“The dash on a tombstone
carries the entire sum of a life within it.”
We start
2025 with a blank canvas. Let’s paint it with good health and leave behind what
weighs us down and cherish our friendships and the shared love of the written
word. Happy New Year Y’all!
15 met at
the home of Jane Shaw, pulling double duty to kick off the new year by hosting
and reviewing this month’s selection. And in keeping with the blueberry theme,
we left White Cap Lane loaded with Vitamins C, K, & A, antioxidants, lower
levels of cholesterol and blood pressure, and loaded with fiber thanks to the
culinary skills of our hostess. Yum!
On the business side
I was born
in Altadena, California and in a matter of hours across Southern California
countless homes and possessions have been destroyed with residents forced to
flee some on foot, escaping with only the clothes on their backs. We took a
moment of silence to lift up the families of those who lost their lives, for
strength and courage for all those who are working tirelessly to protect the
communities, and comfort those who face the task of rebuilding from the ashes.
Our hope, to pit the strength of prayer against the strength of mother nature.
We
welcomed Donna Coleman, who has been a member for several years but hasn’t been
able to attend often, and her mother, Jean, and hope they enjoyed their time
with us and will visit again when possible.
Pinnacle
Women’s Club Gala scheduled for March 1st at the Legacy Event Center
in Gun Barrel City, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. The link to reserve your seat and view the
auction items is https://PWCCF.ejoinme,org/PWC2025Gala
Patsy Dehn
and the Pinnacle Church Women are hosting their luncheon, Seasons of Life and
Love, February 1st 11:30 at the Pinnacle Club with featured speaker,
Grammy award winning singer, actress, and writer, Janice Archer Cruse. Tickets
are $20.00 and reservations are open to everyone. Contact Patsy 214-478-5135 with
questions or reservations or drop your check in the box designated for this
event inside the clubhouse.
We’ll be
taking a short road trip to the home of Penny Callison, 124 Santa Monica Drive,
Mabank, Texas for our next meeting on February 11th, at 10:00 a.m. Jean
Alexander will lead the discussion of Very, Very Lucky by Amanda
Prowse, a life affirming story about having it all, losing it all, and how new
friends can show each other the way back to happiness.
About the author
Ms. Peters
describes herself as “A woman, a daughter, a sister, an Auntie, a cat mom, a
dog mom, a friend, a descendent of a revolutionary war sailor, of accused
witches, and Mi’kmaq ancestors, a Canadian, a traveler, a wine drinker, an
admirer of stained glass, a listener of jazz and old country, a reader of books
and a teller of stories.” She is of mixed European and Mi’kmaq heritage, born
and raised in the Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia as a member of the
Glooscap First Nation which is a Canadian aboriginal community. This tribe
lives according to the Seven Sacred Teachings which focuses on relationships
with all of creation and offers suggestions for ways to treat others. The seven
teachings include love, respect, honesty, courage, truth, wisdom, and humility
with each teaching represented by an animal showing how to live respecting
every living thing.
Her debut
novel, The Berry Pickers, was published in 2023.
Her debut
short story collection, Waiting for the Long Night Moon, was
published August 2024.
She
currently is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Theatre at
Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
Her awards
include the 2024 King Charles III Coronation medal for her significant
contribution to Canada; the 2024 Carnegie Medal of Excellence in Fiction for The
Berry Pickers which recognizes the best fiction books for adult readers
published in the U.S. the previous year; the 2024 Crime Writers of Canada for
best crime first novel; the 2024 Dartmouth book award which honors Nova Scotia
literature and the valuable contribution writers make to their cultural
heritage; the 2023 Barnes and Noble Discovery Prize winner honoring the best
debut novels published that year; shortlisted for the 2024 Raddall Atlantic
Fiction award recognizing a full-time resident of Atlantic Canada published the
prior year; second place in the 2023 Amazon (U.S.) best books; shortlisted for
the 2023 Writers Trust Atwood Gibson award recognizing writers of exceptional
talent for the best novel of the year; the Canadian 2021 Rising Star Program
recognizing talented authors in the early stages of their careers.
