Category: Books

After Ian: Diversions

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HURRICANE IAN

It was a wild and crazy week for many residents of Florida, especially those on the southwest coast. Ian initially was predicted to hit near the Tampa area and a bit south and then went farther east and pummeled the folks in North Port, Englewood, Ft. Myers, Sanibel, and Captiva. We left our home after we were under a mandatory evacuation order and went an hour south (which turned out to be closer to the storm) to stay with a longtime friend.

We stayed with him for three nights and had some loss of power and lack of water, but were safe and dry and well protected. He’s a good cook whose stove is gas, and we were well provisioned. We were gratified when we returned home yesterday that our condo building was here and intact. Most of the storm damage here was restricted to landscape issues.

As an antidote to the Ian’s wild winds, I offer up a wonderful memoir about friendship and a TV series that doesn’t seem like it should be compelling, but the Chief Penguin and I have found it somewhat addictive.

MARVELOUS MEMOIR

Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg

When I commuted to Penn by car years ago, I used to hear Nina Totenberg on NPR.  Her analysis of Supreme Court cases was always clear and insightful, and I became a fan.  Long before Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a household name, Totenberg interviewed her, got to know her, and they became friends.  They were both pioneering women in their professions. They shared conversation and bonded over their work’s importance to each of them.  As time went on, they socialized with their spouses and were supportive of each other in times of illness and sorrow.

Totenberg’s focus is on female friendships in her life (her colleagues Linda Wertheimer and Cokie Roberts being other prime examples) with a specific spotlight on her almost 50-year friendship with Ruth.  Ruth was a great support to Nina when her first husband endured years of illness.  Later Nina and her second husband David were protective and caring toward Ruth after her husband Marty’s death and during her last illness.  

You might think that this is a sad book, but rather, it is a wonderfully uplifting and endearing account of deep friendships that enriched Totenberg’s life, including her friendships with male judges and justices.  Along the way, I also learned more about the functioning of the Supreme Court.  Highly recommended!  (~JWFarrington)

ADDICTIVE TV SERIES

Suspects  (Acorn)

This crime series set in London is about 10 years old, of lesser technical quality, and  with dialogue partially adlibbed.  Yet, the Chief Penguin and I are finding it quite addictive.  A crime has been committed, and three detectives are involved in finding out who did it.  Detective Jack Weston and his colleague, Detective Charlie Steele are usually first on the scene, sometimes accompanied by their boss, Detective Chief Inspector Bellamy.  The crimes are messy and nasty and often are attempted murder or rape.  

Each episode then consists of the team bringing in a series of suspects and interviewing them and then following up on possible arrests.  Almost no time is spent on the detectives’ lives outside work, and in the early episodes, it’s sometimes unclear if they have really resolved who will be charged with the crime.  Each episode is an hour, and so far, we have watched almost three series or about 8 episodes.

Ibises enjoying the view

Header photo shows trees bowing into the water, thanks to Ian. Photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Tidy Tidbits: Book Notes

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FEEDBACK FROM MY READERS

Here are several titles my readers especially enjoyed this summer. Plus two mystery series they recommended that I didn’t know about. Fun!

SUMMER FAVORITES

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark (Kathy & Alice)

Leaving Coy’s Hill by Katherine A. Sherbrooke (Sally)

Mercury Pictures Present by Anthony Marra (Claudia)

RECOMMENDED MYSTERY SERIES

Elly Griffiths (author interviews.co.uk)

English archaeology professor Ruth Galloway, whose expertise is bones, works with the police in a series by Elly Griffiths.  First book is: The Crossing Places which I’ve now read and enjoyed.  Set in a salt marsh, it’s atmospheric with myth and legends too. Now I’m into #2 in the series.  (Thanks to Claudia for this suggestion.)

Fred Vargas (fantastic fiction.com)

Commissaire Adamsberg is the detective in a French series by historian and archaeologist Fred Vargas.  Her books were recommended to me by Ed, and I have the first one, The Chalk Circle Man, waiting on my Kindle.  It was published in 1991, but only recently became available in English.

Both of these are long-running series with 9 titles in this series and fourteen in the Galloway one.

RECENT READING—LIBRARIANS & MORE MAINE

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin

(madelinemartin.com)

In the continuing spate of books about bookstores, libraries, and librarians, Madeline Martin’s entry, The Librarian Spy, is a gripping story that may haunt your dreams.  Based on actual events with fictional characters inspired by real people, this novel of WWII is set simultaneously in Lisbon and Lyon.  Although Portugal was neutral, refugees and spies were numerous and the Portuguese secret police to be feared.

Ava Harper, a rare book librarian at the Library of Congress is sent to Lisbon to work for the government collecting newspapers and magazines to be microfilmed and sent back to Washington.  Her daily work is important, but seemingly routine until she becomes involved in trying to get refugees safe passage out of Europe to the States.  Over in France, housewife Elaine, volunteers for a Resistance group printing and distributing anti-Nazi newspapers.  These clandestine activities put her and her colleagues at frequent risk of arrest and imprisonment or worse.  Unknown to each other, she and Ava exchange coded messages while working to assist those in danger.  

