The art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

When Tin Win, a successful NYC lawyer, suddenly disappears, his daughter, Julia, believes there must be a good reason. She knows that her parents weren't a warm, fuzzy couple but Julia and her father have always been close. Then they discover a letter from a woman in his native Burma. Julia believes she will find an answer to her questions there. Off she goes to the small village of Kalaw which is now in a country known as Myanmar in search of her father's real story. Here she meets the enigmatic U Ba and the tale begins. It reads like a fable of love, obligation, tragedy, and determination.  Perhaps it is the unexpected setting or the archetypal characters (right down to the evil uncle) that makes this seem like something out of the Brothers Grimm rather than a Hallmark moment. It is nonetheless a lovely read with an ending that will maybe surprise you but at the very least will make you say ahhhh.

ALEK by Alek Wek

 The subtitle is : "From Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel" and that is exactly what this book is about. In the 1980's when Alek was nine, she and her family became a party of the tragedy that was South Sudan. Unlike some of the other Dinka families, her parents were educated and monogamous.  Some of her older siblings were already living abroad.  Still when the war started, they were forced to leave the life they had established in the town of Wau until 1 by 1, they were able to follow those siblings out of Sudan. Much of her story is tragic but with a little luck and a lot of grit, she has built a successful place in the fashion world.  Her story makes clear she is not just a pretty face.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

 So if we can agree that race is a social construct and not a real thing, how do we feel about color? 
An ex-slave created the town of Mallard, Louisiana where only light-skinned blacks may live.  Twins Stella and Desiree Vignes are raised there.  Both run away to New Orleans - one bristling at the absurdity of color discrimination - the other hoping to "pass".  They go on to lead very separate lives very far away from each other.  Then Desiree returns to Mallard with her very dark skinned daughter Jade.   As it turns out the world is a very small place and no matter how far you run, it is never really "away".  Which raises the next question - How much about who we are is about who we have been? Identity, abuse, family are all explored in the 50 some years of this family saga but for me as the reader, exploring identity from the inside of these two sisters was eye opening.  I don't know how many times I said to myself, "I never thought about it that way".  I have always maintained that every book is a conversation between the author, the characters and the reader.  This conversation was definitely worth having.

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

 This might be the most romantic book ever!  Floating down the rivers and canals of France in a book store on a barge - sign me up!  Jean Perdu's floating bookstore is called The Literary Apothecary where books are organized by the emotion they evoke - and Perdu has the uncanny knack of matching the book with the reader.  He has not been so successful in his own life having lost his one great love.  Then events require that both the barge and Perdu break free from their Seine River moorings and adventure and self discovery begin.  Within the main story is the diary of Manon, Perdu's lost love.  Such sadness! Such joy! Such scenery.!  Such food!  An unopened letter, a mysterious author,  love lost, love found - pure escapist delight!  You cannot be sad at the end of this book.