Carrying On by Kali Desautels; She is Woman, Hear Her Roar and See Her Write

 

Carrying On by Kali Desautels; She is Woman, Hear Her Roar and See Her Write 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery.

Spoilers:In this day and age when women’s rights are being challenged and some like, reproductive choice and the ability to vote under married names, are being removed, it is important to remember how women in the past lived. How they struggled to make their voices heard and fought for those rights. These accounts remind us of what we didn’t have, what we won, and what we could lose. Carrying On by Kali Desautels is the type of novel that does just that

Carrying On is a sharp and brilliant character driven Historical Fiction novel about Peggy Brennan, a woman embarking on a journalism career in the mid-1960’s. Peggy is different from her more traditional mother and sisters. They have all been married and expect Peggy to do the same, but she has other ideas. The journalism career that they believe is only a hold over until marriage is Peggy’s ticket for living a professional self-actualized life. If a woman has to choose marriage or a career, she is going for the latter while the other women in her family went for the former. 

The book explores the changes that women encountered during the volatile 60’s. The traditional roles of a house, husband, and children no longer applied and were not looked upon as the sole aspirations for women. Books like Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique and noted events like the release of the Pill are referenced. They are also shown in how this time affected people personally.

One of Peggy’s sisters leaves her closeted husband and moves to San Francisco. Another holds to her values, but also has serious questions about her life. Peggy also asks her mother if she is satisfied with her life and how things turned out. This is a conversation that would never have occurred to her if she wasn’t surrounded by these questions and the decisions that many women of her generation took to answer them.

Peggy herself is surrounded by these changes in her own way. Her roommates struggle with their jobs, relationships, and expectations. At work, she is dismissed for writing important news articles and is worried that she is only going to write the so-called “women’s articles” about fashion, cooking, and childcare. Her contributions are disregarded because the men don’t take her seriously and the women think that she’s acting above her station. Her progressive views are demeaned and dismissed. 

Her new editor, John Grant however is one of the few men that are actually receptive to the idea of change. When he wants to create a woman's section, he doesn't want it to be the fluffy soft news that readers and advertisers expect. He puts Peggy in charge of it because he wants to focus on real news that affects women. News like politics, war, laws, education, work, the various movements, and changes. 

 This egalitarian view interests Peggy as much as John’s genuine interest in her work and opinions. Even though Peggy questions the division between marriage and career, she weighs whether it's possible for a woman to have both. Can she truly have it all with a man who is accepting of that possibility? 

This is a relationship of mutual respect and friendship. It's interesting that I am reading this book at the same time as The Girl From Melodia which also deals with a romance between two people in a similar field. However, The Girl From Melodia explores the concept of the Artist’s Muse and how the Artist is so self-involved in their own art and voice that they deprive the Muse of theirs. Carrying On is the opposite. Someone who is not threatened by their intended’s voice and actively encourages it making their relationship an equal partnership. 

As Peggy conducts interviews and leads focus groups, she sees women of different ages, statuses, political views, goals, and outlooks. They do have one thing in common. They are glad that someone is taking their voices and opinions seriously and they are being shared on a wider scale.

That is what the various feminist movements do. Take seriously the current concerns of women and work to improve them. Whether it's the right to vote, having educational opportunities, to have control over their own bodies, to earn the same amount as men, to stop being assaulted and harassed, or to do away with the patriarchal assumptions of men and women. 

Sure the names change, the specific causes might vary, and the means of sharing information and rebelling fit the era but they all boil down to one obvious function. Anyone who identifies as female fighting for the freedom of agency and choice over their own lives and futures.

Gravity Flow The Jimmy Whistler Stories by EM Schorb, Walk With Me One Hundred Days of Crazy by Ernesto H Lee, Penthesilea Rise of An Amazon by Stephanie Vanise, The Bluestockings A History of The First Women's Movement by Susannah Gibson, Violeta by Nikki Roman

Gravity Flow: The Jimmy Whistler Stories by EM Schorb, Walk With Me: One Hundred Days of Crazy by Ernesto H Lee, Penthesilea: Rise of An Amazon by Stephanie Vanise, The Bluestockings: A History of The First Women's Movement by Susannah Gibson, Violeta by Nikki Roman 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

These are summaries. The full reviews can be found on Reader Views or MockingOwl Roost 

Reader Views 

Gravity Flow: The Jimmy Whistler Stories by EM Schorb 

This is a seriocomic anthology of various moments in the life of Jimmy Whistler, a writer, in the 50's-60's.

The covers Jimmy's troubled childhood, his time working in a burlesque theater, military career, writing career, his friends, lovers, children, and other important experiences.

Characterization is this book's strongest asset. Jimmy's experiences are told by various vignettes that describe events in his life. He encounters many eccentric characters including a burlesque performer, a Beatnik poet, and different lovers.

The book is told through Jimmy's point of view so we see the world through his eyes. Most of the characters are broad, farcical, and bizarre. Jimmy's narrative voice is arrogant, impulsive, but always fascinating.

 

Walk With Me One Hundred Days of Crazy by Ernesto H. Lee

This is a powerful evocative novel about life, love, death, and learning to appreciate life.

Mark Rennie and Karen McKenzie are both dying. Instead of just waiting for the inevitable, they decide to spend 100 days traveling and enjoying themselves before the end.

The book is a descriptive travel guide of different experiences like dancing in Cuba, walking across the Great Wall of China, and swimming with sharks in Cancun. It is a scenic itinerary of exciting adventures and experiences.

It also captures how people face death in different ways. Some want to do everything medically possible to prolong their lives while others would rather face death on their own terms. There is no one way to face this conflict and all are valid.

Penthesilea: Rise of An Amazon by Stephanie Vanise 

This is a powerful and gripping Historical Fiction novel about a young Amazon, Penthesilea during the Trojan War.

