Tag Archives: historical fiction

Flashback Friday: Snow Mountain Passage by James D. Houston

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It’s time, once again, for Flashback Friday…

Flashback Friday is a chance to dig deep in the darkest nooks of our bookshelves and pull out the good stuff from way back. As a reader, a blogger, and a consumer, I tend to focus on new, new, new… but what about the old favorites, the hidden gems? On Flashback Fridays, I want to hit the pause button for a moment and concentrate on older books that are deserving of attention.

My rules — since I’m making this up:

  1. Has to be something I’ve (you’ve) read myself (yourself) — oh, you know what I mean!
  2. Has to still be available, preferably still in print
  3. Must have been originally published 5 or more years ago

Other than that, the sky’s the limit! Join me, please, and let us all know: what are the books you’ve read that you always rave about? What books from your past do you wish EVERYONE would read? Pick something from five years ago, or go all the way back to the Canterbury Tales if you want. It’s Flashback Friday time!

My pick for this week’s Flashback Friday:

Snow Mountain Passage by James D. Houston

(published 2002)

This week’s pick for Flashback Friday was published in 2002, but as historical fiction, tells a tale that goes back to 1846. Snow Mountain Passage is a fictional retelling of one of the most infamous chapters in American history, the story of the Donner Party.

When you hear the words “The Donner Party”, if you’re like most people, you immediately think of cannibalism. For many, that’s where their knowledge of the Donner Party starts and ends. But what really happened during that awful winter? Who were these people, stranded in the mountains and struggling to survive? How did they end up in this terrible predicament?

From Goodreads:

Snow Mountain Passage is a powerful retelling of our most dramatic pioneer story–the ordeal of the Donner Party. Through the eyes of James Frazier Reed, one of the group’s leaders, and the imagined “Trail Notes” of his daughter Patty, we journey along with the ill-fated group determined, at all costs, to make it to the California territory.

James Reed is a proud, headstrong, yet devoted husband and father. As he and his family travel in the “Palace Car,” a huge, specially built–and ultimately cumbersome–covered wagon, they thrill to new sights and cope with conflict and constant danger. Yet when a fight between Reed and another driver ends in death, Reed is exiled from the group and heads over the mountains alone. The fate of the other families, including Reed’s wife and four children, is sealed when they set out across a new, untested route through the Sierra–their final mountain pass. Arriving at the foothills just as the snows start to fall, they are left stranded for months–starving, freezing, and battling to survive–while Reed journeys across northern California, trying desperately to find means and men for a rescue party.

An extraordinary tale of pride and redemption, Snow Mountain Passage is a brilliantly imagined and grippingly told story straight from American history.

I was fascinated by the story and the characters, and amazed by how much I didn’t know about the Donner Party. The author invests the historical figures with life and personality, and does a thorough yet never boring job of laying out, step by step, all the choices and mistakes that led inevitably to tragedy.

If you enjoy historical fiction, or if you think you already know all there is to know about the Donner Party, check out Snow Mountain Passage. You may be surprised by how moving the story is. I certainly enjoyed this glimpse into California’s past… and now every time I drive over Donner Pass in the Sierras, I can’t help thinking about this book — and shivering, just a bit.

So, what’s your favorite blast from the past? Leave a tip for your fellow booklovers, and share the wealth. It’s time to dust off our old favorites and get them back into circulation! 

Note from your friendly Bookshelf Fantasies host: To join in the Flashback Friday bloghop, post about a book you love on your blog, and share your link below. Don’t have a blog post to share? Then share your favorite oldie-but-goodie in the comments section. Jump in!



Flashback Friday: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

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It’s time, once again, for Flashback Friday…

Flashback Fridays is a chance to dig deep in the darkest nooks of our bookshelves and pull out the good stuff from way back. As a reader, a blogger, and a consumer, I tend to focus on new, new, new… but what about the old favorites, the hidden gems? On Flashback Fridays, I want to hit the pause button for a moment and concentrate on older books that are deserving of attention.

