The Boston Girl

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant, 

2015, 336 pages, paperback.

A review by Joanne Shawhan, Zonta Club of Albany 

In this novel, Diamant describes family ties and values, friendship and feminism told through the eyes of a young Jewish woman growing up in Boston in the early twentieth century. 

Addie Baum is The Boston Girl, born in 1900 to immigrant parents who were unprepared for and suspicious of America and its effect on their three daughters. Eighty-five-year-old Addie tells the story of her life to her twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, who has asked her "How did you get to be the woman you are today?" 

She begins in 1915, the year she found her voice and made friends who would help shape the course of her life. 

The Boston Girl is a moving portrait of one woman's complicated life in twentieth century America, and a fascinating look at a generation of women finding their places in a changing world.

Long Bright River, by Liz Moore

Long Bright River by Liz Moore, 2020, 496 pages, hardback.

In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling. 

Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit--and her sister--before it's too late.

Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters' childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.

Written by guest reviewer, Joanne Shawhan

The Testaments

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, 2019, fiction, 419 pages, hardback.

Reviewed by Joanne Shawhan

In the sequel, to Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood returns to Gilead, 15 years after the Handmaid called Offred recorded her indelible experiences. Readers will again enter a dystopia of eerie orderliness as women under ruthless surveillance, their social status indicated by cumbersome, color-coded uniforms, are forced into dehumanizing rituals of sex and punishment.

One key character returns, the formidable Aunt Lydia. But in this very different novel, three women tell their stories, the lens widens so that Gilead is seen from the outside, and the focus is not only on men oppressing women, but also on women wielding power. Particularly powerful is the description of how Aunt Lydia went from prisoner to collaborator and active participant in the early days of Gilead. The result is a shrewdly suspenseful tale of survival and resistance.

In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking in America and What We Can Do to Stop It

Joanne Shawhan, guest reviewer, Member, Zonta Club of Albany

In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking in America and What We Can Do to Stop It 

by Nita Belles   ( 2015, 240 pages, paperback)

Modern slavery is happening all around you--and you can be part of the solution

Human trafficking is not just something that happens in other countries. Neither is it something that just happens to "other people" such as runaways or the disenfranchised. Even kids in your own neighborhood can fall victim. But they don't have to.

Human trafficking expert Nita Belles combines heart-wrenching stories, startling research, and boots-on-the-ground advice into a powerful, fast-paced primer on the devastating reality of modern-day slavery and what we can do to stop it.

Twelve feminist books everyone should read, Prepared by UN Women

 Today we have a special - not one book recommendation, but a dozen!
 Thank you, UN Women!

What Is The Women’s Rights Movement?

Found a really great book read this time!  

 “What Is The Women’s Rights Movement?”by, Deborah Hopkinson, is one of the books in the New York Times Best-Selling Series, Your Headquarters for History, published by Penquin Workshop.  

I was drawn to the book by the very captivating cover……caricatures of 9 outstanding women in our history.  The 107-page book opens by explaining just “What is the Women’s Rights Movement?” and from there it explores short, but very informative chapters about women such as: Abigail Adams, Elizabeth Cady, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Blackwell, Mary Church Terrell, Jane Addams, Cary Chapman Catt and up to modern times, ending with Hillary Clinton.

I thought I knew everything about the women’s movement, but having stumbled upon this little gem of a book, I realized I needed to know and learn more. Each page is a gift and full of interesting details.  Not only does the book look at our history, addressing facts about women in key positions in government and the private sector, it also makes some predictions for the future. 

At the end of the book is a Time Line of the ‘Women’s
Rights Movement as well as a Time Line of The World.

This book is definitely meant to share with friends, family and young girls everywhere especially during this celebratory period of our history.

Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Heals Herself.

Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Heals Herself, by Rachel Lloyd

The latest book that I read for our D2 Book Blog is a memoir written by Rachel Lloyd.  I purchased this book at the UN Headquarters in New York City, when I was there in March.

Girls Like Us, is an inspiring story of how a “homegrown” American girl was trafficked and how she finally broke free from her both her pimp and her past,  and was able to devote herself to help other young girls escape “the life."

Today Rachel is the founder and executive director of GEMS, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services.  She was a leading advocate for the Safe Harbor for Exploited Youth Act, which made New York the first state to protect, not prosecute, sexually exploited children.

A very powerful book especially for those who think it can’t happen in the United States.  Rachel herself has been down the path and she recounts the trials and tribulations, the complex emotional and economic factors that contribute to the exploitation of children and youths.

I encourage you all to buy or borrow this book to better understand just how girls can become engulfed in this trade and yet how strong and resilient they can be.  

June, 2019