International Women's Day: A Few of My Favorite Authors

 I'm one of those folks who wish they were blessed with an ability to write a compelling, fascinating, and unputdownable novel. Unfortunately, it's just not in my wheelhouse. That doesn't stop me from admiring authors who have that talent and discipline to craft worlds I get to live in, just for a little while. 

On today, International Women's Day, I am posting a few of my favorite authors. Over the years, I've noticed I read novels written by women about 90% of the time. It's not a purposeful thing I do; however, it's just what I'm drawn to and enjoy. I have my favorite male authors as well. But today it's all about the women! 

Here are a few of my favorite authors, in no particular order. They write historical fiction, science fiction/fantasy, contemporary fiction, mysteries and thrillers. This is by no means all of my favorite authors (I can't have just one!) but they definitely have given me great reading memories:

Geraldine Brooks

Mercedes Lackey

Sarah Addison Allen

Elly Griffiths

Cherie Priest

Barbara Erskine

Karen White

Alice Hoffman

Jane Harper

Sarah Jio

Sandra Dallas

Simone St. James

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International Women's Day: A Few of My Favorite Authors

A Review of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Summer. It's here. It took me a few months to get back into my reading groove, and I think I'm almost there again, thankfully. 

The world is a hurting place, and I, along with so many others, are self-reflecting on my place in it, and my responsibility towards living a life of peace and love. I have always looked to the stories that books tell-whether they are fiction or non-fiction-to help me understand where the world was, and how we came to be where we are now. How others live; their cultures, the barriers they face, and the ugly and brutal things we do to each other out of fear and just plain ignorance.

 I will continue to read stories, memoirs, and history books that will help me understand the beautiful, magnificent, deeply troubled and damaged world we live in and call our home. And I hope I can, in some way, make it better. I may not be out protesting, but I will vote for change, and donate to causes I feel are important. We all do what we can. 

I saw a quote from Denzel Washington yesterday. He said that "Resistance is NOT a one lane highway. Maybe your lane is protesting, maybe your lane is organizing, maybe your lane is counseling, maybe your lane is art activism, maybe your lane is surviving the day. Do NOT feel guilty for not occupying every lane. We need all of them." 

So, onto The Vanishing Half. I received an advanced copy of this novel from a library conference and it was a great choice to kick off my summer reading. Brit Bennett's the author of The Mothers, which is the  adult All Iowa Read for 2020. I haven't read it, but now it's definitely on my list. 

The Vanishing Half is about two sisters-identical twins. The Vignes sisters: Desiree and Stella. They live in the very small town of Millard, Louisiana. Millard is a black community with a bit of a twist: everyone there is light skinned. They could pass for white people, but they identify as black, and are treated by the white people around them as black. It's the 1960's, and both girls want to escape Millard. Memories of their father being murdered by white men haunt them both, but especially Stella. They run away to New Orleans, and seem happy there for a bit. But Stella decides to try for a 'whites only' job, and gets it. She hides her secret every day, afraid someone will find out she's not white at all. And as she works, she realizes that she wants that kind of life-the white kind. But it means leaving Desiree behind. 

Years later, Desiree returns to Millard with her young daughter, Jude. Desiree did what most folks in Millard consider unforgivable: she married a black man-a very dark black man, and produced a child that did not fit into Millard's light skinned community. Poor Jude. She's shunned by everyone in the town; sits by herself at school, and running track is her only way out. Desiree stays in Millard, reconnecting to an old boyfriend and taking care of her mother. She always says she'll leave, but she never does. Desiree thinks about Stella-where she is, what her life is like, and the depth of her anger, sense of betrayal, and grief never goes away.

You also dive into Stella's life. It's vastly different from Desiree's life. She lives her life as a white woman, and keeps her secret from everyone, including her husband and her daughter, Kennedy-a blonde, violet eyed beauty. She has lived her life as a white woman longer than she ever identified as a black woman. And she lives in a privileged community in L.A., caught in her lies and unable to make peace with all of it. 

The novel moves into the 80's, as Jude and Kennedy grow up--and yes, cross paths. You may think it's just not possible, but Bennett writes the story in such a way that yes, it's very possible and makes perfect sense. How can these two women find any commonality? Will Stella ever return to Millard? Will Desiree ever see her sister again? What do you do when you live a lie for so long that it traps you? 

This was such a powerful novel about sisters, family, race, and identity. Hiding behind masks. Struggling to be seen. Jude--I loved Jude! She is such a powerhouse. Kennedy--a hot mess so lost she doesn't even realize how lost she is, and just keeps spiraling down. Stella so full of guilt; Desiree who tried to escape but finds herself right back where she started. The characters in this novel are worthy of long discussions, and this would make an excellent book group title. 

Rating: 5/6 for a powerful look at how we identify ourselves and people of color, and how society identifies us-the struggles to reconcile dreams with reality, and the sacrifices made on the journey. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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A Review of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

I Finally Read The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

Oh, Kitchen House.  You've been on my TBR list for years and years.  You've been sitting on my bookshelf for so long your pages are yellowed.  Why it took me so long to finally read you, I don't know.  Maybe I was afraid you wouldn't live up to my expectations.  Maybe it finally took reading Kitchen House for a book group that did it.  So now, I've finally read you, and I am feeling very torn in my feelings about the book. What?!

