Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

“Try not to live in the past, but who knows, sometimes the past lives in me” is the first line I highlighted while reading this book. It led me to have some faith that all would be resolved at books end.  I wondered through its pages if there would be resolution or not.  I cannot imagine how life was in Seattle or any other Pacific coast city during WWII.  I did not even learn of the relocation centers where we placed American citizens based solely on their ethnicity until I was a first year teacher. That had conveniently been omitted in the history books I encountered in West Virginia, even as a Social Studies major in college.  I believe the friendship between Henry and Keiko would have been the equivalent to a friendship between a Caucasian and African American in this part of our nation for many years.  Henry fought his father’s hatred of the Japanese, his unwillingness to speak anything but Cantonese, his being disowned for having his own stubborn streak and even his willingness to return to China to finish his schooling.  His father was living in the past.  He did not want to do so. Yet, he always lived with Keiko in his heart.

Honor is very much a part of Asian culture, possibly even more so than for other cultures. Henry respected his mother for honoring his father by always doing as he declared. “Obedience as a sign of loyalty, as an expression of honor, even as an act of love, was a well-worn theme in his household.” Henry saw this every day as his mother would prepare his food and sneak his letters under his pillow all the while not talking to him because to do so would go against her husband.  When she does speak with him it is to ask obedience of him to take the suit, the ticket to Canton and the money and obey his father’s wishes that he return to China and complete his education.  He agreed under certain circumstances which his father did honor as well—keeping the Panama Hotel from being sold.

“Feelings can only be hidden so long from those who really pay attention.”  Henry’s mother always knew how he felt about Keiko.  Being a woman, I would have thought she would have had a bit more empathy for his situation but that did not keep her from wanting her only son to grow up, meet a nice Chinese girl, marry and have a family!  It is one of the underlying themes in this entire book—loyalty and honor above all else.  The interesting thing is to compare the way Keiko’s family saw these items as opposed to Henry’s.  The Okabes took people at face value with actions speaking louder than any ethnic tensions between two worlds.  They saw the love their daughter had for Henry and he for her.  They knew that he respected them as well and were able to welcome him to their home.

Henry did meet Ethel, marry and have a son.  While he continued to think of Keiko, he was a loving partner and a good father.  I think it interesting that his reasons for marrying Ethel also revolved around loyalty and honor.  He had started dating her after he found Keiko did not show up at the Panama Hotel as requested. He assumed she had moved on. Later he would find that his father had used his power to keep not only his letters from going to Keiko but also him from receiving hers.  At this time he considered, at least momentarily, going to find Keiko but he had asked Ethel to marry him in a burst of passion on V-J Day.  His parents loved her and accepted her. To go back on his proposal would have been dishonorable to Ethel.

I believe he had a good live with Ethel.  He continued to honor her by keeping her with him while she dealt with her cancer and later died of it. “But choosing to lovingly care for her was like steering a plane into a mountain as gently as possible. The crash is imminent; it’s how you spend your time on the way down that counts.” As one who lives with a person who suffers from an incurable disease I know that it is both a joy to spend the time together and a pending crash into the mountain side as you never know what is around the next day.  Will it be a good or a bad day?  Will the progression of the disease accelerate or slow?  That is why I push to get the most out of life every day while we can. I know the day will arrive when we cannot travel, when life as we know it now will change dramatically, but in the meantime I choose to spend the our time on the way down in a manner that creates joy and love. Henry did the same for Ethel. 

I believe it is the way he loved and cared for Ethel that leads Marty to help Henry find Keiko in the end.  He knew his father had sacrificed much for his mother and he deserved to find happiness.  Everyone tells Henry to “fix it” but in the end it is his own son and future, American, daughter-in-law who fixes it.

What I liked about the book:  easy to read, based on historical facts, dealt evenly with the events of the time period without dwelling on the misery and depicted the importance of friendship.  I loved that he and Sheldon remained close friends throughout their lives.  Good friends are there through good times and bad times and they were there for each other.  I loved that Keiko had kept the record and gave it back to Sheldon when she heard he was dying.  It meant as much to her as to Henry and Sheldon. It was like it kept them together even when they were apart. 

