Sunday, January 25, 2009
Withering Heights: An Ellie Haskell Mystery by Dorothy Cannell
I haven’t read any of Dorothy Cannell’s books before but I must say I found it a lighthearted and sometimes laugh out loud change of pace. I completely enjoyed the book, however implausible it may be, that is part of the fun. Ellie obviously has a rich imagination and a problem with drifting off into her own scenarios in her mind with the slightest trigger, into a world of gothic romance fiction with herself as the main character. Her partner in crime solving is the irrepressible and ever helpful Mrs. Malloy, her housekeeper. This time out, Ellie’s husband Ben’s twice-married cousin has won the lottery. His daughter Ariel from his first marriage shows up at the house in a anxious state and begs Ellie to come to Yorkshire to Cragstone House where the family has quietly moved since winning. There are many strange events happening. Of course the mansion is spooky on entering to add to the mystique. Disappearances, sudden “accidental” deaths, a bit of “gaslight” all add up to a delightful light romp solving the mystery. Very entertaining and funny, I loved Dorothy Cannell’s writing, wit, and old-fashioned plot with modern twists. I will definitely read more of her books, especially between “heavy” reads, what a relief she will be.
The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
Brunonia Barry has given us a provocative, unique and very compelling debut novel. The story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, the perfect setting for this full-blown, mystic, and tormented tale. Towner, the main character, is from a family of psychic lace readers, although they do have visions and premonitions without reading lace as well. Towner, who changed her name from Sophya, can also read lace. She is a tormented soul with visions of her twin sister, Lyndley, who had died. She has been in and out of hospitals, often with mis-diagnoses and has even taken shock treatment, not realizing how important her visions are. Towner considers herself crazy, genetically crazy in fact.
The main lace reader is her great aunt Eva, although the whole family is able to read the lace, except perhaps her brother Beezer. The disappearance of Eva, who has been Towner’s anchor and mothering influence, brings her back from California. Having just had surgery, the return has been especially hard on her. Her mother, May, is a complicated woman and Towner does not get along well with her. When she enters Eva’s home, she feels her presence and knows she has come back. She “sees” her and talks to her and so sets the mood of the story. There are so many secrets, references to the old Salem witch trials, tourism featuring witches, mysteries, religious fanatics and many other interests in the story that it keeps the attention and wonder going all through. The ending took me completely by surprise, as it should. In fact, there are surprises throughout. I thoroughly loved the book, and want to read it again soon, I’m sure there are many things I missed the first time. I was so taken with the Ipswich lace and lace reading, I even looked it up and am adding a couple of quotes and a website at the end of this review. I highly recommend this book to anyone who dreams. I would say it suits several genres, mystery, fantasy, history, medical, psyche, abuse, reality and more.
Author’s note: “...loosely set in 1996, but I have combined Salem details I found interesting from other years in the same decade...”
Quote from The Laces Of Ipswich : The Art And Economics Of An Early American Industry, 1750-1840 by Marta Cotterell Raffel: “In its lace making heyday in the late eighteenth century, Ipswich, Massachusetts boasted 600 lace makers in a town of only 601 households.”
An article of interest from the Salem Gazette: http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/archive/x1909889067
The main lace reader is her great aunt Eva, although the whole family is able to read the lace, except perhaps her brother Beezer. The disappearance of Eva, who has been Towner’s anchor and mothering influence, brings her back from California. Having just had surgery, the return has been especially hard on her. Her mother, May, is a complicated woman and Towner does not get along well with her. When she enters Eva’s home, she feels her presence and knows she has come back. She “sees” her and talks to her and so sets the mood of the story. There are so many secrets, references to the old Salem witch trials, tourism featuring witches, mysteries, religious fanatics and many other interests in the story that it keeps the attention and wonder going all through. The ending took me completely by surprise, as it should. In fact, there are surprises throughout. I thoroughly loved the book, and want to read it again soon, I’m sure there are many things I missed the first time. I was so taken with the Ipswich lace and lace reading, I even looked it up and am adding a couple of quotes and a website at the end of this review. I highly recommend this book to anyone who dreams. I would say it suits several genres, mystery, fantasy, history, medical, psyche, abuse, reality and more.
Author’s note: “...loosely set in 1996, but I have combined Salem details I found interesting from other years in the same decade...”
