Dear
Friends,
As
2014 comes to an end, I've come up with a list of some favorite reading experiences from
the past 12 months. Happy New Year to you all!
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett.
I’ve had a crush on Ms. Patchett ever since a book club I used to belong to
read The Magician’s Assistant in 2002.
The next year we read her opus, Bel Canto,
a story about a political mass-kidnapping that ends with all the tragic beauty
and irony of an opera, and some of the lines from that book still shimmer in my
mind.
What
a pleasure, then, to get a glimpse inside the life of one of my literary idols.
In this book of previously published essays, she writes, among other things,
about her dog, a nun, the bookstore she started with another woman, and the
South Carolina college that got itself into hot water when it selected her book
Truth and Beauty as required summer
reading.
My favorite
piece was about the grueling physical tests required for admission to the Los
Angeles Police Academy. I especially loved reading about how she trained for
the tests herself, and in the process, learned to scale a six-foot wall. As the
daughter of a retired LAPD detective, Ms. Patchett manages to tell us something
about the bond she shares with her father without going overboard.
For
me, that’s the greatest strength of this nonfiction collection. Whether she’s
writing about her family, her husband or her late beloved friend, Lucy Grealy,
Ms. Patchett’s aim is never to simply pluck our heart strings. She’s a master
of elegant language, and her emotional revelations are mixed with a humor, intelligence
and restraint that say much more than pages of damp confessions ever could. That’s
why it means so much when she writes, “…[W]hen love calls out, ‘How far would
you go for me?’ you can look it in the eye and say truthfully, ‘Farther than
you would ever have thought possible.’”
Lila by Marilynne Robinson. Part of a
trilogy of novels (along with Gilead
and Home), Lila is the story about a homeless woman and an aging preacher.
Against all odds, they’re married, and for the first time in her life, Lila is warm
and safe in the preacher’s plain, clean house in Iowa. Where she once traveled
from town to town, finding shelter wherever she could, Lila now has an abundant
garden, a caring husband and a child growing inside of her. But the past, with
its violence and cruelty and love is always with her too, making her wonder if
she can truly feel at home in this new, protected world.
Roots of Style by Isabel Toledo;
illustrations by Ruben Toledo. This book is a passionate paean to personal style
by Ms. Toledo, the Cuban-American woman who designed Michelle Obama’s 2009
inauguration suit. Her detailed description of the first lady’s ensemble left me
a little breathless. For example, although some fashion experts thought the matching dress and coat were sewn with
sequins, in reality that sparkle was the effect of sunlight on the layers
of wool lace and silk, which its designer combined for warmth as well as
beauty. Ms. Toledo may not use the polished written prose of Ann Patchett, but she communicates her love of fabric and movement and
self-expression in a way that makes us admire her literary ability as well as
her artistry as a designer.
Kidnapped by Robert Louis
Stevenson. An evil uncle, a shipwreck and a life-and-death hide-and-seek
through the heather-covered Scottish highlands. Combine this with a complex bro-mance
(between our foolish but well-intentioned teen hero and his friend, a Scottish
rebel on the run) with Stevenson’s ability to capture the old Scots language on
the page, and hoot man, you have a recipe for fun.
Christina Rossetti: A Divided Life by Georgina
Battiscombe. An exploration of the life and mind of the author of the bizarre
and compelling poem “Goblin Market.” Battiscombe’s thesis is that there’s a “doubleness”
about Rossetti, who was a dark beauty with a temper and penchant for sumptuous
language, but who also adhered to her religious beliefs with a determination
that bordered on fanaticism.
The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne
Birdsall. In this third Penderwick tale, three of the sisters are on vacation
in Maine with their Aunt Claire, who promptly sprains her ankle, leaving the
girls somewhat free to pursue their own adventures. Complications cheerfully
follow. Jane makes an idiot of herself over a boy named Dominic, and Skye, the
cranky, soccer-loving sister is terrified of her new responsibilities as the OAP
(Oldest Available Penderwick). Meanwhile, the sisters’ beloved friend Jeffrey
meets a man who shares his love of music and also bears a decided physical
resemblance to him. Ms. Birdsall’s characters are fresh and modern, while
reminding us of fictional friends from other eras, like Betsy and Tacy, Henry
Huggins and even Laurie and Jo. Oh, how I wish the Penderwicks would take me
along on their next vacation.
The Plover by Brian Doyle.
Can you pick a favorite book that you read this year? As my son says, that
might be like picking a favorite kind of pie. But if I absolutely had to narrow
it down to one, I’d choose Mr. Doyle’s novel. As much as I loved his Mink River, The Plover moved me even more, as I sailed along with the ultimate
loner, Declan O’Donnell, who sets off on a solitary voyage only to gradually
collect a boatload of passengers, including – to name just a few – two rats, a
politician, a singer, a pirate and an injured girl who can only speak to birds.
Mr. Doyle’s poetic prose kept me turning the pages as much as the high seas adventure
did. But this book is more than lyrical images, likable characters and a
compelling premise. Underneath it all is the idea that we’re connected to everything
and everybody, from the fish in the sea to a murderous villain to an 18th
century philosophical writer. Perhaps Mr. Doyle is saying that the inhabitants
and landscape of our world are like the drops of water that make up the ocean.
Combined, they may drown us, or, one by one, they may be drawn up to the sky by
the light of the sun.
