Benjamin Franklin's Bastard by Sally Cabot

"Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones."

              -Benjamin Franklin

I am something of an American history buff and especially enjoy the colonial and revolutionary periods. I have seen the musical "1776" several times and very much enjoy how our founding fathers are portrayed in it. I have always found Benjamin Franklin to be a fascinating character, a man of many talents.

There is a line in "1776" about Franklin's son, who at that time was the royal governor of New Jersey, in which Franklin refers to him as the "bastard." I don't believe I knew that he meant it literally. The novel cover has a subtitle that reads "A father, a son, and the women who loved them" and that is a pretty good summary. Anne is a prostitute, mother of Franklin's illegitimate son, William, and Deborah is Franklin's wife who ends up helping to raise William.

I watched a television show about Benjamin Franklin at the same time I was reading the novel and it was very enlightening, corroborating some of the history in the novel and revealing some of the fiction. For example, it seemed that Franklin did have a weakness for women throughout his life, though there is little proof of their identities. One of the main characters in the novel is Anne, who the author admits is fictionalized, and of course the TV show didn't mention that name. One important fact revealed in both was the closeness of father and son in the early years and the irreparable rift in the relationship caused by the American revolution when William remains a staunch loyalist while Ben becomes one of the greatest patriots.

I am rating this novel a 4. I enjoyed it very much and though I discovered more of Franklin's "bad habits" he is still one of my American heroes!

Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

"I have been moving in slow motion, waiting for an inevitable ax to fall, listening to testimony as if these witnesses are discussing the destiny of a stranger. But now, I feel myself waking. The future may unfold in indelible strokes, but it doesn't mean we have to read the same line over and over. That's exactly the fate I didn't want for Nathaniel...so why should I want it for me?"
               -from the novel, page 298

A friend read this novel and recommended it to me. I have read a few of Jodi Picoult's books and they were definitely "page turners." This one did not disappoint!

Picoult's books often have disturbing themes. Perfect Match is no exception. In fact much of the story about the sexual abuse of a child is difficult to read. ADA Nina Frost finds out what a mother is capable of when her child is hurt. It might give any of us who are parents or grandparents cause to think what WE might do in the face of such trauma to a loved one. At a crucial point near the end of the book, Nina admits to an act which was completely out of character for her, ending with "...I knew exactly what I was doing. And at the same time, I was crazy. Love will do that to you."

I would rate the book a 4. Picoult is a talented writer and I was completely drawn into the plot but I cannot say I really enjoyed it due to the darkness of the subject.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

"People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see."
                                          -the man in the grey suit, page 28 of the novel

I enjoyed The Night Circus. I hadn't read a true fantasy in quite a while and it was refreshing to "suspend my disbelief" and enter an illusory world. Not all the Page Turners book club agreed with me. In our discussion there were varied words to describe the novel: creative, confusing, enchanting, dream-like and even tedious. Someone said it reminded him of a fairy tale. The group voted a rating of 3.8 out of 5, with individual ratings from 5 to 2. I personally voted a 4. Most of us agreed that the book was well-written; the story just wasn't everyone's cup of tea. Many of us do not read much fantasy and perhaps our imaginations get rusty! Some in our group just found the changes in narrative perspective and the non-linear sequence difficult to follow.

I found myself comparing the book to the Harry Potter series, which I loved. I am in awe of writers who can invent a whole different world and then make us feel we have entered it for a time. I thought the characters were well-developed and interesting. I identified with Celia most, understandably. Perhaps a male reader would favor Marco. These are the two main characters pitted in a competition that even they don't understand until late in the story.

If you enjoy fantasy and can follow the action, you will like The Night Circus.

Murder at the Library of Congress by Margaret Truman

"An author whose inside knowledge of Washington is matched by her ability to spin a compelling mystery plot."
                             -a review from Crime Times

We had a tour of Washington D.C. planned when I noticed this book on a shelf in the library. I wasn't looking for it but it just sort of found me. I started reading, hoping we would get to the Library of Congress although it was not on our itinerary. And what do you know? On the last day, something was cancelled and we ended up at the Library after all! Such a stunningly beautiful building! It was interesting to see the main reading room, really the only part mentioned in the book that was visible on a short tour.

I had read one other mystery by Margaret Truman and enjoyed it. This one was quite entertaining, as well, with a many-faceted plot including more than one murder and the theft of a painting. I liked the main character, Annabel Reed-Smith, an artist/writer researching an article on the diaries of Bartholome de Las Casas. He was a 16th century explorer who sailed with Columbus and may have kept his own diaries which, if found, would be extremely valuable historically. This history mystery was intriguing to a history buff like myself. With the elements of history, the sleuthing of a shocking murder AND mention of places I was visiting at the time, what was NOT to like about this one? I would give it a 4.

