Those Who Save Us

Author: Jenna Blum
Publisher: Harcourt Books, 2004
My Source: Amazon for Kindle

I have read several books about WWII this year. I became interested in this subject because my mother is a WWII buff who reads tons of books about the war. She and my father even went on a trip to Europe several years back tracing the path my grandfather took while he was stationed in the Army as a medic during the war. Although the books I have read are fictional, they provide glimpses into what life must have been like during wartime Europe.

Those Who Save Us is a mother-daughter story spanning the fifty years from wartime Germany to 1990's America. Anna, a young German citizen is the maid and cook for her strict widowed father during the years leading up to the war. As the war approaches she falls in love for the first time, but the relationship is doomed. Anna does some things she is not proud of to save herself and her three year-old daughter, Trudy, from the atrocities of war. They are liberated by an American soldier at the end of the war and move to the United States to start a new life with him. Anna vows to herself to never tell anyone about her experiences in Germany.

Trudy, influenced by her German heritage and a single photograph of herself and her mother with a high-ranking Nazi official, becomes a German history professor. Through her research into the experiences of the German people during the war, she uncovers the secrets her mother has been keeping for fifty years about what she did in Germany and about Trudy's biological father.

I found both mother and daughter to be intelligent, but psychologically immature characters. Trudy, for instance, is practically a loner after her marriage fails primarily due to her obsession with German history. In an effort to comprehend her mother's past experiences Trudy takes on a new research project interviewing Germans about their lives during the war. Ironically, Trudy never gets the opportunity to interview her mother, the one person she craves to connect with and understand better. Anna, curious about her daughter's project, but burdened by her secrets and permanently changed by the war, remains emotionally distant from her daughter.

The story alternates between the past and the present with descriptions so vivid I felt as though I was there. The author traces Anna's personality changes over time which explain her present behavior. Although quite fascinating, some of the passages about Anna's past are painful to read as Anna and Trudy struggle to survive wartime Germany. I found myself equally engaged in both stories of the past and the present.

Throughout the story I empathized with both characters and hoped for a heart to heart talk between mother and daughter, but by not including one, the author probably portrayed a more realistic depiction of someone of Anna's generation who lived through the war first hand. I know that my grandfather spoke very little about his time in the war both because people of his generation did not typically share their feelings and because it was just too painful.

This book would be interesting to WWII buffs and those wanting to learn more about that time period, but it not just a history lesson. It is also a character driven story about people with strengths and weaknesses that pulled at my heart strings.

Rating: 4 out of 5 high fives

About Me: Part Deux

As I talked about in my first About Me post I was a caretaker for my mother-in-law and reading was my respite and my book club was my support group. Well, sadly my mother-in-law passed away on July 8, 2016 after a long battle with breast cancer that began way back in 1991. She was a fighter and experienced many ups and downs, but remained positive throughout her arduous journey.

Her oncologist referred her to hospice care (Hosparus as it is called in Louisville) almost one year ago and a nurse came to the home every Wednesday to check on her and our family. At the end she spent 12 days at the inpatient hospice unit where her pain and other symptoms were controlled. I cannot thank the hospice home staff and inpatient staff enough for their medical care and emotional support. 

After 2+ years in the role of caretaker, that chapter of my life has suddenly come to an end. Now I need to reinvent myself. First, however, my husband and I are preparing for a much needed vacation to Paris in late August. I'm brushing up on my French and reading guide books.

When we return we will need to clean out my mother-in-law's house and put it on the market to sell. Then we will be doing the same thing with our house as we are planning to move to Florida to be closer to my parents. I will miss my friends and my book club.

As far as work goes, I am not sure what I will do. I abandoned my career as a psychotherapist and tried a few other things after that, but nothing felt right. Maybe I will do volunteer and/or paid work somehow related to books and reading.

One thing I do know is that I will continue to read, review books, and attend author events as these activities have become enjoyable hobbies and stress relievers for me.

