Defending Jacob by William Landay

This is one of the strangest books we have read and I mean that in a good way.  The idea of a person having to defend his own child on a murder charge is interesting enough but throw in the possibility of a murder gene and things get very interesting.  Three things hit me while reading this book.

1.        How does one ever objectively look at your own child and see them for who they are? 

2.       How can you keep major secrets from a loved one for so many years?

3.       Who was Andrew Barber?

Since I have no children of my own I must rely on other factors to help me understand this first question.  With 33 years of teaching under my belt and more than one student who served or is serving time for criminal activity, even murder, I think I have a bit of insight.  Still, I do not know that I would be more like Laurie and less like Andy in the situation.  Laurie saw behavior and ignored it. Maybe she felt guilty for not knowing what to do. Maybe she felt she really didn’t love her son as she should since he was acting out.  Andy should have recognized sings of potential trouble, if not from the family history he was hiding, then from the people he prosecuted every day.  Questions about whether or not therapy would have helped Jacob deal with anger issues go unanswered as does the question as to whether or not he was actually guilty of anything at all!

I can also understand that we do not tell our loved ones every single detail of our lives prior to meeting them but to keep something so important as a father in prison is beyond me.  Omissions like that always come out.  Was his mother deceased prior to meeting Laurie? Why did Laurie never ask about him?  I would at least want to see photos, know some medical history if I was planning a family, would talk to my mother-in-law about the type of person who provided the DNA for my pending family.  On the other hand, did Laurie have her own secrets she kept from Andy?  Did she tell him about her reactions to Jacob?  What she thought should be done with their child?

Andrew Barber-a man who buried his past so deeply inside himself that he believed his father to be dead.  He willed him out of his life and never seemed to have thought about him until his own child was brought up on murder charges.  He became exactly what his father was not-a law abiding, contributing member of society.  Or did he? His first instinct when he read about the knife was to get rid of it.  Was he protecting Jacob or himself?  He fervently defended his son to the point that I think it was more his denial that this tendency toward violence could be found in his own offspring than the belief that Jacob was innocent. Did he simply exert more self-control than his father?

Many other questions arise from this story.  Is the “murder gene” real? A quick search of the internet found that the defense has been used in criminal trials before and that many of the most heinous murders have found the perpetrators to have a similar genetic abnormality.  Did Father O’Leary act on behalf of Bloody Bill? Was Paftz really guilty or did Father O’Leary force him to write the suicide note? Did Jacob kill Ellen? 

I look forward to our discussion of this book. So many twists and turns!

The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall

Vish Puri is a delightful character.  I can definitely see this as a movie where he is a combination of Columbo and Kojak.  A bit eccentric, full of confidence and human all wrapped up into one person.  I loved the way he nicknamed each of his fellow workers. I also enjoyed that he dealt with many of the same concerns each of us does—a parent who always seems to know what is best and how to achieve that.

The book also gave me some insight into the politics of India.  Like most countries, it seems the people there are still dealing with political corruption that extends into many aspects of life.  Who you know and how many resources you have available still determines what you get out of life and out of the system.  He manages to maneuver through society walking that thin line between what is expected and what is necessary.

His tasks are two-fold.  Determine the eligibility of one child to marry another for one client and to prove that another citizen did not kill a missing servant. Puri goes about solving both these mysteries with methodical practices, a knowledge of how to work the system and determination to maintain his status as the best detective in Dehli. 

Aside from the fact that the book is easy to read, it is rich in details of a culture I know little about.  So, at the same time as I watch Puri solve the mystery of why a young man wants to marry the reportedly unlikely woman, we learn about societal pressures placed upon many young folks whose parents cling to traditional ways.  As he solves the case of the missing servant we learn about the demands of a household and the dealings between family members.  We also see that society is more than willing to label someone as guilty when the facts have yet to be proven.

TransAtlantic by Colum McCann

As I looked through the book prior to beginning and wondered how a book that takes place in three distinctly different time periods could be connected.  We have read other books where time jumped from period to period but none where the characters seemed as disparate as two 1919 pilots, a modern photo journalist, a real political representative of the US and Frederick Douglas. I am pleased to say that the parts all fit together nicely. This is an immigration story. It includes immigration from Ireland to the US, from the US back to Ireland, from Lebanon to the US and other transatlantic travels by both wealthy, influential people and the poorest of the poor. In many ways, it is a global story that shows just how small the world really is.

 I had to look up the history behind the fiction of the book. Many authors seem to take great liberty with facts when writing historical fiction. McCann takes little.  He adds personality to his characters without changing much.  Alcock and Brown were the first two to fly across the Atlantic travelling from England to Ireland and ahead to America.  Frederick Douglas did travel and speak in Ireland during the 1840s. George Mitchell was the US Envoy to Ireland during the resolution of the “troubles”.

 
McCann weaves a detailed story and manages to do so in a way that keeps your attention but does not give away each story until you are caught up in its plot.  I never thought when I began the book that each section would be brought to its meaningful conclusion at the end of the book.  Somehow I imagined each story would end where the next began and the connections from one century to the next would be fleeting.  Not so with TransAtlantic!  Every character and every action has a purpose and contributes to making this a pleasurable read.

 I liked reading about early aviation.  Those were some very brave people.  I liked the details of the plane, the conditions, how they prepared for the trip, its dangers and the exhilaration they felt when things went well. Alcock and Brown were brave. Lily Duggan was brave.  She left her home to seek a better life.  That was the plight of so many Irish and still more folks today from other parts of the world. I thought the method used by McCann to show the destitute nature of the Irish poor as compared with that of a freed slave was very well done.  She made it out and her family returned. The circle of life is odd.

Throughout this is the letter given to Alcock and Brown. Such a minor thing but had such great importance by the end of the book!  Maybe I was a bit slow on the uptake but the letter did not connect the dots for me until the end of the book. When Hannah Carson comes into the story and I was able to thread all the people together, it seemed so fitting to end as it did.

The book is an easy read; well written, detailed where needed and brief where needed.  Using real people made it not only believable but added to the veracity of the story.  I am glad we chose this book.

Sherlockian by Graham Moore

I wondered if the time shift between the 1890s and the present would present a challenge in both keeping my interest and following transition in the story. I was needlessly worried as the story flowed smoothly and had no difficulty keeping people “time straight”.  We all have our favorite characters and get frustrated when their creator kills them off or fails to produce another installation in a timely manner.  What would happen if Mitch Rapp or Gabriel Allon ceased to exist?  This is exactly the problem followers of A Conan Doyle’s writings had to deal with when, frustrated and probably jealous of the attention Sherlock Holmes was getting at the expense of his creator, Doyle kills Holmes!

Fast forward to 2010. A convention of individuals who are intrigued with Sherlock Holmes convenes. One member has announced he has found the lost diary of Doyle which mysteriously disappeared in the late 1890s. The member is found dead and the newest initiate into the Sherlockian club is left trying to solve the mystery.  What ensues is a fast paced look at the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a diary written by Arthur Conan Doyle and the death of the person who claims to have found the same diary a hundred years later.

The novel keeps the interest of the reader in ways previous ones switching from time to time have failed to do. It seems like the story is one and not two separate accounts, or mysteries.  I appreciate the way Moore has enabled the reader to switch back and forth without ruining any of the continuity of the story or the mystery within.  While many shifts and twists help maintain interest in the book, the reader is not left out in the cold.  Clues are provided, intrigue abounds and a conclusion is provided that leaves the reader wondering but fulfilled.

I personally believe the book gives some insight into the lives of both Doyle and the 21^st Century sleuths.  Doyle was a known addict. How did that impact his ability to create and maintain the character of Holmes?  Was the addiction the source of his jealousy of Holmes? The role of Harold is the modern day Watson. He does a great job with it and even manages to overcome a bit of his own naivety. Is this good or bad?

What will Harold do after the mystery has been solved? We know how he reacted to the “solving” in the book but how would he react after he is back home and thinking things over?  Does he keep the girlfriend?  Does he go back to being a Holmes nerd wearing the hat to hide his insecurities?  I must say the book gave more than I expected and I am happy it did!

Dollbaby by Laura Land McNeal

I enjoyed The Help both as a book and a movie and enjoyed watching The Secret Life of Bees even though I did not read the book. When the cover of this one said it was of the same genre I went for it. It did not disappoint.  Miss Ibby is the main character. Had to smile at her name-Liberty Alice Bell. Only in the south would they come up with names like Vidrine and Ibby!

While the book is overall a coming of age novel about a dysfunctional family, these characters are rich; some literally, others figuratively! Fannie, Queenie and Doll are as full of life as Ibby. They love, fight, and cherish each other. They also are a bit unique within their own lives. 

Fannie—a young woman who does not trust banks, married a boat captain, was a stripper and now is a leading lady of New Orleans society.  Was not happy when her own son married beneath him and is now raising her granddaughter after the widowed Vidrine drops Ibby off and never returns. She loves Ibby and wants her to be very happy.  The dolls she gives her on each birthday will ensure that.

