A Secret Gift by Ted Gup

In 1933 a man by the name of Mr. B. Virdot placed an ad in a Canton, Ohio newspaper offering $10 to persons who would write to him and explain their dire circumstances and how they had bee affected by the Great Depression. A Secret Gift is a compilation of the letters that were found by his grandson. Gup had not known this about his grandfather and as he recalls many memories of his family throughout the book, the reader is moved by the compassion of B. Virdot (a fictitious name composed of the letters of his children) and Samuel Stone, his real name. 

For readers who only have a book knowledge of the depression, this book hits at the heart of the desperate times so many people faced as they were without work and without the resources to even put food on the table. Some of the letters were so heart-wrenching that one could not help but shed a tear. Stone was comfortable during those times and his compassion for his fellow human beings was a gesture that showed his empathy and generosity. 

Gup also intersperses his family history into the book and it is a compelling story of an immigrant and his families struggle being Jewish a prejudicial society. Samuel J. Stone was born to the immigrant Jacob Finklestein in Pittsburgh. As Gup tries to put the pieces of Stone's life together, the narrative often references the family in Pittsburgh, Ohio, and Florida where Stone died. Why did Stone change his name, falsify his birth certificate and passport, and move around to so many places in the United States. It is a fascinating story that only at the end of his family history journey does Gup discover so many answers. 

In addition to the sad and tragic letters, many printed in their entirety,  what stood out to me was the incredible research Gup did in tracking down the descendants of the letter writers. He acknowledged the genealogy departments of libraries, newspaper archives, and vital records repositories. It was with such persisitance that he was able to locate family members who were able to shed light on their family's' history throughout and after the depression. That was no easy task, but the result was a beautiful book full of inspiration and hope despite the tragedy and sadness that initiated it all. 

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

It is rare that I stay up reading past 1:00 a.m. to finish a book, but that was the case with The Guest List. In the spirit of an Agatha Christie mystery, I just had to find out the ending and resolution. 

Set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, The Folly, a restored 15th century building is the site of the wedding of two prominent stars, Will, who has a Survival television show, and Jules, the publisher of a fashion magazine. The only access to the island is by boat. Their friends and relatives are gathering to celebrate the occasion and they provide the narrative. As in many Christie novels, it is a closed group of people who could possibly mastermind a murder. The island with its steep cliffs, haunting cemetery and cave is a character in itself. 

The novel begins the night of the wedding with the discovery of a blood-stained body. No clue is given as to who it is or who has committed the crime. The chapters are then flashbacks to the day before, the day of the wedding, and the wedding itself. Each player has his or her own perspective on the events and the background story. Jules finds a note, written anonymously,  that warns her not to marry Will because he is a cheat and liar. Olivia is the half sister,  Charlie is Jules' oldest friend, Hannah, Charlie's wife, is the Plus One, Johnno is Will's friend from boarding school and his best man and Aoife, the wedding planner. Each have his or her own secrets that all form part of the intriguing puzzle as to the victim and the murderer.

For the most part, this is the wedding from hell with copious amounts of alcohol and even some weed and cocaine. The groomsmen exhibit traits and actions that could really be characteristic of young boys despite them being in their thirties. There are tales of criminal acts at boarding school and horrible bullying at Will's stag party. It is also a story of addiction including self-harm, and alcoholism. Much of what motivates the characters is their familial relationships and the harm that has come to them.

Each player is developed by Foly and remains true to her depiction of them. The reader feels some degree of empathy, especially toward Hannah and Olivia,  but has a difficult time really liking many of the others. They seem to be self-serving, status-seeking, or even a bit vile. 

It was a suspenseful book that left the reader hurrying to get to the final chapters to have the criminal act revealed. Foley plants her clues with skill and after reflecting on all of them, the reader has clear understanding ast why and how the murder was committed, and wondering why no one had done it before. 

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

Of the nonfiction titles that we considered for our book club, Everything is Tuberculosis sounded the most intriguing and it was written by a well-known author, who also happens to be one of my favorites. This is an interesting and, at time, a somewhat infuriating discussion of the deadliest disease to affect humankind. 

Although Green is most notable for his young adult award winning books, he has become an advocate of global health initiatives. In August of 2019 as a member of the Partners in Health. He traveled to Sierra Leone wher he met Henry Reider, a teenager, who has battled tuberculosis  through peaks and valleys of treatment. It is through Henry that Green relates the importance of fighting this disease. 

