Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey

 

"Our goal with this book is to raise awareness of wrongful convictions and in some small way help to prevent more of them. It is an effort to shine light on some of the terrible and abusive tactics used by the authorities to convict innocent people."

       -John Grisham, from the Preface

I have read two nonfictions back-to-back, both very disturbing and, at times, maddening. I am certainly ready for something lighter! 

So, after reading They Came for the Schools which was so troubling to this former teacher, why would I want to read this book? First, I am a fan of John Grisham's legal thrillers and second, the title reminded me of Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy with the same theme, which was fascinating and unsettling at the same time.

This is the first time Grisham has used a co-author. He writes in his Acknowledgments that Jim McCloskey, founder of Centurion Ministries, is one of his heroes. Each of the two authors chose 5 true stories to present, stories of innocent people imprisoned for years with almost impossible odds of release and exoneration. They include shocking instances of false testimony, racism and corruption. It is so sad that what we call the justice system is an injustice system for many. The subtitle Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions is fitting and very revealing.

These are stories of abusive, even illegal, interrogation tactics, failure to reveal exculpatory evidence, a "guilty until proven innocent" attitude, bribing of inmates to solicit false confessions of guilt, and other atrocities in the interrogation, investigation, trial and appeals processes. And these stories come from Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Missouri and Pennsylvania to name a few. They are appalling failures in our country and have cost many innocent people years of freedom and even their very lives in capital cases. Thank goodness for nonprofit organizations like Centurion Ministries and the Innocence Project which try to right the wrongs done and help the falsely accused prove their innocence and even regain their freedom! More power to them!

I rated the book a 5; it was gripping though certainly not entertaining. It was well-researched and well-written and tells an important truth about our country.

They Came for the Schools by Mike Hixenbaugh

"But the policies advanced by conservative activists like Chris Rufo and adopted by DeSantis and other Republican governors did not reflect an attempt to remove political ideology from education. Rather, they elevated ideologies favored by conservatives while minimizing or banning those they opposed. Books and lessons that applied a critical lens to the lasting influence of racism in U.S. society were prohibited; those minimizing the effects of racism were made mandatory."

    -from They Came for the Schools

This book was described at a sharing session I attended recently and had my interest right away. I have followed the assaults on public education in Florida for several years, particularly in the DeSantis era. Although Hixenbaugh started his research in Texas, he eventually addresses the situation in Florida. (See quote)

The subtitle of the book is almost a short summary: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms. The town is Southlake, TX. The "war" is essentially being fought in many states, including Florida. 

As a veteran teacher, now retired, my heart is still in education. I cannot stand the book banning, the "cleaning up" of history and the robbing of public-school monies to fund private schools with little or no accountability! The ideas in this book were totally in line with my thoughts but I learned a great deal about how this movement began.

The author, an award-winning journalist, spent some three years researching this book, including many interviews with affected students, parents, teachers and political figures. He did an amazing job and put it together with a clear and compelling style. I have rated it a 5. I can't say it was enjoyable; in fact, it was infuriating at times. But I am glad I read it, and I can only hope that many others do and that it changes some minds and hearts and eventually some policies and laws.

The Fourth Girl by Wendy Corsi Staub

"The shared burden created an irrevocable bond among the three of them that first year. Then came the first anniversary of Caroline's disappearance---the night they kept their promise and revisited Haven Cliff. The night it all fell apart."

         -from the novel

Mulberry Bay, NY---four high school "besties" on prom night in 1999. One goes missing. The other three think they know what happened to her but have been sworn to secrecy. But do they really know? Obviously, it's a mystery for the reader to solve, but not an easy one with twists and turns and some confusion, at least for this reader.

Talia, Kelly, Midge and Caroline were supposed to be best friends forever when Caroline vanishes. The 3 friends reunite on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the disappearance at Haven Cliff, the former estate of Caroline's family. Nearby a man is found dead who happens to have been the high school boyfriend of Caroline, Gordon Klatte. At first Midge, now a detective sergeant, sees the death as an accident but then she notices something that indicates foul play. And what a coincidence that this has occurred at this particular time! Is there a connection?

I am rating this novel a 3. I didn't really like it that much, but it was intriguing enough that I HAD to keep reading to find out what happened to "the fourth girl." It seems that this novel is the 1st in a series. I doubt I will look for #2.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

 

"But that's always the way; it don't make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person's conscience ain't got no sense, and just goes for him anyway. If I had a yaller dog that didn't know no more than a person's conscience does I would pison him. It takes up more room than all the rest of a person's insides, and yet ain't no good, nohow. Tom Sawyer he says the same."

     -Huck Finn, from the novel

I read this novel in my youth and again in 2011 when our Page Turners tackled The Year of (Mostly) Classics. Our average rating for the book was 4.0. I don't remember if I gave it a 4 or 5. This reading, I decided 4.

So why read this again? In February I read James by Percival Everett. It is the Huck Finn story told from Jim's point of view. Very creative! At the time I wished I had reread Mark Twain's version first. Now James is our April book selection for Page Turners so before rereading it, I went back to the original. 

