A Psalm For The Wild Built

When a traveling tea monk encounters the first robot to appear in human-occupied lands in over two hundred years, Becky Chambers weaves a charming tale about the ultimate meaning of life in A Psalm For The Wild Built (#1,017).

On Panga, Sibling Dex is unsure of his vocation in the City, so he leaves it to pursue the wandering life of a tea monk instead, offering tea and counsel to anyone who wishes to talk to him.  It's a good life, and he knows he is doing good, but still, there's something missing...

This is a very slim volume, but a very enjoyable one, too.  You don't have to be a sci-fi fan to appreciate the motivation behind Dex's quest.  Highly recommended for a thoughtful read.

Matrix

The book critics have been raving about Lauren Groff's latest book Matrix (#1,016).  Me, not so much.  The book centers around the character Marie de France, the first woman credited with writing French poetry in the twelfth century.  Nothing much else is known about her.  Here Lauren Groff has cast her as a royal bastard in love with Eleanor of Aquitaine, banished from court and sent to a remote and impoverished abbey.  Marie's determination to bring herself back to Eleanor's notice drives her to turn the abbey upside down as prioress and restore its fortunes.  It's basically a fantasy with heavy feminist and lesbian overtones.

There are some beautiful passages here, meditations on monastic living and the beauties of nature.  But there are also some curious things about this story.  Not one male character is given a name, and men in general are mentioned only in passing as brutes, rapists and thieves of money and power.  Marie feels she alone can protect the women under her care and goes to elaborate lengths to do so.  

Another thing that I find a bit hard to believe here was that Marie enters the abbey with no belief in gods,  In fact, she looks down on those who do believe.  Yet her earliest memory is being on crusade with her mother and aunts, and of her sole surviving aunt entering a convent.  This doesn't jibe with her memory of being brought up pagan.  Oh, well, that's probably just me.  Marie goes on to live a long and successful life in her isolated abbey.  

Sorry, but this book will never make my recommended reading list.  I will however, commend a visit to Regina Laudis Abbey in Bethlehem, Connecticut to you to further your knowledge of what abbey life is really like.  You'll come away refreshed.

The Women of Troy

The Women of Troy (#1,015) follows Pat Barker's best-selling tale of the Trojan War The Silence of the Girls. (See my post of ).  In it, she continues the story of Briseis, a barely-mentioned character from The Iliad.  She was given to Achilles as a prize of war after his successful raid on her home city on the way to Troy.  As a slave living in their siege camp , she has been witness to the Greeks' triumphs and tragedies.  Pregnant with the great Achilles' child, she is given in marriage to Alcimus, one of his allies.  No longer a slave, but a wife, she has enough freedom to the unhappy women who arrive in the camp after the fall of Troy.  Marooned on the desolate shore by a constant and unnatural wind, tensions mount and the camp becomes a tinderbox of emotions, hatreds and rivalries.

Pat Barker puts you right in the middle of the action in her books.  It's not pretty or romanticized, but Briseis and the other women's plights seem so real, it's as if you are there, looking over their shoulders as they struggle with their new status (or lack thereof).  We meet the many familiar characters from the Iliad, but these are almost all men, though you will recognize Hecuba, Cassandra and Andromache.  This chapter of the saga ends as the last Greek ships are finally ready to embark for their home cities.  Who knows what awaits the women of Troy there? 

If you have a passing familiarity with The Iliad and The Odyssey, you can pick up The Women of Troy and enjoy it on its own merits.  If you're a fan of writers like Mary Renault, add this book to your shelves.

Fuzz

It's been far too long since science writer Mary Roach has given us her unique exploration of a subject most people tend not to think about.  In this case, it's Fuzz - When Nature Breaks The Law (#1,014) complete with an embroidered patch illustrating the topic which I feel Ms. Roach should have been wearing on her shoulder as she interviewed the experts in this book.  It's the perfect touch. (See my posts of 1/4/2011, 3/21/2011/ 3/28/2011, 4/25/203, 5/14/203, 7/8/2016.)