The title refers to how health and disease are implicated in so much of our culture. He ties Pasadena, California, Stetson hats, Adirondack chairs, and the start of World War I to the disease. Henry's story began when he was six and showed signs of weakness, experienced weight loss and night sweats- all signs that pointed to tuberculosis. But the initial tests came back negative and accordingly, he wasn't treated. This happens so much of the time and is a reason that the disease spreads so virulently, even though it is a bacteria. Once the diagnosis was made, the treatment was started, the regimen is brutal, especially in a very poor, country. The mixture of drugs need to be taken on a very regulated schedule and on a full stomach. With so many in 3rd world countries not having sufficient food, the drugs are ineffective. 

Green includes many statistics to show how tuberculosis is spread, goes undetected, and is prone to drug resistance. After years of treatment, when nearly on his death bed, Henry got lucky and has survived and is now an advocate for treatment of the disease with his own YouTube channel. 

The message that Green impresses on the reader is that the challenge of global health is "the cure is where the disease is not, and the disease is where the cure is not.” If tuberculosis affected the rich, a detection and a cure would be on the horizon. Pharmaceutical companies have inflated the cost of medication, to make it nearly impossible for those in poverty areas to afford it. The World Health Organization has been involved in securing money for some of those areas, but it is not enough. USAID also worked on providing medication, but that aid was pulled when the agency was terminated. Green calls the world to action in eliminating not only the disease but the stigma of it.

An excellent and thought-provoking read.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Set on a fictional sub-Antarctica island, Wild Dark Shore is novel of many themes. It centers around the Salt family who are there to oversee the vast vault of seeds that are to be protected for the sustenance of life on earth. Each chapter of the book is narrated by one of the family members - Dominic the father, Fen, the 18 year old daughter, Raf, the 17 yearol old son and Orly, the youngest son who is 9 years old. The family moved to Shearwater Island shortly after Orly's birth and the death of Claire, wife and mother.

The wildlife on the island and stark character of the topography are secondary characters as McConaghy depicts the interaction with the family. One evening in the midst of an horrendous storm as boat is shipwrecked on the island and the only survivor is a woman, Rowan. Her husband, Hank, was one of the men assigned to the island to protect the seeds and do research. She hadn't heard from him and was there to try to ascertain his whereabouts. The seed vault was being closed and all the men who  had been assigned to it had been sent home and that is what the Salt family has indicated to Rowan. 

She becomes an integral part of the family as they took care of her tattered body and nursed her back to health. The reader knows that there will be more to the story, but McConaghy develops it slowly. Fen's behavior of wanting to be alone, Raf's study of the whales, and Orly's fascination with the seeds reflect times in each of their pasts. When Rowan discovers Hank's passport and papers, the plot thickens and she is determined to discover exactly what happened to him. 

The resolution of the plot comes quickly in the last few chapters. The revelation of the Hank's situation and his relationship to the Salt family is too say the least, disturbing.Wild Dark Shore combines so many themes in one novel - grief, resilience, love and trust, the impact of climate change and the appreciation of wild life. For the reader, the ending encapsulates both despair and hope. It is up to that reader to decide which it really is. 

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick

Set in 1963, The Book Club for Troublesome Women, is one of those books that almost requires you to have some knowledge of time, place, mores, and cultural recognition. The four main characters, who live in the affluent community of Concordia, Maryland, are brought together as they form a book group. 

Bitsy is a 23 year old married to an older man who considers himself to be a very superior veterinarian. Charlotte is from a wealthy family and married to Howard, whom her father has selected as his son-in-law when Charlotte gets pregnant out of wedlock. Viv is a nurse with six children, married to Tony, a Pentagon official. Near the beginning of the book she discovers that she is pregnant with her 7th child. Finally, Margaret (Maggie) Ryan is really the main character of the book. Her husband, Walt, appears at first to be the patriarchal husband of the 1960's, but eventually has an epiphany after his father's death. 

Maggie's first pick for the book club is The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan and the club becomes known as The Bettys. Their lives become interwoven and their support for their female friends is such a powerful part of the book. They see each other through life events like pregnancies, husband's affairs, addictive behavior, and problem children. All of this is set against the background of how women were viewed in the 1960's and their nascent struggle to assert themselves as equal partners in a marriage and in society. 

Bostwick has researched the time period and has included so many popular books, foods, music, and current events. For a married woman not to be able to get birth control pills without the signature of her husband, for a high school girl spurned because she wants to play the trombone, and for a woman who knows as much about horses as her husband to be dismissed are examples of the culture of the early 60s. It is hard to think about how it was, but also frightening to realize that woman could be relegated to that place in society again. 

The reaction at our book group was mixed. Some liked it, some were ok with it and a couple didn't like it at all. That is the beauty of book clubs. I was on the liked it side and would consider it a good read, if only for reminiscing about the time. 
 

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

Dennis Lehane has a stellar reputation for writing investigative crime novels that are chilling and unsettling. Small Mercies certainly lived up to that description. Set in Boston in the late summer of 1974 when court-ordered busing was about to commence, the novel recounts the response to that action by the racial parties of the city.  
 

