Tracy Chevalier’s A Single Thread

On January 25, 2021 By upstateasbIn Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary FictionLeave a comment

Hardcover Publication Date: September 17, 2019 / Paperback Publication Date: October 6, 2020 / Publisher: Penguin Group/Viking

Winchester, UK, between the wars. Life goes on as families continue to grieve their lost sons, women live without men by their sides, and, far, far away, the Nazis build their power base in Germany for another go at world domination. If you only know Tracy Chevalier from Girl With a Pearl Earring, then you’ll find this quite different. The setting and focus brings the work of Irish writer Maeve Binchy to mind, but without Binchy’s warmth, optimism and overall cheerfulness. The lives of ordinary folks, yes, but more forward looking, a more realistic tone, and a glimmer of a changing world view. You have the good, the bad and the (at the time) still frowned upon; for example, there’s a lesbian couple. Some are incensed, there is talk, but there are some who accept, who don’t tut and turn away. Change.

Violet Speedwell lost her brother and fiancé in WWI; at thirty-eight, she is a spinster, and her bitter mother makes life difficult, so Violet sets out to make a life on her own in Winchester. Spinsterhood was a dreaded status in those days, and it’s tough going. Violet, however, learns to stand up for herself, and she gets by. Winchester Cathedral is the center of life in town, and Violet visits frequently to enjoy its history and beauty. In doing so, she’s fascinated by the embroidered kneelers and cushions in the church and joins the Society of Cathedral Broderers (spelled correctly) to learn this ancient art. Meets a gentleman, too, a bell ringer, an expert in change ringing. (Have you read The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers? A Lord Peter Wimsey mystery based on change ringing.) And here is where the Tracy Chevalier we know comes in. She can take little known subjects such as needlepoint and change ringing and expound ‘til the cows come home . . . and you will be enthralled. I do not lie. Even the change ringing is clearly explained, and that stuff is as arcane as Egyptian embalming methods. Probably more so – though much noisier. Violet’s story winds round and about these skills, but the story itself is in the people, people living serenely on the cusp of another cataclysm and a changed world.

More of a woman’s read, but well-written and rewarding. Comfortable, but not cozy, with an undercurrent of foreboding. Ancient skills juxtaposed against the coming of the modern era. I enjoyed Ms. Chevalier’s latest and was over the moon when I came upon this word oddity – fylfot. A fylfot, or fylfots if you have multiples of them. A word so cute it looks as if it ought to wiggle like a puppy. An Anglo-Saxon word for an ancient symbol used in many cultures and religions for light, life and good fortune. We no longer see it as that because, you see, during this era of change between the wars, the fylfot became the swastika. Symbolism can be a bitch. How far you have fallen, fylfot.

The Way Through the Woods: On Mushrooms and Mourning

On January 21, 2021 By upstateasbIn International Literature, Memoir, Nonfiction, Outdoors & Nature, Scandinavian Literature, scienceLeave a comment

Hardcover Publication Date: August 29, 2019 / Publisher: Random House Publishing Group / Random House

Perhaps the most “unlikely” piece of non-fiction I’ve ever read – unlikely to be written in the first place and unlikely to be read by me, or so it seemed. In fact, I would have said unlikely to be read by anybody. I would have said that until I read it, so let’s get that behind us. This little oddity is good, pleasant and comforting, actually. The author is Malaysian, living in Norway with her Norwegian husband when he dies suddenly at a rather young age. Devastated, absolutely lost, she recounts her struggle with grief and her serendipitous discovery of mushroom hunting and the intricacies of mushroom identification. Quite a big thing in Norway, evidently, organized and controlled. There are even highly trained volunteer mushroom inspectors for safety. Who knew?

Ms. Long makes no claims that mushrooms have special properties that helped her, but rather, her introduction to and her education in the rewards of mushroom hunting ran concurrently with her mourning, lifting her in her struggles and despair. You, too, will be educated: fun, fungal facts (really), identification, cooking tips, and, of course, the effects of poisonous mushrooms. There’s even a lengthy discussion of psychedelics, which, I was gratified to know, are called ‘shrooms in Norway, too. But the very best thing for me? Illustrations. Lovely delicate line drawings of mushrooms throughout. Not detailed, no. Simple, graceful suggestions of mushrooms. So, I enjoyed the book and tripped out on the drawings, but do I recommend it? Yes, however, I can’t honestly say it’s for everyone. Who’s to say, though? You could be taken by surprise as I was. Don’t be too proud to get in touch with your inner geek. Why, at this very moment, I have two cans of mushroom stems and pieces in my cabinet. Store brand.

