Forgotten Favorites: The Collected Raffles Stories By E.W. Hornung; Brilliant Adventure Stories About A Gentleman Thief

Forgotten Favorites: The Collected Raffles Stories By E.W. Hornung; Brilliant Adventure Stories About A Gentleman Thief 


By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
I'll bet many don't know that Sherlock Holmes has a criminal in the family. Well sort of. 
Arthur Conan Doyle's brother-in-law,E.W. Hornung, was also a writer and in 1899, he created a character who was to thieves what Holmes was to detectives: A.J. Raffles! 
While Raffles is not as well known a name now as Holmes is in the early 20th century, Raffles' name was a synonym for thieves and his sophisticated tastes and elegant and sometimes brutal demeanour was the inspiration for such characters as The Saint's Simon Templar and To Catch a Thief's Jon Robie. The stories are fun, exciting adventurous stories of a duo of loyal scoundrels. 
The stories are collected in three anthologies, The Amateur Cracksman, The Black Mask, and A Thief in the Night, containing Raffles' adventures from his first meeting with his loyal friend and chronicler, Bunny Manders all the way to their final adventure in the Boer War. 
Raffles and Bunny are similar to the Trickster figures in folklore, how they plan various schemes and make fools of authority figures. The earlier light-hearted stories are more adventurous tales of derring do and clever escapes. Many of the stories involve ludicrous schemes such as when Raffles steals form an arrogant billionaire practically because he begs a thief to, then has to get poor Bunny out when things go awry.
 However, the later stories right before their end "In the Arms of the Gods", takes a darker approach as they live on the run in various disguises, and have to face serious consequences of their careers as criminals as they become the target of secret societies and reunite with ex-colleagues and fiancees, many of whom want them arrested or dead.
The two are a study in contrast. Raffles is the engaging gentleman-about-town on the outside. He is a well-known cricketer, the last person one would suspect of being a thief. It is during his robbery attempts that he explores his sinister nature. He steals when he is hard up for money, but also for pleasure
. "Why work when you can steal?" he tells his partner, Bunny Manders. "And the distribution of wealth is wrong anyway." Besides his doings, he also possesses a violent nature which he displays in the story, "A Willful Murder" when he contemplates killing a rival and "The Fate of Faustina," when he prepares an almost Poe-like ending for his girlfriend's murderer. Despite the dark turns in his character, he does have a personal code that he would never steal from his host, nor betray Bunny.

Raffles' partner, Harry "Bunny" Manders  is naive and gullible to the point where he doesn't believe that Raffles is a thief in their first encounter, "The Ides of March," until they arrive at the jewelry shop even though his friend drops obvious hints beforehand. However, he is very lovable in his own way, particularly in the touching story "The Spoils of Sacrilege," where the duo rob Bunny's childhood home and he becomes racked with guilt when he encounters his childhood memories. However, he is a loyal companion to his more self-assured friend and never gives him up, even though he becomes the captive of various law enforcers and robbery victims.
Raffles and Bunny are an engaging duo in both the early stories as they have a jolly time on their escapades having fun at authority figure's expense. However, the later stories reveal their senses of loyalty towards each other as well as the consequences of their actions which are dealt with in meaningful and touching ways.

Forgotten Favorites: The Fairy Rebel by Lynne Reid Banks; A Beautiful Detailed Modern Fairy Tale

Forgotten Favorites: The Fairy Rebel by Lynne Reid Banks; A Beautiful Detailed Modern Fairy Tale

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: It can be rather annoying when an author's book is so popular that their other works are often ignored or not held in as high regard as the favored book. In October, I reviewed what I feel was Anne Rice's best work, The Witching Hour over her more well known, Interview with the Vampire. While J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey is well regarded by many (and J.D. Salinger himself actually preferred The Glass Family), it doesn't have the same academic and cultural impact as Holden Caulfield and his book, Catcher in the Rye.

\Another author that falls in that category is Lynne Reid Banks. I remember when her Indian in the Cupboard was seen everywhere: bookstores, libraries, book fairs, and in the pages of book order forms. Banks wrote five sequels and many Readers thrilled to the adventures of Omri, a young boy, and Little Bear, a tiny figure turned human and the title character. Because of the popularity of the Indian in the Cupboard books, many of Bank's other works have often been ignored.

Her best work however is The Fairy Rebel, a beautiful modern fairy tale about a young fairy who helps a childless English family despite orders from the rigid Fairy Queen.

Jan, a former actress, and Charlie, a General Practitioner, have a loving marriage except they want to have children. One day as Jan sits in her garden, a fairy appears dressed in a flowing top and a pair of blue jeans. Jan and Tiki, the fairy, become friends so Tiki helps her human friend by magically creating a baby for her. Unfortunately, the Fairy Queen learns about Tiki assisting Jan so she imprisons Tiki in a wasp’s nest. (The book explains that fairies are afraid of wasps. One sting and they become fairy dust) Jan, Charlie, and Tiki’s Elvin friend, Wijic rescue her.

A year after Tiki's rescue, Jan gives birth to a baby girl, Bindi. When Bindi is 8-years-old, the Fairy Queen prepares a final assault on Tiki, Wijic, Bindi and her parents.

The book is filled with interesting unique touches that show that Banks took a lot of thought into creating the Fairy World. She creates terms such as “Earthed” (when a fairy touches a human and is therefore able to be seen by the human). Even Bindi’s name is a Fairean word meaning “expensive” or a “treasure.” (Because Tiki had to borrow magic from various friends to create her).There are whole chapters describing Fairy culture such as that fairies sleep in bird's nests, flower petals, and tree notches or that fairy babies come from sugar eggs.

