The Last Wildspeaker by Ivy Rowan, The Weight of Sunshine by Robin Maguire, The North Doesn't Speak by Clifton Wilcox, and A Duchess With a Secret by Alix Nichols

The Last Wildspeaker by Ivy Rowan 

The Last Wildspeaker is a beguiling YA Fantasy novella with a meaningful subtext about preserving and respecting nature and the environment.

In the village of Brindlewood, Mara Fern can understand animals. While that used to be considered a gift, now it's considered unlucky and could be grounds for accusations of witchcraft. Mara is told to ignore animals’ conversations and to live as normally as possible. This normal front is tested when nature has decided that it will not be ignored. Various animals hint that damaging changes are coming. It comes in the form of the Briarthing, a vine-like plant creature that crowds the forest and nearby village and holds forest spirit Elderhorn in its stems. Mara has to use the powers that she suppressed and retreat into the woods outside her village with companions, Sable, a fox, Hoot, an owl, Corbie, a raven, and Turnip, a goat to find out the root (pun not intended) of this problem.

Any book that explores nature is bound to have a strong grip on setting and this book is no exception. It carries a deep respect for nature through the character interactions and the important prominence of plants and animals to the narrative. When Mara hears the conversations of animals, she realizes that they have human arguments, frailties, and vulnerabilities making them a part of the society around them.

Much of the humor derives from these animal conversations. A squirrel insists on territorial rights for his acorns. Turnip the goat brags about how delicious that he finds the mayor’s declarations are (since he’s a goat that’s not metaphorical). A cat critiques his human’s fashion sense. Chickens argue incessantly. A dog just wants biscuits. 

These conversations could come from humans surrounding her and that’s the point. Animals just want someone to listen to them and take their concerns into consideration. Just because they serve as workers, food, predators, prey, or companions to humans doesn’t mean that they don’t have opinions on how humans run things. 

Mara’s time with her animal companions is the highlight of the book as each character is fleshed out. Turnip is a lazy obstinate goat whose sarcastic barbs and “whatever” attitude provide much of the humor. Corbie the raven insists that he’s a prince and is a complete narcissist who has particular views about his plumage, nest, titles, and self-importance. 

Hoot the owl is, like many owl characters in fiction, very wise but his knowledge is tempered with memory lapses that sometimes result in important information being delayed while he tries to remember it. Sable the fox is a charismatic and courageous team leader but is trying to live up to the very large luminous shadow held by his god-like adopted father, Elderhorn who needs to be rescued. 

At the center is Mara who is now thrown into a situation in which the abilities that she once suppressed are now the keys to saving her village. She is overwhelmed by nature’s chatter but realizes her importance as the current bridge between the village and the forest to find out what is affecting both locations and what must be done,

Not just the animals but plants are affected as well. The Briarthing creeps into the village  and crowds those around them leaving a terrifying and sorrowful presence. Mara investigates the presence and learns exactly what caused this disturbance. She learns that human arrogance and error created their own monsters and now are choking under the consequences. 

It’s not hard to recognize this story as a metaphor for climate change and human-caused destruction towards nature followed by natural disasters as though they were from a planet fighting back.Sometimes the theme is a bit on the nose. 

But it is also easy to see that Mara is supposed to represent us, those who are charged with hearing, listening to, and cooperating with nature to find the solutions that will rescue and benefit all of us. 

 

The Weight of Sunshine by Robin Maguire 

The Weight of Sunshine by Roban Maquire is a deeply poignant and affecting Contemporary Fiction novel about a love story. Oh not a romantic one between lovers. Instead the love story focuses on a long lasting mostly platonic friendship between a man and a woman.

Jackson “Jax” Hart and Nina Welbourne-Rhodes, both from privileged backgrounds, meet in college and maintain a long friendship. Despite debating whether straight men and women can ever be friends and giving into their impulses a few times, the friendship remains constant. Through marriages, job changes, relocations, children, and other massive life changes, Jax and Nina remain constant steadfast presences in one another’s lives.

This is the type of novel that is filled with interesting characters with Nina and Jax as the most developed and fully realized. They have similar backgrounds of wealth and privilege. The type of upbringing where they were born at the finish line and their family names carry a lot of weight. It’s a background that is rich in material goods and economic advantages, but not so in personal experience or individual agency.

 Nina in particular struggles with this as she purposely goes to a different college than intended, chooses an unplanned career trajectory, and lives like other students. It’s somewhat performative as she still retains contact with her family as a family emergency shows and if she gets tired of living a frugal life, she can always go home. But, the fact that she even makes this decision shows a resilient independent need to make her way in the world her own way. 

Jax also shows resilience during his marriage to Penny, a bright but troubled woman. He endures his personal misery while also helping his brother and his friends like Nina with their problems. He is a steady rock for other characters even as his own personal life crumbles. 

In fact it is Nina’s independence and Jax’s endurance that attracts them to each other and keeps their friendship alive. During their reunions, they have insightful conversations about love, life, and death. Their witty dry humor bounces off each other as they are faced with youthful philosophy and adult practicality. 

The book loses its luster during the half-way point when what started out as a platonic friendship becomes predictably romantic. There are some decent moments after this. They continue to support each other. They shine as a duo just as much as individuals, but the set up of a platonic friendship is lost. In trying to prove the point whether a heterosexual man and woman could be platonic friends, it deconstructs it by saying that they can’t because sex, love, and family always inevitably get in the way.

The North Doesn't Speak by Clifton Wilcox 

This is a summary. The entire review is on Reader Views.

The North Doesn't Speak by Clifton Wilcox is a meaningful and chilling historical fiction about the escape to freedom and what such words like “North” and “freedom” meant for slaves in the Antebellum South in the United States.

