The Transcendent KIngdom by Yaa Gyasi

Three fold in its themes, Transcendent Kingdom is told by a young woman, Gifty, narrator who is pursuing a PhD in neuroscience at Stanford University. Gifty was born in Alabama to Ghanaian parents who moved to the United States shortly after her older brother, Nana was born. The novel is told in chapters that move back and forth from her youth to her life as a scientist and are multi-leveled as she struggles to put together a coherent look at her life and family. 

As she attempts to complete the PhD and work with the mice whom she is studying with regard to the neural circuits of reward seeking behaviors and who are being shocked or given an energy drink to see which respond to not pushing a lever, her mother arrives in town. In the throes of depression she moves in with Gifty and becomes a recluse in her bedroom. Gifty remembers this same behavior occurred after the death of Nana from an overdose. So intertwined are these reminiscences with the struggles of her life, including her religious upbringing and the racial slurs that she and her family endured. The abandonment by her father, "The Chin Chin Man" has also contributed to those painful memories. 

Throughout the novel Gifty attempts to work through all the conflicts she feels and is able to accept that just because she is a scientist, she need not give up her religion. She becomes open to friendships and even a romantic relationship with Han, her colleague at Stanford. The depiction of the addiction of Nana is both realistic and also forgiving. and enlightening. It is a condition that should not be viewed as a source of shame or criminalized. Through Gifty, Gyasi reminds us of the anguish that the addicted and his or her family suffer. It is heart-wrenching. 

The Transcendent Kingdom was one of the deepest books for its multi-themed approach that I have read recently. To hear Gyasi's lecture added to the complexity of the topics and themes. I have put Homegoing on my "to read list" for sometime in the future.

A Cup of Christmas Tea by Tom Hegg

What a delightful little read this book was. We chose this as our December selection for our Gables Book Club. The book is really a poem that recounts a person's hesitancy to visit an elderly aunt who had indicated that she would like to see the narrator for a cup of tea. Contrary to the feelings that he though he would experience, the young man was emotionally moved by the spirit of his aunt and her desire to keep all the traditions that he remembered as a youth. It was beautiful read as we are reminded to keep in touch with families and friends in the midst of a busy lifestyle. 

And our tea was just lovely with a traditional tiered service and a wonderful selection of teas. It was a perfect interlude in all our Christmas preparations. 
 

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Upon the recommendation of a couple of my trusted literary friends, I picked up the first in the Maisie Dobbs series, published in 2003. What a treat it was to read something not required for a book club or lecture series. 

In 1929 in London, Maisie Dobbs is in business as a private investigator. She has been hired by a man who suspects that his wife is carrying on an affair with another man. In following the woman, she finds herself in a cemetery and watches her lay flowers on the grave of a man whose headstone only reads Vincent. Vivid memories cascade into Maisie's mind and Winspear uses it as a flashback technique to give Maisie's backstory. 

The daughter of a Frankie, a costermonger and eventually a groomsman, Maisie was sent to live with Lady Rowan Compton, a wealthy philanthropist  to add to some income for the family. Maisie's work ethic and intelligence was recognized by Lady Rowan and she offered Maisie the opportunity to be tutored by Dr. Maurice Blanche. He also is impressed with her propensity for learning and encourages and prepares her to take the entrance exams for Cambridge. Maisie enters Girton College at Cambridge and makes friends with Priscilla Everndon, who introduces her to Captain Lynch. At Priscilla's urging and as a result of losing a close friend to a bombing during the war, Maisie enlists as a nurse and is deployed to France. As it would happen she reconnects with Captain Lynch and they fall in love and he proposes.  

Between the flashbacks and the present time, the story of Maisie becomes clear and her detective skills, honed by Dr. Blanche lead her to uncover the mystery of Vincent and so many other young wounded war veterans. Throughout the present day scenes the reader is plagued by the question as to what happened to Captain Lynch and is grateful for the reveal at the end of the book. 

Winspear's Maisie series is now on book 17. The series has been touted as in the mystery genre, but there was more introduction of the main character in the first book than mystery. I will be anxious to read book #2 to see how Maisie is developed as a private investigator and solver of mysteries. 

 

The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid by Lawrence Wright

 Living through 2020 and into 2021 with all the sickness and death surrounding us has been stressful and puzzling. Why has the most advanced country in the world not been able to deal with the catastrophic pandemic that has plagued us? In The Plague Year Wright postulates how we arrived at the state that we are in and how things could have been different. 

