by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
This is a mystery by an Icelandic author, set in Iceland.
As the book opens we learn that a young girl was killed by a hit and run driver and that her mother feels her house is haunted by her spirit.
We then learn that a very violent criminal contacts a lawyer asking her to investigate a conviction to try to get the case reopened. The lawyer thinks he is referring to his own case and she is reluctant to try to help such an evil person. She is surprised to learn that the man actually wants her to investigate on behalf of another inmate at the institution, a down-syndrome man who is was deemed responsible for a fire at a care facility he was housed in that was set on fire and which killed several residents and staff. The evil person has inherited money after the death of his mother and he has no use for it as he will be incarcerated for the rest of his life.
The lawyer agrees to look into the matter and is shocked to find that the lawyer who handled the defence did a very poor job. She is further shocked to learn that the same lawyer is related to the father of one of the children (an autistic boy) who died at the institution and that this lawyer is also handling the evil guy's affairs.
As she interviews staff from the care home she discovers an Administrator who is bitter because her career aspirations have been dashed. She may have been more interested in her career than in running the facility well. The lawyer starts receiving anonymous tips pertaining to the case. She can't figure out who would be feeding her them as she believes she has interviewed everyone who might know something about the case.
The father of the autistic boy is a high ranking official with the Justice Dept. who also has career aspirations but he appears to be willing to cooperate with the lawyer. As the lawyer continues her investigations she discovers that one of the patients at the care facility, a comatose girl, was 4 months pregnant when she died. She is shocked to discover the abuse. Could this be the reason someone set fire to the building, to hide the fact the girl was pregnant. She also learns that the night staff at the facility were allowing strangers into the building for intravenous drips and oxygen to counteract intoxication. Could one of these people be the cause of the fire.
As she investigates the patients she learns that the autistic boy frequently drew pictures with a prone body, a circle divided into three and NN18o. She initially thinks it might be a drawing of the comatose girl. After "interviewing" one of the patients (with locked in syndrome) who survived the fire because she was out of the bldg on the night of the fire the lawyer she gets a hint about short oxgyen hose, later learns that this woman was also raped and eventually is able to identify the rapist by showing the young woman pictures of people who partied at the facility.
As the book ends we learn that the mother of the autistic boy was the woman who killed the girl in the hit and run, her autistic son and daughter where in the car when it happened. The images the son is drawing are of the accident and the licence number of her car. The autistic boy had been getting treatment which the family feared might open him up enough to divulge the accident. The daughter recruits a friend to set a small fire at the facility as she thinks this will shut her brother down. However the situation gets out conrol becuase the sprinkler system in the building, which was new and rushed to completion, was not operational.
The lawyer eventually learned that the messages she has been receiving were from Josteinn, the violent criminal. He is allowed to work on computers at the prison to fix them up and then they are sent on to charities. He fortuitously gets his hands on a laptop formerly owned by the father of the autistic boy which had some sort of "key" which allowed him internet acces and the ability to make phone calls (both of which are forbidden to him). He is delighted to see emails between the father and lawyer plus Facebook posts which document what was going on the facility. When the father of the autistic boy discovers that laptop has been sent to the prison he makes sure it is retrieved but Josteinn knows this might happen and has saved the incriminating info which he passes onto the lawyer he asked to look into the case.
The book was long but very well written. The author did a great job of developing the story. There was some humour in the book in the Lawyer being stuck with a very beligerent and incompetent assistant (through some deal with the building owner) and the stress in her life because her parents have had to move in with her and her family, her, her two small children and her lover. Her parents have asked to move in with her temporarily because the decline in the economy and bad investing on their part has caused them to lose their home.
One very disturbing part of the book, Josteinn violently attacks Jacob, his friend, the Downs-Sydrome boy, blinding him. He does this because he feels this will get the boy back to Rejkjavik to be nearer the lawyer.
The only thing that was a bit disconcerting... at the end the woman who killed the girl in the hit and run didn't seem to have any grief over what she had done, her husband's career prospects were ruined but it was not clear if she would suffer any legal consequences. Nor was it clear if the daughter would suffer any legal consequences. One of the employees of the care home, who was not at work on the night of the fire, also seems to be unrepentant about what they did at the facility and seems to feel very sorry for his lot in life. He will be on trial for the death (accidental or not) of the fellow who raped the girls at the faciltiy. Fortunately the downs-syndrome man is exonerated and released to the care of his mother.
Sunday, 25 February 2018
Friday, 23 February 2018
Winter
By Ali Smith
This is the second book in her quatro of books based on titles of the seasons. I did not find this book as interesting or powerful as the first one, Autumn.
In this book Art (Arthur) is working from home trying to find copyright infringement on the Internet. I think the author makes reference to winter and death. However, I think this bookis more about truth. As we learn about Art we find out that he writes a popular blog on a nature theme. We find out two things about his blog:1) he lies, he writes about nature issues as he imagines them and makes things up on his blog. In one of his posts he writes about having spotted a Canadian warbler in England. These have never been see before. 2)his blog has been taken over by his ex-girlfriend who is writing all sorts of annoying stuff which is getting his followers angry at him and he is getting so many angry emails and tweets that he has had to turn off his phone.
It is Christmastime and Art is supposed to be taking his girlfriend with him to visit his Mother for the holidays. As he no longer has a girlfriend he approaches a girl he sees lingering on a bus bench to come to his mother's with him. He offers her one-thousand pounds to come and spend a few days with him. Art does not like his mother and doesn't really want to spend time with her.
