Sarah Jane by James Sallis

October 3, 2019

Sarah Jane by James Sallis

Sarah Jane Pullman (which may or may not be her name) was born in the area where Tennessee meets Alabama.  Her mother flitted in and out of her children’s lives, and although her father was hardworking, he couldn’t make a success of anything.  From an early age, Sarah roams from place to place, stopping when she runs out of money or meets someone interesting or just gets worn out, always hiding her secret history.  The chaos of her early life teaches her to travel light with regard to possessions and people.  Along the way, she serves in the army in a combat unit, earns a college degree, and becomes first a fry cook, then a baker, then a chef.  After her police officer boyfriend is killed in the line of duty, Sarah finds herself drawn to police work and becomes a deputy sheriff.  She is doing a good job, too, until the sheriff goes missing and she finds herself promoted to acting sheriff to investigate his disappearance.  But the deeper Sarah gets into the investigation, the more she realizes that the sheriff had secrets of his own that caught up with him, just as her own secrets find her.

Although we are aware that Sarah is telling her story selectively, deliberately omitting certain details, the reader is well into the novel before realizing exactly how unreliable a narrator Sarah is.  She chooses not to define many of her relationships and misadventures, even her relationship with Sid, one of the men who stays in her life longer than most men do.  Sarah is a true noir character, always short of money, taking whatever job comes along, choosing the wrong kind of man, and living according to her own code of ethics.

James Sallis writes wonderful, spare prose and does not waste words, the kind of writing that makes you stop and go back to re-read a loaded sentence.  Many thanks to the publisher, Soho Crime, and editor Juliet Graemes for providing me with a pre-publication ARC.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

October 1, 2019

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Jonathan (Jack) Whicher was one of the first and most famous Victorian detectives.  His work influenced the fiction of Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens, among others.  Summerscale's book explores the original English country house mystery, a true crime case that caused a sensation throughout England and inspired country house mystery fiction.

The crime:  June 1860 - at Road Hill House in the English village of Rode in Wiltshire, three year old Saville Kent was found in an outhouse with his throat cut.  There were 12 people in the house at the time of the murder, including Saville (his father and mother, six siblings and half-siblings, and three servants).  Their home was a large fine house with a number of outbuildings and multiple bedrooms on the 2nd and 3rd floor.

Whicher was not assigned to the crime until almost two weeks after the murder, by which time, the scene of the crime had been contaminated, the evidence had been tampered with, and everyone had rehearsed their stories.  Whicher was convinced that someone living in the house had killed the child rather than an intruder, based on the state of the boy's bed, access to the outhouse from the rear door of the house, and his feeling that the crime would have required two people.  Although unable to prove it, Whicher came away believing that Saville's half-siblings Constance and William had committed the crime together, and that Constance had planned it.

But as Whicher began to uncover secrets and unsavory facts of Victorian family life, the English public began to lose interest in the solution to the crime, since they didn't want to hear what could be hiding behind a facade of Victorian respectability (sexual misconduct, child neglect, insanity, and literally digging through the family's dirty laundry).  The Victorian public came to view his investigation as prying into the sanctity of family life, and condemned him for arresting a young middle class girl (who later confessed to the crime and served 20 years in prison).  The failure to bring the case to an acceptable resolution ultimately destroyed his career.

The crime and ensuing investigation destroyed the family's life.  Samuel was unable to return to his job as a factory inspector, and had to sell the house and move his family to Wales.  While writing her book, Summerscale came to believe that Constance confessed to clear the cloud of suspicion that continued to hang over William, so that he could pursue his career unimpeded.  Ironically, all of the Kent children remained close to each other and eventually emigrated to Australia to be together.

The book is painstakingly researched, which some readers have felt takes away from a smooth narrative, but the case was covered extensively in the English press.  Some of the background information is necessary for the modern reader to understand the nuances of Victorian family life and the Victorian mindset to appreciate what Whicher was up against.  It was also interesting to find out what happened to the Kent family after the investigation was over.  But the back stories on all of the detectives and other outsiders could have been omitted.

Peel My Love Like an Onion by Ana Castillo

September 30, 2019

Peel My Love Like an Onion by Ana Castillo

I always try to read at least one novel that celebrates the yearly heritage months.  Peel My Love Like an Onion was my choice for Hispanic American Heritage Month 2019.  Set in Chicago, the main character is a Mexican-American (or Chicago-Mexican, as she calls herself) woman who had polio as a child and was determined to become a flamenco dancer.

Carmen Santos (aka Carmen la Coja, or Carmen the Cripple) suffered from polio as a child, which left her with a withered leg.  At her school for “special” children, a dance teacher encouraged Carmen to try flamenco as a way of strengthening her weak leg.  To the teacher’s astonishment, Carmen decides she wants to be a professional flamenco dancer.  She perseveres and is taken on by a professional flamenco company run by a male dancer named Augustin, who soon becomes Carmen’s lover.  She becomes famous in Chicago’s dance community, partly because of her unusual disability and partly because of her beauty, and she embraces the flamenco culture as a way of life.  Her family is always in the background like a Greek chorus, causing Carmen to feel guilty that she isn’t a better daughter.  But after 20 years as a dancer, Carmen’s polio resurfaces and not only forces her to retire from dancing, but to reconsider and recreate her life.

Carmen's love affairs are multi-layered and complicated, as are her feelings for her family, and some of her choices are hard to accept.  This title would make a good book club title since there is a lot of material for discussion, especially for either Hispanic American Heritage Month or Disability Month.  It’s also a very reasonable length for book clubs at just over 200 pages.

Ribbons of Scarlet

September 28, 2019

Ribbons of Scarlet

Overall, the rights of women were ignored during the French revolution – liberty, equality, and fraternity were intended for men, disregarding the rights of the half of the French populace.  Ribbons of Scarlet presents the other half of the story of the French Revolution.

A free-thinking philosophy student, a poor fruit seller, the king’s pious sister, the wife of a politician, a passionate young idealist, and a celebrated beauty – these are the stories of six real women who lived during the French Revolution.  Although they are from all levels of society and superficially have nothing in common, history comes to life through their eyes and lives as they are swept up in the politics and the revolutionary thoughts and actions of the age.  I found myself stopping frequently to look up biographical information on the characters.  (Be advised that their stories do not end happily.)

This is the fifth collaborative book produced by the History 360 Co-op, and each section is written by a different author but the transitions are seamless (authors are Stephanie Dray, Heather Webb, Sophie Perinot, Kate Quinn, E. Knight, and Laura Kamoie).  And the cover art is beautiful and meaningful in the context of the story.

Charlotte Corday - the prettiest painting I could find

Here are the characters in order:

The Philosopher – Marquise Sophie de Condorcet, my favorite character and section

The Revolutionary – Louise Reine Audu, known as the Queen of the Market Women

The Princess – Madame Elisabeth, the king's deeply religious younger sister known for her good works

The Politician – Manon Roland, married to the minister of the interior but she wrote his speeches

The Assassin – Charlotte Corday, assassin of Jean-Paul Marat, most likely the best known character

The Beauty – Emilie de Sainte-Amaranthe, a celebrated Parisian beauty and victim of the Terror, the saddest story in the book

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.

Metropolis by Philip Kerr

September 26, 2019

Metropolis by Philip Kerr

In 1928, the Weimar Republic is limping along as Germany tries to rebuild from the war.  Berlin is a wide open city, the nights filled with all manner of vice and violence.  Detective Bernie Gunther is moved from the vice section of the Berlin police force to the murder commission.  He and his mentor are assigned to investigate a series of murders of Berlin prostitutes – the killer not only kills the women but scalps them, too.  They suspect it may be an ex-soldier, someone who got a taste for killing in the war.  But the prostitute murderer is quickly forgotten when someone who calls himself Doktor Gnadenschuss (German for mercy shot) begins killing disabled German veterans.  After following up a number of dead end clues, Bernie begins to suspect that the killer is someone he knows.

The book title refers not only to Berlin but also to the film Metropolis, which is set in a utopian city that is beautiful on the surface, but hides a bleak underworld of the disadvantaged and the criminal.  Interestingly, Bernie has a meeting with Thea von Harbou, an actual German screenwriter who wrote the script for the classic movies Metropolis and M: A City Hunts a Murderer - Bernie gives Thea suggestions for the plot of the latter film.

With Philip Kerr’s untimely death in 2018, this is the last of the Bernie Gunther mysteries.  Bernie is a noir detective usually based in Berlin but Kerr took us around the world as we explored Bernie’s life and career both before and after World War II.  I loved this series and I’m so sad it’s over – both Kerr and Bernie will be sorely missed.  I waited until I could get the audiobook version, since John Lee does a wonderful job with the narration as he has done with so many of the Bernie Gunther novels.

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

September 24, 2019

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

Olive, Again is a follow-up to Strout’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Olive Kitteridge.  Per the author, although she thought she was done with her, Olive apparently had more to say.  Like the first book, this one is a series of inter-connected narratives about the people who live in Crosby, Maine, and the surrounding towns. Since Olive is at heart a storyteller and collects and distributes information about the people she knows, the story format is particularly appropriate.  Picking up where the previous book left off, the story follows Olive through the next ten years of her life.  Even though she is well into her senior years, Olive discovers that surprising and unexpected things can still happen to her, and that it’s not too late for her to learn things about herself.

This is character-driven literary fiction that is much more accessible than a lot of literary works.  Olive is a wonderful creation, outspoken and crusty and selfish.  Her exterior shell shows signs of cracking as she ages and she becomes more accepting of others’ flaws.  Even though this is a sequel, you don’t necessarily have to have read the first book to enjoy this one. 

Side note:  My reading has been on the slow side this week.  I had a lot planned for the weekend including marathon reading, but my 11 year old golden retriever Asia developed a seriously drippy eye.  The vet referred us to a veterinary ophthalmologist (yes, there are all kinds of specialty vets), who diagnosed an indolent ulcer in her eye and did a procedure that removed the ulcer from her cornea (don’t get squeamish, the cornea has no nerves – when your eye itches or stings, it’s the eyelid that’s feeling it).  He sent her home with the “cone of shame” for two weeks, antibiotic drops, and some pretty good drugs.  She’s tolerating it but would really prefer to scratch the heck out of her eye.  Then a family interested in meeting my foster dog Scout wanted to come over on Sunday, which meant making the house presentable for strangers to see.  They liked him a lot and decided to take Scouty home with them, so I hope it works out for all of them.  Paws crossed.

Asia in the cone:

Scout the (former) foster guy:

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

September 19, 2019

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Rosemary Harper needs a fresh start, so she scams her way into a job as a clerk on a tunneling ship, the Wayfarer.  The crew turns out to be a collection of oddballs (the aliens are strange, but so are the humans) who depend on each other for – well, everything.  Rosemary learns that real family aren’t necessarily the people that you’re related to.

And one of the crewmembers appears to be in love with the ship’s AI, Lovey.

An absolutely great read!  Terrific world building, complete with an assortment of alien races, characters that you fall in love with and wish they were your friends, minute attention to detail that makes the story come alive.  Yes, there is a little inter-species sex but it’s tasteful and not graphic at all. You may cry a bit after the ship is attacked in Toremi territory (the small angry planet of the title).

Great fanart of the Wayfarer crew by SebasP

From the left:  Ohan, Ashby, Sissix, Rosemary, Dr. Chef, Kizzy, Jenks, Corbin

This is science fiction for people who don’t read or enjoy science fiction, not for the hardcore sci fi reader, and it's the first book in the Wayfarer trilogy.  I would put it in the same category as The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell; All Systems Red by Martha Wells; Ready Player One by Ernest Cline; The Martian by Andy Weir; and Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor.  I can't wait to read the next book.