BOOK REVIEW: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

I’m always a bit hesitant to read a book with overwhelmingly positive buzz. What if I don’t like it? But when I heard The Correspondent by Virginia Evans was an epistolary novel, I couldn’t resist. I’m a sucker for epistolary novels. And this one certainly lives up to the hype.

Sybil Van Antwerp is a retired lawyer, divorced, living alone, who has spent the greater part of her life writing letters. She writes to friends, family members, authors she admires, her next door neighbor, even the customer service representative at a DNA-testing site reminiscent of 23andMe or Ancestry.com. Now that she is in later life, with little in-person social interaction, maybe lonely though she denies it, she has stepped up her correspondence. Lurking in the background is the fact that she has a rare inherited condition from which she is slowly going blind.

The reader gets to know Sybil through the letters she writes. We can see her contradictions, her prickliness, her pride, and her regrets. We learn that she is still grieving a son who died when he was school-aged, and that her relationships with her surviving (now adult) children are strained. And we watch as she makes the most of her remaining years.

This book is moving, emotionally rewarding, and impossible to put down. I kept thinking, I’ll read just one more letter. Then one more. Read it and you’ll want to go buy some stationery and stamps. Highly recommended.

BOOK REVIEW: The September Society by Charles Finch

I’ve read the first book in Charles Finch’s series The Charles Lenox Mysteries, A Beautiful Blue Death, and then jumped to the fifteenth, The Hidden City. I enjoyed them so much, I decided I really needed to fill in the rest.

The September Society is the second in the series. Charles Lenox is fairly well established now as a private investigator/crime solver. It’s not a particularly socially acceptable job for a member of an old aristocratic family, but Charles is good at it and it gives him great satisfaction. Although, he does feel twinges of regret that he never had the chance to stand for Parliament.

As the novel opens (in September 1866), Lenox is on edge because he needs to confess to Lady Jane Grey, his neighbor and closest friend, that he is in love with her and wants to marry. They’ve made a habit of seeing one another every day for tea, but lately, their schedules have been disrupted by other obligations. And when Lenox takes on a new case, they see each other even less.

The case that is brought to him, by Lady Annabelle Payson, a widow, is that of her missing son and a dead cat. Her son is a student at Oxford, and when she last went to visit him, she saw him only briefly. He seemed agitated and distracted. He promised to meet her at a tea shop but never arrived. When she went to his room, she found his cat, stabbed to death with a letter opener. And her son, George, was not there.

Lenox accompanies her back to Oxford to start his investigation. This is his own old stomping ground, and being there makes him nostalgic. It is a delight to experience the colleges through his eyes, and get a sense of what it would have been like to be a student there at that time. This is the cozy part of this cozy mystery. (Later descriptions of the murder victims are a bit more gruesome.)

Lenox discovers clues in the young man’s bedroom, but has no idea what to make of them. He begins by attempting to interview George’s two closest friends, only to discover one of them is missing as well. This ups the stakes. Then when a body is discovered, the seriousness of the situation escalates.

Among the clues Lenox has found is a card on which the name “The September Society” is written. As he digs deeper, the society keeps cropping up. He learns it is a small gathering of old army officers who had once fought together in India. What on earth could they have to do with the murder of a young college student?

The clues are fitted together like pieces of a puzzle. At the same time, Lenox is fretting over the fact that a strange man is visiting Lady Jane. And, his friend and investigating companion, Dr. McConnell, may be drinking too much again. And, Lenox takes on a gung-ho young gentleman, Dallington, who wants to learn the investigative ropes, but who may be more of a liability than an asset. 

The murder mystery is complex and well developed. I enjoyed the plot twists and eventual breakthroughs as Charles Lenox solved another case. And I also enjoyed watching his suit with Lady Jane progress. 

BOOK REVIEW: Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach

I read Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach for a book club. Roach is a best-selling popular science/medicine writer. The book focuses on ways science and medicine have found to replace or rig body parts that are not functioning correctly. Or, that are not as attractive or young as their owners wish them to be according to societal fads. It’s amazing what has been done and, even more so, what scientists are working to achieve. It’s also amazing the lengths the author goes to in order to get her interviews and information. This is a quick, enjoyable read, chock-full of fascinating facts. 

BOOK REVIEW: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

I was ready to read a classic, so turned to The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. I read it way, way back in middle school, but remembered nothing about it except that it was set in China. I wish I could remember what middle-school me thought about it, because I’m sure I couldn’t have understood the half of it.

Written in the early 1930s, it portrays rural Chinese peasant life through the eyes of Wang Lung. He starts out as a dutiful son, a farmer on his wedding day, going to the house of the local lord to obtain the slave, O-lan, that his father had purchased for him to marry. Much is made of the fact that she is not physically attractive and rarely speaks. But fortunately for Wang Lung, she is an incredibly hard worker and also fertile, giving him two sons in fairly rapid succession, with more children to follow.

The family endures hardship and famine. At one point, on the edge of starvation, they must flee south to the big city, where O-lan and the children beg and Wang Lung works menial tasks, until there is a local revolt. The house of the rich family there is invaded and looted. Wang Lung takes the owner’s money and O-lan finds a stash of jewels. With this, they are able to return to their home and buy more land. Wang Lung works hard, but it is really O-lan who makes it possible for them to survive. She is the brains in the family.

