August Read: The Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

 

I'm not going to lie: I've been in a whirl of new books lately. As in, trying to read a whole lot of ARCS, library books, and um...the bags of books I bought over the past few weeks. I had a book frenzy moment and now, in the aftermath, I'm trying to catch up. 

I gulped this novel down in just a few days (in between working and reading another book). If nothing else puts me in the mood for Fall, this book certainly did, and that's part of what made me enjoy it so much. 

Set in Virginia, this novel is about three sisters and their Aunt. The Flores sisters: Sage, Teal, and Sky all have gifts: Sage is the "plant whisperer"; Teal can summon up a thunderstorm or the sunniest of days, depending on her mood; and Sky has the gift of communicating with animals. It's been eight years since Sage was home, but now she's returning after losing her job. Returning home to her Aunt Nadia's house also means living with Teal and facing the grief from losing Sky eight years before. Only Sky is still around, haunting Sage every time she cries. Sky doesn't know why she's sticking around. 

Sage returns to her previous job at the Cranberry Rose Company, growing herbs and nurturing plants as only she can do. And unfortunately for her, Tennessee Reyes also works there--the very object of her love years ago in their teen years. Dang it all if he isn't even more handsome as a grown man! Tennessee sure likes the look of Sage, and has no idea all those years ago his AOL messenger pal was Sage. 

Sage has her work cut out for her: dealing with her feelings for Tennessee, trying to connect with her sister Teal, and figuring out why exactly Sky keeps hanging around, acting very un-ghostly. It's a homecoming that is an opportunity for healing, growth, and a happily ever after, if only Sage can hang on and see it all through. 

I loved Sage's gift with plants and Mother Earth. The best gift to have, in my opinion! I'll say Sky's story is a bit odd, and did throw me for a loop. Just keep reading and let the magic of the novel make you a believer. Teal is a pill and dang she is frosty as hell. Themes in the novel are embracing your gifts, not letting men push you around, and, of course, family. There's a couple of steamy sex scenes but otherwise it's pretty mild. 

Thanks to Edelweiss and Penguin Publishing Group for the ARC. This paperback will be out in the U.S. on September 12th. Also will be available as an e-book. Cover art is fantastic! 

Rating: 5/6 for an entertaining novel about a family of witches who struggle with everyday problems just like the rest of us. A magical novel about finding love again, healing old wounds, and accepting your own badass self. 

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August Read: The Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

 

I finally finished one of the 6 or 7 books I've started in April. Life kept me busy and distracted this month. That didn't keep me from buying more books, though. And checking out books from the library. Here's to May coming at us fast, and a pile of books I'm eager to read. Focus, Sue, focus!

Hang the Moon is the latest novel from Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle. I'll admit right here I have never read The Glass Castle (overexposure during my bookselling years), but I thought this novel, set in early 1920's Virginia would be interesting. And boy howdy, it was!

It took me half-way through before the lightbulb popped on in my head. And it does help if you have some historical knowledge of the world. 

Keep reading, and I'll clue you in....

So, this is the story of Sallie Kincaid and her father, Duke Kincaid. Duke runs their small town, and the surrounding area in the backwoods of Virginia. He is the law; it's his little kingdom. The Kincaids have always taken care of the people and in return expect loyalty. Duke runs the Emporium (grocery store) in town; he sells bootleg whiskey, and he lives in the Big House with Sallie, his third wife Jane, and their small son Eddie. What Duke says and does is the final word. He's a big man and his reach is far.

The novel starts out with a young Sallie trying to teach Eddie how to run her wagon down the hill and over the bridge. She's perfected it, and it's time for Eddie to go for a ride with her. Unfortunately, there's an accident, and Sallie is sent away as punishment. Off she goes to live with her Aunt Faye in a dingy shack miles away, until Jane isn't so angry anymore. 

Eight years pass, and Sallie is called to return to her home. Here's where this novel takes off and it's a rollercoaster of highs and lows, tragedy and violence. Alliances made, enemies all around, and a fight for Sallie's survival. She's only eighteen! But she's the Duke's daughter, and she will do whatever it takes to keep the Kincaid family intact. 