Quote from The Laces Of Ipswich : The Art And Economics Of An Early American Industry, 1750-1840 by Marta Cotterell Raffel: “In its lace making heyday in the late eighteenth century, Ipswich, Massachusetts boasted 600 lace makers in a town of only 601 households.”
An article of interest from the Salem Gazette: http://www.wickedlocal.com/salem/archive/x1909889067
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
A fascinating look at an island few know much about. Beginning in 1946, just after the war, this story is told mostly through letters, so well-written it is difficult to realize it is a novel. It soon encompasses the reader to such a point that the characters become friends. Mary Ann Shaffer has obviously done a great deal of research to capture the essence so completely. By a fortunate bit of serendipity a farmer in Guernsey, Dawsey Adams, has written a letter to Juliet Ashton in London asking where he might obtain writings of Charles Lamb. He has contacted Juliet because he had an old book that had her name written inside. Juliet in the meantime has become an author in her in her own right. From this point on, communications are sent back and forth between Juliet and several people in Guernsey.
Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during WWII and through the letters we learn how the Occupation affected the people of the island. The underlying thread is that the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society came into existence on the spur of the moment, when a group of friends who had gathered for an illicit dinner, were caught out after curfew. Quick-thinking Elizabeth tells them they were at a meeting of the Guernsey Literary Society discussing “Elizabeth and Her German Garden” and enjoying it so much they lost track of time. This apparently appeased the patrol officer, and the Society was henceforth born, but now truthfully to read and discuss books. You will laugh over the roast pig incident and learn that a few Occupiers were even compassionate.
Guernsey was totally cut off from the rest of the world during the Occupation, which lasted 5 years, and knew nothing of what was happening in England. They were able to see some of the attacks on France from the island. Now, in 1946, they are trying to return to normal living. The correspondence with Juliet brought them to a point where the members of the Society indicated they would love to have her visit, so visit she did. The island and the people won her over and Juliet is no longer sure she wants to return to London. This is a warm, friendly, funny and compassionate story, a war story, and a love story. I found myself feeling as though I knew these people and their island personally. In fact immediately after finishing the book I went to the computer and looked up Guernsey to see this island that captured her so. Although the final work on the book was taken over by the author’s niece due to the author’s health, whatever was done by Annie Barrows fits smoothly into the whole. I loved the book beginning to end. It is very sad to realize that there can be no more stories by Mary Ann Shaffer, as this shining light has been snuffed far too soon by her death earlier this year.
Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during WWII and through the letters we learn how the Occupation affected the people of the island. The underlying thread is that the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society came into existence on the spur of the moment, when a group of friends who had gathered for an illicit dinner, were caught out after curfew. Quick-thinking Elizabeth tells them they were at a meeting of the Guernsey Literary Society discussing “Elizabeth and Her German Garden” and enjoying it so much they lost track of time. This apparently appeased the patrol officer, and the Society was henceforth born, but now truthfully to read and discuss books. You will laugh over the roast pig incident and learn that a few Occupiers were even compassionate.
Guernsey was totally cut off from the rest of the world during the Occupation, which lasted 5 years, and knew nothing of what was happening in England. They were able to see some of the attacks on France from the island. Now, in 1946, they are trying to return to normal living. The correspondence with Juliet brought them to a point where the members of the Society indicated they would love to have her visit, so visit she did. The island and the people won her over and Juliet is no longer sure she wants to return to London. This is a warm, friendly, funny and compassionate story, a war story, and a love story. I found myself feeling as though I knew these people and their island personally. In fact immediately after finishing the book I went to the computer and looked up Guernsey to see this island that captured her so. Although the final work on the book was taken over by the author’s niece due to the author’s health, whatever was done by Annie Barrows fits smoothly into the whole. I loved the book beginning to end. It is very sad to realize that there can be no more stories by Mary Ann Shaffer, as this shining light has been snuffed far too soon by her death earlier this year.
The Shining World by Kathleen McDonnell
Originally posted Jan 25, 2009
The second book of The Notherland Journeys trilogy, Kathleen McDonnell has done it again. This time out, little Mi, one of the Nordlings, has learned how to move from one world to another, but now she is missing. Peggy, whose imagination has created Notherland, is once again called back by Molly, who was her doll when she was a little girl, but in Notherland is alive. The search for Mi takes the main characters of the series, Pay-Gee (Peggy), Jackpine, Molly and Gavi, to many different worlds or perhaps one world in different times. The reader meets such luminaries as Sir John Franklin, Arctic explorer; Grania O’Malley, the Pirate Queen of the 16th century; and William Blake, poet and artist of the 18th century.
