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Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale, by Lynda Rutledge

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Published 2012

Characters: Faith Bass Darling, matriarch of Bass, Texas
Claudia Jean Darling, her daughter
Bobbie Ann Blankenship, Claudia’s childhood friend who is now an antique dealer
John Jasper Johnson, the black deputy, Mike Darling’s best friend and fellow football superstar
Claude Angus Darling, Faith’s deceased husband
Mike Darling, Faith’s son who was killed in an accident as a teenager.

‘On the last day of the millennium, after a midnight revelation from God, Faith Bass Darling had a garage sale.’
But not just any yard sale. Hauled out onto the lawn of her mansion were priceless antiques, a Tiffany lamp collection, an heirloom ring and a 10,000 bill. Faith Bass Darling is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Her daughter Claudia Jean has not spoken to her mother in over a decade. So when Faith decides to sell all of her possessions on the day before January 1 in the year 2000, there is no one to stand in her way. Bobbie Jean, as owner of the local antique store, hurries over to the sale and tries to keep Faith from letting her beautiful things go for almost nothing, a few dollars for each item, or twenty dollars for an antique worth thousands. The local deputy, John Jasper also tries to dissuade Faith. But Faith is having trouble remembering who she is, let alone who anyone else is. Memories mix in with reality in her brain and she can’t tell which is which. Bobbie does get in touch with Claudia Jean and tells her she must come home, which she does, for the first time since she ran away as a teenager, after the death of her older brother Mike.
This is a story about a broken family, the Darlings, whose ancestors founded the small town in Texas. Faith’s father owned the town bank which she inherited after his death, along with her husband, Claude Angus, whose true colors began to show after her father is gone. The accidental death of Mike, everyone’s ‘darling’ tears the family apart, a tragedy which affects each member in its own way. Claudia’s homecoming means having to face her anger and sense of betrayal by her mother, and maybe a chance to mend the relationship. But with Faith’s mental state slipping into and out of the here and now, it’s hard to get through to her or even know what she is saying.



I will comment here on how unnerving I found it that Faith Bass Darling would set all of her beautiful belongings out on the front lawn and almost give them away to perfect strangers. Every time the story told of another yard sale minivan hauling off a priceless antique it almost turned my stomach. I have a few antiques myself, though nothing on the order of what Faith is almost giving away, and the thought that she no longer cared for these objects to the point that she sold them to people who had no idea of their value, who very well could have used them as trinkets struck me as wrong. But maybe that’s just me.
This is much more than a tale about an older lady struggling with Alzheimer’s selling off her belongings. Friendship, lost love, broken dreams as well as new ones, and what really matters in a family are all here.

The Chickenshit Club, by Jesse Eisinger

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Published 2017

The title sort of grabbed me and since I thought I knew why corporate executives have not been prosecuted for the financial crisis of 2008 I decided to see what Mr. Eisinger had to say. It turns out I was at least partially wrong and that the problem is much more complex and more troubling than I had thought.
The title comes from a speech given by James Comey before he became the (now fired) FBI director, to an elite group of prosecutors. These were the best and brightest the finest institutions in the country had to offer, and Comey asked the question, how many of you have never had an acquittal or a hung jury? Those who raised their hands, he explained were members of the club. The dubious distinction meant that they had never taken on a case where there was any likelihood they would lose.
As I read the book I realized just how much the Chickenshit Club mentality has pervaded not just the Justice department, which Eisinger does an excellent job of detailing, but a lot of American business and even the culture. I can’t count the times that people who should’ve done something or tried to do something have sat on their hands for fear of losing or pissing off people who could pretty much ruin their financial lives. I have done it myself to some extent. But the results of my membership in the club reach only as far as my immediate family. For the Justice Department, the consequences affect the vast majority, if not everyone, in the nation, and sometimes beyond. As is pointed out in the book , many of the prosecutors who had won convictions against executives prior to the 2008 crisis (think Enron) had ended their careers in small, out of the way places. What becomes apparent is that the people who are supposed to be prosecuting executives either came from firms who represent the very companies they have to go up against, or plan on working there after their stint in government is over. People who do anything to cause harm to individuals of high-profile companies can consider their careers on the decline or quickly over.
The book is a fascinating read and you will surely recognize a lot of names; Kenneth Lay, Skilling, Comey, Goldman Sachs, AIG, they’re all here. A lot of research went into the writing and it’s very well done. I rarely read non-fiction but this one is well worth the time.