The main character, Mary Pat Finnessey, a nurse and mother living in the projects finds herself drawn into the tensions of the time because her daughter Jules will be bussed to the black school. The subject of busing takes a backseat when Jule disappears one night after spending time with friends. It was the same night that Auggie Williamson was found dead on the railroad tracks and those friends were implicated in his death. Mary Pat is desperate to find her daughter whom she discovers was mixed up with one of the drug dealing kingpins of the area. 

She enlists the aid of Detective Bobby Coyne, who is sympathetic to her grief as he leads the investigation into the death/murder of Augie Williamson and the disappearance of Jules. But Mary Pat takes things into her own hands and confronts members of the drug ring. The novel is gripping as she puts her life in danger. The deeper the inquisition goes, the more the reader understands the power of the Boston mob, led by Marty Butler, who is feared and obeyed. 

Lehane exposes both sides of the racial coin through the collateral characters, especially Dreamy Williamson and her husband, parents of Auggie. The women with whom Mary Pat attends a protest march and her sister expose the white supremacist attitude of the Southie neighborhood. The tension builds when Mary Pat realizes that her life is void without Jules and is willing to go to any length to unravel all of the events.

This is not a book for the faint at heart. It is violent, profane, and disturbing to the point of how this nation reacts to those who do not look like another person. I was involved the mandated busing/integration of schools in Louisville, KY and this novel brought back those harrowing times. With all that said, it is truly a work of literary art. 

  

The Christmas Pearl by Dorthea Benton Frank

It is customary for our book club to read a light Christmas themed book for our December meeting. It is usually one on which we can have a short discussion, have lunch, and then decide our books for the coming year. 

The Christmas Pearl, was a unique novel in that it required the suspension of all belief as the reader was transported into a fairy tale world that was a cross between Cinderella and Mary Poppins. Theodora is a nonagenarian matriarch of a seemingly dysfunctional family who have all come to Charleston, South Carolina to celebrate Christmas. As she bemuses the fact that Christmas doesn't seem like what it was in her younger days, she doesn't have the wherewithal to undertake all those tasks of decorating, shopping, cooking. She remembers her mother's housekeeper who seemed to pull it all together for the family. With that in Fairy Godmother fashion Pearl, who was the Gullah housekeeper,  appears at Theodora's house. Pearl has come back from the dead to make Christmas seem like the old days. She cooks, decorated the house with the ease of having a magic wand. 

As the family members arrive they add a bit of chaos to the scene, bickering, complaining, and just plain acting rude. The reader has a tough time liking any of them. But the scenes between Theodora and Pearl are the calming portions of the book as they settle in to having a bit of Christmas "cheer." The continual fracas and griping of the family sets Pearl to step in and try to save Merry Christmas. A spot of eggnog helps.

It was a quick read, not literary, but perfect for the reader who does not care about reality and and can appreciate the imaginary. 
 

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson

 There are not too many books that we have read about society following World War I.The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club gives an interesting perspective into that time with its focus on women in a small seashore town in England. Poppy Wirrall is the owner of a motorcycle courier service who is staying at the Palm Court Hotel and accidentally meets Constance who is also at the hotel aiding Mrs. Fog who is recovering from influenza. Constance rescues Poppy from a serious faux pas (wearing trousers) and the two become friends, 

The novel introduces the reader to a plethora of characters, many of whom are members of the motorcyle club and also to the families of Poppy and her mother, the venerable Mrs. Wirrall. Poppy's brother, Harris, has returned home from the war in which he lost a leg. Constance grew up a farmer's daughter, but she is educated and would love to move on from being an elderly woman's companion. As such she has followed the social norms and acts with propriety and good taste. Poppy, on the other hand, is free wheeling and throughout the course of the novel tries to bring Constance out of her set ways. 

There are so many themes that permeate the book - racism, the thwarted role of women, disrespect for the disabled, and growth after grief. Mrs. Fog rekindles a romance with a man of mixed race and is virtually ostracized from her family by her daughter, Lady Mercer who has married a baron. Klaus, a waiter at the hotel is a naturalized citizen, but fears for his life because he is originally from Germany. The women fight desperately to maintain their business or get a job, but are stymied by the fact that jobs need to go to men. Harris is denied employment opportunities because he is disabled and remarks that his brain and hand are in full working order, despite his one leg. Harris' friend Jock, struggles to overcome the loss of his family to the flu epidemic and relies on his friends. 

The novel was hard to get into and seemed slow in spots, but the insight into the mores of the times and watching Constance's growth were worth it and make it a rewarding read.  

