Happy Holidays to all! Fun book Secret Santa.

 Thanks to everyone who participated, we had a super fun (yes, fun) Zoom book club meeting last weekend. What a blast to see the great range of books we picked out for each other. Better yet is the intellectual curiosity of this smart group, who brought insight and context to these interesting titles. Thanks everyone! 

Special thanks to Ashley, who was the top Elf, organizing the entire event including the Secret Santa drop-offs. What a great job! And our delivery elves Karin and Julie, who went way above and beyond, including multiple trips to retrieve wayward packages. Christmas doesn't work without the elves. 

Our January book, culled from this admirable set of titles, is The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, by Kim Michele Richardson. This novel is based on the true story of the Blue People of Kentucky and FDR's Pack Horse Library Project that brought literacy and hope to Appalachian children in the depression. I'm in! Unfortunately,  so is the rest of Richmond, I am 48th of 48 on the library list. 

Unless something changes, January will have to be a Zoom meeting as well.  Would Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 6:30 suit? Can you believe we finally are getting to 2021? 

February also got an assignment as we had so many choices. The book is The Irish RM by E. Somerville and Martin Ross. This may be familiar as a Masterpiece Theater program as well as for its fox-hunting. February's meeting will be Feb. 16, also at 6:30, which adheres to our practice of the third Tuesday of the month. There is nothing magic about that, we can always rearrange if it suits us all better. 

And so, here is the list of books, including to and from whom they came:

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell. Purnell's book is about Virginia Hall, an American spy during WWII, non-fiction! To Ashley from Jean. 

Green Lights by Matthew McConaughey, a memoir. To Jan from Maggie.

Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate. A big bestseller about children taken from their parents and put into a Tennessee orphanage, and the aftermath. To Margo from Wendy. 

The Irish RM, Irish country stories set in the the early 20th century. Fun! To Mary from Sally. This was from an earlier Christmas swap originally from Ashley. 

The Overstory by Richard Powers. Ostensibly about trees and their canopy above us, it includes much more than that. To Sally from Margo

A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson. Clearly widely read and a group favorite, Bill Bryson is hard to beat  as a humorist and generally agreeable author. To Karin from Carol. 

Circe, by Madeline Miller. A retelling of the Odyssey from Circe's point of view, making her journey to powerful protagonist the main draw. To Julie W. from Ashley, extra credit for recycled wrapping paper! 

Pigs by Johanna Stoberock, a fiction/fantasy novel that asks hard questions. To Celia from Jen. 

The Guest List, by Lucy Foley, a murder mystery with style, to Barbara from Karin. 

Becoming Duchless Goldblatt, by anonymous. Someone decides to reinvent themselves as an elderly aristocrat on Twitter, and this is the outcome. Sounds fun! To Julie J. from Lynn. There is a line to borrow this one when Julie is done with it. 

The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett. The story of twins, girls who chose different lives, one to pass as white, the other to remain in her black identity. A novel, it has gotten lots of accolades this past year. To Wendy from Rene.

The Marriage of Opposites, by Alice Hoffman and Victoria, by Daisy Goodwin, both novels based on historic figures. In the first, Alice Hoffman retells the story of Rachel, a strong-willed girl born in St. Thomas who later becomes the mother of Claude Pissaro. The second imagines again the life of Queen Victoria, in the days and years just after, at age 18, she finds herself as the Queen of England. They sound great. To Jean from Julie J. 

Carrying Independence by Karen Chase, a local author, a novel about the Revolutionary War and the attempts to safeguard the Declaration of Independence from the British. To Lynn from Susan, this book was signed by the author, a lovely and thoughtful touch. 

The Mystery of Henri Pick, by David Foenkinos. Described as a comic mystery enriched by a deep love of books, this one sounds like a romp. Interestingly the last book by this author was about Charlotte Salomon, a young jewish artist killed by the Nazis, who left behind a heart-breaking body of work, so this is quite a departure. To Rene from Mary. 

The Complete Stories of Truman Capote. From this distance, it is easy to forget just how gifted Truman Capote actually was. Despite the caricature of his later life, Capote was a master of the short story. This anthology includes "A Christmas Memory", perhaps one of his most enduring works. To Carol from Barbara. 

