Carol’s Comments by
Carol Rusinek
September 2011
Hello,
Everyone. Welcome to the fifth issue of Carol’s Comments. Summer is a
wonderful time for avid book, movie and TV lovers to indulge in guilty
pleasures. I was no exception. Along
with scheduling Mad Men DVD marathons every weekend, I immersed myself in Kate
Morton’s other two novels, The House at Riverton and The
Distant Hours.
Like The
Forgotten Garden (which I reviewed in May’s column), Morton’s other two
novels have very captivating plots because they successfully interweave the
present day with the past through flashbacks. The narratives are so
spellbinding that the reader has a tough time putting the books down. When I
was reading The House at Riverton and The Distant Hours, many evenings I
stayed up past midnight engrossed in the storylines.
All
three novels feature independent heroines who discover unknown truths about
themselves while unraveling long-buried family mysteries and secrets. If you
enjoyed Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, The Thorn Birds by Colleen
McCullough or the entire series of Upstairs Downstairs, you’ll love
Kate Morton, my new favorite author. I’m eagerly looking forward to her next
book.
After
pulling myself away from Kate Morton, I wanted to focus on more serious themes
as autumn approached. When consulting the ever reliable New York Times Bestseller
List online and getting recommendations from friends, I found what I was
looking for. The two books I selected featured people who faced challenges with
courage and determination.
In
the first book, Nothing Daunted: the Unexpected
Education in the of Two Society Girls in the West, Dorothy Wickendon
tells the true story of her grandmother Dorothy Woodruff who with her best
friend Rosamond Underwood , went to Elkhead, Colorado in 1916 and became
schoolteachers for a year. Despite its rather academic style, this well
researched biography not only vividly recounts these two remarkable women’s
adventures on the Colorado frontier but gives the reader a glimpse of everyday
life in early 2oth century America.
Ironically,
I started the second book, Hotel
on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford on the weekend of the
9/11 tenth anniversary. Set in Seattle during World War II, Ford’s debut novel
focuses on the unlikely friendship between Henry Lee, a Chinese boy and Keiko
Okabe, a Japanese girl. Through the children’s eyes, the reader dramatically
experiences the discrimination and prejudice endured by the Japanese-American
community during one of the most despicable yet often forgotten chapters in
modern American history.
After
Keiko and her family are evacuated to internment camps first outside of Seattle
and then in Idaho, Henry is determined to find her. With the help of a school
cafeteria matron and later his jazz musician friend Sheldon Thomas, he travels
to both relocation centers to visit her and witnesses firsthand the hardships
Keiko’s family have to face daily.
Despite
his father’s adamant disapproval, Henry corresponds with Keiko for over two
years. When his letters return unopened in late 1945, he never stops wondering
what happened to her. Forty years later, Henry finally discovers Keiko’s
whereabouts when he unearths many of her long-lost treasures in the basement of
the old Panama Hotel. This heartwarming story poignantly illustrates that time,
distance and adversity cannot diminish true friendship.
These
books and other gems can be found at all SJCPL locations. For more information
,visit the library’s website at www.libraryforlife.org
. Before I go, I’d like to thank all my readers for your thoughtful insights
and comments about the books and movies I’ve reviewed in this column. Thanks
for reading! See you next time.
Previously posted at SJCPL blog