She is third of four daughters of the Queen of Amazon. Penthesilea lives in the shadow of her other sisters and struggles to find her own identity in war.

Various characters and events from Greek Mythology appear including Hippolyta, Hercules, Paris, Helen of Troy, and Achilles. They are made more complex in this adaptation as Vanise captures their psyches and inner conflicts.

Penthesilea in particular is looking for recognition in a powerful war like family. She strives to empower herself and stand out. She strives to be one of a kind not one of hundreds.

MockingOwl Roost 

The Bluestockings: A History of The First Women's Movement by Susannah Gibson 

This is a fascinating Historical Nonfiction account of the Bluestockings, a group of 18th century women who hosted salons, encouraged creative talents, and discussed politics, philosophy and other topics in which women were discouraged from discussing.

These women supported one another in their creative pursuits like writing and art. These were women whose voices might otherwise have not been heard. They also had unconventional lives where some married supportive men, had Lesbian relationships, or opted not to marry at all.

The Bluestockings did not last very long but they were an influence for many women like Jane Austen, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Elizabeth Gaskell who in turn inspired the various waves of Feminism. Women's History would have been very different without them.

Violeta by Nikki Roman 

This is a Gothic Literature novel that focuses on child abuse, trauma, and finding ones personal power and independence.

Violet Valentine is isolated by her mother who keeps her secluded from the outside world. Her only contact is with her brother, Tommy. The toxic situation explodes when their mother puts both children'a lives in danger.

Violeta involves the anxieties that are found in families particularly between parents and children and siblings. The Valentine Family engage in continuous conflict, emotional and psychological instability, and fragile dysfunction. 

The siblings are confined and battered by their mother’s volatile and abusive behavior so they can only rely on each other. They support each other to break from her, recognize their comfort, strength, and independence, and find sanctuary and a real home.

House of Grace by Patricia M. Osborne; Finding Grace and Strength Through Adversity and Change

 House of Grace by Patricia M. Osborne; Finding Grace and Strength Through Adversity and Change

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum in this review but I can't make any promises. Please read at your own discretion. 

One thing that can be said about the life of Grace Granville, the protagonist of Patricia M Osborne’s Historical Fiction novel, House of Grace is that it certainly wasn't dull and conflict free. This is a novel starring a captivating woman and is full of passion, ambition, change, economic rises and falls, love lost and won, triumph and tragedies, and deep emotional pain and joy. 

Grace begins the book as a 16 year old schoolgirl at an affluent boarding school in Brighton. She loves it because she can escape from her abusive, domineering, entitled, and wealthy parents, hang out with her best friend Katy Gilmore, and design and create clothing as she aspires to be a fashion designer. While visiting Katy’s family, she is drawn to Katy's cousin, Jack, a coal miner. After she is unable to continue her education or pursue a career in fashion, Grace considers marrying Jack to her parent's protests, threats to cut her off, and forced courtship with a more prestigious suitable man. To get out of this situation, she makes a reckless decision that draws her away from her parents and into Jack’s arms and life.

The book is divided into two parts and the tone changes dramatically to reflect that shift. The first part is a romantic drama with some lighthearted moments as Grace demonstrates how out of her element that she sometimes is in a middle to working class environment. The second part is more of a family tragedy as Grace is faced with various struggles and heartbreak.

Grace goes through great changes that alter her mindset and test her will. For example, while visiting Katy and Jack’s family, she has a hard time getting used to servants and employers talking to each other on a friendly basis and using first names. She also recognizes some of her own snobbishness after she carelessly mocks Jack and his friend’s old clothing before they are introduced. She is never intentionally cruel but realizes that her sheltered insulated upbringing did not give her much of an opportunity to interact with different people or provide her with the tools to earn a living with little money. 

Grace sees something greater with Katy and Jack’s family than she had with her own. In her past, Grace had a family that withheld affection and parents who treated her and her sister like commodities to be educated and then married off. With the Gilmores, she sees a natural warmth and kindness, a family that she would like to be a part of instead of her own. This culminates in a dramatic moment when Grace is disowned and disinherited by her birth family and she is taken in by the Gilmores. She is now among people who might be inferior to her parents in class and social status, but are superior to them in love and kindness.

One of the strongest themes in this book is change and whether a person can adjust and adapt to them. Adaptability is one of Grace’s strongest gifts. She has to reinvent herself a number of times throughout the book and survive change and hardship. 

In the second half of the book, Grace is at her lowest point emotionally. She suffers a devastating loss that changes her circumstances forever and is faced with a cruel choice. It is a difficult time of intense grief made worse by this heart wrenching choice. However, Grace somehow manages to find her inner strength and resources to not only survive but thrive and succeed. 

House of Grace is the kind of novel that alternates between sadness and happiness. It can make a Reader cry on one page then make them applaud on the next. Like its main character, this book is truly a work of grace. 

Red Gifts in The Garden of Stones: A Tale of Grief and Ghosts and One Small Dog by P.A. Swanborough; Mystical and Relatable Novel About Mothers and Daughters

 Red Gifts in The Garden of Stones: A Tale of Grief and Ghosts and One Small Dog by P.A. Swanborough; Mystical and Relatable Novel About Mothers and Daughters

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

This review is also available on Reedsy Discovery.

Spoilers: I come from a family of mostly women with my mother, myself, and four other sisters as well as two brothers. So I understand what conflicts between mothers and daughters are like. That's probably why P.A. Swanborough’s book, Red Gifts in The Garden of Stones: A Tale of Grief and Ghosts and One Small Dog resonates so much with me. It's about four generations of mothers and daughters who get on one another's nerves but still love each other.

The Coombe Family that resides in Ty Merched (The Women's House) are the type of family that invites suspicious rumors and haunting stories from the other residents in the town of Swansea, Wales. There is just something odd and peculiar about them. 

