Maybe Read: A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

In a Nutshell:

The story revolves mostly around three people during the early 1900's in the Midwest. The main character, Catherine Land, answers an ad requesting "a reliable wife" by the second main character, Ralph Truitt. Ralph is a wealthy business man who lives in northern Wisconsin, and who's businesses pretty much employ most of the small and desolate rural town. Though Ralph is successful in business, his private life has been a mess. After 20 years of trying to recover from a horrible past, he places the ad in a paper for "a reliable wife" in hopes to start fresh with a new wife and new life. Part of starting fresh means making amends with his prodigal son, Antonio. Antonio is the third character in the plot. He is a lascivious, good-for-nothing drunkard in St. Louis. The reason for Antonio's hatred and lack of ambition involves his past with Ralph and his previous wife. Antonio blames Ralph for his mother's death 20 years before. He also holds much resentment for mental and physical abuses that Ralph doled out towards him in anger against his unfaithful, selfish wife who ran off with her lover. She left her young son with Truitt and never looked back. These three lives are inextricably intertwined in more ways than one as the story unfolds. You find soon that Catherine is anything but reliable, as her main goal is to slowly kill Ralph and become a rich widow. But what drives this course and the twists and turns that happen afterward are surprising. Swirling all around the three characters are a small, poor town that slowly is infused with it's own tragedies during a long, frigid, heartless Wisconsin winter. The barren wasteland almost becomes a character of it's own, and is meant to describe what hatred, loneliness and sorrow can do to a person without hope or love.

My Take:

The book has some really nice writing at times, and I did love the symbolism of the snowy winter and aligning the weather with what was going on emotionally with the characters. I think the struggle that Catherine feels as she carries out her plans was well developed. It is through that journey mentally that Catherine finds her own hope and grace. I did like that. I also loved the development of Catherine as she related to her younger, troubled sister Alice. When she does finally find Alice and tries to bring her home was the best chapter for me. It showed the reader that there was hope, and a turning point for Catherine's character. Where I felt the story got a little boring and drawn out was all the sex. Now don't laugh! I am not a Puritan! But it takes up most of the book. I understand that the author wanted to show that sex is what drives many a bad decision, especially as it relates to these characters. It also becomes a toxic, obsessive force between Catherine and Ralph. This needs to be illustrated so that you feel the healing transformation between them toward the end of the book. It also is often a way to control others, too, which is also a motive in the book. It just was everywhere and all the time. I just got kind of bored midway through because of it. Things got interesting when Catherine begins to waver in her resolve for murder as she sees Ralph become sick and in pain. Then as Antonio comes to live with them all under the same roof, the story picks up steam.

"It was a story of how the bitter cold gets into your bones and never leaves you, of how the memories get into your heart and never leave you alone, of the pain and the bitterness of what happened to you when you're small and have no defenses but still know evil when it happens...of the life you live in secret, knowing your own pain and the pain of others but helpless to do anything other than the things you do and the end it all comes to." pg. 280

But as depressing and somewhat toxic the whole story is for these people, for some characters there is hope, love and forgiveness in the end. There is for some of these characters, but not all. In that respect the book is painfully honest. The truth is, sometimes I want to escape in my books. Reading is a sort of therapy for me. So it was a little too cold, depressing and chilly as the winter I see outside my own window right now for most of the book. Redemptive as it is in the end, it's a slog wading through the worst parts of humanity to get you there. So if you read this book, I recommend a warm blanket and some comforting tea while doing it.

The Importance of Reading Aloud to Children

previously posted on urbandomesticdiva.com:

I recently was asked by a wonderful organization called litworld to be one of their brand ambassadors for World Read Aloud Day on March 7th. I was excited and honored. I have been an avid reader my whole life. From when I read my first book by myself to this very day, reading is a therapeutic past time for me- and I love discussing what I read (thus my "mammaslibrary" book review blog). I am asked by other women how I can find time to read!? As busy and stressed as I am, I don't know how I couldn't. Reading is the only way I can wind down before bed, even if it's all of three pages, I have to do it. Reading to me is like a glass of warm milk.