Elijah and Lila are among the various slaves that reside on a wealthy plantation. They have heard about many escaping and heading North despite the Fugitive Slave Act which requires slaves to be caught and returned to their previous owners. It sounds hard to believe, but Elijah is willing to take that risk and inspires Lilah. They make plans to escape despite capture, abuse, threats, and betrayal. It isn't just a manner of outrunning their captors, but also outfighting, outwitting, outlasting, and outsmarting them as well.

This book focuses on the parts that many other similar books gloss over or hand wave: how difficult it is to even think about escaping. Many of the characters argue whether escape is even possible. Elijah inspires Lilah and compels her to leave her cruel mistress behind. Other characters prefer the safety of the known surroundings over the fear of the unknown that going north would bring.

Besides talking about running to freedom, there are also moments when characters have to seek the opportunity. Both Lilah and Elijah weigh various risks like searching for the right time and date to disappear and whether they should go alone or together.

Besides conversations and strategy, the characters are hit with treachery and not solely from their masters. That's where Samuel, a fellow slave and an opportunist comes in. He listens in on conversations that hint at escape and manipulates other slaves to report back to him. He is a truly insidious character who is motivated by his own self-interest and preservation. In his drive to survive the monstrous institution, he becomes the monster that the white slave-holding society created.

In focusing on the time before the escape and not as much on the escape itself or answering definite questions over whether it was a success, Wilcox highlights how important it is to leave such oppression. The book reminds us that the road to freedom is painful and dangerous but ultimately worth it.

A Duchess With a Secret (The Montevor Royals Saga) by Alix Nichols 

This is a summary. The entire review is on LitPick. 

A Duchess With a Secret is a halfway decent contemporary romance with an old fashioned historical feel. However, it runs far too long, gets too repetitive, and doesn't accomplish much in the way of deep characters, vibrant setting, or an interesting plot.

Eva Castellane’s daughter, Millie is set to become the Duchess of the fictional country of Rohinn. Eva is prepared to help the 14 year old claim her birthright and advise her to make the transition to leadership run smoothly. Unfortunately, Alex, Eva’s late husband's half brother also has a claim to the title and is prepared to challenge Eva and Millie for it. Eva and Alex’s rivalry turns into a romance just as Eva's history compromises Millie’s ascension before it even starts.

The central conflict between lovers-to-be Alex and Eva is a composite of historical power struggles for leadership and Regency Era enemies to lovers tension. It is verbose, witty, and has its share of dramatic moments. 

Much of the trauma is revealed as Eva discusses her troubled marriage which was quite different from what the public saw. She also reveals a private medical struggle that affects her family and the genetic complications that it can cause for future generations. 

There are moments both individually and as a couple in which Alex and Eva reveal more developed sides. They work stronger together than apart. When they get along, they have great ideas and could decently lead Rohinn as a duo. 

The book plays into the “Enemies-to-Lovers” trope but resolves it early before the characters recognize it. Once realized there isn't anywhere else for the book to go. The plot goes around in circles with the same arguments and conflicts. Once they see the resolution, they get back in the game and show those leadership skills that will guide Millie and Rohinn effectively.

14 Hours of Saturn by Mike J. Kizman; Antonio's Odyssey by Mike Pagone; They Know When The Killer Will Strike by Michael J. Bowler

14 Hours of Saturn by Mike J. Kizman; Antonio's Odyssey by Mike Pagone; They Know When The Killer Will Strike by Michael J. Bowler 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

14 Hours of Saturn by Mike J. Kizman 

This is a summary. The entire review is on LitPick.

14 Hours of Saturn is mostly a great character study of a young woman looking back on the trajectory of her life while embarking on her next step. Saturn's life doesn't by any means contain a lot of adventure or dramatic tense moments, but she is an interesting average person that we explore various moments throughout her young life. However, towards the end, the book loses character by forcing a repetitive and overbearing sermon that slows the book down. 

Saturn O Sayres is unpacking in her new apartment and exploring her new surroundings. She flashes back to memories of her family, particularly her love-hate relationship with her sister Venus, her education, artistic talents, friendships, romantic relationships, and spiritual concerns. 

Most of the book focuses on Saturn's tempestuous relationship with her fashionista logical sister, Venus. The two sisters argued over interests, romances, parent's attention, acting more like school rivals than related by blood. It's a very relatable relationship as anyone who has siblings can understand. 

Although Saturn and Venus's relationship is frosty and tempestuous most of the time, they occasionally show genuine love and support to the point that when the girls are separated by college, marriage, and life plans they miss each other more than either will admit.

14 Hours of Saturn could be a brilliant book about a woman who creates bridges with her conflicted relationships with others, particularly Venus or finds personal and financial success in her chosen professional field. Some of that is present. However, it is hidden by an overemphasis towards religion that overpowers the final chapters.

The final third of the book is almost taken over by religion. Saturn's overbearing college roommate quotes Christian platitudes and tries to convert Saturn which ultimately works.

It's not that the book is Christian Fiction that is the problem. It is that the book was so secretive about it. There was barely any mention of religion through most of the book until towards the end. It's like a Trojan Horse hiding religious meaning in a slice of life novel about two bickering sisters.

 Perhaps, it might have come across better if religious concepts were generously sprinkled throughout the book and that Saturn came into it on her own instead of through her roommate pestering her.

14 Hours of Saturn is a book that turns into a sermon, but at least has an interesting, spirited, creative, intelligent protagonist as the focus. 

