Finding My Wings

House of Thieves brings 1880’s New York to life

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House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure (Sourcebooks, September 15, 2015)
In 40 words or less: Belfoure brings to life high society and “these mean streets” in 1886 New York. His architect’s eye details the glitz of the Astors and the grit of street urchins in a story of family, crime and a living, breathing city.
Genre: Historical fiction
Locale: New York and Newport, RI
Time: 1886
Read this if you enjoy vivid historical fiction, an architect’s view of the world and/or are a fan of New York. This is easy read, perfect for a vacation or a rainy weekend at home.

Those who love cities and their histories glory in the opportunity to wander the streets looking at varied buildings that tell stories of many who came before. In New York there is small industry of urban historians providing walking tours on the waves of settlement and the life created. In his second book, House of Thieves, writer and architect Charles Belfoure paints a vivid picture of New York in the mid-1880’s and the tour is included.

John Cross is a well-respected and innovative architect with birthright into the upper echelon of New York society, known collectively as the Knickerbockers. Think Astors, Cabots and the like. He is equally passionate about his family and his profession. It is with pride he celebrates his son’s graduation from Harvard and his dedication to teaching the less fortunate children of newer immigrants living in the tenements of Lower Manhattan. His pride is tempered when approached by James Kent, a man of refinement and connections. Despite appearances, Kent is the head of an underworld gang, Kent’s Gents, who informs Cross that his son’s extraordinary gambling debts can only be erased by Cross using his knowledge to rob the mansions, banks and finer buildings of the city. Kent quickly proves that death is the only alternative to compliance.

Cross keeps his moonlighting from his children but his wife learns his secret. Beyond saving his son’s life, keeping the family from scandal is vital. His daughter is about to make her debut, with all the fashion finery and societal rules that entails. Any hint of impropriety would dash hopes of a good marriage and ruin Cross’ professional connections. All three Cross children find out how the other half lives in New York through escapes from the strictures of their class.

As in his prior novel, The Paris Architect, Belfoure’s eye for detail and storytelling come together well. Those familiar with New York neighborhoods can picture the streets as his characters traverse the City. Aficionados of this heyday of women’s fashion will appreciate the descriptions of the finery and the lavish events. Reading descriptions of the latest building innovations is like taking a mini-course in the evolution of modern architectural techniques.

While at times I found some of the plot twists farfetched, I was happy to ride along all the way to the dedication of the Statue of Liberty, the shining event of 1886 and the climax of the book.

What I learned from my BFFs (Book Festival Friends)

If Malcolm Gladwell is correct and it takes 10,000 hours to achieve mastery of a skill, I’ve certainly done the time to become a fine reader. The difference between mastery and truly owning a skill is the continuing passion to improve and find new opportunities to learn from others.

For the last ten years I have been taking an intensive course in critical reading, no classroom or tests involved. If you have served with me on a book festival committee or been a member of one of my book groups, I have you to thank for the lessons. So here’s some of what I’ve learned:

It isn’t a bad book just because you don’t like it. Not every book works for every reader. Just like the car you test drive or the great looking pair of shoes, it doesn’t always suit. There is no crime in putting down a book if you really can’t get into it. Figure out what it is that turns you off. There are people very uncomfortable with multiple narrators or time jumping. Others dislike lengthy descriptions with little dialog or action. Take a few minutes and consider whether someone you know might enjoy it. And sometimes it is poorly written or flat-out boring and you can chalk it up to experience.
Reading a book knowing nothing about it can be exhilarating. Publishers and authors supply bookstores, bloggers, reviewers and book festivals with advance copies to build a buzz and secure orders. This may be the first exposure to a new author. Often these early editions look nothing like the finished product – no fancy cover, no laudatory blurbs. While you may kiss a lot of frogs before finding a prince, it is great when it happens. Sometimes a published book has just been below the radar waiting for someone to wave the flag. It could be you!
Authors are interested in what readers take from their writing. I’ve been lucky to facilitate discussions with a few authors about their books and to talk to several one on one. With few exceptions they’ve been curious about what has piqued the most conversation and what characters/situations were liked or troubling. Authors of both nonfiction and fiction spend so much time on research these days. They are very appreciative of questions about how they came to their ideas and the process to get from a glimmer of an idea to a finished title.
Sharing the reading experience with others takes time. It just takes longer to read a book that is under consideration as a book group title or to be reviewed. At this point it is almost second nature to create discussion questions as I read and mark passages to go back to later. I spend time thinking about the author’s intention or how a particular title connects to a different author’s work or a museum exhibit I may have seen. My matchmaking goes beyond the people in a living room discussion. It’s so nice when people come up to me about a book they have read and ask for suggestions. My TBR (to be read) pile inevitably gets longer after they share what they have found.
Make time for “just for fun” reading. I love a good mystery. While I don’t completely write the genre off for discussion purposes, many are good reads better consumed and passed along to a friend. Thankfully my facilitator eyeshade doesn’t kick in when I settle in to read one. But don’t be surprised if you see a write-up of a favorite mystery author here before too long because sometimes you just have to share.

The Seven Good Years – Keret’s wisdom packs a punch

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The Seven Good Years by Etgar Keret (Riverhead Books, 2015)
In 40 words or less: Keret captures life’s small moments and profound truths in the period from the birth of his son through his father’s death. An extraordinary writer, his brilliance is seen in his brevity.
Genre: Memoir
Locale: Israel and travels
Time: Current
Book Group Potential: Each short piece (4 or 5 pages) focuses on a specific aspect of life. There is truly something for everyone.