What I disliked: Chaz, (even though I am sure his kind existed then as they do today), the conditions under which we treated people in our own country who were American born citizens, and that it took Henry forty plus years to find Keiko. However had he reconnected immediately after the war it would have been a much shorter, less poignant book!

The Hitchhike by Mark Paul Smith

This is a non-fiction book that reads like a novel. The fact that he began his career as a journalist is probably why.  Mark Smith graduated high school with my husband who read the book first.  I decided to read it as well to see if I thought the book club would enjoy it.  I think they will. 

Many of us have adventurous spirits.  We have travelled to strange lands, done odd jobs, tried new projects, etc. Few of us have truly lived the adventure he experienced.  The early 70s were days of sex, drugs and rock and roll. He experienced all of those in a variety of countries.  I would have loved to have had the courage to take off around the world with less than a thousand dollars, a backpack and a sense of wonderment about where the road would take me.  I marveled at his experiences.  Drug and sex filled, dangerous, and exotic, his hitchhike was the ultimate trip of a lifetime.  That being said, I would never have taken a trip like that!

Women on the road were subject to a whole different set of rules from me. While both faced danger, women faced the likelihood of rape in many of these places he traveled.  That would not have kept me from the trip—sleeping outdoors, lack of running water, dirt—those things would have kept me off the road!  And, while I would have enjoyed all the wine, the vistas seen, etc., I would not have enjoyed the heavy drug use, the commune like living or having to rely on the kindness of others to know where I would sleep, bathe, and eat.

I did enjoy the philosophical debate expressed around the world about US role in international affairs, its war machine and its impact on innocents abroad. I wonder what they are saying about the US these days if those were the sentiments of the Vietnam Era!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

A short book, it is easily read in one sitting.  Much happens in that sitting and one is not bored during it!  It was suggested as an adult book even though the story is told from the perspective of a seven year old little boy.  Did all the things actually happen or are they the memories of a lonely little boy who had no one show up for his birthday party?

The book begins with the child returning to his childhood home/neighborhood to speak at and attend a funeral. Whose funeral is not particularly clear but definitely a family member and not his sister.  Even as an adult he is a lonely man.  He does all he is supposed to do and keeps to himself. He prefers books to most people and loves kittens. Sounds near perfect!  Herein lies some of the secrets and twists that make the novel a fun read.  He recalls receiving a copy of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia around his seventh birthday.  He also loved comic books like most little boys.  The two things together give us the action, adventure, spirit filled alter world of Lettie Hempstock and our narrator.  A bit of research led to the discovery that the author put much of himself into the book.  He enjoyed The Lord of the Rings, Alice in Wonderland and Narnia as a youth. He also wrote comic books.  How much of the rest is true or fiction I do not know.

I see the Hempstock farm as Narnia.  Magical, dangerous and comforting all at the same time. For a seven year old boy without friends dealing with problems of a troubled family the world beyond his place had to be all of those.  The entrance of Ursula complicated his young life. I think she was more than a live-in help and eventual lover of his father. I think she represented the strain the family was experiencing due to a loss of fortune and having to take in boarders.  (His sister told him later that his mother had fired Ursula.)  Since he was forced to share a room with his older sister with whom he had little in common I think Lettie became the older, more protective sister he desired as opposed to the one he had.  The Hempstock women were strong, nurturing and always made him feel comfortable.  They could work magic where his own family could not.  Again I see many parallels with this story and the Narnia Chronicles. 

Lettie saved him from the creatures hoping to consume him. Did she die in the process or did she simply go into the ocean to return at a different time?  When he arrives at the farmhouse he is asked if he is there to see her but never does.  She is healing still he was told.  Would it have ruined the story had she been there? Probably, since that would not support the magical mystery that weaves such a fine tale here. Also, would he have lived his life as he did had Lettie not sacrificed herself to protect him? When he asked Old Mrs Hempstock whether he had passed she replied “You don’t pass or fail at being a person, dear.”  He says that he made friends with his father in later years even though they were unlikely friends. He obviously had a relationship with his sister and there is little mention of the mother except that she had fired Ursula.