Okay, I'll spill it--this novel is a retelling of Henry the 8th and the reign of Elizabeth I. And it is glorious. Once the lightbulb went off, I began placing characters into the Tudor family tree. It wasn't hard to do. But, if you don't know much about Henry and his daughter, Elizabeth I, you may not get that part, and just enjoy the novel as it is. And that is absolutely fine! But wowza the plot takes on a much deeper meaning when you plug the Tudor family into it. Sallie's deep mourning for her mother, the erasure of her mother's footprint in the Kincaid family; her elder sister Mary and her determination to destroy the bootlegging going on in the community (Catholic Queen Mary and her purges). Heck, the author even managed to fit the Spanish Armada showdown into this--you'll know it when you read it. 

Ooh, Jeannette Walls, what an excellent novel. It got me out of my reading rut, and I'll read anything that reimagines the Tudor soap opera in a new setting. Sallie is such a force, and you can't help but admire her tenacity and grit. Her determination to take care of her community and the people she loves. She doesn't blink. She can't. She's just got to keep moving. 

I can't recommend this novel enough. Book clubs, add it to your list. If you're planning a vacation, add it to your vacation reading list. 

Rating: 5/6 for a clever turn of the Tudor saga, set in bootlegging 1920's Virginia. Strong female characters, plot twists galore, and a main character you'll root for until the final page. A great read! 

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Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

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

Heroines of Mercy Street: The Real Nurses of the Civil War by Pamela D. Toler, PhD

My unceasing interest in women living through the Civil War continues with The Heroines of Mercy Street. This history book focuses mostly on the experiences of a few women living and working as nurses in the North during the American Civil War of 1861-1865.  Many people may be familiar with the PBS series  Mercy Street.  It created such interest in the characters that this book was written to look a bit closer at the women who worked under miserable circumstances and conditions to treat the wounded from both the Yankee and Confederate sides. 

Dorothea Dix was a feisty middle-aged spinster who inherited her grandparent's wealth, and that made possible her endeavors to bring reform to sanitariums, jails, poorhouses, and the treatment of mentally ill prisoners.  She was a woman on a mission, and when the Civil War began with the firing on Fort Sumter in April, 1861 she was ready to help gather supplies that would be needed to care for the wounded soldiers that were sure to come.  She faced an uphill battle in her quest to hire women for nursing positions.  There were no nursing schools in the United States in 1861; the only women who were loosely called nurses were those who were working off jail sentences.  They were drunks, uneducated, and usually women of ill-repute.  

Dorothea's strict requirements kept a lot of otherwise perfectly capable women out of the nursing positions she needed to fill.  She only wanted women who were plain faced, in their 30's and older, and of a very good reputation.  She did get plenty of women traveling to Washington, D.C. to work in hastily constructed hospitals, but her strict rules and the overwhelming opposition to women taking care of soldiers by doctors, surgeons, and pretty much every male in the U. S. Army created a lot of issues.  

Some women, you'll be glad to know, ignored Dorothea's rules and struck out on their own, often times just showing up at hospitals (which were usually hotels, factories, churches, and homes) hoping to help.  For many, the severity of soldiers' injuries was too much.  Some had very genteel ideas of what it meant to take care of soldiers.  Dysentery, typhoid fever, and so many other diseases ran rampant through the troops.  The medical world in the U.S. at the time of the Civil War was far behind Europe; there was still no belief in sterilization, clean water and instruments for the wounded, nor clean linens or bandages.  Infections and gangrene were everywhere.  Nurses oftentimes slept on the floor or in chairs, ate hard bread and really bad coffee, and worked 12 hour days with no breaks.  And the majority weren't trained in much of anything.  It's appalling to realize just how many soldiers died from sheer ignorance of basic cleanliness, or soldiers suffering from gastrointestinal diseases that kept them from eating the usual horrible foods offered in the hospitals. Women in the hospitals pushed to create special diets for soldiers who were unable to eat the heavy meals cooked for fighting soldiers.  There are just certain things you don't give someone who has dysentery and expect them to recover!

