Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: travel

MOROCCAN MUSINGS by Anne B. Barriault – Travelogue, Moroccan History, Multi-Cultural

Anne B. Barriault’s Moroccan Musings is a creative blend of personal journal, travelogue, and historical narrative about an ancient culture and civilization.

The slim three-part volume delivers contemplative vignettes that showcase Barriault’s draw to the intoxicating beauty of this North African country and the openness and sincerity of its people. Early on Barriault relates that her story was born of wanderlust, curiosity, ignorance, yearning, and desperation. In the aftermath of the tragic events of 9/11, her quest for knowledge about the Middle East grew, along with a desire to better understand Islam and the Muslim world.

Inspired by a trip to Italy where Arab-Islamic cultures had been present in the 13th and 14th centuries, Barriault ultimately joined a “Moroccan Discovery” museum tour group. The experience gave a voice to her writing as she described her visit to a region that was “sensuous, intoxicating, spiritual, and earthbound.” From olive groves, cork tree orchards, and dogs rooting for flavorful white truffles, to the contrast of an unremarkable Moroccan home exterior and its interior of marble floors, colorful tiles, filigree arches, silk & brocade fabrics, and calligraphic Koranic blessings, Barriault invites readers along on her excursion.

She reflects on the beauty, friendliness, and curiosity of the young people she meets in a place where adolescent boys are taught the art of selling and trading, as they entice visiting foreigners to speak bits of the Arabic language. Meanwhile, three generations of women in the central marketplace show the changing culture, the covered elders, their daughters in European attire wearing the hijab head scarf, and a granddaughter defying tradition by choosing clothing inspired by pop stars.

In part two of this travel memoir, Barriault showcases her solo journey to Fes.

Here she notes that her first trip to Morocco was “through the lens of a five-star hotel.” “This time around was the lifting of the romantic veil.” She details an ancient city with shops, houses, and astonishing artisanship. Free concerts in the public square, along with a sacred music festival offer enticement with their carnival-like atmosphere. Lunch with a hosting family features an array of delectables from salads and couscous to roasted meat, along with fresh fruit and the ritual of mint tea. Unfortunately, she puts future travel plans on hold due to the restless discontent in the country.

Part three in this trilogy of essays finds Barriault on a family trip to Marrakesh for Christmas of 2018.

With time’s passing, the area is now home to 2 million people. A new museum has opened to preserve the city’s heritage, and the Moroccan King and Queen are now divorced. Barrialult spends Christmas in the desert, artfully describing the beauty of the sand dunes changing color with the light, a flavorful tagine lunch at camp, and a precarious ride aboard a long-lashed camel with its “camelicious thoughts and sideways glance of bemusement.” From the ancient Berber influence that permeates the city and the five times daily call to prayer, to the Western presence that finds Marrakesh a modern-age mecca for the likes of expatriates, rock stars, and hippies, Barriault’s revelations are rich, sensory, and alive.

Moroccan Musings by Anne B. Barriault won First Place in the 2014 CIBA Journey Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction.

December 30, 2022
INNER TREK: A Reluctant Pilgrim in the Himalayas by Mohan Ranga Rao – Travelogue, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

A disinclined traveler journeys into the heartland of the revered Mount Kalash Parikarma in Tibet. Inner Trek by Mohan Ranga Rao follows a voyage that culminates in self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment.

Mohan Ranga Rao, a retired Indian businessman, finds himself between a rock and a hard place when a ruthless Bangalore mob boss threatens him to sell his land at a throwaway price. The situation escalates when he discovers that his trusted lawyer has joined forces with the enemy. He can only turn to his wife for solace.

With nothing for him to do about his land, Rao vows to trek around Mount Kailash, a holy Tibetan Mountain. This travel memoir traces his and his wife’s journey to the deified Himalayas, the land of Lord Shiva. Rao shares intimate details of his experience, including the spiritual transformation that he went through during his challenging high-altitude trek.

Like a medieval troubadour, the author writes with keen precision and finesse.

Deriving his inspiration to visit the holy mountain from his wife Mamatha, Rao is candid in spelling out the reasons why he was initially reluctant towards prayers and their healing power. In tandem, he deftly careens through the emotions he experienced upon catching sight of the mountain along with the noteworthy aspects of the journey. This swiftly culminates into a very colorful and informative insight.