While he says he does not remember coming back to the farmhouse previously, Mrs. Hempstock says he has been there on more than one occasion.  Which lady did he visit? Are they all one in the same or separate people? What role does a cat called Ocean play?  I look forward to our discussions!

 

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

As I read this book I felt like I was reading the diary of an unfulfilled woman who had deeply felt emotions and the total inability to act on those. Maybe that is why the book opens with I am angry. How Angry? You don’t want to know!  In all honesty I really did not see the anger until the very end and then I thought “And…”.

Nora Eldridge is the Woman Upstairs.  She is, for most of the book, 37 years old, lives alone after the death of her mother. She is unmarried, partly because her mother wanted more for her.  What was never taken into serious consideration is what Nora wanted.  She wanted to be an artist, even showed some early promise as one.  Her mother insisted she study something in college that would enable her to earn enough money to never have to rely on a man/husband for anything.  That could be the beginning of many things in Nora’s life. 

The woman upstairs indicates a spinster who does not quite fit into society but really isn’t apart from it either. She is invited to events, sometimes out of pity. She lives a good life but not one everyone is sure is full.  She wants to be a part of the world. She often holds a good job, is well liked and has friends.  Nora is such a person. I truly believe she has lived a solitary existence for most of her life.  She neither likes nor cares to know well her older brother and his family. She cared for her mother during her long health battles.  Her mother was not positive toward men—felt she had failed to realize her own dreams.  Nora’s father is alive and she visits him often. Does she love him or is she doing so out of duty?  She has a spinster aunt who goes by the name “Baby”.  She wants a family but has no boyfriend. Her best friend has found love and happiness in a lesbian relationship.  Is Nora gay?  I don’t think so even though she professes love for Sirena.

Several questions come to mind for discussion of this book.

Reza—yes a teacher sees many cute kids come through their classrooms. However, what 37 year old falls for an eight year old so much that she strikes up a friendship with the family, essentially inserting herself into the family. She evens becomes his babysitter!  Also, if he was so close then why did he seem so indifferent when she saw him in Paris?
Sirena—was she a substitute for her mother? Did she represent the person Nora wanted to be? Was her relationship really one of sexual attraction or did Nora see Sirena the artist as the less repressed version of herself?
Skandar—did she have sex with him or was it just a brief stolen moment that was not consummated?  Was he the equivalent of the male version of Nora—misunderstood, solitary figure even in the midst of many?
Sirena and her art—did she take advantage of Nora’s need to be a part of something to enhance and extend her own art?  Why did she not tell Nora about the video.  (I really thought she would have used the photos left lying about!)
Wonderland—was it just a work of art to be interpreted or was it a metaphor for Nora’s life. What appears one way to one is different to another.  Did the photos use reflect the stages of Nora’s life? 
Nora’s art—were her miniatures a reflection of her stagnated life?  Did she choose the rooms of artists (poets, playwrights, etc.) who also lived or wrote of lonely lives?
Anger—how angry was she?  I must say that even at the end of the book I did not fully know how angry she was!  She should have seen that art consumed Sirena and it was art at any cost. Betrayed, yes she was. Did her anger serve to cleanse her soul of the Shadids? I am not certain. Since the book ends there we have many unanswered questions about the rest of her life.  She does go out with a variety of men but hasn’t found the one yet.  Maybe she will simply adopt a child to fill her life.

I look forward to our discussions about this book.  Hope you enjoyed it!

The Misremembered Man by Christina McKenna

When I first bought the Kindle version of this book, I thought I would be reading a novel about a man trying to find a wife. It was not until almost halfway through that I realized it was about two people trying to find a life!  The book’s ending was such a pleasant surprise that I will not even begin to address it less some of you have yet to finish the book.  Do finish. You will be happy you did!

The author did not grab my attention at the onset. Instead I was about 40 percent through the book before it took hold.  Maybe that is because I have been busy with other things or because my interests lean more toward political thrillers than Irish novels.  Either way, I always read our assigned book.  That could be the student or the teacher in me—not certain which!