Beginning from the beginning in Wuhan, China, he chronicles the onset of the novel Coronavirus to the Insurrection of January 6, 2021. He focuses on all aspects of the pandemic from scientific to political to the economic impact of the disease and the way it was handled. His research was in depth and relied on accounts from behind the scene sources who knew intimately what was being said and done on the national and international fronts. The reader can clearly see how the devastating results of how information and actions were not handled in a timely and expedient way. The impact of this and the inattention that was paid to President Obama's document, “Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents” created a situation that left our country vastly unprepared in handling a pandemic. According to Wright, the Trump administration "jettisoned the playbook" How would the adherence to this playbook changed the scenario of the months of unpreparedness in the United States?

Wright illustrates some of the reversals of advice given to the American citizenry, especially in the practice of masking. It is understandable how that advice could seem controversial, but with the way the disease has manifested itself and how much the scientific knowledge of that has changed, it is justifiable. If only the leadership of the country would have grasped that and embraced the practice instead of ridiculing it, deaths and serious illness may have been mitigates. Wright contends that the president acted not as a leader, but as a "saboteur." 

Countless times during the course of the book, the reader ponders the "what if" and "if only" feelings. At those times, it is hard not to become angry for what might have been. This chronicle of the first year of the pandemic is a must read to understand in a comprehensible way how we have lived and died through this terrible time.

The Chicken Runs at Midnight by Tom Friend

This book was selected for the November discussion of the Gables Book Club. We had planned a trip to Kentucky and at the suggestion of a number of members who tend to listen to audio books, I downloaded a copy of the book to play on the drive. Listening to a book was something I had never done before, but felt that this would be a good one and of interest to my husband. What a great decision that was. 

The Chicken Runs at Midnight is a bit of a memoir of Rich Donnelly, a former MLB player and coach. That he was associated with the Pittsburgh Pirates was an added bonus. But more than Donnelly's story, it is the touching narrative of the life of his daughter, Amy, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 18. Donnelly was born and raised in Steubenville, Ohio, just about an hour from Pittsburgh. He was the son of an abusive father and loving mother. His only desire in life was to be a major league player and then to coach third base for the Pirates and win a World Series. When he was young, he lost his older brother, his coach and mentor to cancer, an event that indelibly marked his adolescent years. While at Xavier College, he met his wife Peggy. From there he became a MLB catcher with the Minnesota Twins and in the Washington Senators organization. His coaching career with the Texas Rangers saw him associated with Billy Martin, and then joined forces with Jim Leyland and the Pirates and eventually the Florida Marlins. During this time he was often the absentee father and at one point a partying baseball player/coach whose affair with a dental hygenist led to a messy divorce. His reminiscences about his days growing up listening to KDKA, Bob Prince and the Pirates' games brought back, for this reader, the fondest memories.  The description of the euphoria when Bill Mazeroski hit his 9th inning, game 7  walk-off home run in the 1960 World Series was palpable. 

But the most dramatic moment of the book occurred when his daughter, Amy, called and said, "I have a brain tumor. I'm sorry." Nothing could change the life of a parent more than hearing those words. Amy was a delightful child who idolized her father, without him reciprocating the feeling. Donnelly was more interested in his sons becoming the star athletes in the family. However, she did love baseball and when Donnelly was coaching for the Pirates developed a strong relationship with some of their superstars like Barry Bonds, Sid Bream, and Doug Drabek. She would often babysit the players' children in the "green room." As she watched her father coach 3rd base, cupping his hands and shouting to players, she wondered what he was saying. After one game, she asked, "Dad, what are you telling them? That the chicken runs at midnight, or what?" The phrase became a family catchphrase, often signalling a hello, goodbye, or an I love you. Little did anyone know that it would mark such an auspicious occasion as the winning of the 1997 World Series. Craig Counsell, one of my least favorite managers in baseball, is the central figure in fulfilling Amy's prophecy. I will look at him in a different light as he manages the Brewers.

Although the book has very strong religious overtones in its conclusion, it chronicled baseball and the realization that family and those relationships are meant to be of the utmost important basis of our lives.  This was just the best "listen" for bringing back all those wonderful baseball moments which I have seen and heard. 

 

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

In a very creative way, Charles Yu presents a very disturbing picture of the life of Asian Americans in the United States. This was an October feature of the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures Ten Evenings. Written as a screenplay, the novel focuses on the life of Willis Wu, cast as Generic Asian Guy. It is told in 7 Acts and culminates in a dramatic court room scene. 

