The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt

When I picked The Children’s Book, there was a brief sigh as the other to-be-read books on my shelf (ok, shelves) all spread a bit, enjoying the new space left by this 700-page hardcover. We were going on vacation, and I was ready for a multi-generation type epic. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really thinking about the reality of lugging it around the lake, but it was worth the effort.

I will say that this book is not for everyone. I think I was especially predisposed to like it having recently seen the movie “Fairy Tale, A True Story”. The movie covers pretty much the same time period (late 1800’s through the turn of the century and World War Two). The movie and the book also take place in England, where people thought the concept of fairies, the study of Theosophy, and various other political idealogies were serious business. In other words, there were many who believed. Olive Wellwood, the matriarch in The Children’s Book, writes stories of hidden worlds and magical creatures, and she enchants everyone around her.

There are just too many characters in this story for me to give an accurate summary; there are several families involved, and their lives cross and uncross as they grow and change. But the book has everything – large happy families (where tragedy always strikes), true love, adultery, class struggles, women’s rights, and politics. There were clever plot twists, and truly beautiful images of an almost wonderland. Ironically, despite its length, I felt the ending was rushed. It seemed that a decent amount of the large cast of characters were killed off in the last hundred or so pages, in a kind of rush to wrap it up. I still didn’t care, it was a pleasure to immerse myself in this strange and lovely tale, if only for a little while.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Postscript to last week's review of Slow Love by Dominique Browning... Tonight, our last night here in Little Compton, RI the kids and I were at our favorite surf shop in town, buying hats and t-shirts and enjoying our ice cream cones when who should walk in the door looking for swim fins but Ms. Browning herself! I recognized her voice right away, introduced myself and we had a lovely little chat!

Anyway, 2 words for "Major Pettigrew" as I'm in the throws of packing, laundering and sweeping before we leave tomorrow:

Lovely book!!


See you all at home next week!

Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas and Found Happiness by Dominique Browning

This book was interesting on a few different levels. First off I became aware of it because the author, a former editor of House & Garden magazine has a house in our summer town of Little Compton, RI and a few weeks ago my sister, sister in law and i went to hear her give a 'book talk'. She writes extensively about her home and the town.

Browning, a well known magazine editor, was fired from her job (when the magazine folded) leaving her, as a divorced, working mom of 2, without a job. H&G was part of Conde Nast publications where I also worked at Self magazine for several years after college (she is not kind to the higher ups at the publishing house here). (Another connection to her was that her sister rented the house that we've been in for 23 years for part of the summer a few years back so when she mentions that her sister 'lives nearby, in town, a few miles away'.. that was sort of a kick.)

This is the story of how Browning went from going 100 mph day after day with a fabulous high profile editorship to being unceremoniously dumped. She goes through a depression, eating and drinking too much and finally ending an affair with a married man who after years of being together still remained married to his wife. When she makes the decision to leave NY behind and move up here to RI her life beings to slow down, she creates a beautiful garden, learns too cook, and takes the time to 'get to know herself' and appreciate her new life.

Her musings about being the editor of such a prestigious high end magazine and her preferred comfortable way of living was interesting and amusing: "Before I got into the home-decorating racket, I was more capable of making a home for myself, of knowing, instinctively, what made a house feel like a home. And that had nothing to do with professionalism; it had to do with a simple, effortless accumulation, over many years, of habits of living. My basic decorating rule of thumb is to create as many lovely places in which to sit and read as possible. By this time in my life, I need a certain kind of chair and a certain kind of table nearby, a place on which to prop my feet, and a kind of light that suits my eyes. I like a certain color palette. I need a kind of comfortable clutter. I like to rest my eyes on things, to remember the times I found them or the people who gave them to me. And when I'm tired of them, I box them up for storage, so that when I unpack them years later, they can surprise me once again."

Love that..

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The book is having its 50th anniversary and I'm so glad I spotted it at my favorite summer gift/book store, Partners in Westport, MA. I know for some this brings back memories of 7th grade required reading but it really is worth another pass

One of my favorite lines from a book is in this one and until I re-read it this time I'd forgotten that the first time I read it, probably in middle school, i had actually written the quote down and kept it with me. It's about an old woman who lives on Scout and Jem Finch's street whom they had to read to every afternoon after destroying her garden. After she died, from withdrawing herself of a lifelong morphine habit, their father Atticus Finch, had this to say about her:

"She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe.. son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head I'd have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her - I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all 98 pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew."

