Nevermore: Figures in a Landscape, When the Jessamine Grows, Followed by Frost

 

Nevermore 5-28-24

Reported by Rita

 Figures in a Landscape: People and Places: Essays: 2001-2016 by Paul Theroux

Drawing together a fascinating body of writing from over 14 years of work, Figures in a Landscape ranges from profiles of cultural icons (Oliver Sacks, Elizabeth Taylor, Robin Williams) to intimate personal remembrances, from thrilling adventures in Africa to literary writings from Theroux's rich and expansive personal reading. Collectively, these pieces offer a fascinating portrait of the author himself, his extraordinary life, restless and ever-curious mind.

  Downloaded through the hoopla app – loved it – highly recommend.    – CD     5 stars

 

When the Jessamine Grows by Donna Everhart

With her husband and son off at war, and the burden of running the farm falling to her, Joetta, shunned because she doesn't support the Confederacy's position on slavery, finds one act of kindness, bringing her family to the edge of even greater disaster.

 Really interesting – liked it – worth reading.     – WJ     5 stars

 

Followed by Frost by Charlie N. Holmberg

After being cursed for her cold heart, seventeen-year-old Smitha is forced to retreat to the mountains, where she finds companionship with Death, an enigmatic being who would rather see her rule beside him in the Underworld than live such a frozen existence.

  Didn’t really like this book or author.    – MH    3 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

Amazing Men: Courage, Insight, Endurance by Joyce Tenneson

Two Trains Leave the Station: A Meditation on Aging, Alzheimer's, and Arithmetic by Catherine Landis

The Lost City of Z: a Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

The Golden Apples by Eudora Welty

The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoèe Schlanger

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Lost Horizon: a Novel by James Hilton

The Husbands: a Novel by Holly Gramazio

 

New Books

My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me by Caleb Carr

The Rulebreaker: the Life and Times of Barbara Walters by Susan Page

Nevermore: Haven, Figures In A Landscape, Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

Reported by Garry

Haven by Emma Donoghue. Set in 7^th century Ireland, this novel tells the tale of Artt, a scholar and priest who has a dream that tells him to leave the world behind and build a hermitage/monastery. Sailing down the river Shannon and out into the open ocean, Artt and his two companions come to the Skellig Islands, eight miles off the southwest coast of Ireland. Here, Artt and his two companions, one old and wise, the other young and ingenious, start building their monastery on Skellig Michael, a brutally harsh, windswept, twin-pinnacled crag in the ocean. Artt is the leader and Prior of the brotherhood, and demands total obedience to what he says is God’s will, despite the harshness of their situation. Our reader says that the descriptions of the day-to-day lives of the three are highly detailed and pretty graphic as they have to slaughter the sea-birds that call the island home in order to get food and oil. Fun Fact: Skellig Michael was the setting of Luke’s Jedi Temple in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  ML

Figures In A Landscape: People and Places is a collection of essays by Paul Theroux, with the overall theme being on the craft of writing. Along the way, Theroux takes us surfing with Oliver Sacks, on a helicopter ride to Neverland with Elizabeth Taylor, and exploring New York with Robin Williams. Our reader is a fan of Theroux’s writing and has read most of his published works. She fully recommends this collection, first published in 2018.  CD

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers has been described as one of the greatest novels of the 20^th century. Written when McCullers was only 23-years-old, this classic novel is about a deaf-mute man, John Singer, and the people he encounters in the small Georgia town where he lives, their struggles to connect with one another on a meaningful level, and their coming to terms with the world. Giving voice to those who are forgotten, swept away, and sidelined, McCullers shows a depth of understanding of the human condition far beyond that of a typical 23-year-old. There was lively discussion about this book in the group, with many of our members having read it. Highly recommended by all, this novel, first published in 1940, still resonates deeply today.  WJ

Also discussed: 

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

The Last Mile by David Baldacci

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A Southern Family by Gail Godwin

Legend in Green Velvet by Elizabeth Peters

Selected Stories by William Trevor

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande

Ever by My Side: A Memoir in Eight Acts Pets by Dr. Nick Trout

So You Want to Start a Podcast: Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Story, and Building a Community That Will Listen by Kristen Meinzer

