SEPTEMBER 2024 BOOKERS MINUTES & MUSINGS, This Tender Land and The River we Remember, William Kent Krueger

This Tender Land, William Kent Krueger

“If you tell a story, it’s like sending a nightingale into the air with the hope that its song will never be forgotten.”

The River We Remember, William Kent Krueger

“The most frightening thing we do in our lives is to love.”

13 Bookers arrived at the home of Debbie Yarger to usher in Year 21…. finally old enough to imbibe in adult beverages. Now that we are “legal,” we must drink responsibly…LOL. Books + Friendships = Book Club. I have been blessed to have been a part of our incredible Pinnacle book club since inception and as the adage goes, if you love what you're doing, keep it going and with the undying support of our members, you’ve enabled me to do small things with great love. This year as a “bribe” to continue for another twenty-one years… I received a dozen yellow roses and a twelve-year-old bottle of my go-to five o’clock beverage. My heart is full!

On the business side

Welcome new member, Susan Cunyus to Bookers. We hope she enjoyed being a “newbie” and will continue to join us. 

The selection committee has chosen October in the Earth by Olivia Hawker for our October read. It is a historical literary fiction set in depression-era Kentucky. The wife of a celebrated preacher is pushed by his infidelity to embark on an impulsive and liberating journey hopping on a coal train to ride the rails. The complete list has been sent as an attachment earlier today and please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to support Bookish again this year with your orders. As in the past three years, all you must do is tell me what you would like, and I’ll take care of the rest… but you will have to reimburse me for your purchases. 

Thanks to Patty Evans and Jane Shaw for spending every waking minute with your nose in a book! We all appreciate your dedication!

Thanks to those of you who have offered to host. We appreciate your willingness to open your homes to our gang of readers! January 14 and February 11 are the only two not selected.

Each year we collect $10.00 per member for our “slush” fund which we use for any out-of-pocket expenses that might occur during the year and to contribute any leftover funds to worthwhile PWC related causes. Last year Bookers made a $100.00 donation to the PWC Gala Auction as part of a book basket, and we donated the same amount to the annual Daryl Daniels Back-to-school fundraiser. If you were not at the September meeting, please bring your donation to the next one you are able to attend.

Recommended reading: The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese. Threshing of Straw, Kim Catron, The Revolving Heart, Chuck Augello, The Reading List, Sarah Nisha Adams, The Violin Conspiracy, Brendan Slocumb, Let’s Pretend This Will Work, Maddie Dawson.

Everyone read and finished the selections, most liked/loved but one complaint…the text could have been tighter without as many details about the land, the surroundings, and the rivers. If you want to learn more about the author, his biography is attached to the email.

Between the two books, 885 pages of wandering the land and the rivers with unforgettable characters, vivid scenery and imagery, and life’s lessons scattered through the narrative, of faith and loss – combined a little under the page count of the King James Bible @ 1200 pages. If you haven’t read Ordinary Grace, it’s a must read in my opinion. Small town America, 1961, a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new young President. Much of it is biographical, a boy standing at the door of his young manhood trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart.

Both Tender Land and River begin with a prologue, which sets the stage, introduces the characters, settings and/or provides a teaser or dramatic event whetting the readers’ appetite. They both end with an epilogue, set outside of the framework of the story, providing closure or resolution, what happens to the characters, and can set up the introduction of a sequel. Both serve as skillful tools in the execution of the stories.

