Recent Reviews
The Photograph by Penelope Lively
The wonderful women in my neighborhood book club wanted to read a book by an exceptional writer. So this month, we chose Penelope Lively's 2004 novel, The Photograph. Lively, a Booker Prize winner and prolific author, did not disappoint. Upon learning more about her impressive writing career, I would summarize her thematic interests:
1)The past never vanishes, but rather is present and shapes our futures.
2)An entire life is shaped by small decisions that seem inconsequential at the time.
3)People are a collection of their multiple selves.
4)It is impossible to completely know another person.
Her novel The Photograph addresses this last theme. Can we ever really know another person? The story opens as Glyn, a landscape history professor, looks for a specific photograph for his academic research. Instead, he finds an envelope with the words written, DON'T OPEN--DESTROY. He unseals the container and discovers a family photograph of his deceased wife Kath intimately holding hands with her sister Elaine's husband, Nick. Consumed with anger and curiosity, Glyn begins a research project to determine if his wife had an affair with their brother-in-law.
Glyn asks his in-laws in the photograph for their thoughts about Kath. They describe her as elusive, glamorous and aloof because of her stunning beauty. Dull and vapid perceptions. I saw a character who was left parentless at 16 and feels alone in the world. She wanted to feel loved, known and understood. Instead, her husband Glyn marries her because of her beauty, her older sister Elaine is distant and cold, her sister's husband Nick is lost and lecherous, and Nick's friend Oliver is feckless. The story traces each of their thoughts about Kath and the veracity of Glyn's conjecture of infidelity. Vague and vivid memories of Kath return to their consciousnesses as they are forced to reflect on their relationship with Kath. It turns out Kath had taken her life.
Yet, there seems to be little remorse and even less reflection.
These characters seem incapable of loving, listening, or taking any constructive action to have helped Kath. With no parents and education, of course, she was damaged. Her family seemed to bask in the charisma of her beauty, but no one seems to have helped her. Her husband, sister, brother-in-law and friend have a limited view of love. They don't assume that duty, responsibility and acceptance are part of family life. Lively has created vivid characters who seem almost hyperbolic in their solipsism. The emotional fall out from Kath's suicide is not addressed. No mention of mourning, sadness, or guilt. The implication is that there wasn't much. Maybe if Lively had provided more context about the other characters, I would fell empathetic toward them.
Penelope Lively is an exceptional writer. The novel's structure is taut and tight. The settings are lush with descriptions of place and time. Her characters are described in great detail. And Lively's agility with metaphors, similes and symbols creates depth and layers of meaning. And yet the novel's portrayal of clueless, distant, self-absorbed people left me depressed. I wanted to call out, why couldn't any of you get out of your selfish selves and help her out? My God people, it isn't that hard. Yes, Lively is interested in whether we can fully know another person, but my goodness, these people were so narcissistic. This book isn't about delving into the unconscious or intimate feelings of another. It is about the inability of a group of people to pay attention to a family member's basic needs.
I am hoping that Lively isn't making a statement about the human condition. But I fear she is.
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
Elizabeth Wetmore’s Valentine is one of the best debut novels I have read.
I am in awe of her descriptions of the topography of West Texas, and the people that live there. Wetmore transports us to this barren land of oil rigs and cattle ranches. We see the tumbleweeds, the changing colors of the sky and the creatures that populate the plains. We hear snakes rattle, oil shafts burst and the rustling of the wind as it gathers strength.
Into this bleak and beautiful landscape, we meet several women who live in the town of Odessa. The novel begins in 1976 when Dale Strickland rapes Gloria Ramirez, a fourteen-year-old high school student, in a deserted oil patch. Wetmore spares us from Strickland’s brutal assault, but we comprehend the level of cruelty. After the attack, Gloria staggers to a farmhouse three miles away. When Mary Rose Whitehead opens the door with her rifle raised, she is surprised to see a traumatized young girl not much older than her daughter.
The sheriff arrests Strickland. One might expect the people of Odessa would be outraged when they learn of the rape. Instead, they direct their vitriol at Mary Rose, who agrees to testify against Strickland. Men in town leave messages on Mary Rose’s answering machine, “You going to stand up for that spic? You going to take her word over his?” But Mary Rose is incensed by the violence inflicted on Gloria. “Gloria could be any of our girls.” Even Mary Rose’s seemingly benign husband, Robert does not want Mary Rose to testify against Strickland. His bigotry emerges, and Mary Rose and her daughter move to town.