The Sport of Kings

Author: C.E. Morgan
Publisher: Macmillan, 2016
My Source: Carmichael's Bookstore

Recently I attended a book reading at Carmichael's by C.E. Morgan, author of the new novel, The Sport of Kings. Morgan, who grew up in Cincinnati and attended Berea College and Harvard Divinity School, calls Berea, Kentucky home. Morgan did not take questions or talk about her book (except to say that it took nine years to write), she simply read excerpts from her book, letting it be the star of the show.

Themes of wealth, poverty, slavery, racism, sex, and rage prevail in this epic saga about Henry Forge, a boy who grows up in the 1950's on a farm in Paris, Kentucky with a brutally strict father and deaf mother. He yearns to turn the family crop farm into a horse farm to breed and raise thoroughbreds for racing. His father is vehemently opposed to this idea, but Henry does it anyway after his father's death.

As an adult he marries and has a daughter, Henrietta, whom he grooms from a young age to take over his horse farm. His wife, Judith, leaves when Henrietta is a young child. Henry and Henrietta breed and raise many horses and dream of winning the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown. They suffer ups and downs throughout the process and their journey comes to an unexpected ending.

I'm finding this book hard to describe and review due to its expansive nature. This ambitious book felt like several stories in one because it spans several generations and introduces new characters throughout.

There are six long chapters with five interludes between them plus an epilogue at the end. The interludes are like mini stories themselves. They do not include the characters of the main story but instead introduce interesting new characters with adjacent themes such as horse racing, slavery, and a new imagining of the creation story.

I found the book to be very engaging at first and it seemed to move at a quick pace, but about 2/3 of the way in I felt like the pace slowed down, and I was less interested, but still motivated to read on to find out what was going to happen to the characters

At 545 pages this hefty book with dense language and obscure words took a little getting used to. I could not read it in a noisy place because it required a lot of concentration. The author uses heavily descriptive metaphors which at times feel like tangents. Also there is not a lot of dialog between characters as much of the action takes place in the characters' minds.

Professional reviews of this book say that its strengths outweigh its flaws. One even considers it the great American novel. That being said it is not for the casual reader because it requires quite a bit of effort. But if you feel ambitious this book is worth the challenge.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 high fives

The Whip

Author: Karen Kondazian
Publisher: Hansen Publishing Group, 2012
My Source: Amazon for Kindle

This book is a historical novel about triumph in the face of adversity, loosely based on the true life story of Charlotte "Charley" Parkhurst (1812-1879), a woman who lived most of her life as a man to get a job as a whip (a stagecoach driver.)

Charlotte grows up in an orphanage in New England where she meets a boy named Lee. They form a friendly childhood bond that turns sour when they become adults. Due to their friendship, Charlotte gets into a lot of trouble. Her punishment is to live in the barn and learn how to care for horses and drive a stagecoach with Jonas, the man who cares for the animals on the property. Jonas teaches her everything he knows and becomes like a father to her.

Fresh from her beating, Charlotte was led across the yard by the iron clasp of her headmistress at a great pace. The stable yard at night might have been nightmarish--all those long shadows, the soughing in the branches, the sudden mad motion of the underbrush shagging the margins; but strange though it might be, Charlotte felts at peace. Being led at all by someone felt good.

In her 30's, Charlotte meets and falls in love with an African American man despite the prejudices of the time. They have a baby together and then tragedy strikes at the hands of Lee and Charlotte is determined to seek revenge on him.

Charlotte finds out that Lee is living out west. She sees an advertisement for a position as a whip that would take her out west and decides to apply for it. The only problem is that they don't hire women, so she disguises herself as a man, changes her name to Charley, and gets the job.

Charlotte has many adventures as a whip. She conducts a secret love affair, kills a famous outlaw, and lives with a female housekeeper who, not knowing Charlotte's true sex, falls in love with her.

