The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim MIchele Richardson

I am not a reader who tends to cry at books, but The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek moved me to tears. During the late 1930s as part of the WPA, books were delivered to very rural parts of the United States, especially the south by women (with the exception of a few men) who journeyed on horses or, in this case, mules. They were referred to as Pack Horse Librarians or the Book Woman. 

Cussy Mary Carter is one of the librarians who lives with her father, a coal miner in Troublesome Creek, Kentucky - not too far from Hazard. Her father, Elijah, is determined that Cussy be married and he sets out to find a suitable husband for her, as he had promised his late wife and Cussy's mother. There is a major obstacle in that Cussy, also known as Bluet, is one of the Blue People of Kentucky. She is a descendant of Martin Fugate, who brought his family to the area around 1800. He and his descendants suffered from a genetic trait that caused their skin to take on a blueish cast. Cussy has no desire to be married, but her father wins out and she is married to Charlie Frazier, a horrible man who rapes her and beats her into submission. He meets an appropriate end and Cussy returns to her father and her job as a Book Woman with her trusty, but temperamental mule, Junia. 

Throughout the novel the reader becomes acquainted with and enjoys the company of Cussy's patrons - Angeline and Willie Moffit (she pregnant and he who is dying from gangrene where he was shot in the foot), Winnie, the school teacher who is waiting to join her husband in Detroit, Henry, the little boy who suffers from pelagra, is starving, but gives Cussy a pineapple lifesaver as a present, R.C., who mans the firetower and anxiously await magazines, Oren Taft, who collects books for a family miles away, and Jackson Lovett, a wonderful man who flirts with Cussy and has a way with Junia. 

And then there are those who figure prominently in her life. She develops a warm relationship with Queenie, a colored co-worker who leaves Troublesome Creek for Philadelphia to become a librarian. Harriett Hardin is Cussy's boss at the library center and is mean, a racist, and jealous of Cussy's relationship to Jackson. Doc is the town physician, who takes an interest in a medicinal way to treat Cussy's blueish color. 

Cussy will take her place as one of my favorite literary characters. She is determined, kind, thoughtful, compassionate, and a lover of books who enjoys sharing that love with others. She accepts her color despite the despicable and insidious racism of Troublesome Creek. When Angeline dies in childbirth and leaves her daughter, Honey, Cussy has no qualms about taking her for her own. 

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek tackles the theme of how religion can be tied to racism and as a threat when used by those who don't understand how a person of color feels. But it also is a testimony to the role that books play in society and the necessity of a family to participate in the education of the children. This theme is echoed throughout and was a major factor in my love of this book. It is definitely one of my favs and Cussy, a soul mate, for her love of sharing books.


 

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorrris

Inspired by a real life story, Sold on a Monday is a novel of despair, hope, and justice. Ellis Reed, a reporter for the Philadelphia Examiner, while out on an assignment, happens upon a sign that reads "2 Children for Sale." The year is 1931 when people are still feeling the effects of the depression and in the time of prohibition. He snaps a photo because he was so taken by their innocence. In a series of events, some propitious and another unfortunate, Lillian Palmer, secretary to the editor, of the paper sees it in the darkroom and shows it to the editor of the paper who assigns Ellis to write a feature story based on it. However, somehow before it can be used, it is destroyed. So Ellis needs to get back out in the country to get another one. However, when he reaches the home, he finds the sign in a heap and no children around. And so he recovers the sign, finds two children and stages a photo shoot.

Upon returning to the scene, he finds that the Dillard children, Ruby and Cavin, have actually been sold when their mother received a dire health diagnosis. As the novel progresses, Lily and Ellis feel responsible for the sale of the children and they concentrate their efforts to returning them to their mother, who has been informed that the health diagnosis was wrong. Along the way there are depictions of speak easies, heart-to-heart talks with Ellis' parents about what happened to his younger brother, romantic involvements for Lily, a brush with the mob, and self-realization for both Lily and Ellis. After an escapade that begs the reader to suspend reality, the novel comes to a satisfying and emotional conclusion. 

The characters are well drawn and elicit emotions from the reader: Clayton, Lily's romantic interest is kind, the Millstones are not what they appear to be, and the Palmers are understanding, kind and supportive. 

