A Few of My Favorite Things: 2017 Fiction, Non-Fiction and ... Murder

A summing up of my year of reading - a "Best Of" I suppose.  I'll define "best" as those books that stayed with me. They had fascinating characters, or a wonderful sense of place, they enlightened or they educated.  They weren't necessarily published in 2017, but read during the year.

FICTION:

A Piece of the World, Christina Kline Baker – fiction inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s famous painting “Christina’s World.” I looked at the painting quite differently after reading this.

 




To the Bright Edge of the World, Eowyn Ivey – vivid and otherworldly historical fiction set in 1800s Alaska and Fort Vancouver, Washington.  Gorgeous cover, too.

   

The Women in the Castle, Jessica Shattuck – three women in a deteriorating Bavarian castle in the aftermath of World War II Germany, and the stories of how they got there. 




 


The Wildling Sisters, Eve Chase – who doesn’t love an English country house Gothic novel? 

 








The Heirs, Susan Rieger – who doesn’t love a story about family, an inheritance, and secrets?   If you enjoyed The Nest, you may enjoy this one.


NON-FICTION:

Lost City of the Monkey God, Douglas Preston – a true story of legends, ruins, a curse, terrifying animals, treasure, and secrets all set in the rain forest of Honduras. 
 





Among the Living and the Dead: A Tale of Exile and Homecoming on the War Roads of Europe, Inara Verzenmieks – I was asked what I was reading, and I told him, "one of the saddest stories ever told." Don't let that dissuade you, however, from reading this elegy to the author's Latvian family and home. Beautifully, lyrically written. 


Caught in the Revolution, Helen Rappaport – this is the 100th anniversary of the Russian revolution, and it would be hard to find a more interesting or accessible history than this story of foreigners – some famous, some not – and their experiences in St. Petersburg in 1917.



 



Nomadland, by Jessica Bruder.  A portrait of those, mainly "retirees," who give up their houses and live in cars, trailers, and RVs, crossing the country trying to make ends meet by working seasonal jobs.  The author refers to it as "surviving America" and it is an eye-opener.



 
And finally, two mystery series with strong female characters and wonderfully evocative settings: 

Tannie Maria series: (Recipes for Love and Murder, The Satanic Mechanic) by Sally Andrew – for a refreshing break after all that intense nonfiction, I greatly enjoyed this new mystery series by South African Sally Andrew. Set in the desert Karoo region, its heroine, Tannie Maria, is a middle-aged columnist to the love-lorn for the local paper whose advice usually includes some amazing recipes (and the author includes them at the back of each book). Quirky with a strong sense of people and place, these were very enjoyable.





Lane Winslow series: (A Killer in King's Cove, Death in a Darkening Mist, and An Old, Cold Grave) by Iona Whishaw.  Another strong female character is Lane Winslow, former British spy trying to live a quiet life in a small village in British Columbia after the Second World War.  Good mysteries and a charming village you or I might want to live in (if only there weren't those pesky murders there!).

Library Loot

I've been out of town and took a few library (Kindle) books with me:

The Revolution of Marina M., by Janet Fitch.  I'm really torn on this one; there were things I liked about it and some admirable writing, and things I detested.  

Eligible, by Curtis Sittenfeld.  Oh, dear.  I didn't care for it at all.  













Library Loot is courtesy of The Captive Reader

Library Loot

Back from a break & some Thanksgiving travel and it's time for Library Loot!

Leaving Berlin, by Joseph Kanon.  I'm new to Kanon's writing, but so far, I'm enjoying this story of Berlin during the airlift of the late 1940s.   















Gunner Girls and Fighter Boys, by Mary Gibson.  Don't be deceived by the title or cover, either of which would lead you to believe this is a breezy historical romance.  This is the tale of two British sisters during WWII who live in a poor section of London.  Much grittier than I had assumed and the writing moves right along.  









