The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

Though its hard to believe, in the not too distant past women could be placed in insane asylums by their husbands or families if they refused to conform to norms. 

Women could be sent to psychiatric institutes indefinitely if a family member said a woman was not behaving as she should. 

The novel begins by Iris learning she has a great Aunt she never knew about, Esme, who has been in a mental institution for sixty years.  

Since Cauldstone is closing, the institution looks to Esme's nearest relative to take her great Aunt into her home.

The central mystery that propels the narrative is how and why did Esme become confined. Esme who has an excellent memory searches her past for clues--when did her life go disastrously wrong? Did it go wrong on New Year's eve in the 1930's when she danced with an attractive boy? Or did her problems begin much earlier when the family lived abroad?

Iris, who owns her own vintage clothing shop, has her own share of problems. She has a complicated love life. She nearly does not take Esme into her home. Yet there's something compelling about Esme.

Esme, who is immensely likeable for her openness and intelligence, recognizes Iris' home as her family's old home.   


Deciphering clues as a detective would do, Esme learns the reason she was imprisoned along with new secrets that Kitty, her older sister, has been keeping.

O'Farrell takes a subject which could have been depressing and infuses with humor and telling details. The blazer, the photo of Iris's father, the green wool blanket, the photo of two women--one standing and one seated--are all vital clues.

The ending comes as a surprise but well-justified in this well-plotted, psychological novel. Kathy Hepinstall's Blue Asylum explores similar themes but is set in the civil war South.

If you liked this novel, you might also enjoy the short play, The Insanity of Mary Girard by Lanie Robertson. 

Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen

Readers who likes eccentric characters and strange twists of fate will love Harry's Trees. 

Oriana and Amanda live near the woods in the Endless Mountains area of Pennsylvania. Life is ordinary until Amanda's perfect husband and Oriana's perfect father dies. 

 Dean dies sprawled out like a snow angel in a snowy field. His buddy, Ronnie, is convinced there are feather impressions in the snow. He believes Dean has become some sort of  winged creature--a red-tailed hawk--who can interact with the townspeople after his death. 

But its more than feathers that take on a larger significance. The lottery ticket Harry bought is piece of bad magic, an unlucky talisman.

Amanda Jeffers, Oriana's mother, doesn't believe in miracles, fairy tales, or magic but nonetheless she shelters Harry. She lets him rent out her tree house because they are in the same club--both having survived a year after a spouse's death.

Amanda thinks Harry is safe--that he is a "bland, levelheaded bureaucrat who understood rules." Little does she know that Harry is the opposite of what she thinks.

Harry is just like the "grum" in the story Oriana loves from Olive Perkins' library. He is the catalyst that will change everyone perspective; this is, if his brother, Wolf, doesn't catch up with him first.

Wolf is appropriately named because he is greedy and destructive--the villain of Harry's childhood. His greed is the opposite of Harry's altruism. 

Wolf is drawn to the only other character who is extremely voracious--Stu Gipner. Will Wolf and Stu bring destruction to the fairy tale world Harry and Oriana have constructed? Will Amanda, who is jaded and practical, believe in the fairy tale? 

On Writing

"Finish. The difference between being a writer and being a person of talent is the discipline it takes to apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair and finish. Don’t talk about doing it. Do it. Finish."

E. L. Konigsburg  (via whatsinsideawritersmind)
Photo: picjumbo.com

The Dark Side of Innocence: Growing Up Bipolar by Terri Cheney

Terri Lynn was popular--she was a cheerleader and a Mauna Loa, a popular girls' group. She sat by the tiger--her school had a statue of a tiger where the popular kids gathered. Stoners and nerds weren't allowed anywhere near it.

Despite this, Terri Lynn is deeply unhappy. She contents almost every day with something she calls "the Black Beast." Under his direction, she alternates between being an people-pleasing overachiever and a teen who drinks, runs away from home, and wrecks her beloved car. She also writes till her fingers cramp, makes out with boys, and cuts herself with knives and pins.

She doesn't know it at the time but later she learns that "the Black Beast" is bipolar disorder. Cheney, who has also written Manic about her adult experience with bipolar disorder, writes eloquently about her childhood and adolescent battle with the disorder.


During a manic phase, Terri discards the graduation speech she had practiced and creates a new one on the spot. Luckily, her speech is well-received though it does raise eyebrows. 