But becoming a WRADvocate for litworld.org has forced me to evaluate my influences in reading from when I was very young. My obsession with books was something I took for granted about myself. When I really stopped and thought about it, however, my parents did not read to me when I was little. They had immigrated here from Italy in the mid 1960s, knowing practically no English. By the time they had me, they only spoke self-taught broken English. So reading to me like other American parents did every night was not happening in my home. So as I answered my WRADvocate profile questions, I became baffled. How did I become such a voracious reader and writer if my poor parents were struggling with the language themselves?

Well, when you hear it takes a village to raise a child, nothing could be more truthful then when it came to my upbringing. Looking back, I can tell you distinctly the first time I was given a book and had someone read aloud to me. It was my father's American cousin and his wife who arrived at our home with a Little Golden Book of Disney's Robin Hood. They read it to me in bed. I had to be 4 years old. It was wonderful and I was hooked. Though my parents' English improved through the years and bought countless books for my sister and I, they still only read to us rarely. It was the wonderful reading time with teachers and the school librarian that fed my hunger for reading. It was an escape for me as it is for all kids. Even as our class moved into chapter books, I remember my third and fourth grade teachers reading aloud to us. They would always stop at a cliffhanger, leaving us wanting more. It was such a great way to introduce us to the intrigue and rewarding perseverance that chapter books provide. It is something I struggle with at home now with my daughter. She finds long chapter books daunting. I am using the "few chapters a night" aloud approach right now to see if it works.

If it wasn't for my father's cousin, my wonderful public school teachers or an extensive local library, I am not sure who would have nurtured my reading skills. I won the school's Young Author's Contest in for both 4th and 5th grade levels! This, from a child whos parents still spoke broken English at home.

It is so very important to support programs to help children read. Children come from all kinds of socio-economic backgrounds and reading support may not always come from home, no matter how good a parent's intentions are. It does take a village to keep kids reading and writing. And we need to help make sure those supporting literacy get the resources they need to help children. After all, we may have the next Hemingway out there!

Think about the children in your neighborhood, or around the globe. And especially your own children. Read to them often. Take them to the library with a big old tote bag to fill. Create your own family "book club" (see my post on this great idea). Urge your school or parish to run a book drive to support a local used book shop or library. Donate or raise funds as a community service project for organizations such as litworld.org.

And for litworld's World Read Aloud Day, plan a cool event at your local library, child's school, scouting troop or just at home with your family! Litworld.org has great downloads, ideas and kits to print and use to make that day reader-ific! Or simply, take ten minutes on March 7th with your kids, grab some books and read aloud. It's the best gift you can give them. I am living proof of that.

In honor of my father's cousin, Vito, who with his wife, was the first person to read aloud to me. We lost Vito to colon cancer on New Years 2012. He holds a special place in my heart, always.



About litworld

LitWorld is a 501C3 nonprofit organization led by Executive Director Pam Allyn, a renowned literacy educator and advocate. We work to cultivate literacy leaders worldwide through transformational literacy experiences that build connection, understanding, resilience and strength. LitWorld joins together with teachers, parents, community members, and children to support the development of sustainable literacy practices across the world.

Literacy is the foundation for emotional and physical well-being, intellectual growth, and economic security. The right to read and write is a fundamental human right and belongs to all people.

Worldwide at least 793 million people remain illiterate. Two-thirds of them are women. All over the world, children are hungry for learning and for the power it brings. Research shows that children learn to read and write best by writing and telling the stories of their own experiences. Yet it is rare to find safe spaces where children feel fully comfortable to do so.

LitWorld is changing that.

