The Bread of Angels

Let me begin this review with thanks to LibraryThing and Doubleday for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The Bread of Angels is a memoir by Stephanie Saldana in which she remembers her year in Damascus, Syria studying Islam, culture, as well as other religions of the world. Trying to run away from herself and her family, her Fulbright Scholarship gave her this perfect opportunity. After a year of running, Saldana finds that she has stopped running away and is running to her future with an open heart and mind.

I would rather not say too much more about Saldana’s story other than the fact that while she is praying in a centuries old monastery, she meets and falls in love with a novice French monk. Away from the monastery, Saldana’s days are spent learning Arabic, studying the Quran, having coffee with Grandfather, and learning how to love herself and her family. The beauty of the book is in her intricate descriptions of places and people that most of us will never encounter. In a post 9/11 world, Saldana navigates the Middle East with some trepidation, but finds that she is as horrified as her new neighbors by the violence that is occurring in Iraq and Lebanon. Visits to the desert monastery are more journeys of the soul than the body and as I read, I longed for the silence of the places she walked – places she met Jesus and Mary. In absolute balance, Saldana met the Jesus and Mary of the Quran as well.

I enjoyed this book from start to finish. Culture and religion and love fill the pages of this memoir and after a bit of time has passed, I might just read this book again.

TITLE: The Bread of Angels: A Journey to Love and Faith
AUTHOR: Stephanie Saldana
COPYRIGHT: 2010
PAGES: 303
TYPE: non-fiction, memoir
RECOMMEND: A wonderfully peaceful book to read, even in the midst of chaos.

28. The Heretic's Daughter

If you love reading historical fiction and have an interest in the Salem Witch Trials, you will likely enjoy The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent. This is the author’s first novel and will be released September 3, 2008 by Hachette Book Group.

What makes this book even more enticing to read is that the author is a tenth-generation descendant of Martha Carrier, who is at the center of her novel.

The story begins in the cold Massachusetts winter of 1690 with Martha and Thomas Carrier, as well as their children, moving to Andover to live with their parents. Their economic situation forced them to leave their home. The story is told from the perspective of young Sarah who only sees her grandmother for a brief time before she is sent away to protect her from smallpox. Sarah lives with her aunt and uncle and cousin where she finds the lightheartedness and joy that seems to be missing with her own family. When forced to return to her own home, Sarah’s disgruntlement with her mother grows and the two struggle for some way to connect. Both Martha and Sarah are somewhat stubborn and willful. Between the troubles in the village, troubles with relatives, and the witch trials which were beginning in Salem, the family struggles. When Martha Carrier is accused of being a witch, the family learns the power of their love.

The best part of the book starts when the actual trial begins. The amount of available research for this half of the book lends an authenticity to the story, which seems bogged down with heavy metaphors and over-detailed snippets in the first half of the book. Even so, the telling of the family story prior to the witch hunts may be necessary to understand the final chapters. Perhaps more succinct descriptions without as many metaphors would serve to strengthen the first few chapters.

Many of the details found in the story are confirmed at a number of websites, including this one. Or from this biography. It was the adherence to this historical occurrence that made the book a good read. After I got to the trial, I could not put the book down, equally sad and horrified. Because of these emotions, I would encourage interested readers to give this book a chance. I am grateful to Hachette Book Group for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this interesting and entertaining book by new author Kathleen Kent.

TITLE: The Heretic's Daughter
AUTHOR: Kathleen Kent
COPYRIGHT: ARC copy, to be published in September 2008
PAGES: 332
TYPE: Historical fiction
RECOMMEND: After the first half, I really enjoyed this book. The strength of the writing improved as the content moved to the trials.

LibrarysCat

5. Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife

This was an excellent book. Additionally, I cannot think of another more surprising one. I have read many books about different religious cultures and thought I was fairly educated about the experiences of plural wives. However, the lives descirbed by Irene Spencer were often shocking and sad. At the age of sixteen, Irene was married to a young man of the LeBarron "clan". She ultimately shared her husband with eight other women with a total of 58 children. For most of her married life, Irene lived in abject poverty. While she railed against her life in Mexico, Central America, and the western United States, she was a good mother and friend. Through her detailed story, the reader learns a great deal about the Mormon fundamentalist faith as it still exists today. It is amazing that Irene was able to live through her experiences to go on and marry a non-Mormon after the death of her husband. Today her life is her large family with many her husband, grand children and great grand children.

TITLE: Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife

AUTHOR: Irene Spencer

COPYRIGHT: 2007

PAGES: 383

TYPE: Non-Fiction

RECOMMEND: Yes, this was an amazing story of one woman's life in polygamy and exposed the sacrifices and challenges she, and other second wives, continue to endure.

Flusi the LibrarysCat

4. Secret Ceremonies

Laake's story of her young adulthood as a Mormon is very easy to read although the content is somewhat disturbing. Her religious aspirations to be pleasing to God found their earthly home in bad marriages which assured her way into heaven and damning her when they failed. In spite of oaths that would require bodily harm if she shared any information about the secret ceremonies, Laake allows her readers to join her in the Temple ceremonies which bound her to her first husband in this life and the afterlife.

In the introduction, the author says that many times she gave up on writing this book. Finally, I think it was cathartic for her to tell her story - the years of turmoil in the Mormon religion. I was surprised that polygamy was not the main issue here. However, it was very interesting to think that, even without the dreaded polygamy, Mormon females remain in a position of inferiority and submission.

TITLE: Secret Ceremonies: A Mormon Woman's Intimate Diary of Marriage and Beyond
AUTHOR: Deborah Laake
COPYRIGHT: 1993
PAGES: 240
TYPE: Non-Fiction
RECOMMEND: Yes, Although not as highly as the previous book on this subject

Flusi the LibrarysCat

3. A Mormon Mother: An Autobiography

Annie Clark Tanner relates her life growing up as the oldest daughter of the second wife of a very influential Mormon during the early years of the religion. She continues her own story of life as a second wife. The details of day-to-day life on the frontier and living this new religion make this book a must-read for those interested in polygamy or Mormon religion. The author includes her own personal letters and correspondences as well as newspaper articles of the day. This work serves as the perfect background for many of the escape narratives being published today.

TITLE: A Mormon Mother: An Autobiography
AUTHOR: Annie Clark Tanner
COPYRIGHT: 1969
PAGES: 294
TYPE: Non-Fiction
RECOMMEND: Yes, detailed history of polygamy in Utah

Flusi the LibrarysCat