Walker's Island by K. J. Radebaugh

"But mostly he thought of Walker's Island, of its wealth of land and water and cattle, of all that he could be there, and all that he could become. Sometimes he even dreamed about it, and woke smiling and content, only to see the sun rising over the field behind the Winters' house. At those moments, he would think he was dying of homesickness, consumed by a yearning for something he could not name, but that would not let him rest."
           -Raymond's musings from the novel

I probably would never have read this novel if it had not been recommended by one of the adult students in my class called Florida: A Land Remembered. Apparently the student thought there were interesting comparisons to be made between Walker's Island and Patrick D. Smith's A Land Remembered. And indeed there were. I will outline a few along with some differences I noted.

Although both novels begin in 1860's Florida, A Land Remembered spans over 100 years, while this one covers only about 33. Walker's Island involves a couple of generations of Pennells while A Land... features 3 generations of the Mac Ivey family. The early cattle industry is central to both stories and historical figure Jacob Summerlin, "the Cattle King," is mentioned several times.

Many challenges of being a Florida pioneer are described in detail---mosquitoes, stampedes, floods and post-Civil War raiders---in both novels. In Walker's Island the women do not go on the cattle drives as they sometimes do in A Land...  However, Walker's Island has more female characters and more sexual references, even a shotgun wedding. Both books feature a good bit of violence with Tate Rainey and gang as primary antagonists in ....Island.

I rated A Land Remembered a 5 but Walker's Island only a 3 for the following reasons. I really didn't like it at first and wasn't sure why but the writer's style grew on me. The editing was not the best since I came across several errors---the curse of a spelling/grammar geek. The characters were not as memorable or likeable. My followers know historical fiction is my favorite genre and Florida history is a passion. Therefore I am glad I read Walker's Island, even though it doesn't measure up to A Land Remembered. I would recommend it only to Florida history buffs like myself.

The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie Flagg

"Oh my, thank you, Lordor, but I'm afraid this is just one of those times when mere words are just not adequate. It's certainly beyond beautiful or euphoric. I would say 'sublime' is the only word that comes close, and even that doesn't capture it. All I can say is it's a feeling you never dream existed, and it just keeps going."
             -Katrina Nordstrom, from the novel

What do you think heaven will be like? The folks at Still Meadows cemetery in Elmwood Springs Missouri try to let us in on it in this novel. In fact, the quote above is from one of the "heavenly" residents who is describing it for a new arrival. It may seem a bit far-fetched but the images are pleasant enough.

The Whole Town's Talking begins in 1889 with the arrival in America of young Swede, Lordor Nordstrom. He makes a home and begins building a dairy farm in Missouri. He finds a mail-order wife, starts a family, becomes successful and is beloved by the town he has founded, Elmwood Springs. His legacy is carried on throughout the story. The novel is laid out in decades all the way up to 2016, and beyond. Interestingly a lot of American history and culture come into play for example women's suffrage, Lindbergh's flight, Bonnie and Clyde, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, etc. In the WWII era, it was interesting that Ms. Flagg tied in the WASPs that she had written about in detail in a previous novel The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion. (An excellent one, I must say!)

There were an awful lot of characters to keep up with here---family and townsfolk over many years. When they died you still had to keep track of them because they were still around "in spirit." And then there's the mystery of why some of the deceased in Still Meadows disappeared. You must keep reading to learn! I am rating this one a 4. I really liked it but not as much as most of Flagg's other work. I'd be interested to know what YOU think of the ending!

Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor

"Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by?
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky."
        from "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" by Ada R. Habershon

Since my discovery of a series of books by Mildred Taylor while teaching fifth grade, she has become one of my favorite authors! By far the best, and even a Newbery Medal winner (1977) was Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, an historical novel about a black family in rural Mississippi during the depression. It is a powerfully moving story that will make you laugh and cry and give you goosebumps. I read it aloud so many times to my students, I knew what was coming and my stomach would start churning or I would get a little choked up. The racism is pretty intense, but realistic, I think, and the upside is how the Logan family survives it all. The Horn Book says this: "The fear, cruelty, and the bewildering injustice of a hopelessly racist society are transcended by a family's strength, self-respect and determination."

Let the Circle Be Unbroken is the first sequel, a continuation of the Logan family saga, with similar themes and a few added characters and situations. For example, friend T. J. goes to trial for a crime that occurred in Roll of Thunder...., cousin Suzella passes for white and beloved neighbor Mrs. Lee Annie is determined to register to vote. The last two characters were introduced in this sequel along with some union men trying to enlist farmers, white and black, to fight back against the unjust system of government controls.

I was rereading this novel for the first time in quite a while and found it a page-turner since I had forgotten some of the details. It gets a 5 rating from me, along with anything else written by Mildred D. Taylor!

The Death of Santini by Pat Conroy

"Though I had written my novel as a way of trying to save myself, the screams of the hurt boy I had been still echoed in the deep well he fell in when I became a man. The stories I hadn't told or was afraid to tell were the ones that were killing me. My course and my history as a writer were now set in granite---my work would be father-haunted and emotional enough to ward off these exhausting bouts of madness."
                                   -Pat Conroy in The Death of Santini

I may be repeating myself but Pat Conroy has recently become one of my favorite authors. I read The Great Santini several months ago and was intrigued by the story and captured by the beauty of the writing. Most of Conroy's writing involves his dysfunctional family, in fact he is quoted by John Berendt in Vanity Fair: “One of the greatest gifts you can get as a writer is to be born into an unhappy family. I could not have been born into a better one....I don’t have to look very far for melodrama. It’s all right there.” This is probably why his work seems so realistic and compelling---he has experienced most of the characters, settings and events.