Kristina McMorris has penned a poignant and telling novel about how perseverance, guilt, and family ties influence the acts of individuals. It is a very good read and deserves the praise that it has garnered. 

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood with a reread of The Handmaid's Tale

With some time created by sheltering at home, I picked up The Testaments finally to read. After about a chapter, I realized that since it had been eons since I had read The Handmaid's Tale, that I had better reread it. It is very enlightening to revisit an incredible book that was written in 1985. My first read was a result of a wonderful woman and mentor giving it to the members of a pastoral nominating committee for a church in our previous hometown. She insisted that, before we make a decision, that all read it. This was very difficult for some of the men on the committee, but since they respected her, the did it. Needless to say, it made for some heated conversation and debate over the roles women played in the world. The Handmaid's Tale (THT) is a dystopian novel that takes place in Gilead where the women are subjugated to men in a patriarchal society. The ending, "Historical Notes,"  leaves the reader in the air as to what really happened to the protagonist of the story, Offred. For many years, Atwood had been urged by her fans to write a sequel to the novel. She resisted for thirty-four until she wrote and published The Testaments. 

Set in Gilead fifteen years after The Handmaid's Tale, the novel is narrated by three females: Aunt Lydia, who was one of the most powerful and cruel of the Aunts from THT, Daisy, a young girl living in Canada, and Agnes, a child who has grown up in Gilead. Through their eyes the reader gains insight into the workings of Mayday, a resistance movement against Gilead, The Eyes, and the Pearl Sisters. Aunt Lydia hints at a movement to overthrow the Gilead regime as she writes her memoirs as the Arudua Hall holograph. 

Meanwhile, Daisy relates her story as a "witness" testimony. Her parents, Melanie and Neil, who we come to find out are adoptive parents, are killed in an explosion at their business. Daisy is taken in by Ada, who works for Mayday. She learns her true identity and is "returned" to Gilead and assumes the name Jade, a young woman, who will be trained to be an Aunt and critical to the coup that is being planned. 

Agnes has spent her life in Gilead, raised in an elite family, by her mother, Tabitha, and father Commander Kyle. After her mother dies, her father remarries Paula, the so epitome of the wicked step-mother. She is promised to be wed to a notorious Commander Judd, but convinces Aunt Lydia that this is not in her best interest to wed. 

The story that is told by these three narrators reveals more about the horrors of a society that has subjugated women to mere handmaids. However, the most frightening thought, as in THT, is that one sees it in our own society. Reading it, I sent many quotes to my daughter, who is an Atwood devotee and scholar. Have we not in thirty-five years grown to dispel so much of the prevailing Gilead philosophy? NO, we haven't!

We were custodians of an invaluable treasure that existed, unseen, inside us; we were precious flowers that had to be kept safely inside glass houses, or else we would be ambushed and our petals would be torn off and our treasure would be stolen and we would be ripped apart and trampled by the ravenous men who might lurk around any corner, out there in the wide sharp-edged sin-ridden world.

Women have more value than just their bodies and this indoctrination is merely a scare tactic.  

Would you like someone at our Calm and Balm clinic to consult?" Perhaps not just yet," he said. "Most likely it is imaginary, as so many of these female complaints prove to be."

How many women deal with this on a day-to-day basis? And this

It was always a cruelty to promise them equality...Simply by their nature they can never achieve it. We have already begun the merciful task of lowering their expectations.  

 Finally, as in The Handmaid's Tale, "The Thirteenth Symposium," sheds light on the fate of Gilead, Aunt Lydia, Offred, and the realization that the narrators of the historical documents are taken seriously. 
 
Atwood is a master of prose, thought, and insight into our society. She has written, what seemed to a fact thirty-four years ago and what we are seeing as a reality today - the sexual assault of women. Her writing is eloquent and elegant and The Testaments, as The Handmaid's Tale will be worth a reread in the not so distant future. WOW!!

Testimony by Anita Shreve

In the months of the pandemic, Covid-19. I have been reading off my to be read shelf. Not sure how far I will get, but depending on how long this thing lasts, I hope to make a bit of a dent. One of my favorite authors has been Anita Shreve. I enjoy her character development and her setting descriptions, as well as the plot lines. Testimony was not your typical Anitia Shreve book. To be honest I had a bit of a hard time getting into it until I managed to understand the flow of it. 