My rules — since I’m making this up:

  1. Has to be something I’ve (you’ve) read myself (yourself) — oh, you know what I mean!
  2. Has to still be available, preferably still in print
  3. Must have been originally published 5 or more years ago

Other than that, the sky’s the limit! Join me, please, and let us all know: what are the books you’ve read that you always rave about? What books from your past do you wish EVERYONE would read? Pick something from five years ago, or go all the way back to the Canterbury Tales if you want. It’s Flashback Friday time!

Add your link below — join in for Flashback Friday!

My pick for this week’s Flashback Friday:

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

(published 2002)

A book that quite simply took my breath away.

From Amazon:

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a “baby farmer,” who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways…But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.

The New York Times Book Review has called Sarah Waters a writer of “startling power” and The Seattle Times has praised her work as “gripping, astute fiction that feeds the mind and the senses.” Fingersmith marks a major leap forward in this young and brilliant career.

I first read Fingersmith in early 2011, after picking it up at a used book sale several months earlier. I hadn’t heard of the book or the author previously, but a booklover friend ordered me to “READ THAT BOOK IMMEDIATELY!” When someone with good book taste (i.e., book taste that aligns nicely with my own!) tells me that emphatically to read a particular book, I tend to listen. And in the case of Fingersmith, I’m oh so glad that I did.

Here’s what I wrote on Goodreads when I finished the book:

At the risk of gushing, let me just say that I LOVED this book. I can’t remember the last book that made me gasp out loud while reading — and this one did it at least three times. Fingersmith, set in Victorian England, gets its start, literally, in a den of thieves. It manages to incorporate every possible trope of the era, yet does so in a way that’s both fresh and startling. To disclose anything of the plot would be to ruin the joy of being shocked to the core by the twists and turns of this unusual book. Filled with well-drawn characters, including pickpockets and thieves, con men and gaolers, insane asylums nurses and booksellers, the mad and the suffering, Fingersmith is an evocative period piece as well as a superb literary adventure. I can’t recommend it highly enough, or give enough praise to the author’s achievement. I certainly look forward to reading more of her work!

I don’t give out five star reviews very often, but when I do, I really mean it. Fingersmith was absolutely a five-star book for me. Since reading Fingersmith, I’ve slowly been working my way through the rest of Sarah Waters’s books. (Really enjoyed Tipping the Velvet, liked The Little Stranger, looking forward to reading Affinity and The Night Watch).

Do yourself a favor: Read Fingersmith. And be sure to avoid all plot summaries! The shocks and surprises are not too be missed; don’t ruin it by peeking ahead!

So, what’s your favorite blast from the past? Leave a tip for your fellow booklovers, and share the wealth. It’s time to dust off our old favorites and get them back into circulation! 

Note from your friendly Bookshelf Fantasies host: This is my baby-steps attempt at a blog hop! Join in, post a Friday Flashback on your blog, and share your link below. Don’t have a blog post to share? Then share your favorite oldie-but-goodie in the comments section. Let’s get this party started!



Book Review: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

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Book Review: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

If not for all the rave reviews out there, I might never have picked up Beautiful Ruins on my own. And that would have been a shame.

Based on the dustjacket flap, this didn’t really sound like a book for me. Hollywood producers. Scandal on the set of Cleopatra in the 1960s. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, for God’s sake. Do I care about any of this?

As it turns out, the answer is yes. Beautiful Ruins is a vast book, in terms of subject matter if not actual page length. (For the record, the book is 337 pages long). What sounded to me like a relatively simple story of worlds colliding is in actuality a tale that spans decades and continents, with a cast of characters so large that it shouldn’t work — but it does.