 Lizzie, the matriarch is celebrating her 100th birthday and she spends most of her time talking to the ghosts that live around her house. Her daughter, Myfanwy feels things strongly and is barely hiding an explosive temper. Myfanwy’s daughter, Sarah Maud practically lives in an alcoholic stupor and haunts the local pub. Sarah Maud’s daughter, Jenner wanders through the woods on endless treks and is fascinated by ancient powers that her ancestors might have had. 

The Coombe women have a love-hate relationship that threatens to explode during the week of Lizzie's birthday when Jenner goes missing, old lovers are reunited, pastor Rev. Morgan incites his flock against the Coombes, a group of hippies and other outsiders show up and befriend the family, a friendly dog appears as a guide, and the family ghosts are begging to be heard by the living.

Red Gifts in the Garden of Stones treads a thin line between Contemporary Fantasy and Historical Fiction/Reality. It describes the real conflicts of a family of women in the late 1960’s in rural Wales but there is always a poetic mystical sense of the other world in the background.

At the forefront, we are given a story of four generations of mothers and daughters who vie with each other and the society around them. These are women who alternate between loving and irritating each other.

Lizzie is in mourning for her late husband and family members. Because of her deep grief, she finds it hard to be emotionally close to the living, often creating friction between herself and her descendants. One could see her behavior as signs of Alzheimer's or dementia but there is just as much evidence that she hangs onto those old memories of her ancestors for emotional reasons. The present is too difficult to live with so she prefers the past and willingly withdraws from those around her.

Lizzie's behavior has been going on since her daughter Myfanwy was very young so naturally she would be bitter and resentful. She is caught between her distant mother and troubled daughter and granddaughter. She is someone who may have had dreams of getting away but family responsibilities tied her down. Now she is stuck at Ty Merched looking after a barely functioning family and becoming more resentful. She too feels abandoned by the man who left her and Sarah Maud and is isolated from the community that spreads rumors about her behind her back and sometimes to her face. 

To face the world around her, Myfanwy barely bites back sardonic comments and expressions and a rising temper that strikes back at everyone else in ire.

Of all of the family members, Myfanwy is the one who has the most potential to one day snap and commit violence, like a vengeance goddess raining her wrath on those who would hurt her and her family.

If Myfanwy reacts in outward anger, Sarah Maud does so inwardly. She isn't a potential danger to anyone but herself. Like her mother and grandmother, she too had been abandoned by the man that impregnated her. Even worse, he was a prominent towns member who refused to acknowledge his one-time mistress and illegitimate daughter. So Sarah Maud lives every day in the same town as the father of her child who is well known but ignores her. She lives with a constant reminder of a moment of youthful indiscretion and weakness which became a lifetime of regret. 

Sarah Maud is practically the living embodiment of a wailing ghost. She drowns her sorrows in alcohol and takes to her bed to escape sleep. She retreats into Depression like her mother does to her rages and grandmother does to her memories.

The fourth member of their family, Jenner, is also a product of this difficult environment of three older women who are in their own worlds. Since Jenner finds no comfort at home with a melancholic mother, choleric grandmother, and nostalgic great-grandmother, she has often had to rely on herself. This is an upbringing that she takes all too easily to heart.

Jenner does what her antecedents are too afraid or too tied down to: she leaves Swansea. She goes on long nature walks, sometimes for hours and even days on end. On one of those trips, she is accompanied by a small dog called, originally enough, Smalldog. Her trips are a way of distancing herself from the problems at home and give her a chance to get away from it all, even if temporarily. Her connection to nature gives her the emotional connections that her family cannot provide.

As striking as their unhappiness is, the Coombes’ loyalty resonates just as strongly. There are moments where the character's love for each other is clearly visible. Lizzie defends Jenner in front of a nosy Rev. Morgan. Myfanwy and Lizzie hover over a bed ridden Sarah Maud. Myfanwy barely restrains a clenched fist as she hears a hate filled speech directed at her family particularly her mother and daughter. 

The older women realize many of their flaws in parenting led to the moment when Jenner goes missing and vow to be better people, which they take to the letter. This is a family that are experts in supporting each other and driving each other crazy. Anyone who is a mother or a daughter can certainly relate to the “I love you, even if I don't always like you” mindset.

There are other traces of the real world of the 1960’s around them. A group of hippies arrive and take some of the weird labels often given to the women of Ty Merched. In a case of one outsider group bonding with another, they befriend the Coombes to the point that Sarah Maud in particular bonds with one of them, hovering close to a romance.

The status and roles of women have changed, particularly as we see Jenner. Unlike her older relatives, she isn't contented to stay where she is and is more self-assured when it comes to dealing with men. She won't be caught up in a haze of romantic nostalgia, rage, or despair when a relationship ends. She will just move on and forward.

One of the more humorous anecdotes in this book is the Swansea residents' reaction to the historic Moon Landing. A world shaking news event may be important to most people, but not them. It barely gets a mention in the book, just a non sequitur sentence solely to say when this book is specifically set. It has that rural town attitude in which world events sometimes are seen as not as important as the events around them. “Forget that Armstrong fellow. Did you hear what Lizzie Coombe did yesterday?! That's the real scoop!!”

That realistic view of small town life doesn't just play into their interest in local gossip but also in how easily mob mentality takes hold especially when influenced by religious figures. Rev. Morgan, the latest in a long family line of pastors, is particularly influential towards his parishioners. One of his favorite topics is suspicions towards the Coombe Family. 

Morgan creates dissent within his flock and drops hints here and there that the four women are witches and highlights the strange things that happen around them. The appearance of a dead body and the women's history of missing men provide enough fuel for Morgan's accusations. Sure enough he creates enough kindling of hatred and judgment to set all of Wales on fire.

The religious intolerance to witches isn't the only supernatural trait in this book and that's where the poetic mysticism comes in. While the forefront of Red Gifts in The Garden of Stones is in the real world, there is a more metaphysical element in the background, one that is firmly entrenched into the Old World of Welsh Mythology and Pagan practices.

