obsessive but immersive

Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction

Review: We know that early English settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were very religious and thought a lot about the state of their souls and the devil.  The historical record tells us so.  According to Chris Bohjalian, they were concerned about the devil a lot.  A good chunk of the first third or so of the book has them thinking about little else.

Things start to get more interesting when Mary Deerfield sues her husband for divorce on the grounds of cruelty.  Even here, though, the question soon becomes more about whether she's been consorting with the devil (much of the evidence has to do with a three-tined fork, which is, as we all know, the devil's own instrument) as much as it does about whether her husband abuses her.

And there is intrigue as well.  It is clear that someone is trying to cast a spell on someone in the Deerfield house, or trying to frame Mary for doing so.  But who?  And why?  Though Mary's ruminations on whether she is unknowingly the devil's tool quickly become tiresome, Bohjalian is quite deft at drawing the reader into this mystery and in making the reader care about Mary's fate, both in life and after.

Of course, the reason that Mary faces such troubles from her community is, of course, that she's a smart woman who occasionally speaks her mind.  That truth is lurking behind almost every word in the book, but Bohjalian is subtle in reinforcing it.  So don't read this expecting a great deal of outrage about the subservient state of women in 17th century Boston.  Do read it for an immersive look into one woman's life and attempt to be more than just a Goodwife to a cruel man.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

the fourth sister

Beth & Amy by Virginia Kantra
Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: In the world of Little Women adaptations, many authors/screenwriters get caught in what I'm going to start calling the "Beth trap".  In the original, Beth is the "good" sister, which often means she's seen as the "boring" sister, so adapters try to make her more "interesting" (usually while still having her die).  Kantra does not avoid the Beth trap, but in her sure hands, Beth is able to be a full character, and a full member of the sisterly quartet (and she doesn't die, either).  I shouldn't have doubted Kantra, whose first book, Meg & Jo, was was far and away the best written adaptation I've come across.

Once again, Kantra has embodied the spirit of the original, while bringing the March sisters into the modern era.  In this book, Beth and Amy share the spotlight, and we even get some insight into the question of how Jo, Amy, and Laurie (in this book, Trey) all manage to reconcile their erstwhile love triangle.  Once again, Kantra handles this deftly and elegantly; everyone's feelings are respected and the reader gets a satisfying resolution too.

Once again, Kantra has given us a good book and a good adaptation, although this one perhaps stands less on its own without Little Women than did Meg & Jo.  Certainly, one should read Meg & Jo first.  But Little Women fans will enjoy this book alongside readers who have no familiarity with the original.  It's sweet, and light without being too light, and generally wonderful.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

history repeats itself

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray

Rating: 4.75 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction

Review: In her author's note and throughout the book, Dray talks about the "Spirit of Lafayette," which, even as an American history major, I'm ashamed to know I knew very little about until reading this book.  Now, I know a lot more, and am inspired to continue my learning with non-fiction (to me, this is a mark of good historical fiction).  Dray's research is exacting, but she avoids the well-researched novelist's abyss of needing to share everything she's learned.  Instead, this is a deep and rich portrait of three women, each of whom embody the "Spirit of Lafayette" throughout three different wars.

Dray bit off a lot with this book, which weaves together three separate stories, that of Adrienne de Lafeyette during the American and French Revolutions, Beatrice Chanler during WWI, and the fictional Marthe Simone during WWII.  Each could have sustained a story on their own.  And it might have been less confusing if Dray had made this into a trilogy, rather than a single, interweaving story.  In fact, my only teeny complaint about this book is that I sometimes forgot which war we were in.  (My actual thoughts several times during the book: "You can't go to Paris now, the Nazis will get you!  Oh wait, this is WWI...")  I can only imagine that people who lived through both wars might have felt the same way.  But I understand that each story gained power from being told alongside the others.

To say that this book moves slowly doesn't do it justice.  Think of it like a lazy, meandering river.  It'll take you a long time to get from one end to the other, but the journey is more than worth it.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

getting her due

Octavia E. Butler, one of my personal favorite SF writers, is getting a lot of posthumous recognition these days.

Her work has been featured in The New Yorker, NPR's Codeswitch and Throughline, and The New York Times.  NASA even unofficially names Perseverence's Mars landing site after her!

And, FX will be adapting Kindred for the small screen (and The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, another absolutely fantastic piece of SF)!

Have you seen other interesting articles about Octavia Butler, or heard interesting podcasts?  Tell me in the comments!

keeping up appearances

Are We There Yet? by Kathleen West

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: Books like these make me so grateful for my own mom-friends.  Like the women in this book, we met when our kids were in preschool and kindergarten.  Unlike the women in this book, we are genuinely caring and supportive of each other.  These characters care about appearances as much as they care about their kids (to be fair, they all care for and about their kids a lot).  The fact that, Alice, the mom from whom we hear the most, is an interior decorator, is a little too on-the-nose, a fact that doesn't go unremarked upon in the book.

When Alice learns that her 2nd grader is reading significantly below grade level and her 7th grader is acting like a bully, she is equally concerned with how her "friends" will react with how to actually help her children.  To be fair, she does step up and do the hard work to help her kids get back on track.  But following along as she perserverates about other people's perceptions was quite a slog (at least as bad as reading about all the brand-name accessories she uses to decorate her own and her clients' homes).  Alice's other problem is her mother, who is about to drop a bomb on her in the midst of all this.  Alice's mother a child psychologist, and I can only say that I'm glad not all child therapists are as selfish as she is.

The short version: You might not actually like any of these characters, but you might recognize them.  You'll almost certainly recognize their struggles, if you have kids.  You might not actually sympathize with them, though, or enjoy reading their inner monologues, but if you're in a book group, especially with your mom-friends, you'll definitely have a lot to talk about.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.