The Giver of Stars: A Novel by Jojo Moyes

The Giver of Stars: A Novel. Jojo Moyes. Penguin Publishing Group. October 2019. pb, 400 pp.; ISBN #: 9780399562488.

Kentucky in the Appalachian Mountains is a gorgeous gem of nature.  However, during the Depression years, families suffered from poor mining conditions and they were hamstrung by ignorance.  However, Eleanor Roosevelt began the project of traveling libraries, and this novel is about the five women known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.  Initially, they are composed of a motley crew of women.

Meet Alice Van Cleve, an English woman who married Bennet Van Cleve so that she would escape the stifling existence of British life and wound up strangled from the worse situation she was living in, with her father-in-law cruelly stifling her husband’s romantic expression.  Then meet Margery, a single woman with a hugely independent streak, who always did the right thing and couldn’t care less what anybody else thought about it.  She was loved by a young man but wouldn’t marry him because she wanted to maintain that independent status.  Then there is a gal with a physical injury who thought she had nothing to give life but turned out to have a gorgeous voice.  And meet Sophie, an African-American woman who has all the skills of a professional librarian; nothing will stop her although the racists of the area certainly have their say to try to stifle her presence.

You will find people falling in love with fairy tales, comics, romances, adventure stories, Bible stories and even a book about romantic sex.  Little by little the rural readers are reading and passing along more books than the Packhorse Librarians can handle.  Others begin to help them. 

Two marriages will fall apart, two new marriages will eventually happen, a woman will be physically battered, a woman will be charged with murder, and a family is disgraced for their brutal treatment of miners and their families.

This is a gorgeous, lovely novel readers will love!  It covers just about every form of virtue and vice, beauty and ugliness, defeat and victory that the imagination can consider.  It’s about victory, friendship, loyalty, honesty, truth and love in the worst of circumstances!  It’s joy-full.  Highly recommended historical fiction!

The Peppermint Tea Chronicles: 44 Scotland Street Series by Alexander McCall Smith

The Peppermint Tea Chronicles: 44 Scotland Street Series. Alexander McCall Smith. Anchor Books: A Division of Penguin Random House. October 2019. pb, 336pp.; ISBN #: 9781984897817.

Welcome to summertime in Edinburgh, Scotland. The residents of Scotland Street are financially comfortable and for the most part sociable.  They have their ups and downs in life which are depicted herein in a mild manner.  They mirror everyday life anywhere.  They have discussions which make readers think from a more sensitive point of view than those opinions quickly glossed over elsewhere. The title refers to a refreshment occasionally shared when one is having an intimate but important conversation about something very meaningful to those partaking.

Stuart is sharing that tea with a young woman Katie.  Stuart’s wife is away, studying for a Ph. D. but also deliberately away from her marriage. So Stuart finally gives himself permission to enjoy life and his son Bertie has the same new feelings. He and his best friend Ranald Braveheart Macpherson take a jaunt to a local circus and wind up returning home with an unexpected gift. One of the issues on Scotland Street is freedom, that freedom to do what is best for one’s self and for one’s neighbors.  So Big Lou, who runs the local coffee and pastry shop, has a foster son who loves and has a great talent.  So she will do what she can to foster that love and freedom to nurture a career that’s loved, no matter how shocking it appears.

The wife of another couple, Delmonica, finds great joy in shopping for new clothes for her husband, Angus, which he doesn’t notice so accustomed is he to dress mindlessly.

Another woman loves living in the country but finally admits that even though she has small children to care for, she is lonely and yearning for more in life.  These are just a few of the delightful scenes accompanied by intriguing and stimulating conversations that lead to new situations and that are guaranteed to engage readers as well as yearn for more of the same.  There are also numerous witty exchanges that add to the realistically funny side of lives on Scotland Street a/k/a in our lives.

Lovingly crafted, enchanting contemporary fiction read with enchanting characters you will feel are like perfect friends!