There are a lot of descriptions of mist and grayness making the Reader instinctively feel haunted. The characters, particularly Jenner’s, connection to nature calls to mind Wicca priestesses or early witches who meet in the woods and pay reverence to nature in their spells. This is a world that may be approaching modern times but hasn't lost its sense of the ancient world.

What is particularly compelling about the supernatural events in the book is how anticlimactic most of them are and how they can easily be seen with a more scientific explanation at least by the Reader. Jenner’s dog, Smalldog, could be a lovable spirit guide leading her on her solitary journeys but it could just as easily be a friendly stray dog who found a new human friend. There is a mysterious woman, Blodeuwedd, who appears in and out of the book and who could be a friendly but reclusive neighbor, a ghost, or a character from Welsh Mythology helping the mortals who still believe in her and her kind. 

What about those ghosts Lizzie talks to? We read her conversations with them but are they real? Are they proof that Lizzie and the rest of her family have clairvoyant abilities or are they signs of dementia or an emotional desire to live in the past? What are we to make of some of the events prophetic, synchronicity, or coincidence? Even though we are given some theories, ultimately we are left to make our own conclusions.

One of the strongest links with Paganism is that this is a book which is led entirely by women. The fact that this book has a large cast of women of different ages and has significant ties to paganism is not a coincidence. The four Coombe Women reflect the different stages of the Triple Goddess which is a strong belief in modern Pagan movements and was often told in myths and legends as well.

Jenner is the Maiden, innocent, virginal, adventurous, reckless, naive, emotional, immature at times, and always ready to move ahead and forward in life

Together Sarah Maud and Myfanwy form different aspects of the Mother. Sarah Maud parallels the Nymph side, sensual, earthy, existing for physical pleasures, melancholic, self-centered at times, driven by passion, romance, and emotion.

Myfanwy reflects the Mother, warrior, protector, nurturer, something of a martyr complex, temperamental, combative when necessary, and choleric

Last but not least Lizzie is the embodiment of the Crone, wise, experienced, resigned, nostalgic, family leader, filled with sage advice, guide and has seen it all. They embody and are the Goddess.

Red Gifts in The Garden of Stones is a book that is very meditative and lyrical but at the same time relatable and contemporary. It reflects a poetic dream-like world of spirits, magic, and ancient traditions but also faces a reality of addiction, abandonment, grief, and intergenerational conflicts. It doesn't fit nearly into any one particular category or genre so much that it crosses them and opens a veil between reality and fantasy. 

Lit List Short Reviews: Bashert by Larry G. Goldsmith; How to Survive Ghosts, Cats, and Psychopaths: A Delia Sanchez Mystery by Diana K.C. Gill; Spawn of My Error: Eve's Odyssey: A Story of Biblical Eve in Modernity by Griff Johnson

 Lit List Short Reviews Bashert by Larry G. Goldsmith; How to Survive Ghosts Cats and Psychopaths A Delia Sanchez Mystery by Diana K.C. Gill; Spawn of My Error: Eve's Odyssey A Story of Biblical Eve in Modernity by Griff Johnson

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Bashert by Larry G. Goldsmith

Bashert by Larry G. Goldsmith

Larry G. Goldsmith's Bashert is a moving emotional story about a Jewish attorney meeting the love of his life at Woodstock and reconciling his faith with her more traditional family.

The plot begins when attorney, Michael Goldman, attends the famous 1969 outdoor concert where he encounters an 18 year old student named Shira Leifkowitz. It's a sweet tender moment that illustrates the Meet Cute convention in the backdrop of a time period that was considered the embodiment of free spirited and unconventional. 

The chapters of Michael and Shira's romance and early married life are stuffed with the minutae of everyday living in which couples try to navigate their compability and relationships with family and with each other. After a whirlwind romance ends in Shira's pregnancy, Michael proposes to her. The couple get the approval of friends and family, particularly Michael's widowed mother and Shira's orthodox Rabbi father. Goldman's married life starts with the usual struggles of money, conflicting schedules, differing opinions, and early childhood with the birth of their son, Ben. 

The book veers from romance and family drama to a more political novel about the effects of the Cold War on Russian Jewish immigrants. What was a personal story becomes political as Michael's father in law is arrested because of a scandal involving money being illegally distributed to aid immigrants fleeing the Soviet Union. Michael agrees to represent his father-in-law but has to find out some uncomfortable truths about his wife's family and his own views. He finds that people that he was once close to and were held up as unimpeachable pillars of the community have ulterior motives and are taking advantage of people who only wanted a better life for themselves and their families.

Bashert means "spouse" which is how Shira refers to Michael. It almost is a synonym for soulmate. That's what this book has, a lot of soul and a lot of heart.

How To Survive Ghosts, Cats, and Psychopaths: A Delia Sanchez Mystery by Diana K.C. Gill

Diana K.C. Gill's, How to Survive Ghosts, Cats and Psychopaths: A Delia Sanchez Mystery is a fun, entertaining, spooky, and at times moving supernatural mystery.

Former police officer turned mystery author, Delia Sanchez is recovering from the death of her mentally challenged brother. She becomes interested in buying Loring Mansion,  an old house and when other buyers mysteriously drop out leaving her with the best and only offer, she gets it. She learns the mysteries of the mansion when she gets it and all that comes with it, including ownership of two cats, Esmeralda and Zoeth Vander Loring that are the house's true heirs as well as Elise Vander Loring, a human ghost that haunts the place.

This book goes through several emotions. It has some humorous moments particularly between the more skeptical Delia and Dora, Delia's cousin, a believer in the supernatural with a very eccentric psychic on retainer. She also has some cute moments when she adjusts to the very furry real home owners who now have a human servant.

Delia's encounter with the ghost of Elise is terrifying because she has the ability to transform into other people. She changes to someone's late wife or former boyfriend leaving them to fear the familiar person performed by someone unfamiliar.