The Women by Kristin Hannah

It was surprising to me that I was able to get both a hardbound and Kindle copy of The Women so easily. They hype around this book for months was so omnipresent that it seemed unlikely that a copy would be available to read. Among my friends, who have read the novel, there were very diverse reactions. Some loved it and others couldn't finish it. I am probably right in the middle of those reactions. 

The main character, Frances Gracie McGrath, aka Frankie, decides to enlist in the armed forces as a nurse to join her brother, Fin, who was a graduate of the Naval Academy and was sent to Viet Nam. She lived with her parents on Coronado Island, CA where they enjoyed a very comfortable, if not lavish, lifestyle. Her father, a staunch male chauvinist, was quite supportive of his son's service. However, with the mantra, "Women can be heroes, too" stuck in her mind, he vehemently opposed his daughter going off to war. The depiction of what the nurses and all the men serving in-country was heart-wrenching, considering what the reaction back in the States was during their service and upon their home-coming. Frankie is thought of as an excellent nurse who becomes a major part of the surgical teams. The trauma that rockets, napalm, and close calls gives the reader pause as to what conditions were like in the jungle. 

As a major component of the novel, Frankie's romantic life is a roller coaster for sure. She has very strong feelings for Jaimie Callahan, a surgeon, who is severely wounded in an enemy attack. Then she falls head over heels in love with Rye Walsh, a friend of her brother's who was also serving. When Jamie and Rye are reported KIA, she is heartbroken and devastated. She is becomes engaged to Dr. Henry Avevedo, a psychiatrist who is working to help those Vets with PTSD, The relationships are filled with pain, trauma, and betrayal. 

When Frankie returns after her two years of active duty, she must deal with the realization that her service was not respected by those who spat at her in the airport or her parents who firmly believed that she should not have enlisted. Her life spirals into one of PTSD, addiction, and depression. The reader shoulders most of that tragedy with her as Hannah describes it in detail. 

Throughout the novel, there is one constant and that is the strong bond between two other nurses, Barbara and Ethel, who are there for Frankie in every crisis. This friendship was so deep and really the theme that impressed this reader the most. Women friends are the most faithful, dependable, devoted. They picked her up, tried  to give advice, but were nonjudgmental. They were in stark contrast to her parents who were so about show and acceptance with their country club friends.

With all the depicted horrors of war and personal crises, The Women really is not what one would call an enjoyable read, but it was enlightening, as far as the "behind the scenes" in Viet Nam. I empathized with Frankie in her PTSD, but not so much in her romantic choices. In some ways, there was the feeling that Hannah was checking off all the boxes to see how many crises a woman could endure. Unfortunately, Frankie McGrath, suffered them all.  

The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly

Books that span generations are intriguing to me.  The Last Garden in England was just that type of book. The central character in the novel was the garden in Highbury, England. Although fictitious in the story, Highbury is an actual location out side of London that seems to be the inspiration for the mansion that is depicted within the pages.   

The three sections of the book are the stories of those women who are connected to the garden - Venetia Smith in 1907 whose creativity designed the garden,  Diana Symonds, who inherits the home and is living there during World War II, and Emma Lovell who was hired to restore the gardens in 2021. There were a multitude of characters that became associated with those women. This somewhat was puzzling to the reader because Kelly would use a woman's maiden name at times and it wasn't until about a third of the way into the novel that you could put this together. 

As a characteristic of those generational novels, it becomes part of the mystery to determine how the main players become connected. Kelly does a magnificent job in creating the mystery and then solving it in the end. There is a part of the gardens, The Winter Garden, that is locked with an iron gate. The only way Emma and her crew can work on it is to scale the walls. They do not want to break the lock thereby seemingly breach the work of a previous generation. The mystery of the lost key becomes a central part. Yet another mystery is the name Celeste that is found on one of the original Smith drawings of the garden plans. 

The women in this novel are strong-willed and for the most part trying to discover who they really are and what their place in the world is. When Venetia embarks upon a love affair with the brother of the owner of the garden, Mrs. Melancourt, she finds herself in a position where she must make some very difficult decisions about her life. She becomes a person who socially is well ahead of her generation. 

Diana Symond is the mistress of Highbury house at a time when it has been overtaken as a hospital for wounded soldiers during the war. Her husband, a prominent doctor, was killed in the fighting and she is left to run the manor, much to the dismay of her sister-in-law, Cynthia who is put in charge of the hospital. She has a little son, Robin, who develops a strong bond with the nephew of Stella Adderton, a cook in the service of Symonds. Also a strong character in the time of Symonds, s Beth Pedley. The three strive to find themselves as the war progresses and tragedy befalls them.

