Miss Julia Inherits a Mess by Ann B. Ross

"I had to double down on my intention to stick to my own knitting and let these so-called burdens roll right off. My first responsibility was to Lloyd and Sam. Then came Lillian, Hazel Marie, and their little ones, and after them would come a number of others. To my way of thinking, I had my hands full, and I intended to remind the Lord that He'd already piled my plate quite high enough."
                              -Miss Julia's musings, from the novel

When I found this Miss Julia book on the shelf at the library I was pleasantly surprised. I thought I had read all in the series, some 17 by now, but lo and behold, I discovered two I didn't know existed! I thought I was on the author's mailing list but I guess I am out of the loop. Luckily I read this one first because the other, Miss Julia Weathers the Storm, refers to the plot of this one. Ms. Ross always seems to be able to "catch the reader up" with past episodes which would surely help anyone reading the novels out of chronological order.

Miss Julia already has several irons in the fire when she is shocked at being named executor of the will of an acquaintance. She is faced with getting rid of a houseful of furniture, as the title would imply, but also must determine how to reconcile the generous wishes of the deceased with the meager assets she's left behind. To complicate matters, a strange man shows up claiming to be a long-lost great-nephew.

Miss Julia enlists the help of a friend and a furniture appraiser to help prepare the furnishings for auction but soon a seemingly valuable cellarette goes missing. (I had to look that one up---a liquor cabinet.) Friend Etta Mae is a huge help by deciphering a mysterious note and even saving Julia from a "wild ride"! I remember she has helped Miss Julia in other plots.

Reading this novel was almost like "coming home" since the setting and characters are so familiar. It might not be my favorite of all in the series but I will give it a 5 for sheer enjoyment!

I would love it if you would leave your comments!

The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes

""Because it is a rare person, a rare person, who can contain their own pain and still give a child the support and understanding it needs. In my experience, most parents haven't got the time or the energy to make sure it happens. Perhaps they're just too selfish. But what do I know? I'm not a parent. I'm not even married. I'm just one of those unfortunate people who gets paid to pick up the pieces. "                             -teacher Constance Devlin, from the novel

I do not remember how I came to select this book for Page Turners. Maybe just an interesting title and a familiar author. At any rate, as I began reading I had second thoughts on the choice since I had a difficult time getting into the story. Too horsey, perhaps? I know next-to-nothing about horses although I do think they are beautiful creatures. About halfway through the book, it became a page-turner because I was involved with the characters and it was all about the people, not so much the horse.

Natasha Macauley is an attorney, a solicitor advocate, what we might call a guardian ad litem. She has been separated from her husband, Mac, and planning a divorce when he appears at the home they own together and moves in, supposedly on a temporary basis. Inconvenient, to say the least. Sarah Lachapelle is a 14-year-old living with her aging grandfather, an expert horseman who trains Sarah and her very special horse called Boo. When Sarah's Papa has a stroke and must be hospitalized, Sarah is taken in reluctantly by Natasha and Mac. The situation is complicated by Sarah's disappearances when she visits Papa or secretly goes to the stable to care for Boo. (It takes some time for Natasha and Mac to learn about the horse.)

When Sarah is threatened about money by Maltese Sal, the new owner of the stable, she steals from the Macauleys but still loses Boo to Sal's evil plan---he sells the horse to cover her debts. Sarah then runs away to find her horse and follow her dream. To say much more might spoil the plot.

I learned more than I wanted to know about the Cadre Noir.  It is a corps of ecuyers, or instructors, at the French military riding academy Ecole National d'Equitation at Saumer in western France, founded in 1828. It also performs as an equestrian display team. Its name comes from the traditional black uniforms worn by riders It is considered one of the most prestigious horsemanship schools in the world. [See photos]

I had no idea who Xenphon was either, except that he is quoted at the beginning of each chapter, all advice on handling horses. Wikipedia helped me there: Xenophon was a Greek historian, philosopher, soldier and mercenary who wrote a short treatise "On Horsemanship," obviously the origin of the quotes.

I am not sure I would have finished this novel if it had not been a Page Turners selection but I liked it in spite of myself. I will rate it a 4. Looking forward to hearing reactions from the group!

More after the meeting......

 

               

                                                                                      Xenophon

https://binged.it/2HyMRwJ
Above is a link to a short YouTube video of a Cadre Noir presentation.

Page Turners met today, our first outdoor meeting in quite a while. The weather was beautiful and 18 people were in attendance. The group rating for The Horse Dancer is 4.1, with most folks voting a 4. One participant is a horse owner and gave us a wonderful perspective on the realism of Sarah's bond with Boo. Two in the group were able to translate the French sentences and phrases while the rest of us figured out what we could from context. Several of us agreed it was difficult to visualize the area around London where Sarah rode on the first leg of her journey.

Our discussion was stimulating with some talk centered around the lies, deception and lack of trust in the story that built much of the plot. We thought the author developed Sarah's character quite well but left Natasha rather one-dimensional until she finally found her heart.