 

Antonio's Odyssey by Mike Pagone 

Antonio's Odyssey by Mike Pagone is a charming slice of life novel about the life and loves of a man named Antonio or Tony from his 1940’s childhood to late in life contentment. 

Tony's life is described through various anecdotes and incidents which combine humor and emotion. His childhood is filled with memories of his relatives particularly his lively ebullient grandfather. He also writes about other youthful experiences like shining shoes for a living, joining a street gang, his interests in music and pigeons, and an early interracial romance with a Black girl named Rosetta. 

Antonio moved to Las Vegas to play piano with a band in 1954. This was when Vegas was just beginning its reputation as an entertainment destination during the jazz and Rat Pack Era. At the time, it was a flourishing thriving scene just perfect for a young musician to get his start. 

Unfortunately it's also a place where one could  get extremely close to organized crime as Tony does in a chilling chapter. His interactions with criminals costs Tony his job, his then girlfriend Laura, and ultimately his Vegas residence as he is forced to go on the run.

Antonio describes various people in his life through witty observation and self-deprecating humor. For example, his first wife Kelly had an IQ that was “like one hundred and forty-nine while (his) was probably zero, well maybe ten, but anyway she never used her intelligence to trick or fool (him).”  Another love interest, “Spur-Of-The-Moment” Linda led Tony on many strange antics to teach him to embrace life.

There are also moments of emotional anguish such as the decline of Linda’s friend, Julie, who suffered from addiction and potential psychosis. There is also genuine tenderness such as when Linda and Tony bond with Heather, a young girl from a troubled background. 

Tony, and Pagone, described these events with such earnestness and sincerity that the Reader feels like they really know Tony and his inner circle even if he wasn't a real person.

They Know When The Killer Will Strike (A Film Milieu Thriller) by Michael J. Bowler

This is a summary. The entire review is on LitPick.

Normally reading a later volume without reading a previous one can be a confusing chore because readers get lost. But They Know When The Killer Will Strike by Michael J. Bowler benefits from reading out of order because all is explained through a movie-within-a-book.

Leo Cantrell discovers that his previous adventure (told in the first volume I Know When You Are Going to Die), is going to turn into a movie produced by his ambitious pushy mother. Leo and his friends JC, Chet, and Laura get to experience the making of a film and befriend the actors who will play them. Leo however receives psychic visions of gruesome attacks on set suggesting that a killer is on the loose and has their eyes set on the cast and crew. While this is going on Leo has to weigh his sexuality and feelings for Asher, the actor/model playing him.

Using the device of a film made out of the previous book, readers are given information about characters’s back stories, important plot points, and the occasional spoiler without having read the first book. It's a very unique way of catching up late coming readers while also telling a great story in its own right. Film buffs will enjoy the behind the scenes look on how a film adaptation is made..

They Know When The Killer Will Strike is gripping thriller with a fun satirical edge as it looks at murder on the set of a Hollywood film. 

Beautiful & Terrible Things by S. M. Stevens; Contemporary Literature Looks At A Beautiful Friendship and Terrible Events

 Beautiful & Terrible Things by S. M. Stevens; Contemporary Literature Looks At A Beautiful Friendship and Terrible Events 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery.

Spoilers: S.M. Stevens’ novel, Beautiful & Terrible Things lives up to its name. It's a Contemporary Literature that is about a beautiful friendship among six diverse fascinating individuals but it is also about the terrible things that happen to them as they try to maintain that friendship against their various struggles.

Charley is a bookseller who has various disorders. She has Depression, OCD, Dermatillomania, and Agoraphobia. Her life is structured and rigid from the time she spends preparing her day in her apartment above the bookstore to the amount of time she plays word searches on her phone. One day, she encounters Xander, an eloquent customer who is also a political activist. Charley eventually accompanies Xander on an outing with his friends and is quickly welcomed into their inner circle. They are a truly interesting bunch consisting of: Terrence, Xander’s colleague and fellow activist, Jessica, a financial analyst and Xander’s roommate, Sunny, a nonbinary solar panel installer who is Xander’s friend with benefits, and Buwan, an artist whose vacation home is the center of the first friendly gathering. Through a difficult few months of prejudice, political activism, violence, sexual exploration, romances, lost jobs, and new opportunities this sextet’s friendship is truly tested.

The best thing about this book are the well developed characters. The six protagonists have the type of friendship that makes the Reader think, “I want to live in that city and be a part of that group.” They are from various ethnicities, diverse backgrounds, three genders, and have different outlooks on life yet strive to retain loyal connections with each other.They are almost like the Friends gang, only more diverse and set in the 2020’s. 

The characters go through a lot of development over the course of the book, particularly in terms of relationships. During the novel, two characters tentatively begin a relationship, two more become romantically involved then break up, and one character reveals their amorous feelings towards another. That's not to mention the final pages when some are paired with different people than before, while others take their relationships to the next level. It can get rather confusing to keep track of all of the crushes, romances, and dissolution of relationships. 

Fortunately, the Super Six aren't consumed by romance and the pairings are written realistically without resorting to soap opera tropes like infidelity or love triangles. Some characters click as a couple. Sometimes they have a lot in common or visualize a future together. Sometimes they don't and that's fine as well. As strong as relationships are in their lives, their friendships are stronger. Even after a break up, they still retain those connections and think well of one another. 

As memorable as they are as a team, they also stand out as individuals. The group’s idiosyncrasies develop them and make them come alive. From Xander’s overly flowery language, Terrence’s monochromatic wardrobe, Jessica's insistence on referring to the others by their first initials, Buwan’s dragon tattoos, Sunny’s fascination with marriage and children, to Charley’s superstitious nature, these little quirks and characteristics reveal much about the people who inhabit them in a way that is natural and not cloying. 

