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MADRE Book Club

MADRE is pleased to introduce a new book club feature for those of you already in book clubs and for those who would like to start one, but needed a little push. Each new issue of MADRE Speaks Online will now include a suggested work of fiction from the MADRE bookshelf that touches on themes related to our work with women around the world.

This is a great way to experience international literature that deals with real-world issues faced by women and families every day and share MADRE's work with friends and family. Along with each selection we will include a MADRE flier that highlights the ways in which MADRE, together with our sisters worldwide, addresses issues covered in the book. We encourage you to download and print this flier to bring to your book club discussion: that way, you’ll not only be bringing a great book to share, but also a concrete way for your book club to impact the issues you are reading about.

August/September 2008 Selection

This month, we are reading Sky-High Flames by Unoma Nguemo Azuah. In her first novel, Azuah tells the story of a young woman in Nigeria who demands personal freedom in a family and society which expects early marriage and motherhood for women.

MADRE themes addressed in Sky-High Flames: Women's Health, Violence Against Women, and Economic Justice

Publisher Comments (taken from Publish America):

"Sky-High Flames is the story of a vivacious, naïve, young girl who morphs into an unforgettable, strong woman. Ofunne lives in a society that defines her status through marriage and children; nevertheless, she dreams of building a career for herself. Once in school, her high-spiritedness leads her to constant trouble, but she excels as a student. She is, however, taken out of school to marry a man of her parents' dream, but all is not as it seems when she soon discovers that her husband is less than ideal. Caught in a whirlpool where the proclivity would be to succumb, she finds her way out of the maze. In a world where there are no choices, Ofunne refuses to be a tragic victim; her story becomes an indictment of a culture and her victory gives us hope. This book bears a tale of innocence, of sadness, of sacrifice, and of victory in the face of sky-high obstacles.

Unoma Nguemo Azuah teaches English at Lane College, Jackson, Tennessee. She is an MFA graduate, Virginia Commonwealth University. She has a BA in English, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and an MA in English, Cleveland State University. She has received a number of awards, including the Hellman/Hammett award and the Leonard Trawick award."

June/July 2008 Selection

Our latest selection is Unburnable: A Novel by Marie-Elena John. In her first novel, John explores the lives of three different generations of women against the cultural and historical backdrop of the struggles of the African diaspora in Dominica and the United States.

MADRE themes addressed in Unburnable: A Novel: Women's Health, Violence Against Women, and Economic Justice

Download the MADRE/Unburnable: A Novel flier

Publisher Comments (taken from HarperCollins):

"In this riveting narrative of family, betrayal, vengeance, and murder, Lillian Baptiste is willed back to her island home of Dominica to finally settle her past. Haunted by scandal and secrets, Lillian left Dominica when she was fourteen after discovering she was the daughter of Iris, the half-crazy woman whose life was told of in chanté mas songs sung during Carnival: Matilda Swinging and Bottle of Coke; songs about a village on a mountaintop and bones and bodies; songs about flying masquerades and a man who dropped dead. Lillian knew the songs well. And now she knows these songs -- and thus the history -- belong to her. After twenty years away, Lillian returns to face the demons of her past, and with the help of Teddy, the man she refused to love, she will find a way to heal.

Set partly in contemporary Washington, D.C., and partly in post-World War II Dominica, Unburnable weaves together West Indian history, African culture, and American sensibilities. Richly textured and lushly rendered, Unburnable showcases a welcome and assured new voice."

April/May 2008 Selection

We start this year's book club with Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami. A tale of emigration from the global south, Lalami's novel traces the lives of four people as they attempt to escape from the grim realities of poverty and global economic inequity.

MADRE themes addressed in Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits: Economic Justice and Violence Against Women

Publisher Comments (taken from Powells.com):

"Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits marks the debut of an exciting new voice in fiction. Laila Lalami evokes the grit and enduring grace that is modern Morocco. The book begins as four Moroccans illegally cross the Strait of Gibraltar in an inflatable boat headed for Spain. What has driven them to risk their lives? And will the rewards prove to be worth the danger?

There's Murad, a gentle, unemployed man who's been reduced to hustling tourists around Tangier; Halima, who's fleeing her drunken husband and the slums of Casablanca; Aziz, who must leave behind his devoted wife in hope of securing work in Spain; and Faten, a student and religious fanatic whose faith is at odds with an influential man determined to destroy her future.

