Ties That Tether

 Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo (2020) 306 pages

Azere is a 25-year-old Nigerian-born woman living in Toronto. When she was 12 and still living in Nigeria, her father extracted a deathbed promise from her that she would marry a Nigerian. Her strong-willed mother is holding her to the promise, setting her up with Nigerian men with whom Azere finds no spark; some are male chauvinists who expect her to give up her career in advertising, which is not acceptable to her. After a particularly bad date, she goes into a hotel lounge and meets Rafael, a white man who is in town to apply for a job in Toronto, where he had lived in the past and wants to return. The chemistry is there, and they have a one-night stand.

They are both shocked a month later, when Raphael is introduced as a new employee at her company. It's awkward because Azere really wants to please her mother by finding a Nigerian man, but she finds herself unable to stop thinking about Raphael. Now she must take a stand one way or another, pitting herself against her mother by choosing to be with Raphael and possibly losing her culture, or by giving up the one man she has a strong connection to.

The story is reminiscent of some novels I've read where Asian-American parents try to choose mates for their adult children, but with a Nigerian backstory, in this case. And some secrets to shake things up.

Lillian Boxfish takes a walk

Lillian Boxfish takes a walk / Kathleen Rooney, read by Xe Sand, 287 pgs.

Lillian is 84 or 85 if you add back that year she has been lying about for a LONG time.  She is still living in New York, the city she moved to in her twenties and has loved ever since.  She came as a youngster and made her mark.  At one time, she was the highest paid woman in advertising, she is a published poet and a force.  Now, in her old age, she has fewer remaining friends and acquaintances but is certainly not opposed to making new ones.  She is walking on New Year's eve.  First going to her planned dinner and then probably home but instead, she continues on.  She meets new people and she reminisces about her life, her loves, the good times and the bad.  We learn a lot about Lillian on this walk.  Mostly we learn that she is an interesting woman who has seen a lot and knows a lot.

I listened to the audio version and Xe Sand does a great job of capturing Lillian's voice.  I also enjoyed the interview with the author at the end of the audio where I learned Lillian is based on a real person, Margaret Fishback whose papers were donated to Duke University. A great listen.

From those wonderful folks who gave you Pearl Harbor

From those wonderful folks who gave you Pearl Harbor: front-line dispatches from the advertising war/Jerry Della Femina 253 pgs.

This is written a little after the Mad Men era but still has some fun stories of heavy drinking and pranks on Madison Avenue. Jerry Della Femina opened his own agency after working for 3 or 4 others and is a self-made man. That is, he is not getting a bunch of business from his contacts from his old neighborhood since most of them are in jail now. There are some politically incorrect references for todays culture (fags, girl=any woman) but I guess that just goes to show you that some things have changed. - Christa