The Postmistress

By Sarah Blake
336 pages
Published February 2010 by Penguin Group
Source: Barnes & Noble First Look program

As the United States watches the war in Europe in 1940 and ponders it's own role in the conflict, two women follow events from two entirely different points of view.

Iris James is the new postmistress in Franklin, a small town on Cape Cod. Iris is a stickler for doing things the right way, following rules, living in an orderly way. But then Iris begins to find her place in Franklin and to care about the people that live there. She falls in love, much to her surprise because she has reached an age when she thought it would not happen, with Harry, the local mechanic. Harry is firmly convinced that the German U-boats are a threat to the U.S. coast line and spends a portion of every day watching the waters for signs of trouble. Then there is young Emma, whose husband, Will, the town doctor, has gone off to London to help the victims of the German bombings. Emma is in the post office every day, posting a letter to Will and picking one up. Iris begins to feel that Emma is someone very fragile that she needs to care for and protect.

On the other side of the ocean is Frankie Bard. Frankie is a reporter, living in London, and working on the radio with Edward Murrow reporting on the war. Frankie thinks she's in control until people that she cares about begin to die. When she ends up with Will in a shelter during a bombing raid and that time changes the course of her life. Frankie becomes convinced that what is happening to the Jews in Europe needs to be reported and talks Murrow into letting her go onto the continent to investigate. There Frankie becomes a changed person as she deals with one horror after another. When Frankie can't handle it any more, she heads to Franklin to deliver a letter.

Iris and Emma listen to Frankie's reports on the radio and throughout the book, Blake jumps back and forth from one side of the ocean to the other using the radio transmissions to connect the two. This can be a jarring, particularly at first as the reader is trying to get acclimated to the writing style. Blake writes beautifully and I really liked the juxtaposition of life on Cape Cod with life in war-torn Europe. Some who have read the book have found this difficult. When we're in Franklin, we're largely reading a character study. When we're in Europe there is much more action and a direction to the story. Frankie is a wonderful character; watching her change throughout the book really kept the book interesting for me. I also could really empathize with Emma, who really was a fragile person, an orphan living in a place where she had no real friends.

This was the third book centered around WWII that I read in a row, which was not at all planned. I really enjoyed it's look at war from yet another angle, the writing, and the characters. Blake throws in enough surprises to keep things interesting and I found myself being pulled through it.

"The Imposter's Daughter"

By Laurie Sandell
256 pages
Published July 2009 by Little, Brown & Company
Source: Publisher review copy

When Laurie Sandell was a growing up, she was in awe of her father, who told incredible stories of a life of privilege, heroism, academic achievements and more than mere brushes with famous people. In attempt to also live a life fit for great stories, Laurie puts herself out into the world experiencing life as a Tokyo stripper, seducer of women, yogi and even Ambien addict. Then she stumbles into a job as a celebrity interviewer which she loves. It's during this time that she decides to write about her dad and when she starts doing research, she discovers that he's not the man that he says he is. When she confronts her parents, her mom essentially tsk-tsks her. But Laurie needs to know "if this man, who I based my life on, is a fake, then what does that make me?"

This was my first graphic novel. I read it as part of Dewey's Read-a-thon and I read it almost toward the end of the 24 hours. I discovered two things: a) a graphic novel was the perfect choice for that time of the night since it was bright and quick to read, and b) I remembered very few details when I started writing this review. I don't know, in retrospect, if that was entirely because I was so tired when I read it, if it was because I was not that taken by a story told in graphic novel form or a bit of both. Sandell tells an interesting story but, for me, the graphic novel format made it feel lighter than the story truly is. Because Sandell really has a powerful story to tell, although she does seem to gloss over some parts, such as her stint in rehab.

If you're looking for something different, this is a unique and fun book. Do bear in mind that just because this is a "cartoon" book, it is not for children. There is a fair amount of sex, drug use and alcoholism portrayed in the novel.

Sunday Salon - November 8

Chances are if you live on either coast there are only three things you know about Nebraska:

1) It's flat. True enough but only in some places. We also have our fair share of river bluffs and the Sand Hills.

2) It's nothing but corn. Not true. There is a lot of corn, to be sure. But Nebraska also has a lot of ranches and even a national forest and waterfalls.

3) We are crazy about the University's football team. Now that is entirely true! In my family, we're more then just a little bit convinced that the things we do can effect the outcome of games. Everyone in my family hangs out a Nebraska flag on game days and a Husker figure of some sort that stands out front. Oh yes, we are certain that each of these things must be in just the right place. Team's not playing well? Maybe Herbie needs to be moved. And to say that we are loud when we watch games, especially together, is a major understatement.

Why do we love our team so much? Tradition. Love of the game. And scenes like the one above, where a coach can look like a little boy.

Lest you think we're all football lunkheads, we also love to read...about our Huskers! Kenny Walker, who played for the Huskers and is deaf, wrote "Roar of Silence." When Kenny came onto the field or made a play, the fans did the sign language equivalent of clapping. "Hero of the Underground," which made the NY Times best seller list, was written by Jason Peter who played on championship teams at Nebraska and went on to play in the NFL. Our beloved coach and now Athletic Director, Tom Osborne, has written several books including "Beyond the Final Score" and "Heart Of A Husker."

* photo taken by Matt Miller, Omaha World-Herald

"The Bright Side of Disaster"

By Katherine Center
256 pages
Published April 2008 by Random House Publishing
Source: Library

Jenny Harris always thought she'd do things the old-fashioned way: fall in love, get married, have a family. After her parents' divorce, it was very important to her to get it "right." But life doesn't always work out the way we think it will. Jenny and Dean are, at least, engaged before she finds herself pregnant. And Jenny thinks that will be fine. And it would have been, of course, if Dean had been a different person. Not the kind of guy who would sleep in while his very pregnant girlfriend is hauling things out onto the lawn for a garage sale.

"Right around eleven-thirty, Dean woke up. He showed up on the porch, still in his clothes from the night before, which were wrinkled and emitting a thick odor of cigars. His boxers were edging up out of his waistband. He did not appear to have brushed his teeth. There he stood, hungover, unshaven, squinting."

Not the kind of guy that would suddenly express an unusual amount of sadness over a coworkers death and significantly less interest in Jenny right when she needed him most.

"I wanted someone to rub my feet and tease me about my belly. I wanted a friend, a distraction from the interminable waiting, anything to give me some assurance about something."

Particularly not the kind of person that would walk out on his pregnant girlfriend. The day after Dean leaves, Jenny goes into labor. It turns out that raising an infant is much more work than Jenny ever expected.

Fortunately, Jenny has some people in her life she can still count on. Her mother helps as often as she can, despite her terrible allergy to a cat that Jenny has somehow gotten saddled with. Mom is full of practical advice, although Jenny isn't always willing to take it.

And there's Gardner, a neighbor Jenny met when he saw her hauling furniture out the morning of her garage sale and stopped to help. When Jenny next sees Gardner, the baby has been born and Jenny is feeling very lonely and shut in.

"He got it. In twenty-five words or less, he knew my whole, sad, cliched story. And knowing the story seemed to make him angry. Most people seemed angry when they found out. But there was something extra nice about his response. A touch of big-brother protectiveness. I breathed it in like a good aroma. Cookies baking, say. Or onions sauteing in butter."

For months Jenny struggles trying to figure out how life with a baby works. Then just when she's starting to get it altogether, Dean returns and Jenny is forced to make some decisions about the life she wants for herself and her child.

Center writes a story filled with humor and warmth. While there are some things in the story that are predictable in this kind of story, the story kept me interested. I was cheering for Jenny to make the right choices and I looked forward to the times when her mom was in the story. Having raised a family while working full-time, I didn't always have a lot of patience with Jenny. I often wanted to shake her by the shoulders and say to her, "quit whining." After all, she was able, thanks to a monthly income from Dean's parents, to stay home with her baby. Yet she never seemed to stop complaining about how little sleep she got, how difficult it was to go anywhere, how showers were all but impossible. Even so, Center was able to make me sympathize with Jenny. A side story about Jenny's father's attempt to reconcile with her mother was delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'll certainly be looking for Center's most recent book, "Everyone is Beautiful."

