July Reading

Escape (by Laura Palmer) is quite the intense read. It’s the true story of a woman who grew up in a fundamentalist religious sect that believed women were property/slaves. She was forced to marry a man in his fifties when she was eighteen, becoming his fourth wife. She had to churn out babies because the man wanted to keep his wives pregnant. She eventually escaped to become the only woman ever to get out of the cult with custody of her children.

It’s hard to believe this sort of thing could really go on in modern day America. It’s slavery and rape. It’s a real life Handmaid’s Tale.

I totally recommend reading the book. Beware, it’s intense.

David Guterson’s Our Lady of the Forest was frakking brilliant. Literature. Full of substance and universal themes. It’s about a fourteen-year-old druggy girl who sees the virgin Mary deep in the forests of Oregon. Guterson explores many aspects of religious belief, from the perspective of… well, I don’t want to spoil it if anyone wants to read it.

I highly, highly recommend it. It’s literary because it’s deep and rich, but it’s also fast-paced and easy to read. Although, beware, there are some graphic and very disturbing scenes.

Anyone else read it? His other books (Guterson wrote Snow Falling on Cedars)?