Captivity

In the sixties, when Dana was a small girl and, unknown to her, the seeds of her own activism were being planted, it was considered radical to advocate adequate space, exercise, and anesthesia for laboratory animals. Then, animals were merely tools capable of unlocking the mysteries of humanity. As the scientific community moved from experimenting on other humans --- usually disadvantaged or of color --- to using animals, the public welcomed the change. No one thought to ask why chimpanzees intelligent enough to learn how to push buttons aboard space capsules could later be lent to medical laboratories. Why it was morally acceptable to infect them with incurable diseases that people would not wish on their own pets. Now, at the beginning of a new millennium, research was beginning to prove sentience in animals, ... .
Dana wished she could have every human look for one minute into the eyes of a chimpanzee and try to deny the thinking brain, the self, the soul that lay behind them. Whoever had broken into the sanctuary the night before must have known the soul without understanding what had irrevocably been stolen from it. (p.24)

A story of the past meeting the present, the interactions between animals and humans, and the understanding of the need for animal rights and sanctuaries is the premise of the book Captivity by Debbie Lee Wesselmann. After a chimpanzee sanctuary in South Carolina has been violated, Dana Armstrong must now find the person(s) responsible, explain the activity to the community, university, and protesters, and smooth over tensions that have recently developed amongst those who give their money to help the university run the sanctuary. In the meantime, her brother Zack, who usually causes some kind of drama to the people he is around, has arrived in town and a reporter by the name of Sam Wendt, who has begun an extensive story on chimpanzees used in social experiments, wants to meet with Dana at both a personal and professional level. Finally, Dana's connection to her father's past psychological studies and a chimpanzee named Annie are now added to the mix that will send Dana's life into a tale spin. Dana's passion for her work and for the chimpanzees is clearly evident in all that she does, but at what cost to her personal life? And what will she do when a detail of her adolescent life that was discretely hidden by her parents is now revealed to others?

Captivity is an exciting novel that encompasses several different interests for readers: career choices, family, new love interest, animals and activism. I very much enjoyed this book and recommend it to others.

Paradise

In the mid-1970's, America is reeling from the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, and the hippie counterculture. Ruby, an all-black Oklahoma community, is proud of its heritage and wary of the five women who inhabit the "Convent" at the edge of town. Of questionable morals, these racially diverse women seem to be at the center of everything that's going wrong in Ruby. Motives and secrets are dramatically revealed as nine of the town's upstanding citizens plan the brutal murder of the Convent's unusual residents.
Vastly popular and with numerous literary awards to her credit, Toni Morrison is both passionate and cerebral. Paradise challenges listeners not only with such issues as civil rights, morality, and racism,but also with the drama and complexity of the human psyche. (back cover)

Paradise by Toni Morrison is all that and more. The author's known ability to weave so many fine details together to bring a story to it's climax is once again exemplified in this book. I have always found her work to be challenging to read, but it has always been worth my struggle to reach the end. I very much enjoyed the voice of Lynne Thigpen as she narrated this story and I appreciated the character development that Morrison created for both the town as well as the Convent. I would recommend this book to fans of Toni Morrison.

Herzog

Herzog is the story of Moses Herzog, great sufferer, joker, and moaner, cuckold, charmer, a man of our time. Seeing himself as a survivor, of his private disasters but also of those of the age, Herzog cannot keep from asking what he calls the "piercing" questions. The answers he finds will matter not only to him but to readers of Saul Bellow's magnificent novel. (front cover)

It has taken me way too long to cover the first 88 pages of this novel that I feel, at this point, is a litany of complaints. However, I still have some interest in the book Herzog and I am reading it for two different challenges, so I think I will check my library to see if I can find it as an audio book. Otherwise, I will give it another try at another time.