An Anthropologist on Mars, by Oliver Sachs. Collected stories of people with affliction, who overcome and thrive in the most improbable ways, written with empathy and understanding by one of our great story tellers. To Maggie from Celia. 

Humankind by Rutger Bregman. Subtitled "A Hopeful History", this book finds the optimism ahead of us. To Fiona from Julie W. Fiona sadly couldn't join us, we missed you! 

Please let me know if I missed anyone or anything or got the tos and froms wrong. Thank you all for Zooming in! 

Happy New Year and see you in January! 

Hamnet - Best on Audio

 Hi all, thanks to our recent fabulous weather, we had a wonderful meeting on the patio of the Deep Run Hunt Club to discuss Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell and have a pre-Thanksgiving feast of amazing dishes brought by our group. Such fun, and it was absolutely beautiful looking out over the fields on a sunny day. Let's do that again sometime soon! 

Our group was pretty split on this book and it seemed to depend on the medium used. The audio listeners really loved the book but the traditional readers were not so impressed. Despite its being recently named as one of the best books of 2020 by the New York Times, I admit to being one of the disappointed readers. Most of the audio listeners though were enthusiastic, so much so that it seems the lyrical language and rather interesting pacing worked better in that format. I will give it a try as all the glowing reviews have heightened my interest again. 

In the reviews, and in our discussion, particular passages really resonated and overcame what might be described as a florid style. The explanation of how little Judith came to be infected, through the Morano glass blower and a fancy dress by way of a rat was memorable. Also, the early romance of the unnamed young Shakespeare and his Agnes in the apple shed was quite a strong, although not so believable impression. 

All in all, the response was more positive than negative and indeed, the writing was beautiful. 

And so, on we go to our Christmas meeting. We have not yet set the time or place, hoping to get ideas from you all about what might work. It would be fabulous to get a good turnout, what circumstances and timing will allow you to attend? 

Let me know! 

In the meantime, Dorie Greenspan (a living cookie legend) has created an Armand Gamache lemon merigue cookie in his honor. I can't wait to make it, and I bet you can't either. Here is the link:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021686-lemon-meringue-cookies

If you get blocked, don't despair, I have it printed and if you wait a bit, the NYTs will eventually let you see recipes again. 

What a great meeting, what a great location

 Thanks to everyone who was able to make our meeting last Wednesday to discuss Dracula by Bram Stoker. It could not have been a more beautiful and fun night under the VMFA tent in the sculpture garden, with the sun sinking. Just lovely. Many thanks to the VMFA for allowing us this beautiful venue and free rein in the Sunken Cities exhibition. It may not have been Dracula related but it was still pretty amazing and full of lore. 

And speaking of lore, Well! It was a delight to read Dracula. As with so many of the classics we have taken on over time, this was a revelation. Rather than a scary vampire movie, this was a(nother) Victorian classic novel of manners, somehow including a nobleman breaking bad with the occult. The societal constraints helped the plot along and I for one found it thrilling. The ending, even from a distance of centuries, was heart-pounding. 

Bram Stoker's Dracula was the first to find ubiquitous cultural recognition but it was not the first vampire novel. Goethe published The Bride of Corinth in 1797, a full 100 years before Stoker's novel. Vampire myths were rampant in folk lore and Stoker spent 7 years researching European folklore and history. He was particularly taken by an essay about Wallachia Vlad III Dracula, a ruler who reigned terror in Transylvania in the 1400's. Although not a vampire. Stoker took the name as Dracula was from the area and killed thousands of people through sheer despotism.

During its time, Dracula was popular but not enduring. Stoker, an Irish theatre manager who made ends meet with chunking out sensational novels did not make much money from it. After his death, an unauthorized theatre production raised the profile again, then followed by a Hollywood adaption in 1931. Since then, the novel has never been out of print. 

As a Victorian novel, the societal constraints are painful. The women in particular, Lucy and Willemina are allowed only to be pure, virtuous and selfless. Still, "Madame Mina" was brilliant, diligent and capable of organizing a horde of male individuals into a cohort capable of a plan, which to my mind is pretty unusual in the male characters recognition of and reliance on her skills. That was a breathe of fresh air in a pretty stuffy society. 