Beautiful Ruins starts in 1962 in a small Italian fishing village — so small that neighboring villages look down at it, so isolated that arrival by boat is the only access, a place so not of note that no one arrives here by accident, ever. Into this village comes Dee Moray, a young beautiful wannabe starlet, believing herself to be dying and awaiting a final assignation with her lover. Dee is sent to stay at the one hotel in the village, run by Pasquale, son of the recently deceased innkeeper, come home to fulfill his father’s unrealistic dream of turning the family inn into a tourist attraction.

Dee has been sent packing to Porto Vergogna from the set of the Burton/Taylor movie fiasco, Cleopatra. The reasons for her exile unfold throughout the story, and all is not as it seems. Pasquale is smitten and finds a new purpose in championing Dee’s tragic cause.

Meanwhile, in modern-day Hollywood, a young assistant on the verge of walking away from her job with a legendary producer and giving up on the business once and for all is roped back in by the sudden appearance of an old man seeking a woman once encountered, briefly but intensely, fifty years earlier.

Adding to all this, we see bits of screenplays and manuscripts, a stage play and a movie pitch, and meet people across the years, from 1960s to present, with stops in Seattle, Idaho, Edinburgh, Rome, and Florence. Bit players come and go; some have a huge impact on the unfolding drama, some appear only long enough to spin events off into a new direction.

Amazingly, it works. What I’d initially thought would be a story following two main plot threads evolved into a story with seemingly endless characters and lives, all taking different trajectories, separate but connected by coincidences and happenstance. The characters’ intersections are fascinating, and I couldn’t help wondering at the dexterity with which the author keeps all of the plot points moving forward and continuing to matter.

My quibbles, if any, are that there are a few minor characters whom I would have like to learn more about and seen fleshed out to a greater degree, such as the shiftless musician we encounter midway through the book, and others whose role is so minor that fewer pages devoted to them might have been better, such as the self-deluding young screenwriter who ends up functioning as translator throughout the book. Likewise, a subplot concerning the Donner party (of all things!) was a bit overplayed and seemed unnecessary.

Still, Beautiful Ruins was both absorbing and moving, and I found myself completely engrossed in the characters’ lives. Ultimately, for many of the characters, a choice (or several choices) had to be made. Pasquale reflects, late in the book, on a childhood memory concerning a decision he once had to make, and remembers his mother’s advice:

“Sometimes,” she said, “what we want to do and what we must do are not the same.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “Pasqo, the smaller the space between your desire and what is right, the happier you will be.”

For the characters in Beautiful Ruins, navigating this space is what forms the core of the choices they must make, and the decisions they make and the actions they take set the course for their chances of happiness. Seeing these choices play out is what makes this book so fascinating.

 

Flashback Friday: The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd

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It’s time, once again, for Flashback Friday…

Flashback Fridays is a chance to dig deep in the darkest nooks of our bookshelves and pull out the good stuff from way back. As a reader, a blogger, and a consumer, I tend to focus on new, new, new… but what about the old favorites, the hidden gems? On Flashback Fridays, I want to hit the pause button for a moment and concentrate on older books that are deserving of attention.

My rules — since I’m making this up:

  1. Has to be something I’ve (you’ve) read myself (yourself) — oh, you know what I mean!
  2. Has to still be available, preferably still in print
  3. Must have been originally published 5 or more years ago

Other than that, the sky’s the limit! Join me, please, and let us all know: what are the books you’ve read that you always rave about? What books from your past do you wish EVERYONE would read? Pick something from five years ago, or go all the way back to the Canterbury Tales if you want. It’s Flashback Friday time!

Add your link below — join in for Flashback Friday!

My pick for this week’s Flashback Friday:

The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd

(published 1997)

A lush, sweeping story, at once historical fiction, an exploration of non-Western culture and mores, and an in-depth journey into a woman’s soul.

