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.

 

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.

 

I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Every year we choose a month to read a biography for our Gables Book Club discussion. It just so happened that I am Malala appeared in my BookBub feed This was an eye-opening read for sure.  

Malala Yousafzai is a Pashtun girl from the Swat Valley in Pakistan. Born in 1997 to a father committed to education and a mother who adhered to the Pashtun ways, Malala is the personification of what we would wish for all the girls held hostage in a regime where women don't count for much beyond bearing children and keeping house. As her father, Ziauddin,  struggled to establish schools in his homeland, he also encouraged his daughter to become as learned as he would have if she had been born a male. Ziauddin was convinced that the "power of the sword and pen" was eclipsed only by the power of women. 

Malala, with her curiosity and her ravenous desire to read was the top student in her class. It was at this time that the Taliban arrived in her village. The terror that she felt was acerbated by the fact that all the schools for girls were closed. As described in the book, one cannot even comprehend the tragedy and horror that were inflicted on the people. She and her family were forced from there home because of the bombings and killings. During this time, at age 12, Malala began writing a blog that the BBC published. She and her father also were featured in a documentary. It was evident that she was articulate and mature beyond her years. 

When the family returned home after 3 months, they found that the school had actually been used as a hideout for the Pakastani  army against the Taliban - a truly defiant act. Returning to school was a bit of normalcy for the girls, despite the fact that they needed to be ever vigilant as to their travels back and forth. It was on the way home one day in 2012 that Taliban attacked the "bus" on which Malala was riding and shouted, "Who is Malala?" and then proceeded to shoot her in the face. 

Through a series of fortuitous moves from street to hospitals and, finally being flown to Birmingham, England, Malala began the recovery and healing process. And with not capitulating to the mores of her country, she has never hidden her face, a face that has become the face of her nation. At 16 she stood defiantly in front of the United Nations Youth Assembly and spoke eloquently in support of education for women. What an impressive young woman she is. This is a must read for an understanding of just how horrible the actions of the terrorists is. It is written at a level that could and should be included in every school's curriculum.

bonjour kale by Kristen Beddard

I was a bit skeptical when our book club chose a book about kale for its December read. I am not fond of kale, probably dating back to the summer when our CSA in Watertown only had kale to distribute because of  a horrible growing season. The book was available in the Kindle edition for a mere $1.99, so why not?

bonjour kale is a memoir, a collection of recipes, and a travelogue of Paris. Kristen Beddard, a native Pittsburgher, after college settles in New York City where she meets her husband, Phillip. Soon after they marry they move to Paris for his job. She is a "trailing spouse" and for the greater part of a year feels isolated and like a fish out of water. She describes their quest for an apartment, her many attempts to learn the language, and trying to make friends, as well as trying to fit into the culture. 

But the most disconcerting matter of the move was the absence of kale in the Parisian markets. Kristen's background was rooted in healthy foods and eating. One of the mainstays of her diet was kale and it didn't exist in France. And so began the Kale Project. It was her attempt to introduce the vegetable into the cuisine of the French. One of the issues she discovered was lack of a French word for the greens. In her quest she really couldn't even ask for it and have the market proprietors understand her. As she eventually allies herself with some farmers, the memoir details her mission to bring kale from farm to table. She ends each chapter with a recipe or two, which I can say that I will not try. I admire her tenacity in this undertaking, but I still can't bring myself to cook this green.

This was an easy, fun,  and interesting read. I enjoyed the smattering of French words, the descriptions of the markets, and the references to Pittsburgh. If anyone really likes kale, you would absolutely love this book.

On My Own by Diane Rehm

Diane Rehm certainly needs no introduction to NPR listeners. She had hosted a radio show since 1979 on WAMU. Her shows are political, social,  and powerful. In 2014 John, her husband of 54 years, passed away after starving himself to death. It was a passing of his choice to end his suffering from Parkinson's disease. 

On My Own recounts the year following John's death as Rehm tries to come to terms with having watched her husband suffer and her widowhood. The memoir is touching and poignant. You can almost hear her raspy voice telling her story. She describes how difficult it is to face the holidays without him and the loneliness of their condo. She confronts her guilt in not being able to take care of John in the final stages of his illness, as well as being able to help him carry out his wishes to die. Her comfort comes from Maxie, her dog. 

But more than anything On My Own, is a treatise that speaks loudly for death with dignity. She compares John's prolonged suffering with other friends, Roger Mudd's wife and best friend Janet Dixon,  who died suddenly. She writes“I rage at a system that would not allow John to be helped toward his own death. He was of rational mind, with no hope of recovery, knowing full well that the only way ahead was a slow downward slide, moving toward more incapacity and even greater indignity." 

