Author: kim.harwanko

When family disintegrates

kim.harwanko

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

As the weather chilled and the leaves started to turn color, so did our taste in books.  We chose The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.

What makes a family? Having dinner every Sunday at mom’s house? Genetics? What bond ties a family together? These were the conversations we had at book club about this superb book.

Mallard, Louisiana was home to light-skinned blacks who didn’t marry “dark.”  The Vignes’ twins, Desiree and Stella, were raised that way. One traumatic night their father was ripped out of their home by a gang of white men for no reason and lynched. This atrocious event scared the twins in different ways and at sixteen they ran away to New Orleans. But after only one year Stella left, disappeared without one word to her twin sister. The book then splits following each twin on their life course.

This book plunges beyond the surface of its characters down to their souls, laying bare their shattered lives.

We talked about how an event in our past affects the present.  How it impacts our daily decisions. We were intrigued by their story and wanted to find out more about the twins. Did they find happiness? Do they reunite?

Great book for discussion, which, of course, is always what book club is all about.

Rating: 8.5

Photo by Kool C on Unsplash

Something Scary in the Woods

kim.harwanko

Harlan Coben crafts another captivating mystery with The Boy from the Woods. His novels are enjoyed by our entire book club. And he’s a Jersey boy – always a plus.

The protagonist of Coben’s latest whodunit is Wilde who thirty years earlier was found in the woods of New Jersey. In a throwback to Tarzan, he had been living like a wild animal and had no memory of where he came from or what his name was.  The townspeople called him Wilde.

Fast forward to present and he is asked by Hester Crimstein, a criminal TV attorney, to probe into the disappearance of a teenage girl named Naomi Pine, a friend of her grandson. Wilde is a security expert with unique abilities to investigate and solve difficult cases. His is also a friend of Hester and her family. 

Nothing’s as it seems in the search for the missing teenager.  But what fun would it be if it were.

Coben’s books don’t usually lend themselves to intense discussion. However, we love to talk about the twists and turns and who saw what coming and so on.  Mysteries are so much fun.

We all agreed at book club that we wanted Wilde to search for his parents/relatives.  Who the hell left a young boy in the woods? That to us was the biggest secret of all.  Maybe there’s a second book being planned for Wilde and we’ll get our answer then.

Rating: 7.5

I came across this video of Harlan talking about the book and thought I’d share it – https://www.grandcentralpublishing.com/titles/harlan-coben/the-boy-from-the-woods/9781538748169/

Photo by Niilo Isotalo on Unsplash

Summer Breeze

kim.harwanko

Jennifer Weiner is a favorite storyteller of some of our book club members.  We enjoyed Mrs. Everything last year and so for our August book club we read Big Summer.  

The novel begins with Daphne Berg, who is a plus-size woman trying to capitalize on her writing and creative abilities by showcasing her zaftig figure in a positive way drawing online support and creating her own community.  What could possibly go wrong?

The influencer idea came from a particularly cruel “mean girl” type of event instigated by her then best friend, Drue Cavanaugh.  Years later, Drue comes back into Daphne’s life and begs her to be her maid of honor at her upcoming wedding.  Huh?

Drue, the extremely rich, beautiful socialite didn’t have any real friends. At least, that’s what she told Daphne.  And she really needed her to be in the wedding.  Drue didn’t trust anyone else.  Daphne would be able to post all the events surrounding the wedding and even had an upcoming designer had agreed to dress her for the part. As we read the book, we were all screaming – don’t do it, but w’ere older and allegedly wiser.

After Daphne agrees to do this favor for Drue, all sorts of crazy things start happening.  The story line even has a murder in it. 

Weiner beautifully captures Cape Cod and the complications of female friendships especially younger women.  We would have loved more of that and less of the murder.  Weiner has a lovely, young, bubbly way of creating these moments that are so believable and accessible.  We want more of that!

Our book club talked about the social media circus and how fortunate we are not to be so engaged in it. We post on Facebook and some a little on Instagram, but cautiously.  We do choose to live out loud but not so much online. An easy, breezy read.

Rating: 7

Photo by Alexandra Lowenthal on Unsplash

Beyond The Ghetto Gates

kim.harwanko

Beyond the Ghetto Gates tells the harrowing story of the Jewish people in Ancona, Italy during Napoleon’s invasion through the eyes of a young Jewish maiden named Mirelle.  

Forced out of her father’s beloved workshop by the Rabbi, Mirelle struggles to confirm. She is told that her time is better spent learning to be a good wife from her mother.  A woman is unfit for the job after all.

