Classics Corner: The Trial by Franz Kafka; Existential Suspense and Horror About The Dehumanization of The Legal System By Julie Sara Porter

 

Classics Corner: The Trial by Franz Kafka; Existential Suspense and Horror About The Dehumanization of The Legal System

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

PopSugar Reading Challenge: A book with a great first line ("Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K., he knew he had done nothing wrong, but one morning, he was arrested.")

Spoilers: Franz Kafka isn't associated with horror the way Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King,, HP Lovecraft, or Shirley Jackson are. Most horror authors deal with characters facing monsters, either supernatural or horror, or possibly from their own tortured damaged minds. 

Kafka's horror is of a more existential kind, the kind that fills one not with jump scares or fear of the unknown. Instead it fills one with dread with how we are treated by society. Much in the same way something like 1984 or Brave New World is scary. How a society dehumanizes and destroys the people within. It turns then into insects to be stomped on, invisible and ignored, or marks on a sheet. Once a human being is deprived of their individuality or their humanity, it becomes easier to do unthinkable things to them and to treat them like lifeless automatons who only function to obey.

That is the dilemma faced by Joseph K., the protagonist in Kafka's The Trial. The opening line alone is memorable, "Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K. he knew he had done nothing wrong, but one morning, he was arrested." This already shows the mechanistic dictatorial society in which Josef lives. He can be arrested but never knows what he did nor what his crime is for. In a modern society when black people can get shot for the most minor offenses, where Latin Americans can be judged illegal and deported even though they lived here all their lives, where people are under surveillance and could be reported for having an opinion, that could be a reality.

The trial itself is completely absurd. Josef appears at the courthouse but isn't told the time or room number, so he gets lost and is reprimanded for being late. Another time he arrives,but is told that they aren't meeting that day (a phone call or more could have saved him a trip.) Each of the trial employees send him to another and none give him a decent answer about anything. It's constant nonsense disguised as legalese. He faces court clerks, witnesses, attorneys, and a cleaning lady but never appears before a judge and never learns why he has been arrested.

 Ludicrously, the trial representatives tell Josef that he can continue to go to work and attend his trial on the weekend.  Most people would take that opportunity to not go to work, or leave town since they're not in prison. But this detail reveals a lot about Josef's character. He's not in jail nor in confinement. He could leave anytime but he doesn't. He goes through the motions of work and the trial. A few time he confronts and argues with the employees, but he just follows along: a cog in the machine. There are implications that he is being watched and reported (The courthouse knows more about him than most court employees should), so there is the rampant paranoia. But they remove his freedom of choice or desire to choose another option. He is a passive participant in the demeaning system around him.

What is particularly haunting is that he is surrounded by people who have suffered or take part in the system. The two men who arrested him are flogged after it is revealed that Josef tried to bribe them. Even though the men brought him such misery, Josef feels empathy for them. Josef encounters a lawyer who proves to be no help but doesn't mind cashing the money that Josef gives him or letting his nubile assistant sleep with him. Another client has been through the legal system for five years and it's clear his sanity is on the brink of collapsing, sort of a preview of what Josef could be come.

Kafka's attacks on the legal system are very similar to those made by Charles Dickens' Bleak House. But Bleak House had a comic satire, a bit dark at times, and a sardonic wit throughout the book. The Trial is incredibly grim not just in the plot but in tone. It is not a society with an institution to mock and point out its follies. It's an institution that is bordering on insanity because the rest of society is. This is society that truly doesn't care about it's people because the people do not care about others. The people within are cold, heartless, uncaring, and sick. The Trial is a reflection on that heartlessness and mirrors that society. The existential dilemma suggests that the innocent can't exist at all. Instead they will be carried along and swept up by the inhumanity until they themselves are inhuman or are dead.

The Trial could be a thinking person's horror because it says not only about the society in the book, but the society in which the Reader lives.

Weekly Reader: The Book Thief by Markus Zusack; Heartbreaking and Beautiful Holocaust Novel About A Girl Who Steals Books and A Narrator Whose Name is Death

 

Weekly Reader: The Book Thief by Markus Zusack; Heartbreaking and Beautiful Holocaust Novel About A Girl Who Steals Books and A Narrator Whose Name is Death

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

PopSugar Reading Challenge: A book with a four or more star rating on Goodreads

Spoilers: I suppose it's fitting that in 2020,Markus Zusack's The Book Thief is the second book I am reading in which Death is the narrator. (Though the previous book, Life is Big by Kiki Denis, Death was only one of several narrators.) This year, Death has been extraordinarily busy. Of course he is busy every year, but with a pandemic and several confrontations between police and black citizens ending in unjustifiable murder, Death certainly is working overtime.

Many are contemplating their mortality and I am no different. I have been ill and while it is minor and I don't believe it to be Covid, I couldn't help but wonder if it were and what legacy that I would leave behind. I even wondered how my obituary would read.

Being surrounded by the possibility of Death causes many to wonder about their lives and legacies. One could wonder how Death feels about these humans that he takes to their Final Reward. What  makes specific humans so memorable and what stories do they leave behind?

This concept is addressed in The Book Thief. As a narrator, Death is matter of fact and compassionate but not without a sardonic sense of humor. When he first introduces himself, he says it's not really necessary. He says, "You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that I will be standing over you as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched over my shoulder. I will carry you gently away."

Death recalls such a story that occurred during the Holocaust (another extraordinarily busy time for him) when he remembered a young girl who stole books, her accordion playing foster father, her foul mouthed foster mother, a Jewish fist fighter going into hiding, a young boy who dreams of being the next Jesse Owens, and the Fuhrer who ruined all their lives. 

