fiction – Page 7 – Finding My Wings

Authors on the importance of writing and the worlds they create – Book Expo Part 2

After a day of travel and 5 miles on the conference floor, it took some energy to arrive back at McCormick Place in time for the 8 am Adult Book & Author Breakfast. I am so glad I did.

One lesson learned – humor that may fly at 8 pm with a glass of wine can fall flat at 8 am when the caffeine has yet to do its job. Faith Salie, a TV and radio journalist, and panelist on “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!”, hosted the event and spoke first about her humorous memoir Approval Junkie. Her opening monolog was a mix of intentionally bad publishing jokes and one-liners about her pursuit of a baby-daddy as she reached forty. When she finally segued to the importance of reading and writing throughout her life, Salie set the tone for the serious content to follow.

Colson Whitehead spoke next about The Underground Railroad, his upcoming novel that imagines this path to freedom as a physical railway traversing the country. It’s a book he’s been imagining for years and finally put to paper. He described his journey, from a lowly staffer at The Village Voice more than two decades ago. And he told of how he “giggle-tested” the story line to see if the project was worth pursuing. In The Underground Railroad Whitehead confronts the issues and danger of that time in a story that may remind readers of Swift’s writings. I can’t wait to read my copy.

I’ve been a huge Louise Penny fan for years. Her books are one of my go-to choices when I need to refresh my reading palate. A Great Reckoning is Penny’s latest mystery about the small village of Three Pines and Armand Gamache. She spoke about her childhood and the magic of books, showing her that anything was possible and that bravery, strength, and love could be found within. She shared that Gamache has been modeled on her husband, the former head of hematology at Montreal’s Children’s Hospital, a very caring man who had to see patients and their parents under the worst of circumstances. And then she told that over the last three years the husband she has known for decades has suffered from severe dementia, unable to walk, speak or recognize her. Each day begins with her reminding him he is strong, brave, handsome and loved. Louise Penny is clearly all those things as well.

Were this not enough, the final author on the panel was Sebastian Junger. He came to fame most almost twenty years ago after writing A Perfect Storm. In 2010, his war documentary, Restrepo, about a platoon of soldiers in Afghanistan came to the screen with widespread acclaim and awards. Out of this began a further study into PTSD, the importance of connections and belonging, the result of which is Tribe. The subject and his conclusions should bring about many conversations in the coming months.

It was a very good morning – informative and thought-provoking. From the four, I have literary fiction, mystery, nonfiction, and humor choices for any particular mood. And as I read them, I’ll keep you posted!

Unreliable narrators make for page turners

Regular readers know that most of my posts speak to the suitability of the book for group discussion. In the case of the three books here, The Widow, Gone Girl, and The Girl on the Train, the literary device seems the most interesting subject for conversation.

After the author, the second most important player in most books is the narrator. Often that key role is overlooked as s/he/it lays out the setting, describes the characters and moves the plot along. At the author’s discretion, the narrator may discern the inner thoughts of the characters or view the goings-on as if from above. When a novel is told in the first person that world is seen only through his or her eyes. At times, multiple characters are responsible for providing vastly different perspectives.

In the last few years a number of very popular novels have been written using an unreliable narrator or narrators. Each novel begins with a seemingly normal situation that quickly goes awry. If you are a film lover, the master of the genre was Alfred Hitchcock.

Two weeks ago the latest addition to the literary subgenre was published. Fiona Barton’s The Widow opens shortly after an accused child kidnapper was killed by a bus. Told from the perspectives of the widow, the mother of the missing child, the detective and a reporter, the story jumps forward from the death and back to the kidnapping and subsequent investigation. There is a measure of desperation in each of the narrators – the detective’s career was hard hit as the kidnapping remained unsolved, the mother’s capability, love and morality were questioned, the reporter is in search of that career-making scoop. The undercurrents of the widow’s life bring added tension to the story.

In Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl a young wife goes missing on her fifth anniversary. Nick and Amy appear so happy. As the backstory unfolds, it becomes apparent 41Afp8YyB-L._SX303_BO1,204,203,200_ that life is not all it seems. With each chapter, questions quickly arise about Nick’s veracity. He isn’t telling the whole truth. Using Amy’s diary, her perspective on the marriage and her intentions are brought out bit by bit. At each turn, the reader wonders who, if anyone, is really being truthful and how far out of control the characters and story will spiral. Flynn set a new bar for dark stories of domestic life. Her writing is terrifyingly brilliant and I’m not sure I’d want to have her at my dinner table!