There is also some real drama and tension that compliments the supernatural elements. Delia still mourns for her deceased family members and strives to protect others including a new friend hiding from her abusive boyfriend.

This book is a fun, scary, and moving good time.

Spawn of My Error: Eve's Odyssey A Story of Biblical Eve in Modernity by Griff Johnson

Griff Johnson's Spawn of My Error: Eve's Odyssey A Story of Biblical Eve in Modernity is an interesting concept which features the Biblical Eve coming to the 21st century and seeing her future progeny for herself. Unfortunately, it is formatted so poorly that it's hard to follow and the great idea gets lost in the writing

Johnson describes Eve as his muse and artistic inspiration. This book is a dialogue heavy short novel in which the Narrator meets the Biblical character. She proves to be a bright and witty character who wants to share her point of view with the world so she befriends the Narrator's girlfriend, a news reporter and her colleague, a traffic reporter. After all, Eve's story has been translated and interpreted by the Bible and its many scholars, mostly men. She feels it's about time that she spoke for herself.

Eve is the highlight of the book. She uses "ME" (Mother Earth)to refer to herself and has a very almost childlike way of expressing herself. ("Just because ME never had a mother doesn't mean you have to fill in as Mr. Mommy to Eve.") She is bright and curious about modern society, everything from fashion to doughnuts. 

Eve also isn't without her criticisms for the modern world. Much of it is focused on the so-called religious right, the people who quote the Bible but withdraw love and charity to the people around them. The people who use God and biblical doctrine as an excuse to justify their prejudice, hatred, and biases. The hypocrites and charlatans who use all the buzz words to attract a gullible audience and believe that God's will is for them to live in tax free prosperity far from the rabble who donate to them.

The book is a brilliant concept and it makes the most of its lead character, however its format and length are difficulties that keep the Reader from experiencing and fully immersing themselves in the book as much as they could. It is all dialogue with no description, no internal thought, and no salutation over who said what. That makes the plot incredibly confusing when with the exception of Eve, everyone else's dialogue is written the same way. It's hard to tell who said what.

Also some incredible things happen throughout the book, such as when Eve and the Narrator disappear into a world called Alternate Eden. This passage would come off so much better with descriptions of Alternate Eden, The Narrator's confusion, and his friends anxieties over where he is and what they witnessed actually meant. Instead, it's just talked about between two characters making the scene somewhat shallow and only to be comprehended on a surface level. If ever a book needed the advice "show don't tell," it's this one.

Eve is a great character and this book could do so much better for her. However, a great idea falters if it doesn't have the writing style to back it up.

Weekly Reader: The Road to Delano by John DeSimone; Gripping Historical Fiction About Interracial Friendship Set During the Migrant Farm Workers Struggles of the 1960's

 

Weekly Reader: The Road to Delano by John DeSimone; Gripping Historical Fiction About Interracial Friendship Set During the Migrant Farm Workers Struggles of the 1960's

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: John DeSimone's The Road to Delano is one of those terrific historical fiction novel that mixes fact with fiction. It details the Migrant Farmer Worker struggles in the 1960's including the racism towards the undocumented immigrant workers, the fights between the laborers and the growers, and the organization of the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union led by Cesar Chavez. This struggle is seen through the eyes of two high school boys from different races and economic sides who are coming of age during these tumultuous times.

One of those boys is Jack Duncan. His father, Sugar, died in a car accident. He and his mother are in danger of losing their farm to creditors. He then receives information from a neighbor that his father's death was no accident. As Jack starts asking questions, he becomes the target of locals who aren't too happy with his probing. Their combine is stolen, without it they can't harvest, and he gets chased on the road by people who no doubt want to finish what they started with Sugar's death.

The other boy is Adrian Sanchez, Jack's best friend and the son of the Duncan's field supervisor. Adrian and his family are caught up in the beginnings of the UFW. In fact his father is a member. Because of this, Adrien and his family are the victims of various racist attacks, including ostracism and violence.

The Road to Delano explores Jack and Adrien's friendship against the backdrop of these times. The UFW is realistically portrayed as a reaction to the cruelty of how the workers are treated and why they decide to fight against it. There are various passages where the workers are forced to work in the heat for several hours and for very few wages. Many of them came to the United States for a better life, but they see just as quickly that the American Dream has only sold them a bill of goods. They aren't any better than they were before and now they have the added mistrust and racism that comes with being new to a country.

One of the most emotional moments occurrs when Jack sees the home of one of the workers, a girl about his age named Sabrina, and her sickly dying mother. This experience is not only heart wrenching for Sabrina and her mother but also because of the lack of concern their employees show for the situation. It is no wonder that they want to strike and fight against these circumstances.

 We meet Cesar Chavez a few times and he provides a quiet, intimidating, leading presence. He is someone who is dedicated to the rights of others sacrificing his reputation and his life for the cause. However, Chavez's presence is mostly talked about not read and in this case, it's for the best. While Chavez is an important powerful presence in the novel, the type of character that when he enters everyone shuts up and listens, but this isn't his story. This is about two teenage boys and their struggles with the world around them.

Sometimes Jack and Adrian deal with the issues that affect typical teenagers of any era. They are both on the baseball team hoping to win scholarships. They have their eyes on girls: Jack starts a romance with Ella, an outspoken anti-war activist, and Adrian begins a relationship with Sabrina after he, Jack, and Ella help her and her mother. They often tease and defend each other like brothers. Even though the strained circumstances often cause them to be at odds on occasion, they never lose their friendship with each other. 

The different sides and violence surrounds the boys particularly when the fight becomes personal. Jack peers into his father's death as well as Adrian lets his father's struggle become his. Their conflicts are interconnected by the larger picture of the UFW strikes.

