These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

Growing up and watching shows like "Little House on the Prairie" I remember thinking I would never have survived that life.  Just cooking or doing the laundry looked like a monumental undertaking and this was a television show!  Undoubtedly, the reality of life as a settler or homesteader was certainly more difficult and intense than anything Hollywood could dream up.  Nancy Turner gave us just such a story in her novel These Is My Words a semi-biographical retelling of her relative Sarah Prine.  Based on the diary Sarah wrote between the years of 1881-1901 the life of this extraordinary young woman was given to us in her own words.  The tale begins as Sarah and her family traveled across the southern regions of the Arizona territory seeking a new life.  The trials they faced were daunting to say the least--Indian attacks, harsh weather, wild and dangerous animals, criminal and amoral men and few if any friendly people were their reality.  The resilience of Sarah is the heart of the story.  We watch her grow from a backwards girl to an entrepreneurial frontier woman.  She taught herself through reading any book she could find and was eventually able to earn the equivalence of a high school degree.  She created a business that allowed her to buy land and cattle and eventually a luxurious life for the time.  She protected her family fiercely and earned the respect of all those she encountered and the love of a rugged, Army captain.  Sarah's life was not easy, but she met it with enthusiasm and determination and she never bowed down to forces that could easily have caused her give up or break down.  I truly admired this pioneer woman.  She is the woman I would want to be if I had lived in this wild, untamed time in our country.

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

Loneliness is something we have all felt at one time or another in our lives, but usually it is a short term condition.  But as we get older the likelihood of finding ourselves alone becomes more of a reality.  We would all like to have a quick, surefire fix to this problem, but it is not that easy.  When we find ourselves without a partner or a confidant we sometimes face a soul wrenching loneliness that seems to have no solution or end.  Kent Haruf in his last novel, Our Souls at Night, writes of this very situation in the lives of his character, Addie and Lewis.  Both of their spouses have passed away and they have been alone for some years.  In an act of sheer determination to change her life and a kind of defiance of cultural norms, Addie suggest to Lewis that they change their plight, that they choose not to be alone.  She ask him to come to her house and sleep with her every night so that they would not have to face those long, dark hours by themselves.  This decision sets into motion the plot of this story.  The happiness that grows between the characters is wonderful to see.  The healing that it brings to their lives and to others with whom they interact (like Ruth the elderly neighbor and Jamie, Addie's grandson) make for warm feelings and uplifted souls.  Unfortunately, Haruf's novel also highlights the realities of dealing with adult children and family dynamics.  The outcome of these conflicts in the story leave readers amazed by the cruelty of people who have inflexible ideas of how people should act as they age regardless of their desires or their happiness. The ending of this novel is not what most would want it to be, however, it is interesting to note that as Haruf was finishing the novel his wife persuaded him to soften the ending to some extent.  We readers are left with some hope.  Interestingly, Haruf wrote this novel in a few short months after being diagnosed with terminal cancer; it seems this book was his parting message to those he left behind.  We are lucky to have this last piece from a prominent America writer to remind us of what we should stand firm for as we age.  Happiness is a gift that is not to be taken lightly or put aside just because it might not be what others' preconceived ideas demand.  Time is short so we must "seize the day."

Crow Lake by Mary Lawson

Most people's lives run a normal course.  We move through our youth with normal growing pains but nothing too overwhelming.  We walk through adulthood with trials and strains, but generally with little tragedy that is unexpected.  We reach our senior years and reflect back on our lives and for the most part feel a sense of satisfaction and even pride in our achievements.  We know, however, that not every life unfolds without problems.  Some people have tragic stories to tell.  Mary Lawson's, Crow Lake,  is such a tragic tale.  What began as a normal childhood is shattered into near chaos for Kate, the narrator of the novel.  When Kate is 7 years old her parents are killed in a car accident and she and her three sibling's life path is forever altered.  The story of Kate's life is framed by her two brothers and her baby sister but also by her small Canadian farm community.  Kate's trauma colors her every decision.  She clings desperately to her brother, Matt, and bases her life choices on her belief in the grand plan that Matt designed for their lives. Unfortunately, when this "plan" falls apart, Kate pulls away from her family believing that she can never truly connect with them again because they have all been left behind in their small world and she has gone on to earn an education and position in the outside world.  In the end she discovers that her life and her family's lives have actually become "normal" despite the trauma of their early years.  The tragedy of their youth did not in the end destroy them. Life has a way of working out the problems that seem to be insurmountable.  Lawson deftly draws us to the realization that we can make the choice to accept the ups and downs that we encounter, that we can find joy in our circumstances and that we can love the time we have with our loved ones instead of struggling to find answers to questions that will certainly confront us.  It seems in the end, she wants us to choose happiness and let go of what we cannot control.  Good advice for us all!

Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

Pat Conroy's Prince of Tides, is a love story, but it is not a love story that leaves the reader feeling a "warm chocolate and wine" coziness at the happy ending.  Nothing could be further from the outcome of the characters of this novel.  Narrated by Tom Wingo, a "normal" southern gentleman, we are led slowly through the twisted, painful lives of the three Wingo children.  Raised by an abusive father and a devious, self-absorbed mother, the three Wingos spiral toward their damaged adult lives with little to protect them from their upbringing.  Tom reveals their traumatic lives through alternating scenes that flashback to childhood memories and his sessions with his sister, Savannah's, psychiatrist Dr. Lowenstein.  Readers will be horrified by the grisly rape of Tom, Savannah and their mother by escaped convicts and by the senseless shooting of their brother, Luke, after his pointless attempt to stand up against the government take over of their island home and town.  It is Tom's decision to reveal the "secrets" that have been buried for so long that finally allows him some healing.  It is also this revelation that bonds him to Lowenstein and opens the door to true love and  their affair.  But there is no typical happy ending for this story.  Tom decides he cannot stay with Lowenstein but that he must return to his wife and children in order to create a new narrative for the Wingo family.  He chooses to stay true to his southern roots and the values that he so strongly believes in.  In the end their is some healing for these broken people.  Given all the drama of the storyline, it is amazing that in reality Conroy's writing style is the true star of this book.  He adds so much detail that the reader can virtually smell the salty low-country marshes; we can feel the love/hate relationships held by mother and son; we can understand Tom's need to forego his love for Lowenstein and return to his family.  This was a beautifully written book that sweeps you along in it poetic prose and makes you long for more. 

Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

It seems when people are at their lowest points, they look for and find a hero to lift their spirits and take their minds off their own hardships.  We seem to be overrun with superheroes currently.  Marvel comics is a growing industry; the world it seems is in dire straights and needs to be rescued, maybe from itself.  Throughout our country's history, we have had many threatening events but the one that still connects to us is the Great Depression of 1929.  Even though we did not live through this time period, our parents and grandparents did and we felt their pain and witnessed their fear in all likelihood.  During this critical time there were many well know heroes especially in sports.  People have long remembered such heroes as those in baseball or boxing and even an Olympic hero, Jesse Owens.  Daniel Brown in his book Boys in the Boat, has revealed the little known story of the eight man rowing team from Washington University who, against all odds, won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics in German.  These young men clearly embodied the rise of the underdog to vanquish insurmountable foes.  They were never seen as the standard within the rowing community that for the most part was reserved for the elite of the Iv y league schools.  Not only did these eight men beat the beat America had to offer, but they defeated the furor's team which represented the white, pure Arian race of the Germany of WWII.  Brown did a masterful job of integrating the story of the Washington team into a fact filled explanation of German preparation for the 1936 Olympics where their intent was to show Germany as a progressive, modern world leader.  Brown obviously was inspired by the story of this rowing team and as often. happens, in telling this tale, he inspired us with real life heroes to be sure.