James Kevin Barry Michael McCloone is a complex character.  Left on the doorstep of an orphanage he suffered every horror one could imagine.  Abuse—physical, sexual, emotional—how he managed to survive is beyond me. The fact that the Irish government allowed this to continue until 1996 is criminal in itself but the author did not dwell on that. Jamie was a survivor who benefited from adoption by a loving couple who showed him how to love and feel alive.  When Uncle Mick died he slipped into depression, something that I understand more now that our family has had four deaths this year alone.  Bouncing back emotionally is difficult but to do so when your life has been so tormented as a child is ten times worse. The idea that he would even consider putting himself out for potential rejection is a testament to his inner strength.  Placing an ad in the Mid-Ulster Vindicator took real courage; following up on that took more.

Lydia Devine had her own troubled childhood.  Brought up by strict parents who seemed never to offer a positive note is her own version of the orphanage sorrows.  Her relationship with her mother seemed like many who tend their elderly parents. One where the criticism flows freely and devotion seems one sided but really isn’t.  Her mother did love her as was evidenced by the letter given to Lydia after her mother’s death.  The relationship between Gladys and Elizabeth is more fully explained at the story’s end as is why Gladys insisted on calling Lydia, Lilly!

I was impressed by the way Lydia and James got along even though they had been brought up quite differently.  There was an easiness between them that even the awkwardness could not impair.  I loved that Jamie thought a toupee was necessary to win a woman and laughed when he got the instructions stuck to his head, when it fell into the toilet and how Rose said he was constipated to get him out of the mess about going back to the table. I also laughed at how Lydia essentially ran from Frank only to run into him again while meeting Jamie.

I like the way the author gives us hope that each will find happiness, not only together but also in their individual lives.  The doctor holds promise as does Doris!  There is also promise in the fact that each of them retains a bit of their heritage through their names.

Now a bit about the author’s style!  I loved the Irish brogue.  Since she is Irish I presume she was familiar with the brogue and kept it simple enough for her non-Irish readers to follow.  The development of her characters gave them a realness that was genuine.  Both were a bit lacking in social skills—one from complete lack of training, the other from repression.  It only added to the closeness they had.  She gave just enough detail of life in the orphanage to make us aware of its horrors without going into the graphic details of abuse, deprivation and lack of regard for humanity that was such a part of its existence.  Any lack of detail could easily be completed in the readers mind.  She built her story with all the classic parts of a good story—introduction to character, development of the characters and the plot, building to the story’s climax and then a successful conclusion leaving the reader feeling satisfied and wanting at the same time.

The Racketeer by John Grisham

It has been a while since I read any of Grisham’s works even though I have read almost everything he has written.  This did not disappoint!  The Racketeer is a great story of revenge in a well-developed plot that has all kinds of twists and turns that lead you one direction then another. In true Grisham style, you are drawn into the story wanting to see the main character succeed against all odds.  The criminal element even has several twists which led to an even more rewarding story!

Malcolm Bannister/Max Baldwin is one complex character.  I did not understand at first where he was coming from. Yes, I understood his desire to get out of prison, wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit.  I understand that prison creates strange alliances.  Somewhere I missed that Vanessa was Quinn’s sister but even that makes sense in the end.  Individuals using their knowledge of the law to put things right is what Grisham is famous for and this is one of his best since The Firm in my humble opinion. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the way Malcolm/Max used the system to win his freedom and win his retribution. The details that went into the scripting of this novel are extensive even though the author says it is a total work of fiction and that paragraphs of prose make up for lots of research it is still entertaining!  The workings of the parole system, Rule 35, witness protection etc. give a convincing story line.  Add to that love interest and the fake movie plot, I was hooked. I admit that at first I wondered why he was going after Nathan but even then thought he had something to do with the reason why he wanted to get out of prison.  I admit also that it did not occur to me that he was in on the “scam” with Quinn.  I do recall that he mentioned several times how good friends they were but I focused more on the “were” than the “are”!  I also remember him talking about Nattie but even when he referred to him as Nattie later on it did not occur to me that he was the killer and would be held accountable for his crime until the trip to Jamaica.  Guess I was too caught up in the story to see the intricate way in which Grisham wove this tale of deceit and retribution!  The use of the film company to win his confidence and get him away from the Bombay was well done.