Sometimes their quirks are tells of deeper issues especially when we learn that many of the characters have mental and emotional disorders. There's Charley with her various internal struggles. Buwan takes medication for Anxiety attacks. Terrence has an anxious and hyper aware personality stemming from his mother's lessons. Many of the other characters go through periods of loneliness, insecurity, and emotional turmoil as well. 

Once their deeper emotional cores are revealed, much of the earlier behavior that might have been waved off as “just them being them” makes sense and is sometimes seen as sadder and more tragic. These oddities were foreshadowing hints that some things may not always be right with our heroes and they get through their issues by acting out, speaking up, pairing up, hiding, conforming, or fighting against those who threaten them. They are lovable but also troubled.

Besides friendly, romantic, and internal conflicts, the friends struggle with outward controversial issues as well. Charley learns that her bookstore will be closed and she will be evicted. Not only that but one of her friends is involved with the business that wants to purchase that property. She is hurt and betrayed and dangerously isolates herself from everyone else. This economic conflict explores the class structure among the characters and how some in a higher status can unintentionally hurt others by their association.

The characters have various discussions about politics and current events and their beliefs reflect their own backgrounds and experiences. One of those conversations about undocumented immigrants becomes personal for Jessica. In the beginning, she speaks as the child of Colombian immigrants turned American citizens. She distances herself and her affluent family from illegal immigrants insisting that they are different from her. Her self-internalized xenophobia comes back to haunt her when a friend is in danger of being deported. Suddenly, those immigrants that she considered beneath her now have a recognizable face and she is forced to confront her previous views.

Race is a common theme. Terrence recalls many of his mother's advice on how he, as a black man, should go out in public. He has to consider things like his tone of voice and simple gestures like telling a police officer that he is reaching for his wallet before he does. These are things that many of his friends don't have to think about but are central to him so he doesn't get arrested or shot.

Xander encourages his friends to participate in rallies and protests, particularly involving environmentalism, sexuality, gender identity, and race relations. A Black Lives Matter protest becomes climactic when the friends face physical injury and one lands in the hospital. Xander himself displays violent rage filled behavior that he never had before to the point that he frightens Charley who observes him. While they fight for a good cause and have good intentions, the BLM protest takes a physical and emotional toll on the friends that alters their feelings for each other. Things have changed among them forever and may never be fully repaired.

Beautiful & Terrible Things is a book that is a lot like modern life. There are many terrible things, some that can be controlled like a broken romance or a lost job. Some that cannot such as a faltering economy or systemic racism. These things can test us physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, there can be beautiful things as well: a new relationship, time with friends, the pursuit of one's interests or occupation, a pleasant vacation, and a wonderful group that feels like a family and can experience those beautiful things as well.

 

Weekly Reader: The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin; Memorable Historical Fiction About Two Women Who Led The Silent Film Era

 Weekly Reader: The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin; Memorable Historical Fiction About Two Women Who Led The Silent Film Era

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: In the days of Hollywood Silent Films, no female star shone brighter than Mary Pickford (1892-1979). Pickford was known as "America's Sweetheart" and was often recognized for her long golden Victorian curls, her diminutive size, and innocent expressions which led to her playing little girl roles well into her twenties and thirties. She starred in various movies like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Pollyanna, Little Annie Rooney, and Poor Little Rich Girl. While on screen she played the forever young ingenue, off screen she was a force to be reckoned with. She was able to control the production of her own films and in 1919, with Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Tom Mix, and Douglas Fairbanks, she created United Artists, the first production company run by actors, directors, and other performers (leading to the famous one liner provided by producer, Richard A. Rowland, "The lunatics have taken over the asylum").

The public was fascinated with Pickford's romance with and marriage to Douglas Fairbanks. Their ornate home, Pickfair, was seen as the symbol of Hollywood Royalty with its residents seen as the King and Queen. 

It's a little known fact that Pickford made a slight transition to sound, achieving enough success with Coquette that she won the second Academy Award for Best Actress in 1930. (Fun fact: The first was Janet Gaynor for the films 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise: The Song of Two Heavens). After a series of failed and aborted projects and her divorce from Fairbanks, Pickford retired from acting to produce films. Eventually, she became a recluse until her death in 1979.

Another important female figure in Hollywood who was not as public but still left a huge impact was Frances Marion (1888-1973). Originally, she was hired as a writing assistant to director/screenwriter Lois Duncan. Eventually, Pickford hired Marion as her scenarist for her various films. Marion's writing for films like Rags, Rebecca, and Pollyanna helped cement Pickford's on screen character. Marion worked her way upward to becoming the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood and head of the writing department at World Films. She was praised alongside other female screenwriters at the time like Anita Loos and June Mathis. During World War I, Marion became a combat correspondent and documented women's efforts on the Front. She directed the films, The Love Light and Just Around the Corner (the former starring Pickford). She won two Academy Awards for Writing for The Big House in 1931 and The Champ in 1932.

In total, Marion was credited with writing over 300 films and producing over 130.

Melanie Benjamin's historical fiction novel, The Girls in the Picture, tells of the deep friendship between Pickford and Marion recounting their first meeting in 1914 during the early rushed experimental days of this brand new entertainment venue. It takes them through Hollywood's expansion, the rise and fall of both women's careers, their stormy romances and marriages, their achievements of wealth and power, the stress of World War I, the founding of UA, the overwhelming publicity of the Fairbanks-Pickford marriage, the advent of sound, and their eventual estrangement. Benjamin depicts how both women used their talents and strengths to make their mark in a male dominated industry and helped develop it into a legitimate art form and the giant source of entertainment that it is today.