From Amazon:

In 1903, a young Scotswoman named Mary Mackenzie sets sail for China to marry her betrothed, a military attache in Peking. But soon after her arrival, Mary falls into an adulterous affair with a young Japanese nobleman, scandalizing the British community. Casting her out of the European community, her compatriots tear her away from her small daughter. A woman abandoned and alone, Mary learns to survive over forty tumultuous years in Asia, including two world wars and the cataclysmic Tokyo earthquake of 1923.

Mary’s story is romantic and heartbreaking, and rings all too true given the historical context. She is scorned by her European compatriots, discarded by both husband and lover, and separated from her children, and has simply nowhere to turn and no one to rely upon except herself. Mary’s journey is full of sorrow, yet ultimately her determination and survival are quite inspiring.

The writing in The Ginger Tree is lovely, and I was amazed by how well a male writer captured a woman’s emotions and inner turmoil in language that felt true and honest. This book is firmly ensconced on my favorites shelf, and I consistently recommend it to friends looking for an engaging, powerful story. If you enjoy historical fiction and strong, intelligent female characters, don’t miss The Ginger Tree.

So, what’s your favorite blast from the past? Leave a tip for your fellow booklovers, and share the wealth. It’s time to dust off our old favorites and get them back into circulation!

Note from your friendly Bookshelf Fantasies host: This is my baby-steps attempt at a blog hop! Join in, post a Friday Flashback on your blog, and share your link below. Let’s get this party started!



Book Review: Frozen by Mary Casanova

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Book Review: Frozen by Mary Casanova

Sadie Rose was rescued from death at age five when she was pulled from a snowbank in the middle of a cold Minnesota night, and hasn’t said a word since. Raised by the wealthy Worthingtons, a senator and his wife, Sadie Rose lives a comfortable but cheerless life in 1920s-era rural Minnesota, protected from all outside forces and influences, seeking shelter in her piano music and random hobbies, with no knowledge or memory of her origins. Until, that is, the fateful day arrives when Sadie discovers a cache of hidden photos of a glamorous, scandalous woman, and recognizes this stranger as her long-lost mother, Bella Rose.

Bit by bit, Sadie recovers pieces of the past, as she recalls her early years living in the brothel where her mother worked, until her mother’s death on the same night that Sadie was pulled from the snow. Bella Rose’s untimely demise was attributed to drink and wantonness, as she was found frozen to death with an empty bottle in her lifeless hand. As Sadie’s memory returns, she realizes that there is more to the story, and as she uncovers the truth, she also rediscovers her own ability to speak.

Frozen is set in northern Minnesota, in a small town on the banks of the great lake separating Minnesota from Canada. Prohibition is the law of the land, and moonshine and smuggling are a way of life. A powerful lumber baron controls everything and everyone in the area, and to cross him is to risk one’s life. Women’s suffrage is gaining momentum, a small group of environmentalists is trying to stop the clear-cutting practices of the lumber industry, and loose women still find ready employment in the wilds of the frontier towns.

The author does a nice job conveying the atmosphere of the time and place in which the story is set, and yet I was left wishing for a bit more meat in the story. Sadie’s journey from silence to finding a voice of her own is a bit sudden, and the catalyst of her transformation — finding her mother’s pictures — wasn’t as clearly defined as it should have been. Frozen has almost too many plot threads — a love story, a mentally ill friend, the investigation into her mother’s past, the environmental protests, local politics — and it’s really more than can be sustained by such a slim tale. The climax and denouement came a bit too easily, and I found the ending unconvincing.

Frozen is being marketed as a young adult novel, and I would imagine that teens interested in a historical setting would enjoy this. For me, as an adult who often adores YA fiction, Frozen fell a little short — a nice effort, pleasant to read, but not substantial enough to feel satisfying.

Review copy courtesy of University of Minnesota Press via NetGalley.

It’s Friday! It’s Friday!

Posted in Bookish Thoughts by

Upon waking up this morning and feeling very giddy about the fact that Friday has finally arrived after an excruciatingly long workweek, my first thoughts naturally turned to books. I wondered — have I ever read a book with the word Friday in its title?

