Middle Sister's May Reads

Personal chaos (the loss of my job) made concentrating in May and June difficult. Comfort reads for distraction were my answer to the extreme stress characterizing my life right now.

Knitmare on Beech Street by Peggy Ehrhart While I wouldn't want to be part of the Knit and Nibble group--too many rules--, I wouldn't mind at all living in Arborville, NJ, and being friends with Pamela and her neighbors. Pamela's daughter has graduated college, but is off to South America on a volunteer service trip, so she's spending a few weeks at Pamela's before she leaves for almost a year abroad. Pamela, Bettina and the Arborville welcome wagon group go the Voorhees House to welcome Tassie, the new owner of the Victorian mansion, only to find Tassie dead. Bettina is excited to be present at the start of the investigation, hoping to beat her rival newspaper to the solution. She and Pamela talk to several of the neighbors and discover that there are reports of a ghost in the old mansion. While ghosts don't kill (or do they?), a young man obsessed with vintage Arborville and angry at renovations that Pamela's new possible boyfriend Pete is undertaking at the Voorhees might be even more eccentric, and possibly dangerous, than he appears. This series is a quiet homecoming for me, and while it might not be everyone's cup of tea, I enjoy escaping to visit Arborville and its residents. I particularly enjoyed the author using the name Voorhees, which is a Dutch name that dates back to when New Jersey was part of New Amsterdam, and the name has a lot of real local history associated with it.

Murder Takes the Stage by Colleen Campbridge Phyllida Bright and her employer, Agatha Christie, are in London for this entry in this post-war series. Agatha is talking to producers of a play she's written, and Phyllida and a skeleton crew of Mallowan Hall's staff accompany her and Max to London. Unfortunately, the Mallowans' cook has remained at home, so Phyllida has to deal with a newly-hired chef who bears a striking resemblance to Hercule Poirot but is much more temperamental than Agatha's fictional sleuth. An actor is killed at the theater, and Agatha asks Phyllida to come to the scene even before the police are called. Then another actor is killed, at another theater, and Phyllida has to race against time to prevent another serial murder. I enjoyed this book, and I am enjoying the evolution of Phyllis relationship with Bradford, the chauffeur. This is a well-written series, and while there is an overarching theme (Phyllida's background and relationship with Agatha that dates to World War II is revealed to be slightly mysterious over the books), they can be read in any order.

A Trace of Poison by Colleen Campbridge The local organizers of a Murder Fete held in the village of Listleigh, a;; members of a writing group, are ecstatic that Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and other members of the Detection Club are willing to attend to help the group raise money for a local orphanage. But the writing group's member are not as supportive of each other as it would appear, and when one of them is murdered, jealousies erupt as suspicion falls on each of them. Wait, was the victim accidentally murdered? Was the poisoned cocktail meant for someone else? And will the killer succeed the second time around? Phyllida, on hand to manage the cocktail party interrupted by murder, steps in find out who was intended victim and who is still in danger as well as to unmask the murderer.

Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie Another in my list of comfort reading, this is one of my favorite Agatha Christies because it is not only a great read, it takes place on an archaeological dig. There's not much I can write about a classic like Murder in Mesopotamia--interesting characters, pretty atmospheric (Christie didn't go in for detailed setting descriptions), and a ripping good murder to solve. 

Middle Sister's March Reads

 Helle, Gentle Reader, and welcome to spring, and a March full of excellent reading, home and abroad.

And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou The month's banned book is one of powerful poetry written by a modern literary giant. While I don't feel qualified to judge the poetry on its literary merit, nor, in some ways, as a person (I may be a woman but I am not Black, and so my experience is so vastly different), I can say that the book was immensely powerful. The imagery is strong, sometimes subtle, sometimes blunt. The only slightly veiled allusions to physical and sexual abuse are, I presume, why the book was banned, but the 'children' reading this would be high schoolers, and some may even have been abused or raped themselves. They would recognize the cry and pain, and it might help them. Others without those experiences may not even recognize the experience behind the prose. I think this would be totally appropriate in a senior high school literature class. To those who ban it, I say this: bad things happen in this world. It's our job as adults to teach our children that bad things happen, how to protect themselves from it, how to fight it, and how to sympathize with those to whom bad things happen. By hiding this from your children, you leave them unsympathetic at best, and ill-equipped to deal with real life, so that when bad things happen to them, they are crushed by it, at worse.

