Acts of Atonement

 By S.W. Leicher

Twisted Road     2021

299 pages     Literary

A lesbian couple, who live in Prospect Park South in Brooklyn, have defied many odds to establish a life together. Paloma is a tremendously respected oncological nurse. Born the only daughter of Colombian immigrants, she is connected with her brother and his children, but primarily isolated from the rest of her family. Likewise, Serach, an accountant,  has been abandoned by her Orthodox Jewish family, and when her mother dies, she faces indescribable pain and suffering because of her life choices.

Even though they love each other deeply, Paloma and Serach struggle in the face of being outcasts in their families. Have they made the right choice to renounce their past and cling to each other rather than family? Each character has a narrative, and Leicher explores complex psychological, sexual and philosophical mazes as the story line deals with the dilemmas caused by the life the two women have chosen.

I especially was taken with the narrative that unfolded when Serach’s mother dies. She desperately wants to be part of the ceremony and burial, which is so much a part of Orthodox tradition. Even her brother, whom she adored growing up, has abandoned her, and the poignancy is intense as she stands at the edge of the cemetery attempting to discretely observe the burial.

I got thrown off as I began Acts of Atonement because of the long list of character names and how they were connected with Paloma and Serach before the book began.  I got worried that I might have to keep referring to the list as I delved into the book, but Leicher did a good job of introducing each character, and I hardly ever had to refer back. Additionally, at the end of the novel is a glossary of Spanish and Hebrew words, but again, I had little trouble navigating the terminology.

Additionally, this is the sequel to an earlier novel, Acts of Assumption. Apparently in the first novel, the couple meets and begins their life together. Leicher says that Acts of Atonement is “the ongoing story of the battle between roots and desires.” One reviewer interviewed Leicher, and you can find her story of the novel’s development here.

The novel is based in New York City, and it is obvious that the author is also a New Yorker. Additionally Leicher has a deep knowledge and understanding  of Orthodox Judaism, which I very much appreciated.

S.W. Leicher’s website. Many thanks to the publicist who sent me the book to read. Acts of Atonement will be published tomorrow, June 20, 2022.

The Last Chance Library

By Freya Sampson

Berkley     2021

329 pages     Fiction

The Last Chance Library is almost a polemic disguised as fiction. It tells the story of June, a young assistant librarian, who is faced with the closing of the community library where she has worked for the last ten years, taking her mother’s job following her mother’s death. Books and the library patrons have become her entire life, filling the void her mother’s death created. She knows books so well that she is able to help the patrons find exactly the right books at the right time.

And oh the patrons! So many of them spend their days with June and have come to be her best—albeit—only friends. There is Stanley, an elderly man who spends every day in the library; Jackson, a home-schooled 8-year-old that June helps learn to read; Mrs. B., who keeps reading books June recommends and decrying them as “trash”; and Chantel, a teenager who is needing a quiet place to do her schoolwork. June helps people log onto computers, and of course, helps patrons find books to read.

The Council, however, has decided that the small community of Chalcot doesn’t need a library, and the loyal patrons stage a coup in an attempt to try to save the library. Because of her job in the library and because of her reticent nature, June feels that she shouldn’t be part of the protests, but in the end, her desire to keep this community intact causes her to enter the protests and encourages nation-wide media coverage.

Although this is the basic plot, we are witnesses to June’s coming alive in the emergence of this cause, facing her own need to expand her life’s horizons. Of course, there is a bit of romance, some tragedy, some good fortune, and a whole lot of growth—for June and for the community.

What I mean by The Last Chance Library being a polemic is that the obvious goal of the author is to insist on the importance of public libraries for the good of the community. Those of us who grew  up in public libraries know this already, but it was very much fun to read about a community coming alive to save the library, which offers so much more than books.

Over the years, I have written frequently about the importance of the library, both for me personally and for the sake of the community. Here are a couple of entries from my blog—one about Andrew Carnegie and the libraries he created, and then another by Susan Orlean about the value of libraries with her narrative nonfiction, The Library Book.