Willis Wu's ambition is rise to the role of Kung Fu Guy,  the best role to which an Asian male can aspire. He lands a role on a TV detective series, Black and White (Yu in his lecture likens it to Law and Order) where helps a decidedly racist detective, Turner, and pretty white detective, Green, investigate the disappearance of Older Brother. Willis proves to be invaluable in the search and leads them to the whereabouts of the criminal, during which time Willis is shot and killed. In TV protocol, because he died on screen, Willis must wait out 45 days before appearing in another show.

 In the novel, this provides a means for Yu to show what Wu's real life is like. His aging father has a PhD and is relegated to work at the Oriental Palace, the ground floor of the apartment his family occupies. His mother, is also educated and works evenings at the restaurant. There are also very illuminating listings of the immigration laws that governed the Chinese arrivals into the United States. Willis also falls in love with Karen, a mixed race beautiful woman, who has set her sights on getting herself out of Chinatown. They hastily get married because Karen finds out that she is pregnant. 

In a not so subtle turn of events, the novel reaches its climax in a courtroom with Wu on trial. Through his lawyer's arguments, Yu presents his viewpoint that Chinese-Americans will always be considered foreigners no matter how long or through how many generations they reside in the United States. This is so atrociously and disturbingly true as we have witnessed so many attacks on Asians during the pandemic.  

To be sure, Interior Chinatown also provides some humor and some poignant scenes. Often these are in conjunction with each other  - why else would an elderly Old Asian Man be singing karaoke? The novel explores complex and emotional issues, while providing an entertaining read. It's hard to excel at both and Charles Yu does that.

  

 

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

Although many have previously read Haruf's previous books in the Plainsong trilogy, I have not. Rather than reading the 2nd book in that series, Our Souls at Night was chosen for October's book club selection. It was relatively short and a very easy read. It is also set in Holt. Colorado as his previous books have been

Ardie Moore and Louis Waters are neighbors, both widowed and both in their seventies. Addie has come up with a plan to stave off the loneliness of living a solitary life. She invites Louis to come to her house and to sleep with her in a very platonic way. She feels that just the company of someone in her bed will be a comforting scenario. Of course, this arrangement stirs up the town gossips, who do not realize what the arrangement actually is. The evenings provide a time for the two to talk about their families and the relationships that each had with his and her spouse and the death of Addie's daughter. 

Out of the blue, Addie's son Gene, appears with his six year old son Jamie. Gene and his wife have separated and he feels that Jamie would be better off with his grandmother for the summer. This was quite the surprise for Addie and for a while it interrupts the nightly routine of Louis' visits. Louis takes to Jamie, buys him a baseball glove, and eventually decides the young lad needs a dog. They also become friends with another neighbor, Ruth, who is much older than Addie and Louis. 

The relationships grow until Gene gets wind of the arrangement and is furious that Addie would entertain a man at night under the same roof as his son. He becomes indignant and removes Jamie and eventually threatens Addie with never seeing her grandson again as long as she is in a relationship with Louis. This creates quite the dilemma for her and she has a tough decision to make. 

The novel is told from a third person omniscient point of view. Haruf uses no quotation marks for conversation, but the writing still feels choppy, almost like entries in a diary or journal. It was pleasant enough plot, but not one that this reader felt was terribly original or one in which the characters felt more than two dimensional. It was only Gene that piqued my interest and consternation. His treatment of his mother was despicable and totally disrespectful. It was a quick read, accomplished during waiting time at PT appointments. There are better reads out there.

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

There are so few books that a person reads in a lifetime that leaves such a lasting impression and are candidates for a re-read. Hamnet is one of those books. What a joy Maggie O'Farrell's account of the son of William Shakespeare was to savor. Although not much is known about the life of William in Stafford-on-Avon, Farrell bases her novel on those facts of which we are sure and creates as accurate an historical account as an author can with liberty taken to fill in the missing details.

The title of the novel gives only a hint of the scope of the book. It is much more than chronicling the short life of Hamnet. Rather it is a depiction of the relationships within the Shakespeare family. The beginning chapter of the novel sets a stage of panic as a young Hamnet searches for help for his sister, Judith, who has been come seriously ill with what seems to be the plague. He looks for any adult, especially, his mother, to come to her aid. He races furiously around the house on Henley Street and in the town and is the target of his grandfather John's abuse.