The Book Thief is a beautiful heartbreaking book. With its eccentric characters, dream-like narration, unusual situations, Death as the POV character, and grim plot this book reads almost like a dark fairy tale by way of Roald Dahl. It's a dark story but has a fantastic way of telling it.

Death first encounters Liesel Meminger, the eponymous book thief, when he came for her brother as he died in a train as she, her widowed mother, and brother were bound for the village of Molching, where she was going to be taken in by foster parents and her mother was going to take whatever the Nazis have to give her. (Liesel's parents were outspoken Communists and were high up on the Nazi's "People To Kill" list) 

Liesel is fostered by Hans and Rosa Huberman, who are a study in contrasts. Hans is a quiet gentle painter who plays the accordion and loves to give his new foster daughter reading lessons. Rosa meanwhile is a loud temperamental laundress who often curses and calls her loved ones by various nasty names like "Saukerl," "Saumensch", or "Arschloch". (The first two terms are female and male terms respectively comparing the recipient to berated pigs. The third means "asshole.") Despite her ability to curse like a sailor, Rosa does have a large heart and cares for her husband and foster daughter. However,they both care for Liesel and are no friends of the Nazis as revealed when they speak to their son who is a card carrying member of the Nazi Party. 

Liesel makes a few friends in her new surroundings. One of them is Rudi Steiner, a local boy who is remembered for the "Jesse Owens Incident" in which he smeared coal black and out ran the other boys in the village. He is forced to join the Hitler Youth but his obstreperous nature and disinterest in Nazi rhetoric arouses suspicion. Liesel and Rudi share a close but argumentative relationship which evolves into a mutual crush.

Another friend is Max Vandenberg, a Jewish street fighter, who hides in the Huberman home. He and Hans are old friends so Hans agrees to keep him hidden from the Nazis. Max and Liesel develop a passion for words and share a mutual love of reading. He even writes and illustrates books for Liesel, gives her a sketchpad, and encourages her to write her own story.

Death recognizes a love of words,books, and stories in Liesel. These books serve as marks or important turning points in her life. At her  brother's funeral, Liesel picks up a copy of The Gravedigger's Handbook, dropped by a cemetery employee. It serves as the sole reminder of her late family and allows her to prepare for her future. It is the first book that she and Hans read during their reading lessons. Liesel gets so good at reading that book that when she goes to school, she is unable to read from the materials that she is assigned. But she demonstrates that she knows the Gravedigger's Handbook by heart.

Other books appear in Liesel's life showing her disdain for the Nazis and her desire to protect those books and words from the strict laws. During a book burning ceremony, Liesel manages to rescue one book, The Shoulder Shrug. Another time while accompanying Rosa to deliver laundry to wealthy neighbors, Liesel is invited to visit the library of the mayor's wife, Ilsa Herman. Liesel steals one of the books to share it with Max. Later,Ilsa writes her a note implying that she knows about the theft and hoped that she enjoyed the book.

Liesel doesn't just stop at stealing and reading books, she writes them as well. Some of the highlights are the books that Max writes for Liesel sharing their mutual love of reading and telling a good story. Fittingly, Max writes and draws upon pages of Mein Kampf as if saying Hitler's laws and rhetorics won't keep people like Max from telling their story. The book becomes a meaningful exchange between Liesel and Max. Even after Max is arrested and a violent action occurs, Liesel still retains the importance of telling her story so that she can never be silenced.

The Book Thief is a beautiful haunting book in which Death admits that he is haunted by humans, by their choices to harm others and by their desires to leave something behind to be remembered. In Liesel's case, she was remembered by the power of words that outlasted her and those she knew and loved.

New Book Alert: Nothing Good Happens After Midnight: A Suspense Magazine Anthology Edited by Jeffrey Deaver; Sinfully Great Short Stories From Talented Suspense and Mystery Authors

 New Book Alert: Nothing Good Happens After Midnight: A Suspense Magazine Anthology Edited by Jeffrey Deaver; Sinfully Great Short Stories From Talented Suspense and Mystery Authors

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: This is certainly a Halloween treat for me to read not one but two horror suspense anthologies during the creepiest most haunting month of the year. The previous anthology, Her Name is Mercie offered a few good creepy stories alongside others that weren't quite as good. It was a hit and a miss. 

However, the anthology Nothing Good Happens After Midnight is a definite hit. Several mystery and suspense authors pooled their resources to create a great anthology that is perfect for curling up at night to a chilled wind whistling through the trees and raindrops plinking on the windows. Right when the room is still and quiet and you wonder if those footsteps outside your door are your spouse, your dog, or something else. Right when the ringing of your phone is enough to make you leap out of your skin in terror. Yes it's that kind of anthology.

The best stories in this collection are:

"12:01 A.M." by Alan Jacobsen-

I have previously spoken about how much I enjoy being introduced to new detectives and series protagonists in these anthologies and this one is no exception. On the eve of the execution of Stephen Ray Vaughan (serial killer not musician and no relation), FBI profiler, Karen Vail investigates the abduction of a woman in which the modus operandi bears a strong similarity to Vaughn's kidnapping and murder style. Did Vaughn have an unknown accomplice? Is there a copycat killer? Or is it entirely possible that Vaughn, scum that he is, is innocent and the real killer is out there?

Vail makes a commendable lead. She has the same cynical wit and gallows humor of her male colleagues. ("Crap I forgot to bring popcorn for the show," she says before going to interrogate Vaughn). She also uses the profiler's talents of recognizing how the killer acts and moves with a detachment that sides with the victims. She recognizes the possible copycats' trail but still thinks the killer deserves punishment.