In the meantime, the Catholics in Ancona grow increasingly anxious with the approaching French army, blaming the Jews. They lash out, killing, and destroying, and cause great suffering. Mirelle and her family try to pick up the pieces as the French army arrives.

With Napoleon’s capture of Ancona, the ghetto gates used to segregate the Jewish people are destroyed, and the French troops do away with the civil limitations imposed on the Jews, at least for a while. 

The story also follows two French soldiers, Daniel and Christophe. Lifelong friends, Daniel is Jewish, and Christophe is Catholic (but not practicing). They cross paths with Mirelle and her best friend, Dolce. A love story takes shape and a marriage proposal for Mirelle. Although, not the one she imagined.

Francesca, a married, devout Catholic woman living in Ancona adds another dimension to the story.  She is torn between her religion and her marriage vows.

We love escaping into the past with a good book.  And Beyond the Ghetto Gates was just the story to bring us back in time to the city of Ancona, Italy in 1796. We chose this as our book club pick for June and everyone loved it.  We had a Zoom meeting with the author, Michelle Cameron and asked all sort of questions about the origins of the book, the research as well as the characters. We highly suggest this book for other book clubs.

By the way, did you know that Napoleon wasn’t really short? 

Rating: 8.5

Teaching in the Time of Desegregation

kim.harwanko

We had the pleasure of spending an evening, via Zoom, with author, Eileen Harrison Sanchez for our book club, Between Friends. It’s so much fun when you host an author. We were able to get all the background for the novel, as well as answers to those questions that always pop up when you a read a good book. 

Freedom Lessons is Eileen’s personal account of her time spent in a small rural town, Kettle Creek, Louisiana. A few years earlier the U.S. Supreme Court mandated that schools desegregate, but by 1969 many had not. Eileen spent one-school year as a teacher for an African American school when it was directed to integrate into a white school in the same town. The integration took place at the last possible moment (overnight in fact) to not lose its federal funding.

Eileen decided to tell the story through the eyes of a young white teacher (Colleen), a black teacher (Evelyn) and a black student (Frank).  This gave depth to the story and we had a chance to see the effects of this move on the town and its students.  

The author taught second grade during her time in Louisiana and struggled to supply her students with basic materials and books. She was creative and managed to improvise with game playing and performance motivating techniques. Eileen reached out to her students’ parents and worked with them to get library cards for her students. It helped her gain their trust, which was not an easy thing to do at that time in the South.

In the current environment this is a wonderful book for book clubs to read and to start the discussion on racism. All of us enjoyed the book and, of course, speaking with Eileen.  We had lots of questions about her time in Louisiana and how she continued her efforts to seek fairness in the education for all ethnicities throughout her long teaching and administrative years.

We recommend the book and are happy we had the opportunity to meet such an empathic warrior who was brave enough to do the right thing.

Rating: 8.5

The Only Woman in the Room

kim.harwanko

Who doesn’t want to be the most beautiful woman in a room?  Most of us will only wonder. But to be stunningly beautiful, and an actress with a brilliant mind in the 1950’s was inconceivable to the male-dominated world. Author, Marie Benedict, had to write about Hedy Lamarr after she found out about her invention.

She captivated audiences in the 1940’s and 50’s with her beauty and acting ability. Hiding beneath that striking face was the mind of an innovator.  Hedy Lamarr is credited with inventing the basics for all modern wireless communications: signal hopping along with composer George Antheil.

Wanting to help the plight of the European Jews she undertakes to create something that would help the Allies – a superior radio-guided torpedo system. How she goes about doing this is quite interesting as is her escape from her abusive husband in Vienna right before the start of WWII. Her wily determination helps her flee Austria and the Nazis and make her way to Hollywood. She uses her beauty to her advantage, but she strives to be much more.

Our book club really enjoyed the novel.  Some of us looked up her background and talked about details in her movie career and her marriages.  We are always amazed at how women were ignored and overlooked in the 40’s and 50’s.  How little voice we had as a gender! Still more needs to be done, but we thank all those that came before us who paved the way, including Hedy Lamarr. 

Rating: 7.5

Spain, Franco and Silence

kim.harwanko

World War II has been a popular genre for books written in the last few years.  Characters going through war are always a fascinating read.  Ruta Sepetys picked Spain and dictator Francisco Franco. Unlike Hitler, Franco was in power for 36 years and fear and repression became a way of life for the Spaniards.

The author told this rich story through the eyes of different social classes. The beautiful Ana, poor and a maid at a luxury hotel. Daniel Matheson, son of an American oil tycoon. What could possibly go wrong? Think Nazis but without all the noise.

