Conversations with American Writers: The Doubt, the Faith, and the In-Between by Dale Brown

Reviewed by William Wade

 Conversations with American Writers:  The Doubt, the Faith, and the In-Between by Dale Brown is a collection of ten interviews between Brown and a number of contemporary American writers.  This is the second such set which Brown has put together, and they are remarkably charming pieces, indicative of his knowledge of American literature and his ability to draw from these writer significant conversations about their work.

Brown gently guides these interviews through a number of different topics, generally following the lead of his authors.  He explores the reasons why they write, the relationships that develop between them and their publishers as well as those who buy their books.  A significant part of the conversations deal with the religious positions held by the writers and how those views have been shaped from childhood.  Brown lets his authors speak freely as to their convictions, and he never expresses any judgment about what they have to say.  And although all of them can be thought of as individuals with serious Christian viewpoints, the way in which they live and express their faiths may vary sharply.

These interviews should be read when there is ample time for relaxation and consideration of what it being said.  It might be best if any interview could be read when the author’s books are readily available for comparison and study.  Fortunately, the Bristol Public Library has books by all these individuals.

Authors included in this book are the following:  Eleanor Taylor Bland, David James Duncan, Terence Faherty, Ernest Gaines, Philip Gulley, Ron Hansen, Silas House, Jan Karon, Sherri Reynolds, and Lee Smith.

It needs to be noted that Dale Brown served for many years as a Professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and director of the Festival of Faith and Writing.  During this time he also came to be recognized as the leading American authority on the theologian Frederick Buechner.  Brown left Calvin and joined the faculty at King University where he also instituted a program to bring Christian writers and speakers to King.

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

Reviewed by Jeanne

Booklover Nina revels in her librarian job in Birmingham, England.  She lives to connect people with books, finding just the perfect book for each person.  Then her world comes crashing down with the news that, due to cutbacks, the library is to be turned into a technology center and most of the staff let go.  Even as she applies for a job in the new center, Nina’s heart isn’t in it.  She doesn’t want to “interface” in a “multimedia experience zone.”  She’s sure that people still want books, no, still need books, and so she hits on a daring plan: she will buy a van, stock it with books, and use it as a mobile bookshop.

She just didn’t expect to end up in a tiny village in Scotland with an irritable farmer for a landlord, sheep for neighbors, and a flirtation with a handsome train conductor.

British author Colgan is getting a lot of good buzz for her funny, contemporary romances, so I decided to give one a try.  As advertised, this was a light and fun book with memorable characters and some good lines.  Colgan did an especially good job of describing the Scottish countryside as seen through the eyes of an English city girl. Her descriptions of the air, the sunlight in the long summer days, the fields, the Northern Lights, all made it sound as though it would be worth putting on several sweaters and wellies to go see.  Most of all, the emphasis is on books and the human need for storytelling.  Nina has some real challenges in finding books for many of her new Scottish neighbors, but Colgan comveys well the joy in connecting book and reader. 

There’s a good assortment of characters, from the boys at the pub to an angry young teen who helps with the shop in return for books, to Nina’s former roommate who can’t believe that Nina has ended up (in her view) out in the middle of nowhere.

But she also acknowledges that some folks are resistant to reading fiction with a wonderful line from Lennox, Nina’s landlord who states plainly that he just can’t understand “why anyone would go to the trouble of making up new people in this world when there’s already billions of the buggers I don’t give a shit about.”

The only disappointment I had with the book was that Colgan makes up many of the recommendations instead of using real books.  It seemed to me to be an odd choice to make, as it would connect readers with more books they might enjoy which is pretty much Nina’s reason for being, at least at the beginning. 

If you’re looking for a cozy romance with books, humor, and atmosphere, The Bookshop on the Corner is a great choice!

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter

Reviewed by Brenda G.

While in her teens, Georgia Hunter learned her grandfather, his siblings, and her great- grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Against all odds in far-flung locations, this nuclear family of Polish Jews lived through Hitler’s worst. This book presents a fictionalized account of the trials endured by the family.

The story begins with Addy, given name, ironically, Adolf, working in France as an engineer and wondering should he go home. In 1939 as Hitler’s march through Europe gains strength, Addy muses about what might be happening in Radom, the Polish city where the Kurc family lives. When he attempts to acquire travel documents to Poland, he is denied and told of the dangers he would face, with “Jew” clearly stamped on his passport. A trip home would require travel through German-controlled territory. 

Chapter by chapter, the focus moves to one or more family members and chronicles the miseries they face and the horrors they witness.  The horrors of a packed railroad car, watching others die around them. Months in a Gestapo jail.  Deportation to Siberia from Soviet-controlled Poland.  Starvation.  A special offer of transportation that turns into a death train from which less than a handful of Polish Jews walk away, including Addy’s sister Mila and her daughter. An infant born in the Siberian winter whose eyes are frozen shut every morning. Entombment in the basement of a bombed out convent. Scurvy. Attempts to rescue extended family and in-laws who refuse to accept help in the face of certain death. Work in the Underground. Securing false papers and passing as non-Jewish Poles. Disappearances without explanation.  Harsh working conditions; harsher living conditions; while constantly subjected to the whims of military and political forces.