Terri believes her drive is the catalyst for the "Black Beast." She vows not to strive for perfection at Vassar. As she explains in the afterward, though, and in Manic, her manic phases return with a vengeance.

Few books are written about mental illness and even fewer are written as well as this one. 

Powerful words--Octavia Butler

All that you touch
You Change.

All that you Change
Changes you.

The only lasting truth
is Change.

God is Change.

Instructions for a Heat Wave by Maggie O'Farrell

While a heat wave rages in 1970s London, a charming family is in crisis. The head of the household--Robert Riordan--has disappeared. The youngest daughter, Aoife, who left for New York, returns to help her family deal with her father's disappearance.

Aoife and her sister Monica who have a strained relationship attempt to settle their differences. Monica blames Aoife for divulging a secret to her ex-husband. Aoife denies revealing anything to Rob, Monica's first husband. 

In fact, none of the Riordan's have problem-free relationships. Michael Francis and his wife have a troubled marriage. Despite believing she had a wonderful marriage, Gretta suspects her husband abandoned the family after they find money taken from their account. 

Aoife is in love with someone but she hides the fact that she is dyslexic from him. 

O'Farrell does a wonderful job of balancing the different points of view of the siblings with those of Gretta. The problems in the Riordan family are well-developed and handled with humor and irony.   

The Beast and the Hummingbirds by Madison McSweeney

A beauty and the beast retelling by Madison McSweeney is in Rhythm & Bones: A Literary Magazine.












https://www.rhythmnbone.com/single-post/2018/06/25/The-Beast-the-Hummingbirds

Sharp Objects and its subtext

Sharp Objects' subtext suggests that everyone needs mentors to guide them. Without mentors, people end up hard-edged and damaged. They can even, in some cases, become monstrous.

Mothers are a child's natural and first mentor but as the novel makes clear some people are terrible at mothering. 

As Camille wryly points out, "I just think some women aren't meant to be mothers. And some women aren't meant to be daughters."

According to Adora, Camille wasn't "good." What Adora means is that Camille wasn't vulnerable or weak the way Marian was. 

Marian dies when Camille is thirteen--a circumstance that further estranges her from her mother. Camille says, "Its impossible to compete with the dead." 

Camille has always felt unloved by her mother. She engages in risky behavior and becomes a cutter--perhaps purposely putting herself in danger to find maternal love. 

Like her half-sister Amma will find out, Camille's hometown is oppressive.

Camille decides to write about pain; that is, become a crime reporter.

After she leaves her hometown, she vows to never look back. She revels in the role of "cubby" or that of cub reporter. With her editor, Camille has finally found the mentor she needs.

But then Curry sends her back to her hometown to report on a story that he thinks will "make" her career. 

Sharp objects by Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn's debut novel, Sharp Objects is mesmerizing. The protagonist, Camille, returns to her hometown, a small, suffocating town in MO, to report on a couple of horrific crimes.

Two young girls have been murdered and in both cases their teeth have been removed. Both girls are tomboys yet otherwise have little in common. 

Camille is a Preaker, one of the leading families in the town yet she feels completely alienated from her family and their sprawling Victorian home.

Beneath a veneer of hospitality, Wind Gap is beseiged by bullies. Camille's half-sister, Amma, is one of the prettiest and meanest of the blondes.

Camille develops a relationship with one of the investigators but refuses to let her guard down. Like everyone else in the town, she holds on to her secrets. 

Many are convinced that one of the deceased girls' brothers, John Keene, is the killer. 

Sharp Objects has been turned into an HBO miniseries with Amy Adams. 

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

This is an absolute stunner in every sense of the word--rich prose, tight plotting, and imaginative twists and turns. 

The Company has manufactured biotech that wreak havoc upon the City. The actions of Mord, a man-made bear-like creature, and his proxies cause the Magician and her pseudo-children to rebel. 

Even before the rebellion, however, the City has been wrecked, leaving many scavengers. Rachel, who lives in the Balcony Cliff with Wick, has learned the art of scavenging. 

Though there is a gap in her memories, Rachel remembers once living on an island. Later, as the waters rose, she became a climate refugee and moved to the City.

Perhaps she sees something of herself in the creature, Borne, who helplessly clings to Mord's flank. She nurtures him yet she doesn't know exactly what he is. 

