RUSSKA by Edward Rutherfurd

Sometimes I love the works of Edward Rutherfurd - sometimes not.  'Russka' fell somewhere in the middle for me.  Like Rutherfurd's other novels, Russka attempts to tell the story of a city (or country) by following a number of fictional families from pre-history to the present day and sets their stories against the backdrop of historical characters and events.  I found this book to be very slow-going in parts, especially at the beginning.

Rutherfurd is known for his extensive research and this was most evident while reading the book.  I never felt a connection to the families, however.  I'm not sure what the problem was but there wasn't a single fictional character that I would have wanted to have a coffee or a chat with.  However, the 'history' part was very engrossing, especially as the story headed into more modern times.  Maybe Russia is just too large a country with too much history to fit into 950 pages and do any era justice.

I usually like to read in the evening and sometimes go to bed early just so I can read a few extra chapters.  I was happy enough to keep reading Russka but the book never made me want to go to bed early so I could read more - except on the last day of reading when I saw the end approaching and kept reading so I could be finished with it.

PRETTY GIRLS by Karin Slaughter

Julia Carroll disappeared in 1991 and never was heard from again.  She is one of the 'Pretty Girls' referred to in the title,  The other two?  Julia's sisters - Lydia and Claire.  Nearly 20 years after Julia's disappearance, Claire is happily married to Paul, a wealthy, successful architect who adores her.  Lydia is a single mum who had a rough time with drug addiction, but now has a loving relationship with her neighbour - an ex-con.  The sisters have been estranged for years after Lydia accuses Paul of rape and Claire decides to 'stand by her man'.

Everything changes when Paul is murdered.  Claire makes a number of extremely disturbing discoveries when she starts to put his affairs in order.  What follows is a book full of suspense, twists and turns and horror.  Claire and Lydia must decide to trust eachother - because it is impossible to know who else they can trust.  Their lives spiral from one horrifying discovery to another.

Throughout the book, there are chapters taken from their father's journal.  Sam's grief and his love for his wife and daughters provide a welcome break from the horror of the graphic violence in this psychological thriller.

LATE NIGHTS ON AIR by Elizabeth Hay

Late Nights on Air was the Giller Prize winner for 2007 - and deservedly so.

Elizabeth Hay creates a group of characters who work at the radio station in Yellowknife in 1975. They all come from elsewhere - the misfits, the loners, the romantics, the people running away from life.  The employees at the station fit into one or more of those categories.  Harry, the station manager, has returned to radio after a disastrous attempt at television.  Dido, the station’s most popular newsreader, fled her marriage after an ill-conceived affair with her father-in-law, only to find herself caught between the affections of Harry and Eddy, the station’s 'bad boy' engineer. Ralph has deep feelings for Eleanor, another refugee from a bad marriage. Gwen turns up in Yellowknife drawn north by childhood memories of a radio program about northern explorer John Hornby.  (side note - read more about Hornby - his expeditions sound fascinating).  She dreams of a career in radio, only to find herself paralyzed by shyness and assigned to late night radio where her stammering won't be an issue.

Harry, Gwen, Eleanor and Ralph embark on a 6 weeks-long life-changing canoeing trip to retrace Hornby's fatal expedition.  The beauty of the North, the scenery, the quiet, the seduction, the underlying danger becomes a compelling fifth character on this trip.

Their lives are played out against the backdrop of Justice Thomas Berger's commission on the proposed building of the MacKenzie pipeline through the Yukon.  Berger spent three years truly listening to all, going from native village to village, compiled 40,000 pages of testimony, and recommended “no pipeline now, and no pipeline across northern Yukon ever.”

Are you listening, Justin Trudeau!!??

Elizabeth Hay has written a wonderful book, peopled by characters that will stay with me.

