Nancy @ Fairwood Archive.

There are a few events in US history that are so complex, tragic or emotional that they are still compelling to readers, even decades afterwords.

The Civil War is a good example--new books on Abraham Lincoln and the war seem to come out every month and still make the Best Sellers list.  The sinking of the Titanic is another event that still fascinates readers. One event about which I've read voraciously is the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911.

One hundred forty six workers died in a fire that was under control in less than an hour. Situated on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors of a new "skyscraper" in New York City, the Triangle Factory made ladies' shirtwaists which were all the rage at the time. Like the Titanic tragedy, there are many "if onlys" in the Triangle story that would have meant many lives being spared: proper fire escapes, doors that were not locked by factory bosses, fire hoses that actually worked, enforcement of the non-smoking rule.

In Margaret Peterson Haddix's book Uprising, she brings to life not only the facts of the story, but three young girls who lived them. Yetta from Russia and Bella from Italy both came to the US looking for a better life and hoping to save enough money to bring their families from their homelands.

Caught up in the workers' strike that predated the fire, Yetta and Bella befriend Jane, a lonely society girl who becomes involved in their crusade. Their friendship is a big part of the story, as is the plight of many other girls newly arrived in the States and held at the mercy of greedy factory owners.

Haddix, who is the author of the popular Shadow Children  series for kids and teens, has a talent for mixing history and fiction and the ability to write about tragedies like the Triangle fire without making them maudlin. Even though we know how these sad stories end, in the hands of a skilled author, they are worth the read.

Grab all your friends who were English majors in college and gather around this book!  Who Killed Iago? by James Walton has a literary quiz show within its pages.  Fun for browsing or actually following the author's system, this book is packed with a variety of quizzes that will help you figure out just how well you know your literature.

The author is the host of a British radio show that follows this format called "The Write Stuff."  He has quizzes about famous authors, literary rivalries, characters who appear in multiple books, and even uncovering author mistakes in various book excerpts.   

My favorite ones are the literary connection quizzes.   For these you get a list of four clues to an answer.  Once you get the four answers, you then have to figure out their connection to each other.  Here's an example:  1) author of The Big Sleep (answer:  Chandler)  2) Holden Caulfield's sister in The Catcher in the Rye (answer:  Phoebe)  3)  Founder of the New Yorker magazine (answer:  Ross)  4) Daphne du Maurier's "cousin" (answer:  Rachel).  So, what do Chandler, Phoebe, Ross and Rachel have in common?  The characters on the TV show Friends, of course.

This book is great fun or greatly frustrating when the answer is just out of reach.  You'll find out just how well-read you are (or aren't!)

Even if I wasn't interested in the Asian culture, the cover of this book would have caught my eye:  a Chinese monk, clearly in deep contemplation, strolling along carrying a Burger King bag.  However, having been to China several times and read many books about it, it was fascinating to see another perspective on a country of such contrasts.

In his book American Shaolin, Matthew Polly is adept at capturing these interesting juxtapositions.  For example, he is just a skinny kid from Kansas who is forced into a challenge match with a kung fu master and a Princeton dropout who ends up living with Shaolin monks and sharing their brutal physical workouts.

When Polly decided to leave school and pursue his dream of studying at the Shaolin Temple, no one thought it was a good idea.  When he arrived in China and couldn't even find the Temple at first, he didn't think it was such a good idea either.   However, as he overcomes aching body parts and cultural miscues, Polly discovers more and more about the mysterious group of monks who invented Zen Buddhism, as well as the individuals in the group, and he discovers even more about himself.

His experiences are at times funny, at times shocking, at times frustrating, and at times downright scary, but his telling is always readable and he makes you appreciate the Chinese proverb, "Talk does not cook rice."  A lot of people say they are going to drop everything and pursue a dream, but instead they stay put and become emotionally starved.  Matthew Polly didn't just talk about his dream, he lived it, Burger King and all.

Think back to your childhood when you got caught in a lie.  Did you mom say something like, "one lie leads to another," or "if you tell a lie it just gets bigger and bigger."  Unfortunately for Mitch Samuel, he missed out on this pithy advice from his mom, because he lies his way into a hole so deep he almost can't get out of it.

Now, if that was all I knew about Ms. Taken Identity by Dan Begley, I probably wouldn't want to read it.  I'm really not into liars as a general rule.  I mean, when people ask me the worst movie I've ever seen, I always say True Lies with Arnold Schwarzenegger.  It's about a not-very-likeable guy who lies to his wife for years about his identity because he's really a spy.  Or something.  

