Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Two half-sisters are born in the Gold Coast in the late 1700's.  Raised by different African peoples, neither is aware of the other.  One stays behind in Africa and becomes the "African wife" of a young British officer involved in the slave trade.  The other  is sold and sent to America on a slave ship.  And so begins a story told through generations.  Esi's generational story is one of slavery, hard won freedom, the sad consequences of segregation and Jim Crow,  Civil Rights,  and eventual success.  Effia's story is one of the development of Africa from tribal wars to colonialism and the eventual independence of the country of Ghana.  And then generations later - without the benefit of Ancestry.com - the worlds of the Fante and Asante come together again.  This is history from multiple perspectives and multiple decades with enough revelatory detail to span the missing years. There is an authenticity to both stories that may come from the fact that the author was born in Ghana and raised in America.

A Gentleman in Moscow

In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life.  "House" in this case is the luxurious Metropol Hotel across the street from the Kremlin.  He must also leave the elegant suite he was occupying for a room in the attic of the hotel.  But the Metropol is a world unto itself and the charming Rostov is a well respected member of its society.  Historical changes outside the hotel doors as well as a whole host of interesting characters that come through the doors do much to expand Rostov's "prison".  But Rostov himself is a fascinating observer of the world.  There are so many occasions of wit and wisdom that I just wished I could be sitting at his table for dinner or sharing an evening drink at the elaborate bar or cruising the back stairways with him while we explored all the hotels secrets.  And then there is the great ending. It is a book that you don't expect to be about much but turns out to be worthy of multiple page markers.  One of my favorites this year.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

To say this is a non-traditional novel is to make a gross understatement.  It is true that in 1862, President Lincoln's young son Willie died of Typhoid fever.  It is true that "bardo" is a real term used in Tibet to indicate a place between physical death and a final resting place of the soul.  So this is a story of Willie's death and Lincoln's return to the cemetery to grieve - sort of.  The style of the book is one of continuous narrative - narrative from ghosts of people buried in the cemetery - lots of people although we get to know three of them better than the others.  The speaker for every part is identified and through their comments some of their stories are revealed line by line with the appearance of a movie script.  Interspersed between these ghostly narratives are lists of short selections from various actual historical sources providing what is often a conflicting historical context.  It's a jumble that eventually becomes a debate about the future of Willie's soul.  It is a jumble that raises questions about an accounting of our lives.  It is a jumble about what is important and what is not.  I think it is a book that would be even better in the audio version where each voice is distinctive - although it still might be a jumble.

The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood

 Ona Vitkus, age 104 and cranky, has come to look forward to the young Boy Scout who comes every Saturday to do things around the house.  She finds his obsession with entries in the Guiness Book of World Records intriguing - even more so when he seems determined to find a way to make sure Ona becomes a record holder.  Then one day, the boy's father, Quinn, shows up to do his chores.  Quinn, a hardly successful musician never quite warmed to his son - this odd boy who counts everything; who has a freakishly good memory; who has died.  Ona and Quinn eventually form a bond over the memory of "the boy".  Both look for a way to grieve the boy's death and a way to honor his life.  The choices they make about how to do either drive this sometimes humorous, often thoughtful story.  Something about each character puts them outside the "normal" box but they eventually confront the reality that no matter how odd we feel or how odd we appear, we all struggle to find connections.

The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones

Newly widowed Maggie McElroy travels to China for a writing assignment for Table magazine and to address a personal problem her husband may have left behind.  Sam Liang has left his home in Chicago to reconnect with his Chinese family.  He is already a well regarded chef but his grandfather was the last chef to the Emperor - the last Chinese chef.  The Maggie and Sam story is a complicated romance but the story of the Chinese cuisine is something else entirely.  One of the things I know for sure, I have never eaten real Chinese food - even in China.  The connection of food with history and family and mood and intention makes me long for a whole different relation with my dinner.  Apparently "the last Chinese chef" is a character of fiction but you could have fooled me.

Triangle:the fire that changed America by David von Drehle

On March 26, 1911, 146 people -  mostly young immigrant women - died in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.  While the details of the fire are part of the book, it is more a commentary on the times.  The rise of unions, the socialist movement, Tammany Hall, the growth of the immigrant life - all a part of the story.  It starts with a prologue titled "Misery Lane" - the story of life on Hester Street.  The final chapter is "The Trial" which follows the attempt to assign fault to the owners of the factory, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris.  There are pictures and horrible details of the fire itself as well as a complete list of the victims but the details of the society of the city of New York at the beginning of the 20th century are at least as interesting as the tragedy that society almost overlooked..

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini

Some people live such interesting lives.  Elizabeth Keckley, slave, was the daughter of white master rape and the victim of the same.  Her sewing skills allow her to buy her freedom for herself and her son.  She eventually finds her way to D.C. where she sews for Mrs. Jefferson Davis and Mary Todd Lincoln and many others.  When the Civil war begins, Keckley develops an even closer relationship with Mrs. Lincoln and the President.  This relationship continues even after the assassination which is when the story becomes even more interesting.  Chiaverini sticks pretty closely to the strange story of what happens to Mary Todd Lincoln when she is left on her own although there are many version of this history to choose from. The fact that Keckley ends up living in the Home for Destitute Colored Women and Children after having founded the Contraband Relief Association to help former slaves relocating in D.C., written a highly controversial memoir of her life with the Lincoln's, and served on the faculty of Wilberforce College is a testament to the struggle between an individual's courage and the forces of the world around them.  This is an unusual lens to use to examine the war years, the affects of slavery, and the Lincolns.  The war years of the book are a bit of a slog but help give context to the rest of Elizabeth's compelling story.