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Book Reviews

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler

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Published 2013

This is a story about the Cooke family, who raise a chimpanzee named Fern along with the narrator of the book, Rosemary up until they are both aged five. The father is a research scientist studying chimp behavior and they live in a farmhouse where they are assisted in taking care of Fern, as well as documenting her every move, by a team of graduate students. Mom and older brother Lowell make up the rest of the family. The story starts in the middle, when Rosemary is in college, about to see her older brother Lowell for the first time in years. Lowell has become something of a black sheep while advocating for animal rights. Most importantly Rosemary wants to find out from Lowell exactly what happened to Fern, who was taken away one day when Rosemary was a child. She suspects that the story he has told her about Fern being taken to a chimp colony is not true, but she has no idea of how bad the truth really is. Let us just say that mistakes were made and that Rosemary must make some tough choices when she finds out what really happened.
While the story tells a lot about chimpanzees and the work that has been done researching their behavior, it is also about a family, a brother, sisters, mom and dad, and how their lives unfold.

The Good Son, by Michael Gruber

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Published 2010
Characters:
Theo Bailey, the son
Farid Laghari, the father, son of B.B. Laghari, a judge and tribal leader in Lahore, a Pashtun
Sonia Bailey, the mother who is Polish by ancestry and American by birth, but who, upon marrying Farid, is accepted into the family household and becomes a Pashtun as well.
Cynthia Lam, the language expert working at NSA

The good son, Theo Bailey, is in the army but exactly which branch is hard to say. He goes into places like Afghanistan and Pakistan because he speaks the languages, grew up there, in fact, before his family moved to the US, where his father teaches in Washington DC, and his mother is a writer. The book opens with Theo getting a call from his mother, Sonia, asking him to tell his father that she is leaving the country. This sounds benign but the reason she is asking Theo to relate the news is that she is going back to Lahore, and there is a fatwah out against her which means that going is extremely dangerous. Theo is upset and tries to talk his mother out of going, but it’s useless to try to change her mind and she boards the plane despite his protests. Sonia was born in the US to immigrants from Poland. They work in the traveling circus where Sonia learns to ride the elephants and horses and becomes skilled in handling a deck of cards. All is well until Sonia’s mother is killed by tiger, her father falls ill and finally, the owners of the circus sell out without paying the troupe. Sonia uses her skills as a card dealer to throw blackjack games in Atlantic City to her handler’s favor, until he gets too greedy and ends up being beaten after a winning night. Sonia grabs a suitcase full of cash and heads for NYC, where she meets Theo’s father, Farid, who falls in love, marries her and takes her back to Lahore to the house of his father, where she becomes Muslim, bears Theo and two daughters, and a few years later, goes on her scandalous trips around the Muslim world disguised as a boy. No one would’ve known except that she writes a book about it which is published in the States and becomes very popular. Meanwhile, back in Lahore, the head of the clan, BB Laghari is killed in a bomb attack on his automobile and Theo’s two younger sisters are killed as well. For a long time Sonia believes that Theo was killed as well, but as it turns out a boy from the neighborhood had jumped up on the bumper as it drove by and it was this boy who was killed in the explosion and fire, and not Theo. Sonia has a nervous breakdown and goes into therapy in Zurich, where she becomes a psychiatric therapist herself.
Going back to Pakistan becomes necessary when Sonia has helped to organize a peace talk that includes a wealthy American, a missionary couple, a German, a couple of Muslims, who all meet at a hotel, but then travel to one of the houses belonging to her husband, Farid, which is in Taliban controlled territory. At first everything is peaceful but before they can reach the house their bus is attacked and all of them are taken hostage by rebel forces. They are told that each time the United States attacks and kills a Muslim in Pashtun territory, one of them will be beheaded as revenge. Sonia begins interpreting dreams for some of the captors and is beaten in public on her back and the soles of her feet until the women of the village shame the me into stopping. To punish her further she must choose whoever will be the next victim and does so by having each one draw cards.
There are other aspects to the story, another adopted son, Wazir, who grew up with Theo but who disappeared during the fighting in Afghanistan. And in order to get the US to go in and rescue this group of hostages, Theo, his father and his sister-in-law in Lahore begin communicating on cell phones about nuclear weapons materiel going missing in the area. They are betting on the NSA eaves dropping on their conversation and the calls are quickly picked up by an ambitious analyst named Cynthia Lam. Theo makes plans to go back to Pakistan as a Pashtun in order to find mother.
The plot in this novel has lots of nuances; there’s a lot going on and for the most part, none of it is good. I have to admit that it was tough reading for a while because everything that happens is ghastly, both the past history of the lives we are reading about, and the prospect for a happy ending after the peace-talk group is taken hostage. Nothing much in the first part of the story will prepare you for the ending and there are several quick turns to negotiate along the way. I very much enjoyed this book and hope to read others by the same author soon.