They also visit the late 18th century, a time of exploitation of children in workhouses and other forced child labour. While the author handles this darker time with a lighter touch as far as details are concerned, I would not recommend this book to pre-teens. This book contains a lot of factual history and the research that went into the it is amazing.
That aside, the book with its journeys is another magical work. Again, there are lessons in the book subtly given. This trilogy has been a joy, and grows along with its heroine, Peggy. Inside the journeys characters experience new things, in particular self-discovery. At different times they separate into different worlds for specific reasons, but the discovery of Mi brings them all together once again to help her return to herself and heal her soul. I highly recommend this series for perhaps 12 up to and including adults who need a little light in their lives.
The second book of The Notherland Journeys trilogy, Kathleen McDonnell has done it again. This time out, little Mi, one of the Nordlings, has learned how to move from one world to another, but now she is missing. Peggy, whose imagination has created Notherland, is once again called back by Molly, who was her doll when she was a little girl, but in Notherland is alive. The search for Mi takes the main characters of the series, Pay-Gee (Peggy), Jackpine, Molly and Gavi, to many different worlds or perhaps one world in different times. The reader meets such luminaries as Sir John Franklin, Arctic explorer; Grania O’Malley, the Pirate Queen of the 16th century; and William Blake, poet and artist of the 18th century.
They also visit the late 18th century, a time of exploitation of children in workhouses and other forced child labour. While the author handles this darker time with a lighter touch as far as details are concerned, I would not recommend this book to pre-teens. This book contains a lot of factual history and the research that went into the it is amazing.
That aside, the book with its journeys is another magical work. Again, there are lessons in the book subtly given. This trilogy has been a joy, and grows along with its heroine, Peggy. Inside the journeys characters experience new things, in particular self-discovery. At different times they separate into different worlds for specific reasons, but the discovery of Mi brings them all together once again to help her return to herself and heal her soul. I highly recommend this series for perhaps 12 up to and including adults who need a little light in their lives.
The Nordlings by Kathleen McDonnell
Originally posted January 26, 2009
The first book of a trilogy, a Canadian Childrens Book Centre Choice, The Nordlings are the inhabitants of the Notherland world. Peggy, or Pay-Gee as the Nordlings refer to her, imagined this wonderful world into being when she was a young girl. Now a disillusioned and angry 15 year old, she is brought back to Notherland.
Notherland is in trouble and in danger of disappearing altogether. During Peggy’s four year absence, her imaginary world has undergone some changes and taken on a life of its own, not all of it good. She has been called back by her Notherland friends who consider her the Creator of their world and therefore the only one who can save it. The Nordlings are disappearing and only one is left. Peggy must somehow gather the courage, imagination and belief to defeat the feared and sinister Nobodaddy who dwells in the cold and dark “Hole at the Pole”.
Kathleen McDonnell has crafted a wonderful story of adventure while also imparting some important lessons for life. Colour and music, two of the strongest senses of peace and joy, are a major influence in the feel of Notherland. Her books keep me enveloped in a cozy cocoon of memories of childhood imagination. She takes me out of my adult worries and transports me very effectively. I, a grandmother, delight in reading the adventures in Notherland and am looking forward to handing these books over to my young grandchildren when they get older.
The first book of a trilogy, a Canadian Childrens Book Centre Choice, The Nordlings are the inhabitants of the Notherland world. Peggy, or Pay-Gee as the Nordlings refer to her, imagined this wonderful world into being when she was a young girl. Now a disillusioned and angry 15 year old, she is brought back to Notherland.
Notherland is in trouble and in danger of disappearing altogether. During Peggy’s four year absence, her imaginary world has undergone some changes and taken on a life of its own, not all of it good. She has been called back by her Notherland friends who consider her the Creator of their world and therefore the only one who can save it. The Nordlings are disappearing and only one is left. Peggy must somehow gather the courage, imagination and belief to defeat the feared and sinister Nobodaddy who dwells in the cold and dark “Hole at the Pole”.
