The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham

 

"A lawyer in a trial facing a jury has a dozen things on his mind. Getting to trial takes meticulous preparation. There was no time to grieve, fret, fear, to feel sorry for oneself. At the age of twenty-eight, Keith was becoming a good trial lawyer, one his father would be proud of."

                 -from the novel

This is the second of Grisham's works I have read recently that I did not love. The other was Sparring Partners, a collection of novellas, and I only rated it a 3. This one was more of a page turner, so it gets a 4 rating from me. It would be classified a legal thriller involving organized crime with several despicable characters.

Keith Ruby and Hugh Malco grew up together in Biloxi, Mississippi in the 1960's. They were close in their youth, enjoying baseball and scouts together. In adulthood they had moved in totally different directions, on opposite sides of the law! Hugh follows in his mob boss father's footsteps and Keith becomes a lawyer and later a DA like his father. One might predict they would meet in court at some point. 

The writing was adept as usual, and I could easily root for Jesse Ruby and his son Keith.  I wasn't sure what to think about the ending! 

Night Angels by Weina Dai Randal

 "It struck Fengshan, the brazen core of a man's soul, the depth of a man's evil. If a malignant man like Eichmann would dare to declare his intention to annihilate many lives and demolish a consulate that provided a passage to safety, then men, men of able means, men of faith, men of righteousness, must rise to stop him. This was how it had to be, then. As long as he held the fountain pen, the seal, the power to save people, as long as he was the consul general of the Republic of China, he would sit at a desk and sign, one visa at a time, fighting for other people's lives."   

     -from the novel

I selected this as an Amazon First Read novel. I love heroic stories of WWII and the Holocaust. This one is based on a true account of the "Chinese Schindler," Dr. Ho Fengshan.

As consul general of China in Vienna, Fengshan felt great compassion for Viennese Jews after the Anschluss, or annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938. First, he felt compelled to help a close associate of his and then his wife's friend and her family, all threatened by Eichmann and his henchmen, to leave the country. He realized he could issue visas for them to relocate in Shanghai. As he realized the greater need, he issued thousands of visas over a period of two years, saving many lives. He posthumously received the title Righteous Among the Nations, an honor received by Schindler, as well.

The fictionalized part of the novel was the story of Grace Lee, Fengshan's second wife who is American, as she navigates German culture and language, deals with a workaholic husband and a stepson with whom she has not bonded and faces the horrors of the Nazi occupation. The weaving of the stories of husband and wife makes this a gripping novel. I have rated it a 5 although I am still wondering about the title of the book.

I thought it was interesting, and sad, that when the need for Jews to escape first arose, most countries refused them entry, including our own. Luckily for many, Fengshan did not take a "no" from his superiors for an answer! I was pleased that one of the countries allowing refugees was the Dominican Republic, which we recently visited on a cruise. I learned that the extremely evil Adolf Eichmann was called the "Czar of the Jews" and even more telling, "The Devil's Deputy."

                         

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult with Jennifer Finney Boylan

 

"There is one type of honey you should avoid at all costs. Mad honey comes from bees that forage on rhododendrons and mountain laurel, and it's full of poisonous grayanotoxanes. It causes dizziness, nausea and vomiting, convulsions, cardiac disorders, and more. Symptoms last for twenty-four hours, and although rarely, if left untreated, can be fatal....The secret weapon of mad honey, of course, is that you expect it to be sweet, not deadly. You're deliberately attracted to it. By the time it messes with your head, with your heart, it's too late."

         -Olivia, from the novel

Mad Honey was highly recommended to me by a friend, but she seemed to think it might not be fitting for my book club. That made me curious. I am a fan of Jodi Picoult and I wondered about the co-writer with whose name I was unfamiliar. The "Authors' Notes" were fascinating, revealing how the collaboration came about. I will try to write this post without spoilers although that will be difficult. 

The story is narrated by two women. The first is Olivia McAfee, a single mother of a teenaged son, Asher. She is involved in apiculture, or beekeeping. The other is Lily Campanello, Asher's girlfriend, who is found dead early in the novel. When Asher is found with Lily's body, he becomes a prime murder suspect.

Much of the novel describes the trial, with Olivia's brother Jordan acting as Asher's defense attorney. Very compelling!

I will say I was liberally educated on an important subject I knew little about, but I probably learned more about beekeeping than I really wanted to know.

A well-written novel, very suspenseful, with likeable characters, Mad Honey rates a 5 from me. It makes me want to look for another Picoult I haven't read! (There are several.)

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

"Some words are more than letters on a page, don't you think? They have shape and texture. They are like bullets, full of energy, and when you give one breath you can feel its sharp edge against your lip. It can be quite cathartic in the right context."

             -Sarah Brooks, from the novel

In the late 1800's/early 19's, Esme Nicoll is growing up at the Scriptorium in Oxford. Her father is a lexicographer working on the development of the Oxford English Dictionary under the leadership of Dr. James Murray, an actual historic figure. Esme's "job" as a child is to sit under the worktable and collect lost words. A very curious and precocious youngster, she soon discovers that some words are neglected or disposed of by the all-male team, especially those pertaining to women. She undertakes the project of collecting such words in a trunk which she labels The Dictionary of Lost Words.

The author adds historical context by having Esme become involved in the suffragist movement and the lead up to WWI. I very much enjoyed the Author's Note where Ms.Williams describes the facts that inspire this historical fiction. Amazon says the novel is "a deeply thought-provoking celebration of the power of words to shape the world." I agree and rate the book a 3. I look forward to the discussion by our Page Turners group in a few weeks.

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Sixteen Page Turners met to discuss this, our January selection. The average rating was 3.3, with most members finding something to like and not much to love. It was agreed there were likeable characters, especially Esme, Lizzie and Gareth. There were substantial references to historical events, making it a worthwhile read although some participants found it tedious and/or depressing. A significant amount of discussion centered on the question of words included or excluded from a dictionary and how they have changed over time. I remembered a wedding gift from one of my husband's friends was a dictionary with the inscription "If you must have words, use these." What a unique gift!