At Home: The May Books

After a wimpy April for reading, May proved more productive and more diverse. This month we have a two memoirs, a fantasy, a novel set in the late 1800s, two British mysteries and a collection of essays. 

 "The Upstairs Delicatessen" by Dwight Garner

Sometimes you get a book that is captivating but takes a longer while to read. For me, "The Upstairs Delicatessen" falls into that category. I came to calling it one of my "bathroom and waiting room" books because it is written in small bits and pieces with no plot and consequently is the perfect book to take while you're waiting for an appointment or sitting out the effects of a big dinner in a closed room alone (or in my case, with a cat.)

This book is delightful if you are a foodie. Garner, a book critic for the New York Times, combines memoir and personal stories with commentary by many writers who have mentioned food in their works. (I have to say, I was disappointed that he never mentioned Donna Leon or Martin Walker's "Brunetti" and "Bruno" books. He must not be a mystery reader!). 

After a delightful and fairly long introduction (a chapter in itself, really), Garner breaks down the book into six chapters -- Breakfast, Lunch, Shopping, Interlude, Drinking and Dinner. In each section, he draws from writers that include George Orwell, Jim Harrison, Christopher Hitchens, Simone de Bouvoir, Toni Morrison, William Golding, M.F.K. Fisher, Robert Hughes, Frank McCourt, Nora Ephron, Dylan Thomas, Kingsley Amis and so many more I couldn't begin to count.

This is a delightfully enjoyable book, but it's hard to quote from. One of my favorite chapters finds the author at the grocery store, commenting on the various displays. In the produce department, he describes his own favorite salad, which included English cucumber. "Samuel Johnson would not have been impressed. 'A cucumber should be well sliced and dressed with pepper and vinegar,' he said, 'and then thrown out, as good for nothing.' Ann Beattie has said that her last meal would include endive, though not in a calorie-saving way. 'You cut the endive in half, she explained, 'hollow out a few leaves and fill them with triple cream cheese.'"

His foray down the condiments aisle reminds him of Calvin Trillin's thoughts when one of his daughters asked for ketchup for the first time. "'How did she know about ketchup?' asks his wife, Alice. Trillin replies, 'Those wild kids down the street probably told her. Maybe we oughtn't to let her play with them anymore.'"  

This is a fun one, best read in smaller bits and savored, like so many of our own food favorites!

"To Love and Be Wise" by Josephine Tey

This is part of Tey's Alan Grant series of mysteries. This time, the Chief Inspector visits a party to pick up his friend, actress Marta Hallard. While there he meets photographer Leslie Searle, a remarkably handsome and arresting man who expresses an interest to meet radio commentator Walter Whitmore, nephew of the author Lavinia Finch. Walter is not at the party but Lavinia invites Leslie to her home in the town of Sarcott and he is driven there by her assistant (and Walter's fiance), Liz, who finds herself captivated by the handsome stranger.

Walter is both intrigued by Searle but feels increasing jealousy as he observes Liz's reaction to their guest. Still, he and Searle agree to collaborate on a book that will follow them on a river journey. All seems well until the two are spotted in a pub arguing -- after which Searle leaves and is not seen again.

Grant is called onto the scene and there are definitely suspects. But there is no body to be found. Did Searle drown and was sucked deep into the muck of the river? Or did he simply disappear? And why?

Tey spins a good tale that has Grant and Sergeant Williams talking with a number of potential suspects who had shown dislike to Searle along with others who knew the somewhat enigmatic man. With a deft hand, she weaves a wonderful story with a plot twist at the end that would do any mystery writer proud.

I've read one Tey mystery years before. This one has me wanting to read more of her work.

"Before the Coffee Gets Cold" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

I'm not sure how to categorize this one. Novel? Yes. Fantasy? Also yes. The tag line on the cover sums it up well: "What would you change if you could travel back in time?"

