Nonfiction

Oh, frabjous day! Aloo, alay! We’re all together again, small and large ones (referring to children and adults—you can’t be too careful these days of being politically correct, if overly explanatory) and our minds and brains and emotions are ready to experience the world of books and ideas and relax and experience and not tax the “old gray matter” overly. This is being written just before the big Basketball tourney explodes on the telly and everyone roots for their team or, if a state has two teams in or even three, to root for their multiple teams. In my case, my family is divided between Wichita State and K.U. My school, Washburn University of Topeka is not big enough to be in the 64 teams contest, so I’ve switched to K.U. to cheer onto victory—or, hopefully, get to the Elite 8. 

Speaking of the “8”, what are your Elite 8 for Spring/Summer?  If you’re a kid, it’s the end of school and getting up and going to bed at early hours—I know that, so let’s move on to adults. There’s swimming, sunning, bar-b-qing , working in the garden, walking in the evenings, iced tea, sitting in the sun, reading, going to the movies, dressing lighter, enjoying a golf game, and getting sun time (while reading!) Why is it when Summer is gone and it’s suddenly the first of Oct. that we ask ourselves (and others), “What happened to Summer?  Where did it go?”  Maybe there should be a law passed that we have the ideal Summer weather all year long?  Good luck with that!  That’s just fiction, and so is this column—books that are Fiction—stories, emotions, sad endings, happy ones, hard feelings carried over and, sometimes, everything comes out all right—but I wouldn’t bank on it. 

Let’s look and see what’s in the box of books and what’s coming into libraries and bookstores.  When you think of Ireland, the usual adjectives come into play—potatoes, music, beautiful green hills, clog dancing and, inevitably, the infamous IRA, right?  In "The Last Storyteller: A Story of Ireland"  by Frank Delaney, who is the author of several excellent books on Ireland, and this book deals with love and faith and treachery “and the healing power of redemption.”

Ben MacCarthy’s mentor told him “All mythologies exist to teach us how to run our days, in a kind fashion.  But there’s there’s no story, no matter how ancient, as important as one’s own—so we have to tell ourselves our own story, but in a good way.” In Ireland, in the middle 1950’s, it was the I.R.A., an “upstart insurrection along the northern border”, he falls in with an IRA sympathizer and becomes pressured into running guns—“but all he can think about is finding his former wife and love, actress Venetia Kelly.” She has returned to Ireland with her new husband, Gentleman Jack, popular stage performer. Determined not to lose Venetia again, Ben calls upon his courage and love so as to win her back. He has hopes for a bright future, but some obstacles remain. 

Delaney is an excellent author, works in many ways to show and work the reader into the narrative of the main storyteller—that ain’t easy, folks.  Ben takes the training necessary to become a Master Storyteller and the story ends as it should. Truly, a wonderful and subtle book about human nature, war, love, and revenge—told by a very good storyteller, like many Irish have the faculty to be.  You, my dears, have the opportunity to read an excellent Irish story—to be enjoyed whether you’re “Shanty Irish “ or “Lace Curtain Irish” or from any other country, just to be able to enter into someone else’s life and history.

“An Available Man”, by Hilma Wolitzer, talks about the fall out of “suddenly becoming single” and then the emotions of falling in love again, in the person of Edward Schuyler.  As everyone has observed, at one time of another, in the world today there are a lot, almost a glut, of attractive, single women available but “an available, healthy, handsome man is a rare and desirable creature” and Edward Schuyler, a bookish 62-year-old finds himself in that position—reluctantly. 

“The problem is that Edward doesn’t feel available. He’s still mourning his beloved wife, Bee, and prefers solitude and the familiar routine of work, gardening, and bird-watching.”  Then, the dear stepchildren step in (this is actually the scenario they think will work) and—are you ready?—place an ad in “The New York Review of Books”and the floodgates open.  Gradually, he begins dating and, as you can imagine, the encounters are startling, comical and sad, “and just when Edward thinks he has this new game figured out, a chance meeting proves that love always arrives when it’s least expected.” See, there’s a difference, it’s pointed out, about options open to men and women “of a certain age” and “the thrilling capacity of love to bloom anew” and this is a delightful look at this miracle.

Edward didn’t expect that the woman in his life would do everything he liked, such as birding and sitting for hours and waiting, because Bee hadn’t, and he had not liked going to flea markets and antique stores, “it was the coming together after their separate outings that had been so pleasurable.” He contacts a former girlfriend, again, and finds that this woman is funny, honest, easy to be with, and you have the definite feeling that this pairing, after pain and sorrow for both, will be for the rest of Edward’s life. A really warm read and easy to “get into.” Go find it and experience true feelings in a genuine man. 

Here’s a great read also—“Unwanted”, by Kristina Ohlsson, --and my book bible, Publishers Weekly, gave it a starred review (hard to come by) and the word, “Superior.” Let us peruse this treasure.  In a way, it’s a strange, almost morbid phenom that what often gets our attention to read or listen to is something “odd”, “different”, or “not quite right, somehow” and we—all of us—become caught up in an event that is our of the ordinary in our lives---but maybe not in someone else's.  A little girl is abducted from a very crowded train, “and despite hundreds of potential witnesses, no one noticed when the little girl was taken.”  Her mother was apparently left behind at the station.  The train crew was alerted, of course, but when the train pulled into its station, it was obvious that the child was missing.  At first, it seemed to be a possible custody fight—until the child is found dead “in the far North of Sweden with the word “unwanted’ scribbled on her forehead”—and the hunt is on for an undeniably ruthless killer with no conscience. 

This is the debut book in Ohlsson’s series and her background is impressive and, today, lives in Stockholm, and her story features Fredrika Bergman, who is tough, critical, “feels she has absolutely nothing to go on but her gut instinct and she no longer doubted that the perpetrator was someone with whom Sara, the mother, had some kind of relationship, witting or unwitting.” A fellow detective, Alex Recht “had been a policeman for more than a quarter of a century and, therefore, felt he had every justification for claiming to have wide experience of police work and to have developed a finely honed sense of intuition.”  He is dependable and tries very hard to justify his existence and his record on the final analysis of the vagaries of working on cases. The case is tough and involves the child’s separated mother and father, the detective’s opinions and concerns, the mood of the little girl’s mother and father, Fredrika’s suspicions and fears, and the final reckoning to find the killer.  Good detective/suspense story for all of us who like a good “whodunit”, and it’s one that I’ll read for my love of “dead body books”, as my friend, Ida Eatmon, calls them!  Hopefully, in this selection of some of the books we have, you will find one you like.

One last one to bring to your attention that is, oddly, very reminiscent of the story of the murder of Emmett Till in Money, Miss. and the title is “Gathering of Waters”, by Bernice McFadden, who’s an award-winning author.  The story is not straightforward and takes forays into the past but, oddly enough, you get caught up in it and keep reading—and it’s a slim novel. Different from most but you read it through. See what you think and tell the library staff and they’ll let me know. 

I hope you get more rain, and a lot of it this Spring, and keep smiling and enjoying the small pleasures in Life that cross your path and, absolutely, keep walking for your health.  Don’t forget that “Dancing with the Stars”, on ABC, begins this coming week—really fun, in my respectful opinion. See you next time, Bye!