Review: The Vanishing Half: A Novel by Brit Bennett

 Dear Lit Loves,

This month I decided to challenge myself and read the 2020 Book of the Year entitled The Vanishing Half: A Novel by Brit Bennett.  Talk about an engrossing read!

First, there are two sisters, Desiree and Stella, who are both light-skinned African American females.  They grow up in the town of Mallard, LA where racism runs deep.  The two sisters witness the traumatic death of their father due to racism.  It leaves a dire impression of what it is like to be black and white in the deep South in the 1950s.  When the sisters are sixteen, they strike out together and head to New Orleans.  Together for a while, the girls share an apartment and a temporary work environment   Then, one sister gets a different job.  A job that in that day and time is really only awarded to white women.  Since this sister has light skin, she realizes she can pass in most environments as a white female.  This sister, Stella, enters into a relationship with a wealthy white man.  She goes on to live a privileged life.  

Meanwhile, the other sister, Desiree, is left to toil on her own and wonders what exactly happened to her sister, Stella, who seemingly disappears one day.  Later, Desiree moves to D.C. and marries a dark-skinned African American man with whom she shares a dark-skinned daughter.  When Desiree's marriage becomes abusive, she and her daughter, Jude, return to Mallard, LA to escape a reality of domestic violence.  They return to Mallard, LA where Desiree moves back into her childhood home, helps her mom, and tries to raise her daughter in a community that thinks of her daughter as "other" and most of the community ostracizes the young girl named Jude.

Both Desiree and Stella have daughters who eventually cross paths.  Desiree's daughter, Jude, puts the pieces of the puzzle together when she sees a woman who looks like her mom's sister Stella at a retirement party where she works as part of the catering crew.  Eventually, Jude realizes Stella's daughter, Kennedy, has no idea that her mother has a sister or that her mother is African American.  Jude tells Kennedy the truth.  Kennedy confronts her mother, Stella, about being black and having a family which she has led her family to believe is dead.  

Meanwhile, Jude enrolls at UCLA and develops a relationship with a transgender male named Reese.  He left home in order to live as his true self which is male.  Jude works to help him pay for the hormones and surgeries he desires so he can become physically male; however, Jude does not reveal any of this to anyone except Reese's friend, Barry who is already aware of the circumstances.  

The reader is confronted with perplexing questions of:  Is it okay to live a life of privilege if people accept you as white when you are only "passing" as white?  Is it okay to create a life of secrets and lies around your real race?  How does a person just up and leave the people who have known and loved them since birth?  Is it acceptable to lie about your race, gender, or family?  Also, what separates people who are one race, but live as a more privileged race and those individuals who reject their birth gender and leave their families to live as their more authentic, opposite gender?  

The questions mount as both sisters eventually encounter one another again later in life.  And the daughters of both sisters remain connected even as their mothers choose to live without actually being an active presence in one another's lives.  Is it ever worth it to completely lose connection with your original birth family?  Can someone just build an entirely new life and identity while leaving their blood relations behind to ponder their whereabouts?  And when is it necessary and healthy to potentially not have relations with members of one's birth family?

This is an incredibly well-written book.  It invites the reader to consider issues like racism, domestic violence, prejudice, harassment, the LBGTQ community, and also, who do we define as "family".  This is an insightful, riveting novel that will leave the reader wondering how he/she would handle the various scenarios of each character and their actions.  It is a must read!

Till my next review,

Grace (Amy)

Review: Every Minute Is a Day: A Doctor, An Emergency Room, and a City Under Siege by Dr. Robert Meyer and Dan Koeppel

 Dear Readers,

Wow.  I wanted to read a memoir about someone who worked on the frontlines in the medical field during the Covid 19 pandemic.  I received my wish in the form of the book, Every Minute Is a Day by Dr. Robert Meyer and Dan Koeppel.  What did doctors think prior to the official announcement of a pandemic by the CDC?  Did doctors think Covid 19 was just a case of the flu?  How prepared were most hospitals for a pandemic?  How did people in the medical field cope with the overwhelmingly stressful environment of a hospital flooded with Covid patients in their ER, ICU, etc?