Last winter The Girl on the Train was touted as the successor to Gone Girl. Paula Hawkins main character is a woman whose life is out of control. Rachel travels 516YNFvZnrL._SX332_BO1,204,203,200_ on the same train daily, observing the changing patterns of those who live in the neighborhood along the tracks. When she sees a crime, she reports it. Drinking too much, out of a job, and hiding the truth of her situation from family and friends, Rachel’s credibility is immediately suspect. Connections to some of those under suspicion further call her judgment into question. Rachel, too, wonders at times if her memory is accurate. While she lies to others and to herself about her circumstances, Rachel is sincere in her interest in seeing the truth uncovered. In the next few months, The Girl on the Train will open in movie theaters. In the film version the story is moved from Britain to the US but little else is changed.

Given the publicity and popularity surrounding the release of each of these titles, expect to see more novels of this type in the months ahead.

The Haunting Voice of ‘The Book of Aron’

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The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard (Knopf, 2015)
In 40 words or less: In this much-lauded novel, Shepard inhabits the body and soul of a child in this story of the privation in Warsaw as the Ghetto was established, made smaller, and then eliminated. Extensive research adds depth to the writing.
Genre: Historical fiction
Locale: Warsaw, Poland
Time: 1939 – 42
Read this for a unique and heart-wrenching portrayal of life in the Warsaw Ghetto. The heroics of Janusz Korczak, a doctor in the ghetto orphanage, are seen through the eyes of young Aron.

How is this Holocaust novel different from all other Holocaust novels? As a book group leader and member for many years, I’m well aware that many people have had their fill of Holocaust literature. For some, it is a reminder of the suffering and loss of family members. Others find little new in the telling. Shepard’s choice of character and voice set The Book of Aron apart from any other.

Aron is about ten years old, living well outside of Warsaw, when the book begins. His family is barely subsisting and barely talking to one another. His father invests his limited funds in odd inventory which he is unable to sell. His mother has little patience for his efforts and devotes much of her time to her youngest son who is chronically ill. Aron is left to his own devices and badgered by his older brothers as only being out for himself. As life in the countryside becomes more difficult, the family moves to Warsaw with the hope of bettering their situation.

Shortly after arriving in Warsaw, the Germans ordered the Jews into the area of the city walled in to become the Ghetto. A second family moved into Aron’s small apartment, including a boy of Aron’s age, Boris. They develop an uneasy friendship and become part of a small group of children who developed street skills to aid in their families’ survival.

This band of scavengers and thieves crosses paths with the variety of authorities in the Ghetto: Jewish, Polish, German and Gestapo. In his essence, Aron is lonely and unhappy. So when approached by a low-level authority with a small measure of kindness, Aron has little problem with occasionally answering his questions.

As conditions decline in the Ghetto, cold, hunger and disease are the driving forces as the children scrounge for food and other basics. Early on Aron’s brother dies from his infirmities. Then his father and brothers are taken, allegedly to provide labor at a camp away from the city. Alone together, Aron and his mother rebuild their bond until she succumbs to disease. Left alone, homeless with no family to take him in, Aron moves to Dr. Korczak’s orphanage.

Janusz Korczak was the pen name of a true and genuine hero of the Warsaw Ghetto. Under the direst conditions imaginable, he created a home and family for the almost 200 children in his care. Through Aron’s eyes, the intelligence, resourcefulness and humility of Korczak are seen. Daily, Korczak made rounds of the neighborhood with one or two children, seeking food, clothing, medicine and money to sustain the orphanage. The children were schooled, and created musicals and programs to entertain the community and themselves. Several attempts were made to secret Korczak out of the Ghetto both for his good deeds and to tell the world about conditions inside. To his death, he insisted on staying with his children.

Every aspect of life in the Ghetto is described in Aron’s words and seen through his eyes. The word choices, be they in dialog or description, ring true for a growing pre-teen. It requires extraordinary skill for Shepard to stay in character throughout the book. Beyond the language, there is the combination of risk-taking and naiveté that is seen in children who must fend for themselves.

The depth of Shepard’s research colors every aspect of his storytelling. The Book of Aron was rightfully a finalist for the National Book Award, an American Library Association Notable Book for 2015, Carnegie Medal Shortlist 2015.

I still hear Aron’s voice.