I was fascinated by the description of this book, especially knowing that it was based on a true story. I was not disappointed as the book lived up to its engaging description despite a slow beginning. Given the fact that Charlotte, like all women of the time, was raised to be submissive, it was amazing that she was able to bridge the gap between the sexes and convincingly pass as a man. She kept her secret safe until her death. It almost wouldn't be believable if I didn't already know that it was true.

Although this story is one of the wild wild west and will certainly appeal to fans of that time period, it is much more than that. It is an emotional human interest story that transcends its time and place and offers a little something for everyone.

                                                      Rating: 4 out of 5 high fives

Eleanor & Park

Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2013
My Source: Amazon for Kindle

I skipped this book when it first came out because it is YA and I don't tend to read YA, but I heard so many good things about this book and I enjoyed Attachments, also by Rowell, so I gave this one a try. I am so glad that I did!

It is a story about first love between two teenagers over the course of a school year in 1986. Eleanor is the new girl at school and sits with Park on her first day on the school bus and everyday after that. They don't speak, but one day Park notices that she is looking over his shoulder reading his X-Men comic books. He starts to move them closer to her and then brings in more comics for her to read at home. Park finally speaks to Eleanor when he sees handwritten song lyrics on her book cover and finds out she has never listened to The Smiths. He goes home that day and makes her the first of many mixed tapes. Slowly they form a friendship around their shared love for comic books and music, which then turns into a love for each other.

Eleanor has challenges at school and at home. At school she gets bullied for her unruly curly red hair and mismatched outfits. At home, her step-father is a tyrant who controls the family with intimidation, threats, and strict rules. Park provides a safe haven away from all of the chaos in her life.

This novel beautifully captures the essence of being an insecure self-conscious adolescent experiencing love for the first time. Unlike other books of teenage love which are written only from the perspective of one of the main characters, this story is told from the perspectives of both main characters through short alternating chapters dominated by engaging dialog.

Eleanor and Park are adorable, likeable characters with strengths and weaknesses everyone can relate to. I found myself rooting for them the whole way through. The story is a quick read and once I started I couldn't put it down.

I would recommend this book to young adults both experiencing or yearning for first love, and "old" adults who are young at heart reminiscing about first love from the past.

Rating: 5 out of 5 totally awesome high fives

Bonus: In 2014 DreamWorks purchased the rights to turn the book into a movie, however it was supposed to have been completed by now.

Here is a link to a blog post by @wildfirecharm discussing what she thinks would be a fitting potential soundtrack if the movie version of the story is produced. Brilliant idea!

June

Author: Miranda Beverly-Whittmore
Publisher: Crown, 2016
My Source: Goodreads Giveaway

I won this Advance Reader's Edition of the book from a Goodreads giveaway contest. I entered the contest for this specific book because I read and reviewed the author's first book, Bittersweet. Whittemore's second novel is an enjoyable read, but in my opinion, not as good as her first one.

The story revolves around a grand house called Two Oaks built in 1895 in rural Ohio. The action alternates between two time periods: 1955 and 2015. In 1955, 18 year-old June lives at Two Oaks with her mother, a disabled distant uncle, and a female African American servant. June's best friend, 14 year-old tomboy, Lindie, lives next door and often sneaks into June's bedroom window to read movie star magazines with her. In this particular summer, a Hollywood movie called Erie Canal starring Jack Montgomery, is being filmed in their little town of St. Jude. Lindie gets a job with the film crew, but June is uninterested in the movie. She has just agreed to marry Artie, though he has been away from St. Jude for sometime now.

In 2015, the reader meets 25 year-old Cassie, whom has inherited Two Oaks from her recently deceased grandmother, June (yes, the same June.) Cassie finds herself having pleasant recurring dreams of two girls from the past living in Two Oaks. The house has fallen into disrepair and Cassie doesn't have the money to fix it up. One day, a man comes to her door telling her that the actor, Jack Montgomery, has left his $37 million fortune to her because he believed her to be his granddaughter. One of Jack Montgomery's famous daughters is contesting the will and comes to St. Jude to meet Cassie. Together they try to determine whether or not June had an affair with Jack Montgomery in 1955.

