Hester, Laurie Lico Albanese

 

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese is a look at the Scarlet Letter from the point of view of Hester.  I seem to have found quite a few books looking at well known stories from the woman's perspective and I have to admit that they shed new and useful lights on the stories.

Started: 1/1/2022
Completed: 1/3/2022
Recommendation: Mild recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Albanese starts with the concept of synesthesia making others believe a person was a witch.  This is an interesting premise given that it is six times more common in women.  I really like the premise and I think it has merit.  OK, so, cool, apply that to 19th century Massachusetts and the era of Nathanial Hawthorne who effectively ties a letter ("A") to scarlet.  Very interesting.  This book, however, is not the Scarlett Letter from Hester's perspective.  It is about a "real life" person who, in turn, inspired the character of Hester.  Is your head spinning?  Mine was.

Working on this basis...we tap into the life of a young embroiderer on the Scottish coast (make more sense now?).  She has synesthesia which allows her to put her colors together beautifully and, in time, to reflect the person for whom the work is made (some people have green speech or purple speech, etc.)  Of course, however, having this ability must be kept secret, 'cause all the female relatives have been killed for being witches.

Fast forward to America.  Where?  Salem, Massachusetts.  Yeah, super witchy area.  This is where Hawthorne lives (stained by one of his ancestors who was a judge in the trials) and into which our new red headed Scottish synesthetic embroiderer, Isobel, comes married but left by her husband while he literally pursues drugs.  Scotts are not well liked at the time (one run above black folk) so she is on the edge of town.  So, the stage is set and we are only half way through the book.

Over time, Hawthorne shows himself to be a coward and also a tad randy.  Isobel, manages to find her way forward "using the needle" and it was not clear to me how Hawthorne came to make Isobel into Hester.  Maybe it is through lies upon lies as a web he uses to protect himself and both gratify himself, but I think I am stretching.  I'm not looking to reprise the book, but I think that the effort Albanese makes is to try to get the reader to figure out how Isobel becomes a model for Hester Prinn while at the same time writing a novel that has plot and pace.  It is a very tall order and I have to say that Albanese pulls it off by the thinnest of margins.  I enjoyed the book, but, obviously, I don't know how I would explain it to anyone.

All This Could Be Different, Sarah Thankham Mathews

 

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

Started: 12/29/2022
Completed: 1/1/2022
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Several Best Book of the Year lists

Review:

The characters, in general, seemed flat to me.  <SPOILERS> Sneha opens up, eventually, to some about her life, but cannot find a lasting intimate relationship because she refuses to be vulnerable.  When finally given a chance to build a lasting relationship, it seems like she does her best to put her "Jersey girl" love interest into a "fish-out-of-water" scenario that dooms what is left.  I ended the book thinking that Sneha had learned nothing over the course of the book.  Similarly, her friend Tig (who marries, has children, and enters into relationships with two others as part of an open marriage) seems like a frenetic ball of energy, just like when  they started.  Another friend, Tom, starts out rejecting his parents' lifestyle and ends....you guessed it...rejecting his parents' lifestyle.  This book takes place over years with huge changes for the characters and yet none of them seem to be affected by the ocean of change occurring underneath them. Maybe it is a generational thing (this is a coming of age story for twenty-somethings in aughts).  There is no talk about these kids reflecting on years of shooter drills in school, some about gay bashing, and some about immigrants being left on the outside.  It feels like a narrow, insular, book (think the preppie coming of age books in the 50s).  Not a reflection of an entire generation--the diversity of background features in this book, but not the diversity of thought.

Dead Wake, Erik Larson

 

Dead Wake:  The last crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson

Started: 12/24/2022
Completed: 12/29/2022
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: My mother

Review:

I like the way that Erik Larson writes and that is why this book gets a mild recommendation.  He did a good job of moving perspectives and coalescing disparate stories from the numerous passengers.  The problem, in my eyes, is that he didn't really address the consequence of the Lusitania being sunk.  He addressed the aftermath, but the real story, in my opinion, is how it changed the course of the US entrance into World War I.  Here, it seems almost incidental.  We get details (like Wilson golfing the next day) and a gaffe from the German PR machine, but it isn't clear that the Lusitania mattered.  Maybe it didn't (that is not what was taught in school), but I'm not clear on that score either.  As a result the book is both richly detailed and suffering from a lack of detail.  Ah well. 

Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng

 

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

Started: 12/20/2022
Completed: 12/24/2022
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

The writing is good, but I was not terribly fond of where the plot went.  It is important to understand how the US government has used children to enforce "morality."  This story, however, is largely told from the children's point of view and nobody gets what they want (not the government, not the parents, and surely not the children).  In that sense the book sort of feels like a twisted pile of anxiety.  Nothing seems to work for anyone with an impending sense that there is a general heading toward the authoritarian type of government that shows up in the Handmaid's Tale.  I don't know what to say or think, but I definitely did not find this book uplifting.

The Revolutionary, Stacy Schiff

 

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff is another biography of a founder.  I find these compelling.

Started: 12/11/2022
Completed: 12/19/2022
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

emendation -- the process of making a revision or a correction to a text.

Review:

I have never read a review of Samuel Adams and, sadly, knew him more for beer.  A three term governor of Massachusetts and signer of the Constitution.  I know a lot about John Adams, but his older cousin has escaped my notice.  This was an interesting biography and I feel like I learned a lot.  In point of fact, however, Schiff has little history with which to work as his papers were largely destroyed (by him and others) and his work was, perforce, under the radar.  I had no awareness of his involvement (purported or otherwise) in the Boston Tea Party or as the owner of the Boston Gazette.

All The Devils Are Here, Louise Penny

 

All The Devils Are Here by Louise Penny is the next book in the Armand Gamash series.

Started: 12/5/2022
Completed: 12/11/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: My Parents

Review:

Once again, Penny delivers.  This book had a little more action then I like.  It also plucked at heart strings which I kind of realized from the start.  Putting Gamash in Paris can only be for some deeper look at Daniel's character.  Yes, Annie is having a baby, but that immediately felt like a pretense.  Penny did pull at heart strings and she plucked rather unendingly leaving me emotionally wrung out by the end.  That isn't all bad.

Servants of the Damned, David Enrich

 

Servants of the Damned:  Giant law firms, Donald Trump, and the corruption of justice by David Enrich

Started: 11/30/2022
Completed: 12/5/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: My wife

Review:

This book made me angry.  It is another example of too much power being concentrated in the hands of a few via monstrous wealth.  It did show me that corporations are a much larger problem then I thought.  It is not simply greed, but the dismantling of our society in the interest of corporations.  Every few minutes, I was astounded by what was being recounted.  Most of this is one law firm, Jones-Day.  It is shocking and unlikely to be typical.  Just takes my breath away and makes my head spin.