Book Review: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Novel.  Historical Fiction.  I read this one because it is on the fiction book club list for CLPL (January 2015) and I was once again catching up with the works for the meetings I cannot attend due to my teaching schedule.  This one is a double-story, following the lives of a contemporary young girl named Molly Ayer who has been in and out of the child welfare system, and Vivian Daly who was once one of the children put on one of the orphan trains that sent children out to the Midwest to be "adopted."

I really enjoyed this book and learned quite a bit about these orphan trains, which I had previously no knowledge regarding them.  The general idea was to take abandoned or orphaned children from large cities like New York, and ship them out on these trains to the Midwest, where they could be adopted by farming families who could use the extra help.  They thought it would solve the problem of getting large numbers of immigrant children off the streets, and at the same time provide free labor to the farming families to grow food that was desperately needed in the U.S. at that time.

Vivian's story is sad and tragic, with her becoming a free labor seamstress with little food, for a couple who literally lock the refrigerator and make her sleep on the floor.  Somehow she endures and makes a life for herself, eventually as an adult in Maine, where she helps Molly serve her court time by doing little bits and pieces of things around her house, such as cleaning out the attic.  The two connect on a sincere human level, and the two stories unfold over time as you read through the novel.

I highly recommend this work, it is one of the more touching and eye-opening pieces that I have read in a long time.  You will learn about the strength of these children, the enduring human spirit, and how these two people connect to each other in a world that is often unjust.

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Book Review: The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

Novel.  Historical Fiction.  I read this in January 2015.  It is one of the fiction book club selections for CLPL (August 2015).  I read this trying to keep up with their reads for the year when I have time, but I may be able to make this one, it just depends when the faculty meetings begin for Fall semester.  This work is based on the life of Anne Morrow, the wife of Charles Lindbergh.

Depending on how much of this is true and how much of it is fiction, the fine line walked with works of historical fiction, Charles Lindbergh was definitely a class-A jerk, and it is amazing what Anne Morrow went through to support him.  He treated her like an accessory, always depending on her to hop on board when he wanted her there in the plane, but to stay put at home and have no life of her own the rest of the time.  She was most definitely and introvert, but although quiet and shy, she had a strong personality of her own and made it through personal struggles and public scrutiny with bravery and class.  Since I do not know much about the historical truth of these matters, I was able to be involved in the story without trying to argue with its accuracy.  So, unfortunately, I cannot say with certainty whether or not fans of Lindbergh and aviation history would like this book.

I recommend this work to those who like historical fiction, who want to learn more about the famous couple whose baby was kidnapped, about the history of aviation in the U.S., and who are looking for a role model for introverts everywhere.  She was an interesting woman.

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Book Review: Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Historical Fiction.  I honestly cannot remember why I hunted this one down, I think as part of my quest to read more about WWI, and in a way that was not just a dry list of facts.  I thought it was an excellent read, but it is rather large compared to the regular popular fiction book, so unless you are in it for a 700+ page read then you might want to move on.  I also did not buy into the several promiscuous moments stolen in libraries and such, it just did not fit the mores of the time, maybe the sneaking off with the maid, but not the women of title.

I think the book definitely helps put the time around WWI in perspective for readers, even though it is fiction, perhaps because it is fiction.  You do not have to obsess about timelines so much as focus on how those from the top of society down to the bottom were involved, and how it changed them and life in the modern world forever.  You get perspectives from people in England, Russia, and the U.S., and that helped clarify for me why the U.S. did not want to be involved, afraid that they would become the policemen of the world for every future conflict.

I would recommend this if you are interested in historical fiction, WWI, or are looking for a longer and more involved read.  This is the first of a trilogy of books with these people and their families.  I have not moved on to the other two yet, I have to find the big chunks of time to do so, and there are other books I want to read for a while first.  It is hard to invest so much time all at once in war stories, it drains you, so I am going to dole them out slowly.

And so it goes...

