Jennifer Egan lives in Brooklyn, and one of the great pleasures of this book is the life she brings to its historic structures- the Navy Yard, the Coney Island Parachute Drop, the Red Hook Waterfront, the old houses of Clinton Hill.

This is all just the backdrop however for the inspiring story of Anna Kerrigan, a single woman in Brooklyn in the 1930’s who has the courage to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her father, and also pursue her dangerous dream of becoming a deep sea diver. Anna develops an informal network of women friends who help her overcome her challenges. Nell lends her a bike so she can run out during her lunch hour to watch the divers practice and get back to work on time. Rose invites her to stay with her family so she live closer to the Navy Yard and not tarnish her reputation by living alone. Her Aunt Brianna accompanies her across the country and helps her reinvent her life and care for her child.

Egan deeply researched the stories of Navy Yard workers and this shows in the specificity of the story- the weight of the diving suit, the different classes of married and unmarried working women, how families cared for special needs children. These details made this novel so captivating, and also inspiring.

I give Manhattan Beach 5👍 out of 5👍

3.8👍 out of 5👍

Note that as of 2021 this section will be pared down to List plus 👍 rating with periodic reviews, in keeping with the site title.

Weather is a book written in short vignettes like a long poem in verse. That “A Novel” is part of the title seems almost a point of clarification, to assure the reader that this ephemeral narrative will meet the expectations of the genre.

A writer friend I know keeps a journal with detailed observations from her everyday life. This book reads like that journal, filled with delicious snippets of the overlooked and unexamined. The narrator works in a library and is privy to an ever-changing cast of characters who visit and work around her.

“Also in the air: a coworker who has taken to carrying X-rays around in her purse. Some kind of medical mistake. It can’t be undone, but it can be recounted.”

Interspersed with the vignettes are some very quirky jokes, not all of which I understood.

The story itself is told from the perspective of Lizzie Benson, and describes her life with her husband Ben (a philosophy PhD who makes money as a coder) and son Eli (whose New York public school drop offs each morning are an encounter with otherness). The book takes place just prior to the last presidential election, so the volatile political environment is background to the narrative. The changing Weather marked by the title is both environmental and political.

Lizzie has a very close relationship with her brother Henry, a recovering substance abuser who struggles with depression. Their relationship is endearing, including the little tricks Lizzie employs to support him and keep him alive from day to day.

In Weather, the future is uncertain; the war photographer comments on the nature of countries about to erupt in war (“hackles up”), the environmentalists say there is no where to relocate to keep your family safe in the inevitable climate catastrophe to come, Eli’s uncomfortable questions about death are diverted and unanswered. The counterpoint to this temporal anxiety seem to be the everyday acts of kindness and a present-focused living. A driver with a car service Lizzie uses is getting forced out of business by that “other company” so Lizzie starts taking his cars everywhere and wonders if she is his only client. Her mother buys socks for the homeless which she hands out with dollar bills. She takes in her brother after his marriage falls apart, and stays up late with him each night brainstorming greeting card ideas to distract him from the depression.

Just as this story resides very much in the present, the ending comes almost arbitrarily. At first I found this unsettling, but have come to understand this as consistent with Offill’s present-centered focus. Though short, the book covers a lot of ground and I would give it a 4.5 👍 out of 5👍.

The Magister Trilogy is an epic fantasy series based in a world where expending magic comes at the cost of one’s own life force. Those with magical abilities only have a limited amount, and once expended, they expire. The magical exceptions are the Magisters, a secret group of male witches with an undying athra (or magical force).

It turns out that secret source of the Magisters’ life force is their ability to remotely feed on others’ life forces. Mere humans suddenly become afflicted by the mysterious “wasting disease” while they are slowly drained by the Magisters, who deliberately remain ignorant of their hosts (“consorts”). Early in the series we learn that Prince Andovan, son of one of the most powerful rulers in the world, has suddenly become inflicted by the Wasting Disease.

This is surprising to all the Magisters, because it defies the Magister Oath. The Magisters keep to a code of ethics to temper their more base instincts – they are fiercely territorial and cannot stand being within proximity to others of their kind, but they each have the power to flatten armies and destroy kingdoms single-handedly. Accordingly they have made an Oath that if one Magister is retained by a royal house, the others will leave their employers alone. Thus since King Danton is served by the powerful Magister Ramirus, his son Prince Andovan should be off limits to other Magisters as a consort.

It is against this complex web of magical stage-setting that we are introduced to Kamala, the talented witch with magical Sight, who doggedly seeks out a male Magister mentor, and convinces him to train her. She survives her training to become the first female Magister.

Siderea, the Witch-Queen of the Free Peoples, has stayed in power longer than any witch should last due to her secret manipulations of her many Magister lovers, who help keep her alive.

Gwynofar, Queen of the High Kingdom and wife of King Danton, pursues the religious rituals of her native Kierdwyn, convinced of the inner power of the Lyr people who will supposedly rise up to protect the world when the evil Ikati reappear. While ridiculed by the High Kingdom court and even her husband, she remains dedicated to the Lyr mythology.

While this series has many of the traditional elements of epic fantasy – magic, dragon-like creatures (Ikati), secret invaders, and epic quests – it is also a feminist story. The main female characters – Kamala, Siderea, and Gwynofar – are women of power trying to break into a boys club. To some extent the series tracks their individual successes and creative problem-solving, as they kick ass and change the world. Friedman’s female characters are complex and interesting to follow, and it is refreshing to have the women take the spotlight.

I haven’t been rating the books I review but think it might be helpful to add this feature to my reviews. Of a total of possible 5 👍 I would give this one 4 👍👍👍👍!