The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Monica Wood has penned a heartfelt, endearing story of friendship between a young boy, and a 104-year-old lady that ripples out to the boys parents.  They share an affinity for world records, and also share in loss.

Ona Vitkus, meets a young boy when he is assigned to her property to complete his yard work badge for Boy Scouts.  The boy's father, Quinn, comes to finish his son's good dead, and to try to make up for his shortcomings as a father and in doing so, comes to understand his son.  Ona and Quinn form an unlikely pairing.  They embark on carrying out the boy's wish to make Ona the world's oldest driver.

There are a few unnecessary characters and plot threads, but all-in-all a charming read.

A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi

A special thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This unforgettable story from the author of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell is an emotional journey of sisterhood, friendship, love, and hope that highlights the plight of women that are bound by a traditional culture.

Awaiting trial for the murder of her husband, Zeba meets a group of women in prison that are confined and defined by the immoral crimes they have committed; Nafisa is an eighteen-year-old who was imprisoned to protect her from an honour killing, Latifa is a twenty-five year-old that chooses to be imprisoned because it is safer for her to be incarcerated than her actual life, and Mezghan a twenty-year-old who is pregnant, unmarried and waiting on a court order.  When Zeba arrives at the womens' prison, she is in a state of shock and a shattered version of her former self.  She is unable to account for her whereabouts at the time of the murder and cannot bring herself to speak of the events to defend herself.  Her case is assigned to Yusef, an Afghan-born American lawyer who has returned to his birthplace out of commitment to human rights.  This is his first case, and it proves to be more than what he originally thought.           

This astonishing, and sometimes disturbing novel is a glimpse into what the modern women of Afghanistan face.

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

A special thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, Cleave's writing is gorgeous and moving.  Historical fiction can be fickle and tricky, but Cleave effortlessly transports you to another time and makes his version new.  His WWII story takes place in London and Malta; I can already see this one becoming a movie.  

I have read all of his other books and savoured each one because of his beautiful writing.  There is a tenderness to the way he develops his characters with his moving prose, they are deep and complex, much like the setting.  We have Mary, who is barely nineteen, and comes from a wealthy family.  She uses the war to rebel against her parents, romanticized by possibility and not seeing war for what it is.  She is assigned to a school to teach children and meets Tom Shaw, who is the head administrator.  The two embark on a romantic relationship that becomes complicated when she is introduced to Tom's flatmate, Alistair Heath, an art conservator that gets deployed to active duty in Malta.  Rounding out the cast is Hilda, Mary's inferior friend and ambulance partner.  

The only negative was the pace, which moved between slow and steady.  This was probably deliberate on Cleave's part to let the story unfold, to immerse the reader in WWII, and to develop the characters.  Stay with it, you will be glad you did.