The Whistler by John Grisham

"A whistleblower is a person, usually an employee in a government agency or private enterprise, who discloses to the public or to those in authority, the mismanagement, corruption or illegality or some other wrongdoing of coworkers or superiors."
      -paraphrased from The Free Dictionary by Farlex, legal dictionary section

Since The Whistler has been near the top of the Bestseller list for a number of weeks, I had to wait quite a while for my library copy. When I finally received it, I finished it in a few days---definitely a page-turner. I have been a long-time fan of Grisham and have read maybe half of his many novels. I didn't think this one was the same caliber as A Time to Kill, The Firm, The Pelican Brief and The Client, his earlier works, but it was a satisfying read anyway. I will rate it 4+.

Lacy Stoltz works for a government agency I had never heard of, the Board of Judicial Conduct, somewhat like the Internal Affairs Bureau for judges. Lacy and partner Hugo Hatch are informed by a guy named Myers of a corrupt judge who is tied to the fictionalized Tappacola Indians' casino and the "Coast Mafia" led by a conscienceless mobster named Vonn Dubose. Lacy's job is usually cut and dried and has never been dangerous until now when she and Hugo take on something of a criminal investigator's role and become targets of the mob. When the FBI gets involved, you might predict there will be a romantic interest for Lacy. There are so many characters to keep up with, I actually kept whose-who notes for a while.

The setting is Florida which surprised me a little. It seems to me Grisham's favorite setting is Mississippi but he has ventured to other parts of the south. This is the first in Florida as far as I can recall. Some of the places involved---St. Augustine and Tallahassee in particular were familiar to me.

Many of Grisham's books have become movies. I'm pretty sure this one will be added to the list and I will want to see it!

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

"Good thoughts have much to do with good rowing. It isn't enough for the muscles of a crew to work in unison, their hearts and minds must also be as one."
                                 -George Yeoman Pocock

This book was selected for our Page Turners book club after being recommended by a couple of members. I had only the tiniest bit of knowledge about the sport of rowing, only what I knew from watching the Olympics on TV. I really fought against liking the book for a good portion, telling myself I had no background for enjoying it. The author describes his writing as narrative nonfiction and I found it pretty biographical, as well. Brown spends much of the beginning in introducing the main characters, the "boys in the boat," as well as their coaches. It was somewhat tedious but absolutely necessary to making the story come alive. Brown says in his bio on Litlovers, "My primary interest as a writer is in bringing compelling historical events to life as vividly and accurately as I can." He certainly accomplished that in The Boys in the Boat.

The quote above is one of several excellent ones which begin each chapter. Pocock was the ultimate builder of rowing shells at the time of the story, the 1930's. He must have been very brilliant and perceptive, as well. His advice and counseling was invaluable to the "boys," particularly Joe Rantz, the central character. Another quote of Pocock's that struck me: "Men as fit as you, when your everyday strength is gone, can draw on a mysterious reservoir of power far greater. Then it is that you can reach for the stars. That is the way champions are made." This seems to describe the way in which the "boys" prevailed against great odds.

It was surprising to me that the book became a page-turner toward the end. After all, the reader knows from the beginning what will happen. After I finished reading the narrative of the Olympic gold-medal race in 1936, I was exhausted! I was amazed to learn there is so much more than physical strength involved in the sport of rowing and I didn't really know the importance of the coxswain and the stroke, two crucial positions in the boat. I can't wait until the next summer Olympics to watch rowing events! I will appreciate it SO much more.

I found it interesting that distance-runner Louis Zamperini is mentioned in chapter 16. He is the hero written about in Unbroken, one of our previous Page Turner selections. Also Jesse Owens is involved in the same Olympics as the "boys." I was fascinated, and horrified, by the references to Hitler's preparation for the Berlin games, especially the secreting away of the evidence of his cruelties.

In the end, though I fought against liking the book, I really did so I gave it a 5 rating. Anyone with some foreknowledge of rowing should LOVE it!
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When our group met we had a lively discussion of The Boys in the Boat. In fact one participant said he liked the book better after we talked about it. (That often happens to me.)  The average rating was 4.1 with no one giving a mark below 3. Several said the book "grew on them"; I could totally agree. One member emailed me later: "Thanks for forcing me to read The Boys in the Boat. That Daniel Brown did a great job researching and constructing it. He won me over when I was dreading having to read 300 pages about sports."

Some interesting aspects of our meeting:
One lady was going to Venice, FL after the meeting to meet a friend and hear a live presentation by the author, Daniel James Brown. What a happy coincidence!
One of our snacks was celery "shells" stuffed with cream cheese or peanut butter with a raisin "crew."
Another person had accidentally read the YA version of the book and later read the adult one. She informed us of things that were left out of the youth edition, among them the Nazi Germany references. We were surprised and disagreed with that editorial decision. Students get precious little history these days, as it is.
Only one person in the group of 16 had some experience with rowing and even she said she learned some things. The rest of us agreed that we learned so much and were impressed with the mental and physical strength, perseverance and teamwork of this underdog crew of rowers. I think most of us would recommend the book.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

"Knowing can be a curse on a person's life. I'd traded in a pack of lies for a pack of truth, and I didn't know which one was heavier. Which one took the most strength to carry around? It was a ridiculous question, though, because once you know the truth, you can't ever go back and pick up your suitcase of lies. Heavier or not, the truth is yours now."

I read The Secret Life of Bees several years ago and remembered that I really liked it. After my rereading I actually LOVE it! A rating of  5+! I just discovered that it was a debut novel for this author---an amazing start to her career. I recently read her historical fiction The Invention of Wings, which I enjoyed immensely. I am now looking for anything by this author that I have missed.

The story is told by Lily Owens,  the white 14-year-old daughter of an abusive father. She ends up running away with her nanny, a black woman named Rosaleen.  The setting of the story is South Carolina just after passage of the Civil Rights Act, providing much of the conflict, as I am sure you can imagine. Lily and Rosaleen are given refuge by the "Calendar sisters," three black ladies who run a bee business. August Boatwright, one of the sisters, is such a wonderfully loving character! When she tells Lily that "bees have a secret life we don't know anything about," Lily compares it to the secret life she is living. Although she feels safe with the Boatwright sisters, she can't bring herself to tell August of the guilt she has carried since she was four and her mother died.

I learned a great deal about bees and honey from the novel. Each chapter begins with a factual quote about bees but the care that is given them by the sisters makes them seem like charming critters. I never knew that honey is used medicinally either. The religion practiced by the sisters which hints at Catholicism with a twist, features Black Mary, another aspect of the story with which I was unfamiliar. But when Rosaleen told Lily her mother wove and sold sweet grass baskets, I could totally identify; we have one we purchased in Charleston.

This is a beautiful story of love, acceptance, forgiveness and redemption. I recommend it highly!

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!