Carol's Comments November 2018

Carol’s Comments November 2018

Hello Everyone! Welcome to another issue of Carol’s Comments. This autumn, my personal life took some unexpected twists and turns. To cope with these uncertainties, I decided to indulge in my three favorite genres: memoirs, historical fiction and gothic fiction. 

After discovering a very insightful and enlightening New York Times interview in late August with Lisa Brennan-Jobs where she discussed her unconventional life as Steve Jobs’ eldest daughter along with her upcoming autobiography Small Fry, I knew I definitely wanted to read it when it debuted on September 4.

In this very enthralling and heartbreaking coming of age memoir, Brennan-Jobs poignantly describes her complicated relationship with a very detached, emotionally distant and vacillating father who through much of her childhood and adolescence refused to publicly acknowledge her as his biological daughter.

Born on May 17, 1978 at a commune near Portland, Oregon, Brennan-Jobs was raised by her unconventional single mother Chrisann Brennan, living a rather bohemian life in Palo Alto, California shielded from her father’s celebrity.

Free of sensationalism and acrimony, in this intriguing book’s final chapters , Brennan-Jobs ultimately obtains acceptance and forgiveness from her father shortly before his death on October 5, 2011. I highly recommend this absorbing memoir recently chosen by The New York Times as a Notable Book for 2018. It is the perfect companion to Walter Issacson’s definitive biography Steve Jobs.

Next I wanted to treat myself to a quirky themed modern historical novel. After browsing through the new fiction section at the River Park Branch Library, I stumbled upon a trade paperback reissue of the 2008 bestseller The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I snatched it up immediately.

Set in 1946 post- World War II Great Britain, Shaffer’s and Barrows’ charming novel revolves around London journalist/writer Juliet Ashton who currently suffers from major writer’s block after churning out frivolous stories about fictional character Izzy Bickerstoff to placate and entertain readers during the war. When Juliet begins receiving letters from Guernsey resident Dawsey Adams, it piques her interest in Guernsey, one of Great Britain’s Channel Islands that was occupied by the Germans  from 1940-1945 as well as the formation of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Adams’ friends during  World War II.

This very engaging book uses a very unique literary technique to narrate Juliet’s adventures in London (and later) Guernsey. The plot consists entirely of letters written by and to Juliet from her publisher Sidney Stark, other friends and relatives and most importantly from Dawsey Adams and other members of the Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society.

Through this correspondence, Society members not only tell Juliet what books they enjoy reading but they also vividly describe what life was like under German occupation. In fact, the Society was created by Elizabeth McKenna as a ruse to hide from the Germans that aristocrat Amelia Maugery was hosting a roast pig dinner for her friends; a forbidden activity under the Occupation. Ironically, the Literary Society’s love of books and reading helped the members endure the war’s devastation in their personal lives. Their fascinating letters make the reader feel like the characters are their real friends.

In May 1946, Juliet decides (with strong encouragement from her publisher Sidney Stark) to visit Guernsey and meet the Literary Society members she has been corresponding with regularly. She intends to gather stories from them to include in her new novel. As she unearths more secrets from her new friends about what really happened in Guernsey during the German Occupation, an unexpected happy outcome emerges out of tragic and miscalculated events for Juliet Ashton and Dawsey Adams.

Filled with offbeat multidimensional characters in an unusual and unexpectedly romantic setting, Shaffer’s and Barrows’ marvelous little book will delight everyone. I highly recommend it for book clubs because it demonstrates how reading can powerfully enrich people’s lives.

After finishing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, I read in Entertainment Weekly that Netflix had recently released a feature film version of the novel. I currently only had a Netflix DVD subscription. So I quickly added a basic streaming plan so I could review the movie for this blog.

Directed by Mike Newell, this captivating film opens in 1940 dramatizing how Elizabeth McKenna, portrayed by Jessica Brown-Findlay formed the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Then the movie fast forwards to 1946 showing writer Juliet Ashton, played by Lily James on a book tour in London. The collaborative screenplay by Don Roos, Kevin Hood and Thomas Bezucha successfully transforms the book’s very complicated literary plot style into a very watchable film.

