ARTS & CULTURE
The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano If you’ve ever wondered whether or not to have children, attempted and heartbreakingly failed, avoided it but become pregnant accidentally – or indeed chosen not to have children and then desperately wanted them – then this, the brilliant debut novel from writer Donna Freitas, is for you. The book follows Rose Napolitano, a resolutely child-free professor, as her photographer-husband Luke – having previously agreed to a child-free life – changes his mind, and decides he does want to have kids with Rose. Her multiple lives diverge during an argument over prenatal vitamins, and different paths unfurl from that point. Each chapter announces which life you’re experiencing, but every single one of her existences is packed with emotion, heart-wrenching sacrifice and compromise, love, grief and meaning. Rose encounters similar challenges in each of the tales, whether she decides to have children or not, and there are key figures who find their ways into her worlds via different doors, depending on the life you’re reading. It’s easy to forget the specifics of each situation, but you can surrender to the joy of letting the chapters wash over you. As this book powerfully illustrates, there are many, many routes to achieving a meaningful existence, and there are no right choices – only consequences. BY DONNA FREITAS
WHAT YOU CAN SEE FROM HERE
BY MARIANA LEKY
After a long wait, this international bestseller has finally been translated from German and released in English. Set in a small rural village in West Germany, the book opens with the news that Selma has dreamed of an okapim, meaning one of the community will die in the next 24 hours. Selma’s ten-year- old granddaughter, Luisa, introduces us to an ensemble cast of unforgettable characters: from the optician who has spent his life silently adoring Luisa’s grandmother, to her hard-working mother and father, and her very best friend Martin. All are introduced within anecdotes and village legends, shared in that overly familiar way where the speaker assumes you’re already aware of the parties involved – and since asking for clarification would slow the pace of the excellent story, you nod along and encourage them to continue, constructing fully rounded people from these shards of stories as you go. Packed with diversions, hilarious set pieces and hand-to-mouth tragedies, this cheerfully intimate book is a treat – an immersive, semi-surrealist experience that features (amongst many things) a monk from Japan, a Little Women -style romantic walk in the rain, and an excellent dog called Alaska. It is far-fetched in precisely the way that real life is, and as with the best stories, sometimes you simply had to be there – and this book allows you to do just that.
Aria This debut novel immerses us in the Iranian revolution through the eyes of Aria: a motherless girl found in an alleyway in Tehran as a baby. She makes her way through life with three different women, each with unique attitudes to the child entrusted to their care, beginning with Behrouz (the man who discovered her) and Zahra, his abusive and apparently disinterested wife. An eye injury caused by neglect then leads her to the lavish home of Fereshteh, a wealthy woman with no children. She sees potential in the child, sending Aria to school and forcing her to visit the home of Mehri, an impoverished woman, to give her daughters reading lessons and learn about privilege at the same time. A heady yet well-handled blend of the personal and political, Aria gives readers a fascinating insight into life in Iran between the 1950s and the late 1970s. As the young woman grows up and moves between households, she encounters people who will become Revolutionary Guards, and those who’ll turn to communism, all while learning more about her heritage, uncovering the truth of her past and falling in love. This cinematic saga was one of two books selected by the Rare Birds Book Club, a service designed to help people read for fun. Each month, subscribers choose between two novels, one of which then arrives in the post, beautifully wrapped and ready for your literary enjoyment. BY NAZANINE HOZAR AN IRANIAN EPIC Follow Aria on her travails in Tehran during the Iranian revolution. Hozar paints a beautiful picture of a changing land
28 SEPTEMBER 2021 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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