We then meet a woman who seems to have a disembodied child's head floating around her. She eventually gets used to this and it even sleeps with her in her bed. As time passes the hair on the face seems to be falling out and the features on the face fade until nothing is left but a stone. We learn that this woman is Art's mother.
Art's mother has been a successful entrepreneur, featuring items that are trending at the time, e.g. meditation items, or old fashioned light fixtures. When they arrive at her house outside of London they find his mother is huddled in a coat, hat and mitts and has no food in the house. Art and his mother are not getting along. The girl he has brought along is initially rejected by his mother, however Lux is very gentle with her and gradually she is able to convince Art's mother to remove some of her outerwear. She also gets her to eat a little bit of food. She also convinces Art to contact his Aunt, who has been estranged from his mother for years.
The Aunt who is supposedly in Greece working with refugees shows up rather quickly with a box full of vegetables. The Aunt cooks a meal, Art's mother seems to avoid all the food but Lux is able to coax her to eat a bit. The two sisters argue about the past including whether the sister looked after Art when he was young. Art's mother had quite often dropped Art off with her father as she went about running her business. Her sister insists that it was she who actually looked afer the boy.
We learn that the aunt was living in a house with a bunch of hippies in her youth and that Art's mother became pregnant by one of the men in that house. The house was in quite a state of disrepair.
We discover that Art's mother later bought the house after it had been renovated. The aunt did a lot of protesting about environmental issues and was also part of the long women's protest against cruise missles in Britain (this is the fenced area mentioned in the first book).
The house is located in a somewhat isolated area but one day a bus arrives with British birdlovers on the hunt for that Canadian bird that Art claims he spotted. They want him to tell them where he saw it and tell him there have been other sitings of the bird. He doesn't tell them and after they have a meal at the house the birders set off on their quest.
The two sisters seem to become less aggressive toward each other and even share some good memories. Art and Lux return to London and he pays her. Later Art asks his ex-girlfriend if she wants to take over his blog and she agrees to asking him to write occasional posts. The book ends with Art trying to connect with Lux again but he is unable to find her.
I have no idea what the floating head/stone is about. It is obvious that Art's mother is having a breakdown. She is terrified of eating thinking it will poison her. The lies that Art tells on his blog are I think comments on the world today. There are some references to Brexit and to Donald Trump. While Art's Aunt seems to have maintained her passion for good causes, Art, his mother and Lux seem isolated and lonely. Lux seems to have had a positive impact on all of them but then she is gone.
I wonder what "Spring" will bring. I hope it is less depressing than winter.
This is the second book in her quatro of books based on titles of the seasons. I did not find this book as interesting or powerful as the first one, Autumn.
In this book Art (Arthur) is working from home trying to find copyright infringement on the Internet. I think the author makes reference to winter and death. However, I think this bookis more about truth. As we learn about Art we find out that he writes a popular blog on a nature theme. We find out two things about his blog:1) he lies, he writes about nature issues as he imagines them and makes things up on his blog. In one of his posts he writes about having spotted a Canadian warbler in England. These have never been see before. 2)his blog has been taken over by his ex-girlfriend who is writing all sorts of annoying stuff which is getting his followers angry at him and he is getting so many angry emails and tweets that he has had to turn off his phone.
It is Christmastime and Art is supposed to be taking his girlfriend with him to visit his Mother for the holidays. As he no longer has a girlfriend he approaches a girl he sees lingering on a bus bench to come to his mother's with him. He offers her one-thousand pounds to come and spend a few days with him. Art does not like his mother and doesn't really want to spend time with her.
We then meet a woman who seems to have a disembodied child's head floating around her. She eventually gets used to this and it even sleeps with her in her bed. As time passes the hair on the face seems to be falling out and the features on the face fade until nothing is left but a stone. We learn that this woman is Art's mother.
Art's mother has been a successful entrepreneur, featuring items that are trending at the time, e.g. meditation items, or old fashioned light fixtures. When they arrive at her house outside of London they find his mother is huddled in a coat, hat and mitts and has no food in the house. Art and his mother are not getting along. The girl he has brought along is initially rejected by his mother, however Lux is very gentle with her and gradually she is able to convince Art's mother to remove some of her outerwear. She also gets her to eat a little bit of food. She also convinces Art to contact his Aunt, who has been estranged from his mother for years.
The Aunt who is supposedly in Greece working with refugees shows up rather quickly with a box full of vegetables. The Aunt cooks a meal, Art's mother seems to avoid all the food but Lux is able to coax her to eat a bit. The two sisters argue about the past including whether the sister looked after Art when he was young. Art's mother had quite often dropped Art off with her father as she went about running her business. Her sister insists that it was she who actually looked afer the boy.
We learn that the aunt was living in a house with a bunch of hippies in her youth and that Art's mother became pregnant by one of the men in that house. The house was in quite a state of disrepair.
We discover that Art's mother later bought the house after it had been renovated. The aunt did a lot of protesting about environmental issues and was also part of the long women's protest against cruise missles in Britain (this is the fenced area mentioned in the first book).
The house is located in a somewhat isolated area but one day a bus arrives with British birdlovers on the hunt for that Canadian bird that Art claims he spotted. They want him to tell them where he saw it and tell him there have been other sitings of the bird. He doesn't tell them and after they have a meal at the house the birders set off on their quest.
The two sisters seem to become less aggressive toward each other and even share some good memories. Art and Lux return to London and he pays her. Later Art asks his ex-girlfriend if she wants to take over his blog and she agrees to asking him to write occasional posts. The book ends with Art trying to connect with Lux again but he is unable to find her.