THE IMPOSTER BRIDE by Nancy Richler

Who are you if everything you know about yourself is based on a deception?  This is the story of Ruth - a young woman growing up in mid-century Montreal who was abandoned by her mother, Lily Azerov, three months after her birth.  Lily steps off the train in Montreal after the Holocaust to meet her future husband - he promptly rejects her.  Sol's brother, Nathan likes what he sees, however and steps in to become the bridegroom.  Lily is not what she seems.  Like many who survived the horrors of WW2, the young woman has taken over the identity of another who died during this time.  There are others who knew the real Lily Azerov and quickly surmise that this young woman is not Lily.  Unable to live with her deception, Lily abandons her family.  The story is told from a number of different perspectives - the most interesting being that of her daughter, Ruth.  Ruth spends her adult life trying to understand who she is, who her mother is and what her place is in her loving and supportive family.

The characters of Ruth, her neighbour Ida and her daughter Elke, who keep Lily's secret are well fleshed out and interesting.  Unfortunately, the story of Lily feels very vague and I was not able to find her to be a sympathetic character.  It was disappointing, since Lily is the character upon which everything hinges.

I guess that since this book was shortlisted for the 2012 Giller Prize, I expected more.  If I had bought it for a 'beach read', I would have had lower expectations and found it more satisfying.

HOLLOW CITY by Ransom Riggs

The story of Miss Peregrine and the peculiar children continues in the second book of this trilogy.  It is September, 1940.  Miss Peregrine has been unable to turn back into her human form,  The children have escaped the island and are heading to London to find the last uncaptured ymbryne to cure their beloved headmistress.  Of course, the road is long and full of twists and turns and danger!     A number of new characters are introduced - some who are peculiar and some who definitely are not. Once again, I was completely drawn in by the fantasy, the time-travel, the compelling, creepy/cool pictures and the story.  It is helpful to read the first book in the trilogy as this book begins exactly where the first left off.   It ends with a cliff hanger that makes me eager to read the third and final installment of the series.

I absolutely recommend it!

WHAT ALICE FORGOT by Liane Moriarty

Alice Love wakes up in her spin class after falling and hitting her head.  Her first thought? ' Why am I in a spin class?'  You see, 29 year old Alice loves sleeping in, chocolate, her lovely life with her husband Nick, their eager preparations for their first child.  She definitely does not love the gym!

There is a much bigger problem than the gym, however. In fact, Alice has no memory of the past ten years.  Alice and Nick are in the middle of a nasty divorce, the baby is now ten years old (there are two more besides) and Alice has become a gym loving, obsessive control freak with a boyfriend and no idea where the past ten years went or how she got to be the person she is today. As Alice slowly regains her memory she has the opportunity to examine her life and determine what is important to her.

Two other storylines in the book are interesting as well.  Alice's sister, Elizabeth struggles with infertility and her grandmother, Frannie, writes frequent letters to a 'mystery man'.  The three stories intertwine to make an enjoyable read.

DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY?   by Bill Clegg

A recent serious illness in my family took up a large amount of my time - I did plenty of reading but not a lot of reviewing.



This book is one that I really enjoyed.

In the blink of an eye, June Reid's family is killed in a gas explosion on the night before her daughter's wedding (not a spoiler - the event takes place in the first pages of this novel).  The book explores the effect of this tragedy on a number of people who are impacted by it.  Each chapter is told by a different voice - what they knew, how they coped and how they were affected.  Overall, this is an engrossing story.  For the most part, the author fleshes out the characters.  We learn how their own loves and losses coloured their response to the tragedy.

Occasionally I was a little confused by the relationships and had to look back to get a good idea of who some of the characters were, but they came together in the end to make this an absorbing read.

Another City, Not My Own by Dominic Dunne

I will start this review by disclosing that, in my opinion, Dominic Dunne could do no wrong.  Every month, when I open my new Vanity Fair, I still regret that there is no longer a Dominic Dunne column to savour.

Dunne's recurring character (alter-ego?), Gus Bailey is sitting in a Los Angeles courtroom covering the trial of O.J.Simpson by day.  By night he is being wined and dined by L.A.'s power players eager to hear every detail of the trial. Although this book is fictionalized, real names and occurrences are used.  Based on the views in Dunne's columns I would have to say that this book is only veiled with the most transparent covering of 'fiction'.

