Though the book didn't go into great details about the Underground Railroad, it was still an eye opener and did show enough to pull at some heart strings here.

I enjoyed how each chapter ended with a letter, whether from Homer to her family back in England or from them to her.  I can't imagine the wait of months and months to hear any news.

This was what I would call a 'quiet' book.  Meaning it didn't grab me and take me for a ride until I was finished.  It was easy to pick up and put down, I was in no rush to finish, just enjoyed the quiet ride. I gave this book 4 stars because I did enjoy the ride and will be back to read more by Tracy Chevalier.