Good god, yes, Tate Montgomery in the flesh, removing her glasses and cap, climbing the steps, getting closer and closer like she had stepped out of some ridiculous Technicolor movie where she was larger than life and a chorus of strings swelled at the sight of her. But this was not a movie at all. It just kept going.

Essentially this novel consists of two stories in two different time periods, both of them compelling. The author portrays Two Oaks as a recurring character in the two stories. In 1955 it is a happy place unlike any other home in town, large and ornate, and inspiring curiosity among the townsfolk who jump at the chance to tour it at the movie's wrap party. By 2015 it is a sad broken down house, in need of much repair, not unlike its sole inhabitant, Cassie. Through the use of Cassie's dreams, the author beautifully connects the events that take place in the house of the past to those that take place in the house of the present.

Cassie tells Tate Montgomery that she will only give a DNA sample if she first helps her research the events that took place in the summer of 1955. It seems unrealistic that they would together sift through historical documents and talk to long-time residents of St. Jude to find the answer to Cassie's parentage, rather than just doing the DNA test, but then there wouldn't be this lovely story.

The novel is longish (379 pages) or at least it felt that way. It was drawn out and could have been wrapped up in about 300 pages. Also, my expectations were quite high based on my enjoyment of the author's previous novel. While a very enjoyable read, my expectations were not fully met.

                                                      Rating: 3.5 out of 5 high fives

Hausfrau

Author: Jill Alexander Essbaum
Publisher: Penguin Random House, 2015
My Source: Louisville Free Public Library

"Anna was a good wife, Mostly." 

That is the first sentence of Hausfrau, a novel about the downfall of Anna Benz, a 37 year-old housewife, mother, and American expat living in a suburb of Zurich, Switzerland. Nine years prior, Anna met and married Swiss born Bruno Benz. Shortly thereafter, Bruno took a managerial position at Cedit Suisse and they moved to his hometown in Switzerland.

Unhappy in her marriage and isolated in a foreign country, Anna seeks out a psychoanalyst at the suggestion of her husband. Anna is guarded in her sessions, evades questions, and lies by omission. The psychoanalyst encourages Anna to take German language classes so she can communicate better with the locals. In class, she meets a Scotsman and begins an illicit affair with him. The reader finds out that this is not Anna's first affair, nor her last.

One day a family tragedy strikes while Anna is away with one of her lovers. Anna's world is turned upside down after that.

The parts depicting the psychoanalyst are interesting and correspond with Anna's circumstances, but are fictional. From what I learned about psychoanalysis in graduate school, the analyst does not generally answer existential questions from the patient. Typically, strict analysts say very little and when they do speak they ask open-ended questions of the patient. Also, they do not offer specific analysis of dreams because dreams are open to the patient's interpretation. Jungian psychoanalysis is very different from general psychotherapy in which the therapist takes a more active role.

One aspect that was interesting to me was the way the author combined the German language lessons with the ways Anna was feeling and the ways she saw others in her life.


          This is basic, class. Present tense. That which happens now. Future tense.
          What will occur. Simple past: what was done. Present perfect?
          What has been done.
          But how often is the past simple? Is the present ever perfect?
          Anna stopped listening. These were rules she didn't trust.


While I enjoyed this book, I also found it quite sad. Sad does not automatically equal bad, but it did equal only 3 out of 5 high fives from me. Bruno is distant and unsympathetic to Anna's plight. Anna is dissatisfied with her life and compulsively uses sex as a way of distracting herself from her boredom and depression. She lacks adequate coping mechanisms, but then it wouldn't be a very interesting story if she did.

                                                         Rating: 3 out of 5 high fives