This Tender Land 

Prologue

Before God rested after creating man and woman, he gave us one final gift…the divine source of all that beauty, he gave us stories. My name is Odie O’Banion and I’m a storyteller. I hope you enjoy my tales as they unfold through my eyes, thoughts, and emotions giving you direct access to my inner world. My story begins in Minnesota in the summer of 1932. I’m a thirteen-year-old orphan living in the Lincoln Training School, a pitiless place where Native American children forcibly separated from their parents are sent to be educated. My brother, Albert, and I are the only white faces among hundreds in the school. My exploits constantly earn the wrath of the superintendent while my brother is the model citizen. After committing a terrible crime, we are forced to flee for our lives taking with us our best friend, Mose, a mute young man of Sioux heritage and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy. Together we steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi in search of a place to call home. Over the course of one unforgettable summer, the four orphan vagabonds’ journey into the unknown, crossing paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. My tale is of killing, kidnapping, and children pursued by demons, a story full of courage and cowardice, love and betrayal…and hope. Heed my advice, “Open yourself to every possibility, for there is nothing your heart can imagine that is not so.”

In a DMN article July 31, 2024 – 973 Native Americans died in U.S. government’s boarding school system finding marked and unmarked graves at 65 of more than 400 of these schools established to forcibly assimilate Native American children into white society. The cause of deaths included sickness and abuse. The children were isolated from their families, denied their identities, stealing from them their languages and the cultures of their Native people. They gave these kids English names, put them through military drills and forced them to perform manual labor such as farming, brick-making and working on the railroad.

Epilogue

“There is a river that runs through time and the universe…a flow of spirit, the heart of all existence, and every molecule of our being is a part of it. And what is God but the whole of that river?” I’m 80 years old now and as I look back on that summer of 1932 when my thirteen-year-old self searched to find peace and pin down God. I want to yell, Odie O’Banion, it’s pointless to worry about the twists and turns or where the current will take you because you know in your heart there is a mystery beyond human comprehension. Yield to the river. Embrace the journey.

My tale of 4 orphans who set sail on an odyssey isn’t quite finished. You must learn where the “greater” river has taken all the Vagabonds. Let’s begin with Clyde Brinkman confessing to the police that Thelma shot our father who was Albert’s dad, but not mine – more on that to come – spending the rest of his life in prison and before he died, he pleaded for forgiveness from Sister Eve, Emmy, Albert, Mose, and me before meeting his maker. I held on to my anger unable to forgive until Sister Eve guided me in the right direction and I let go of Tornado God and realized how profound the words, “you are not alone” were. Albert and Mose returned to St. Paul, but Emmy stayed with Sister Eve who tutored her to understand her remarkable gift. I reunited with Aunt Julia to learn she was my biological mother…the proprietor of a successful brothel – and my father was a client, identity unknown. After an accident left her in a wheelchair, she embarked on a new life of designing and making clothes and by the end of the Great Depression, her gowns were all the rage. Mose tried out for the St. Louis Cardinal baseball team, spending three years in the majors before a career ending injury forced him to retire, returning to the new and improved Lincoln School to coach baseball and basketball and became an advocate for Native American rights in Washington. On his deathbed, his last words to his wife and children were, “not alone.”

Albert and I served in the Navy during the war, and he was quickly put in charge of the powerful engines on an aircraft carrier. He was always my hero and died as one; my firstborn son is named in his honor and his Navy Cross still hangs in my office.

My great-grandchildren beg for stories about the 4 Vagabonds and their battle against the Black Witch, but I tell them about the love story between the imp with his magic harmonica and the princess with the unlikely name of Maybeth Schofield and how they finally reunited, married, and lived happily ever after. She died before they were born, so to them it’s just a lovely fairy tale. I don’t live alone. My sisterly companion is here and although she’s still subject to “episodes of the divine,” she accepts that some things are beyond her reach and ability. The two of the Vagabonds are awaiting our final journey – together as it was in the beginning. In every good tale there’s a seed of truth from which the story grows. Some of what I’ve told you is true. A woman who can heal the afflicted…a girl who sees the future. Ask yourself if these are more difficult to accept than the Big Bang theory when 13.8 billion years ago the universe exploded into being.

Be like children. Open ourselves to every beautiful possibility…for there is nothing our hearts can imagine that is not so…as I said in the prologue.

The River We Remember 

Prologue

This story is told by an unidentifiable character with no name…you can call me the observer. My voice is third person omniscient. Think of me as a movie director perched above the stage using silent signals to direct all the action, drama, characters and their dialogue, inner thoughts and feelings.