Moonspinners by Sally Goldenbaum Continuing in my reading of all the Seaside Knitters mysteries in order. In this book (number 4, I think), we are introduced to more of the residents of Sea Harbor, notably Danny Brandley, son of the bookstore owners. He has returned to Sea Harbor to finish writing an article, but Izzy and her knitters soon discover that he has a connection to the late Sophia, wife of a wealthy industrialist who was killed in a car accident that, as it turns out, was no accident. We also meet Liz, the daughter of Annabelle Palazola, who owns the knitters' favorite breakfast restaurant, and Mae's twin nieces play a minor role in the drama. I will admit that I saw the solution to this mystery immediately, as soon as the murderer was introduced, but that still did not color my delight in disappearing into the fictional world of Sea Harbor. By book 4, Ms. Goldenbaum has established the rituals that readers (at least this one) envy: Thursday knit nights, Friday dinners at Nell and Ben's, and we know the 4 main characters well enough that she can elaborate on the supporting townspeople a little. I read this book on a disastrous travel day full of plane delays, missed connections caused by airline incompetence, downgraded seat assignments, and it was a wonderful escape from a reality that was incredibly upsetting and stressful. As always, I recommend the series. 

Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge Ms. Cambridge has established herself in a genre niche in which her main characters are adjacent to well-known real (although now deceased) historical figures. I enjoy the Phyllida Bright series, in which the main character is Agatha Christie's housekeeper. In this new series. the main character, Tabitha, has recently moved to Paris to live with her grandfather and her 'oncle.' It's 1950, and the post-war deprivations are only just starting to ease while the war memories remain strong. Tabitha's neighbor is Julia Child, living in Paris with her diplomat husband Paul, and the two become fast friends. In this first book, Dort, Julia's sister, throws an evening soiree that ends in murder, and Tabitha and Julia try to find who of Dort's friends and coworkers could have wanted Therese to die. The book is very atmospheric and without diving too deep into research myself, it reads as if the author has done a good bit of research herself. Paris and Julia's cooking and food are described in detail, so lovers of foodie mysteries and lovers of historical mysteries will both enjoy it. (NetGalley)

Murder Most French by Colleen Cambridge I had originally intended to read this book first, which was due to be published soon, but I thought I'd read the first in the series and then this second. While I am glad I did, it isn't, at this point in the series, necessary to have read the first. Ms. Cambridge does a good job in introducing the characters and obliquely explaining relationships and their past adventure together so that the reader will not get lost. In this book, we learn a bit more about Oncle's background prior to and during the war, enough to intrigue us and set him up to be pivotal in future books. His and Grandepere's relationship is still largely veiled, but it's clear they are an established couple whose long relationship does not seem to bother anyone in 1950 Paris, although it may upset puritanical modern readers. After exploring food and cooking in the first book, Ms. Cambridge turns to the other great love of the French in this second--wine. Interestingly, after having just finished this book, I was having dinner with a man who had just finished reading a nonfiction book about France and the wine industry in WWII, and we began comparing notes about how the fictional book represented the war and French winemakers. It appears that again, Ms. Cambridge has done her homework, as specific things she mentions were well documented during and after the war and recounted in the nonfiction history. Two good books point to a promising series, and I recommend this title, too. (NetGalley)

Middle Sister's Mid-Month Review

 Hello, Gentle Readers! In order to avoid having another really long post, like August's, I'm going to post a couple of mid-month reviews.

Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge Excellent story featuring Agatha Christie as a secondary character. Our amateur detective is Phyllida Bright, friend of Mrs. Christie's who works as the housekeeper at Mallowan hall which the Grande Dame shares with her second husband Max Mallowan. An avid reader of her friend/employer's books, who, we're led to believe, even makes suggestions that Mrs. Christie utilizes, Phyllida decides to use her little gray cells when an unexpected guest to weekend house party is killed in the library. Then a second murder occurs, and the fear mounts. Phyllida is a good choice for a detective in a country house setting--she straddles upstairs and downstairs, so can be privy to conversations and encounters with the guests in multiple ways. We're used to middle-aged, brusque or silent housekeepers, and Phyllida, with her bright red hair and flowered dresses that sound almost couture, is anything but a staid, gray, disapproving, uniformed servant. The hint of a possible future romance with Bradford is appealing. The writing is good, the pace and setting are perfect, parodying the weekend country house murder mysteries Agatha Christie was known for. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it lovers of mysteries, cosy mysteries, and Agatha Christie. (Net Galley)

The Egyptian Cross Murder by Ellery Queen I vaguely remembering watching Ellery Queen on television as a child, but I don't think I'd ever read any books until I became an adult. My library recently acquired this audiobook, and I thought this would be a perfect accompaniment to the never ending summer weeding. I was shocked to learn the book was published in 1932, because the opening salvo is the grim and unsettling discovery of a beheaded, crucified murder victim. Enter Ellery Queen, assisted this time not by his father, Inspector Richard Queen, but by his former professor, a neighbor of another victim. Then a third body is found... Despite the gruesome nature of the murders, the book is not gory or sensational. For those who like books where modern technology is not the crutch that helps the mystery be solved, the re-release of older titles like this is a boon. Recommended (audiobook)