Library Loot is courtesy of The Silly Little Mischief blog

Book Beginning

From Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves, by Rachel Malik:  

"She stood at the window, looking out at the fields beyond, her fields.  The calves were up by the gate, nosing each other, waiting for her - still unsure of their new routine.  The great horse chestnut tree was swaying, she could hear it from here, feel the cool of its shade.  In Fair Field, the oats were just starting to pale - her oats.  The rest of the view was blocked by the tallboy.  She had dragged it in last night.  It was badly splintered at the back, but at least it was empty.  She carried on standing at the window, looking out, waiting."

This is the wonderful opening sentence to an excellent novel.  The lovely descriptive writing is found throughout the book.  And we know that "she", whoever she is, has a strong sense of ownership over everything she's looking at, new though it may be to the cows (and to her?).  And then there's that tallboy.  Why is she dragging it in?  That phrase, "badly splintered" is going to be a theme of this novel, in the material poverty both characters endure.  "She" is Miss Boston, and she is waiting for Miss Hargreaves to join her on her English farm during WWII.   Read on for a beautifully written character study.  



Book Beginning is courtesy of Rose City Reader

Library Loot

This week's haul:
 

Wickwythe Hall, by Judithe Little.   Historical fiction about the home front in WWII Britain?  I'm in.  
















Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves, by Rachel Malik.  Inspired by the author's family history and filled with beautiful prose.  Review coming.  

Bone Meal for Roses, by Miranda Sherry.  Set in South Africa, a story of love and loss.   














Library Loot is courtesy of the Silly Little Mischief blog

Currently

Reading: Bone Meal for Roses, by Miranda Sherry
Watching: Binge watching The Americans
Listening: Classical music playlist
Art: Viewing Laura Knight's works via the internet
Drink: Lady Grey Tea
Eats & Treats: Leftover Halloween candy
Pleasure: Gorgeous fall weather
Guilty Pleasure: Leftover Halloween candy!
Anticipating: Thanksgiving
Find:  Winter shoes. 

Briefly Reviewed - Prairie Fires

Title:  Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder

Author:  Caroline Fraser
Edition:  Metropolitan Books, 2017
Setting:  American West
Genre:   Non Fiction

Never out of print, made into a television show, Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books are a well-known part of American culture.  If you've read "Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Biography" you may not think "Prairie Fires" would have anything left to tell.  But it does, very much so.  Caroline Fraser has done a tremendous amount of research in order to provide historical context for Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and writing. 

And there's so much here you've never read before, or perhaps you've read something in Wilder's books or about her life, but not really understood the ramifications of it.  I, as an example, never realized how truly poor the Wilder family was, nor how dependent they were on others for the betterment of their lives.  Fraser points out how much the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" philosophy stated in Wilder's books is in contrast to all the help they got: free land from the government, clothing from missionary barrels, help from friends and neighbors.  And Pa, the upstanding citizen?  Well, there was that midnight flight from the debts he owed in Iowa.  Funny how that never made it into the books.  Which brings me to another excellent aspect of Fraser's work: the actual writing of Wilder's books.  The tug of war between daughter (and oh, my! What a difficult and unlikable person she was!) and mother over what to write and how to present Laura's pioneer experiences is examined in depth.  That's quite a fascinating story. 

While discussing difficult and hard truths, Fraser never loses respect for Wilder's work and shows great understanding of her times and character.  If you'd like to read a well-researched, very accessible book that not only puts Wilder's life and work in historical context and perspective, but also let's you come as close to the real Laura as you'll ever get, this is that book.  Highly recommended. 

I received a copy from the publisher as part of the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.

Quote of the Week

Even with a Kindle, my bookshelf situation is out of control.  

Although not quite like this. 

Were the Good Old Days All That Good?

Title:  An Old, Cold Grave

Author:  Iona Whishaw
Edition:  Touchwood Editions, 2017
Setting:  A Village in British Columbia, Canada
Genre:   Mystery

Were the "good old days" really all that good?  That's one of the questions Lane Winslow, a former British spy living in a village in rural British Columbia in the aftermath of World War II is asking herself.  Sure, the villagers have electricity now, and running water and telephones, but back in 1910 when the village was new, it was a different story.  Life was hard, especially if you were a young child or a poor family.  