People fall in and out of love too easily, but their land is different. The residents of Jewel, Minnesota love it enough to die or kill for it. The fictional Alabaster River cuts diagonally across Black Earth County and most residents think of it as an old friend. But at sunrise or sunset, the waters churn with aggressive channel catfish…they’re mudsuckers, bottom feeders, river vultures…the worst kind of scavengers who will eat anything. This is the story of how they came to eat one of the wealthiest and least liked citizens, Jimmy Quinn, who washed up in the river on Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it was called in 1958. It’s a grim portrait of lost souls existing in the darkness of 1950s America and an eloquent and compelling examination of the horrors of history, racial discrimination, and deep seeded prejudices.  War veteran and Dakota Sioux Indian, Noah Bluestone, is suspected of the crime, is arrested, and refuses to take part in his own defense. With subplots galore and a large cast of characters, readers follow the complex relationships among the townspeople, but the pull of the mystery, the big story questions, and losing yourself in the lives of the characters, keep the pages turning until the very last one.

Epilogue

Remember my role is only an observer so if you long to get to know me more intimately, you’re out of luck. Our lives and those we love merge to create a river, one that carries us forward from beginning to end and the river each of us remembers is different as there are many versions of the stories we tell about the past – some true, others a result of misremembering.

Attorney, Charlie Bauer, now 90 still thinks about the death of Jimmy Quinn as she enjoys the view across a field where once in the middle of a raging storm, she stood like a lightning rod. Not far from her home is the acreage once farmed by the Bluestones, now turned and planted by a good man, Patrick Quinn. Stories are like the seeds planted in the soil, so this one began with a man found eaten by catfish in the Alabaster River and it is not yet finished. Some of the players are no longer a part of it, but the story goes on and the river continues to flow.

Brody and Angie married and the Derns occasionally employ Charlie as counsel using her as a sounding board for how each one remembers the truths of their past. Angie’s son, Scott, now with a repaired heart, is married with two children but still struggles with “if only” …if only he hadn’t befriended Del Wolfe…if only they had not gone to the Bluestone farm and shot the dog, Kyoko might not have been raped as the dog would have barked a warning and Noah Bluestone might still be alive.

After graduation from college, Del Wolfe enlisted in ROTC, was deployed to Vietnam returning home in a flag-draped coffin. Scott places flowers on his grave every Memorial Day along with a page torn from an old paperback copy of The Naked and the Dead (the debut novel by Norman Mailer following an army platoon of foot soldiers fighting the Japanese.)

Police veteran, Connie Graff, kept in touch with Kyoko until he died of lung cancer. She had settled in Davis, California, remarried and died of leukemia, most likely from exposure while in Nagasaki. Sam Wicklow fulfilled his dream of writing a novel titled Spirit River, a fictional account of the fateful events of the summer in Black Earth County. Brody Dern died from a fall after saving his brother, Tom, from plunging off his barn roof. After his funeral, Angie delivered a sealed manila envelope to Charlie that had resided in their safe deposit box labeled with her name on the front. Inside was a small silver ring set with a sapphire and written in Brody’s handwriting was Colleen Quinn. Charlie was certain Brody understood the truth of Jimmy Quinn’s murder and knew she would also understand it. Charlie suspected Brody discovered the truth and Marta had told him everything. If so, he had sworn her to secrecy and made sure any evidence soaked into the boards of the old shack where Quinn died were gone forever. Brody stood in silence protecting the innocent until he died.

Charlie spent her days in solitude awaiting the end purchasing the plot next to her late father due to a small piece of wisdom Jimmy Quinn’s death offered her…we all die, but some of us – those who are blessed or maybe just lucky – have the opportunity before that end to be redeemed. We can let go, forgive others, and forgive ourselves for the worst of what we are or have been. Quinn didn’t have that chance. His death was a reminder to be kind to each other and ready to forgive. Brody and Angie understood this, and Scott will too when he lets go of his guilt. Charlie intends to lie down in peace and not be haunted by “if only.” So, she sips her whiskey, reads her books, and occasionally smokes a cigar as she awaits without fear when she’ll be laid to rest forever beside the moonlit, milk-white flow of the Alabaster, a river she remembers fondly as an old friend. 