Mary Roach is one of the very few authors who can make me laugh out loud as I read her books.  How does she do it, when much of what she describes is so disgusting?  And it's not just me.  Lulu Garcia Navarro recently interviewed Ms. Roach on NPR's Weekend Edition.  Lulu didn't know quite what to say after Mary launched into her dramatic re-enactment of the classic "deer in the headlights" scenario (which she covers in this book).  In the end, Lulu wound up telling Mary how much she enjoyed interviewing her as they were both laughing.  (You can listen to this interview on the NPR website if you're so inclined!)

In Fuzz we are treated to a panoply of animals and plants intersecting with us to the detriment of humans.  Some encounters are deadly (think bird strikes on planes), some are annoying (being mugged by a macaque monkey in India) and some have profound economic effects (birds eating one of North and South Dakota's major cash crops - sunflower seeds).  How humans deal with these issues reveals as much about us as it does the nature involved in the perceived problems.

You'll be fascinated by what you learn along the way, and always entertained by Mary Roach's snarky humor.  Who else would whip out her phone app in the middle of a predator lecture to measure the decibel level of the speaker's voice?  I just wish you could order your own personal copy of the badge on the cover.  You've earned it by reading this science book, scout!  Oh, and thanks for the woodchuck clarification, Mary!

The Woman They Could Not Silence

 In October there always seems to be an uptick in reading horror stories.  Well, The Woman They Could Not Silence (#1,013) by Kate Moore certainly qualifies!  What makes it absolutely horrifying is that Ms. Moore has given us the factual story of Elizabeth Packard, an Illinois woman who in the 1860s was committed to the Illinois State Hospital for the Insane.  She was committed, perfectly legally, by her husband.  It wasn't an uncommon story at the time.

Elizabeth was educated, a skilled homemaker and the devoted mother of six children.  Theophilus Packard, a preacher, was her father's choice as her husband.  He would allow no difference of opinion or beliefs from his own, so when Elizabeth attended Bible classes and began to express her own thoughts about religion, he was appalled.  Since, as a preacher, he was a man of influence in their town, he began to lay the groundwork for Elizabeth's imprisonment in an insane asylum as a crazy person.  The law in Illinois, and most other states, was on his side.  He found an ally in the Hospital's Superintendent, Andrew McFarland.  And therein lies the tale.

Once committed, it was next to impossible to leave.  In Elizabeth's own words "What is the testimony of an insane person worth?  Nothing."  Yet fight against the forces arrayed against her she did.  Physical and mental torture made her even more determined to win free, if not for her own sake, then for the many other women who were kept there against their wills, though perfectly sane.

How she accomplished this miracle and left a lasting legacy in her wake which is only recently becoming recognized again as it was in her own time is the subject of this book.  If any one you know has ever been treated for a mental illness, they owe a debt of gratitude to Elizabeth Packard for her legislative initiatives.  Much still remains to be accomplished as the self-same tactics of Theophilus Packard and Andrew McFarland in dismissing the concerns and complaints of women are prominently on display today.  Think of it the next time you hear a woman called "Crazy!" by her male accuser.  How infuriating that this is still an effective tool.

The Man Who Died Twice

Richard Osman has given us another delightful entry in his Thursday Murder Club series: The Man Who Died Twice (#1,012).  (See my post of 5/4/2020.)  His colorful cast of senior citizens is back (except, of course, for those who died in the first book!).  Things have gotten a bit dull around Cooper's Chase lately.  The construction development continues at the top of their hill, but life hasn't really changed much for Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahaim.  Not until the day Elizabeth receives an invitation to tea at a neighboring unit.  The name on the note is someone from her distant past.  Since that person never actually existed, who could possibly be summoning her now?

The tempo begins to pick up around Cooper's Chase after Ibrahaim is badly mugged.  The Thursday Murder Club gang closes ranks with Chris and Donna from the Fairhaven police to lend their aid, tangling with a powerful local drug dealer, assorted murders and a fortune in stolen diamonds.  Red herrings abound, and can the eyes really believe what they see?  The mysteries (and there are several!) aren't tied up until the very last line of The Man Who Died Twice.  What fun!

Yours Cheerfully

Emmy Lake and her best friend Bunty are back in Yours Cheerfully (#1,011), AJ Pearce's follow-up to her best-selling Dear Mrs. Bird (See my post of 8/7/2018.).  And even better news; it appears that this will be an on-going series, since it's subtitled The Emmy Lake Chronicles.