It is amazing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was first published in 1885. The setting is pre-Civil War, so the evils of slavery are very evident. Huck decides to run away to escape his drunken, abusive father while the slave Jim is running from his owner Miss Watson and toward freedom, he hopes. They meet up and have some wild and crazy adventures together as they raft the Mississippi River. Huck dresses up like a girl; he and Jim meet two nefarious characters who refer to themselves as duke and king and eventually meet up with Tom Sawyer unexpectedly. Some of the most humorous parts of the story occur when Tom comes up with some convoluted ideas from his reading of European history about how to free Jim when he is captured. 

I got a kick out of the dialect and the frequent misuse/misspelling of words, like yellocution, preforeordestination, balditude and meedyevil armor. I am now rereading James to compare and contrast details. 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

 

"After a certain age, you can pretty much do whatever takes your fancy. No one tells you off, except for your doctors and your children."

     -Joyce, from the novel

This book had been recommended to me by more than one person, and it sounded like something I would really enjoy. As it turned out, I didn't really care for it; my rating of 3 is generous. Many people have liked it much more I guess, since Amazon has it at 4.3. Perhaps I was not in the mood or was focused on other things.

In this novel, 4 septuagenarians---Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, and Joyce----live in a retirement home. (I am also in my 70's and live in a retirement community and I still couldn't quite relate.) The four have formed the Thursday Murder Club and not far into the story have two murders to investigate.

By the end of the book, the mysteries were solved but I was still confused as to who did what to who and why. The plot seemed very convoluted. Also, I thought the ending was unsatisfying. I did rather enjoy the parts that Joyce narrated (see quote). They were often humorous.

This is pretty short but why spend more time on a book that was just so-so!

The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd

 

"If what Pinckney said about indigo was true, it could save us. It would save me. There was no way my father and mother would foist me off on some mean old man needing an heir. There was no way they would give the running of the plantation business to George if I was the one who made it a success and released the property from its debt. At the very least it would allow me my pick of suitors if marry I must."

                -Eliza, from the novel

Most followers of my blog know I am a fan of historical fiction. This one was the February selection for the Page Turners group. I didn't like it much at the start but soon I found there was much to enjoy and learn from. The main character, Eliza Lucas is a real historic figure of S.C. history, improving the state's economy in the mid-18th century by experimenting and successfully producing indigo, a plant used to make blue dye.

One of these days, I would like to read some biographical information about Eliza to see how much of her actual life appeared in the book. 

A couple of readers in our group rated the book a bit lower---one thought it repetitive and another thought the ending was confusing. I rated the novel a 5; I didn't find much not to like. Most of us admired Eliza's ambition and determination. She had great persistence at a time when women were devalued and seemed to be a feminist ahead of her time. I also admired her compassion toward her slaves but apparently there is some question about the accuracy of that portrayal.

To add to our discussion, a guest came to demonstrate how indigo is used to dye fabric. The process was a bit messy but not even close to the challenge Eliza faced to produce the product in her time.

This novel reminded me a bit of The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd about the Grimke sisters of SC which I enjoyed very much.

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

 

"It was a special kind of hell, Reka Muller thought, to be as old as she was and have to live among all these young women. Old women were largely invisible in the wide world, and for the most part she didn't mind. If you were invisible, you were ignored, and that meant you could do whatever the hell you wanted. But young women noticed you."

    -from the novel

I didn't much care for this book when I first began but it quickly grew on me! I have read a couple by this author in the past and enjoyed them and I found this one quite unique and intriguing.

The setting is a run-down boarding house in Washington, D.C. where several single women of greatly varying backgrounds have been brought into an unlikely friendship by newcomer, Grace March. 

The story begins at Thanksgiving, 1954, where Briarwood House is the scene of two murders! The author then takes the reader back 4 years and begins to introduce each woman with her own chapter, allowing one to wonder who did the killing and why.

We meet Mrs. Nilsson, the curmudgeonly landlady, raising her two children, Lina and Pete, poorly. And the boarders include Fliss and baby daughter (husband is a doctor overseas) and Nora Walsh, who works at the National Archives and is seeing a gangster (?). Other boarders are Reka, an artist and Bea Veretti, a former baseball player of the women's league during WWII. And we mustn't forget Claire, a library worker or Arlene, a proud member of HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) looking for a "commie" around every corner. That only leaves Grace March, renter of the attic room, who holds a deep, dark secret---but then so do some of the others.

Quinn's writing is quite readable and pleasant. I really liked the "Interstial" parts of the book, where briefly the Briarwood House gives its point of view of the goings-on.  These were amusing as in "The house would roll its eyes if it had any." I got a kick out of historical events I remember---TV shows like "Ozzie and Harriet" and "I Love Lucy," the trials of the birth control pill, and disturbingly McCarthyism and serious homophobia. I didn't know McCarthy was nicknamed Tail Gunner Joe and had forgotten that Senator Margaret Chase Smith had stood up to his bullying. (Wish we had more like her in Congress today!)

Rating: 5