The novel begins with Michael Bordwin, headmaster of Avery Academy, a private school in Vermont, viewing a very sexually graphic tape of an incident in one of the student dorm rooms. 3 male students were visibly raping a 14 year old student. What ensues in the novel are accounts of the people who were close to the students involved: parents, roommates, girlfriends, policemen, journalists, and other members of the Avery Community. Each of those affected by the incident gives his or her own viewpoints as the novel unravels. At times the reader feels empathy toward the parents, who really never saw their sons in the way they were portrayed. Sienna, the victim, is not particularly likeable and is blamed by at least one of the males, as well as, it seems Shreve. The chapters are named for the person who is giving the viewpoint, but not in any chronological order. Until the reader grasps that this is the case, it is a bit confusing. During the course of the book, in almost a domino-like effect, the lives of all those involved changed dramatically. It is not until the very last chapter that we get a full accounting of how the incident happened and the time immediately before that precipitated it. 

The way that Bordwin handled the incident upon receiving the tape is reminiscent of how something similar (not a rape or an alcoholic induced one) was dealt with when I was teaching. The ramifications of responding to situation in a manner to keep it quiet in stead of turning it over to authorities outside the institution can backfire and back one into a corner. 

The prevailing theme from Testimony reminds us that in one impulsive moment lives can be derailed or destroyed. The consequences are far-reaching and irreversible. This would  very well be a book that could be included in a high school English syllabus. It is dramatic and gripping as you work through it and at times the reader just wants to shout NO, that is not the best decision to make. Not my favorite Shreve, but a good one.

The Other Woman by Daniel Silva

Daniel Silva is my go-to author when I want a well crafted, complex, entertaining, and mind expanding novel. With the coronavirus lock down, it has been good to read some books that have been on the to read shelves for a few years. Because Silva books are not short novels, one needs a block of time to really digest and enjoy them. 

In The Other Woman, Silva builds on his previous Gabriel Allon stories. This time he assembles his team to ferret out a mole within the MI6 bureau in London. He pulls in much of the story of Kim Philby, who was a double agent for the British Intelligence. Silva interweaves the fictional characters, including a daughter of Philby into his novel to provide the thrilling escapades of a new mole in the intelligence venue. 

The book's premise to aid with the defection of a Russian agent in Vienna ends tragically and Allon is blamed publicly for the blunder. In order to save his reputation and that of the Office, he becomes aware of a traitor who has ingratiated him/herself into the intelligence agency of a foreign service. The key to the operation is an elderly woman, who in Andalusia is writing her memoirs, The Other Woman. 

With his sometimes rival Graham Seymour, the two embark on a quest to find the mole that has been supplying the Russians with sensitive information. They set their sites on Alistair Hughes, who was the MI6 head in Vienna. They realize that this was the impression that the Russians wanted to give and so the two plod on. They pour over file after file until they realize the Philby connection. With that knowledge, they launched a plan that would uncover the mole's identity and bring him/her into custody.

As in all of Silva's novels, the twists and turns keep readers on the edge of their seats. He is so gifted in the way that he allows Gabriel Allon to showcase brilliance and resilience. To detail any more of the plot, would be to spoil it for those who want to read it for themselves. The reader sits on the fence between dying to know what will happen and not wanting the book to end. A must read for all spy novel fans.

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

Sometimes you just need a read that is fast-paced, easy to read, and enjoyable at the same time. During this pandemic time Sunset Beach was just that kind of read. Somewhat reminiscent of Mary Higgins Clark's novels, this book was immediately accessible and engaging. 

Drue Campbell, a 36 year old former professional kite boarder, has just lost her mother, Sherri,  as the novel begins. At the funeral, her father, Brice, appears and seems to want to reconnect. Without a job, a place to live, and no money, Drue reluctantly accepts his offer of a job in his high profile law firm on the west coast of Florida. Part of the draw was that she has inherited her grandparents' home on Sunset Beach. And so she picks up and moves from Ft. Lauderdale into the cottage, which has been allowed to deteriorate to such a condition that she had to start from square one to make it livable. She tore up carpeting and scrubbed and scrubbed. In the process of trying to stop a leak in the attic, she finds a box of newspaper clippings and files from an account of the disappearance of a young woman nearly 40 years ago. She is intrigued and her curiosity gets the best of her and starts to dig into the disappearance - Plot line #1 of the novel.