I have no idea what the floating head/stone is about. It is obvious that Art's mother is having a breakdown. She is terrified of eating thinking it will poison her. The lies that Art tells on his blog are I think comments on the world today. There are some references to Brexit and to Donald Trump. While Art's Aunt seems to have maintained her passion for good causes, Art, his mother and Lux seem isolated and lonely. Lux seems to have had a positive impact on all of them but then she is gone.
I wonder what "Spring" will bring. I hope it is less depressing than winter.
Sunday, 18 February 2018
Autumn
By Ali Smith
This book was one of the 2017 Booker nominees. I previously read the book How to Be Both by this author and didn't think much of it. I picked Autumn up because I read a review of her next book called Winter and it sounded interesting. These books are two of a planned set of four novels based on the names of the seasons.
The book, which takes place in England, is set just after the Brexit vote. I love Smith's language in the book, for example "All across the conry, people felt it was the wrong thing,. All across the country, people felt it was the right thing. All across the country, people felt they'd really won. I think that sizes up the divides in Britain and in the U.S today, possibly in other parts of the world too.
The book opens with an old man waking up to finding himself lying along a shore. He is naked. As he looks around he sees more dead people nearby him. As he looks further away he sees some young people dancing. He looks at his body and thinks it looks better than he remembers it so he thinks he must be dead. He runs into the woods so the girls won't see him naked and sews himself an outfit out of leaves. Magically a needle and thread appeared and he has discovered he knows how to sew. He realizes he must be dead, or dreaming. The mans name is Gluck and he is not dead.
We are then introduced to the other main character in the book, Elisabeth. Elisabeth is a part time lecturer at a London university with no job security, not enough money to be able to do anything, but her mother thinks she has made it.
When Elisabeth is about eight she and her mother move into a new home. Elisabeth is assigned the school task of going to interview a neighbour. She wants to go interview the old man next door but her mother insists she make it up instead. Elisabeth does as she is told but when her mother reads what Elisabeth has written she takes it to the neighbour to read. After this Gluck and Elisabeth become close friends, by choice but also because Elisabeth's mother uses him as E's babysitter on frequent occasions. E's mother tells her she is going out to do something... but E knows that her mother is actually going to do something else... E is troubled that her mother lies to her. Gluck on the other had always listens to her, asks her questions and will only answer her questions truthfully. They become very close.
E discovers that her passport has expired and goes to the post office to submit her application. It has to be reviewed by postal staff to speed up the processin. The description of the tedium of the wait to get your number called is exquisite as is her interaction with the totally demoralized postal worker. At one point in her wait E goes to buy a book to kill the time, picks up Brave New World, then returns to deal with the government machinery. She is told her head is too big per the standards for her photo and she must return with a new photo. She does come back again later to be told her hair isn't right in the photo but she tells that worker she will take her chances and submit the application.
One day E discovers a book of the art pieces of an English Pop Artist named Pauline Boty. E realizes that the art Gluck tried to get her to visualize is works by this woman. When she takes the book to Gluck she learns that he knew this artist, loved her, but she did not requite his love. The painter died young, she was discovered to have cancer while pregnant with her first child, refuses radiation because of this and dies a few days after the child is born as a result. While Pauline was famous at the time she has vanished from popular conciousness. E decides to abadon her current dissertation work and against the advice of her faculty adviser switches her dissertation to this woman.
As the jumps back and forward in time with interactions between E and her mother, they just don't connect at all and Gluck whom E admires, even loves, we find that Gluck is now a centenarian languishing in a bed in a care facility, expected to dies soon. When E learns about Gluck's state from her mother she rushes home to stay with her mother so she can visit Gluck. Her mother is chagrined that her daughter seems to have come back for Gluck and not her as E hardly ever visited her mother before. E goes to the care facility. Gluck is asleep but she talks to him in her mind, or reads aloud to him. At the end of the book she is reading the tale of two cities.
One story line that I don't understand is that an area of common land near E's Mother's home suddenly gets fenced with electric fence. Elisabeth goes to the see the fencing and is challenged by a security guard within the fence. Her other later takes to throwing things at the fence to create sparks.
While E is living her life E's mother becomes engrossed with a tv show where ordinary people and experts compete to discover gems in antique shops. Her mother is selected to be on the show, and becomes lovers with one of the celebrities she meets on the show (another woman). The mother keeps saying that Gluck is gay, E knows she is wrong.
I read a review of this book in the Guardian. The writer says this book is about time, how it is transitory. While I think that is part of it I think it is more about memory, being remembered and perhaps the difference between memory and reality. It is also about perspective.
"I don't like it when summer goes and autumn comes" she (E) said. Daniel took her by the shoulder and turned herround. He didnt say anything. But across the landscape down behind them it was still sunlit blue and green".
In the book the artist Boty says that she married her husband because he was the only man who truly knew her and accepted her brilliance as a woman. In talking to E Gluck says "that the people who love us and know us a little bit will in the end have seen us truly. in the end not much else matters." But shortly after he goes on to say"its the only responsibility memory has...But if course, memory and responsibiliyy are strangers. They are foreign to each other. Memory always goes its own way quite regardless." The second seems to contradict the first but this book is all about contradictions.
I did not mention that the artist Boty does collages with contemporary figures/themes. At one point she agrees to be photographed but insists on standing in front of her art so it won't be ignored but the art gets cropped out. There is another story in the book about a political scandal which brings down an ambitious woman. One of Boty's pieces includes reference to this scandal. Not sure what this is about??
