The Riveter, by Jack Wang.

 

            After his father’s untimely accidental death, young Canadian forestry  worker Josiah Chang decides to enlist in the Canadian Army;  it is 1942 and Josiah wants to prove himself as a  loyal  citizen, ready to fight for his country in the Second World War.  The ‘only’ problem that he can see is that even though he was born and raised in Canada and has never been to  China, he cannot fight for Canada because of the possibility that he would demand Canadian Citizenship – which would not be tolerated.

            So!  Josiah does the next-best thing:  he finds a job as a riveter at Vancouver’s shipyards where shipbuilding is proceeding apace to make up for the many cargo ships being sunk by the Germans.  ‘Every Rivet A Bullet’ and, because he is strong, fit and healthy Josiah does well in his new position – except for those of his workmates who don’t believe that Chinamen know what they’re doing.  He proves them wrong many times but it still takes a long time to fit in, especially after he meets and with almost indecent haste, falls in love with Poppy, a girl named after Flanders Fields where her father was wounded in the First World War – she loves being a rebel and upsetting her staid, conventional parents but quickly finds that her feelings for Josiah become much more than just a casual liaison:  this is the real thing.

            Jack Wang leads us expertly through this love affair that was so unexpected and thrilling for both – and so forbidden, especially when Poppy’s father visits Josiah to inform him that if they decide to get married, Poppy will lose her Canadian Citizenship.  What’s a man to do against such Draconian policy?  Well, he’ll show them:  if he travels to Toronto he may have a chance to join up with the Canadian Parachute Battalion and this time, luck (?) is on his side:  with his fellow paratroopers he jumps into Normandy on D-Day 1944:  at last he will be able to prove his worth as a Canadian, a citizen and a man.

            Jack Wang’s battle scenes are thrilling, written with such verve that one would swear that he was with Josiah every step of the way, not to mention the friendships forged in valour and heartbreak, and the civilians – friends and enemies alike, who were all too human – and humane.  Yes, Josiah survives and returns home to a hero’s welcome, but nothing has changed; those laws are still the same:  Chinese are Aliens.  This is a beautiful story.  SIX STARS.    

                              

 

 

 

 

Don’t Forget Me, Little Bessie, by James Lee Burke.

 

   

       James Lee Burke is very proud of this book.  He’s an old man now, but doesn’t care a bit, for his memories are of a Texas and real-life characters that dominated the landscape of his youth, and age (he is 89) cannot dim his wonderful artistry with words.  Burke has written several series, including those featuring fearless Texas Ranger Hackberry Holland;  now he would like to introduce us to Bessie Holland, Hackberry’s 14 year-old daughter when this story begins.  It is also the start of the 1914-1918 War, so world-wide trouble is brewing, even though America’s President has kept them out of it so far.

            Such lofty worries are beyond Bessie’s experience or interest at the moment;  after her mother’s death her father Hackberry has hit the booze and owes money everywhere:  she is faced with problems she is too young and ill-equipped to handle – BUT!  She refuses to be daunted by the fact that her father is a drunk, her brother will run away from home, leaving her entirely alone, but not before White-trash Jubal Fowler wrecks one of his eyes with a slingshot.  No, her attempts to  gain an education at the tiny local school have been ruined because the gifted teacher whom she adores has been sacked ‘for lewd behaviour with another woman’.

            Bessie is outraged – women’s rights are non-existent anyway;  they are no more than servants in every capacity.  Well, she’ll follow her brother Cody’s example and leave home too:  she’ll follow him to New York and the Lower East Side (whatever that may be);  anything would be better than her current location.  She thinks.

            True to form, she finds that her good looks generate plenty of attention, even from a ‘gentleman’ by the name of Anthony Vale who, after courting her perfectly (he seems to have lots of money) rapes her most cruelly, then makes sure she loses her employment.  He likes playing with people, but he has reckoned without good Baptist Bessie’s outrage at her treatment, or her father Hackberry’s thirst for revenge.  Anthony Vale’s days are numbered.

            Father and daughter return to Texas and find that their 200 acres have lots of oil waiting to be pumped from the ground – which presents its own problems for a good Baptist and a Texas Ranger who has given up the Demon Drink;  the tension never lifts and the Baddies never stop coming, from corrupt sheriffs and old enemies like Mexican Joe, a sadist who cuts up people because ‘he feels like it’.  And he feels like getting rid of Bessie by the nastiest of means;  she’s in his way.

            Fortunately for us, Bessie narrates the story so she’s still there at the end of this brilliant, almost unbearably suspenseful chronicle of a young State in an old country.  James Lee Burke can be justifiably proud of his work, which teems with unforgettable and authentic characters.  He just better live forever!  SIX STARS.