I am a firm believer in holding folks accountable. I would have been a bit disappointed had Malcolm/Max just gotten his friend out of jail, gotten the real killer convicted for the murders and collected the gold as a reward without a higher purpose.  The idea of getting the group responsible for uranium mining is just icing on the cake!  That is the true genius behind Grisham—righting wrongs in a subtle fashion.

If anything, I would like to know how things progress after the entire group arrives in Antigua. Does Quinn stay on the straight and narrow?  Does Malcolm/Max and Vanessa live happily ever after? Does Nathan live long enough to go to trial for the murders he committed?    I look forward to hearing what the rest of you think!

The Good House by Ann Leary

Recovering alcoholic, Massachusetts, ties to the Salem Witch trials, and leading real estate broker in a small town were all things that made me look deeper into this book when I first saw it recommended in Parade magazine.  I began reading it while we were in Florida, then had to stop to read last month’s selection.  I am happy I went back to it.

Hildy Good could be any of a number of people I know.  She might be what is called a hard living person.  She functions successfully in most everything she does but has her demons that alternately confound her and give her pleasure.  As the story begins she is in recovery, discharged from Hazelton after an intervention by her daughters.  She went into rehab so she could be part of her daughters’ lives and more importantly, so she could spend time with her grandson.  However, the call of the alcohol was not deafened.  She drank—but only at home and only by herself and only wine.  She interacted with humans on a professional basis, her children within limits and her dogs with pleasure.  Then came Rebecca!

I have thought about Rebecca and why she is included in the story.  She is a troubled soul herself, married but having an affair with her psychiatrist  (Peter), someone Hildy has known since her own childhood.  What do these two have in common? Hildy wants a friend and one that does not judge. Rebecca will not let others know she is drinking because Rebecca does not want others knowing of her affair with Peter.  I think Rebecca is Hildy’s alter ego.  The more she drinks the crazier Rebecca becomes. She is obsessed with Peter, like Hildy is obsessed with wine. 

Hildy resumes a high school relationship with Frankie.  Her own husband left her for another man and she decided she would reconnect with Frankie.  Frankie represents everything she is not.  He is salt of the earth—owns his own business.  He is stable.  He cares about her and they can have fun together.  He does not judge her when she drinks until she gets really bad.  He is a true friend who took care of her crashed car and was trying to create a story that protected her when Jake went missing—just in case she had killed the kid!  Hildy was from a more respected family who could trace her roots back to the Witch trials and who had the ability to see things –although she did not claim to be clairvoyant. Her daughters think he looks like a gnome, she likes that he takes control. She went to the country club, Frankie collected garbage.

When Jake Dwight disappeared I really thought she might have hit him while she was out driving drunk.  In many ways it would have made sense. It would be her wakeup call that she needed to stop drinking and do it today.  Instead, Jake was found by Rebecca who wasn’t even looking for him and then took credit for finding him like she had meant to do that all along!  Rebecca’s craziness led to the death of Peter instead. He committed suicide and returned to Hildy in a dream or as a ghost. I admit to wondering if she had hit him with the car! 

I am pleased that she voluntarily checked herself back into rehab.  Drinking to the point of blacking out and waking daily with a hangover headache does not seem a productive way to live life.  She was able to function but it was becoming more difficult every day.  From her mother’s own mental illness to the relationship she had with her own daughters Hildy seemed to be in a downward spiral into depression.  Only she could make herself recover.  No one could do that for her.  She remained friends (without benefits, this time) with Frankie and I hope continued to live a long, prosperous life in Wendover.  In an odd way, I found the book to be uplifting due to the ending.  She was good at her job, able to “see” what others needed with housing, could contribute to society and develop a lasting, strong relationship with her children and proudly be Gammy to her grandson.  I guess she decided she too wanted MORE!