Meeting - Sorta - Kathryn Stockett

On Tuesday night, I went to a local reading / signing featuring Kathryn Stockett of The Help. It is always fun to meet the face behind the words, and I love hearing writers talk about their writing process. And, I must mentioned that she started the evening expressing her pleasure that this crowd had gathered to talk about "the written word" - my chosen theme for the year.

Stockett read not from the book proper, but from the postscript essay, "Too Little, Too Late." A nice selection, that in her sweet Southern drawl, reminded me of another reason why only Southerners should write about the south - occasionally they may be asked to read and an effected accent would be unbearable.

In talking about the book and something I mentioned in my review, "Kitty" - as her childhood friends call her - explained that to write from a black woman's point of view, it simply took her imagining how it would feel if someone told her she could eat in certain restaurants or drink from certain water fountains because her germs may spread disease. "We're all just people - we'd all feel the same in the same situations."

As a first novel, The Help has had tremendous success. In fact last week Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks picked up its screenplay, written and to be directed by Tate Taylor, a hometown friend of Stockett. (She talked about their artsy clique in high school and the joy for both of them to being doing exactly what they always wanted to do.)

As much fun as seeing Stockett was meeting in flesh & blood two fellow bloggers and new frequent commenters on BBB - Misti and Rebecca. And, I have Misti to thank for the picture - she had enough sense to bring a camera! Imagine that!

Stockett said she is currently working on her second novel that is also set in Mississippi but takes place during the depression.

PS - I had just worked out when I went to the reading, so please excuse the outfit!

Book on Tape Review :: The Hour I First Believed

Wally Lamb is one of the authors I put on my TBR list last year. While I purchased She's Come Undone, when I saw The Hour I First Believed at Sauls Memorial Libary (my work library), I snatched it up - and am so glad I did.

I've talked a bit about the differences in experiencing a book by listening to it versus reading it, and I'm anxious to compare Lamb in these two scenarios. OK, I'm beating around the bush. I don't know if I fell in love with Wally Lamb, Caelum Quirk or George Guidall (the reader for the audio version), but every second of the 20-CD set was pure pleasure.

The Hour I First Believed tells the story of Maureen and Caelum Quirk. She's a school nurse and he an English teacher at Columbine when the infamous shootings occur. Caelum was actually absent on that day (one interesting subplot is meeting the teacher who subbed for him that day), as he had traveled back east to Connecticut to be with his dying aunt, his last living relative. Lamb places Maureen in the library during the rampage, and so the story begins as one of survivors' aftermath.

Maureen's struggle to cope coincides with Caelum's inheriting the family farm, which allows the Quirks to return to Three Rivers, Connecticut, and invites Caelum to deal with ghosts of his own - a rich family history with secrets he never anticipated. Caelum's great-grandmother was responsible for building a women's prison that sits across the road from the family home. In letters and diaries that span several Quirk generations, gaps are filled and colorful characters come to life that at times seem to help Caelum come to terms with his childhood, while at other times serve to pose more questions than answers.

However, what the reader gets is a real person who questions faith, family and fidelity (I love alliteration too much to let that one go) and is honest about how blurry the lines can seem when wrestling through tragedy.

On a global perspective, from Columbine to Katrina, Caelum struggles on a personal level with issues our country had to face as well - a theme paralleled in his great grandmother's dissidence with sending two sons off to the Civil War.

I could go on and on with this review - there is so much I'm leaving out. Lamb's writing is honest and beautiful. His turn of phrase is fresh. I'll warn that there is some sexual language and scenes that might turn off a few readers. But most, I believe, will find this as rewarding as I did.

Book Review :: The Outcast

I was reading a fellow reviewers blog recently and saw that she had described a book as delicate. It occurred to me that of all the adjectives I've used to describe writing, delicate is not one of them. How does book, novel, story emerge as delicate? I racked my brain to come up with something from my past I would describe as such and still I came up lacking.

And before you think I'm going to use this term for Sadie Jones' The Outcast, I am not. However, since the term was stuck in my head, I did come to associate it with Lewis, the main character, whom I loved.