Vidrine—a woman who marries above herself and when widowed does the only thing she can for her daughter—gives her to her detested mother-in-law.  Was that an act of selfishness so she could go off and lead her own life or of selfless love because she realized she lacked the many skills necessary to provide for her daughter?

Queenie-she came with the house.  She is the true glue in the book. She takes everything ins stride, counsels everyone in the house and always has their backs regardless of the mess they may be making of things.  Ibby learns so much from her.

Doll—sassy, loving, smart.  Given the ending of the book, it is no wonder!  I will not say more for fear of ruining the book for those who haven’t read it yet. 

Ibby—shy, resilient, daring and cautious.  She is growing into a strong southern woman!  She stands up to Annabelle, the neighborhood bully.  She does not see the color of a person’s skin but the character of their soul—something that was part of coming of age in the Civil Rights Movement.

The book provided many more twists than I had imagined.  Who would have thought of a nun who used to be a stripper!  I must say I was engaged until the very last page and happily so!

The Girls of the Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

Our first foray into non-fiction finds us looking into the lives of nine young women who went to work on the Atom bomb project during WWII.  They were a varied group of young ladies who were venturing into the unknown world of work and even more so the mysterious world of the super-secret government project that led the US to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The reader is introduced to each young lady prior to their leaving for the city being created outside Knoxville, Tennessee.  Their reasons for going were many. They were from small towns, big cities and the poor South.  Some left families behind with relatives while others had to convince families they could go.  Some arrived with skills, others learned them on site. 

The book is full of poignant stories of women forced to leave their own children in able to provide for them.  Ingenuity took over when one used her abilities as a cook to earn extra money to help her family.  I was particularly taken by the young woman whose priest brother convinced her parents this was a good idea for her to go. I laughed when one arrived in her best clothes only to find there were no paved streets and her dress shoes sunk into ankle deep mud!

It is difficult to imagine leaving home and going to a place that didn’t really exist!  When I went into Peace Corps, I could at least find Zaire on a map!  Today it is the Democratic Republic of the Congo and probably less real than the Atomic City!  Keeping the secrets would have been difficult.  These ladies never knew to whom they could speak and share with.  That would have been very difficult for them as folks like to make friends and share one’s day with them.

Some also had to overcome prejudice both racial and sexual.  One young woman wanted to be recognized for her scientific skills and education but had to struggle to achieve acceptance.  Still each grew and moved forward with life. 

Today everyone knows where to find Oak Ridge TN and not just through the Oak Ridge Boys of country music!  These women are truly part of our unique history and I am thrilled to have read this. Thanks to Ken for picking it up and sharing with the rest of us!

 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

This book made me laugh out loud. I can’t remember that last time I enjoyed a book so much and read it rapidly.  Don could be any number of my former students who have a scientific bent to their personalities.  I have one whose spice cupboard is in alphabetical order. I could definitely see him having such a list for finding a wife. 

From the very beginning I assumed that Don would fail with the questionnaire.  Who is going to find someone based on predetermined ideals. A former (female) colleague was determined to marry a handsome, wealthy man. She was at the point of almost asking salary before name. Of course, she met her husband and fell in love. He had an average job and average looks, not at all like she had intended!

I looked at the discussion questions at the end of the book. They too are intended to extend the joy  found in the book.  Don’s assessment that “Humans often fail to see what is close to them and obvious to others.” is perfect for him and his relationship with Rosie. He is obviously attracted, thinks she is stunning but still thinks she is a barmaid.  He has fun around her but considers her non-wife material!  Claudia and even Gene know better!

Claudia and Gene are something else.  Gene, who is trying to have sexual encounters with women from every nation even keeps a map with pins of his conquests on his wall in his office. I wondered what will happen once he has covered the globe from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. I don’t even begin to understand why Claudia stays with him but that is their choice, not mine.  At least he was starting to work on a more monogamous relationship by books end.

I enjoyed the way both Rosie and Don jumped into the Father Project.  The outcome was somewhat surprising but not totally so. I did like the way we did not find out until the very end!

While Don had Asperger’s he managed very well to maintain a normal life. Yes, he was obsessive about details, oversimplification of daily routines and other things but he was open to new things. He learned to make drinks, dance and even several sexual positions so he would have an idea what to do in any circumstance.  I loved the way he practiced with the skeleton and without actually listening to music! 

Loved the book and I look forward to our discussion of it!