I couldn’t come up with any off the top of my head, but a quick perusal of my Goodreads shelves reveals that I have, indeed, read exactly one Friday book, entitled… wait for it… Friday. Herewith, a salute to Friday books:

Friday by Robert A. Heinlein (1982)

My one and only Friday book, read so long ago, in the dark days of the 1980s, that I can barely remember the plot — although I do recall enjoying it quite a bit. I was on a mini-Heinlein bender in those days, and read this one right after discovering I Will Fear No Evil and Stranger In A Strange Land.

The description on Amazon is lamentably brief and not terribly helpful:

Engineered from the finest genes, and trained to be a secret courier in a future world, Friday operates over a near-future Earth, where chaos reigns. Working at Boss’s whimsical behest she travels from far north to deep south, finding quick, expeditious solutions as one calamity after another threatens to explode in her face….

Still, I seem to remember that it was quite fun to read, brimming with typical Heinlein wit and humor. Maybe not his finest, but I think fans of ’80s sci-fi will have a good time with Friday.

A quick search reveals a few other promising Friday titles:

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (2007)

From Booklist:

Georgia Walker’s entire life is wrapped up in running her knitting store, Walker and Daughter, and caring for her 12-year-old daughter, Dakota. With the help of Anita, a lively widow in her seventies, Georgia starts the Friday Night Knitting Club, which draws loyal customers and a few oddballs. Darwin Chiu, a feminist grad student, believes knitting is downright old-fashioned, but she’s drawn to the club as her young marriage threatens to unravel. Lucie, 42, a television producer, is about to become a mother for the first time–without a man in her life. Brash book editor KC finds her career has stalled unexpectedly, while brilliant Peri works at Walker and Daughter by day and designs handbags at night. Georgia gets her own taste of upheaval when Dakota’s father reappears, hoping for a second chance. The yarn picks up steam as it draws to a conclusion, and an unexpected tragedy makes it impossible to put down. Jacobs’ winning first novel is bound to have appeal among book clubs.

Oh, and it’s a series. A series about knitting. Okaaaaaay…

Moving on, a non-fiction title that I know has a lot of fans and followers:

Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream by H. G. Bissinger (1990)

I didn’t read the book; I didn’t watch the TV series. I understand both were great.

From Amazon:

Secular religions are fascinating in the devotion and zealousness they breed, and in Texas, high school football has its own rabid hold over the faithful. H.G. Bissinger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, enters into the spirit of one of its most fervent shrines: Odessa, a city in decline in the desert of West Texas, where the Permian High School Panthers have managed to compile the winningest record in state annals. Indeed, as this breathtaking examination of the town, the team, its coaches, and its young players chronicles, the team, for better and for worse, is the town; the communal health and self-image of the latter is directly linked to the on-field success of the former. The 1988 season, the one Friday Night Lights recounts, was not one of the Panthers’ best. The game’s effect on the community–and the players–was explosive. Written with great style and passion, Friday Night Lights offers an American snapshot in deep focus; the picture is not always pretty, but the image is hard to forget.

After reading The Blind Side by Michael Lewis (before it was a movie, thank you very much!), I got a lot of mileage out of shocking the people who know me well by announcing that I actually read a football book. I really should read Friday Night Lights, although I’m afraid my friends will start to worry if I read two sports book in my lifetime.

Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer (1944)

From Amazon:

When the incomparable Miss Milbourne spurns the impetuous Lord Sherington’s marriage proposal (she laughs at him—laughs!) he vows to marry the next female he encounters, who happens to be the young, penniless Miss Hero Wantage, who has adored him all her life. Whisking her off to London, Sherry discovers there is no end to the scrapes his young, green bride can get into, and she discovers the excitement and glamorous social scene of the ton. Not until a deep misunderstanding erupts and Sherry almost loses his bride, does he plumb the depths of his own heart, and surprises himself with the love he finds there.

