This book is DELIGHTFUL. One of those books where you love the characters SO MUCH-- you want every little thing for them. You want Elizabeth Zott to be the chemist her 1960s world won't let her be; you want her daughter Mad to be victorious in her quotidian battles with her retrograde elementary school teacher; you want their beloved dog Six Thirty to learn more words than any other dog. If none of that makes any sense, it's because I didn't actually tell you what the book is about but just trust me: this is funny and refreshing and poignant and UGH. I just loved it and you will too.
This book is really exceptional. Not only does it tell an important story in American history, it also entertains like a novel and leaves you inspired after you turn the last page. It’s a wonder!
In 1977, people in a neighborhood outside Niagara Falls, NY began noticing a strange smell. Soon they were getting sick from the polluted ground water in the Love Canal, which ran through the neighborhood. A team of housewives led by Lois Gibbs and Luella Kenny worked tirelessly to bring attention from the state and federal government. Their work led to evacuations and even eventually the concept of Superfund sites.
I went into this book not knowing anything about Love Canal, but I bet even if you think you know what happened, you’ll be shocked to learn all the wild details and the consequences of the actions that were taken by so many strong women. It’s such a great read!
Wow, I absolutely adored this unusual novel. Beautiful writing with an experimental plot that totally works.
Two unnamed narrators trade the story back and forth—ostensibly answering questions posed at the beginning of each chapter, but also telling the story of how the met and fell in love, all in the wake of the Arab Spring that changed the landscape of Egypt around them. The woman is American, her parents immigrated from Egypt to America before her birth, and she has come to Egypt to find herself. The man came from his small village to Cairo to photograph the uprising. They couldn’t be more different. Though it tells the story of them falling in love, this isn’t a romance. Their relationship is hard to watch. Naga ends the novel in a way that I found so refreshing and fascinating—I won’t give it away but just know you’re in for something wonderfully unique with this book.