wendywelch

Guest review by Janelle Bailey, retired Literature teacher.

Like many readers, I’ve waited for a long time for Jamie Ford’s next book, after enjoying very much his Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

I was not disappointed.

For me this was David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas meets Matt Haig’s Midnight Library meets that idea (that I treasure and relish much more than my five daughters may currently) that we women were eggs in our grandmothers’ bodies as well when they carried our mothers into life.

Seven women, Afong and the six generations of daughters who descend from her, are the main characters in this book, which chronicles their intertwined lives from the 1800s well into a future decades from now.

Ford very richly brings Afong, thought to be the first Chinese woman in America—everyone gawking at her bound little feet, actually paying to see them and her, as she is shown, displayed for paying spectators, somewhat like a museum exhibit, but she’s not wax! This is wrong all along—to the US from China in 1836.

Then he weaves the stories of her daughter and her daughter and her daughter…you get it (and you know I’m no spoiler! You need to read it yourself)…through different eras and countries and lives…but each of them with Afong thread through them, to Annabel’s story in 2086. We see nearly every woman as both mother and daughter…carrying their pasts on through their futures and their legacies.

And there’s even a bit of sci-fi, but the very digestible and accessible, if also at times troubling kind. Am I the only one who’d call The Handmaid’s Tale science fiction when Margaret Atwood wrote it in 1986 (or so, I think…and for as long as I taught it having to explain to students that none of that technology was readily available back then, even though they could not conceive of that when reading it in 2000-2017; Atwood was((ney, IS!)) simply that smart), and now a horror novel/historical fiction?!—for anyone first reading it in 2022 (and no longer sci-fi at all)? Sorry for that rant, but that’s how I see Ford’s sci-fi here: accessible, believable, makes some improvements and adds numerous ethical questions for real people to figure out.

There are layers. If you know my reviews and me, you know this matters. There are ponderings of spirituality—Buddhism, even, the consideration of karma, contemporary as well as classic poetry, and much, much more. The stories are rich, each of them. Maybe the characters are more similar than uniquely themselves, but given that they’re all connected, genetically, that’s less a criticism than explainable. They each have their own row to hoe, but they are never completely alone to hoe it.

I say: read it. Then let me know, please, when you have so that we can chat about it. That’s always my favorite part of every book.

I am at my parents, and in their garage, I came across a “Boundary Kit.”

Wait, what? Do they make these for those of us who can’t maintain our own??

After further investigation, it turned out to be for dogs, but it was too late, my imagination was off and running on how to modify this for best day job use.

First off, change those white boundary flags to make a yellow flag zone. In this zone you can still ask a question or suggest an idea but cannot reach the director’s desk to demand any paperwork. But you can reach across to hand over coffee or chocolate.

The repellant detectors: the fence should pick up on pointy collars, and anything made with linen. Male or female, anyone wearing a high-quality thread count outfit will automatically be shocked back at one hundred paces. The flags at this border will say “send an email.” This would eliminate about 30% of the day’s useless conversations and 90% of meetings, IMHO.

The fence would, of course, automatically shock back anyone wearing a red tie. It would also repel anyone wearing patterned ties involving dollar signs. We’ll have to check the design parameters to see if it could also do monogrammed shirt cuffs and ties, without distinguishing them from t-shirts with lettering. People wearing t-shirts with lettering should be let through; they contribute fun perspectives to ideas exchanges.

Of course, it goes without saying that anyone carrying more than three sheets of paper would be repelled by weight. In fact, we could add a trap door function for those carrying a file folder weighing more than six ounces. They’ll never bother you again. (Could we teach the fence to recognize the word “INVOICE?”)

By voice activation, the fence would incinerate anyone inside its range who used any of the following words or phrases: robust, paradigm shift, low-hanging fruit, run the numbers, or go viral.

Finally, the fence in “professional” setting would go into overdrive on Friday at 3 pm, and simply repel everyone.

Patent pending. Please form an orderly queue.

P.S. For a little extra, you can have the “writer’s version” which not only repels everyone, 24-7, but also shuts off your internet access in random three-hour stretches. It’s amazing what you can get done in those time periods. The writer’s version would also need the capability to instantly fry anyone who says, “Are you still working on that.” But it needs to only mildly shock spouses who “just pop in with a quick question” about supper or thermostat settings. I’m sure we can figure this out.