Told in alternating chapters between Lavinia, a young Irish indentured servant, and Belle, the slave (and secret daughter) of the Captain, owner of Tall Oaks Plantation, The Kitchen House takes place in late 1790's Virginia.  Miss Martha, wife of the Captain, is a delicate creature, who is convinced that Belle is the captain's lover; her two children Marshall and Sally are spoiled plantation kids.  Things start to go sour when a tutor is hired to teach Marshall.  Poor Marshall.  It's obvious he's being sexually abused by the tutor, but as the story is told through the eyes of a slave and a young, naive girl, there are plenty of hints, but he's never caught.  That tutor destroys Marshall, and Marshall ends up becoming a horrible adult.  When Marshall takes his anger out on his sister Sally, the tragic consequence sends Miss Martha into labor with her third child, and sends her mentally over the edge.  She's never the same again.  That's just one of the many tragedies that visit the slaves and owners of Tall Oaks.  No one is safe from the hardships and sadness that seem to arrive like clockwork.  

At the heart of this novel is the treatment of slaves, and the fact that there are slaves.  Knowing there were decades to go before emancipation made this a bit harder for me to read.  Lavinia was a bit of a frustration for me, as well.  She's just a young child when she arrives at Tall Oaks, rescued from a ship after her parents, Irish immigrants both die onboard.  With no other family (her brother Cardigan is taken away by someone else), the Captain brings Lavinia home, to be an indentured house servant.  After recovering from her ordeal, she ends up staying most of the time in the kitchen house, which is where all the meals were prepared, and situated away from the main house for safety's sake.  There, she is drawn into the loving family of Mama and Papa, Uncle Jacob, Ben, and Belle.  It doesn't matter to her that they are slaves; they are the family she needs, and they love her and take care of her.  It takes Lavinia years to understand that she is treated differently because she's white and they are black, and considered property.  As the years pass, Lavinia doesn't ever seem to really understand the complex relations that swirl around the plantation.  I found her naiveté to be annoying, and I wanted her to be a strong, capable woman.  I never felt like she achieved that at all.  

Yes, there is so much that happens in this novel.  People finding happiness, even if only for a brief time; tragedy upon tragedy; folks giving up on life; children neglected in their youth growing into unpleasant adults.  There's even the sadistic overseer who always appears at the worst times.  It's a definite soap opera.  

So, I did like the story, but I felt there was so much crammed into it, that there was never a peaceful time for anyone.  Will, as a neighbor who helps run Tall Oaks at certain times, was the most decent man in the whole bunch.  Lavinia I found to be annoying the most as an adult, trapped in a terrible marriage, and also trapped by the few options she had--but instead of fighting hard, she caved.  I was hoping for a heroine who really met life head on.  Lavinia wasn't that person.  Belle, poor Belle.  She never got a break, and was never acknowledged publicly as the daughter of the Captain.  

I'll be discussing this novel next week with my book group, and I'm interested in what they will say about it.  I felt it was a little too soap opera-ish, with a weak main character in Lavinia.  There weren't any surprises at all in the plot; I felt like I had read this storyline before.  

Rating:  2/6 for a solid story that shows a lot of research; but I felt Lavinia's naiveté held her back, and the novel suffered for it.  Too much drama, and just outright crazy happenings. Every plantation life trope was in this novel. 

Available in paperback, large print, audio, and ebook. The paperback also has book group questions to help guide discussion, if you need them. 

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I Finally Read The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

Glow by Jessica Maria Tuccelli: Review and Giveaway!

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know I love to read historical fiction set in the South.  Glow has now been added to my collection of favorite Southern novels.

Glow follows the story of the family tree of Solomon Bounds, a white man who settles in the mountains of Georgia is the early 1800's. What makes this novel special is that as you read, you go back up the family tree, not down.  The story starts with young Ella McGee and her mother, Amanda.  They live in Washington, DC in 1941.  Amanda--a mix of Cherokee and Scotch-Irish descent, is working  on racial equality and making herself very unpopular in the community around her.  A rock thrown into her home one night makes her realize leaving is the only option.  But--she can only get one bus ticket out that night.   Reluctantly, she puts Ella on the bus to Georgia, with instructions on where to get off and who to meet.  

But things go wrong, and Ella is left injured on the side of the road in Georgia.  Two elderly women, Willie Mae and Mary-Mary, find Ella and take her to their cabin in the woods to heal her and her dog.  In doing so, Ella's family tree and Willie Mae's family tree connect.  We begin the stories of Amanda's life as a child in the same region--her loving parents, her elder brother Bud, and her love for Obidiah Bounds, a young black boy who's father is the only black person around to own a large farm.  Amanda's childhood stories are interspersed with Ella's time at the cabin with Willie Mae and Mary-Mary.  It is important to look at the chapter titles--each chapter is the name of the character you will be reading about.  If you don't it can get you off track and a bit confused.  I found it helped me reset my mind to go back to a particular character's history.  There is also a family tree at the beginning of the book to help you keep track of each character and where they are in the history of this family.

This novel is chock full of superstition, racial tension, and the beauty of the Georgia mountains.  Jessica Maria Tuccelli is an amazingly descriptive writer.  Her ability to write about the color of a river, the smell of flowers, and the blazing colors of the leaves are a gift to savor.  And the heartbreak and happy times for each storyteller are simply told yet pack a power punch of emotion.  

You too, will fall in love with Ella and, most of all, young Amanda.  She really is the voice of this novel and seeing things through her young eyes makes them even more poignant.  The love of mothers for their children, the mix of Cherokee, white, and black histories, and the drive for the human spirit to never give up are all themes that run throughout each and every story--from Ella all the way back to Willie Mae's early life as a slave.  

Did I tempt you?  How about a chance to win a copy of Glow?  You can!
Just add a comment to this post and I will pick a winner on Monday, April 29th.  *open only to US residents*

Rating:  8/10 Compelling story about the history of  Hopewell County and one of the founding families.  Beautifully written novel for a first time author.  Perfect for book clubs!  Fans of The Kitchen House will like this one.

Available in paperback, e-book, and audio.

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Glow by Jessica Maria Tuccelli: Review and Giveaway!