Lane has other questions, too.  What is the identity of the skeleton found buried in her neighbor's root cellar?  How did the person die and why?  And who buried the body there?

And then there's Inspector Darling.  He and Lane definitely have chemistry, but they've both been quite literally through the war.  Should she open up to him?  Or is she better off living the quiet country life she has planned?  Lane finds herself wondering:  "There was simplicity in her existence now. Just her, her house, this green valley and cool lake, and a few friends who would make no inroads into her deeper self.  The utter quiet." 

Those who enjoy a strong female protagonist will greatly enjoy Lane Winslow.  She's an independent woman who nonetheless has forged strong relationships with the very interesting cast of characters who live in the village of King's Cove.  King's Cove itself is a character in this series, and Whishaw writes vividly about its charms: " It was a fine day, the air redolent with the green smell of earth and new growth, and she relished walking along the paths and byways...".

Of course, in any mystery story, you want a strong mystery.  And this is where this novel shines.  It's hard to imagine the villagers being involved in the death and burial, and indeed, they pull together with Lane and Inspector Darling to try to figure it out.  There are a few twists, some tense, suspenseful action, and the resolution is both strong and interesting.

This is the third in a mystery series featuring Lane Winslow, and it is the best.  The story is deeper, with themes of identity and belonging and survival in hard times that are quite moving.  I look forward to reading the next Lane Winslow mystery and can wholeheartedly recommend this to those who enjoy the cozy mystery genre.

Library Loot

This week's loot!

 
The Address, by Fiona Davis. "Fiona Davis, author of The Dollhouse, returns with a compelling novel about the thin lines between love and loss, success and ruin, passion and madness, all hidden behind the walls of The Dakota, New York City's most famous residence."

I enjoyed The Dollhouse; I'm looking forward to reading this one.




 







Library Loot is courtesy of the Silly Little Mischief blog

Quote of the Week

Library Loot

This week's loot!

The Romanov Trilogy, by Evelyn Anthony.  

A trilogy covering the lives and reigns of Catherine the Great, Paul I, and Alexander I.  These were written over 60 years ago, and have stood the test of time as well researched, well written historical fiction.

Add caption

An Old, Cold Grave, by Iona Whishaw.  

The third in a mystery series set in a small town in British Columbia in the aftermath of WWII and featuring Lane Winslow, a former British spy.

 

Briefly Reviewed

Title:The Way to London

Author: Alix Rickloff
Edition: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2017
Setting: WWII Britain and Singapore
Genre: Historical Fiction

 I enjoyed reading this interesting if a bit predictable book. This work of historical fiction is set in WWII; it begins Singapore and ends in London with a road trip along the way (as the title alludes to). Lucy is an unhappy, rebellious, spoiled young woman - unhappy and rebellious for good reasons, but still. She is sent away from Singapore to relatives in Cornwall by her truly awful mother (the relatives and the country house in Cornwall will be familiar to readers of Alix Rickloff's "Secrets of Nanreath Hall"). In Singapore she meets a young man who is also headed to Britain. Once Lucy gets to Cornwall the story really begins, as Lucy gets involved with a young evacuee, Bill who is miserable in his foster parents' home. The two of them end up on a journey to London to find Bill's mother (and a symbolic journey to find love). Bill provides amusement in the novel; I enjoyed that character more than any other. The young man joins Lucy and Bill and there is a satisfying end for all. As I say, a bit predictable, but still quite enjoyable. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a well-written and researched WWII novel that is somewhat lighter in tone than most in that category. I received a copy through the Early Reviewers Giveaway at Library Thing.

