It's Tuesday - How the Heck Did I Miss That Book?

I spent a few hours on Sunday browsing a local bookstore with my husband, and saw quite a few books that looked good (big surprise there). How did I miss these I wondered?  It's times like these that the trust camera feature on out phones comes in handy, so I snapped a few photos so that I'd remember the titles when I got home.  It wad then that a little light bulb went on in my brain, and I decided to try a new weekly (Tuesday) meme.

So the purpose of this Tuesday post will be to feature (1) or (2) books that I discovered and added to the ever expanding TBR list. Here are (2) of the books that caught my eye on Sunday. Each novel is under 300 pages, but they do seem like serious reads. I have not read any books set in Rhodesia or Morocco, so that it was appealed to me about these. The reviews I read seem very good as well. Have you read either of these?

 The Grass is Singing; Doris Lessing

(originally published in 1975)

(amazon) Set in Southern Rhodesia under white rule, Doris Lessing's first novel is at once a riveting chronicle of human disintegration, a beautifully understated social critique, and a brilliant depiction of the quiet horror of one woman's struggle against a ruthless fate.

Mary Turner is a self-confident, independent young woman who becomes the depressed, frustrated wife of an ineffectual, unsuccessful farmer. Little by little the ennui of years on the farm works its slow poison. Mary's despair progresses until the fateful arrival of Moses, an enigmatic, virile black servant. Locked in anguish, Mary and Moses—master and slave—are trapped in a web of mounting attraction and repulsion, until their psychic tension explodes with devastating consequences.

The Secret Son; Laila Lalami

(originally published in 2009)

(amazon) Raised by his mother in a one-room house in the slums of Casablanca, Youssef El Mekki has always had big dreams of living another life in another world. Suddenly his dreams are within reach when he discovers that his father—whom he’d been led to believe was dead—is very much alive. A wealthy businessman, he seems eager to give his son a new start. Youssef leaves his mother behind to live a life of luxury, until a reversal of fortune sends him back to the streets and his childhood friends. Trapped once again by his class and painfully aware of the limitations of his prospects, he becomes easy prey for a fringe Islamic group.

In the spirit of The Inheritance of Loss and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Laila Lalami’s debut novel looks at the struggle for identity, the need for love and family, and the desperation that grips ordinary lives in a world divided by class, politics, and religion. 

If anyone is interested in playing along please feel free. I don't think I'll run out of new surprise finds to add to my TBR list anytime soon, so I may make this a weekly event.