Benjamin neatly contrasts her deuteragonists starting with their backgrounds which helped propel them to join this burgeoning industry. Marion is leaving behind two failed marriages and wants her life to mean something significant that doesn't require her just to be someone's wife or mother. For her, the motion picture industry gives her a career and a chance for freedom.

For Pickford, real name Gladys Smith, entertainment is already in her blood. She has already been a stage actress to support her mother, Charlotte and her younger siblings, Jack and Lottie. She decides to become a film actress to obtain a wider interest and get more money for her family.

If you are a fan of the early days of filmmaking, then this book is a treat. It is detailed in describing how those early movies in the early 1900-1910's were quickly and cheaply made with everyone playing many roles: actors, writers, directors, editors, custodians whatever was needed. Scripts weren't written so much as they wanted to capture a brief couple of scenes. Props and costumes weren't exactly plentiful so everyone just relied on what they had. Stunts, particularly horse riding, had no protection so sometimes accidents happened and on occasion were captured on film. (I would describe them as "Mickey Mouse productions" but Mickey wasn't created until 1928.) It wasn't until the mid-1910's that filmmaking gained prestige, the productions became slicker, costlier, and more polished, and the public recognized the artistry involved in the movies's creation.

Originally, the moguls were so uncertain about how the public would react to the performances that actors weren't dubbed with their names but under titles like "The Biograph Girl," "The Vitagraph Boy," and so on. While Florence Lawrence was the first to be casted under her own name, Pickford was also similarly recognized. This moment in the book foreshadows Pickford's eventual influence within the industry.

Both Pickford and Marion are given multiple chances throughout the book to show their independence and courage to become recognized amongst the men that surround them. Pickford recognizes her persona so is very careful about accepting roles and being involved in the production of films that capture her "America's Sweetheart" character. She is also financially savvy having been poor, so she watches every penny and accounts for her growing wealth. 

When she is one of the founders of UA, Pickford is similar to Charlie Chaplin, hard workers who recognize the art form of filmmaking and want to shoot the movies until they are right.

Marion's contribution to making her mark in a man's world is in her writing and becoming one of the highest paid writers, male or female. Her scenarios emphasize Pickford's character's spunk, courage, and survival instincts, as well as her playfulness and childlike innocence. 

Marion's independence is especially evident during WWI. Many soldiers dismiss her because of her gender. Some are baffled and openly hostile that a woman is covering the front lines of war. Marion is determined to get the story, even walking through muddy and violent roads and crossing the Rhine. This experience matures her as she sees the truth of war that Hollywood can only imagine and how important movies are to people put in bad situations and long for escape.

Marion recognizes her and Pickford's contributions years later when she sees photographs where she or Pickford were the only women who were surrounded by men. 

Like many friendships, Benjamin reveals the differences between the two women. While both are strong and independent, they also differ in many ways. Marion is a quiet well read intellectual; Pickford is a bold street smart commanding presence. Marion takes pride in her unconventionality from surviving two divorces and not wanting to get remarried until she is established in her career; Mary is so protective of her image that she refuses to divorce an abusive husband and hides her affair with Douglas at first. Marion has simple tastes and just wants a nice house near Pickford of course, plenty of freedom to work, and a supportive husband; Once Pickford starts making money, she wants to live like a star, in an ornate grand mansion hence Pickfair, have a wide circle of influential friends, and become the center of attention. 

Their differences are balanced in their friendship with each other. Marion is able to bring Pickford down to Earth and isn't afraid to tell her the truth no matter how bad it is. Pickford gives Marion a touch of glamor and excitement in her life and encourages her to develop her talent.

As with many friendships, Pickford and Marion grow apart for various reasons. After WWI, Marion wants to write bolder, better scripts to reflect a more advanced worldview but Pickford still needs her professionally, so she continues with the standard Pickford vehicle. While Pickford originally loves the little girl character because it gave her the childhood that she never had, she begins to resent it the older that she gets and wants to play adult roles, much to Marion's chagrin. (Supposedly, when Pickford cut her hair from the long Victorian curls into a short trendy bob, it was such a scandal that it made headlines). Both women want to advance but feel tied to their friendship to end it until a fight emerges forcing their hands.

Their marriages  added to their conflicts. Marion likes the flashy and charismatic Douglas, but once he enters the scene she sees Pickford becoming a more glamorous star and affected snob. They are remote and standoffish so Marion has trouble relating to them. 

Marion's third husband, Fred Thomson is a religious leader turned actor who is clearly uncomfortable in this fame driven lifestyle but likes working in Western. His early death caused by an injury leaves Marion eaten up with remorse that Pickford reveals in a fit of anger.

The book also implies that sound was a huge stumbling block in their friendship's end. While Pickford did win an Oscar for Coquette, she can't adjust to this new normal and most of her films flop (including a version of Taming of the Shrew with Douglas). Plus, her marriage to Douglas flounders. She is such a relic of the old silent films that when the movies enter a different era, she would rather drop out of life rather than adjust to it.

Marion however effortlessly sails into the sound era. In fact many of her scripts like The Champ are well known to this day. She is able to find her own voice, pun not intended, without being bound to Pickford's. Benjamin implies that Pickford is envious of Marion's adjustment to the modern days while she sticks to the past. 

Marion and Pickford's friendship ends during a film production when they call each other to task for old conflicts and reopen old wounds. (According to Benjamin's notes, in real life, their friendship's end was a lot less explosive and was more gradual, coolly phasing each other out). The two don't reunite until 1969 when Marion visits the now reclusive Pickford in Pickfair.

The Girls in the Picture is a wonderful time capsule of the early days of Hollywood. Most importantly, it is an excellent and in depth character study of two women who changed it and each other forever.