Many of the characters are based on historical figures.  And the IDC (Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications) for which Ava worked, was a real organization, but did not have any female operatives.  Martin’s novel is a compelling addition to the literature about WWII.  (~JWFarrington)

Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore

Meg Moore (rjjulia.com)

Consider this domestic novel a last gasp of summer.  Louisa, a professor, is spending the summer with her three children at her parent’s house on the coast of Maine.  She loves this place, and it has a strong hold on her emotions.  While struggling to write a book on deadline, she must deal with her children’s various issues, her father’s declining health, and the fact that her husband seems content to stay back in Brooklyn working on his start-up. 

Enter Kristie, a young woman with a sad past, lots of baggage, and a secret she wants to explore.  Her interactions with Louisa and her family disrupt summer’s idyll.  Both Kristie and Louisa must face the consequences of their own and others’ actions. 

I thought this novel was excellent in its depiction of daily life with three active children, but, for me, Louisa was undisciplined and too whiny.  I also enjoyed the setting near Camden and references to places I know. (~JWFarrington)

Note: Header photo is interior of Scuppernong Books in Greensboro.

Summer Reading Recap & Reviews

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With Labor Day upon us, it’s time to review and recap the books I’ve read this summer.  Some from my June summer reading list for sure, but many others discovered along the way.  Here’s a list of titles followed by notes on three recent reads, each one featuring strong women who served their countries during wartime.

MYSTERIES

Missing Presumed by Susie Steiner

The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz

Something to Hide by Elizabeth George

HISTORICAL NOVELS

American Duchess by Karen Harper [Consuelo Vanderbilt & NY society]

Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis [Frick family & museum]

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

The Postmistress of Paris by Meg Waite Clayton

OTHER NOVELS

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark. [set in Maine]

Haven Point by Virginia Hume [Maine colony]

The Midcoast by Adam White [Damariscotta, Maine]

Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce

One Night on the Island by Josie Silver

What Remains of Love by Susan Trauth

RECENT READING:  LAFAYETTE, MITFORDS, & SNIPERS

Women Active in Wartime

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray

Stephanie Dray specializes in long historical novels about fascinating women.  Patsy Jefferson, the president’s daughter was one subject and Eliza Schuyler Hamilton another in a novel called My Dear Hamilton.  I read and really enjoyed the latter one and was prompted by that to read The Women of Chateau Lafayette.

It’s set in three different time periods and focuses on three women, each of whom has a connection to Chateau de Chavaniac, Gilbert Lafayette’s home.  While American schoolchildren learn early on that Lafayette was a key figure in the American Revolution, few, I would wager, have any idea of how active and dedicated his wife Adrienne was both to him and to the cause of liberty.  

Beatrice Chanler (br.pinterest.com)

During WWI, American socialite Beatrice Chanler, trapped in marriage to politically connected wealthy Willie, surpasses him in her efforts for peace and American involvement in the war.  She shuttled between Paris and Chavaniac to assist sick children being housed and cared for there. 

Lastly, Marthe Simone, a French teacher and aspiring artist, becomes deeply involved in protecting and harboring children at Chavaniac during the 1940’s in Nazi-occupied France. 

It’s clear from the author’s end note that she did prodigious amounts of research to re-create the lives of these three courageous women, their spouses, families, and friends.  Adrienne Lafayette and Beatrice Chanler and some supporting characters were real people.   It’s a riveting novel with much about the French Revolution I did not know! (~JWFarrington)

For Book Lovers

The Mayfair Bookshop by Eliza Knight

Interior of Heywood Hill (nytimes.com)

My blog readers know I’m a big fan of bookstores, particularly well curated independent ones.  This novel about Nancy Mitford is set in London around WWII and in the present day.  The bookstore in question, Heywood Hill, still exists today and is charming and inviting.  It’s a place I frequented quite often when the Chief Penguin and I lived in London.  During the war years, Nancy Mitford worked there and was invaluable in Heywood Hill becoming a literary salon and a haven for soldiers home on leave. 

N. Mitford (English-heritage.org.uk)

Based on Mitford and her wildly diverse and even infamous siblings, the novel brings to life Nancy’s layered life as novelist, aristocrat, and war volunteer.  Unhappy and bereft in her marriage to Peter Rood, she enjoys a host of friendships with others of her class, writers including Evelyn Waugh, and an especially close relationship with Sophie Gordon (aka Iris), another war volunteer.  All the while, she seeks someone to love her for herself.

Paired with Nancy’s story, is a contemporary story about young bibliophile Lucy St. Clair, on assignment to Heywood Hill from her job in the U. S.  Lucy is a fan of Mitford’s writing and is determined to identify Mitford’s friend Iris.    

The Nancy chapters are full of reflections on her pursuit of love and the notoriety brought about by her siblings.  This is done partly through letters to a few friends.  For me, they resulted in a portrait of a complex individual.  