The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian

The world is filled with horrible tragedies, terrifying calamities, even despicable people, but most of us learn of these truths through the long distance range finder of the evening news or social media.  Generally, I respond to the horrors of the world with sadness and despair, but the sad truth is that when the next news story is presented it whisks away my distress and I literally put the sadness out of my mind.  My "life" is unaffected.  In Chris Bohjalian's novel, The Guest Room, the main characters are not able to turn away from their real life crisis.  The storyline centers around a bachelor party that goes dangerously, murderously wrong.  The hired "strippers" arrive with bodyguards and it quickly is apparent that these two girls are willing to do much more than take their clothes off.  The party descends into total debauchery and then, chaos breaks out.  The girls suddenly and startlingly manage to kill both bodyguards, gather the men's wallets and money and leave.  From this point forward, nothing was ever the same for any of these people.  From this point forward, no one who reads this novel will be the same either.  Bohjalian uses the characters Alexandra, one of the strippers, to tell the story of the girls who were kidnapped when they were very young and forced into the sex slave "business".  He uses Richard, the older brother of the bachelor and host of the party, to tell the story of the men at the party and the women (wives, fiancés, daughters) in their lives.  Alexandra's story breaks the hearts of those who read it.  Richard's story angers, terrifies, exasperates, disgusts but generally leaves the reader with more questions than we can answer and more emotional turmoil than can easily be dealt with.  The novel forces us to think about the very real, very painful consequences that these characters must deal with but it also challenges us to think about how we respond to the realities of the world that are completely transparent but that we generally ignore.  I cannot say that I enjoyed this book.  I can say that I have lain awake at night thinking about it.  Perhaps, that is the result that Bohjalian was trying to reach in the end because each of us individually cannot fix the problems of the world, but each of us can recognize that we have a responsibility to speak up and stand up for what is right.

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

To describe the main character in Pulitzer prize winner, Elizabeth Strout's novel, My Name is Lucy Barton, as being lonely is a huge understatement.  The narrator and protagonist is possessed by the deep, all encompassing desperation to be loved and to feel connected to the people who fill her life. Lucy wants, even as an adult, to feel that she is accepted and that she is safe.  She has managed to escape her pitiable childhood through sheer force of will and her understanding that education is her only ticket out of abject poverty.  Lucy finds, however, that she cannot escape her deep feeling of isolation brought on by the prejudice she lived with in her small hometown and her ingrained sense of worthlessness promoted by her emotionally stunted mother and emotionally damaged father.  Despite the fact that Lucy has managed to succeed in many ways, she has never been able to develop the emotional bonds she sees in other people.  This novel, though relatively short, opens the door to conversations about the isolation brought on by the shame of poverty, the struggles of post traumatic stress syndrome, the fight against prejudice and ridicule. Perhaps even more heartbreaking is the author's uncovering of the unbearable recognition of the mistakes we all make in our relationships with our children and parents, husbands and wives, even brothers and sisters.  Elizabeth Strout has been described as an author who writes fiction with the "condensed power of poetry."  Her mastery of story telling is clearly on display in her novel My Name is Lucy Barton.

The Crimson Shore by Lincoln Preston and Douglas Childs

Several years ago a wonderfully horrifying movie entitled "The Relic" was released. It was based on a novel by the writing duo of Preston and Childs.  The storyline was twisted and unique and invited a thorough reading of novels by these authors.  Through the years Preston and Child have written many delicious mysteries and a series centered around the character, Aloyius Pendergast.  A modern day Sherlock Holmes, Pendergast is a brilliant yet eccentric sleuth who works as an adjunct agent of the FBI.  The Crimson Shore begins as a seemingly simple theft of a valuable wine collection.  The tale spirals down as a 100 year old murder is discovered when a cript is found behind a fake wall in the wine cellar. The macabre connection to Poe's Cask of Amontillado cannot be missed.  The murder is then connected to a long lost coven of black witches who were said to have escaped from Salem and its witch trials.  Through twists and turns, Pendergast leads us on this mystery ride. If you are looking for a "scary" book, this might be the one for you.

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende has written a beautiful love story in her novel The Japanese Lover.  This book is not a "typical" love story in that the main character, Alma, is not typical in any way.  Sent to live with an American relative when the Nazis were threatening Poland, Alma became a strong female who was not romantic in her views of people overall.  She was determined to be self sufficient and dependent on no one.  Alma did, however, fall deeply in love with Ichimei Fukuda, the son of the gardener on her uncle's estate.  Theirs was a love that transcended time, social morays and family connections.  This clandestine love affair is nestled into the story of Alma and her grandson, Seth, and his quest for the love of his life, Irina the sweet girl who has suffered an abusive step father.  Irina is afraid to let herself feel strong emotions.  This fear is counterpoised against Alma's fierce love and belief that love will win out.  Allende has created a wonderful tale that opens up the many facets of "love" in any person's life.  We readers are taken on this splendid journey with fingers crossed hoping that all the characters find true happiness and their true soul mate.