The Two Isabellas of King John by Kristen McQuinn Ms. McQuinn tackles a tough job: writing a biography about two medieval women about whom so little is written, one is nearly invisible. King John of England, brother of Richard the Lionheart, he of Magna Carta fame and fictional Robot Hood infamy, was married to two women: Isabella of Gloucester and Isabelle of Angouleme.  It is hard to tackle even well-known historical figures who lived 900 years ago, but to try to research two nearly invisible people is an enormous task, and sadly, Ms. McQuinn stumbles at it. There are only a few facts known about Isabella: she was an only child who brought a substantial wealth to Henry II, John's father, when she was his ward after her father died; she and John were engaged for more than 10 years and only married after Richard became king and insisted; John annulled their marriage just before he became king; Isabelle was actually sent to live with her for a short period; she was childless and she died. That's it--those are the facts we know about her. There is more information on Isabelle in the historical record, and even a handful of letters she wrote herself. She was anointed John's queen and bore his heir to the throne, Henry III. Unlike Isabella, Isabelle was mentioned in several contemporary chronicles, although these historical chroniclers appear to have disliked her a great deal and do not record her in a flattering manner. It's a herculean task to try to and write biographies for women about whom so little is known. Ms. McQuinn attempts to get around that by talking about how medieval noblewomen in general were educated, their general expectations from life, general information about what other medieval queens knew and did, especially their mother-in-law, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and interpreting what their childhoods, education, and expectations likely were. But because of the dearth of material, Ms. McQuinn begins repeating the same facts after just a couple of chapters, albeit attempting to use them to talk about different topics. We read about Isabella's childlessness and the possible reasons for it in several different chapters (her life, her marriage, life with John, medieval fertility), and sometimes the sentences are virtually identical. There is  much repetition of ideas, actions, and arguments, and no original scholarship by Ms. McQuinn. She makes statements such as "by disposition a proud woman," but then does not offer real substantive proof of that characterization. In Chapter 6, Ms. McQuinn loses the impartiality that biographers and historians must maintain to lend any credence to their work with statements such as "it is sad she had no friends," an interpretation without any merit. There is barely a mention of these woman and none about their courtiers; how can we possibly infer she had no friends? The final chapter is an interesting idea: Ms. McQuinn looks at how works of fiction have recreated the two Isabelles because she argues that these fictional representations can shed light on the historical character. No, Ms. McQuinn, they don't. Fictional characterizations are just that, fiction, and in these two instances, there is not even enough material to say that these were somewhat rooted in historical fact. I might have accepted this as first draft of a lower level college report, but I would have returned it to my student marked up with a lot of red comments and things that needed to be fixed or addressed. There is not really enough material here for a book. Heavy editing might have saved and improved parts of it, but this cannot be considered a scholarly contribution to medieval studies or women's studies. But I do now know that dozen or fewer facts about these two queens, which is all that history knows about them. This book does nothing to bring them to life. (Net Galley)

Unearthing the Secret Garden by Marta McDowell If you loved The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett as a  child, as I did, you and I belong to select group of adults who yearn for their own secret garden, lush, filled with beautiful blooms, secret and private, and surrounded by a high wall to allow us to escape from the everyday, humdrum world. If you loved that book, you will love this book, too. Ms. McDowell has opened an eminently readable history of Ms. Burnett's own life, and her life as a gardener, by focusing on three gardens that Ms. Burnett planted and nurtured at three of her homes: one in England, one in New York, and one in Bermuda. Each garden was different, and each garden was special. Each garden is described in lovely terms and when possible, accompanied by many photographs. I loved seeing the real secret garden, where Burnett wrote, and reading her own essay about her very special robin. I loved the biography of Burnett as seen through her gardens and flower choices, and the final chapter by her great-granddaughter was a joy. Lavishly illustrated with photos from the various houses showing the gardens (oh, how I with there was color photography in the early twentieth century!) and those bits that still remain at her house in England, one can truly understand why The Secret Garden was the amazing book it was and remains--Burnett's love of flowers and gardening, and her innate understanding of the life cycles of flowers, plants, trees, nature itself, weave through her books and through Ms. McDowell's appreciation. The book is subtitled "The Plants and Places That Inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett," and anyone reading this book will be equally inspired. This is a great gift for a garden lover or someone who read The Secret Garden over and over as a child, and who longs to escape back to it, if only for a little while. What a wonderful book, and truly one of my favorites this year. (Net Galley)