Shakespeare's Birthplace, Henley Street

 Abruptly, the next chapter transitions to fifteen years or so before the first and gives the reader the background information necessary to establish the relationships of the characters and it is in this next part that William Shakespeare is introduced. Throughout the book Shakespeare is never named, but only referred to as the Latin tutor, the husband, or the father.  Farrell has chosen to identify his wife as Agnes, rather than the Anne that many more will recognize. In her father, Richard's will she is named Agnes and it is from that document she is identified. A young Latin tutor comes to her house in the Hewlands for educating young boys as a repayment of some debt owed to the tutor's father. In the apple shed, the two kiss, eventually fall in love and plot to circumvent their families' disapproval of their union. 

Agnes' home in Hewlands

Agnes' home in Hewlands

 

In what was probably one of the most sensual scenes of lovemaking without portraying it graphically they consummate their union which results in Agnes' pregnancy. They are married and six months later, their first child, Susannah is born. Following her birth is the arrival of the the twins, Judith and Hamnet.

In alternating flashback and present timelines, the novel becomes a fascinating depiction of the life of Agnes, her children, and the effect that the death of Hamnet at age 11 has upon her and the family.

It is hard for all of them to understand and deal with his death. The Father and Husband leaves the household to seemingly help his father set up a market for his gloves. Predictably, this fails and the Father pursues his love of writing and the theatre. When word reaches Agnes that the Husband has written a play, Hamlet, she and her brother Bartholomew take off for London to glean an explanation. The last chapter of the book is poignant, tear-inducing, and heart rending. It leaves the reader to pause and consider how Agnes and the Husband will go on. 

Maggie O'Farrell's writing is so lyrical and emotional at every turn. Many times she eschewed dialogue for description, which led to an even more rhapsodic writing. A sheer gem of a book and one that bears reading again and again. It will be interesting to hear O'Farrell's talk on 22 November 2021 when she addresses the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures 10 Literary Evenings program.

 

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Vanishing Half  has been critically acclaimed in many publications and on social media. I would concur that it is deserving of the accolades. 

The novel concerns the life of twins Desiree and Stella Vignes, who live in a small town, Mallard, Louisiana. The town was founded as a place for light skinned Negroes to settle. However, it is a place that still experiences violent racial divisions. When the twins were very young, their father was murdered by a white mob, which leaves their mother, Adele, left to raise the girls. Pulled out of school to help with the household expenses, the girls decide to run away from home in 1954. when they are sixteen. After a brief period of living together their paths diverge and the separation lasts for over twenty years. The paths that their lives take are also divergent. Desiree marries a dark skinned black man and has a daughter, Jude, who is also very dark. Stella uses her light skin as a way to pass, marries her white boss, Blake Sanders,  and also has a blue eyed blonde daughter, Kennedy. 

After Desiree can take the abuse doled out from her husband in 1968 she returns to Mallard with Jude and go to live with her mother. Her intention is that it is temporary, but leaving just doesn't work out. She stays to take care of her mother, who begins to show signs of Alzheimers, meets a male companion, Early, and raises Jude there. Jude decides that she wants to go to school at UCLA where she meets Reese, a transgendered male. Stella moves to Los Angeles and  raises Kennedy there with a silver spoon in her mouth. Their subdivision must deal with the racial tensions of integration when a black family moves in across the street from the Sanders. Stella lives in fear that she will be found out and she tries to shield Kennedy from the family.

The reader has a distinct feeling that the paths of these two sisters and the cousins will cross somewhere and sometime during the pages that follow. This increases the tension in the novel and makes the book a page turner. Despite some fast forwarding and flashbacks, the book is an easy read, but an uneasy one at the same time. It is a unsettling examination of race relations, stereotyping of individuals, and the effects that lies have upon the human condition. At every turn prejudice screams out from the pages, whether it is the rich vs. poor, white vs. black, or straight vs. the LGBTA+ world. In the end, familial ties are underscored and the idea of going home emphasized. Bennett is a gifted storyteller and the ending of the book leaves a quiet understanding those themes.
 

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

This Tend Land has had many excellent reviews and was considered a novel similar to Where the Crawdads Sing. It is the story of four vagabonds who escape an incredibly hard life, only to embark upon a harder one. It was selected for the September selection for the Gables Book Club.

Odie, short for 12 year-old Odysseus, O'Banion and his older brother, Albert, have been orphaned and sent to live at the Lincoln School in Minnesota. Set in the throes of the great depression in 1932, the novel recounts the struggles of their summer and those of two other orphans, Emmy and Mose, a Sioux Indian. The Lincoln school was not one that was characterized by a loving and caring environment. Thelma and Clyde Brickman run the school and supposedly are responsive to the needs of those taken in for charitable reasons. Through a series of misfortunate events the four run away from the school after breaking into the Brickman's home and "kidnapping" Emmy and stealing the contents of the school safe. They set off in a canoe down the Minnesota River. Among the contents of the safe is a letter that Odie finds from his Aunt Julia, who lives in St. Louis. This discovery gives them a destination as their goal. Surely, they could live with her.  