Rivers have been used as symbolic elements in literature for centuries. They are environments that serve as central locations for pivotal events, none more evident than in Krueger’s works – the rivers are barriers to overcome, escape routes, sources of livelihood as well as danger. The Minnesota River in Ordinary Grace is a tributary of the Mississippi while the Gilead and the Alabaster are both fictional.

Rivers represent the journey of life and the constant change that comes with it, the passage of time, a peaceful meditative place to reflect on one’s life, and the boundaries between different worlds as in Heart of Darkness where the Congo marks the line between civilization and the darkness of the jungle. In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Mississippi represents the separation between the civilization of the South and the freedom of the North. Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, the Gulf Stream is a metaphor for the unpredictability of life.

In contemporary literature, authors continue to use rivers as multifaceted symbols that reflect the changing social, cultural, and political landscape. In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, the river represents both the passage to freedom and the haunting presence of the past, while in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, the river symbolizes hope and renewal in a world ravaged by disaster.

In short, rivers in literature offer a window into the deepest parts of ourselves. They’re a reminder that, no matter where we come from or what challenges we face, we’re all connected by the flow of life and the power of the natural world.

Our Discussion:

We talked about how both protagonists, thirteen-year-old, Odie O’Banion, and thirty-five-year-old, Brody Dern, were haunted by their actions. Odie blamed Tornado God for all his troubles but shouldered some guilt for what happened in his life. Brody was haunted by his war experience and plagued by guilt for his affair with his brother’s wife and for destroying evidence at the murder scene. Brody’s character didn’t ring true to some as he was this upstanding citizen in a position of authority but had no control over his “emotions” to stop the affair with his sister-in-law…no one is perfect, we’re all flawed, but it was too much of a contradiction to be believable. We discussed the strongest themes in each novel – In Tender Land, the suffering of marginalized groups – the plight of Native American Sioux Indians, the abuse of the children at the Lincoln School, including the orphaned Indians, and the prejudicial treatment of Jews in St. Paul. A July 2024 newspaper article brought to light a current discovery of horrific conditions and many deaths of American Indians in one of these institutions. River focused on the scars of war on returning soldiers, their families, and communities. Yearning for home and family is a powerful thread in Tender Land especially for Odie after his parents died but what he learned as he traveled with his fellow orphans was the best relations are not via blood, but via understanding. His family was the group of misfits, and his home was the adventures they shared. We discussed tent revivals which were common during the timeframe of the novel and how often they are seen as shams, snake-charmers soliciting funds from desperate people and providing false hope of healing. Sister Eve was portrayed differently…as her magic was in belief in God and could only help the true believers. She helped and mentored young Emmy to understand her gift and how to use it to help others. In River, the author used the Alabaster as a character, a thread that tied the past to the present as almost every scene lies on or near the water setting boundaries as if there was not a world outside Black Earth County. I failed to mention how River supported the message in J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield struggled to find his way from adolescence to adulthood highlighting the pain and bewilderment that goes along with the transformation. He was a loner who saw himself standing alone in a field at the edge of a cliff, and it was his job to keep the innocent from falling off. In River, that character is Brody Dern. And in conclusion, there is a moment when Garnet Dern has the power to destroy Angie Madison, whom she views as her rival. She decided not to use that power if Angie promised to tell the truth to Brody. One of our astute Bookers’ members offered these words of wisdom, “If you worked in a brothel, destroy your journals.”