 Emma wishes to be a self-sufficient woman of the 21st century, asserting herself as a different person that what her mother thinks she should be. She has founded her own company and it is through that move that she begins work on restoring the garden for Andrew and Sydney Wilcox. Sydney is the heir to the property and is set on restoring it to its glory. As Emma decides that the garden work is more dear than a glitzy office job, she opens herself up to that permanent lifestyle.

This was just a wonderful read watching the characters develop and change and allowing the reader to immerse oneself in the beauty of the English landscape.  

The Book of Lost Names by Kristen Harmel

There are some books that grab you from the first page on. The Book of Lost Names was that kind of book for me. It was intriguing that the central character, Eva Traube Abrams, was a librarian and the opening of the book was set in the Winter Park, FL library in 2005. She sees an article in the New York Times that takes her back six decades to her life in Paris during the war and a book that had special meaning to her. Otto Kühn, a Berlin librarian, was attempting to return books that had been stolen by the Nazis to their rightful owners. Eva knew that she had to immediately fly to Berlin to try to retrieve it. 

The novel then shifts to her time as a young woman studying at the Sorbonne in 1942 when Paris was under siege by the Germans. She lives with her parents when her father, a Jewish typewriter repair person, is kidnapped by the Nazis, leaving she and her mother, Mamusia, alone. They are warned about the danger of staying in Paris and so with the help of a family friend who shows her how to forge papers, they escape to the countryside and the village of Aurignon in free France. They happen upon a boarding house where Madame Barbier takes them in and gives them advise on being safe. Shortly after Eva goes into a bookstore to purchase pens to help her with the writing she needs to do to forge papers for her father's release. She is introduced to Père Clément, a priest who is also secretly forging papers. Eva becomes part of the resistance and meets Rémy, a very handsome man, who is also part of the resistance and devoted to helping others even if it causes him harm and possible death. In Aurignon, Eva also is reacquainted with Joseph Pelletier with whom she had gone to school in Paris. He would be the perfect husband according to her mother, although Eva is not really attracted to him. He insinuates himself into their lives with the pretense for helping them. As Gérard Faucon, his alias, he becomes involved with another talented forger, Geneviève. 

The novel is consumed with the work the forgers accomplished in providing documents for persons to escape to Switzerland, especially orphans. It becomes a page-turner, when the group is compromised by someone who is leaking information to the Germans. Tragic deaths occur as they are uncovered. The reader has some comfort in knowing that Eva survives at least until 2005.

With the themes of resilience, bravery, love and kindness The Book of Lost Names provides the reader with a few hours of inspired writing. The characters are well-developed and exhibit the full range of human emotions. It is engaging and captures the reader from the get-go. One of the gems that portray the horrors of the Holocaust. 

 

 

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Having read Gone Girl by Flynn, one should expect more than the run of the mill murder mystery. Sharp Objects is a triple murder mystery that is also a psychological thriller with so many other themes thrown in. It is disturbing, exciting, thought provoking, and a page-turner.

Camille Preaker is a journalist for a small Chicago newspaper who is assigned to report on a double murder in her hometown of Wind Gap. Her editor, Frank Curry, thought she would have some insight into what was happening in that village and would give her an opportunity to go back home for a bit. Two young girls were brutally murdered within a couple of weeks of each other and there were only a few leads as to who the perpetrator was. Curry was unaware of the cold relationship Camille had with her mother and her step-father, Alan. Her family life was dysfunctional to say the least. She had been born to her young mother, Adora, and never knew her father. Her sister Marian had died at a young age and then another sister, Amma, born when she was a teenager and 13 when the story commences. 

Adora inherited her family's hog farm and was independently wealthy. She suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy for the way she needed to be in control and garner attention from the townspeople. Her sheer indifference to Camille made it difficult for her to return home. Likewise, how so many people and the town itself hadn't changed hearkened a time from which Camille had escaped. She meets Richard Willis who is in town to help with the murder investigation and the tow become close as they work to solve the murders. Upon discovering that Camille was a cutter and had scars over her body, he removed himself from her company, but not after helping to solve the mystery. 

Amma is a central character to the case and transforms from the perfect daughter playing with her dollhouse and dolls, when Adora is around, to a vile drug-dealing, and promiscuous teenager when away from home. Camille tries to reconcile their relationship, but it is difficult. 

As the facts about the murders become clearer, so does Camille's internal struggles and the horrible truth that emerges. The character development is one of Flynn's hallmark written qualities. From beginning to end the novel will keep you on the edge of your seat as you deal with the psychological struggles, the reactions and personalities of the townspeople, and the familial relationships. 
 