The Outlander, by Gil Adamson

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Published 2007

A truly enjoyable book, the Outlander, by Gillian Adamson tells the story of a young widow’s flight from the avengers of her husband’s murderer. From the very beginning of the book the widow is declared to be the murderer, but just what happened is not clear. The widow doesn’t flee immediately but waits until the murder of her husband is discovered and she is blamed. At the beginning of the novel she is being pursued by her husband’s brothers, two red headed twins who become almost evil itself throughout the chapters of the book. Against all odds the widow manages to escape, leaving the reader hopeful at the close of each terrifying, breathless effort that she will find civilization and someone to help her. This appears to be the case when she is taken in by an elderly, wealthy mad woman she meets in a church, who is willing to harbor her, but who cannot withstand the might of the brothers who track her to the woman’s house. As the widow flees again and again, more of her past is revealed. In flashbacks we are told about her innocent upbringing by her widowed lawyer father and her paternal grandmother, a wealthy life which does not prepare her for the one she endures after her ill-thought-out marriage to her husband. Right away she is taken to a floorless hut without even a window, in a wilderness which had been described to her family as a fine house. Here she struggles to scrub and cook for a man who takes no more thought for her than if she were another mule added to his list of assets. After their baby dies within a few weeks of being born in the same bed he was conceived in, the widow is afflicted with madness. But while the widow is undeniably mentally disturbed in some respects, in others the craziness of her thoughts may lead to her salvation.
Adamson’s poetry is very evident in the writing of the book and although some of the words were lost on me, the writing is compelling. The style of beginning in the middle, during the flight of the widow, and then telling the beginning as the book proceeds along to its end is thoughtful and intriguing. One doesn’t know what actually happened regarding the murder until near the end of the book, lending it the air of a mystery as well as drama.
I can highly recommend this book, you will enjoy it.

After the Crash by Michel Bussi

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Published 2012

Characters
Lylie Vitral, the Miracle Baby who survived a plane crash in 1980
Mark Vitral, her older brother who does not believe she is really his sister
Mathilde de Carville, the matron of a wealthy family whose grand daughter was also on the plane
Malvina de Carville, the older sister of the baby killed in the crash
Credule Grand Duc, a detective hired by Mathilde to find out the truth about the crash.

This is a remarkable story about the aftermath of a plane crash which occurred just before Christmas, 1980. Everyone on board was killed when the plane travelling from Istanbul to Paris crashed into Mont Terri, except for one baby girl. Miraculously, this baby was thrown far enough away from the crash to avoid the fire but was near enough to be warmed by it until rescuers reached the crash site. However, there were two baby girls on that flight, born within two days of each other. Since both sets of parents were dead no one knew for sure whose child she was. The two families involved, one extremely wealthy and the other of modest means, both claimed that the grandchild was theirs. A judge made the final decision, giving the child, Lylie, to the Vitral family based on the clothes she was wearing and the absence of a gold bracelet which should’ve been on the wrist of the wealthy family’s granddaughter. When we arrive on the scene Lylie has just turned eighteen and has come into a sizable amount of money put aside in a bank account by Mathilde de Carville, just in case the judge had been wrong and the girl really was her grand daughter. Mathilde had also hired a detective, Credule Grand Duc, who has been investigating the case for eighteen years, following every lead, looking into every possible clue to prove once and for all whose child Lylie really is. But he has not been able to discover the truth until the night before Lylie’s eighteenth birthday. He calls Mathilde to tell her he has found the answer but needs a couple of days to make sure, and then disappears. He has given Lylie a notebook with all of the information he has dug up through the years, and after reading it herself she gives the notebook to her brother, Marc to read. Then she too disappears. Marc is worried about Lylie and in trying to track her down goes first to Credule’s house and then to the de Carville’s mansion, reading the detective’s notebook while riding the train to his destinations. Malvina, who is now almost certifiably crazy, keeps a Mauzer in her purse and isn’t afraid to use it, tries to get the notebook from Marc, pretending to aid him in his quest to find Lylie. Marc is afraid that his sister is about to do something drastic, even commit suicide. He feels he is racing against time, reading the notebook for any clues it can give, travelling across France to find her.
A very intriguing book, After the Crash keeps the pieces of the puzzle quietly snapping into place with each chapter. I won’t spoil the ending!

After Byron, by Norman Beim

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Pubished 2015

So we’ll go no more aroving
So late into the night,
Thought the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.
For the sword outwears it sheath,
And the soul outwears the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.