One day when E is visiting Gluck a care worker comes in and tells E that Gluck is a gentleman and that he has told her stories about his life in the war. E is shocked that he has told a complete stranger about this part of his life but never told her about it.
To me this book about truth and honesty between people.... people think they know other people but do they really? Can people ever truly be honest with other people, especially those they are closest too? And, when we die, will anyone remember us and will they remember us truly or will their memories be warped by choice or human frailty.
I am going to read the next book in the series, then I am going to reread this one to try to figure out how the side stories fit in. So much to think about! I am glad I overcame my disappointment about the first book I read by her and picked up this one.
This book was one of the 2017 Booker nominees. I previously read the book How to Be Both by this author and didn't think much of it. I picked Autumn up because I read a review of her next book called Winter and it sounded interesting. These books are two of a planned set of four novels based on the names of the seasons.
The book, which takes place in England, is set just after the Brexit vote. I love Smith's language in the book, for example "All across the conry, people felt it was the wrong thing,. All across the country, people felt it was the right thing. All across the country, people felt they'd really won. I think that sizes up the divides in Britain and in the U.S today, possibly in other parts of the world too.
The book opens with an old man waking up to finding himself lying along a shore. He is naked. As he looks around he sees more dead people nearby him. As he looks further away he sees some young people dancing. He looks at his body and thinks it looks better than he remembers it so he thinks he must be dead. He runs into the woods so the girls won't see him naked and sews himself an outfit out of leaves. Magically a needle and thread appeared and he has discovered he knows how to sew. He realizes he must be dead, or dreaming. The mans name is Gluck and he is not dead.
We are then introduced to the other main character in the book, Elisabeth. Elisabeth is a part time lecturer at a London university with no job security, not enough money to be able to do anything, but her mother thinks she has made it.
When Elisabeth is about eight she and her mother move into a new home. Elisabeth is assigned the school task of going to interview a neighbour. She wants to go interview the old man next door but her mother insists she make it up instead. Elisabeth does as she is told but when her mother reads what Elisabeth has written she takes it to the neighbour to read. After this Gluck and Elisabeth become close friends, by choice but also because Elisabeth's mother uses him as E's babysitter on frequent occasions. E's mother tells her she is going out to do something... but E knows that her mother is actually going to do something else... E is troubled that her mother lies to her. Gluck on the other had always listens to her, asks her questions and will only answer her questions truthfully. They become very close.
E discovers that her passport has expired and goes to the post office to submit her application. It has to be reviewed by postal staff to speed up the processin. The description of the tedium of the wait to get your number called is exquisite as is her interaction with the totally demoralized postal worker. At one point in her wait E goes to buy a book to kill the time, picks up Brave New World, then returns to deal with the government machinery. She is told her head is too big per the standards for her photo and she must return with a new photo. She does come back again later to be told her hair isn't right in the photo but she tells that worker she will take her chances and submit the application.
One day E discovers a book of the art pieces of an English Pop Artist named Pauline Boty. E realizes that the art Gluck tried to get her to visualize is works by this woman. When she takes the book to Gluck she learns that he knew this artist, loved her, but she did not requite his love. The painter died young, she was discovered to have cancer while pregnant with her first child, refuses radiation because of this and dies a few days after the child is born as a result. While Pauline was famous at the time she has vanished from popular conciousness. E decides to abadon her current dissertation work and against the advice of her faculty adviser switches her dissertation to this woman.
As the jumps back and forward in time with interactions between E and her mother, they just don't connect at all and Gluck whom E admires, even loves, we find that Gluck is now a centenarian languishing in a bed in a care facility, expected to dies soon. When E learns about Gluck's state from her mother she rushes home to stay with her mother so she can visit Gluck. Her mother is chagrined that her daughter seems to have come back for Gluck and not her as E hardly ever visited her mother before. E goes to the care facility. Gluck is asleep but she talks to him in her mind, or reads aloud to him. At the end of the book she is reading the tale of two cities.
One story line that I don't understand is that an area of common land near E's Mother's home suddenly gets fenced with electric fence. Elisabeth goes to the see the fencing and is challenged by a security guard within the fence. Her other later takes to throwing things at the fence to create sparks.
While E is living her life E's mother becomes engrossed with a tv show where ordinary people and experts compete to discover gems in antique shops. Her mother is selected to be on the show, and becomes lovers with one of the celebrities she meets on the show (another woman). The mother keeps saying that Gluck is gay, E knows she is wrong.
I read a review of this book in the Guardian. The writer says this book is about time, how it is transitory. While I think that is part of it I think it is more about memory, being remembered and perhaps the difference between memory and reality. It is also about perspective.
"I don't like it when summer goes and autumn comes" she (E) said. Daniel took her by the shoulder and turned herround. He didnt say anything. But across the landscape down behind them it was still sunlit blue and green".
In the book the artist Boty says that she married her husband because he was the only man who truly knew her and accepted her brilliance as a woman. In talking to E Gluck says "that the people who love us and know us a little bit will in the end have seen us truly. in the end not much else matters." But shortly after he goes on to say"its the only responsibility memory has...But if course, memory and responsibiliyy are strangers. They are foreign to each other. Memory always goes its own way quite regardless." The second seems to contradict the first but this book is all about contradictions.