The Lucy chapters provide a framework for locating the fictional Iris and, while pleasant, are thin in comparison.  Nonetheless, I found this an engaging and perceptive look at one slice of life in England from 1937 to 1945. (~JWFarrington)

Sharp Shooters

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

Mila Pavlichenko (reddit.com)

If you’re looking for a gripping, suspenseful historical novel about WWII, The Diamond Eye could be it!  I’ve read and enjoyed several of Kate Quinn’s earlier novels, but this one really grabbed me.  It’s the story of Mila Pavlichenko a Ukrainian woman who became a crack sniper for the Soviet Red Army.  In battles against the Nazis, she logged more than 300 official kills!  Working with a partner and later training and leading a small band of snipers, she gained a reputation and the nickname Lady Death.  

The novel opens with her visit to Washington, DC to meet Eleanor Roosevelt and the president.  She’s part of a delegation whose goal is to push the U.S. to enter the war.  In flashbacks, the reader sees her in battle and learns about the precise calculations required to be successful in taking another human life. 

But Mila was much more than her expertise and her heroics with a rifle.  She was a book-loving woman and a mother who was studying to become a historian when she joined the army.  

Quinn’s author’s note at the end explains her research, provides more detail about the principals, and shares where she has created fictional characters and situations.  Highly recommended! (~JWFarrington)

Note: The header photo of children reading books in little boats is a whimsical touch, source unknown.

A Maine Week: Granddaughter Fun & Books

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FUN WITH GRANDDAUGHTERS 

Eating at Home

Coming to Maine is a summer tradition for our granddaughters, and they eagerly anticipate the visit.  This year was no exception.  Certain activities are a given for the week.  One is making blueberry pancakes with Grandma.  Each year, they are more adept in the kitchen, and my role is now more that of an advisor.  The pancakes this year were especially delicious!

A newer tradition is one dinner of clams with linguini; chef for that is our son with the clams from a local purveyor. Note, these girls also love oysters so their dad got some local ones and shucked them himself.

Linguini a la vongole

Out and About

Also on the agenda is a visit to Boothbay Railway Village.   There is a schoolhouse and a house and other 19thcentury buildings to explore, plus the train ride around the village loop, and, of course, some time looking at the extensive model railroad exhibit.  At ages 6 and 10, they still loved it.

In past years, they played miniature golf with their dad.  This time, the Chief Penguin and I joined them.  Dolphin Mini Golf was created thirty-odd years ago and is a fun course to play.  Each hole is somehow sea-related with one shaped like a dolphin and another a whale.  An ice cream hut and a small shell museum round out the offerings.  The donated shell collections include shells from around the world as well as from this region. 

Then there’s the annual wander through Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens stopping to play the metal drums and pipes, sitting and rowing in the canoe, and bouncing on the string bridge. We spent the most time (probably an hour total of our couple hours) in the Fairy House Village.  The girls were creative and exercised their imaginations, each building a house of sticks, leaves, stones, shells, and woodland materials.

Readers All!

Both E and F, are now avid readers—such a joy to see!  F is immersed in the Ivy and Bean books, while older sister E is a fan of historical novels and fantasy and is currently finishing up Chris Colfer’s Land of Stories series.  I had borrowed a stack of books from the little library here and brought with me a few books for them.  In addition, we all enjoyed browsing and buying at Sherman’s in Boothbay Harbor. 

Other hits were a book of Little Women paper dolls, a Lego Friends set, and swimming in the cove.  

We ate several meals out including two dinners at Cozy’s Dockside where the girls enthusiastically ordered cones from the ice cream treats menu. 

MAINE BOOK OF THE WEEK

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark

Alice E. Dark (amazon.com)

This is a leisurely novel about two octogenarian women, lifelong friends.  It’s meant to be savored and read slowly.  Polly and Agnes are women of an earlier generation, and the book takes place from 2000 to 2008. Societal expectations for women then related mostly to marriage and children.  Polly Wister, is the traditional woman, married to Dick, a Penn philosophy professor, and a mother of four sons. Her friend Alice Lee is single, author of a series of children’s books that made her reputation, but secretly also the author of adult novels written under a nom de plume.  

These friends winter in Haverford and Philadelphia but spend summers on the Maine coast in a family compound dating back more than 100 years founded by Alice’s great grandfather.  Alice wants to preserve the open land beyond the homes as a bird sanctuary.  Other owners and sons want to develop the land. 

Over the years, there are secrets and conflicts, marital tension, and issues over how much one likes or doesn’t like how one’s offspring have turned out.  This all plus an unjust accusation against a neighbor of the so-called “servant class” churn beneath the surface and sometimes erupt.   

Add into this mix Quaker values, old money, an unrequited love, and a new friendship, and you have the ebb and flow of the enduring relationship between Alice and Polly.  They are very different people and yet they share almost everything, emphasis on almost.

Both for the wonderful writing and its thoughtful exploration of the meaning of life and what kind of legacy we leave behind, it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year! (~JWFarrington)

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved). Header photo taken at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.