Latvian Elegy

Title: Among the Living and the Dead: A Tale of Exile and Homecoming on the War Roads of Europe

Author: Inara Verzemnieks
Edition: W.W. Norton Company, 2017
Setting: Latvia and the US
Genre: Memoir, Family History

My husband asked me what I was reading, and I told him, "one of the saddest stories ever told."  Don't let that dissuade you, however, from reading this elegy to the author's Latvian family.  Verzemnieks is from a Latvian peasant family; this book recounts the family's history from the late 1880s to today.  And it's quite a history, from the superstitions and myths that ruled and gave meaning to her great-grandparent's lives to the ambition that led them to own their farm to the misery the family lived through during WWII and during Soviet control of their country.  

The writing is vivid:  just as her grandmother described her lost farm in Latvia so that young Inara would be able to feel, see, smell, and touch it, so grown Inara describes it just as vividly to the reader.  A voice is compared to "a match drawn across phosphorus", and the family farm is described as "the roof rises above the grass line to meet us, though its edges sag, brushing the ground in places, like the hem of a skirt coming loose.”  The stories her grandmother tells her about the myths and legends of Latvia seem almost like preparation for the stories of the war and aftermath which are like particularly terrible Grimm's fairy tales.  But this is also a hopeful tale, one of survival, one of resilience, one of peace found after grim struggle.

The narrative skips around through time, but the author's skill is such that I had no trouble following it.  The beauty of the writing and the story make this moving book highly recommended.

Library Loot

This week from the library:

Among the Living and the Dead; A Tale of Exile and Homecoming on the War Roads of Europe, by Inara Verzemnieks.  Family history in Latvia and the US.  

The Wardrobe Mistress, by Meghan Masterson.  Historical fiction featuring one of Marie Antoinette's tirewomen.

What have you been reading?

Library Loot is courtesy of the Silly Little Mischief blog
 

Currently....

 Currently:












Reading: Among the Living and the Dead, by Inara Verzemnieks
Watching: Catching up on the final season of Indian Summers
Listening:The drone of the air conditioner (and am I ever glad to be able to hear it)
Art: Need to get my watercolors out
again
Drink: Water
Eats & Treats:Raspberries

Pleasure: Good neighbors and internet that works
Guilty Pleasure: Crazy Rich Asians, by Kevin Kwan
Worry: Nuclear War for starters
Anticipating: Autumn
Random Thought: Boiling water for a week will make you very grateful of safe tap water.
Find:  Women's Art Twitter account @womensart1

Photo By Martin.Heiss at the German language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2516770

 

Quote of the Week

Reading keeps the mind limber and flexible.

Who Doesn't Love a Gothic Novel?

Title: The Wildling Sisters

Author: Eve Chase

Edition: G.P. Putnam and Sons, 2017

Setting: Britain, 1950s

Genre: Gothic, Dual Timeline

Perhaps it’s because I read "Rebecca" at an impressionable age, but a juicy, well-written gothic novel set in a British country house? Sign me up!

The Wildling Sisters is a dual timeline novel set in the lovely English countryside in an old manor house called Applecote. In 1959, four sisters, Flora, Pam, Margot, and Dot Wilde, are sent there by their flighty and glamorous mother to spend the summer with their aunt and uncle. Of course, there’s a snake in the lovely Eden of Applecote; their cousin Audrey disappeared several years before, never to be seen again. The sisters spend the stifflingly hot summer dealing with the emotional wreckage of their aunt and uncle, flirting with two upper-class neighbor boys, and coping with the rivalries that come with that.

In the present, Jesse and her husband Will move into Applecote, along with Bella, Will’s daughter from his first marriage, and Jesse and Will’s baby daughter. Bella, filled with grief from her mother’s death and general teenage angst, is not happy with the move.

This is a lush, atmospheric novel with descriptive, suspenseful writing and memorable characters. Secrets, jealousies, and mysteries abound. The conclusion to both timelines is satisfying, although I felt that the story of the four sisters was compelling enough to stand alone – in these dual timeline novels, one always seems much more interesting, and for me it was the sisters.

This is the second book by Eve Chase that I’ve read and greatly enjoyed (Black Rabbit Hall was the first). If you enjoy a good atmospheric, gothic novel or books by Kate Morton, Rachel Hore, or Katherine Webb, this is probably one to seek out.

