Contribution by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
10 October 2020
The pandemic is driving up government debt throughout the world. In the euro area, it is set to exceed 100% of GDP, a level that is, however, still below that of many advanced economies. In Germany especially, many observers are concerned about this development. They consider it a threat to the independence of the European Central Bank (ECB), fearing that “fiscal dominance” may induce it to deviate from its monetary policy objectives, endangering price stability. The purchases of sovereign bonds, which began in 2015 and were stepped up amid the pandemic, are sometimes even described as monetary financing, which is prohibited under the European Treaties.
These criticisms don’t stand up to the facts. Neither is the ECB pursuing a policy of “financial repression” – it is not keeping interest rates low to make it easier for governments to finance their debt – nor have its asset purchases disabled the price discovery mechanism in financial markets. The ECB gears its monetary policy to its price stability mandate, not to the indebtedness of Member States.
The euro has been built on the principle of “monetary dominance”: the ECB’s objectives are solely determined by its mandate as defined in the European Treaties. This principle is buttressed by far-reaching political independence, the prohibition of monetary financing of public debt and a comprehensive fiscal framework.
Is the rising public debt jeopardising this independence? Empirical research refutes this idea. There is no evidence of a systematic feedback loop from sovereign debt developments to monetary policy decisions.
The public debt ratio in the euro area is notably lower than it would have been in the absence of the bond purchases. However, this primarily reflects the positive effects of monetary policy measures on economic growth, whereas the impact through lower interest rate expenses has been comparatively small. Without the measures taken since March, growth up to the end of 2022 would be around 1.3 percentage points lower. By contrast, history shows that financial repression would dampen economic growth.
Moreover, a monetary financing of public debt would be expected to raise inflation expectations – as was the case in the 1970s. The ECB is faced with the opposite scenario: expectations remain well below our inflation aim of below, but close to, 2%.
Also, in financial markets, yields in the euro area continue to noticeably react to risk factors. The risk premium on Italian sovereign bonds is higher today than when purchases started in 2015, and risk premia soared significantly during the political turbulence in 2018. The market’s price discovery mechanism continues to function primarily because most of the government bonds remain in the hands of investors other than the Eurosystem. And this has not changed during the pandemic.
Nevertheless, financial markets can be gripped by panic, as was the case, for instance, when the pandemic first spread. Self-fulfilling price spirals then endanger the stability of financial markets. In such situations, central banks must act quickly to restore trust. Through generous liquidity provision, the market can find its way back to a “good” equilibrium and can again function smoothly.
But would it not make sense to take on less public debt today to protect the ECB’s independence in the longer term? In fact, the opposite is true, as the interaction between monetary and fiscal policy has changed in the low interest rate environment.
Many central banks have seen their room for manoeuvre curtailed over the past few years. As policy rates are already very low, monetary policy must increasingly turn to “unconventional” measures, such as asset purchases, to fulfil its mandate. This is primarily caused by structural changes to the economy, an ageing society, global excess savings and low productivity growth. These factors have led to a marked decline in the euro area’s real equilibrium interest rate – the rate that balances investment and savings.
In this environment, fiscal policy gains importance. The decisive fiscal policy intervention in the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis strengthens the effectiveness of monetary policy and mitigates the long-term costs of the pandemic. With targeted, forward-looking investment, not least under the umbrella of the EU Recovery Fund, governments can foster sustainable growth, increase long-term competitiveness and facilitate the necessary reduction of the debt ratio once the crisis has been overcome. This would also afford the ECB more room for manoeuvre in the future, which would even strengthen its independence.
This contribution first appeared as an opinion piece in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 10 October 2020.
Fishing rights have been one of the main sticking points in Brexit negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom since March. Yet neither side appears ready to concede, despite mounting fears within the fishing industry over the consequences of a “no-deal” exit.
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With less than a week to go before a decisive European Council meeting on the future of EU-UK relations, it looks as though ongoing tensions over fishing rights could threaten to scupper an eventual agreement.