In its time, Dracula was very well received critically. The overt sexual overtones of the vampire experience have been noted over time. In this reading, the three "brides of Dracula" and the John Harker, the sweet protagonist, and Lucy, his first victim in the story were especially vivid, a way to introduce passion into the repressed Victorian era. (Now, just how did Queen Victoria get all those children...?)

All in all, a great read and a great reminder of why "classic" literature persists. Because it is amazing. And so on to our next amazing read,  Hamlet by Maggie O'Farell. This is the story of Shakespeare's son but mostly of his time. Fiona really recommended it and so we are on. 

Our next meeting will be on the weekend, in order to accommodate being outside. We plan to meet at the Deep Run Hunt Club, on the patio with heaters, on Sunday, November 22, at 2:00 pm. There is a screened in porch there if the weather is wet but it will allow us to have excellent ventilation and a beautiful setting. 

There was no appetite to forgo our Christmas book swap, so we want to be outside, during the day for that too. I can host, but did we have another idea? If so, I forgot, fill me in. 

There were tons of book recommendations that flew around, here are the ones I remember, add in the ones I missed, please! 

The Great Influenza  - John Barry - factual, contextual, broad based, fascinating and relevant

Department of Speculation and Weather by Jenny Offill. Dept. of Spec. is amazing, just amazing. Weather is her latest.

Frankenstein - our old friend, as equally interesting as Dracula. If you weren't in book club when we read it, it is a great read. 

Anna Karenina - ditto, although nothing can make up for missing Sean Connery as Count Vronsky in the movie from the 1961 adaptation which we watched way back when. There is a reason he is famous and a reason the book is too. 

Sarah Thornhill - by Kate Grenville, an Australian author, an historic novel of the settling of Australia, similar to her The Secret River, which I loved. So far, I love this new one too. 

The Swan Book by Alexis Wright. An original, about the aboriginal experience in Australia, and the environmental havoc of modern times. I think. Still, it was a compelling read, with tons of awards. 

Woman in White by Collin Wilke - I took way too much time to read this book and am now cramming to get all my library books in on time. It was so worth it. A contemporary of Dickens, he is definitely an equal. 

Moby Dick - I read it long ago, as did Jen. It may be the meaning of life and then again, it may not. FYI, I am not reading it again. 

Want: a Novel - not to be confused with Happiness: a novel which we read before. This is truly a novel of neediness, in all aspects of one's life. How it shapes you, how it cowers you, how you move beyond it. Really good, Lynn Steger Strong is the author. 

We didn't talk about this but honorable mention should go the The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani. A recommendation from my "Fine Literature" Facebook group, it was a stunning psychological novel. I loved it. It is also pretty brutal to start, just fyi. It won the Prix Goncourt in France, its highest literary prize.  Which reminds me, Dreams of my Russian Summer by Andre Mackin won both the top French literary prizes in 1995,  the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Médicis. I loved it. 

Chime in with anything I missed, and I miss everyone who could not join us. 

All condolences to Julie Wiessand, we are all with you mourning the loss of your father. 

One Fine Day offers just that

 Many thanks to Wendy for hosting our group on what turned out to be a lovely fall evening. The weather was perfect for the deck and we all enjoyed ourselves. Our fun was enhanced by Susan Victoria's gift of shortbread cookies, yum yum and thank you! 

Barbara deserves credit for the book selection. One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes was such a good read! And since it was nice and short (160 pages or so) and so beautifully written, it was easy to read in just one day if you so chose.

War and its impact on the bucolic English countryside was thread running throughout the story, in the past but with its devastation on a way of life very much in the present. Gone were the servants who made country house life possible, the gardeners, the cooks, the ladies maids that oiled the mechanisms of daily routines and made it possible to be part of the gentry. The plants themselves were at war with each other, vying to take over the garden, taking away what had been lovely leisure time now devoted to weeding and mowing. 

Laura Marshall was now acutely aware of her family's house and the demands it made to be kept up. Her husband Stephen looks out over the tangled garden and mourns the loss of his lifestyle, feeling that somehow he has been deficient in proving while not knowing how he could have succeeded. Laura, bohemian, disorganized, prone to long expensive phone calls with her disapproving mother, feels the stress of filling all the roles lost to the war, but cannot stop herself from spending the beautiful summer day walking to the top of their local hill and surveying the lovely view of their village. 