From the Minnesota River to Mankato to St. Paul to St. Louis proves to be a dangerous and harrowing one for the children. It is filled with murder, revivals, revivalists, snake bites, childbirth, prejudice, a bit of young love, and some startling discoveries. It was certainly an odyssey for them, that fittingly concluded on Ithaca Street. The characters whom they meet along the way including Herman Volz, Sister Eve, Gertie, Mike Kelly, and the One-Eyed Jack, all are significant in moving the adventure along and contribute to the maturation of the protagonists. They all play a part in their realization of the importance of family, home, and forgiveness. Understanding that family is not just the blood relatives you know, but it also encompasses those with whom you connect.

Kreuger has written the novel from Odie's point of view. What makes it more compelling is that Odie writes it as an old man, with the ability to reflect on the events and understand their meaning with distance put between the occurrence and the penning of the book. He captures the voice of a 12 year-old in his writing at the same time allowing for that time of a different perspective. As an epilogue, he recounts what has happened to the four in the past 80 years, a technique that answered those questions that Krueger must have known would have lingered in the minds of his readers. It will be difficult to forget young Odie and his harmonica. A very enjoyable and well written read.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

 There are some novels that hook a reader from the start. Such was the case of  Cummins' American Dirt. On the opening pages the reader witnesses the massacre of nearly an entire family who was celebrating a quinceañera with a backyard barbecue in Acapulco. Everyone was murdered except for a mother, Lydia, and her son, Luca, who were hiding in a bathroom. Realizing that their lives were in danger, they must flee the city to avoid being discovered by the drug cartel that was responsible for the murders. Fleeing means leaving the country undetected. This sets the plot line for the novel. 

When Oprah announced this as her book club pick, there was a major controversy surrounding its selection. The book tour by Cummins was canceled, but I never had read any of the debate regarding the subject matter. Consequently, I read the book without that knowledge or bias one way or the other.  I cannot judge the book by anything other than its story, realizing that it is a work of fiction. 

The reason for the massacre is revealed to be linked to an article that Lydia's husband, a journalist, has written that details the workings of the cartel's leader, Javier. Ironically enough, Javier is a friend of Lydia and the two have enjoyed conversations about book at the bookshop Lydia owns. With money that she has stashed away and her late mother's debit card, Lydia feels that they can make their way to El Norte and so the journey begins. They seek out a former roommate of her husband's and manage to get to Mexico City where they should be able to take a flight to the United States. However, without any identification for Luca, that plan is thwarted and they are forced to become migrants.

The journey that ensues is fraught with danger, uncertainty, and the necessity of courage. The two learn to hop trains, The Bestia, and to accept help from willing strangers. They become friends and companions with two sisters, Rebeca and Soledad, who are escaping a horrible sexual assaults because of their pulchritude. Other whom they meet during their escape are Lorenzo (possibly one of Javier's operatives), Beto, a ten year old suffering from asthma who is orphaned, and El Chacal, the coyote who will help them across the border for a hefty fee.

The writing is simple, but elegant in American Dirt. It is narrated in the third person, although occasionally Cummins interjects Luca's thoughts in to the telling. He is so precocious and it is the reader's good fortune to see how his brain is working. There is no way a reader can leave this book without feeling the horrific pain that must be endured for those who seek to come to the United States for asylum or to escape a life filled with fear and violence. There are two sides to every controversy and it is more than likely true about that debate regarding this book. It is fiction, but there need to be elements of truth for it to be read and believed. It is a story that will remain with the reader long after the last page is turned as the memory of the struggle and love of a mother for a child resonate in one's mind.

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

In The Book of Lost Friends, Wingate weaves the stories of seemingly unconnected characters, one set in 1875 and another in 1987. The stories, in alternating chapters, are narrated by Hannie Gossett and Benedetta (Benny) Silva. Hannie is a slave who was cruelly separated from her mother and Benny a teacher, who goes to Augustine, Lousiana to teach in a rural and poverty stricken area in order to help pay off student loans. Although at times confusing, the novel speaks to the racism that has existed throughout the history of our country.