One passage demonstrates this interconnectivity between the personal and the public. A UFW strike occurs during a high school baseball game.The sounds of an every day school event are mixed in with the external cries of "Huelga! Huelga! Huelga!" (Strike! Strike! Strike!) As though the normal world tries to go on in the event of monumental change, but it can't go in like normal because normal is what got them in this situation.

Normal is what produces racism without thought, a lack of understanding towards those who are economically disadvantaged, and cruel treatment towards workers without questions or conflicts. The world shouldn't go back to normal, it should go to better. The friendship and acceptance between Jack and Adrian demonstrates that.

 

New Book Alert: The Rez: An American Love Story by G. Michael Madison; Bleak, Moving, Realistic, and Uplifting Story About Life on a Pacific Northwest Reservation

Ñew Book Alert: The Rez: An American Love Story by G. Michael Madison; Bleak, Moving, Realistic, and Uplifting Coming of Age Story About Life on a Pacific Northwest Reservation

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews


Spoilers: G. Michael Madison's book, The Rez is one of those type of books in which the Reader must arrive prepared: with a box of tissues and the phone number to their local counseling service on hand. It is a somber realistic book about life on a Pacific Northwest Reservation. It is very honest and bleak about the poverty, illness, and broken families that exist in many of these reservations. However, it is also very moving with plenty of heartwarming and hopeful moments spread throughout.

The Tulalip Indian Reservation, Washington is seen through the eyes of Jonny Esque, the third son and one of ten children total, of Franc and Lois Esque. Jonny is a very shy sensitive boy, mostly silent because of a speech impediment and spends his time tagging along with his cooler more athletic older brother, Caj and being mothered and irritated by his seven sisters. One day while following Caj up the bluffs, Jonny finds himself in the white affluent neighborhood of Mission Heights. He immediately catches the eye of Nikki D. Thomas, a girl who is new to the neighborhood. Despite their different economic positions, family backgrounds, and her mother's disapproval, Jonny and Nikki D. become fast friends. That friendship lasts them through the turbulent times of the 1960's and their own personal problems and developing maturity.


The book is pretty straightforward how it portrays the daily life of the Esque family. Franc tries to be a leader, but receives failure at every turn, so he finds solace in the bottle. His temper makes the Esque home a tense one. The younger children hide from their father rather than risk provoking him.

Lois is a white woman who married Franc for love, but also to escape the sexual abuse within her own family. She appears as a sickly weak willed woman. However, she shows a lot of tremendous inner strength by protecting her children from Franc's wrath and by loving the Tulalip community and becoming a part of it.

The Esque children deal with their unhappy home life in various ways. They act out in school like Caj, take a parental role with the younger children like Claire, or keep to themselves feeling invisible like Jonny. Their oldest brother, Gray, has become a juvenile delinquent and is now residing in prison. It's a hard life and the family knows it.


There are several passages that reveal the hardship and poverty that the family goes through. They are on the brink of starvation a few times. When Lois becomes ill with a nervous breakdown, the children are separated and sent to various Indian boarding schools.

Jonny in particular has a rough time of it. The money that is supposed to be sent for his welfare is late in arriving. He has to suffer from other kids taunting him because he has to wear the same clothes and shoes every day. Madison pulls no punches in describing how hard life is for this family.

Even though, Nikki D.'s family is smaller and wealthier than Jonny's family, it is just as dysfunctional. Her father, Nick, is an alcoholic like Franc, but instead of turning his rages and frustrations outward, he turns inward. He is a meek quiet little man with a domineering wife who lives a life of quiet desperation.

Ginny, Nick's wife and Nikki D.'s mother, is the total opposite. She is scarred from her childhood as the daughter of a Chinese immigrant mother who delighted in verbally abusing her. In adulthood, Ginny focuses all her attention on pushing her daughter to succeed in school and be a part of a high social set. Even though, Ginny comes from an immigrant family herself and had suffered from insults because of her Chinese heritage, she fails to recognize her own racism towards the Esque family and the Tulalips. She refuses to let Nikki D. befriend them to the point of making a scene at Nikki D.'s birthday party when Jonny arrives.


Nikki D. however is determined to be Jonny's friend. The two recognize a kinship with each other because of their mutual dysfunctional backgrounds. Nikki D. Is so determined to be accepted among Jonny's peers that in one horrific passage, she hunts an animal to prove it. She also gets very confused the more mature she gets and the closer she grows to the Esque family. She develops a crush on Caj and has a platonic friendship with Jonny. However, she fails to notice that Jonny's feelings are anything but platonic.


Even though the book is bleak, there are some moments that keep it from being overly depressing. There are some really heartwarming passages. One of them occurs between Lois and Ginny. After Ginny evicts Jonny from Nikki D.'s party, Lois confronts her. The Reader is prepared for a takedown of a total racist bitch. Instead what happens is that both women reveal their insecurities and love for their children and a life long friendship is formed.

While Ginny is still pushy towards Nikki D.'s achievements, she emerges from this conversation as a better person that sees the error of her formerly racist ways. She becomes a true friend to the Esque family and helps provide financial aid to the Tulalip Reservation. Lois' inner strength and love for her children is also revealed in this passage, as she helps make this change happen.

There is also hope provided as the kids grow older and become more active in the world around them. Since the book is set in the '60's, it reveals the youthful energy of that time when young people were excited to get involved and be a part of the world around them. Those A-Changing Times are particularly shown through Nikki D. and Jonny.

Nikki D. is traumatized by the death of John F. Kennedy. This propels her to become involved with politics. She becomes an ardent Feminist and supporter of the Anti-War Movement. Her beliefs are tested when her new boyfriend, Beau enlists to fight in Vietnam. She is a woman of high standards and beliefs, but uncertain about what she wants. Does she want a steady high society boy like Beau, adventure and excitement with a known heartbreaker like Caj, or someone who is a good friend like Jonny? This sexual confusion frustrates her as she takes an active part in the world at large.