The book is well-written and researched. Members of the Kurc family are hard-working, intelligent, and resourceful. Despite this, they are unprepared for the horrors unleashed upon them, their neighbors, and Europe as a whole. This is truly a remarkable tale of survival.

Little Deaths by Emma Flint

Reviewed by Christy

In 1965, Alice Crimmins was charged with the murder of her 5 year old son and her 4 year old daughter. Though there was no physical evidence tying her to the crime, she was convicted anyway. Many believe that her unorthodox lifestyle, unorthodox for the 1960s anyway, is what initially attracted suspicion. She was a young mom going through a contentious divorce and custody battle. She liked to drink and enjoyed the company of many men. Some suspected she looked on her children as nuisances more than anything. Others believe she was railroaded due in large part to the prejudices of the time.

Emma Flint fictionalizes this true crime event in her novel Little Deaths. As the novel opens, we wake up with Ruth Malone in a jail cell. Then we wake up with her in her apartment in 1965 as she remembers her normal morning routine, including making coffee and avoiding looking at her reflection in the mirror until she has fully caked on her makeup. Little by little she takes us through the day leading up to her children’s disappearance from their bedroom. A window is open in the sweltering New York City heat (Flint writes this well. I felt like I needed a fan while reading.) Ruth thinks they’ve snuck out again and storms outside to hunt them down at one of the neighbor’s apartments. But she doesn’t find them. Eventually police are called. Suspicion falls on her.

As police zero in on Ruth, with tactics that include tailing her and bugging her apartment, the narrative shifts to a rookie reporter named Pete trying to catch his first big story. He finds it in Ruth, to the point where she becomes an obsession – and not merely in the professional sense. We, the readers, stay with Pete for quite a while. A little too much, actually. While there are times when it shifts back to Ruth, it is mainly through Pete’s investigative work that we learn a little bit more about Ruth’s life, personality, and outlook. But again, it’s through the prism of others’ eyes. It’s an interesting and, I assume, purposeful take, considering how heavily the real-life case hinged on rumors and people’s perception of the suspect. I didn’t mind that aspect so much but Pete’s obsession is creepy and, at the same time, a little dull. I didn’t care how he felt about her. He didn’t know her in the slightest. Everything he learned about her was from second hand sources, and he filled in the rest with his projections. I kept thinking how much more enjoyable it would’ve been if the reporter were female and sympathized with Ruth because of her unfair and sexist treatment by the press and police. At least it would’ve been a new approach to an old trope.

Ruth, however, is a little more interesting. She has an almost phobia of anyone thinking negatively about her but at the same time she refuses to bend to their will. She seems to hate herself more than anyone else could anyway. I wish we could’ve seen more of her. I was kind of underwhelmed by the book as a whole but the ending pushed the rating up a little for me just because I didn’t really see it coming. I wasn’t sure if the author would go the real-life route and leave it ambiguous but you do know for sure who killed those kids when you finish this book. And it is heartbreaking and frustrating.

To sum it up, the beginning and ending are interesting. The middle drags quite a bit. I wish we had more Ruth and social commentary and way less Pete.

Bellwether by Connie Willis

Reviewed by Kristin

Connie Willis is known as an award winning science fiction writer, but this short novel serves up something slightly different.  Rather than creating mind reading technology or traveling in time, Dr. Sandra Foster and her co-workers are making scientific discoveries for the benefit of the corporate world.  Bellwether still has the quirkiness for which Willis is known, but it is framed in a somewhat modern setting—Boulder, Colorado in (apparently) the mid-1990’s.  Willis won the 1997 Nebula Award for this work and it is well deserved.

Sandy is a research and development sociologist funded by HiTek, a huge corporation with more money than common sense, although it’s hard to see the money when you must fill out a 57 page budgetary request form for each new research project.  And that’s not even mentioning the new 22 page supply procurement form, just to get some paperclips!  Sandy is hoping to discover how fads begin, and Management is hoping to capitalize on that discovery in order to make more—you guessed it—money.

Sandy’s work life is made even more frustrating by HiTek’s “interdepartmental assistant.”  Flip is supposed to deliver mail, make copies, and generally provide assistance, but she spends 90% of her time tossing the long hank of hair sprouted from her shaved head, and sighing in such a way that everyone knows how inconvenient their requests are.  

Out in the community, Sandy has a habit of dropping by the local library, checking out favorite books to be sure they are not weeded out if a computer generated report shows that they have not been used in a year.  What library lover would dislike a character who wants to protect her favorite tales?  The offbeat humor made me laugh as I listened to the audiobook.  The characters are presented with distinct voices, making it clear who is speaking which lines of dialogue.

From Flip’s eye rolling and snarky comments, to biologist Dr. Bennett O’Reilly’s social awkwardness, to Management’s continually evolving acronyms, Bellwether moves forward quickly in an unconventional yet amusing way.  Although Sandy begins with a research project, she ends up on a journey leading her to discover more about trends, chaos, sheep, and love than she ever would have expected.