Taking a Break - and not a fun one

The blog will be taking a break while Hurricane Irma does her thing.

Library Loot

This week’s haul from the library included:

The Marsh King’s Daughter, by Karen Dionne. A “mesmerizing psychological suspense, the story of a woman who must risk everything to hunt down the dangerous man who shaped her past and threatens to steal her future: her father.”

The Wildling Sisters, by Eve Chace. “An evocative novel in the vein of Kate Morton and Daphne Du Maurier, in which the thrill of first love clashes with the bonds of sisterhood, and all will be tested by the dark secret at the heart of Applecote Manor.”

Quote of The Week

 

This seems appropriate for this week.  

Sacrifice and Survival in the Boer War

Title: The Lost History of Stars

Author: Dave Boling

Edition: Algonquin Books, June, 2017

Setting: Southern Africa, early 1900s

Genre: Historical Fiction

How many of us know much of anything about the Anglo-Boer war of 1899-1902? Before reading this fine novel, I knew that it was fought in what is now South Africa, that it was a war between the British and Afrikaners, and that concentration camps were somehow involved. One of the marvels of good historical fiction is that it can educate and illuminate and bring history to life. The book did just that.

The narrator, Aletta (called “Lettie”) is a young girl from a Boer farming family whose grandfather, father, and older brother have gone to war. The opening of the story is riveting: Lettie describes the raid on their farm by the British forces who brutally destroy everything on the farm and burn their home, threatening Lettie’s young brother Willem with a firing squad to try to get him to tell them where their men have gone. Lettie, Willem, her young sister Cecelia, and her mother are then forced into a concentration camp. The camp is a miserable, unhealthy place. Lack of food, poor sanitation, and overcrowding lead to disease and death (over 20,000 Boer women and children died in these camps).

Lettie survives through stories: by making up stories to tell her little sister, by imagining stories for herself and remembering those told to her by her grandfather, and by reading whatever she can get her hands on, including a copy of David Copperfield, given to her by a British camp guard, Tommy Maples. Maples is a nineteen year old guard who joined the army for adventure. He finds that he hates the war, and is ashamed and miserable guarding women and children in the awful circumstances of the camp. Lettie hides her growing relationship with Maples from her mother, who is steadfastly and violently opposed to anything to do with the British, including family members who have cooperated with them.

Boling explores issues of loyalty, imagination, sacrifice, and cost of survival in this finely written book. His descriptions of both the beauty and harshness of the land, and the misery of the camp are memorable. And while it sounds grim (and it is), the final chapter is a beautiful and hopeful resolution. Highly recommended.

Briefly Reviewed

Title: The Last Lost Girl

Author:  Maria Hoey
Edition: Poolbeg Crimson;  July, 2017
Setting:  Ireland, 1960s
Genre:  Mystery

 
This is the story of an Irish family (mother, father, and three sisters) whose lives change forever in the summer of 1976.   A dual timeline story, it follows the three girls in 1976 as the summer progresses toward the social event the eldest (Lilly) looks forward to.  Lilly is 15 and pushing boundaries.  Gayle, the middle daughter desperately seeks approval from everyone.  Jacqueline, the youngest, spies on her sisters.  Dad drinks more than he should, and the mother has aspirations to a better life.  All of this leads toward a family tragedy that Jacqueline tries to unravel as an adult.  This was a very well-written book - the sisters' characters are sharply defined as early as the first chapter - with lovely prose.  The story kept my attention; I burned through it over a weekend.  I didn't find the characters unlikeable; I found them to be deeply human with the strengths and faults so many people have.  I received a copy from the publisher.

Title: The Marriage Bureau

Author:  Penrose Halson
Edition: HarperCollins Publisher, May 2017
Setting: Britain
Genre:  Non-Fiction

This non-fiction book was a very enjoyable read. It's the story of two friends who started a marriage bureau in London just before the outbreak of WWII. Using material from a company archive (and how fortunate that these materials had been saved!), the author presents matchmaking stories that are funny, sad, touching, and occasionally outrageous or heartrending. The ins and outs of how the matchmakers dealt with their clients - and what a variety of clients they were - is fascinating. And the matchmakers themselves were quite unusual characters too. If you enjoyed Call the Midwife or Home Fires, this is the book for you. I received a copy from the publisher.