Because I spend so much time as a patient interacting with various medical specialists, I was intrigued at what would happen if you risked high exposure to Covid 19 while simply attempting to help others and do your job?  Dr. Meyer, who is an ER physician at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, shares a diary he created during the pandemic and then sent to his cousin, Dan Koeppel (a journalist).  I think keeping a journal during the Covid 19 pandemic was part therapy and part documentation for Dr. Meyer.  Obviously, in January 2020 most people appeared to think Covid was centrally hitting China and could just cause flu-like symptoms.  March 2020 arrived and Montefiore Medical Center's ER started seeing cases continue to climb each week particularly in the emergency room.

Clearly, Dr. Meyer quickly observed patients were lining the halls of the ER.  The state of New York just stopped.  Businesses shut down.  Schools closed.  People were asked to work remotely.  The first Covid patients seen by Dr. Meyer appeared to have fevers and problems breathing.  Next, patients started exhibiting vomiting and diarrhea.  Interestingly, because oxygen levels in the body were lowered by Covid, people started exhibiting signs of cognitive confusion.  Then patients started exhibiting signs of inflammation which led to all sorts of more extreme complications.

There never seemed to be enough personal protective equipment at the hospital so one staff member began a crowdsourcing campaign for PPE and the designated delivery address became Dr. Meyer's home basement.  There were not enough ventilators for the number of patients needing them.  ER physicians and ER staff appeared to cope via working diligently together and the hospital offered online therapy as well.  Montefiore established a hospital diversion plan. whereby once it had all the patients it could handle, patients were then sent to other hospitals for treatment.  Eventually, a triage tent was erected outside the ER to evaluate patients before they ever entered the doors of the hospital.  Physicians were covered with protective gear so it was difficult interacting with patients.  Finally, the hospital's morgue could no longer contain an additional deceased patient so refrigerated trucks were parked outside the hospital specifically for housing the deceased.  

I can only imagine the trauma a person would endure witnessing everything Dr. Meyers did during the seven months of 2020 when he was writing to his cousin about what he was seeing and how he felt on a daily basis during the pandemic.  The ER medical director at Montefiore had both her parents test positive for Covid and lost her dad to the virus.  Dr. Meyer's mentor, Dr. John Gallagher, tested positive for Covid and wanted no one to visit his apartment for any reason because he was so ill.  He later would test positive for Covid, be admitted to the Montefiore ICU, and undergo rehab following the entire ordeal.  Physicians were having to apply for compassionate use of convalescent plasma and the antiviral drug, Remdesivir.  Heartbreakingly, many physician requests for these treatments were denied which required them to use their connections in order to gain access to these treatments.  

The most inspiring part of this book was Dr. Meyer's commitment to staying in the hospital and treating sick patients.  Not only were medical personnel exposing themselves to Covid, but in some cases also their loved ones.  Dr. Meyer remained committed to his Hippocratic Oath to protect patients from harm and injustice.  His hospital ER was in the Bronx which contained large numbers of elderly residing in nursing homes. Some of those elderly battled Covid in an assisted living center while many others were sent to Montefiore Medical Center.   Covid 19 disproportionately impacted African Americans and Hispanics to a great degree.  Heartbreakingly, many people died without a loved one by their side.  At times, I think most medical personnel during the pandemic questioned if they could remain in their profession and how long they could endure the relentless misery brought about by Covid 19.  

Dan Koeppel, Dr. Meyer's cousin who was receiving Dr. Meyer's daily journal entries, has his own medical scare during the course of the book.  Dr. Meyer assists his cousin in getting seen more quickly so a diagnosis and treatment plan could be enacted or else there very well could have been a more unfortunate outcome.  The one question that kept circling in my head at the end of the book was what do those patients who do not have a Dr. Meyer readily available as our cousin do when we're told to wait weeks for a scan or test that if done sooner might mean the difference between life and death?  This brought back my mantra:  the squeaky wheel gets the grease.  In other words, when it comes to your health or a loved one's health remember to ADVOCATE.  Let your voice be heard.  

And as Dan Koeppel cites toward the end of the book:  grow and learn from hardship.  Live in the moment.  And after reading this book I would add:  stay in the arena or keep pushing to help yourself and others when it comes to healthcare.  Whether it's educating yourself about a disease, keeping medical records, getting vaccinated, eating, exercising, asking questions, or seeking a better provider.  Do Not Give Up.