All Around the Town by Mary Higgins Clark

"East side, west side,
All around the town,
The tots sang 'Ring-a-Rosie,'
 'London Bridge is Falling Down.'
Boys and girls together,
Me and Mamie O'Rourke,
Tripped the light fantastic,
On the sidewalks of New York."
                         -lyrics from "The Sidewalks of New York"

This Mary Higgins Clark was as good as any other of hers I have read. She is appropriately called "The Queen of Suspense." Clark is one of my go-to authors when I just want to enjoy a thriller and not think too hard. Our Page Turners group tends to read literature with more challenging plots and more profound themes so an easy read like this is refreshing at times, just mindless fun. Most of Clark's novels are centered around a song, often oldies, and this one is no exception. If I ever hear "The Sidewalks of New York" again it will probably give me goose bumps! And I never want to see a decapitated chicken!

Two sisters are the main characters, one a lawyer and one a troubled young lady with multiple personality disorder. The second sister, Laura, finds herself accused of a murder and the older sister, Sarah, takes on the task of defending her. Short chapters and a gripping plot made this book a true "page turner"---I could hardly put it down! I would give it a 5.

The problem for me with books like this is they are not very memorable and there is really no redeeming social value that I can see. A couple of weeks from now I will have forgotten much of it. It was a great ride while it lasted!

The House I Loved by Tatiana De Rosnay

"I think of our happiness, I think of the happy, simple life that is woven through these walls, the fragile tapestry of our existences. I think of the long, tall windows glowing out to me into the night when I used to make my way home from the rue des Ciseaux, a warm, beckoning light. And there you used to stand, waiting for me. I think of our doomed neighborhood, the simple beauty of the little streets stemming from the church that no one will remember."
                                           from Rose's letter, the novel, page 220

I chose this book for our Page Turners group to read and discuss this month because some of us had read Sarah's Key by this author and loved it. Also the novel was available as a Book Bundle, multiple copies from our public library. It did not disappoint me. I can't really say I liked it quite as much as the other but I did enjoy it.

The time and place were not terribly familiar to me---Paris in the mid-1800's. European history is not a strength, to say the least. The story takes place at a time when Napoleon III and his prefect, Baron Haussman, are carrying out a plan to modernize Paris. The whole plot is carried by letters written by the main character, Rose Bazelet, to her late husband, Armand, centered around the possible destruction of their family home. Occasionally letters TO Rose from Armand, her late son, her daughter, brother, mother-in-law, and friends appear, some providing flashbacks and revealing much about the characters.

I believe the clearest theme of the book is reaction to change. It is interesting to get into the heads of those who see the "progress" or "improvements" others are making as destructive and sad.

My favorite parts of the novel are when Rose is introduced to flowers by Alexandrine and to books by Zamaretti, particularly the description of Rose's first experience with a "page turner," Madame Bovary by Flaubert (see pp.147-50).

I look forward to hearing what my friends thought of The House I Loved. I will rate it a 4. In the Author's Note we are told just where to go and what to look for if we should go to Paris. Wouldn't it be lovely if our group could take a field trip there?

***
Our group met today and gave The House I Loved mixed reviews. The average rating was 3.0 but 4 people of 12 gave it a 2 and there was only one rating of 5. During the discussion, several members commented on what they thought was a lack of character development. None of us could relate to Rose's obsession with the house. Those of us who have also read Sarah's Key by this author agreed it was a much better read than The House... Luckily one member provided mini-quiches and petit fours as refreshments! Another member sent us background on the setting of the story from an encyclopedia and even shared with us the poem that Rose particularly liked.
The group thought my idea of a field trip to Paris sounded great. Now we just have to come into bundles of money to make that happen!

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

"She was embarassed that her five-year-old was asking questions that had not occurred to her. But she refused to be first in the long line of people who would shrug him off. 'We'll have to look that up.'.....Googling a butterfly. It sounded comical, like tickling a catfish, but she knew it wouldn't sound that way to Preston. He would clamber up to the computer at Bear and Hester's and punch the keys, finding what he needed in there. Having children was not like people said. Forget training them in your footsteps; the minute they put down the teething ring and found the Internet, you were useless as a source of anything but shoes and a winter coat."
                                                       -from the novel, page 93



I chose to read Flight Behavior because I saw it on the Best Seller list a few months back and because I had read The Poisonwood Bible by this author several years ago and liked it. I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much; I will rate it a 3. The writing is excellent, though wordy at times. She can really turn a phrase, for example when the main character, Dellarobia, is describing her young daughter scattering Cheerios in the living room carpet as if she were planting seeds, she writes that the resulting grit on the soles of everyone's feet will be "like a beach vacation minus the beach, and the vacation." Humorous, I thought.

I had a hard time relating to the setting, a farm in Tennessee. Dellarobia's family raised sheep which I knew little or nothing about. Because of these things, it was somewhat difficult to identify with the characters. The science got a little deep for me at times also, understandable since the author studied biology and worked as a scientist. I was intrigued by the appearance of the monarch butterflies, seen by some in the story as a miracle. I especially loved the idea first put forth by Josefina, the little Mexican-American girl, that when babies die, their souls become butterflies. A lovely idea!

I absolutely could relate to the environmental theme of the story. Global warming is something that I believe is real and it greatly concerns me. Quite possibly this is what kept me reading to the end.