When we met him, Lewis is a young nineteen-year-old fresh out of prison. However, his story goes back - way back to that of a young child who first doesn't understand the presence of a new man in his mother's life. (His father, of whom he has no memory, freshly returned from WWII.) And then as a slightly older child who is the sole witness to his mother's tragic drowning.

When you add a distant father who in his reservation casts a veiled question of Lewis' guilt in his mother's death; a community who whispers assumptions of the mother's alcoholism contributing to the cause; and a quickly acquired, new young-step mother who does her best to bury the ghost of the home's former mistress, a troubled and yes, delicate, teen emerges.

Set primarily in the 1950's, The Outcast is full of contemporary themes: child abuse and domestic violence, cutting, drunk driving, sex and the pressures of keeping up appearances, reminding readers that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In Lewis, Jones paints a portrait of grief and repression, and the ills that grow within when one tries to hide and cover emotional wounds.

Recently, our pastor spoke on the false truth of "time heals all wounds" arguing instead that "time heals clean wounds." Injuries that are covered without being addressed properly first are left to fester and rot. And so it is with Lewis.

A provoking read, The Outcast is recommended for those who are not afraid to catch a glimpse of the darkness that can take up residence within the human soul.

A good news, bad news post

First, the good news. Laura was the winner of the give-away for Derek's CD Kiss on the Wind. Thanks to all who responded, and congratulations to Laura; I actually had Derek draw the winner.

For the bad news, Derek and Cindi did not win the contest. :-( The song that won had over 130,000 votes! Your First came in third (am I allowed to say that?) and received over 71,000 votes, so that was good, just not good enough.

If you need consoling, you can still listen to their song (see sidebar). If you'd like to console Derek, I'm sure purchasing the CD from iTunes would go a long way. Or, you can visit his website and send him your good wishes there.

In book news, I have a review I need to write for The Outcast, and I'm actually fairly near finishing another ARC and the Wally Lamb novel I've been listening to on tape, so stay tuned for several reviews very soon!

Book Review :: The Weight of Heaven

Thrity Umrigar's The Space Between Us was probably my favorite read from 2009. So I was excited to learn about The Weight of Heaven and thrilled to participate in an on-air chat with Umrigar. And, equally disappointed to learn it has been postponed. (It had been set for tonight.)

I had planned to save my review for after the discussion, but since I'm not sure when it will be rescheduled, I just can't wait.

The Weight of Heaven returns readers to India, this time with a young American couple who recently lost a child to a sudden illness. After their son's death, Ellie convinces Frank to accept a job transfer to a location in India where his company, HerbalSolutions, has discovered a native tree that produces a uniquely effective treatment for diabetes. Soon after arriving, Frank develops a fairly obvious pseudo-son relationship with their cook and housekeeper's son, Ramesh.

First, let me cop to the political agenda that Umrigar obviously has regarding American imperialism. Frank's American company is portrayed as the rich getting richer off of a local commodity, all the while stripping former laborers of their source of income. Somehow, she works in a few Bush-bashing references to the Iraqi war. I won't take the time to list all the counter-arguments, let's just leave it as, I disagree. ;-)

That said, this story is a poignant description of the heart ache, pain, blame, guilt and regret a couple faces when they lose a young child. The prologue begins, "A few days after Benny's death, Ellie and Frank Benton broke into separate people."

From there she describes how when two people become three, it is nearly impossible to go back to being two. Just beautiful writing. Go here to read the first part, and tell me you're not hooked. I don't have children, but I could absolutely feel the brokenness portrayed.

As they are struggling over their marriage, they also struggle over this new affection for a surrogate son. Then, add in the class conflict over drawing the line between wanting to give a child you care for a better life than his parents can and respecting parental boundaries.

Finally, the most driving theme is the lengths that people will go to when faced with significant loss. The loss or threat of loss of children and spouses is explored over and over with varying degrees of desperation. However, this desperation is the universal equalizer.

Class, gender, race, wealth, cultural boundaries, familial relationships - The Weight of Heaven, like The Space Between Us, is a richly layered and heartbreaking story. Umrigar again receives my highest recommendation.