Last summer I took two grandchildren weekly to a branch of the Kalamazoo Public Library, and what we witnessed was very much like June’s library—lots of books, lots of people, and tons of good feeling. The Kirkus review says that The Last Chance Library is “a delightful exploration of personal growth, inner strength and the importance of family, friends, and love.”

The Last Chance Library is Freya Sampson’s debut novel, although it appears she has a new book out, The Lost Ticket. Here is her website. 

May God Forgive

 By Alan Parks

Europa Editions     2022

371 pages     Noir

If you ever wanted to know what classic Noir is, this series of books by Alan Parks is the place to begin. May God Forgive is the fifth book in the series, which begins with Bloody January, published in 2017. Although this was the first of the series that I read, I didn’t have much trouble getting acquainted with Detective Harry McCoy. McCoy has returned to the Glasgow police force following a month off to recover from a bad ulcer attack. However, just as he returns, the city is racked by several unforgiveable crimes. Here is a brief synopsis of the book:

“Glasgow is a city in mourning. An arson attack on a hairdresser’s has left five dead. Tempers are frayed and sentiments running high. When three youths are charged, the city goes wild. A crowd gathers outside the courthouse, but as the police drive the young men to prison, the van is rammed by a truck, and the boys are grabbed and bundled into a car. The next day, the body of one of them is dumped in the city centre. A note has been sent to the newspaper: one down; two to go. Detective Harry McCoy has twenty-four hours to find the kidnapped boys before they all turn up dead, it is going to mean taking down some of Glasgow’s most powerful people to do it.”

May God Forgive takes place in Glasgow in the spring of 1974. The city is really gritty and crime filled, and McCoy knows the city and all its criminals really well, hence his need for Pepto Bismol night and day. We, the readers, try to keep up with his logic as he sets out to solve both the fire at the hairdresser’s and the young men’s murders. He has the additional crime of a young woman’s murder, and the knowledge that she appeared in a photograph with one of the young men. Oh, and I almost forgot, he has to solve the murder of a homeless man that he knows from his detective work. And this is to say nothing about the brief appearance of his estranged father, who haunts his memory night and day. There are many characters in the novel, some making very small appearances, and several others who seem to have long-term relationships with McCoy, who grew up in the city. A couple of times, I found myself at a bit of a loss to remember which character was which.

The city of Glasgow is very much a character in the novel, and I enjoyed reading about the city and its inhabitants, including the crooked Archbishop as well as all the shop and bar owners. Luckily, I had a British son-in-law visiting as I read the book, so if I ran across a word or a concept I didn’t understand, I could ask Stuart for an American definition. For instance, I was confused by the word “jumper” and Stuart said a jumper was a sweater. Aah!

Did I mention that it is raining nearly every day as McCoy checks in with all his sources, meeting many of them in neighborhood bars, drinking and smoking his way to a solution to the crime. It reminded me that if I ever get to Glasgow, I shouldn’t visit in May.

As my readers know, I am fascinated with noir and neo-noir. Here is an entry I made several years ago as I tried to describe what makes noir identifiable as a genre. May God Forgive is the epitome of the genre. The reviewer in the Times of London said, “McCoy is so noir he makes most other Scottish cops seem light gray.”

Alan Parks has had a career as a music producer, and readers can get a sense of his love of music with the background music that shows the atmosphere of 1970s music. Park’s Harry McCoy mysteries have been nominated twice for well-deserved Edgar Awards. Classic Noir indeed!

Denver Noir

 Cynthia Swanson, Editor

Akashic     2022

264 pages     Noir

Denver Noir is this spring’s offering from Akashic Books and their marvelous Noir series. There are over 100 books in this series, each one set in a major city in the world, each one featuring a local set of authors, and each one with a different take on the concept of noir. The Oprah Magazine says, “Each volume in the series reveals a city’s distinctive inner darkness.”

