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!

Happy Holidays! What a fun Book Swap.

Hi all, I hope your holidays have been wonderful for you so far this year and that they continue on for next week as we hit yet another decade. Hard to imagine, another decade of monthly book talk is right on the horizon.

Thanks so much to our lovely hostess for this year's book swap, Julie Weissand. What a gorgeous setting, and somehow carolers arrived right on cue. Just a heads up, that does not happen at my house. Lucky us! The food was fabulous, the place was gorgeous as you can see and the audience of readers was quite enthusiastic about all we unwrapped.

We had a small but hardy crew that stepped right up and swapped aplenty. The book that found itself in the most hands was The Dutch House by Anne Patchett so that is our February book. 

 I did not find out who had brought what book, other than when Anna ended up with the book she brought. Luckily, trades are well within the rules so there was an independent "placement" that worked out just fine. Here is the full list of our evening choices, hard to go wrong with any one of them. 

The Choice -  Dr. Edith Eva Eger

The Dutch House - Ann Patchett

Suspended Sentences - Patrick Modiani

News of the World - Paulette Jiles

Eats Shoots and Leaves and The Boy, The Mole, The Horse - Lynn Truss

The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane - Lisa See

The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood 

The Key to the Quarterpole - Robin Williams

Witch Elm - Tana French

Unbound - Dean King

This is a pretty motivating list, and my library hold requests are swollen. Margo is following up with Dean King to see if he can come talk with us sometime, and we can always loop in Robin Williams if people want to talk with her. 

Lisa See is the author of our January book which is The Island of the Sea Women. We will be at Mary Millhiser's lovely house on January 21 at 6:30 pm. Bring all your healthy foods to share, no doubt many of us will still be working off the holiday season. 

See you then! Happy New Year!

The Impossible Mission seems even more so now

Charles Fishman has given us a unique view of the massive effort the U.S. undertook to put a man on the moon in 1969, one that underscores just how difficult and potentially disastrous it was. Rather than focus on the astronauts and their experiences, Fishman told the stories of those who had vital and quite specific parts to play.

In our current time of instant information, the descriptions of (now) primitive computers that filled rooms and drained electricity seem almost unreal. The story of the women who weaved together the wiring for these computers by hand, as if they were making fabric was just amazing. What came through time and again was how critically important individuals were in the outcome. The impact of those whose attention to detail and willingness to work harder and longer in the pursuit of perfection was underscored again and again.

Among the 410,000 people and 20,000 companies that participated in the space race were many of these stories; heartwarming, inspiring, and no short measure terrifying. Each of their stories that Fishman included was well-told and interesting. The work these thousands did somehow miraculously came together on a compressed timeline. The author laid out the case that these efforts brought us to the digital age. As technology was invented and developed has needed to support the moon mission, it was reinvented as time went on to make technology part of our everyday life.

The issue for some is that there are way too many of them. The information was dense and often quite technical, and there was a lot of it. That made for slow going, and perhaps a book best read in doses.

And so on to December, our annual book swap! We will meet at Julie Weissand's on December 16, at 6:30 pm, which is a Monday. Bring a wrapped book that you think others should read, with a card (unsigned) about why. The book that is swapped the most will be our February book (if we want).

As a bonus, we talked about visiting the Hopper exhibit at the VMFA in order to pick out a painting and imaging a story that explains it. Fun!

Our January book is by Lisa See, called The Island of the Sea Women. The date is January 21 and we will be at Mary Millhiser's.

Happy holidays and see you on December 16!

Remember October's Meeting?

It seems like a long time ago by now! It was wonderful to have Jean back with us, filling us all in on all she has read since the last time we saw her. Come back more often!

We had a good discussion about The River, by Peter Heller. It wasn't much of a hit but we all agreed that he wrote like a dream when describing the setting - the Canadian wilderness along the isolated river the two main characters had chosen to explore.

At its heart, The River is an age old story of people battling the forces of nature, including the worst side of human nature. This one read like a thriller, with many twists as the two friends Jack and Wynn fight to save a woman left for dead by her homicidal husband as well as outrun a raging fire and some very shady characters they met along the way.