One of the most enchanting chapters is one that reveals magical presents that Tiki leaves for Bindi each year on her birthday. Because Bindi was born in June and Tiki admits to being a “pink rose fairy,” the presents are shaped like roses and reflect Bindi's interests and age. Tiki's presents for Bindi include a large rose that tells a story every week for a year, a rose comprised of letters so she can learn how to spell in school, and a pink and green gown that gives her the confidence to play a queen in the school play. The Fairy World is so detailed that I wish there were parts set entirely in that world and so we could get Tiki and Wijic's  point of view

The book mostly focuses on Jan, Charlie, and Bindi and the Reader learns about the Fairy World as they do. That's not a big loss in that they are all great characters. Jan is a woman of deep sensitivity and kindness with some regret. (Her acting career ended early because a lamp fell on her in a TV studio giving her a limp. For a long time, she believed that the injury may have been responsible for her inability to bear children.) Charlie is the stern straight man of the family, but is not above showing kindness such as when they first encounter Wijic after he is frozen during the winter. While one would expect a kid surrounded by magic to be spoiled, Bindi is not. She is emotional and very enthusiastic, a sweet little girl, so the Fairy Queen's manipulations to get Bindi to do rotten things like shop lift candy and using magic for selfish purposes are deliberately out of character.

Tiki and Wijic also make for an interesting duo. Tiki is a kind soul with a penchant for rebellion hence why she wears blue jeans (The Fairy Queen forbids it). Wijic is more cautious less willing to break the Queen's rules until Tiki is in trouble. (Though he does long to be a human boy because he is tired of using magic and eating sweet foods preferring savory snacks like chips).Tiki and Wijic are that type of couple that are forever arguing and teasing each other but are actually close friends who might be more.

The Fairy Rebel is not a well known book but it should have a better reputation of being a charming, beautiful, detailed late 20th century fairy tale.

Forgotten Favorites: The Lamplighter by Anthony O'Neill; Dark and Bloody Supernatural Thriller About The Terrors Found in Dreams

Forgotten Favorites: The Lamplighter by Anthony O'Neill; Dark and Bloody Supernatural Thriller About The Terrors Found in Dreams

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: Dreams can be great things to have. They reflect stress that a person has throughout the day and create breaks and possible solutions. They connect the Dreamer to various archetypes and symbols in the Collective Consciousness. They reflect our strongest desires and ambitions and possibly foretell the future. However, they also reflect our worst fears and sometimes can seem worse than reality. What if those nightmares came true and not only affected the Dreamer but the world around them?




That is the premise behind Anthony O'Neill's fascinating but little known novel, The Lamplighter. Evelyn Todd, a young woman in 19th century Edinburgh had a vibrant imagination that helped her through a troubled childhood at a home for destitute girls. As a girl, she is fascinated by a lamplighter outside the girl’s home. She creates stories and draws pictures about the adventures of a traveling lamplighter which she calls “Leerie,” (a slang term for Lamplighter). When her stories begin to frighten the other girls, the home's director orders her to stop talking about them. He no sooner gives her the order, then a mysterious man arrives claiming to be Evelyn's father and takes her to his home. She tells him about her Leerie stories and a few days later, her father introduces her to a man who resembles her drawings and claims to be Leerie.




Twenty years later, as the narrator tells us, “the streets of Edinburgh were filled with blood.” A professor is murdered and his body is scattered along the road. Inspector Groves, a conceited police inspector, links the murder to a similar one to a lighthouse keeper and other murders that follow. Meanwhile Thomas McKnight, a professor of logic and metaphysics, and his friend, Joseph Canavan, a gravedigger, are also investigating the murder since the deceased professor was a colleague and professional rival of McKnight's. McKnight, Canavan, and Groves are led to the now-adult Evelyn who works for a bookseller and whose nights are filled with dreams of detailed serial murders and her old imaginary friend (or is it enemy?) ,Leerie. Also many people, including Canavan and Evelyn, report sightings of a sinister demonic figure in the shadows.




The book is filled with suspense and horror-filled moments that rather than provide lame attempts at creating jump scares, instead enhance the plot and the surreal quality of the murders and Evelyn's dreams which either foretell the murders or are active participants. The chapters detailing the murders and the demonic figure are scary the way that H.P. Lovecraft's writing is scary. The creature doesn't have a specific shape and is seen in and out of the shadows like a figure of nightmares that changes shape and wouldn't have a specific form in the material world.




O'Neill puts interesting characters into this dark daymare of a novel. The most fascinating is Evelyn herself. She is secretive and cynical when Groves, Canavan, McKnight question her. (When Groves repeats his claims that her descriptions of the dreams as “vague”, she responds, “Yes, you told me that before.”) While the men particularly McKnight, think she's mentally ill or at least suffering from guilt from an overactive imagination that places her at the scene of the crime, Evelyn appears to have some dark secrets that she hides with her cryptic comments and scars that she hides behind gloves and scarves. In one tense chapter through hypnosis Evelyn explains her past in a story that is both creepy and heartbreaking. She recounts abuse and torture from guardians and her rage against them which might manifest in sinister creatures formed from her mind.




McKnight, Groves, and Canavan appear to be less defined. Groves is more interested in his memoirs and getting his name heard and considers solving the case as nothing more than adding a decisive finish to his illustrious career. McKnight is a very logical left-brained sort of man who questions her account constantly. Canavan is a more emotional sort who wants to rescue Evelyn seeing her as a damsel in distress. They are almost stereotypes but it makes sense when it is hinted that Evelyn's nightmare creatures not only come true, but she is also able to create protections and safeguards against them. Could those safeguards include creating people who open up repressed memories that manifest themselves as a demon that attacks her abusers on her behalf? This possibility is purposely left open-ended but is very meta and clever the more the Reader thinks about it.