Rehm indicates in her book that she will retire after the presidential election. It is almost certain that she will be using her voice to speak out for the right to die. On My Own is a short easy read, but it really is not easy to read. She will speak 14 November 2016 at the Pittsburgh Ten Literary Nights Lectures and it will be interesting to see what she will say about her book, life with John, and life after The Diane Rehm Show.

M Train by Patti Smith

Very few books resonate with a reader for a long time after the back cover is closed. Patti Smith's M Train is one of those incredible books. As talented a song writer and poet, Smith has a penchant for longer prose also. I cannot wait to hear her speak in October. 


The memoir seems to be in reality a means for her to pay homage to her late husband Fred Smith as well as cathartic means to move on with her life. She lost her husband in 1994 suddenly. Barely a month after that her brother died of a stroke. Those events in her life inspire her writing, which is lyrical and poignant. In an almost stream of consciousness style she remembers the distant past, the recent past, and her present situation.


Much of the book details the trips that Smith has taken, some on a whim and some with a decided purpose, but most revolving around her favorite writers. She and Fred travel to French Guiana to visit prison ruins that Genet spoke about. The trip was marred/highlighted by being taken into police custody when a body was found in the trunk of the taxi in which they were riding.


She visits the home of Freda Kahlo and Diego Rivera to fulfill a dream that took hold when she was a young girl and given a book on the works of Kahlo. Her trips also include pilgrimages to the graves of Brecht, Plath, Rimbaud, Genet. Her reverence for them is real and she is moved by being so close to the final resting places of their creative genius. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, her favorite book by Haruki Murakami inspires her travel to Japan for a writing hiatus. The ease with which Smith quotes authors and books, most esoteric works, boggles the mind of the less informed reader. I was in awe.

She writes in cafes around the world. They are an important part of her life and writing. Her favorite one in New York closes when the owner decides to relocate to Rockaway Beach. It is there she buys a deteriorating bungalow right before Sandy hits the beach. Her prose is interspersed with black and white photos taken with an old Polaroid camera - Virginia Wolfe's walking stick and the table where Goethe and Schiller wrote among many others. 



I eagerly anticipate reading Patti Smith's first memoir, Just Kids, in which she writes of her younger years, arrival in New York and her loving friendship with Robert Maplethorpe. I have admired Maplethorpe's work for a long time and will be anxious to read of his artistic brilliance. 
 
So many passages in the book necessitated a re-reading simply because they were just so beautiful and you needed them to become absorbed as part of you. It would take pages to fully describe this book. M Train is so memorable and closes with this elegiac passage:

“And then I walked out, straight through the twilight, treading the beaten earth. There were no dust clouds, no signs of anyone, but I paid no mind. I was my own lucky hand of solitaire. The desert landscape unchanging: a long, unwinding scroll that I would one day amuse myself by filling. I'm going to remember everything and then I'm going to write it all down. An aria to a coat. A requiem for a café. That's what I was thinking, in my dream, looking down at my hands.” 

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

After finishing The Paris Wife, it only seemed natural to read Hemingway's version of the time he and Hadley Richardson Hemingway spent in Paris in the early 1920s. A Moveable Feast was published posthumously in 1964. The book was edited by his fourth wife, Mary. A more recent edition was published in 2009 that was edited by a Seán, a grandson of Hemingway and Pauline Pfeiffer.

A Moveable Feast is truly a memoir in the most literal sense of the word. I lost count of how many times Hemingway used the phrase, "I remember." He has fond memories of this time in Paris interacting with all the authors who were living and working there. He leads us to believe that he was a doting father to Bumby and almost apologetic for the way he treated Hadley. The reader does get a glimpse into his real personality especially in his relationship with Gertrude Stein. I found it quite amusing that he never acknowledged Alice Toklas by name, but merely referred to her as a friend.

Hemingway recounts his delight in all his travels, especially to Shruns and the Alps. I had hoped for more about the vacations in Spain, but those accounts were sparse. Perhaps, this is because the memoir is virtually void of mention of Pauline, or at least the edition that I read. The most amusing and nearly slapstick account is of the trip that Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald take to Lyon to recover Zelda's car. It was a comic of errors and to read Hemingway's description of the hypochondriacal Fitzgerald on his funeral pyre was reason enough to read the book. That passage should be required reading in high school English classes prior to reading a novel of Fitzgerald or Hemingway. These were REAL people. It is hard to comprehend how young Hemingway was during this time, but one gets the sense of all the struggles and demons in his life that haunted him up until he committed suicide in 1961.