I did not mention that the artist Boty does collages with contemporary figures/themes. At one point she agrees to be photographed but insists on standing in front of her art so it won't be ignored but the art gets cropped out. There is another story in the book about a political scandal which brings down an ambitious woman. One of Boty's pieces includes reference to this scandal. Not sure what this is about??
One day when E is visiting Gluck a care worker comes in and tells E that Gluck is a gentleman and that he has told her stories about his life in the war. E is shocked that he has told a complete stranger about this part of his life but never told her about it.
To me this book about truth and honesty between people.... people think they know other people but do they really? Can people ever truly be honest with other people, especially those they are closest too? And, when we die, will anyone remember us and will they remember us truly or will their memories be warped by choice or human frailty.
I am going to read the next book in the series, then I am going to reread this one to try to figure out how the side stories fit in. So much to think about! I am glad I overcame my disappointment about the first book I read by her and picked up this one.
Friday, 2 February 2018
Mudwoman
by Joyce Carol Oates
I had heard of this author for a long time and thought I should read something by her.
The story starts with MR, a university president being driven to a conference where she is to be the keynote speaker. She arrives early and her room isn't ready so she decides to rent a car and go for a drive. Instead of turning back so that she could be back at the conference in time for the dinner/keynote she keeps driving and ultimately crashes the car. No one knows where she is and it becomes a big news story while she is missing.
Mudwoman is the story of a little girl who is thrown in a mud pit by her Mother who believes she must sacrifice her and her sister to appease God. The girl is rescued by a trapper. She is in shock and doesn't say much except the name Jewell so they assume that she is the daughter of a woman who also had a daughter named Jadine. Both mother and the other girl have disappeared. Later we learn that this girl is actually Jadine.
She is put in a foster home where she is tormented by the other kids in the family, natural children and other foster kids. The man who rescued her brings her a beautiful doll. The other kids take this away from her. She is treated quite well by the foster family and the woman of the family seems to have a special care for her because of her history.
Eventually the little girl is adopted by a Quaker couple who rename her Meredith Ruth. They call her Merry. The girl is very happy with her new parents, they love her and take good care of her. Eventually she realizes that she doesn't have to worry about her mother coming back for her. She excels in her studies and her parents are proud of her.
One day Merry father's her father to a cemetery where she sees him laying flowers on a grave of the natural daughter of her adoptive parents. The tombstone says Meredith Ruth and the birthday is Sept 21st the same day that her adoptive parents assigned to her as no one really knew her birthday or age.
This shocks Merry and she decides to study and get as far away from her parents as we can.
She gets scholarships to Yale? and Harvard and becomes a PhD in Philosopy. She is highly regarded as an author and academic and is selected as the first woman president of a prestigious NY University.
We then learn that she is a workaholic, carrying on at a crazy pace, she is on the verge of collapse.
Then a student who claims he was attacked on campus and beaten for his conservative views meets with her. She thinks that she can reason with him because he wants to go to the media and perhaps sue. She is naive. He is taping their conversation and pretends that she has attacked him. She had met with him alone, against the wishes of the University lawyer. The boy goes to the media but it comes out that he faked an assault report at another educational institution so he is discredited. He attempts suicide but doesn't succeed. He suffers permanent brain damage. MR is devastated by what has happened.
As the story goes on we learn of a high school teacher of hers who wanted to have a relationship with her but she rebuffed him and he supposedly had a nervous breakdown or committed suicide, we also learn of an affair she is having with a married man.
While I could initially have some sympathy for the character at the beginning considering what she had suffered as her life goes on... she abandons her parents, she decides to go to her lover after his wife kicks him out etc. I really did not like the way the book ended.
While I think the book had a lot of potential and was well written I was disappointed in how the author handled the last part of the book.
Based on this book and other comments I have since read about her writing I don't think I will read anything else by her.
I had heard of this author for a long time and thought I should read something by her.
The story starts with MR, a university president being driven to a conference where she is to be the keynote speaker. She arrives early and her room isn't ready so she decides to rent a car and go for a drive. Instead of turning back so that she could be back at the conference in time for the dinner/keynote she keeps driving and ultimately crashes the car. No one knows where she is and it becomes a big news story while she is missing.
Mudwoman is the story of a little girl who is thrown in a mud pit by her Mother who believes she must sacrifice her and her sister to appease God. The girl is rescued by a trapper. She is in shock and doesn't say much except the name Jewell so they assume that she is the daughter of a woman who also had a daughter named Jadine. Both mother and the other girl have disappeared. Later we learn that this girl is actually Jadine.
She is put in a foster home where she is tormented by the other kids in the family, natural children and other foster kids. The man who rescued her brings her a beautiful doll. The other kids take this away from her. She is treated quite well by the foster family and the woman of the family seems to have a special care for her because of her history.
Eventually the little girl is adopted by a Quaker couple who rename her Meredith Ruth. They call her Merry. The girl is very happy with her new parents, they love her and take good care of her. Eventually she realizes that she doesn't have to worry about her mother coming back for her. She excels in her studies and her parents are proud of her.
One day Merry father's her father to a cemetery where she sees him laying flowers on a grave of the natural daughter of her adoptive parents. The tombstone says Meredith Ruth and the birthday is Sept 21st the same day that her adoptive parents assigned to her as no one really knew her birthday or age.
This shocks Merry and she decides to study and get as far away from her parents as we can.
She gets scholarships to Yale? and Harvard and becomes a PhD in Philosopy. She is highly regarded as an author and academic and is selected as the first woman president of a prestigious NY University.
We then learn that she is a workaholic, carrying on at a crazy pace, she is on the verge of collapse.