The suspense mounts as Vail's instincts and investigation brings her to the copycat killer and she learns that sometimes a murderers' actions aren't over even after they are arrested and executed. Sometimes violence passes to the next generation.

"All Aboard" by Hank Phillippi Ryan

A train is a great location for a suspense story. Agatha Christie knew this when she wrote Murder on the Orient Express. Alfred Hitchcock knew this when he directed Strangers on a Train. Hank Phillippi Ryan knows this when she wrote "All Aboard", a tense short story revealing that we don't know what goes in the head of complete strangers with whom we travel alongside.

Cady Armistead, a public relations fixer, is traveling to Boston when she overhears a woman,whom she dubs Cruella, in the next car planning on committing a crime. During a fire alarm the train is evacuated and Cady finds herself right next to the murderer-to-be.

The train offers a claustrophobic almost sinister setting as Cady listens in on the conversation vying with her personal and professional curiosity to get involved and her fear whether doing so could be at the expense of her own life. The exchange between Cady and Cruella is both biting and tense as Cady subtly tries to get information from Cruella then suggests an alternative. (Cruella: You're not going to hurt her? I mean physically? Cady: Please this isn't the movies. This is business. Civilized business). In fact with the limited cast of mostly two characters and the setting taking place in and out of the train, "All Aboard” could make a decent short play or film.

"Gone Forever" by Joseph Badal

Despite the news focused mostly on the Coronavirus pandemic, protests against police brutality, and the 2020 election, mass murders are hardly yesterday's news. They are still remembered and the victims are grieved over and still the questions of gun control, mental health, and how to stop the next crime are endlessly debated. Joseph Badal's short story, "Gone Forever" reminds us of that.

The comparisons to this fictional account to the real life 2015 Charleston shooting in which White Supremacist and gunman, Dylan Roof entered the historically black Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and killed nine people is all too achingly similar.

In this story, homicide detectives, Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez investigate the gruesome aftermath of a murder in which a man murdered several people in a church with a machete.

The accounts are chilling as the detectives talk to witnesses who saw the man just carelessly hack into parishioners, such as a father and his daughter who was beginning her novitiate training. The scene is hard to comprehend and picture.

The most disturbing thing about this story is the impact the murder has on the survivors, particularly Lucas, the novitiate's brother. Lucas goes from a decent young man of deep faith to a vengeful bitter cynic ready to commit murder against those who sees as unworthy and Satanic. Badal's writing replaces one terrorist with another, showing that sometimes when evil dies, it is then reborn into another person.

"Midnight in the Garden of Death" by Heather Graham

Cemeteries are creepy. Cemeteries in Louisiana are creepier and a ghost story set in a Louisiana cemetery is bound to be as creepy as all get out as Heather Graham demonstrates in her story "Midnight in the Garden of Death."

A group of teenagers visit Barclay Cemetery in order to scare each other with ghost stories and pranks. This is a golden opportunity for Marcy, one of the girls. Her father is the groundskeeper of the cemetery and she gives the cool kids access to the place so she could be perceived as brave and seen as a member of their inner circle. Why she may end up with football player, Tommy Hilliard who would surely dump his girlfriend, Tiffany, for her. The kids have fun until a local cop warns them that a strange man is seen around town and fits the profile of a killer known as the City Slicer. So despite the warnings the kids remain and have a pretty terrifying night (No one said these teenagers were smart.) 

The atmosphere is particularly creepy with its sensory imagery. Graham describes the moonlit cemeteries as "the moon had certainly made the moon brighter-but it had also allowed for strange shadows to form. And just tonight. She thought she'd seen a shadow move."

The atmosphere builds up to a terrifying conclusion when the kids learn that monsters do exist and they don't care where in the school's popularity rank you are. You are just as likely to die as anyone.

"A Creative Defense" by Jeffrey Deaver

Music has the power to incite movements, cause people to fall in love, soothe worries, or build tension. Then, like in Jeffrey Deaver's "A Creative Defense", some songs can be a real killer.

Beth Tollnar attends a symphony concert with her boyfriend, Robert. One of those pieces is "The Moonlight Sonatina", a piece that is rarely performed. The next day, Robert begins to act strange. He zones out and hums the same four notes over and over. Then he takes a knife and stabs their annoying neighbors. After researching "The Moonlight Sonatina," Beth learns that similar occurrences have happened over the centuries every time the song has been played in concert.

This story plays on the whole idea of supernatural curses rather well. It is chilling to read normal people transform into psychotic killers after listening to the music.

Deaver's story also gives us a fascinating pair of antagonists neither of which are named: the mysterious conductor of the symphony and his premier violinist, a bewitching redhead. They appear to have a deep connection to the Sonatina that goes back a few years. When the conductor vows that "no one will ever stop (them) from performing the piece", he means it.

"After Midnight Cinderella Then and Now" by Rhys Bowen

Rhys Bowen, author of the Her Royal Spyness and Molly Murphy Mysteries, leant her writing skills to a two part adaptation of Cinderella, giving a more mysterious, darker, and deeper meaning to the famous fairy tale.

The first is set immediately after Cindy left the ball. On her way home, a horseman stops Cinderella to inquire about a jewel theft in which a countess lost her ruby necklace at the famous ball. Cinderella is a quick talker as she stands up for herself in front of the misogynistic snobbish horseman. She also uses deductive reasoning to learn who really had stolen the necklace and give herself a victory over her spiteful stepsisters long before the Prince matches her foot to the slipper.