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

It is difficult to really put a label on this book. Yes, it is a dystopian novel set sometime in the future, but it is also a story of compassion, fortitude, love and hope. In the beginning the reader is introduced to Rainy and his wife, Lark, who live near the shore of Lake Superior. Rainy plays the bass guitar in a small band and Rainy is the owner of a bookstore. They often rent out a small part of their home to travelers or those who are trying to flee from the wealthy who are increasingly making life more difficult for the laborers. The latest boarder is a young man, Kellan. Kellan warns Rainy that a many named Werryck is evil and that he should run when he arrives. It is a bit mysterious warning, but one that sets the tone for the novel

As the plot moves forward, after her birthday party, Lark is murdered, their house ransacked and Rainy is beside himself with grief. He realizes that among the crowd, Werryck was the old man who was asking him questions. He flees the town on his small boat, Flower, just in the nick of time. He believes that he can track down Lark and so he sets off on Lake Superior with its rough seas and dangers to find her. It is and Orpeheus and Eurydice like adventure for sure. 

 Along the way as he docks in various towns, he meets strangers willing to help him and some who are down-right mean spirited. He finds Sol, a girl trying to escape her nasty uncle, King Richard, hiding in the boat as he leaves the dock. He protects her and they sail together trying to make it to Canada. After a storm they find their small boat shipwrecked next to Werryck's large cruiser - a medicine ship. Rainy spends many nights in a cell with little to eat or drink, but remains hopeful that he will persevere. 

I Cheerfully Refuse touches on so many of the issues of the world in which we live: climate change, the rule by the wealthy who pay no attention to civil liberty, medical inequalities where the poor are not treated,  It was a bleak time and many of the citizens turned to Willow, a drug that induced a peaceful suicide as they tried to get to a "better" place. The writing is eloquent and descriptive. Rainy is a strong narrator and the reader witnesses his desperation and hope as he seeks to find Lark and a community for himself. 

Enger was a soft-spoken speaker who gave pertinent background to the novel as he related its development during the pandemic and the life experiences that contributed to the plot of the novel.

Leif Enger - 7 April 2025

Leif Enger - 7 April 2025

Leif Enger - 7 April 2025

 

James by Percival Everett

As the novel that has been perched at the top of the New York Times reading list for weeks on end, James has been on my TBR shelf since its publication. As part of the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures Ten Evenings series and also a selection for the Gables Book Club, it was time to move from TBR to Reading.

What an incredible novel Percival Everett has crafted. James is the re-imagination of Mark Twain’s Hucleberry Finn told from the point of view of Jim, Huck’s runaway slave companion. Jim is a husband to Sadie and father to Lizzie and is well respected among the other slave s to Judge Thatcher and Miss Watson because he can read and write. When he learns that he is going to be sold and shipped to New Orleans, he runs away. Huck is being abused by his alcoholic father and fakes his death and likewise runs away. The two meet up serendipitously on an island and from there the adventures begin as they encounter a couple of con artists, a minstrel group who appear with black face, One of that group, Norman, has been passing escapes with Jim. The two concoct a plan for Norman to sell Jim and help him escape and sell him over and over again. The owner of a mill, Old Mr. Henderson, buys Jim, and he escapes with another slave, Sammy, whom he witnesses being raped.

The adventures are harrowing, the cruelty and violence are disturbing, but it is history told through fiction. It is difficult to pinpoint what is the most outstanding feature of this novel. It is remarkable for the point of view and language from which Jim relates it. It is told in the first person by Jim who is trying to define what freedom is and how it can be gained outside enslavement. Everett uses a code switching technique, that Everett ini his lecture, sometime questions. When talking to superiors, he uses the “slave filter” and when he is talking with those on equal ground, uses an erudite proper language. He steals a leather notebook where he records his thoughts and where he develops a sense of self. Words are important to him.  During his lecture he read a part of the novel where James was instructing children on the way to talk to the enslavers 

The children said together, “And the better they feel, the safer we are.” “February, translate that.” “Da mo’ betta dey feels, da mo’ safer we be.”

Throughout James the overlying motive for his actions to to get back to Hannibal to free his family and move to where they can enjoy their life. It is what keeps him going. He came to the realization that if he didn’t have them in his life, freedom was meaningless.

Sadness, irony, humor, the myth of racial identity and so many other attributes come together to make this a book for all ages. It should be taught along its companion, Huckleberry Finn in all English curricula. I am not sure that would happen in Florida, After all, as Everett said, “Reading is subversive.”

Percival Everett at Carnegie Music Hall - 24 March 2025

Percival Everett at Carnegie Music Hall - 24 March 2025

Percival Everett at Carnegie Music Hall - 24 March 2025

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.

The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany by Gwen Strauss

It was somewhat difficult reading Madness and The Nine at the same time. Both nonfiction and both detailing horrific experiences of two groups of people who were made to endure situations that in many cases would destroy the human spirit.