When she goes to her father's office, she discovers that one of her friends from high school, Wendy,  has married her father. Wendy is intent on making the job stressful for Drue as she is his office manager. Drue is given the responsibility of answering phones and referring solid cases to the lawyers. Nothing Drue does seems to be right or in accordance with Wendy's ways - Plot line #2 of the novel. 

One of these phone calls is in reference to a possible murder at a local motel that the firm settled quickly and for a minuscule amount of money. A young mother is found dead while on duty as a maid at the motel. The firm has washed its hands of the case, but Drue finds it heart-wrenching that the woman's mother and child are now living near the poverty line because of a lack of income. Looking into the facts of the death lead Drue to a conclusion that there is more to the case than was investigated and that possibly her father's firm was involved in a cover-up. - Plot line #3 of the novel. 

With the intertwined plot lines there are supporting characters that all play a part in the resolution of the plot. Jimmy Zee, best friend of Brice Campbell, is an investigator for the firm and has known Drue since she was born. Drue meets a number of young men who will unwittingly play a role in her detective work - Jonah, Corey, Ben. Are they all out to help?

Along the way there are some plot twists and some disturbing innuendos. All go to keep the novel absorbing and moving along. Drue was a likeable young woman, but sometimes unrealistic in her actions. A great page-turner for enduring pandemic time. 

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

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

Narrated by Nathaniel, the book opens with the statement:

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

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

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

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

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

The third novel by Edugyan is a remarkable piece of prose that should be on everyone's reading list. It chronicles the life of enslaved George Washington Black on his journey from childhood to manhood and the injustices he suffers for being a black person. 

The novel opens in 1830 when Wash is eleven years old and is working on Faith Plantation in the Barbados. His life is one tortured by the master and mentored by a woman, Big Kit, who nurtures, advises, and comforts him. One evening Wash is called to be a house slave and it is there he first meets Titch Wilde, the brother of his master and whom we come to find is an abolitionist. Something about Wash impresses Titch and he asks to have the young boy help him in his new project. From there a partnership is formed and with since Wash will be the right size for experimentation in his new invention, the cloud cutter, a hot air balloon. He becomes impressed with Wash's artistic talent and the two become more and more dedicated to the study of nature and the world beyond Barbados.

The adventures that fill the novel are instigated by an horrendous accident involving the balloon, the suicide of a member of the Wilde family, and the realization that Wash will never be safe on the plantation. The maiden voyage of the balloon is fast tracked and Titch and Wash escape the island. From there their journey is by boat to Virginia, then to Canada as Titch looks for his father whom he has been informed is still alive. All the while Wash is being pursued by a bounty hunter who wishes to take him back to Barbados. His further journey is to Nova Scotia where he meets Tanna Goff and her father, Geoffrey, a zoologist. They are impressed by Wash's drawing and enlist him to do the illustrations for Goff's book. Then to London, where he discovers his heritage and Morocco to search for a benevolent friend. 

Washington Black is a magical read. The brutalities of slavery are addressed, the miracles of nature described, and the fragility of freedom confronted. If it were not for a review in our local paper right before Edugyan's appearance in Pittsburgh, I probably would not have picked this book up. If I had not, I would have been missing something very special. Unfortunately, the author was not going to sign books the evening of the lecture, but the bookstore that handles the sales of authors' books had agreed to swap my unsigned copy for a pre-signed one. What a fortuitous happenstance that when we arrived at the hall, Ms. Edugyan was pre-signing the books and we were lucky that she offered to sign ours.

Her lecture was one of the best that we have attended. She is articulate, erudite, and engaging. I have put her other 2 books on my TBR list.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

This book has sat on my "to read" shelf for a few years because of the reviews that had been published and the reputation of Ian McEwan. I was spurred to finally make time to read it after I watched the movie. I then recommended it to the Gables Book Club for the March meeting. 