 The premise in Hannie's narration is a long and arduous journey to find her half-sister, Juneau Jane's father. It is a perilous trip in 1875  that involves kidnapping, stowaways, murder, and illness. Along the journey Hannie and Juneau Jane collect names of people who are searching for family members. These names come from a church newspaper that publishes letters. Before her mother, Mittie, was taken and sold as a slave she gave Hannie a necklace of blue beads that came from her grandmother. Each family member had been given a strand so that if they ever were to meet again, they would know each other as a family member. The inheiritance of the Gossett plantation - Goswood Grove is central to the plot and the journey. 

Fast forward to 1987 and Benny's story. As an unwelcome outsider to the small town of Augustine, she tries to win over her classes who have a distrust of their teacher by interesting them in the stories of their town and heritage. She knows that many come to class hungry and she tries to win them over with cookies and treats. She notices that one of her students, LaJuna is interested in reading and learning and the two find themselves bonding as they organize the books in the old plantation home next to the cottage that Benny is renting. The story comes full circle as the owner of the plantation, Goswood Grove, Nathan becomes involved with their project of discovering the names of the slaves buried on the property. Through research the group discover the Book of Lost Friends hidden in a chest outside the town's library. In a newspaper article, Hannie and Juneau Jane were identified as the two women who played a significant role in the establishment of the library. As a culmination to this discovery and project, the school staged a pageant celebrating the history of the plantation in which LaJuna plays Hattie. Nathan, once disinterested in his family's history, is won over and establishes the plantation as a genealogy and history center. 

Wingate's writing is rich, descriptive, and elegant even when describing the hardships of Hannie's journey. She introduces a copious amount of characters that at times can be difficult to place in the context of the novel. However, all play a vital role in Hannie's odyssey. The premise of knowing one's history comes through so many of the stories that are critical to the plot. One quote resonates loudly even today: 

"Just because we’re not always happy with what’s true doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know it. It’s how we learn. It’s how we do better in the future. Hopefully, anyway.”

Wingate, Lisa. The Book of Lost Friends (p. 221). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

 
 

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce

Miss Benson's Beetle is a curious novel with some very serious themes. It was chosen as the June selection for the book club and met with mixed reviews at the book discussion. Moments of sheer humor and joy were countered with the tragedy of loss and despair. 

As a young child Margery Benson was fascinated as her father shared with her a book on beetles. She was intrigued by the Golden Beetle of New Caledonia, which no one had been able to find. Fast forward 30 years and she is a frumpy spinster domestic science teacher at a private school. She had lost her brothers to World War I, her father to suicide after he learned of their deaths. At that point she was raised by her mother and two aunts, who in 1950, the time of the novel, had all passed away. After an incident in one of her classes where she intercepted a student's note calling her "Virgin Margery." she decides to take matters into her hands and set off in search of the Golden Beetle. She posts an ad for someone to accompany her on the journey and expedition. After meeting the responders, she dismisses them, especially a Mr. Mundic, a former POW, who seems to have some serious issues probably from suffering from PTSD.  In the end she decided on a woman, Enid Pretty, who could not spell and whom she never met. 

The two women begin their journey in a comedic and nearly unbelievable way from the train station outside London to the ocean liner, Orion, to Brisbane and then New Caledonia. It is then on to the quest for the Golden Beetle, referenced by Darwin, but never found by him or other scientists. From the very beginning there is something extremely suspicious about Enid Pretty who is quite protective of a red valise with the initials N.C. on it. Through sea sickness, lost luggage, missing equipment, eels, cyclones, and a spiteful consulate's wife, the two persevere and become better friends than either could have imagined. Enter Mr. Mundic into the equation and the situation becomes more suspenseful and traumatic. 

In the end, the reader is impressed by the growth and resilience of the two women as they survive in the jungles of New Caledonia. The women realize early on that they are on their own and do not owe anything to men, a truly feminist theme throughout. Margery does not want to be that woman who waits hand over foot on men. She is feeling her own worth, as many women started to do in the post-war years. She had a dream and she meant to fulfill it at all costs. Rachel Joyce gives Margery Benson the fortitude to be a "woman who is ready for adventure. I’m not here because I am someone's wife or sister. I am here because this is what I want, and now I have a place for my work." With the strength of writing and development of each of the main characters' personalities, it is not likely that a reader will forget Margery and Enid, almost as a movie goer will not forget Thelma and Louise. 

 
 

Oil and Marble by Stephanie Storey

 

Chosen by the Gables Book Club for our April 2021 discussion was the historical fiction novel Oil and Marble.  It is a recounting of the rivalry between Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo in the first years of the 16th century. Each was working on a piece of art that would eventually define them through the centuries. Most of the members liked, but did not love the book. 

