The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

I think the best thing about Adam's TBR Pile Challenge is that it inspires me to read those books that have been hanging around the bookshelves for far too long -- it's just wonderful to find treasures that I've been ignoring for far too long. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is exactly that -- one of those books that I really regret putting off for so long.

This award winning book is the story of the clash of cultures between the immigrant Hmong refugee community in Merced, California, and the doctors treating a young Hmong girl, Lia Lee, who showed symptoms of severe epilepsy starting at three months of age. She was first diagnosed in 1981. Her parents were refugees from Laos who resettled in California after the Vietnam war. The Hmong people are an ethnic minority living who are originally from the mountainous region of Southeast Asia, including China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, but they are fiercely independent and have never assimilated into any of those national cultures. Many Hmong people fought secretly for the CIA during the Vietnam War and for the Laotian Civil War in the 1970s. After fleeing to Thailand, the Lee family eventually settled in Merced, about two hours west of San Francisco, where there is a large population of Hmong refugees and their families. 

The book traces the cultural clash between Lia's family and their beliefs in traditional Hmong medicine and the American hospitals and staff, but it's also much more than that. There's a lot of background about the Hmong people and the wars in Southeast Asia, and most of the book is really about the cultural differences and how difficult it is for immigrants to adapt. It also makes a serious point about medical practitioners and cultural sensitivity. After I finished the novel, I went online to read more about Ms. Fadiman, and I found that this book is now required reading at Yale Medical school, and has had a strong influence in how medical professionals are now interacting with immigrant groups.

I found this book to be absolutely fascinating, extremely well-written and organized -- it's definitely one of my top reads of the year. I could hardly put it down and read it in just a few days, and I've been recommending it over and over to co-workers and library patrons. It would be a great selection for my non-fiction book group at the library, but unfortunately our system doesn't have enough copies -- maybe I'll have to persuade them to order some more so that we can put it on our reading list for next year. 

The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran

It's been so long that I actually wrote a book review that I'm afraid I've forgotten how.  Between school, and traveling, and illness, I'm way behind in my reviews.  Let's hope this review ends my blogging slump.

Nevertheless, here's an interesting historical fiction book that I recently read while on vacation. I specifically brought it because I'm trying so hard to read more of the books I own, not just library books.    One of my goals has been to clear of those to-read shelves, which are becoming more and more crowded.  Must. Stop. Buying. More. Books!!!!

Anyhoo.  The Wives of Henry Oades starts out as a pretty straightforward historical fiction book.  The story begins in England in the late 1800s, and Henry Oades has been given a promotion in his job, one which will involve him uprooting his wife and children and moving to wild New Zealand, much to the chagrin of his wife Margaret.  Still, like a good Victorian wife, Margaret bears the difficulty of the long voyage, seasickness, etc., and makes a good start of a new life in a tough situation.

Then something bad happens.  I don't want to spoil this, but it's pretty awful.  And again, not trying to spoil [the title of this book is The Wives of Henry Oades, isn't it?] but due to terrible circumstances, poor Henry believes his wife is dead.  After much grieving, he moves on, going to far as to leave New Zealand to make a new start as a farmer in California.   Henry meets a young widow with a baby, and takes a liking to her.  They marry.  And that's when things get really interesting. . . highlight for the little hint. . . the first wife shows up, very much alive!  What would you do?

This book brings up all kinds of moral and ethical dilemmas, and what made it even more interesting to me was this is based on an actual family!   I do get really tired of writers lifting plots and characters from real life, but this is so intriguing I absolutely understand why the author was compelled to fictionalize it.  I really wish my library had enough copies so I could suggest it as a book for our discussion group.

My only complaint is that I wish there had been more back story on some of the characters -- I would have liked a little more character development for some of the family members as well.  But overall I really enjoyed it.

And many thanks to Suey, since I won this book in her giveaway last spring.  Amazingly, the publisher somehow sent me TWO copies of this book, so I was able to give one to my mother, who really liked it.  She was very happy to receive it as she's actually been to New Zealand.  It's so fun to give someone a book that they really enjoy.  Thank you Suey!