Happy midweek everyone! Woah. I hope that 2024 will usher in more blessings and good news for everyone. I hope that everyone will be happy and healthy, in body, mind, and spirit.

With the midweek comes a fresh WWW Wednesday update, my first this year. WWW Wednesday is a bookish meme hosted originally by SAM@TAKING ON A WORLD OF WORDS. The mechanics for WWW Wednesday are quite simple, you just have to answer three questions:

  1. What are you currently reading?
  2. What have you finished reading?
  3. What will you read next?
www-wednesdays
What are you currently reading?

To kick off my 2024 reading journey, I have been catching up on 2022 and 2023 releases I was not able to read in the past year. This brought me to Jonathan Escoffery’s If I Survive You, a book I first encountered through the Booker Prize; a score of my reads in the past few years were from the prestigious award’s longlist. The book was longlisted for the said award, going all the way to the shortlist. This makes If I Survive You the fifth book from the longlist and third from the shortlist that I read. At the heart of Escoffery’s debut novel is a Jamaican immigrant family who was endeavoring to establish their roots in Miami. The primary character and sometimes main narrator is Trelawny, the youngest of two sons. We read about their struggles, both within the family and outside of the home. For instance, Trelawny struggled for acceptance because he was not accepted by white Americans and was rejected by his fellow Jamaicans. This is a common plight among individuals of mixed heritage. There is a lot to unpack in the book which I am midway through. I appreciate how Escoffery is making the readers inhabit the characters.

What have you finished reading?

I am slowly gathering momentum. In the past week, I was able to complete three books, the first of which was Vietnamese writer Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s latest novel, Dust Child. I was looking forward to reading the book when I first heard of its release. Nguyễn earned a fan in me with her 2020 novel, The Mountains Sing which was easily one of my favorite reads of the first year of the pandemic. This made me look forward to reading more of Nguyễn’s works. The opportunity came in 2023. I was planning to read Dust Child toward the end of 2023 but I had too many books lined up.

Without a doubt, the Vietnam War left a lasting impact on the lives of the Vietnamese people and those who were involved in the war. Its impact reverberates in the present. In the present, Phong had to face discrimination amongst his fellow because he was the son of a local and an African American soldier. His case was exacerbated by his abandonment by both of his parents; a eureka moment comes later in the story. Trang and Quỳnh were sisters from the countryside. Their soldier-father was ill, prompting them to seek employment in Sài Gòn; this was during the war. The sisters unexpectedly found themselves employed in the Hollywood Bar, where soldiers seek pleasure. Trang was held back by her values but eventually relented to the trade, even finding herself in love with an American GI named Dan. Dan completes the quartet as the present-day Dan seeks to find his former lover. Secrets and darkness hound the story but it culminates in a hopeful voice. I liked The Mountains Sing better but Dust Child beacons on its own.

From a familiar name to a new-to-me writer. Like my current read, it was through the 2023 Booker Prize that I first came across British-Indian writer Chetna Maroo and her debut novel, Western Lane. Like If I Survive You, Western Lane was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, piquing my interest in the novel. The book was, interestingly, a short read. A book’s brevity, I have learned since I started reading works of fiction, can both be a liability and a strength.

Western Lane started on a sad note. A mother has passed away, leaving her three daughters – fifteen-year-old Mona, thirteen-year-old Khush, and eleven-year-old Gopi – in her husband’s care. However, grief was too much for her husband as he soon became uncommunicative, prompting their aunt to take over. Through her coaxing, she was able to make their father enlist them for highly regimented sports training. The siblings were taught to play racket sports when they were young. Now in their teenage years, they were focusing on squash. It was, however, palpable that Gopi naturally excelled in the sport. Her training in the titular Western Lane, a sports facility in suburban London, then was made more intense. Western Lane is a compelling coming-of-age read. However, insights into the characters were lacking. Some details were obscured – how did their mother die – and Gopi, despite being the primary narrator was a cipher herself. Nevertheless, tender moments between the sisters were the novel’s highest achievements.

Like in the case of Dust Child, I was very excited when I learned about the release of Tan Twan Eng’s latest novel, The House of Doors. His sophomore novel, The Garden of Evening Mist, really captured my interest. It made me look forward to reading his other works. Imagine my excitement when I learned about the release of The House of Doors. I was really looking forward to it, especially after it was longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize. I was also planning to read the book toward the end of 2023 but time was running out.

Tan’s third novel was cast in the same mold as his sophomore novel: it is a work of historical fiction. This time, Tan transported readers to Penang in the first quarter of the 20th century. Famed British writer Somerset “Willie” Maugham (true-to-life character) found himself settling down for a sojourn in the home of Lesley and Robert Hamlyn; Robert was his friend. Joining Willie was his private secretary Gerald. In a way, the visit to Penang was a form of escape from the troubles brewing in London. Willie’s marriage with Syrie was on the rocks. Willie erroneously invested, causing him great pecuniary losses. Gerald, however, was living a decadent lifestyle. Meanwhile, Lesley had her own concerns. Her friend killed her lover. Her husband was cheating. She advocated for Doctor Sun Yat-sen during his stay in Penang. All characters were wearing proverbial masks, each one keeping a secret. Overall, it was an interesting read with unexpected plot twists that kept me riveted.

What will you read next?