This is Happiness by Niall Williams

WOW! What a read. Our March Book Club took place on St. Patrick's Day and the hostess chose Niall Williams book, set in Ireland, as an appropriate selection. I have a friend who is an enthusiastic fan of Williams' books so this one had been on my TBR list for a while. I can say now, that I have also joined that group of fans. 

Set in Faha in County Kerry, Ireland This is Happiness is the account of electricity coming to the village in 1958. It is told through the eyes of Noel (Noe) Crowe, now 78 years old as he reflects on the summer when he was 17. After one of the most descriptive and poetic passages in literature about the village and the rain that has been pelleting it for days, the action begins close to Easter when Christy MacMahon, who is supervising the laying of cables to the village, becomes a lodger in Noe's grandparent's (Goady and Ganga) home and shares a room with Noe. 

The reader is brought into the Easter season with the rituals of Spy Wednesday and the remainder of the Holy Week. Noe had been attending seminary, but decided to take a break. Description of the parishioners and the Mass bring the Catholic rites full front. Williams through Noe provides enough of character traits that really entices the reader to learn more about them. 

As the plot develops, the reader discovers that the real reason for his arrival in Faha is to ask forgiveness of the chemist's wife, Annie Mooney Gafney for leaving her at the altar. That plot is really one of three in the novel. Second, Noe has his romantic feelings awaken as he becomes infatuated with all three Troy sisters. Finally, central to Christy's arrival are the lengthy descriptions of the actual installation of electricity from cutting the logs in Finland to getting them installed as poles in Faha.

There are really no words that accurately describe the lyrical prose that permeates this novel. Rarely do I highlight so many sentences and add so many bookmarks to an eBook as I did this novel. Williams writing is an ode to description and the feelings that are derived from the beautiful combination of words that evoke a time and place for a reader. I cannot wait to read his next book, Time of the Child, which I understand is even more poetic and poignant than this novel.

Finding Freedom by Erin French

A little over a year ago a friend had mentioned this book that she was aware of The Lost Kitchen in Maine through another friend. I had put it on my TBR List and was glad when our book club chose it for our January selection. 

Finding Freedom is a memoir penned by Erin French with emotion, humor, and an uplifting message. She meticulously details her life from childhood, through puberty, a wake-up call to adulthood, and her success as an entrepreneur.  French grew up as the child of an abusive father who owned a diner and required that she spent her waking hours there from the time she was a tween. He enjoyed his beer and while he was with friends, imbibing, she was tending to the cleaning of the diner and prepping for the next day. He opposed her leaving to go to college, but she worked hard, saved her money, and was accepted. However, after 2 years she found herself single and pregnant and was forced to drop out. 

 She returned to her hometown, Freedom to raise her son. She had the support of her mother and nominal support of her father, only because the child was male. She becomes involved in a disastrous relationship, as abusive as her father from which she retreats to wine and pills.  He seems supportive enough as she follows her dream to open a restaurant and follow the passion she has for cooking, but resents her for calling him out for his alcoholism. French's honesty throughout this book is startling. She pulls no punches as she describes her descent into a situation that requires a stay in a rehab facility. 

With the support of her mother, who gets her own chapter in the book, and numerous other women of the area, she rights herself and in 2014 opened The Lost Kitchen. It has been a success and she is to be congratulated for becoming a successful chef and restaurateur.  The book leaves the reader uplifted with the knowledge that lives can be reawakened even from the deepest depths. This was an emotional read, but one that can be endured knowing the outcome.

 

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

The Violin Conspiracy was an interesting read about a young black man, RqyQuain McMillian, who rises from an amateur student violinist to one of the most accomplished virtuosos in the world of symphonic music who finds himself in the midst of a horrible mystery and crime. From the time as a young boy he has played a rental violin.

The novel begins in media res with Ray and his girlfriend Nicole in New York City where he is performing and with his violin being stolen from his hotel room. The time shifts back to Ray as a youth and recounts the months and years leading up to the crime. 

Ray lives with an overpowering mother and twin siblings. His mother thinks it is a waste of time for him to be playing the instrument when he could be working at Popeye's Chicken or a grocery store. She wants the teenager to contribute to the household expenses. The most supportive person in his life is his grandmother who encourages his playing. Then one Christmas she gives him an old violin that was his great grandfather's who was an enslaved man. It was old, covered in resin and in an old alligator case. When Ray has it cleaned, it is discovered that it is a Stradivarius, worth close to 10 million dollars. The flashback that occupies most of the novel details the struggles that Ray has had to endure a a black instrumentalist, even being arrested by a racist policeman in Baton Rouge. When he meets Nicole, a violist, he finds a support person who is encouraging and loving. 

