Alan Drew - Gardens of Water

Review by Corinna Christopher
A lovely book with a good story and background which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The American author has written short stories prior to this. He spent 3 years in Turkey and was there at the time of the 1999 earthquake.
Set in and around Istanbul we are drawn into the family of Sinan, his wife Nilufer, daughter Irem and young son Ismail. A devastating earthquake rips apart their home and fragile stability of life. In the same building lives an American family with the husband working as a teacher and they have a 17 year old son Dylan. In the aftermath of the disaster the American's wife Sarah dies as she shields and looks after Ismail who comes out alive. The American sets up a rescue centre where reluctantly Sinan moves his family into a tent. His daughter becomes infatuated with Dylan but of course their cultures and backgrounds are very different. Sinan a good Muslim struggles with the influence of the Christians running the camp and wishes to protect his family in particular his daughter. Having escaped from the rural part of Turkey he wants nothing more than to return and has to find work in order to raise money. However, there are many setbacks and the clashes between the secular West and his religious traditions are expertly described.
The budding romance of Irem and Dylan come to a head and Sinam's actions spiral into a powerful and heartbreaking conclusion. Although the ending is dramatic one can understand the emotions of the persons concerned.
Having been to Istanbul I found the background of this fascinating city escellently written, the bustling metropolis and the ever present Bosphorous flowing past with Mosques and skyscrapers jostling the horizon.
There are some poignant scenes with Sinan describing Heaven to his young son.
Quote: "Heaven is very green, the brightest green of the most beautiful trees. There are gardens of water with rivers and lakes and tall waterfalls that sparkle like a million cascading diamonds. When you peer into the water, thousands of brightly coloured fish stare back at you. The mountains are tall and covered in snow but its not cold. You can slide down the face of the mountains but the snow is warm as bathwater. The sun always shines but it never hurts your eyes and sky is so blue it looks like its been painted with hundreds of coats of paint".
A delightful book with a good storyline and interesting plot.

Corinna

17th sept show

Guests on the show this week were: Lydia Birch & Corinna Christopher.
Lydiua had been set some home work to read other 'vampireish' books and compare them to her beloved 'Twilight' series. So Lydia was reviewing:
The Accidental Vampire by Lynsay Sands & Dead Until Dark (one of the Trueblood series) by Charlaine Harris.
Lydia did not like the Lynsay Sands book, she found it too pornographic in places and characters she didn't care about.
Funnily enough,I was sent an email questionnaire by some online book firm. It was asking if I would read certain books judging them by their covers & also, judging by their covers, what would I say they were about. The books were from the 'Lynsay Sands Argeneau series' and judging by their covers, they reminded me of a raunchy Mills & Boon and no, I wouldn't want to read them.
The other book reviewed by Lydia had a definite 'thumbs up'. Lydia loved the Charlaine Harris, and said if you need a book to replace the 'Twilight' then this is the one.

Corinna reviewed: Gardens of Water by Alan Drew. Corinna often reviews interestingly different books and this is one of these. Based on the Turkish earthquake of 1999, it was, said Corinna, I really good book.
The other book Corinna reviewed was: In Cold Daylight by Pauline Rowson. This is a book I have also read as it was one of our 'bookgroup' selection. Corinna said it was a good book for a beach or train ride. Easy quick read but with some cheesy plot lines. Agreed with the review I did.

Talking about cheesy, last week we were discussing how James Patterson is going off the boil & Keri sent me an article which could explain it:
From 'Forbes.com': 'He's not a writer. He's a fiction factory. And Hachette can't afford to lose him. When Hachette Book Group announced a landmark deal with author James Patterson on Tuesday, the numbers were stunning. It calls for him to churn out 17 books through 2012, 11 for adult readers and six for young adult readers. A source familiar with the terms estimates it to be worth at least $150 million to Patterson'.