And for those who have seen the classic movie version of the book... here's a keeper.. (After Boo (Arthur) Radley saves Scout and Jem from a murderous hillbilly he sits in Jem's room in the corner watching over the injured boy):

"You can pet him, Mr. Arthur, he's asleep. You couldn't if he was awake, though, he wouldn't let you..."I found myself explaining. "Go ahead."

Boo's hand hovered over Jem's head.

Go on sur, he's asleep.

His hand came down lightly on Jem's hair.

(Movie trivia: Robert Duvall played Boo Radley in the movie)

Highly recommend reading this one!!

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Ok, so a book that is subtitled A Novel of the Plague is generally not my first pick for light summer reading. And, it was not even in my giant pile of to-be-read books, so that was a problem. But when my friend recommended it, I saw that it was by Geraldine Brooks. Before we started keeping track of these things, I read her third novel, People of the Book, and I was hooked. Until then, I would never have described myself as a fan of historical fiction, but Geraldine Brooks and a few other recent authors have begun to change my mind. I was excited after reading it, because I knew her second novel March is also on my giant to-be-read pile.

The novel tells the story of how an infected bolt of cloth from London infects a tiny mountain village in 1666. We see it through the eyes of Anna Frith, a servant, wife, and mother who lives in the village. The book follows the town over the course of the plague year, as they make the bold and unusual choice of voluntarily quarantining their village to prevent the spread to their neighboring towns. In this respect, I thought there were similar themes to The Pearl Diver, regarding how the people fared in their restricted culture, and the painful clashes it inspired.

The story is based on the real town of Eyam, Derbyshire, and Brooks went so far as to give some characters actual or similar names of the people who lived there. I was wrong about it not being a summer reading choice, because it has everything — romance, death, birth, politics, witch hunts, disease, murder, oh, and lots more death. Seriously, the story is about the plague, so you know it’s going to be a real train wreck, and, in the politics of survival, you will be expecting disaster. You will not be disappointed. At one point, I was thinking how even my husband, lover of dry non-fiction tomes, would love this book. And then, to my horror, it looked like Brooks was going to go for the sappy romantic ending. As I read on, I was happy to see the train go right off the rails again, and the story back on track. I admit, she surprised me, because, even though it would not have been right, a couple of carefree happy moments was nice for that poor godforsaken woman!

The remarkable thing for me was that, even in 1666, many of the people of this town were able to see good that came of this miserable plague — a Year of Wonders. In some way, each day they lived to tell about was a wonder, and it is inspiring and encouraging to think of my own life in those terms.

Waiting by Ha Jin

Despite my best intentions, I can never seem to keep this short, but I am going to try. I want to get an e-reader (ipad, kindle, nook, feel free to convince me ), but I also want to read all of the books on my shelf before I do. There are about 80, just waiting. At first, I plucked this book from my shelf because I had a doctor appointment, and I was hoping someone would appreciate the visual pun of me, in the waiting room, um, waiting. (nobody really did)

So, here’s the setup, from the first, perfect line. “Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife Shuyu.” Lin Kong’s parents arranged his marriage to Shuyu while he was away in medical school. She is a nice country girl, but this young military doctor in the Muji City is embarrassed by her country ways and especially by her bound feet. It is the 1970s, and girls just don’t do that anymore. For years he lives apart from her, returning once every summer to see how she and his young daughter are getting along. It isn’t until he meets Manna, a young nurse at the hospital, that things become complicated.

Ha Jin lived through the political climate of this novel, but he hasn’t made it the overriding theme. Instead, he explores his characters with a poet’s prose, revealing the intimate and ordinary details of their lives. But their lives are not poetry, and I am hurt and happy for them all, as I follow the strange path that brings Lin, Shuyu and Manna together. It was definitely worth the wait.

Tinkers by Paul Harding

This Pulitzer prize winning novel, while beautifully written with some wonderful imagery, juuuust didn't keep me interested. Maybe because it's the middle of summer and I had just finished the last of the 'Dragoon Tattoo' books. It's almost like my kids crashing from an extreme sugar high. Up up, then the fall, which isn't all that much fun.

Tinkers is the story of an old man who lays dying. In his last hours his mind goes back to his childhood as the son of a tinker, a man who sold wares from the back of a wagon to the neighboring countryside. Interspersed is his own life as a clockmaker. There is some wonderful imagery of nature here as well as heartbreaking family love and loss but I just found myself waiting for it to be over.

Maybe i wasn't able to appreciate the book because the next one on my list is one I look forward to with great glee!...
"To Kill a Mockingbird"...