McEwan has a penchant for hooking his readers from the very first sentence in a book and On Chesil Beach  is no exception.

They were young, educated, and both virgins on this, their wedding night, and they lived in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible. But it is never easy. 

The novella takes place in 1962 on the wedding night of Edward Mahew and Florence Pointing at a hotel on Chesil Beach in Dorset in southern England. It is a shingle beach that is characterized by the curve of the land and the arrangement of the pebbles by wind and rain.  It is there they will enjoy the wedding night and a stroll on the beach drinking wine and examining the pebbles. 

Providing some comic relief to the tension that the reader fills building is the description of the waiters and the dinner ordered. There was no real room so the waiters stayed and observed as the two tried to eat the melon, plates of beef, cheese board and trifle. But it was not to be finished as the couple midway through made their way to the four-poster bed. 

In a scene that was a bit reminiscent of Ravel's Bolero, sensual and innocent the reader stands witness to what surely will be a night of bliss. Edward fumbles with Florence's dress and, ultimately, decides to proceed without removing it. But the thought of intimacy so frightens Florence that she bolts from the hotel room in a desperate move to avoid being suffocated by the act and heads to the beach. After a time, he follows and the two engage in a conversation that evolves into argument as they both admit that they are so in love with each other. 

Intermixed between the action of the wedding night, McEwan writes beautifully crafted chapters of the details of Florence and Edward's meeting and courtship. The reader is mesmerized by his words and sentence structure. It is with these chapters that we understand more about the two young people and the worlds from which they came - she from a privilege family but with an abusive father, he from a middle class and hardworking one in which his father has had to assume roles as mother and father since a traumatic accident to his mother. 

At the book's conclusion one is left with a feeling of poignancy and regret for Edward and Florence and the thought of what could have been. Again, the book with all of McEwan's artistry surpasses the movie. Read and enjoy.  

The Secrets of Flight by Maggie Leffler

The Secrets of Flight  is a novel to be enjoyed on a number of different levels. It is told by three narrators who share memories and insights into not only today's world, but the world of yesteryear.

Mary Browning is an 87 year old facilitator of a writing group that meets at the Squirrel Hill Library in Pittsburgh. The group is populated by mostly elderly people who are aspiring writers. Mary has been a widow for 10 years and seems quite the recluse save the time she spends with her writers. The reader feels that there are secrets in her life that will eventually come to the fore.

How odd is it that Elyse Strickler happens upon the group one meeting. Mary is immediately drawn to Elyse because she reminds her so much of her sister. The two develop a warm relationship when Elyse encourages Mary to dictate her life story so that Elyse can type it into a word processing program. Elyse becomes the 2nd narrator who is also struggling with her identity and the problems of the real world around her - her father's cancer, school life and a boy who isn't worth her attention, but who leads her on, a mother whose job seems more important than her family, and the impending divorce of her parents.

Miriam (Miri) Lichtenstein, is a Jewish girl who is determined to be a pilot from the time she witnesses a pilot parachute into her yard. Determined to go to flight school, while her parents want her to go to college, she keeps her enrollment secret. She is accepted into the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS) and goes to Texas to train and fly. The depiction of the treatment of women and a Jewish woman was interesting and insightful. While in Texas Miriam meets and falls in love with a young man, Solomon, who aspires to be a doctor. Because of medical school quotas for Jews, Solomon changes his name to Thomas Browning and the reader discovers the relationship between Miri and Mary. 

The friendship that develops between Miri/Mary and Elyse is a touching one with each looking out for the other. Elyse puts Mary in touch with a needed doctor and Mary buys a plane ticket for Elyse to go to Florida to see her ill grandmother because her mother was not concerned enough to do so. Elyse provides the family for Mary that she has lost since she was "declared dead" by her own mother when she married Thomas and abandoned her Jewish heritage. 

The historical parts of the novel were based on fact with many of the WASP incidents and characters taken right from the actual events. Perhaps, what was most notable for a reader from Pittsburgh were all the references to the city and the depiction of how the city had changed during the time span of the novel. The characters were well developed believable. The Secrets of Flight unraveled more secrets than could be imagined, which gave quite the twist at the end. It was a wonderful read and recommended for those who enjoy a good story masterfully crafted.