Book Review: A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith

Historical Fiction.  This work is based on actual historical circumstances and some of the people in the work (e.g. the young lieutenant) did actually exist and participate in these events.  This is one of the better books I have read in some time, and I have been on a sort of streak of good books lately, if that means anything.  It is difficult to find a book that tells a story about WWI and that is not a long droning on of historical facts only (names, dates, battles, dry as a bone, list after list).  Finding anything related to WWI actually, is a fairly challenging enterprise in comparison to works having to do with WWII, which seem to overwhelm the literary marketplace.  This novel is worth your time, if for no other reason than to think about the actual people, as real human beings,  who lived through WWI, The Great Depression, and faced the inevitability of a devastating second world war.  Sometimes fiction makes it more real for us because we can obtain a better sense of daily life, of the thoughts people had, and of their very real emotions.

This is about the mothers, the women who endured the loss of their children, struggled through The Great Depression with their heads held high, and who did not complain but made due with what they had and could work for, while still maintaining kindness and hope for the future.  They always call the WWII folks "The Greatest Generation," but there were mothers who raised those children with those values.  These women, who had already endured enough suffering for one lifetime before those events even occurred, had to send even more children or grandchildren over to Europe to die for another war that they once again did not understand, but they did so anyway, again without complaint, under the auspices of patriotism.

Now, with something seemingly so heavy you might think this is a dark and serious book, but it is not and the same time that it is, which is difficult to explain.  The history is accurate and tragic, but the women make it endearing, entertaining, and fun to read!  The characters in here are varied but delightful and they experience some pretty comical stuff.  Somehow the author managed to represent a great variety of  Americans at this time, through her inclusion of characters representing hearty New England women, African-Americans from the south, newly emigrated Irish, Jews fleeing Russian persecution, and two elite women suffering their own turmoils despite their privileged lives: one who most certainly had postpartum depression and who was incarcerated in a mental institution, several times,  against her will by her philandering husband, and the other who was suffering from heart problems but told nobody so she could go on the trip.

The story is of the Gold Star Mothers, who the U.S. Congress sent over to France on "pilgrimages," so that they could finally see the graves of their sons.  When their children were killed in WWI, they were initially given a choice of having them either sent home (on their own expense) or to be "patriots" like the president and his wife, who chose to have their sons buried in France where they died.  The women, for various reasons chose to have their sons buried there, and now were finally able to go see the graves and say goodbye, fully funded and treated to first-class accommodations by the government.  The various characters give you an excellent idea of the strength of these women, from all different walks of life, and the relief and joy they felt in each other's company.  

It is not a girly book, it is not cliche, and it is an examination of so many things that I simply cannot believe she fit all of this into one average sized novel.  I think April Smith is one heck of a writer and she must have an incredible editor on her side.  You easily picture Maine, Boston, New York, oversea travel on ships, Paris, and the French countryside, but you do not realize the author is doing it because you are having such a grand time getting to know these funny women!  Although they truly define work ethic and endurance, you do not feel that the author is shoving it in your face, she is merely telling the tale of a few lives, and how they came to know each other on this unique journey.  I cannot recommend this novel enough, it is worth everybody's time.  I learned a good deal and came to know and adore these characters!

And so it goes...

Book Review: The Little Book by Selden Edwards

Read for the fiction Crystal Lake Public Library book club for March 2013.  This cover is the large print cover which I read.

This is the regular size print cover which some of the other people had, also nice, but I like the large print cover better.