 During the trial I was astounded that people actually could make themselves believe that this horrible murderer was innocent.   I could hardly believe that Johnnie Cochrane was able to pull off such a side-show looking at the case through the lens of race rather than as a terrible murder of two innocent people.  Like almost everyone in North America, the Simpson murder trial was part of my daily life.  When it became clear that Simpson would most likely be acquitted I felt disgust that I thought was generally shared by all.  WRONG.  I had been at my job for a number of years working well with my colleagues and enjoying their company in my home as well as enjoying pleasant evenings in theirs.  When the verdict came in, one of my friends shook her fist in my face and yelled 'That will teach you!".   ...okay...

Anyway - the book offers a fascinating glimpse into the courtroom of 'The Trial of the Decade'.  Dunne paints comprehensive portraits of all the major players - as only someone who has spent every minute in the courtroom can do.  Because the book is fiction, he was able to paint emotion and feelings on to the characters who became so familiar to us all.  If you haven't had enough of 'OJ', read this book.  If you have convinced yourself of his innocence, give it a miss.

THE TAILOR KING: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE ANABAPTIST KINGDOM OF MUNSTER... by Anthony Arthur

Many of us would think that David Koresh, Jim Jones or Charles Manson are modern phenomenons. Think again.  Jan van Leiden considered himself a man chosen by G-d to usher in a glorious new age of peace and godliness across Europe. Jan was an Anabaptist - one of the sects that sprouted like weeds once the Catholic Church was splintered by the Reformation. His people believed that one could only come to the Kingdom of Heaven by willingly being baptized as an adult. They also believed in some fairly-forward thinking ideas such as pacifism, freedom of conscience and the separation of church and state - ideas that could get you killed in the early 1530s. 

Jan, from the Dutch city of Leiden, came to Münster in 1533. He had heard that the city was friendly to Anabaptists and that he'd be able to make something of himself amongst a group of fellow believers. He heard correctly.

Within months of his arrival, Jan, along with a few of his Anabaptist followers, had seized control of the city, kicking out the city's council and stacking it with fellow believers. They achieved this mostly by running around the streets in a state of half-dressed religious zeal, singing about the End of Days and the glories that awaited G-d's chosen ones. Amazingly, this worked - you have to remember that this was an age of intense religious strife and hysteria. Anyone promising a little peace and prosperity far from the blood and muck of this world was considered worth hearing out.

Unfortunately, power began to go to their heads. The 'rules' began to get a little crazy. Capital punishment without a trial started to be the order of the day. The medieval version of the ATF stepped in, surrounded the city and prepared to starve the people into submission. Eventually, some were brave enough to escape Munster and help the local Bishop storm the city and regain control.

Jan and two of his most loyal cronies were arrested and eventually executed in a most painful, slow and torturous manner. Their bodies were put on display in three cages hung from the church steeple as a 'warning' to anyone else who might try to rock the boat. If you visit the city of Munster today, you will still see the cages hanging there.

This is a fascinating book and I would highly recommend it to any history buff. 

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN

What a terrific book! I'm not normally into YA fantasy fiction, but I found the cover picture and the pictures inside so intriguing that I bought the book immediately. I guess I must have been living under a rock. I had never even heard of the series (yes, it is a series) and it is about to be released as a motion picture (by Tim Burton - the absolute right choice for this book!).

Jacob's grandfather was sent into hiding to escape the Nazi's in 1940 - the only one of his family members to survive. After moving to America and starting his own family, he told Jacob fantastic stories of his youth - stories of mansions, children with peculiar abilities, headmistresses who could become birds, monsters and time loops. As Jacob became older, he filed these stories under 'fairy tales'. But are they? When Jacob's grandfather meets a gruesome death, he leaves instructions for Jacob to find his childhood home and friends.

This book is excellent. Ransom Riggs is a collector of vintage, creepy pictures and used many of them to help tell his story. There is just the right mix of suspense, adventure, family drama. Although the book is advertised as a YA, it easily translates into Adult literature. It held my interest right until the final page and me me eager to begin the next book in the series. 

HARRY POTTER and the CURSED CHILD, parts one and two

I looked forward to reading this book and I was not disappointed.  The story picks up 19 years after the last one.  Harry and Ginny are married with a family.  Their middle child is ready to go to his first year at Hogwarts where he develops a firm and loyal friendship with the son of Draco Malfoy.  Albus and Scorpius feel they must 'right a wrong'.  To accomplish this they are able to steal a prototype of a Time Turner and go back to when the wrong occurred.  Unfortunately things are only made worse and it takes the combined powers of our old favourites and the new characters to restore harmony to the wizarding world.  I'm reluctant to give more away - read it!