The Collected Stories by William Trevor

Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

The Last Mile by David Baldacci

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian

Wild & Furry Animals of the Southern Appalachian Mountains by Lee James Pantas

Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine

Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals by Laurie Zaleski

Ducky by Eve Bunting

Ducks Overboard!:  A True Story of Plastic in Our Oceans by Markus Motum

Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn

Nevermore: Moyes, Kline, Theroux, Patton, Robson, Pierce

 Reported by Garry

Our first book reviewed this week was the best-selling The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes.  This historical novel is set in the Appalachian region of Kentucky and follows Alice Wright, an English woman who hopes to escape her stifling life.  Things don’t work out quite the way she envisions, and she finds herself stuck in a small town with an over-bearing father-in-law.  When Eleanor Roosevelt creates a traveling library program, Alice leaps at the opportunity, and adventure begins.   This historic fiction novel covers similar themes to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, and is soon to be made into a major motion picture.  Our reader highly recommends this book and found it touching, inspiring and very well written. 

 

Next up was The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline, which our reader borrowed digitally through TN Reads.  This historic novel centers on the lives of two young English women who have been sentenced to exile to Van Diemen’s Land – what is now known as Australia.  A third main character is a young Aboriginal girl, Mathinna, the orphaned daughter of an Aboriginal chief, who is adopted by the governor of Van Diemen’s Land, and is treated as a curiosity rather than a human being.  Our reader took particular note of the details of travel on the ship, the prison system in Australia at the time, and how awful both were.  She highly recommends this very interesting book.

 

 

Our next reader took a long and winding journey with through South America with Paul Theroux and his The Old Patagonian Express, which she borrowed from TN Reads.  First published in 1979, this written account retells Theroux’s journey from his home in Massachusetts, by train to Texas, then through Mexico into Guatemala and El Salvador.  Journeying further south by both plane and train Theroux makes his way to the small town of Esquel in Argentinian Patagonia.  Along the way Theroux meets and describes the locals and other travelers, sometimes unflatteringly.  Our reader liked Theroux’s somewhat curmudgeonly writing style and his insight into the people he meets along the way. 

 

Our next book was set on the other southern peninsula – South Africa.  Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Patton was published in 1948 and has become a classic novel.  Our reader initially read this book in high school and recently decided to revisit it.  The story centers on a Zulu pastor, Steven Kumalo and his son, Absalom.  Steven lives out in the country, and is called to Johannesburg to see his ailing sister.  The trip requires him to take 5 trains over 2 days to get to the city.  As well as trying to locate his sister, Steven tries to locate his son, Absalom, who has been arrested for the murder of a white man who was fighting for racial justice.  This novel was written before the system of apartheid was implemented in South Africa, and is a protest against the social structures that lead to the separation of the country along color lines.  Unflinching in its examination of the detrimental effects of systemic racism, our reader found that this novel is as relevant today as it was when she initially read it. 

 

 

Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson was the next novel reviewed.  This historical novel is placed in Italy during World War II, and tells the story of Antonina Mazin, a young Jewish girl who lives in Venice.   Antonina wants to become a doctor like her father, but faced with the growing Nazi occupation of Italy, she must leave Venice and hide in the countryside, where she poses as the new bride to Nico Gerardi, a young Italian farmer who had been studying to become a priest before circumstances required him to take over the family farm.  Nico and Antonina must convince the neighbors and local Nazis that they are indeed a young married couple in order to protect their lives.   Our reader really liked this book, and was especially appreciative of the author’s ability to so beautifully picture the village, and noted that while the characters are fictional, the setting and incidents recalled are pulled from reality.  

 

 

Also set in World War II, but this time in England, Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pierce was the next book reviewed.  In this historic novel, Emmiline Lake, wants would like to be a war correspondent.  When she lands a position at the London Evening Chronicle, she thinks she is on the road to achieving her dream.  When she arrives, however, she finds her position is that of a typist to the legendary and fierce Mrs. Bird, who rules the advice column with an iron fist.  Our reader loved this sweetly written quick read, and noted how it really does describe what it is like to be in a blitz in England. 

