"Our country shall not perish
Our hopes shall not be crushed,
For God will surely bless us,
And aid the cause that's just.
Oh, 'tis a fearful struggle,
A nation's blood to spill,
But the Union, now, forever!
Oh, yes! We'll surely conquer
The traitors; they must yield
And we will bear in triumph
Our banner from the field."
-from Say, Must Our Country Perish? by Mrs. Cordelia Beardsley Wilder
A friend loaned this book to me; it was written by a friend of hers. I rather liked the story---fiction interspersed with historical fiction and some mystery in the mix. The quality of the publication was mediocre, at best. Numerous mistakes in spelling and grammar distracted me. Too long a teacher, I suppose!
Protagonist Rachel Benton has moved with her young daughter from California to a small town in New York trying to reinvent her life after the tragic death of her husband. At the beginning of the novel she is burying her grandmother, Nonna, her last known kin whose caregiver she has been for a short time. Rachel finds herself navigating the water of estate law. While searching for Nonna's will, she discovers diaries and letters dating back to the Civil War. The diaries were written by Emma Beardslee and the letters are from her husband, James who is serving in the Union army. A story within a story is revealed through these sources and so, the reader, along with Rachel learn their background but must wait almost to the end of the novel before finding out what Emma and James have to do with Nonna.
The format reminds me a bit of the Rose Cottage Chronicles, Civil War Letters of the Bryant-Stephens Families of North Florida, except the Chronicles ring truer to the time period.
I am rating My Dear Emma a 3. Though the plot kept my interest there were things that bothered me, a few I have already mentioned. It was hinted that Nonna's house was on the Underground Railroad but I am not sure why because it didn't seem to have a part in the story. And I used part of a poem to begin this entry but I don't really know if it was written by a historic figure or Ms. Meaker herself since the poet's name refers to a character in the story. Also I thought the ending was very abrupt!
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
"If my life were a book and you read it backward, nothing would change. Today is the same as yesterday. Tomorrow will be the same as today. In the Book of Maddy, all the chapters are the same.
Until Olly."
-Madeline, from the novel
This is a novel I likely would never have read except that it was offered to me by a friend. It is YA fiction, making for an easier and faster-than-usual read. The plot is compelling, the writing is poetic at times and profound at others, but it's the unconventional writing style that grabs the attention. The first person narrative is enhanced by other types of print---diary entries, memos, schedules, drawings (by the author's husband), airline tickets and pages of instant messaging. It reminded me of a juvenile fiction I read years ago while teaching 5th grade: Regarding the Fountain: A Tale in Letters, of Liars and Leaks by Kate Klise. As I remember that plot was completely dependent on letters, emails, receipts, teacher's notes on a chalkboard and more. So creative!
Madeline Whittier begins her story from her White Room in the home where she has been quarantined for 17 years with SCID, severe combined immunodefiency, also know as Bubble Baby Disease. She explains she is pretty much "allergic to the world." She takes classes online and the only actual people in her life are her mother, a physician, and her nurse Carla.
When a new family moves in next door, Maddy can't help but notice the handsome teenage son, Olly. He soon notices her in the window and they begin a cyber relationship---IMing back and forth until...Carla makes it possible for him to visit in person. From there it seems there is no going back and as the bond grows and deepens, there will be surprises!
Although a few aspects were a bit unbelievable, I was touched by Maddy's story. I rate the book a 4.
Until Olly."
-Madeline, from the novel
This is a novel I likely would never have read except that it was offered to me by a friend. It is YA fiction, making for an easier and faster-than-usual read. The plot is compelling, the writing is poetic at times and profound at others, but it's the unconventional writing style that grabs the attention. The first person narrative is enhanced by other types of print---diary entries, memos, schedules, drawings (by the author's husband), airline tickets and pages of instant messaging. It reminded me of a juvenile fiction I read years ago while teaching 5th grade: Regarding the Fountain: A Tale in Letters, of Liars and Leaks by Kate Klise. As I remember that plot was completely dependent on letters, emails, receipts, teacher's notes on a chalkboard and more. So creative!
Madeline Whittier begins her story from her White Room in the home where she has been quarantined for 17 years with SCID, severe combined immunodefiency, also know as Bubble Baby Disease. She explains she is pretty much "allergic to the world." She takes classes online and the only actual people in her life are her mother, a physician, and her nurse Carla.