Sensitively written with beauty and boldness, this is a gripping book about what propels people to risk their lives in search of a better future."

November/December 2007 Selection

Unbowed by Wangari Maathai. Maathai's autobiography is of an unintentional world leader: a Kenyan woman who chooses to challenge social discrimination and political oppression in order to protect the country she calls home. A powerful and beautifully written account of Maathai's life, this book explains the motivation and methods of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

MADRE themes addressed in Unbowed: Indegenous and Environmental Rights

MADRE Sister Organizations and Unbowed: The Indigenous Information Network and Umoja Uaso Women's Group, both of Kenya

Download the MADRE/Unbowed flier

Publisher Comments (taken from Powells.com):

"In Unbowed, Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai recounts her extraordinary journey from her childhood in rural Kenya to the world stage. When Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, she began a vital poor people's environmental movement, focused on the empowerment of women, that soon spread across Africa. Persevering through run-ins with the Kenyan government and personal losses, and jailed and beaten on numerous occasions, Maathai continued to fight tirelessly to save Kenya's forests and to restore democracy to her beloved country. Infused with her unique luminosity of spirit, Wangari Maathai's remarkable story of courage, faith, and the power of persistence is destined to inspire generations to come."

July/August 2007 Selection

Our second book club entry is Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat, a longtime MADRE member. Told through a child’s eyes, this poignant novel reveals the effects of rape, violence, and political instability in Haiti on twelve-year-old Sophie Caco and the women in her family.

MADRE themes addressed in Breath, Eyes, Memory: Violence against Women and Sexual Rights

MADRE programs and Breath, Eyes, Memory: I Am One of Many, a project empowering rape survivors in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Download the MADRE/Breath, Eyes, Memory flier

Publisher Comments (taken from Powells.com):

"At an astonishingly young age, Edwidge Danticat has become one of our most celebrated new novelists, a writer who evokes the wonder, terror, and heartache of her native Haiti——and the enduring strength of Haiti’s women——with a vibrant imagery and narrative grace that bear witness to her people's suffering and courage...

At the age of twelve, Sophie Caco is sent from her impoverished village of Croix—des—Rosets to New York, to be reunited with a mother she barely remembers. There she discovers secrets that no child should ever know, and a legacy of shame that can be healed only when she returns to Haiti——to the women who first reared her. What ensues is a passionate journey through a landscape charged with the supernatural and scarred by political violence, in a novel that bears witness to the traditions, suffering, and wisdom of an entire people."

May/June 2007 Selection

Our first book club entry is Persepolis: Volumes 1 & 2 (The Story of a Childhood and The Story of a Return) by Marjane Satrapi. This graphic memoir reveals the effects of war, displacement, and religious fundamentalism on Satrapi and her family and friends as she grows up in Iran.

MADRE themes addressed in Persepolis: War, Displacement, Fundamentalisms

Download the MADRE/Persepolis flier

Publisher Comments (taken from Powells.com):
[Volume 1]

"Originally published to wide critical acclaim in France, where it elicited comparisons to Art Spiegelman's Maus, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's wise, funny, and heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran's last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

"Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran: of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life and of the enormous toll repressive regimes exact on the individual spirit. Marjane's child's-eye-view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a stunning reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, through laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love."

[Volume 2]

"In 1984, Marjane flees fundamentalism and the war with Iraq to begin a new life in Vienna. Once there, she faces the trials of adolescence far from her friends and family, and while she soon carves out a place for herself among a group of fellow outsiders, she continues to struggle for a sense of belonging.

"Finding that she misses her home more than she can stand, Marjane returns to Iran after graduation. Her difficult homecoming forces her to confront the changes both she and her country have undergone in her absence and her shame at what she perceives as her failure in Austria. Marjane allows her past to weigh heavily on her until she finds some like-minded friends, falls in love, and begins studying art at a university. However, the repression and state-sanctioned chauvinism eventually lead her to question whether she can have a future in Iran.

"As funny and poignant as its predecessor, Persepolis 2 is another clear-eyed and searing condemnation of the human cost of fundamentalism. In its depiction of the struggles of growing up — here compounded by Marjane's status as an outsider both abroad and at home — it is raw, honest, and incredibly illuminating."