Steps to the Gallows, by Edward Marston

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Published 2016

Characters
Leo
Peter and Paul Skillen, twin brothers who run a shooting, archery and boxing gallery in London.
Charlotte, Peter’s wife
Gully Ackford, owner of the gallery and former soldier
Micah Yeomans, a runner with the police
Diane

This is a detective story taking place in and around London, not really sure of the time frame, but they are still riding horses and have coaches and carriages. There is no mention of the ‘horseless carriage’ so before 1900 at least. Leo Paige has come to a shooting gallery to hire a body guard, as he knows his life is in danger. Someone has been following him for the last few days and because of his career of creating caricatures of the powerful in government, he has made many enemies among politicians and the wealthy. When he enters the gallery he sees his former comrade in arms, Gully Ackford, not realizing that Gully is the owner of the establishment. Gully quickly assigns a bodyguard to follow Leo but, alas, it is of no avail, and Leo dies later that day, strangled in his apartment which is then set on fire, hoping to destroy all of Leo’s work along with the body. The bodyguard that has been sent to trail Leo is himself attacked and left for dead so the brothers Skillen realize that two men are involved in the murder of Leo. The Skillen brothers, who work with Gully at the gallery vow to outdo the runners, headed by Micah Yeomans and find the murderer of their friend. Peter and Paul Skillen are twins so identical very few people can tell them apart, although their personalities are almost opposite. This leads to a lot mistaken identity and is double trouble for Micah Yeomans. Leo had been publishing a magazine disclosing some of the foibles and underhanded dealings of those in government, but the Penny Tax is enacted putting the price of his publication out of reach and so he closes down the venture. But he still works with an illustrator, known only as Virgo, creating caricatures of those in power, and Leo supplies the witticisms. His work is sold in a shop owned by a formidable woman, Diane, who now becomes the next target for whoever has killed Leo. Likely suspects include a member of parliament, a wealthy business man and a doctor. All have felt the brunt of Leo and Virgo’s scathing criticism.
This is a fairly simple plot with a lot of good natured competition between the two groups, the Skillens and the crew at the gallery, and the runners headed by Micah Yeomans working for the police. I won’t give away who wins but it’s an enjoyable read.

Silence, by Shusaku Endo

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Published 1969

Silence, what a title. It says so much and I was assuming that this novel was about the silence of Catholic priests in Japan during the late 17th century, when the shoguns tried to forbid Christianity on Japanese soil. But in reading the book, it tells more the story of God’s silence in not speaking to one of those Jesuit priests while he was undergoing persecution, imprisonment and torture at the hands of the authorities. The Portuguese Jesuit priest Rodriguez arrives in Japan in 1639 with his companion Fr. Garrpe. They hope to find ‘hidden Christians and minister to them. Rodriquez also hopes to find out what has happened to a former priest, Ferreiri, who was said to have apostatized but whose fate remains a mystery. They are taken to a hidden colony of Christians by Kichijiro, a Japanese Christian who had formerly renounced his faith under torture, and who plays a significant role in the fate of Fr. Rodriguez. The hidden Christians meet secretly with the priests who hear their confessions and receive blessings. Rodriquez and Garrpe must hide in remote areas and only come outside after dark, with no light and very little food, only what the poor peasants can spare. As seems inevitable from the very start, they are soon caught by the authorities and imprisoned. The Jesuits are made to watch as members of their Christian flock are subjected to torture and death. They are told that they can stop the persecution of their flock simply by renouncing their faith, by putting their foot upon a small, crudely made crucifix. Rodriquez longs to be tortured himself so that he may play the role of the Christ by clinging to his god no matter what the cost. But the Japanese authorities are too sly to allow this and Rodiguez’s choices become much more complex.
There is a foreward by Martin Scorsese included at the beginning of my copy of Silence. In it he says, “Silence is the story of a man who learns – so painfully – that God’s love is more mysterious than he knows, that He leaves much more to the ways of men than we realize, and that He is always present…..even in His silence.” Scorsese’s movie based on the novel has just been released.

Quiet Neighbors, by Catriona McPherson

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Published 2016

Characters

Jude, the main character, a librarian who is on the run from what she believes is the accidental death of her ex-husband’s new girlfriend which she is certain will cause her to be put on trial for murder

Lowell Glen, the older man who owns a book store in Wigtown, Scotland, where Jude ends up after she flees the scene of the accident

Eddy Preston, Lowell’s daughter whom he had no knowledge of until she shows up unannounced on his doorstep the same week that Jude arrives, who is eight months pregnant

T. Jolly, deceased, who left clues to who committed several murders before he died

Lowland Glen bookstore, owned by Lowell Glen, but in sad shape until Jude’s arrival, She is on the high end of obsessive compulsive and cannot help herself from tidying.