The investigation into the theft of the Strad points to a number of people who would benefit from its sale: his family who believe that it should have been sold and they split the profits, the descendants, the Marks family, of the slave owner, who believe it is rightly theirs, and even a competitor at the world renowned Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.  Both his family and the Marks sue him. The mystery of the theft provides the main plot of the novel.

One of the most interesting parts of the book was the detail of Ray's repertoire.  I got side-tracked numerous times looking up some of the pieces and listening to them. to hear Itzhak Perlman play Serenade Melancolique is as moving as it was described as he played it in Moscow. Slocumb, an accomplished musician in his own right brings much insight into the classical music world. The mystery of the theft of Ray's violin is not without its red herrings plays out in a surprising solution.. A good, solid, and quick read.

 

West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

It would seem that the Gables Book Club is heavily animal themed for 2023. Previously, it was an octopus and for this month it is giraffes. 

West With Giraffes is a novel that is based on a true historical facts and is captivating from the very first page. It opens with an aide at a VA home cleaning out the room of a recently deceased 105 year old resident, Woodrow Wilson Nickel, whom the reader learns is Woody Nickel. For the most part the novel is told in the first person by Woody both as he recounts his life as well as the events of the fall of 1938 as they are happening. 

Woody survives the dust bowl of Oklahoma and makes his way to New York to live with his Cuz, who unfortunately is killed in a devastating hurricane. 

Belle Benchley, the ground setting director of the San Diego Zoo has managed to procure a rhino and 2 giraffes from Africa. On the journey the ship on which they were being transported is is shipwrecked in the same hurricane during which Cuz is killed. The rhino is lost, but the giraffes survive. Riley Jones (referred to in the novel as "Old Man." was hired by Benchley to supervise the journey  from the dock to San Diego. He discover the girl giraffe has a wounded leg and calls in a vet to treat her. Woody sees the giraffes and is determined to follow them to California. At the same time Woody steals a motorcycle to follow them. In a turn of events, the driver hired by "Old Man" turns out to be a drunk and Woody convinces him that he, even as a 17 year old, can handle the driving of the rig and the huge crate that is carrying Boy and Girl. Enter Augusta Lowe knownas "Red", young woman who is photographing the trek for Life Magazine, or so she says. 

 

The novel moves quickly even as the journey moves slowly from New Jersey to Washington, D.C. over Skyline Drive and into Tennessee. "Old Man's" intention is to replace Woody with another driver, but circumstances create a bit of chaos and Woody convinces him to allow him to drive the entire journey. Red follows the rig in her green Packard, but there is something strange about her story that is confirmed by an encounter with the police and a man known as "The Big Reporter."

 The journey is precarious at best with detours, low clearance tunnels and challenges presented by nature and nefarious travelers they meet along the way. Because it is a novel based on historical truth, the reader knows that the giraffes arrive safely in in San Diego. The novel shifts as Woody recalls his life to his post World War II life and his return to civilian life. He is haunted by the giraffes and the journey and sets out to find Riley and Augusta. 

The journal focuses on Jones, Woody and Augusta, but it is really the giraffes that steal the readers' hearts. They seem so lovable except when it is necessary to protect their humans.  Rutledge has given them their own personalities and they take over story as the go coast to coast. Throughout the writing, Rutledge stays true to language of the late 1930s. We read words like pipsqueak, Tin Lizzie, 2-bit, and dunderheaded. 

A great selection for the book club and enjoyable read. On to Horse.

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

In one of the most complex books that I have read, Warlight is the latest of Ondaatje's novels. I had looked forward to reading it from the time Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures announced Ondaatje was the speaker for the last 2020 lecture. Its subject matter concerned two of my favorite topics - World War II and London. 

Narrated by Nathaniel, the book opens with the statement:

“In 1945 our parents went away and left us in the care of two men who may have been criminals” 

It snags the reader in what would seemingly be a tome of young children and their existence in the post war London years. But it, like a good part of the book, is merely a fragment of a puzzle that poses a challenge for those who try to piece it together. When Nathaniel (age 14) and his sister, Rachel (age 16), are left by their parents, to go to live in Singapore where the father has been promoted to run a Unilever office. Their mother, Rose, entrusts their keeping to a friend, Walter, whom the children name The Moth because he is so quiet. With The Moth running some shady business, the children are virtually left on their own. The first half of the novel relates their lives there as they meet and interact with other adults who comprise The Moth's group of acquaintances, including the Pimlico Darter (Norman) and Olive Lawrence who is an ecologist and ethnographer. Despite some criminal leanings The Darter becomes a surrogate guardian to Nathaniel as they smuggle dogs into London for illegal racing as does The Moth to Rachel. The two grow up quickly as they experience life in London, all the time wondering where there mother has gone. Nathaniel works for The Moth at the Criterion, a banquet hall where he meets Agnes, named for the street where she lived and who is first sexual experience. When a kidnap attempt is made on the two children, the realization that there is something more to the disappearance of Rose. 

