“Use it up; Wear it out; Make it
do; or Do without.”
1930’s America
19 Bookers sloshed to the home of Daryl Daniels to
discuss this month’s selection set within the background of America’s Great
Depression. Rokhshie Malone led the dialogue of this domestic/historical
fiction tale capturing the hopelessness sweeping the country in 1931. She
provided a storyboard featuring the timeline of this period between 1929 and
1938 and into 1940 when the United States began sending military supplies and
other assistance to the Allies in Europe. Another chart displayed what items
cost in 1931 along with two different book covers, and a tribute to the theme
song of the era, “Brother Can You Spare A Dime.” The majority of Bookers
read and liked the book; a few loved it; a couple were iffy. Well done
Rokhshie…with a nod to hubby Bud.
The author stumbled upon a1948 newspaper photograph of
four young siblings on the steps of an apartment building with the mother
shielding her face from the camera…the sign haunted Ms. McMorris – 4
Children For Sale – inquire within. She wondered what could have possibly
pushed a parent to “sell” her children. The answer to that question became the
foundation of this novel.
A picture is worth a thousand words, but this one, 2
children for sale, consisting of one number and three words told the
story of families during the Great Depression. In the midst of all this, the
photo caught the nation on fire – it humanized the struggles of everyday life
and in doing so gave people something else to talk about instead of
unemployment and starvation. There was an outpouring of compassion for a mother
and her children and Ellis Reed became the reporter with the pulse on the
commonality of man and his plight, ambitions, and triumphs. At the heart of the
story is loss and how individuals deal with it – Jim Reed, Sylvia Millstone, and
Geraldine Dillard lost children while Lily Palmer as an unwed mother would have
lost her reputation if her son was discovered.
The photo affected more than Ellis’s career – it was
viewed by thousands, each seeing what they wanted to see in the photograph –
even today we bring our own perceptions to the table…most skewed by our past –
either consciously or unconsciously. Lily and Ellis were kindred spirits, both
carrying the torch of survivors out to prove their worth to themselves and to
their families. They both dealt with guilt – Lily’s with the stigma of having a
child out of marriage and Ellis’s success built on the hardships of others.
Our discussion included what prompted the title of the
novel with Ellis wondering what else he had sold on a Monday – himself, his
integrity, his principles. There are two English nursery rhymes that might have
contributed to the title…Solomon Gundy born on a Monday, Christened on
Tuesday, Married on Wednesday, Took ill on Thursday, Got worse on Friday, Died
on Saturday, Buried on Sunday – the other another one to consider – Monday’s
child is fair of face, Tuesday’s child is full of grace, etc.…or it could
have been just the beginning of the week…Ms. McMorris most likely had a solid
reason. The prologue garnered some discussion as it began where
the novel ended – the setting in the waiting area of the hospital where a
reporter approaches the story’s unknown narrator seeking a statement…and Lily
says, “It started with a picture.” We talked about the image of a
pregnant teenage Lily standing at the top of the stairs pondering how a fall
would certainly cause a miscarriage…until the baby kicked; the powerful scene
between a father and son, at odds their entire lives, with each carrying an
unspeakable burden hoping to find a way to right irreversible wrongs; the
multiple side stories; the setting, although realistic, might have been more so
with heightened attention to more family struggles (although an editor might
not agree); the events unfolding seemed rushed – almost frantic toward the end
but keep in mind Lily and Ellis did not have the luxury of time if they were
going to rescue Ruby and Calvin; the heartbreaking realization that Calvin was
chained in the barn of his “new home.” Most agreed the breaking into the
orphanage was a touch over the top – but how else are they going to get the
information they needed – and again time was of the essence. The characters
were well developed pointing to how each one grew as the novel progressed
except the depth of Mrs. Millstone’s mental illness although hinted at was
revealed enough for the reader to recognize the seriousness of her disease. One
of our members shared that she has a friend who was born in Arkansas to a poor
family – she and her older brother were actually “sold” to a loving couple –
this happening in the early 1950’s not during the depression but points to how
some families still have to make difficult choices. Bottom line, the novel was
somewhat predictable, was certainly a page-turner, tying up all the loose ends
with a happy ending for most.