It is inevitable that tragedy ensues, and only Jack survives the friends' trip. The parallels to the early loss of his mother makes this even sadder. Still, the characters were a bit wooden, especially the saved woman who is essentially a prop for much of the book. There were an awful lot of people up on this distant and dangerous river and it did seem a pretty unlikely story. I was willing to forgive all that for the poetic writing but not everyone agreed.

We also had a great discussion about the Hopper exhibit now at the VMFA, and how Hopper's work is so enigmatic that it asks the viewer to construct a story. There is a book out, called In Sunshine and in Shadow that does just that. Twelve different writers each chose a Hopper painting and wrote a short story interpreting the setting. It was great! We are trying that ourselves before our December meeting. The plan is to visit the exhibit beforehand, pick a piece and each of us will create a storyline about it. Fun!

So on to our next book which is A Giant Leap by Charles Fishman and we will be at Fiona's. The date is Nov. 19, see you all then!

Jesmyn Ward is the real thing

A big thank you to Karin who hosted for our fun September meeting. We had great food and even better conversation although not as many people had read the book as usual. That turned out to be a real stimulant as their questions made us think about the plot, its meaning and why were there all those ghosts?

I admit to being overwhelmed by this book and its young author. Jesmyn Ward is now 42 years old and has written 2 novels, both of which won the National Book Award. Her first novel, Salvage the Bones, was published in 2011 and this novel. in 2017. She also became a McArthur Fellow in 2017 which is how I came to find her work. This is a work of an incredible mind with a strong point of view and a story to tell.

That story, in this case, found its home with Jojo, a 13 year-old with a (usually) absent mother tied to her boyfriend Michael and drugs. Jojo is tied to his three year-old sister Kayla, and his loving grandparents, who are aging and ill. The story is of a road trip to Parchman, a prison where his mother will pick up Michael, Kayla's father, and deal drugs along the way with a friend Leonie, his mother brings along.

Leonie, irresponsible and besotted with her own life, is also haunted by the ghost of her brother Givens, shot by a cousin of her boyfriend. Poor Jojo can also see him, although he can't tell Leonie, and also has another haint to navigate. This is a sadder story, one of a young boy convicted of a minor crime and sent to Parchman, notorious for reinstating slavery by renting out its inmates. Many of the inmates were black, their crimes minor if actual, and their sentences harsh.

Richie, this sad ghost stays with Jojo as they travel back home, and stays with him while the ghost of Givens brings his mother, JoJo's grandmother home to him. Richie won't leave, but at last he understands what has happened to him, at an age not much different than Jojo.  The ghosts stay on, chaining the present to the past injustices.

The overwhelming sense of hardship, loss and societal disadvantage is difficult to take. Despite that, it is beautifully written, haunting and in some unknown way, a little hopeful about the way forward. If you haven't read it, pick it up, it is amazing.

And so on to next month, which is coming up soon. Our book is The River, by Peter Heller, another writer who can make the page come alive. We are scheduled for Julie Joyce's (thank you!) on Oct. 15. This is a shortish book, no problem getting through it.

Our November book is One Giant Leap, by Charles Fishman, who is a friend of one of our group. It is about Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon and its scientific and technical challenges. Fitting for the 50th anniversary which really makes me feel old.

See you all soon!

No Turtle Soup For Us.

Thanks to Margo Hardy for hosting a really fun and equally hot evening to discuss Babette's Feast by Isak Dineson, the pen name used by Baroness Karen Blixen-Finecke, (Karen Blixen) in the English language publications of her work. In Germanic languages she used Tania Blixen.

Interestingly, Karen Blixen wrote in both English and Danish, publishing her first book in English before the Danish version came out. This caused such a backlash in Denmark that she never did that again, but often published in both languages at the same time. She did not have the work translated, but rather wrote each work in both languages, and the details varied from version to version.

Although the Book of the Month Club selected five of books over time, she is best known for Out of Africa, a memoir of her life in Kenya from 1914 to 1931 and "Babette's Feast", a short story published in 1958 in Anecdotes of Destiny. 

There is a reason for that - the character of Babette is compelling. When she arrives, bereft of her family and her country, her impact is one of efficiency and compliance with the pious and austere aging sisters, the remaining heads of their father's religious sect. 

