The Rent Collector, by Camron Wright

 

Sang Ly lives in the shanty town surrounding the dump. She and her husband work every day finding recyclable items to sell so they have enough money for dinner each night and can put away a little bit toward rent for the month. Their son is miserably ill and every time they get western medicine for him, his symptoms stop, but when the medicine runs out he is just as ill again. They will never be able to save up enough money to travel back to Sang Ly's village to see the healer there. Then one day, Sang Ly stumbles upon a way to become literate.

 

I loved this quote from a day when the family was in the city:

As we eat, a man walking past catches my attention--he is carrying a stack of brightly colored books, though it's not just his books that give me pause. He sets them down near an adjacent garbage can with the spines toward me, and then he proceeds to clean out his pockets, throwing scattered items away. Naturally I long to read the titles, to learn what the books are about, to thumb through their pages and attempt to read them myself. However, as these thoughts roil through my head, I also have the odd desire to tear open the bag of garbage and see if he's throwing anything worthwhile away.

 

And this one touched me: "For news of a mother's heart, watch her child's face." I ought to make sure that I can always empathize with my children.

 

This is a story of love and ascension and overcoming. It is beautiful and moving and I found it valuable pondering material during the time I was reading it. We never know what those around us are going through or how much a kind word or action will mean to them. We ought to be more accepting and loving.

 

Sang Ly and her husband do talk about making love but are not explicit or sensual in their discussion.



Behind the Scenes, by Elizabeth Keckley



This is the memoir that Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker was based on. It was quite a drag to read after just having read the other, because so much of the information and dialogue is exactly the same. I did enjoy reading Mary's letters to Elizabeth as they were compiled at the end of this book. This is an incredible story and a recommended read.

There are descriptions of slave beatings from Elizabeth's childhood and teen years, as well as footnotes about her delicately-described years as a forced mistress to a white man.

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, by Jennifer Chiaverini

 

I loved the civil war history told from the viewpoint of a black woman who was in the White House at the time. Keckley knew the Lincoln's personally and was a true friend to Pres. Lincoln's wife. She also was a leader in the black community and did a lot to help those who were emancipated and came to Washington expecting to find a new life, but only found Hooverville-type places to live.
Mary Todd Lincoln did not have the personality of a peach, and the author doesn't soften her. Be prepared to read her.

My favorite character in this book was Keckley's son. He looks white enough to enlist in the army and dies fighting for the cause of freedom. His life and the effects of his death brought a depth to the novel that really elevated the storyline. Remembering Keckley's loss through the rest of her interactions in the story will give any reader reason to ponder.

 

Truly an incredible, and true! story.


The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman





This is an incredible story of war and peace, love and loss, guilt, sacrifice, and redemption. The plot is intricate but (after the first couple chapters) fluid. The characters grow and change, and yet stay true to themselves.

I particularly loved the influence that the war plays in the book. All the characters are affected by it even though it is over, and it really touched me to see the effects played out in so many lives in such a variety of ways. War is awful. It changes everything except God - and it's changes are pervasive and long-lasting. This theme is close to home for me because I have a younger brother who served in the US armed forces. I was very impressed by the treatment of the after-effects of the war.

There is one case of a newlywed wife arousing her husband.

The cast of characters widens effortlessly throughout the novel, leaving the reader with many characters who are well developed (and loved!) and knowing how their stories intertwine - but at a loss convey the relationships to someone else concisely; they are too complex, but the reader hadn't realized they'd become that way.

Tom the lightkeeper has a mundane task - raising an ensign any time a "man o'war" passes the island.

"He knows keepers who swear under their breath at the obligation, but Tom takes comfort from the orderliness of it. It is a luxury to do something that serves no practical purpose: the luxury of civilization."

Anne of Avonlea, by L.M. Montgomery

Another two years in the life of Anne, an orphan child who was taken in and loved. Now she takes on two orphans herself: larger-than-life models of circumspectness and mischievousness. This very day I refrained from engaging in bad manners because of Anne’s reaction to the mischievous twin indulging in that particular behavior. (How I wanted to lick that bowl . . . )

“It does people good to have to do things they don’t like . . . in moderation.”

Mrs. Allan’s face was not the face of the girl-bride whom the minister had brought to Avonlea five years before … what her face lacked in girlish beauty was now more than atoned for in added tenderness and strength.

“… our own lives … are broad or narrow according to what we put into them, not what we get out. Life is rich and full here . . . everywhere . . . if we can only learn how to open our whole hearts to its richness and fullness.”

The Unfinsished Work of Elizabeth D, by Nichole Bernier

I am so disappointed in the book selections from this former book club. I am reading one more of their picks after this, and if it has sex in it too, I’m bowing out.

This book would be a beautiful and deep discussion of what it means to be a friend, sister, mother, and wife if it weren't for the unnecessary (in my view) junk.

Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Mongtomery

Beautiful, squeaky clean, and full of delight. A plot that wraps your heart around it - set in safe moral ground, with clean humor, and manners taught - is my kind of world.

"Oh Marilla, looking forward to things is half the pleasure in them," exclaimed Anne. "You mayn't get the things themselves; but nothing can prevent you from having the fun of looking forward to them. Mrs. Lynde says, 'Blessed are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed.' But I think it would be worse to expect nothing than to be disappointed."


"Somehow," she told Diana, "when I'm going through here I don't really care whether... anybody gets ahed of me in class or not. But when I'm up in school, it's all different and I care as much as ever. There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting."

... we pay a price for everything we get or take in this world; and although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won, but exact their dues of work and self-denial, anxiety and discouragement.

Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis

This is a very powerful book and has the potential to engender amazing discussion at a book group. Book I is a woman's complaint against the gods. When I finished it, I felt like it was a nice story. When I started Book II however, I began to See . . . not only what was written in the second book, but also what was written in the first.

There are so many beautiful themes: what it means to be oneself, how we sacrifice for others, how we cause others to sacrifice for us, what it means to wear a figurative or physical veil, the importance of beauty, loyalty, determination, and humility.

"Are the gods just?"
"Oh no, child. What would become of us if they were? But come and see."

"In that far distant day when the gods become wholly beautiful, or we at last are shown how beautiful they always were, this will happen more and more. For mortals, as you said, will become more and more jealous. And mother and wife and child and friend will all be in league to keep a soul from being united with the Divine Nature."

"... Divine Nature can change the past. Nothing is yet in its true form."

Highly recommended.

State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett

Not recommended. Spoiler alert:

I enjoyed the book until they slept together at the end - that was supremely disappointing, especially because the author casts it as perfectly acceptable because the people they "should" have been sleeping with didn't happen to be there, and they can just move on and never talk about it.

Shell Seekers, by Rosamunde Pilcher



What a great, adult novel! There are references to people going to bed together, but no descriptions that I can remember (it's been awhile since I read the book, sorry. If there are, someone let me know : ) Someone has an affair but just recompense ensues.

The main theme of family relationships is wonderfully explored through Penelope Keeling and her three very different grown children. My favorite quote comes from the most reasonable (though still flawed) child:

"But the next few months would not be easy. As long as Mumma was alive, she knew that some small part of herself had remained a child, cherished and adored. Perhaps you never completely grew up until your mother died."

Very engaging: history, art, gardening, travel, love - enjoy it!