The novel is told in alternating chapters focusing on each of the artists. Michelangelo returned to Florence from Rome where his emotional sculpture, The Pieta, had recently been unveiled. It was not a triumphant return to his family, which was not enamored of his work as an artist. At the same time Leonardo had been commissioned to work on a mural, The Battle of Anghiari in Florence, while working on a dam and way to prevent the flooding of the Arno from washing out the city. The rivalry between the two artists started over the commission of a piece of stone, destined to eventually be sculpted into a piece of art. Leonardo lost that battle when Michelangelo created drawings that more impressed the city and church leaders. At the same time Leonardo meets Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a silk merchant. He is smitten with her and desires to paint her, a proposition he makes to her husband. 

Throughout the novel the reader is  privy to the hardships and struggles of both men to complete their projects. The physical pain and suffering of Michelangelo as he carves and polishes David, is intense and can almost be felt by the reader. The emotional battles of Leonardo as he falls in love with his Mona Lisa are almost as painful. As a backdrop to their hardships is the flooding of Florence, the burning of the Michelangelo home, and the conflicts of the Medicis, Borgias and the influence of Machiavelli. 

In her notes, Storey describes the liberties that she took in retelling this historical account. It was that liberty that many of the book club could not fully condone. However, for this reader, with that understanding, it was not unacceptable. Oil and Marble is an interesting read about the two men whose art is so important and well known over 500 years from its creation. The history of Florence as a city state is quite interesting and gives a perspective of life in that time frame. At the conclusion of the novel, Michelangelo meets a budding artist and encourages him. It is a direct tie-in to Storey's next novel, Raphael, which I will put on my "to be read list" for future considerations.

 

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

This book has been sitting on my book shelf since its publication in 2003. I am not sure why I hadn't picked it up to read, but it rose to the top of the TBR list this year. As much as I try to read everyday, life and clients seem to get in the way. Although fiction, The Dante Club is based on true facts, most of which I was unaware. As per usual, as I was reading, I had to inform myself as to the veracity of what Pearl was writing. 

Set in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1865, the book's basis is the 1st American translation of Dante's Inferno. The novel opens with one of the most gruesome descriptions ever published as it described the death of Judge Healey:

"Nell kicked away the wasps’ nest and stuffed the judge into the wheelbarrow. She half wheeled and half dragged his naked body through the meadows, over the garden, through the halls, and into his study. Throwing the body on a mound of legal papers, Nell pulled Judge Healey’s head into her lap. Handfuls of maggots rained down from his nose and ears and slack mouth. She began tearing out the luminescent maggots from the back of his head. The wormy pellets were moist and hot. She also grabbed some of the fire-eyed flies that had trailed her inside, smashing them with the palm of her hand, pulling them apart by the wings, flinging them, one after another, across the room in empty vengeance."

The members of the Dante Club, who were supporting Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in translating The Inferno, were Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr,  James T. Fields, George Washington Greene, and James Russell Lowell. Judge Healey was the first in a series of murders that began to intrigue the club because of their similarity to the punishments in Dante's poem. With such a connection the members of the club take it upon themselves to help solve the murders. The second victim is Reverend Talbot, who was found in a cemetery, buried upside down with this feet exposed and set fire. Upon removal, a large sum of money was found. Talbot had been paid by the Harvard Corporation to preach against Dante. The third murder was that of Phineas Jennison, who was also a contributor to the Harvard Corporation, found dead and sliced open as described by Dante

The novel follows the investigation by the club as well as by Nicholas Rey, a Boston's first black policeman. It becomes apparent to the club that the murderer is tied to the publishing giant of the time, Ticknor & Fields, through a Civil War soldier who had listened to Greene's sermons. 

The final solution has a climatic and brutal end to it after numerous red herrings were planted by the author. It is also a look at the families of the poets, their lives, and the culture of Boston. The prejudice that faces Nicholas Rey exposes the hypocrisy of those who fought for an end of slavery in the Civil War. His life is fraught with discrimination and often dismissed because of his color. 

The Dante Club is a rich read, not only for the manner in which the crimes are solved, but for the insight in to the remarkable influence and heritage of Dante. As when I read The Inferno by Dan Brown, Dante has always held a special interest for me. A great and suspenseful thriller.

Wicked Pittburgh by Richard Gazarik

 

I had not been able to attend the Allegheny City Society Book Club that formed in 2019 because of conflicting events on Thursday nights. However in the pandemic world, those have been canceled and the group decided to meet via Zoom. 