The book is actually the script for the play that opened in London's West End this summer.  This format seems to be the main reason for the large amount of criticism it has received.  As a script, it lacks the beautiful descriptive writing of the books.  There are no paragraphs setting the scene.  We are not taken into the thoughts of the characters.  There are no gorgeous visuals that the movies offered (I'll truly never forget Harry's first glimpse of Hogwarts).  There is only the spoken word.  However, after seven other books, surely we can use our imaginations!

I thought the story was terrific and would definitely recommend it to any Harry Potter fan.

HELLGOING

The 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner was a bit of a mystery to me as I was reading it.  In fact, at first I wasn't even sure why Lynn Coady chose the name 'Hellgoing' for her collection of short stories.  As I read on, however, I realized that each story had characters who were going through their own personal hell - the horrors of high school, the self-loathing of anorexia, alcoholism and obesity, the shame of teenage pregnancy, a honeymoon that is disappointing – perhaps a situation that would seem trivial to anyone except the character going through it - perhaps a situation that lasts only a day or two and is then forgotten.  Often the characters are nothing short of unsympathetic.  Frequently their stories are unresolved.

Still, in the end I found the book compelling and find myself still thinking about it.  Definitely worth re-reading.

MIDWIVES: A NOVEL by CHRIS BOHJALIAN

The “Swiss Cheese Model” of system failure states that every step in a process has the potential for failure, to varying degrees. The ideal system is analogous to a stack of slices of Swiss cheese. Consider the holes to be opportunities for a process to fail, and each of the slices as “defensive layers” in the process. An error may allow a problem to pass through a hole in one layer, but in the next layer the holes are in different places, and the problem should be caught. Each layer is a defence against potential error impacting the outcome. For a catastrophic error to occur, the holes need to align in each step of the process allowing all defences to be defeated and resulting in an error. Each slice of cheese is an opportunity to stop an error. The more defences you put up, the fewer the holes and the smaller the holes, the more likely you are to catch/stop errors that may occur.

In 'Midwives', the layers were lined up with all the 'holes' in a row and Sybil Danforth, a lay midwife in rural Vermont in the early '80's finds herself on trial for manslaughter.

This book refers to Sybil's personal diaries at the beginning of each chapter, but the story is told by her 14 year old daughter, Connie who provides her perspective on the trial, her mother's midwifery practice and the complex family relationships that are tested during a time of high stress. I first read this book almost twenty years ago and I remembering liking it. When I came across it again recently, I decided to give it another read and had forgotten how much I had liked it. This one will stay on my bookshelf.

Before my retirement, I was lucky enough to work for many years as a labour and delivery nurse - really - the best job ever!  I could really relate to this book.  Sometimes, despite your best efforts things don't go perfectly and in this day and age, it has to be somebody's fault.  My heart went out to Sybil.

THE PRINCES OF IRELAND: THE DUBLIN SAGA

I have read most of Edward Rutherfurd's novels and, on the whole, quite like his work. Unfortunately, one has to be the least favourite and this one wins the prize. I hate to use this word when describing books but it was 'tedious'. The Princes of Ireland follows the author's tried and true formula of taking a location and following it's growth and change throughout many centuries - in this case the city of Dublin, Ireland from the time of the Druids to the 1500's. Generally the story is told through the eyes and actions of a number of families throughout the generations.

Princes of Ireland felt like one endless description of minor, sometimes petty, battles from beginning to end. The people were never fleshed out enough for me to really care about them and, as a result this book never really captured my attention. I did stick it out to the end though - all 1280 pages of it because I have enjoyed so many other books by this author.

If you have never read anything by Edward Rutherfurd, I wouldn't want to spoil that experience for you - try his excellent 'Sarum' or 'London' instead.