Weekly Reader: Semicolon: Life Goes On From A Different Perspective: Living With Purpose by A.P. Aristeiguieta; Captivating Spiritual Journey Into Deep Emotion, Strong Friendships, and Lucid Dreams

 Weekly Reader: Semicolon: Life Goes On From A Different Perspective: Living With Purpose by A.P. Aristeiguieta; Captivating Spiritual Journey Into Deep Emotion, Strong Friendships, and Lucid Dreams

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Is it too early to pick a potential favorite book of 2023 because I found a contender?

Semicolon Life Goes On From A Different Perspective Living With Purpose by A.P. Aristeiguieta is a captivating, lyrical, and spiritual book that tells a fantastic story about loneliness, depression, and friendship. 

Semicolon is not unlike some of my other favorite books in the past like Imajica by Clive Barker, Melia in Foreverland by Thomas Milhorat, The Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, The Unseen Blossom by Zlaikha Y Samad and L'mere Younossi, The Enchanted World Series, Tales From The Hinterland by Melissa Albert, The Bookbinder's Daughter by Jessica Thorne, Kaleidoscopic Shades Within Black Eternity by David A Neuman, Merchants of Knowledge and Magic by Erika McCorkle, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass). It's a book that is thought about, felt, and lived in as much as it is read.

According to the Introduction, this is somewhat based on a true story, a semiautobiographical novel or a literary nonfiction, on incidents from Aristeiguieta's past. Aristeiguieta's author surrogate is Amy, a teenager who has been hospitalized.  One night, she sees a little boy, Tito, standing by her bed and who appears to be a friendly spirit of some sort.

Amy is released and after a while, her parents send her to a boarding school in Mexico. At the airport, she meets Alberto, a talkative teen about her age who is heading for the same destination and quickly becomes an intelligent and very odd friend to her.

Semicolon is a book that asks as many questions as it provides answers, allowing those to explore their own inner conclusions about what they experienced. It is both thought provoking and visceral at the same time.

The book's excellence starts with its protagonist. While books about troubled teens are nothing new, Aristeiguieta takes great care to capture a young brilliant but fractured mind on the verge of falling into existential loneliness and emotional numbness.

At first, there are some hints about the cause of Amy's hospitalization but we aren't told anything definite until later. She lays in the hospital bed thinking about how she got there. She was someone who felt invisible and lived inside her own head. (What depressed, lonely, imaginative kid hasn't felt that way? Heck what depressed, lonely, imaginative, adult still doesn't feel that way?) One day, she wanted to end those feelings and attempted to take her own life. 

She also reflects that even during her hospitalization, her frequently arguing parents couldn't stop blaming each other, throwing herself even further into despair. She finds no comfort in outside existence so she retreated into her own solitude but when even that failed to soothe her, she decided to kill herself instead.

 This is a very accurate description of long term depression that someone feels when their usual escapes and coping mechanisms no longer work. After all, you can read, watch TV or stream videos, or play games all day. But eventually the book will close, the credits will roll, and the game will be over, and the real world unfortunately has to be lived in.

Tito and Alberto act as sort of spirit guides towards Amy. Throughout the book, Tito leads Amy through various astral projections and lucid dreams to see different views of the world around her. She travels through moments and memories that aren't just hers but belong to other people and recognizes different parts of herself that she thought were long gone.

In the hospital, he astrally takes her out of her room to observe her family, other patients, and their concerned friends and family members. She is able to connect with others in a way that is greater than what she has felt in a long time. Tito is able to open up a warmer part of Amy's personality that still exists underneath the sadness and depression. Later, Tito takes her to a park where there are balloons and a party. This opens up the youthful childlike side of her as a counter to the cynicism that she has developed.

While Tito helps Amy, his appearance does not suddenly solve all of Amy's problems. Her parents send her to the boarding school, partly because they are concerned that she may try to attempt suicide again but also so their arguing and eventual separation does not affect her fragile state. At the school, she is just as isolated as she was at her old one. Luckily, Alberto, the boy that she met at the airport, attends the same school and instantly becomes her closest friend.

Alberto serves a different purpose for Amy than Tito. One could compare Amy's time in the hospital to her being reborn. When she meets Tito, she is like a child and children often communicate with pictures, simple words, and concepts like "love," "fun," and "happy." 

When she goes to the school, Amy re-enters her teen stage. Teenagers are full of questions, confused about the world and their identity, and struggling to understand it. Alberto helps her in that respect.

Alberto is a more human presence than the ethereal Tito. While he is an actual human (possibly), he is very intellectual and intuitive. He asks Amy provocative questions about her beliefs and experiences and shares his own views. He is someone with a deep faith in Judaism but is also open to other spiritual practices like the concepts of lucid dreams and visions and the existence of parallel dimensions. He's like a Teen Guru advising Amy intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.

He guides Amy into putting her time with Tito into words and discovering what it could actually mean. 

It is very refreshing that even though Amy and Alberto become close, they do not develop a romance. Aristeiguieta was wise to avoid this because it shows that there can be great value in platonic friendship and that two people, even teenagers, can find connections that are built on mutual trust and care and not necessarily on lust. In developing her friendships with Tito and Alberto, Amy is able to understand her relationships with others like her parents and learn more about herself, maybe even love herself. 

Semicolon is a punctuation symbol that joins two independent clauses without using a coordinating conjunction like and. That's what this book is about, joining independent clauses: things that shouldn't exist at once but somehow do. Things like life and death, dreams and reality, sleep and awake, emotion and thought, dark and light, and childhood and adolescence. They're like Yin and Yang, divided they make separate halves and different sections of a story. When they join together, united, they make a whole picture and story. 

