Some progress

A Thousand Splendid Sunss. When I read books set in the 18th or 19th century, particularly Brit Lit, I often think how fortunate I am to live at a time and in a place where woman aren't second-class citizens and where there is upward mobility. This book is a reminder of the difficulty of life for women in the Middle East. Two women, both who have much to recommend them, totally dependent on Rasheed, who has no incentive to become educated, to be temperate, or least of all, a good lover. He knows he can have not one, but two women who are essentially his property; he has absolute control over them.

Beautifully written, it's hard not to fall in love with the characters of Mariam and Laila and to cry for suffering they endure. Poor Mariam, who knew few days of happiness once she deserted her mom and went in search for her father--at least not until she allowed herself to love and care for Laila and Aziza. Triumphant Laila, who finally got to marry her true love, but only after years of suffering marriage to Rasheed and having to deal with him putting her daughter, Aziza, in an orphanage rather than finding a way to feed all of them or to share what little they had.

I am blessed that I'm never likely to experience such things other than vicariously.

Persuasion, by Jane Austen. This is not my favorite book but once I finally sat down to read it and fell back to reading Austen's English as well as I do modern English, it went pretty fast. I knew that Anne Elliot would end up with Capt. Wentworth, the man she was engaged to marry some eight years earlier until a good friend persuaded her that it would be a poor match since his fortune was yet to be earned, notwithtanding his absolute confidence that he would have success at sea.

I like Jane Austen perhaps because her stories are reminders that money doesn't necessarily mean brains or good judgement, as is evident in Anne's father, who couldn't manage to live within his means but looks down on Capt Wentwoth's station in life. But even Anne, the heroine, is somewhat shallow in finding Mrs Clay unacceptable for her widowed father because she has freckles and doesn't come from a family of the same social level. Ultimately, Mrs Clay would not have been a good match, but for more substantive reasons than Anne has for objecting to her.

Predictable, but still good.

Reading: South of Broad, by Pat Conroy.
Listening: Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand.