Brooklyn When we think of immigration to America, we usually think of either the waves of Europeans who came to be greeted by the Statue of Liberty in the 1880s, or we think of the current intake of Asians and Mid-Easterners who arrive now. The novel "Brooklyn" by Colm Toibin describes the experiences of a young woman who came to America under different circumstances. Eilis Lacey is an Irish woman who has excellent mathematical abilities, but job opportunities are so scarce in her village that the only job she can find is helping out in a small store on Sunday afternoons. A priest, Father Flood, who immigrated to America, hears of her abilities and volunteers to sponsor her in America.
The Brooklyn that Eilis arrives in does not feel like a strange country. In fact, it is more like another Irish village. After a voyage filled with seasickness, she is met at the boat dock by the priest and taken to a rooming house run by an Irish woman and filled with girls like her who have recently arrived from Ireland. The job that has been arranged for her is at a Brooklyn department store owned by an Italian family. No matter how many Irish characters fill her days, Eilis is still extremely homesick. Her older sister, Rose, had done so much to make it possible for Eilis to leave. Rose is the one who takes on the responsibility of caring for their widowed mother after all the other children have left for jobs elsewhere. One day at work, Eilis becomes so upset that Father Flood is sent for to calm her. His answer is to pull strings to enroll her in bookkeeping classes at Brooklyn College. Her hard work in classes and Tony, an Italian man that she met at one of the local dances, help her with her commitment to a life in America. The novel is rich in the depiction of the pull that home places on the heart and how difficult it is to make a new place an emotional home. Even places that are filled with opportunities still lack something. New friends don't replace the strong ties of family. Each day Eilis learns something new about the way America works and just how she feels about the changes she must face. When a tragedy forces Eilis to return to Ireland, she faces decisions about what she wants and what is best for her future. [10-4-09]
That Old Cape Magic "That Old Cape Magic" by Richard Russo is a portrait of a marriage by an eminent American novelist. The title refers to a variation of the song, That Old Black Magic. Jack Griffin's parents used to sing it when they crossed the bridge to Cape Cod for the start of every summer vacation. They always summered on the cape after a tough year of teaching at Indiana University. They were transplanted Easterners who felt victimized by their exile to the Midwest.
Many people become their parents, whether they wish to or not. Some are shaped by positive family relationships and attempt to live up to family ideals. Others try so hard to avoid the mistakes they feel were made by their parents, but eventually become similar characters because that is learned familial behavior. Griffin was an only child who had listened to his parents' bitter bickering all his life and wished to avoid that emotional climate. His marriage to a woman prophetically named Joy helped him escape the patterns of the past. Instead of teaching at a prestigious college in the East, he became a Hollywood screenwriter. During their honeymoon on Cape Cod, Griffin and Joy established the Grand Truro Accord that was their plan for a happy marriage. They both wished to abandon their parents' pattern of marriage and have as little involvement with their parents as they could manage. Eventually that plan for the future disintegrated. Joy's parents lived their lives in cliches that Griffin and Joy felt were outmoded. As she aged, Joy did keep close ties with her family and began to value their steadfastness. The couple even borrowed money from Joy's parents to make a down payment on their first house. Griffin continued with his early plans. He saw his parents very infrequently and felt he was becoming a completely different personality. Then the rifts in all three marriages are exposed.
The novel follows the changes that marriages undergo. Griffin thought he and Joy had achieved complete happiness, but during a pivotal year, their lives go off track. This is a cautionary tale about being careful about what you wish for. If it comes true, it may not be what you continue to want. Also, perfection can come to an end. No marriage is what it seems to be on the surface. Griffin's growing skepticism leaves him wondering what kind of a future their daughter will face at the start of her marriage. [10-11-09]
"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford details the experiences and attitudes of Japanese and Chinese Americans living in the Seattle area during WWII. Henry Lee has recently lost his wife to cancer and is attempting to adjust to a life alone. His son, a college student, does not live with him, but they are in regular contact. His son urges Henry to stay involved in his community because he thinks his father is spending all his mental time in the past. The renovation of the old Panama Hotel is the key to Henry's past. Artifacts from Japanese Nisei families had been stored at the hotel ever since these families were sent to internment camps. Henry accidentally sees an umbrella which he thinks may have belonged to Keiko Okabe. Keiko was a Japanese girl who went to a private English school with Henry. They were both scholarship students, working in the kitchen together. Henry's father had come from China and was very active as a supporter of Mao and was bitterly opposed to any Japanese because of their invasion of his home country. He even forced his son to wear a placard around his neck that said "I am Chinese" in hopes that it would protect Henry from American's anti-Japanese sentiment following Pearl Harbor.
The narrative switches from 1986 and the 1940s, comparing past and present alienation of fathers and sons. Henry's father is so contemptuous of the Japanese that Henry knows he must keep his relationship with Keiko a secret from his family. When Henry is a parent, he is not able to connect to his son. Each generation has a different world.
Other incidents create the period flavor. Henry and Keiko become fascinated with jazz and go to a jazz club to hear Sheldon, a black saxophone player, perform. Sheldon creates a record that becomes a link from the past to the future. In later life, Henry regularly searches record shops to find a copy of the recording. It becomes a symbol to Henry of his idealistic past and a link to Keiko, his first love. It also is a way to honor the mentoring relationship that existed in a certain way with Sheldon. The novel creates a sense of place and time that focuses on the discrimination which existed for anyone of Asian descent during the WWII era. [10-18-09]
Spooky Stories As Halloween approaches, it is fun to read something just a little spooky. Charlaine Harris has written a very successful series about Sookie Stackhouse, the telepathic waitress at Bon Temps, Louisiana. She can "hear" the thoughts of everyone around her. The only beings whose thoughts she cannot absorb are that of vampires. Recently, vampires have publically admitted that they exist. The reason they have been able to "come out" to the general public is the invention in Japan of True Blood. This is a vampire drink made of synthetic blood. The vampires can exist on this liquid, so they are no longer such a threat to humans. Therefore, they can acknowledge what they are. Although all the plot lines often sound very implausible, Charlaine Harris does such a good job of giving the werepanthers, fairies, and shapeshifters emotions and relationships which are grounded in reality. The first novel of the series is "Dead Until Dark" in which Sookie meets and falls in love with Vampire Bill.
If you want to stick with the classics, I try to read Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" every fall. He is a writer of early nineteenth century America. The bucolic farming country which supports the schoolteacher Ichabod Crane is lovingly described. The descriptions of the Dutch desserts (oilycakes) and the luscious produce create the fall feeling. Ichabod is a collector of mythical tales and he becomes obsessed with the valley's haunting by a headless soldier who had been a veteran of our Revolutionary War. When a love triangle becomes part of the story, the headless horseman is ready to ride. The wonderful language makes this novella a pleasure to read.
Savannah, Georgia is supposedly America's most haunted city. The first novel of the Beaufort and Company Mystery Series by Mary Stanton is "Defending Angels". Bree Winston-Beaufort is a young lawyer who has inherited her uncle's law death after his death in a spectacular fire at his office. She gets a call from the billionaire Benjamin Skinner requesting her aid. Later she learns that he is dead. The new office space which Bree has leased is in the center of a cemetery where only convicted murderers are buried. No one other than Bree, her unusual clients, and her even stranger staff members can find her office building. Gradually Bree learns that the purpose of her legal practice is defending souls who have been condemned.
Have fun with these howls! [10-25-09]
by Helen Davis