The Lamplighter's protagonists have a hard time telling fantasy from reality and the more that Evelyn's nightmares take shape, the more frightening they become. This leads to a spellbinding and captivating conclusion that leaves the Reader with questions about the division between Reality and Imagination. This is the type of book that is both a standard horror story and a metaphysical journey. It is a dream come true, but not always the best dreams.

Forgotten Favorites: Very Special People: The Struggles, Loves, and Triumphs of Human Oddities by Frederick Drimmer; An Amazing Biography of Some Very Special People Indeed

Forgotten Favorites: Very Special People: The Struggles, Loves, and Triumphs of Human Oddities by Frederick Drimmer; An Amazing Biography of Some Very Special People Indeed


By Julie Sara Porter


Bookworm Reviews





In the 2017 musical biopic of P.T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman, the sideshow performers such as Charles “General Tom Thumb” Stratton, a little person, Chang and Eng, conjoined twins, and Lettie Lutz, a bearded lady crash a swank party that they have been denied entry by the party goers and Barnum himself. They sing the triumphant Oscar nominated song, “This Is Me” where they admit that yes they are different, but they will persevere despite the derision of others. It's a stirring unforgettable moment.


Fans of movies of the Golden Age of Hollywood may be familiar with the 1931 film, Freaks which deals with a conniving trapeze artist and her strong man lover who conspire to murder her husband, Hans, a little person, for his fortune. Most of the movie’s cast includes various real life sideshow performers including Violet and Daisy Hilton, a pair of conjoined twins (whose characters get engaged during the movie), Lady Olga, a bearded lady (who in the movie gives birth to a daughter fathered by Pete Robinson, a human skeleton), Johnny Eck, a legless man, Frances O’Connor, an armless woman, Prince Randion, who was born with neither arms or legs (but in the movie shows he is capable of lighting and smoking a cigarette), and Harry and Daisy Doll, a brother and sister team of little people who play the main character, Hans, and his female friend, Freida. (The DVD/Blu-ray of the movie includes a documentary in which each performer’s lives are described before and after Freak’s release.)





Even though they were made 87 years apart, both The Greatest Showman and Freaks show the struggles faced by people who were once called “Freaks”, or “Human Oddities.” People who look different because they are too short, too tall, are conjoined, have white albino skin, are missing arms and legs, are bearded women and many others. Their stories were stories of constant struggles of being accepted by society including families who constantly worried about them, smothered, or abandoned them, finding work (most of which ended up working in sideshows), and finding acceptance or love. Author, Frederick Drimmer gathered their stories in his 1976 book, Very Special People: The Struggles, Loves, and Triumphs of Human Oddities. Many of these people may not be well-known to modern Readers, but they are unforgettable in their strengths, determination, and willingness to make a life for themselves. Each story seems to say, (to quote the song): “ I am brave/I am bruised/I am who I’m meant to be/This is me.”





The stories are divided into eight parts and 34 chapters which explore various people sorted by their abnormalities. They are moving, heartwarming, honest, and even at times humorous (when asked if she would March in the Easter Parade, the bearded Lady Olga said “Absolutely not, someone may mistake (her) for a Supreme Court Justice.”) Above all, they are inspirational. Not many Readers would forget the story of Hermann Carl Unthan, a man born without arms who became an accomplished violinist and also learned to swim, ride horseback, and target shoot with his legs.





Another fascinating story is that of Violet and Daisy Hilton, the conjoined twins who appeared not only in the film, Freaks but in another movie called Chained For Life. The two were abused by their guardian and her husband until they came of legal age and took their guardians to court. The Hilton Sisters had short-lived marriages but played the saxophone in vaudeville and befriended such performers as Bob Hope (who taught them how to dance) and Harry Houdini (who taught them to mentally block each other out when they wanted alone time.).





There is also the chapter about Julia Pastrana, a Mexican woman with hair on her face, arms, and legs. She also captivated audiences with her graceful dancing and singing in both English and her native Spanish.





One of the most well known stories was that of Joseph Carey Merrick AKA, The Elephant Man, an Englishman with neurofibromatosis, a skin condition which causes lesions and tumors all over the body. Merrick was the subject of the play and movie, The Elephant Man, the latter of which was directed by David Lynch and starred Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt as Merrick. Told by Merrick’s friend and mentor, Sir Frederick Treves, The Elephant Man’s chapter is about a man frequently shunned, abused, and put on display by a cold and uncaring public only to be permitted to permanently reside at the London Hospital and became a celebrity because of his kind amiable personality and childlike nature. Merrick made use of a dressing kit, even though he couldn't use its contents, by imagining that he was a dandy man-about-town. After he attended a pantomime of Puss in Boots with Treves (hidden behind a boxed seat curtain), Merrick spoke about the play as though it was a real event asking questions like “Do you suppose that poor man is still in the dungeon?”





One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is how it goes to extremes from people with too many limbs to those who don't have enough and from people who are below and above average height. Robert Pershing Wadlow, who was dubbed the Alton Giant because of his vast height, was one such example. By the time he began school, he wore clothes that fit a 17 year old and by the time he was eight, he passed his hand-me-downs to his father. The chapter is filled with moments where Wadlow held silverware that seemed doll house-like in his hands, where he had to lay hotel beds side to side so he could get a good night's sleep, and above all where a slight fracture could lead to debilitating problems later. Wadlow’s excessive height caused the calcium in his bones to be weakened and he died at the young age of 27 when he was 8 ft 11.1 inches tall. Nonetheless he made good money as the spokesperson for a St. Louis based shoe company that offered him free shoes as a bonus. (Something he desperately needed since he outgrew shoes almost as soon as he received them.)





