Canadian Writer Louise Penny's "Still Life" 1st in Her Mystery Series with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache

Louise Penny (b Canada 1958) is a successful and prolific writer of mysteries. Her returning main character is Chief Inspector Armand Gamache who consistently solves murder mystery cases.  "Still Life" (2005) is the first in her "Gamache" series.  Her most recent novel "Glass Houses" was published this year.  Still, while Penny has received numerous awards for mystery writing and the distinguished honor of being initiated as a Member of the Order of Canada, I was not swept into the storytelling web in "Still Life."  The setting is in an idyllic, small rural Canadian town.  It seems as if   everyone knows one another and everyone soon realizes that victim is amongst them.  The murder victim is the beloved Jane, a former local school teacher. The town has its share of eccentric citizens and cozy cafes but there's little spark to solving for Jane's murder.  Myrna, a longtime friend of Jane's does have her views as to why people would commit murder.  "Money, power. Gain or bring to protect something you're afraid of losing."  Clara is married to Peter.  She & Jane were extremely close despite the huge gap in their age difference.  Clara is deeply shaken by the untimely death of her friend.  Though the novel didn't pique my intrigue for solving the case, there's plenty of insights by its cast of characters, especially Inspector Gamache.  Enough perspicacity to possibly recommend pursuing Penny's plethora of fictitious crime capers.   Jane's grief for her friend leads to a fracture in her marriage.  "A silence between them, something else unsaid.  Is this how it starts?  Those chasms between couples, filled not with comfort and familiarity, but with too much unsaid."  The Chief's observations are the most astute.  Gamache understood it was his job to get people to reveal themselves.  He learned by watching the choices people make.  Gamache's tries gallantly & patiently to impart his wisdom to the new trainee, Nichol, assigned to work with him.  Nichol is sharp but too cocky to accept any helpful criticism or instructions.  Gamache's sage & cogent advice to Nichol is to listen and he encourages to utilize the phrases:  I'm sorry, I don't know and I need help.   Matthew 10:36 is referred to often in "Still Life."  "And a man's foes shall be of his own household."  Betrayal being the startling revelation in this ho hum whodunnit.  But, I'm not one to throw stones and I'm curious enough to read Penny's latest, "Glass Houses."  

Meg Wolitzer's Novel "The Wife" is Soon to be Seen on the Screen with Glenn Close and Jonathan Price

Meg Politzer (b US 1959) is a prolific novelist and gifted writer of short stories.  Her novel "The Wife" published in 2003 is being made into a film opening soon starring Glenn Close star of screen, stage & TV as the overshadowed wife and the British actor of screen, stage & TV ("Game of Thrones") Jonathan Pryce as her overbearing, self-absorbed husband. The two are a long time married couple who've grown apart yet remained together.  They first met when was Joan (Close) was a co-ed in his writing seminar at Smith and immediately she was smitten.  Joe (Pryce) enters the all female classroom setting hearts a flutter despite (or incensed) by his announcement that his wife just had their first child.  The part of the young Joan will be portrayed in the upcoming film by Close's own daughter, Annie Maude Starke.  The story begins in the 1950s with Joan somewhat aloof from her classmates and convinced there's more to her sheltered, wealthy upbringing.  In the novel, Joan's mother is appalled not so much by the adulterous affair but that it is with a Jew. The anti-Semitic undercurrent is relative to the times.  Joe's student/teacher conferences flatter Joan's writing & boosts her confidence.  When the conferences become carnal knowledge & common knowledge, both Joe & Joan flee the Univ. taking refuge in NYC in a squalid apartment.  The two become a team where it would seem Joan is the one behind the scene doing the lion's share of household wifely/motherly chores and the heavy lifting when it comes to writing.  Joe's "writing" brings him notoriety, literary prizes and the much coveted Finlandia Literary Prize.  Joan is the narrator which is recounted mostly in flashbacks.  Perhaps piqued by years of Joe's infidelity, faltering parenting and mostly due to the unrewarding years of yielding herself to benefitting Joe.  She has the opportunity to tell all to Joe's unofficial biographer.  Joe & Joan have a heated (literally) altercation in the sauna of their lush hotel on the night Joe received his literary prize with mounds of alcohol & accolades.  Joe concedes "Every marriage is just two people striking a bargain.  I traded, you traded, so maybe it wasn't even."  Joan mulls over her role as the wife.  "I liked the role at first, assessed the power it contained which for some reason many people don't see, but it's there."  Joan having raised 2 daughters and a son is cognizant of the changes in lifestyles over the decades for women since the 50s.  These women were always confronting boundaries & negotiations.  Today, women have more opportunities and choices to be the type of wife, mother and career person of their own volition.  Wolitzer's writing is cunning & poetic.  "Wives are meant to be sources of comfort, showering it like wedding rice."  Wolitzer's works make great picks for women's book clubs but it doesn't broach the level of Pulitzer Prize worthy - yet.

