Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Maggie Shipstead is an extraordinary wordsmith.  In her fiction novel Great Circle she mesmerizes the reader with descriptions, dialogue, character development and plot details.  Her story moves back and forth between two protagonist, Marian Graves the fictional female pilot who attempted circumnavigation of the planet crossing over both poles rather than over the equator and Hadley the actress who wants to find a way to be more that the child star she is forever viewed as.  We discover at the beginning that Hadley has been cast in the movie of Marian’s attempt at circling the earth. As she researches her character, Hadley unravels the mystery of the end of Marians’s life. Like Amelia Earhart, Marian disappeared in the last leg of the flight presumably drowned after ditching her plane when she ran out of fuel over the ocean.  This story is much more than a retelling of a tragic adventure.  The real story comes from the main characters and their interaction with each other.  We learn early on that both Marian and Hadley were orphaned early in life when their parents die in tragic accidents.  Neither woman had anything resembling a normal childhood and the damage they experienced in their younger years scarred them and affected  them their entire life.  Both characters searched and searched for love, for connection even for recognition, but neither knew how to relate to people or how to love at all.  The people in their lives were critical to their story, but these people were also worthy of their own development and Shipstead took the time to tell their stories too to some extent.  The only negatives for readers is that the book is very long and has a somewhat disjointed beginning. Like many novels, this book starts at the “end” and then circles back to explain how the characters got to that point.  Because there are two stories the circling back is a bit confusing, but it does not take long for all the storylines and characters to fall into place. There were many themes to discuss such as love vs. obsession or the need for connection vs. isolation and each theme was interesting and timely.  Through these wonderful characters we see that the wondrous circles of life may seem to meander and change, but in the end each circle is completed and life moves on.  Great Circle is under consideration for a Pulitzer Prize which may or may not influence readers consideration.  I think it is a worthy choice for reading. Just know it will take some time.

We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

T. S. Elliot said, “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”  Chris Whitaker adopted this philosophy for his book, We Begin at the End and created the lives of his main characters, Duchess, Robin, Vincent and Walker to explore this idea.  We learn early on that one moment of inattention, of human carelessness, can ruin the lives of many people leaving them unalterably broken and damaged.  This less than uplifting theme was cleverly delivered in a very interesting murder mystery. Despite the plot that included murder, arson, abuse and fear the storyline had moments of humor and grace and truly heartwarming details. Whitaker jumped back in time on occasion to reveal important details that he then wove into the mystery.  One particularly important element that was demonstrated through several characters was that of selfless love and sacrifice. There were many examples of people who seemed completely despicable who we later discover have given abundantly in their own life to those who are in need.  This is a wonderful book with deep emotional connections that effect all of us at one time or another.  It allowed for reflection and self discovery and was very engaging for discussion.  This is a good one!

we start from.

make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from

The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

 Let me begin by saying I was the lone voice in my club that did not enjoy this book.  The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher is an older book that was very popular when it was written in 1984.  It is a “big fat novel for women.”  Think of the Thornbirds and you get a feeling for the tenor of this book about a dysfunctional family and the people who come into their lives.  The main character, Penelope, is the only child of a once famous artist who grew up in a very Bohemian household where mother was a bit of a gypsy, father was older and very open in his thinking.  Add into this extended family member like war widows and renters who never moved out and you see life of this young girl.  As with many “love stories” of this genre, Penelope makes a huge mistake when she married a spoiled soldier who wants her fathers fashionable car more than her.  Three less than lovable children later and a life filled with hard work and strife because of divorce and abandonment, Penelope finds herself with a life altering heart condition and one very valuable painting of herself as a child that her father painted called The Shell Seekers.  As is often the case, money and inheritance become the focus for the adult children while memories of her one true love who was lost in the war move Penelope toward difficult but predictable denouement.  As I said, I found this novel difficult mainly because the family characters where really difficult and for the most part unlikeable.  There was a “happy ever after” ending in a way, but getting there did not balance the angst of the plot line for me.   

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

 We have read several WWII historical fiction books in the last few years.  Invariably, we come away with a new awareness of what really happened during this war and most of the new information we gather looks little like the John Wayne, Henry Fonda war movies we grew up on.  The war was cruel and ugly and not won or lost only because of men.  Kate Quinn, in her novel The Rose Code, enlightened us about an extremely important group of women who were integral to the code breaking operation in England’s Bletchley Park.  The Nazi codes were nearly impossible to decipher but through hours of tedious, brain buster determination, the code was broken and the result was a turning point in the war.  Quinn’s story tells us about three brave women who worked tirelessly and at a great personal expense to gain access to the Nazi war correspondences.  Each of the main characters is based loosely on real women who worked at Bletchley.  The fictional parts of the story had some basis in fact and added a human element to an  otherwise very information packed book.  Each of the women had a unique back story and their friendship and subsequent split added interest and important storyline detail needed to carry the  novel.  Our discussion began with an in-depth look at the enigma machine of the Germans and the bombe machine that was created at Bletchley Park to decipher codes, and the very specific vocabulary needed to detail the work done by the main characters.  Luckily, the novel is very enjoyable and educational even without the history lesson on the machines.  Some may be thinking that they have read enough about WWII, but this book is one that should not be missed. Women and their heroics are not celebrated enough, but Kate Quinn’s book does a wonderful job and should be enjoyed by many.