Further, Rao examines what it is about Mount Kalash that has compelled so many people to take the plunge. He studies why travelers would willingly put themselves through such risk and adversity for the pilgrimage to Tibet. He does not shy away from sharing the sacrifices that they made – financially, emotionally, or otherwise, but does it in a witty and heartening tone. The chapters are a refreshing respite from the monotony of daily routine that at times threatens to envelop us.

Written with emotional lucidity and propped up by his relaxed aura of reporting, Rao’s eyewitness account of the arduous journey is an outstanding win.

Buoyed with remarkable photography, each picture tells a story of its own. This makes Inner Trek: A Reluctant Pilgrim in the Himalayas a captivating read for both ardent and armchair travelers. Rao shares his indelible account and experiences in a riveting manner that pulls the reader into these mountains.

Every line in this travelogue runs truer than any ornate prose could, creating a well-layered and tightly braided portrait. Some illustrations invite the reader to laugh, apprise, and reflect, while others spur the urge to travel. Far more than an adventure tale, Inner Trek by Mohan Ranga Rao deftly balances escapist entertainment with wisdom as it morphs into a spiritual lesson about human life and the importance of staying true to one’s faith.

September 12, 2022
A SPLINTERED STEP: A Sarah McKinney Mystery by Marian Exall – Mystery, International Crime, Suspense

How does one avoid family at all cost? A change to name and identity? Participate in AA? Use of a drug or alcohol as a coping habit? Live in a trailer home?

Check out Marian Exall’s third book, A Splintered Step, in the Sarah McKinney series to find out what happens with her in Wales!

In the second book, Sarah lands an offer to help her mentor locate his distant daughter, and this adventure takes her to rural Dordogne, France. She also must confront her own inner challenges and dangers. Now, McKinney faces her family fears and the origins of her demons in a heart-stopping and heart-breaking story!

We learn more about a special someone in Sarah’s life who asks her to visit during the time between Christmas and New Year’s Day. She reconnects one evening with a musician named Deke. He ends up being her long-lost brother Shane who is in hiding from their abusive parents and plays covers of Rolling Stones songs. Exall describes all her characters effortlessly, making them lifelike, vivid and dynamic.

Even though the conflict of McKinney’s family is troubling and for some hard to read, her supportive journalist beau Dykstra leads her on a fact-finding mission that is impossible to ignore.

The pair reconnect over a cozy meal, where he surprises her with a lovely and sentimental family heirloom as a gift. They decide haphazardly to travel after attending the funeral of Dykstra’s beloved mentor, whose death came suddenly. While on their travels, they spend the first part of their trek getting to know Sarah’s musician brother, Deke. The two continue and after hours of driving into the white and cold dark winter, the snowbanks pile up and force them to reconsider their choice. As luck would have it, they end up at a bed and breakfast and spend the night, which is the scene for a plot twist!

Sarah’s story and family origins make for good imagery and believable characters with great dialogue. Some transitions didn’t flow effortlessly and seemed out of place such as the bird sanctuary at the B&B, but overall, the story is well crafted and is hard to put down. The chemistry between Dykstra and McKinney uses their professions to their advantage to solve the case: Dykstra is a journalist; McKinney is an international advocate. Dykstra is no fuss and only out to get the next big story, but McKinney loves a good adventure which helps the two balance each other out.

Although the descriptions of Wales as a location are sparse, the dialogue between a local host and his uncle (Uncle Georgie & Michael) give us a clearer understanding of the rural setting.

The love and tenderness that Sarah shows her brother is also a bright light in their dark and abusive family’s past. Plus, the plot-lines pulling on Dykstra and McKinney compel readers to devour this whodunnit page turner.

Readers will enjoy the story with or without the first two books in the Sarah McKinney series. A Splintered Step is a tale not for the faint of heart as there are some violent scenes, but it is worth continuing to see if the two can solve the case. The best audience for this book is someone who likes a good mystery, likes to travel in Europe and enjoys the Rolling Stones.

A Splintered Step by Marian Exall won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBA Clue Awards for Suspense & Thriller Mysteries.

May 4, 2022
WHEN the WIND CHIMES by Mary Ting – Sisters Fiction, Kauai Hawaii Travel Books, Single Women Fiction

In When the Wind Chimes by international best-selling author Mary Ting, Kate Summers wants to make this Christmas extra-special for her older sister, Abby, and four-year-old nephew.

