The protagonist in this mystery novel is a brilliant, morbid 11-year-old named Flavia. She is fascinated with chemistry- especially poisons. It is 1950 in England.
Quote:
Whenever I was upset, I made for my sanctum sanctorum. Here, among the bottles and beakers, I would allow myself to be enveloped by what I thought of as the Spirit of Chemistry. Here, sometimes, I would reenact, step by step, the discoveries of the great chemists.
The novel begins with Flavia tied, gagged and locked in a dark closet. Did I mention that Flavia lives with her father and two sisters? The sisters are very cruel and that is why Flavia is in this situation. They put her there.
As the story progressed, Flavia found a dead man in the front garden and immediately began her sleuthing to follow the clues in this mystery. She is successful in her search but ends up again - bound, gagged and locked in a basement, this time by the murderer.
There are many references to chemistry and stamp collecting. A mystery lover with those interests will love this book. I did not. I do not have a mind for mystery, but this book is very popular and is the first in a proposed series of ten.
Many people find the protagonist in this series very interesting. She certainly is not your usual 11- year-old.
Everybody needs a little inspiration at one time or another.
This is a book of inspiration.
Frederick Buechner, the author, is an American preacher and theologian. He is 92 at present. His writing is simple but profound. He acknowledges those who struggle to believe and is very gentle in his preaching, attempting to avoid traditional religious language and imagery.
My best friend from childhood loaned me this book because it was so inspirational for her.
And this is the way it looked when she loaned it to me:
Here is an excerpt about hope.
"Hope is the driving power and outermost edge of faith. Hope stands up to its knees in the past and keeps its eyes on the future. There has never been a time past when God wasn't with us as the strength beyond our strength, the wisdom beyond our wisdom, as whatever it is in our hearts- whether we believe in God or not- that keeps us human enough at least to get by despite everything in our lives that tends to wither the heart and make us less than human. To remember the past is to see that we are here today by grace, that we have survived as a gift."
This is a book of sermons that really make you think and encourage a life of faith.
David, 23, is one of our grandchildren that loves to read and talk about books.
He convinced me to read one of his favourites. It was "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut. I was not impressed!
John and I both love "The Kite Runner", so we recommended it to David and were interested in discussing it with him. And here we are. It was a rainy day delight!
This novel begins in Afghanistan with two young boys that are great friends. But Amir, at 12, does not help his friend when he is in trouble and feels guilty for years. Much later in his life, he is living in California and gets a phone call from his father's friend, who says, "There is a way to be good again".
This is a powerful story of redemption, atonement and GOODNESS.
John and I both read it shortly after it was published in 2003.
David enjoyed reading about the history and culture of Afghanistan. The Taliban features in this book and there is a scene of retribution or justice, that makes you cheer.
This novel has the best ending that I have ever read. It involves flying kites, as that is a big theme in the novel. And it involves Amir's nephew who was the same age as Amir was when he declined helping his friend. It provided 'a way to be good again'. Very powerful ending to a great novel.
Once again, I chose this book because of the cover. I was choosing books for the retirement home, when I saw this cover and knew that I had to read the book. The young girl on the cover was calling out to me. I knew that she had a story.
However, I have been dealing with eye problems- not serious but temporarily troubling. So it has been difficult to read. The novel moves back and forth in time and sometimes I got lost because of the little bits that I could read. Probably I would have enjoyed the novel more if I had been able to read more quickly.
Violet Dimond, an identical twin, has lost a daughter and raised a son, when she discovers a little black child in an orphanage in England. It was the beginning of the 20th century and Violet was 50 years old.
She decided to adopt the little girl who was sickly and frail. Her name was Grace and the novel is the story of her life.
The small community where they lived was not used to seeing black people and I was surprised at the cruelty of the town people. I realize it was over a century ago, but they called her 'the Silkhampton Darkie' and 'the two-headed lady'. Grace got used to the stares and eventually met other people with physical disabilities that she could align with.
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| author-Patricia Ferguson |
Patricia Ferguson took a 2-year course in nursing at the Royal London Hospital. She loved the obstetrics part of the training, and also completed a midwifery course. She made use of those skills when writing this novel because Grace's mother, Violet was a midwife and the author wrote about her work in detail.
I found the novel somewhat disjointed as the viewpoint changed from Grace to Violet to Violet's twin Bea. Oh, yes, the novel begins in a hospital with men who had been injured in the war. Joe Gilder ends up marrying Grace much later in the story. So, it did move around, and the end was rather mysterious. Not as satisfying as I had hoped. But I still love the little girl on the cover.