The undercurrents throughout the story are scary. But it is clear that you don’t want to complain. Just keep quiet and ignore what is going on around you. One of the worst atrocities was the ordeal of the parents who had been told their children died during childbirth. These children didn’t die but were put up for adoption – basically sold to rich, socially desirable people. Similar story line to Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. Yikes.

Our book club enjoyed this poignant book and had good discussions about it. We knew little about Spain under Franco and we learned a lot about this period and about the Spanish people.  We even enjoyed the love story.

Rating: 8.0

Living Beyond Fear

kim.harwanko

Two local authors found after traumatic events that they shared a connection with the afterlife as messengers.  Together they channel from the spiritual realm.

They met at an intuitive training workshop and sensed a familiarity with each other. They wanted to gain a deeper understanding of their own spiritual path and to make sense of the messages they’d been hearing from people who had passed.

Berit and Beth working together expanded their field of awareness.  Berit had received guidance in a dream about messages they’d been receiving and was instructed that these messages were to be called Sacred Letters and that the women were to collect and publish them. They assembled pieces of fragments of information they received and brought them more clearly into view.

At book club none of us knew what to expect.  Visions of séances, mediums and psychics swirled around in our heads. It was nothing like that at all.  Berit and Beth where uplifting and inspirational taking about loving each other. No cloak and daggers here. Just caring and knowing that your love ones who have passed are safe.

Mrs. Everything

kim.harwanko

Most of our book club members lived through the 60’s, 70’s and onward so we were all excited to read Jennifer Weiner’s new book, Mrs. Everything.

The two main characters are sisters, Jo and Bethie Kaufman and they grew up in Detroit in the 50’s and 60’s.  Jo never fits into her mother’s image. She’s awkward and a tomboy.  Her father shows her lots of love and tempers her mother’s sharper tones with his kind and gentle way.

Bethie, however, is the apple in her mother’s eye. Just perfect. Beautiful and smart with a lovely singing voice.  What could possibly go wrong?

Life intervenes, and everything goes haywire.  Bethie and Jo almost switch places and become each other.  Numerous secondary characters add lots of color to the book and the story. Some you’ll love and others are just awful. Like our own lives. 

Both sisters are steadfast in their love for each other through the tragedies and traumas they sustained. In the end it’s about finding yourself in a world with expectations and demands.  The pain and successes are better shared.

We enjoyed this read and talked about our memories during this time period – the songs, the hair, the clothes and, our own sisters and, of course our first loves. 

Enjoy.

Rating: 7.0

Being Significant or Not

kim.harwanko

Wow! Never pictured the 1940’s New York City and the theater crowd quite like Elizabeth Gilbert does in her latest, City of Girls.

We are introduced to Vivian Morris, who at the age of 19 flunks out of Vassar and is sent to live with her aunt (Peg) who owns a run-down theater troupe in New York City called the Lily Playhouse.  The uptight proper life Vivian is used to peels away as she enjoys a freedom, she never thought was possible.  The first half of the book is Vivian’s coming of age – and what a time she had. But remember this is long before the social upheaval of the free-love 1960’s.

Vivian palled around with Celia, the most beautiful of the showgirls, who taught her everything she needed to know about getting men to buy them dinner and drinks and about sex.  They partied their way through the Stork Club and other popular venues, drank expensive champagne and had lots of sex. 

At one point there is a scene that grows dark. Celia is quite aware of what is happening and gets Vivian out of the way. To me it foreshadowed the events to come. Sex is never quite so free.

By the time Aunt Peg’s friend, Edna Parker Watson, and her much-younger husband come to stay, Vivian and Celia are out-on-the-town every night.  Edna and Peg decide to put on a show and Peg asks her ex-husband to leave Hollywood and write the play.  

The playhouse is brought back to life and the play is a huge success.  And Vivian has found a way to be involved.  She is an amazing seamstress.  She begins to date the leading man in the play and seems to settle down a bit.

Naturally, it all comes crashing down. And Vivian is at the center of it. Edna Parker Watson gives one of the best put-downs I have ever read. 

The second half of the book loses its intense tension but kept us riveted because we cared about Vivian and wanted her to be okay.

We all loved the book.  We read a lot of books set in the 1940s but usually around the war, so it was nice to imagine what the City was like at the time and also learning about the small theaters that use to dot the City.

Our book club talked about Vivian’s sexuality and the price she paid when it got out of control.  We talked about Edna Parker Watson, her reaction and about her husband.  We loved Aunt Peg.  Don’t we all want mothers like that?  Vivian’s mother was cold, but Aunt Peg gave Vivian the warm and love she needed.

We talked about the second half of the book and its difference from the first half. And the man she finally fell in love with.

Definitely a book club pick. Enjoy the ride.

Rating: 8.0