Y: The Last Man – Brian K. Vaughan

Y: The Last Man is a graphic novel set in a dystopian future where every mammal with a Y chromosome has suddenly and inexplicably died except for one man, Yorrick Brown and his monkey, Ampersand.  The story follows Yorrick as he journeys across America to find his mother, a US congresswoman.  With all men and many women dead from the incident, society is quickly breaking down.

Y: The Last Man is filled with interesting characters and the changes society undergoes in order to adjust are depicted well.  But one of the main aspects of the story that kept me reading was the resolution of the main premise: the mystery of what killed all the male animals and why Yorrick was spared?  All is revealed late in the series, but even then a couple of plot holes and, ultimately, my reluctance to accept the final explanation left me feeling like Y: The Last Man is a bit of a missed opportunity.

Michael L.

Shantaram – Gregory Roberts

Lin is a convict who escapes his Australian prison and flees to India to hide in the slums among the masses of people living there.  He is eventually caught, and extradited back to Australia, but Shantaram, loosely based on author Gregory Roberts’ life, is the story of the highs and lows of his time in Bombay.

Over the course of the story, Lin sets up a makeshift clinic, works as a mafia agent, finds a lover, is betrayed and seeks revenge, spends time in a Bombay prison and runs guns to Afghanistan.

Shantaram is only the first in a planned series of four books spanning Gregory Roberts’ life and comes in at a whooping 933 pages.

Shantaram is now available as a book group set from Maribyrnong Library.

The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters

The Little Stranger is an old-fashioned ghost story set in post World War II English countryside at Hundreds Hall, an eerie old mansion home to a host of varied characters most of whom form the local genteel society.  The story follows Dr Faraday, a hapless and penniless man who has returned to his home town to find the glorious hall he remembers from his childhood reduced to a shadow of what it once was.

Strange happenings begin to occur at Hundreds Hall and Dr Faraday, who considers himself a rational man, is often the one called upon to provide the terrified occupants with a reasonable explanation.

Sarah Waters has won much critical acclaim with past works (Tipping the Velvet, Fingersmith, The Night watch) for her ability to build a rich atmosphere and complex narrative and now she brings that style to a suspense/mystery/horror genre.

The Little Stranger is now available as a book group set at Maribyrnong Library.

Caleb’s Crossing – Geraldine Brooks

Geraldine Brooks was inspired to write Caleb’s Crossing after discovering that the first Native American to graduate from Harvard was from her home town, Martha’s Vineyard, and graduated in 1665.  Caleb’s Crossing is set at this time and told primarily from the perspective of Caleb’s good friend Bethia Mayfield.  

Both characters are hungry for knowledge but Caleb struggles with racism and Bethia struggles with sexism.  Bethia’s mother died when she was 12 and so she runs the household and while her father is quite liberal, arguing against the subjugation the local native Indians and tutoring Caleb, he sees books and learning as a purely male domain.  It is this struggle against the bounds imposed upon these characters by their culture and religion that dominates Caleb’s Crossing.

Caleb's Crossing is available as a Book Group Set at Maribyrnong Library.