On
the business side:
Please thank our new Bookers Selection Committee,
Jean McSpadden, Janet Noblitt, and Beverly Dossett for volunteering to read,
read, and read more in order to find those Bookers’ treasures we all love. As
we requested last year, please send me the titles of 3 books you recommend for
consideration by the committee by March 1st and I’ll pass them along.
Reminder: The
deadline to turn in your garage sale survey is Thursday, February 13 at the
conclusion of the PWC luncheon. Please make your voice count.
TaleFlick is a company that curates books for movies
and television. I submitted my book about a year ago and now Life in a
Box was selected to participate in the weekly discovery contest. Voting
at www.taleflick.com
began Monday, February 10 @ 10:00 a.m. Pacific through Friday, February 14 @
4:00 p.m. Pacific. The one with the most votes is rewarded with a direct
pipeline into the industry professionals. I would greatly appreciate your
support!
Kathleen Kent, author of the Heretic’s Daughter
is the guest speaker of the 2020 Books in Bloom fundraiser benefitting the
Henderson County Public Library. She will be speaking about her newly released
noir fiction, The Burn, on April 17, 2020 at the First United
Methodist Church, Athens. If you’re not familiar with this genre, it is a
subgenre of crime fiction, often called hardboiled fiction where right and
wrong are not clearly defined and the protagonists are often tragically flawed.
I have reserved a table of 8 for Bookers and we have two more members
interested in going. Individual tickets are available but if we can find 6
more, I can reserve another table for us. Please let me know if you are
interested asap.
On Saturday March 21, 2020 a new bookstore will
hold their grand opening in Malakoff, and I’m honored to be part of the
celebration. Details to follow.
As suggested last month I reconnected with Robert
Dugoni, (Sam Hell’s author) regarding the audio version. I told him that
several Bookers commented what a wonderful job he did narrating as they “felt
every word.” Also, I told him about the “standing ovation moments” in the book.
He responded “how very heart warming. Thanks so much for letting me know.”
COLOR
CODING SYSTEM
WHITE: LIGHT READ
PINK: MODERATELY
CHALLENGING
RED: CHALLENGING
March 10: The
Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo
A debut novel set in a
house in an olive grove in Northern California, a touching story bringing to
life five generations of women, including an unforgettable 112 year-old
matriarch determined to break all Guinness longevity records – the secrets and
lies that divide them and the love that ultimately ties them together.
PINK
Home of Patty Evans
Discussion Leader:
Beverly Dossett
April 14: Beloved
by Toni Morrison
In honor of the late
Nobel Prize laureate’s finest achievement which stares unflinchingly into the
abyss of slavery transforming history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as
intimate as a lullaby…filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope.
RED
Home
of Jean Alexander
Discussion
Leader: Katherine McDonald
May 12: The
One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood
One-hundred and four-year
old Ona tells the eleven-year-old unnamed boy who has been helping her out
every Saturday morning, “The story of your life never starts at the beginning.”
A heartwarming tale of love, loss, and friendship.
PINK
Evening
Wine & Cheese meeting
Home
of Melanie Prebis
Discussion
Leader: Jean Alexander
Bonnie
Magee will again coordinate our menu
Summer
reads: The Giver of the
Stars by JoJo Moyes and
The
Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
Much
has been made of the similarities of these two books, some calling it
plagiarism. They were published five months apart; they both take place in
Kentucky and deal with the Pack Horse Library Project tasked with bringing
books to remote areas of Appalachia between 1936 and 1943.
Bookers
is reading both because of the controversy…will be a fun meeting in September
2020.
Happy Reading,
JoDee