Wicked Pittsburgh is a compilation of many tales of corruption in my dear city. It was enlightening for sure and an easy read.  It described in detail the origins of crime and corruption from the days of prohibition to the numbers games and finally some murder connections. I was especially interested in the sections about "Little Canada" as it related part of the history of the North Side of Pittsburgh, from which my relatives hailed!  According to Gazarik:

"The neighborhood got its moniker because a crook was as safe in Little Canada as if he were in its namesake to the north. “The law of the state and nation stopped on the north banks of the Allegheny and Ohio,” read one story. Little Canada was “notorious as the playground of the criminal element and leaders of the vice and booze syndicates” reported a Pittsburgh newspaper. This motley assortment of criminals, madams and prostitutes worked in 150 brothels, which newspapers referred to as “resorts.” 

I had no idea! 

The chapters on David L. Lawrence and Robert Duggan and Richard Thornburgh were especially interesting because of the history that was concomitant with my growing up in the city. They proved illustrative of the fact that sometimes you just aren't aware of your surroundings. 

Although there were some editing issues in the book of repetitive sections and grammar issues, it was, nevertheless, a worthwhile read for any one interested in the "behind the scenes" of Pittsburgh. 

 

In the Year 2021

In my living room I have book cases that house my To Be Read books. When selecting a new book to read, I peruse the shelves and decide which one suits my need at any particular time. Many times I get sidetracked because of having to read for book clubs, lectures, or classes and the To Be Read shelves are neglected. 

And so, for 2021, I am going to make a concerted effort to read down these shelves, often starting from the ones that have been there the longest, which may explain the future blog entries that review very old books. It will be an interesting experiment and task, for sure. But with no book clubs to attend (at least not until we are all vaccinated) or when libraries and repositories open for research,  I may be able to make some progress. 

 Here's to a great reading year in 2021!

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

One of the featured books from the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures series for 2020-2011, The Water Dancer proved an interesting, albeit at times difficult read. In some respects it is reminiscent of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad, but so different at the same time. 

Set in Virginia in pre-Civil War days, Coates tells the story of Hiram Walker, son of the white owner of the Lockless Plantation. Hiram is one of the "Tasked" (euphemistically the slaves) to the "Quality," the white privileged owners. Gifted with the force of "Conduction," the protagonist of the novel uses it to also aid other Tasked as he becomes a conductor on the Underground Railroad. The first episode of this mysterious gift, which transports a person across a body of water finds him saving himself from drowning in a carriage accident, which also happens to kill his half biological brother,  Maynard Walker. 

Hiram decides that it is time to escape the bonds of the Tasked and so, with Sophia, for whom he has deep feelings, he devises a plan. They will leave the warrens and Thena, a surrogate mother to Hiram, and find their way to freedom. Although it was a brave attempt, he is thwarted by George, a man whom he trusted and they are captured and imprisoned by slave catchers. The scenes of his imprisonment show the harsh reality of slavery and convey one of the main themes of the book - abuse and cruelty. Thanks to Corrine Quinn, another wealthy plantation owner and operative on the Underground Railroad, Hiram is freed and brought into the fold to help people. He has an aptitude of being able to produce papers for those traveling on the railroad, which is developed by Isaiah Fields (Micajah Bland) who becomes his tutor. In time Hiram arrives in Philadelphia and becomes an operative there to help slaves to freedom.  

It is there that he meets Moses, a leader to guide people from slavery. Her real name is Harriet and Coates, not too subtly suggests that she is Harriet Tubman and the two conduct many successful rescues. Among others whom he meets are Raymond and Otha White, operatives in Philadelphia.  He then  learns that Bland has taken on a mission to rescue Otha's wife and children in Alabama. In that mission he is brutally murdered, which touches Hiram deeply.  Concurrently, Hiram's conduction experiences elucidate his past, his relationship with his mother and grandmother and spur him to return to Virginia to rescue Sophia and Thena.

The Water Dancer brings the brutality of slavery to a horrific light through a myriad of characters. Each has a special connection to Hiram and his past and future. As in his interview in the virtual lecture, Coates cannot stress enough the fact that slavery is vile and immoral. He contends that in today's world, not much has changed with the brutality that the dismissal of the value of human life still is rampant. Equally important in the novel is the theme of memory and how it plays into the formation of one's identity and is enhanced by the conduction. 

Coates has a command of prose and at times can almost be lyrical. For me, the magic realism so dominant in the novel was problematic. It is my problem, not the author's as I struggle with most books in which it is a device. It was an interesting book and one that I am glad I was spurred to read. More importantly, I am glad that I was given the opportunity to hear the author speak about it.