The story centers on Laura and her struggle to accept the changes in herself and in her way of life. She sees them and mourns them but also is happy and able to enjoy the life she has. She recognizes that she is aging and no longer an object of consideration for young men. But she also sees that these young men and others have new opportunity and offer a new approach to life. And the day is fine and she enjoys it. 

The writing in this little novel is just lovely, I so enjoyed reading it and discussing it with everyone! On we go to a vastly different book, if also set largely in England. We are reading Dracula by Bram Stoker, just in time for Halloween. Our meeting will be a bit different too - we are going to the VMFA! We have been invited for a private tour (just us) of the Sunken Cities exhibit (it is great), then we will have a reception under a tent on the Pauley Center patio. I am waiting for confirmation of the date but have targeted Oct. 14 around 5. 

If you can't bring yourself to read Dracula, I listened to it on "Phoebe Reads a Mystery" which is an easily available podcast You will have to go into the older episodes to find it. 

See you all then! 

The Good Earth is a good read

 First and foremost, many thanks to Mary for hosting us in her lovely back yard, under the world's best tree. It was a perfect setting and luckily perfect weather for an appropriately distanced meeting. We had to speak up but that proved no issue as we had plenty to say about this classic novel by a Nobel Laureate.

Way back in the day, we read another of Pearl S. Buck's works, The Imperial Woman. Reading that book, I was taken aback by the medieval level of the culture and the absolute abyss between the empress and the empire she ruled. The Good Earth underscored the poverty and isolation of the Chinese rural population, so cut off that there was little distinction between the war of revolution and that of common warlords. The result was a pretty harrowing life, at least for some of the characters, as in the women. 

The story was so very readable, it kept me going even though some of the plot twists were pretty far-fetched. The arc of the rich, idle family tossing away its assets and the poor farmer, rising to riches on the land who rises to riches was compelling if a bit predictable, particularly in the ending that implies the hard-won good earth so prized by Wang Lung, our protagonist, would soon be sold. 

The plight of the women in this novel was pitiful. Wang Lung somehow acquires a wife, a so-called slave who is wise and effective in a way he can only imagine. With her hard work in the fields, even to the minute of giving birth, he is able to scratch just a bit more than a living out of the earth. He even has the audacity to scold her for being pregnant when the harvest was poor. She makes his ambitions possible in every way and he rewards her by taking her beloved pearls and giving them to his mistress. Ugh. 

These heartbreaking scenes of privation and loss were tolerable because of the distant, almost biblical tone that Buck takes with the story. While the characters endure unimaginable circumstances, we are able to read from afar, with emotion certainly, but also a remove that allows us to consider and reflect. This is Buck's gift. 

It was a surprise to me that this is the first of a trilogy. Given the fame of the this book, and the anonymity of the following two volumes, I am not putting them on my library hold list. 

And so on to our next great read which was suggested by Barbara, after a friend of hers sent her the novel. Already a great start! The book is One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes. Barbara raved about it which is good enough for me. It is not that easy to find so check Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I should have my copy read by the end of next week so can pass it on. 

Our next meeting is September 15 at 6:30. Did someone volunteer to host? I don't remember, so sorry! Also, if people would feel more comfortable with an online meeting, just weigh in, we want everyone to be comfortable. Mary absolutely nailed a socially distant, outdoor event that felt completely safe but that doesn't mean every meeting has to be in person. 

Hope to see you all soon! 

Disappearing Earth - What happened?

Follow the tail of Alaska and it leads you to Kamchatka, the beautiful and isolated spit of Russia, perched above Japan overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is remote, inaccessible with poor roads and icy mountains barring entry or exit. It is almost a character in this first novel by Julia Phillips, a setting that provides both context and conflict. 

The first chapter of this impressive, captivating first novel is wrenching, a beautifully written set-up for a mystery that should lead to a standard police procedural - clues, a brilliant detective, a clear resolution. But that would be a different book. 

Instead, in the words of the author, Julia Phillips, the unimaginable crime provides a structure, like ribs coming off of a spine, detailing the range of harms in the lives of girls and women both large and small. The kidnapping of these young girls, swept away by something they couldn't anticipate or control is an extreme form of loss and violence. Yet every women whose story is told here is struggling with the the realization that at any moment, the life one has built can disappear. One's home, loved ones, family, even a country is not permanent, it is fragile and can be swept away on a whim. 