“If we want a deal, we need to reach an agreement on fishing. We need a compromise that we could float to the United Kingdom as part of a total agreement,” Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said on Wednesday.
The issue is of particular importance to a handful of EU member states, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Denmark.
The EU initially hoped to maintain access to British waters — which have an abundance of fish — post-Brexit transition, which ends on December 31, 2020. But the United Kingdom wants to limit access and renegotiate fishing rights every year, a point the EU has refused to cede.
Although the fishing industry represents just 0.1 percent of the United Kingdom’s GDP, the British government has used it as leverage in negotiations, holding it up as a symbol of the possible effects of Brexit.
An uncertain future
Fishermen in the northern French town of Boulogne-sur-Mer are particularly worried about the deal. Home to France’s largest fishing port, Brexit is on everyone’s mind there.
“I spent all of last week in English waters. If there’s a ‘no deal’, I won’t be able to go there anymore,” fisherman Pierre Leprêtre told AFP.
Leprêtre explained that 70 to 80 percent of his income comes from fish caught in British waters. “If we can’t go fishing [there], we might as well close up shop,” he said.
“The entire French coast is a fish nursery area. As the fish grow, they head out to sea, which is why we fish in British waters: we want to catch adult fish,” Leprêtre said.
The scientific community has largely agreed with Leprêtre’s assessment of the situation, explaining that it is a common phenomenon in the North Sea, a shallow stretch of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the British isles and mainland Europe.
“The south of the sea is not very deep, but very sandy, therefore many fish have the following cycle: the adults lay their eggs in the central or nothern waters, the eggs are then carried to the south of the North Sea and settle along the coast from France to as far as Denmark,” Clara Ulrich, deputy head of science at the French Institute for Ocean Science (Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation de la mer or Ifremer), told AFP.
“When fish reach adulthood, they leave for the deeper, colder, more populated and oxygenated waters of the north. It also allows them to lay their eggs upstream of the current, that way the eggs can be transported to the friendlier southern waters of the North Sea,” she added.
According to Ulrich, it is a natural cycle that shows no sign of changing in the future. “For some species, climate change and overfishing have only accentuated this phenomenon,” she said.
Such is the case for cod and flounder, two of the most common fish species in the North Sea.
“Other species, however, such as sole — which is more common in southern waters — or haddock and pollock — which are more common in the north — appear less imbalanced,” Ulrich said.
Fears of ‘overexploiting resources’
Ulrich’s comments echoed the fears of many fishermen in France.
“If access to British waters is closed, everyone’s going to wind up on the French side, and there will be a major cohabitation problem,” Leprêtre said.
To avoid “overexploiting resources”, Leprêtre’s uncle, Olivier, who is director of a fishing committee in the northern Hauts-de-France region, suggested divvying up international waters until another solution can be found.
“[In the event of a no-deal Brexit], I think it’s only fair that everyone sticks to their own waters until future relations can be negotiated,” Olivier Leprêtre said. “That means, French waters for the French, Belgian waters for the Belgians, etc.”
In Boulogne-sur-Mer, there are already concerns over the growing appetite of Dutch fishermen, whom Pierre Leprêtre described as the “undertakers” of natural resources because of their obsession with “numbers, numbers and numbers”.
“The Dutch feel more at home than we do in Boulogne,” said one of Leprêtre’s deckhands, Christopher (who declined to give his last name). “Once they’ve fished everything in the Channel, then they’ll go somewhere else.”
In comparison, relations between French fishermen and their British peers have been relatively smooth.
“It works well on the whole. Well, we make sure that things work,” Leprêtre said. “We have WhatsApp groups [with the British], so they can tell us where their fishing spots are.”
That way, the French know which areas they should avoid, and where they are free to fish.
Longstanding ‘political dynamite’
Fishing rights have long been a longstanding source of tension between Europe and the United Kingdom. The issue first emerged as a stumbling block nearly 50 years ago, when the UK entered talks to join what was then known as the European Community (EC).