When a new family moves in next door, Maddy can't help but notice the handsome teenage son, Olly. He soon notices her in the window and they begin a cyber relationship---IMing back and forth until...Carla makes it possible for him to visit in person. From there it seems there is no going back and as the bond grows and deepens, there will be surprises!
Although a few aspects were a bit unbelievable, I was touched by Maddy's story. I rate the book a 4.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grissom
"I've heard Uncle Tom's Cabin read, and I tell you Mrs. Stowe's pen hasn't begun to paint what slavery is as I have seen it at the far South. I've seen de real thing, and I don't want to see it on no stage or in no theater."
-Harriet Tubman
Another historical fiction, this time set in pre-Civil War U.S., Glory Over Everything is a sequel to The Kitchen House. It is the story of Jamie Pyke who, as a teenager, escapes a dangerous situation in Virginia and ends up in Philadelphia where he is aided by a former slave named Henry. Years later in 1830, he has become a well-respected silversmith known by the name of James Burton.
Most other major characters are African-American including Pan, Henry's son, who works for Burton, and Robert, another of Burton's servants who is loyal to a fault. Later the reader meets Sukey, a brave and compassionate soul reminiscent of Harriet Tubman.
The plot begins with a series of first-person narratives by James, Pan and Caroline, Burton's pregnant married lover. Each tells his/her own captivating story. When 12-year-old Pan goes missing and Henry finds out he's been kidnapped and taken south to be sold as a slave, he calls in a favor imploring James to go find him and bring him back home---a mission that James is compelled to take on although he is terrified. In Part 3, Sukey is introduced as the 4th narrator and she becomes essential to the survival of our protagonist.
This is a fast-paced story with a gripping plot. Thankfully, the brutality and hideousness of slavery is offset by the bravery, faithfulness, compassion and love shown by the main characters. I found it a page-turner and will rate it a 5. It may remind you of Stolen Into Slavery, the True Story of Solomon Northrup, Free Black Man by Judith and Dennis Fradin. Solomon's story is also told in the film "Twelve Years a Slave," what I call a true-to-life horror story.
--------------------------------
Our Page Turners group met on Thursday. It happened to be George Washington's birthday so there was a patriotic theme with desserts featuring cherries and apples---all delish. Our group liked the book, giving it an average rating of 4.0. As always, the discussion was lively with much discussion centered around issues of race, both in the 1830's setting of the book and now. One question from the publisher that gave much food for thought was:
-Harriet Tubman
Another historical fiction, this time set in pre-Civil War U.S., Glory Over Everything is a sequel to The Kitchen House. It is the story of Jamie Pyke who, as a teenager, escapes a dangerous situation in Virginia and ends up in Philadelphia where he is aided by a former slave named Henry. Years later in 1830, he has become a well-respected silversmith known by the name of James Burton.
Most other major characters are African-American including Pan, Henry's son, who works for Burton, and Robert, another of Burton's servants who is loyal to a fault. Later the reader meets Sukey, a brave and compassionate soul reminiscent of Harriet Tubman.
The plot begins with a series of first-person narratives by James, Pan and Caroline, Burton's pregnant married lover. Each tells his/her own captivating story. When 12-year-old Pan goes missing and Henry finds out he's been kidnapped and taken south to be sold as a slave, he calls in a favor imploring James to go find him and bring him back home---a mission that James is compelled to take on although he is terrified. In Part 3, Sukey is introduced as the 4th narrator and she becomes essential to the survival of our protagonist.
This is a fast-paced story with a gripping plot. Thankfully, the brutality and hideousness of slavery is offset by the bravery, faithfulness, compassion and love shown by the main characters. I found it a page-turner and will rate it a 5. It may remind you of Stolen Into Slavery, the True Story of Solomon Northrup, Free Black Man by Judith and Dennis Fradin. Solomon's story is also told in the film "Twelve Years a Slave," what I call a true-to-life horror story.
