“Here’s the first thing you need to know about Miss Cathy
Williams: I am the daughter of a daughter of a queen and my mama never let me
forget it."
21 Bookers braved
our beautiful Texas Spring weather to gather at the home of Patty Evans to
discuss this month’s selection led by Katherine McDonald. A big howdy to Katherine’s sister, Debbie,
visiting from the Golden State who is also an avid reader. It was wonderful to
see Pat Reid …we’ve missed you and hope you will join us again. We continue to
receive some encouraging information on how our friend, Sheri Green, is doing
and we are all so happy she is feeling like getting out a little more! Wouldn’t
it be wonderful to see her at Bookers! As friends and Bookers, we strive to
walk in other’s shoes and sometimes those shoes are filled with struggles. We
often feel helpless, but we might dwell in silence today for those in need of
some positive thoughts.
This historical fiction is based on the life
of former slave, Cathy Williams, the first woman to enlist in the peacetime
U.S. Army, and the only to ever serve (1866-1868) with the fabled Buffalo
Soldiers. This cavalry of African Americans mainly served on the Western
frontier after the Civil War, their tasks included helping to control the
Native Americans of the Plains, capture cattle rustlers, protect settlers,
stagecoaches, wagon trains and railroad crews. Their nickname, dubbed by the
Native Americans, remains a mystery, but one theory claims it arose because of
the soldiers’ dark curly hair resembled the fur of a buffalo and/or because
they fought so valiantly and fiercely, the Indians revered them as they did the
mighty buffalo.
Cathy Williams, born into bondage on a
tobacco farm in Missouri was never allowed to consider herself a slave as,
according to her mother, she was a captive destined by her noble warrior blood
to escape the enemy. Her chance at freedom arrived in the form of Union general
Phillip Henry Sheridan and at the end of the Civil War she refuses to return to
servitude, making the monumental decision to disguise herself as a man and join
the Buffalo Soldiers. She’s now a woman fighting for freedom, respect, and
independence inside a man’s world facing monumental daily challenges to keep
her secret while vowing to search for her mother, sister, and the love of her
“dying soldier.”
Katherine McDonald armed with extensive
research and passion walked us through the novel with her usual flair and visuals.
Thank you for your thoroughness! Ms. Bird took a little-known piece of history
and created a novel around it, and as Katherine said, literary license
accounted for about 97% of the narrative. The story may have never been
documented unless a reporter for the St. Louis Daily News interviewed Cathy in
1876 where she offered her story to the world. Incredibly it was not until
Executive Order 9981 issued by President Harry S. Truman in 1948 abolished
discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin in the U.S.
Armed Forces. We talked about Cathy’s comment that “royal blood runs purple”
through her veins and how she saw herself through the lens of her family
history. The realities of a soldier’s life was vividly portrayed existing on
“forty miles a day on beans and hay.” Cathy envisioned herself as a captive,
not a slave – the difference being a captive is imprisoned and a slave is owned
as property – and if she gave into her circumstances, she would lose the
strength and magical powers of her ancestry. We talked about the villains in
the camp and how she effected revenge on them…personally a rattlesnake dead or
alive in my bed would prompt me to abandon army life. Cathy was a trailblazer
(literally) in the same vein as women like Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord
Byron, who in 1842 became the first computer programmer; the black women behind
the book, Hidden Figures, who helped the space race beginning in the
1930’s; and of course my favorite, Nancy Johnson who in 1843 invented the ice
cream freezer. We discussed the surprise ending of the book – whether
satisfactory or heartbreaking – a little of both in my opinion. Some of the
critical points, offered by other reviewers, detailed a white woman’s capacity
to capture the voice of a black woman without becoming cliché; the “sex” scene
with the prostitute; and Cathy as a main character with so much “grit and
determination” moons over a man she spent a couple of days with while he was
almost comatose. Our group as a whole read and enjoyed the story and I hope
those who will be attending the Books in Bloom luncheon with the author come
away with some new perspectives on Cathy and her journey.
On
the business side:
Please continue to recommend books to the selection
committee for consideration for next year. We talked about a few of those today
and I’ll send the information to them from my notes. Many thanks to Bonnie for
expressing our gratitude to the committee for their excellent choices so far
this year and we look forward to another wonderful slate in the coming year.
Once again Bonnie Magee is coordinating our food for
the evening May meeting. The request was sent out today so please respond
directly to her with your choices.
I recently introduced Bookers to BookBub for
consideration of a spotlight on their blog. I told them about us, where we
live, the dynamics of our community, when we meet, and a snippet of the books
we loved, the ones that surprised us, the ones creating the most debate, and
the ones that disappointed. I received a response from them saying “our group
sounds incredible – I love your “one rule” of not saying you didn’t like the
book if you didn’t read it.” He said he would keep our information on file and
be in touch regarding upcoming spotlights. You can go to https://www.bookbub.com/blog/book-clubs.com
to see other spotlights.
Remember Monica Shaw, author of the debut novel The
Rainwater Secret, who visited us in March of 2018. She was interviewed
on Good Morning Texas last month in celebration of National Women’s History
Month, the theme was Visionary Women fitting right into her factual historical
fiction centered around her great aunt who as part of the Medical Missionaries
of Mary devoted her life to teaching leper children in Africa. She’s worked
very hard promoting her book and for an indie debut author it has paid off!
Delia Owens, author of our May selection, Where
the Crawdads Sing, fascinating story on YouTube. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9KKzX6j9G8
Many thanks to Pam Davis for sending me the link. We will anticipate Jean’s
presentation of this wonderful book in May.
COLOR CODING
SYSTEM
WHITE: LIGHT READ
PINK: MODERATELY
CHALLENGING
RED: CHALLENGING
May 14: Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
Set in the 1950’s in very rural North Carolina revolving
around a young woman named Kya Clark – celebrating strength through tragedy and
the resourcefulness of a child left to fend for herself in the swamp.
PINK
Discussion Leader: Jean Alexander
Bonnie Magee will again coordinate the “menu.”
Evening Wine & Cheese Meeting at the home of Melanie Prebis 6:00 pm
Summer
Read: The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
Happy Reading,
JoDee
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