Lord Byron

This poem is at the beginning of the book which introduces us to the bosom friend of Lord Byron’s after his death. The story is told with excerpts from diaries, letters and private journals. It begins with a young barrister, Gerald Marston, who has taken a temporary job as a private detective to spy on Lord Ingersoll, a poet and contemporary of the Byron’s and the Shelley’s, who seems to be surrounded on all sides by suspicious deaths. Most recently that of his wife who was drowned after falling overboard during the night from their yacht. The weather had been rainy and somewhat windy, but not enough to cause real danger. But the inquest ruled the death was accidental. Ingersoll’s mother died by falling down the stairs at her home, breaking her neck and causing a fatal heart attack. Ingersoll, though not at home at the time, found his mother at the foot of the stairs. At the top of the stairs the carpet had been worn or possibly cut, causing her to catch her heel and tumble down. Ingersoll inherited a large sum upon her death. Most uncomfortable for Marston however, is the fact that the private detective just recently engaged in the same position which he now holds, has turned up dead as well, either from an accidental drowning or something more deliberate. Marston is spying on Ingersoll in Genoa, where Ingersoll’s illegitimate daughter, Diane Shelton, and her mother reside. Diane is to be taken by her father back to England and introduced to society so that she can find a husband with rank and title. To complicate matters more, George Marston falls head over heels in love with Diane which is rather difficult since he is spying on her father. No one knows if Ingersoll will be arrested when he returns to England due to the controversy surrounding him, yet he is willing to risk it for the sake of his daughter’s future.
This story is a bit complicated but is well told. At first it seems a sure thing that Lord Ingersoll is a very nasty piece of work, and Mr. Marston is doomed to lose his love if not his life. But as the narration proceeds many points of view come to light, not all of which are detrimental to the main character. This is a short book, just over 200 pages and is well worth the read, especially if you are a fan of Byron’s or Shelley’s.

A Doubters Almanac, by Ethan Canin

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Published 2016

My take on this book is that it’s a good read but is sometimes difficult to pick up on a daily basis, because the hero, or really two heroes, although highly intelligent, keep doing really stupid stuff that the average person would have better sense than to do, but clearly we are not dealing with average people here. In a big way this is a father and son story, the father, Milo Andret, we find out soon enough, is a mathematical genius. He is able to understand complex mathematical concepts as a teenager and breezes through mathematics at college. He then spends a few years working at a service station but in his late twenties ends up interviewing at Berkeley for a position in the mathematics department with his mentor, Dr. Hans Borland, who believes him to be an exceptional young man, capable of solving math problems that only a handful of people on the planet can even begin to understand. This proves to be true, but there is another side to Milo, a much darker side. He does end up at Berkeley and while there he meets the love of his life, Cle (Cleopatra) Wells, but although she admires Andret, their relationship is difficult partly because of her parallel attachment to Earl Biettermann, another math student who is not gifted the way Milo is. Cle and Earl are into a very open lifestyle with plenty of drugs, booze and loose morals for everyone. Milo is drawn into this world but essentially remains a loner.
Part One of the story is told by Milo’s son, Hans, which he admits to at the beginning of Part Two. We are enlightened to the fact that Hans has been the narrator of his father’s story up to this point, based on what Milo has told him in his later years. Now changing to first person, Hans begins weaving his own and his sister’s story along with that of his mother, not the Cle that Milo fell in love with at Berkeley, but a secretary at the math department, Helena, who seems like a good, decent person, a far cry from Cle, whose beauty and sophistication put her in a realm outside Milo’s reach. During the first part of the novel we see Milo attempt to solve the Malosz problem and during this time he achieves remarkable things, landing at Princeton in a prestigious chair, all the while drinking heavily and carrying on affairs with two of his colleague’s wives. He is at the pinnacle of his career when he is caught in bed with another professor’s wife and things quickly go from bad to worse. In the second half of the book Milo has lost almost everything, taking a college professorship at a small college having married Helena and now raising their two children. Berkeley, Princeton and international fame seem a distant memory.
Although I can’t pretend to know if the math problems and scenarios are accurate I am assuming that someone with more knowledge of these issues would find them so, and interesting as well. The human story of how this man, Milo Andret, copes with his genius seems enlightening to me. And from what I know of the mathematically gifted, the plot does not seem far fetched but sheds light on the seemingly bizarre behavior of the characters. While the term Asperger’s is not used in the book since it was not recognized until later, the main character could be classified as close to the spectrum. If you’ve read The Rosie Project you may recognize this type, although A Doubter’s Almanac is considerably more complex reading.
I kept hoping throughout the book that Milo would see the light, give up the drinking and start work again in earnest. In the end the book is a bit depressing. However, it’s a good read and worth the effort, well written and engaging. The many stops along the way tell a story of a family struggling through addiction and adversity.