The lovely sisters had early chances at a fuller life and denied them out of devotion to their father and his faith. Now, with their lives closer to the end than the beginning, and the few remaining devotees in the tiny hamlet unhappy and bickering, their sacrifice seems futile. Babette changes all that with a dramatic gesture -spending all her winnings from a lottery to create a feast for the sisters and their sect.

Babette, it turns out is an artist, with this last chance to create. Her passion impacts them all, soothes the petty squabbles among the followers and raises the question of whether devotion in religion is less true to faith than the devotion of the true artist, no matter the medium.  

We all liked it, although it was a bit dark, or maybe we were remembering the movie version. If you want more Isak Dineson, I loved most of her short story collections, it is just hard to go wrong. 

So, on to September as so many of us are traveling in August that we decided to take a break. Our September book is Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. This novel is by a brilliant young author who has won two National Book Awards out of three novels. Not bad! We will meet at Karin's on September 17 at 6:30. 

October will be at Julie Joyce's on the 15th. Our book will be The River, by Peter Heller. I just finished it and hope to read it again for our meeting to see if I still feel the same as the first time through. 

November will be the 19th at Fiona's. That is a big week as that weekend is the VisArts Craft and Design show, yeah! The book will be A Giant Leap, by Charles Fishman, a friend of Julie W.'s.

Just to round out the year, we set the date for the annual Christmas Book Swap for December 16 - this is a Monday! Julie W. has agreed to host!

Happiness: A Novel had a lot to discuss

Many thanks to Lynn for hosting our discussion last month, what a beautiful and warm place for a lively discussion. What a nice night! 

This book, by Aminatta Forna was a great suggestion from Barbara that gave us so much to talk about. On its surface, a story about fox in London would not seem so engaging. In fact, they were a stand-in for the main characters  and Jean, all interlopers in ways that were unique to them. 

There was a lot going on in this novel - Jean's move to London and her struggle to overcome her failed marriage and strained relationship with her adult son unfolded fairly quickly. Atilla's story took longer to develop; the loss of his wife, the longer term distance from his home country while serving societies in catastrophe around the world, his shorter term distance from a niece. 

The niece serves as focal point for the story while never really entering it. Her son has disappeared and Atilla and Jean form a team to find him, using Jean's expertise tracking urban fox and her network of doormen and trash removers developed over the course of her project. 

That search, the unfair treatment of the niece and Atilla's last minute involvement in the trial of an immigrant charged with arson are the fabric of the theme that change and migration, like those of the fox into London, are inevitable and that fear and hate do nothing to stem the tide and do much harm in the process. It was a lovely novel, a bit clunky in places but definitely worthwhile. 

On to July! We will meet at Margo's house on July 16 at 6:30.  Lucky for us, we are reading a short story, Isak Dineson's "Babette's Feast". We talked about a fancy feast in support, any ideas? 

See you all there! 

Well that was fun!

Our last meeting seems a very long time ago by now, and it was. Thanks to Ashley for hosting what was one of the funniest nights we have spent together, albeit at the expense of long book related discussion.

The departure point for the laugh-fest was the reaction we had to Less by Andrew Sean Greer. Some of us thought it was hilarious and the detached, ironic narrative (and surprise ending) was clearly tongue in cheek. 

Others, like me, found the character pathetic and the humor flat. That kicked off a whole discussion about what one's sense of humor actually is and egged on by the questions Val sent, we had quite a ranging laugh-in. 

So, on the book, it was a mixed review but those who liked it really did. On to the next one, which is Happiness: A novel, by Aminatta Forna. Interestingly, this is a novel about foxes in London and maybe other things as well. I can't wait. 

We will be at Lynn's, June 18 at 6:30.  For those planning ahead, our July meeting will be at Margo's on July 16. We are scheduled to read Babette's Feast, by Isak Dinesen, the first time we have ever repeated a book, or in this case, a short story. There was a reason, but I don't remember what it was, something about food and wine? Wine sounds good, turtle soup, which I remember features in the story, not so much. 

See you all then! 

                                         

Destiny of the Republic - a great conversation starter

What a fantastic conversation we had that kicked off with Destiny of the Republic, a story of President Garfield's assassination in 1881. We started there, went on to the stubbornness and arrogance of some of the men in the book and others we could think of, and on and on. What a great time!

As for the book, those of us who read it liked it. The consensus was that the topic was fairly thin - it was hard to really fill a book as poor Garfield was inaugurated in March, shot in July and after months of sickness and agonizing treatment, died in September.

