James & Heroic Measures - buried into your soul

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James

Percival Everett

303 pages, Paperback, Published 19 March 2024

Jim from Huckleberry Finn is given a voice, it is strong, it is powerful, and it resonates. We are not presented with an adventure story but a survival story. Jim runs to remain alive, he runs to save his family, he runs to find a better future.

I was quickly immersed into Jim's journey; Everett's writing grabs you and keeps you flicking pages. The writing is crisp, the descriptions vivid and the characters alive. I don't want to give anything away; read the book it is a masterpiece.

Heroic Measures

Jill Ciment

208 pages, Paperback, 1 January 2009

Ruth and Alex Cohen have lived in the same New York apartment for over 40 years and as they near their 80’s navigating the five flights of stairs is becoming a slog. They discover their property could be worth up to a million dollars and decide selling is a great idea as moving will mean an elevator. As they prepare for the sale, their beloved dog Dorothy suffers a medical episode and is taken to the vets. It is not clear given Dorothy’s age as to whether she will survive. To further complicate matters a fuel truck has been abandoned in a Midtown Tunnel, the city goes into lockdown as officials try to decide if this is a terrorist attack or something else.

This wonderful novel packs so much emotion into 200 pages. I have never been on such a roller coaster, will they sell the apartment, will the secure a new apartment, will Dorothy be okay? I was wrung out and in the best possible way. Ciment makes you ever so gradually care for Ruth, Alex and Dorothy. Her writing style is ever so fluent with lovely dialogue. There are moments of tenderness between Alex and Ruth which are deftly handled. You cannot help but become fully encapsulated into their world. You become completely enraged when the open house occurs and how some of the potential buyers treat the couple.

The book is an absolute master class in writing and a joy to read.

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