Shelf Control: A Passage to India

Shelf Control is a weekly feature hosted by Literary Potpourri to discuss unread books sitting in our to-be-read piles.

I'm ashamed to admit this, but, as much as I love Room with a View and Howard's End, I have never read A Passage to India!  I own it, I've intended to read it, I even started the audio version once, but. . . . I'm intimidated by it.

According to Wikipedia:

A Passage to India is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s

and includes a situation that 

brings to a boil common racial tensions and prejudices between Indians and the British during the colonial era.

If you've read it, let me know how it stacks up to my favorite Forster novels and if it's worth reading.  I feel like I'm probably missing out, but the subject matter just appears heavy and makes me hesitant to start!

Poisoned by Mary Mecham

Poisoned: Snow White's Story 

Mary Mecham 

2022  

3/5 stars

Mecham uses the familiar story of Snow White to introduce the reader to a character with  Severe Intellectual Disability.  Her message is clear and strong, with discussion questions at the end to aid the reader, but it overshadows the actual story, leaving very little room for  romance or fantasy or even plot.  That said, as one with extensive, intimate experience with preschoolers with a range of disabilities, I very much appreciate Mecham's effort and know that readers will benefit by learning how best to interact with people with disabilities and with their caregivers.  

She gives a further lesson, equally important, by showing what emotional abuse, gaslighting, and control can look like.  I applaud her for doing so, but felt that a book with two such strong themes was heavier than needed, and split the reader's focus.

It is still a sweet book with appealing characters, however, and I would not hesitate to read more by the author.