Most of
the group read, finished, liked or loved the selection with only one saying it
was not her cup of tea, although several commented on the heartbreaking sadness
of the story.
Jane
walked us through this tale that tracks the lives of two siblings from an
Indigenous Canadian family working in Maine as seasonal berry pickers. In the
summer of 1962 four-year-old Ruthie is kidnapped by a white New England woman
who renames her Norma, raising her as her daughter. Joe, her six-year-old
brother, was the last one to see her alive and he carries the burden of guilt
for the rest of his life which leads him down the path of self-destruction
manifesting itself into alcohol abuse and violence. Ruthie, aka Norma, grows up
feeling disconnected and out of place with her new family, but as she matures,
she turns out resilient and determined to piece together the puzzling emotions,
scattered dreams, and feelings of displacement and loss plaguing her identity. The
novel is narrated in alternating chapters between Joe and Norma, each character
grappling with the known and unknown pieces of their lives.
Discussion
After
years of assimilationist policies forced on the First Nations and specifically
the Mi’Kmaq communities, the novel underscores the lasting trauma caused by
systemic attempts to assimilate Indigenous peoples into the dominant culture
exemplified in Norma’s character as she struggles with her identity and Joe’s
profound grief after her disappearance. We learned instead of using the word “Indian,”
the proper way to address them are either North American, Indigenous or First
Nations…after all none of them are from India. Some still travel from Nova
Scotia to Maine to pick blueberries although many fields are fully automated, eliminating
the need for hand-picking. We discussed the abundance of tension headaches and
alcohol throughout the novel – they were almost like extra characters in the
story. The first-person point of view worked well between the two protagonists,
Joe and Norma, while the other pivotal but minor characters played more
narrative roles. We agreed it would have been very hard to follow the story if there
were more than two first-person point of view characters. We talked about how
Joe spent his entire life dealing with “what-ifs” believing he truly had “sour
blood,” how happiness eluded him, and his daughter was better off without
knowing him – he couldn’t hurt her if she didn’t know him. The beginning and
ending of Joe’s impending death was bittersweet as he finally was reunited with
the family he had turned his back on, saying he was happier than ever that all
the people he loved were with him in one place, but found it unfair that his
time was up just as he was finding true happiness again. We followed Norma’s
path through her memories that led to the discovery of who she really was and
how her family had unfairly bonded together to perpetuate the lies about her identity.
We talked about Lenore’s overprotection of Norma and how her love felt like a
heavy burden fueled by the fear of being discovered, and if she deserved any of
our sympathy or not; what we would have done if we had found the file cabinet
drawer full of photos; Aunt June’s complicity in the coverup; and how far her
father as a judge went to keep the secret safe but only moving a short distance
away rather than fleeing the area. We talked about Lenore’s slide into mental
illness and when Norma’s true identity was discovered how Aunt June unearthed the
truth about Norma’s birth family resulting in her rewarding and happy reunion.
This novel
confirms that “lies don’t end relationships, the truth does” and the benefit of
the dishonesty in this case was Norma until she discovered the truth. We
discussed Norma’s husband, Mark, and her decision to end their six-year
marriage. We shared stories of how the discovery of family secrets can shatter
what you’ve always believed.
The author
did a wonderful job painting a vivid picture of not only the landscape of the settings
but captured the personalities of the characters and in the end, closed the
circle of Joe’s life and Ruthie finally had the family she had been searching
for. Happy-ever-after-ending stressing the importance of knowing one’s heritage
and how the search for identity can impact an individual’s sense of belonging
and self-understanding.
The thing
about picking a handful of berries is that each one is different – some are
sweet, some sour, some extra juicy. This novel is just like a handful of
berries…filled with so much sweet, so much sour, and so much juice.
Happy
Reading,
JoDee
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