"Giver of Stars" by Jojo Moyes

   I have just finished reading "The Giver of Stars" by Jojo Moyes.  
   It begins with Alice Van Cleve, who had married Bennett Van Cleve but also got a father-in-law in the bargain who had no sense of boundaries.  He spent their honeymoon with them on a ship from England to Kentucky and then controlled their lives, as they moved into his luxurious house in Kentucky.  He was a widower, running the mines as well as the lives of his son and daughter-in-law.  Alice was extremely unhappy (there was no love in this marriage), but found a sense of purpose in becoming a bookwoman, delivering books to remote homes in the surrounding hills.
   Two of the most important pillars of this book did not hold up for me: first, why did Bennett Van Cleve marry Alice while he was in England, when he refused to have any intimate contact with her after they were married?  He was not being pressured, obviously she was not pregnant, and he had a girlfriend back home in Kentucky, whom he eventually married.  Why did he marry Alice when he seemed to have no affection for her?
  The second pillar that doesn't hold up for me, involves another of the bookwomen- Marjorie.  She is a very unconventional woman who balks at the role of women in Kentucky during this time period, and comes from a family with a reputation of drinking and feuding. But when a mountain man is found dead with a copy of "Little Women" near him,  Marjorie is charged with his murder.  Simply because her relatives had been feuding with the murdered man's family and the dead man was found (a few months after his death) along the path that Marjorie took to deliver books. Did they really think a woman could kill a man with a book?

 "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" had deeper issues, based on fact.  Cussy Mary is the main character and her skin is blue-tinged, leaving her open to discrimination and abuse.  This is actually an inherited disorder that was very rare in the hills of Kentucky.
   Cussy Mary applied for the job of 'bookwoman' by mail so that her skin-colour would not be a factor.  She was very serious about the job- hoping to bring comfort and literacy to the isolated people living in the hills of Kentucky.  She rode a mule on her trips, often stopping to read to the sick or illiterate.
  The book also describes the custom of 'courting candles'.
   I enjoyed the writing and structure of "The Book woman of Troublesome Creek" more, but, I would be willing to read any number of books about this fascinating project, since so much of my life involves reading, discussing, and distributing books.

Similar books

  I was waiting to post the final results of Canada Reads 2020, but it has been cancelled because of the coronavirus.
  So I am staying indoors to be safe and looking at books to read while isolated.  I am trying to finish "Late Nights on Air" by Elizabeth Hay, since it would have been our next book club choice.  However, it is slow-going.  It is very much about the city of Yellowknife and backstories on all the people involved in the radio station there.  Not much action to keep me interested.
  But I did find something of interest to booklovers on the internet.  A new book came out October  of 2019 that is very similar to a book that was published in May of 2019.  To some people who have read both, the similarities are suspicious.  However, I cannot believe that plagiarism is involved. Both authors are well-established.

  
  The first book was "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" by Kim Michele Richardson.  You can read my blog entry about that book here.  I really loved this book about a woman who delivered library books in the mountains of Kentucky.
   It is fiction and was published in May of 2019.

The other book is "Giver of Stars" by Jojo Moyes and it was published in October of 2019 with the same subject - library pack horses.
  I have not read it yet because there is a waiting list at the library and the library is now closed.
  I am thinking of buying it on my ipad. 

    I do believe that there is room for more than one novel based on this factual, interesting program.  It is called the Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky that operated from 1935 - 1943 and involved 30 librarians, serving 100,000 people in the Appalachian Mountains.
   Let me know if you've read both of them and how you feel about the similarities.

Canada Reads 2010

  

    I have been talking about 'Canada Reads' for over a month because I belong to a book group whose main focus is Canada Reads.  It is a wonderful way to spend February and we have had very interesting discussions.
  On Monday, March 16, the debates will begin in Toronto and will be broadcast on radio, T.V., Facebook, podcasts, YouTube.  There will be four days of discussion, eliminating one book each day.
   I have blogged about each book and perhaps it is very clear how I feel about each book. 

  "From the Ashes" is definitely a book that I would recommend to friends.  Will it bring Canada into focus?  That is the theme: "One book to bring Canada into focus".
   Well, it certainly makes you think about the struggles of some indigenous people, suffering from generational pain. And it is a powerful story of overcoming homelessness and addiction.
  I have said that it is heart-wrenching and heart-warming.  That makes it my choice for the winner of Canada Reads 2020.

   
My second choice would be "Radicalized" because it brings up some excellent topics in the four short stories.  The last story is about building an underground shelter for doomsday events.  Well, we are not that desperate now, but it would not be a bad idea to have a stocked shelter where you could escape the coronavirus by staying away from the rest of the world for a few weeks.  But who would you take with you?
  The other stories are about police violence, the health care system and computerization of everything.
  Science fiction is an interesting way to look at serious situations and I would consider this as a winner for Canada Reads if it had more Canadian content.

  "We Have Always Been Here" is my third choice.  It is a memoir- a search for identity.  Interesting enough.

  "Son of a Trickster" was horrible to read and "Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club" was 'more horrible'!

   These are just my thoughts and our book group had a wonderful time discussing each book in detail.  

"Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club"

Canada Reads 2020

   This is the last book that I read in the list of five books for Canada Reads.  And this was the most difficult for me.  To be blunt, I saw no redeeming feature in this novel.

   Here is the dedication:

"I wrote this for myself.  And the beautiful vicious island that makes and unmakes us.  This might hurt a little.  Be brave."

  The whole novel takes place in a restaurant in St. John's, Newfoundland.  It is stream-of-consciousness writing, taking place in one day - one long, long, long day.

  It did not hurt to read it.  It made me sick, sad and depressed.

  The author is trying to reflect on the exploitation and oppression of women.  Much of the writing is metaphoric and you wonder what is really happening.  In fact, there is very little plot- only sexual predators and violence.

  I have read about the 'Ikea effect' in literature- the idea that people are more engaged with narratives that they've helped assemble themselves".  And it takes the whole, long book to figure out who each of the many characters are and what they are doing.  It is a novel that you have to assemble by yourself.

  And is it worth it?  Not for me!  There are some sentences that are lovely, but what did they mean?  Who are they talking about?

   The only thing that is really clear is the violent scene near the end.  And it was horrible.  I realize that the author wants to focus on the abuse of women, but is this the way to do it?

   There was more abhorrent language in this novel than I have heard in a lifetime.