Through her dreams of Tito and her conversations with Alberto, Amy goes on a metaphysical journey by means of astral projection, parallel dimension travel, and lucid dreams to show her a deeper world of love, hope, and the power of one's mind and spirit. 

Whether this book is literally or metaphorically true, it is a powerful account of the mind, heart, soul, and spirit.

New Book Alert: Arabesque by Amy Shomshak; Tres Magnifique Story of Friendship and Dance in Paris

 

New Book Alert: Arabesque by Amy Shomshak; Tres Magnifique Story of Friendship and Dance in Paris

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Of all the subjects that I thought that I would read this year, I did not expect one of them to be ballet. This month, I am reviewing not one but two books about ballet and they couldn't be more different. The first, Music Boxes, is a YA Fantasy in which a young girl gets involved with an enchanted dancing school and its powerful magical headmistress who hypnotizes and transforms her students. 

The second book, Arabesque by Amy Shomshak, is a more realistic book about the art of dancing but just as good in its own way.

Gina's best friend Tina is currently studying ballet in Paris while Gina remains in New York. Gina is tired of the dance classes that are far from the Russian training that she is used to and the mean girls who play pranks on her and shove her into the corps. She is also becoming aware that her relationship with her boyfriend Charlie, a stand up comedian, is not getting better. Her only constant is her uncle Gene who raised her and encouraged her love of dancing and her letters from Tina telling her how great her life is now that she is a lead dancer. Once Gina learns that Tina's life isn't as rosy as she portrays and Gina's depression worsens, Gene invites her to accompany him to Paris and reunite with her best friend.

In some ways, Arabesque reminds me of Melissa Muldoon's books about Italy like Dreaming Sophia, Eternally Artemisia, and Waking Isabella. It is an imaginary trip to Paris written by someone who loves the city, recognizes every street, every cafe, every location. Shomshak recognizes the beauty, marvel, and history of the city. She clearly loves the location and wants her readers to love it too. It is a perfect summer reading for those who need an imaginary vacation.

When Gina, Tina, and their friends go clubbing and dine at a cafe, you know it's a place that is real or at least made real by Shomshak's sensory images and attention to detail. Readers can smell the coffee brewing, hear the side chatter, and see the people talking and laughing. Even common tourist spots like the Louvre, Left Bank, and the Eiffel Tower are made unique by the characters' encounters with them. Paris is alive in this book.

In a touch very similar to Muldoon's work, there are brief scenes in the afterlife where Gina's late mother, Lili is following her daughter and encouraging her on a path. She's not alone, Lili engages in conversations with the likes of Marie Antoinette, Vaslav Nijinsky, Zelda Fitzgerald, and other members of Paris' past. Similar to Muldoon's Italy books in which artists, patrons, film stars, and other notables encourage their protagonists, here Paris' Finest does the same for Shomshak's. When a setting fits the character, it seems that everyone, past and present, conspire to make it feel like home, the place where they belong.

The Parisian setting isn't the only thing that comes to life in this book. The characters shine as well, particularly Gina and Tina. They have a very close sisterly friendship that fills empty voids in their lives. Like many strong friendships, they work better together than they do apart. Separately, they are going nowhere in their ballet studies. They are at most bit players when they have enough talent to get bigger roles. Together, however, they decide to take their talents into their own hands. 

Gina and Tina perform a series of dances in outdoor venues throughout the city wearing elaborate costumes and masks that Madame Destinee from Music Boxes would envy. They do their own choreography and tell their own stories, sometimes original and sometimes variations of known fairy tales. These dances not only make them famous, if anonymously, but they give them artistic freedom and the ability to express themselves creatively. 

A favorite performance is when the duo dance and communicate entirely with fans. They use gestures with their fans to reveal a conversation between characters and wear monochromatic black and white gowns and masks. It's a simple yet evocative dance piece.

Gina and Tina also open a wider circle of friends and family. They meet some female friends who help them with their outdoor dance. They also receive boyfriends who are supportive and interested in their pursuits, even revealing talents of their own. Gene also has a romance going with Josette, a married woman with a brilliant son. They clearly love each other but are playing things slowly because of Josette's marriage. Gina and Tina's circle of friends and family bring out the best in them and everyone else around them.

Music Boxes has plenty of magic, true. But Arabesque is a realistic story with plenty of magic of its own: the magic of friendship, the magic of the arts, and the magic of a place that tells you that you are home. When you find that magic, well c'est magnifique.

Weekly Reader: Fearghus Academy: October Jewels by I.O. Scheffer; Strange Blend of Witch School Fantasy, Intergalactic Science Fiction, Supernatural Mystery, and Victorian Historical Fiction Makes For A Surprisingly Unique and Imaginative Novel

 

Weekly Reader: Fearghus Academy: October Jewels by I.O. Scheffer; Strange Blend of Witch School Fantasy, Intergalactic Science Fiction, Supernatural Mystery, and Victorian Historical Fiction Makes For A Surprisingly Unique and Imaginative Novel

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: You don't always have to be the first or even the most famous to come up with an idea to make it good. Sometimes you just have to give it your own perspective.

Take I.O. Scheffer's Fearghus Academy series and its first volume, October Jewels, for example. In the tradition of witches and wizards of legend using various sources and ingredients to make a potion, Scheffer did the same with this series. Fearghus Academy has a pound of Harry Potter, a pinch of A Wrinkle in Time, two cups of Avatar The Last Airbender, a spoonful of Oliver Twist, and a whiff of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell for that distinct aroma. The result is a strange concoction that blends these sources and makes a unique, imaginative, and spellbinding series.

