BOOK REVIEW: Snow In August

One of my strict rules is never spoil any unexpected plot twists or endings for readers. Author Pete Hamill’s SNOW IN AUGUST is a beautifully written story with an ending that I simply will have to wait until after you read it and then we can talk. 

 Eleven-year-old Michael Devlin is growing up in working-class Brooklyn. The year is 1947. Michael’s father had been killed in the recent war and his mother is working hard to raise her son as well as keep food on the table.

One Saturday as Michael is hurrying through a blizzard to fulfill his obligation as the altar boy for the early morning mass, he meets Rabbi Judah Hirsch, a refugee from Prague. Despite their initial awe of each other, the two of them form a remarkable friendship. Rabbi Hirsch wants to learn idiomatic English and an understanding of the great American sport, baseball. Michael wants to learn Yiddish and is intrigued by the rabbi’s life in Prague and the ancient stories of Jewish traditions.

Brooklyn in the 1940’s is still full of some anti-Semitic feelings and one gang of thugs hate not only the Jews but the people who associate with them. Michael has already come to the attention of these young toughs by being present at a horrible beating of a Jewish shop owner. The fear that he may “rat” on the leader of the gang added to his friendship with the rabbi has put him and his mother in danger.

It is 1947 and the rumor is that the Dodgers are actually going to sign a black player, Jackie Robinson. The comparison in racial hatred is very striking. (The scene of Michael and Rabbi Hirsch at a game at Ebbets Field is especially well done.) The anti-Semitic feelings in the neighborhood becomes very real and very dangerous for Michael, his mother and Rabbi Hirsch. It seems that only a miracle will make all right.

It was impossible not to fall in love with Michael and his friend Judah. Michael is a typical pre-teen of the time. His life revolves around baseball, his friends, and the fantastic superheroes from the comic books. Judah has his own history of pre-war Europe and the atrocities that he lived through. He escapes to America only to be subjected to the same hatred.

The author shares his love of words through Michael’s language lessons with Rabbi Hirsch. He also has much to say about love, loyalty, friendship, and the power of tradition.

Since character is very important to me as a reader, I have to comment on the depth of each “side character”. I knew that each of them had rich lives away from their appearances on pages of the book.

I am not sure how I felt about the conclusion of the story. It took a large leap of faith for me and after the very realistic tone of the book, I am not sure if I was ready for it.

For all of the above reasons, I truly loved SNOW IN AUGUST. “And love,” as the rabbi thoughtfully notes,”it’s almost always about words.”

BOOK REVIEW: The Woman In Black

There were several reasons why I wanted to read THE WOMAN IN BLACK by Susan Hill. One, I had read her sequel to Rebecca and felt that she had captured du Maurier's voice perfectly so I needed to know if the style was her own. I also had seen the play based on the book and really enjoyed it. The play, incidentally, has been running for over twenty years in London.

The plot has all of the elements of a good ghost story. A young lawyer, Author Kipp, has been sent to a remote house to attend the funeral and settle the estate of an elderly client. The house is only accessible during low tide and the path is surrounded by salt marshes laden with patches of quicksand.

At the funeral and on several other occasions, Kipp sees a mysterious woman dressed in black watching him. The residents of the small, local village seem unwilling to talk about the house or its history. What Kipp expected to be a routine task of clearing up an estate soon turns into a horrifying experience: sounds of a child screaming out in the marshes, a nursery waiting for its young occupant, and the mysterious woman in black.

This is a true ghost story and as such requires some temporary suspension of belief on the part of the reader. Hill’s style of writing was once again the formal writing that we expect from the 1800’s (Ms. Hill is a contemporary author). Because the story is told in first person, this formal tone suits Kipp’s voice perfectly. It also suited the mood of the story, the old vacant house, the desolate salt marshes, the standoffish townspeople, etc.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK has been made into a movie that I plan to see. The dark, moody setting of the story would lend itself nicely to the big screen. It is an old fashion ghost story, meaning that it is a gentle story without the gore and violence that we have come to expect from modern “ghost” stories.