Joan Silber's Novel IMPROVEMENT Wins the Nat'l Book Award ('17) and PEN/Faulkner Award ('18)

Joan Silber (b. Amer 1945) has previously been nominated for the Nat'l Book Award (IDEAS of HEAVEN" '04).  This year, Silber received the honor for her novel IMPROVEMENT which also earned the PEN/FAULKNER Award.  The crafty writing and interwoven & thinly connected characters makes for an intriguing and unexpected work.  The main character Kiki, is somewhat reminiscent of an "Auntie Mame" heroine; bohemian, unorthodox, world traveler and beloved great aunt to Oliver.  Oliver's single mother Reyna is also unpredictable and apt to follow her heart rather than rationale.  The plot's twists & travels takes Kiki to Turkey where she marries Osman.  They live in Istanbul until his rug business goes bust and they move out to barren & uneventful rural farmland consumed with endless chores.  A vagabond group of young German antiquities thieves pass through and stir Kiki's inner passions for adventure & excitement.  She leaves Osman who leaves her with several Turkish rugs that are metaphorical magic carpets that transport Kiki & Reyna's lives with the financial windfalls they provide.  "Say what you will money has the power to improve circumstances."  There are shifty New Yorkers who also have get rich quick illicit plans that prove profitable but then fatal and love connections that derail.  One shifty small time gifter, aptly named Wiley, is the unlikely member of the novel's motley characters to find a lasting love and turn his life around.  But, "Maybe love was raising him up, turning him around, starting him over."  Silber's expansive storytelling weaves in themes of love and improvement and perhaps, love being at the heart for changing betterment.   There's the power of regret, the perpetual pondering of what could be fixed and what might provide redemption.  I was stirred by various thoughts on motivations for change "the tooth of regret tore at her heart" and the capacity of love's omnipotence.  "People thought love was everything, but it could do so much and no more."   IMPROVEMENT is a spellbinding read.  It has a nomadic & unconventional style that is puzzling and poignant.  I admired Silber's writing and enjoyed IMPROVEMENT but I've read other books this year I believe were better candidates for this year's Nat'l Book Award.  "The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement."  (H. Schmidt)

The Novel GINNY MOON a New Insight into the Mind of a Teen with Autism also Tossed in Foster Care