MUST READ: Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman

In a Nutshell:
This book revolves around 2 main characters; Beattie and Emma. Beattie is Emma's deceased grandmother, a wealthy Australian businesswoman and fashion mogul who doted on Emma. Emma is a London prima ballerina who has an accident and ruins her knee. Her leg is so damaged she cannot dance anymore. She decides to fly home to recover and figure out what she should do with the rest of her life. It is there that her mother tells her that there was a part in Beattie's will, only to be read when Emma retired from dancing. The will bequeaths Beattie's original farm and land in Tasmania to Emma to do with what she wants, but only after she has spent 6 months on the property. Emma goes down there, but while Emma is cleaning out the old farmhouse to sell, she discovers letters, photos and a mystery. It seems that Beattie had a whole life before even Emma's mother was born. You are privy to some of that story as the reader, because as you get acquainted with Emma, the story goes back in time a lot to Beattie. Beattie's life story is a tumultuous beginning of some bad choices during the depression in Glasgow. She becomes pregnant and runs a way with her lover to Tasmania. Through domestic trials and drama, she ends up on a large sheep farm called Wildflower Hill as a maid. It is there she makes one brave move to change her fortune-and future-forever.

My Take:
I was still going through Kate Morton withdrawal when I saw this at Target. It had a Kate Morton review on the front, and it so happens, the two authors are friends. It seems that Kimberly Freeman has been a sort of mentor to Kate. Kimberly Freeman has been writing for a long time,  just under different names. At any rate, this book was like a sweet cup of hot chocolate. The two main characters suck you in, especially Beattie. Beattie was so well developed, her story so dramatic, strong and tragic. I cried through the whole last 30 pages. I finished this book in one week. I drank it all up at once. Emma's story was a little more pedestrian, a little more "Bridget Jone's Diary"-ish, kind of expected...from the love story  angle to her involvement with a special needs dance group she is asked to help. In contrast, Beattie's life takes on all unexpected twist and turns. The two parallel yet similar lives add some nice tension in the story and play off one another brilliantly. After all, they are inextricably tied by blood and history. The story is a wonderful homage to love and motherhood. It tells a bittersweet story of what we as mothers sacrifice in love for our children. It's also about finding love in unexpected places, and to be ready and open to it when it shows up. It is also about strength and courage in the face of complete hatred, bigotry and lack of compassion. I loved it. I now am going through Kimberley Freeman withdrawal!

MAYBE READ: House at Riverton by Kate Morton

In A Nutshell: 

This was Kate Morton's first novel, and it seemed inspired in many ways by the classic masterpiece theatre series, "Upstairs, Downstairs." a tangled, sweeping drama where the army of servants and a web of affluent British aristocracy lead parallel yet intermingled lives. The story spans from Victorian England, through WWI, to the roaring 20's. However, it is told to you by an aging grandmother living in the 20th century, who needs to unburden her secrets and guilt to her son. Her secrets come from the time she was a very young servant in the Riverton estate. It was there that she meets and works for the Hartford children; Hannah, Emmeline and David. She also meets Robert Hunter, a friend of David's, who later in life becomes a famous poet and kills himself on the estate during a party. The only witnesses of the apparent suicide are Emmeline and Hannah, and they never spoke to each other after the tragedy. As Grace, the main character who is now 90 years old and in a nursing home,  works with a movie director who is recreating the story of the "famous tragedy" at the House at Riverton her memories and guilt come back full force. Things that she long wanted to keep secret now need to be told, and she tells them..and you are along for the journey.

My Take: 
As I said, this was Kate Morton's first novel. It was interesting for me to kind of go backwards with her writing. I read The Forgotten Garden first, than The Distant Hours. You can really see the growth in writing and prose from her later books to this first one. That being said, it is not a bad read. It just kind of felt a little cliche for me. The typical Upstairs-Downstairs/Gosford Park characters and intrigue is there. You have an aging grandmother that goes back to the estate to relive her memories and validate history for a movie director working on a film about the tragedy (sounds a little like Titanic?). There was even a little guilt from a wrong done and unresolved WWI love story in there like Atonement. However, all in all, it was not that it was unenjoyable at all. I like the genre, so it worked for me. I think knowing the ending with Robert Hunter's death at the very beginning took away from the dramatic reveal of the guilty secret at the end. If you are in withdrawal from some Kate Morton, it does the trick. If you want to get started on some Kate Morton, I recommend The Distant Hours. That, I think, is her best book to date.