Meg and Joe: A Contemporary Retelling of Little Women by Virginia Kantra

Meg and Jo: A Contemporary Retelling of Little Women. Virginia Kantra. Penguin Publishing Group. December 2019. pb, 400 pp.; ISBN: 9780593100349.

The March sisters each have a unique personality that thrilled readers in the renowned novel, Little Women.  In this contemporary retelling, Meg is still doing good things for everyone, Jo is still hot-tempered and independent, Amy is still stylish and Beth is still shy but ultra-loving to all around her.  They grew up on a farm in North Carolina, with their father still serving as a military chaplain and their mother handling home and the farm business. However, Meg is now married to John, a former teacher, and has two children.  Jo had moved to New York City, worked for a newspaper until she was laid off and now works as a prep cook in a famous restaurant, Gusto, and writes a food blog called Hungry that is growing with followers who interact.  Her dream is still to be a great writer but life takes these two eldest sisters in different directions for the duration of this novel.  Amy is involved in the world of fashion and Beth is involving in musical performances, albeit as a neophyte writer and singer.

This story is definitely a romance between Meg and John.  Both are super-busy but have initially little time to talk about what they really want out of life as well as what they expect of each other.  Shaped by their past in which the father did not take much part in family life, they learn through challenges how to truly listen to and talk to each other.  This makes their love very real and appealing to readers. 

Jo begins to have a sexual relationship with her boss, the famous chef and restaurant owner, Eric Bhaer.  However, after he discovers she has been writing about his cooking on her blog, he responds with fury and Jo quits working for him.  It’s just as well she returns to North Carolina because her Mom is about to have back surgery for damage done by a bone infection and will need a lot of help during her rehabilitation from that operation.

Beth and Amy also come in and out of the story, along with rich but nasty Aunt Phee and they all bond strongly in the face of so many challenges.  Jo’s old boyfriend Trey is still around and wants to marry Jo but he is just a very good friend to her, nothing more.  It provides for some funny as well as tense moments.  Family meals are a joy for all to share and it’s clear that these meals are just one manifestation of the very close bond that exists in this family.

While this retelling may not bear all the contrived mushiness of the original tale, Meg and Jo is a contemporary love story and family drama that is uniquely endearing and a grand read.  Highly recommended reading!  This reviewer is looking forward to the next book in this series which will be Amy and Beth! Happy reading, all!

The Son of York: A Novel by Anne Easter Smith

This Son of York: A Novel. Anne Easter Smith. Bellastoria Press Llp. November 2019. pb, 506 pp.; ISBN: 9781942209638.

“Loyalty binds me” was King Richard III’s motto in the late 1490s in England.  Anne Easter Smith presents the life of Richard in a fairly even-handed manner, using multiple accepted sources as well as the DNA and anatomy studies from King Richard’s corpse found under a car park in Leicester, Great Britain.

Readers cannot help but recognize that Richard lived a very difficult life with most of it spent trying to repel the Tudor traitors from reigning, an endless enmity between the Lancaster and York families.  As a young boy, his brother Clarence demeaned Richard, calling him “runt” because of his smaller size.  Clarence was always the charmer around adults but his true mean streak often fell on Richard.  His brother Edward, the King, knew Richard was the serious moral son and acknowledged it in admiration but also in jest.  Richard begins to earn some self-respect when he is being prepared to be knighted under Warwick (“the Kingmaker”) and serve the King. 

Richard is late to experience romance but when he falls in love with Kate Haute, a commoner, he exhibits faithfulness and truly loving dedication to her for life.  She will have several children who receive life-long financial support, even after Richard marries Anne, Warwick’s daughter.  From this point, a series of disasters follow in which Richard is responsible for or connected with the death of King Henry VII, the two sons of King Henry VII, and several traitors including his brother Clarence.  Add to that his loss of his son Ned and his wife Anne and readers understand how Richard is afflicted by guilt and depression.