The second part of the story transplants the Cinderella Story to modern day when Hal Benson, a Not So Prince Charming sleazy music producer, picks up Jolene Kent, an aspiring country singer that had enough of Nashville and wants to go home to California. While the Cinderella theme is more subtle by replacing a prince's palace with a country music recording studio, and a woman's dream about going to the ball and marrying a prince with another woman's dream of achieving fame and fortune through a musical career. It also modernizes what happens during the morning after when the wealthy prince abandons the beautiful girl and puts her back in rags. In this story, Hal's past sins come back to haunt and then attack him. This Prince Charmless has a lot to answer for and he does in a violent way.

"Tonight is the Night" by Shannon Kirk

Setting plays a lot into these stories like Ryan's "All Aboard" set on a train and Graham's "Midnight in the Garden of Death." Another story that takes full advantage of its setting to portray a cold snowy area waiting in anticipation of a possible murder.

In Richard's Mountain, Vermont George is looking forward to professing his love to a female friend. While waiting at the local bar, George hears a news report about The Spine Ripper who has murdered eight people so far. The small town setting is well written with the locals who have their odd quirks like always sitting in specific spots at the local bar or the bartender who doesn't like anything to be playing on the bar's TV but the football game.

The cold chill and the snowy landscape prove to be a strong telling backdrop as George is left alone on the mountain to find some of his items missing. It is a landscape where an approaching figure could resemble a wild animal or a robot and could commit violence and no one would never know. George's confrontation in the blizzard is intended to be a chilling experience (pun not intended).  It's the type of story that has such a well written setting that the Reader needs to swallow a gallon of tea or hot chocolate to warm up afterwards.

Weekly Reader: Her Name is Mercie: A Short Story Collection By Chris Roy; Mixed Bag of Horror and Suspense Tales

 

Weekly Reader: Her Name is Mercie: A Short Story Collection By Chris Roy; Mixed Bag of Horror and Suspense Tales

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: I love a good horror or suspense story. Nothing could bring more pleasure in October than a good creepy story to get one's mind off of the terrors of the real world. 

 Her Name is Mercie: A Short Story Collection by Chris Roy is a mixed bag of good and bad. Some of the stories are very good at capturing suspense with unforgettable terrifying and violent moments. Then there are other stories that are not as well written and are could use some fine tuning.

The stories are as follows:

"Her Name is Mercie"-The longest story in the book could just as well stand as its own publication. It is a fairly decent character study of a woman who lives solely for revenge. Mercie Hillbrook's parents were killed in one of those police confrontations that are unfortunately all too common these days. Mercie's father reached for his ID and the police thought he was reaching for a gun. The police shot them and poor Mercie was left an instant orphan. She is grief stricken and in financial debt. What's a girl to do but steal a car and rob a bank?

Mercie really makes this story because without her, it would be very dull. She is someone who commits crimes but does not do so to get a thrill. She has a sense of failed justice after her parents died and wants to punish the people who killed them.

 She interacts and argues with her cell mates and in some tense scenes fights with one. She also bonds with Kermit, becoming a second mother to him. This is a woman who had a bright future, obtaining a master's in biology and working as a clerk, but that comes crashing down after her parents' death. Her transformation into a hard cynical shell of lawlessness is believable as is her retention of her soft side in her bond with Kermit.

In fact, Mercie's strong characterization is what keeps the novella interesting especially when the plot gets repetitive and contrivances surround the story. The women's prison passages could have been condensed or cut and we wouldn't have missed anything in Mercie's revenge campaign.

Mercie's revenge campaign against the police and bankers mostly consists of her and Kermit either running towards them or hiding from the law. It's one long chase scene that is augmented thankfully by Mercie and Kermit's exchanges (such as Kermit calling a pink car, what else Miss Piggy). Mercie makes the story her own even though she could use a better plot.

"Re-Pete"-This story is a short violent one about how monsters can be found in one's own family. Pete lives with his mother and abusive stepfather. Pete suffers from flashbacks about the night that his father died and this increases his anger towards the abuse. His careless mother allows her husband to beat her son, so he doesn't go after her. It's a very sad haunting situation in which Pete is put.

The tension mounts as Pete gets his hand on a knife to cut a watermelon when his stepfather pushes him too far. Pete's confrontation with his stepfather and mother reveal that sometimes evil is created by the evil that others do.

"Hunger"-One of the oddest stories in the bunch starts out strong with a young woman possibly haunted by noises and relics on a mysterious island. Then the story gets too bizarre to figure out. Rebecca and Sammy are in mourning for their father. While taking their dog, Hunger, for a walk, mysterious things start to happen.

The atmosphere is perfect for this type of story. It is set on a mysterious island where you can't tell if the steps approaching you are a person, animal, or something else. Hunger's excitable at times violent behavior is a clue that all is not well. It could be a terrifying story with this set up and the work describing the setting.

Unfortunately, the payoff leaves something to be desired. What could be a pretty interesting person vs. the elements or the supernatural story gets confusing. For no apparent reason we are introduced to a Native tribe from what appears to be an earlier time period. Is this a time travel story? Is Rebecca a reincarnation of one of the women in the tribe? Are Rebecca and Sammy somehow connected to the same fate? What's with Rebecca's eating disorder and Sammy's drug addiction mentioned earlier? They seemed to lead to something (particularly since the dog is named Hunger) but just become character traits. No one knows and this story is too short to tell us.