“Only eight hours after accession talks had begun on 30 June 1970, the British got an unwelcome surprise: the six EC members had agreed to have a common fisheries policy (CFP), hammering out a speedy deal that had eluded them for 12 years just as fish-rich Britain, Ireland, Denmark and Norway were knocking at the door,” the Guardian reported in a recent article on fishing rights.
Norway even went so far as to refuse entry into the bloc over fishing rights.
“The question of fisheries was economic peanuts, but political dynamite,” the late Sir Con O’Neill, UK’s chief negotiator at the time, wrote of the negotiations.
Nearly half a century later, it would appear little has changed.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
This article was translated from the original in French by Rachel Holman.
There have been calls for far-right Greek MEP to be “excluded from all democratic processes” in the European Parliament.
Ioannis Lagos, one of the leaders of the Golden Dawn political party, was this week found guilty of running it as a criminal organisation.
He faces five to 15 years in prison and some of his fellow MEPs are calling for the European Parliament to exclude him.
The institution, responding to calls to remove Lagos’ parliamentary immunity, said it would only do so once it had received formal notification from the Greek authorities. But this process can be quite lengthy, so one Greek MEP is calling on parliament president David Sassoli to take action and exclude him now.
“This is a landmark decision and Pavlos Fyssas [a rapper murdered by a member of Golden Dawn, which formed part of the trial] was the symbol and a wake up call for all,” Nick Androulakis, a Greek MEP, told Euronews.
“A symbol that mobilises all the liberal democratic forces of Europe and a symbolic decision has to be made by the [European Parliament] president Sassoli, which will exclude Lagos from all the democratic processes.
“It’s unacceptable that Lagos has the same rights as every democratically elected MEP, being himself a member of this criminal gang as the justice has decided.”
Founded as a Nazi-inspired group in the 1980s, Golden Dawn remained on the far fringes of politics until Greece’s brutal, near-decade-long financial crisis that began in 2009.
It grew in support to eventually become the country’s third-largest party. Considered a model for many extreme-right groups in Europe and beyond, it won parliamentary seats in four elections from 2012 until 2019, when its popularity plummeted and it failed to elect any legislators.
The trial against party lawmakers, members and supporters was sparked by the 2013 fatal stabbing of left-wing Greek rapper Pavlos Fyssas and encompassed another three cases: physical attacks against Egyptian fishermen in 2012 and on left-wing activists in 2013, and whether Golden Dawn was operating as a criminal organisation.
Giorgos Roupakias, accused of being a party supporter who delivered the fatal stab wounds to Fyssas, was found guilty of murder, possession and use of a weapon, and faces a potential life sentence. Fifteen others — none of them former lawmakers — were convicted as accomplices.
She explained that the World Food Program received the award “for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas. And for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.”
The prestigious award announced in Oslo comes with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor or 1.1 million dollars. It is courtesy of a bequest left 124 years ago by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.
The U.N. agency’s spokesperson Tomson Phiri views the Nobel Peace Prize as recognition of those struggling to prevent starvation around the world. “This is a proud moment. The nomination in itself was enough. But to then go on and be named the Nobel Peace Prize winner is nothing short of a feat,” he told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland.
“This is an organization I have served for nine years. I have seen the extent to which the people who are dedicated across the globe go the extra mile. Just before I moved to Geneva, I was based in South Sudan, where people would walk on foot to serve humanity. And it’s really a proud moment. I really feel honored to be a member of this,” he added.
Whether on foot, by helicopter, or on the back of an elephant or a camel, the World Food Program says its deliveries are crucial as the world is in turmoil. It estimates that an estimated 690 million people – one in 11 – go to bed on an empty stomach.
Global hunger
Despite making progress over the past three decades, the U.N. agency appears unable to realize the United Nations’ goal to eradicate hunger by 2030. Wars and other conflicts continue to ravage parts of the world.