Another character who changes because of their involvement is Jonny. In fact, his is the strongest change for the better. He first gains strength at the boarding school when he becomes fed up with the mistreatment. He ties himself to a flagpole to protest the way he and the other Native American students are treated at the school.

As he matures, Jonny becomes an active leader at the Tulalip Reservation, the leader that his father wanted to but failed to become. Caj goes backwards when he returns from Vietnam, falling into the same alcoholic and unhappy marriage pattern that his parents fell in. Their sisters follow their own paths (which will be elaborated upon in the next book, Sisters). However, it is Jonny who emerges as the hero and the strongest character.

Jonny becomes a spokesperson for the tribe and raises funds for a new community center. His best moment occurs after a death in the family. At the funeral, Jonny the once shy kid who tried to be invisible, gives an impassioned eulogy sending love and blessings to his friends and family. Jonny's actions provide hope for the future that he won't make the same mistakes that his parents did and live a life of poverty and despair. Instead, he will lift his community upward.


There are two important symbols throughout the book that symbolize Jonny's trajectory. The main story is surrounded by a wraparound tale told by a storyteller about a mouse traveling amongst other animals to discover his true identity. The second is an eagle that flies overhead a few times and appears as a source of encouragement towards Jonny leading him to the next step in his life. It becomes apparent that Jonny started out as the mouse, nervous and uncertain and having to experience the world before he recognized his part in it. Then he became the eagle, strong, confident, and a leader that can soar above his despair and lead his tribe above that despair as well.

Classics Corner: Spite Fences by Trudy Krisher; A Powerful Book About Fences Built From Racism, Spite, and Hatred

Classics Corner: Spite Fences by Trudy Krisher; A Powerful Book About Fences Built From Racism, Spite, and Hatred

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews


PopSugar Reading Challenge: A book that features one of the Seven Deadly Sins (Spite, Wrath)


Spoilers: We all build walls and fences around ourselves. Some build them for protection to keep people inside. Others build them to keep others out.

Sometimes, the worst fences are the ones that surround the human heart. They are built because we don't know certain people, we don't want to know them. They are built not by hammers, drills, and nails but with other tools. Tools like assumptions, prejudice, spite, meanness, and hatred. Those fences are the strongest ones and they take forever to come down, if they ever do.

That is the situation faced by Magnolia "Maggie" Pugh, the young protagonist of Trudy Krisher's powerful novel, Spite Fences. Her family is considered "poor white trash" in their small town of Kinship, Georgia during the early 1960's. Many in town disregard her family because of their poverty. She has to deal with an abusive mother, unemployed father, and Gardenia, a sister who is propped up to become a beauty queen.

The Pughs also have to contend with their neighbors, the Boggses. Maggie's mother looks down on the Boggses, saying that if her family is poor, then at least they have standards. She thinks that the Boggses are a wild uncouth bunch of hooligans and with good reason. Their son, Virgil, is a sadist who plays malicious pranks on people including the Pugh sisters. Maggie's mother demands that her father put a fence around their home to block out the presence of their neighbors.


Besides the literal fence between the Pugh and Boggs homes, the figurative fences are stronger during the Jim Crow era. Maggie is looking for work as a housekeeper to help support her family. She is referred to the home of George Hardy, a mathematics professor who's new in town. At first, Maggie doesn't see George. She cleans his house as the two pass notes back and forth to each other. It comes as a surprise that her employer is an African-American man.

Maggie tries to continue working for George, whom she grows to like and respect, while hiding it from the town, particularly her mother. She also becomes swept up in the Civil Rights Movement as the African-American community of Kinship plans a display of civil disobedience. Maggie has to rely on her open mindedness, new found friendships with the African-American community, and her talents as a photographer to break through those fences and speak out.

Spite Fences is an extremely strong character and theme driven book. At the center of this storm lies Maggie. She is similar to Scout Finch, from To Kill A Mockingbird, a young prepubescent white girl breaking through the color barrier to question the societal standards that surrounds her. She is extremely timid and conditioned, particularly by her mother, not to express her strongest emotions. She buries a lot underneath, including being an eyewitness to a violent hate crime and not speaking out about the circumstances.

It is only after she befriends George and several other African-Americans around town, putting faces to names that she has grown up near but never knew on a personal basis that she realizes that she can no longer stand on the sidelines out of fear. Seeing how others live, worship, and work. She recognizes that struggle and is able to put herself forward.

Maggie is an amateur photographer and George is able to use that talent to bond with her. He offers her his issues of National Geographic so she can study photographs of other countries. He encourages her to use her talents around town and to look inside others to capture these moments. He also discusses deep topics such as fears with Maggie, so she can look inside the people around her and see beyond their outward appearances.

Maggie's photography becomes a key in breaking down the fences. She takes pictures of her new friends and herself in happy situations that unfortunately get revealed to the White community of Kinship. Even though things don't turn out well, Maggie is able to take pictures of the oppression that African-Americans face and the means they use to challenge them. These pictures not only bring faces to their struggle, but gives Maggie an opportunity to improve her situation.

Spite Fences is about the fences that are built out of cruelty and hatred. However, with love, friendship, human concern, and recognizing our talents, light can be shown through those fences. Maybe those fences can even come down.

New Book Alert: Off Telegraph: A Novel of Berkeley in the Sixties by Joseph V. Rodricks; A Long Strange Trip Into Science, Politics, Religion, and Fanaticism

New Book Alert: Off Telegraph: A Novel of Berkeley in the Sixties by Joseph V. Rodricks; A Long Strange Trip Into Science, Politics, Religion, and Fanaticism

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: Of course a novel about the late 1960's would be set at Berkeley. Where else but Hippie Central would you find so many students and professors experimenting, protesting, exploring, tuning in, turning on, and dropping out?

Joseph V Rodricks' novel Off Telegraph: A Novel of Berkeley in the Sixties explores that groovy time with a colorful cast of characters that pursue knowledge in science, religion, politics, and some get very lost in the pursuit of that knowledge.