"Libby's Hands"-The one is a genuinely creepy story along the lines of those old ghost stories and legends like "Bluebeard" where someone is required to do something and because they are an idiot in this type of story, they disobey and get the fright of their lives.

Dina learns that her dying grandmother put an illegitimate and disabled granddaughter, Libby, up for adoption. Well it's a sad story, one that Dina is fascinated by, but she isn't going to let that spoil her Halloween. Dina and her mother Tracie deck the halls with boughs of jack o' lanterns and scary music as they pass candy to trick or treaters. Grandma reminds her to decorate the tree by the pond. "The hands you see must be perfect," she says. 

Of course Dina is the aforementioned idiot and things happen.

This story is among the better ones in the anthology. The creepiness of the approaching curse contrasts with the Halloween traditions of kids in colorful costumes. Then an Amber Alert sounds on the phones and stuff gets real. The conclusion wraps up in a terrifying manner that forces those family secrets and the missing Libby out into the open.

"Marsh Madness"-This appears to be of a hunter stalking a family, but is filled with unbearable tension.

From the moment the hunter is peering at a mother and son through his scope and their dog barks in confusion reveals something is amiss. A young boy, Sam, and his mother are outside on this foggy day but they notice something isn't right. The tension builds as the hunter stalks his prey and the two unwittingly fall into his line of sight.

The story doesn't have much in the way of characterization. The hunter's name, his connections to the family, and his motives for going after them are never revealed. What it doesn't have, it makes up for in suspense as the Reader catches their breath waiting for the gun to fire.

New Book Alert: The Bird in the Window by Wendy Dalrymple; Beautiful and Suspenseful Short Novel About Missing Persons and Forbidden Love

 

New Book Alert: The Bird in the Window by Wendy Dalrymple; Beautiful and Suspenseful Short Novel About Missing Persons and Forbidden Love

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: It's no secret that this year, I have been reviewing a lot of supernatural horror, dark fantasy, and psychological thrillers. I want the Readers to understand the full scope of my meaning. Despite the passages describing missing persons, domestic and child abuse, secret forbidden love affairs, and decades long unsolved murders, Wendy Dalrymple's short novel, The Bird in the Window is actually one of the more light hearted books that I have read this year.

The Bird in the Window is a tense and suspenseful offering where the cliffhangers and thrills are in all the right places. But it is also a beautiful, almost lyrical short novel about love and justice having to wait until the right time to be resolved.

Ashley Jones, a divorcee and newcomer to her Sarasota, Florida neighborhood is curious about the beautiful blue and yellow macaw that is perched on a nearby unassuming second story house. Her neighbor and friend, Patience, explains that house has a history (what house doesn't in these type of stories?). In 1984 Deputy Dirk DeLacroix killed his wife, Carmen, and daughter, Melissa, in that house and was never charged. His brother, the sheriff, declared that Mrs. DeLacroix ran off and took the kid with her, so case closed.

Well this story is like cat nip to Ashley, who has a fondness for true crime stories and unsolved mysteries. So she puts on her Nancy Drew hat and starts asking questions about this mysterious case. In particular, she asks Grandma Sally, an elderly eccentric, who knows a great deal about what happened in the DeLacroix home. Unfortunately, all this curiosity gets Ashley in big trouble and she receives threatening notes and slashed tires that tell her to mind her own business and leave this case alone.

One thing that brightens this story is the Florida setting. Murder mysteries in a warm tropical setting are often filled with some of the most enchanting and beautiful description and The Bird in the Window is no exception. The details from the beautiful colorful macaw that flies in and out of the story to the odor of hibiscus and other Florida based flowers capture the senses. 

Grandma Sally's home is described as such: "The white and pink bungalow was fairly well-kept, especially considering that the homeowner was not all there in the head. Peach hibiscus bushes lined the front entryway, and a perfectly manicured rock garden dotted with ornamental grasses created a warm and welcoming look."

The other reason that I like the setting is a more personal one. My mom grew up in Tampa and my grandparents lived there until their deaths in 1996 and 2009. The descriptions of the houses and flora and fauna of this setting recaptures childhood memories of visiting them and going to the beaches and theme parks of my youth.

In these type of novels, the suspense works when we care about the characters and Dalrymple gives us a character to empathize with as she investigates this story of the past. Ashley is such a brilliant amateur detective, that it would be interesting if Dalrymple began a cozy mystery series starring Ashley. 

Ashley is the right lead that you would find in this type of situation. She is plucky, curious, and lets her imagination run away with her. When she tells a colleague about her discoveries of the DeLacroix house, he reminds her of the time that she insisted that she lived near a drug dealing ring. (Okay it wasn't a ring, she admits, but they were dealing drugs.) 

Ashley has a somewhat rocky personal life. Even though Ashley is on somewhat friendly terms with her ex husband, she is nervous about starting a new relationship. A fling with her co worker, Nathan, is getting out of control and there is a handsome neighbor, Jason, who captures her eye. The mystery is a distraction from her complocated private life.

 Ashley also has a sense of justice. Another reason that this case fascinates her is her anger that DeLacroix got away with murder. As she sees the macaw, Ashley feels compelled to solve the case. The macaw serves as a symbol of how crimes of the past can not stay hidden forever. Eventually, the truth will come forward loud, bright, and clear.

Of course this is the type of mystery where everyone else has secrets not just the mysterious house or the amateur detective. Ashley's friend, Patience seems to be happily married friendly head of the community, but one look at one of the police officers investigating Ashley's stalker and she falls into a dead faint. She remembers a former boyfriend with whom she dated when she was single and then tempted her to temporarily stray from her marriage.