“A dream is like a river ever changing as it flows, and a dreamer’s just a vessel that must follow where it goes.” Garth Brooks

Happy Reading,

JoDee

MAY 2024 BOOKERS MINUTES & MUSINGS, The Story of Beautiful Girl, Rachel Simon

16 met at the home of Ann Ireland for our annual evening wine & cheese meeting. Many thanks to outgoing Food & Beverage Czar, Bonnie Magee, for organizing her final event for Bookers before handing the reins to Kim Nalls and we appreciate everyone who provided a wonderful spread to soak up the libations.

To Bonnie from all of us:

Farewell feels like the end of a good book, but the last chapter has yet to be written because all the characters will remain a part of your life. The cards and flowers reflect how much we will miss you and hope your new community has some of the endearing features of our beloved Pinnacle. Happy Trails to you and John…until we meet again!!

 

Speaking of farewells…we are saying sayonara, adieu, au revoir, ciao, and adios to a fantastic Year 20 of Bookers and look forward to an equally wonderful year of reading with friends when we resume in September. On behalf of the PWC, Activity Director Extraordinaire, Amy Hoff, asked if I would like to continue in my Bookers’ role, to which I thought for a nanosecond and of course, accepted…it’s just such an honor, I love our time together, and appreciate all the support! Our book selection committee already has a slate of books to review for the upcoming year so stay tuned! If you come across a possible Bookers’ book for us to consider for Year 21, please let Jane, Patty or me know. One you might enjoy for extra reading is Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. It was selected by Readers and was highly recommended by several of our “joint” members.

 

Bookers selected The Story of Beautiful Girl in January 2013. In looking back at the minutes from that meeting we paid tribute to the 20 children and 6 adults killed in the December 14, 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Connecticut – the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary school in the United States.  How could we have imagined how the number of incidents has sadly grown in a little over a decade since then?

 

About the author:

Rachel Simon had intimate knowledge of those with intellectual disabilities as her sister, Beth, only eleven months older, didn’t cry as a baby, didn’t move, or react when a doctor tossed her in the air as she tumbled back into his arms. After undergoing a battery of tests, doctors diagnosed her as retarded. Today there would be a plethora of services, but back then, there was one: institutionalization. Their father, Ben, vowed she would never spend a minute inside that type of facility. He was a child of the Depression, his mother died when he was six, and his father, unable to cope with raising two children on his own, sent his boys to an orphanage. He would later say to his own children, “When you live in an institution, you know at the bottom of your heart that you’re not really loved.” No child of his would experience that.

 

Rachel detailed her changing relationship with Beth in her 2003 bestselling memoir, Riding the Bus With My Sister, which was made into a Hallmark movie. She learned there was a secret history in our country, one a true story of a young deaf man who in 1945 was discovered wandering the alleys in Illinois. No one understood his signs, so he was sent to an institution where he was given a number, John Doe No. 24, dying there after 50 years of confinement. Her goal in writing The Story of Beautiful Girl was to give him the life he never had, his story never leaving her mind. It began as a writing exercise after she lost her job as a creative writing instructor. She wrote about a knock on the door of the schoolteacher’s house and the story just unspooled from there. When asked if she was concerned about being pigeonholed, she quoted a disability scholar who said all great literature is a disability story. Stories told through the eyes of people with disabilities are not about fixing, healing, curing, overcoming, being superhuman or supernatural…they’re regular people having their own struggles and sometimes, triumphs.

 

She made it clear that her characters and the people she researched did not have serious mental illness as defined by the DSM-V (an organization that provides clear guidelines in diagnosing mental health and brain-related conditions) but had learning disabilities, speech impediments, deafness, muteness, autism, etc…The institutions depicted in her novel were not for the serious mentally ill, but for people with disabilities considered “different.” These are the ones she feels should be shut down. (Thanks to our astute Ms. Hoff for pointing this out!)

 

Rachel tours the country speaking about disability issues, hearing countless stories about brothers and sisters who suddenly disappeared, about siblings that people never knew they had. At one conference, a bigwig seated with her on the dais told her later, sobbing, that the first time he saw his sister was when she was in her coffin. Simon stood up and put her arms around the man. “From that day on, I never sat down for a book signing…I just do them standing up.”