Shot on location, the movie’s very artistic ambiance realistically captures the mood of postwar Britain. For instance, the flashback sequences depicting Guernsey’s German Occupation avoid showing overly graphic wartime violence while still retaining authentic historical integrity.

Downton Abbey fans will especially love this adaptation because it features many Downton alumni who play many pivotal characters in the movie. For example, Matthew Goode (Henry Talbot) appears as publisher Sidney Stark; Lily James (Lady Rose) as Juliet Ashton; Jessica Brown-Findlay (Lady Sybil Crawley) as Elizabeth McKenna and Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley) as Amelia Maugery.

My favorite scene from the film happens when Juliet meets the Literary Society members in person for the first time to discuss her Anne Bronte biography. The passion she and the others feel about reading reminded me how books can bring solace and comfort in troubled times and have the power to bring people together. This compelling film adaptation of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was a terrific cinematic escape by transporting the viewer back to a simpler time and place.

As my longtime readers know, I absolutely adore Kate Morton. She became my favorite contemporary author when I read The Forgotten Garden for my first blog in March 2011. So when I saw on Facebook this Spring that she would be publishing her sixth novel The Clockmaker’s Daughter in October, I placed a hold on it as soon as the St. Joseph County Public Library put an on order record for it in its online catalog, Five months later when I was one of the first forty patrons to read a brand new copy, I wasn’t disappointed.

Using various perspectives from different time periods to solve a 150 year old murder mystery, The Clockmaker’s Daughter begins in the Summer 2017 when 31 year old London archivist Elodie Winslow finds a sketchbook belonging to Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Radcliffe along with a portrait of a mysterious lady stuffed inside an old Victorian satchel belonging to 19^th century politician James Stratton. The sketchbook particularly fascinates Elodie because it contains an illustration of an eloquent house described in childhood bedtime stories told by her late mother famous cellist Lauren Adler.

When Elodie later learns that this fairy tale house actually exists outside London, a mysterious mansion named Birchwood Manor  actually owned by Edward Radcliffe, she also discovers that in 1862, Edward’s artist model and lover Lily Millington supposedly shot and killed his fiancée Fanny Brown and stole the Radcliffe family’s treasured rare blue diamond necklace. Lily Millington and the necklace were never found. Heartbroken, Edward never recovered from this tragedy. Dying in 1882, he never returned to his beloved Birchwood Manor.

Encouraged by her Great-Uncle Tip, who as a boy lived at Birchwood Manor with his family during World War II to escape the London Blitz, Elodie visits the mansion for clues about the identity of the enigmatic woman in the small portrait and perhaps solve the murder mystery as well.

 

A second narrative thread that meanders throughout the novel centers on the spectral presence of the clockmaker’s daughter  Birdie Bell who spends 150 years at Birchwood Hall recounting the true events which happened there – especially in1862 along with her own life and the various people who resided there throughout the years all profoundly influenced by Edward Radcliffe’s life. These included: Lucy Radcliffe, Edward’s youngest sister who inherited Birchwood Manor in 1882 and established a girls’ school there; WWI veteran Leonard Gilbert who came to the bewitching mansion in 1928 to write Edward Radcliffe’s biography hoping to ease the trauma he experienced in the Great War; and widow Juliet Wright who sought refuge there with her three children during World War II.

For me, the most spellbinding chapters in Morton’s novel were in Part III entitled The Summer of Birchwood Manor. Set in 1862 and told through 12 year old Lucy Radcliffe’s viewpoint, the reader ultimately learns what really happened to Edward Radcliffe, his model Lily Millington and who actually murdered Fanny Brown along with the true whereabouts of the blue diamond heirloom necklace.

As with all of Kate Morton’s novels, The Clockmaker’s Daughter has a surprise ending where past events and mysteries are intrinsically entwined with the present. Reminiscent of Wilkie Collins’ classic thrillers The Woman in White and The Moonstone, the novel’s imaginative ending seemed a bit implausible for a modern Gothic ghost story.

The books reviewed in this blog can be found at most local public libraries. My readers in St Joseph County, Indiana can visit the St Joseph County Public Library’s web site at sjcpl.lib.in.us for additional information. Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas and see you all again next time!