And experts warn that coronavirus measures such as lockdowns also negatively impact impoverished nations where many lost jobs and are without social support.
The U.N. estimates that the global recession caused by the COVID-19 crisis pushed an additional 83 to 132 million people into hunger. Women and children are usually those most at risk.
Organizers say the coronavirus outbreak will also affect the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony on December 10 in Oslo. The gathering in the Norwegian capital has been scaled back due to COVID-19 restrictions.
This is the 12th time the Peace Prize has gone to the U.N., one of its agencies or personalities – more than any other laureate.
For his new comic book series, Crossover, Donny Cates couldn’t decide which superhero to focus on, so he just chose all of them…and I mean ALL of them. He went full Gary Oldman in Léon: The Professional: “EVERYYYOOONE!” No, seriously — Crossover (whose debut issue goes on sale next month) is the steamy love child of Crisis on Infinite Earths and Secret Wars that was then hit with the growth ray in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid.
The story begins when every single superhero and villain you can think of (Marvel, DC, you name it!) randomly show up in the Denver, Colorado of our reality to start an all-out brawl. The strange event becomes known as “The Crossover,” which is eventually contained when one of the “Supers” gets the bright idea to cast a forcefield around the city.
Now, several years later, no one gets in and no one gets out…or so it would seem. Meanwhile, the world at large has turned against comics and their beloved archetypes as religious zealots insist that God-fearing Americans must “pray the capes away.”
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“Crossover is unlike any book I’ve ever worked on. It’s massive in its scope but still very personal and emotional,” Cates (God Country, Thor) said in a statement to Forbes Entertainment. “From new readers to old school fans of the early Image days, I truly think this book has something for everyone. Crossover is a love letter to this industry that we’ve all kind of grown up together in and we can’t wait for you all to go on this journey with us. It’s going to be wild!”
“Crossover is big! Years in the making, it’s a hugely personal story, in scope and scale,” added artist Geoff Shaw (God Country), who shares illustration duties with Dee Cunniffe (Olympia). “As an artist it’s been a dream to work on, and I’m genuinely proud of the work our team has done! Readers are in for a rare treat!”
In anticipation of the book’s early November bow, Image has shared two exclusive retailer covers with Forbes. The first variant was drawn by Rob Guillory and can only be purchased via Big Easy Comics. The second variant hails from Inhyuk Lee and is only available from Glass Cabinet Hobbies.
Take a look:
Rob Guillory variant cover
Courtesy of Image Comics
Inhyuk Lee variant cover
Courtesy of Image Comics
You may have noticed that that these covers don’t feature any recognizable heroes. Well, that’s because the story isn’t really about them; it’s actually about Ellipses Howell, one of the few humans that still believes in the sanctity of comic books. To underscore her cosplayer convictions, Ellipses wears an Incredibles/Catwoman-esque mask on her face and black gloves over her hands. That said, she’s only one strand of a larger, overarching web of characters that I can’t divulge to you just yet.
“We’ve had a blast bringing you this first issue. We’ve had the opportunity to try out new storytelling devices and techniques, and I think, as a team, we’re coming at you all guns blazing!” said Cunniffe. “Crossover is full of twists and turns, old and new faces, thrills and spills. If you have a fraction of the fun reading it as we did making it, then you’re in for the read of a lifetime.”
“It seems like ages ago that Donny and Geoff started fleshing out the idea for this book, which was right after we finished God Country in 2017,” concluded letterer John J. Hill. “Lots of big, crazy ideas that have been blown up, reassembled and distilled down into what’s now Crossover. We’re all super excited to unleash this thing, and can’t wait to see the reactions to all the crazy twists and turns coming up throughout the series.”
Crossover #1 goes on sale from Image Comics Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Michelle Bachelet expressed alarm over the suffering of civilians as hostilities continue to widen along the line of contact, also affecting other populated areas outside the immediate area of fighting.