It turns out the only thing worse that grinding poverty is wealth and status. Wang Lung may be one of the most unpleasant protagonists I’ve come across in a long time. As his wealth increases, he feels embarrassed to be a farmer and hires laborers to work the land for him. Even though he misses it, and still understands the value of owning land, he believes he’s above working it. Worse, he never gives O-lan much thought or credit, seeing her always as little more than his slave. While this is likely historically and culturally accurate, it’s still heart-breaking. Or maybe infuriating.

As soon as he has the money, he heads off to a brothel, falls in love with a prostitute, buys her, and installs her in his house (after building her a second wing, decorating it lavishly, and providing her with a servant – all while his wife continues slaving away for the rest of the family.) For good measure, he insults O-lan, telling her he couldn’t possibly love her because she’s so ugly.

Eventually, O-lan dies. Wang Lung feels some momentary regret, but forgets about her quickly enough. He always manages to push away his better feelings with anger and a sense of entitlement. As soon as his wealth is great enough, and his grown-up sons are haughty enough, they move away from the farm into the now deserted house of the old local lord. Wang Lung essentially takes over as the new local lord. He and his family grow as decadent as the old lord. Until, as an old man, he moves back to his farmhouse to prepare to die.

But is it a good book? It’s a fantastic book. The writing is spare but beautiful. Although Wang Lung is the only viewpoint character, we can nevertheless peer into the hearts of each of the main characters. The depiction of the culture is fascinating. The book won a Pulitzer Prize and Pearl S. Buck won a Nobel Prize. So I am glad I read it, infuriating as it was.

Saving Vincent: A Novel of Jo Van Gogh by Joan Fernandez

Saving Vincent: A Novel of Jo Van Gogh by Joan Fernandez introduces us to the sister-in-law of Vincent Van Gogh, Johanna. She was the wife of Theo Van Gogh. All I knew of the great artist was the rather simplistic story that he was never appreciated in his lifetime. And that his brother was an art dealer who tried, without much success, to sell his paintings. Vincent’s talent was only recognized posthumously. 

But how? There is a leap to be made from Vincent Van Gogh’s death to his later fame. The fact that he reached the heights he did is even more remarkable given that Theo died very shortly after Vincent. The credit belongs to Johanna Van Gogh, without whom his work very likely would have been lost.

In this detailed and imaginative biographical novel, Jo receives the recognition she deserves. Defying convention, the young widow does not return to her father’s house to be taken care of. Instead, she moves to Bussum, a small town in the Netherlands, and runs a boardinghouse. And raises her infant son. All the while, she fights to bring Vincent Van Gogh’s work to the eyes of the art world, selling his paintings, arranging exhibits, and writing opinion pieces. The fight is real, as she is opposed by men who repeatedly tell her women do not belong in their sphere. And she is particularly opposed by a prominent Parisian dealer, Georges Raulf, who is obsessed with cleansing the art world by destroying anything modernist, most particularly the work of Van Gogh.

It’s a hard road for Jo, but readers will rejoice alongside the heroine as her striving is ultimately rewarded.

BOOK REVIEW: The Resettlement of Vesta Blonik by Denise Smith Cline

The Resettlement of Vesta Blonik by Denise Smith Cline is a lovely, unputdownable novel of resilience in the face of unimaginable hardship. Set during the Depression Era, it’s the story of two strong-hearted people, bent but not broken by poverty and loss. Vesta Blonik is a thirty-year-old farmer, never married, who lives with her bullying father on a hardscrabble Minnesota plot. Used to hard work and her father’s belittling scolds, she is nevertheless blind-sided when he sells the land and abandons her to a future that looks more and more desperate. Vesta struggles against hopelessness, until she begins receiving letters from a stranger in North Carolina, Gordon Crenshaw, through the machinations of well-intentioned clergymen and Gordon’s not-so-well-intentioned family. It seems Gordon is looking for a wife. Beautifully written and emotionally compelling, this novel will have readers impressed by Vesta’s leap of faith and by the healing power of simple compassion.

Thank you to Regal House for an advance copy of this wonderful novel.

BOOK REVIEW: And Then There Was the One by Martha Waters

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

I enjoy a good historical mystery with a romantic subplot. And Then There Was the One by Martha Waters caught my eye, so I was pleased with the chance to review it.

Set in 1930s England, it plays with the genre, both embracing it and spoofing it.

The heroine is Georgiana Radcliffe, daughter of a country gentleman. Georgiana is resigned to spinsterhood, believing that her widowed father and younger sister can’t function without her. In fact, she’s convinced she’s indispensable to her whole tiny Cotswold village, Buncombe-upon-Woolly. This impression was reinforced over the past year when four murders were committed in the otherwise quaint village. Georgiana inadvertently solved the crimes before the constables, thanks to her superior knowledge of poisons. (She is an avid gardener.) 

However, four murders is too many. Now, the town is overrun with Murder Tourists. And when the town’s council chairman dies suddenly, Georgiana is determined to investigate, even though the cause of death was ruled a heart attack. This time, she doesn’t want to go it alone. With the approval of her best friend, Arthur, the town’s very responsible journalist, she invites a renowned investigator from London to help solve the murder (if, in fact, one occurred.) The detective declines, but sends his assistant (actually, his secretary) to help them, Sebastian Fletcher-Ford.

Sebastian is the most handsome man ever seen in the village. He unabashedly uses his good looks and charm to ingratiate himself with the villagers and Murder Tourists. Georgiana refuses to be charmed. She thinks he is annoying and none too bright.

And yet, as their investigation proceeds, she finds there is more to the man than a handsome face, glowing skin, and athletic physique.

This is a smart romp with an interesting mystery at its core, a delightful romance, and a fun supporting cast.