The biggest most heartbreaking secret of all concerns Grandma Sally and her connections with the DeLacroix Family. While Ashley sees an unsolved mystery of people that she doesn't know, Sally sees the loss of her one true love. Sally was a surrealist artist and lived openly with female lovers. She lived a wild bohemian life in New York and the Southwest, until a teaching job opened up at Ringling School of Art in Sarasota. She taught art while befriending the lovely Carmen DeLacroix.

Sally empathized with Carmen's culture shock about living in America and her stormy unhappy marriage to Dirk DeLacroix. A friendship begins in which Carmen unloads about her husband's abuse and unfaithfulness. The friendship eventually turns to love between equal partners until the day that Carmen was killed. When Ashley informs the older woman about her investigation, Sally promises Carmen's spirit that DeLacroix will pay. This story makes Sally and Carmen the most fascinating characters in the book.

The suspense is in all the right places. The note and slashed tires are truly tense moments. When Ashley looks at the DeLacroix home, she sees a sinister silhouette in the window. She knows that someone, probably DeLacroix, is threatening her.

The climax builds to some interesting conclusions. One revelation us particularly memorable and terrifying. Another one however falls flat and stretches credibility more than a bit. But still the ending is satisfactory as justice is finally met, the bad guys get punished and the good guys are finally vindicated.

While The Bird in the Window has some terrifying and graphic moments of suspense and violence, in the end it reminds the Reader that sometimes things work out. It takes time but the guilty are punished, love is found, and mysteries are solved. 

Weekly Reader: The Devil's Dance by Thomas Milhorat; Lyrical Brilliant Character Study of A Musician And His Downfall

 

Weekly Reader: The Devil's Dance by Thomas Milhorat; Lyrical Brilliant Character Study of A Musician And His Downfall

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Thomas Milhorat does an excellent job of writing brilliant character studies of people put in almost fantastic situations that cause them to question the reality around them.

The previous work of his in which I reviewed was Melia in Foreverland, my favorite book so far this year. In that, a young girl visits an Afterlife in the stars, in which great artists, thinkers, and scientists like Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, and Aristotle live and help her rethink her faith and answer the questions in her life.

This book, The Devil's Dance, gives us a man who gets everything that he ever wanted, then is afflicted with a mysterious illness or curse that causes him to potentially lose everything that he worked for. It's a detailed and lyrical book of a man desperately holding onto his love for music to keep him occupied, bring him recognition, then to hold onto his eroding faculties and sanity.

Harrison "Harry" Braque would be like most people in rural Gravesend Village, Pennsylvania living the life of a farmer or a minor, but he has a genius talent for music, particularly playing the piano. His teacher, Rita Cahill, has taught him everything she knows. He has done well in state and regional competitions. Now is the time for Harry to take his act on the road and continue his studies at Julliard.

Harry wishes that he was leaving a happy home, but unfortunately that is not the case. His father, Andre, has been afflicted with a mysterious illness that his family calls "the fidgets." His body twitched and shook, sometimes causing him to do involuntary things like dancing uncontrollably. Eventually, his faculties and memory went into decline and he was bedridden. 

There are many possibilities to Andre's condition: Sydenham's chorea AKA St. Vitus' Dance, Tourette's Syndrome, Parkinson's, Huntington's Disease, or maybe long term complications from when he had influenza as a child after WWI. Later, a cousin produces an interesting theory. At Andre's funeral, she reveals that an ancestor of the Braque family was cursed by the Devil to succumb to what she termed The Devil's Dance. The curse continued through the male line and Andre is the latest victim. 

Either way, Harry is of two minds about his opportunity. On the one hand, he is excited about the new world approaching him but on the other hand, he feels guilty about leaving his sick father and patient mother who is caring for her ailing husband. Even though his family and Mrs. Cahill encourages Harry to pursue his dreams, he still worries about his father like a loyal son would.

Harry's journey (and the book's plot) picks up when Harry moves to New York to study and play music professionally. He is surrounded by young people, like Andy Greenwald his roommate, best friend, and clarinetist, who share similar dreams of improving their lots in life. Harry's tough piano instructor, Madame Anastasia Kabelevakoff, mentors and pushes him to play better because she sees talent and potential success in him. (She listens to him play by ear and is impressed but wants him to play "like himself not Kabelevakoff".)

Harry is determined to play his best and when he makes his debut at Carnegie Hall, it is a moment of triumph as he plays in front of his New York friends and the good folks of Gravesend Village. Thankfully, we are spared the cautionary success tale in which the protagonist becomes a snob when he gains ambition. Harry is still the same nice guy in success that he was in poverty, if maybe a little more aware of the world around him.

The 1950's New York milieu is captured with brilliant details of the settings and colorful characters that inhabit it. The characters visit various delis, nightclubs, and concert halls that are always jumping with many famous faces. We also see many important celebrities of the time period like Walter Winchell, Cole Porter, Truman Capote, and Stella Adler. Because Harry appreciates different types of music, he meets various musicians such as folk singer, Pete Seeger, jazz trumpeter, Chet Baker, and classical pianist, Arthur Rubinstein. Rubinstein, in particular, gives Harry some good advice. When people compare him to Rubinstein, the famed pianist says "No you are not the next Rubinstein. You are the next Harry Braque."

Harry also falls in love, twice. His first girlfriend, Anna Alexandrovich, Kabelevakoff's orphaned niece, is a shy young admirer. The two become close and get engaged, but family differencees keep them apart. Harry has better luck with his next girlfriend, Maggie McGuire, a Southern gal who came to New York and Hollywood to become an actress and model. The bit parts dried up and she ended up as a high priced Lady of the Evening. 