Dorothea isn't the only woman featured in this fascinating book.  Anne Reading, Mary Phinney von Olnhausen, Louisa May Alcott, Clara Barton, and so many others were at the forefront of new radical changes in medicine and the dawning of a fundamental change in medical care in the U.S.  It's hard to imagine nurses were seen as little better than prostitutes in 1860, but it's true.  One of the good things to come out of this terrible war was the realization of the importance of nurses in the care of and as advocates for patients.  

Clara Barton, addressing an audience in 1888 said "...that as a result of the Civil War women had advanced at least fifty years beyond the position they would have held had the country remained at peace" (p. 221). 

I learned so much about Civil War medicine, the perception of women's capabilities and "delicateness" during mid-19th century America, and the sheer strength and determination of so many women to contribute to the healing of so many damaged men during such a brutal war. It's a fascinating read, and anyone who is interested in women's history, the Civil War, politics, or even medical history will find this a good addition to their history bookshelf. I'd recommend this to anyone who is interested in pursing nursing as a career.

Rating:  4/6 for a part of Civil War history that has been long overlooked.  Such a rich history, and well worth the read!  

Available in paperback and e-book.

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Heroines of Mercy Street: The Real Nurses of the Civil War by Pamela D. Toler, PhD

America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

It felt so good to get back into historical fiction!  I've been reading a lot of contemporary fiction and non-fiction, and usually historical is what I read above and beyond anything else.  Somehow I got turned around, but I will be changing that up and incorporating more historical fiction reviews.   

America's First Daughter is a 580 page novel about Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph, the eldest child and one of only two surviving children of Thomas Jefferson and his wife, Martha Jefferson.  Tall and red-headed like her father, Patsy lead a life that was full of triumphs, tragedies, and sacrifice. Erica Kane has nothing on Patsy.  Seriously, this woman couldn't catch a break. 

The novel is based on the thousands of letters Thomas Jefferson wrote in his lifetime, and opens with Patsy going through her father's letters after his death, burning many of them in order to shape his history--and protect him and others in the family.  Each chapter begins with part of an actual letter written by Jefferson to either his family or one of his many friends and political allies.  They help frame what is to come in that chapter.  Patsy's love and devotion to her father drives pretty much her every decision, beginning with the death of her mother when she was just a young girl.  Jefferson, devastated and near suicidal after his wife's death, leans on Patsy to guide him through his grief.  She sees herself as his protector, and as Governor of Virginia, no one must know just how much Jefferson has descended to near madness.  Patsy has to shoulder a lot of burdens early on in life, and while I was hopeful this would change, oh, I was wrong.  

This novel takes the reader from Monticello (which is always in a state of construction, falling down, never completeness) to Paris, during Jefferson's tenure as Minister to France for a newly formed America, and back again to Monticello.  Told through Patsy's eyes, we see her grow up, grow strong, and find love.  But the course of true love does not run smoothly for Patsy, and her heart is broken.  Patsy does marry Thomas Randolph, and eventually gives birth to eleven children; ten of whom survive to adulthood.  I think that is just remarkable.  But beyond her superwoman ability to survive childbirth that many times in the early 19th century, is Patsy's strength in understanding that her father was someone who gave his whole life to his country, even at the cost of personal happiness.  And Patsy did the same thing, in devoting her life to her father.  Sally Hemings plays a large role in this novel as well; she was Patsy's Aunt, if I followed the convoluted family tree.  Her  maternal grandfather was Sally's father; Sally's children by Thomas Jefferson were Patsy's siblings.  Phew. Confusing.  This was a big issue between Jefferson and Patsy, and the struggle Patsy goes through to understand why and come to peace with Sally runs throughout the novel.  If I got anything from this novel, it was to be careful what you ask of others, and what you promise a dying loved one. It can trap you and haunt you the rest of your life.

