Book Review: Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini

A father and a son prepare to leave their homeland and cross the ocean to--what they hope will be--a safe new home.

Buy this book

I purchased my copy from Bolen Books

Illustrated by Dan Williams

Published by Viking

an imprint of Penguin Canada

a division of Penguin Random House Canada

Published in 2018

This narrative poem gives a voice to refugees. Hosseini writes of the love they have for their country, of the memories of better times. He writes of the love they have for their family and the desire for a better life. I'm overwhelmed by the sacrifice, by the courage, by the hope and I wonder what I would do. Could I be that brave? 

Because many of us are fortunate enough not to be in this situation, we may see refugees as other. Hosseini helps us to see their humanity. Look back in your family tree, you may be fortunate enough to be a descendant...

In the 1800s, my maternal Icelandic ancestors were squeezed onto a ship like cattle. Due to inclimate weather conditions, half of the populations had no choice but to leave. They could only take a few belongings. They had no idea what awaited when they docked. They hoped a new life, a new home. 

After reading this book... After researching your family genealogy... You may ask, how can I help?

4 Ways You Can Support Refugees

8 practical ways to help refugees

UNHCR Canada

The note on the dust jacket reads...

'Khaled Hosseini will donate author proceeds from this book to UNCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and to The Khaled Hosseini Foundation to help fund life-saving relief efforts to help refugees around the globe.'

Other recommended illustrated books   

photo by ldyck

August on this blog...

August 4:  guest post:  
Interview with author Ellen Schwartz

Ellen discusses establishing her career, what inspires her, and the importance of belonging to a writing group--like CWILL-BC.

August 11:  book review:  
Quintland Sisters by Shelley Wood

Shelley Wood uses the power of fiction to reveal the truth behind the seemingly fairy tale childhood of the Dionne quintuplets.

'the only book published in 2019 by a Canadian to hit the [best-seller] list' reports Publishers Weekly

August 18:  short story:  
The Invisible Woman 

Was this short story inspired by The Invisible Man (a novel by H.G. Wells)? Maybe...

August 25:  book review:  
The Princess Dolls by Ellen Schwartz

Set in 1942, two girls--one Jewish-Canadian and the other Japanese-Canadian--bond over their mutual admiration of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.

Book review: The Break by Katherena Vermette

Some are told 'you are your brother's keeper', but in this day and age we are warned 'don't get involved'. So the question is if you saw someone in need what would you do?

In The Break, author Katherena Vermette addresses this question head-on. 

Young mother Stella sees what she thinks is an attack. She does something. She phones the cops. But she's Aboriginal; she's female. When the male cops come she feels like she's the one being investigated. 

Should she have kept out of it? Did she do enough? These questions haunt her throughout the book--and they've stayed with me after I finished reading The Break. 

Abuser. Victim. Vermette explores these loaded words.

Published by House of Anansi (2016)

If you're in a library or bookstore, find The Break on the shelf. I'll wait. Got the book. Great. Now flip it open to the title page. There you'll find...

Trigger Warning:  This book is about recovering and healing from violence. Contains scenes of sexual and physical violence, and depictions of vicarious trauma.

Read this warning but don't put the book back. 

The Break left me with a warm feeling. Vermette knows her craft. Her characters are developed with care and understanding. The story handled with sensitivity.

More...

If you enjoy reading this book, you may also enjoy A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Red Tent. I did.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
published by Penguin Canada (2008)

Hosseini explores the treatment of women in Afghanistan. The brutality that is depicted is off-set by the fine string of hope that connects woman to woman--a fragile (yet unbreakable) bond of friendship.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
published by Picador USA (1997)

Dinah, the Bible barely mentions her, but in the pages of this book she speaks, sings, dances, breathes. We follow her from virgin to mother to crone--and even to her final breath. 

Favourite Quote...

'Innana is the centre of pleasure, the one who makes women and men turn to one another in the night. The great mother whom we call Innana is the queen of the ocean and the patron of the rain... The great mother...gave a gift to woman that is not known among men, and this the secret of blood... In the red tent...the gift of Innana courses through us cleansing the body of last month's death, preparing the body to receive new month's life, women give thanks--for repose and restoration, for the knowledge that life somes from between our legs, and that life costs blood... You will become a woman surrounded by loving hands to carry you and to catch your first blood and to make sure it goes back to the dust that formed the fist man and the woman. The dust that was mixed with her moon blood.' (p. 158)