Silent Hearts by Gwen Florio

Set mostly in the early 2000s and post 9/11, SILENT HEARTS by Gwen Florio is a recently published novel that explores parallels and contrasts through the intertwined lives of two women. Liv is an American expatriate in Afghanistan with her professor husband and Farida is an educated Pakistani who is newly married to the son of an Afghan businessman whose trade involves drugs and guns. Yes, despite clear differences, both women are often defined by their husbands’ roles and impacted by the men’s emotions: “Liv thought of her life in the sheltered embrace of the college campus, first as a student, then a researcher and Martin’s wife. Of the things in that universe that depended upon the whims of men. A door held open for her, or not. A date. A promotion. In this world [Afghanistan] a woman’s very life could turn on whether a man had had a bad day.”

With Farida acting as translator, Liv interviews Afghani women about their life experiences, preparing reports for an NGO named Face the Future. Both Farida and Liv display resilience and develop a mutual regard for each other, even bonding over Alice and Wonderland, the story of “a girl whose curiosity led her to ever-stranger places, who did her best to adjust to incomprehensible circumstances, but who inevitable called stupidity what it was.” Gwen Florio is a prize-winning journalist who has reported from Afghanistan and she movingly conveys the difficulties and dangers there as well as explaining cultural and religious differences. SILENT HEARTS received a starred review from Library Journal, has a helpful discussion guide here, and is definitely recommended for book group discussions.

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy which was provided in exchange for this honest review.

 

More on September 11

The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner is another new novel written about September 11th.  This one focuses on that Tuesday morning in New York City and the days immediately afterwards.   The main character, Kyle, was a student at Stuyvesant High School and with some classmates walked back to his home in Brooklyn – along the way, he found a teenaged girl who is so traumatized by the events of the day that she cannot even remember her name.

Kyle’s Dad is a first responder and his Mom is grounded in California so once home he has to deal with this girl and with his Uncle Matt who is now wheelchair-bound due to an earlier injury.  Author Gae Polisner offers reaction to the day in both poetic and narrative form, from both the girl and Kyle.  She dramatically captures the range of emotions, including numbness, which spread across the country at that time.  Students will quickly be drawn into events and find this book to be moving and poignant, although the ending seemed a bit abrupt.

The Red Bandanna by Tom Rinaldi is a non-fictional work which tells the story of Welles Remy Crowther, a young man who worked for Sandler O’Neill in the World Trade Center.  Welles had experience as a volunteer fireman and exhibited honor, selflessness, and courage to help save at least a dozen people on September 11.  More of his story is told in this ESPN video.

In The Red Bandanna, Rinaldi further describes Crowther’s life and his values.  This is a very inspirational story and may encourage readers to investigate subsequent charitable works, including character development programs through The Red Bandana Project or the picture book crafted by Crowther’s sister and father.  A true hero, Welles Crowther certainly deserves our respect and admiration, although Rinaldi’s book seemed a bit repetitive and slow; it included much more background (like Crowther’s time playing lacrosse at Boston College) prior to the 9/11 events.   

In addition to The Red Bandanna by Tom Rinaldi and The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner, see other books about September 11, including the novels Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard, and All We Have Left by Wendy Mills, plus the middle school book Nine, Ten. For alternative formats, see the graphic novel, In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegelman and With Their Eyes which contains the script of a play based on interviews with Stuyvesant high school students. These, plus other non-fiction titles will be available at our new library.