Mayor Emanuel, Keep your Hands off my Library. Thank You.

Irony is when you are asked to become a brand ambassador for a worldwide literacy organization, and asked to plan an event for worldwide reading day...

and you find that literacy is soon to become a luxury in your own back yard!

A couple months ago I was asked by litworld.org to become Chicago's World Read Aloud Day brand ambassador. I was floored, honored and excited. I was tasked to plan a fundraising and awareness event, big or small, for March 7th.


One of my ideas involved a library, so I went to visit my regional public library, Sulzer. They have a great storytime room and my daughter and I just love milling around and filling our tote bags with treasured books. After talking to one of the librarians, I was sad and frustrated.

She told me that the Mayor, due to budget short falls, has cut staff and hours. She said they are now closed on Mondays and they have laid off about 20 people over the past two months. She said that basically, the way the hours are being handled, they have to work 6 days but are really only getting paid 5. Meanwhile, they don't even have enough bodies to keep up with getting books back on the shelf (I noticed carts and carts of books in aisles, waiting to get put back.), let alone doing any kind of community outreach which they always felt was important,  including children's story hour!

In the first nine months of this year, the Chicago Public Library system offered 15,228 children's programs, serving 418,055 children of all ages, according to Dempsey. Librarians also made 740 visits to area schools to talk to teachers and students about what they can offer. But with fewer librarians, those programs will likely shrink. Reducing morning hours also closes the library at a time of day popular with young children, according to Lynn Elam, president of the Illinois Library Association. Elam said helping children get a jump-start on school through reading is a big part of what libraries do. (Chicago Tribune, 10-25-2011)

"Emanuel's budget also includes funding cuts that would slash full-time public library staff by 32 percent--and that comes on top of a 10 percent staff cut in 2010. The mayor's proposal would also cut eight hours a week from the branches' hours of operation. Such cuts would have far-reaching effects: Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey pointed out, for example, that library branches had over 8.3 million visitors--and that 60 percent of people using library computers were using them to search for jobs." (Chicago Tribune, 10-25-2011)

Ok. I get it. The economy stinks. All cities have had to make cuts to balance budgets that never can seem to be balanced. But what I take issue with is Mayor Emmanuel giving breaks where they arguably are not needed (in fact, taxes actually fund the city. We're going to have a $635.7 million deficit this year?) and social programs that citizens count on, such as the local library, is getting screwed.

"For example, according to NBC Chicago blog "Ward Room," "When the General Assembly's fall veto session begins...Mayor Rahm Emanuel's legislative priority will be securing a tax cut for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)." Emanuel is seeking $120 million in tax breaks for the CME and the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Emanuel is also pressing for an ordinance that would cut taxes for 2,700 Chicago-based companies at a cost to the city of $23 million. Companies with more than 50 workers are taxed $4 per worker per month, and Emanuel is aiming to abolish the tax completely by 2014". (socialistworker.org, 2011-11-10)

So here I am, trying to plan an event to help children globally with literacy and reading. And it seems that even though children in Africa need books and resources, there will soon be many children in my own city that I love, in the United States of America, that are going to need this event as much as any child across the globe.

I will let you know what event gets solidified, but sadly, it won't be at a Chicago Public Library.

If you wish to write the mayor's office, here is the form:
http://webapps.cityofchicago.org/eforms/org/cityofchicago/eforms/controller/contactUsForm/preFeedbackForm.do



Sources:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/8156275-418/emanuel-to-cut-chicago-libraries-hours.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2012/0112/Rahm-Emanuel-and-public-sector-union-play-hardball-over-Chicago-library-hours
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-10-25/news/ct-met-library-cuts-focus-20111025_1_chicago-public-library-library-employees-library-services

VIDEO: The magic of a REAL book.

Digital readers can do a lot, but they can't do this:

Here's to the hope that real books will still be around well after I am dead and gone!