A year ago, she’d given up Christmas with her family to spend the holiday with her boyfriend, Jayden, whom she had caught cheating on her the next day. Not only is she hoping to erase that memory, but she also has another even more important reason to make this Christmas special. A few months after her disastrous break-up with Jayden, her brother-in-law, Steve, passed away from cancer, so Abby and Tyler will be spending their first Christmas alone.

After taking a leave from her job as a graphic designer in LA, Kate flies to Poipu, Kauai, determined to make this an amazing holiday, but on her way to her sister’s house, she meets a mysterious man, who gives up his cab for her. Kate can’t get the handsome stranger out of her head, and when she sees him again in her sister’s art gallery–and destroys his expensive shirt with paint–she is both mortified and excited.

Billionaire Leonardo Medici, the heir and CEO of Medici Real Estate Holdings, is the most sought-after bachelor on the island and the most elusive. Lee just wants privacy and a temporary nanny for his four-year-old daughter, Bridget. When Kate applies for the job, neither is aware of their previous connection to each other until they meet in Lee’s mansion after Kate is hired by his permanent nanny, Mona. Bridget quickly bonds with Kate, and as they grow closer so do Lee and Kate. Kate’s rocky relationship past, however, keeps her on edge, and she must find a way to overcome the damage done by her cheating ex before she can ever learn to love again.

The unpredictability of life and fate’s subsequent role in a person’s future is a major theme within this novel.

Abby, Kate’s sister, never expected to be a widow in her twenties. Steve, her husband, died suddenly from cancer. The disease progressed more quickly than doctors predicted, and she is left to fend for herself and Tyler. Moving to Kauai, the place where she and Steve honeymooned, is an attempt to escape her sadness and find peace in the place where their life together began. Starting her own gallery in such a small community was another uncertainty, and while the gallery struggles at times, destiny brings Lee into her small business, and he becomes her best customer. Lee purchases art to stage his more expensive listings, which is how he encounters Kate a second time after a quick-passing rainstorm brings them together the first time. Had Kate not jumped into his cab, slinging water all over his suit, they would not have met. Kate would have never seen the ad for a nanny had Abby not come down with a cold and needed Kate to drop Tyler off at preschool, and she would not have gotten the job had Mona not needed a replacement nanny for two weeks. The kismet that brings Lee and Kate together is an interesting and humorous part of the novel. This fate-filled string of coincidences adds a hint of the supernatural to their love’s beginning.

Vulnerability is another great theme found in the award-winning, When the Wind Chimes.

Abby is most definitely a strong woman. She not only begins her own business but also must be both mother and father to her son. However, Abby can’t do everything on her own. With her struggling business and the demands of her private life, she welcomes the help Kate brings and hopes she will stay on the island rather than going back to Los Angeles. The close relationship between the sisters is touching, and Kate’s job search shows how much she loves Abby and Tyler. Even though she fails to find a job as a graphic designer and has no experience as a nanny, she takes the job, planning to give the money to Abby to help her support Tyler.

However, Kate’s willingness to try something new despite her uncertainty extends to her own artistic ability. Since her horrible experience with Jayden, she has lost her confidence and desire to paint even though Abby has successfully sold Kate’s pieces in the past. It takes courage and a release of her own fear to get her in front of a canvas, but her regained confidence brings her into contact with Lee again–albeit accidental. Lee has his own vulnerability issues. Opening up and bringing Kate into his life is a risk. He cannot allow just any woman into his life. Most of the women who approach him are only interested in his money or looks, and he must protect both his privacy and Bridget. His own past causes him trepidation because he harbors a deep hurt that is known only to those within his immediate circle. Both he and Kate learn to face their deep-seated emotions rather than burying them beneath fear and uncertainty, but to do that, they must give vulnerability free reign.

When the Wind Chimes is more than a romance novel. It’s a heart-warming, feel-good read that will leave readers wanting more.

Mary Ting won the Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBAs in the Chatelaine division for Romance and Romantic Fiction novels for her spell-binding novel.