Grad student, Will Getz is studying to make a pfaffidine synthesis for a reliable source of pffafadine. He has spent several months working on the project and has only achieved positive results once by accident. He can't replicate the feat and time is ticking with a fearsome deadline soon approaching. Rather than admit the stall, Will changes the data information. This deception haunts Will especially as his opportunistic colleagues get involved.

Meanwhile, Will's former girlfriend Gina Antinori, an anthropology student is become more involved in the sociopolitical structure of the 1960's. She considers switching her major to Law and makes a bevvy of eccentric friends including Chris, a former priest who is considering break a few of his vows with Gina, Kay, a journalist exploring lesbianism, and Schaefer, an anthropology professor whose outlook on the world heads dangerously towards fanaticism.


The book is rich with characters driven by their goals to help society in their own ways. But their goals become lost because of ego trips and narrow perspectives that cause them to commit fraud even violence to achieve those goals.

Will is particularly hit by this. As anyone who has spent time in academia knows, plagiarism and fradulent research are not looked on very favorably in that circle. (Or in any circle for that matter, nor should they be.) If caught the person is subjected to expulsion, lost funding, lost position, denial of a degree, and given a black mark towards any future hiring possibilities among other things. That's why most college courses begin with the professor lecturing their students about the penalties. It's no wonder why this deceit continues to trouble Will.

Will was fascinated by studying chemistry and biology and using pffafadine to create better treatments for cancer patients. He, as many researchers often are, is swept up in the glory of achieving an unattainable goal and the fame and prestige that goes with it. However, Will becomes consumed with guilt for changing the data. He alienates himself from close friends and is easily swayed to commit more fraud to cover up his initial fraud. He becomes depressed and agitated and starts experimenting with hallucinogens to cope with the inner stress.


Gina and her colleagues also strive to change things in different ways. They want to end the Vietnam War, achieve equal rights for all, and explore life beyond their comfort zones. Many of them experiment by exchanging lovers and discovering about themselves. Gina's relationship with Chris is one that is between two souls that want to explore the world in a larger context beyond their rigid Catholic beliefs.

Their relationship is almost a union of the body and Spirit. They seem to reject the orthodox Catholicism with their physical union. However, the relationship intensifies Gina's inner spirit and she is able to become more active within the world around her.


Violence is also explored in how people's ideals can metamorphosis into fanaticism. One intense subplot has Schaefer leading some grad students to Guatemala in the middle of a civil war. When they return things take a turn into the horrific as Schaefer takes his religious intolerance to violent disturbing levels.

In one graphic passage a former colleague of Schaefer's explains what the man's plans were when he returned to California. Schaefer is driven by his own charisma, fanatic views, and ability to lead others as a cult leader. He has the idea that only his way is the purest and that society is so flawed, that he must bring about its destruction.


Off Telegraph explores the highs and lows of the 1960's. It was a time when everything was new and just waiting to be explored, fought for, experimented upon, challenged, and questioned. It was a time of great ideals. However, under those ideals was a darkness that bred corruption, illness, violence, and death. For better and for worse we were marked by that time.

Weekly Reader: Emmie of Indianapolis by Kay Castaneda; Brilliant Slice of Life Stories Detail A Girl's Coming of Age in Indianapolis

Weekly Reader: Emmie of Indianapolis by Kay Castaneda; Brilliant Slice of Life Stories Detail A Girl's Coming of Age in Indianapolis

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: Kay Castaneda's Emmie of Indianapolis is one of those coming of age books that take various moments in the young protagonist's life to depict their developing maturity. Emmie of Indianapolis takes that standard and does it well.

12 year old, Emmie's mother announces that she is divorcing her father and moving to Indianapolis with Emmie and her younger sisters, Jennie and Cassie. Understandable but difficult today, rare and even more difficult in 1963.

Emmie and her family have to adjust to moving to a small apartment above a tavern where their mother works. There are some tense moments as the girls have to deal with some pretty tense situations such as a pedophile visitor entering their apartment to be stopped by a neighbor, a disgusting landlord nicknamed “Ogre”, and their mother's slow descent into alcoholism.

Emmie befriends Joey, an African-American boy, George, a Chinese boy, and Polly, a Romanian Gypsy girl. Emmie encounters racism as her new friends are bullied by other kids in school. When Emmie defends her friends, she is ostracized because of her friendship with them and also because of her family's Catholic religion contrasting with the mostly Protestant student body.


While there are hardships in the book, Emmie of Indianapolis also has plenty of sweet engaging moments to spare. Many of them involve Emmie, her sisters, and friends exploring her new city. Many of the streets and landmarks like Monument Circle, are accurately described and the kids have fun shopping and sightseeing.

They also are able to one up their bullies by their scholarly efforts. They participate in a Spelling Bee and it's a genuine victory when George wins to the pride of his friends and parents. Emmie and her friends really shine in these moments.

Emmie's parents shine in their moments with Emmie and her sisters. The reasons for their divorce is never explained but they clearly love their daughters. The secret is that they are flawed but not irredeemable. Emmie's father takes them on weekend visits and is there during an emergency. While her mother is beginning an alcohol dependency that is noticeable when Emmie withdraws from uncomfortable with conversations about alcohol, her mother is still written as a kind loving woman. She cares for the girls and wants to protect them from danger. The alcohol may just be a sign that she is overwhelmed.

Besides finding strength in her friends and family, Emmie finds strength in her Catholic faith. When they arrive in Indianapolis, Emmie looks for a Catholic Church and is pleased when she finally finds it. She uses her knowledge in religion to serve others like her friends and feels a spiritual presence during times of stress. It makes sense that Emmie wants to become a teacher or a nun so she can serve others as an adult.

Emmie of Indianapolis is a charming slice of life with plenty of darkness but plenty of sweetness to spare.