The story really was of medicine at the time, and the slow, difficult way of progress. The eminent doctors of the time, even if self-proclaimed, were resistant to the idea of germs and wholly indifferent to cleanliness. At the time, only the indigent and doomed went to a hospital. Those who were cared for at home, like Garfield, suffered from ignorance, arrogance and pain from those who claimed to cure them. And that is excluding the madman who shot him.

One of the most interesting aspects of the story was Alexander Graham Bell and his role in developing technology (which Dr. Bliss, the lead doctor refused to use to its fullest) to find the bullet left in Garfield's side. Bell's dedication to saving Garfield was only one of the many tributes to a well-loved and admired man, shot by someone who sought to gain his attention and favor.

The shooter, a deranged man named Charles Guiteau, somehow thought that by shooting Garfield, he could claim his rightful place as Ambassador to France, denied him by Garfield's Secretary of State, at least in his own mind.

It was clear that the author truly loved and admired Garfield, perhaps a bit too much for a really balanced presentation. At the same time, she also obviously adored Theodore Roosevelt in River of Doubt, and we were all perfectly fine with that, as we all loved him too. While the story was one of a painful loss for the country and his family, it was a great insight into a little known period of our history and I was glad to read this well-researched, well-written history.

And on we go to next month, May 21 at Ashley's. The book is Less, by Andrew Sean Greer. See you all there!

"A Well-Behaved Woman" - highs and lows but overall quite good

Fiona Ross from her current exhibition at Page Bond Gallery

What a great conversation about this interesting and informative fictional account of Alva Vanderbilt, her storied relatives and the mores her time. While there is no doubt we all live within the conventions of our times and our societies, by today's standards poor Alva had a very hard row to hoe. She was pretty but not enough to attract marriage with established money, she was impoverished though gentile so marriage to money was essential.  Unfortunately she was clever and capable which did not earn her many girlfriends that might help.

There was one girlfriend though, a friend for life or at least Alva thought so. In the end, this was a book on two levels and both worked - one, the story of a determined, intelligent and hardworking person who raised the social status (all that counted if you had money) of her clan. The other was of a lonely, ambitious person whose loyalties were betrayed with relationships that were ultimately of competition and expedience. That she landed these same characteristics on her daughter showed only the implacable acceptance of what was admired and appreciated once one was wealthy. Happiness was not necessarily on the docket, at least not at first.

As a story, there were two standout sections - the first was the unfolding of Alva working her way into a society closed to her and the Vanderbilts and positioning herself as one of its luminaries. It is hard to remember how rigid the wealthy society was, to exclude such great wealth as not good enough, but maybe judgement is the same now, just on different criteria. Another nugget was that Alva used a consultant, Ward McAllister to help her devise strategy and wangle invitations. Who knew that is what it took!

The second standout section as a story was Alva's brilliant extraction from her marriage after finding out her best friend had a long running affair with her husband William. To find out decades later that your best friend engineered your marriage with her paramour because he wasn't good enough for her but she wanted him around? Not good.  Alva shows her character again though and finds a way forward that gives her some happiness for a short time.

Lost perhaps is her daughter, forced into a marriage of title but not love and certainly not responsible behavior. Looking at the characterizations at the time, and even all these years later (mind you, it is only Wikipedia), poor Alva is a strict tyrant, protecting the family name to the detriment of all around her. As with so many women before and after her, her ability and willingness to get the outcome she wanted for herself and her family drew criticism, complaint and condemnation. It may not be so different today.

I found the delineation of the Vanderbilt family tree very interesting though, and the side story of the Biltmore was a bit of a highlight.

And so, on we go. It is impossible, it seems, to leave the late 1800's. Our next book is Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard. She wrote the amazing book River of Doubt about Theodore Roosevelt. This one is on the Garfield assassination. Don't despair, she is an amazing storyteller. We are scheduled to meet on April 17 (note, this is a Wednesday) at Wendy's. We need to swap for another venue though as Wendy's is now not available. Any volunteers? Let me know if so.

May is the 21st at Ashley's and the book is Less by Andrew Greer. June is the 18th at Lynn's but no book yet. Put on your thinking cap, see you on April 17!