The War of the Roses is the main plot of this novel, with Yorkist kings for the most part accused of too much drinking, injustice, poor leadership, etc.  King Richard III actually only rules for two years before he is killed in the Battle of Bosworth. This story also deals with the scoliosis back problem that plagued Richard’s life.  The author does a superb job of creating a complex character who is credible and doubtful, proud but plagued by self-doubt, compassionate but formidably harsh.

The Son of York is a momentous work of historical fiction sure to garner praise, questions and avid commentary.  It deserves high praise for its excellent writing, characterization, depiction of setting and presentation of complex mysteries and challenges regarding 15^th Century English history. Kudos to Anne Easter Smith for this highly recommended read!

The Fire and the Light: A Novel of the Cathars and the Lost Teachings of Christ by Glen Craney

The Fire and the Light: A Novel of the Cathars and the Lost Teachings of Christ. Glen Craney. Brigid’s Fire Press/Amazon Digital Services. September 2013 (second edition). pb, 505 pp.; ASIN: B00F8KTR5Q.

In researching this subject, the author had a dream in which Esclarmonde de Foix appeared to him and asked him to tell her story.  This extensive, multilayered story tells the story of the lost teachings of Christ that were passed down from Akhenaten to Moses, the Essenes, early Christians, Bogomils and Cathars.  It is about alternative teachings of the gnostic Cathars that deny the traditional Gospels and Pauline letters, the former speaking of the Light of Christ and God stemming from within each follower.  It’s a religious point of view that is deeply spiritual.  It began in what is now the southern part of France in Occitania and ends in Baragoza, Aragon in the 13^th Century (1194 to 1250). It’s about the wild and passionate determination of Cistercian and Dominican clergy to quash these teachings and the Cathar believers.

This is history, romance, adventure, spirituality, theological debates and history told about a conflict that finally ended in disastrous massacre at Montsegur.  These are the teachings of the Essenes later taught by the dynamic female leader Esclarmonde de Foix who renounced physical love that her whole being might be attuned to the Divine Light. She is an aggregate of several real women but no less credible and compelling through the poetic license taken by the author to present her character.  The teachings suggest that those who practice violence will be doomed to be reborn into the same life and level of violence.  If so, there are dozens of characters in these pages who make torture, persecution and death into a level of violence that at times is beyond endurable.

At the same time, it casts doubt on teachings like Purgatory, hell, and salvation that sound more like condemnation than the love of a merciful, loving God.  Besides being a great story, in these pages is found several theological debates that will leave readers thinking and pondering personal beliefs.

There are Courts of Love begun by Eleanor of Aquitaine in which troubadours vie with each other to compose and sing of the ways of love, claiming them as a model of chivalric living and loving that all true knights and princes must follow.  Ironically, these sayings are also a mirror for the love of God, to be followed by those who claim to be Christian.  However, most of these same knights, princes, and clerical leaders manifest the exact opposite in their mission to destroy every Cathar follower, no matter their social and economic status.

This is a novel that will haunt readers long after the last pages are read. The author is to be commended for the creation of this passionate depiction of true history and spirituality which has been hidden and denied for far too long.  Highly recommended historical fiction superbly created and presented!

Bread, Bags & Bullies: Surviving the 80's by Steven Manchester

Bread, Bags & Bullies: Surviving the 80’s. Steven Manchester. Luna Bella Press. November 2019. pb, 208 pp.; ASIN: B07YR894QP.

Those who grew up in the 1980’s are going to love this novel which describes the family of Herbie, Wally and Cockroach, three brothers who loved and tormented each other while growing up.  They grow up in a strict family where the rules are definite although somewhat out of the box of today’s norms. Steven Manchester is uniquely talented to capture the essences of a person (or family’s) strengths and weaknesses that is real and without artifice. It’s funny as well!