Full Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided to me by Random House Publishing Group / Random House via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank the publisher, the author and NetGalley for providing me this opportunity. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Craig Johnson’s Land of Wolves

On January 12, 2021 By upstateasbIn Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, The American WestLeave a comment

Hardcover Publication Date: September 17, 2029 / Paperback Publication Date: August 4, 2020 / Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP / Viking

Another in the excellent Longmire mystery series, and let’s just cut to the chase. That’s a damn good thing, the series and this book. Sorry to say that I’ve missed a few episodes, and evidently Walt Longmire went through some serious stuff while I was away, but Walt and I go way back, so we took up like it was just yesterday. The mystique of wolves, a mysterious pest of a woman in a Tibetan cap, Basque shepherds and herding dogs, Longmire’s own monstrous canine Dog, the rugged beauty of Wyoming and an ailing, but still determined Walt Longmire. Yep. Temperature was in the 90’s here when I read this, but I was wearing a fleece lined jacket, riding in a 4X4 pick-up through the snowy mountains of Wyoming with Dog in the back. And there are braying mules, too. Every good story is improved by a jackass or two. Yep. So true. If you don’t know Longmire, jump in. If you only know Longmire from the TV series, you ain’t nothing but a city slicker. Take your Longmire straight – from the page. Real men read.

Curdella Forbes’ A Tall History of Sugar

On January 10, 2021 By upstateasbIn African-American Literature, Fiction, Literary CriticismLeave a comment

45837654. sy475 — Hardcover Publication Date: October 1, 2019 / Publisher: Akashic Books

A Tall History of Sugar delivers a tall order of beautiful language, a giddy, glorious and, yes, intoxicating order. Just as I wrote this, one tiny example came to mind, two words only: “ploughing darkness”. Dark, but lovely, isn’t it? How recognizable to any of us afflicted by the human condition. Hard work, that ploughing, and usually fruitless. Next time I find myself cultivating my particular patch in the “slough of despond” I’ll know what to call it.

OK, OK, this intoxicating novel of modern day Jamaica. Ms. Forbes’ enchanting words took me to Jamaica right away, a sugar rush of language and culture. Growing sugar cane is and has been pervasive in Jamaican history: plantations enriching the British Empire, labor supply feeding off the slave trade, the black smoke of cane fires blanketing the island to this day. And so begins the love story of Moshe and Arrienne .

When newly born, Moshe (Moses) was found abandoned in the sea grapes and taken in by childless Rachel and Noah. Through some defect of birth or, perhaps, his mysterious parentage, he is strikingly different and will be all his life. His skin bleeds at a touch and is white as milk, but his facial features are those of a black man. One eye is blue, the other brown, and his hair is a combination of blond and straight, black and curly. Moshe and Arrienne meet as school children. She is a growing beauty and dark as midnight. She’s also fierce, practiced in tae kwan do and readily assumes the role of protector and constant companion to Moshe. She thinks of the two of them as twins or, sometimes, “nottwins”, and they can communicate without speaking. As adults, they lose this ability and are estranged, but there remains an inexorable pull, a need for each other.

While Arrienne is out-spoken, quick to anger and fully human, Moshe, to me, was more of a being than a person – perhaps (probably?) purposely. I usually step lightly around symbolism because you can always find something if you want to, but Moshe’s character struck me as Christ-like. Not without sin, but tormented and stoic, paying for something, bleeding. Hmmm, well………you’ll have to come to your own conclusions. Ms. Forbes is a writer-to-the-bone, and I won’t presume to speak for her. Intoxicating, yes, and as lyrical as Jamaican patois. Sorry, I’ve rambled on too long, but it’s my word hangover talking. Speaking of patois (way to segue), I was intrigued and went online to explore. Guess what? There are lessons! Some say it is a language, and others call it a dialect, but, no matter, it’s beautiful – as is Ms. Forbes’ moving book. Worth the word hangover.