In 19th century London, Anna Addison is forced to work in a grubby factory for pennies. She hates her job but she can't do anything about it. One day, a strange wealthy woman named Nichole gives her two options: quit or get fired. No one else but Anna can see Nichole and even though she isn't sure if she's going crazy, Anna decides to get herself fired. Now that's taken care of, Nichole makes herself visible and goes through the necessary paperwork to adopt the young girl. She raises some eyebrows since people question a black woman like Nichole choosing to adopt a white girl like Anna but she is kind if a bit eccentric and no one else is interested in Anna.

Nichole has ulterior motives for adopting Anna. She sees another person like her who possesses magical abilities. One of the signs of a magical person are the colorful streaks in their hair and glint in their eyes. Anna has brown hair and orange streaks (She assumed one of her late parents had red hair). Nichole has green streaks in her black hair. Nichole explains that these are signs that they possess certain magical powers: Fire Magic for Anna and Earth Magic for Nichole.

There is a place called Fearghus Academy that has been scouting potential magic users and where Nichole is going to take Anna. It's a school that's out of this world. No really. Fearghus is literally on another planet outside of time and space. The school trains young people around the universe to use, harness, and control their magical abilities. 

So yes it is the fourth "Young Woman Travels to a Magical World" book that I read this year along with The Thorn Princess by Bekah Harris, Ela Green and The Kingdom of Abud by Sylvia Greif, and Lakshmi and The River of Truth by Paul Chasman, not counting the ones I read last year. (Not that I'm complaining. I love the subgenre.)

Once Anna arrives at Domhan, the planet that Fearghus Academy resides, she is amazed by the green grass, blue skies, and crisp clean air. For a girl growing up in filthy smog filled polluted London, it's quite a delightful shock. The castle building that Fearghus is located in leaves her speechless.

She also gets some rudimentary training from Nichole on how to make fire emerge from her fingertips and a new name. She says goodbye to her old life as Anna, the girl from London on Earth and reemerges as Artesia, the Fire Magic User and Fearghus student.

The book's structure is similar to that of Miss Mabel's School for Girls by Katie Cross and A Spell in the Country by Heide Goody and Iain Grant. Many of the chapters involve various tests and assignments in which Artesia and her new classmates learn to use their powers, work as a team, and bring out their best and sometimes worst qualities in each other.

Along the way while they are searching for valuable objects, exploring the world around them, and studying the progression of their powers as well as other regular subjects like history, science, and literature, they become aware that there are darker forces abound. As some of the students are attacked and one viciously murdered, it becomes apparent that Fearghus is the target of greater darker spirits and people who use magic for less altruistic means. It takes all of their strength, natural and magical, to fight these deadly enemies and get to the heart of a conspiracy which could cost many lives.

There are a few things that make Fearghus Academy stand out from other school stories. So far, we don't have a School Bully/Mean Girl. Nor does the main girl, Artesia, get thrown into a romance with a potential love interest.

The characters have personality clashes and disagreements but there are no one dimensional prepubescent villains. In fact, they start on the same page as allies who work closely together and become friends.

The students are a pretty likeable bunch. Besides Artesia we have: Antonia, a flamboyant Fire Mage from Spain; Evelyn, an overachieving Light User from Canada; Lulu, a dizzy religious American girl with the power of Air; Eilam, a sweet Ice Mage who is from Domhan and has a disturbing family secret; Telemachus, also from Domhan and is a Fire Mage and Eilam's close friend; Betel, an Irish girl who has the uncomfortable power of spreading pain and illness and is protected by her sister, Gretel; Jun, another Fire User from Ceithre a small town in Domhan who gains a crush on a certain transplanted Londoner, and Marnie, a sarcastic Scottish Water Mage who is discovering her own sexuality. Since Domhan is on another planet, it would be interesting to see if future Fearghus students look more alien in appearance, perhaps looking instead like Earth witches and wizards and more like Jedi.

The characters are a fascinating group where everyone has their moments to shine and become part of an ensemble.  Even Nichole develops a strong maternal bond with Artesia which she begins to reciprocate.

There isn't a single character in the group who isn't likeable and fully developed. Authors don't always have to fit school age kids into known tropes and cliques and have them vie with each other. They can still make them meaningful and understandable as individuals and part of a larger network of students and friends.

It is also nice that Scheffer does not force a romance between Artesia and the male character that she is usually paired with, Eilam. Artesia and Eilam form a close friendship in which the secretive Eilam reveals some painful things about his past. The two also combine their powers to save each other and are one another's emotional support when they lose a close friend. But platonic friendship is as close as it gets and with good reason.

Eilam is gay and is romantically involved with Telemachus. In other books, the two young men would just be buddies and their flirtatious moments might by played for laughs. In this book, it's clear that they are a couple and a sweet one at that. Because of Eilam's personal issues, he finds it difficult to reach out to others. With Telemachus, he feels more open to express a more outgoing playful side. Telemachus becomes a rock for Eilam to cling to when he needs it.

As for Artesia, she isn't exactly suffering in the romance department. Jun develops a crush on her and she becomes interested in him. She also inspires romantic stirrings within Marnie which she may feel the same. To hers, and Scheffer's, credit Artesia treats Jun and Marnie the same way. There is no indication whether she is straight, bisexual, or a lesbian. Perhaps like Artesia's experience with magic and living in Domhan, this is a new chapter in her life that is waiting to be discovered.

In fact that's what this book is all about: discovering one's potential, life path, hidden talents, relationships, and placement in a larger world. In doing so the first Fearghus Academy book, October Jewels, is already a crown jewel in the series.