Carol's Comments August 2018

Carol’s Comments August 2018

Hello Everyone! Welcome to another issue of Carol’s Comments. While reading a thought provoking New Yorker article by Jill Lepore centering on Mary Shelley’s and Frankenstein’s profound contribution to English literature this February, I also learned that Shelley’s Gothic horror masterpiece would be celebrating its 200^th anniversary this year. I knew I definitely wanted to devote a blog to this milestone. Since I already had written a lengthy blog about the classic novel when I reviewed it in March 2014 for the St. Joseph County Public Library’s One Book, One Michiana festivities, I decided to focus on Mary Shelley’s amazing life instead. I took this same approach when I commemorated Jane Austen’s 200^th anniversary of her death last year. 

I started my tribute by selecting Romantic Outlaws: the Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon. Published in 2015, Gordon’s innovative dual biography chronicles Mary Wollstonecraft’s and her daughter Mary Godwin Shelley’s unconventional lives through alternating chapters. Since I already extensively described Mary Wollstonecraft’s life when I reviewed Frances Sherwood’s well researched historical novel Vindication in September 2014, I decided to concentrate more on the biography’s chapters which discussed Mary Shelley’s fascinating life and her mother’s tremendous influence on her daughter’s feminist sensibilities.

Born on August 30, 1797, Mary Godwin was only 10 days old when her mother Mary Wollstonecraft tragically died of terribly unnecessary childbirth complications on September 10, 1797. 

Since childhood, Mary Godwin idolized and became obsessed with her late mother. Her father, the radical 18^th century Enlightenment philosopher William Godwin also strongly encouraged Mary to espouse her mother’s feminist ideals. She was especially influenced by her mother’s signature work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Unfortunately, after her father remarried, young teenage Mary began to flounder because her father became preoccupied with his second family. Mary felt her father had abandoned her and her mother’s memory.

However, her life took a pivotal turn when at age 14, her father sent her to Scotland in June 1812 to live with one of his admirers, the political radical William Baxter and his family. She spent two years there where she first met British Romantic poet/philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley followed her back to England and became her father’s protégée. However, the attraction between Mary and Shelley deepened very quickly. Then in August 1814 when Mary was only16, she ran off to France and later other parts of Europe with still married 22 year old Shelley and her stepsister Claire Clairmont. During their romantic escapade, Mary soon became pregnant with the first one of four children. Sadly, the baby girl, born prematurely, died 15 days later in April 1815.

During their scandalous adventures with Shelley, Mary’s stepsister became Lord Byron’s lover.  This liaison, along with Mary’s baby’s death intensified the rivalry between the two women since Claire also idolized Shelley. 

Shortly after giving birth to her second child William, Mary and Shelley, on the insistence of her stepsister Claire, traveled to Switzerland to stay with Lord Byron at his Lake Geneva villa. June 15-16, 1816 became important dates for 18 year old Mary Godwin’s literary career. During a very stormy night, Lord Byron urged his guests to write their own ghost stories. When completed, he would pick the winner. 

This was where Frankenstein’s plot was born – supposedly appearing to Mary in a nightmare. Although not published until January 1, 1818, Frankenstein, subtitled, or, The Modern Prometheus, would become Mary Shelley’s most famous work. Still obsessed by her mother’s death, Mary connected her own birth with the monster’s diabolical creation. While writing Frankenstein, Gordon believes that Mary Shelley wrote the novel as a therapeutic release.

After finally marrying Percy Shelley on December 16, 1816, Mary continued to endure much unhappiness while living in exile – now mostly in Italy. For instance, three out of four of her children died very young. Only her fourth child, Percy Florence Shelley, born November 9, 1819, survived into adulthood. Unfortunately, young Percy’s birth did not help strengthen her marriage. Shelley’s interest in his wife deteriorated both intellectually and sexually. 

Then after Percy Shelley tragically perished in a boating accident in July 1822 at age 29, Mary Shelley suffered a deep depression. No one realized that despite all the difficulties she had experienced over eight years, Shelley had been the center of her world.