Kathleen McDonnell has crafted a wonderful story of adventure while also imparting some important lessons for life. Colour and music, two of the strongest senses of peace and joy, are a major influence in the feel of Notherland. Her books keep me enveloped in a cozy cocoon of memories of childhood imagination. She takes me out of my adult worries and transports me very effectively. I, a grandmother, delight in reading the adventures in Notherland and am looking forward to handing these books over to my young grandchildren when they get older.
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
A lighthearted read evoking a simpler time, the story centers around a disillusioned journalist and his chance to complete what his father had never been able to accomplish. Tom Langdon had known for years that there was a familial connection to Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain but he was not aware that his father had a last wish for Tom to complete a story that Twain had never finished. A story of taking a train across the country at Christmastime. Twain supposedly took many notes on the trip, but had never made a story from them.
As it turns out, Tom is planning to travel across the country to be in California by Christmas to be with his girl-friend, and will be traveling by train because he is not allowed to travel by air due to a volcanic temper tantrum in the airport after a long, tiring flight and a probing search at the security gate. Thus he decides to follow through on his father’s deathbed wish. He decides he will take his own notes and compile them into a story. Traveling by rail he hears the stories of many people who have made the trip many times before. He also meets a young couple wanting to get married on the train, an eccentric old woman who seems to know everyone very well, a film director, and a person from his own past. At one point on the trip there also appears to be a bit of a thief, and this story runs along in the background.
David Baldacci has created a little rolling world peopled with interesting and varied characters. Then everything comes to a screeching halt as they become trapped in this little world with apparently no way out. I really enjoyed this book, and particularly the subtexts and direction changes, red herrings and subterfuge with a dash or humour. This was a good Christmas story and the ending took me completely by surprise; I’m sure to be reading it again next Christmas. Surprisingly, this is the first Baldacci book I have read and I know this is not his usual fare, but of course I will be reading some of his other books in 2009! I definitely recommend it.
As it turns out, Tom is planning to travel across the country to be in California by Christmas to be with his girl-friend, and will be traveling by train because he is not allowed to travel by air due to a volcanic temper tantrum in the airport after a long, tiring flight and a probing search at the security gate. Thus he decides to follow through on his father’s deathbed wish. He decides he will take his own notes and compile them into a story. Traveling by rail he hears the stories of many people who have made the trip many times before. He also meets a young couple wanting to get married on the train, an eccentric old woman who seems to know everyone very well, a film director, and a person from his own past. At one point on the trip there also appears to be a bit of a thief, and this story runs along in the background.
David Baldacci has created a little rolling world peopled with interesting and varied characters. Then everything comes to a screeching halt as they become trapped in this little world with apparently no way out. I really enjoyed this book, and particularly the subtexts and direction changes, red herrings and subterfuge with a dash or humour. This was a good Christmas story and the ending took me completely by surprise; I’m sure to be reading it again next Christmas. Surprisingly, this is the first Baldacci book I have read and I know this is not his usual fare, but of course I will be reading some of his other books in 2009! I definitely recommend it.
To Every Thing There Is a Season by Alistair MacLeod
A beautiful little book that I could relate to so well. This is a Christmas memory of the author, Alistair MacLeod, at the age of eleven on the threshold of leaving childhood behind. The story takes place on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia in 1940, on a small family farm. Snow season begins as early as October in Cape Breton. In the author's words, "My family had been there for a long, long time and so it seemed had I. And much of that time seems like the proverbial yesterday. Yet when I speak on this Christmas 1977, I am not sure how much I speak with the voice of that time or how much in the voice of what I have since become....For Christmas is a time of both past and present and often the two are imperfectly blended."
To every thing there is a season, and to every page there is a gorgeous illustration. Illustrated by Peter Rankin, the time and place are beautifully captured. This is a warm, comforting "olden days" portrait of Christmas; although it is written for 1940, it conjures Christmases of an earlier time as well. An excellent short story to read for Christmas, it is only 47 pages long including history, author note and illustrations. It would make a nice traditional family Christmas story to read every year.
To every thing there is a season, and to every page there is a gorgeous illustration. Illustrated by Peter Rankin, the time and place are beautifully captured. This is a warm, comforting "olden days" portrait of Christmas; although it is written for 1940, it conjures Christmases of an earlier time as well. An excellent short story to read for Christmas, it is only 47 pages long including history, author note and illustrations. It would make a nice traditional family Christmas story to read every year.
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