In the second part of the book, Nathaniel, now a grown man, reflects on those years, his mother's whereabouts, and the covert activities that kept her at a distance from her children. Working at the British Classified Archives, he discovers documents that help him discover what Rose's part was. Ondaatje reveals bits and pieces of that action to the reader over the course of the second half chapters. There are clues and innuendoes that need to be assembled before a clear vision of Rose's life is understood. A seemingly unimportant incident of a thatcher falling from the roof of Rose's parents home escalates into a critical time in her life. 

Warlight references the light that, even tho dimmed, guided emergency traffic in London during World War II. But it also takes on an added meaning of the secrecy and shrouded surreptitiousness of espionage, smuggling, codenames, and interrogations. This is not a book for the faint of heart, but for those who appreciate the complexities of a nuanced novel that reveals its own secrets in measured increments.   

Where the Crawdads Sing by

It is hard to ignore a book that has stood atop the NYTime Best Seller list for 21 weeks as of 15 August 2019. The book was chosen in April for our September Gables Book Club selection to insure that members could get on a waiting list to borrow it. It was worth the wait for sure.

The prologue sets the stage for the novel and immediately creates the tension that the reader will experience throughout its course. A body has been found by two young boys and the sheriff of the small town embarks on an investigation as to whether it is an accident or murder. 

Set in  Barkley Cove, North Carolina, it is the story of Catherine Clark, known as Kya or The Marsh Girl. At the novel's onset, Kya is 7 years old and lives in the swamp with her parents and siblings. Not being able to take the abuse of her husband any longer, her Ma up and leaves the house one day, abandoning Kya and her brother. Not long after, Kya's brother Jodie leaves and Kya is left on her own with her alcoholic father, who is sometimes present and more often, not.  Pa eventually leaves her when she is 10. In order to sustain her life, Kya resorts to harvesting oysters and trading them to Jumpin', the owner of a gas station and fishing supply store, for food, gas, and other necessities. His wife, Mabel, also becomes a surrogate mother to her and helps her with clothing and guidance through puberty. 

Although brought to school one day when she was six by a truant officer, Kya was ridiculed by the other children and never returned. She became self-sufficient and self-reliant. The novel retells her childhood and young adulthood in alternating chapters of flashback and present day. Jumping from 1952 to 1969, the reader learns that one of the town's notable citizens, Chase Andrews,  has been found dead, apparently having fallen from the local fire tower.   

When she was 14, Kya met Tate Walker who befriends her and teaches her to read. Their relationship blossoms into love but Tate, who is 4 years older, insists that making love waits until she is older. He leaves for college, promising to return to her. Once again she is abandoned. She spends her time collecting and sketching wildlife in the marsh. She becomes quite the naturalist. When she is 19 she meets Chase, who professes to be in love with her and convinces her to have sex with him. He woos her with the premise that he wants to marry her. 

When Tate returns to Barkley Cove, a biologist, to research the marsh, he visits Kya and asks for forgiveness. Not wanting to be hurt again, she refuses. He does, however, convince her to submit her drawings to a publisher. The description of her specimens and her observatory powers are fascinating.

As one who knew Chase and was an easy scapegoat, Kya was charged with his murder and stands trial. To see how that ends, you will need to read the novel, because I do not want to include any more spoilers here. 

This is definitely one novel not to be missed. Although the alternating chapters and date changes can be a bit problematic until the reader understands what Owens is doing, it was a heart-wrenching and emotional read. Kya is an endearing character and the chutzpah she shows in her maturation is laudable. Infused with themes of abandonment, loneliness, class and racial divides, and lost love, Where the Crawdads Sing will be one of those novels that will stand the test of time.

Educated: a memoir by Tara Westover

When the Gables Book Club chose to read this for our July get together, I tried to borrow it on Overdrive through interlibrary loan. Even though it was a best seller, I did not expect to be 267th on a waiting list for it. And so I ended up buying the Kindle edition when we returned from England since I would only have a few days to read it. I read a bit while on our trip to Kentucky and a couple of ball games, but for the most part I read it in a single setting. Admittedly, this is one of the most difficult books I have ever read in my life. Difficult, not because of the sentence structure or language, but because of how my heart ached for Tara Westover's life. She is truly an example of how much one can accomplish with diligence, perseverance, and good people who believe in you. 

Tara Westover was grew up in Buck's Peak, Idaho with six siblings, the daughter of Mormon survivalist parents. Educated: a memoir is her recounting of that childhood that was lived very much in isolation. Her father was of the belief that the government was evil and out to get you. She had no birth certificate or social security number. He stockpiled fuel and food for when they would need to fight off those who would come for them: the Illuminati. She was home schooled, in reality left to learn on her on behalf. It was the belief that no one could teach you better than if you taught yourself. 