I still have to find if this formal style of writing is Susan Hill’s only voice. She tells a “rattling good yarn” as one reviewer put it and I feel that she is worthy of further investigation.

BOOK REVIEW: Look At The Birdie

Maybe there should be a law that stops families from publishing the “unpublished manuscripts” of dead authors. Just maybe the author knew in his or her lifetime that these works should be kept in the trunk.

Saying that, I just finished LOOK AT THE BIRDIE, a collection of “unpublished short fiction” by Kurt Vonnegut. It is a mixture of good and not so good very short stories, but it IS Vonnegut. In other words, how could it be really bad?

If I have a complaint it is that there are no dates connected to any of the stories. It would have been interesting to see if we could watch the development of this literary genius. Because some of the pieces seem to be first drafts, I wondered how early in his career they were written.

The stories cover subjects that are typical Vonnegut. We meet a machine named Confido, that will listen to your deepest secrets and make you happy. Only, remember this is Vonnegut, the results are not what you expected.

Or meet the man who has witnessed a crime and finds himself in a Kafkaesque situation with the man who is basically the town’s police, judge and jury.

New meaning is given to the old adage about little drops of water and little grains of sand in the story of how a woman scorned gets even with an ex-lover. (This might have been my favorite ).

The stories capture the anxieties during the Cold War and the Second World War, a subject that Vonnegut was very familiar with, but there is something that is universal in each. These are stories that you would expect from the pen of Kurt Vonnegut. For a more polished collection, may I suggest Welcome to the Monkey House. Also,it might be a biased opinion, but the best anti-war book written is his very personal Slaughterhouse Five.

Kurt Vonnegut died in 2007 but his work remains a relevant fresh voice, full of black humor, today. LOOK AT THE BIRDIE may be a glimpse at that talent developing.  

BOOK REVIEW: The Healer of Fox Hollow

Joann Rose Leonard is an author who was unknown to me. Her title, THE HEALER OF FOX HOLLOW, did not intrigue me. The synopsis of the paperback did not catch my imagination. So, why will I be watching for the next Joann Rose Leonard book? Probably because I really enjoyed getting to know the healer, Layla. She made me re-think a lot that I thought I knew.

Layla Tompkins's mother died giving birth to Layla. As a result she was lovingly raised by her father Ed. She spent her first five years as a loved, bright, out-going little girl. At age five she becomes mute under mysterious circumstances. All she remembers is that during the night she heard the hissing of a snake and then the terrible pain of her tongue being bitten off.

Her doctor knows that there is more to the story, the sheriff suspects that a crime has been committed, and the snake-handlers at the church she attends believe that she has been marked by God to speak a new language.

Several miraculous cures happen involving the young girl and her reputation as a healer spreads.  As she grows so does her fame and soon even the skeptical doctor has to re-examine his scientific views when Layla hands provide the only relief his war-damaged son finds.

This book is so much more than any synopsis could relate. Characterization is very important to me as a reader and THE HEALER OF FOX HOLLOW is rich with believable people.

Most of the time we are in Layla’s head and watching a little girl who has so much to share lose her ability to speak was painful. I felt for this child who had been so excited to start school only to be met with the cruel taunts of her classmates.

I loved the teacher who understood and recognized the potential of her mute student. I admired the quiet strength and wisdom of Layla’s father, Ed, and the loyalty of her Aunt Avis and cousin Abby. I could feel the evil in her friend's brother and the pain in the veterans back from Vietnam.

This is a story of pain and forgiveness. No matter what a reader’s personal belief encompasses, whether the faith of the snake-handlers or the faith of the non-church goer, Layla will make you believe in the human spirit. And, maybe, that is what it is all about.

Let us hope that we do not have to wait too long for Ms. Leonard’s next novel.