 

Helen Keller’s activism on behalf of the disabled prompted investigative journalist, Geraldo Rivera, to produce an exposé on Staten Island’s Willowbrook State School in 1972. The facility housed 6,200 residents in buildings meant for 4,000 – the overcrowding fostering abuse, dehumanization, and a public health crisis where researchers intentionally used residents without their permission to test the effectiveness of various vaccines. Rivera’s report confirmed what Senator Robert Kennedy discovered after paying an unannounced visit to the facility saying, thousands of residents were living in filth in rooms less comfortably than cages that house animals at the zoo. This was a pivotal development in the history of disability rights, setting important precedents for humane and ethical treatment of people with developmental disabilities living in institutions. A plaque in the Willowbrook community room paints an accurate picture reading, “I would rather live life believing there is a God, rather than die and find out there is not.”

 

John McCaa, a retired news anchor and award-winning journalist, wrote a column in the Dallas Morning News on Mother’s Day detailing his own mother’s influence on him. He highlights one incident when he and his sister watched as a young neighborhood boy with developmental disabilities passed their home. They made up stories about him because he was “different,” and their mother heard their laughter. Although furious and with tears pooling in her eyes, she calmly said, “You know those special needs kids show more love than you so-called normal children ever will. They love with their whole hearts.” She could not imagine such hurtful words coming from her own children thinking at that moment her efforts to help shape their characters had failed…but her words and reaction profoundly changed John and his sister’s lives.

Synopsis:

The Story of Beautiful Girl is a sweeping love story between a developmentally disabled woman and an African American deaf man who met at the Pennsylvania State School for the Incurable and Feebleminded in 1968. It is a tale of unconditional love and a life-long search to find each other and to locate the child they were forced to leave in the care of a retired schoolteacher. The saga was even more poignant in light of Lynnie and Homan’s disabilities, incarcerated because they were not viewed in what others deemed to be normal and able to function in society, clearly victims of the mindset in the 1960s era.

The novel is a testimonial to overcoming impossible odds, a tutorial of resilience, and how to move forward without abandoning your purpose. “There are two kinds of hope – the kind you can’t do anything about and the kind you can.” This story ends with a beginning. Can you imagine a better day. I gave it a standing ovation!

Our discussion:

Most Bookers read and finished and either loved or liked the selection – the not my cup of tea option was a no show for those in attendance. I failed to point out the meaning of the epigraph at the beginning of the novel. These are short literary devices authors use to set the tone and outline the main theme to readers. Ms. Simon included this message: “Telling our stories is holy work” which refers to the plight of the disabled and a plea for equal treatment. We discussed how two words, Hide Her, changed Martha’s life forever, not calling the authorities when she witnessed the desperation and devotion between the couple and the child. We visited the dedication of teachers but in particular those who teach special needs children and their impact on the well-being of those students. We talked about Kate breaking the rules for Lynnie because she recognized her as a person, not just an “upper division imbecile” and served as her guardian angel protecting and encouraging her artwork throughout the book. The faith-healing scene revealed Homan’s and Sam’s unwillingness to be “fixed” reverting to the numerous “snake-oil” salesmen, smooth talkers who prey on the vulnerable to garner donations to their so-called “ministries.” Julia’s lack of knowledge about her parents was discussed, our group wanting Martha to tell her the truth long before she did – but, IMHO, the storyline would have suffered. Symbolism played a role throughout the novel, starting with the floating feathers interspersed throughout including the inside and back covers – in print copies - representing virtues, hope for a better life and the courage it takes to reach higher. The red feather floated down between Lynnie and Homan during an embrace – red is the color of good fortune. The child’s arm reaching for a black feather on the back cover is supposed to mean grasping mystical wisdom that comes with spiritual evolution (according to the powers that be.) Lighthouses represent a variety of symbols including danger, strength, safety, a guiding light, hope for the lost, and vigilance as a lighthouse is never switched off. Martha’s lighthouse-man mailbox created for her by one of her students was the reason Lynnie chose her house when she, Homan, and the baby were trying to find a place to hide. A disturbing conversation between Kate and ex-guard, Clarence, now sober and atoning for his sins, revealed the horrors of his partner, Smokes, raping Lynnie. Art played a significant role throughout the book, none more significant than in the final chapter when Julia discovered the mosaic, Dreams of Hope, defined as a collaboration of artists, many with abilities, and disabilities creating art that could be appreciated by all people – learning this special piece was in fact created by her parents, Homan Wilson & Lynnie Goldberg. Some of us wanted Julia to meet them in person and the ending felt a little rushed. We also discussed the need for institutions to serve the needs of those “trapped in darkness.” Homes such as the original Buckner Orphans Home (now Buckner International) in Dallas was created in the post-Civil-War era in Texas that was filled with parentless children due to disease or hardship and Tim Tebow’s faith-based organization that caters to the hurting and marginalized people of all ages.

