Marti Leimbach

This book was just too darn long, by at least a hundred pages. That said, I do think Marti Leimbach is a wonderful writer. Her characters are well drawn and fully fleshed out, particularly the two Americans, Susan Gifford and Marc Davis. The character who remains something of an enigma is the title character, Son, who is, presumably, a North Vietnamese spy working under cover as a press photographer. I'm not sure he really works as a character, simply because Leimbach is unable to ever get show more inside his skin and mind the way she does with her American journalists. Because of this, the ending lacks resolution. But the biggest problem with the book was its length. Perhaps one of Leimbach's biggest strengths in this book is the way she is able to evoke an atmosphere, a setting, an ambience. She makes you feel the ooze, hear the noise, smell the smells and the stench of both the jungle and the teeming streets of Saigon and the other Vietnam locales visited in the story. It is just about as real as it gets. The trouble is she keeps on doing this to death until you just want to scream, "OKAY! I GET IT! GET ON WITH THE STORY ALREADY!" The story itself is pretty straightforward. The girl reporter gets captured by the Vietcong and endures untold (well, actually told and toLD and TOLD) hardships, but is kinda looked after by Son, who is captured with her and who, she begins to realize, is not who she thought he was. The boy reporter (who is married) worries about her and tries to search for her, feeling vaguely guilty about his pregnant wife back in the states. And the wife situation is worked out in just a bit too pat a manner, if you ask me - a deus ex machina that simply isn't very believable. I'm not sure I could spoil this book, because there's not much to spoil. I recognized a good writer in Leimbach, but I was constantly frustrated by the way the plot dragged and the way the atmosphere was simply done to death. The storyline was just too simple and too thin to sustain itself for over 300 pages. A perceptive editor should have seen this. Maybe this story was just not right for Leimbach. I still think I might take a look at her previous novel, Daniel Isn't Talking. I'll bet it's a lot better than this one. show less

A good read. Hard because the author gets how Bobbi feels and acts so well. And Craig is such a nasty narcissist that I wanted to throttle to death. But he is an accurate depiction of an abuser especially psychologically. He gaslights Bobbi and June, actually anyone he thinks is inferior to him which is everyone in his narcissistic opinion.

This was an interesting read for me due, in part, to the fact I was reading The Making of a Quagmire by David Halberstam at the same time. Leimbach's descriptions of Vietnam mirrored Halberstam's almost perfectly. The rainy, muggy climate, the poverty stricken communities, the brash (trying-to-be-brave) military presence, but above all, the reporters trying to capture the atrocities of politics and war while remaining mentally sound and physically safe. Of course, Leimbach's story is a bit show more less intense with the addition of an adulterous romance threaded through the bomb blasts and sniper attacks. Susan Gifford is a green reporter trying her hand at covering the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. When she is taken captive by the Vietnam Communists, the Vietcong, along with her photographer, Hoang Van Son, the plot thickens. Susan is suddenly confronted with a profound and deep relationship that was originally a professional partnership forged out of necessity. show less

Vaccines don’t cause autism. Unorthodox ideas don’t cure it. But autistic kids are real individuals with real families, and Marti Leimback’s novel convincingly evokes that reality with engaging humor and enthralling detail. The only way I knew this book was fiction, in fact, was from the way those details drew me to share the protagonist’s life rather than just hearing about it.

An American woman living in England, Melanie feels that slight detachment from reality familiar to expats show more everywhere. A fracturing marriage adds to the separation of real life from intended dreams. But her autistic child is even more detached, and Melanie fights to get the right treatment for him—treatment that might work—running the gamut of “was it the vaccine?” “will goat’s milk help?” and “please don’t lock him away in a school for no-hopers.”

Daniel isn't Talking isn't a personal experience story or a self-help book. In fact, it would probably be risky to use it for self-help as, among other things, it honestly explores the doubts a mother might have about the vaccines and the prognoses given her child. But it's an enthralling novel, filled with memorably characters, humor, pathos and hope. Its miracles are those small miracles of real life, and its message offers a hope worth pursuing, for mothers, wives, carers and children alike.

Disclosure: I picked it up at a book exchange because I have a relative with autism. show less