New book

I picked this up at the library the other day and I can't put it down. It's called "Song Yet Sung" by James Mcbride and it's a novel about a young woman who is a runaway slave in the deep south just prior to the Civil War. She is trying to evade the white and black slave hunters using the codes used by slaves to communicate.

It's definitely fiction but much of the story is drawn from actual historical events. The author also wrote "The Miracle of Santa Anna" that was made into a movie recently. Have you seen it? It's quite long but very much worth watching.

And speaking of movies, we just watched "The Soloist" last night with Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. Ok, they didn't actually watch it with me, but you know what I mean. I had heard it was a tough movie to watch, but I didn't find it too bad. There are definitely some scenes that are quite emotional for a variety of reasons, but overall it was a pretty good story and certainly brings the issues of homelessness and mental illness to the forefront. It's also very interesting how Robert Downey Jr.'s character keeps insisting that "Nathaniel" be diagnosed and forced to take medication, when Nathaniel is quite clear that he is choosing to be homeless and doesn't want an apartment or to be forced to take meds.

Tonight we're watching a movie from 1988 called Chocolat (no, not the Johnny Depp movie, although I could watch Johnny Depp movies anytime!). It's set in colonial Cameroon and centres around a young white woman who befriends their African house boy and the racial tension that erupts when boundaries are crossed. I'll let you know how it is tomorrow.