Monday 23 October 2017

"Mary Coin" by Marisa Silver

    Marisa Silver was a Hollywood producer, when she decided to change careers and began writing short stories.  She has written 2 books of short stories and 4 novels.
   This novel had the feel of three connected short stories.


Mary Coin was a migrant worker in 1936 in California after her young husband died, leaving her with 6 very young children.  She took her children from farm to farm as she searched for work, living in the car or a tent in extreme poverty.
Vera Dare was a photographer on a quest to document migrant labourers.  She left her 2 children with another family while she travelled to search out subjects.  Her photograph of Mary with some of her children became famous.
Walker Dodge was a present-day professor whose ancestors owned the orchards where the migrant workers had struggled to survive.  He searched out the story of Vera's photograph and discovered a genetic link to Mary's family.

  The writing was exquisite!  In fact, at times, I felt that it overwhelmed the story.  I kept stopping to appreciate the author's descriptive metaphors and similes.

"She knew her death was near because time had begun to fold like a fan so that the past and the present rubbed together in ways that made her feel supple and porous, as if time were moving through her body and not the other way around."

"Trevor was a good son and a loyal man, a quality that had kept him with women who loaded all their unhappiness onto his broad back like he was a mule and then left without collecting their baggage."




   The idea for this novel came from the story of a famous photograph "Migrant Mother".  
   Dorothea Lange took that photo in Nipomo, California in 1936.
  And that photo, "The Migrant Mother" is used on the cover of Marisa Silver's novel, "Mary Coin".

Monday 9 October 2017

Zadie Smith

   A book club choice for this month is "Swing Time" by Zadie Smith.  As I was reading it, I was reminded of reading another book by this author.  "White Teeth" was a satire on a multicultural community.  There were interesting characters. The writing was good- not great in my mind.  However, in 2001, I was attending a lecture series at the University of Toronto, where Robert Adams expounded on novels, and "White Teeth" was one of those novels.



Robert Adams
   My friend, Terri and I loved these lectures.  We took the bus to Toronto, had a lovely walk down University Avenue, enjoying the sights and sounds of the 'big city'.
   We were mesmerized by Robert Adams.  He had been a literature professor, but he also had some stage experience.  So his presentation was dramatic, exploring the novel in detail.
  His love of this book was obvious. He believed that Zadie Smith was a very good author.  In fact, he said, "If she produces a second book of this quality, I will label her a genius." Wow!
   So, I had to look really carefully at this book.
   The main theme of "Swing Time" was the friendship of two girls while growing up in a disadvantaged section of London, England. They were obsessed with dance- especially Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire and watched many, many dance videos.  The novel followed them into later life as they went in different directions.  It was interesting to see how their childhood friendship affected their lives.
  There was a subplot of a famous entertainer building a girls' school in Africa.  There were some thoughts about being a benefactor in another culture. Are you really making their lives better or making their lives what you think they should be?  I could have really loved this book.....However, the storyline 'danced' all over and it was hard to follow.  Another reader called the storyline  "rickashay".  Is this a new word, or an alternate spelling of "ricochet"?  Whatever!  You get the message.  The storyline is all over the place.
  Also, the narrator was nameless.  Shouldn't bother me, but it was harder to relate to her.
  The themes of class, race, culture and friendship were fascinating and the writing would have been good if I could have kept track of where we were as it bounced from London to New York to Africa, with different characters coming and going.


   And I need to look carefully at this author also.  Zadie Smith was
Zadie Smith
elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2002, and in 2004 she was named among the top twenty most influential people in British culture. She has won many awards, and "White Teeth" was listed in the 100 best English-language novels from 1923-2005.



She is obviously a well-respected author, having written 6 novels as well as essays and anthologies.  But reviews tell me that none of her books have been received as well as her first novel, "White Teeth", written in 2000.

Monday 2 October 2017

Breakfast at the Exit Cafe

  After reading Wayne Grady's book "Emancipation Day", I looked up other books that he has written and I found a gem that he co-wrote with his wife, Merilyn Simonds, who is also an author.
  This couple live near Kingston, Ontario. Merilyn had been the writer-in-residence at the University of British Columbia for three months in 2006.  Rather than driving across Canada to return home at the end of December, they decided to take a road trip down along the Pacific Coast, across the Southern states and up the Atlantic seaboard. And, of course, a book grew out of that experience. 
   Since  John and I have made many road trips into the United States, I was deeply involved in this book.  Such a delight to read about another couple driving the roads we have driven, visiting the towns that we have visited, and interacting with maps and tour books, as well as books that you want to read along the way.
  Each chapter alternates reflections by each of these interesting people.
  They research areas of interest as they are driving, but often their interests are different from our interests.  I was searching for ruts from the Oregon Trail and insisted on climbing the Astoria Column.  They were searching out the wineries in the Willamette Valley.  Different interests but we all enjoyed the Redwood Forests in California. 
   Wayne and Merilyn had planned to have Christmas dinner at the Grand Canyon, and had made a reservation in the El Tovar Hotel dining room, but had no room reservation.  When they arrived at the canyon, they discovered that Christmas at the canyon was more popular than expected.  Busses and busses- lots of people from out of the country.  They tried all the cheap, chain hotels around the canyon and finally found one room, but it was so small, musty and unsatisfactory that Merilyn ended up sobbing at the thought of spending Christmas night there.
  They went for their Christmas dinner at the luxurious El Tovar and thought they would just take a chance that there was a cancellation in the hotel.  The clerk laughed at first because there was a crowd in the lobby waiting for that very thing.  But just as they stood there, a cancellation came in and they grabbed it. But..there is no description of the room or the dinner in the El Tovar, just a description of going back to the discarded room and discovering that they wouldn't have to pay for that room. They also mention the breakfast in El Tovar before heading out.
  I would have written pages on the joys of spending Christmas on the edge of the canyon in a fabulous hotel!  At dinner, they had a table for two by the window with the snow falling gently...oh, my! I love the Grand Canyon and didn't feel that they gave it enough respect.
   When I was there with my friend Joan, staying in a motel near the canyon, I convinced her to get up very early and walk to the canyon in the dark, in order to watch the sunrise over the canyon.  It is a very special place!
   Merilyn and Wayne arrived in Selma, Alabama in time for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, involving a church service and a march.  This was meaningful because Wayne's family had refused to acknowledge the family's black roots.

  As I read of their drive up the Eastern Seaboard, I was reminded of spending time in the Outer Banks of North Carolina with my friend Terri, joining a group of Bookwomen, exploring the coast and discussing literature of the area.

  This book brought back many memories of travelling in the United States of America.
  I loved it!