The Searchers by Tana French

 Tana French has written a complex exploration of human nature in her novel, The Searchers, in a very subtle way.  Set in a seemingly idyllic village in Ireland, we are invited to look at a wide array stereotypes.  We see the haves and the have nots, the do-goodness and the head in the sand types, and the old who cling to the past and the young who are determined to make it to a better life. We also see that each of these sets has their own moral code by which they live.  Enter into this mix the new comer (the outsider) and the mysterious disappearance of a young man, and the tension mounts.  The mystery is intense and well designed and the reader is drawn along toward the climax.  The protagonist, Cal, is a former detective who retired from service because he felt he could not work in an environment where the “rules” were so blurry that no one was really sure what was right or wrong anymore.  He is drawn reluctantly into solving the case of the missing young man and is once again forced to deal with the realization that there are no good answers to all situations.  There is no totally right answer in all things.  There are no completely innocent people.  French allows the reader to look at this moral dilemma from the safe distance of a mystery, yet we are forced to decide whether we accept the decisions made by the good people of this small town and the detective, Cal. This was really a deceivingly complex examination of humanity made to look like a mystery.  Our club gave this book 5 stars.  Very good read.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

 If you are unaware of the time in American history known as the Dust Bowl, you really need to read The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (or perhaps better yet, read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck).  Hannah, through the life of her protagonist, Elsa, gives a clear and desperate picture of the plight of farmers in the Midwest who lost everything due to the droughts of the late 1930s.  No rain, meant no crops and no crops meant the people were forced off the land as the banks foreclosed.  Thousands of these desperate people packed what they could and headed to California on the promise of plentiful jobs helping with the abundant harvests.  What they found when they arrived in this promised land was greedy and unethical farm owners who forced near slave labor onto the hapless migrants.  This book describes the life the migrants faced but more importantly, it forces the reader to look at the treatment these people received at the hands of the powerful land owners.  It is heartbreaking to view the total lack of humanity the workers dealt with and the way their lives devolved into chaos and poverty.  I must say that to me, this book was not up to the standard of Steinbeck, but others in my book club disagreed.  I think you cannot go wrong reading either of these books if you are unaware of the time period.  I truly believe we all need to force ourselves to be more aware of the plight of the underprivileged and the ugly truth that often their suffering could be alleviated or at least lessened by kindness and a helping hand.

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni

 If you remember the TV show “TheWonder Years” you have a good idea of the narrative voice of Robert Dugoni’s book, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. The story is told through memories of the protagonist detailing the years of torture he endured as a child.  The reason for his bullying and mistreatment even by adults is unique indeed. We find that Sam was born with a rare eye condition known as ocular albinism which causes the eye to appear to be red in color.  Called “Devil Boy” and treated as a pariah, Sam was a lonely, scared little boy.  His mother, his champion, was convinced that her son was born to live an extraordinary life and her total devotion carried him through many difficult times.  When teased and called ugly names his mother would lovingly tell him, “Our skin, our hair, and our eyes are simply the shell that surrounds our soul, and our soul is who we are. What counts is on the inside.”  Sam did not, however, really believe this or even accept himself or his worth for most of his life.  Sam always felt he was unloveable and unworthy of  pride in himself.  He went from failed relationship to failed relationship even though his two lifelong friends tried to tell him he could and should stand up for himself. He eventually decided to leave his depressing life choosing instead to dedicate himself to helping others working as an eye surgeon with a group like Doctors Without Borders.  It was on one of these tours that Sam met a young orphan with the same eye condition as his own who was being treated as a outcast just as he had been.  Realizing he could change this child’s life, Sam removed his brown contacts and showed the little boy that he was not alone and that he could be extraordinary too. In the end Sam accepted that each of us has the ability to make our lives extraordinary even if we may not all be the first man on the moon or a famous personality.  We all are extraordinary when we reflect back over our days and remember the intimate moments that mark not our calendars but our hearts. This was a sweet, heartwarming book that offered a powerful lesson.  Really good uplifting read.