Fiction

Okay, Poppets, the vacation is over, the deep tan is fading, lazy afternoons of swimming or hiking or the main, easy Summer events are coming to an end—maybe not entirely in that you can still do a few of them for another 30 to 34 days, but, according to the calendar, we’re headed into Fall—and not a moment too soon, for most of us! Certainly I’m not suggesting getting out the Christmas ornaments, but it is a time to leave one season behind and I think we all do that, mentally. For instance, all the magazines and stores are finished with Summer clothes and accessories (bar-b-q sets, rattan chairs and plastic tables, and kiddie pools!) However, there’s one enjoyment we have all year round—books to read—and it’s great fun to “lose yourself” in a good story—which brings us to the subject of this column which is good Fiction.

Just so you can begin noticing, the further we get into Fall/Winter, the more you will be seeing popular authors in print and don’t forget to notice the new authors,’cause they are tomorrow’s best sellers! To put it in a current frame, Paul Ryan and our mayor, Julian Castro, are the up-and–coming powerful politicians of the next 12 to 14 years -- and, I hope, Condoleza Rice! I’ve vote for her for president now, if I could!

Well, I doubt if she ever runs for the top office but since we’re talking Fiction, let us go to the first title (how’s that, Patrice? Slick, huh? After another 100 or so Fiction columns—and their graceful segues—a simple bracelet would be nice—probably for you for making me aware of a smooth beginning to the column! We’ll discuss it later.) About the time that I think I’m pretty “in the know” about Fiction as to authors, trends, what’s developing in the field, Memorial Library sends me books to review that,
A. I’ve never heard of the authors and/or
B.  I find them hard for me—strictly as a reader now—to get “in sync” with.
It doesn’t mean I won’t be and won’t ever like the authors, it just means I can feel like a dog on a waxed floor, for a time.

So, “A City of Broken Glass”, by Rebecca Cantrell, is in that category, for me, and it says, on the cover, “A Hannah Vogel novel”, and if that rings a bell for you, great! She’s received starred reviews, by the august Publisher’s Weekly, and written three other books that, apparently, like this current on deals with the awful rise of the Nazis and their rise to power and, certainly, what it took to dominate several countries in Europe.

Hannah is a former spy for the Brits, as well as being an editor, and is traveling to Poland with her 12-year-old son, Anton, to write an article on a local festival,”when she hears that 12,000 Polish Jews have been deported from Germany”, and she changes plans and rushes to get the story on the refugees, regardless of the consequences. Her ex-lover enters into it, she helps a Jewish friend, Paul, search for his missing toddler, and tries to get the requisite paperwork together to exit the country. Along with all of this is a toddler whom she is determined to help, even though it puts her family at risk.

This all takes place before the terrible”Night of Broken Glass” where the windows and everything glass was broken to drive the Jews out of their homes and businesses—and, I imagine, to make their places of worship as well by the broken glass. It makes one shake their head and murmur—“Man’s inhumanity to Man.” The pace is exciting and the story is, while true, certainly frightening.

Now we have "This is How It Ends", by Kathleen MacMahon. It’s a love story and seems, upon perusal, quite charming. The plot is simplicity itself; "Bruno, an American, has come to Ireland to search for his roots and Addie, an out-of-work architect, is recovering from heartbreak and taking care of her infirm father." That’s how it begins, as two strangers try to get to know each other, in a fairly limited space of time.

"Back in the States, he had visited his mother every week." He just didn’t tell anyone about it, not even his girlfriend. Something she found impossible to understand—In Bruno’s opinion, she refused to understand. She was furious to find out his mother had been alive all that time. “I assumed she was dead! You only ever talked about her in the past tense—you never mentioned visiting her." He hadn’t actually intended to lie to her, but he could see that it amounted to the same thing. She thought it was about her and white with outrage she walked out. Bruno was shocked to find that he wasn’t even sorry."

That small segment showed a great deal about Bruno, his kindness and attachment to family—which was what he was doing in Ireland—and his eventual being close to Addie is done charmingly and well. A good author to "tune into" and just enjoy. She enables her characters to deal with love and learning of a dreadful fate, all being considerate and coping as well as they can—how does it end? Well.

Okay, next book—and I thought it was to be a Western by the title; “Tombstone Blues,” by Ken Hodgson, and couldn’t have been more wrong. Samantha Sterling has a new job, running a B and B in Tombstone, Arizona "The sprawling B and B is owned by a group of" –are you ready for this?--“gay hit-men and their tough-as-nails mother looking for help with their 'real' business of whacking people (killing them, that is) for The Company. All in the name of National Security, that is.”

Well, Samantha, after witnessing the poisoning of "a client on the first day on the job, is given a choice—joining in the family business or follow the dead man down an abandoned mineshaft.” Peachy. So, she wisely decides to play along—while planning to escape. The question, as always, is How? She will have to join forces with and learn from Esther, the experienced hit-lady who carries her gun in her purple beehive hairdo, so she begins learning "the hit-woman’s craft". Of course, before long Samantha "learns that removing the scum of the earth from the earth has its advantages……Soon, an outside force comes in and the gang has to battle in earnest to save themselves.

It’s a fun book to read, too. At one point, they are all discussing a certain gentleman and what should be done about him; "We’re not going to kill the man, are we?" asked Samantha and Esther chimes in with "We haven’t been paid to whack him", as she chugged down the last of her wine, “so that’s the end of that. Dinner sounds good—I’m off to take my nap. Wake me up if I’m not up by 6". I’m certainly glad that Esther understands basic business! Great, fun book and the lead man seems to understand cats—so I’ll overlook his chosen profession. Disregarding the gang’s choice of profession, this story is hilarious and I’m going to look forward to reading the next book along the same vein. Go find this.

Speaking of odd or interesting or laughable or just plain off titles, let’s consider “Serenade to a Cuckoo; A P.I. Mystery”, by Flo Fitzpatrick—and recipes are included! Heckuva deal! I always like looking at recipes., even though I may not bother to actually cook them, you understand. (Whatever happened to “help in the kitchen”?)

I’ll keep in the moment and tell you that this is about P.I. McGinnis, “who tends to dive into dangerous situations with nothing big a strong sense of humor as her back-up and who has a TV show about her life.” There is an antique clock that holds the key to the murders and if she can’t produce it, she’ll be next on the list of the recently deceased. If you like “light mysteries” and a good cast of people, this might be the one for you. The Brownies and Fudge Sauce look wonderful and if you want to try to make them, I think they’ll make you proud.

These titles are all good Summer reading, not “heavy”, and these books will sit well with any preference readers might have from romance to mystery to “characters” and you can thank me later! “The time has come, the walrus said, to speak of other things—of shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings”—and for the time being, we must part company—but a Non-Fiction will arrive next and in a relatively short time. So, fire up the grill, shape the hamburgers but do not pack them tightly, perhaps a small casserole of a mixture of baked and chili beans and, if you can find it, three tab. Out of a jar of the wonderful “Bacon Jam” and some onions, and sliced tomatoes—and no bread or bun, just put the hamburger on the plate—and read a book after the meal—outside, on the porch or patio.

The time will come soon enough when it will be too dark and cold to sit outside after dinner, so take advantage of this “soft time of weather” and if all you do is watch the sparrows or Mourning Doves or the kids playing ball, do it! Rufus Cooper likes watching the trunks of trees carefully to see if he can see the quick flick of a squirrel’s tale—the insult will not go unnoticed—and the chase is on! He never catches one but “hope springs eternal”, does it not? Take care and Caio! Bye!