It's 1941 in war-torn London.  Emmy is settling into her advice columnist job at Women's Friend magazine after the departure of Mrs. Bird, their long-time incumbent.  Emmy's impassioned response to a reader in real trouble has hurried along the doyenne's exit. Signing Mrs. Bird's name to a letter she would have consigned to the trash was the final straw.  Emmy can't help but feel the need to seek real help for those women who need it most in these troubled times.  Fortunately, Mr. Collins, her boss, agrees with Emmy's passion and her ability to put her finger on women's issues which need addressing.  When he invites her to attend an important meeting with him at the Ministry of Information, Emmy is all nerves.  The British Government wishes women's magazines to focus their efforts on recruiting women for war work.  Naturally, Emmy has ideas on what the magazine can do, and everyone there pitches in immediately.

Besides keeping up with the re-named advice column Cheerfully Yours, Emmy is assigned to write a series of articles on women taking their places in the workforce.  Her trip to a munitions factory nets her firm friends, and tests her commitment to do all she can to support the war efforts and the difficulties the women face on the job.  Oh, and did I mention that Emmy has a steady boyfriend?

It's just as engaging a read as Dear Mrs. Bird, and I am so happy to know that the adventures of Emmy and Bunty will continue.  It's only just the beginning of 1942...

The Secrets of Wishtide - A Laetitia Rodd Mystery

 I've found a new "must read" mystery series in The Secrets of Wishtide - A Laetitia Rodd Mystery (#1,010).  Kate Saunders has created a delightful new detective in the person of Mrs. Laetitia Rodd, recently widowed relict of a clergyman.  Now in reduced circumstances, her brother, a prominent criminal attorney in Dickensian London, is able to throw some income her way by hiring her to investigate cases on his behalf.

In this first outing, the wealthy Calderstone family patriarch wishes to discretely get rid of an unsuitable bride for their handsome son.  Sir James wants the background of Mrs. Helen Orme investigated and her reputation discredited.  Mrs. Rodd doesn't feel entirely comfortable with the ruse of acting as governess to his two daughters at Wishtide while she makes quiet inquiries, but her brother persuades her to undertake the project.  What she uncovers is a nest of secrets with a very wicked person behind a string of seemingly unrelated murders.

If you feel that you are reading a Dickens novel while you are devouring this book, it's because Kate Saunders has based some of her characters on those in David Copperfield, but it's not necessary to be familiar with that novel on order to thoroughly enjoy this one!

I liked it so well, I was only about a quarter of the way through The Secrets of Wishtide before I had to check the website Fantastic Fiction  to see if there other books in this series.  I was delighted to find that there are!  

To Catch A King - Charles II's Great Escape

 Charles Spencer's non-fiction work To Catch A King - Charles II's Great Escape (#1,009) focuses on a very brief period of Charles II's life after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester, but those few weeks were literally a matter of life and death for him.  After the execution of his father, Charles I, at the hands of the Parliament, his fate would have been the same had he been captured.  When you read the facts of the matter, it's astonishing that he was able to escape from the net the Parliamentarians had set for him.

Spencer makes the most of this cat and mouse tale, despite the fact that the reader knows the eventual outcome.  There were principled folks on both sides of the English Civil Wars, but there were villains, too.  Many of the riskiest actions were taken by ordinary people in defense of what they believed to be right, and we meet many of them here.

It's a well written, well researched book about a turbulent time when the balance of power in England ultimately shifted.

I was surprised to find a personal connection to my own family's history in this book.  I always knew that one of my ancestors was originally from Berwick, Scotland, and that he was brought to what is now the Saugus Iron Works in Massachusetts as a prisoner of war.  I never connected the date those Scottish prisoners arrived there with the aftermath of the bloody Battle of Worcester.  It's a National Park Service site now, but there were a number of prisoners whose names were never recorded there before their contracts were bought, and they were moved off the site to New Hampshire.  My forebear was one of those.  The facts fit so perfectly that one of those unknowns was undoubtedly my ancestor.  Who knew I would find that nugget buried here in To Catch A King?