 

Idella Parker From Reddick to Cross Creek by Idella Parker with Bud and Liz Crussell

Idella Parker

The tenant house at Cross Creek

"It's strange to me how in those early days at Cross Creek we knew it wasn't slavery; but our life there must have been similar to plantation life. We lived crowded in the small unpainted, tin-top tenant house, with little comforts. We had to do what we were told, and we were isolated from other people. We couldn't leave the place unless Mrs. Rawlings let us use her car or truck, and we were always told what time to be back. The only difference between that and slavery, I think, was that the slaves were not paid like we were."

                 -Idella Parker

For a few years I have taught classes centered around Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. In preparation, I read several books by and about her, including one called Idella: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' Perfect Maid by Idella Parker with Mary Keating. I had found it very enlightening, showing a very different perspective of Rawlings. Recently I discovered this one, another autobiography? Well, yes, and it seems Idella's purpose was to tell more of her own story---describing her hometown of Reddick, FL, her family, her love life and the time before and after she worked for Rawlings. I will rate it a 3. I found it interesting although much of the portion about MKR, about a third of the book, was repeated to some degree from the first book.

Idella had a fairly challenging life in pre-Civil Rights north central Florida. (see quote) I didn't realize she had taught school before working for Rawlings and was a teacher of educable mentally handicapped children later. Idella's mother's reaction to Marjorie's offer of blood after Idella's surgery was quite amusing. I would have to say I learned a lot about Parker but didn't find much new material on MKR---disappointing. But I really liked that Idella maintained a relationship with Marjorie's second husband, Norton Baskin after her passing.

Frontier Eden: The Literary Career of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings by Gordon E. Bigelow

"These comic stories are a major literary accomplishment, good enough to be placed beside the best of Ring Lardner or Faulkner or the other American writers of this century who have followed Mark Twain's lead in using folk narration. The creative accomplishment is more impressive when one recalls that these stories are the product not of a "native" who grew up with the sound of cracker speech in her ear, but of a city woman who acquired that speech, having heard it for the first time when she was past thirty. She filled these stories with her own exuberance and enthusiasm for the Florida cracker way of life, her own delight in the wit, the beauty, and the vividness of the language."
                                  -the author's thoughts on Rawlings' use of dialect

I am something of an aficionado of Marjorie K. Rawlings, having read much of her writing and a number of books about her. I have performed a short monologue as Marjorie at the Orange County Regional History Center (Orlando), joined and attended conferences of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society and taught two courses involving her at Rollins College Center for Lifelong Learning. I have begun to feel she is my alter-ego.

It was not so long ago I was surprised to discover this book which I had NOT read. Published in 1966,  it has been around a while so I'm not sure how I missed it. I'm glad I read Frontier Eden (rating it a 3) but I'd only recommend it to those who are really into Rawlings. I understand the University of Florida, where Bigelow was a professor of American literature for 30 years, has quite a collection of material by and concerning MKR so it must have been quite handy for his research.

After just one chapter, the reader can tell this is a scholastic treatise, an academic critique of Rawlings' work, part of the reason for my reluctance to recommend. It reminded me of  Crossing the Creek, The Literary Friendship of Zora Neale Hurston and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings by Anna Lillios, associate professor of English at the University of Central Florida---long on information, short on entertainment value.

I knew much of the information but there were a number of quotes from MKR's work and from her letters, or correspondence she received from others, that were new to me. And, of course, it was good review. Bigelow's assessment of the curve of Marjorie's career was similar to my description: like a wave, with work before 1933 being a trough, '39 to mid-40s the crest and after that, another trough. The author states that "Two things happened to release Marjorie's literary potential---the first was her discovery of Florida (I knew THAT) and the second was her learning from Hemingway the use of the blunt declarative sentence (THAT I did not know).

Bigelow lists as Rawlings' work of highest literary value The Yearling and Cross Creek, which he calls a "pastoral idyll." Other pieces he finds especially worthy are: "Alligators," "Benny and the Bird Dogs," (one of my favorites) "Varmints" and "Cocks Must Crow." He goes on to list South Moon Under, "Jacob's Ladder," "Gal Young 'Un" and "Plumb Clare Conscience."

I do want to find and read The Sojourner after all Bigelow had to say about it. Marjorie struggled with it for 10 years, it is NOT set in Florida and certainly this author and others feel it was far from her best work. I think I need to judge for myself.

If you're interested my favorite novels of MKR are The Yearling and Cross Creek but some of her short stories are very humorous.

True Fiction by Lee Goldberg

"Maybe it all began three years ago with a group of writers gathered in a mountain cabin, making up stories. He hadn't seen the harm in it. It was all make-believe. A story never killed anyone...Until now."                     -musings of Ian Ludlow, from the novel

This was another free selection from First Reads/Amazon, the first I have read by this author and a good choice on my part. Loaded with suspense, a unique plot and dashes of humor, it was a true page-turner. I'll rate it a 4.

Does the title strike you as an oxymoron? It is but as you read you understand how it fits the story.