This novel had me stopping and Googling everyone I read about:  Patsy, Jefferson, Thomas Randolph, William Short, Sally Hemings and children....I spent a lot of time reading about them.  I am always a bit hesitant to read historical fiction based on real people because inevitably there is something completely out of left field that isn't true.  As a history gal, I hate to think people will read historical fiction and believe every bit of it is true.  Patsy's relationship with William Short is something that may or may not be true; it makes for a good plot movement in this novel, but I can't find anything factual that ever mentions the two of them as lovers.  I'll leave that up to you to decide. 

You will enjoy this book.  Oh, my heart ached for Patsy.  She is one tough cookie.  It took her a long time and a lot of angst to get there.  She lived her life much as her father did, sacrificing personal happiness for the greater good.  But her love for her father, as his for her, is admirable, and comes across the pages quite clearly.  Reading about my country in its early growing pains and struggles  reminds me that even today, we still have issues of race, equality, and the role of the government in the everyday lives of Americans.  Elections were nasty, and people weren't above spreading malicious gossip to damage reputations.  People haven't changed.  And life was not easy for a woman caught between duty and love.

Rating:  9/10 for a thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking novel about  family, an incredible woman, and what we will do to keep and protect our lives.  I loved reading about post-revolutionary America, Paris as it tumbled into revolution, and so many famous fathers of our country.  

Available in paperback, e-book, and large print hardcover. 

  

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America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

The House Girl by Tara Conklin

A big thank you to Harper Collins for the ARC of this novel.  I have been looking forward to reading it for ages, and finally sat down yesterday to pick up where I'd left off a few weeks ago.  I was mentally ready to dive in--and found myself unable to put this one down until the end.  

And then I sat and pondered for a while.  That's the mark of a good book.  It left me a bit sad, happy, and amazed yet again at the talent of some writers.  

This is a dual history novel that takes place New York and on a small plantation  called Bell Creek in Virginia during the years of  1848-1852.  Josephine is a young slave girl who lives in the house and helps Mrs. Bell, who is suffering from a tumor and slowly dying.  She's been unable to have a child survive much past birth--17 children in all.  Mr. Bell is struggling to hang onto the plantation as his profits decrease and he has less slaves to help with the tobacco crops.  

Present day is Lina Sparrow, a young lawyer working her way up the corporate ladder.  Her father is a famous artist, and her mother died suddently when Lina was just a small child.  The loss of her mother has always plagued her, and her father's refusal to talk about her mother has left a huge hole in her life.  Her latest case at work is much different than what she usually has:  a large corporation is suing the US government and other large companies for all the pain, suffering, and lack of wages slaves endured for the 200 years slavery was legal in some States.  This has the potential to be huge--and Lina has to find someone who could be a direct descendant of slaves who can testify.  

Enter in the famous LuAnne Bell paintings.  LuAnne is the mistress that Josephine took care of, and most people have no idea that Josephine was the real artist--but there are rumblings in the art world that LuAnne's paintings are done by Josephine, and it is causing trouble.  And how to prove it?

You would think it would be hard to mesh these two worlds together into a coherent storyline, but Tara Conklin does it quite well.  It does start out a bit slow on Lina's end, but it quickly gathers steam and I was completely engaged and unable to stop reading.  Both stories do not necessarily have happy endings, but endings that make sense.  Some questions are answered, some are not.  Lina's search for a descendent of Josephine quickly becomes a major plot point, and a major change for Lina's outlook on her job and her life--and her quest to know what happened to her mother.  Her father's art world provides a smooth transition for Lina into art galleries and a talk with an art historian who firmly believes Josephine is the true artist of the Bell paintings.  

And Josephine.  Oh, Josephine.  You really feel for her.  Her story is told through letters, paintings, sketches, and her own words.  You will find her character stands out in your mind long after you've put this novel down.

I think this would make an excellent book club selection.  Anyone like me who loves to read about the Old South will certainly want to pick this up.  Fans of The Rebel Wife, The Kitchen House, and The Healer should not hesitate!

Rating:  8/10, great plot; characters that tell their story well, and a very clever idea for a story.  
Available this month in Hardcover and e-book.

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The House Girl by Tara Conklin