“It is deeply worrying that in recent days we have seen populated areas reportedly targeted and shelled with heavy weaponry in and around the conflict area”, she said in a statement.
The conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh border region, in the South Caucasus, has persisted for more than 30 years, with the latest flare-up between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces commencing late last month.
Since then, artillery strikes have reportedly hit several cities, towns and villages.
The UN human rights office said information from different sources suggests that as of Thursday, some 53 civilians, including children, have been killed. However, staff have not been able to independently verify this information.
A large number of buildings, including houses, schools, and other civilian facilities are also reported to have been destroyed, most of which were located in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Respect international obligations
Ms. Bachelet reminded the warring sides of their obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
“I also remind all States, particularly those with influence over parties to the conflict, that they are required by international law to do everything within their power to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians”, she added.
Concern over cluster munitions
The UN rights chief also expressed concern over reports that cluster munitions had been used in the conflict area.
“Cluster munitions scatter small, often bright or colourful bomblets over wide areas, many of which fail to explode immediately but can then kill and maim for years afterwards”, Ms. Bachelet explained.
“The use of such munitions should stop immediately. I also urge Armenia and Azerbaijan to join the more than 100 States that have ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions which comprehensively bans their use.”
She further urged the parties to refrain from using hate speech to stoke divisions, underlining the need for constructive dialogue.
Health under fire
As this latest outbreak of hostilities is taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Bachelet was concerned that the violence posed a direct threat to health, with all sides struggling to contain the spread of the virus.
She said some civilians have reportedly moved to basements, or other shelters, meaning they are unable to maintain physical distancing, or have full access to clean water and sanitation.
“Access to healthcare must be ensured, and this includes providing psychosocial support for victims of this conflict, including those harmed as a result of the latest hostilities and those affected over the more than three decades of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” she stressed.
NEW YORK (AP) — Dean Koontz admits it was “kind of frustrating” a few months back when an idea that he predicted the coronavirus in his 1981 novel, “The Eyes of Darkness” took on a life of its own online.
“It was one of those internet things that’s mostly bogus,” said Koontz. “I had a book 40 years ago mention the Wuhan virus and it came from a lab in China. I didn’t make a prediction of a pandemic, it was a totally different story. My first strategy was just, ‘don’t engage in this and it will go away.’ And it just didn’t go away. Social media has got a light side and its dark side.”
The author, 75, has a new book out called “Elsewhere” about Jeffy and Amity — a single father and his 11-year-old daughter — moving through life as best they can after their wife and mother, Michelle, disappeared seven years prior. Dad meets an eccentric scientist who presents Jeffy with what’s described as a “key to everything,” holding the ability to time jump among among parallel universes. The discovery opens up a bevy of possibilities for Jeffy and Amity (including meeting up with Michelle) but also danger — because there are people who really want that key, and would kill to get it.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Koontz talks about his well of untouched ideas, adapting his writing for Hollywood and publishing with Amazon. Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: You’ve written more than 100 books. Do you ever have trouble coming up with new ideas?
Koontz: I have a drawer in my office that when I get an idea that’s not too horrendous, I scribble it on a piece of paper. I put it in that drawer. And I’ve always said, “When I run out of ideas for my next book, I’ll pull one out.” I’ve never had to. There’s always new ideas. I think imagination is like a muscle and the more you use it, the more ideas come to you.
AP: “Elsewhere” paints such a vivid story. You haven’t had your writing adapted in awhile. Would you be open to that again?
Koontz: I am open to it but I never have any high expectations. My film agent has “Elsewhere” out to market. I just haven’t had a lot of luck with that. After the 1995 film “Hideaway” (starring Jeff Goldblum), I considered tying an anvil around myself and leaping off a bridge… Stephen Sommers made a very nice version of “Odd Thomas” (starring Anton Yelchin in 2013) but it was crimped by the fact that about halfway through the money ran out and he had to cut the budget, but it was still good.