Hemingway, for as poorly as he appeared to live in Paris, always seemed to have enough money for drink and entertainment. His descriptions of nightlife and the Bohemian scene are vivid and colorful. With a map of Paris in hand, the reader can retrace his steps and find the landmarks so important to his life. The memoir is intriguing and spurs the reader, at least this one, to want to read more about the "Lost Generation." There are not enough hours in the day or days in the year to investigate all one's interests. 

A Moveable Feast is a nostalgic look back at a life and time. It allows the reader an introspective look at one of the greatest American authors who himself is reflecting on his past. An easy and very worthwhile read.

Madam Secretary: a Memoir by Madeleine Albright

The first woman to hold the office of Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, has written, with Bob Woodward, a comprehensive and detailed personal account of her life and public service in Madam Secretary. The memoir is accessible, very readable, and thought provoking. I knew very little about Madeleine Albright before reading this book except for the facts that she was a Czech, graduate of Wellesley College, and Secretary of State. The Flower Library Book Club chose this as their first book of the year and my new book club at The Gables requested that the members read a biography of choice. And so it was that I picked up Madam Secretary.

Born in Prague in 1937, Albright was the daughter of Josef and Anna Korbel. Her father was a diplomat and supporter of democratic Czechs who with his family was forced to leave his native land during World War II and live in England. After the war and the liberation, the family returned to Czechoslovakia and Madeleine was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland. In 1949 the family was granted political asylum and moved to Long Island. Eventually Josef Korbel moved to Denver and began teaching at the University of Colorado. He was well-known for his treatises on Communism in Eastern Europe and actually had another Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, as a student. Albright graduated from Wellesley College in 1959 and immediately married Joe Albright, a well- connected journalist from Chicago. After a series of moves the couple settled in Washington where Joe became Newsday's Washington Bureau Chief and Madeleine continued to balance raising her family (3 daughters) and continuing her education - PH.D degree from Columbia University. She was married to Joe Albright for twenty-three years before he decided that it wasn't working for him.

Suffice it to say that no moss grew under Albright's feet. She is incredibly intelligent, driven, and committed to making the world a better place. Madam Secretary relates Albright's journey from a legislative assistant to Ed Muskie to the end of President Clinton's second term. She not only details the behind the scenes machinations of international diplomacy, but she also brings a personal side to the strategies involved. During her tenure as Ambassador to the U.N. and then as Secretary of State, global conflicts erupted with a vengeance. At times I felt that Albright was playing the arcade game of "Whack a Mole" as she tried to handle situations from Somalia to Bosnia to Iran, to Korea. Although the book at sometimes got bogged down in names and policy making, it served to illuminate all that is involved in trying to get nations to talk to one another instead of acting like kindergartners fighting over a cookie. Her description of an Israeli-Palestinian summit at Camp David was indicative of all that she was willing to do to affect a lasting peace in the Middle East.

Perhaps her greatest efforts were in the area of Kosovo, Sarajevo, Bosnia, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. Her dealings with Milošević were tough and unrelenting. This was an area of the world that meant so much to her and she was determined to make it safe for all people regardless of their ethnic or religious background. She likens her diplomacy to Bobby Fischer playing chess as a child prodigy when he would go from table to table and make his moves against opponents. Albright remarks,

"I was no child prodigy and the faces I saw as I proceeded from one table to the next were those of Saddam Hussein, Muammar Quadhafi, Fidel Castro, and Ayatollah Khamenei. The games were complicated because a change in the momentum of one altered the dynamic of every other; our moves were decided by committee and leaked in advance by those who disagreed; new and contradictory strategies were being shouted out by a chorus from Capitol Hill, and the chessboard for the Middle East keep tipping over, requiring the contest to begin again. The game room was already crowded to overflowing early in 1998 when yet another familiar adversary—Slobodan Milosević—came crashing through the door." (p. 481.)

I was particularly interested in the personal side to all the strategies and inner workings of her office. She exuded confidence, but still had doubts as to how well suited she was for her job. She knew that she was a "skirt among 14 suits" but at the same time knew that her education had prepared her to be on an equal plane. She stressed over throwing the first ball out at a Nationals game, but did just fine. She was not afraid to accompany bodies back from Somalia, sleeping on a cot in the cargo bay. I am so impressed of all that she has accomplished and the means by which she influenced decisions and got HER point across. At the same time I empathize with her about her self-doubts, illustrated by the possibility of her marriage being salvaged if she had not pursued her career or if Joe had won the Pulitzer Prize. What kind of an ultimatum is that?