Finiculi Finicula is a small cafe in downtown Tokyo, near a hospital and the train station. It is owned by Nagare and his wife, Kei, and Kazu is their waitress. Several people come to the cafe often -- Fusagi (who reads his magazine and drinks coffee); Kohtake (who we later learn is Fusagi's wife and a nurse at the hospital), and Hirai, who owns a nearby bar.

One day a young woman named Fumiko walks in, having heard rumors that you can time travel at the shop. It's true, she is told, but there are many rules, among them: You cannot change the present, you must wait for the seat to become available and you must finish your visit before the coffee gets cold.

Fumiko wants to revisit a parting from the man she loved and Kazu walks her through the steps. That's all I'll say about that one, but eventually, Hirai, Kei and Kohtake also take the journey. And the things they discover, while changing neither past nor future, do indeed change their lives.  

"A Book of Delights" by Ross Gay

This is another of my bathroom/waiting room books. It is a collection of 101 short essays, or as Gay calls them, essayettes, on things that delight him, written over the course of one year. 

That delight may come from children with the shoes that light up while they walk; the optimism of seeing a name and phone number on a backpack, knowing the owner has hope that if it is lost or stolen, it will be returned; or the joy of digging carrots from a carefully planted garden. Many of the things are the little ones we observe that charm -- and more than a few are unusual, but clearly special to Gay.

In these beautifully written essayettes, he recalls moments from his childhood and his adulthood, friendships and the magic of a poem or seeing an unusual swarm of bees (all black with irridescent wings) swarm around a beautiful plant. His writing is eloquent -- sometimes a tad too eloquent and loquacious for me (how many flowery words can I use to describe this!). And yet, I understand that (and it's not so often to make me throw the book down with an exasperated sigh!).

Most of all, it is a reminder  to all of us to note and record the delights we see in our own lives -- the smile of a child, the antics of a favorite pet, an unexpected surprise, something we learn that shocks and delights us in the best possible way. We may call ours a gratitude journal or a book of delights. In any event, it is a series of moments that captivates us. 

The friend who gave me this book said it is best read in smaller bits and I took that to heart. (I've had the book since last summer or fall, I think!). You could read it as a daily meditation or pick it up and put it down at will. In any event, I hope you will find delight there, too.

"Dinners with Ruth" by Nina Totenberg

The subtitle of Nina Totenberg's book is "A memoir on the power of friendships," and one of the friendships most shared in this delightful read is that with NPR reporter Totenberg and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. It was a friendship of two powerful public women -- one a journalist who covered the courts, the other, one of the most famous legal women in the US -- as well as Totenberg's relationships with other dear friends, including her husbands, her sisters, her NPR colleagues and many in the legal profession. 

While her memoir covers the author's life in more detail, from her youth through marriage, widowhood, a second marriage, and a wonderful stories about her famous violinist father, it is not a chronological autobiography. As she relays her stories of friendships with Ginsberg, for example, she tells some of the back story of the justice's life and career, especially Ginsberg's relationship with Marty, Ruth's beloved husband and biggest cheerleader. Through Totenberg's eyes, we see a different Ruth than the formal woman on the judicial stage. We see one with grand humor and great style who loved opera and shopping and whose favorite "legal" job may well have been officiating at the weddings of her friends and their children.

Both Ginsberg and Totenberg came of age when women were discriminated against, both in journalism and the legal profession and the stories of their grit and determination to rise in their roles is a fascinating and inspiring one. Totenberg, along with NPR reporters Linda Wertheimer and Cokie Roberts, helped support incoming women at the network, just as the two veterans had supported the author herself when she came on the scene.

While the back stories are informative and captivating (and one learns a lot about the courts, particularly during the years of Ginsberg's tenure), it is the friendships that carry this beautiful book. It's a nostalgic story of days when two justices (Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia), polar opposites politically, could be best friends who enjoyed dinner and travels together. It's the touching truth of what friendship means when one's beloved spouse dies and widowhood comes early. It is the heartbreaking story of a tough, talented journalist (Roberts) who, throughout her cancer diagnosis and recurrence, keeps going, held aloft by her closest friends. 