An excellent read that I highly recommend.

Best,

Grace (Amy)

Review: Dinner with Edward: A Story of an Unexpected Friendship by Isabel Vincent

 Dear Lit Loves,

Hi!  Recently, someone in the book club I attend selected Dinner with Edward:  A story of an Unexpected Friendship by Isabel Vincent as our August book selection.  Isabel Vincent is originally from Canada and is currently an investigative reporter for the New York Post.  Previously, she had been a foreign correspondent covering the war in Kosovo.  Once I read her author profile and learned she is an investigative journalist, I knew I should take a chance on reading this memoir.  (In another life, I am sure I was either a private investigator or investigative reporter because I am always curious about the people affected most by national tragedies or why various leaders and recently, our Supreme Court, decide to make decisions to invade a country or deny women the right to choose what to do with their bodies.)  (Hello, Clarence Thomas!  I am talking to you.  By the way, my nomination for a replacement for Justice Thomas would be professor Anita Hill.  Would that not be fabulous?!)  

So isabel Vincent and her husband move to Roosevelt Island where she takes a position as a reporter for The New York Post.  Roosevelt Island used to be home to a fairly famous mental asylum and she touches on the history of the place just enough to make the reader, like me, go research the area's history.  Unfortunately, Isabel finds herself in a truly rotten marriage and she has a daughter named Hannah.  Interestingly, Isabel strikes up a friendship with Edward, a ninety-three year old widower.  Edward was married for sixty-nine years to the love of his life, Paula.  When Edward's daughter asks Isabel to check in on her father since she lives near him, it becomes almost a weekly event of Edward cooking lavish dinners for the two of them.

Isabel and Edward are drawn to each other by a mutual need to find the courage to go on living after Isabel's mother dies and her marriage crumbles.  Edward has recently lost his beloved Paula.  Just when you think you have absolutely nothing in common with someone, the universe (God) intervenes and you are blessed with the presence of another soul who travels a similar journey as you.  Edward aspired to be an actor and playwright, but neither works out for he or Paula so he works part-time as both a welder and a tailor to help provide for the family.  Paula works as a jewelry painter in a local warehouse. 

During the tasty dinners Edward cooks for Isabel and an assortment of other friends, these two have meaningful conversations about the events in their lives.  Eventually, Edward communicates some valuable lessons to Isabel and these include:

1) Set an example of strength and independence for her daughter, Hannah.

2) Set aside time to take care of yourself and how you present yourself to the world.

3) Fight for what is yours and never allow someone to own you and your life.

4) Communicate well.  This should involve actual face to face conversations.  Email and texts are relieved on so heavily that people have forgotten how to actually sustain meaningful conversations in-person.

5) Do whatever possible to enhance your sense of self-worth.

6) Do what makes you feel most alive and useful each day.

7) Establish and maintain relationships.  Treat family like guests and guests like family.

8) Life is not stationary.  Do not languish in fear or doubt.  Seize the day.

Isabel eventually moves away from Roosevelt Island to Manhattan where she leases an apartment.  She starts making meals similar to Edward's, but with her own twist on the recipe.  She develops friends and eventually someone with whom she develops a romantic relationship.  Though at the end of the book Edward rallies from several health scares, we know that he has made an impact on Isabel and she has influenced his life.  They are better people for having known one another.  

This is a delightful book that has chapters beginning with dinner menus which is a creative way to tell a story.  The only part of the book that bothered me was when Paula is ill and a doctor tells Edward not to take Paula to hospice because they will just give her morphine until she passes.  Maybe that is true in New York City or on Roosevelt Island, but I have witnessed people truly benefit from hospice care.  Others I have witnessed desire hospice care in their final months and weeks only to die sometimes painfully at home all alone.  But the author was being true to the events that occurred as they were relayed to her so that portion of the book is not her fault. (I just had a strong reaction to that part of the book because of my personal experiences.)

Overall, a delightful book that invites readers to watch as two people who are generations apart help each other to move on with their lives and learn the value of friendship particularly when we are faced with difficult times in life.  A must read.

Till my next review,

Grace (Amy)