And while this story is uniquely possible in Kamchatka, it doesn't take long to see that the issues are the same for women everywhere. The struggles of toxic relationships, mistreatment from authorities, loss of a spouse, ethnic tensions. These are their struggles and ours as well, universal in many societies. 

The book covers every month following the crime, takes us to another woman impacted, coming back to a chance, perhaps, that there will be a resolution that does not further squeeze your heart. It is ambiguous, difficult to interpret but it gives some hope. There were different interpretations, and any could be the right one. I for one wanted those poor girls to be found and saved. Others thought they were lost, and the author won't say. She does say that she likes stories to have definitive ends but that she has been surprised by the number of interpretations she has heard. 

There is a lot to like and an awful lot to discuss in this book. It more or less naturally led to our own struggles with racial tensions. Julie had amazing insight from work she has been doing with her company, along with suggested reading. The Color of Law is a good start, detailing how US law denied black citizens access to home ownership and created housing discrimination with its centers of poverty. Julie mentioned White Fragility by Robin DeAngelo and a film called "White Like Me".

That of course led to everything else there is to read. Barbara mentioned The Battle of the Villa Fiorita by Rumer Godden (I adore Rumer Godden, her memoirs are incredible), Jean suggest The Nightwatchman by Louise Erdrich (another favorite of mine), I just ordered This is Shakespeare by Emma Smith (described as electrifying, not an adjective much associated with Shakespeare). I know I missed a lot of great suggestions, anyone want to chime in?

I admit to being pretty debilitated with the onslaught of the Cornavirus, our chaotic government and the despair of the recent protests. With that in mind, our next book is The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. If we are going to read about problems, I want them to be someone else's. Hopefully we can do Nightwatchman later as it is really wonderful. 

We are scheduled to meet on Aug. 18 at 6:30, at Mary Millhiser's. Thanks Mary!  Many, many thanks to Karin Walker who opened up her home to us since it was an oven outside. Our seating was distanced, but our friendships were not. Thank you! 

I will send out the Peach Pound Cake and Miso Fish Stew recipes via email, see you all in August! Let me know what I missed. 

The Starless Sea - finally in person

What a terrific night we had with those who were able to come, it was so fun to be together again after such a long and stressful time. Wonderful food, a gorgeous night in a beautiful setting and great conversation about this unusual book, The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.

A greater number than usual "read" the book by audio, including me. It was a handy way to get access when libraries were largely shut and in this particular case for me was preferable to reading the book. Many of us, certainly not all, thought the book was one long description of a fantasy world that moved as slowly as its namesake sea of honey.

There were lots of symbols and imagery and it was repeated endlessly, but at the end we had no more idea of what they meant than at the beginning. As well, the characters were bland, with seemingly no ability to change their circumstances or impact the possible outcomes around them. While that statement is in conflict with our protagonist, Zachary Ezra Rawlings, who on a whim travels to New York City to find characters in a book he stumbled across, it is nevertheless true. No one does anything in this book, they just float along. There is no plot, no tension, no purpose, no reveal of underlying mysteries.

I know there is supposed to be a conflict of some kind going on, but the dangers were not really spelled out and any battles seemed more like missed connections.

The descriptions were beautiful though, and evocative and imaginative. The image of doorknobs hanging on ribbons in random places was a lovely thought, a bit like Alice in Wonderland. How nice to think you can open an invisible door and find yourself in another universe. Just please, not this one.

Another issue was the interspersed, unconnected stories (or are they supposed to be parables?) that broke up the narrative. These stand-alone tales interrupted any tension the novel might have generated and were just confusing. The overall effect was of a very long book with not much going on.

Someone commented that the whole setup was somehow like a video game, pinging from one place to another and perhaps it wasn't a coincidence that the main character was studying video games in college. Maybe so, it seems as good an explanation as any other.

And so, on we go. Our next book is Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips and we are going to meet at Karin's place July 21 at 6:30. See you all then.  I often wonder if authors find this blog and read what we thought - if you did Erin, get in touch!