One of the fascinating aspects of Denver Noir is the diversity of the story authors and the diversity of the characters—as diverse as the city itself. The noir-ness (is that a word?) is also very diverse. There is a Native attorney and a female private investigator. There are crime-ridden streets and wealthy neighborhoods. There is beautiful scenery and scrubby apartments above taquerias. There is history and there is gentrification. My favorite story was “On Grasmere Lake” by Mathangi Subramanian, about a young woman college student and an unsolved murder.

The editor, Cynthia Swanson gives a remarkably good introduction, and says that working with these authors has been one of the highlights of her career. Although all of the story authors have all been published beyond Denver Noir, this book was my introduction to their talent.

 This is a great collection of stories, and Swanson has done an excellent job introducing Noir readers to the neighborhoods of Denver, a city I visited many years ago. It is a fun, diverse, and immersive read.

A Crazy, Holy Grace: The Healing Power of Pain and Memory

 By Frederick Buechner

Zondervan     2017

141 pages     Spiritual

I can’t imagine my writing a book blog without including something by the master of spiritual writing, Frederick Buechner.

Buechner is now 96 years old, and has written in his lifetime more than 30 books, fiction, theological, and spiritual. This is not the first of his books that I have read, but apparently the first that I have written about. We are discussing it in my spiritual growth book group next Tuesday.

A Crazy, Holy Grace is a compendium of Buechner’s writings on pain and loss. He discusses “the power of hidden secrets, loss of a dearly beloved, letting go, resurrection from the ruins, peace, and listening to the quiet voice of God. And he reveals that pain and sorrow can be a treasure—an amazing grace. Buechner says that loss will come to all of us, but he writes that we are not alone. Crazy and unreal as it may sometimes seem, God’s holy, healing grace is always present and available if we are still enough to receive it.”

I came to Buechner’s book following a very bad week.. My friend’s 40-year-old daughter had died of cancer. She had a two-year-old son, and her death brought back for me all the pain I had suffered many years ago when my 41-year-old husband died, leaving me with a two-year-old, as well as two older children. That sort of pain never leaves a person, and Buechner speaks to that type of pain as he describes the suicide of his father and the resultant anxiety all these many years later.

I just kept underlining passages that meant a lot to me personally. An example. “If God started stepping in and setting things right, what happens to us? We cease to be human beings. We cease to be free.” He goes on: “But I sensed the passionate restraint in the silence of God, which was both silent and yet eloquent.” He closes the chapter: “Joy is the end of it. Through the gates of pain we enter into joy.”

I especially appreciated the final chapter: Reflections on Secrets, Grace, and the Way God Speaks. I like how Buechner is liberal in the way he speaks of God. A non-believer in the word “God” can find as much to appreciate in this final chapter, as the passionate evangelical. In this chapter, he speaks of death, suicide, funerals, and each person’s sacred journey. “In other words, all our stories are in the end one story, one vast story about being human, being together, being here.”

A Crazy, Holy Grace meant a lot to me because I had a lot of anxiety that needed calming. His words can have a powerful impact on hearts in need of grace and peace.

The Wedding Veil

 By Kristy Woodson Harvey

Gallery     2022

412 pages      Historical Fiction

When I was offered a copy of The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey, I grabbed it immediately because the lead-up book information indicated that the book was about a family heirloom made of Belgian lace. My family has an heirloom Belgian lace wedding veil that is a family treasure, and I wanted to read about another family’s veil. Of course, our family veil never resided in the Biltmore Mansion in Ashville NC, but it is treasured none the less.

The Wedding Veil follows four women who all have a connection to a Belgian Lace veil. Two are connected to The Biltmore Mansion as members of the Vanderbilt family, and two who inherited a wedding veil  that appeared in the family under mysterious circumstances.

