On Chesil Beach: A Novel

By Ian McEwan

After being blown away by Atonement, I was eager to read another novel by McEwan. On Chesil Beach has received many positive reviews but ultimately, it just did not quite live up to my high expectations.

McEwan’s writing is beautiful and evocative, and the plot is intriguing. Set in 1962, a young, sexually inexperienced couple marries and endures a stressful, and ultimately disastrous, wedding night. I believed that Edward and Florence truly loved each other, but their pride and anger kept them from working through their sexual incompatibility, leaving them to live the rest of their lives without each other. The final pages are emotional and thought provoking, as McEwan writes, “Love and patience – if only he had had them both at once – would surely have seen them both through… This is how the entire course of a life can be changed – by doing nothing.”

For me, On Chesil Beach is about living a life without regrets and with nothing left unsaid. A powerful lesson about the importance of courage, honesty and tenacity in relationships, this short novel is definitely worth reading.

The Last Chinese Chef: A Novel

By Nicole Mones

Maggie Mason is just beginning to adjust to life as a widow when she gets a startling phone call. It turns out that her husband Matt, recently killed in a car accident, may have fathered a child while visiting China on business several years ago. In complete shock over discovering this part of her husband's life that she never knew about, Maggie immediately makes plans to travel to China to arrange a paternity test. Maggie also has other business to attend to on her trip: her editor at Table magazine has assigned her to interview a new, up and coming chef in Beijing.
Sam Liang is half Chinese, half American but in Beijing, he is considered a foreigner. Food is in his blood and he is determined to take the art of Chinese cuisine to new heights. At first, Maggie is skeptical about many of Sam’s ideas about food and how it can heal people and make them feel happy, but she is soon impressed by his unique talents in the kitchen. Both Maggie and Sam find themselves drawn to each other in a way they never imagined possible, although neither is looking for romance.
This is a beautifully written book about food, love, and healing. Mones writes about China and its cuisine in a way that is so descriptive that you feel like you’re there with Maggie, in this ancient place, tasting this amazing food and believing in the power of love. Sounds corny here but this really is a book to savor, like a great meal.

Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him: A Novel

By Danielle Ganek

A chick lit look at the New York art scene. Mia McMurray is a “gallery girl”, a receptionist at the Simon Pryce gallery in Chelsea though she dreams of being a famous artist one day. One night, just before a show of his work, an unknown, undeniably talented painter named Jeffrey Finelli is struck by a taxi and killed right outside Mia’s workplace. Soon, everyone is clamoring for his paintings, especially a piece entitled Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him. Lulu is not an outwardly religious work, but a haunting and beautiful portrait of Finelli’s young niece creating her own work of art. It wouldn’t be chick lit if it didn’t contain some kind of romance and the object of Mia’s affection is Zach, an advisor to art collectors, though he appears to be spoken for.

Publishers Weekly called this novel “sophisticated” and “enjoyably tart”. I found it to be an interesting and entertaining look at the art world with Mia serving as a likeable narrator and knowledgeable guide.

The Abstinence Teacher: A Novel

By Tom Perotta

Liberals and the evangelists struggle to live together peacefully in idyllic Stonewood Heights, a small town in the northeastern US. Free spirit Ruth Ramsey teaches sex ed at the local high school and one of her daughters plays soccer for the local team. The commotion begins when Ruth admits to her class that oral sex can be enjoyable. Soon, members of the local church group are demanding a more conservative sex ed curriculum that teaches abstinence. Ruth also finds herself confronting religion problems at home as well, when her daughter’s soccer coach, Tim Mason, leads the team in a prayer after a tough win.
I really enjoyed Perotta’s previous novel, Little Children. Although I did not find the plot of this novel as absorbing as Little Children, I found the characters to be complex and well drawn. Perotta somehow manages to make both Ruth and Tim sympathetic as well as intriguing, and I was eager to see how things would turn out for these characters. The Abstinence Teacher is a quick and worthwhile read that also comments on some of our country’s most divisive topics, like separation of church and state, and the struggles between the liberal and the conservative viewpoints.