Then a student who claims he was attacked on campus and beaten for his conservative views meets with her. She thinks that she can reason with him because he wants to go to the media and perhaps sue. She is naive. He is taping their conversation and pretends that she has attacked him. She had met with him alone, against the wishes of the University lawyer. The boy goes to the media but it comes out that he faked an assault report at another educational institution so he is discredited. He attempts suicide but doesn't succeed. He suffers permanent brain damage. MR is devastated by what has happened.
As the story goes on we learn of a high school teacher of hers who wanted to have a relationship with her but she rebuffed him and he supposedly had a nervous breakdown or committed suicide, we also learn of an affair she is having with a married man.
While I could initially have some sympathy for the character at the beginning considering what she had suffered as her life goes on... she abandons her parents, she decides to go to her lover after his wife kicks him out etc. I really did not like the way the book ended.
While I think the book had a lot of potential and was well written I was disappointed in how the author handled the last part of the book.
Based on this book and other comments I have since read about her writing I don't think I will read anything else by her.
Sunday, 21 January 2018
In the Midst of Winter
by Isabel Allende
This is the second book I have read by this author. I have to say that I enjoyed the first one, The Japanse Lover, more than this one.
The book is the story of three people, who have had devastating lives, come together.
It starts telling uus about a Chilean woman, Lucia, who is in New York working as a sessional lecture at a University. She is living in the basement suite of Richard, a colleague who recommended her for the job. Lucia lived in Chile at the time of the revolution, one of her brothers disappeared during the time of the revolution. She escaped to the states to get an education but later returns to Chile to document the revolution and all the disappearances. She later marries an older man and they have a strange unaffectionte marriage. When she gets breast cancer her husband basically abandons her as he says he can't deal with her illness.
Richard is a very closed up individual. He seems to have a compuslive disorder. He doesn't heat his house enough so Lucia is often cold. His only companions are four cats. He rebuffs Lucia's efforts at friendship. One day one of his cats drinks some antifreeze. Despite the fact there is a terrible blizzard he drives to a vet to get the cat treated. On the way home he rear ends a car. The driver is a young Latino woman who is hysterical. Richard tells her it is his fault and not to worry as his insurance will pay to fix the car. He can't calm her but gives her his card and tells her to get in touch with him.
A few days later the young woman knocks on his door. She is still upset. Her English isn't good so he asks Lucia to come to speak to her in Spanish. They find out that the young woman, Evelyn, is an illegal alien working as a caregiver for a boy with cerebral palsy. Evelyn had borrowed her boss's car to go get diapers for the boy. When she goes to put the diapers in the trunk she finds a dead woman rolled up in a carpet in the trunk. This is why she is so upset.
They eventually learn that she has come from terrifying conditions in Guatemala. Her mother is in the US but she and her brother lived with their Grandmother. One of her brothers got involved with a gang and is eventually murdered by them for something he did wrong. He is found hanging from a bridge as a warning to others. Eventually gang members come to Evelyn's home, they murder her other brother and rape her. The Grandmother pays a "coyote" to get Eveylyn "safe" passage to the United States. She makes it to the U.S. but her mother, who has a new life doesn't really want her around so she is sent to New York to find work.
We learn that Richard lived for a time in Brazil and married a Brazilian woman. Their marriage was plagued. Their second child, a boy, dies of SIDS, his wife becomes very depressed. Then Richard accidentally kills their daughter, driving over her in their driveway. His wife really spirls into depression then. Richard decides to take his wife back to the U.S. While he tries to get her to seek psychiatic care she refuses. She is in a country where she has no family to support her, doesn't speak the language. She won't leave the house. Richard doesn't seem to be very supportive or caring. One weekend he decides to go on a camping weekend with a friend and his wife commits suicide. Now we realize why he is so repressed. He has so much guilt weighing on him.
Despite his fear of change, etc. Richard and Lucia decide to help Lucia get rid of the body and the car. At first they are going to dump the body but then they realize that they don't want her to be another disappeared person so they take her to a place she will evenutall be found. It turns out this woman was a person who worked for the same family as Evelyn as a physical therapist for the boy. This woman was having an affair with the boy's father. They assume Evelyn's boss murdered the woman. We find out the man is a successful business man who is actually involved with people smuggling.
They dispose of the car, and the body, and get Evelyn to Florida to start a new life. Lucia and Richard discover they love each other. Eventually they find out that Evelyn's boss is arrested for the murder of the woman (he actually didn't kill her, his wife did). This gives the authorities the chance to get a search warrant to investigate his smuggling activities.
He escapes to Mexico where is eventually found and murdered in a police raid.
One day Lucia goes to see the boss's wife because Evelyn would like to see the boy. The woman suspects she is there to blackmail her about the murder. Lucia insures her they aren't. Richard and Lucia decide not to report the woman to the police. They feel she suffered enough from her abusive husband. They call it 'natural justice".
While the story of the lives and the various tragedies are interesting I just don't understand why Richard and Lucia would do what they did to help Evelyn. They could have just left the car with the body somewhere to be found. As Evelyn disappeared at the same time as the car it is possible she might have been sought for the murder but they could have made arrangements to get her out of New York like they did at the end of the book. Plus Lucia tells Richard that he is forgiven of his mistakes but I don't feel he owned up to his maltreatment of his wife. His child's death was an accident but he really did nothing to try to help and support his wife. And, I think it was very cruel to leave her alone and go off with the friend. I think some repentance on his part is needed.