--------------------------------
Our Page Turners group met on Thursday. It happened to be George Washington's birthday so there was a patriotic theme with desserts featuring cherries and apples---all delish. Our group liked the book, giving it an average rating of 4.0. As always, the discussion was lively with much discussion centered around issues of race, both in the 1830's setting of the book and now. One question from the publisher that gave much food for thought was:
GLORY OVER
EVERYTHING confronts many serious questions of race and prejudice. Compare
the state of race relations in the 19th century with those of the present day.
To what extent does racial prejudice persist in our country? How does James’s
anxiety as a biracial person passing as white compare to the concerns of a
person of mixed race in America today? Consider the case of Rachel Dolezal, a
white woman who claimed to be and passed as African-American.
All in our group are white and we agreed we would like to hear what people of color would have to say about the novel and in answer to the questions quoted above. We feel they would have a very different perspective.
Sunday, February 11, 2018
White Rose, Black Forest by Eoin Dempsey
"I have another joke, if you promise not to tell anyone else....What is the difference between Christianity and National Socialism? [pause] In Christianity one man died for everybody. But in National Socialism everybody dies for one man."
-John Lynch, from the novel
This is one of several very engaging novels I have received free through Amazon Prime for my Kindle. It is historical fiction which I love but also very much a suspenseful thriller. I could hardly put it down so I have to rate it a 5.
In 1943 Franka Gerber is deeply depressed over the deaths of several loved ones at the cruel hands of the Nazi regime. She is looking for a place to end her own life when she comes across an unconscious stranger lying in the snow of the Black Forest Mountains. He is wearing the uniform of the Luftwaffe and carrying identification showing he is Hauptman Werner Graf, a German airman. The man is seriously injured and Franka, trained as a nurse, cannot leave him there to die. As the two begin to find a way to trust each other, they share their stories, Franka's dating back to the 1930's and the advent of Hitler, and his to 1942. Secrets are revealed.
The story is difficult to read in parts, which is true of most set in WWII Germany. The quote I used to begin is one of the few glimpses of humor. The setting, plot and characters remind me of The Honest Spy, The Nightingale and Beneath a Scarlet Sky, all of which are reviewed in my blog. Each involves characters of admirable bravery, compassion and perseverance.
The novel builds to a breathless climax with a fitting surprise at the end.
-John Lynch, from the novel
This is one of several very engaging novels I have received free through Amazon Prime for my Kindle. It is historical fiction which I love but also very much a suspenseful thriller. I could hardly put it down so I have to rate it a 5.
In 1943 Franka Gerber is deeply depressed over the deaths of several loved ones at the cruel hands of the Nazi regime. She is looking for a place to end her own life when she comes across an unconscious stranger lying in the snow of the Black Forest Mountains. He is wearing the uniform of the Luftwaffe and carrying identification showing he is Hauptman Werner Graf, a German airman. The man is seriously injured and Franka, trained as a nurse, cannot leave him there to die. As the two begin to find a way to trust each other, they share their stories, Franka's dating back to the 1930's and the advent of Hitler, and his to 1942. Secrets are revealed.
The story is difficult to read in parts, which is true of most set in WWII Germany. The quote I used to begin is one of the few glimpses of humor. The setting, plot and characters remind me of The Honest Spy, The Nightingale and Beneath a Scarlet Sky, all of which are reviewed in my blog. Each involves characters of admirable bravery, compassion and perseverance.
The novel builds to a breathless climax with a fitting surprise at the end.
Saturday, February 3, 2018
The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
"I will take you down my own avenue of remembrance, which winds among the hazards and shadows of my single year as a plebe. I cannot come to this story in full voice. I want to speak for the boys who were violated by this school, the ones who left ashamed and broken and dishonored, who departed from the Institute with wounds and bitter grievances. I want also to speak for the triumphant boys who took everything the system could throw at them, endured every torment and excess, and survived the ordeal of the freshman year with a feeling of transformation and achievement that they had never felt before and would never know again with such clarity and elation."