The Great Santini is thinly disguised fiction, with the main characters being Conroy's family with changed names, e.g. Marine fighter pilot Colonel Don Conroy is the abusive father Bull Meecham. On the other hand, The Death of Santini is noted as fiction on the copyright page but seems very autobiographical to me. In the latter, the author tells about the aftermath of the first Santini novel as well as relating background and inspiration for his other books. He tells of his teaching experience on Daufuskie Island about which he wrote The Water Is Wide. (As a former teacher, I found it extremely touching and inspirational.) Conroy describes his time at the Citadel, happenings in the lives of his siblings, his own depression and breakdowns (see beginning quote) and the deaths of his parents with vivid emotion. The story of his grandmother, Stanny, and friend Bernie visiting the graveyard is a humorous interlude.

While it is unpleasant to read of children growing up in an abusive home, Conroy's authentic voice and stellar crafting of language make the story irresistible. His lush prose is lyrical in parts, particularly when describing his coastal South Carolina home. I will rate this book a 5. It has made me wish to see "The Great Santini" and other movies based on Conroy's work and I have decided I will read every book in his repertoire. I have a few to go!

Page Turners' Books 2016

PAGE TURNERS’ BOOKS 2016

4.8       The Invention of Wings                      October

4.7       The Light Between Oceans                 November

4.2       Caleb's Crossing                                 August

4.1       Elephant Company                             April

3.9       The Wright Brothers                           February

3.7       The Space Between Us                       March

3.6       Circling the Sun                                  May

3.4       Girl on the Train                                  January

3.4       Live by Night                                      July

3.3       By Its Cover                                        September

3.2       State of Wonder                                  July

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (translated from French by Allison Anderson)

"Madame Michel has the elegance of the hedgehog: on the outside, she's covered in quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside, she has the same simple refinement as the hedgehog: a deceptively indolent little creature, fiercely solitary---and terribly elegant."
                    -Paloma Josse, from the novel

With a trip to Paris coming up, I selected this book which is set in "the City of Lights." The plot sounded intriguing enough and it was available in paperback from Amazon. All I can say is, it was VERY challenging for me. I was not surprised to learn that it was written by a philosophy professor! A person I met on the trip had read the book and encouraged me not to quit. She said the ending was worth it and I'll admit I'm glad I stuck with it to the end.

The novel has two protagonists and the story alternates between them in first person narratives. The first is Madame Renee Michel, concierge of what is called an elegant hotel, but what seems to me to be more like a condominium. She appears to the hoity toity residents as a common person but secretly is an autodidact. I had to look that up: it means self-educated. The second is Paloma Josse, a super smart 12-year-old, who is planning to commit suicide on her 13th birthday. The reason still isn't very clear to me. Paloma's chapters are somewhat like diary entries or advice columns. Both characters express very profound thoughts. (No problem finding worthy quotes!) Fortunately Paloma adds some humor occasionally.

The book was entirely too transcendental for me. It required too much concentration at a time I needed lighter reading. The characters must have been somewhat engaging though---by the end I was rooting for them both! I rate it a 3.

The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman

"Oh what a tangled web we weave,

When first we practise to deceive!"

                           -from Marmion, a poem by Sir Walter Scott, Scottish author & novelist 

                             

What a page-turner this was! The plot was unique and spellbinding with characters just complicated enough by their emotional baggage. I had chosen this novel for our Page Turners' November read because the film version was just being released, it had been a best-seller for some time and it could be found in paperback. Also one of our members had recommended it. It did not disappoint! I am rating it a 5.

Tom Sherbourne, a decorated war hero, takes a position as light keeper on Janus Rock, a remote island off western Australia. Soon after, he marries Isabel Graysmark. For a time they are deeply in love and very happy in their isolated life but after two miscarriages and a still-birth, Isabel becomes an emotional basket case. Not long after the third devastating loss, Tom and Isabel hear an infant's cry and discover a boat has washed up on shore and it contains a dead man and a live baby. Isabel quickly sees this child as God's gift to them to make up for their losses and begs Tom not to report it. An inveterate rule-follower and stickler for details, Tom goes against his better judgement and gives in to his wife. They bury the dead man and begin to bond with this foundling child they call Lucy. 

The quote with which I began the post will hint that the future will not be a rose garden for this family and when, at Lucy's christening, Tom and Isabel become aware that a young widow of the church has lost a husband and a baby, the reader is quick to discern the dead man in the boat was her missing husband and Lucy, the lost infant. I cannot say much more without spoiling the plot so I will end my commentary here.

----------------------------------

When our book club met, we had a smallish group. The change of regular meeting day caught some out of town and others with Wednesday conflicts. We had a wonderful discussion of The Light Between Oceans with everyone having liked the book. The average rating was 4.7, one of our highest of the year. One of our members had visited the area in Australia used as the setting and said it made the descriptions more meaningful for her. We all admitted we learned a lot about lighthouses and their keepers and even thought it would be interesting to follow up with a "field trip" to a local lighthouse. (Florida has many!) It was mentioned that isolation was a big factor in the story and that themes of family dynamics, making tough choices in life and the importance of forgiveness were compelling. We were amazed this novel is the author's first and will eagerly await her next!