A House Named Brazil

I just purchased 9 copies of this book for my book club. I so enjoyed reading it myself and I was eager to discuss it with my group. I came across it in a used book store and it turned out to be a great find. Our next meeting is next month and I hope that most of the members enjoy it as much as I did.

For those who love pure narrative, this novel has the endlessly interesting turn of phrase and unexpected descriptiveness to hold them to the end. I discovered in reading the first several chapters that I am not a fan of pure narrative, but need some development of character, some change from despair to joy or from frustration to utter satisfaction. The word-talent of this writer is wonderful. The story telling is completely captivating. That is, until one realizes that the stories are a little too fantastic and a little too cruel. I have decided that perfect writing, like the skill of being a realist oil painter, cannot compensate for subject matter which is ulimately unloveable.

It all begins with an unexpected phone call. Fran, who was abandoned by her mother at the tender age of 14, tries desperately to re-connect with her long-lost mother over the phone. But instead, she is drawn unwittingly into her mother's strange family tales. Illustrated with real photos from the author's own family, "A House Named Brazil" contains tales so captivating you'll forget they are fiction. From miraculously preserved bodies, to professional pickpockets to organized crime bosses, the characters which populate Schulman's story will soon become a part of your own twisted family tree.

Up there with THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, PALACE WALK, EAST OF EDEN, every great book you've ever loved. Birth and death and the magic of life in between. A celebration of the endurance and beauty of the human spirit.

I was enchanted by this novel that explores the powerful role of myth in a family. Through a series of phone calls from her distant mother, the heroine (and the reader) learns where she and her mother are from -- and how they came to be the way they are. It's psychological, adventurous, and, ultimately, very satisfying. Ms. Schulman is a gifted writer and story teller. I've also read her other two books (The Cage and Swimming with Jonah) and am eagerly waiting for more.