They’re definitely addicted to the Atari 2600 games with two joystick controllers with red buttons, paddle controllers and black game cartridges.  They love and hate the Combat or Air Sea Battle.  In moments of quiet they confess their deepest fears to each other.  They never miss TV shows such as Knots Landing, Donny and Marie, Tony Orlando and Dawn, the Lawrence Welk Show with the bubbles and corny music, and the always funny Carol Burnett Show. They’re thrilled with the music of Def Leppard, Pink Floyd, REO Speedwagon and Queen.  They know their family is far from The Brady Bunch TV family.  They also know they are poor but don’t worry too much about it.  Instead, one works as a newspaper delivery boy and others can’t wait their appropriate age to do the same.  They can’t wait for high school with the ability to go to concerts, earn money for a dream car like a Camaro, Pontiac Firebird or Trans Am and drag racing.  They’re obvious fans of the Lakers basketball team over the Celtics.  They’re into Motor Trend and Popular Mechanics magazines with an occasional forced foray into reading novels like To Kill a Mockingbird.  Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is an irresistible movie that feeds their young imaginations.  MTV is starting to get rave reviews as well as numerous Billboard Chart idols.

Daily lessons are frequent but the largest one is to stand strong against bullies.  It’s believed that not facing fear will allow that fear to become a monster in one’s life, and so one of the brothers prepares to face one of his most formidable opponents on the school bus.  Mom and Dad are to be heard and obeyed.  The brothers may fight and rag on each other constantly but they are always there for each other in time of need, including when they have physical or emotional challenges.

Steven Manchester’s latest novel is a delightful look back to an age when families could name their challenges and meet them accordingly with love and toughness where appropriate.  Nicely crafted coming of age story, Steven Manchester!

A Bottle of Rum: A Spider John Mystery by Steven Goble

A Bottle of Rum: A Spider John Mystery. Steven Goble. Seventh Street Books.  November 2019. pb, 264 pp.; ISBN: 9781645060031.

Spider John Rush appears in this third pirate novel by Steven Goble.  Spider has had enough of the dangers of pirating, never knowing whether he will be caught, tortured and/or hung.  He longs to return to Nantucket to live with his wife Em and his son Johnny whom he has not seen since he was a baby.  For now he’s sitting in a tavern with his friend Odin when trouble brews.  The owner of the tavern does little work and it’s his wife who carries the burden.  The night when Spider is having a drink is the one in which the owner of the tavern is murdered.  Spider promises to find the killer or killers.  He just can’t seem to escape trouble wherever he goes. For the knife sticking out of the neck of the tavern owner is the one Spider had made and given to his pirate friend Hob.  So now Spider is determined to find Hob as well as the murderer(s).

Spider and Odin are led down a trail of smugglers and attacking knaves to a madhouse being run by some land-lubbered former pirates.  A young woman challenges them and it is clear she is suffering from some form of madness as she’s totally obsessed with death and torture.  Experiments are being conducted on the patients in the madhouse, ones that frequently wind up in the death of those patients.  Is it from poison, amputations or some other evil?  Hints are later given that the experimenter is trying to locate the “soul” of individuals.  The story will develop to the point where Spider and Odin find Hobs but must make a dangerous escape.  The mystery will be solved but not until Spider and Odin have been treated as spies and traitors, thereby earning multiple attacks and wounds that were just as horrible as what they had suffered when out at sea as pirates.  It’s still a hard and dangerous life they are living but they are now seeking justice and mercy out of compassion and not crime.

Spider is at heart a funny, wise and caring individual whose personality is depicted in a way that immediately engages the reader.  One wonders why there’s a touch of evil and insanity in former pirates but recognizes that there are some good souls among them worthy of admiring and rooting for.  Taverns are not only sources of satisfying drinks but also unexpected but probable fights.

A Bottle of Rum is a fascinating tale that puts a new twist on Spider John and his friends and enemies.  Nicely crafted, Steve Goble!