The Sound of Glass by Karen White

Some mysteries take years to be solved and that is the case with Karen White's novel, The Sound of Glass.  A plane crash in a small southern town sets into motion a series of unlikely events that intertwine the lives of two families.  Through the use of flashbacks, White let's us see the dysfunction of these two families.  With subtle, disguised references to now dead men and women we are led down a path to discovery.  We slowly come to realize that  both families had long histories of abuse and cover up.  Both families were plagued by fierce feelings of a need for revenge and justice.  And both families sadly, had made misguided attempts at helping the victims of abuse.  The characters in this novel were well defined and the story revealed itself at a pace that was easy to follow thus satisfying readers.  In the end, good wins and isn't that what we need sometimes in a good read?

Circling the Sun by Paula McClain

Paula McClain's novel, Circling the Sun, is a retelling of the life story of Beryl Markham, a record setting aviator in the 1930's.  Markham was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from Europe to America.  Her life story, however, is about much more than her flying exploits.  This extraordinary woman was raised in Kenya from the age of four.  Her father was a horse trainer and adventurer.  Her mother was not cut from the same cloth, and so she left Beryl and her father to fend for themselves after little more than a year in Africa.  The results of this unexpected abandonment changed or perhaps more likely, revealed the indomitable spirit of Beryl.  Throughout her entire life, she seemed to be willing to challenge any obstacle whether cultural or societal with little or no fear of the outcome.  Because of her determination she became the first licensed woman horse trainer in Africa  She also ensconced herself with the upper crust British colonials and consequently, she lived their sometimes amoral life.  The wealthy Brits and transplanted expats seemed to live above any prescribed rules or morays that would have been deemed necessary back in their homelands.  Infidelity was a sport it seemed.  Gossip was a conduit for entertainment.  Using the wealthy to support less than seemly lifestyles was the norm and all of this was done with the unwritten agreement that everyone would pretend it was not happening.  Beryl played this game when it suited her, but more often than not, she balked and went her own way.  Markham was a unique and independent and determined to live life as she saw fit.  She trained herself to be strong and fierce and able to handle anything life threw at her.  It is difficult to think of Beryl Markham as a woman who is warm  or accepting, but she is certainly one who is admired.  This is powerfully written historical fiction novel that reveals the extraordinary life and adventurers of a remarkable woman.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman

     There are some characters from novels that become so real you feel you have known them your whole life.  The main character of Fredrick Backman's book, A Man Called Ove is just such a character.  He is the grouchy neighbor we all may have had; he is the social misfit who always seems to be scowling at people around him; he is your father, your brother or your husband.  Ove was a man who saw only black and white, right and wrong.  His life was orderly and controlled until his wife, Sonya, died and then he felt he had nothing to live for.  Suicide seemed the only alternative to the pain of continuing to breathe without her by his side.  Unfortunately, Ove was constantly thwarted by the people who insinuated themselves into his "life."  First, it was the pregnant woman with the totally inept husband and two daughters.  Then it was the delivery boy who had been one of Sonya's "lost" students at the special needs school.  Add to these a "bent" (gay) friend of this boy and the obese fellow who happened to live next door.  Backman created a motley, needy group of people who barge in on Ove and his many attempts to "end it all," but they are all so "real" and loveable.  Eventually, we see that Ove is not the curmudgeon he seems to be and that he is in fact, a man who loves deeply and protects everyone who he calls his own.  I really believed in this character with all his warts.  He made me laugh and cry but mostly he made me feel "safe."  It is nice to know that there are people who will stand firm, who will go the extra mile and who will be in your corner no matter how difficult it may be.  Ove was such a man.  He was dependable and strong and faithful to a fault and isn't that what we all want in the end? Ove was a man I would have been happy to call my friend.