Tuesday, October 29, 2019

BOOK REVIEW: One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker

I received this book free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.

If you liked Inland by Tea Obreht (which I did!) then you may also enjoy One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker.

Set in 1876, on the harshly beautiful Wyoming frontier, this love story is loosely based on that of the author’s ancestors.

The story shifts between the viewpoints of Beulah, a mystically wise thirteen-year-old daughter of the prairie, Clyde, the strong, responsible neighbor who is learning what kind of man he will grow to be, and their mothers, Cora and Nettie Mae.

The women are polar opposites. Cora is a soft city woman who cannot adapt to life on the isolated farm. Nettie Mae is a battle-hardened prairie wife, who wields her bitterness as a sword and shield.

Although Cora has four healthy children and a devoted husband, she is desperately lonely. For no other reason, she commits adultery with her neighbor, Substance Weber, Nettie Mae’s husband. Her own husband discovers them in the act. In the heat of passion, he shoots to kill. Instantly regretful, he turns himself in to the sheriff.

Nettie Mae has lost four children and, now, her husband. The man was a brute. Nettie Mae would consider herself well rid of him, except she needs his strength to survive the coming winter. Her sole remaining child, Clyde, is a sturdy young man and a hard worker, but it’s all too much for him to take on alone. Even so, they’re better off than their neighbors. When Cora’s husband is sentenced to two years in prison, she’s left alone with four children. Clyde takes it upon himself to help them–against his embittered mother’s express orders.

Beulah is the true heart of the story. Calm, resilient, accepting, with the ability to see glimpses of the future, to commune with nature, and to speak to the dead, she helps the two older women realize that the only way they will survive is to combine their resources. Cora’s guilt and Nettie Mae’s hatred make this a bitter pill, but Cora moves her family to Nettie Mae’s farm and they try to make it work. Beulah and Clyde, drawn together by circumstance, develop an unbreakable bond, which unnerves Nettie Mae all the more, nearly leading her to undo everything Beulah has striven for.

The novel shows prairie life in all its hardness, danger, and beauty. The stark realism of the day-to-day life is undercut somewhat by Beulah’s mystical powers, which made the novel float between magical realism and historical fiction. Yet it’s a beautifully written story that tugs at the heartstrings.

Friday, October 11, 2019

BOOK REVIEW: My Notorious Life by Kate Manning

My Notorious Life by Kate Manning has been on my TBR list since 2013. Finally, I decided to move it to the top of my pile.

This novel, written as a memoir of a mid-19th century midwife (who had the audacity to also provide contraceptives and abortions), has a strong voice and poignant message that is all-too relevant today.

Axie Muldoon, otherwise known as Ann Jones, otherwise known as Madame DeBeausacq, is born into poverty in the tenement houses of New York City. After her father’s death, while her mother is hospitalized for a work-related injury, Axie and her two younger siblings are sent west on an orphan train. Her siblings are snatched up, but the rebellious Axie returns home to find her mother. Unfortunately, after a brief reunion, her mother dies of a postpartum hemorrhage, extracting a deathbed promise from Axie to find her siblings.

In the midst of these tragedies, Axie experienced two bits of good fortune. First, on the orphan train she met a young man named Charlie who will find his way back into her life later. And second, Axie took her dying mother to the home of the Evans’, a doctor and midwife, who gave Axie a place as a servant and later trained her to be a midwife.

After the death of Mrs. Evans, necessity and compassion lead Axie/Ann to begin selling pills and powders to desperate women. Eventually, she branches out into delivering babies, carrying for women pre- and postpartum, dispensing information about health and sex, and providing abortions. In doing so, she falls afoul of obscenity laws, championed by Anthony Comstock, which made the distribution of any form of fertility control illegal.

The novel is graphic in its language and descriptions, true to the subject matter. The horrific lives of women, poor or rich, unmarried or married, desperate to conceive or to end unwanted pregnancies, is heart-wrenching. Ann is presented as a caring woman, skilled at her profession, conflicted about the “complexities” of what she is doing, insecure, and remarkably brave. She is also, admittedly, greedy. She loves her newfound wealth. She (and her husband) have known grinding poverty and are determined not to fall into that trap again. Her conspicuous consumption aggravates her problems as the “old money” folks determine to bring her down–even though many are not above using her services when needed.

When Comstock discovers a way to arrest Axie, things spiral out of control. 

Axie is a vibrant, compelling, sympathetic character, and she narrates the novel at a brisk pace. This is historical fiction at its finest.

Saturday, October 5, 2019

BOOK REVIEW: Bath Tangle by Georgette Heyer

Browsing in our newly renovated public library and in the mood for something quick and light-hearted, I came upon Bath Tangle by Georgette Heyer. I hadn’t read this Regency Romance of hers yet, so I picked it up.

Lady Serena Carlow, a beautiful headstrong heiress of twenty-five, is mourning the recent loss of her father. Serena’s mother died a dozen years earlier. Her step-mother, Fanny, is a shy, retiring girl of twenty-ish, who failed to produce the required son. Serena and Fanny get along shockingly well considering they are absolute opposites. They retire together to the dower house when Serena’s cousin inherits the earldom. But they are both bored and take off for the quieter and less restrictive Bath.

Serena cannot receive her full inheritance until she weds and it must be with the approval of her guardian. The man her father chose for this task is the Marquis of Rotherham. Serena and Rotherham were engaged years before until Serena jilted him. Both believe her father arranged this in hopes of seeing them reunited – a ploy that infuriates them both.

In Bath, Serena comes across a man that she once adored, a man who worships her still, and they quickly reconnect. He is a good person but completely wrong for her. Obviously, the only true match for her is Rotherham. However, he becomes engaged to a weak-willed silly girl just out of the schoolroom, whose horrible mother is desperate to catch her daughter a marquis.

The mismatches abound. Heyer’s signature quick plotting and witty repartee move the story along as the couples sort themselves out. The pace lags a bit in the middle as the characters go through contortions in order to do the honorable thing even though they all know they have committed themselves to paths that will make them miserable. Sanity and love prevail in a whirlwind of Romance activity, complete with an elopement, a chase to Gretna Green, and a showdown.

While this isn’t one of my favorite Heyer Romances, it is nevertheless a delightful read.