So when I started Begley's book I was thinking I'd better like this lying character immediately if the author expects me to read more than the first chapter.  To my surprise, I did.

Mitch is an English Comp professor and an aspiring novelist.  In fact, his novel is so long and so serious and so Great-American-Novel-wannabe that no one will publish it.  One night when he stops at the local book store, a famous chick lit novelist is doing a book signing.  Wanting desperately to dismiss what he sees as a lesser form of literature, he discovers he can't condescend to her because a) she's published tons of books, b) her books make people happy, and c) she's a multi-millionaire.

So Mitch decides that he too can write a chick lit novel and on the suggestion of his best friend, signs up for ballroom dance classes to listen in on "real" women's conversations.  Thus, the lies begin.  He makes up a name, learns that he actually likes dancing, and meets the girl of his dreams who also happens to be his best friend's sister.  Soon, he finds that he likes the person that he has become better than the person he was, but he's got to figure out if he's told one too many lies.

Ms Taken Identity is a clever send-up of chick lit novels, and a fun journey of discovery for a guy who finds out that being true to yourself isn't so bad after all.

 

It's a normal day in the Domestic Violence Division of the Dublin Police Department when Detective Cassie Maddox is called to the scene of a murder in the little village of Glenskehy.  First, she wonders why they call her out since she no longer works in the Murder Squad.  Second, what is her old boss from Undercover doing there?  When Cassie arrives at the scene and sees the victim, her life will never be normal again.

If you read my blog posting awhile back on In the Woods, which I'm sure you did, you will remember that I applauded Tana French's debut novel for its complexity of storylines and the multitude of characters that it blends together so successfully.  In that book, Detective Rob Ryan is the narrator.  In French's latest book, The Likeness, his partner Cassie tells the story.

Cassie started her career with the Dublin PD working in undercover as a college girl with the made up personality Lexie Madison.  Several years later, when Cassie is called to the Glenskehy murder scene, she finds a girl who looks exactly like her lying dead of a stab wound and carrying papers identifying her as Lexie Madison.

In an unconventional police tactic, and against her boyfriend Sam's wishes, she retakes Lexie's persona, infiltrates the household where she lives, and attempts to discover who is behind the murder of the dead girl and who the dead girl actually was.  Because Cassie created Lexie, she feels compelled to find the truth and yet she knows nothing of how this mystery girl portrayed Lexie.  As she gets more involved with her rather insulated housemates, the lines between Cassie and the real Lexie, whoever that is, begin to blur.

French has another winner with this novel.  Although there is less of the police procedural and more of the inner psychological drama, it will still appeal to mystery readers and police fiction readers as well as those who like a good character study.

I've never been much of a short story reader.  I always feel like just when I am getting into the characters and the story, it's already over.  Give me a 350 page novel over a 20 page short story any day.

So, what am I doing blogging a book of short stories?!  Ladies and Gentlemen, The  Bible! by Jonathan Goldstein IS a collection of stories, but they are all tied together based on a book most people have at least a passing familiarity with.  I mean, mention Noah, Samson and Delilah, and Adam and Eve and most people know who you are talking about.  So, in many ways, reading this book felt like reading a regular novel to me, but with some new characters added in like Jonah's little known brother, Vito.

Now, if you are looking for a book that takes the text of the Bible and just converts it to a short story format, this is not the book for you.  One of the subject headings, after all, is "humorous fiction."  However, if you have always wondered what the guy was like who dreamed up the tower of Babel and how Moses really felt about the whole golden calf incident, this is your book. 

Goldstein is original and irreverent.  He is hilarious and, some people will say, unholy.  If you are offended by the idea that God created some failed universes before our own, including one with a guy obsessed with the length of his pants, you might not think this book is very funny.  But if you laugh when during an argument Joseph says to Mary, "Sister, thou art the cracked egg that hath hatched a chicken of lies," you might get a kick out of this book.

Have you ever had a conflict with a neighbor?  Have you ever butted heads with your teenaged child?  Have you ever said a sharp word you wanted to take back once you said it?  What if doing any or all of these things could get you jailed for being a witch?

Kathleen Kent, author of The Heretic's Daughter, is the descendent of Martha Carrier, who in 1692 was arrested and accused of witchcraft for the very reasons listed above.   In an age when fear was enough to motivate friends and families to turn against each other, Martha's young daughter Sarah watches helplessly as her mother becomes the target of pointing fingers.  Left to help care for her father and young brothers and then ultimately jailed herself, Sarah's story mirrors her mother's until the final terrifying chapters of the story.