From the problems of the very tall to those experienced by the very small and Drimmer shows that in the section describing little people, one of whom was Charles Sherwood Stratton who went under the stage name “General Tom Thumb Jr..” Drimmer writes that Stratton could not reach doorknobs without help, was often unable to get out of beds that were high off the ground, and was unable to do many of the physical tasks in his small town of mostly farmers and whalers. After he was introduced to P.T. Barnum, Stratton became a consummate performer who sang, danced, and did imitations of people like Napoleon. In his years of show business, Stratton met many notables like Queen Victoria and Abraham Lincoln (who hosted Stratton's White House wedding to fellow little person, Lavinia Warren.)





While many people look down on sideshows today saying they were exploitative, Drummer's writing reveals that in the time period in which many of these human oddities lived, there weren't too many other opportunities for employment or acceptance for people with extreme physical abnormalities. Sideshows not only hired them but the performers often found love and friendship among others who were equally physically different. (That closeness even spread during the off-season when many human oddities settled in Gibsonton, Florida, a small town outside of Sarasota. According to Drimmer’s book, so-called normal residents of Gibsonton were so used to the human oddity population that they treated them like any other local as fellow citizens, schoolmates, church goers, and PTA members.)





Very Special People shows that despite the exterior, the human spirit can triumph within individuals. It also shows that anyone at anytime could be an outcast. This idea is best demonstrated in the introduction in which Drimmer's daughter dreamed that her arms disappeared and she was mocked and jeered at by the people around her. “Stop looking at me like that,” she screamed. “What if I am physically different from you? I am still a human being! Treat me like one! I have the same-exactly the same feelings as you! I am you!”

Forgotten Favorites: September by Rosamunde Pilcher; A Sweet Novel With A Memorable Ensemble of Characters And A Lovely Scottish Setting

Forgotten Favorites: September by Rosamunde Pilcher; A Sweet Novel With A Memorable Ensemble of Characters And A Lovely Scottish Setting


By Julie Sara Porter


Bookworm Reviews





Spoilers: Rosamunde Pilcher's novel, September is one of those sweet novels like the works of Maeve Binchey with a fascinating lovely setting, in this case Scotland in September and a memorable ensemble of characters. Quite often there's a kind wise elderly woman, a pair or two of young lovers, an eccentric older character who might be crazy or just odd, a feuding couple on the brink of divorce or separation, and a figure, usually an elegant lovely woman, who is the source of much rumors and speculation. These characters go through some struggles within their families, friends, and romances. There are some vague attempts at real world issues like divorce, unemployment, war, mental illness, and death but ultimately the characters shine through and the Reader is guaranteed a happy ending in which lovers are united and ties are strengthened.





This description makes it sound like I don't like these type of books. On the contrary, it’s impossible not to like these books, as formulaic as they can be, and September is a sweet book. It is the type of book that is filled with beautiful description and such lovely characters that this Reader considered booking a flight to Scotland just to see if they exist so she could hang around with them.





The book starts with the overbearing, Verena Steyton who wants to give a party in September for her daughter, Katy’s 21st birthday. September is the perfect time of year for such a party. It's after summer when the American tourists have left and when the weather is the most beautiful in Scotland. The book is filled with wonderful descriptions of Relkirkshire (a fictional village) in autumn. The senses are given a full workout picturing morning's light frost giving the countryside’s colors a brighter shade, the golden fields, the rain drizzle, and the scent of full bloomed heather.





While Verena is handing out invitations, booking a rock band for the entertainment, and overseeing the hors d’oeuvres, the Readers meet the other characters, each with their own issues that hopefully will be resolved by the big day. There's Edmund Aird, a businessman who wants his 8-year-old son, Henry to begin boarding school against the wishes of his second much younger wife, Virginia. Virginia despairs of letting her little boy go and feels a combination of separation anxiety and empty nest syndrome. Alexa, Edmund's adult daughter, a freelance chef lives happily with her boyfriend, advertising executive, Noel Keeling (who incidentally is the son of the protagonist of Pilcher's previous novel, The Shell Seekers). But Alexa is concerned about how her family feels about her common law relationship and Noel is debating whether or not to take their relationship to the next level. Edmund's mother, Violet Aird is a kind matronly woman whom everyone goes to with their problems but is beginning to feel the twilight of her years and is concerned about her friend, Edie whose mentally ill cousin, Lottie is staying with her and causing trouble.





Besides the Steyton and the Airds, the other important family is the Blairs, the family of Lord Archibald Balmerino, titled landowners. Archibald feels useless with a prosthetic leg shot off during a conflict in Northern Ireland. Nowadays, he putters around in his workshop carving wooden statues while his wife, Isobel runs a lucrative tourist business catering mostly to rich Americans. Their daughter, Luciella seems to have rejected a life of riches and titles to go backpacking on the Continent with her Australian boyfriend, Jeff. Then there's Pandora, Archibald's sister who moved from Relkirkshire nearly 20 years ago and left a trail of former husbands and lovers behind everywhere she went, one of whom was Edmund Aird.





The beauty of Pilcher's novel is not just in the setting. The characters are just so darned likeable that everyone is given a moment to show that they are more than they seem. Verena is nosy and overbearing but clearly loves her daughter, Katy and only wants what's best for her. Edmund can be a boorish stiff so bound in tradition that he is willing to pack off an 8-year-old kid to boarding school despite objections from everyone else. He sees the error of his ways when Henry returns after running away from school to tell his parents that he is unhappy there. So unhappy that even the headmaster thinks Henry's too young to be in boarding school.


Virginia feels that her marriage is loveless so she begins an affair with Conrad Tucker, a former American boyfriend and considers leaving with him. In the end, she decides not to when she realizes how much Edmund loves and needs her.


Archibald is filled with PTSD about his military experiences and conflicted about his current role as a wounded Lord. However he bonds with Conrad as the two share experiences in wars, they felt were unjust and unnecessary: Archibald’s in North Ireland and Conrad’s in Vietnam. Archibald also shows great creative talent as he carves a sculpture of Katy Steyton for her birthday giving him an opportunity for a future possibility of earning money.