-Will McLean, from the novel
Like all of Conroy's writing this novel is largely autobiographical and like all of his work I've read so far, it captured me! This is somewhat surprising since the setting is Carolina Military Institute (the fictional name for The Citadel, Military College of South Carolina) Though my husband was in the navy for a short time and his brother graduated from USMA at West Point, I had little idea what the "plebe system" was like. One still reads about the appalling hazing in college fraternities and other exclusive groups, but it is hard to believe the level of cruelty of upperclassmen to freshmen "plebes" in this military institute. Conroy attended The Citadel and I can't help but wonder how much of what he relates is what he actually experienced or witnessed. Protagonist Will McLean (who to some degree must be Conrad) at one point uses the words harassment and brutality to describe the treatment. I might go further by saying torture and savagery. We are talking violence that would earn extreme punishment if it happened in the civilian world. These passages involving Hell Night, sweat parties, the Taming and the humiliating Walk of Shame were not fun to read but absolutely engrossing.
The novel begins in 1967 with Will and roommates Pig, Mark and Tradd returning to the Institute for senior year. Flashbacks take us back to their plebe year, where the reader learns so much of what I already mentioned along with the process of bonding among the four. By June of graduation year, Will tells us there are 21 left of the 60 who were in his plebe class of 1963. Guess what happened to the other 39?
The story takes place in the 60's right around the time I was finishing high school and beginning college myself so some of the history was quite familiar. The Viet Nam War is mentioned a number of times since graduates of the Institute were too frequently dying there. Also, 1967 finds Will being assigned to look out for the first black man to be admitted to the Institute and just when you think this is a minor event, it plunges you right into the climax!
Some readers might complain Conroy's writing is verbose; the novel is some 500 pages. I would beg to differ---I call his style eloquent. He is a poet as well as an accomplished storyteller which is evidenced by his descriptions of Charleston as a beautiful city even as he recounts the ugly memories he has of his time there. Perhaps the quote I began with illustrates his lyrical prose. And on that note, you may know I start each post with a quote, usually from the book I'm reviewing. The difficulty this time was choosing one from so many lovely and profound passages.
The Lords of Discipline elicited so much emotion---I laughed aloud, I seethed, and I cried. It rates 5, for sure! I am working my way through Conroy's whole body of work---only 3 more to go.
-Will McLean, from the novel
Like all of Conroy's writing this novel is largely autobiographical and like all of his work I've read so far, it captured me! This is somewhat surprising since the setting is Carolina Military Institute (the fictional name for The Citadel, Military College of South Carolina) Though my husband was in the navy for a short time and his brother graduated from USMA at West Point, I had little idea what the "plebe system" was like. One still reads about the appalling hazing in college fraternities and other exclusive groups, but it is hard to believe the level of cruelty of upperclassmen to freshmen "plebes" in this military institute. Conroy attended The Citadel and I can't help but wonder how much of what he relates is what he actually experienced or witnessed. Protagonist Will McLean (who to some degree must be Conrad) at one point uses the words harassment and brutality to describe the treatment. I might go further by saying torture and savagery. We are talking violence that would earn extreme punishment if it happened in the civilian world. These passages involving Hell Night, sweat parties, the Taming and the humiliating Walk of Shame were not fun to read but absolutely engrossing.
The novel begins in 1967 with Will and roommates Pig, Mark and Tradd returning to the Institute for senior year. Flashbacks take us back to their plebe year, where the reader learns so much of what I already mentioned along with the process of bonding among the four. By June of graduation year, Will tells us there are 21 left of the 60 who were in his plebe class of 1963. Guess what happened to the other 39?
The story takes place in the 60's right around the time I was finishing high school and beginning college myself so some of the history was quite familiar. The Viet Nam War is mentioned a number of times since graduates of the Institute were too frequently dying there. Also, 1967 finds Will being assigned to look out for the first black man to be admitted to the Institute and just when you think this is a minor event, it plunges you right into the climax!
Some readers might complain Conroy's writing is verbose; the novel is some 500 pages. I would beg to differ---I call his style eloquent. He is a poet as well as an accomplished storyteller which is evidenced by his descriptions of Charleston as a beautiful city even as he recounts the ugly memories he has of his time there. Perhaps the quote I began with illustrates his lyrical prose. And on that note, you may know I start each post with a quote, usually from the book I'm reviewing. The difficulty this time was choosing one from so many lovely and profound passages.
The Lords of Discipline elicited so much emotion---I laughed aloud, I seethed, and I cried. It rates 5, for sure! I am working my way through Conroy's whole body of work---only 3 more to go.
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