The Salem Witch Trials is not a new subject for historical fiction, but Kent's telling brings it to readers in a new way and manages to make the horror of it real and personal.   As the book opens, Sarah is an old woman writing a letter to her granddaughter about the events of almost sixty years earlier.  Her characters are real and recognizable, from the mean girls who torment Sarah when she comes to town to the kind reverend who visits the condemned prisoners.   She creates nobility in the imprisoned women who try to maintain their dignity in filthy conditions and cruelty in the sheriff's wife who trades extra rations for the prisoner's clothing.

Historical fiction done well is a real pleasure to read in the same way that a finely written fantasy novel can be.  Kent is an author with a talent for world-building--even though this is a world not many of us would want to visit except in the pages of a book.  Here's hoping Kathleen Kent decides to build another world for us in the near future.  

I believe that the ability and aptitude to sew skips a generation--at least that is very true in my family. My mom can sew anything and make it look as though it was purchased ready-made in a store, and often she does it better. Me, not so much. Pinning patterns and managing fabric are about as likely for me as flying.

So, what possessed me to pick up a book about a seamstress, a book full of sewing insights and the song of Singer? Nell Presser, that's who. Or should I say Nell Plat? Or should I say Madame Annelle?

The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard by Erin McGraw is the story of a girl married young in turn-of-the-20th-century Kansas. A girl with more on her mind and heart than milking cows and cutting thistles from the garden, Nell loves to sew and longs for the glamor and adventure that a 1900's prairie town cannot provide. By sewing for the local ladies, she saves enough money for train fare and lands in southern California during the birth of the film industry.

Nell (aka Madame Annelle) becomes a sensation and builds a new life, but old lives have a way of catching up to you as Nell discovers. Based on the life of her grandmother, McGraw creates a character that is compelling even when she does things you don't agree with and complex even in the most humble settings.

An amazing page turner, even for someone like me who knows nothing about the art and lure of needle and thread.

Local author Indu Sundaresan was born in India and has a talent for bringing her vibrant homeland to life in the pages of her books.  In her third novel, The Splendor of Silence, she also brings to life two vibrant characters in the backdrop of World War II.

Army captain Sam Hawthorne travels to the Indian state of Rudrakot to discover the fate of his missing brother, Mike.  Wounded in the fighting in Burma, he is emotionally and physically weary and he's harboring a secret.  In a whirlwind of intrigue and romance he meets and falls in love with Mila, the daughter of a local politician, who is inconveniently engaged to a prince.  Beautiful and spirited, Mila brings Sam back to life as the world begins to explode around them.

Sudaresan has the ability to weave history into her narrative as well as to make the details of everyday life lyrical.    There is a humorous scene in which Sam throws a giant lizard over a wall and a chilling scene in which he is attacked by a python in a swimming pool.  There is blatant racism and sensual beauty.  There is tragic loss and a moment of homecoming.

The novel starts when Sam's daughter, Olivia, opens a truck of artifacts sent by an unknown benefactor from India.   It is told in a semi-flashback style as this caring voice tells her the story of her parents' love for each other and the circumstances of life in Rudrakot under British rule.

If you enjoy political intrigue in exotic locales with a bit of passion thrown in, I suggest you listen to The Splendor of Silence.

Have you ever wondered what your pet was thinking?  You're sitting on your couch and there is your cat, looking at you as though it has something terribly important to tell you, if only you would listen.   And just what would a cat say if it could talk?   For that matter, what is a horse thinking about as it stands in the pasture?  And your goldfish, does it harbor deep, dark secrets?

In The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, our narrator is Enzo.  Enzo is a philosopher.  Enzo is a pragmatist.  Enzo is a dog and he's definitely got something to say.

The aptly named Denny Swift is an up-and-coming race car driver and Enzo is his faithful pet.  Enzo shares the story of being picked from a box of puppies on a farm in Eastern Washington and how Denny lived the metaphor of life being like a race on a rainy track.  Enzo narrates the courtship of Denny and Eve, even though he doesn't totally understand it at first, and how he appoints himself playmate and protector of their daughter Zoe.

Through racing triumphs and untimely death, Enzo paints a portrait of Denny and how he uses his driving skills to meet life's challenges head-on.  This is a story about love in many forms:  love within families, love for one's calling in life, and love for creatures both lesser and greater than oneself.  Enzo admires Denny's integrity and his determination to win custody of his daughter.   But mostly, he just loves Denny for being a man who doesn't mind when his old dog wets the floor and for releasing him to run and jump in the cosmic field when it is time.

Compassion and truth are the soul of Enzo and as a reader you really hope that he gets his wish to come back in his next life as a creature with thumbs.   Would that we could all be as wise as Enzo in relating someone else's story.