Even characters who fill the others with fear and loathing like Lottie have memorable moments. While Lottie flies off into unpredictable rants, she also reveals the truth in the most inopportune times. For example she reveals to Virginia that Edmund and Pandora were once lovers and the reason Edmund flew off on a sudden business trip was to avoid meeting her.





The most fascinating character in the bunch is the beguiling Pandora Blair. After leaving Relkirkshire, she never returned even to attend her parent's funerals. The free-spirited enthusiastic woman traveled through Europe, North America, South America, and everywhere else ultimately settling in Majorca, Spain where she meets Luciella and Jeff. Verena Steyton’s invitation sends her home for the first time in a long time.


Pandora is a whirlwind who catches everyone else up in her elaborate plots such as taking Isobel, Alexa, Virginia, and Luciella on expensive shopping sprees for clothes for Katy's birthday party in which she pays for everything. She also encourages Archibald to wear their father’s formal clothes even though he long rejected them and to sell his carved wooden sculptures.


Like a pixy, Pandora spreads advice to the people around to make them happy. She suggests that Noel marry Alexa, a woman that he loves, to avoid a lifetime of regret and loneliness like she had.


Pandora is a strange figure that fills the characters and the Reader with curiosity about her and her motives. Why did she come back after all this time? Does she want to resume an affair with Edmund? Why is she excitable one minute and sleepy the next? Is she bipolar or is there something else wrong with her? The final pages reveal that Pandora was a complex woman with plenty of regrets but a zest for life that was undeniable.





September is a delightful book. While there are some sad moments, it is the enchanting setting and the brilliant characters, particularly Pandora, that the Reader will hold onto after the book is closed.

Forgotten Favorites: Little Little by M.E. Kerr; A Sweet YA Love Story About Two Outsiders

Forgotten Favorites: Little Little by M.E. Kerr; A Sweet YA Love Story About Two Outsiders
By Julie Sara Porter,
Bookworm Reviews

This is another book that has been a long-time favorite of mine, since I was in middle school. Little Little is a Young Adult novel that gives us a teen romance between two characters who are just as sharp, witty, and non-conformist now as they were 37 years ago in 1981 when the book was first published.

Little Little La Belle, a three foot, three inch tall high school senior is soon to turn eighteen and is contemplating her future. She lives in a  picture postcard upstate New York town with a  wealthy family of average sized parents and a younger sister. She is tired of her mother trying to fix her up with various little people who are "perfectly formed" or "p.f." and tired of her father not wanting to let her grow up at all. She plans a secret engagement with Knox "Little Lion" Lionel, a TV evangelist and fellow little person with a large following and an even larger ego. Things begin to go awry when she meets and forms a friendship and maybe more with Sydney Cinnamon, another little person who is to be her party's entertainment.

Sydney has some issues of his own. At three feet, four inches, Sydney has been starring as "The Roach," a TV mascot for a pest control company and has been hired to entertain at Little Little's upcoming birthday party. An orphan and high school dropout, he begins to fall for Little Little himself and vice versa. The two begin a romance based on their different outlooks and the difficulties that they experience of being short stature.

The book is very dated in some parts. Little Lion's career as a TV evangelist seems to be based upon real preachers from the '80s such as Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker so the character seems a bit dated now. (However many of his conservative fundamentalist views still retain some of their prominence as does the discovery when his character is not all that he pretends to be). Little Little and Sydney go on one of their dates to a grindhouse movie theater which shows such B movie horror films as The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant and Curse of the Werewolf. However, M.E. Kerr has given the reader two strong characters through their humorous narration and their fresh outlooks on life.

In alternating first person chapters, Little Little and Sydney both give their views of the world with deft and witty narration that makes them memorable characters. In describing her younger sister Cowboy's various interests, Little Little observes: "It's hard to tell which one of us is most strange, me or Cowboy, though a dwarf will always look stranger anywhere."

Sydney also presents some clever insights, particularly about his fame as The Roach: "I decided to be something that people don't like instinctively and make them like it....If I'd been a vegetable, I'd have been a slimy piece of okra. If I'd been mail, I'd have been a circular addressed to 'Occupant.'"

Besides the narration, Sydney and Little Little become individuals describing their different experiences as little people. Little Little grew up with a normal sized family and has always been considered a town outsider; Sydney grew up in an orphans' home with other children with physical deformities; Little Little's first experience with other little people was when her grandfather took her to a meeting of The American Diminutives (TADS), a fictional organization that she and her family later join, mostly with the purpose of setting Little Little up with the male members. Sydney's first experience with other little people was when he went with the other orphans' home children to a theme park and saw various little people dressed as gnomes, foreshadowing his future working as an advertising mascot. Little Little is constantly described by the mother as "little, but p.f." but is tired of being treated as small doll by everyone around her especially her parents; Sydney often feels self-conscious about his hunched back, his overlong front tooth, and his short legs, but covers up his physical insecurities with one-liners and intelligence gleaned from reading various books about other people with physical abnormalities. In the differences in the two leads, M.E. Kerr shows that experiences can be different and even people in similar situations can be raised with completely different outlooks in life.

Above all, the book is about being an individual in a world that encourages conformity or as Sydney and Little Little describe, being oneself rather than being"Sara Lee" which means "Similar And Regular And Like Everyone Else." There are various moments that celebrate the characters' individuality such as Sydney and his friends' mock-Oscar award ceremony call "The Monsters" which awards are presented such as "Least Likely To Get Adopted" or "Most Likely To Scare Small Children." Little Little also proves her non-conformist nature in her arguments with her family including her blustering but well-meaning minister grandfather. When he tells her to "be a bush, if she cannot be a tree," she counters with "the idea of being a bush wasn't all that appealing and not for me, anyway, even if I was the best bush." Through Little Little and Sydney, Kerr seems to speak to every kid or adult who has ever been considered different by their peers and encourages them to embrace it and be themselves or as Sydney says "When I found out  I was a ball in a world of blocks, I decided that even if they didn't roll, I do. I decided to roll away, be whatever  I wanted to be."