    

THE MARRIAGE OF OPPOSITES

Alice Hoffman is a tremendously popular writer of historical fiction.  I first read her book The Dovekeepers and enjoyed it - so I opened this one expecting more of the same.  The Marriage of Opposites is the story of Rachel Pomie Petit Pissaro - a young Jewish woman from the island of St. Thomas.  As a young teenaged girl, in order to save the family business, she is bartered away into marriage with a much older widower who has three children of his own.  She comes to respect her husband and love his children.  When he passes away suddenly, Rachel falls in love with his nephew who comes from Paris to take over the running of the business.  Although their love is considered scandalous (she being his aunt by marriage) they marry and have several children - one of whom is Camille Pissaro, considered to be the Father of Impressionism and one of France's greatest artists.  I wish I had known this in the beginning of the book.  I just didn't put 2 and 2 together.

Rachel Pissaro's story is an interesting one.  It is told from a number of different perspectives - her own, her husband's, her dearest friend's and her son's.  Unfortunately, the two books I read just before this one were extraordinarily well written and, as a result, this one suffers a bit for me in comparison.  Hoffman's sentences are very wordy (she loves the comma) and sometimes I had to reread a paragraph to be sure who I was reading about.

While I enjoyed this book well enough, it probably won't find a permanent place on my bookshelf.

HUBRIS

I just finished "Rules of Civility' by Amor Towles.

Rules of Civility perfectly encapsulates a time and a place - New York City between the two World Wars - a time of jazz, hope and opportunity.  Two friend, Katey and Evey go out on New Years Eve in 1937 and chance to meet Tinker, a handsome young man in a $1,000 cashmere coat.  The story takes place in 1938, told from Katey's perspective.  Katey comes from modest means.  She starts out in the steno pool and through drive, determination and taking advantage of opportunity works her way up to an editorial job and and a place in the rarefied circle of the New York wealthy.  Evey comes from a well-to-do family in the mid-West but does not want to sit back and enjoy her family money on their terms.  The three become fast friends but when Evey is injured in an accident where Tinker was the driver, he casts his lot with her.

When I finished the book, I had a one-word thought - HUBRIS.

This book is beautifully written with smart, snappy dialogue and an intriguing plot.  I was put in mind of the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald.  I would most certainly recommend this excellent novel.

419

This 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner deserved the win, in my opinion. Initially it seemed as though the book was four separate stories. Then slowly Ferguson wove the edges together. Four became three, three became two and finally all were blended seamlessly into one compelling tale.

Have you ever received this type of e-mail?

"Dear Sir, I am the daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help..."

What would happen if you didn't hit the "delete" button? This type of fraud is known as "419" after the section in the Nigerian Criminal Code that makes fraud illegal.

The book follows the story of Laura - a Canadian editor whose father has died under mysterious circumstances after answering one of these e-mails. There is a young woman wandering through the Sahara desert. There is Winston - a scammer who spends his days "working" the individuals who respond to his e-mails. Nnamdi is a young man from the Delta who comes to Lagos to be a mechanic. Throughout the book their stories start to entwine and we see how the lives of these four separate individuals join together.

I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.

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VERMONT

A few weeks ago, my son Aaron arranged a family vacation in Vermont.  We all went - all five of the kids, their families and me.  Such a glorious vacation - hiking, playing games, swimming - just being together with people you love in a beautiful environment.

While I was there. I read this book

The author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns has done it again!  One family was forced to make a very difficult and painful decision - a decision that changed and shaped the lives of not just those directly involved but a wide circle of people around the globe.

The novel is told from many different perspectives and reads like a series of interconnected short stories.  At the centre of it all, however, is the story of Pari and her bother, Abdullah.  It begins with their separation, when their father was forced to sell one of his children to keep the rest of the family fed and housed (not a spoiler - it happens almost on the first page).  The book chronicles their lives and the lives of many others all somehow connected to one or the other of the siblings.

Khaled Hosseini has once again proved himself to be a storyteller who truly understands the people he writes about and the culture they are from.  While I didn't experience the exhaustion of reading a very emotionally charged book (like I did with the other two novels), this one has taken over as my favourite of the three books by the author.