Benjamin Ludwig's debut novel GINNY MOON's main character is a teen with many difficulties in young life.  She's resourceful, resilient, dedicated to caring for her baby sister and she has autism.  Ginny's voice narrates her story.  She informs us "I go for part of language arts with all the other special kids because I have autism and developmental disabilities." As the reader, we understand Ginny's reasonings & struggles whereas people in her life cannot.   Patrice, her psychiatrist offers the most patience & is the most perceptive.  "Patrice understands mostly everything that I tell her.  She even understands something that I don't say."  Ginny suffered terrible abuse while living with her drug addicted birth mother Gloria.  Gloria was at times a loving parent but mostly neglectful.  She failed to provide adequate food, protection and was oftentimes volatile.  The men who came to visit her mom sexually abused Ginny.  When the police finally intervened Ginny was 9 and was placed into social services. They placed her with foster families.  Ginny developed a severe aversion to men, police and become further withdrawn.  The first foster placements were disastrous.  At 15, Ginny is placed with what she calls her forever Mom & Dad.  Ginny understands much more than given credit.  She tries desperately to convey that she fears for her "Baby Doll," her infant sister when Ginny was removed from Gloria.  "Baby Doll will suffer serious abuse and neglect which is what happened to me."  Ginny is relentless in trying to contact Gloria because no seems to understand the dire situation of the hidden infant left in Gloria's care.  Patrice finally breaks through, "I'm sorry for 5 years now you've been telling us that your real Baby Doll was a real baby and you were right."  There are parallels between GINNY MOON and THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG both novels have teenage main characters with autism.   Both are incredibly tenacious & self-reliant but unfortunately Ginny's circumstances are much more harrowing & heart breaking.  The novels are paradigms for humanity and the expanse of both compassion & cruelty.  GINNY MOON takes the reader along the painful journey of an incredibly good but misunderstood young woman.  Ginny knows "I need to belong somewhere and where I am isn't anywhere at all.  I'm just a cave girl who doesn't belong.  I can't do anything right.  I can't take care of anything so I just don't belong."  Ludwig received the Clay Reynolds Prize for his novella SOURDOUGH.  In his first novel Ludwig created a fully developed character with Ginny.  We cringe with sorrow & fear and desperately want to protect her.  Ludwig & his wife have an adopted child with autism.  The writing is compelling and the story unforgettable.  GINNY MOON explores regions of the mind that are unattainable.    

Rachel Kushner's The MARS ROOM - Brilliant Writing But a Devastating Book of a Woman Incarcerated

The MARS ROOM by writer/journalist Rachel Kushner (b. Amer. 1968) is twice a finalist for the Nat'l Book Award; "Telex from Cuba" and "The Flamethrower."  As a journalist Kushner is a frequent contributor to "Artforum" magazine.   Kushner's literary fiction writing is deeply stirring; both devastatingly heartbreaking and profoundly creative.  The MARS ROOM refers to the seedy strip joint Romy works to support her drug habit & her young son Jackson.  Romy's life is drawn out as a young teen growing up in San Francisco; the grungy, Mission district.  Her misguided, mostly unsupervised adolescence is padded with deviant juvenile misadventures.  Nothing indicative of criminal actively leading to a life sentence for murder.  Kushner's insights are socially relevant & her writing exquisite. Romy's regular customer at the Mars Room is a creep but he keeps her with a steady flow of cash which helps to care for her son.  Romy is street smart and she knows her steady customer turns into a dangerous stalker.  Constantly harassed by calls & surveillance she manages to relocate with her son.  Her sense of safety & freedom is short lived.  When he unexpectedly shows up on her porch she uses a pipe to pound the life out of him.  Taken into custody & Jackson into the care of her semi-reliable mother, Romy is left without means for legal counsel.  Her public defender does nothing to defend her.  Had she had financial means for a personal attorney, they likely would've gotten her released or charged with a lesser crime.  Romy is found guilty and incarcerated for life. Kushner accesses the Hellish lives of Romy & other inmates.   Romy constantly for information on Jackson.  Imprisoned, Romy ruminates on her past life.  She realizes you first learn of evil in the world as a youngster but it's not easy to absorb.  Her job as a stripper sucked the life out of her.  "The problem was not moral.  It was nothing to do with morality.  These men dimmed my glow.  Made me numb to touch, and angry."  Romy understands how her cellmates were able to commit murder. They killed because did not see their victims as human.  The guards tell Romy who inquires about Jackson,  "Your situation is due 100% to choices you made and action you took. If you'd wanted to be a responsible parent, you would have made different choices."  Gordon, a teacher who works with Romy & other inmates views things differently.  "Maybe guilt and innocence were not even a real axis. Things went wrong in peoples lives."  Both Romy & Gordon see the celestial expanse with similar vantages.  "The sky is junked with stars and if you live in a city, you don't know.  If you live in a prison you do not see a single star on account of the lights. (Romy) "In city life you tend to be turned inward...you get conditioned to block most sights & sounds out of your conscience mind." (Gordon) The MARS ROOM is a literary marvel of storytelling that is at war with grief and compassion, and battles with splendor and repulsiveness.