Edith Vanderbilt was the widow of George Vanderbilt who built the Biltmore Mansion between 1889 and 1895. After he died, Edith struggled to maintain the grounds and the community the couple developed until her daughter Cornelia Vanderbilt turned 25 and inherited the property. Cornelia was a socialite and a free spirit, who ran away from her marriage to John Cecil, never to return to the estate. (By the way, the mansion and estate remain the property of the family all these years later.) When she left, she dyed her hair pink and traveled off with her most prized possession, the Belgian wedding veil. The wedding veil then completely disappeared from the family. That’s one story.

The other story happens in the present day and concerns  an elderly woman named Babs and her granddaughter Julia. Julia ran away from her wedding, tore off the family wedding veil and escaped to the Virgin Islands, where the couple was supposed to spend their honeymoon. Her greatest supporter is her grandma Babs, who encouraged her to give up on a marriage that was destined to be a failure. Upon her return, Julia and Babs visit the Vanderbilt mansion and view an exhibition that includes a reproduction of Cornelia Vanderbilt's wedding veil. Shocked at how similar the Vanderbilt veil is to her family’s veil, Julia begins to research her family’s veil and finds that it may be the missing Vanderbilt veil.

Of course there is romance in the book--stories of enduring love and stories of failed love. This is not the kind of book that I usually read, but this one intrigued me because of the wedding veil. Harvey is a good storyteller, and the book moves along, even though there is a great deal of historical information about the Biltmore mansion. It is easy to see how the author’s curiosity was piqued by a visit to the mansion, but it is her creativity that translates the history into a delightful novel. The reviewer from the NY Journal of Books suggests that “In the end, the message is that no matter how ‘fairy-tale perfect’ our lives may appear on the surface, nothing is ever as flawless as it may seem. And that living fearlessly is always the best bet.”

Below you will find a picture of my great aunt Helma who brought our veil into the family following a trip to Bruges Belgium. Below it is a picture of Cornelia Vanderbilt in her veil.. Helma wore the veil for her wedding in 1930, and it has since been worn by ten family members. What a heritage!

An Atlas of Extinct Countries

 By Gideon Defoe 

Europa     2022

250 pages     Satire

The Shortlist

The tagline for An Atlas of Extinct Countries is “The Remarkable (and Occasionally Ridiculous) Stories of 48 Nations that Fell off the Map.” This book is a trip! I received it from the publisher, and I had no preconceived notion of the book’s intent.  Then I read the Introduction. Defoe says, “Countries die. Sometimes it’s murder. Sometimes it’s an accident. Sometimes it’s because they were too ludicrous to exist in the first place.” He then announces, “These are the obituaries of the nations that fell off the map.”

Defoe describes the rules he gave himself when designating the countries he chose to include in the book, and he outlines these before he begins. Then he divides up the 48 countries into categories: Chancers & Crackpots, Mistakes & Micronations, Lies & Lost Kingdoms, and Puppets & Political  Footballs. Most people know about some of the countries, including Sarawak, Elba, and Bavaria. More interestingly, Defoe outlines several  countries that had a very short run, such as The Kingdom of Rough and Ready, now part of California, that only lasted two months when gold was discovered on the spot. Throughout the book, Defoe blames the demise of many of the countries  on England, such as in the story of New Caledonia, which was established by Scotland in 1698 and only lasted until 1700. England forbade Scotland from getting investors from England or the Netherlands, and so the colony never had enough investors to survive. Besides that, there were a lot of mosquitos.

Each of the extinct countries is given a few pages of satire regarding why the country emerged, who founded it, and why it fell apart. Kirkus Reviews calls them “historical sketches.” I loved the biting humor and sarcasm, particularly when the author is outlining countries that lasted for less than a year.

I have been reading An Atlas of Extinct Countries bit by bit for several weeks, and I wanted to let my readers know about it. It would be a great Father’s Day present for history buffs or dads who enjoy humor and sarcasm. Ooh, that would be my son-in-law. Check that Father’s Day present off my list!