With a complete chronology of the major events in her life, an exhaustive list of her travels as Secretary of State and acknowledgments and index, Madam Secretary is an informative and inspiring read. I am looking forward to hearing her speak when she lectures in Pittsburgh in December.

Big Russ and Me by Tim Russert

It was a sad day for me when Tim Russert died in June, 2008. He was a wonderful news person, extremely intelligent and articulate. I never missed a Sunday of Meet the Press when he was the moderator, if I could help it. And what was election night without Tim and his whiteboard? Big Russ and Me is Tim's memoir and tribute to his father and mentor, Big Russ.

Tim Russert was the son of a garbage collector and newspaper courier, Tim Russert Sr., and Betty Russert. The family was a very blue collar, middle class family who lived in Buffalo, New York. The book reads as if Tim is actually talking to the reader. It is down to earth and personal. Big Russ was a wounded vet from World War II and was grounded in hard work and honesty. These two virtues he passed on to his son. Being nearly the same age as young Tim, I recognized many similarities in upbringing, values, interests, and viewpoints. Tim Russert was educated in the Catholic school system of Buffalo and then proceeded to attend Cannisius College, a Jesuit institution. From there he went to John Carroll University Law School in Cleveland. He was a devout man, although not over zealous. His descriptions of meeting the Pope convey his adoration of the man and the position. Through a series of being in the right place at the right time and very hard work, Russert rose through the political offices of the city of Buffalo, Daniel Patrick Moynihan's staff, and NBC news.

The chapter titles of Big Russ and Me resonate with many boomers as major aspects of one's life. - Work, Faith, Food (love the Beef and Weck of Buffalo), Baseball, Fatherhood, Discipline, 1968, Cars, and Loss. In each Russert describes that aspect of his love in almost a reverend way. Reading about him and his father, and uncle traveling to Cleveland each year for an Indians game - usually a doubleheader - brought back so many fond memories of the afternoons I spent at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. So much of the history of the 60s is detailed with his reactions to it. John Glenn orbiting the earth, the assassination of John Kennedy, and the subsequent killings of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy are major turning points in his life as they were in all of our lives. His descriptions are heartfelt and insightful as he reminisces.

As much is this book is a tribute to Russert's father, it is also a love song to the city of Buffalo. This was his home and although he moved to Washington, D.C., he never felt far away from his hometown. How painful for him to endure those 4 Super Bowl losses. Yet the book is also written for his son, Luke as he prepares to leave the nest for college. His words are encouraging and loving and how untimely it was that Tim Russert died right after Luke graduated from college.

This book was a wonderful read. It begged to be savored as much as the Buffalo fish fries, the German food at Broadway market, or baked goods from the Quality Bakery. Yes, I do still miss Tim Russert, but am grateful that he shared a bit of his life for all of us to enjoy in this book.

Mennoninte in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen

October's selection for the Flower Library Book club is a memoir by Rhoda Janzen. Raised in a Mennonite family in California, she has distanced herself from many of the tenets of her religion and the church, but she does still embrace the spirituality of the life. Her father was the former head of the North American Mennonite Conference for Canada and the U.S. and her mother the glue that kept the family together as she and her sister and two brothers were growing up.

Janzen's return home to the safety of her parents' home is precipitated by a series of unfortunate events: a hysterectomy that went bad, the dissolution of her marriage when her bipolar husband finds true love with a man named Bob from gay.com, and the inability to continue to pay the mortgage on her new lake front home. Add to this a horrendous car accident that leaves her with many broken bones.

The book is really a series of essays that retrace many of the events of her childhood, her career, and the relationship with her husband. The reader is treated to family situations that are humorous and poignant. The recounting of the family camping trip in a van was especially funny as she and her sister tried to escape the wrath of killer mosquitoes. A discussion of typical Mennonite food ensues after Janzen describes the lunches and thermoses that the kids take to school. Cabbage and borscht are stables as is the "Cotletten-and-Ketchup Sandwich."

As Janzen details the relationship with her husband, it is a completely different feeling. Their relationship was on again, off again and quite stormy. She endured the verbal abuse and temper outbursts due to the bipolar disease. She watches him spend money that they don't have and suffers the indignity of losing him to "Bob the guy from Gay.com." These passages are cathartic and are some of the most powerful in the book. It's one thing to lose your husband to another woman, but to find that he is more interested in men is devastating. The fact that she finds some happy times with a man who is seventeen years younger than she is just rewards.

I enjoyed this book, but at times felt disconnected from it. I am glad that Janzen included the history of the Mennonites, but I wanted more. The vignettes and parade of characters seemed perfunctory and formulaic. And where was the black dress?