Reading "Dinners with Ruth" not only makes one think with gratitude on the great friendships of their own life but also inspires us to be an even better friend to others. And that is indeed a gift. 

"Moral Treatment" by Stephanie Carpenter

I'm not sure how to write objectively about this book that takes place in the Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane in the late 1800s. My great grandfather was a resident there for the last 13 years of his life, until 1913 (some years later than the book) and I have toured the site and found it to be unlike my mental image of an asylum. (I wrote about Henry and the asylum here if you'd like to see photos.)

The overarching belief at the asylum was "beauty is therapy" and by treating patients with respect and giving them valid work to do, it can help heal. I loved thinking of Henry in this spot with his troubled mind. 

"Moral Treatment" is based on the Traverse City Asylum and the picture it paints is a far more disturbing one. Consequently, I had to put this book down multiple times for it felt a bit painful. (Yet my rational minds always knew that not all patients were at a state where they could be more like the vision presented in the tour, so I can't fault Carpenter for this.)

The plot revolves around Amy Underwood, a late-teen who has exhibited anti-social behavior, running away, self-harm and other symptoms. She is committed by her father and aunt, who is also her stepmother. She is immediately placed in a group ward and things aren't exactly cozy -- or even at times, safe. 

As the book progresses, Amy becomes friends with another young woman, Letitia, whose mood can turn on a dime from cloying to vindictive, charming to violent. It's their relationship and Amy's growing dependence on that friendship that forms much of the plot.

The other main character in the book is The Doctor, the head of the institution and one of several at the asylum. He is a good man who does believe in the beauty as therapy model but is also dealing with a range of patients with varying degrees of mental health. From his point of view we see the challenges of managing a facility such as this and the various personalities of the other staff and board, some of whom are looking at new, more invasive methods of treatment. The relationship between the Doctor and his wife, fragile herself, but perhaps in some ways better equipped to understand the challenges of some of the inmates, is, for me, the most interesting part of the book.

As we see Amy progress and move into less frightening wards, we also see how the Doctor's belief in "the moral treatment" makes a positive impact. But when is the right time to release a patient back into the real world? The concluding chapters provide much room for thought.  

"Death of a Hollow Man" by Caroline Graham 

I've been a fan of the "Midsomer Murders" television series for years, characters of which are based on the books of Caroline Graham. Graham only wrote a handful of "Midsomer" books (all of which were adapted for the screen). I've wanted to read one for ages -- and yet could never find them in area bookstores. "The Hollow Man" came at Christmas and I loved it.

What's not to love? Favorite characters and a plot set in the world of community theatre. Can I relate? Of course!

Harold Winstanley is the arrogant producer/director of Causton's dramatic society and their current production of "Amadeus" stars Esslyn ____ as Salieri, a tour de force kind of role. Esslyn is the company's leading man in many productions and has an ego to match Harold's. His pregnant young bride, Kitty, is also in the show along with aspiring actor Nicholas and many other Causton locals, including DCI Tom Barnaby's wife, Joyce. When Esslyn is killed on stage in a dramatic gesture on opening night, Tom Barnaby and Sergeant Troy are in the audience. The curtain comes down and a night at the theatre turns into an evening on the job.

It becomes clear that this dramatic death could only be murder and the murderer was without doubt one of the company. But who? Esslyn wasn't liked and there was no shortage of suspects, from those with petty grievances to both Kitty and Esslyn's ex-wife Rosa.

Graham weaves a good tale with interesting and well-drawn characters, all of whom have fun back stories and can almost be visualized, even without benefit of the television screen. I'd recommend it.

(That said, if you are a fan of the series, be aware that the character of Sergeant Troy, who is rather sweet and lovable on television, is quite the opposite in the book! I can see why they changed his role completely! For once, a screen version did something very right!)

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