 

Historical Fiction at its Finest

Title: Zemindar

Author: Valerie Fitzgerald
Edition: Bantam Books (paperback), 1983
Setting: 1857 India
Genre: Historical Fiction

Valerie Fitzgerald wrote only one book. But what a book it is. Don't be deceived by the paperback's romance novel cover: “Zemindar” is historical fiction at its finest.

Set in India at the time of the Sepoy Mutiny (also referred to as the Indian Rebellion or the First War of Indian Independence) in 1857, this is the story of an English spinster and poor relation, Laura Hewitt, who accompanies her newly-married cousin Emily and Emily's husband, Charles, on a honeymoon trip to India. It seems that Charles is related to a zemindar, a wealthy landowner in India named Oliver Erskine and since Mr. Erskine is childless, hopes to be named his heir. The relationship between these four people is complicated: Laura believes herself to be in love with Charles, Charles' and Emily's marriage is unhappy, and Oliver Erskine? Well, he's enigmatic. Slowly, Laura finds herself less and less enamored of Charles and more interested in Oliver.

It is during the honeymoon stay at Erskine's estate that the Mutiny breaks out. They escape to the Residency at Lucknow and join the many who are beseiged there. The hardships, fear, brutality and death during the Mutiny change each of Fitzgerald's characters. And they are superb characters: besides the four main characters who run the gamut from spoiled and shallow to strong and colorful, she gives us Toddy Bob, Oliver's Cockney servant; Kate, a tough but kind wife of an army officer; Moti, Oliver's Indian mistress, and many other vivid characters.

The author's grandmother lived through the Mutiny and that the author lived in Lucknow during WWII; her description of India (Erskine's estate, Hassanganj, and the Residency at Lucknow in particular) is superb, filled with detail that is included not for the sake of showing us how much research she has done, but to illuminate her story.

This is a sweeping, vivid book that reaches a deeply satisfying conclusion. It's long (almost 800 pages), so set aside some time to enjoy this superb novel, which has only recently been made available as a Kindle book.

Quote of the Week

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything.  
                                     - Cicero

I rather imagine Cicero's garden was probably much nicer than mine - fountains, ponds, cypress trees?   I would also guess that my library is much larger than his.  Not only the double-shelved bookcases, but the Kindle filled with books.  What would he think about that, I wonder?

A Coming of Age Classic

Title: Rumors of Peace

Author: Ella Leffland

Edition: Perennial Library, 1985 (first published in 1979 by Harper & Row)

Setting: WWII era small, industrial town east of San Francisco, CA

Genre: Coming of age story

Suse Hansen is a 10 year old tomboy, living a life of school, home, and family in her small, working class town east of San Francisco when WWII suddenly intrudes into her life in the form of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This powerful, beautifully written novel describes her moral growth from the 10 year old whose first prayer is that the sherrif shoot the Nisei citizens of her town to 14 year old who understands so much more about the nature of war and the nature of human beings by the time the US drops two atomic bombs on Japan. The bloodthirstiness (and fear) of her youth has grown into a deeper understanding of what drives people to fear and revenge, hate, war, and love.

Lest this all sound depressing or boring, be assured it is neither. Like many adolescents, Suse's view of her world: her friends, her teachers, her parents is extremely funny at times. And the instinctual goodness of her nature makes her question and question again how she feels about the war. She is helped in that questioning by Helen Maria, the genius older sister of her friend Peggy, and the example set by her loving, hard-working parents.

The book is filled with wonderful, vivid characters: Helena Maria and Peggy, Suse's sort-of friend Valerie, classmate Dumb Donny (who's not so dumb at all), good-time girl Eudene, and assorted teachers and parents.

Don't miss this neglected classic.