I’ve never read anything by Georgette Heyer, but I know she has legions of adoring fans. For me personally, I think this would go on the “some day when I really have nothing else to read” pile, but I know there are a lot of avid readers who’d want to gobble this one up right away.

Black Friday by James Patterson (1986)

From Publishers Weekly:

While Patterson’s thriller is slightly out-of-date with its Cold War setting, it remains dramatically contemporary in its vision of a stock market thrown into chaos when a group of saboteurs blows up several Wall Street institutions. Arch Carroll, head of the CIA’s antiterrorist division, and Caitlin Dylan, director of enforcement for the SEC, team up professionally, and later romantically, to locate the Wall Street terrorists before they strike again. Arch travels to Paris and back, as he finds himself on the trail of former colonel David Hudson and his ragtag band of vengeance-seeking Vietnam veterans.

So not for me. But hey, it takes all types, right?

Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers (1972)

From Amazon:

Annabel thinks her mom has the best life. If she were a grown-up, she could do whatever she wanted Then one morning she wakes up to find she’s turned into her mother . . . and she soon discovers it’s not as easy as it looks.

I can’t believe that I’ve never read this! I’ve seen the Jodie Foster and Lindsay Lohan versions of the movie, both cute in their own ways. I wonder if this book holds up, or if would seem hideously old-fashioned for kids today?

Friday Nights by Joanna Trollope (2008)

From Publishers Weekly:

When a British retiree invites two young single mothers from the neighborhood to her flat, a Friday night tradition begins. As their klatch widens, Trollope’s memorable characters do more than just represent varying female predicaments: they develop as rich individuals who come to triumph over their pasts. Paula has a wary relationship with the married man who fathered their son, Toby: she must move on, yet stay in touch for Toby’s sake. Struggling Lindsay was widowed before she gave birth, while her sister, Jules, is a careless aspiring nightclub DJ with a wild streak. Independent, put-together Blaise contrasts starkly with her often bedraggled business partner, Karen, who barely manages her role as mother and breadwinner. And then there is Eleanor, the catalyst for the gatherings, a no-nonsense older woman who, though full of wisdom and spunk, keeps her thoughts to herself unless asked. When a new man enters Paula’s life, Trollope (Second Honeymoon) masterfully shows how work and romance can tip the scales in female friendships. The result is a careful and compelling examination of one man’s insidious effect on a group of female friends, as memorable as it is readable.

Sounds a little Jane Austen Book Club-y, but I’ve read other novels by Joanna Trollope and found her writing sharp, insightful, and sensitive.

And my final addition for this salute to Fridays:

Friday The Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman (1964)

From Goodreads:

Rabbi David Small, the new leader of Barnard’s Crossing’s Jewish community, can’t even enjoy his Sabbath without things getting stirred up in a most unorthodox manner: It seems a young nanny has been found strangled, less than a hundred yards from the Temple’s parking lot — and all the evidence points to the Rabbi.

Add to that the not-so-quiet rumblings of his disgruntled congregation, and you might say our inimitable hero needs a miracle from a Higher Source to save him….

It gave me a nostalgic little giggle to see this book pop up in my search. I remember seeing my parents read this and others in the series when I was a kid. A mystery series with a rabbi as the hero? Sounded kind of goofy to me at the time, but based on reader reviews, these books are both award-winning and well-loved by their readers.

So there you have it: Science fiction, thriller, sports, contemporary fiction, Regency-era historical romance, children’s fiction, and a crime-solving rabbi — something for everyone.

Enjoy your Fridays, whatever you may choose to read!

And hey, if you’ve got an exciting book underway for the long weekend, do tell — leave a comment and let us all know what you’re reading this Labor Day weekend.