Suspense writer Ian Ludlow is on a tour to publicize his latest book, The Dead Never Forget, when he hears of a terrorist attack in Hawaii that seems eerily similar to a plot he had developed. He soon realizes, after a couple of close calls, that he and his escort Margo French are being targeted by the CIA...wait! What?

The plot is interrupted a few times with Ludlow's fiction featuring protagonist detective Clint Straker. Ian ends up channeling his inner Straker to help him and Margo escape multiple assassination attempts. With some help from a very eccentric (some say insane) former TV star, they bring truth to light in the end, not to mention providing Ian with another book plot, and maybe even a new job!

No doubt I will read another of Goldberg's series sometime. If you take this one on, get ready for an exciting ride!

Alex Cross, Run by James Patterson

"You know what else is true? There are evil people out there in the world. Someone has to do the work that you do, and we're all very lucky that you do it so well. But that doesn't mean you can't care too much sometimes, Alex. I think you do. And that's when I worry about you---about what this might be doing to...well, to your soul."
             -Adele Finaly, psychotherapist, from the novel

I used to read one after another of Patterson's thrillers but I finally realized they were not doing much for me. It was like "read 'em and forget 'em." And the sadistic brutality and bloodiness is very disturbing, much like the TV series "Criminal Minds" that I have long been a fan of but am now finding upsetting; I may decide to give it up in spite of my affinity for the characters.

I have read many novels of the Alex Cross series and have gotten to know and like several characters: Alex, his family and his friend and co-worker John Sampson. In this suspenseful novel, Alex is searching  for two---or is it three?---serial killers while another crazed individual is gunning for him. If that weren't enough stress, his foster daughter goes missing and he gets himself into some legal trouble.

Short chapters, foreshadowing and twists and turns of the plot all made Alex Cross, Run a true page-turner. I could hardly put it down and finished in just over 2 days. I have to rate it a 4 for entertainment but I would not consider it literature which Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines as: 

writings in prose or verse; especially : writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest

A literature professor once said that good literature teaches life lessons. Neither of these definitions fit Patterson's body of work, in my opinion. Fun to read but no redeeming social value! 

Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts

"If we mean to have heroes, statesmen and philosophers, we should have learned women."
                                              -Abigail Adams

I selected this book for March, Women's History Month. It has been on my to-read list for a couple of years at least. Followers of my blog know my favorite genre is historical fiction but may not know I am also something of a history buff; I'm particularly into 18th century American history. I teach a course called "Colonial American Life from A to Z" at Rollins College's Lifelong Learning Center, and perform a monologue as "Sarah Charleton, A Woman of Colonial America."

From that background, you might guess that I enjoyed reading Founding Mothers.... You'd be right. However, it did take a while as it is very dense in history and includes many letters and other period writings which have unfamiliar styling. Definitely NOT a page-turner but I'll rate it a 4. I'm glad I read it but I'm far from certain other Page Turners will agree. I may have selected this non-fiction too soon after Hidden Figures, our January title, which was also loaded with facts and somewhat tedious.

In Founding Mothers...Cokie Roberts submits that wives, mothers and sisters of the "Founding Fathers" played significant roles in "raising our nation." She highlights numerous women who ran businesses, raised children (and buried far too many), raised money, gave advice and information and some who even followed their husbands to military encampments. Almost all made sacrifices of time, energy, comfort, wealth and some, like Abigail Adams, spent months and years without their spouses who were serving in Europe, Philadelphia or in the army. I was aware of some of the featured women from previous reading and research---Martha Washington, Abigail Adams and to a lesser degree, Eliza Pinckney. Many others I knew almost nothing about---Kitty Greene, Lucy Knox, Mercy Otis Warren and more.

I have long admired the relationship of John and Abigail Adams since seeing the film (and later the stage musical) of "1776." If you enjoy this book and haven't seen it, you simply MUST!

Although the author makes the effort to chronologize the stories of these women, it is not always possible and she ends up with a good bit of overlap and repetition. Ms. Roberts adds occasional personal comments which are humorous.

In reading Founding Mothers one cannot help but think of the phrase that begins "behind every great man..." but in the 80's the Eurythmics sang in "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves":

Now, there was a time,
when they used to say,
that behind ev'ry great man,
there had to be a great woman.
But oh, in these times of change,
you know that it's no longer true.
So we're comin' out of the kitchen,
'cause there's something we forgot to say to you.
We say, Sisters are doin' it for themselves.

I am looking forward to our Page Turners' meeting. More after that...

----------------------------------------------
Seventeen of us attended our Page Turners meeting today to discuss Founding Mothers. The average rating was 3.1 with mostly 3's, only one 5 and a few 2's. We did have a lively discussion using the publisher's questions. Those who read the entire book agreed that we learned a lot and even "met" some ladies we knew nothing about. Some negative comments were: wordy, repetitive, too much overlap of information. One person said she liked the content but thought the structure got in the way. We were all impressed with what women were able to accomplish back in the day with so few rights and privileges. Their stories are inspiring, to say the least!

(BTW I have promised to put more space between the nonfictions the rest of the year!)