Book Talk

I recently read an Ann Packer novel for the first time, The Dive From Clausen's Pier.  The majority of the story was set in Madison, and starts with a tragic accident that leaves Mike paralyzed.  His girlfriend, who was already beginning to distance herself prior to the accident, is torn between leaving for good and staying.  There isn't a simple answer.  I think many of us can identify with having to make significant choices that hold the possibility - or even the certainty - of hurting someone we love.  The Dive From Clausen's Pier is a story of heartbreak, perceived betrayal, and a physical and emotional journey to find an answer that simply, and sadly, may not exist.  Packer's story read, to me, like those of Kristen Hannah and Anita Shreve. 

 The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh is, by far, one of the very best book I have read in a long time.  I was sad when I realized I had turned the last page, because I just didn't want it to end.  This will be my feeble attempt to summarize this beautiful story, but know that I'm barely scratching the surface.  Based on the idea that in the Victorian Era, flowers were exchanged with a specific message in mind, this is the story of Victoria, a foster child who finds herself eighteen, emancipated from "the system", and without anything but a small box of belongings.  As Victoria looks for her place, both literally and figuratively, she remembers her year with Elizabeth, her would-be adoptive mother.  She recalls the circumstances that ultimately left her on her own, and finds herself struggling to find wings without roots.  Embedded throughout is the language of flowers, in which Victoria ultimately finds her purpose.  Although you will cry through most of it, you'll fall in love with this story.

Paula McLain's The Paris Wife has been on my to-read list for a while, and now that I've read it, I hardly know where to begin.  While this is the fictional portrayal of the marriage between Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, the people and events were real.  The author did take liberties in trying to delve more deeply into the characters' thoughts and emotions, but used myriad resources to relay much of the truth.  The Paris Wife is an absolutely heartbreaking love story.  Hemingway fought many personal demons throughout his life, which ultimately led to his suicide in 1961.  Hadley was on the verge of becoming an old maid when she met Ernest in the early 1920's in Chicago, and what they had together changed both of their lives in every measurable and immeasurable way.  As a reader, I both loved and hated them - individually and as a pair.  As Hadley was facing the ultimate betrayal at the hands of Ernest, I wanted her to be strong, pack her bags, gather their son, and leave him high and dry.  I wanted her to be a character she wasn't, but because Hadley was more than just a character in her lifetime, I had to let the real story unfold before a conclusion presented itself.  I loved this book for the story it told; I like to think about Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and others who wrote some of our most beloved classics sharing drinks over dinner.  And I loved this story because - despite the heartbreak that ensued - Hemingway would write later in his life that he "would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley."  Poignant and nearly perfect.

"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”

Confucius