The Red Garden

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman weaves through the life and times of characters living in the fictional town of Blackwell, Massachusetts. Beautiful writing, interesting combination of realism and mysticism, the reader is led through fourteen combined stories that begin in 1750 when the town's founder, Hallie Brady, makes her stand for survival. Concluding in the present time, characters come and go and despite hardship and heart break, life continues to move forward and Blackwell continues to grow. The heart of this town belongs to Hallie Brady and a bear, so pay attention to the bear's spiritual power and its hold on the town's red garden.

A Cup of Friendship

A coffee shop located in Afghanistan, lovingly protected and run by Sunny, an American transplant, is the setting for this story written by Deborah Rodriquez. The reader gains a limited insight about the life and culture of the people of Kabul as we follow the lives of Sunny, Yazmina, Halajan, Ashmet, Isabela, Rashif, and others. A hard life to live indeed - especially for women. All these characters are connected by the coffee shop, where free expression and conversation is welcomed. Overall this novel is nothing more than a romance novel, so it proved somewhat disappointing. Average rating from the Ratted Out book club was 2.7