I love the topic of  family as a central theme of books.  This one is a multigenerational family story. All the grand themes of life, of being human, can be found within family stories—love, grief, conflict, duty, sacrifice. And yet, they play out differently from family to family, as each has its own unique makeup, dynamics, and volatile antagonisms, grounded as they may be in affection. And so there are endless variations on the theme. Families are puzzles that take a lifetime to work out —or not, as often is the case.  It's interesting to explore how people within them try to connect, be it through love, duty, or circumstance.

Fitting, then, to read an excellent family story on an excellent family vacation.

CHANGES

The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff is a work of fiction loosely based on the true story of Lili Elbe who began life as the artist Einar Wegenar and his wife, the artist Gerda Wegenar (Greta in the book).  Einar was one of the first men to undergo several sex change operations in the 1930's and the book tells the story of Einar's transformation into Lili, the loving support she received from her wife and a number of friends and family members.  It deals very sensitively with the realization of her sexuality and her sex change, the impact it had on their marriage.

It's touching and poignant in all the right ways and deals honestly with a loving and, ultimately, healthy relationship.

It was really nice to read a book on this topic that is so much more sensitive, calm and reasonable than the tabloid fodder that surrounds the current hot topic of Caitlyn Jenner, et al.

A far less dramatic change (but equally important in this home) involves Oscar finishing school, returning home to live and figuring out the intricacies of living together in a home that really consists of two adults living and working together and seeing how it all works out.  His first serious job search is underway - that's a navigation in its own right!

LOOSE ENDS

A while back, my sister Marjory gave me some yarn that she said came from the home of her daughter-in-law's (Kat's) mum who had passed away.  I usually knit with fingering weight so I was at a bit of a loss over what to do with this heavy, fuzzy yarn.  In the end I decided to make something for Kat.

The pattern is 'Campside' by Alicia Plummer.  I used larger needles than the pattern called for because of the weight of the yarn and came out with a rather large, cozy shawl - perfect for throwing over the shoulders when there's a nip in the air.

Luckily, that shouldn't be for a while yet.  The shawl is all boxed up and ready to send to Kat --- but it will linger here a bit longer while the striking Canada Post workers resolve their issues.  On the whole, this is not a strike that will have any real inconvenience attached to it for me.  In fact, this time I will learn to pay my bills on line and, aside from sending the odd parcel, Canada Post will have gone the way of the dinosaur for me.

I recently re-read a book that I remember thinking was really, really great.  Unfortunately, it did not pass the test of time for me.

The Hope is a work of historical fiction that covers the history of Israel from the War of Independence of 1948 through the Six-Day War of 1967.  I would like to say I loved this book but, unfortunately, I can't.  It is obvious that Wouk has extensively researched the battles, the history and the politics of that region at that time.  The sections of the book that dealt with this are exciting and enormously interesting.  He should have stopped there.

However, historical fiction needs a cast of characters to bring the work to life and here Wouk falls short.  The four (4) fictional men are reasonably well written - especially when it comes to their roles as soldiers.  I can't say the same for the women characters.  There is plenty of attention paid to how they fill out their uniforms but not much on how they contributed to history.  All four 'relationships' felt forced and on the whole, unbelievable - disappointing from the man who brought us Marjorie Morningstar, War and Remembrance and The Winds of War.  On the whole, the fictional characters and their parts in the story are rather uninteresting and don't really add much to the overall story. I tended to find them distracting rather than adding to the historical account.

In my opinion, you would do better to read James Michener's 'The Source' or Leon Uris' 'Exodus' for historical fiction on this topic.  For a non-fiction account, try  'Israel: A History' by Martin Gilbert.

REMEMBERING

Elie Wiesel, author, historian, professor, politician and historian died on July 2nd 2016.

The news brought a tear to my eye.  I was surprised how sad I felt.  I have read most of Wiesel's books.  Each one is powerful and moving.  It is absolutely appalling to me that within 24 hours of this great man's death, the internet is buzzing with people - even Jews - who are eager to shred this man's reputation.  Shame on you!

I re-read the book 'Night' - arguably one of Wiesel's best known books.  It can be a quick read - only 120 pages, but powerful and enormously moving.