We meet several women who live on the street where Mary Rose now lives. We learn each character’s perspective about her life. Corrine Shepard, a retired English teacher whose terminally ill husband, shot himself, is depressed. Suzanne Ledbetter, the town’s Avon saleslady and do-gooder, is anxious. She tells her daughter, “Never depend on a man to take care of you. Even a good one like your daddy.” We meet Ginny who can’t tolerate the narrow mindedness and indifference of Odessa and leaves her daughter.
Wetmore’s novel shows the subjection of women irrespective of social class. Women are second class citizens, not by law, but by custom. And sadly, many of these women participate in their diminishment by protecting the norms and traditions of Odessa. Even women who are married to nice men doubt the young Mexican-American, Gloria Ramirez. Women are often dependent on men for survival and become trapped by motherhood and economic survival. Corrine says, ‘If we were lucky, we made it to twelve before some man or boy, or well-intentioned woman who just thought we ought to know the score, let us know why we were put on this earth. To cheer them on. To smile and bring a little sunshine into the room. To prop them up and know them and be nice to everybody we meet.”
Wetmore’s stunning novel quivers with rage. At one point, Mary Rose exclaims to Corrine, “Why don’t we give a shit about Gloria Ramirez?” Though these women help each other, their racism toward Mexican-Americans festers. In the end, Dale Strickland receives justice. But his punishment is not delivered through the courts. Instead, the good ole boys of Odessa beat him after he harasses a waitress. This informal system of retribution allows white males to maintain their “official” dominance of women and minorities. Wetmore has delivered a blistering and compelling novel about one community in Texas. With lyricism and vision, she shines a Texas-size light on the second class status of women.
The Giver of Stars Jojo Moyes
Thanks to my fantastic DJKKS book club, I recently read Jojo Moyes’s historical novel The Giver of Stars. This uplifting story is about the power of books to change lives. Set in Baileyville, a small Kentucky mining town, the story celebrates five women who stand up to patriarchy. Moyes has developed wonderful characters that uniquely and collectively fight against the sexism, racism and hypocrisy of their time. Despite their struggles or maybe because of their efforts, I found the novel gratifying and inspiring.
During the Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration to improve the lives of suffering Americans. The WPA provided jobs and income to the unemployed. (Something to consider during this time of COVID-19). Under the auspices of the WPA, Eleanor Roosevelt led the effort to create the Pack Horse Library Project. From 1935-1943, the government paid women to deliver books to families in rural communities.
Into this history, Jojo Moyes begins her story. The year is 1937, and the five women librarians in Baileyville are grateful to have jobs that bring knowledge and joy to impoverished families. On horseback, they traverse beautiful landscapes, but the lives they witness are bleak. They learn that poor folks don’t want charity, but they do want books. The leader of the library ladies is Margery O’Hare, a feisty and determined woman who doesn’t pay attention to social conventions or listen to men. Her lover, Sven Gustavsson, wants to marry her, but as much as she loves him, she “won’t be owned by nobody. “ Margery’s father was an alcoholic who beat her. After Margery’s father dies, the town exhales with relief. Yet, soon their small-town hypocrisy is revealed. Few folks attend his funeral. But Margery is mocked as the girl who did not cry at her father’s service.
Another wonderful character is Alice Van Cleave, an English woman who marries a local man, Bennett Van Cleve. Alice thought leaving London would give her more freedom, but Eastern Kentucky proves just as provincial. Her unctuous father-in-law, with whom they live, manages the Hoffman Mining Company, the largest employer in town. Obsessed with his reputation and indifferent to injustice, he is a loathsome person. Aligned with one of the pastors in town, the senior Van Cleve attempts to shut down the library, arguing that domestic life is where women should find contentment. But Van Cleve’s opposition also derives from his greed An educated workforce might unionize. An educated populace might resist the paltry amounts offered for their valuable land. Alice and her fellow librarians know what is at stake and courageously resist attempts to stop their work.
The book is layered with themes and sub-plots. There is a love story, a trial, friendships, betrayals, an environmental catastrophe, redemption, reconciliation and enriching references to specific books and poems. Moyes has captured the way books can change how people feel and think. The Giver of Stars is also a testament to the power of women to make lasting change.
