Published: June 30, 2008 01:40 pm         

Fantastic Summer Reading

5 Selections to live by this summer

FEATURED CR PICK: Stolen Innocence, Elissa Wall (Memoir)

Elissa Wall was 14 years old when FLDS sect leader Warren Jeffs forced her to marry her first cousin, five years her senior. Raped and beated by her church-appointed husband on a regular basis, Wall was pushed out of her home and began living in her truck to avoid the crushing realities of the situation.

And then, she met Lamont.

Lamont Barlow was a former FLDS member whose chance encounter with Elissa sparked a relationship that gave her the strength she needed to leave her marriage and throw off the chains of the FLDS forever.

Elissa tells not only her story, but Lamont's as well, discussing his banishment from the sect, as well as how men and not just women are victimized by the cruel power structure of the FLDS. She breaks free, not only to better her life, but to make Warren Jeffs pay for his crimes as well. She served as the star witness last year in the case that sentenced him to prison for serving as an accomplice to rape. Wall's story couldn't be more timely, coming on the heels of the polygamist compound raid in Eldorado. Her descriptions of life in the sect are shocking, but what emerges is an inspiring narrative about the resilience of the human spirit and how one woman's determination triumphed over one of the most controversial figures in recent history.

(5 Stars)



A WOLF AT THE TABLE: Augusten Burroughs (Memoir)

From the author of "Running With Scissors" comes a memoir of a fatherless son. Burroughs' father was a shadowy presence in his life: a form on the stairs, a cough from the basement ... but as Augusten grew older, something sinister within his father began to unfurl. Betrayal after betrayal ensued and Augusten's childhood was over. The kind of father he wanted didn't exist. And then, the "games" began. In his memoir, Burroughs takes a leap into untapped emotional terrain: the radical swing between love and hate, and a terrifying relationship between father and son. Told with blunt honesty and at times painful insight, it is a story for anyone who has ever longed for unconditional love from a parent. It will leave you with the profound joy of simply being alive.

(4 Stars)



THE WOMAN WHO WOULDN'T: Gene Wilder (Fiction)

Jeremy Webb has a complete meltdown on stage as a concert violinist with the Cleveland Orchestra. If he hadn't poured a glass of water down the throat of a tuba, maybe he wouldn't have been sent to a health resort in Germany. But it's in this serene setting that Jeremy meets Clara Mulpas, whom he tries his hardest to seduce. But flirting probably isn't the best way to appeal to a woman who was married toa dumb brute and doesn't want anything to do with men. Jeremy isn't sure how to press on, but he won't give up. Wilder's prose is elegant, spare and affecting. But it's in his roamntic's eye for the intense emotions that animate a real love story that makes this novel unforgettable.

(5 Stars)



SUITE FRANCAISE: Irene Nemirovsky (Novel)

Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940, Suite Francaise tells the remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control. As Parisians flee the city, human folly surfaces in every imaginable way: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple is terrified at the thought of losing their jobs. Moving on to a provincial village now occupied by German soldiers, the locals must learn to coexist with the enemy--in their town, in their homes and even in the hearts. In 1942, when Nemirovsky, a successful Jewish writer, began working on this story, she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz where she later died. For 64 years, this novel remained hidden and unknown.

(5 stars)



THE ABSTINENCE TEACHER: Tom Perotta (Fiction)

The film rights to this novel have already been sold to the producers of "Little Miss Sunshine," and it fails to let readers down with screwball comedy. Sex ed, Evangelical Christians and soccer all but encompass Ruth Ramsey's life. She teaches human sexuality at a local high school, and her job is in jeopardy because a church moved into town and started making noise about godlessness and moral decay. Tim Mason coaches Ruth's daughter's soccer team, and he happens to be a member of that church, reaching out after drugs and alcohol ruined his life. When Ruth walks into an impromptu prayer session, the two are forced to square off, talk and come to understand each other. In simple prose, Perotta achieves a critical balance between each character's needs, and portrays the small town and its inhabitants with understanding.