The Mirror and the Light - worth the wait

Thanks to everyone who Zoomed in for our discussion on The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel's end to her trilogy on Thomas Cromwell. This is a well-known product - by now we know and either love or hate Hilary Mantel's rendering of the story, and maybe have the same reaction to its hero.

I for one really loved this book and its other volumes in the series. This particular one I heard on audio and it made a big difference in my ability to follow who was talking (or thinking in the case of Cromwell.) As well, I heard Hilary Mantel interviewed about the development of the last book. She said that Ben Miles, who narrated the audio book after playing Cromwell in the theater adaption, became the personification of Cromwell for her and when she wrote, she heard his voice in her head. The way he portrayed his character helped her shape the final book, really interesting.

There were certainly detractors, and rightly so. The violence and brutality described during beheadings, torture and burnings at the the stake was difficult to read. It is hard enough to remember how brutal people were in the Middle Ages. To have these horrible acts unfold in such evocative and descriptive language was affecting to say the least. Once read, it is hard to shake these difficult scenes, especially the beheading of Anne Boleyn. At the same time, so beautifully written.

And on we go. Our next book is The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. This is going to be a very different read and I am looking forward to having a good discussion about it. We are going to try to meet at my house as we can spread out all over the backyard. If the weather is bad, we can try going to the Deep Run Hunt Club as it has a very large screened in room.

The date is June 16 at 6:30 and I for one and looking forward to getting together! For July, our book is Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips, a first novel.

For those of you who were interested, here is the link to the Chicken Pasta that Susan Victoria and I were raving about. It is from the NY Times, if you have trouble opening it let me know and I will send you a copy of the recipe.

 https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012898-creamy-one-pot-pasta-with-chicken-and-mushrooms

See you all in June!

The Talented Mr. Ripley via Zoom

Thanks to Julie W., we were able to hold our book club meeting via Zoom, a new experience for us but one that allowed us to reconnect, even if only for 40 minutes at a time. Thanks to Zoom, Val was able to attend, so great to see you Val! Please move back.  I hadn't realized how much I missed these interactions, wallowing as I am in our current enforced introversion.

So on from introverts to psychopaths, our Talented Mr. Ripley. This was a queasy read for many of us as Tom casually moved from penniless hanger-on to full blooded murderer. Was this his great talent, or was it that he could so easily put it all behind him, somehow assured that he was owed a life he wasn't born to, owed it enough that he could just reach out and take it.

Or maybe his talent, or Patricia Highsmith's, was in bringing us along with our goodwill. He was after all the protagonist with sad circumstances that set up sympathy. Remember our introduction to him was when he felt a threat from someone who was looking for him. It was the first of many felicitous circumstances that it was not a creditor but rather a very rich man who wanted Tom to help bring a lost son back.

The first of many small steps forward, as Tom sloughs off his own life and starts someone else's. Closer contact with the equally rich son, Dickie Greenleaf, means only that Tom want more and more to be Dickie, with a trust fund, beautiful clothes and limitless options. And step by step, he finds a way to remove Dickie and insert himself.

We had a long discussion about whether Tom was truly evil or just inured to the consequences of his actions by delight in their result. He does get the life he craved, implausible as it might seem. And somehow he didn't seem to get the guilt or the stress that should have come with it. It was strange that  Dickie, Marge, the police and Dickie's father all believed him in the end but it also was hard to image any other outcome.

And so on to (finally) The Mirror and The Light, by Hilary Mantel. Our date is May 19 at 6:30 pm and I expect we will still be in isolation, so plan on a Zoom meeting. If not, I can host - I have lots of back yard that we can spread out in. This is the long awaited last book on the life of Thomas Cromwell. I have "read" it on audio book, 39+ hours and it was riveting. It is hard to come out of the fog of the 1500's, it was so well done. The audio included a great interview with Hilary Mantel and Ben Miles, the actor who read all three books - super interesting. She said that Miles, who played Cromwell in the stage adaption of Wolf Hall became the voice she heard when writing this last book and helped shape it in many ways.

The Dutch House - great conversations

You may have noticed that Fiona posted the blog for me last month, thank you! The dead giveaway is that the post included a picture, so I am trying to keep up - here is Ann Patchett although I don't know how recent this picture is. Don't get used to it, it is way beyond my capabilities. 