No one does, not even Borne himself. For a time, he ponders if he is a biotech weapon created by the Company. Wick suggests that they deconstruct him to see what he is but Rachel feels outraged. He is a "person" in her eyes yet he at first seems little more than a plant with eyes. 

Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir by Beth Kephart

I took a memoir writing class at the University of Kentucky. I wish we had Beth Kephart's book, Handling the Truth.

One of the class discussions at the life writing class I took was how people react to memoir. How they react to seeing themselves portrayed in memoir?

Often their recollection is different, which is natural, but sometimes the people that populate your memoir feel affronted.

Kephart deals with this early on, "Its obvious, isn't it? Memoir making is a hazardous business. People are involved. Their feelings. Their reputations. Their relationships to you..."

Decoding the Weather

If you're showing PBS's Decoding the Weather at your public library, keep this list of eco-themed books in mind. 

These "climate change" themed books would make excellent book discussion or common reads:

Bacigalupi, Paolo. The Water Knife.
Jemison, N.K. The Fifth Season.
Mandel, Emily. Station Eleven. 
Miller, Sam. Blackfish City.  
Roberts, Nora. Year One. 
Wright, Alexis. The Swan Book.

Writers

“Writers don't write from experience, although many are 

hesitant to admit that they don't. ...If you wrote from

 experience, you'd get maybe one book, maybe three poems. 

Writers write from empathy.”

Nikki Giovanni.

Attica Locke's Bluebird, Bluebird

Set in East Texas, this murder mystery looks at crime through the eyes of Texas Ranger, Darren Matthews. Darren's 9/11, as he calls it, was the murder of an innocent black man in Jasper, TX.  Sadly,  his favorite Uncle has been killed in an unrelated incident. 

Both incidents compel Darren to forsake law school for law enforcement.  Deciding to continue his Uncle's line of work, Darren works hard to become a Texas Ranger.

The more he succeeds, however, the more his marriage deteriorates. Even with his marriage in shambles, Darren cannot help investigating a pair of murders in Lark, TX. Both bodies--that of an African American man and a white woman--were found in the bayou behind Geneva's cafe.

One of his obstacles is the local sheriff who wants to limit the Ranger's role as much as possible. Darren suspects the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas may be involved but the local sheriff wants to pretend they don't exist in his county.

Lark has its share of family secrets; even Geneva Sweet, owner of Geneva's cafe harbors her own.

Darren needs to find a way to investigate both murders without upsetting the locals, the deceased's ex-wife, and Geneva, whom he comes to respect.

This tightly plotted thriller entertains as well as explores race relations in a small town in Texas.

My Real Children by Jo Walton

This is the startling story of a woman who remembers two different versions of her life. 

Pat's life takes two completely different trajectories. 

In one version she has four children. She chooses the safe but disparaging partner, Mark.

In another version of her life, where she is known as Trisha, she rejects Mark and chooses an unconventional lifestyle. She falls in love with a woman, writes guidebooks to Italy, and has children with a friend.

"Character is destiny," postulated Heraclitus. In this novel, however,  one choice changes not only a woman's life but alters world history and politics as well. 

My Real Children is an intriguing thought exercise but not really satisfying. Some of the turns of events in both realities are heartbreaking.

 
 

Whale Road Review, Summer Issue, 2018

My favorite poems are poems that teach e.g. "On the Occassion of Eating Bird's Nest Soup With Trung and Kim" by Rachel Barton.

The poem explores the notion of how everything is connected through a food chain. A woman eats bird's nest soup, a delicacy in China, and contemplates how everything is connected as the swifters rise into view.

The soup, she admits, is flavorless. She marvels that even the spit of the swifters, which the birds use to construct their nests, is a "jewel."

Another instructive nature poem, "Whale Fall Deadsong Heavenly Blues #17," by Christopher Todd Anderson compares a whale carcass to a cathedral. 

...Boneworms
humble themselves in the chapel of her heart,

decapods haunt her lungs’ cloisters. 

Later, its clear that the carcass is not a church but a universe. However, both are impressive and big so really a church and a universe are interchangeable:

...Creatures

born here, in the interstices of bone and blubber,

think this is the whole universe: cell-rot sky

and jaw-cave homeland, a history founded on decay

See the Summer issue of Whale Road Review,

www.whaleroadreview.com