AP: You now have a publishing deal with Amazon. What’s that like? A lot of authors have a love-hate relationship with Amazon.
Koontz: It always comes down to the people you deal with. It’s astonishing that everyone that I’ve been working with at Amazon have been very creative, very efficient, just fun to work with. A lot of it is it’s a younger group and that sort of astounded me, too.
AP: Do you see a point where you would want to stop writing? (Koontz has already delivered book No. 79 to his publisher.)
Koontz: I’ll probably stop when I fall dead and hit the keyboard. Time will stop everybody but I’ve had some reviews saying that the books are almost better than ever and that’s gratifying. As long as it’s still play and it’s still fun and I get positive letters from people, that’s better than sitting by the pool with an umbrella.
… model and activist has a book deal. She is working on …
Emily Ratajkowski is working on book of essays, ‘My … activist Emily Ratajkowski has a book deal. “EmRata,” as her millions … collection called “My Body.” Metropolitan Books will published it in 2022 …
Merrill Markoe, the writer and comedian, tries to never throw out anything that could make for good material. That could be the goofy ad for “who’s who in the lunch meat industry” or a robe from an appearance on “The Arsenio Hall Show.”
And three years ago, Markoe was rummaging through a box when she stumbled upon something budding with possibilities. It was her first diary, a puffy-covered book from 1958. The tiny lock couldn’t keep her out. It turned out to be one of a stack of diaries documenting her life from fourth grade through college. (After that, they became journals.) Reading her own words from another era, Markoe couldn’t believe how much she had forgotten. “I used to just record everything I did,” she says. “I thought that’s what they were for. So I wrote down everything . . . every movie, every TV show, every assignment that was due at school.”
She was struck by how much was said – about family, teachers, boys – and how much was left unsaid. After examining the diaries, Markoe realized she wanted to understand this “stranger” and memory itself. That’s when she picked up her drawing pencils.
Markoe is best known for her work in comedy (co-creator of “Late Night with David Letterman”) and writing (10 books and counting). But before she did standup, Markoe studied painting and earned a master’s in art from the University of California at Berkeley. “We Saw Scenery,” a graphic memoir of those childhood diaries, covers roughly a decade, from the days of spelling bees to the time she went to one of Ken Kesey’s acid test parties. Markoe observes her childhood self from the present, even planting adult Merrill into several conversations. (“WHO ARE YOU? WHY do you care? Leave me alone,” the younger girl complains.) The result taps into not only the challenges of a girl growing up in the 1960s, but also Markoe’s special ability to use traditions and American consumerist culture as fuel for her absurdist humor. Markoe, who lives in Los Angeles, spoke recently about some of the subjects that inspired “We Saw Scenery.”
– – –
– Hippo
(Page 15)
I started just thinking, “Oh, I want to read about memory. Why do I remember only half of what’s written in this diary? Where do you store memories, and how do you store memories?” That’s how I got to the hippocampus. Which led me to draw a hippo. It was just a dumb joke, but I was wanting to ask somebody . . . why we decided to black this one out. It said it was “the worst day of my life.”
– Adult Merrill vs. Child Merrill
(Page 50)
The younger me wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with me. The younger me was way crazier. Later in life, not in these diaries, I did stuff like jump in the San Francisco Bay. . . . But I was inexorably headed for some career. I never wanted to have a family, and I went ahead and didn’t. I sort of wrote my own destiny that way. I really wanted to fall in love. Those were things I was interested in, the creative life and a love life. I went ahead and did it.
One thing I’ve learned is that everybody, before they are 27, does all that crazy stuff because your frontal lobe isn’t attached. That’s really big. The part of our brain that contemplates the idea of consequences isn’t really connected.
– Roadside Psychiatry
(Page 136)
I thought that would be a good way to meet cute guys. They would sit down. I would tell them they have mental problems. Why else would you do it? It was mostly Rorschach tests, which I was aware of because of Mad magazine. It was modeled completely after Lucy and Peanuts, and it was there for months. We were very proud of it. It was obviously the one place I was functioning. I wanted to be funny, and there weren’t a lot of venues for being funny for a girl that I was aware of. Girls were squelched at that point in pop culture. And school was all about home ec and learning recipes.