This is the second book I have read by this author. I have to say that I enjoyed the first one, The Japanse Lover, more than this one.
The book is the story of three people, who have had devastating lives, come together.
It starts telling uus about a Chilean woman, Lucia, who is in New York working as a sessional lecture at a University. She is living in the basement suite of Richard, a colleague who recommended her for the job. Lucia lived in Chile at the time of the revolution, one of her brothers disappeared during the time of the revolution. She escaped to the states to get an education but later returns to Chile to document the revolution and all the disappearances. She later marries an older man and they have a strange unaffectionte marriage. When she gets breast cancer her husband basically abandons her as he says he can't deal with her illness.
Richard is a very closed up individual. He seems to have a compuslive disorder. He doesn't heat his house enough so Lucia is often cold. His only companions are four cats. He rebuffs Lucia's efforts at friendship. One day one of his cats drinks some antifreeze. Despite the fact there is a terrible blizzard he drives to a vet to get the cat treated. On the way home he rear ends a car. The driver is a young Latino woman who is hysterical. Richard tells her it is his fault and not to worry as his insurance will pay to fix the car. He can't calm her but gives her his card and tells her to get in touch with him.
A few days later the young woman knocks on his door. She is still upset. Her English isn't good so he asks Lucia to come to speak to her in Spanish. They find out that the young woman, Evelyn, is an illegal alien working as a caregiver for a boy with cerebral palsy. Evelyn had borrowed her boss's car to go get diapers for the boy. When she goes to put the diapers in the trunk she finds a dead woman rolled up in a carpet in the trunk. This is why she is so upset.
They eventually learn that she has come from terrifying conditions in Guatemala. Her mother is in the US but she and her brother lived with their Grandmother. One of her brothers got involved with a gang and is eventually murdered by them for something he did wrong. He is found hanging from a bridge as a warning to others. Eventually gang members come to Evelyn's home, they murder her other brother and rape her. The Grandmother pays a "coyote" to get Eveylyn "safe" passage to the United States. She makes it to the U.S. but her mother, who has a new life doesn't really want her around so she is sent to New York to find work.
We learn that Richard lived for a time in Brazil and married a Brazilian woman. Their marriage was plagued. Their second child, a boy, dies of SIDS, his wife becomes very depressed. Then Richard accidentally kills their daughter, driving over her in their driveway. His wife really spirls into depression then. Richard decides to take his wife back to the U.S. While he tries to get her to seek psychiatic care she refuses. She is in a country where she has no family to support her, doesn't speak the language. She won't leave the house. Richard doesn't seem to be very supportive or caring. One weekend he decides to go on a camping weekend with a friend and his wife commits suicide. Now we realize why he is so repressed. He has so much guilt weighing on him.
Despite his fear of change, etc. Richard and Lucia decide to help Lucia get rid of the body and the car. At first they are going to dump the body but then they realize that they don't want her to be another disappeared person so they take her to a place she will evenutall be found. It turns out this woman was a person who worked for the same family as Evelyn as a physical therapist for the boy. This woman was having an affair with the boy's father. They assume Evelyn's boss murdered the woman. We find out the man is a successful business man who is actually involved with people smuggling.
They dispose of the car, and the body, and get Evelyn to Florida to start a new life. Lucia and Richard discover they love each other. Eventually they find out that Evelyn's boss is arrested for the murder of the woman (he actually didn't kill her, his wife did). This gives the authorities the chance to get a search warrant to investigate his smuggling activities.
He escapes to Mexico where is eventually found and murdered in a police raid.
One day Lucia goes to see the boss's wife because Evelyn would like to see the boy. The woman suspects she is there to blackmail her about the murder. Lucia insures her they aren't. Richard and Lucia decide not to report the woman to the police. They feel she suffered enough from her abusive husband. They call it 'natural justice".
While the story of the lives and the various tragedies are interesting I just don't understand why Richard and Lucia would do what they did to help Evelyn. They could have just left the car with the body somewhere to be found. As Evelyn disappeared at the same time as the car it is possible she might have been sought for the murder but they could have made arrangements to get her out of New York like they did at the end of the book. Plus Lucia tells Richard that he is forgiven of his mistakes but I don't feel he owned up to his maltreatment of his wife. His child's death was an accident but he really did nothing to try to help and support his wife. And, I think it was very cruel to leave her alone and go off with the friend. I think some repentance on his part is needed.
Wolves in Winter
by Tyrell Johnson
This book is by a Kelowna author. It has become a bestseller.
The story is about a young woman, Gwendolynn (who calls herself Lynn). The developed world has been decimated first because of a nuclear war, followed by a deadly flu. Lynn, her mother and brother and a few other people are survivors, eaking out an existence in the Yukon. They don't have much to live on, surviving on the meat they can hunt or fish they catch and they are managing to grow carrots and potatoes.
Lynn's father had been a biologist/researcher working in Chicago. As the world fell apart they fled to Alaska to try to escape the flu. Lynn got the flu and survived, her brother and Mother never got it. Her father died.
One day a stranger, Jax arrives in their area. They are not sure if he can be trusted. They eventually learn that he is being hunted by a group called Immunity that is supposed to be looking for a cure for the flu. It appears that Jaks has immunity. He also seems to have super powers in some way. Jaks plans to leave so they won't be endangered.
One day Jax and Jeryl, Lynn's uncle head off into the woods. Lynn decides to follow them. She sees Jax and Jeryl attacked by people from Immunity, she doesn't know if they survive as she is captured by Immunity.
