I’ll admit I’ve been on a Brontë kick this summer; heat tends to drive me toward stories about simmering characters in cooler climes, a sure recipe for a Brontë book. But, for all of my repeated readings of Charlotte Brontë‘s prose and my disaffection for sister Emily’s Wuthering Heights, I never bothered to read the work of Anne Brontë. Now, I want to bang on the front doors of all my English teachers and yell, “Why didn’t you assign her books to your courses? What were you thinking?” Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall may be the surprise sensation of my summer reading. It seems the book has always defied expectations. Published when English Women had no right to vote, own property or even have custody of their children, it’s a challenge to that “civilized” society. It dealt with issues like addiction and adultery so realistically it was a literary sensation when it was first published. It was so controversial, that sister Charlotte tried at one point to suppress the book’s being reprinted. The story’s subtitle could be “the mysterious new girl in town, ” and it’s told by Gilbert Markham, a young, rather satisfied, gentleman farmer whose family has “always” been part of the community….
My obsessions don’t make me a better person. They eat up too much time and energy and can turn me into an absolute bore but, they are part of me. I find an interesting subject and suddenly I have to know everything about it. That’s the mark of an obsessive and, as I say, it has its downfalls. But sometimes that drive yields obscure treasures. Obsession is one reason I love Daphne Du Maurier’s stories. Two of her most famous works, (Rebecca and My Cousin, Rachel) are about the mania of being haunted by a subject. And, according to at least one biography, the Du Maurier had a literary obsession that I share: the Bronte family. Trust me, this makes sense. [amazon_link asins=’1844080757′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’theboothafoly-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’c56111b5-9f60-11e8-83e8-4976ecd4bd23′] The Unforgettable Bronte Siblings The Bronte sisters are a fascinating subject, whether you are studying literature or history. Three adult sisters, with minimal resources, strove to support themselves as writers, when the publishing world of publishing was pretty much closed to women. The sisters created poems and novels that often dealt with obsession. The novels become best-sellers and then literary classics, studied and loved ever since. The Bronte girls all attained incredible literary success…
The Swans He called them his swans.[amazon_link asins=’0345528700′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’theboothafoly-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’6556e6eb-9f64-11e8-87e2-89d16724f4b1′] It’s the story literary freaks, pop culture geeks and gossip mavens all know. The story of a covey of fascinating young women who were known for being beautiful; graceful as swans. Beauty made them famous and envied and rich but it didn’t make them happy, Instead, Beauty made them insecure and lonely. They wanted friends who’d value them instead of their looks or the powerful men they had married. Then one day, this flock of sad, lovely, women befriended an unusual man, An odd, little man, who liked but didn’t lust after them. A clever talker of a man who cheered them up with the juicy gossip, whenever they were blue. The strange storyteller listened to each woman when she talked. and told each woman he adored her. And, because he was gay and understanding and fun, the women showered him with gifts and friendship. They even shared their deepest secrets with him. Secrets he wrote down. The Story This is the setup for The Swans of Fifth Avenue, the story of a fascinating literary scandal. It stars some of the original American taste-makers of the mid-20th century like Babe Paley, and Slim…
Summer is here in all but fact, the season when most people take vacations. If you grew up in the United States, the odds are that your vacation history includes one or more of our National Parks. That’s great! The National Park system is a great idea: beautiful spaces owned by and open to the public. The only problem, for the addicted reader, is you can’t look at the natural beauty while you’re reading a book. I mean, as much as I adore the outdoors, I start jonesing for a good story to read, even when I’m face to face with the Grand Canyon or El Capitan. Of course, the second my face turns to the book, I feel guilty about ignoring Nature. I can’t enjoy both together. At least I thought so until my friend, Edna, introduced me to the Anna Pigeon mystery series by Nevada Barr. Why are those books the solution? Because Anna Pigeon is a Park Ranger and each of her adventures occurs in a National Park. Let’s start out with the first book in the series, the award-winning Track of the Cat. It’s set in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, a spot my folks dragged me…
I was 25 when I married and moved from the plains to Mississippi. It was like diving in the deep end of Southern Culture. I traded wide, far, horizons for close, verdant landscapes; dry heat for humidity; corn for okra. I also fell headlong, into beliefs and traditions that weren’t my own. For example, one of my first neighbors was a kind old lady, who continually delighted and frustrated me. She insisted on calling me Mrs. Golden but demanded I only use her first name. And, even though she knew more about the place where we lived, she deferred to me in every question. Now I had been raised to recognize the authority of older, more-experienced, ladies, especially when using their names, but my neighbor’s education was different. She had been taught skin color establishes who is in charge I was fair while she was dark. Because we’d been taught differently, my neighbor and I spent most of our afternoons trying to outdo each other in courtesy. It’s sad but our mutual efforts to show each other respect became one more wall that kept us apart. My memories of those sweltering afternoons of frustration all came flooding back when I…