This week's book reviews, by Connie Forst, as submitted for publication in the Tofield Mercury.

Riverside Park by Laura Van Wormer

Four glorious miles along the Hudson River in Manhattan are known as Riverside Park. It is, seemingly, the perfect neighbourhood shared by perfect people. But behind closed doors, perfect is not always as it seems.        
 

War Brides by Melynda Jarratt

For thousands of young British women, the arrival of a half-million Canadian soldiers in Britain during the Second World War meant throngs of handsome young men. The results were more than 48,000 marriages to Canadian soldiers alone and a mass immigration of British women to North America and around the world in the 1940s.
 

Small Beneath the Sky: A Prairie Memoir by Lorna Crozier

A volume of poignant recollections by one of Canada's most celebrated poets, "Small Beneath the Sky" is a tender, unsparing portrait of a family and a place. Crozier vividly depicts her hometown of Swift Current, with its one main street, two high schools, and three beer parlors - where her father spent most of his evenings. She writes unflinchingly about the grief and shame caused by poverty and alcoholism. At the heart of the book is Crozier's fierce love for her mother, Peggy.  
 

The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland

Mariatu Kamara led a carefree childhood growing up in a small rural village in Sierra Leone, until the fateful day she was sent to fetch food from a nearby village. Once there, armed rebels attacked, many no onder than 12-year-old Mariatu herself. Among other horrors that occurred that day, the young rebels brutally cut off Mariatu's hands. In The Bite of the Mango Mariatu shares her unforgettable story of immense courage, resilience, and hope.

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