Wishlist Wednesday

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by

And now, for this week’s Wishlist Wednesday…

The concept is to post about one book from our wish lists that we can’t wait to read. Want to play? Here’s how:

  • Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
  • Please consider adding the blog hop button to your blog somewhere, so others can find it easily and join in too! Help spread the word! The code will be at the bottom of the post under the linky.
  • Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get to put on your shelves.
  • Do a post telling your readers about the book and why it’s on your wishlist.
  • Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of the post at Pen to Paper.
  • Put a link back to pen to paper (http://vogue-pentopaper.blogspot.com) somewhere in your post.
  • Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My Wishlist Wednesday book is:

Moloka’i by Alan Brennert
(published 2004)

From Amazon:

This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai’i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place—and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.
Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka’i. Here her life is supposed to end—but instead she discovers it is only just beginning.
With a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka’i is the true-to-life chronicle of a people who embraced life in the face of death. Such is the warmth, humor, and compassion of this novel that “few readers will remain unchanged by Rachel’s story” (mostlyfiction.com).

Why do I want to read this?

Moloka’i has actually been on my to-read list for some time now. I’ve always been fascinated by Hawaiian history, and really enjoy good historical fiction set in Hawaii. The story of the leper colony on the island of Moloka’i is quite moving — and sadly, is quite true.  Alan Brennert has published Honolulu more recently, another piece of historical fiction set in Hawaii in the early 20th century. If I enjoy Moloka’i as much as I anticipate, I’m sure I’ll want to read Honolulu too.

Tally ho, Alaska bound!

Posted in Bookish Thoughts by

My lovely daughter, now a college graduate, is about to embark on a year-long service project in Juneau, Alaska. In her honor, let’s talk Alaska books. I’m putting together a list of books, fiction and non-fiction, that are set in Alaska and convey a bit of local flavor, drama, and adventure. Based purely on my own arbitrary set of rules, I’m leaving out travel guides (no Fodor’s or Frommer’s) and straight-up history; anything else goes.

Here’s what I have from my own personal library:

A couple that I’ve read:

Alaska by James Michener. Michener’s historical novels make good doorstops, but they really do  provide an excellent overview of the history of a place, told in a way that’s both informative and engaging. An easy solution for those of us who always choose fiction over non-fiction.

If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende. A warm-hearted memoir of one woman’s experiences, both introspective and amusing.

A couple still on my to-read shelf:

Tisha: The Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaska Wilderness by Robert Specht and Anne Purdy. According to the blurb on Amazon: “Anne Hobbs is a prim and proper 19-year-old schoolteacher who yearns for adventure. She finds this and much more in a town with the unlikely name of Chicken, located deep in the Alaskan interior. It is 1927 and Chicken is a wild mining community flaming with gold fever. Anne quickly makes friends with many of the townspeople, but is soon ostracized when she not only befriends the local Indians but also falls in love with one.”

The Blue Bear: A True Story of Friendship, Tragedy, and Survival in the Alaskan Wilderness by Lynn Schooler. Again from Amazon: “With a body twisted by adolescent scoliosis and memories of the brutal death of a woman he loved, Lynn Schooler kept the world at arm’s length, drifting through the wilds of Alaska as a commercial fisherman, outdoorsman, and wilderness guide. In 1990 Schooler met Japanese photographer Michio Hoshino and began a profound friendship forged by a love of adventure and cemented by their mutual obsession with finding the elusive glacier bear, an exceedingly rare creature, seldom seen and shrouded in legend. But it was only after Hoshino’s tragic death from a bear attack that Schooler succeeded in photographing the animal — and only then that he was able to complete his journey and find new meaning in his own life.”

Coming Into The Country by John McPhee. Amazon description: “Coming into the Country is an unforgettable account of Alaska and Alaskans. It is a rich tapestry of vivid characters, observed landscapes, and descriptive narrative, in three principal segments that deal, respectively, with a total wilderness, with urban Alaska, and with life in the remoteness of the bush.”

What else? Add your ideas and recommendations in the comments!