Both women in Harry's life are well written as women with interesting backstories and are not just set pieces for the men in their lives. Anna is ready to finish her education and live a life beyond marriage, family, and diapers. She doesn't let an accidental pregnancy get in the way of her dreams and rejects Harry's half hearted proposal.

Maggie is also a very strong willed woman who is a good helpmate and lover to Harry. She isn't ashamed of her past occupation and considered it a means to an end. She also appreciates that Harry treats her as an individual and not a slut. The two marry and have two children.

 After their marriage, Maggie continues to be supportive to her husband. When Harry succumbs to heroin addiction to keep up with his frequent touring schedules, countless interviews, and sleepless nights, Maggie looks after him as he quits cold turkey.

The heroin addiction and insomnia are the first signs that things are not quite right with Harry. When his hands uncontrollably twitch, Harry panics. His personality undergoes a severe transformation from a bright hopeful prodigy to an anxious bad tempered recluse. He knows what the illness or curse did to his father and doesn't want the same thing to happen to him. 

Harry's bout with his genetic illness leads to an ending that is so abrupt that this Reader had to actually ask if there was another chapter that she was supposed to get. Though perhaps we are supposed to be left with the questions that are not answered. As peculiar as it is, the ending is left up to the Reader to their own interpretation, but still a few more pages or one more chapter couldn't have hurt.

Most of all this book reveals the power music has over people. Harry's gift for playing the piano makes him stand out from everyone else in his town. When Harry played Mendelssohn's "The Duet" for his ailing father, it relaxed and soothed him. The music that Harry plays brings him success and when he plays as "the next Harry Braque," he has a legacy that outlives him. He encounters other musicians, like Seeger and Baker whose music allows them to express themselves and say what they really feel. Even at his worst with his addictions and illness, Harry can find solace in the music around him.

The Devil's Dance is the type of books with excellent characters, plot, and setting that plays all the right notes. All of these qualities create an enchanting symphony within this book.

New Book Alert: The Adventures of George and Mabel: Based On More Almost (Kind of? Sort of? Could Be!) True Stories by Stefanie Hutcheson; More Warmth To Overcome the Darkness from the Darling Duo

 

New Book Alert: The Adventures of George and Mabel: Based On More Almost (Kind of? Sort of? Could Be!) True Stories by Stefanie Hutcheson; More Warmth To Overcome the Darkness from the Darling Duo

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: That legendary adorable darling duo, George and Mabel Harrison are back and in a troubled year, particularly for this Reviewer, not a moment too soon.

In The Adventures of George and Mabel: Based On More Almost (Kind of? Sort of? Could Be!) True Stories, Stefanie Hutcheson gives us more of the same: more charming escapist stories about the heartwarming optimistic husband and wife. That's not bad in this case. In fact, it's nice to see the two and their wide circle of friends and family again.

This time Hutcheson widens the scope to focus not just on the eponymous team, but on their friends and family and members. The first chapter begins at George and Mabel's anniversary party when George's sister in law, Melissa goes into labor. She and her husband, Mark, are inspired by George and Melissa's tale of meeting when they were kids and George's fascination with the Little Red Haired Girl from Peanuts and pleasure of meeting a real life Little Red Haired Girl in Mabel. So inspired that Melissa and Mark name their newborn daughter, Charlie Brown Harrison. (A boy's name, yes, but my sister's nickname has been Charlie since she was a baby and as Mabel pointed out there is a famous song about a boy named Sue.) This chapter and two later ones when George and Mabel talk to their young nieces and nephews give us some insights into the younger generation of this family and how close they bond with the older ones.

We also experience family gatherings and through them we begin to recognize a sense of loss through the humor and memories. One incident occurs while visiting Mabel's mother, Lululemon, when one of her relatives has a Vietnam flashback during dinner.

 We also get a look at a conversation between Mabel and her sister, Valerie, as they discuss the childhood of Kate. Kate is a distant relative who grew up in Germany in the 1930's and who greatly resembles Sophia from the Golden Girls.

 The characters treat these incidents lightly as some of those things, but their humor appears to be defense mechanisms to disguise their concern when a family member has gone or is going through something terrible. All you can do is be there for them for moral support and provide what understanding that you can.

Another moment occurs when George drives his aging mother, Daisy, around and he thinks how much she misses his late father. Daisy also seems lost in her memories of dancing with her husband to the '60's Girl Groups music. 

We also peer into Grady's last days as he is surrounded by friends and family. A particularly touching moment occurs when Grady tells Mabel that he knew from the moment that he saw her that she was perfect for his son. It is sweet and sad recalling a long happy marriage, the aching loss when one pair dies, and the loneliness of the surviving partner.

Lest we forget our leads, George and Mabel are the direct focus of two chapters. One features the two going through a scary road trip when they get lost with half a tank of gas and coyotes in the distance. Their bickering is tense but has some moments of hilarity such as when Mabel whines that she has to go to the bathroom and argues with the truck "Elmer" about getting them lost. Since this is not a Pixar movie, Elmer is not responsive.

Another chapter occurs when George falls off the roof of his pastor's house and is hospitalized. While it is a scary situation and Mabel is clearly worried about her beloved husband, Hutcheson keeps the situation light by reminding us from the beginning that things could be worse. She also allows George and the family to retain their sense of humor in the situation. When George calls his wife, Rachel, everybody worries that George has memory loss except "Rachel" who is well practiced in George Jokes and knows her husband is teasing. Another moment occurs when George's nephew dramatically tells his still alive and fully awake uncle not to "go into the white light." While these moments might seem insensitive to some Readers, others may recognize the impulse family members have to laugh with each other in times of great stress as a sign that everything is okay.