Forgotten Favorites: Memoirs of A Bookbat by Kathryn Lasky; A Powerful YA Novel About Reading and Censorship

Forgotten Favorites: Memoirs of A Bookbat by Kathryn Lasky; A Powerful YA Novel About Reading and Censorship
By Julie Sara Porter,
Bookworm Reviews

A person who loves reading is usually called a bookworm. Not Harper Jessup. The young protagonist of Kathryn Lasky's powerful YA novel, Memoirs of A Bookbat prefers to call herself a bookbat."I am like a bat.... skimming across the treetops to find my way through the densest forest in the darkest night. I listen to the shining needlepoint of sound in every book I read."

When Harper began to read it was to escape the fear of living with a frequently unemployed alcoholic father, weak-willed mother, and life in a trailer park. But after her parents become Born Again Christians, it's to escape their ever-increasing rules.

While her parent's religion allows her father to stop drinking and receive recognition as a spokesperson for their religious parent's organization: FACE (Family Action For Christian Education), they limit Harper's education. They censor books, try to instill traditional American History lessons, and constantly move their children pulling them from one school to another across the U.S.

Most of the early chapters focus on the lessons Harper learns from the books that she reads and deals with her friends: She writes to (fictional) children's book author and illustrator, Rosemary Nearing and discovers that authors are regular people who like receiving feedback. She reads Br'er Rabbit stories and uses her "lippity-clip and her blickity-blick" to get past her parent's restrictions, such as putting smaller books inside school textbook covers or larger FACE-approved books. She uses Are You There God? It's Me Margaret to answer questions about her late development. Above all, she realizes her axiom: "Nothing I have ever read in a book has ever caused me to be really unhappy."

Harper Jessie is a memorable protagonist. While she possesses an independent mind from her parent's religious values, she doesn't outright rebel against them. In fact many of her schemes to read what she wants are to compromise, so she doesn't lose her parent's love. It is only when the family moves to California when her parent's lessons become more threatening that she outwardly challenges her upbringing.

Her parents befriend a White Supremacist family and her little sister's best friend could be the poster child for the alt-right.(Her idea if playing "office" is to write inflammatory anti-Semitic letters to authors like Judy Blume.)
Harper's parent's beliefs become dangerous as they encourage child recruitment and picket abortion clinics.

Harper finds herself at a crossroads between her parent's values and her desire for independence especially after she befriends Gray Willette, a free-thinking youth. Gray develops Harper's reading interests by introducing her to the works of the (fictional) horror author, Dolores Macuccho. He also encourages her to try different more challenging projects like creating a bridge of toothpicks called Apocalypse Bridge. Romance between the two 14-year-olds is refreshingly understated as Harper sees less of a boyfriend in Gray and more of a kindred spirit.

In fact Gray becomes instrumental in Harper's final battle against her parents. She realizes that she will not let her parent's restrictions affect her mind. While some may question her final decision, sometimes the only way for a person to truly be free to be themselves is to break away from where they came.

Forgotten Favorites: The Bestseller by Olivia Goldsmith; A Sharply Funny Brilliant Look Inside The Publishing Industry

Forgotten Favorites: The Bestseller by Olivia Goldsmith; A Sharply Funny Look Inside The Publishing Industry
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Many hands are involved before a book gets read by the public: authors, editors, publishers, critics, and many others so the book is read, sold, packaged, and hopefully makes it to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List.
 Olivia Goldsmith's follow up to her best-selling novel, The First Wives' Club, The Bestseller gives the Reader an inside look to those hands that make a book sell.

The plot focuses on several authors who would sell their mothers, friends, lovers and souls, for a chance to see their names in Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly, and  in the hands of every library patron and Barnes and Noble customer.

 They are: Opal O'Neil, who is peddling her late daughter, Terry's literary 2,000 page magnum opus, The Duplicity of Man from one publisher to another. Camilla Clapfish, an Englishwoman who pens A Week in Firenze, a sweet story about five middle-aged women on vacation in Italy.
Susann Baker Edmonds, a once-famous romance novelist who is on a grueling book tour (42 cities in six week) to promote her latest floundering work. Judith Gross writes a thriller about infanticide, In Full Knowledge, which her husband, Daniel takes full credit for.

Each of the authors has their stories about the extremes they go through to get their works published which feature equal parts persistence and equal parts having the luck to have an understanding ear.

 Opal waits in one waiting room after another hoping to pass Terry's work to a sympathetic editor which she finally does to Emma Ashton, a young idealistic editor. While working as a tour guide in Florence, Camilla is fortunate enough to have a romance with a handsome tourist who turns out to be Emma's brother.
 Susann has to deal with promoting her latest to an uninterested fickle public and her daughter who also decides to write a book....about her relationship with Susann. Judith is irate about her husband's deception, infidelity, building ego, and theft of her royalties which she gets revenge in a satisfying epic manner. The authors are creative, bright, ambitious, and likable in their persistence in getting their works published.

Besides the authors, we also get an inside look at the publishers inside the fictional Davis & Dash which is the recipient of these works.

 There is the aforementioned Emma who is the heart and soul of the book and is the only one who genuinely cares about the new authors like Opal (and Terry), Judith, and Camilla. Pam Mantiss, the self-absorbed and alcoholic Editor-in-Chief who has the insufferable task of ghost writing a tacky sexy thriller for Peet Traynor, their recently deceased top selling male author. Finally there's Gerald Ochs Davis AKA GOD, the second generation publisher who always wanted to write and write he does: a trashy novel based on a family scandal. With the neuroses and peccadilloes of the Davis & Dash staff, it's a miracle that decisions get made let alone books get published.