     We had a Skype session with the author who was interesting, friendly, and answered our questions well, even when we picked on him a bit for being so Freudian in the book!  We liked the book and thought the characters were o.k. but we thought he gilded the lily and over did it when he threw in Mark Twain for a moment too.  That made more sense to us though when we talked to him, because he shared a story where a friend said "hey, did you know Mark Twain was there at that time in Vienna too?"  And he decided he better put it in so if people asked why he did not include Mark Twain he would not have to answer that by putting him in there.  I was convinced that they were all dead about a quarter of the way into the book, sort of as a "people you will meet in heaven" or God help me "Lost" sort of thing, and I asked him about that during the Skype session.  He did say that many native American groups and tribes do believe you live these moments out at the moment of death and then just sort of sweetly smiled and eluded me a bit.  Smart guy :)  He did say there is a follow-up book (kind of fast since this one took 17 years to write) and that it opens with a whopper on the first page.  I will not put it down here in case that would be a spoiler.  I am considering reading the next one but with my crazy schedule it is tough to get in the two books a month for my book clubs as is, so I will have to see, maybe over the summer months...I also wanted to mention he showed us a wooden Frisbee his wife had made for him as a present, which I thought was fun and sweet, and very nice of him to share it with us!  It was a total pleasure to speak with him over Skype for our group, great guy!

The author, a very nice and friendly guy!

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Book Review: The Widow's War by Sally Gunning

Read for book club (8/2010) at the Crystal Lake Public Library. I enjoyed this book although the main character's independent and feminist ideas would probably never have held true for the culture/period in which it takes place.

The main character is Lyddie, the recent widow of a whaler in the 18th-century village of Satucket, Massachusetts. Her life and property are now in the hands of her son-in-law who she does not like, and who makes very evident that she should be quiet and pleased about her widow rights which are now to only have 1/3 of her house. She develops an interesting relationship with her Indian neighbor, becomes a nurse and an entrepreneur of sorts (selling and making things like cheese) and attempts to gain some sort of control over her life.

It is a good read which I would recommend to those who like historical fiction!

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Q&A with Robert Alexander on Skype!

So this morning I went to the book club discussion at my local library that I attend every month (http://www.crystallakelibrary.org/). Today we discussed the book from my last blog entry "The Kitchen Boy" by Robert Alexander (author pictured at the left). The extra special treat was he talked to us for about 30 minutes via Skype at the beginning of our meeting! He was really nice, personable, and intelligent! He answered a few things I was wondering about and cleared up a few issues I had with the book, like what I felt was the rushed ending in the epilogue. Apparently it was originally a bit longer (like 450 pp.) and the editor said it needed to be shorter. My guess is that is why the epilogue felt a little compact and too brief; they probably made him cut that portion of the novel down to size.  He said the magic number for book clubs to use books is about three-hundred to three-hundred and fifty pages, so they tried to keep it around that length.

I also took a gander at the website for the book to prepare for the chat and see what I wanted to ask him (http://www.sitestories.com/robertalexander/). It is really good and includes some pictures related to the Romanovs and some of the events and places in his novel, like the infamous twenty-three steps mentioned throughout the book. He was very candid and interesting and revealed to us that it is going to be turned into a movie with filming beginning next summer and released sometime in 2013. He wouldn't tell us the name of the actress portraying Alexandra but, he did reveal she was very good and that people from The Pianist and award winning foreign films were involved (screenplay by Ronald Harwood [wrote the screenplays for The Pianist, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, etc.], producer Glenn Willaimson [Push, Sunshine Cleaning, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc.). The novel should make a great film and I just had to share what a treat it was to have a Q&A session with the author! Thanks Robert!

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Book Review: The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander

Read for book club (11/2011). It was a good historical fiction read! Based on the last weeks of the last royal Russian Tsar and his family, the Romanovs, from the point of view of their loyal kitchen boy, Leonka.

It was interesting to hear about how they hid their jewels, passed secret notes to plan an escape/rescue, and to think about how they spent their last days. Some things stuck with me about people in general from the culture/period such as the guards who couldn't read, how much the Romanovs loved to take pictures (new and expensive hobby), how the royal family tried to lead something resembling their normal life, and how Leonka kept saying over and over again that they did it with such grace, yet even in exile they were much more well off than most of the country that they used to rule. The twists at the end felt rushed and hurried. They were fun little bits to add but I think it would have been better had the author spent more time with these portions rather than just throwing them about in a very short epilogue. I would recommend it for those who enjoy historical fiction or want a relatively light/easy but interesting read!

And so it goes...