While the second volume of George and Mabel's adventures is darker than the first, it retains the hope, optimism, and humor of its predecessor. Would that we could all be like George and Mabel and look back on our troubles with a smile on our face, a corny dad joke, and a humorous anecdote to tell later after the stress is gone.

New Book Alert: Amora by Grant J. Hallstrom; Spiritually Moving Historical Fiction Set in Ancient Rome

New Book Alert: Amora by Grant J. Hallstrom; Spiritually Moving Historical Fiction Set in Ancient Rome

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: As any of my regular Readers will know, I am not a Christian. In fact, farthest from. I am a Solitary Wiccan. I have too many issues with Modern Christianity, particularly Evangelical than I have time to get into right now. However, I can on occasion be found to enjoy some Christian and Inspirational Fiction. Sometimes, if the Christian message is surrounded by a great plot and brilliant characterization. Also, because I like Historical Fiction, I am aware that since Christianity was the dominant religion in many of the time periods in which I read, I can still enjoy the book on a historical level.

Luckily, Grant J. Hallstrom's Amora is such a Christian fiction. It is a moving plot with terrific characters, particularly the protagonist, and has a great historic setting of Ancient Rome, that one can enjoy the book, despite the occasional preachiness in the writing.

One positive take away the book gives us is the amount of details in the life of a Roman noble family at the time, particularly the status of Roman women. We are given insights into the life of Amora from her arranged marriage to Leo as the wealthy marriage ensures Leo a placement in the highest of Imperial circles. We also see them in happy giddy times during the Saturnalia festival in December when wackiness is the order and a servant is declared king for a day. Amora and Leo's marriage appears to be happy and contented. Why even when their first child is a girl, Natalie, Leo isn't like most Roman fathers who long only for a son. He dotes on and adores his little girl.

Unfortunately, their marriage falters when their son, Esteban, is born with a shriveled leg. Leo at first wants to do away with the boy but when Amora's maternal love intervenes, he simply withdraws from both mother and child. This is the first sign that the spouses' marriage is on different tracks and they transform into different people: Leo cares more about status and his placement in Roman society and Amora cares more about people and helping others.

After a family tragedy, Leo and Amora show their true colors and strengths and weaknesses in character. Leo weakens as he retreats into alcohol, depression, and self pity. He is assigned an outpost in Egypt where he strays from his marriage and his duties as a Roman citizen.

Amora meanwhile is strengthened despite the loss. She befriends and mentors a young female slave, Maria. She creates a home for unwed mothers and orphaned children, that caters to nobles, plebeians, and slaves (much to the disdain of her fellow noblewomen). She has the courage to stand up to Leo's drunken behavior and ask for a divorce. (Fun fact: Roman noblewomen could divorce their husbands by leaving the house and taking their dowry with them.) She also befriends members of a certain religious sect that has gained popularity among the slaves and lower classes: Christianity.

This book is also a fascinating look at how Christianity originated and gained fire during the later days of the Roman empire and how the imperials viewed them, particularly the Senate and their then-Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Marcus and his nobles, including Leo, consider them a religion that caters only to "slaves and women" because they favor emotion over reason, peace over war, and speak of a better Afterlife. While they deride the religion, they sense that it is gaining solid ground amongst the upper classes where the true power lies. When Maria and Amora start attending meetings and eventually get baptized, Leo and the others feel threatened. Amora's conversion to Christianity puts the husband and wife on almost permanent opposite sides.

In many Christian fiction works, the lead characters who convert to Christianity become sanctimonious self righteous one dimensional mouthpieces (Witness any Pure Flix movie for a bad portrayal of flimsy Christian characters who exist only to quote Scripture and wax theology about the filmmakers' and authors' views.). There is some preachiness in Amora as characters lecture others about Christian doctrine, but that dialogue is few and far between and gives some believable characters that speak those words.

Thankfully, Hallstrom doesn't lose sight of good characterization when the characters convert. They question,  bicker, act on pure emotion and without thinking, and often wrestle with their faith.

One of the biggest questions that the characters wrestle with is forgiveness. Amora finds it difficult to forgive someone after they did a horrible wrong to her family. After Esteban is converted, he can't forgive his father for his Ill treatment towards his mother to the point that he runs away from home. Forgiveness is a difficult concept to grasp, especially when violence is purposely done towards the characters. While the book stresses the Biblical concept of loving your enemy, Hallstrom's writing makes the message clear that forgiveness is not an easy thing for people to do or accept. When human emotions are involved, sometimes those ideals are and should be questioned. Nor is forgiveness a quick band aid. There are still many years of hurt feelings, loneliness, and rage to overcome.

However just as his characters have had to struggle with the concept of forgiveness, so has their author. In his introduction, Hallstrom explains how he got the inspiration for the book. He explained that Calvin, his younger brother went through a painful divorce, one that traumatized his three children. After Calvin's middle child committed suicide, his younger son stabbed Calvin to death. Hallstrom wrote that he sensed that Calvin's spirit still loved and forgave his son. Hallstrom later made amends with Calvin's ex wife and forgave his nephew. This story of forgiveness bleeds into Amora's plot of loving one's enemies even when they commit the worst crimes against them.

Christians will find more to enjoy from Amora, but people of all faiths will appreciate the historic details, the brilliant characters, and the theme of how people survive and manage during tough times.