On the business side:

We got a nice thank you from Steve Garwacki for our donation to Hospice in Linsey’s name. He was very grateful that we honored “his sweetheart” in this way.

 

Hope you all enjoy our summer reads, This Tender Land and The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger. September 10, 2024, will begin our 21^st year of meeting and reading. Granted it is quite a way off, but if you can host, please let me know.

 

It's never too late for a happy-ever-after ending in books and in life!

Happy Reading,

JoDee

APRIL 2024 BOOKERS MINUTES & MUSINGS, A Likely Story by Leigh McMullan Abramson

 

“Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.” Albert Camus

11 brave Bookers sloshed through the torrential rain – as if we were in the opening scene of Macbeth – to meet at the home of Jane Shaw to discuss this month’s debut novel framed around the dysfunctional Manning family set in the ego-filled literary world in New York with retreats to Long Island’s Sag Harbor, home to musicians, songwriters, artists, and authors.

The author is a practicing lawyer who lives in New York City with her husband and two children. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic Tablet, and Real Simple.

The cover of A Likely Story, with its house of cards made from books, is a fitting metaphor for the insubstantial structure of the Manning family. The world according to bestselling author of nineteen books, Ward Manning, is one where his family, fans, and his publishers all rotate around him like planets around the sun. Isabelle Manning, as an aspiring writer growing up in the 1990s, lives in the shadow of her famous father, spending her life trying to make him proud. Wife and mother, Claire, could be a candidate for sainthood with her dedication to raising her child and her silent acquiescence deferring her own ambition to her controlling husband. Brian, Isabelle’s pseudo boyfriend, has more patience than good sense when it comes to her, and godmother, Glenda, with her flair, humor, and wisdom provides a breath of fresh air in a novel dotted with some unlikeable characters. The author weaves a narrative about the price of success and how secrets corrode the family from within.

Discussion:

Most except for one read, several loved/liked and for one, it was not her cup of tea. In the novel Isabelle considers her book necklace, a gift from her father, among her most precious possessions. In keeping with this spirit, we asked if anyone had a piece of jewelry or some other treasure that holds that type of personal meaning, to please bring it to share with the group. Patsy wore a pendant from her mom with her picture that reminds her of her graciousness and class and remains close to her heart. Bonnie wears and never takes off a Best Mom necklace given by her daughter; the miracle baby born at 39. She received it on her 51^st birthday along with an apology as she wanted to give it to her on her 50^th but didn’t have enough allowance at the time. Jane’s mother was the youngest of nine and when her grandmother gave birth to their first child, a boy, her grandfather placed a watch next to her plate and it still works. Mine was my Aloha necklace, a gift to me on my 30^th birthday from my parents while on a trip to Hawaii. Special memories will stay with us all for a lifetime.