It seems that Immunity is keeping her hostage to try to get Jax to come to them. While she is in the Immunity camp one of the camp's test subjects gets wounded tryiing to escape and also gets the flu The Immunity people make Lynn's donate blood to her and it cures the woman's flu. They then realized that Lynn must have immunity so she becomes even more important to them. Lynn figures out that the Immunity leader isn't really doing things for altruistic regions. He hope to get wealthy if he can offer a cure/serum.
Eventually Lynn escapes and meets up with Jeryl and Jax who take her back to her family. Soon after the Immunity folks descend on them and there is a battle. Lynn and her group wipe out all the Intruders. As the book ends Lynn and Jax are heading south, hoping to get to Vancouver because they were told that there is a group in Vancouver that they should connect with to save the world from the flu.
The book was more interesting than I expected it to be. It was a pretty good adventure story.
This book is by a Kelowna author. It has become a bestseller.
The story is about a young woman, Gwendolynn (who calls herself Lynn). The developed world has been decimated first because of a nuclear war, followed by a deadly flu. Lynn, her mother and brother and a few other people are survivors, eaking out an existence in the Yukon. They don't have much to live on, surviving on the meat they can hunt or fish they catch and they are managing to grow carrots and potatoes.
Lynn's father had been a biologist/researcher working in Chicago. As the world fell apart they fled to Alaska to try to escape the flu. Lynn got the flu and survived, her brother and Mother never got it. Her father died.
One day a stranger, Jax arrives in their area. They are not sure if he can be trusted. They eventually learn that he is being hunted by a group called Immunity that is supposed to be looking for a cure for the flu. It appears that Jaks has immunity. He also seems to have super powers in some way. Jaks plans to leave so they won't be endangered.
One day Jax and Jeryl, Lynn's uncle head off into the woods. Lynn decides to follow them. She sees Jax and Jeryl attacked by people from Immunity, she doesn't know if they survive as she is captured by Immunity.
It seems that Immunity is keeping her hostage to try to get Jax to come to them. While she is in the Immunity camp one of the camp's test subjects gets wounded tryiing to escape and also gets the flu The Immunity people make Lynn's donate blood to her and it cures the woman's flu. They then realized that Lynn must have immunity so she becomes even more important to them. Lynn figures out that the Immunity leader isn't really doing things for altruistic regions. He hope to get wealthy if he can offer a cure/serum.
Eventually Lynn escapes and meets up with Jeryl and Jax who take her back to her family. Soon after the Immunity folks descend on them and there is a battle. Lynn and her group wipe out all the Intruders. As the book ends Lynn and Jax are heading south, hoping to get to Vancouver because they were told that there is a group in Vancouver that they should connect with to save the world from the flu.
The book was more interesting than I expected it to be. It was a pretty good adventure story.
Thursday, 16 November 2017
Rhetoric of Death
by Judith Rock
This mystery is set in the 1600's in France. The story is about a Jesuit Monk, Charles du Luc who is from Southern France. At this time there is a campaign on to convert the French Hugenot's to Catholicism. Charles has some Hugenot relatives who do not wish to convert but would rather escape to Switzerland. He aids them in leaving the country, or so he thinks.
His supervisors are aware of his sympathies to the Hugenot's and send him to Paris to be a Rhetoric Teacher at a Jesuit school.
The first day that Charles is in Paris he is helping students practice a play/ballet and the star dancer runs from the room. Charles is instructed to follow him but he loses the boy in the crowded streets of Paris.
Soon after the younger brother of the escapee is knocked down in the street by an unknown horseman. Charles is advised that it was an accident but he has his suspicions and starts to investigate even though advised by the head of the school to leave matters to the police.
He doesn't follow orders and discovers there is are discrepancies between what the young boy and witnesses have said and what a priest at the school, a relative of the boys, say.
While he is trying to get more information he finds that another witness has been murdered. Then the tutor of the young boy eats chocolates sent to the boy and dies of poisoning. The Leader of the school now instructs Charles to pursue the cases to try to get the truth.
It eventually is revealed that the boy's new young stepmother wants them out of the picture and that the child she is carrying is not her husband's.
The story was well written, there was a lot of detail about Paris at the time. I enjoyed it.
This mystery is set in the 1600's in France. The story is about a Jesuit Monk, Charles du Luc who is from Southern France. At this time there is a campaign on to convert the French Hugenot's to Catholicism. Charles has some Hugenot relatives who do not wish to convert but would rather escape to Switzerland. He aids them in leaving the country, or so he thinks.
His supervisors are aware of his sympathies to the Hugenot's and send him to Paris to be a Rhetoric Teacher at a Jesuit school.
The first day that Charles is in Paris he is helping students practice a play/ballet and the star dancer runs from the room. Charles is instructed to follow him but he loses the boy in the crowded streets of Paris.
Soon after the younger brother of the escapee is knocked down in the street by an unknown horseman. Charles is advised that it was an accident but he has his suspicions and starts to investigate even though advised by the head of the school to leave matters to the police.
He doesn't follow orders and discovers there is are discrepancies between what the young boy and witnesses have said and what a priest at the school, a relative of the boys, say.
While he is trying to get more information he finds that another witness has been murdered. Then the tutor of the young boy eats chocolates sent to the boy and dies of poisoning. The Leader of the school now instructs Charles to pursue the cases to try to get the truth.
It eventually is revealed that the boy's new young stepmother wants them out of the picture and that the child she is carrying is not her husband's.
The story was well written, there was a lot of detail about Paris at the time. I enjoyed it.
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