March 25, 2022
FIND ME in FLORENCE by Jule Selbo – Women’s Divorce Fiction, Romantic Fiction, Literary

Thirty-five-year-old Lyn Bennett explores the life of her late mother before she was married, in Jule Selbo’s romance novel, Find Me in Florence.

In 1966, Jenny, a Mud Angel, dropped everything to fly to Florence, Italy, in search of treasures buried in mud and water after the Arno flooded. She worked tirelessly alongside her fellow Mud Angels to rescue these priceless works of art and ancient books.

For all of Lyn’s life, she heard her mother’s stories until they became mundane and commonplace. But before Jenny passed away, she gave Lyn instructions on where to find her precious journal from her time in Italy. She left the cryptic message “Find me in Florence,” so when Lyn, an up-and-coming writer, has a chance to teach at a writer’s retreat in the city her mother loved, she jumps at the opportunity. Three years later, she still journeys there yearly for one month to explore Florence. With her latest book under her belt, Lyn decides to tell her mother’s story.

Lyn’s life shifts dramatically, and she soon searches for more than her mother’s history.

When she arrives in Florence, Lyn’s life seems on the upward swing. She put her writing back on track after the death of both of her parents, married a successful lawyer, and hopes to begin a family soon. However, all of that vanishes when Stan, her husband, surprises her not long after her seminar in Florence begins. Stan and Susie, Lyn’s best friend since junior high school, had an affair. The two followed Lyn to Florence to deliver the news in person, thinking her love of the city might lessen the blow of utter betrayal. Lyn’s true journey begins with this revelation. Suddenly, Lyn loses her hope as the people of Florence must have lost when her mother volunteered fifty years ago. But like the city, Lyn must endure.

Soon following the bombshell announcement, Lyn struggles between what she “should” do and what she “wants” to do.

She should accept this betrayal like an adult, negotiate reasonably with her cheating husband, forgive her BFF, and move past all of her pain. But surrounded by Florence, a city that called to her mother to leave her normal life, Lyn learns not to follow “the should” but to chase after “the want.” The vitality and passion of the Florentines give Lyn the strength she needs to “shed [her] skin.” Lyn rids herself of a life lived in fear of taking chances. Her mother’s own rash decision to become a Mud Angel and experience the adventure of a lifetime propels Lyn to stop accepting the expectations of everyone else. Perhaps Jenny meant for her daughter to learn this very lesson. As Lyn explores her fledgling confidence, she begins to realize all her mother gave up by returning to the US to fulfill her promise to marry Lyn’s father. She feels the life her mother could’ve lived if she had followed the “want” rather than the “should.”

This clash of responsibility and desire extends beyond Lyn’s story. Matteo, a man Lyn grows to care for over the course of the novel, wrestles with his wants as well. His responsibilities weigh on him, coming from a proud Italian family with a lineage and family home dating back four hundred years. They hope–expect–him to marry a woman closely connected to the family business. But after a chance meeting, he draws closer to the American with the broken heart. He should stay away, give her time to mourn the loss of her marriage and best friend, but he wants more from her. Though Matteo should pursue the woman his family has chosen, he wants the woman he shouldn’t, and like Lyn, he will have to decide whether to follow his heart or his head.

This novel celebrates Florence, its people, and its customs.

Any lover of Italy will enjoy the history included in Lyn’s story. With the detailed descriptions, readers come along on the journey to this beautiful city, eating at its most celebrated restaurants, and walking its ancient streets. Florence shows Lyn her innermost feelings and surrounds her with passion and acceptance. Embracing and appreciating Florence makes Jenny’s story alive, rather than just a dusty story from half a century ago.

Jule Selbo’s Find Me in Florence won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBA Chatelaine Book Awards for Romance and Romantic Fiction Novels.

February 4, 2022
MOROCCAN MUSING by Anne B. Barrialut – Non-Fiction/Memoir/Travel/Morocco

Anne B. Barriault fell under the spell of Morocco on a tour of Moorish ruins in Italy. She joined an organized museum group excursion called “Moroccan Discovery” and later would return on her own for an 8-day stay in Fes under the caring eye of a resident family. Morocco, she says in her rich recollections of those journeys, is “sensuous, intoxicating, spiritual, and earthbound.” Here is the memoir-travelogue of Barriault’s, a museum professional, visits Morocco, recording colorful impressions in prose with accompanying pencil sketches by illustrator Shawna Spangler.