Since this book was published in 1997, it's definitely a book of it's time. Amazon.com only gets a scant mention. Many of the smaller companies panic about getting swallowed by bigger companies. (A very real situation in '90's publishing.) Famous names are dropped who were giants in the late 20th century writing world such as Danielle Steel, John Grisham, Michael Crichton, and Stephen King. (Even Goldsmith herself and her book, First Wives' Club get as shout-out.)

It would be interesting to wonder what a 21st century version of this book would be like. Authors would be swindled by self-publishing sites. Editors would stress about social media platforms and how many downloads the E-Books are getting. You just know one of the authors would be a British single mum beginning a fantasy series about a boy wizard.

But The Bestseller is a great novel that takes the Reader behind the scenes of their favorite books and learn about what it takes to put them in their hands.

Forgotten Favorites: Amethyst by Mary-Rose Hayes: A Strange Unforgettable Novel About Prophecy and Fulfillment

Forgotten Favorites: Amethyst by Mary -Rose Hayes: A Strange But Unforgettable Novel About Prophecy and Fulfillment
By Julie Sara Porter, Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: February's birth stone is the Amethyst and it's birth sign is Aquarius until the 19th when the zodiac sign changes over to Pisces. People who are born under these signs are supposed to be intelligent, eccentric, and have a fascination with and involvement in the psychic world.
Victoria Raven, one of the four protagonists of Mary-Rose Hayes' novel, Amethyst seems to possess all of these attributes and more as she enters the lives of her classmates Jessica Hunter, Catriona Scoresby, and Gwyneth Jones and ends up changing their lives far greater than they ever would have imagined in this very odd but very unforgettable story.

The story of the four women begins at the end where the Reader learns that all four live successful lives-Jessica as a painter, Catriona as a hotel magnate, Gwyneth as a supermodel, and Victoria as a foreign correspondent/journalist.
Jessica, Gwyneth, and Catriona are contemplating their next steps in their careers and with the men in their lives when they receive a call from Victoria's brother, Tancredi telling them to come to the Ravens' estate home in Scotland because Victoria "needs them." This urgent request sends the trio sprinting from their homes in Mexico, New York City  and rural Southern England where they recall their strange friendship.

The three girls meet Victoria Raven in 1968 at Twyneham, a girl's boarding school that seems to specialize in training rich young girls to become the wives of wealthy men. At least that's the plan for the wealthy Catriona Scoresby who dreams of being the wife of upperclass, Jonathan Wyndham. Jessica Hunter, a daughter of nobility, also plans for an arranged marriage and to occasionally dabble in painting. Gwyneth Jones, a scholarship student, plans to coast by as a kindergarten teacher with an amiable friendly personality but little prospects.

When Victoria arrives, she impresses the girls with her backstory of being one of two illegitimate children of a Scottish earl, her platinum hair and witchy appearance,  her strange words which are meant to confuse and provoke them (such as when Victoria tells Gwyneth that as a kindergarten teacher she could also "study and design children's clothes"), and her strange amethyst ring which she claims predicts the future.

During a seance with Victoria's depraved and deceased father and using her ring as a planchette, the girls discover different paths than what their families and social backgrounds have dictated. Jessica "will travel to another country to see more clearly. " Catriona will marry Jonathan "but at great cost and must trust (her) resources to find happiness." Gwyneth will "become a millionaire before she's 30 because of impeccable bones. " The most chilling prediction that is made is that the quartet will be reunited on that date (June 30)  tweny years later but will be one less person.

To tell of the four's successful independent lives in the first chapter then featuring their less assured school days in the second leaves little room for suspense or surprise revelations. ( Except that "one less" prediction rings over like a death knell in all of their lives and explains why Jessica,  Catriona, and Gwyneth are so anxious about Victoria's condition after Tancredi's call. )
However, the narrative style prepares the Reader to understand the journey that transforms the protagonists from complacent class-conscious schoolgirls to independent confident women. The book also gives us four brilliantly written characters to experience this narrative. Instead of the plot traveling in a straight line, it travels in a circle, like Victoria's amethyst ring, where the beginning and end are known but not the middle, not the "how it happened."

The journies that the women make to reach fulfillment through their friendship and individualities are wonderful reads.
Jessica and Gwyneth's chatacters evolve as they move to California and find their purposes.
Jessica becomes a sexually active pot-smoking hippie who begins to take her art seriously. Gwyneth goes from working as an au pair for distant cousins, to a secretary for an advertising agency, to a model advertising hair care products.
The two women find complications in their love lives as their careers begin to soar. While painting landscapes that hang "in banks, hotel foyers, and in offices," Jessica leaves behind one unhappy love affair in London and considers marrying a wealthy mentally disabled man whom she does not love because she is sorry for him and is befriended by his eccentric parents.
 Gwyneth becomes recognized as "the Tawny Tress girl" and a cover model, but  she is abused by a controlling maniuplative photographer-boyfriend who pushes her into anorexia nervosa until her agent is forced to give her an intervention.

Far from the free-spirited America experienced by Jessica and Gwyneth, Catriona's retreat into uppercrust English society is no less complicated. While she marries Jonathan, she doesn't find the happy ever after she imagined. Instead she finds a snobbish and highly critical mother-in-law, constant requests to her self-made millionaire father to rebuild and refurnish her in-law's family home, and Jonathan, whom she discovers is having an affair...with a man and not just any man, but Victoria's brother,  Tancredi. (with whom Gwyneth also falls in love after a one-night stand.)
Catriona at first is the weakest character of the quartet as she responds to her unhappy marriage by crying, denial, and trying fruitlessly to win her husband's affections including giving birth to two children.  It is only after she is threatened by bankruptcy and death does she come into her own and opens her parent's estate and her in-laws' manor as luxury hotels.