From the moment I started the first page of Keret’s wonderful book I tried to ration my reading to make it last longer. Each of the seven years between the birth of his son, Lev, and the death of his father has its own section, providing natural breaks to savor. The book is a compilation of essays, most originally appearing in a variety of well-respected publications. Some poignant, others laugh-out-loud funny, taken together they bring to mind Joni Mitchell’s song The Circle Game.

As those who have become parents know, there is a cosmic shift in one’s world view as soon as your child is born. One’s sense of responsibility grows, the dangers in the world may seem more profound and there is often a much greater respect for the intelligence and sacrifice of one’s own parents. In this regard, Etgar Keret is like most of the rest of us but has the knack for conveying these messages through the quirky details of daily life.

Beyond his reputation as a writer of absurd, wry and ironic short stories and screenplays, Keret is a voice of modern life in Israel. There is a flavor in many vignettes that is uniquely Israeli, with a fatalistic humor born of decades of conflict. Reading about a conversation among parents of toddlers regarding the compulsory military service of their children fifteen years away would seem ridiculous were there not such a sense of foreboding, since every Israeli family has been touched by the wars and attacks. On the flip side, the reporting of the ongoing exchanges with the telemarketer from the satellite TV company has a small town feel unlike any spam calls I’ve received this century.

Throughout the book we meet other members of Keret’s immediately family. His wife, an acclaimed artist in her own right, is seen as his partner and the mother of his child. Maintaining a relationship with his ultra-orthodox sister mirrors the complexity of the religious and secular conflicts in Israeli daily life. His childhood friends and the people on the street fill out the picture of life he paints.

Bit by bit, Keret shares his admiration for the way his father has chosen to live his life. Born in Poland, Keret’s father was forced into hiding in a hole for over a year during WWII. He shares his father’s audacity in Italy prior to heading to Palestine. Despite the trauma he suffered, he is described as a man who cultivated an attitude of gratitude for all things in his life. The final sections of the book follow family shifts as his father is diagnosed with cancer and makes choices on how to spend his remaining time.

Whether at home or speaking or writing while abroad, Keret’s love for and impatience with Israel are clear. Nowhere is it more poignant than when he walks along the Mediterranean in Italy and realizes both share the same sea but very different feelings of security. And he is more than a dutiful son when he visits the area of Poland his family called home before it was taken away by the Nazis.

Buy The Seven Good Years as a gift for yourself. It is a book to keep on your nightstand for a brief refresher course in what it means to be human.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!!

Just one view of New England from the passenger seat. After eight days, 1400 miles, 9 states, visits with friends and family, our summer vacation is over.

Laundry’s done, mail sorted and life is returning to normal. Mid-August is when I start reaching out to my book groups to start prepping for fall and September promises to be a very busy month.

Before I’m totally back in the swing of things there are reviews to write and some bookish reflections on the people and places we saw along the way. So hang in there, it’ll be worth the wait!

The Marriage of Opposites – A Novel of 19th Century St. Thomas

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The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman (Simon & Schuster, August 2015)
In 40 words or less: The island of St. Thomas was far more than a magical paradise in the early 1800’s. Hoffman’s story of Camille Pissarro’s mother, her strengths, challenges, loves and unfulfilled dreams, are all a prelude to her son becoming an Impressionist great.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Locale: St. Thomas and Paris
Time: 19th Century
Book Group Potential: The history and biographical material are ripe for discussion.

Tomorrow Alice Hoffman’s latest work of historical fiction hits the bookstores. What could be a better setting for The Marriage of Opposites than the magical island of St. Thomas? In the early 1800’s St. Thomas was a flourishing center of commerce for goods being shipped from Europe and Africa to the western hemisphere and back. Much of the merchant class are refugees exiled during the Inquisition. And the earliest settlers of the island believe their people arrived on the island from the moon and continue to have a strong spiritual connection with the natural elements of the island.

Rachel Pomié is a young woman far ahead of her time. She has a strong sense of business, encouraged in her thinking by her father. Disinterested in the ladylike niceties followed by her mother and the other women in the small Jewish community, Rachel spends her free time with the daughter of the family’s housekeeper. She appreciates and understands the customs and stories of the island’s natives.

Marriage in the community is strictly governed, often to enhance business opportunities. And in families with no male heirs these arrangements are of particular important. In order to save her father’s business, Rachel is betrothed to widower with three young children. While not a love match they develop a partnership ended by his death. Rachel and her growing family are then at the mercy of her husband’s young nephew, Frédéric, who comes from France to manage the business inherited by his family. And Rachel finds the true love of her life.

Hoffman is well-known for bringing elements of the magical into her stories. The spirit world enters into the lives of both island natives and those that see themselves above such superstitions. Rachel is not above seeking out local healers to help save the lives of those she loves.

Were The Marriage of Opposites entirely fiction it would be an interesting story. But it’s not. Rachel Pomie Petit Pizzarro and her family really did exist. And as the latter part of the novel shifts to the story of Rachel’s youngest child, Camille, we learn about the life of the boy who Camille Pissarro, one of France’s greatest Impressionist painters. Camille was taken with the colors and sounds of his birthplace though wanted to leave for Paris from a young age. Paris was always his mother’s dream, though never within reach.

Hoffman includes an afterword detailing the factual and fictional elements of the novel. Whether you are attracted to historical fiction in exotic settings, stories of strong women tested by the times or the back stories of well-known people, there will be something for you in The Marriage of Opposites. Certainly, Alice Hoffman fans won’t want to miss it.

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