Strauss tells the story of her great aunt, Hélène Podliasky who was part of the French Resistance during World War II and eight others who were arrested for their actions and sent to Ravensbrück Camp in Germany. During the journey there they became a cohesive group. The others in the group were

Suzanne Maudet (Zaza), Nicole Clarence, Madelon Verstijnen (Lon), Guillemette Daendels (Guigui), Renée Lebon Châtenay (Zinka), Joséphine Bordanava (Josée), Jacqueline Aubéry du Boulley (Jacky), and Yvonne Le Guillou (Mena). While on a death march from the camp, the nine decided to escape. Their journey to freedom is the crux of the book.

Strauss through her research of the time and with the survivors of The Nine, presents a book that is nearly unbelievable as to the heroics of these women. Their 10 day journey is told through the eyes of each woman who has her own chapter in the book. It presents a bit of biography and the roles that they each assumed while on their journey. Their goal was to get to the front and cross into the area that was held by the Allies and especially the Americans. With bloody feet, tattered clothing, and a dearth of food, the reader is brought along on the painful journey with them. They struggle to find safe places to rest and German citizens to trust. At times they played into the stereotypical role of women to advance their cause - helpless and ignorant about war.

Strauss also gives insight into how the Nazis treated the prisoners in the camps, babies snatched from mothers while those mothers were raped, slave labor and starvation. It was painful to read.

The nine women formed such a bond that gave them the strength to have hope and survive. It goes without saying that if they had tried to do this alone, none would have made it. They developed strategies for survival, including trading recipes, one of the more upbeat sections of the book.

The book is so well researched with an abundance of footnotes. At times, I had wished for a more linear account, but understood the rationale for Strauss to write the way she did. Another interesting feature was how the author managed to find the women and/or their surviving family members. It was an intriguing, tho painful read.



 

None Of This is True by Lisa Jewell

Generally characterized as a suspense novel, None of This is True, can be at times a good read, a frustrating read, and a depressing one. The novel opens as Josie Fair and Alix Summer, a podcaster, meet each other at a restaurant where each was celebrating her 45th birthday. They discover that, not only, were they born on the same day, but also the same hospital in London. Using this, Josie integrates herself into Alix's life by coming up with an idea for a podcast based on Josie's life. She indicates that having reached the age of 45, she is about to move on from her loveless marriage and family. 

Alix embraces the idea and begins a series of interviews with Josie. As she discovers more about Josie's life, she feels it necessary to meet Josie's husband, Walter, and to learn more about Josie's daughters, Roxy and Erin. Roxy ran away while she was still in high school and Erin is a gamer, who stays in her room, eats nothing but soft or baby food, and has ADS. Alix is also not without strife in her marriage as she deals with a husband, Nathan,  who has a drinking problem. After an awkward dinner party at which Nathan is a no-show, Josie decides to confront Walter about her plans to leave. She then appears at Josie's doorstep, beaten and tattered. 

Alix offers Josie a room for the night, but Josie has different ideas and stays with her. During this time the reader gets an inside glance at some of her odd behaviour. She borrows Alix's makeup and clothes. steals a bracelet, and stashes a key underneath the mattress. These are the actions that lead to the suspense of what is really the background story of Josie and what are intentions for Alix and Nathan? 

The narrative is interspersed with clips from a Netflix documentary, complete with interviews with the main players, as well as the podcast interviews Alix conducted with Josie.  As the title suggests, the reader knows that someone is lying and the truth will be hard to ferret out. The end has some interesting plot twists that make for an explanation of the actions of Josie, Walter, Roxy, and Erin. A quick read for the month of January and one that will keep you turning the pages until the end.

26 Ways to Come Home for the Holidays by Jennifer Joy

It is always nice to have a bit of a short book for our book club in December. This year's choice was a bit of a Hallmark novella. We chose it because of its setting in Pittsburgh. 

At the heart of the story is the process of decorating the windows for Christmas at Hanover's Department Store in 1942 at the height of World War II. It seems that it represents the Kaufmann's store with other references to Gimbel's and Horne's. Joy also mentions the clock, which all Yinzers know is located at Kaufmann's. Kaufmann's also had 26 windows that were on display.

When the primary decorator suddenly quits the team of decorators is thrown into quite a tailspin with only hours left to complete the windows before the Christmas parade and the unveiling of the windows. It becomes the primary task of Stella West and her support team, principally, Hector. As one can imagine, according to Hallmark protocol, there is a bit of a romantic tension between the two. Of course, enter a third party to the story to make the reader wonder whom Stella will choose. When every conceivable thing goes wrong in the process, including electrical failures and wallpaper fiascos, it becomes a race against time to completing the task. 