‘My Brilliant Friend’ is a book for sharing

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My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein (Europa Editions, 2012)
In 40 words or less: The first of four novels by an elusive Italian author centering on the friendship of two women from their childhood in Naples to the present.
Genre: Fiction
Locale: Naples
Time: 1950’s-60’s
Read this for an intimate view of life in an isolated working class Italian neighborhood.

In Spring, 2012, I went to the Europa Editions booth at Book Expo and asked which of their titles they would recommend above all others for book groups. And I took home a yellow-bound advance copy of My Brilliant Friend. As I started to read it, I realized it really is a book to share in a group.

Fast forward to 2015. The final book, The Story of the Lost Child, is released in the U.S. market to great acclaim. My Brilliant Friend becomes a bestseller and I encourage a group to choose it for discussion. And just this week it was announced there’s a move to bring the story to the (small) screen.

Reading about Elena and Lila often seems like you are tagging along behind two best friends, hearing their secrets and their bickering, growing closer and farther apart as they face individual challenges. From childhood the girls were different from most in their tight-knit neighborhood. Smart and competitive, their families often don’t understand them. Ferrante takes the reader in and out of all the apartments, low-end shops and into the intimacies of families struggling to make their way. The community has its own enforcers and watches out for those unable to take of themselves.The first book in the quartet takes Elena and Lila from playing with dolls through Lila’s wedding.

Ferrante’s fine writing, as ably translated by Ann Goldstein, belies the roughness in the storytelling that reflects life in these Naples neighborhoods in the 1950’s and 60’s. Disputes are often settled with violence and women have little or no say in their lives. People cross the boundaries of the neighborhood as if they were leaving the country. And there is little curiosity about the Naples that tourists visit or even the nearby seashore.

The mission of the publisher, Europa Editions, is to bring international literary fiction to American and British audiences. Based in New York with deep Italian roots, their books are well-written, affordable and beautiful. I love the look and feel of their books – soft-covered with a matte finish and books flaps as part of the cover. My Brilliant Friend is a wonderful introduction to this publishing gem.

‘Circling the Sun’ brings colonial Kenya alive

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Circling the Sun by Paula McLain (Ballantine Books, 2015)
In 40 words or less: A fictional portrayal of a the life and loves of Beryl Markham. In the 1920’s she was an accomplished horse trainer and aviator in Africa, traveling in the same circles as Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen, of Out of Africa fame.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Locale: primarily Kenya
Time: Early 20th century
Read this if you enjoy past eras brought to life and are interested in lesser-known but extraordinary people.

Beryl Markham was a woman well ahead of her times. In the hands of Paula McLain, already well-known for her fictionalized portrayal of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Markham is seen as always meeting a new challenge and seeking true and lasting love.

Born in England just after the start of the 20th century, Beryl’s family moved to Kenya where her father was an acclaimed horse trainer. Her mother didn’t take to life there and deserted the family, returning to England. Beryl idolized her father and loved spending time with him and the horses. Her free time was spent with the children of the local Kipsigis tribe, especially the son of one of the tribal leaders. Always competitive, she met challenge for challenge all the early physical tests the tribe set for young males. Her friendship with Kibii was in many ways her touchstone throughout her life.

In the course of describing Beryl’s formative years, McLain reveals aspects of the educational, social and economic life of ex-pats living in Kenya during the colonial period. The parallel lives of the Kips tribe is seen as well, including the interactions and roles of each.

Her father’s economic reversals helped propel Beryl into an early and unfortunate marriage. Truly her father’s daughter, she threw herself into becoming a premier horse trainer, a field unheard of for women. These were just the first of many rollercoaster-like changes in her adult life.

McLain brings 21st century sensibilities to many events that were scandalous in Beryl Markham’s lifetime. She was attracted to interesting and influential men, and they to her, like fireflies to a flame. Throughout her life, Beryl Markham ignored barriers set before her based on gender or station. She became an acclaimed aviator, the first female pilot to fly solo east to west across the Atlantic.

The strength of this novel is the vivid pictures Paula McLain paints of Kenya and its people during this period. Having see the movie Out of Africa, based on Isak Dinesen’s memoir, I “saw” the story as I read. McLain’s book leaves me wanting to know more about this extraordinary woman, likely West with the Night, Markham’s 1942 memoir.

This novel would be well-suited for book groups interested in discussing a British feminist in Africa in the early 20th century. For me, it was even more appealing as a long winter afternoon’s read with a blanket and a cup of tea.

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