Book Review: Vindication by Frances Sherwood

I wish I had enjoyed Vindication more. I was really looking forward to reading it. One of my favorite genres is that which takes a historical person and write fiction about him/her. Or takes a fictional character and writes another story about him/her. Vindication, about early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft fell short for me.

Sherwood said in a little write-up at the end of the book that she enjoys writing fiction about historical characters because (among other reasons) she likes writing "tart dialog." I find that I don't like tart dialog. Otherwise, she's a good writer, Wollstonecraft’s story follows her relationships with different men in different phases of her life. It examines her mental illness. I found it hard to believe, however, that Mary Wollstonecraft would have been such a masochist when it came to men...maybe she was and that means that I don't like her as a person, maybe she wasn't and that means that I don't like the way Sherwood has imagined her...

Recommended for those who are interested in feminist history--or those who like tart dialog.

Before and After

Last Night's Graduates

Beautiful and Happy! We are all so proud!

Today is graduation day!

4 years ago Alysa and Elizabeth participated in the 8th grade graduation. Here is what they looked like.

Etude in c# Minor by Alexander Dorn

This one is a real finger and arm stretcher, but I hope I've done it justice.

Pictures from New Orleans

The storm that kept us from walking around the French Quarter when we go to New Orleans. Luckily it cleared in time for us to go to dinner at Bayona.

Me and the girls in the courtyard of Bayona.

David and the girls in the courtyard.
All of us enjoying our dinner.

In the hotel lobby after dinner.

At the Red Fish Grill with the awesome chocolate bread pudding.




Elizabeth enjoying hers.

Alyssa watching them pour her chocolate onto her bread pudding.


The remains of dessert.

Book Review: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Rebecca is a chilling book that follows the life of the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter and her experiences trying to outlive the ghost of her predecessor, Rebecca. She meets Maxim while serving in the employ of a Mrs. Van Hopper—a rude American who hires the narrator to be a companion. She hates Mrs. Van Hopper but doesn’t see much other option for herself since her parents died and left her penniless.

Upon Mrs. Van Hopper becoming ill, the narrator and Mr. de Winter strike up a friendship that turns into something more and eventually marry. It’s upon the return to Mr. de Winter’s estate, Manderley, that things start to get interesting and complicated for the narrator. We follow along as she deals with family, the servants and former friends, and attempts to make a happy life for herself and Maxim. The mysterious death of Rebecca haunts the main character though she can’t quit pinpoint why, and we follow her through her daily routine until she discovers what happened and why it’s important to her.

I found the book tedious at points. The writing is very tightly wound up in the narrator’s mind and we follow her thoughts through several permutations of “what could have happened” or “what might be happening” or “what other people are currently thinking about her”, etc. I never felt like putting the book aside, however, but I did find it difficult to get into in the beginning. And it isn’t until around p. 200 (in my edition) that it becomes gripping…and the book is indeed gripping, and I finished the last 200pp in an evening and the following afternoon.

Recommended.

Our first produce

The garden is more of a success this year. We should have a bounty of cherry tomatoes when we get home tomorrow. In the meantime, here are our first two. I think they look pretty darn perfect.

4 towels going to college

I made these 4 towels for the girls to split. I'll also make them 4 wash cloths to split. They are 100% cotton. I think I did a really nice job with the weaving of them because the patterns really came out and the fabric is flat and just about perfect. I'm proud of them.

Finally!

The frenzy is over. I'll have pics of towels tomorrow. Going to New Orleans on Saturday!

Aaaah!!!

So much to do, so little time...

Book Review: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

I have had such a wonderful run of books lately. The Blind Assassin is yet another great book that I’m listing up there as “one of the best I’ve ever read.”

Three main plot line weave throughout the book supported by newspaper clippings and descriptions of photographs. Very intelligently organized, this could have resulted in a confusing montage of events and descriptions, but instead, Atwood manages to compose a wonderful, very tightly structured, novel that keeps you thinking about it long after you’ve put it down.

Iris Chase Griffen is the novels main narrator. She is the daughter of a wealthy factory owner and marries another wealthy factory owner when her own family’s financial situation becomes dire. She and her sister, Laura, grow up in unusual circumstances and their story told in first person makes up one of the plot lines.

The second plot line is the “current” story of Iris as an old woman dealing with a failing heart and realizing that she will soon die. She must tell the story of her life, Laura’s life, her questionable state of mental health (is she crazy or just much more aware of details than the rest of us) and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death (covered up suicide).

The third plot line is the novel-within-a-novel, The Blind Assassin, written by two lovers during their rendezvous. A science fiction that occurs on a different planet, The Blind Assassin is created by the lovers together as the talk before having to separate again to their daily lives.

This book is beautifully written. The wry wit of the elder Iris is wonderful, and I found myself underlining passages just to be able to read them again. Atwood is truly a master craftswoman and I look forward to reading her other books.

off to the beach

Yea! Wish it were longer, but even one day is wonderful.

Happy Mother's Day everybody!

Toccata by Kablevsky

In 20 Days...

My house was wrapped/tp'd/rolled last night. We have no idea why. These things usually happen during homecoming as a lark, but since it's senior week at school, I guess the juniors are "getting back" or something. I hate this and am happy that in 20 days I will no longer have children in high school so that stupid pranks like this don't trash my house!

Plan C

Our plan C involves moving all the pots to the back porch. The thief, if so inclined, will have to search our property to find them and then go back there where there is a spot light to pick them up. I do hope this works as I will be very disappointed if they strike again and steal more plants.

I do like the plants back here and this coming weekend we will remove the rose bushes that aren't doing well and rearrange the pots so that they are more aesthetic.

Resting

I'm so upset...

Obviously two pots are emtpy...the one at the very top in the middle has half of the plant removed and the on in the row below it and to the right has about 1/3 of it removed. Time to get a camera, but to what point? To find out who is doing this? Unless we know them, what then?

Silk Scarf

With this blue silk scarf, I took advantage of how the different yarns and colors play with light and created a block pattern that does just that. The darker blue is a boucle yarn, which means it has tiny bumps or circles throughout. It give an interesting texture contrast to the sleek shiny lighter blue. The scarf is luxurious.

It measures 7x70" and sells for $90.

Book Review: The Music Lesson by Katharine Weber

A very quick read. Patricia Dolan tells her story of love, loss, and discovery through a journal written over several days while she is alone in a remote west-coast Irish village cottage with a stolen painting. How she got there and what she does while there is really the meat of the story.

She meets a distant Irish cousin, Mickey O’Driscoll, who she immediately feels passion for and who woos her into participating in his fight against the “English occupation of Northern Ireland.” She consciously assists with the theft of the painting and sits with it while it the Irish liberators are awaiting the ransom money—which doesn’t come and creates an awkward moment in the novel where painful decisions have to be made.

I enjoyed the book, and found Weber’s writing to be very engaging. I was surprised at how quickly I read through the entire book—less than a day start to finish. What I found a little dubious is the use of a painting as collateral for ransom money…maybe I just don’t understand rebel politics. Overall, though, a good read and recommended.