Victoria's journey is the most mysterious as Gwyneth, Jessica, and Catriona occasionally reunite with her to touch base and answer their own questions about Victoria's precognitive abilities.  When they don't  reunite with her and Victoria gives spot-on advice based on their current dilemmas, she is often reporting from dangerous spots-Vietnam during the War, Central America during government conflicts, or the Middle East during terrorist activities and hanging with sinister characters like Carlos Ruiz, who might be a terrorist or might be Victoria's bodyguard and lover.
Victoria's ability to enter dangerous spots and come out of them relatively unscathed makes the three others question her further. Is she psychic and able to use supernatural means to see into the future? Is she a master manipulator programming people to subconsciously follow her orders? Is she simply a good reporter with a natural nose for news? Is she a terrorist who is more involved in world events than just reporting on them? While the narrative has Victoria admit one possibility, the final pages offer more alternatives that leave Jessica, Catriona, Gwyneth, and the Reader with more questions and theories and continue to make Victoria more fascinating.

Books that feature female leads that enphasize romance, female friendship and empowerment, often feature weak male characters. (Perhaps in retaliation for many of the older novels that feature intriguing well developed male characters and superficial female love interests.) Hayes thankfully did not do this and all three of Jessica, Catriona, and Gwyneth's final male love interests are just as fascinating as their ladies.

There's Dr. Rafael Herrerra,  a Mexican surgeon who shows Jessica "the real Mexico" of beautiful beaches but also poor families and bandits and also shows Jessica his "art" of surgery after Jessica shows him hers of painting. Alfred Smith, a Cockney artist captures Gwyneth's heart when he not only demonstrates a strong artistic talent but a rakish second career as a fence, receiver a stolen goods. While Catriona's affair with British agent, Shea McCormick begins rather abruptly, he develops as a srong protector and devoted lover to Catriona to the point that he is concerned about her safety because of her friendship with Victoria. Rafael, Alfred, and Shea demonstrate when the women find themselves and their independence, then the right people will come along and accept them for themselves.

The strongest male character is Tancredi Raven, Victoria's brother. Like his younger sister, he is also fascinating. He weaves in and out of the novel as a professional gambler and card counter and breaker of hearts such as Gwyneth's and Jonathan's. He is seen as someone who callously seduces and abandons lovers, sometimes taking delight in his cruelty.
However,  Tancredi shows some honesty and vulnerability in the strangest of places such as when he calls Jessica, Catriona, and Gwyneth because he is aware how valuable these women are to his sister.

The Raven Siblings are the catalysts for change in the other characters. In school,  Victoria pushes Jessica, Catriona, and Gwyneth to pursue their own interests and gain their independence. As adults, Tancredi brings them together to confront and let go of their past and create better futures.

Forgotten Favorites: Second Best by David Cook: A Moving Father-Son Story

Forgotten Favorites: Second Best by David Cook: A Moving Father-Son Story
By Julie Sara Porter, Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers Ahead: Second Best is not a well known book and the 1994 film starring William Hurt and Chris Cleary Miles is even less so. But it should be recognized as a moving story about two wounded souls, a 37-year-old man and a 10-year-old boy who find their way to each other becoming a family.

Graham Holt is the Postmaster of a small English village. An introvert, Graham is unable to connect with most people because he felt neglected by his parents who had a loving relationship with each other but not with their son. After his mother dies and his father suffers a painful stroke, Graham longs to adopt a son.

This realization comes about humorously as Graham absently writes "a son" on a shopping list between "milk" and "something for lunch (ham or pork pie." ("Was there a row of shelves at Safeway on which sat boys, school uniformly dressed, priced by size, colouring and age, and with sell-by dates stamped to the soles of their shoes?" Graham idly wonders.) Realizing that this is more than an idle thought, Graham feels lonely and begins the adoption process to foster a son.

Enter James "Jamie/Jimmy" Lennards, a troubled young boy. He has very little memories or affection for his mother, who committed suicide when he was 3, but he dearly loves his father, John, a repeat offender whom James has built up as a mercenary or Freedom Fighter. Because of his separation from his parents and his placements in different foster homes, James has a tendency to act out in violent outbursts and frequent self-harm.  However, he harbors the dream that he and his father,.John, whom he "loves best in all the world", will be reunited together as a family.

Much of the book deals with Graham and James going through the foster process together. Graham follows the different rules and regulations to the letter. He fears opening up to James on a personal level, suggesting that they begin as a "partnership". James having been through the foster process knows how to play the game better than Graham and knows when to show affection, when to withhold, and when to manipulate. The two almost dance around each other uncertain but also longing to be loved.

It becomes a relief for the Reader when the two finally open up to each other. A camping trip in which James shows experience and Graham reveals ineptitude ends up pretty well as the two bond. After Graham is overcome by the death of his father, James comforts him whispering that everything will be okay giving Graham a conch shell as a reminder of the only time Graham was happy with his father.

As the two open up, Graham and James'  characters develop as Graham becomes stronger and more protective of James and James becomes more tender and more respectful towards Graham. Cook develops his two lead characters well with such care.

Another character that develops thanks to Cook's excellent writing is that of John, James' biological father. While he has a criminal past , he is never written as an unrepentant bastard. A letter that he writes to James is broken with remorse about his failure to be in James' life. Then when he returns to the book, depressed and dying from AIDS, Graham lectures him like an older brother but is empathetic enough to invite him to live with him and rekindle his relationship with James.

This unique living arrangement and a final chapter in which Graham chases after James, who is terrified at the sight of his broken dying father, leads to Graham, James, and ultimately John to accept each other as a loving family.