Must Read: The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

In a Nutshell:
I was introduced to Kate Morton's writing when I picked up The Forgotten Garden. Her writing was reminiscent of the Bronte sisters, with a sprawling family drama that spanned as far back as the ruined castles and estates that seem to be the backdrop for her stories. I really enjoyed it, and when I found The Distant Hours, I couldn't resist. Morton's Gothic Victorian style is alive and well in The Distant Hours. A tired, moldy castle whispers secrets of the distant hours of the Blythe family. At the center of the Blythe family legacy...and intrigue...is Raymond Blythe. A father of three girls and an author of a classic thriller called "The Mudman", he rules his family with a needy, jealous love even well beyond the grave. The story jumps generationally, where you meet the Blythe sisters in their advanced years as old spinster sisters sitting in their dusty castle and then go back during the war while the sisters were young women, and through memories even touch on the sisters as they were children. Gradually you peel away the layers of secrets and drama that the main characters have layered around them. Love, affairs, mental instability, scandal, deception, murder, heartbreak; its all in here. And the main character who you are on the sleuthing journey with is Edith Burchill.

Edith works in publishing in London and discovers her pedestrian mother had kept a secret for years from her and her father. A letter shows up on a normal Sunday from 30 years ago that causes Edith's very composed mother to sob and break down. She doesn't tell anyone why she is so upset, instead is very secretive. Edith, concerned and curious, looks at the return address, thus beginning her journey that draws her to the castle and the sisters Blythe.

Meridith and Edith are connected to the castle and the Blythe family by WWII. Edith's mother, Meridith, was an evacuee from London during World War II and lived at the castle for over a year. Meridith becomes best friends with the youngest Blythe sister, Juniper, and is introduced to writing as a career with the whispering castle that was the backdrop for "The Mudman" as inspiration. This time in Meridith's life she kept secret from her family, and did not want to remember it. Edith wants to know why her mother is behaving this way, and starts her journey to find out. As Edith uncovers all the secrets of Middlehurst Castle, she strengthens her own self esteem and resolve, as well as grows her relationship with her own mother. She also becomes the catalyst for the Blythe sister's closure with their own pasts.

My Take:

There is a lot to like in this book. The description of the castle and area is engrossing. The layers of secrets you uncover with Edith, little by little, make you want to stay up late into the night to figure out the next connection. Morton weaves clues so beautifully nuanced that you are putting things together even before Edith does, and hoping down the road that your guess is right. The tangled relationships that Morton describes is also very engaging. I especially enjoyed Edith's relationship with her mother. It was so real. Daughters often have tenuous relationships with their mothers. It is often very true that daughters don't really see their Mothers as people that had lives, dreams and adventures before they were born. There is often an invisible barrier that is there, and as Edith's mother starts opening up to who she is and breaking down that barrier, Edith begins to understand and accept her. They become closer for it.

The other layer of genius...you can call it almost meta, is the story within a story. The story of "The Mudman" is shared in snippets, but the first chapter is what launches the whole story at the very beginning. It is totally engrossing and beautifully written. And it is the center point of the whole Blythe story. Morton should almost write "The Mudman" in it's entirety as a sequel! I would read it. This "mudman", in many ways, is what has destined the sisters Blythe to all their various fates. Their aging, sad, dusty story is beautifully woven and revealed. You feel sadness, love and anger for all of them at various times in the book. What a tangled web they wove.

My only complaint about the book is the ending. I don't want to spoil anything. I will just say that it ends somewhat poetically, then an afterword continues where the multitude of loose ends get tied for you, the reader only (not Edith, mind you, who you have been on this sleuthing journey with the whole time.) I am not sure why it was handled in this way. It almost looks as if the editors wanted more and Morton wanted to end it her way, so this was the compromise? It felt weird and disjointed from the rest of the writing. I felt like there could have been a way to tie some loose ends within the flow of the story and call it a day. But you read for yourself and form your own opinion. I had to pay an extra 60 cents for my library book returned late so I could finish it, and I was disappointed in the ending. Was it worth 60 cents as a whole? Abso-frickn-lutely. As the nights get colder, this is the perfect book to keep you warm at night. Trust me.


I also am going through ancient English castle withdrawal now so I promptly checked out The House At Riverton by Morton too! (stay tuned)

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