In the first part of this rhapsodic tribute to the country, Barriault describes the various, sometimes chaotic events of the group tour: a first glimpse of the storied mirages of the desert, camel rides in the sand dunes that magically change color, a somber visit to Chellah, the sacred ruins outside Rabat where storks and eels guard the spirits of the dead.

A scholar as well as author and observer, Barriault explains the meaning and history of the harem, where men protect their women by isolating them, and the hajiba, the ancient laws that require women to enter the homes of their husbands and never again step outside. She examines the veil in all its significant stages through the ages and contemplates the compromises that women must make, whether Muslim or not, veiled or not. She recalls the stares of young Moroccan girls and women at her unveiled freedom, circumspect looks that may hide disapproval or envy. Boys, too, are an important part of her writing. She describes the young men hanging about in city streets and shops, sometimes selling something or simply hoping for some recognition of their open, friendly chatter and attempts to speak English and teach a few Arabic words to the gaggle of foreigners.

In the second part of the book, she visits on her own, in Fes, where she can immerse herself ever more deeply into the Moroccan culture. Having come to the city particularly for a sacred music festival, she finds herself forgetting all about her concert tickets on an afternoon when her hosts — an ancient patriarch and his eight grown children all living together — treat her to a homely feast. Dish after dish –salads, couscous, roasted beef, fruits and finally fresh mint tea served with the aroma of incense — are brought forth, climaxed by a gift of a bracelet made of green glass bead, “the color of Islam.”

She constantly reminds the reader that the Moroccan people, whose history and political life she carefully details, are friendly, open and sincere, happy in the happiness of their visitors, whether tourists on a short trek through the souk (shops) or coming for a longer stay, as she did, to plumb the depths.

Barriault writes with verve and emotion, almost poetic at times in her wish to convey the mystical beauty of this North African Muslim civilization. Illustrations by artist Shawna Spangler provide visual souvenirs drawn from the lush, illustrative narrative. Later the reader feels Barriault’s frustration as she realizes that, owing to the continued upheaval in the region, she will not soon be able to return to the Moroccan she loves.

May 5, 2017
An Editorial Review of “I Heard a Ram Call My Name” by Diane Duca

Set in rural Mongolia, Diane Duca’s I Heard a Ram Call My Name sets up a moral standoff between predators and prey by detailing a single hunting expedition for the endangered argali sheep.

Interweaving human and animal perspectives, this meticulous and detail-rich novel paints a comprehensive portrait of an argali hunt. By following the story of the expedition from beginning to end, it explores every facet of the process from its shady organization to the devastating and lasting consequences for the hunted animals.

At the novel’s beginning it is centered around a beleaguered German business ambassador working in Mongolia named Helmut. He is desperately trying to make preparations for his company’s executives upcoming hunting trip. Helmut has personal moral misgivings about the practice of argali hunting, but feels compelled by loyalty to his company to complete the task assigned to him. However, in spite of his desire to organize the expedition and wash his hands of the whole business as quickly as possible, the planning is not going smoothly.

Only exacerbating Helmut’s conflicted feelings is his flirtatious friendship with a local Mongolian woman named Sheema. An independent artist with a personal history of caring for and interacting with the argali, Sheema feels a strong connection with the sheep and is passionate about their protection from hunters. For Helmut, she serves as a living reminder of the toll organizing the expedition is taking on his conscience, for the reader, of the cultural significance the argali hold for the Mongolian people.

Helmut’s story is paralleled by that of a wild argali ram named Aries. By following Aries’ life through adolescence and personal conflicts to eventual romance, Duca establishes the argali as people in their own right. They have personalities and relationships that, while somewhat anthropomorphized, are often more engaging than those of the human characters. Although the dialogue between the sheep sometimes feels unnecessary, the story of Aries and his paramour Solongo is compelling, and ultimately culminates in the novel’s most powerful moments.

I Heard A Ram Call My Name is not a perfect novel. The dialogue is awkward at times, and the sudden switch to a completely different cast of human characters halfway through the novel may make it more difficult for some to stay emotionally engaged by the story.

However, Duca’s extensive research and knowledge on the subject of the argali and the controversy surrounding them make this an enlightening commentary on the issue, and a persuasive argument for the protection of the argali.

August 19, 2014