"Surely it was all a nightmare? An unimaginable nightmare?", reads a line from Elie Wiesel's Holocaust memoir Night. When delving into this book, one almost wishes that it were a nightmare, a horror novel. Even the worst author's imagination could not contrive of the evil contained in these small pages... And yet it is no nightmare. It is a horrifically, true story. Night recounts the tortuous days Wiesel spent at the concentration camps Auschwitz and Buchenwald as a young teenager during World War II. With starvation, sickness, exhaustion and the constant presence of crematoriums the story spirals downward as Wiesel loses his family, his childhood and his faith - only his survival instinct remains when the camps are finally liberated. The shocking atrocities are difficult and literally sickening to read but at the same time, the truth of the story echoes out that it needs to be told, needs to be read, needs to be remembered. Wiesel's powerful words construct a very tragic book, but it is a book that will leave all readers with tremendous respect for him and all those who survived. 

REST IN PEACE - ELIE WIESEL

-e

IT'S A START

Apart from taking time off to have my kids, I have gone to work pretty much every day of my adult life (and who am I kidding - raising kids is work.  As far as I’m concerned, it counts).  So, when retirement came around last month, I hadn’t given a whole lot of thought as to how to fill the days.

I started out with doing jobs that had been put aside for years - you know, cleaning the garage;  getting into the grout in the shower;  organizing the cupboard under the kitchen sink.  But really, is that what retirement is all about?

A little something about me.  I have three hobbies.  I knit.  I read.  I make soup. Riveting, I know, but it’s what I like.  One thing is clear - it makes for a sedentary lifestyle. 

My job kept me on my feet - often 12 hours at a time.  Without that opportunity to move, I had a very real chance of ballooning to 300 pounds and staying there (really).  No one in their right mind would ever call me slender or svelte.  Zaftig would more readily come to mind.  But I always managed to keep things just enough in control that I don’t have to wear a caftan or a muumuu, unless I want to.  So, my sister Mirjam and I have started walking pretty much every day.  We found a trail that we really like near the house and every morning we head out. Can I tell you - the first day we trudged that walk in 1 hour and 7 minutes.  That afternoon and evening I was in pain.  But guess what - the next day we did it again.  Fast forward about 3 weeks. This morning we did it in 53 minutes and 20 seconds!!  And we talked while we walked!!  If we can keep that going, I might get a little 5 pound waist weight to wear while I walk (I believe in starting small).

An interesting thing about the walk is seeing things that I didn’t even know the city had to offer.  Did you know that Toronto has orioles?  Neither did I - until I saw them.  I was so surprised that I even posted on Facebook to see whether I was imagining it - but, yes.  Toronto has orioles!  And Toronto has turtles - great big ones!  Mulberry trees are dropping their fruit right now and I know where to find the wild raspberries and grapes when they’re ready.  There are lilies, cornflowers, Queen Anne’s Lace, snapdragons, roses and so many more - all five minutes from the place where I have lived for over 20 years.  Who knew?

I recently read a rather good book - ‘Burial Rites’ by Hannah Kent.  Let me tell you a bit about it.

In 1829, Natan Ketilsson and his guest were brutally murdered in his home. Natan’s maidservant, Agnes Magnusdottir and two others were charged with and convicted of the murders.  Agnes became the last person to be executed for murder in Iceland.  While awaiting execution, Agnes was was billeted with a family on an isolated farm in northern Iceland and she received spiritual comfort and advice from a young pastor, Thorvardur Jonsson.  This is all a matter of public record.

“Burial Rites” is set during Agnes’s last few months.  Slowly, a tentative relationship develops between Agnes, her reluctant ‘family’ and her pastor.  Agnes tells her story as she sees it - sugar-coating nothing, asking for no sympathy.  Even so, by the time Agnes walks to her execution, sympathy and regret are exactly what we come to feel for her.  

Hannah Kent writes a wonderfully moving novel.  The event itself is thoroughly researched, but it is almost secondary to the depiction of the harsh life of the poor in isolated, northern Iceland in the winter.  The author succeeds in defining Agnes not just as 'murderer’ but as a human being in the eyes of her pastor, her host family (I’m not sure what to call them - her jailers?) and our own.

Who a person is and what a person does is not always the same thing.

‘Burial Rites’ is not always an easy book - but very, very worth the read.

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