 

Also mentioned:

Take It Back by Kia Abdoulah

Raft of Stars by Andrew Graff

Machinehood by S.B. Divya

The Angry Wife by Pearl S. Buck

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X Kendi

Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

White Teacher by Vivian Paley

Across the Top of the World by David Fisher 

The Three Mothers by Anna Malaika Tubbs

Those Who Are Saved by Alexis Landau

When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin

Nevermore: Good Cop, Mobituaries, On the Plain of Snakes, Ellen Foster, Last Three Miles

Reported by Jeanne

 

Nevermore opened with The Good Cop by Peter Steiner, a mystery set in 1920s Munich.  The book depicts a post World War I Germany which is struggling with the aftermath, including rampant inflation, unemployment, and corruption. Things look very bleak; but there is a new politician whose star is on the rise:  Adolf Hitler.  This is the backdrop against which policeman Willi Geismeier is called to investigate the bombing of a newspaper office and soon finds that asking questions may cost him his job— and maybe his life.   Our reader said that this was one of those books that she just couldn’t put down and recommended it highly.

Mobituaries by Mo Rocca continues to make the rounds and remains a favorite.  Rocca profiles  both the famous and unknown, but choosing those who have made a difference in the world.  It’s a wonderful mix, and very well written.  It was quickly picked up by another Nevermore member.





Paul Theroux drove the length of the U.S./Mexican border and then produced the book On the Plain of Snakes, Our reader said this was a hard book, but very interesting.  Theroux examines the lives of the people to the south, learning about their culture, way of life, their hopes, their dreams.  He provides a historical context and presents the views of those most affected, including the changes as some American manufacturing has moved to Mexico.  It’s a fascinating book, and one which gives much food for thought and helps to clarify some of the conflicts at the border.




The next book was actually a re-read for our club member.  Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons is the story of an eleven year old girl growing up in an abusive home. The story is told through the child’s point of view as she struggles to beat the odds.  It’s a “sad little book” but Ellen is a wonderful character, a sweet child faced with terrible conditions, and well worth the second reading in preparation for reading the sequel. The Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster picks up when Ellen is fifteen and living in a foster home. She struggles with adolescence and writes poetry to earn money.  Our reviewer didn’t think this second book was quite as good as the first and struggled with some of the stylistic choices— the absence of quotation marks, for example, and some interesting syntax.  She highly recommends the first and while she was glad she read the second, she doesn’t think it is a “must read.”


 
Finally, The Last Three Miles:  Politics, Murder, and the Construction of America’s First Superhighway by Steven Hart is the true story of the construction of New Jersey’s Pulaski Skyway in the early 1930s.  It proved to be a contentious project, with politics and labor going head to head in a power struggle that eventually turned violent.  It’s local politics, money, power, and greed, and it is a great book, according to our reporter.

Nevermore: Douglass, Crichton, Theroux, Hooper, Harrow, Gibbons

Reported by Kristin

One Nevermore member was slowly enjoying a lovely edition of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Other Works. Douglass was found to be a very brilliant and clear thinker about the social aspects of slavery. Our reader described his admiration for a man born into slavery who taught himself so much and who influenced so many people.

Another reader had picked up the posthumously published Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton. With a cover looking much like the Jurassic Park saga that Crichton is so well known for, this story is set in 1876 in the Wild West, when it was still easy (and relatively unregulated) to excavate fossil sites. Our reader said that the novel was full of Native Americans, soldiers, forts, and even Wyatt Earp made an appearance, making it quite a fun read.

On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey by Paul Theroux has been making the Nevermore rounds, and the current reader absolutely loved it. Theroux travels the globe to find the cultural richness rarely seen with the struggles of people searching for a better life. Our reader said that the author takes you down the desert roads and presents an excellent portrayal of the rough challenges faced by many south of our national border.

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper was very highly recommended as it tells the story of eighty-three year old Etta who decides to walk across Canada to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. In doing so, she reminisces about the life she has led with her husband Otto, their childhood friends, and lost loves. Our reader emphasized that she absolutely loved, loved, loved it, and encouraged others to give it a try.

Entering a world of mystical possibilities, our next reader picked up The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. In the early 1900s, January Scaller is the adopted daughter of a rich man who collects curiosities from around the world. When she finds a book filled with secret doors, January is intrigued. This book was praised as excellent, but weird. It is highly recommended for those who like, well, weird books.

Finally, Divining Women by Kaye Gibbons, a novel set within the Spanish influenza epidemic, was enjoyed by our last reader. Mary Oliver is a young woman who comes to help her aunt Maureen during a difficult pregnancy. Maureen’s husband Troop is cold and strict, and Mary finds herself desperate to protect her aunt. Our Nevermore reader said that the underlying theme of the novel was how women can change their lives when they decide to take control.