Month: October 2015

Girl waits with Gun-Amy Stewart

/ a literary explorer

I love books that are an unexpected pleasure and Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart (known for her non-fiction work the Drunken Botantist) was that and more. The book is a fictionalized account of Constance Kopp (our Girl waiting with a Gun) and her two sisters Norma and Fleurette. In 1914 in Paterson NJ the three sisters are riding in their buggy and are run over by an automobile driven by Henry Kaufman. Kaufman the owner of a local silk mill refuses to take responsibility for the damages.

The sisters are not your average femme fatales-Constance is large and imposing, Norma is obsessed with her pigeons and reading lurid crime pieces in the newspapers and Fleurette is on the cusp of being an adult, a talented seamstress and budding performer. Constance confronts Kaufman after two requests for payment go unanswered-embarrassed in front of his ne’er do well friends Kaufman starts his campaign of harassment and intimidation sending threatening letters several through “brick mail”, driving by the girls’ farmhouse, shooting at the house and stating that Fleurette will be abducted and sold.

Instead of fleeing the girls contact the local sheriff, learn to shoot and actively work with the honest constabulary (not a simple task) to bring Kaufman to justice which took almost a year. This in and of itself is an interesting narrative but Stewart also includes storylines such as a young mill worker who had a child with Kaufman, the transportation of children out of Paterson into the city during the silk strike,the movement to change living conditions in prisons and the limited options for women in the early part of the 20th century.

If I had not read that this was a fictionalized account of a true story I would not have believed it and yet I thoroughly enjoyed the book and was cheering the Kopp sisters at every turn-appreciating their individuality and benefiting from their courage.

The Blue Guitar-John Banville

/ a literary explorer

I have a conflicted relationship with John Banville I am never sure that I enjoy his work and yet I read his books as soon as they are published. The Blue Guitar leaves me in the same quandary-there are parts and moments that stick with me and yet I have a flat feeling about this novel. Oliver Orme is a painter and a thief (really more of a kleptomaniac) married to Gloria, he is definitely in the midst of a midlife crisis and has an affair with Polly who is married to Marcus-all of this sounded very familiar and to me was a well worn narrative territory.

It is one of those stories that nothing really every seems to work out for the characters -the affair ends with Oliver bolting, we learn some truths about Gloria and her feelings and external relationships, Polly changes course and Marcus meets his end. I did enjoy Oliver’s response when he realized something had been stolen from him-the shock and realization that he was not the only thief. All in all the characters were just not likable perhaps contributing to my Banville ennui and lackluster response to this book.

A Year of Wonders-Geraldine Brooks

/ a literary explorer

I am admittedly a huge Geraldine Brooks fan-March and People of the Book being two of my all time favorites and yet I had delayed reading A Year of Wonders most probably because at one point I heard it described as a novel of the plague. Loosely based on the real town of Eyam that made the unprecedented decision to quarantine themselves in the 1600’s hoping to prevent further spread of the disease-it is fascinating to see the twists and turns that Brooks effortlessly forces us through.

Central to the story is Anna Frith a widowed housemaid working for the Rector Michael Mompellion, a young and charismatic preacher and his wife Elinor, a high born beauty. At the suggestion of the rector Anna takes in a lodger, a tailor, who inadvertently through a bolt of cloth brings disease to their village. As the plague starts to decimate the population the rector urges the town to quarantine in an attempt to prevent spreading the contagion to neighboring villages-once the inhabitants agree to this enforced detention you experience the new daily rhythm of death and what it means to be trapped.

As with any tale of hardship Brooks gives you the broad spectrum of human responses-there are heroes and villains, fear and accusations, growth and death. She adds complexity to her characters and through that you question morality and faith-nothing and no one is ever exactly what they seem. Interesting to me was Anna’s story-she grows from a servant to a healer and when you expect one ending there is a dramatic shift and Anna’s tale ends in an entirely new place.

I left A Year of Wonders evaluating my moral compass given such an extreme event and applying the lessons learned to my daily life.