Although she wrote five novels, two travel books and edited a four volume set of her husband’s complete works which helped Percy Shelley become one of England’s most beloved Romantic poets, Mary Shelley is only really remembered for creating Frankenstein, her most stellar book. On February 1, 1851, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley died at 53 of brain cancer. 

Gordon’s very engaging scholarly biography mentions in the last chapter that Muriel Spark’s groundbreaking 1951 biography helped to significantly restore Mary Shelley’s status as an influential 19^th century author after almost 100 years. She was much more than just the wife of Romantic poet Percy Shelley. Furthermore, Gordon insists that both Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley overcame many obstacles to promote and practice their feminist philosophy. They were truly trailblazing outlaws.

Next I wanted to see a film about Mary Shelley’s life. After reading a positive review in the New York Times about the newly released movie Mary Shelley starring Elle Fanning, I found the perfect choice. Luckily, since the film was produced by IFC Films, it was released simultaneously in theaters as well as Comcast on Demand on May 25. So instead of rushing to a local movie theater to review it, I watched it on as a two day rental at home.

Directed by Haifaa Mansour, the film begins in 1812 just before Mary’s father William Godwin played by Stephen Dillane sends his daughter to Scotland to stay with William Baxter and his family. At 14, rebellious Mary Godwin, hauntingly portrayed by Elle Fanning is already telling ghost stories to her stepsister Claire Clairmont and half -brother William and completely obsessed with the mother she never knew.

Then the movie quickly fast forwards to 1814 when 16 year old Mary Godwin meets, falls in love and runs off through Europe with Romantic poet/philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley passionately performed by Douglas Booth. 

Although Emma Jensen’s rather straightforward biopic screenplay only covers about five years of Mary Shelley’s life, the plot seemed a bit rushed at times. The most dramatic part of the movie happens when Percy, Mary and her stepsister Claire meet Lord Byron lasciviously portrayed by Tom Sturridge and journey to his Lake Geneva estate in June 1816. That’s where the viewer witnesses the creation of Frankenstein, Mary Godwin Shelley’s Gothic horror classic.

Unfortunately, Mary Shelley concludes after the novel is published anonymously in 1818. Then the film recounts the rest of her life in a brief written summary before the credits roll. What a disappointment! 

However, the film does include a special treat for Downton Abbey fans. Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates) has a small role as Mary Shelley’s stepmother Mary Jane Clairmont. Despite its continuity flaws, I would still recommend Mary Shelley to anyone who enjoys literary film adaptations.

After finishing my tribute to Mary Shelley, I still wanted to find an amusing way to continue commemorating Frankenstein’s 200^th anniversary while also celebrating its author’s upcoming 221^st birthday on August 30^th. 

While browsing through the April 2018 issue of Martha Stewart Living, I spotted a profile of the new cookbook Cake featuring drawings by Maira Kalman, my favorite New Yorker and children’s book illustrator. I knew I wanted to include this quirky gem in my blog and also add it to my personal cookbook collection.

Part fanciful memoir, part delightfully eclectic cookbook, Cake first features whimsical illustrations by Maira Kalman that depict special moments in her life where food (especially cake) captured a special memory. For instance, the first cake Kalman remembered was a chocolate cake served on her Aunt Shoshana’s terrace in Tel Aviv one summer. Kalman’s other charming reminiscences include her parents eating a lemon pound cake every Sunday and the Tale of the Broken Heart Cake. 

In addition to Kalman’s comically poignant vignettes and adorable color drawings interspersed throughout the book, the cookbook also includes 17 delectable, easy to follow recipes developed by food editor Barbara Scott-Goodman ranging from Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze to White Cake with Butter Cream Frosting. My favorites are: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Flourless Chocolate Cake, Coconut Layer Cake and Pavlova with Fresh Berries. They all sound so irresistible and yummy! I highly recommend this cute little cookbook to both food enthusiasts and serious bakers alike. To quote Julia Child: “Bon Appetit!”

The books reviewed in this blog can be found at most local public libraries. My readers in St. Joseph County, Indiana can visit the St, Joseph County Public Library’s web site at sjcpl.lib.in.us for additional information, Thanks for reading! See you all next time.