We had a fantastic conversation about this book, mostly it seems because there was so much in this family story that resonates for our own lives. Ann Patchett said in a 2016 profile in The Guardian, “I’ve been writing the same book my whole life — that you’re in one family, and all of a sudden, you’re in another family and it’s not your choice and you can’t get out.” That feeling is familiar in this book, one based on a strong sibling bond that transcends circumstances despite, or because of, a big age gap. 

We as a group have not been enthusiastic about Patchett's books, perhaps because they are rooted in families, but not in romantic love. This sibling story, a sister Maeve, 7 years older than her brother Danny, has all the hallmarks of a gothic tale, complete with a wicked stepmother. They live, or lived, in a place that dominates their lives - a beautiful mansion called the Dutch House. 

Their father, newly wealthy from his work in real estate had bought the house for his wife without telling her, moving her into an elaborate, ornate landmark still furnished with the bounty of the original owners.  Now long gone, the house is dominated by portraits of the original owners, now stewards observing the house, in a way judging its inhabitants and its long-term help.

Alas, happiness in not in the air - the wife flees from unrequested opulence, leaving her two children, one very young, behind. Their father, soon enough, finds another wife. This one, in love with the house, if not with the owner, brings her own children and soon controls the fate of the house and all within it. 

So, as with all unhappy families, there is an end to the close proximity but not to the emotion. Their father dies, the new stepmother tosses them out of the home and the novel commences. Where is the mother? Who would evict a child, then 11 years old from the home he has always known? It turns out, the new owner of the Dutch House, Andrea the second wife, who wants the legacy for her own children. 

The result is the siblings, sitting outside the house, smoking cigarettes to mark the stages of their lives beyond the Dutch House. This novel covers many year, but the subject is always the same. The devotion between the two, the shared experience of loss, the ways one can move beyond or not, from Danny and Maeve’s childhood to their middle age.

Another part of the novel is about affluence - having it, losing it, wanting it. It seems like it would be a problem but in fact it is just reality. These characters bring you along in their lives and why wouldn't anyone want more than they have. Andrea may be too much of a stereotype but the other characters surround us in every day life. 

And so, on we go. Our next book is The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. You may have seen the movies, but the original author is worth spending time with. Wendy has offered to host, so we will see you there on March 17. Our April book is the new Hilary Mantel book,  The Mirror and Light, which will be published in March. If that makes it too hard to get a copy, we can move it back in the schedule. The date is April 21. May is the 19th, at my house and the book is The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. 

See you all then! 

Island of the Sea Women, by Lisa See

Historic fiction combined with a personal saga 

Author Lisa See has written many enjoyable books, and The Island of the Sea Women is one of them, perhaps her best to date. This fascinating history of the women in a remote part of Korea who support their families and culture by deep sea diving for seafood also incorporated a touching story of friendship formed and strained.

Chance more or less brings the two young girls together but it is the history of Korea that forms their lives. Their experiences in the village’s all-female diving collective gave them purpose, confidence and status. As divers, they were the heads of household in everything except name. The stories of diving, in freezing waters, at great peril, with no protective wet suits or oxygen (until much later) was hair-raising, especially when the women were pregnant and still diving.  See did a masterful job of creating this world in all its detail, beautifully describing the prestige of the women and the great responsibilities they carried.

Family life and to a much greater extent, the outside world changed their lives. Their own misunderstandings, set in and among the Japanese occupation, then the Korean War and the American obsession with rooting out Communism upended their lives, amid great dangers to each of them and their families. As the years continued, heartaches created enmity. See winds the world events around personal tragedies and trials so that in the end, it is impossible to image how any of the characters could have behaved differently, even knowing the price of their actions.  As we consider the personal stories, it is just as unnerving to consider the impact of the many decades of foreign intervention on Korea and this tiny corner of it.

This is a powerful novel of women’s lives, set in a uniquely curious place and historically important time. All in all, a great read and we all really liked it, much as we wanted to shake the main characters periodically. Many thanks to Mary for hosting, what a lovely evening!

And so, on we go to the next book which is The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. For those of you who are not raving fans of this author, never fear, this one is really good. We will meet on Feb. 18 at 6:30. I think we are at Ashley’s house, Ashley can you confirm?

See you all then!