Joy's story was a warm and predictable one that was a quick read amidst Christmas preparations. As a native Yinzer, I did pick up on a couple of minor errors in the writing. There was no Heinz Hall in 1942 where The Nutcracker would be performed. Also, there was no sales tax on clothing. A nice quiet Christmas read. 

Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes

This novel by Moyes was a bit different than her previous trilogy, Me before You, in that it really explores the relationships among women. The issue that gives the title its context is that a very middle class London women mistakenly picks up the wrong bag at the gym that belonged to a very wealthy New Yorker. Nisha, the American has a pair of very expensive Christian Louboutin red heelsin her bag, which Sam, the Londoner, discovers when she reaches for her shoes as she changes out of her flip flops on her way to a work meeting. The event sets into motion the moves that both try to recover their own bag and the shoes that were in them.

Despite their differences in background and monetary status, it becomes obvious that both women are desperately trying to hold their lives together. Nisha is a trophy wife whom her husband, Carl, is trying to shove out of their marriage and Sam is trying to hold it all together with a husband who is living in a depressed state and who, as breadwinner, is fighting a misogynistic boss who is looking for every reason to fire her. In addition she is a supporting friend to Andrea, who has been battling cancer and mother to Cat, a nineteen year old who has maturity beyond her age and can give a voice to her mother. 

After the mix-up at the gym, Nisha returns to the luxury hotel penthouse where she finds that Carl has locked her out holding her clothes, credit card, and passport hostage and is served divorce papers. As she is ejected from the hotel, she is befriended by Jasmine, a housekeeper there and is given a chance for employment. She has to clean toilets, which is a foul task to a woman used to the finer things in life. When Nisha is evicted from the budget hotel in which she had been staying, she moves in with Jasmine and her daughter, Gracie. A cold, self-centered woman, when confronted with her present circumstances, Nisha begins to soften a bit as she has to rely on others. 

Sam is beyond wit's end as she tries to deal with her boss and her husband as she is watching her marriage deteriorate. When Nisha confronts her at work and accuses her of stealing the shoes, Sam's boss has the ammunition that he needs to fire her. Eventually, the two become set on finding the shoes that Cat has delivered to a charity shop and alliances and friendships are formed as Andrea, Jasmine join the alliance. 

This was a complex novel that had at its heart many themes that are so important to the women - friendship, treatment of women, and contrition and change. The characters are well developed and layered. The reader witnesses how they change and how they influence change around them. It is complex and even thought there are some predictable and implausible happenstances, it is a great read.

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

The Secret Book of Flora Lea was just the kind of book I needed to take to Physical Therapy. It was engaging and a not too difficult read. In addition, it took place in London and was set at the time of World War II, time and place among my favorites. The novel has two timelines, one in the 1940s and the other in the 1960s.

Hazel and Flora Linden live in the Bloomsbury area of London with their mother. Their father has gone off to fight in the war and was killed in faulty engine fire while in training for the RAF. As the war rages, orders are given to evacuate the children from central London. The two sisters are sent to Binsy, Oxfordshire to be billeted with Bridie Aberdeen, a loving and caring woman who is also a single mother to her son Harry. In order to comfort her sister, Hazel creates stories centered around a fictional place, called Whisperwood. It is their secret and no one else is privy to it. Tragically, one day when Hazel, Flora and Henry are near the river in Oxford, Flora disappears. She was left alone sleeping and when Hazel and Henry come back to the river bank, she is gone. A massive search is conducted and she is presumed to have drowned.

Flash forward to 1960s in London to find Hazel working at a rare book store. For most of her life she has pursued what had actually happened to Flora. It haunts her day and night.  She is taken aback the last day on the job at the book store before she moves on to another job at Sotheby's. In the books for her to process to add to the store's collection, she opens one by an American author entitled Whisperwood and the River of Stars. How could someone know about the secret kingdom. Surely Flora is still alive and somehow the author has heard the story from her. 

She takes the book home with her and shares the story with her boyfriend, Barnaby. Inadvertently a couple of the illustrations get ruined, and her guilt about stealing the book gets the better of her. She decides to return the book, knowing that she could be arrested for stealing it and losing her job. 

The novel then morphs into a mystery about the missing Flora and how Hazel plays detective to find her. It becomes a page-turner, for sure as Hazel revisits all those who may have come in contact with Flora - Bridie, Harry, Kelty, and four nurses who often babysat the girls. She contacts the author of the book, Peggy Andrews, who travels from Cape Cod to London to become part of the adventure.

It is a captivating tribute to the power of storytelling and its magic. Throughout the book Bridie tells stories as does the journalist, Dorothy Bellamy,  who is writing about the children of Operation Pied Piper. those who were evacuated. It is also a novel following your heart and listening to what it sees for your future, especially when it comes to love.