Nevermore: Peach Keeper, Florence of Arabia, Overstory, At the Edge of the Orchard, Hand to Mouth, Poisonwood Bible

Reported by Kristin

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen provided a much-needed light, summery read for one of our Nevermore readers this week. Willa Jackson and Paxton Osgood have known each other for years, having grown up in the same small town although not necessarily running in the same social circles. When Paxton buys and restores the old Jackson family home in order to open an inn, history rises to the present in the form of a skeleton found beneath a peach tree. Allen weaves stories together from generation to generation, creating a captivating atmosphere of friendship.

Following with more fiction, another reader thoroughly enjoyed Florence of Arabia by Christopher Buckley. Clearly satire, this novel approaches Arab-American relations with a level of irreverence sure to enchant and/or offend its readers. In the country of “Wasabia,” a junior diplomat decides to try to fix the injustices of the Middle East by granting full citizenship and rights to women. Our reader found some references to other countries very obvious and some rather subtle, and altogether funny.

In somewhat more serious fiction, our next reader described The Overstory by Richard Powers, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, as an awesome book. Beautifully written, this novel examines the natural world through a series of connected stories. As nine different characters are moving through their separate lives, they each discover a connection to trees. Our reader was enthralled by the relationships between the people and trees, and how the manner in which trees live, grow, and even communicate with each other mirrors the interdependency necessary for human survival.

At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier is a frontier story, with James and Sadie Goodenough settling in Ohio in 1838. Their son Robert escapes his difficult family by moving westward with the California Gold Rush. Trees popped up here again (as you might guess from the title,) as the characters were involved in shipping saplings and seedlings from the West Coast to England. Our reader said that it was a very enjoyable book about starting anew.

The discussion then turned to non-fiction with Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tirado. This is a real working poor memoir by a woman who details her struggles of maintaining multiple jobs while struggling to keep her family above water. Our reader felt that this was a perspective not usually seen, and that the author had done a good job of raising her children to learn for themselves and to be curious in life. Much discussion ensued, with various readers weighing in with their opinions on how the author had included a running commentary on how important cigarettes were to help her get through another long walk to work or to steal even a moment of

relaxation.

Lastly, another reader admitted that she was still in the middle of but still enjoying The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. This epic tale is spun from the perspective of a Baptist missionary’s wife. Nathan Price is dispatched to the Belgian Congo in 1959 along with his wife and their four daughters. Our reader’s main comment thus far was the fact that the wife sees how terribly her husband treats his family, but she still believes in his mission.

Nevermore: Hand to Mouth, We Learned Nothing, Great and Holy War, Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Poisonwood Bible

Reported by Lauren

                This week we kicked off our discussion with Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tirado. Hand to Mouth has earned rave reviews from critics, and is even assigned in college sociology and anthropology classes. The author describes her experiences living poor in America, including her difficulty making ends meet, paying for childcare and her smoking habit, and her family’s fight to get her husband’s military benefits. Our reviewer began by saying she hated everything about this book: the author had a defeatist attitude, she blamed everyone and everything else for her problems but refused to take responsibility for her actions, and our reader was struggling to get through it. As we discussed the issues that impoverished Americans face on a daily basis however, she eventually said, “You know, maybe this book is affecting me more than I thought.” Another reader chimed in saying, “It definitely stayed with me after I read it—I have been attempting to not be so judgmental when I meet new people now.” While this book wasn’t a favorite, it definitely sparked a thought-provoking discussion.

                Our next member shared her thoughts on We Learned Nothing by Tim Kreider. Kreider is a well-known cartoonist who has ventured into the land of short stories. This reader praised his sense of humor, but found the stories insightful and poignant as well. Sometimes we really don’t learn from the mistakes of our past or others’. She also shared When Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon by Joshua D. Dedrich. She mentioned that this book was pretty in-depth and a little long on history, but she enjoyed learning about the history of organ transplants, and that once the drug that inhibits organ rejections was discovered, the transplant game changed forever.

                Another book clubber offered a different perspective on the first world war by sharing Philip Jenkin’s The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade. This member never realized just how much influence the Protestant and Catholic Churches had on the war. The media was just becoming mainstream, and various religions capitalized on this unprecedented method of sharing information by creating propaganda that advanced their belief systems. According to Jenkins, the Catholic Church claimed Jesus was actually Aryan rather than Jewish, and that Jewish people were responsible for His death. Jenkins believes that this religious zeal set the stage for WWII and the rise of Anti-Semitism and Nazism. Our reader found the book fascinating, describing it as scholarly and well-researched, with an extensive bibliography. She recommended everyone read it to learn more about this time period. 

                Next we discussed Kim Michele Richardson’s latest novel The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Set in 1930s Appalachia, it tells the story of one of the fearless and determined Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians, Cussy Mary Carter, who also happens to be one of the Kentucky Blue People. This fascinating novel paints a vivid picture of the hardships of this era, and praises the women who spared no efforts to spread literacy and learning throughout the Appalachian region. Cussy’s personal life is also portrayed—as a “blue” person engaged to a “white” person, her impending marriage is constantly threatened by the racism of her peers. Our reader shared that she was amazed at the danger Cussy puts herself in, not just with her job but also with her relationship. Later on, Cussy is chosen as a subject of a medical study that tries to change her skin color, but even though she dreams of being white, she is not happy with the results of the drug trial. Our reviewer loved this novel, and several of our members were excited to read it as well.

                We closed our meeting with a discussion of the contemporary classic The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Almost all of our Nevermore members had read this novel at some point, and all sang its praises calling it “life-changing” and “vital.” Written by one of Appalachia’s own daughters, it tells the story of Baptist minister Nathan Price, his wife, and their four daughters and their mission trip to the Belgian Congo in 1959. The Price family endures trials and tribulations, both physical and spiritual, and are forever changed by their experience in the African jungle. Our reader shared several passages with us, lauding Kingsolver’s ability to bring Africa to life through her writing style and word choice. We all agreed that Kingsolver is a fantastic writer, and everyone should read at least one of her novels.