To live in the Westover home, you were controlled by a bipolar, domineering and often sadistic father, who had no qualms about making his children work for him in his junkyard and construction businesses. Your mother was an herbalist and midwife and the family did not believe in modern medicine, doctors, or hospitals. When her older brother decides to leave the family to go to college, Tara is inspired to take that step for herself. She saves money to buy an algebra textbook and studies for the ACT exam. Her ticket out is acceptance to Brigham Young University, where she feels very much the outcast because of the doctrine under which she has had to leave. 

The empathy that the reader feels for Tara is immense. She is abused not only by her father, but also by a brother she calls Shawn (a pseudonym). This in in turn contributes to the self-image that she has of a pretty worthless person. When a break comes her way to attend Cambridge University, she does not know how to respond and she thinks she is unworthy. The reader applauds her when she is able to confront those feelings and become her own person in spite of the consequences she must suffer. 

The frustration that the reader feels over the parenting in this household is palpable. Her father is aggressive and misogynistic. He does nothing but criticize his daughter or shun her. He treats his wife like a servant and she allows that. Tara's mother is taciturn and does nothing to protect her daughter from the abuse she suffers, to the point that when Tara wants to see her mother alone, she refuses to unless her husband is allowed also. 

There are good people in Tara's life who have enabled her to succeed. Among them are the bishop who listens, but does not judge, Dr. Kerry who encourages her to do her best at Cambridge, and Professor Steinburg, who insists she apply for the Cambridge grant. 

A most powerful book for which rereading is meritorious.

 

Eddie's Bastard by William Kowalski

It really is true that belonging to book club can expand your reading vista. Whether browsing or searching, I probably would never have chosen this debut novel by William Kowalski. There were even some of us who tried to hide the title as we were reading. Eddie's Bastard  is a saga of a family, the Manns, and, as such, the reader is privy to all those ups and downs and secrets that are a part of family history.

A baby is left in a basket on the doorstep of an farmhouse in 1970. An older man discovers the little boy and by looking at the infant's eyes, knows immediately that the child is a member of his family. He names the boy William Amos Mann, or Billy for short. A a genealogist, it would have been helpful to have a pedigree chart for all the family members whose stories are drawn into the novel. Central to the story, also, is the grandfather, Thomas Mann, Jr.'s, diary from World War  II and his being shot down by a Japanese pilot. But then there is the introduction of another Mann who fought in the Civil War. At times it becomes confusing and takes a bit of perseverance. 

Billy is home-schooled by his grandfather and the two lead a virtually eremitical life, living on fried bologna sandwiches. (This actually created a craving and a trip to the grocery store to get the fixin's for the same.) Thomas was an alcoholic and Billy learned to cope with being very much on his own as he grew up.

Billy's world expands to include other towns people in the small town of Mannsville, not too far from Buffalo and Erie. There is the Annie Simpson whom he loves, but who has a horrific secret that she keeps, Elsie, the prostitute who shows Billy the ways of the world, and Dr. Connor, who knows everything about everyone in the town. It is through the characters that Billy's life is shaped. 

Although I found the book a bit slow in the beginning, I began to appreciate the writing, situations, and the character development. It was hilarious when the ostrich adventure recurs, and sad when the Simpsons were center stage. Throughout it all, it is really the story of a young boy and then young man who is on a quest to discover who he really is and from where he comes. This search drives him to the very end of the novel and leads the reader to think that there will be something more to Billy's life story. And there is, the sequel, Somewhere South of Here.  A good and satisfying read.

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann

While touring Germany in 2002, this books was hailed as the ultimate German story. I bought it upon returning home and always meant to read it. The length demanded dedication to the read and I must admit I felt it would be dry and a difficult read. Spurred by the reading list for our Burgen und Berge Honors trip, I tackled it during Christmas vacation and I am so sorry that I had not read it sooner. I didn't want to put it down and was sorry that it had ended. The story of the Buddenbrooks family begins in 1835 and continues to the book's end in 1876. Mann is incredible as he characterizes the members of the family. His descriptions are magnificent and you immediately can picture them all in your mind. Johann (Jean) becomes the ultimate patriarch with a devotion to the well-lived life. Elisabeth, his wife, upon his death assumes the role as mentor, and devoted matriarch. Their children, Tony, Tom, Christian, and Clara all have happy and sad times in their lives. We struggle with them as they celebrate the good and bad times. The detail that Mann gives us - of Christmas on Meng Strasse, a Prussian school or the summer at Travemünde - allows the reader to be a part of his work. It will not soon be forgotten.