#6Degrees of Separation:
from Western Lane to Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here.
This month's prompt starts with Western Lane (Goodreads). That's the same this month. So, I looked at the description of the book:
"A taut, enthralling first novel about grief, sisterhood, and a young athlete’s struggle to transcend herself.
Eleven-year-old Gopi has been playing squash since she was old enough to hold a racket. When her mother dies, her father enlists her in a quietly brutal training regimen, and the game becomes her world. Slowly, she grows apart from her sisters. Her life is reduced to the sport, guided by its the serve, the volley, the drive, the shot and its echo.
But on the court, she is not alone. She is with her pa. She is with Ged, a thirteen-year-old boy with his own formidable talent. She is with the players who have come before her. She is in awe.
An indelible coming-of-age story, Chetna Maroo’s first novel captures the ordinary and annihilates it with beauty. Western Lane is a valentine to innocence, to the closeness of sisterhood, to the strange ways we come to know ourselves and each other."
I have read some similar books with stories that talk about children in difficult families. They are all about the same kind of topic, so I have listed them in alphabetical order.
Ashworth, Andrea "Once in a House on Fire" - 1999
Coory, Kasey "Pious Evil. Condemn Not My Children. A Mother's Journey to Insanity" - 2014
Frandi-Coory, Anne "Whatever Happened to Ishtar?: A Passionate Quest To Find Answers For Generations Of Defeated Mothers" - 2010
Lamb, Wally "We are Water" - 2013
Walls, Jeannette "The Glass Castle" - 2005
Wells, Rebecca "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" - 1996
"A taut, enthralling first novel about grief, sisterhood, and a young athlete’s struggle to transcend herself.
Eleven-year-old Gopi has been playing squash since she was old enough to hold a racket. When her mother dies, her father enlists her in a quietly brutal training regimen, and the game becomes her world. Slowly, she grows apart from her sisters. Her life is reduced to the sport, guided by its the serve, the volley, the drive, the shot and its echo.
But on the court, she is not alone. She is with her pa. She is with Ged, a thirteen-year-old boy with his own formidable talent. She is with the players who have come before her. She is in awe.
An indelible coming-of-age story, Chetna Maroo’s first novel captures the ordinary and annihilates it with beauty. Western Lane is a valentine to innocence, to the closeness of sisterhood, to the strange ways we come to know ourselves and each other."
I have read some similar books with stories that talk about children in difficult families. They are all about the same kind of topic, so I have listed them in alphabetical order.
Ashworth, Andrea "Once in a House on Fire" - 1999
Coory, Kasey "Pious Evil. Condemn Not My Children. A Mother's Journey to Insanity" - 2014
Frandi-Coory, Anne "Whatever Happened to Ishtar?: A Passionate Quest To Find Answers For Generations Of Defeated Mothers" - 2010
Lamb, Wally "We are Water" - 2013
Walls, Jeannette "The Glass Castle" - 2005
Wells, Rebecca "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" - 1996
📚📚📚
Obviously, all the books lead back to the first one, so there is a link between the last and the first. Some of the books are memoirs, the last one is not, just as the starter story.
I don't know any of these books, and with not much to go on, haven't decided whether to add these to my toppling TBR!
ReplyDeleteHahaha, I know all about that, Margaret.
DeleteYou can always check out my links, then you know whether you would be interested in one of the books. "Once in a House on Fire" is a British book, btw.
I think there's a movie about the Ya-Ya sisterhood. Nice chain.
ReplyDeleteThere is, Davida. With Sandra Bullock as the protagonist. It really is a good film. Gives you a good feeling about the Southern States. And with good I mean a true sounding feeling.
DeleteNice chain, and it feels good when the last links perfectly to the first, and make it a wholesome chain. My #6degrees brought me far away to a murder case! :D
ReplyDeleteWell, that must be an exciting chain. I usually try to go by words in the title or by the content. This time, I thought of so many similar stories that I just couldn't decide where to go.
DeleteThanks for leaving your link, Fanda, I'll visit it soon.
My mother's book group is reading The Glass Castle. She is really enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time since I read it, Constance. But I remember it very well and it is brilliant. Say hello to your mother from a fellow reader.
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