Literary scandals (as in this book) are not rare. In 2020 Bookers selected The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and compared it to The Giver of Stars which was released five months after Book Woman and was surrounded by allegations of perjury. We discussed eleven-year-old, Helen Keller, who published a short story like another one, deducing it must have been read to her and she unknowingly absorbed it as her own. Confusion still lingers about whether Harper Lee’s, Go Set a Watchman, was the unpublished original manuscript of To Kill a Mockingbird and Clifford Irving’s claim to have written the first authorized autobiography of Howard Hughes, even forging letters to himself from Hughes.

We talked about what makes a writer a writer and how the characters viewed that label – Isabelle and Ward – through a publication lens; Claire – the joy of storytelling; Glenda – a curse; Brian – the wedge between him and his love for Isabelle. The book within a book device was a unique way to take readers along the path to the ending – our take – confusing at first but deemed very creative by the end. Livia was Claire’s alter ego, but the book was published under Isabelle’s name, and we felt Claire would have written it differently. The author’s favorite character to write was Ward – his voice resonated with her. and his self-involvement challenged her to make him both egomaniac, but also sad and pathetic so he didn’t come across villainous making it impossible to hate him entirely. Did she succeed – most thought he was an odious jerk. We talked about the stereotypical Texas obsessed fan Ward visited and how she deflated his balloon when she ended the two-day fling, much to his surprise. Our favorite character was Brian – he was loyal to a fault but an endearing character that might have followed another path if he had “grown a set” and moved on from Isabelle. Claire was met with mixed feelings – loved her sacrifices and devotion to her daughter, but she should have been fed up with her blowhard husband. Godmother Glenda was a hoot – here I am…here’s what’s going to happen. Our least favorites were Ward and Darby, a phony who was a mini-Ward. We talked about whether Ward’s writer’s block was caused by an illness, or mental incapacity…he was looking for a reason why he couldn’t’ create and feared his daughter was going to outshine him removing her from his will so if she was successful, she had to make it on her own. Ward did get back on his feet in the end to write about himself and Isabelle’s book was a huge success. We discussed Claire’s high society WASPY upbringing and her quirky parents. The audio version was confusing due to the format switching back and forth and how this trend seemed to be becoming the norm for novelists.  We chatted about Miss Muffins, the obese Abyssinian cat, who was Claire’s archenemy that Isabelle stole/captured…some Bookers not pleased with this twist. A happy ending celebrated the characters’ evolving into better versions of themselves – at least most of them.

We talked about the ever-evolving presence of AI and how Microsoft is working on a state-of-the-art software where a person can talk about anything for thirty minutes and it will have the capability to translate into a book and the importance of protecting yourself and your family by creating a “safe” code word in case you receive one of those terrifying phone calls where the caller claims to have your loved one…Oh my, indeed! Stay tuned.

On the business side:

Our farewell to Year 20 will be our May 14th meeting – our annual wine & cheese evening meeting @ Ann Ireland’s home @ 5:30 p.m. We’re taking a break from meeting, not reading.

Jane & Patty have both agreed to remain on the book selection committee unless anyone else is interested in serving?

Kim Nalls has graciously agreed to assume Bonnie’s Food & Beverage Czar role for our two meetings, Christmas and our May evening wine & cheese meeting.

BookTrib will feature Bookers in their newsletter, and we provided a group photo, and I answered a questionnaire telling a little about our special group. I’ll keep you posted.

If anyone is interested in Books in Bloom set for Friday May 17^th, at the Athens Country Club, please let me know as soon as possible. It is the annual fundraiser for Henderson County. Clint W. Murchison Memorial Library. Tables for 8 are $500.00 ($62.50 each person) or individual seating at non-hosted tables are $65.00 each. Lunch is provided. Jill Beam, daughter of 92-year-old Rose-Mary Rumbley, public speaker, historian, humorist, author, and actress. Jill’s book, Growing Up Rumbley will be available. The table theme is a floral centerpiece. I’ll write one check for our group if anyone is interested, and you can reimburse me.

 

Happy reading,

JoDee