And The Winner Is...

The winner of the autographed copy of "Only Milo" by Barry Smith is:

Amy

Amy, I'll contact you by email to get your address. I think you're really going to get a kick out of this book!

"the Unnatural History of Cypress Parish: A Novel"

by Elise Blackwell
210 pages
Published April 2007 by Unbridled Books

The year is 1927 and Louis Proby is growing up in the small town of Cypress in southern Mississippi as the rising river begins to become a concern. Louis has concerns of his own. A sister he feels he needs to help watch out for, a new girlfriend, and a father that may not be the larger-than-life person Louis has always thought he was. When Louis gets a job with the richest man in town, driving him into New Orleans, it opens up a whole new world for Louis, one that allows him to meet the movers and shakers of the time. And to learn how much they are willing to sacrifice. The book is based on historical events and narrated on the eve of Hurricane Katrina.

I read this book as part of Dewey's Read-A-Thon and it was a great choice. I was hoping for books that I wouldn't be able to put down and that's exactly what I got in this book. Blackwell has crafted a beautiful story of relationships - between people and with nature.

Here Blackwell writes about Louis' "first time:'

"Later I would try to reconstruct each sound, each rustle of clothing or leaf, each sigh or gasp, each kiss and touch and realization. I would strain to remember the precise order of events, the character of each senstion and wash of feeling."

And here a bar setting from Louis' first encounter with the man who would make his father seem much smaller to Louis:

"The stale smell of the previous night's liquor and cigars soaked the unmoving air, and the floor was littered with matchsticks, cigarette butts, losing raffle tickets, and paper napkins, some bearing names and addresses that had been cast aside."

A part of the book deals with a leper colony. Did you even know that leperosy was around in the south in this time? Treatment of lepers had not advanced much in nearly 2000 years.

"Lepers entering the colony at Carville in the early decades of the twentieth century were encouraged, if not coerced, to change their names. It was thought that both the lepers and their families were better off parting ways for good."

"Many a carefully drawn family tree had a stunted limb, a truncation bearing only the first name of an aunt or uncle or cousin who - though everyone had known where he or she had been taken - had disappeared as if forever into the mysterious word Carville."

So sad, as is so much in this book. But well worth reading. Wonderful story, wonderful characters, beautiful prose.

Everything Austen Challenge #7 - Intimations of Austen: Stories Inspired by the Works of Jane Austen

by Jane Greensmith
116 pages
Published August 2008 by Lulu.com
Source: Author

This is a collection of nine short stories based on the works of Jane Austen. Greensmith gives some of the stories backstories, some sequels, and others what-ifs. In one story, Greensmith finds out how Fanny Price overcame her jealousy and self-doubt that was threatening her marriage to Edmund Bertram. In another, we learn of a love that Jane Bennet had before Charles Bingley. And in the last, and longest, story, Greensmith poses this what-if: what if Darcy, in order to get Wickham to agree to marry Lydia, had to agree never to marry Elizabeth?

I read this as part of Dewey's read-a-thon. I figured I'd need something nice and short sometime around hour 18 and I was right. I was dragging so badly by that point that this ended up being the slowest I have ever read 116 pages. And it was no fault of the book. Well, maybe it was a little bit the fault of the book. Because I really liked these stories and I just couldn't make myself race through them. The book opens with a story written from Mrs. Bennet's perspective about her relationship with Mr. Bennet. Greensmith did a marvelous job of making me see what might have made Mrs. Bennet the person she was in Pride & Prejudice. Greensmith also mixed in a bit of the otherworld--in one story wraiths are central and in another handwriting appears in different colors to Mr. Darcy.

Ms. Greensmith does not attempt to write in a way to mimic Austen. She has her own style and, as these are short stories, things move along at a much quicker pace that Austen used while remaining true to Austen's characters.

I have a hard time with short story collections. I find that I'm generally better off if I don't try to power my way through the entire collection at once. I wish that I would have done that with this book. I enjoyed it a great deal, but I think I would have been better able to savor each story if I had taken my time with this collection. I do recommend it lovers of Austen, particularly if you also enjoy the spin-offs and sequels.