“Who runs away to a bookshop?” But that is exactly what ‘Jude’ does when her world collapses after the death of both her parents. A horrible accident takes both their lives and after the funeral Jude flees to an old book store in Wigtown, Scotland she had visited with her husband during happier times. By now she’s divorced and her ex is married to a co-worker he had been seeing during her marriage. When she arrives at the book store, Lowell Glen immediately remembers her and has in fact saved a book she had been looking for in a drawer until her return. She shows up at the door of Lowland Glen bookshop exhausted and emotionally broken, having fled London with nothing but the clothes on her back, her passport and a small mount of cash. She is afraid of using her credit cards, for fear that the police are looking for her and will arrive to take her away if she so much as swipes the magnetic strip. We don’t know why the police are looking for her until much later in the story. But Lowell takes her in, his old-fashioned gentleman style encouraging her to rest at his house until she feels better. The small town seems perfectly safe and Jude takes him up on his offer. Soon, she is working at the bookshop, and being a librarian with obsessive compulsive disorder, she is almost in heaven creating order out of the towering stacks of books, cleaning each one as she goes. Within a few days, more drama comes to the quiet little shop in the form of a teenage daughter that Lowell never knew he had. Eddy Preston’s mother Miranda has just died after a long illness and Eddy is eight months pregnant. She tells Lowell and Jude that the baby is Lowell’s grandchild and the reader gets the impression that Eddy’s story is calculated to force Lowell into taking her in. Not knowing how kind and mannerly Lowell is she didn’t need any story at all, merely having her show up was enough for him to be smitten with her. He remembers a night eighteen years ago when she could possibly have been conceived and takes it on trust that she’s his own daughter. But Jude sees some cracks in the story and doubts that Eddy is even really pregnant, what with the false wombs available now days. When Eddy refuses to have the baby at the hospital and demands that it be born at Lowell’s family home, Jamaica House, where she herself was conceived, Jude’s suspicions grow. But soon Eddy has figured out who Jude really is and the two of them form a pact of secrecy.
Once Eddy arrives she takes over the upstairs bedrooms that Jude had tidied up for herself, but Lowell offers her an old cottage at the edge of a graveyard, where T. Jolly had lived out his final years. There she finds some notes written in the back of books he had ordered for his membership in a local book club. It turns out there had been some scandal involved with Lowell’s father, the local doctor and several of his patients before he died, but the clues are scattered now, buried in the back of the bookshop in books relegated to the dead room which contained dozens of bags of books donated by the community. As Eddy’s due date grows nearer strange happenings occur. Jude receives ominous messages and the cottage is set on fire. The clues almost add up but Jude still needs to search out the final notes in one of the book club entries which still lies hidden somewhere in the bookshop.
An enjoyable read with good characters will keep you guessing.

Miss Julia Inherits a Mess, by Ann B. Ross

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Published 2016

Characters:
Miss Julia, whose first husband left all of his considerable wealth to his illegitimate teenage son Lloyd upon his death
Lillian, Miss Julia’s housekeeper and friend
Mattie Freeman, the deceased

If I were not from the South I most likely would not enjoy these little mystery novels as much as I do, but being from there myself, they are a lot of fun to read. Serious goings on occur, but even though death and intrigue are a part of each and every one of the books, the tone is light and upbeat. Miss Julia and Lillian or Etta Mae are usually caught outside in the middle of the night doing some kind of breaking and entering, just to find evidence of course. Miss Julia is on her second marriage, a happy affair after the miserable experience of her first, to a husband who never cared and a life that while offering much in the way of financial security, was a cold and loveless one for the most part. Her no-count first husband tries to leave his all to a son Miss Julia knew nothing about, but the courts decide in her favor and split the will. And Miss Julia, just to show the kind of girl she is, becomes close friends not only with the boy, but with her former husband’s mistress as well. All of this is background to all of the stories in the series.
In this episode, a member of Miss Julia’s social circle, an old maid named Mattie Freeman, is in the hospital but before you know it, the lady dies and Miss Julia is notified that she is named as the executor of the will, which is surprising because Miss Julia was not that close and in fact did not particularly care for Mattie Freeman at all. Not wanting to shirk her Christian duty, she begins the task of gathering the assets, what little there are, and disposing of them so that she can make the distributions stipulated in the will. The question is, will there be enough to go around. Of course, several who find out they are named are at the door with hands out, the pastor of the Presbyterian church chief among them, for goodness sakes, the air conditioner has gone out and they need that money to keep from baking in the summer heat in North Carolina. To make matters worse, a long lost nephew turns up, whom no one has ever seen or heard of before and tries to gain access to Mattie’s apartment. Miss Julia isn’t having any of that until she finds out just who this guy is, but despite her best efforts, the apartment is broken into and some valuable items go missing.
These are fun, easy books to read and are well done. No loose strings hanging at the end in this series and you can always count on Lillian to give some good sound advice and Miss Julia usually not to take it.