– Angry Mother
(Page 235)
My mother is to this day a real enigma. She was a really, really angry person. Like a lot of women in that era. During World War II, she was working at Time magazine and was working at some risque magazine . . . but then World War II ended, and all the guys came home, and she was angry for the rest of her life. And she would never tell you why.
She used to tell me that she had created her own Frankenstein. Looking back on that, I thought, “That’s pretty flattering.” She started finding me a nightmare when I started differentiating myself from my parents, which was about 15, and it lasted for the rest of her life.
It doesn’t take long for Bianca Vogelsang’s new boyfriend, Joshua, to discover some red flags after they meet at Cal State Fullerton. Bianca carries around a plastic doll she calls “Jubilee” as if it’s a real baby, pretending to feed it with a toy bottle. Bianca, the protagonist of Jennifer Givhan’s new novel “Jubilee,” has traumatic reasons for calling a doll her daughter, but even as Josh’s skin gets “prickly like he was watching a horror movie” while Bianca soothes Jubilee, he continues their relationship.
Yes, curiosity is a powerful force, but Joshua has his own burdens – he’s the legal guardian of his young nephew – and seems to understand that Bianca is more than just wounded or different. She’s also funny and smart and beautiful and alive. Bianca’s half brother Matty and his partner, Handro, also recognize that Bianca’s behavior stems from trauma – perhaps because she’s shown up at their Santa Ana house exhausted and bloody, requiring a hospital stay.
Once Bianca is healed and established in their home, the men accept Jubilee as part of their family. “Matty watched Jubilee while Bianca went to school and during her therapy sessions.” Bianca isn’t completely oblivious; she sees the way the men glance at each other. Still, she “needed this to be normal. And soon it was. They were family. And family protected each other.”
The book continues, alternating between two narratives – “With Jubilee” and “Before Jubilee” – that shed more light on Bianca’s situation. Her high school boyfriend, Gabe, gets her pregnant and insists she have an abortion, then sexually assaults her. Her family, mother and Matty included, then begin to act as if Bianca “was made of china and would break apart at any moment.”
Bianca will have to rescue herself, and what saves the book from melodrama (it’s well written, but heavy on emotion) is its through line: Bianca’s devotion to poetry. Like her idol, Sandra Cisneros, Bianca wants to be a voice for her people, the Mexican American working-class residents of Southern California, whose lives contain, like everyone’s, sadness and miscommunication, but also community and celebration.
Which, Bianca tells Josh, is what Jubilee’s name means: “celebration. I grew up Catholic, and we memorized all the verses. In the Bible, Jubilee is the time of release and universal pardon. Slaves set free. Land returned. Debts forgotten. All kicked off with a trumpet blast.” Bianca’s passion for the trumpet-blast verses of Emily Dickinson and Spoken Word, Shakespeare and Ana Castillo gives her a life of the mind that lifts her away – sometimes temporarily, sometimes for much longer – from the circumstances and memories that haunt her, helping her find her own release and pardon.
However, before Bianca can move on, she has to move through, and that means facing good truths, like her healthy love for Joshua, and hard truths, like a secret no one in the family wants to acknowledge. Givhan manages to tell a story about Mexicali culture that, by focusing on one young woman’s hope, avoids cultural generalizations and tells, instead, a story of family growth and personal triumph.
– – –
Patrick is the editor, most recently, of “The Books That Changed My Life: Reflections by 100 Authors, Actors, Musicians and Other Remarkable People.”
/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f7f1cf12fdb45bd25d50808/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=650&cropY1=415&cropY2=781&w=696&resize=696,0&ssl=1 "The Entire Comic Book Mythos Bleeds Into Our World With First Look At Donny Cates’ ‘Crossover’")
